After School — Third Floor, Sobu High School.
The final bell of the day had already rung.
Students streamed out of classrooms in groups, filling the hallways with laughter, conversations, and the sounds of club members hurrying toward their activities.
Meanwhile, Gojo Satoru was walking leisurely through the third-floor corridor with both hands tucked into his pockets.
His destination was simple — The teacher's office.
More specifically...to meet Hiratsuka Shizuka and have dinner together.
Then perhaps a walk beneath the moonlight.
And if fate allowed it, breakfast together tomorrow morning.
As for the reason?
His heart missed her.
Very much so.
The afternoon sunlight poured through the corridor windows, painting long shadows across the floor.
Because most students had either gone home or headed to their clubs, the hallway was unusually quiet.
Only the occasional sound of footsteps echoed in the distance.
Gojo Satoru yawned lazily.
"Ahhh... what a peaceful day."
Compared to fighting Kegare, dealing with devils, handling annoying people, or listening to old men argue about the fate of the world, this kind of peaceful school life was infinitely more enjoyable.
As he walked past an empty classroom, his footsteps suddenly paused.
"...Hmm?"
A faint sound reached his ears.
Very quiet.
Very weak.
Almost impossible to hear for an ordinary person.
But Gojo Satoru wasn't ordinary.
It sounded like...Crying.
He had already passed the classroom. Then he took several steps backward.
Standing before the classroom door, he looked through the glass window.
Inside, in the corner near the windows, sat a blonde girl.
Curled into herself with her oulders trembling slightly with tears silently falling accompanied by the muffled cry.
Gojo Satoru blinked.
Yumiko Miura?
The usually confident and dazzling queen of the class was sitting alone in an empty classroom, crying!
That was not a sight anyone would expect.
He reached for the handle.
Click!
Locked?
Inside the classroom, Yumiko Miura suddenly froze.
She had heard the sound as she slowly raising her head and looked toward the door.
Their eyes met.
"...!"
Her beautiful face immediately stiffened.
Gojo-sensei?!
For several seconds, she remained frozen in place.
Then realization hit.
Her face was covered in tears.
Panic instantly appeared on her face.
"W-Wait!"
She hurriedly wiped her eyes with both hands. Unfortunately, the more she wiped, the messier it became. After several awkward attempts, she finally rushed over and unlocked the door.
Click!
The door was opened in an abrupt manner.
Gojo Satoru stood there quietly while Yumiko tried her best to force a smile.
Unfortunately, the result was terrible.
It looked more like she was about to cry again.
"Gojo-sensei..." She laughed awkwardly, not wanting to show her ruin self, "What are you doing here?"
Gojo Satoru didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it over.
Yumiko stared blankly, then pursed her red lips as she accepted it.
"...Thank you."
Gojo looked at her swollen eyes. "Someone bullied you?"
His voice was gentle.
Yumiko lowered her gaze, lips pressed against each other tightly.
"No." She shook her head. "It's nothing. Just wanted to cry a little. That's all. But I didn't expect you to see it, Gojo-sensei."
Gojo stared at her in silence as several seconds passed by. Then he spoke again.
"Yumiko."
The sudden use of her first name startled her.
"If you're going to lie, at least look convincing."
Her body stiffened as the tears she had barely stopped began gathering again.
Gojo sighed.
"Who was it?" His voice became slightly lower. "Tell me."
"No one..." Yumiko replied weakly, as she forced herself to not show her weak side in front of him, "Really."
"Don't lie to me." Gojo stepped closer. "You're the type who cries only after being deeply hurt."
The words seem to instantly shattered the wall she had been maintaining as her eyes reddened uncontrollably.
Drip. Drip.
The tears overflowed once more on her cheek.
Thud!
Before she could stop herself, her body moved forward. She had buried her face directly against his chest.
"..." Gojo froze. Then his expression softened.
Yumiko's trembling voice emerged.
"Just let me stay like this for a little while...Okay?"
The usually proud girl sounded incredibly fragile at the moment.
Gojo gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"It's okay." He lightly patted her back. "The teacher is here."
That sentence completely broke her remaining resistance.
Her shoulders shook, the quiet crying became louder.
For several minutes, the empty classroom remained silent except for the sound of her sobbing.
Outside the windows, the setting sun continued sinking toward the horizon, with their reflection clear in the window glass.
Eventually, her crying gradually weakened as her emotions finally stabilized.
Yumiko stepped back, embarrassment immediately appeared as her face turned bright red.
She had just thrown herself into her teacher's arms.
How embarrassing.
Gojo pretended not to notice, as he ask gently.
"Feeling better?"
Yumiko sniffled lightly as she nodded, "..A little."
