Kotoba Ijō 言葉以上 ⋮ Fushiguro Megumi

Chapter 5

Gojo looks at his hand of single-stemmed roses, "They're for the other faculty members."

"If you're planning on passing them out." Megumi's brows furrow in aggravated curiosity, "Then why not give this to her yourself?"

"I already told you why." Gojo boops the guy on the nose with the rest of the flowers, "Come on now. Get up."

Megumi raises a fist but then he retracts it and his hand goes to his head. He closes his eyes and shakes his head. This seems so idiotic. He felt so ridiculous standing in front of your door. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't want you to get the wrong idea about him. The man also didn't want to incite any unwanted feelings from you (not that he thought highly of himself in that regard to begin with).

The raven-hair sighs and then he musters the will to knock.

The door swings open.

"Fushiguro!" You didn't expect to see him this early in the day and then you remember about the mission that Gojo had entrusted to the two of you, "Are we heading out already?"

"Not quite yet....." his voice lacks confidence and the man sounded very apprehensive. Megumi looks off to the side somewhere. He grows uncomfortable and you could tell something was bothering him by the way the bead of sweat formed on his forehead.

"Oh, okay. What's up?" And your gaze goes from his face down to his hand. You point at it, "Is....that for me?"

Megumi's hand finds its way to his nape and he stretches his neck to one side. This is extremely awkward for him. He says, "Sure."

"Sure?" You furrow your brows. The guy didn't make it sound like it was intended for you. You also didn't see him as someone who got involved with holidays much. So you question it, "I mean, if it's not, it's okay. I didn't mean to assume. It's just—"

He doesn't let you finish your sentence and you could hear the tension in his voice. Megumi's arm stretches out to you, "Just take it."

Your hand reaches out, but before you could grab it someone turns the corner into the hallway. The man's uniform revealed that he was apart of a third-party delivery service.

"Delivery for—" the man pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket. He takes a quick peek at the crumpled note and shoves it back into his pocket, "—(y/n)?"

Your hand goes up and your face wore a look of bemusement, "......that's me."

The delivery man hands you a large, beautiful floral arrangement. This glass vase held some of your most favorite flowers and all in colors you would have chosen for yourself if you had been the curator. The placement, the smell, it was beyond aesthetically pleasing. This type of arrangement, at the very least, ran a few hundred dollars.

"Wow...." You study the decorative piece in awe. You didn't have any admirers to your knowledge, "Who is it from?"

"Uh...." The delivery person's hand goes into his other pocket. The man pulls out a card he reads it aloud before it gets handed to you, "....Gojo Satoru."

"Gojo??" You make a face in bewilderment. He was the last person you expected flowers from. Especially one that's this extravagant (even though you knew he could practically afford one for every person on site).

The raven-hair's gaze goes from the flowers sitting in your arms to the measly single-stem rose in his hand. And then he thinks how extremely pathetic this looked in comparison.

The delivery man leaves and Fushiguro Megumi wanted nothing more than to throw himself off the moon bridge. He couldn't wrap his mind around the white-haired sorcerer's objective. Did Gojo mean to intentionally make him look bad? If the guy wanted you to be interested in him, then how was this ever going to be a favorable outcome? Megumi tries to understand but nothing added up. Nothing made sense. He then thought of the many ways to exorcise the white-haired prick the next time he sees him.

You step into your room to set down the flowers and then you reappear at your door. You finally take the rose from Megumi's hand.

"Thanks Fushiguro!" You smile, "This is really sweet of you!"

His decompensated mind flips to a startled one. The man was prepared for your mocking and your teasing. He didn't expect you to thank him. Megumi felt most people would have thought the shitty rose would be second to nothing against Gojo's surprise.

"It's nothing...." He then ponders whether he should tell you that the rose is not actually from him. But he doesn't.

You shake your head and your smile grows, "It's something to me! It's the thought that counts!"

The raven-haired male returns to his stoic self and his face is void of emotion. He stuffs his hands into his pockets and he thinks about how you seem a little less annoying today. But then you say something that takes away that thought completely.

"I guess you're not so much of a pervert after all."

"Hey...." He grimaces at how it was so quick of you to ruin his mood, "....don't get ahead of yourself."

You don't hear him. You slap him with the rose and then you say something that makes him take back every good thought he had of you up until this point, "But if you think this is going to make it okay for you to look up my skirt, you're wrong!"

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Author Note

February 14, 2024
Happy Valentine's Day!