Look at Me (Satoru Gojo x OC)

4: November 12

12:03 P.M.

Unlike the students who eagerly left the classroom to go to their next class or to the cafeteria, she still sat at her desk, waiting for the crowd to thin out at the door. She turned on her phone and almost winced upon seeing the innumerable amount of notifications that popped up on her lock screen. Suddenly, her screen changed—he was calling her. She hesitated for a moment, Étude Op. 10, No. 1 in C major by Chopin playing from her phone, before she clicked the accept button.

"Hello?" she spoke into the phone.

"Mana-chan! I thought you blocked me again," he whined.

"I considered it when I saw seventy-three notifications." She felt an inexplicable urge to walk, perhaps because she was calling him. She stood up with her bag and headed somewhere, to a destination she had yet to decide.

"That's your fault for ignoring me."

She sighed. "Sorry, I was in class."

"If you're sorry, you better not block me."

"Okay."

"And reply to my texts."

"Okay."

"And pick up my calls."

"Okay."

"Stop saying 'okay' to everything."

"Okay." An amused smile tugged at her lips.

"Sing 'I love Satoru Gojo!' in 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' while doing the chicken dance."

She chuckled quietly. That was definitely something she could not say 'okay' to.

"I win."

"I wasn't aware that this was a competition."

"You started it though."

"Did I?"

"Yep."

Silence followed, although it was technically not silent. She could hear an announcement through a public address system and unintelligible chattering through her phone, and she was outside, surrounded by students and their conversations. "Are you at the subway?"

"Nah, I'm at the airport. I'm going to Hokkaido for a business trip—ah, don't worry. I'll be back in time for our date. I just wanted to see you once before I left today, but you never read my messages or picked up my calls."

He said it so casually, but a wave of mixed emotions crashed into her—guilt for even thinking about blocking him again, happiness from hearing that he wanted to see her, and sadness in knowing that the next couple of days would be less vibrant without his presence. "I hope this call is enough," she said softly.

"Hmm..." He paused to think. "Yeah, it's not enough. I'm gonna come see you right now."

Her jaw dropped. "N-now? What about your flight?"

"A few hours isn't gonna make a difference."

"But—"

"See you in thirty!"

Before she could convince him that she was not worth the time, he hung up.

12:35 P.M.

Walking through campus, he realized how big the university was, but it was easy to locate her. In the vast field, she was one of the few people who sat on the grass—more specifically, a brown gingham picnic blanket—despite the chilly weather. Her pale yellow, shaggy faux-fur coat stood out from the others, and her wavy, honey-blonde hair that fell down her back was unmistakably hers.

He approached her and sat down next to her, waiting for her to notice. Unaware of him, she stared at the pond, her mind wandering in a dense forest of thoughts. She hugged her knees to her chest with her phone in her hand, most likely expecting a call or text from him. He played a silent guessing game by himself: Guess How Long Until Mana Notices Me.

After a minute, her phone dinged. She was expecting an alert, but she was so immersed in her thoughts that she could only jump in surprise and drop her phone in the process. A chuckle sounded beside her, and she whipped her head to see him sitting cross-legged, watching her with an amused smile on his face.

"I guessed ten minutes," he mused, "but your phone ruined it."

"W-w-what're you—since when?"

He laughed. "Only for a minute."

Her heartbeat slowed to a normal rate, and she remembered what she planned. She grabbed a plastic bag full of convenience store food and snacks and handed it to him. "For when you get hungry on your flight."

He eagerly looked into the bag—two onigiri, a bento box, two sandwiches, four chocolate bars, a cake, a taiyaki, a package of crepes, a bag of potato chips, tea, juice, coffee, water—and laughed. "This is a lot of food for a two hour flight."

"I didn't know what you liked," she muttered, embarrassed. She assumed that he liked sweets and bought a variety, including the chocolates he bought at the convenience store yesterday. But what if he was hungry and craved something fulfilling? So she bought food. She had no idea what he liked, thus buying him an assortment of foods. Then she realized that he would be thirsty after eating, which prompted her to buy a selection of drinks. "Is it...is it too much?"

He smiled. Nobody had ever cared about how he felt (excluding that one person who was no longer by his side)—or more exactly, nobody needed to worry about him, someone who held so much power that it would not matter even if he were to become the enemy of the entire world. Then there was her, worrying over trivial matters like this just to make him happy. It warmed him like drinking hot coffee on a cold winter morning, an unfamiliar yet pleasant feeling he embraced.

"Maybe it's too little. I am a big man after all." He saw her worried face and chuckled. "I'm just joking. This is the perfect amount. Thanks."

"You're welcome," she said quietly with a bashful smile.

"I guess with this, I owe you a date now."

"I suppose you do."

"And just yesterday, you were telling me how you were too busy to go on a date with me."

"You did come across as stalker-ish," she joked, giggling.

"Hey! Most girls would dream of me stalking them!"

"Maybe in your dreams."

2:40 P.M.

"Ah, Ijichi? Can you pick me up? And buy me a train ticket to Hokkaido. I'm taking the train there."

"I thought I bought another plane ticket?"

"Yeah, but I forgot that drinks don't go through TSA."

"...What?"