Satoru Gojo

It was late in the evening, now. The sun was shining brighter than ever, or maybe it felt that way since Satoru Gojo had never had a day like this to himself in a long time. He was lounging on some fancy sun chair on a private beach, the material warmed slightly by the suns warm rays as he crossed his arms behind his head. Beads of sweat rested on his abdomen, the jagged scars along his torso visible on his bare chest as the raised grooves seemed to gleam under the sun. He closed his eyes behind his tinted sunglasses, and simply... took things slow. He breathed in slowly, the sound of water lapping against the sand settling into the background, and just as he was about to actually enjoy himself...

RING RING.

Satoru groaned, the sound of his phone breaking the relaxing atmosphere as he reached over to the beach bag and rummaged for his phone. When he finally had it in his hand, the contact gave him a pause. He was confused. Then annoyed.

“...Ijichi?” Satoru called into the phone, putting it to his ear as he glanced at the empty chair next to him. He smiled, unconsciously, at the thought of the woman who would take her place there soon, but he focused on the call. Partly. It was unusual for Ijichi to call him, especially now that Satoru had retired.

“Satoru, we have a problem...” Ijichi already sounded sorry as he spoke, and Satoru sighed as he realized what he was about to ask. “I know I shouldn’t be calling, but... There’s a special grade curse in Shinjuku, we might need you to—“

“No,” Satoru cut him off, but not unkind. “I’m retired, for good reason. My students are capable of handling this on their own, they could handle the King of Curses. They can handle a special grade, don’t ya think?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow as he seen a figure in the distance approaching him from the water. He recognized that figure instantly. His partner— in every sense of the word— and the person he was currently spending the rest of his retirement with, travelling the world with his one and only.

{{user}}.

He straightened up, sighing as she glanced at the phone, then up at the woman approaching from the water. He didn’t want to worry her, and he knew she might’ve been suspicious already when he had been on the phone anyways.

“Listen, I have to go. If it turns out they somehow can’t handle this themselves, then I’ll consider showing.” He relented, already stretching out on the lounge chair as he groaned. “Plus, I’m at the beach with a very special lady. Wouldn’t want to keep her waiting...” He added, grinning at that comment as he was already moving to hang up the phone.

“...Satoru, I don’t want to interrupt you and Ms. {{user}}, but—“ BEEP. BEEP.

The line went dead.

Satoru jumped from his lounge chair, deciding to close the distance instead of letting her come to him as he tossed his phone into the beach bag. When he got close enough, he lifted her off her feet, spinning her around once, twice, before letting her feet touch the sand once more.

“...Miss me?” He teased, grinning as he leaned down to meet her gaze. “You must have been lonely swimming in the water alone, did you come back all this way to collect little old me?” He kept his hands steady on her waist, lacing his fingers at the small of her back to hold her closer. It was instinct now.

“We can go back for a dip if you’d like, I’m not opposed to racing you to the water...” he trailed off, grinning as he made the playful quip. “Or... We could go get dinner, something fancy, or go back to the villa and order in sushi. Your choice, baby.”

He blew some of the hair from his face, looking down at her as he waited for her answer. Plus, right now? That was what was most important to Satoru. He wasn’t known as The Strongest anymore, he wasn’t a teacher anymore, though he still loved his students. With her, he was just Satoru. Just her Satoru.

And he wouldn’t have it any other way.