Archive of Our Own

“Innate domains that are expanded using only cursed energy without an embedded cursed technique are incomplete even if they include a barrier,” Toge states. Next to his crudely drawn enclosed domain drawing on the chalkboard, he draws what he hopes somewhat represents an incomplete domain.

“In most cases, the same applies to domains without a fully enclosed barrier. Closing the barrier fully integrates the embedded technique into the domain and enables its sure hit effect. Without that, the caster will only receive an improved cursed technique without a can't-miss attack.”

They’re going over domain expansions today in class. Since Toge teaches the second year students, most of what he does is provide them advice on their already developed techniques, and jujutsu sorcerer focused history classes that even he will admit is a bit boring. Domain expansion, the pinnacle of jujutsu sorcery, is a prime example of something that these students could try to focus on in their second year.

He turns around from the chalkboard to face the class. Ema, ever the perfect student, is neatly writing down notes with her pink pen and matching pink notebook. Her twin sister Airi however, barely looks awake, resting her head in the palm of her gloved hand, eyelids fluttering.

Though the girls are twins, they’re fraternal, each with their own cursed technique.

“That’s good,” Maki had said, when she was reading over their file, though her eyes looked somewhat lifeless when she did. She doesn’t see the twins often, which Toge finds a bit of a shame, even if he understands.

The girls were discovered in a house that had been burnt to ashes, the only two survivors of what seemed to be a happy home.

The cause of the fire had been Airi’s cursed technique. Whatever the girl touches bursts into flames, only kept under control when she wears her gloves. A strong, powerful technique— but the girl couldn’t seem to control it at all.

Ema’s technique is a bit more subtle. The girl can use her cursed energy to manipulate emotions. Before the school had found her, she hadn’t even known she was doing it. Maki says that when they found them in the wreckage of the house, Ema had been using it to keep Airi a happy little doll, a desperate attempt to comfort the girl.

“It was the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Maki had bluntly stated. “That technique is more dangerous than it seems.”

Toge doesn’t talk to the girls much about their past. He knows it’s hard to talk about, and every sorcerer has their own story. But he’ll admit he’s developed a soft spot for them— they’ve suffered through similar things. A cursed technique that’s just intertwined with your being, something that seems so impossible to control. But he knows they can do it. It just might take some time.

Toge takes a moment to study the two girls again. Despite it all, they truly look like normal teenagers right now, Airi slacking off and Ema bouncing her leg with impatience despite trying her best to pay attention. They look so young. Is this how Gojo saw them all those years ago?

“Stand up,” he orders, words drenched in cursed energy.

Airi startles, eyes flashing open as her body immediately stands up, chair squeaking as it’s pushed back. Ema lets out a yelp when her body does the same.

Toge raises an eyebrow. Ema flushes with shame while Airi turns red with anger.

“That’s not fair!” She growls. “I wasn’t ready!”

“I’ve told you guys that you always need to be on guard. Protect your body with cursed energy. Create a barrier and block my cursed energy with yours,” Toge lectures.

“I know, I know,” Airi grumbles. “You won’t get me next time!”

“It’s tiring to keep the barrier up all the time,” Ema says forlornly. The cursed speech wears off, and the two girls plop back down into their seats, looking defeated.

Toge smiles. “The more you practice, the easier it’ll become. Your control on your cursed energy will improve.”

“How long did it take you to get enough control to limit your cursed speech?” Ema asks.

Toge pauses. “About five years,” he says. “But cursed speech is a very delicate game.”

His answer makes both the girls’ eyes widen in surprise. Airi frowns, glancing down at her gloved hands. She clenches one hand into a fist.

A knock on the door cuts through the somber atmosphere. Toge ignores the way his heart flutters when Yuuta pokes his head through the door with a charming smile.

“Inumaki-sensei,” he greets. “Sorry to interrupt, but can I have a moment of your time?”

“What do you need?” Toge asks, walking over to him.

It’s been ten years since Sukuna’s defeat, and Yuuta’s only gotten taller and broader since then. Toge has to tilt his head up quite a bit to meet his eyes. And just as Toge still has his missing arm, Yuuta still has his stitch-shaped scars across his forehead, though they’ve faded a bit over the years.

“Can you take the first years for PE?” He asks. “I was just called out for a mission, and Itadori-kun isn’t back yet.”

Toge nods in easy agreement. This was a common occurrence— Yuuta’s a special grade sorcerer after all, and is the busiest of them all.

But even though it’s so common, Yuuta still gives him an almost unbearably grateful smile. “Thanks,” he breathes out. “You’re the best.”

He’s not really sure why it makes his cheeks flush, but it does. “Make sure to come back.”

It’s what he always says, whenever Yuuta has to leave. He knows life or death can happen anytime to them. That’s the reality of a jujutsu sorcerer. But still. He needs Yuuta to come back. He’s not sure what he’d do if one day Yuuta doesn’t.

“I will,” Yuuta promises.

For a moment the two of them just stare at each other. Yuuta opens his mouth as if to say something, but seems to decide against it, letting out an awkward cough.

“Um, well. I-I’ll see you, Inumaki-ku— Inumaki-sensei,” he hurriedly corrects.

Toge smiles. “See you.”

Yuuta gives him a quick grin back before leaving the room. The moment he’s gone Ema and Airi giggle to themselves, making Toge give them a look.

“What’s so funny?”

“Sensei,” Ema begins, eyes bright, “It’s so obvious that Okkotsu-sensei is deeply in love with you.”

It takes all of Toge’s strength to not react. “Is it?” He asks. He busies himself with heading back to the front of the room, beginning to erase the chalkboard.

“Uh, yeah,” Airi insists. “He’s literally a lovesick puppy around you.”

“It’s so cute!” Ema exclaims. “He doesn’t even try to hide it. He’s always giving you flowers.”

Toge fights back a flush, glancing over at the bouquet that’s currently in a vase at the windowsill. He’s glad his back is facing the girls right now. “Those are just to decorate the classroom. They’re from the school garden.”

“Okay, still doesn’t change the fact that he gives you flowers!” Airi says with a huff. “And he’s always doing a bunch of other stuff for you too, like getting you lunch and coffee.”

“... He’s just a good friend,” Toge mumbles, after a pause.

“You know, the first years were saying that he was asking them if there were any trendy places to take someone out on a date the other day!” Ema says, giving Toge a knowing look.

“That has nothing to do with me,” Toge deadpans. He turns around and rummages around in his bag, pulling the girls’ quiz papers from last week. It’s definitely time to change the subject.

“Sure,” Airi drawls, rolling her eyes. “You guys should just hurry up and get together already. We’ve been watching you guys dance around each other since we were first years.”

“I don’t need love advice from little kids,” he shoots back, holding up Airi’s quiz to her. She winces, the page full of red marks. “Let’s get back to class. And Airi, stay awake this time.”

To be honest, the girls’ words stick in Toge’s head. He’s mulling it over as he heads into his office after class.

“See you later, Sensei!” Ema calls out, Airi in tow. Toge spends a moment studying them. He won’t see them for the next few days, the two girls being assigned a mission.

Toge doesn’t know if he’ll ever get used to this feeling— watching his students leave without knowing if they’ll come back. After Sukuna’s defeat, curses seemed to have gotten a bit weaker, the sign of a new era. But that doesn’t mean any of them can afford to relax.

“Sensei?” Airi calls out, making Toge snap out of it. He just shakes his head, patting the two girls on the head.

“See you later,” he says. The two of them smile, before continuing on their way.

He heads into the teacher’s lounge, sitting down at his desk. He wants to try to grade the girls’ essays before he has to take the first years out for PE, feeling blessed that he only has two students to look after. How other teachers survived grading assignments for large classes was beyond him. He starts to read Ema’s essay on the history of jujutsu but finds that he can barely focus.

