"Do you like it this way?"
Suguru turned to look at himself in the mirror in his private bathroom and nodded in agreement. You put down the pen with which you marked the spot on his ear and picked up a sharp needle. Placing two fingers on Suguru's jaw, you tilted his head up to see better.
It was the first time you had ever pierced someone's ear, and your hands were a bit sweaty. You were worried about hurting him or that the outcome would not be good. You squinted as you brought the needle closer to Suguru's ear, who was still sitting there, impassive.
You were about to pierce the skin when you felt someone breathing on your neck. A growl escaped your lips in disgust. Satoru was looking over your shoulder, mere millimeters from your head.
"Would you mind not breathing on me? I'm busy." You huffed.
Satoru smiled, ignoring what you just said, and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. "You could make me an earring too. It would look so sexy."
"You said you were afraid of needles." You replied to your friend. This morning, when you were planning this with Suguru, Satoru confessed that he was afraid of needles. No matter how many times you tried, the guy would interpose his Infinity every time you brought the needle close.
"You'll be the center of attention again when we're done, Satoru." Suguru protested in a monotone voice. "Y/n, just do it already."
"It doesn't matter." Added Satoru, "The piercing would steal the attention from my magnificent eyes".
You looked directly at Satoru's opaque glasses with disbelief. As if anyone could see them anyway.
You turned to the raven-haired boy and gently took his earlobe. He didn't move a centimeter, but you noticed he shuddered. You smiled to yourself. Suguru was skilled at hiding his emotions, but after all, he was just human.
You bit your lip as you placed the needle just above the skin. "Breathe and hold your breath. On 3, 2, 1...". You plunged the needle with all your strength until you felt it penetrate the other side of the flesh. Suguru gave no indication that he had noticed anything. The boy brought you the earring he had chosen, and you put it on obediently.
"It's bleeding a little". You whispered as you pressed a bunch of toilet paper on his skin.
Suguru looked at himself in the mirror with his new earring and smiled to himself, satisfied. "Looks great, huh?"
"If you weren't my friend, I'd fuck you in this bathroom right now." Satoru replied, earning a laugh from the other boy. You, however, looked down, slightly disturbed by your friend's obscene comment, and stood on the other side of Suguru with the needle in your hand.
"Come on, I'll do the other one". You said. You made eye contact with the white-haired one for a second and he winked at you. Immediately, you returned your gaze to Suguru's ear, ready to pierce his skin again.
A little later, the three of you were back in your room. Suguru was sitting on the floor, both ears red, and Satoru was lying indifferently on your bed as you searched for something at the bottom of your closet.
"Take this, it will be good for the healing." You said out loud, throwing a bottle of disinfectant solution at him without looking. You heard a soft "puf" when Suguru caught it in the air with one hand.
"Thanks, Y/n". Suguru said with a warm smile.
Your rooms were on the same corridor, wall to wall, but from the first months at school, you had acquired the habit of meeting in the same place every free hour you had. Shoko, the fourth student in your class, was a bit more solitary, but the two boys and you had developed a strong codependency since the first months at school.
"Guess what I found." You announced, turning to the two boys and hiding your hands behind your back.
"Your dignity," Satoru guessed, with his arms crossed behind his head and a mischievous smile on his face.
You stuck your tongue out at him teasingly, but you were so eager to surprise them that you couldn't get angry with him. "Ta-da!" You sang as you showed them what you were hiding behind your back.
In between your two hands, you held a pack of beers and you watched with satisfaction as both of their eyes opened wide.
"Where did you get these? You're sixteen."
You walked towards the center of the room and sat down on the floor with your back to your bed, right in front of Suguru.
"I stole them." You said with a silly teenage pride. You watched as the black-haired boy's expression hardened slightly. You had already imagined that Suguru wouldn't approve of this action, so you had done it alone instead of involving him in the plan.
"You're a very bad girl, aren't you?" You heard Satoru's voice approach as he slid down the bed to sit beside you.
