— 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆 taken from: niki
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The much-awaited ransom for Kuroi finally came after what felt like an endless eight and a half hours of waiting, a period filled with so much boredom and fear—mostly experienced by Amanai—that he honestly doubted, for a moment, if the kidnappers had actually taken Kuroi at all.
"Maybe, just maybe, she left on her own or something," [Y/n] muttered under his breath, earning himself a very much-earned glare from Amanai and the ever-responsible senpai of his, Suguru.
And now, after receiving the ransom, here they are, four young teenagers boarding the plane in the early morning at six, on their merry way to Okinawa, of all places.
Why Okinawa, you ask? He doesn't know either, and he doesn't care. Perhaps the kidnappers want a more open and peaceful environment before being eradicated from this very earth.
"They really couldn't pick somewhere a bit closer to our location, huh?" he grumbles to himself, then yawns as he promptly sits down on the tiny airplane seat, a seat he is going to be stuck on for three whole hours.
He's starting to hate this babysitting mission.
A chuckle snaps him from his gloomy thoughts. He turns to his right, and sees Suguru with a small teasing smile. "Did you not get enough sleep, [Y/n]? I thought I heard you snoring away yesterday."
Him? Snoring?
"What?" He doesn't know what expression is currently on his face, but Suguru laughs, no, cackles at it.
He purses his lips in reply. "I don't snore, senpai. Also, I was keeping watch all night yesterday. The snoring was, without a doubt, coming from Amanai," he says.
Amanai—who sits on the seat in front of him—whips her head so fast, a red flush on her cheeks. "Hah? I don't snore either! Stop lying about me, you asshole!" she yells loudly, forgetting for a moment to quiet down her voice in this very public space.
He raises an eyebrow. "I'm not lying though."
"Yes, you are!"
"...You have no say in this. I was the one fully awake yesterday. I would know who was snoring or not," he retorts, crossing his arms.
"You weren't the only one awake, you know?" Gojo suddenly voices out, sneaking an arm around his shoulder from the seat to his left. "How could you be forgetting about me already? I thought we were bonding very well last night."
He gives the white-haired sorcerer a blank stare. Gojo's smirk widens.
"You're delusional, that's what you are. We weren't bonding, senpai."
"Oh? What was it then?"
"I happened to be awake. And you just happened to be there beside me," he states, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Gojo's antics.
Gojo feigns a hurt look, clutching his chest dramatically. "Ouch, [Y/n], that hurts. I thought we were sharing a moment, a connection, if you will."
He scoffs, pushing Gojo's arm away from his shoulders. "The only connection we shared was me trying to get some peace and quiet while you rambled on about who knows what."
"Sweets! I was talking about sweets! How could you forget already? [Y/n], you're just a grouchy old man in a young teen's body, huh?"
Oh, he hasn't forgotten, don't worry. He's just tired of hearing the word 'sweet' now because of Gojo's irritating rambles last night. Though, now that he thinks about it, this annoyance was the reason he was able to stay awake. He doesn't know if he should be glad or irritated by that fact.
"I didn't forget. My ears are kind of still ringing because of you."
"Hehe! Good, good. You remembered. Sweets are a universal joy, a source of comfort and happiness. I knew you can't resist their sugary allure!"
"...I didn't say anything like that, though?"
Gojo ignores his words with a bright smile. "What about we go and get some sweets after we rescue Kuroi? Sounds good to you?"
"No need. I've had my fill of sweets a week ago," he quickly says.
Gojo does not give up. "I'll pay for you~"
"...Okay, sure. Why not?"
Suguru and Amanai deadpan at their interaction. "You accepted quicker than I thought you would, [Y/n]," Suguru says.
Amanai nods with a mocking smile, finally having the chance to poke fun at him. "Yeah! Maybe you two did bond last night, hm?"
He blinks.
Oh, no. Maybe he really did! Oh, my god. He's losing it. Is this what lack of sleep does to a person? He needs to catch a quick nap immediately.
Or else— Or else he's going to start seeing Gojo as something more than an upperclassman. A friend! That's dangerous! He doesn't want to be friends with this lunatic.
"Hm? You're suddenly so silent," Gojo states, a sharp grin on his face. "Not denying it anymore, are you?"
He narrows his eyes, and says, "Shut up or I'm going to kill you."
Suguru places a hand on his shoulder. "Haha! Well, that escalated quickly. Maybe we should switch our seats, [Y/n]. Before Satoru and your lack of sleep drives you mad."
"Heh? What do you mean, Suguru? Didn't you hear from my lovely fans yesterday? I'm actually a very sweet angel that has fallen from the heavens. I'm perfect," Gojo says with a wink.
From the front, Amanai cringes and quickly looks away back to the front, not before loudly saying, "With that personality? Ew."
He unconsciously nods to Amanai's words, even though she can't see him. "Ew does perfectly describe what I'm feeling right now, Gojo-senpai. Though, I can see why your fans said that to you."
"Oh? And why is that, my lovely kouhai?"
"Heaven probably got tired of dealing with your shit."
"..."
Gojo's mouth gapes so wide in shock and betrayal that he almost laughs. Almost.
Now feeling happier and relaxed after stupefying Gojo from speaking any more useless chatter, he turns his head towards Suguru with a bright smile. "Alright, we should switch our seats now. Thank you very much, Suguru-senpai."
Suguru gives him an exasperated sigh in return. "You two... Yeah, sure. We should switch now, I guess." And so, their journey to Okinawa continues in peaceful silence.
