The Strongest | ɢᴏᴊᴏ ꜱᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ

Chapter 8

I get to the dining room at exactly one minute before six. Gojo is already sitting at the same table as this morning. That feels like a lifetime ago. I've been zapping through the TV channels in my room for the past hour until I decided there was nothing good on. Now I'm dressed in all black, fairly comfortable, but still classy.

The sorcerer looks up from the menu when I get to the table and sit down. "Laundry day?" is all he says.

I sneer at him but don't dignify that with a response. Instead, I pick up my own menu and read through it. Today's dinner specials look good, and I contemplate ordering the braised pork ribs. Maybe some white wine... Though I probably shouldn't be drinking.

The people at the tables around us are all having conversations, but Gojo and I are utterly silent. He's not looking at me, and I'm not looking at him. I've decided long ago what I want to eat, but I'm still hiding my face behind the menu, pretending that I'm still not sure. I don't know what to say to him. There's not many conversations we've had where we didn't end up angry at each other. Also, there's nothing we can talk about except for work, maybe, but who wants to do that?

Just as I think I should say something to break this unbearable silence, a waitress appears. I look up at her, but she's looking at Gojo, basically drooling and waiting for him to order. He turns his head to glance at me, and when he sees my expression, he grins and looks up at the waitress. She all but bats her eyelashes at him, and he's fully enjoying the attention.

Before this can go on any longer, I interrupt their disgusting whatever-this-is with my order. The lady seems to remember that she is actually at work and writes everything down. Gojo orders a bottle of wine for both of us even though I ordered a glass of water, but I accept the offer. The waitress nods, blushes when he thanks her, and walks away.

I roll my eyes, then look at my hands. Now, there's no menu for me to hide behind. Damn it. Again, there's nothing for me to say. I look around the room behind Gojo, pointedly ignoring his face and looking for something to help me start a conversation.

How do you talk to someone whose conversations usually start with "don't even think about approaching me" or "What have you done this time?"? Where do you even begin to be nice to someone who you've been fighting with for over three weeks? Then again... he did save my life yesterday. Maybe I could start there.

"I -" My words seem to spill out of my mind as soon as he looks at me. I can't even see his eyes, but something about him right now makes me so damn uncomfortable. It's probably the atmosphere we're in. "I just wanted to say thank you for... saving me, I guess."

Gojo has this special kind of grin that always hits my very last nerve. It's mocking me and making me angry. "I'm always here to save a damsel in distress."

I shouldn't have said anything. I know I shouldn't have. I roll my eyes and look away. "Forget it if you can't be normal about it."

He chuckles. "You already thanked me last night."

Still not looking at him, my eyes widen. Last night? What don't I remember? I'm immediately panicked before realizing that I thanked him when I woke up again. I guess I had been too wounded and exhausted to even say anything when he had brought me back to the hotel.

"I know," I mumble. "Just wanted to say it again in case your pea-brain already forgot."

Another chuckle. "I appreciate it," he replies, and from the corner of my eye, I can see him inclining his head a little. "Besides," he adds in a more serious tone, "you did good."

I roll my eyes. "Shut up."

"I mean it," he says, and my eyes snap to his face. There's no grin, no smirk, not a single trace of humor or ridicule. He's serious. My heart jumps when I realize. He's serious. "The cursed spirit was at its limits when I got there. A child could have finished it off."

He's serious. Against my will, the corners of my lips tug upward, but before a full smile appears, a waiter brings us our drinks. I'm glad for the distraction as I watch him pour us two glasses of the expensive wine that Gojo ordered. Yaga won't be happy with us, that's for sure. Especially if he finds out that this weekend was nothing but a waste of money.

When the waiter leaves our table again, my colleague and I fall into silence again. This is unbearable. I try to tune out the people around us, but there is one group of men at a table close by who is talking so loudly with each other that I can't ignore them.

Gojo seems to have noticed them, too, because when one of the men says, "If we don't do something fast, that bitch is gonna get promoted before us," Gojo leans in closer and says, "And we wouldn't want that, would we?"

I have to chuckle. He's good at that - eavesdropping - he's done that to me more times than I can count. Every time we're in the cafeteria and I talk to someone, Gojo is standing a few feet away and just listens and butts into the conversation. But I'll admit, if he's not doing it to me, it's actually kind of funny.

"Oh, no, not a bitch like that," I reply in a mock-serious but low voice so the men can't hear me.

"The man's been up her ass ever since she got to the firm," another man says. "Who knows how long it takes until they start sleeping with each other."

"My guess is as soon as she's promoted," a third guy says. "That's the day she'll have put out."

My jaw almost drops, but Gojo's remark comes first. "Personally, I think she earned it." I look at him, and he looks right back at me. "Though I wouldn't mind sleeping with her."

I narrow my eyes again. "You're not funny, do you know that?"

He leans back in his chair and smirks. "Oh, I think I'm hilarious." He takes a sip of his wine and encourages me to do the same, so I do. It's a good wine, but it's not really worth the price. "Are you joking?" Gojo asks when I say that part out loud. "This is premium wine."

"And I get that," I say. "But honestly, it's just as good as any reasonably priced bottle I've ever had."

His mouth is slightly hanging open as he gawks at me in disbelief. It's sometimes funny to me how his expressions are always so clear even when his eyes are hidden behind that white blindfold.

I laugh. "Close your mouth, or someone is gonna take that as an invitation."

As if on cue, the waitress from earlier arrives with our dinner. Gojo and I break out in laughter, which makes her glare daggers at me. I clear my throat, and Gojo chuckles a little and throws the waitress an overwhelmingly bright smile. She walks away, making the man turn his smile on me. I roll my eyes.

"Eat your food and shut up," I say.

He grins. The men at the table next to us push their glasses together. "Cheers," they say. Gojo raises his glass. I roll my eyes again, but I can't hide my unwanted grin when we, too, clink our glasses.