Ataraxia 平静 | Gojo Satoru

-'๑'-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟓-'๑'-

Four days had passed since I emerged from my 'half-coma,' as Yuji liked to call it. Time dragged on, but the company I had made it bearable. My students, along with Geto, visited whenever they could spare a moment, and Shoko remained at my side for the most part. Even Nanami dropped in the other day, wishing me a speedy recovery.

Gojo hadn't shown his face since that morning. I wasn't exactly surprised, considering everything. It wasn't like he had the time for it anyways, and whether he even wanted to was questionable, to say the least.

Despite Shoko's protests, I managed to convince (more like harass) her into releasing me earlier. She used me as an excuse to avoid work, and I couldn't resist a chance to escape the confines of the infirmary. I strolled down the pavement, heading toward the students' block, when someone body-slammed into me from behind.

"Yue-sensei!" Yuji beamed, oblivious to the fact that he nearly sent me face-first into the sand. "How come you're here so soon?"

He squeezed a sticky ball in his hands, and shortly after, the two wolves came into view, tongues lolling out. How distracted was I that I didn't sense their presence? My lips pulled into a frown, realizing how dull I'd become during this past week.

"Shoko said I'm healthy as a horse," I lied, ruffling his hair.

"Does that mean you'll come back to training us? Gojo-sensei has been so boring lately," he complained, throwing the ball into the distance. The twins darted after it.

I raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"It's just—he always makes up some lame excuse to ditch us on missions or doesn't show up at all."

"Hmm, perhaps he's just busy with other matters."

Being the center of the universe must be time-consuming, I thought, stopping myself from snarking further.

He snorted, wrestling the ball out of the white one's mouth. "Yeah, that's what he always says. He's busy, but then we find him drooling in the movie room, buying sweets, or gossiping with Geto-senpai."

I watched as the ball flew again and chuckled at the boy's pout. "Sounds like him, alright. I think we all know Gojo has never been the professional type." I cringed.

"But—since you stepped out, sensei, he's just been worse. Like he doesn't even seem to notice our annoyance, and he sleeps so much! Even though Shoko-senpai pesters him all the time to rest, it's ridiculous how much he's slacking. I understand that those sleepless nights took their toll on him but—"

"Woah, slow down a bit," I interrupted him, rubbing the space between my brows. "What did he lose sleep over?"

Yuji narrowed his eyes in slight confusion, fidgeting with the ball. "Well, he didn't really sleep while you were in your half-coma, and during the day, he would just disappear—like, into thin air, for hours straight. He never really said much about it when we asked where he was going, just that he had things to do." The wolves were basically jumping on him in anticipation, eyes focused on his hands.

My forehead wrinkled further as I mulled over his words, questions tugging at my mind.

"He would never admit that, though," Yuji grinned, juggling with the ball in challenge. "Not to you, at least."

I gave him an inquiring look, satisfaction blooming in my chest when he got tumbled over by the excited duo. I knew it wasn't his intention to irk me, but the sight was a nice one nonetheless.

"Are you saying Gojo Satoru lost sleep because of me?" My confusion was eating at me, along with pent-up frustration.

He answered between chuckles and groans. "That's my guess, at least. It could also be literally anything else, knowing Gojo-sensei—"