“It’s so obvious that Okkotsu-sensei is deeply in love with you.”

He would’ve loved to hear those words back when he was a teenager. The Toge back then had no idea how to process his feelings towards Yuuta. All he knew was that he was drawn to Yuuta’s smile— and enjoyed it even more when that smile was because of him.

But who wasn’t drawn to Yuuta back then? A special grade sorcerer with amazing strength. A key player in the battle with Sukuna and the Culling Game. Yet his most noticeable feature was always his kindness. Even Maki had the softest spot for Yuuta. He was always the glue for their group.

It was easy for Toge to sit in denial about his feelings— they basically went through the apocalypse during their school days, so it’s not like he had much time to really think about it. It was only after the two of them graduated high school that Toge realized he had a big fat crush on the guy.

He lets out a chuckle. He’s grown a lot since then. Though he supposes Yuuta has, too. The older they get, the more self assured Yuuta seems to become. A big contrast to the anxious boy Toge first met.

He rests his head in the palm of his left hand, while he absentmindedly taps fingers on his right hand on his desk. Admittedly, maybe it was the anxiety that drew Toge to Yuuta in the first place. He remembers the way his eyes used to follow Yuuta around, curious and a bit concerned. At first he’d focus on things like the boy’s eyebags, or the way his hands would anxiously grip at his sleeves. Soon he found himself entranced by the boy’s smile, the sturdiness of his back. And before he knew it, it became harder and harder to look away from Okkotsu Yuuta.

That’s all in the past now, though admittedly, Toge understands why Airi and Ema seem to think that Yuuta is in love with him now. The man does… give off that impression. But Toge can’t think about that for too long, not if he wants to stay focused. After all, despite he and Yuuta’s long history, they’re coworkers now, and Toge would like to remain professional. Especially since the kids all seem to watch the two of them like hawks. Toge feels like he can’t even say hi to Yuuta without hearing someone snicker in the background.

So Toge does his best to keep all thoughts related to Yuuta to a minimum, even though Yuuta, whether intentionally or not, seems to love to make it hard for him to do so.

He shakes his head, face heating up at the realization that he’s just been thinking about Yuuta for the past few minutes. This is exactly what he’s talking about. He forces his focus back to Ema’s history paper.

He manages to finish grading the girl’s essays, pleasantly surprised at Airi’s results this time. Looks like the girl is actually somewhat paying attention in class, which is all Toge could really ask for. It’s not like his grades were that great either when he was a student.

He places the essays away, before heading straight to the training fields. He gets there just in time, the first years just starting to pull up.

To be honest, Toge doesn’t even really need to do much for PE. At this point in the year, after the harsh and busy summer season, the first years have had a decent amount of mission experience, and know how to train themselves. Still, he sends the first years out to do laps on the field, letting them warm up before assigning them sparring partners. He watches their matches, occasionally calling out advice and sometimes stopping Nakamura and Sato from actually killing each other. (Those two are always at each other’s throats).

When there’s only a few minutes left of PE, a black car pulls up from behind Toge on the road. He glances over his shoulder, blinking in surprise when he sees Yuuta stepping out. He quickly checks his watch. It’s barely been two hours since the man left for his mission.

“That was fast,” he says by way of greeting, as Yuuta bounds over. Whenever Yuuta’s called out on a mission, he’s usually gone for a few days, the intensity of a special grade’s missions always much higher. If Yuuji’s available, he watches over the first years in that time, but if he’s not, Toge would handle both the first and second years. Of course, Yuuta and Yuuji also fill in for Toge when he has to go on missions, too. If all three of them were busy, the kids just had to figure it out on their own for a few days— but well, that’s just what life is like as a jujutsu sorcerer.

Yuuta shrugs, looking proud. “It was a simple one this time.”

Toge lets out a huff. “Good work, Okkotsu-sensei.”

“Thanks, Inumaki-sensei,” the man replies with a grin. He looks over at the first years. “What do you think?”

Toge follows his gaze. “They’re growing fast,” Toge answers, after a pause.

Yuuta’s smile grows. “They are, aren’t they?” He turns his head to look at Toge. “The twins doing okay?”

“They’re fine,” Toge answers. “Just went out on a mission today.” He pauses, giving Yuuta a look.

“Actually,” he begins, “I heard something very interesting from Ema and Airi today, Okkotsu-sensei.”

Yuuta blinks at him. “Oh? Did you?”

Toge grins. “Yes. Apparently, the two of them think you're deeply in love with me.”

A flush spread across Yuuta’s cheeks, the man glancing away and letting out a cough.

“Huh,” Yuuta plays off, “is that so?”

“Yes. They were quite confident about it.”

“Well, what do you think?” Yuuta shoots back, taking a step closer. “Do you believe them?”

Toge pretends his heart doesn’t race at the sudden closeness. “You’re asking me about your feelings?”

Yuuta grins. It’s a smug, teasing grin that Toge doesn’t see very often, and it causes heat to simmer in his body. “You just seem like you’re excited about the idea, is all.”

Toge’s cheeks spark into flame. “I am not.”

“Really?” Yuuta continues to press, leaning in even further, “because—”

“Uh…Sensei?”

The two of them spring away from each other, Toge awkwardly clearing his throat while Yuuta scratches the back of his head.

“Y-Yes!” Yuuta bursts out. “What is it, Nakamura-kun?”

“PE is over… can we head back now?” The boy asks, glancing between him and Yuuta. Toge can see Sato’s eyes looking a bit too excited as she watches them with the other first years. He holds back a groan. The girl is totally going to blab to Ema about this.

“Oh, is it that time already?” Yuuta says with a forced laugh. “Of course. Feel free to head back. Don’t skip math class— the assistants have been telling me attendance has been low.”

The first years give a very unconvincing agreement to Yuuta’s last request, before starting to pick up their things. The two of them watch the students head back inside, chattering amongst themselves.

“Don’t stay out here too long by yourselves!” Sato calls out to them, making the other first years’ laugh. Toge does his best to keep a straight face.

“You better be ready to run tomorrow, Sato-chan!” Yuuta calls out in response, making the girl groan.

“Meanie!”

When the kids are out of sight, Toge lets out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They’re going to be talking about that for a while.”

Yuuta lets out a laugh. “Oh, they’re just having fun. It’s harmless.”

“They seriously think there’s something going on between us, though,” Toge complains.

Yuuta blinks at him, eyes teasing. “Is there not?”

Toge flushes, punching the man hard in the shoulder, making him wince.

“I’m being serious,” Toge says, and Yuuta is quick to sober up. “If this keeps going, they’re gonna be insufferable.”

“I know, I know,” he replies, resting a hand on Toge’s shoulder. “I’ll tell them to stop meddling so much, alright?”

Toge can’t seem to turn away from the man’s sincere gaze. “Thank you,” he mumbles. The grin Yuuta gives him causes fondness to swell up within his heart.

Ema [ 4:14 PM ]

sensei i heard u and okkotsu-sensei were flirting during PE!

Get off your phone and focus on your mission, Ema.

Airi and Ema return from their mission a few days later. They’re a bit worse for wear, but alive, which is all Toge could hope for.

“Did you take off the gloves?” Toge asks Airi. They’re in the teacher’s lounge, Airi writing her mission report. (The girl never seemed to do it on her own unless Toge sat her down and forced her.)

Airi pauses in her writing, before shaking her head. The girl looks tired. Sorrow and guilt swirl up in Toge’s heart, a common occurrence. If it was up to Toge, he would have wanted Airi to live a carefree life as a normal girl. But Toge never even had a choice for his own life.

“I know you’re scared,” he begins quietly, “but you should trust your training. You’ve worked very hard, Airi. I know you can control it.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Airi asks, gripping her pen tight. “What if I… hurt people again?”

