Ms. Gojo thought she was dating an ordinary person's boyfriend.

The crowd is even denser than before.

Gojo Satoru was pulled a few steps inside by Sumirei Kawakawa, his wrist still being held in her hand.

Even though the danger was over once she dodged the reckless bicycle, Sumi Kikawa didn't let go immediately.

The surroundings were noisy, but Gojo Satoru remained unusually silent.

Kikawa Sumi subtly tilted her head and glanced at him quickly. Gojo Satoru's white hair was ruffled by the wind, and his sunglasses obscured his eyes, making it impossible to discern the emotions within them.

Kikawa Sumi's steps slowed down almost imperceptibly by half a beat.

Did I... scare him a little just now?

He asked himself a question silently.

Throughout the long years of traversing through time, in order to prevent personal feelings from affecting the mission, the system suppressed his desires for many years.

Until his body and mind exceeded the threshold, he was finally approved to retire. At that time, the selfishness and desire that had been suppressed to the extreme were stripped away and formed, becoming another voice in his mind.

The voice rang out quickly, carrying a hint of helpless laughter, gently comforting him.

[If Wu doesn't want to, you won't even be able to touch the hem of his clothes. Cheng, you know this better than anyone else.]

Kikawa Sumi lowered her eyes: "It was still too fast. We should have respected him more."

You're overthinking things, Cheng.

The voice sighed softly.

Wu isn't unhappy. You know we're essentially the same person; you care about him, and I care about him too. Neither of us would do anything to make him reject us, right?

Sumire Kikkawa chuckled self-deprecatingly to herself.

He admitted that he was indeed persuaded.

Or rather, when faced with Gojo Satoru, he was inherently prone to yielding to his more honest self.

Beneath her fingertips, another person's pulse was beating, seemingly a little faster than usual. Sumire Kichikawa thought for a moment, then ultimately chose to follow her heart.

He loosened his grip on the other's wrist slightly, but did not let go. Instead, he slid down along the fair wrist bone and gently pulled Gojo Satoru's hand into his palm, holding it loosely.

He keenly sensed that Gojo Satoru's steps suddenly faltered.

In the palm of his hand, his long, slender fingers were stiff and curled up almost imperceptibly.

Even with his back to Gojo Satoru, Kikkawa Sumi could sense the other's bewilderment and inner turmoil from these subtle physical reactions.

The mere seconds of waiting for the verdict were stretched out indefinitely.

Sumi Kikawa's heart jumped uncontrollably, and negative thoughts flooded her mind uncontrollably—

If Gojo Satoru were to pull his hand back now, what kind of expression should he use to hide his disappointment?

Or rather, how should he repair the relationship that the two of them had worked so hard to build after this?

This long-lost feeling of unease and anxiety, this sense of gain and loss, made him extremely tense.

Just as he was about to let go due to internal conflict—in his palm, the previously stiff hand suddenly moved slightly.

All her senses were focused on her palm, and Kikawa Sumi could clearly feel the cool finger bones of the person in her palm slowly closing in.

Kikawa Sumi unconsciously held her breath.

Finally, that hand gently grasped his hand in return.

An indescribable ecstasy and trembling instantly spread from my heart to my fingertips.

Without giving the other party any chance to back down or back down, Kikawa Sumi unhesitatingly clenched her fingers, firmly and tightly gripping the other hand in her palm.

He took his hand and walked towards the ticket gate without looking back through the noisy crowd.

In the afternoon, Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High School.

The physical education class on the playground had just ended, and Gojo, unusually, didn't bother the students. Instead, he leisurely strolled to the infirmary.

He knew perfectly well what his "handshake in return" meant. Ever since they parted ways at the station, his mind had been in turmoil.

But he didn't show anything on his face.

All sorts of ideas started to emerge, about their current relationship, about their future, all jumbled together.

Pushing open the door to the infirmary, Gojo Satoru pulled out a chair with practiced ease, stretched out his long legs, and leaned back in the chair as if boneless, staring quietly at the ceiling without making a sound for a long time.

