Chapter Seven

"Oh my god have you checked the time I have to go!?" Y/n exclaimed getting from her seat leaving before she was quickly dragged by Nobara who had chased after her. "So It was true after all? Were you really in love with Toge?"

'...How had the rumour transformed into her being in love with Him? Gossip truly grew wilder as it spread. She had said that he used to be her crush, alright? Used to be! Used to be!'

Nobara couldn't hold her laughter back anymore. "You shouldn't have told Maki this, then!"

Y/n didn't want to talk about this subject anymore. "Shouldn't you be heading over to your husband? Look at those beautiful women, you should be careful let someone steal your newlywed groom away."

"Just let the bitches try! If he gets stolen away, he wouldn't be worthy of me and should raise his standards first of" As she said this, her phone rang, not long after, Gojo found his way here.Y/n opened the door, and Gojo poked his head in. A few other people came right behind him. Next to the door were two servants supporting a female in a pink suit. Y/n recalled that she was the girl who had caught the wedding bouquet earlier, as well as one of Nobara's bridesmaids. Gojo was swaying as he walked, face flushed red, his smell was reeking of strong alcoholic drinks, Despite his intoxication, he was still clear-headed enough to have the attendants carry the girl in. Nobara furrowed her eyebrows at the présence of the male before looking at the passed out girl.

"Who's this girl Gojo?"

"She went to take a bath after drinking too much, and almost drowned in the bathtub...This is a break room for the females, isn't it? Can you let her stay here tonight? The hotel's full, and there's no space for an extra person." Gojo rubbed his forehead as he explained the situation.

Y/n didn't mind, but instead of focusing on the girl, her gaze was directed outside seeing the familiar silhouette of a man leaning on a lamppost with only half his face showing.

Toji Fushiguro.

Because of the lighting, his expression seemed somewhat sullen. For some reason, he looked unhappy, and his negative emotions seemed to emanate outward.

Upon noticing her gaze, he glanced back at her indifferently. Y/n broke eye contact when he headed inside while Nobara was helping the attendants take care of the drunk girl.

"Yuji Why didn't you just let someone send her back? Why are all of you here? Didn't you say that you wanted to enjoy the hot springs?" Nobara asked Yuji who was silent the whole time, he tensed at her sudden question since she was riled up.

Y/n raised her eyebrows. 'In the first place, would a germaphobe like Toji ever take a bath in this sort of place?'

Instead, Gojo replied patting her back "Don't mention it. Just as we were about to take off our clothes Then Director Fushiguro had something come up. So, it was convenient for me to take Mai back at the same time and Yuji helped me, don't be such jealous apple pie Nobara!"

Mai was the drunken bridesmaid, supposedly a distant relative of Nobara. As Gojo said this, he looked at Y/n, somewhat embarrassed. "Y/n, you didn't drink tonight, did you? My friend has to leave urgently, but he's too drunk to drive, and we can't find a chauffeur at this hour either. Could I trouble you to give him a ride? It isn't far-just a half hour's drive there and back."

Y/n didn't respond, only looking at Toji completely annoyed. He was standing to the side of the room, and he seemed quite sober and completely capable of driving himself. This time, he acted quite politely, turning toward her and clasping his hands together as soon as Gojo finished talking. "I'm sorry to trouble you."

He was nothing like the man who had purposefully given her condoms just earlier. Y/n couldn't understand what he was thinking and was reluctant to agree. It was only Nobara's earnest gaze as she urged her friend and whispered "Send him away quickly. He's going to ruin my wedding night if he stays here much longer Yuji can't ignore his presence since he had a business deal with him"-that finally got her to agree.

Y/n wanted to sigh."I don't drive frequently, so you might not find my drive very suitable"

This time, Toji spoke to her directly. "Don't worry. I'm not scared of death."His words left Y/n speechless, and it was Nobara who started worrying this time.

"Actually, why don't I just find one of my male classmates? Honestly, I'm somewhat worried at having Y/n drive as well."

Gojo shook his head stepping in beside Nobara "Forget it, they're currently all bathing. It'd be too inconvenient to drag someone else out. Don't worry, Y/n's a doctor with a dependable personality. As long as she drives slowly, there won't be a problem. Right, Director Fushiguro?"

Toji nodded.

Meanwhile, Nobara glared at Gojo wordlessly before Yuji interfered taking his wife by the shoulder. The couple exchanged a gaze, and Nobara finally stopped, giving in.

The trio sent Y/n and Toji to the parking lot. As Nobara watched the car roll away, she couldn't help but frown. "What are you and Toji planning?"