“If you keep shying away from your cursed technique, then you will hurt people again,” Toge replies, making Airi stiffen. He lets out a sigh, patting her shoulder. “Trust me, Airi. The only way to not hurt people is to gain control of it.”

The girl sighs, burying her face in her arms. “... I know.”

Toge gives her another pat. “Now hurry up and finish this damn report. I got places to be.”

Airi lets out a snort, lifting up her head. “Oh yeah, like where? A date with Okkotsu-sensei?”

Toge flicks her on the forehead, making her yelp. “Hey!”

Yuuta’s starting to see what Toge meant by the kids becoming “insufferable.”

As he walks through the school, he hears whispers of he and Toge’s names and slews of giggles.

“What’s so funny, girls?” Yuuta calls out as he walks past. Ema, Sato and Airi are hanging outside the second year classroom.

“Nothing to worry about, Sensei,” Sato replies coolly. Yuuta just gives the girl a look. It’s Sato that he’s always worried about the most.

Still, he decides to not pry anymore. “Don’t be late to class, Sato-chan,” he says, before continuing on his way.

He’ll admit that when this all first started happening, Yuuta did feel self conscious. Even though he’s twenty seven years old now and has been teaching for a few years, the judging gaze of a teenager still feels a bit intimidating. It was also just plain embarrassing to realize a bunch of kids could see right through you.

He arrives at the teacher’s lounge. Toge is already in there, taking a quick morning nap on one of the couches. Yuuta lets out a quiet chuckle. Some things never seem to change.

He moves to kneel by the man, admiring his calm and peaceful sleeping face. After a pause, he gently runs his fingers through Toge’s hair, tucking a few strands behind the man’s ear.

Apparently, the two of them think you're deeply in love with me.

He lets out a quiet sigh. They couldn’t be more right.

“Okkotsu-sensei.”

Yuuta raises his head up from his laptop. It’s free period now, some students taking the time to train while others just relax or focus on homework. Yuuta is taking this chance to write up his mission report. “What is it, Sato-chan? Do you need help with something?”

The girl shakes her head. “Oh no, not me. Apparently, Inumaki-sensei needs you in the training hall.”

Yuuta blinks in surprise. “Inumaki-sensei? Did he say why?”

Sato pauses. “Uh—”

“His throat hurts!” Nakamura suddenly blurts out from across the room. “He had a mission today and his throat hurts!”

“And Ieiri-sensei’s so busy, you know,” Sato is quick to add on, “Inumaki-sensei probably doesn’t want to bother her!”

Yuuta knows that Toge absolutely did not have a mission today. He also knows Toge would rather die than tell his students his throat was bothering him. It hits him that this is probably what the girls were giggling about this morning—trying to set them up. Still, he decides to humor them. After all, why would he deny an opportunity to see Toge?

“I see. If it’s his throat then I best see him right away,” he says, closing his laptop shut. “I’ll be right back.”

He ignores the hushed excited whispers and giggles as he heads out of the classroom. He finds himself holding back a grin himself. He knows he’s just adding fuel to the flames, but to be honest, he secretly enjoys doing so.

It’s very rare for Toge to get flustered— in fact, the man loves to tease and play around. Yuuta often feels out of his element with the other, palms feeling clammy and heart beating too fast at his antics. But when it’s in front of the kids, Toge is surprisingly a lot more self conscious, and actually seems impacted by Yuuta’s pathetic attempts at flirting. He admittedly wants to use this to his advantage, the desire to see Toge’s pink cheeks stronger than the desire to be professional.

Jujutsu High’s campus is quite large, and there are a lot of different buildings for both school-related purposes and professional jujutsu work. Most of the school buildings, including the dormitories, reside on the west side, near the fields. Since the training hall is used by both alumni and students, it’s a bit more central, and it takes some time to walk there.

Yuuta pretends he doesn’t notice the gang of students following him as he makes his way through campus. When he approaches the training hall, he immediately spots Airi and Ema attempting to hide behind a wall of another building. Looks like he was right about the twins scheming with Sato earlier this morning.

He opens the double doors into the building. To his surprise, Toge is deep into a training session, the man going full throttle at a punching bag. He freezes in place, watching shamelessly at the flex of the man’s muscles as he throws punches and kicks.

It doesn’t take long for Toge to notice him, the man giving the punching bag one last kick before turning to look at him.

“Hey,” he greets casually, and Yuuta gulps when the man wipes the sweat on his forehead off with the bottom of his t-shirt, exposing his stomach.

“H-Hi,” he stutters out, before clearing his throat. “Rare to see you training in here.”

Toge rolls his eyes. “The twins wanted to meet here for a practice session but of course they’re nowhere to be found. What are you doing here?”

“Well,” Yuuta begins, “I was told that you were in desperate need of my help. Something about your throat hurting?”

Toge gives him a confused look. “No, I’m totally—” He stops, analyzing Yuuta’s expression. He watches the gears turn in Toge’s head before the man lets out a tired sigh. “Ah, I see. So it’s like that.”

“It’s like that,” Yuuta confirms, giving Toge a grin.

“Those brats,” Toge grumbles to himself, but there’s a hint of a smile on his lips.

Yuuta starts to unbutton the sleeves of his dress shirt, rolling them up. Toge gives him a look.

“What are you doing?”

“Since we’re already here, we might as well make the most of it,” he says. He finishes rolling up his sleeves, before getting into position, raising his arms.

Toge blinks at him, before letting out a laugh. “You want to spar me?”

“Hey, I’m a lot better than I used to be,” he says petulantly. Maki and Toge were always much better than him in terms of physical prowess, but he’s done a lot of training on his own throughout the years.

At Toge’s teasing look, he lets out a huff. “What, you don’t want to?”

A fire lights up in Toge’s eyes, just like he knew it would. The man never backs down from a challenge, after all.

“Fine,” Toge agrees. “But I won’t go easy on you.”

The two of them get into position, eyeing each other carefully.

“No cursed energy,” Toge warns. “Just physical strength.”

“Of course,” he replies with a grin. “I’d never cheat, Inumaki-sensei.”

He can hear the first and second year students’ awful attempts at whispering.

“Wait, they’re fighting? Why?”

“Maybe that’s how they flirt.”

“Dude, move over! I can barely see!”

A quick glance lets him know that the kids are peering into the side windows. He barely has the chance to look back at Toge before the man moves to strike first.

He barely dodges the man’s kick in time, throwing a punch of his own. Toge blocks it easily, giving him a smirk.

“Focus, Okkotsu-sensei,” Toge taunts.

Well. That was incredibly hot.

Still, he forces himself to concentrate. At the end of the day, Yuuta still has his pride, and the last thing he wants to do is get his butt kicked in front of his students.

The thing about Toge’s fighting style is that he’s frustratingly slippery. The man makes up for his smaller size by being incredibly agile. He still remembers the first day he was able to land a hit on Toge, how huge of a milestone that was for him during his training.

But Yuuta wasn’t trained by Maki for nothing. He bides his time, dodging Toge’s attacks and waiting for the right moment to strike.

He takes his chance when Toge throws a forceful punch, one that causes his body weight to shift forward. Taking advantage of the man’s momentum, he grabs Toge’s arm and pulls.

Toge’s eyes widen as he’s thrown off balance, and Yuuta knocks the man’s feet out from under him, pushing against the man’s back and pinning him down onto the ground.

“Nice, Okkotsu-sensei!” He hears Nakamura cheer. He lets out a smirk.

“Looks like it’s my win—”

He barely has a chance to relish in his victory before Toge suddenly bucks him away with a strength he didn’t even know the man had, rolling them over. Before he knows it, he’s pinned onto his back, staring up at Toge with wide eyes as the man rests his weight on Yuuta’s lower stomach.

“Looks like it’s your loss,” Toge teases, and Yuuta lets out a huff.

“You cheated!” He accuses.

