They exchanged phone numbers.
Perhaps it was a sign of something new, the beginning of a chapter.
Hina couldn't hold back a laugh as she read their texts:
Gojo Satoru: Let's meet up again
at the market
I wanna try all of the mochi they have to offer!!!!
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ
Nakano Hina: When?
Gojo Satoru: tomorrow? :p
Nakano Hina: I'm sorry Gojo-sama,
but I have work
Maybe another time? I'm
very sorry
Gojo Satoru: Then I'll just walk in
and kidnap you c:
Nakano Hina: Very funny, Gojo-sama
She chuckled, shaking her head. He wouldn't.
He would.
Books and agendas tucked under her arm, Hina stopped short just steps from her classroom door. She patted her apron down. To her surprise, there were other teachers huddled around the classroom door; and peeking through the windows.
Someone noticed her arrival; A young woman with blonde hair, around Hina's age. She was profusely sweating as she glanced up at Hina in a mixture of surprise and relief.
"Nakano, finally." She ushered Hina over, and the other teachers noticed her presence. Confused, Hina stepped slowly towards her fellow coworker, ignoring the hushed whispers of the other teachers.
Hina frowned. "What's . . . wrong?"
Someone tapped her shoulder. Another teacher, Fujiwara, pointed to the window. Hina followed his finger and peeked inside her classroom.
She couldn't believe her eyes.
Fujiwara sweated. "He was relentless, Nakano. Wouldn't give in when I told him he couldn't just waltz in here like he owned the place."
Hina blinked. How in the world—
There stood Gojo Satoru, in all his excessively vertical glory. He was a mountain, towering over her students as if they were clumps of grass. Some of the children hid under the tables, or behind the cubbies. Other ones—the braver batch—were crowded around his tall frame. A little boy was climbing him as if he was a vine, and the white-haired man peeled him off with a grimace, holding him by the back of his shirt as the boy hung in midair, swinging his limbs wildly.
Shimizu, the blonde woman, nudged her forearm with her elbow. "Hey now, if your boyfriend wants to visit you at work, he can. He just has to follow the rules, you know."
"Yeah, we have a protocol." A voice muttered.
Hina whipped her head around, facing Shimizu with creased eyebrows. "We are—We are nothing of the sort. He's just a . . ."
Hina paused. Just what was he to her?
She swallowed. "Someone I know." Hina murmured, blinking worriedly at the sight before her. Another child had attempted to climb Gojo like a tree, her chubby, small hand reaching for his blindfold. He seemed incredibly discontented. Good.
Shimizu raised a brow at her. "Uh-huh, yeah."
"Told you."
"Go dunk yourself in the ballpit, Fujiwara." Shimizu snapped.
"Shut up." The man shot back. They were fighting, as always.
"Kikuchi-kun still has a chance." A woman, Imai, at Hina's side remarked in a sing-song tone, smirking. Hina paid no attention to the matter, ignoring the shushing from the other teachers.
"You sure, Nakano-chan? He looks strange, with the blindfold and all, but he's kinda attractive. And really tall at that. Nice taste!" An excited whisper.
"No, that's not—"
"He got them nice legs too, don't he?"
"Imai-san, that's not it." Hina shook her head, sighing. She kept her eyes on the snowy-haired intruder, who was currently suspending the poor children by their collars. Does he not know how to properly hold a child?
His head tilted, and Hina didn't have to see his eyes to know that he was looking at her, spotting her beyond the window. His grimace was immediately replaced with a wide grin as he threw a young girl under his arm, so that he could freely wave at her. The young girl with pigtails kicked at his side, yet Gojo stood unfazed.
Hina parted her lips, momentarily silent before speaking, "I apologize, I'll handle it."
And she slid the door open, stepping inside of her classroom. Her students, her children, immediately rushed towards her with frantic cries and shouts, hiding behind her form and tugging at her clothes.
A boy pulled at her hand, and Hina looked down. "Nakano-sensei, there's a weirdo in here!"
"He's scary!"
"Look! He kidnapped Ao-chan!"
"Hah?!" That was from Gojo.
Hina sighed, trying to comfort her students with a smile, patting their heads. "There, there, it's okay," She said warmly, stroking their hair. "He's not going to hurt you, I promise."
"Nakano-sensei, save Ao-chan and Ri-chan! The blindfolded dragon's gonna gobble them up!" A little girl with braids cried, tugging tightly onto the end of her shirt with one hand and pointing the other at Gojo. He still had two students in his arms, holding them like objects. His mouth stretched into an irritated scowl at the comment.
Hina frowned at him. "Gojo-sama, please let them go."
He didn't. "What took you so long?"
"Gojo-sama—"
"Well, that doesn't matter now!" He exclaimed, cheeky and bright. "C'mon, I said I'd kidnap you. But there's been a change of plans, you see—I've now come to rescue you. These things are demons, I tell you!"
Hina let out an amused chuckle, crossing her arms. "The one you're kidnapping right now isn't me, it's those children. So please, put them down, will you?" After a second, she added, "Gently?"
He cocked his head to the side. "How about saving?"
