Chapter Text
Tokyo looked prettier at night.
Suguru thought that was probably because darkness hid the uglier parts of it. The overflowing train stations. The cigarette smoke soaked into alleyways. The drunk businessmen asleep against vending machines like discarded mannequins.
Night softened things.
Even people.
The university campus stretched silver-blue beneath the glow of street lamps, mostly empty except for a few students dragging themselves back toward dorms with convenience store bags hanging from their wrists.
Suguru adjusted the strap of his bag and checked the time on his phone.
11:42 p.m.
Ridiculous.
He should have been home hours ago.
Instead, he was standing outside the astronomy building because Professor Yaga had apparently decided Suguru was “the only student patient enough to deal with him.”
Him being Gojo Satoru.
The problem child of Tokyo Metropolitan University.
Suguru had heard enough stories about him over the past year to last multiple lifetimes.
The physics prodigy who skipped lectures for weeks and still ranked first in every exam.
The heir to the obscenely wealthy Gojo family.
The asshole who corrected professors mid-lecture because he enjoyed watching them get embarrassed.
The pretty one.
That part came up strangely often.
Suguru had assumed people exaggerated.
Then the astronomy building doors opened.
And—
Ah.
Never mind.
They were not exaggerating at all.
Gojo Satoru stepped outside with his hands shoved into the pockets of a black hoodie, white hair messy like he’d just gotten out of bed despite it being nearly midnight. Expensive headphones rested around his neck. Rings flashed silver beneath the campus lights.
He was tall.
Offensively tall.
And unfairly beautiful in the kind of way that almost stopped looking human.
Blue eyes landed lazily on Suguru.
Then narrowed.
“You’re not Yaga.”
Suguru already felt exhausted.
“No,” he answered flatly. “Very observant.”
Gojo stared another second before walking directly past him down the stairs.
Suguru blinked.
“…Excuse me?”
“I’m leaving.”
“I gathered that.”
“Good. Conversation over.”
Suguru inhaled slowly through his nose.
Patience.
“Professor Yaga asked me to help you prepare for the midterm.”
Gojo stopped walking.
Not because he cared.
Suguru could tell instantly.
It was because he found the situation entertaining.
“Oh,” Gojo said, turning around. “You’re the babysitter.”
Suguru smiled pleasantly.
“I can leave if you’d prefer failing.”
“That’s cute.” Gojo tilted his head slightly. “You think I’d fail.”
“You’ve missed twelve lectures.”
“And still scored highest on the practice exam.”
Arrogant.
God, he was arrogant.
Suguru crossed his arms. “Then why even show up to tutoring?”
Gojo looked at him for a long moment.
Then shrugged.
“Wanted to see what you looked like.”
Suguru stared.
“…What?”
“I heard you were pretty.”
Suguru nearly choked on air.
Gojo looked entirely serious.
Or entirely unserious.
It was impossible to tell.
“You’re insane,” Suguru informed him.
“Probably.”
Gojo walked closer then, stopping directly in front of Suguru like personal space didn’t apply to him. Up close, Suguru could see faint shadows beneath his eyes.
He also smelled faintly like rain and expensive cologne.
Suguru hated that he noticed.
“You’re Suguru Geto, right?” Gojo asked.
“Yes.”
“Philosophy major.”
“…Yes.”
“You tutor half the university.”
“I like helping people.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It’s called empathy.”
Gojo hummed thoughtfully like empathy was a fascinating new scientific concept.
“Can you fight?”
Suguru blinked.
“What?”
“You look like you can.”
“That’s your next question?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re weird.”
“You’re pretty.”
Suguru looked away immediately.
That only made Gojo grin wider.
Oh.
So he enjoyed making people uncomfortable.
Wonderful.
“Can we start?” Suguru asked tightly.
Gojo stared at him another second before suddenly turning and walking back toward the building.
“Fine.”
—
The astronomy department was nearly empty.
Most lights were off except for the study lounge near the observatory windows overlooking the city.
Gojo dropped dramatically into a chair.
Suguru remained standing.
The silence stretched.
Gojo pulled out his phone.
Suguru waited.
Gojo kept scrolling.
“…Are you going to study?”
“No.”
“Then why am I here?”
“You tell me, babysitter.”
Suguru smiled again.
This one significantly more threatening.
“Open your notebook.”
Gojo looked up slowly.
There was something strange about his eyes.
Too bright.
Too aware.
Like he was constantly observing everything around him and deciding whether it deserved his attention.
It felt unsettling being looked at like that.
Still, Gojo finally opened his bag.
Textbooks spilled across the table carelessly.
Suguru sat down across from him.
“Okay,” he said. “Show me where you’re struggling.”
“I’m not struggling.”
“Then why are your attendance grades terrible?”
“Because I don’t attend.”
“…Right.”
Gojo rested his cheek against his hand lazily.
“You get annoyed easily.”
“You’re intentionally difficult.”
“You still came.”