Toge just snickers. “It’s not over till it’s over, Yuuta.”

“Oh yeah?” He provokes, starting to squirm so he can pull away from Toge’s pin. Toge immediately tries to fight back, but it’s admittedly half hearted, the man giggling as Yuuta manages to sit up and push Toge back onto the ground, looming over him.

“You’re such a sore loser,” Toge scolds, but his lips don’t stop grinning. Yuuta finds himself suddenly frozen in awe— Toge is sweaty and his hair’s a mess, but he couldn’t look more beautiful like this, staring up at Yuuta with a warm smile.

The room suddenly feels ten times more stuffier than it did before, heart pounding in his chest. His gaze drops down to Toge’s lips.

Toge gives him a wide-eyed look. “Okkotsu-sensei?”

Yuuta snaps out of it, face burning with heat. He becomes hit with the realization that they’re still being watched, and starts feeling a bit mortified at the shocked and excited stares that are digging into his side profile.

“I-It’s nothing!” He stutters out, quickly getting off of Toge. He turns away, hoping to hide his flush. “Well um… Looks like it’s my win, haha… anyway I’m gonna— the first years you know, I gotta scold them and stuff—”

“Wait,” Toge says, stopping him in his tracks. The man stands up, pulling down the zipper of his collar. “Come here.”

Yuuta hears a cacophony of startled voices and footsteps as the first and second years march into the training hall.

“I-Inumaki-sensei!” Ema greets hesitantly. “Look—”

“Grab those dumbells and stand here with your arms up for five minutes,” Toge cuts in. “And then after, clean the training hall. If you guys have enough time in your free period to mess around like this, then it seems like I have to put you guys to work.”

He then turns towards Yuuta, giving him a smile. “Let’s go, Okkotsu-sensei.”

“R-Right…” Yuuta stammers out, honestly feeling a bit bad. He was thinking of maybe having them run some extra drills during training today. Poor Sato's arms are already trembling from the weight. But one look from Toge has him moving his feet, giving the kids an apologetic look over his shoulder.

“This could be seen as child abuse, you know!” Airi yells back defiantly. But just like all the other kids, her arms are stuck up over her head.

“So could sending children to missions where they can die, but here we are,” Toge shoots back. He and Toge then leave the training hall, the doors slamming shut behind them.

“I’m surprised,” Panda says to Yuuta, after he catches him up on what just happened. “To think Toge would be a strict teacher when he was such a slacker student.”

“Seriously,” Maki chimes in. She’s taking a whole couch up for herself, lounging on her side as she studies her nails. “We’d do worse things back in our day.”

“Okaka,” Toge grumbles, making everyone chuckle. Toge rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile on his face as he pats Panda’s head. The cursed corpse is sitting on the man’s lap, the two of them sitting on the couch across from Maki.

It’s become rarer and rarer these days for Panda to have bouts of activity. After the training hall ordeal, he and Toge headed back to the high school, only to see the cursed corpse walking around in the hallways. They quickly called Maki, and she showed up to the school in less than ten minutes. Now, the three of them are hanging out in the teacher’s lounge.

Yuuta smiles at his friends from where he’s sitting on the armchair. He always treasures moments where the four of them are able to be together.

“The students really do like the idea of you two dating, though,” Panda muses. “I hear them talk about it a lot.”

“Do they know what you are, yet?” Maki asks.

“Ah… no,” Yuuta answers a bit sheepishly. Maki lets out a quiet laugh in disbelief.

Yuuta keeps Panda in his classroom these days, and he and Toge would sometimes talk to him every so often, just to make it feel like he was more involved. But the kids all think he’s just a stuffed animal. Yuuta hasn’t bothered to correct them.

“They often say they feel bad for Yuuta, because Toge seems too stubborn to accept his love,” Panda continues.

This time Maki laughs loudly, a deep sound straight from the belly. “Now doesn’t that sound familiar.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Toge hisses back, ears turning red. He avoids Yuuta’s gaze. “Like you can talk—”

“Anyway,” Maki is quick to cut in, “I agree with Yuuta. You were a little harsh on them, Toge. They’re just having fun.”

Toge lets out a huff, crossing his arms. He seems quite upset, and it surprises Yuuta a little.

“...Does it bother you that much?” He asks, trying to keep his voice neutral. “That they think the two of us are dating?”

Toge pauses. The redness of his ears spreads over to his cheeks. He buries his face into Panda’s fur, and the cursed corpse pats his head consolingly.

“I just… don’t like them meddling with my personal life,” he says quietly. “That’s our business.”

Our.

Yuuta tries desperately to not let a stupid grin spread across his face. “I… I see, haha…” he says, glancing away as he plays with his fingers.

“Are you an idiot?” He hears Maki grumble at him.

“Is it so bad to play along, Toge?” Panda asks. “I mean, they’re not doing anything crazy.”

Toge seems to take a moment to process Panda’s words, eyes widening.

“That’s it,” he begins excitedly, turning towards Yuuta again, “let’s pretend we’re dating!”

His words cause the room to fall into a shocked silence.

“What the fuck are you talking about,” Maki asks incredulously.

Toge places Panda down on the couch before standing up, eyes alight with mischief. Yuuta unfortunately knows that look all too well.

“Oh my god, I’m such a genius,” Toge says. He starts to pace back and forth in the room with energy, and everyone’s eyes follow him.

“We can get them super excited about us being together by playing things up in front of them,” Toge explains. “Then later, we can tell them we were just acting to fool them.”

He stops his movements, lips curling into an evil grin. “They’ll probably be super disappointed and then won’t bother us about it anymore.”

Maki scoffs. “You’re crazy,” she says but Yuuta can tell she’s amused by the idea. In other words, she definitely wants them to do it. Yuuta holds back a sigh. Her and Toge are the reason the four of them would get into all kinds of situations back in the day.

He finds himself hesitating. He honestly doesn’t know if he could handle fake dating without giving himself away. And when Toge gets into these sorts of moods, he really commits to the bit— Yuuta’s almost scared at what the man will do to convince the students that they’re dating now.

He bites his lip. “Won’t this be a bit… distracting?”

“It’ll be fine,” Toge insists. “Come on, Yuuta. It’ll be fun!”

Despite his grievances, just a few seconds of staring into the man’s pleading eyes is enough to make Yuuta relent. He supposes summer is over now— they have some time to mess around a little.

He lets out a sigh. “Alright,” he acquiesces, even with the warning bells ringing in his mind. He pretends his heart doesn’t flutter at Toge’s beaming smile.

Toge trudges through the hallways of Jujutsu High feeling like death. He’s been awake since four in the morning, because he had to do a quick mission before the school day. To top it off, since Panda was awake yesterday, they met up with all the others for dinner and drank themselves stupid. Toge doesn’t see Nobara and Megumi as often these days, so it was nice to see them. Still, Toge definitely went overboard, and Yuuta had to practically carry him home. (He should’ve known it was a mistake to challenge Maki to a drinking game).

They had told the others about their fake dating plan then, which Nobara got extremely invested in. Yuuta didn’t seem super excited about the whole fake dating thing at first, but after talking with everyone, the man seemed more enthusiastic, which Toge was glad about. They agreed to start right away, but didn’t really come up with any specific details.

“We can just go with the flow,” Yuuta had reassured with a grin, cheeks a bit flushed from alcohol. Toge could only stare at him and nod his head.

Still, Toge will admit he’s not really thinking about any of that this morning. His head is pounding from his hangover, and he’s exhausted from his mission. Yuuta had told him to just cancel his classes for today but of course his stubborn ass insisted he’d be fine. Toge will admit he’s regretting it a bit now.

“Inumaki-sensei!”

