Love Language

Rising

Sweat beaded down Yuji's forehead, he was tired but he could feel Gojo watching—calculating, he would not be deterred. He wanted this, chose this, and he was good at it. His feet were moving quick, his chest rising up and down, everything around him was static. At the moment his sole focus was winning and right now he was about to do just that—Todo swung at him hard, but Yuji was quick on his feet, a great advantage against opponents bigger than he was. Side-stepping Todo, he hit him with a clean body shot, aimed at his ribs when the sound of ringing echoed through the gym—like a wave, everything hit him all at once. The world came rushing back in and he could hear the grunts, heavy breathing, and skin hitting skin throughout the gym. He and Todo paused, looking over at Gojo whose phone was ringing.

Glancing at his phone, his eyes narrowed, "I better take this," he said, already walking off, "Take ten, I'll be right back." He disappeared into his office.

Yuji and Todo took off their gloves and headgear, exiting the ring. Taking a seat on the bench between the rings, Todo and Yuji took sips of their respective water bottles and waited for Gojo to wrap up his call.

"You've improved, brother." Todo said, after finishing his water.

Yuji was amazed at the fact that Todo didn't seem out of breath whilst he was still regaining his composure, nonetheless he laughed.

"You really think so?"

"Yes but you need to remember, your feet won't always save you. That body shot you landed earlier was good but you need to put more power behind it—with more training you could even manage to land a hit much harder than I can."

Yuji had thought the blow he'd landed was good, was it not? What would Gojo say to him once he got off the phone? Yuji pondered over this when Todo spoke again, "So what do you think that call is about?"

Glancing up at the large glass window showing the inside of Gojo's office, he could be seen sitting at his desk, feet resting atop it still talking on the phone, a fond expression on his face making Yuji wonder who it was he was talking to.

"Not sure, maybe he's talking to a girlfriend."

"Pfftttt," Todo spit out the water he was drinking in Yuji's face.

Yuji grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut while Todo just cracked up beside him. Feeling for his towel on the bench with his eyes closed, Yuji grasped it and wiped his face off when he heard the door to Gojo's office open. Peeking one eye open, he watched as Gojo jumped onto the ring he and Todo were just sparring in.

"I have an announcement," Gojo shouted and everyone around the gym stopped what they were doing and focused his attention on the white haired man, "on Friday there will be an interviewer and photographer coming by from Veil Magazine, we're the focus of their next issue so they'll be around for the next month or so. Now, any thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns will not be heard, I'm about to wrap up for the day."

With that, Gojo jumped out of the ring, "Yuji, see me in my office."

Setting his towel down, Yuji finished the last of his water and started unwrapping his hands, following Gojo into his office. Gojo took a seat, watching as Yuji closed the door with his foot and took a seat in the swiveling black chair at the foot of his desk.

"The sparring match was good, your footwork is light and as quick as ever, no improvement needed there," Gojo spoke in that way only some people did, the way other people were forced to listen, he watched as Yuji unwrapped one hand and then the next, " although, as I'm sure Todo already told you, your punches need to pack more power."

"So I'm told," Yuji spun in his chair, turning to face the window, looking outside to see all the sparring matches happening and the people hitting the punching bags, "I need to practice more don't I?"