Pitiful yet Ravishing

There was some free time after lunch.

There was still a while before the first afternoon class, and the sunlight streamed pleasantly through the cafeteria windows.

The mountain breeze swept through the corridor, carrying the fresh sweetness of April greenery and gently swaying the curtain outside the cafeteria doors.

Satoru Gojo stood up, planted both hands on the edge of the dining table, and announced a momentous decision. His exact words were, "I'm going to explore every inch of this mountain and see if there are any hidden basements or secret training grounds."

His sunglasses were back on his nose, but they couldn't hide the Six Eyes gleaming beneath them.

As he spoke, he leaned slightly forward, his weight on the balls of his feet, ready to take off at any moment.

He grabbed Shoko's uniform sleeve, carefully calibrating his grip somewhere between "won't get me killed in retaliation" and "strong enough that she can't escape."

Shoko had just put the last mouthful of mashed yam into her mouth and hadn't yet had a chance to drink her now-lukewarm tea.

He pulled her out of her chair, chopsticks still in hand.

"I still have class this afternoon." Her tone was flat, but she drew out every word a little longer than usual-a final, gentle protest against the world.

"That's why we have to make the most of our time now! We won't get another chance this afternoon!" Satoru Gojo had already taken a step toward the door, turning back to grin at her.

"I want to rest during lunch break."

"Exploring is the best kind of rest! Come play, Shoko. Come plaaay~"

The two of them tugged back and forth as they went out through the cafeteria doors.

Shoko's uniform sleeve had been pulled slightly out of shape. Her steps retained their unhurried rhythm, but she was forced to increase that unhurried pace by fifty percent.

She was a fifteen-year-old girl, even if she had seen patients, the injured, and corpses.

But she wanted to enjoy her youth, too.

Youth was wonderful, wasn't it?

The breeze stirred up by their passing lifted the curtain outside the cafeteria doors, making its wooden beads knock together in a string of delicate clicks.

Before she was dragged away, Shoko glanced back at Yan Si and Suguru Geto.

Her dark brown eyes looked past Satoru Gojo's shoulder. Her gaze was calm, but it clearly said, Why aren't you two scumbags doing anything about this white-haired idiot?

Yan Si smiled and waved, his fingers flicking cheerfully, his expression utterly guiltless.

Suguru Geto set down his chopsticks and gave her a solemn nod. Their movements were so perfectly coordinated that they might have rehearsed them.

One fanned the flames; the other handled the aftermath.

The cafeteria doors closed behind them, and the clatter of the curtain's beads gradually died away.

Outside the window, Satoru Gojo took strides so large he looked as though he were surveying the land, his white hair shining brightly. Shoko had to jog a few steps as he dragged her along before she could match his pace. Their figures flashed past the cafeteria window and soon disappeared into the shadows of the tree-lined path.

Satoru Gojo's excited cries of "This way, this way!" and Shoko's cool protests of "Slow down" drifted from the corridor. One voice was high and exuberant, the other as steady as a straight line. The two collided and intertwined within the wooden corridor, growing more and more distant.

Yan Si picked up his cup, took a sip of water, and remarked, "Shoko's walking a very energetic dog."

Suguru Geto ate the last piece of potato on his plate and wiped the corner of his mouth with a tissue. "Keep your voice down."

"He can't hear me." Yan Si set down his cup, its base tapping softly against the wooden table.

"He has the Six Eyes."

Yan Si fell silent for a second. His purple eyes drifted upward as he seriously considered the range of the Six Eyes and how far that cat might have gone beyond the school grounds.

Then he nodded and said with certainty, "Dead Cat probably can't pick up on it, right?"

Suguru Geto gave up on correcting him.

Once he'd started calling him "Dead Cat," there wasn't much point in correcting him anymore.

He stood up, preparing to return his tray to the collection window.

Just then, the cafeteria doors burst open with a bang.

Satoru Gojo was back.