Toge turns to see Yuuta bounding towards him with a bright smile. He pretends he doesn’t see Airi and Ema watching the two of them from where they’re dilly dallying in the hallway. There’s a look in Yuuta’s eyes that makes him straighten up— the man is definitely planning to do something right now.

“Okkotsu-sensei,” he greets back coolly. After all, Toge is a professional, even with his pounding headache and his two students giggling to themselves as they blatantly spy on their conversation.

“I thought I’d give this to you right now, before I forget,” Yuuta says, handing Toge a sleek black gift bag. He must’ve bought it this morning. “You left this at my place last night.”

He feels his cheeks flare with heat. Airi and Ema’s eyes practically bulge out of their heads, Airi’s mouth dropping wide open.

“You didn’t need to go through all this trouble,” he manages to reply, gesturing to the fancy bag.

Yuuta waves his hand dismissively. “This is just something I already had on hand,” he insists, and Toge knows it’s nothing but a lie.

“Well… thank you,” he says, looking away. “I appreciate it.”

Yuuta gives him another smile. “It’s no problem,” the man says, before a flash of mischief spreads in his eyes. “I had fun yesterday.”

He almost wants to smack the man in the face. He feels his face burn hotter as he stares into Yuuta’s teasing gaze.

It’s just for the plan, he repeats in his head, though he’s starting to feel a bit mortified by Ema and Airi’s stares. Maybe he didn’t think this fake dating plan through. He forgot how secretly cunning Yuuta could be at times.

“I did as well,” he stammers back, “I should go. I need to prep for class.”

“Ah, right,” Yuuta says, after a pause, scratching the back of his head a bit sheepishly. “Sorry to keep you.”

“No, it’s alright,” Toge reassures. “I’ll talk to you later, Okkotsu-sensei.”

“See you later!” Yuuta bids cheerfully, before walking away.

The man barely turns the corner before Airi and Ema are storming towards him. Toge lets out a wince.

“Oh my god, Inumaki-sensei! You were over at Okkotsu-sensei’s house last night?” Ema blurts out excitedly. “Were you guys on a date?”

His first instinct is to deny everything, but he forces it down, gritting his teeth. He curses Yuuta in his mind— the man just dropped a bunch of bombshells and now Toge has to deal with the aftermath.

“We were just having dinner together,” Toge replies shortly. He catches Airi trying to peek into the bag Yuuta gave him and he quickly pulls it away, the girl letting out a huff.

“Just the two of you? At his house? That’s pretty much a date!” Ema squeals.

“I was wondering why you looked so tired,” Airi begins with a smirk. “Did you guys… you know…”

Toge smacks the girl in the back of the head. “Enough. It’s none of your guys’ business anyway. Get to class.”

“We still have fifteen minutes till the bell!” Airi retorts. “And by the way, I’m not hearing a no!”

“Get. To. Class,” Toge repeats, and though the girls roll their eyes, they obey, giggling mischievously all the while.

Well. Looks like their plan is starting off with a bang. He knows the kids are going to be talking about this nonstop later. He lets out a sigh, rubbing his forehead tiredly. Maybe he should stop by the teacher’s lounge to get some coffee.

He walks over to the lounge, making sure the door is firmly closed before opening up the bag Yuuta gave him. In it is a thermos filled with soup, some hangover medicine, and a note.

Figured you weren’t feeling that great this morning and probably left in a rush— made you some hangover soup for breakfast!

He feels his whole body fill with warmth, heart beating in his chest. He suddenly feels wide awake.

Since the twins have their normal academic classes first today, Toge spends the whole morning plotting ways to show off to the kids that he and Yuuta are “dating.”

The thing is, Toge can’t do anything too over the top for this plan. For better or for worse, Airi and Ema know him pretty well by now, and if he acts too outrageous, they’ll definitely suspect something’s up. Still, he desperately wants to get Yuuta back for the stunt he pulled this morning. He should’ve known it was a bad sign that Nobara and Yuuta were whispering together by themselves last night. The woman was probably giving him ideas.

Eventually, an idea hits him. He lets out a grin, scurrying over to the first year classroom. He knocks on the door before sliding it open, popping his head in.

His entrance seems to cause a rush of excitement in the classroom. He catches Nakamura, who seemed to be sleeping, suddenly sitting up in a rush.

“Okkotsu-sensei,” he calls out, doing his best to make sure his tone and expression stay serious. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Of course,” Yuuta answers, before turning back to the class. “I’ll be right back, everyone.”

He follows Toge out of the classroom, sliding the door shut behind them. “What is it?” He asks, eyes serious. “A mission? I can—”

Toge grabs his hand and drags Yuuta along, causing the man to let out a yelp.

“Where are we going?” He rushes out, and Toge lets out a giggle as they quickly turn the corner. Toge shoves the man into an empty room, glancing to make sure they weren’t being followed before closing the door.

“I don’t want the kids eavesdropping on us,” he explains, before giving Yuuta a sly grin.

Yuuta gives him a cautious look. “What are you planning?”

Toge doesn’t answer. Instead, he moves to aggressively run his fingers through Yuuta’s hair, making the man yelp.

“Hey!” Yuuta protests as he tries to pull away. Still, his lips are curled up into a smile, the two of them giggling as they struggle against each other. “Toge-kun—”

Toge suddenly moves to loosen up the man’s tie, undoing the top few buttons of his dress shirt.

“T-Toge-kun!” Yuuta exclaims, covering his chest with his hands. His face is bright red as he tries to redo the buttons. “What are you—”

“Leave it,” Toge orders, grabbing the man’s hand again. Before the man can object any further, he pulls Yuuta out of the room and practically pushes him back into the first year classroom, before scurrying away.

There’s a pause, before a rush of voices fill the air.

“Sensei! What were you and Inumaki-sensei doing just now!? You look like a mess!”

“Oh my gosh, were you two making out? Your face is all red, Sensei!”

“W-We were just talking!” Yuuta stammers out. But his explanations become buried under the chaos.

Toge lets out a loud laugh. Mission success.

As the days go on, it hits Toge that pretending to date Yuuta is a lot more fun than Toge expected. Sure, the kids tease and meddle, but Toge’s less annoyed by it now that he’s doing some meddling of his own.

He and Yuuta haven’t done anything too crazy, at least in Toge’s opinion. Sometimes they make a show of leaving the school together after work, talking loudly about their dinner plans. Toge came in one morning wearing Yuuta’s jacket, which sparked rumors for a whole week. (Toge may have also kept the jacket—Yuuta hasn’t asked for it back yet, and the jacket is just so nice and comfy.)

Sometimes Toge will throw out Yuuta’s name in class, off handed comments like “Okkotsu-sensei is really good at this,” or “Okkotsu-sensei’s domain expansion is really awesome,” and then watch Ema and Airi give each other meaningful looks.

Ema is the student that is definitely the most invested in all this, and she often tries to meddle by telling Toge things she’s “heard.”

“The first years were telling me that Okkotsu-sensei admitted to them that he’s had a crush on you for years, you know! That it was practically love at first sight!”

Toge's quite positive that Yuuta did not say such a thing, but it’s pretty easy to swoon at the words anyway. (For their plan, of course.)

Today however, is a normal day. Yuuta has been out on a mission for the past week actually, so things have been quite calm lately. Right now, he’s watching the twins spar against each other. They’re outside, even with the snow on the ground, because Toge insisted they get used to fighting in all different kinds of weather. But they won’t be out here for too long— Toge doesn’t want them to get sick, either.

The girls are pretty equal in terms of physical prowess, though Airi is definitely more aggressive while Ema is more defensive. He studies their cursed energy with an analyzing gaze.

“Your barrier, Airi,” he calls out, and watches as she uses her cursed energy to protect herself. It’s a bit unsteady, and he’s sure his cursed speech could easily break through after a few tries, but it’s much better than what she was doing before. He lets out a nod of approval.