Suguru hated that he had a point.
The truth was, Suguru had been curious.
Everybody on campus knew Gojo Satoru.
Not personally.
More like a phenomenon.
A storm people discussed from a distance.
Suguru expected someone spoiled and irritating.
And Gojo definitely was irritating.
But there was something else underneath it.
Something sharp.
Something lonely.
“You haven’t slept,” Suguru said suddenly.
Gojo’s eyes flicked upward immediately.
Interesting.
A reaction.
“What makes you say that?”
“You have dark circles under your eyes.”
“You checking me out?”
Suguru ignored him.
“How long?”
Gojo leaned back in his chair.
“A few days.”
Suguru frowned instantly.
“A few— what?”
“I sleep sometimes.”
“That is not reassuring.”
Gojo laughed quietly.
The sound startled Suguru a little.
It was softer than expected.
Not mocking.
Just genuinely amused.
“You always this serious?” Gojo asked.
“Yes.”
“That’s tragic.”
“And you always flirt with strangers?”
“Only the attractive ones.”
Suguru pinched the bridge of his nose.
This was going to kill him.
—
An hour later, Suguru realized something horrifying.
Gojo was actually a genius.
Not in the exaggerated way people casually used the word.
Not “good at school.”
Not “naturally smart.”
No.
Genuinely terrifying.
Gojo skimmed through equations once and understood them instantly. He solved advanced calculations in his head faster than Suguru could process them. He noticed inconsistencies in published theories like they physically offended him.
Suguru had never met anyone whose mind moved that fast before.
It should have been irritating.
Instead, it was—
Interesting.
Very interesting.
“You’re staring,” Gojo said without looking up.
Suguru blinked.
“I am not.”
“You are.”
Gojo finally glanced over with a lazy grin.
“You do it a lot, actually.”
Suguru looked back down at his notes.
“I was thinking.”
“About me?”
“About how someone this intelligent can still behave like an idiot.”
Gojo laughed again.
There it was.
That softness.
Suguru realized suddenly that Gojo rarely laughed around other people on campus.
People usually described him as smug. Untouchable. Arrogant.
But here, alone at nearly one in the morning, he looked…
Younger.
Less polished.
Human.
It did something strange to Suguru’s chest.
“So,” Gojo said. “Why philosophy?”
Suguru shrugged lightly.
“I like understanding people.”
“That sounds worse than physics.”
“Why astronomy?”
Gojo was quiet for a moment.
Then he looked toward the massive observatory windows.
Tokyo glittered beneath them.
“Space makes sense,” he said simply.
Suguru stilled.
Gojo kept speaking without looking at him.
“Everything up there follows rules. Patterns. Gravity. Distance.” His voice softened slightly. “People don’t.”
For the first time that night, Suguru didn’t know what to say.
Because suddenly the cockiness disappeared.
And beneath it—
Loneliness.
Huge and echoing.
Gojo noticed Suguru staring again and smirked immediately, like a mask snapping back into place.
“Don’t get emotional on me now.”
Suguru rolled his eyes.
“You ruin every serious moment, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Gojo smiled.
But this time it looked almost sad.
“Habit.”
—
By the time they finally left the building, it was raining.
Not heavily.
Just enough to blur neon signs and dampen the pavement.
Suguru sighed softly.
“Great.”
Gojo pulled his hood over his head.
“You don’t have an umbrella?”
“No.”
“Skill issue.”
Suguru stared at him flatly.
“You’re unbearable.”
“And yet you keep talking to me.”
Gojo stepped out into the rain first.
Suguru followed reluctantly.
The streets were mostly empty now, glowing gold beneath streetlights. Cars hissed softly over wet pavement. Somewhere nearby, music drifted faintly from a bar.
For a while they walked in silence.
Then—
“Hey,” Gojo said suddenly.
Suguru glanced sideways.
“What?”
“You free tomorrow night?”
Suguru frowned slightly.
“For tutoring?”
Gojo shoved his hands deeper into his pockets.
“Sure.”
There was something oddly careful about the answer.
Suguru noticed immediately.
“You’re asking me to hang out.”
Gojo looked offended.
“Don’t make it weird.”
“You made it weird.”
“You’re literally a philosophy major. Your entire personality is making things weird.”
Suguru laughed before he could stop himself.
Gojo went quiet.
Suguru noticed the way his eyes flickered toward him.
Like he was surprised by the sound.
That strange feeling returned to Suguru’s chest again.
Warm.
Dangerous.
“Oh,” Gojo murmured.
“What?”
“You actually smile.”
Suguru rolled his eyes immediately to hide the sudden heat in his face.
“Goodnight, Gojo.”
“Satoru.”
Suguru slowed slightly.
Gojo looked at him through rain-soaked white lashes.
“Call me Satoru.”
The city noise felt quieter suddenly.
Suguru wasn’t entirely sure why.
“…Goodnight, Satoru.”
And for the first time all evening—
Gojo looked genuinely pleased.