Hina smiled warmly, sighing. "Saving?" She chuckled. "Yeah, perhaps I'll let you save me another time. But unfortunately, that time is not today, Gojo-sama."
You already did save me, she wanted to say. It tickled the tip of her tongue.
Some stories remain unwritten.
Gojo pouted, before giving in. "Fiiiine." He whined, bending down and carefully placing the two preschoolers safely onto the ground. The moment their feet touched the floor, they ran towards Hina, seeking protection. She rubbed their backs, whispering soothing, calming words. She felt Gojo's piercing gaze on her, which reminded her of what she had to do.
Hina stood back up, grimacing. "Gojo-sama, I apologize, but I must ask you to leave. Perhaps we can meet, maybe, next weekend?" Yeah, she was free next weekend. Probably.
He shoved his hands in his pockets, sulking. "That's too far."
"This weekend?"
"Must you torture me?"
"Gojo-sama—"
"I did not come here only to be rejected now, Hina."
"I'm not rejecting you—"
"You're already kicking me out, and now this?"
Hina swallowed when she heard her name from his lips, smooth and elegant. She spoke, "That is not—"
"Then I'll just stay here." The tall, lanky man stated, leaning on one leg lazily.
He is incredibly hard to reason with, Hina swallowed, clearing her throat. "Gojo-sama, I have a class to teach—"
"Teach then." He said, simple and nonchalant. "I'll just be here, minding my own business." He walked over to a desk isolated in the corner, a desk that Hina didn't need because it was an extra. He sat himself on it, folding his leg over his knee.
He was too big for it. An amusing sight, really.
Hina pursed her lips at the man, who ushered her with a hand. Go on, teach, is what he seemed to say, a smirk on his lips. We've wasted enough class time already. The brats need to learn, don't they?
Hina clapped her hands together. "Alright everyone, sit in your group tables, let's start." She requested, using the best feathery-kind voice she could use at the moment. Just ignore him. I don't know if I'll be able to teach with him here, but just ignore him.
It worked.
He was awfully obedient, and quiet at that. Although they would steal momentary glances at each other, Hina was still able to teach. Her lessons were easy, simple. Fun. It was preschool, so it wasn't like she was teaching them Pythagorean theorem, or geometry—no, no—they were children. Hina played with them, helped them stack blocks onto each other, observed their drawings and paintings. She loved children, and she felt loved back when she would receive drawings in return.
When she was their age, Hina was learning to scrub floors and dry clothes out in the sun, chipping her nails and rubbing them raw. Her youth was, well, different to say the least. Seeing the children happy—it instantly made her happy, no explanation to it—it simply just did.
At the corner of her eye, Hina noticed a young girl hop out of her seat then skip towards the other end of the room. To Gojo Satoru.
Hina watched as the young girl with pink overalls, two buns in her hair that always seemed to stick upright, hold out a piece of paper to the blindfolded man, extending her arms as long as she could. Gojo stared back at her, a curious frown on his lips. He slowly took the piece of paper between his fingertips, then held it in one of his hands. The young girl giggled, then skipped back towards the other end of the room, giggling at Hina as she passed her.
Huh. Hina approached the tall man on the desk, curious about the drawing. She leaned over to see the drawing, and immediately let out an amused chuckle, covering her lips.
"Oh dear," She laughed.
Gojo had a different reaction. "What am I looking at right now?"
"You're looking at yourself." Hina replied, a thought stirring up in her head. You can really see under there?
"Hah? This is not me!" He retorted, completely baffled. Hina smiled at his childish response. Adorable. She pointed to an unclear scribble on the paper.
"I think that's your hair." She joked, earning another distasteful reaction from the man next to her. He gagged at the sight of scribbles. "It looks like a curse I recently exorcised." He noted glumly, and Hina laughed even more. She felt something tug at her leg. She looked down, only to find the same child with the pink overalls looking back up at her. Her small hands held up a storybook.
"Hm?" Hina hummed, picking up the storybook from the little girl's hands. A shortened, more PG version of 'Snow White and The Seven Dwarves'. Not the Brothers Grimm version. "Do you want me to read this to you?" The child feverishly nodded, eyes glittering with excitement.
"Alright then," Hina said, and was responded with cheers of glee from the children.
"Everyone, to the story corner!" She called out. Her students instantly ran towards another side of the room, sitting on pillows and cuddling with stuffed animals. Some would argue when they couldn't get a good spot in the area, bickering with each other.
Hina hushed them. "Now, now, don't fight." She sat herself down on a chair; the children crowded around her.
She started reading.
It was a habit for Hina to use emotion when she read stories aloud, especially around children. She made hand motions too, causing an eruption of laughter from the preschoolers. She used a deep voice for the monsters, and a humorous voice for the scribe. The words always came out smoothly.
She could tell Gojo's gaze was on her for the entirety of story time. It was a thoughtful gaze, focused and pensive. It spoke many words, hushed and silent. Cryptic. It was easy to ignore, however, because of her students' bubbly choruses of laughter and fright.
When she read the last word, she was greeted with a round of applause. It was amusing, adorable, really. Just so lovable. Her eyes flickered to the spot where Gojo was supposed to be.
Hina frowned.
The desk was empty.