Yuuta is doing his part of their plan too, of course. Apparently the man is also name dropping Toge in class, and sometimes he’ll ask the first years for “dating advice.” He also gets Toge flowers twice a month, buying bouquets now that it’s winter and the garden is out of season. Toge always displays them in his classroom. Lastly, he’ll drop by and give Toge some coffee, and lately he’s also been giving Toge some bentos.

Toge pauses his thoughts. He supposes Yuuta already did a lot of this stuff already, like the flowers and coffee. The realization is a bit embarrassing, his body suddenly feeling warm now.

Still, Toge is surprised by how much he’s actually been enjoying all this. He’s always tried so hard to keep his personal life under wraps, worried about exposing too much to his students, but it’s actually not as bad as he’d thought. Plus, it’s been fun scheming and fooling around with Yuuta— it almost feels like they’re teenagers again, giggling as they run through the hallways or hide in rooms to figure out what to do next.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Toge calls out to the twins. “Lets go inside, it’s cold as fuck.”

“It was your idea to come out here,” Airi grumbles. Despite the cold, she and her sister are covered in sweat.

“You’ll thank me later,” Toge says, turning around to walk back. The girls are right behind him, speeding their pace to catch up. “One time, Yuu— Okkotsu-sensei and I had to fight a curse during a blizzard. It was not fun.”

He feels his face heat up at the name slip up. He didn’t even mean to mention Yuuta there.

“Really?” Ema asks, eyes lighting up. “Did you guys go on missions together a lot?”

“Only when we were young,” Toge answers. He finds himself reminiscing. He really only went on missions with Yuuta when they were in their first year. Once Yuuta became a special grade again, he mostly handled missions alone.

To apologize for making them work in the cold, Toge treats the twins to hot chocolate in the teacher’s lounge.

“Hey Sensei…” Airi begins. She’s staring down at her hot chocolate, warming her hands on the cup. “Do you miss Okkotsu-sensei?”

Toge almost chokes on the coffee he made for himself. “What? No, not really.”

“He has been away for a long time,” Ema says. She clasps her hands together, a dreamy look in her eyes. “He’s not here to give you your coffee or invite you to dinner… You must be missing him a lot.”

“I am not,” he denies. “He’s barely been gone a week, why would I miss him?”

“So you’re counting the days?” Airi teases.

Toge scowls. “Finish your hot chocolate and get out of here. You two have history class soon.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Airi brushes off, her and her sister giggling. Still, she and Ema dutifully sip their hot chocolate, finishing their cups before heading to class.

Toge gets assigned a mission later in the evening. It’s a simple mission, a cluster of curses in an old house that a real estate agent has been desperate to sell. As Toge stares at the band of curses, he finds himself thinking about his first ever mission with Yuuta. They stumbled across something very similar, didn’t they? At least, until that crazy curse crashed their party. His lips curl into a smile. Yuuta was so cute back then. He wonders how the man is doing. He’s sent Toge a few messages here and there, but he knows that the man must be busy.

Do you miss Okkotsu-sensei?

Toge flushes. “Explode!” He yells, watching the curses combust. He quickly turns around, shaking his head. He should hurry up and get out of here.

By the time he gets back to Jujutsu High, the sun has long since set. When he enters the building, he’s surprised to see a familiar figure.

Yuuta is standing by himself, leaning against the wall. He almost blends in with the shadows, the school dimly lit because of the late hour. The man looks more tired than usual, eye bags deep. His clothes are still stained and dirty— he must’ve just been in a fight.

But what really catches Toge’s attention is the man’s eyes. His gaze is dark and almost lifeless as he stares into empty space.

“Yuuta,” he calls out quietly.

The man startles, gaze snapping up to meet Toge’s own. There’s a pause, before the tension seems to melt away from the man’s body.

“Toge-kun,” Yuuta breathes out, slumping over. Toge moves to stand next to the man, and Yuuta is quick to rest his head on Toge’s shoulder.

“Did something happen?” He asks softly.

Yuuta doesn’t answer right away. A few beats of silence pass. Toge waits patiently, patting the top of Yuuta’s head.

“Not really,” Yuuta eventually answers. “At least… nothing I’ve never experienced before.”

A sinking feeling starts to brew in Toge’s stomach. “Casualties?”

“One,” Yuuta answers. His voice is quiet and detached. Toge knows it’s the man’s way of coping.

“It’s not your fault, Yuuta,” Toge says quietly. He reaches up and runs his fingers through the man’s hair.

Yuuta doesn’t say anything in return. There’s not really much else to say.

The man moves, straightening up so he can pull Toge in for a hug, burying his face back into his shoulder. Toge wraps his arms around the man tight, relishing in his warmth.

“I missed you,” Yuuta breathes out.

He closes his eyes, inhaling the man’s scent. “I missed you too.”

Yuuta lets out a sigh, rubbing his eyes and closing his laptop. He didn't get as much work done as he hoped, but he supposes that's the best that he can do today. The school day today felt incredibly long for some reason, and he can't wait to lay down on his bed.

He throws all his stuff into his work bag, before heading out of his office. He takes a peek at Toge's, noticing the light is still on. Looks like the man is still hard at work.

Not wanting to disturb him, Yuuta decides to just wait for him out front, walking through the hallways. To his surprise, he sees the first and second years clustered together in the second year classroom, chattering amongst themselves. He'd thought they'd all be back at the dorms by now. He's about to approach them, only for their conversation to stop him in his tracks.

"But seriously, Okkotsu-sensei was totally giving Inumaki-sensei heart eyes during lunch," Ema says.

He feels his cheeks burn. Was he?

Airi lets out a scoff. "He's always doing that," she retorts, making Yuuta flush again. "The more interesting thing is that it seems like Inumaki-sensei is finally reciprocating these days."

"Thank god," Sato chimes in, "I was seriously starting to feel bad for Okkotsu-sensei. He's been trying so hard!"

"Me too," Nakamura agrees. "Sensei is really cool, I'm glad that Inumaki-sensei is seeing it now."

 Everyone in the room lets out a variety of affirmative noises. Yuuta's not sure if he should feel affronted or touched at the conversation they're having. Still, it's nice to know that their plan seems to be working.

Ema giggles. "Yeah, it seemed like Inumaki-sensei really missed Okkotsu-sensei while he was gone! He kept talking about him."

Yuuta's lips twitch up at the comment. He decides now's a good time to interrupt, moving away from his hiding spot.

"Did he really?" He calls out, causing the students to startle.

"Sensei! How long have you been there?"

"That's not important," he dismisses. He pulls out a desk chair, sitting down. "So, what did Inumaki-sensei say about me?"

"He told us about your guys' mission where you had to fight a curse during a blizzard!" Ema answers.

"Yeah, after he forced us to train outside in the freezing cold," Airi grumbles.

Yuuta smiles at the memory, feeling nostalgic. He hasn't thought about that in a while.

"We both got awful colds after that," Yuuta says. "We were bedridden for two days in Ieiri-sensei's office."

"Yikes," Sato replies with a frown.

"Actually, I have some pictures from that time, do you guys want to see?" He asks, whipping out his phone. The students crowd around him in a rush, gazes filled with excitement.

"Oh my gosh, Inumaki-sensei's hair!" Ema exclaims. "So spiky!"

Airi lets out a snicker. "Wow, I wasn't expecting that from him."

"I like it!" Nakamura says.

Yuuta grins. "It was cute, wasn't it?" He says, staring down at the picture. It's a selfie of him and Toge at the train station, about to head out for their mission. "I liked his spiky hair."

His words cause the group to exchange glances.

"How old are you guys in this?" Sato asks.

"We're first years here," Yuuta answers. He starts swiping through other pictures, gaze fond as he goes through memory lane.

"Did you have a crush on Inumaki-sensei then, too?"