He had returned abnormally quickly. The force of his entrance sent the curtain flying high, its wooden beads clattering together.

His white hair stuck up in a mountain-wind-tousled mess, and his sunglasses had slid to the tip of his nose. Beneath them, his Six Eyes locked straight onto Yan Si, his expression full of delighted realization, as though he'd just remembered, I almost forgot you.

Before Suguru Geto could react, Satoru Gojo had strode over to Yan Si.

He bent down, scooped him up, and lifted, all in one fluid motion.

He hauled Yan Si straight out of his chair and slung him over his shoulder.

Yan Si's view suddenly flipped from horizontal to vertical.

His long hair hung down, its ends almost brushing Satoru Gojo's calves.

Satoru Gojo's shoulder pressed into a spot just above his stomach. It wasn't particularly comfortable, but he didn't struggle or even instinctively brace himself with his arms. He simply hung limply over his shoulder, both hands dangling.

He turned his head, looking down at the floor past Satoru Gojo's back, and drawled, "Dead Cat, what the hell's gotten into you?"

At that, Satoru Gojo immediately lifted his chin.

Lifting his chin while carrying someone over his shoulder wasn't actually easy, but he managed it anyway, raising it so high that his sunglasses nearly slipped off the tip of his nose. "Who're you calling a dead cat? Even if I were a cat, I'd be the most expensive living cat!"

His voice echoed through the cafeteria's empty, high-ceilinged space. This time, the woman in the kitchen didn't even bother poking her head out.

She had already decided that whatever happened out there, she would no longer be curious.

With Satoru Gojo's shoulder pressing into his abdomen, Yan Si's voice bounced and trembled slightly as he spoke. "...No idea how expensive you are, but the way you're carrying me really looks like a kidnapping."

"Then why don't you struggle?"

"Poor little Yan-chan is being bullied by Six Eyes Gojo, okay~" Yan Si teased lazily.

Suguru Geto stood up and reached out to stop him.

His hand was already extended toward Satoru Gojo's arm, aiming to intercept the cat who intended to run off with someone over his shoulder.

Satoru Gojo noticed.

Through the Six Eyes, Suguru Geto's trajectory was perfectly clear.

He darted sideways, dodging with an agility that was almost instinctive.

Then he jumped straight toward the ceiling.

He didn't activate Limitless. He used sheer jumping power, pushing off the floor and launching himself into the air with Yan Si over his shoulder.

Then Yan Si's face slammed solidly into Satoru Gojo's back.

[Points +2]

The dull thud was especially distinct in the cafeteria.

It wasn't the soft thump of hitting a backpack or a coat. It was a direct collision between the bridge of his nose and a spine, with nothing to cushion the impact.

Yan Si's head bounced backward, his long hair fanning out in the air before falling again.

Fuck, this cat was hard.

Satoru Gojo landed, planted his feet firmly, and registered the jolt against his back.

He turned his head to look down over his shoulder.

Yan Si was still hanging over it, but now there was a streak of red on his face. Blood flowed from his nose, ran over his lips, and dripped onto the dangling ends of his hair before falling onto the cafeteria floor.

He didn't raise a hand to cover it or immediately stop the bleeding with Reverse Cursed Technique. He just hung there, even rubbing his nose with his sleeve and smearing the cuff red.

Bright red, beautiful, pitiful yet ravishing.

Suguru Geto watched, his outstretched hand still suspended in midair.

His gaze moved from the blood on Yan Si's face to Satoru Gojo's "uh-oh" expression, then back to Yan Si's face.

He took a deep breath.

"...Satoru Gojo."

Still carrying Yan Si, Satoru Gojo broke into a cold sweat. "...I didn't mean to."

Yan Si heard the faint guilt in Satoru Gojo's voice and the undercurrent of anger in Suguru Geto's.

He had originally intended to patch himself up with Reverse Cursed Technique and toss out a few teasing remarks.

But now...

Heehee.