"Good." Gojo nodded then repeated the question, "Now tell me what happened."
Yumiko hesitated.
Then slowly explained everything.
Including seeing Yui return looking depressed and hearing that Yukinoshita Yukino had spoken with her during lunch.
Including misunderstanding the situation, she had confront Yukino about it without understanding the truth.
And finally...Being verbally defeated so badly that she ended up crying and locking herself in the room.
By the time she finished, her voice had become quieter and quieter.
Gojo finally understood.
"So that's what happened."
The source of the problem was...Him.
Indirectly, anyway.
Yumiko lowered her head.
"Gojo-sensei. Am I stupid?"
"Hmm?" 'Yes.'
"I rushed over without understanding anything. I got angry without knowing the truth and accused Yukinoshita...and then I was the one who..." Her voice became smaller as she continue, "Maybe there's something wrong with me."
Gojo stared at her for several seconds.
Then—
Pa!
He lightly flicked her forehead with a little force.
"Ouch!" Yumiko covered her forehead in confusion and pain as she asked, "What was that for?!"
"Because you're saying something stupid."
"...Eh?"
He crossed his arms.
"Standing up for your friend isn't stupid. You were worried about Yui and thought that someone had hurt your friend."
"So you acted on it. What's wrong with that?"
Her eyes widened a little, she had expected criticism for acting on her emotions and without any evidence. She had even expected to get lectures on it for hours!
But not this!
Gojo continued.
"The problem wasn't your intentions. It was your method. You acted before understanding the truth, while it was wrong that doesn't make you a bad person."
Yumiko stared at him while her shiny eyes as warm feeling slowly spread through her chest.
"I think that's actually something admirable."
The tears nearly returned. This time for a completely different reason.
"...Really?"
"Really."
Gojo nodded.
Yumiko's eyes became slightly moist again. But now she was smiling.
"And don't blame Yukino too much." Gojo then added, "Imagine someone suddenly showing up and accusing you of bullying their friend. How would you react? And Yukino's personality isn't exactly gentle, you know. She didn't even hold back against me!"
"That's true." A small laugh escaped Yumiko, even though she doesn't know about what he had done to decrease her criticism.
"She's basically a walking poisonous tongue." Gojo nodded seriously. "But, don't think bad about her. She wouldn't do anything...excessive without reason."
"I know...I won't blame her, I can only blame myself for coming to the conclusion without understanding the situation."
The atmosphere finally became relaxed.
After a moment, Gojo suddenly spoke.
"I think you and Yukino could become friends."
"...Eh?" Yumiko looked surprised at his sudden word. "Friends? Why?"
Gojo smiled mysteriously.
"Because both of you are actually kinder than you pretend to be. And Yukino still lacks friends. So, it would be nice to have you as a friend now."
Yumiko puffed her cheeks. "That's a strange compliment."
Then suddenly narrowed her eyes as suspicion appeared in then.
"Wait, Gojo-sensei. You're very close to Yukinoshita, aren't you?"
"You even call her Yukino!"
"Ah, that is true... " Gojo said, after how many times he had annoyed her it would be strange if she didn't accept it.
Yumiko folded her arms. "Hmph."
Gojo immediately sensed danger. That expression looked familiar, the kind of expression girls made before saying something troublesome.
Sure enough—
"Then from now on, you have to call me Yumiko."
Yumiko Miura turned around arrogantly, and said angrily.
Damn Yukinoshita, I already lose to you verbally, do you think i would lose to you emotionally too? I wouldn't accept it!
Seeing the girl's arrogant appearance, Gojo Satoru had no choice but to accept her request.
"Alright, Yumiko-san."
"It's Yumiko! Not Yumiko-san!!"
"Let me remind you just in case that we are teachers and students."
Then why do you still call Yukinoshita by her first name! Yumiko wanted to argue but didn't considering she too doesn't want him to called her by her first name in front of everyone.
"Uh, then, in front of outsiders in the school, call me Yumiko-san, but you have to call me Yumiko outside the school, okay! And I would call you Gojo-kun." Yumiko said the last word very quietly.
"So even the way you called me has changed now? Tsk tsk."
"Of course."
"How unreasonable."
"I learned from the best."
Gojo laughed. This girl recovered very quickly a few minutes ago she was crying.
Now she was arguing about how to call her.
Much better that her crying face at least.
"Alright, Yumiko."
Hearing the sound of 'Yumiko', Yumiko Miura trembled all over, feeling joyful in her heart.
"Gojo-kun."
...
{T/N: I m sorry I was going through heavy fever mostly due to high temperature }
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Bonus Chapter:-
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6 Bonus Chapter at 150 powerstone
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Word Count — 1,639