Yuuta opens his mouth to answer, before the meaning of her words hits him. His face burns with heat as he snaps his head up.

"W-Who says I have a crush on Inumaki-sensei?" He stammers out.

He's faced with four sets of pitying stares.

"Sensei," Airi deadpans, "you don't have to lie."

"I'm not lying!" He snaps back.

"What's going on here?"

They all whip their heads around at the new intruder. Toge is standing at the door of the classroom, looking a bit puzzled. Yuuta understands why— it's quite late, and the students should definitely be heading back to the dorms now.

"Inumaki-sensei!" Nakamura greets. "Okkotsu-sensei was showing us some pictures of you guys from your school days."

Toge meets his gaze, raising an eyebrow. "Is that so?" He asks and Yuuta lets out a sheepish chuckle.

"Yeah, and he said you were cute," Ema says making him flush.

"I said your hair was cute," he corrects, and Ema just sticks her tongue out at him.

Amusement fills Toge's violet eyes. "Well, Okkotsu-sensei was pretty cute back then too."

Everyone pauses at his words. Even Yuuta's surprised, heart jumping to his throat. He tries to calm the fluttering in his heart, face feeling too hot.

"What did you just say?" Airi blurts out, eyes wide.

Toge gives her a befuddled look. "What?" He questions back. "I just said Okktotsu-sensei was cute back then."

His words bring another shocked silence, the students giving each other looks. Yuuta gets it, really. Toge never says stuff like this in front of them.

"What the fuck?" Sato murmurs to herself, and Yuuta doesn't have the heart to scold her for it. "Is this real?"

It's now that Yuuta notices the redness in Toge's ears. He holds back a smile, feeling endeared.

"It's getting late," he says, standing up from his desk. "You kids should start heading back."

"But—" Sato starts, only to stop when Yuuta gives her a look. "Ugh, fine."

The students pack up and leave, whispering amongst themselves in excitement. Though Yuuta's not even sure why they're trying to whisper anyway— they're not doing a great job at being discreet.

"I can't believe Inumaki-sensei just said that!"

"He's falling in love! Our plan is working!"

He watches the redness in Toge's ears spread through his cheeks and down his neck. As the students head out of the room and down the hallway, they take their noise and energy with them, the room falling into silence.

Yuuta breaks out into a smile, shifting back and forth happily on his feet. He stares at Toge unabashedly, enjoying the way it causes Toge's pinks to bloom pink.

"Shut up," Toge grumbles, the man avoiding his gaze.

Yuuta grins. "I didn't say anything though?"

Toge rolls his eyes. "I hate you."

Yuuta just lets out a hum. "You think I'm cute."

Toge snarls, and Yuuta dodges the kick he sends at him, letting out a laugh.

Eventually the coldness of winter starts to warm, the air shifting. Spring is starting to approach— meaning the end of the school year is near. Yuuta always feels bittersweet during this time. He'd think he'd be used to it now, seeing his students move on, but he's always holding back tears at the end of the year.

However, this year, spring also means that he and Toge need to wrap up their fake dating shenanigans soon. The students have definitely been eating their antics up, and Yuuta's sure that they all think that the two of them are actually dating, or at least, into each other. Toge wants to do something big and crazy to finish it off, and well, Yuuta can never say no to him.

"Okkotsu-sensei, can you help me with something?"

Yuuta turns, surprised to see Airi approaching him. Of course, considering he was her teacher last year, the two of them are more than familiar with each other, but usually she'd be asking Toge for advice these days.

"Of course, Airi-chan," Yuuta says with a smile. "What do you need?"

"Come this way," the girl says, gesturing Yuuta to follow him. "I need to grab this box from the top shelf from the storage room."

Oh. So she just needed Yuuta's height, that's why she asked him for him instead of Toge. He can't help but be a little disappointed. Still, he nods dutifully, following her.

"In here," Airi says, pointing to the door. She doesn't open it, just gestures at it. He holds back a frown, but opens the door anyway.

The girl suddenly pushes against his back, hard, and he stumbles, barely stopping his fall.

"Airi-chan!" He scolds, only for the door to slam behind him, locking shut. He hears a rush of voices and giggles.

"Sorry Sensei!" He hears Nakamura yell.

It's then that he sees Toge, who's made himself comfortable at the corner of the storage room, leaning against a pile of mats. The man gives him a casual wave.

"We're tired of you guys dancing around each other! Stay in there until you two sort out your feelings!" Ema shouts out. "We'll come back in an hour!"

There's a storm of footsteps fading, before silence.

For a moment, he and Toge just stare at each other.

"They are in so much trouble," Yuuta grumbles.

Toge lets out a scoff. "No kidding."

There's another pause, before the two of them burst out into laughter.

"I told you they'd be insufferable," Toge points out.

"Yeah, yeah," Yuuta concedes, letting out a sigh. He walks over, moving to sit down next to Toge, close enough that their thighs press together. "Should we break the door open?"

Toge chuckles. "Kusakabe would kill us."

Yuuta lets out a snort. He'd definitely be annoyed at having to pay to fix the door. The man never even wanted to be principal anyway, and complains all the time, but after all these years he's warmed up to the role a bit.

"We can afford a new door," Yuuta replies. "He always acts like we're about to go under."

Toge lets out another giggle. He rests his head against Yuuta's shoulder letting out a sigh. "Mentaiko," he mumbles.

Yuuta feels himself soften. He's always thought Toge's onigiri language was adorable, and loves it whenever the man decides to revert back to it. He wraps his arm around the man's waist, pulling him closer. "I'll remind you that this whole thing was your idea, Toge-kun."

"Okaka," Toge complains. He reaches out and intertwines their fingers together, making Yuuta's heart race.

They're silent again for a few moments, before Yuuta finds himself bursting out into giggles once more. Toge slaps his chest to chide him, but ends up joining him, and the two of them break out into full laughter.

Yuuta can't help it. This is the most ridiculous situation he's ever been in as a teacher, and that's really saying something. Ema said they'd be back in an hour, but realistically he and Toge could easily get out of here before then.

Still, he finds himself hesitant to do so, even though the storage room is dark and dusty and very unpleasant to be in. But he doesn't mind it at all—he's here alone with Toge, and that's something he'll always treasure. And to be honest, the two of them have been messing around with the students so much that they should've expected them to pull off something crazy like this.

"Well," he says, "I guess we're stuck here for an hour then."

"Shake," Toge replies.

Yuuta gives the man's hand a squeeze. "Should we make the most out of this?"

Toge raises his head up from Yuuta's shoulder, giving him a look. "Takana?"

What should we do?

Yuuta pauses in thought. Stuck together like this in the dark, he finds himself thinking of their school days. They had secret trysts like this often, hiding away from watching eyes. It's been fun, doing silly pranks with Toge these past few months. It's made him feel young again.

Perhaps that's why he finds himself blurting out, "we could kiss."

Silence.

Toge stares at him with wide eyes. If there was more light in here, Yuuta's sure he would see pink bloom across the man's cheeks.

Toge lets out a giggle. "Tuna mayo, Yuuta."

That was corny, Yuuta.

Yuuta flushes. "Are you going to kiss me or not?"

His answer is Toge's lips pressing against his. Yuuta's quick to respond, arms wrapping around Toge's waist and pulling him onto his lap. He's always amazed at how well Toge fits there, as if he was made to be there, made to slot up against Yuuta's body. Maybe he was— Yuuta likes the sound of that.

He holds back a groan when Toge gently tugs at his lip with his teeth. He moves forward, pressing Toge down into the floor, and the man lets out a pleased hum, wrapping his arms and legs around Yuuta's shoulders and back. He presses his tongue against Toge's, and the man lets out a gasp.

"Yuuta," Toge breathes out, gently pushing him away. The man's lips are red, and he stares up at Yuuta with dazed eyes. "Okaka."