The rooms at Jujutsu Tech were quite spacious, but with both boys' long legs, you couldn't help but bump your knee with Satoru's. You ignored his comment, as well as the feeling it triggered in your gut.
"I thought we could make a toast." As you handed out a bottle to each of them. "Can you open them, Satoru?"
With a subtle movement of his fingers, the boy uncapped the three beer bottles with his cursed energy. Satoru brought his nose to the drink and shuddered at the alcohol smell, but he didn't say anything.
"And what are we toasting to?" Suguru asked with a smile.
You shrugged. "Nothing in particular." You thought for a few seconds and extended your arm towards the center. "To the chosen family."
"To the chosen family," both repeated and imitated your gesture, clinking the bottles with a crystal-clear sound. You took a sip of the beer and felt the bitter liquid go down your throat.
"Ew." Satoru exclaimed, sticking his tongue out. "This tastes like shit."
The white-haired boy left his bottle aside and leaned back on the floor, resting his head on your lap. Satoru had a habit of being especially clingy with everyone, which put you on edge. You lifted your drink and took a few long sips. Hopefully, the boys would think the flush in your cheeks was just from the alcohol.
"You seem nervous," a teasing voice said.
Damned six-eyed bastard. Nothing really escaped him. You drank the last sip from your bottle before answering, feeling the effect of the alcohol spreading throughout your body.
"I was just thinking about how calming it is to trust someone." You said, looking down. "Knowing that nothing bad will ever come from you."
A sigh passed through the room without anyone saying a word. Satoru reached for your thigh with his hand and squeezed it affectionately.
"Come on, say something. You're making me look stupid." You said, embarrassed.
"We don't have to do anything to make you look stupid, you're really good at that on your own." Satoru replied. You swatted away his grip on your leg with a swat, and the boy let out a satisfied laugh.
Suguru kicked him with his foot in reprimand.
"I feel the same way," Suguru added.
"Do you think we're stupid?" You asked with a furrowed brow.
"Yes, but I mean that I trust you with my life," Suguru said, looking you straight in the eyes. The room felt dense again, the moment only interrupted by a long whistle that came from Satoru's lips.
"We should move in together after we graduate from school," he thought out loud.
It had been over ten years since that day.
You were looking at the same views you could see from your window a decade ago but from another room. The sun was setting and the orange light reflected in your teary eyes as you remembered that day. Why do you think of this now?
"You're not listening to me!" You heard Satoru moan in the distance, and only then did you return to the present moment.
The professor lay as carelessly as always on your bed in the teacher's wing of the jujutsu school, while you sat at your desk looking out the window.
"I would listen to you more often if you didn't have the habit of rambling about every detail of your life."
"Wow, there's no need to be so unpleasant," he protested, dramatically placing his hand on his chest.
You didn't want to be so harsh, but suddenly you felt like someone was missing in that room. Even years later, you still felt the weight of Suguru's loss in your chest, although you would never say it out loud. You knew that sharing the memory that kept playing in your head nonstop wouldn't be well received by Satoru. So you swallowed it, as usual.
"I'm sorry, Satoru." You sighed. "What were you saying?"
"I was explaining to you how the mission of the first ones went, but it doesn't matter." He said with a forced sigh. He rose from the bed and smoothed out the wrinkles that had formed on his uniform. He approached you and placed both hands on your shoulders. "I can see that your mind is elsewhere today."
You mumbled an "uh-huh" to hold back the words you were holding back.
In other times, Satoru would have asked you what was going on in your mind. It was something he never did anymore, fearing the answer that might come out of your lips. In other times, he would have given you a hug instead of that strange touch on your shoulder. But things had changed a lot since Suguru.
"I'll see you tomorrow." He said with a smile before disappearing instantly.
You were left alone in the room, with your heart beating faster than usual.
What you felt for this man was the only thing that hadn't changed.