That Damn Kitty

"Huff, huff, huff... I'm so tired-!" I hadn't even made it halfway up before I was panting with exhaustion. I wanted to lie down right there and sleep...

Wait, why wasn't I teleporting?!

"Why did they have to build Jujutsu High deep in the mountains-?!" My shout came back in a winding series of echoes.

"Oh dear~ What a heartbreaking sight. I stepped outside and found a poor little Edano~" The moment I heard that opening, I knew it was that menace Gojo.

"Ah... what a coincidence, Mr. Gojo. Are you hiking for exercise...?" I squinted at him, utterly drained.

"No coincidence, Edano. I was about to go catch a naughty child who kept ignoring my messages and making me worry!"

I silently pulled out my phone and took a look.

99+ unread notifications. Great. My heart had finally stopped dangling in suspense-it was dead.

"Ahahaha... well, actually... because, you see... and then, well, that's what happened, ahaha..." I laughed stiffly, my confidence draining by the second.

"You're so heartless, Edano. Once you got your leave approved, you stopped caring about your teacher altogether~"

"Ahahaha, um, it was an accident. An accident. I promise it'll never happen again."

"All right! I'll take you back first. Meanwhile, think about how you're going to give me a nice, thorough explanation." Satoru Gojo easily tucked me under one arm, while his other hand picked up the huge bag of desserts I was carrying. Just like that, my hands and feet were dangling in midair.

Satoru Gojo teleported back to the dorms with me, but why didn't this look like my dorm?! Satoru Gojo, where the hell had you taken me?!

"...Sir, this isn't the girls' dorm, is it?"

"That's right. It's the faculty dorm!"

"...?" I said nothing, slowly turning to look at him with an enormous question mark practically floating over my head.

"Yep, yep! It wouldn't be appropriate for me to enter the girls' dorm, so I had to bring you here!" He opened his door as he spoke. "Make yourself at home. Come in, come in!"

He looked like a white kitty waving a paw and saying, "Come on in, darling. Come play with me~"...

Wasn't this a little inappropriate...? Oh, whatever. If he didn't mind, why should I? It definitely wasn't because I wanted to see what the kitty's dorm looked like!

So I took a deep breath and followed him inside.

Well, Satoru Gojo's room looked perfectly normal. It wasn't any different from the other dorm rooms!

"Sit, sit, sit!" Satoru Gojo pushed me down onto his bed, which looked about three meters wide. Was this the power of money? This bed was so huge and soft! If I could sleep here, I wouldn't even mind holding Shoko on my left and Nobara on my right!

"...What are you thinking about, Edano?" Why did his voice sound a little cold? I wasn't sure. I'd better listen again.

"...What brand is this mattress? It's so comfortable," I couldn't help marveling aloud.

"If you like it, I'll have one custom-made and sent to you later..."

"Now, shouldn't you explain what you went off to do, Edano? You wouldn't even reply to my messages." Why did he sound like he was speaking through gritted teeth?

"Reporting in! I went to play the beauty rescuing the hero!"

"...?"

I'd only gone out to do a good deed! At that thought, I straightened right up. Then I remembered that I hadn't answered his messages all day, and wilted again.

"...Explain."

"Ah, the beauty rescued the hero! What else is there to explain?"

"Ow!" That answer successfully earned me a knock on the head.

"Details. Who did you save, what happened, and why didn't you reply? I was really worried about you." As Satoru Gojo spoke, he rubbed the spot he'd just hit.

God only knew how worried he'd been after receiving no reply for half a day. If he hadn't confirmed there were no traces of curses, he would have charged out the very first time the girl failed to answer.

As for why he was so worried, even he couldn't figure it out. Maybe it was because she looked so sickly, as though a single punch from him could kill her...

Yes, yes, it was definitely because Edano was too weak. He was afraid she'd drop dead in some corner without him knowing. He only had one favorite student. If that happened, he wouldn't even know where to go cry.

Satoru Gojo grew more and more convinced of his reasoning, completely ignoring the fact that the girl he thought he could kill with one punch could actually take down a special grade cursed spirit in a single hit.

"Okay, actually, I made a new friend! He's super cute, and he's a jujutsu sorcerer too!"

"...A friend?" The air around Satoru Gojo instantly grew oppressive.

"Ah... yes..." I wanted to curl up into a tiny ball. I had no idea what sore spot I'd hit.

"Yep, yep, tell me all about it!" Suddenly, he withdrew that terrifying aura and pestered me as though nothing had happened.

"So..." Blah, blah, blah.

"Oh, oh, oh!"

"And then..." Blah, blah, blah.

"Mhm, mhm, mhm!"

"...So that's how it ended." I sat up straight with my hands on my knees, blinking innocently at him.

"Ah~ All right. Since you brought your teacher a gift, I suppose I can forgive you!"

"Huh? How did you know those were for you?"

"I already sneaked a taste. Don't tell me you've started liking things twice as sweet too!"

My pupils contracted, and I hurriedly checked the bags of desserts. Sure enough, they'd all been opened.

"When did you eat them?! How am I supposed to share them with Shoko, Megumi, and everyone else now?!" I demanded, losing my mind.

"Heh-heh. Just now, while you were explaining..." The kitty guiltily averted his eyes.

"Aaaaaah! Satoru Gojo, you owe me desserts!!!"

"Nope, nope! You brought these for me, Edano. I'm not giving them to Megumi and the others!"

"Satoru Gojo, you're twenty-eight! Why are you still acting like a three-year-old?!"

"What's wrong with twenty-eight?! Do you think your teacher's old, Edano?!" He pulled off his blindfold and leaned his face close to mine. "Look at this devastatingly handsome face! What part of it looks old?! I'm still just as handsome!"

The gorgeous face suddenly filling my vision made my breath catch.

Fine. You won.

I sulked. I said nothing. I turned away, refusing to look at him.

"...Huh? Are you really mad? Don't be mad. I'll go with you next time to buy some for Megumi and the others." The kitty sneakily caught the hem of my clothes.

"I'm not mad. I'm just annoyed with myself..." Why did I have so little self-control? One look at a handsome face and all my anger vanished!

"Hmm?" The kitty leaned over to inspect my expression, and then...

"Hahahahahahahahaha! It's fine. You just can't resist the charm of good-looking guy Gojo. That's only human, hahahahahahaha~"

Wearing the utterly unimpressed expression of that British kid, I planted a hand right over his laughing face. Sure enough, the person beneath my palm instantly went quiet. Huh, his skin was surprisingly smooth and springy. How did Satoru Gojo keep it like that at his age?

Well, I couldn't help pinching his cheeks, which were even softer than a high school boy's. As I left, I also took the chance to stroke the soft white hair I'd been dreaming about.

"Ahem, get some rest, sir. I'll be going!" Then, before Gojo the kitty could react, I made a quick getaway.

A long while later, a barely audible sigh came from the room.

"How naughty. Now she's learned to tease her teacher." With his ears flushed red and his face looking like an innocent young boy's, Satoru Gojo's words carried no menace whatsoever.