Shoko Ieiri was writing a report and didn't look up when she heard him push the door open, but after waiting for five minutes without him speaking, she finally put down her pen.

"You came all this way just to sit here and daydream?"

Gojo Satoru was silent for a moment before speaking, his tone somewhat deep: "Shoko, there are some things I can't figure out."

Rarely hearing him speak in this tone, Shoko paused, then asked, "What is it?"

The next second, Gojo Satoru turned his chair around, rested his chin on the back, and spoke in a complaining yet slightly aggrieved tone: "It's really too much to only let me eat one cream puff every night, isn't it? And I even bought the cream puff myself!"

Shoko: "...Huh?"

She frowned, her gaze sweeping over Gojo Satoru's face, when suddenly a thought struck her: "You mean that friend you played games with last time?"

Gojo Satoru chuckled, drawing out his words: "Shoko has such a good memory~"

"The way you talked last time, it's hard to forget." Shoko picked up her pen again, her tone cool. "What? Your new friend won't let you eat sweets?"

"No, that's not it." Gojo Satoru shifted to a more comfortable position and answered obediently, "It's just that he's a doctor, so he's a bit concerned about my health and usually limits my sugar intake."

Hearing his subtly protective yet slightly smug tone, Shoko raised an eyebrow: "How rare, you actually listen to me obediently?"

"Because he's a great cook, and his sofa is super comfortable. He even buys me small bottles of strawberry milk!" Gojo Satoru boasted excitedly.

"That's good." Shoko looked down at the record again, her tone indifferent. "At least you haven't been as fond of causing trouble lately. Moth should be quite pleased."

"He's always been in good health."

"It would be better if you tried to be less upset with him."

Gojo Satoru said with a smile, "That depends on how the rotten oranges perform."

Shoko didn't respond to that, but instead took a box of mints from the drawer and tossed it to him.

Gojo Satoru caught it and glanced at the packaging: "It's not strawberry flavored."

"The infirmary is not a dessert shop."

"Glass is really not considerate at all."

"Thank you for the compliment."

Gojo Satoru unwrapped the candy and casually tossed it into his mouth. The minty flavor exploded on his tongue, making him squint slightly from the coolness.

It wasn't his favorite kind of sweetness, but it wasn't that bad either.

After a while, he looked down and took out his phone.

The last message in the chat window was from Sumi Kichikawa: "Arrived at the hospital."

Gojo Satoru glanced at it for a few seconds and then typed.

[Realization: My lecture is over.]

After thinking for a moment, he added another sentence.

[Wu: Xiaocheng, the strawberry milk at the convenience store today was so-so. Let's get something else next time.]

After sending the message, he placed his phone face down on his knees.

Without even looking up, Shoko casually remarked, "Your laughter is even more disgusting now."

Gojou said confidently, "Jealousy makes people bitter."

"roll."

Gojo Satoru smiled and spun his chair halfway around.

The infirmary fell silent again. He twirled the candy wrapper in his hand, then suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, Hui will be a first-year student when school starts, right?"

"Weren't you handling the paperwork?" Shoko said.

"Time flies. It feels like just yesterday I found him, and he was this tiny." Gojo Satoru casually gestured at a completely unrealistic height, his tone tinged with emotion, "The little rascal is all grown up now."

Without looking up, Shoko said, "If you say that in front of Kei, he'll probably unleash his Jade Dog to bite you."

Gojo Satoru laughed heartily: "Megumi can't bite me now."

"That's why I hate it even more."

"No way!"

Shoko pointed to the door: "If you really have nothing to do, you can go see Megumi now and fulfill your responsibilities as her guardian."

"Hey hey~" Gojo Satoru waved, stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and turned to leave.

The question I wanted to ask remained unasked, and the troubles in my heart remained unresolved.

He walked through the corridor of the college and looked out at the bright light.

Well, that's fine for now.