He lets out a pout. He knows the man is right, but he really doesn't want to stop.

Toge lets out a laugh, giving Yuuta one quick peck. "Sujiko Ikura."

Yuuta stares down at his smiling face, heart fluttering in his chest. Even now, after all these years, he gets awestruck by the man's beauty.

"Would it really be so bad to tell them the truth?" Yuuta asks, reaching over to stroke Toge's cheek. The man leans into the touch.

Toge lets out a groan. "Okaka," he grumbles. They'd just get even more annoying.

Yuuta laughs. "I really don't think it'd be as bad as you think it'd be."

Toge pouts. Yuuta just kisses it off.

"Fine, fine," he acquiesces. "We'll let you keep being mysterious or whatever. Even though I really just want to tell everyone you're mine."

The man lets out a smile. "Shake shake."

"I feel like we have to admit something, though," Yuuta mumbles. "They're not going to believe it if we just say we were joking the entire time."

Toge lets out a thoughtful hum. "We can reveal part of the truth. You can just say that you're married."

"Why me?" He shoots back.

Toge raises an eyebrow. "Because you're the one they think is deeply in love with me."

He feels face heat up. "Sue me, I'm in love with my husband. Who'd have thought?"

Toge lets out a laugh. Yuuta doesn't resist when the man reaches up to cup his face, pulling him in for another kiss.

The hour passes by pretty fast. Toge has the love bite underneath his collar to prove it.

But they still made sure to prepare well— Yuuta had Rika unlock the door. Hopefully the students don't notice.

The moment they hear the students' footsteps, they start springing into action.

"What are you saying?" Toge says loudly, hoping he sounds somewhat dramatic and not completely ridiculous. Thankfully, it seems to work— the students outside pause at the sound.

"What's going on?" He hears Nakamura say.

"Are they fighting?"

"Listen, Toge-kun," Yuuta begins, and Toge's a bit surprised at how convincing he sounds. Then again, this is the same man who acted well enough to convince Yuuji that he was going to kill him, so maybe Yuuta's good acting skills should be expected.

"The thing is… for the longest time I've… I've—"

"You've what?" Toge cuts in, following their script.

The pause is deafening. Toge's quite positive all the students are pressed against the door.

He watches Yuuta take a deep breath. A smirk spreads across his lips, and Toge can't help but find it unbearably charming. "Toge-kun," he says, "I—"

Instead of finishing his sentence, Yuuta swings open the door. The students exclaim in surprise, toppling over and landing in a pile in the storage room.

"What the fuck!?" Airi shouts.

He and Yuuta break out into loud laughter.

"S-Sensei!?" Sato stutters out. "What's going on?"

Toge tries his best to calm down his laughs. "It was all a joke," he chokes out between snickers. "The whole thing between Okkotsu-sensei and I. We were messing with you guys."

His words cause a blaring silence.

"What?" Ema hisses out. "You're lying! There's no way!"

"It's true," Yuuta says with a smile.

"B-But—" Ema flounders, glancing at the man. "Okkotsu-sensei, you have a crush on Inumaki-sensei don't you? We all could tell!"

Yuuta pauses. "Listen guys," the man begins somberly, and Toge is once again impressed by his acting skills, "I was trying to keep it under wraps… but the truth is that I'm actually married."

Another silence. All four students gape at the man in disbelief.

"Like… happily?" Nakamura asks tentatively.

Yuuta grins. "Very," he answers softly, and Toge holds back a smile.

His heartfelt answer seems to convince the students well. Toge starts to feel a bit guilty— poor Ema looks like she's about to cry.

"You guys are fucked up," Airi grumbles.

"Hey," Toge scolds. "Let this be a lesson. It's not good to pry into people's private lives like that, okay?"

"Yes, Sensei," the students say back forlornly.

"Good," Toge says with a nod. "And be thankful Okkotsu-sensei and I are letting you guys off the hook for locking us in there. That wasn't okay either."

"Yes, Sensei," the students repeat. Toge has never seen them so deflated.

Toge pats the top of Ema's head in apology. "Sorry for getting your hopes up," he says. "You guys can have the rest of the day off."

The two of them watch the students walk away.

"Holy shit," Nakamura mutters. "They got us good."

He and Yuuta exchange a sly smile.

Since summer is the busy season for sorcerers, students at Jujutsu High don't really get a summer break. To make up for this, the school grants them a short break at the end of the year. Admittedly, if they're needed for missions, they'll still be assigned— but something is better than nothing.

Today, Toge is teaching his last class with Airi and Ema. After today, the two girls will be moving on to their third year.

He won't lie— he's feeling a bit emotional about it. He's gotten really close to both Airi and Ema this year, and is sad to see them go. But it's not like they won't be seeing each other at all after this— the Jujutsu world is small, after all, and he'll still be seeing the girls in school.

"Stand up," Toge orders at the end of class, causing the girls' eyes to widen. However, the cursed speech falls onto deaf ears, the girls' barrier strong and unwavering.

He lets out a proud smile.

"Thank you all for a wonderful year," Toge says. "You were both a pleasure to teach, and I'm proud of how much you've grown."

Ema smiles a bit bashfully. Airi glances away, not used to praise. Her hands are now bare— her power finally her own.

"Thank you, Inumaki-sensei!" Ema calls out. She plays with her fingers, looking a bit downcast. "I'm going to miss you."

Toge moves over to pat the top of her head. "You can talk to me whenever," he says, glancing over at Airi. "Both of you."

The girl lets out a nod. To Toge's surprise, she gets up and gives him a hug. Ema is quick to join in, wrapping her arms around him. Toge lets out a chuckle, hugging the two of them back.

"Now go on and have a great break," he says, when they break out of the hug. "Be safe."

"Bye, Sensei!" Ema calls out. Airi just gives him a wave. He watches the girls walk down the hallway and around the corner with a fond smile.

"No tears?"

Toge turns to see Yuuta walking up behind him. He lets out a huff. "It's you who does the crying, not me."

Yuuta lets out a sheepish chuckle. "I can't deny that."

They head back into Toge's classroom, and he begins to pack up his things. Yuuta moves to wrap his arms around him from behind, resting his head on Toge's shoulder.

"This was a pretty eventful year, wasn't it?" He asks. "I'm ready for a break, even if it is for just the weekend."

Toge lets out a laugh. "Shake."

The two of them are doing a quick weekend trip up north at a relaxing inn, one with a hot spring. Maki and the others had assured that they would cover for them so they'd have a few days to themselves. A well deserved vacation in Toge's opinion. Yuuta's right— this year really was eventful.

He smiles to himself as he thinks about all the shenanigans Yuuta and him ended up doing this year. To be honest, he did feel a bit bad deceiving the students— especially for Ema, who truly looked heartbroken. And it was fun, being lovey dovey with Yuuta. He's always holding himself back at work, but for a good chunk of this year, he didn't really have to.

But, well. As Toge has said before— he'd really like to keep his private life separate, if possible.

He turns around to face Yuuta, giving him a grin. Yuuta blinks down at him for a moment, before leaning in for kiss. He's quick to respond, closing his eyes with a hum.

"No curses, no students," Yuuta murmurs fondly. "Just me and you for a whole weekend."

Toge smiles. "Shake."

Yuuta beams, kissing him once more, and Toge laughs into it.

As he continues to kiss Yuuta, he hears the quietest gasp.

He pulls away, peering over Yuuta's shoulder. Ema is standing at the doorway with wide eyes. A quick glance lets Toge know she came back for her pink sparkly pen that's still sitting on her desk.

He lets out a small smile, holding a finger to his lips. Ema nods eagerly, eyes bright, before scurrying away.

"What is it?" Yuuta asks, turning his head, but Toge stops him with another kiss.

"Okaka," he says with a grin.

Ah, well. He supposes one student knowing wouldn't hurt.