Haven't We Met Somewhere Before?

...Carrying the bag of sweets I'd just bought, I arrived back at the dormitory entrance.

Before I even stepped inside, I could tell that besides Xiao Mako, there were three other people in the room.

Kobashi Yume and the others were here too?

I quietly opened the door, gently closed it behind me, and set the things I'd bought on the shoe rack in the entryway.

"I'm home! Xiao Mako, ready for round two?"

As I spoke, I pulled off the top half of my clothes.

By the time I appeared before them, I'd just stripped down to my innermost shirt.

"Ah!!!"

While they were still staring blankly at each other, Gojo Satoru let out a piercing shriek!

Everyone was startled by the sound, and Shiranami Chihiro immediately hugged the Ichinose beside her.

"Boo-hoo~, I'm never going to get married now!"

Gojo Satoru collapsed onto the floor in a mermaid-sit pose, even grabbing the shirt he'd just taken off to cover part of his body.

The others were so stunned by this performance that they couldn't speak. Shiranami Chihiro, once she snapped out of it, shot him a look like he was an idiot.

Meanwhile, Amikura Mako burst out laughing.

"Hahaha~, Satoru-kun, stop messing around. Look, Chihiro was almost scared into jumping just now."

"It's all your fault! You didn't even say you were coming, and now I've been seen by everyone!"

As he said this, he pulled his shirt back on.

But the atmosphere seemed to be taking a strange turn. Amikura Mako was grinning, Shiranami Chihiro was glaring, Kobashi Yume was watching with curiosity—why did Ichinose seem to be avoiding eye contact?

"Alright, alright, it's my fault. Next time I'll send you a message ahead of time."

Seeing him like this, Amikura Mako had no choice but to give in.

After all, he was her boyfriend; she had to spoil him a little.

"No need for that. Come whenever you want. I don't like checking my phone."

This time, he didn't keep up the act and spoke a bit more seriously.

With that, he sat down next to Amikura Mako, ignoring the others' gazes, and gently took her hand, asking softly, "Feeling better now? Want to take another day off tomorrow? It's the weekend the day after anyway."

Amikura Mako wasn't embarrassed by the onlookers either. She leaned her head against Gojo Satoru's shoulder and said with a smile, "I'm fine now. Simple walking is no problem. And I've already missed three days of class—my classmates seem pretty worried about me."

"Alright then. But if it feels like too much, make sure to tell me."

"Mm!"

Watching their warm scene, Kobashi Yume felt genuinely happy. After all, her good friend looked very content.

But Ichinose couldn't take it anymore. She stood up and said, "Since Gojo is back, it's time for us to leave. Otherwise, we'd just be intruding."

Hearing this, Kobashi Yume and Shiranami Chihiro suddenly realized they'd been third-wheeling this whole time. They stood up too, ready to leave.

"Have we met somewhere before?"

Ignoring what had just been said, he asked Ichinose directly.

"Huh? Satoru-kun, are you planning to make a move on Honami? Right in front of me!"

Amikura Mako lifted her head, puffing out her cheeks as she glared at Gojo Satoru's face.

Hearing this, Shiranami Chihiro immediately shot him a wary look.

"No, I'm not. Gojo might be mistaken."

Not intending to stay any longer, she said this and walked straight out. Shiranami Chihiro glared at Gojo Satoru before following, while Kobashi Yume said "See you" before leaving.

'No, I've seen her before. I'm sure of it.'

And it seemed she recognized me too, but just didn't want to admit it. Since that was the case, there was no need to press the issue.

I already had Xiao Mako now, and there was still the issue with Shinsuke. Until things were truly settled, I shouldn't go out of my way to get involved with other girls.

"I really just thought she looked familiar."

With that, he pressed his lips to hers.

Amikura Mako, being kissed fervently, felt her body go weak. All she could do was wrap her arms tightly around his back.

Hah.

Five minutes passed before Gojo Satoru finally pulled his lips away, a silver thread still connecting them.

Finally freed, Amikura Mako gasped for air, her entire face flushed bright red. She stared at Gojo Satoru with dazed eyes and answered in a weak voice.

"I believe in Satoru-kun!"

!!!

Seeing her like this, how could Gojo Satoru hold back? He scooped her up onto the bed and slowly stripped off his clothes again.

"You haven't fully recovered down there yet. This time, I'll teach you something else."

Hearing this, Amikura Mako, lying on the bed, blushed and nodded. She raised both arms, forming a posture waiting for an embrace.

The next morning, Amikura Mako clung to Gojo Satoru's arm as they walked toward the classroom. Many passing girls shot her jealous looks.

After all, Gojo Satoru wasn't even wearing sunglasses today, his face completely exposed. He paid no attention to the stares around him.

But Amikura Mako felt a bit possessive and said urgently, "Satoru-kun, you should wear sunglasses or a blindfold from now on. I don't like the way they look at you."

Seeing her puffed-up cheeks, Gojo Satoru could only reach out his free left hand to pat her head, speaking in a gentle tone.

"Mm, whatever you say."

Witnessing this scene, the jealous glares from the surrounding girls grew even sharper.

But some didn't seem to care at all—or rather, they seemed to enjoy it even more!

As they neared the entrance to Class B's first-year classroom, Amikura Mako pulled Gojo Satoru's face down, stood on tiptoe, and gave him a kiss. Then she ran ahead and turned back to say, "I'll go in first then! See you at lunch, Satoru-kun."

"Mm, I'll come find you at noon."

"Ohayou! Class D students!"

A familiar scene—Gojo Satoru jumped into the room again.

But this time, everyone stared at him with strange expressions.

Sensing the gazes were even more intense than usual, Gojo Satoru took a step back and said timidly, "Why is everyone so enthusiastic today? It's kind of scary."

The classroom, which had still had some chatter, fell silent. Everyone looked at this weirdo in front of them, unsure how to even comment.

Still, Hirata asked out of curiosity, "Gojo-kun, are you injured? Why do you have bandages wrapped around your eyes?"

"Ah, this? Actually, my girlfriend got a bit jealous today, and I didn't have a blindfold or sunglasses on me, so I had to borrow some bandages from the infirmary."

Gojo Satoru announced it proudly!

"I see. I thought Gojo-kun was hurt and couldn't make it to this afternoon's basketball game."

Several other students nodded in agreement.

"Huh? How did you guys know? Did Sudo say something?"

How did they know about the afternoon game? Shouldn't it only be known by the Basketball Club members and himself?

'I've been set up!'

Sure enough, just as he thought, Hirata Yosuke explained, "Gojo-kun, haven't you checked the campus forum? It's because the first-years and third-years of the Basketball Club are having a match.

Even though the first-years seem to have no chance, someone leaked the video of Gojo-kun demolishing the team's power forward on the first day of school. A lot of people think this game will be interesting now.

After all, the skills Gojo-kun showed in that video were incredible. Some people also recognized Gojo-kun as the captain of the team that won the national middle school basketball championship three years in a row.

Someone used this topic to set up an anonymous betting pool, and a lot of people placed bets."