---
A ping from his phone snaps his attention away from the current chaos happening on the beach. "Oh, Nanami and Haibara just arrived," [Y/n] quietly announces.
Nanami
We've arrived.
[Y/n]
Okay.
Gojo peers over his shoulder and blanches at their most recent text. "Both of you guys are such dry texters," Gojo says with a disappointed expression.
"We like to keep it simple," he immediately retorts with a fake smile. "Unlike someone I know of."
Gojo gives him a pout in return... and it is surprisingly cute to look at... Uh oh, it's happening again. He shakes his head repeatedly, earning himself a strange look, but he doesn't care.
He turns his head back to Gojo when the other shouts to him, "You don't even read my texts!"
"That's true. I'm glad you realize," he replies, giving the older a shrug.
Gojo huffs, feigning offense, "I can't believe you ignored my texts but immediately replied to Suguru!"
Suguru, who has been silently observing the exchange, chimes in, "I have to admit, Satoru, your texts can be quite... unique."
Ah, the sweet sight of betrayal. He does love to see it, especially when it happens to Gojo.
"Huh?" Gojo shoots Suguru a betrayed look. "Come on, I can't believe even you're against me on this, Suguru."
"Who cares about that? Anyway, who are Nanami and Haibara?" Amanai butts into the conversation with a cheerful expression.
With Kuroi now saved, it makes sense for her to be so. The rescue mission didn't even take long, merely only a few moments. Funnily enough, the interrogation took longer than the apprehending.
"They're my classmates," he answers. "You probably won't meet them though. They're tasked to protect the airport in case anyone stupid enough wants to attack it."
"Ooohhh." Amanai's eyes widen with curiosity as she processes the information. "Protecting the airport, huh? So, we really are going back tomorrow morning, right?"
He stays silent, so Suguru decides to answer for him, "Yes. Just as we agreed. Go and have fun, Amanai. It's almost time for us to get lunch."
"Oh, you're right! I still want to see the sea cucumbers!" she yells out before quickly running off. Gojo swiftly follows after her. "Hey, I wanna see them too!"
He rolls his eyes at the sight, but can't help the small smile that plays on his lips. "What a bunch of dimwits."
"Not gonna join in with them, [Y/n]?" Suguru asks.
"Are you kidding me, senpai? Because that's a good joke. Almost as good as us staying here longer than we should be and therefore sabotaging this mission to become more unsafe," he says, keeping the smile on his face.
The dark-haired sorcerer sighs in return. After a moment, Suguru replies, "...I understand what you mean, but Satoru says it's fine. So I don't think we should be that worried. Besides, the two of us are here to do the job if Satoru ever stumbles, right?"
The urge to roll his eyes is high, but he manages to ignore it and nods reluctantly instead. "Yeah, alright. Whatever you say, Suguru-senpai."
Everything so far has been a recipe for disaster, but since his seniors are going to ignore every warning sign they've come across, he guesses he should start doing it too and hope for the best.
Checking on his phone again, he raises an eyebrow at the new text he received. It's an unknown number. Is it Emi again?
???:
Leave the mission before I kill you too.
This is your only warning.
What the fuck? He's pretty damn sure this is not his sister texting him. Is it one of his other family members? Or someone else...?
"Something wrong?" Suguru questions with an arched brow. He quickly shakes his head and then heaves out a heavy sigh in return. "Nothing much. Just a random weirdo in my messages."
[Y/n]
Who dis?
???
Forgetting me already? Brat.
[Y/n]
You sound pretty forgettable.
Okay. For real, who is this?
Before he can even send the last text, to his confusion, he finds himself blocked by the unknown phone number. "...Wow. Sensitive much?" he asks under his breath, then promptly forgets about the whole interaction until the next day due to the number of activities the five of them engage in.
They row some boats in a beautiful river, eat some fine cuisine paid for by none other than Gojo, and gaze at some fish in the aquarium that he thinks would be delicious to eat instead. Overall, an okay-ish way to spend their remaining time in Okinawa.
When they all finally return to rest up in the night, he finds himself sitting beside Gojo once again, like the night before. The only difference is the extremely tired expression that paints the older teen's face.
"You should go and rest, Gojo-senpai. You're losing your beauty because of your lack of sleep. It's pretty sad."
Gojo somehow is still able to shoot him a tired yet playful look. "Oh, [Y/n], you flatter me, but you're wrong. Who needs beauty sleep when you've got the natural look of one such as I?"
"I hate to break it to you, but you honestly look ready to keel over and die," he replies, shaking his head slightly.
Gojo groans. "Ugh. I can say the same to you, you know? Looks like your little nap on the plane wasn't enough, huh? Go and catch some sleep, [Y/n]. I can handle things just fine tonight."
He believes Gojo, but still—
"...I'll stay here. Just in case," he replies before a yawn escapes his lips, earning himself a chuckle from Gojo.
There is a twinkle of amusement in the white-haired sorcerer's beautiful blue eyes, but there is also, undeniably, warmth. "Thanks."
He looks away.
As the night progresses, when the weariness finally catches up to him, he feels a warm hand tread through his hair, a gentle soothing caress that feels surprisingly comforting.
The soft murmur of Gojo's voice reaches his ears, a quiet utterance, like a secret shared only between them in the quiet of the night. The words are barely audible, but he hears it anyway.
"You may be an asshole, but I know you mean well at times. Rest well, [Y/n]."
He sleeps.
And when the sun rises once again to welcome a new day, [L/n] [Y/n] finally learns what it truly feels like to experience a true death.