Gojo laughed before taking Yuji by the neck. "What are we planning? I'm just having your best friend give him a ride."

Nobara turned to stare at him. "Really? The two of you are acting so strange but I will ignore that and called a day but I can't seem to pinpoint what Director Fushiguro is doing here. It's even weirder that he came at all today."

Gojo left with goodbye, leaving Yuji who took his wife by the waist and kissed her.

"What's so strange? Isn't your husband worth him coming? And I want him to leave right away because if he stays, tonight we'll..."

The rest of his words were drowned out in their quiet laughter. Nobara punched him lightly. "Say the boy who cried begging him to come to his weeding"

"I admit I find him coming to my weeding is strange after he refused to come"Yuji pushed his hair back before taking her by the waist."but aren't this gaze of yours too prideful while saying that to your husband, you should be punishe—"

"Act properly," Nobara warned.

"With my wifey !?, what's the point of acting proper?" Yuki argued back taking her chin between her fingers."—Wanna have sex?"

"If you are down for a couples of shots"

"Hell yeah, that's my girl!"

Y/n had had her driver's license for a long time, but she rarely drove. And considering how fancy Gojo's car was, it was only normal that she was on tenterhooks the entire drive. Even so, she couldn't ignore the serious glances that Toji was shooting at her from the passenger's seat. He sat there on his side with his hand resting on the armrest between them and his green eyes staring at her with rapt attention.

After finishing his inspection, he detachedly stated, "You look very ordinary woman for me but why do they all call you beautiful?"

Having been at the spa just earlier, he had heard all of her classmate's conversations. This earnest commentary was just a continuation of those conversations."Especially your clothes they look very terrible"

Y/n tried her toughest to pretend he was just joking. He even seemed confused as to why she was ignoring him. "Why aren't you speaking today, Cat got your tongue?"

Honestly, She was even more mystified by his attitude. After thinking about her teacher's request, she drove even more slowly and asked, "Why are you speaking so much today?"

During their first meeting, he had barely spoken at all and remained silent the whole dinner. Toji remained quiet. Just as Y/n was about to reflect on whether she had phrased her question too directly, he suddenly spoke up again.

"I want to enchant you" He looked at her directly as he asked, "May I?"

Y/n couldn't help but laugh upon hearing his words. "You're so funny, I really can't drive all that well with you distracting me"

"Why are you laughing? wasn't I being serious enough?"

'No' Y/n thought.

Toji's tone didn't contain any of the bashfulness of a youthful man yearning for love. Rather than being nervous, he sounded more like an office worker merely trying to accomplish a task. She decided to have a good chat with him, from the stance that he was one of her patients. "Mr Fushiguro, have you ever been in a relationship before?"

"Is this related to me chasing you or our forbidden relationship as patient and his psychiatrist?"

Y/n smiled and ignored his last statement "Exactly, If you've ever been in a relationship, then you should know that your actions are different from those of someone who's truly smitten and wholeheartedly trying to woo someone else."

"Oh." His tone was as apathetic as ever."Then what should my actions be like?"

"What should it be like?" There was a red light ahead, and Y/n decelerated the car slowly, her fingers slowly rapping on the steering wheel in thought."To truly drawn someone to you, you have to involve treating a lover with a reserved, modest, and even somewhat shy attitude. It does not involve sudden passion or premature affection."

"Says who?"

"The great pioneer of the proletariat, Karl Marx."

"Marx said something like that?" Toji didn't believe her words. "On the other hand, the great French novelist Balzac stated that love is the indulgence of rationality. A positive, grave enjoyment."

After hearing his words, Y/n started smiling. He was a more interesting man than she had previously given credit for, at the very least, he had been thinking about love, or he wouldn't have remembered this quote of Balzac's. Or, perhaps, these words only served to support his detached emotions. An indulgence of rationality, a grave enjoyment... his attention was solely focused on the words 'rationality' and 'grave' wasn't it? She stopped debating with him. After the red light turned green, she started driving again. Toji received a call, probably the one that was rushing him. She heard him say,

"I'm almost there-turn right."

"Turn right" was directed at her. He had said it promptly, and Y/n was able to follow his directions. Not far ahead, she saw a big metal gate. After they finally arrived, Toji hung up. "Drive inside."

Y/n glanced at him, and he also turned his head to look at her. She somewhat awkwardly asked, "Can you walk inside by yourself?"

She remembered that there used to be a mountain here, but the mountain had clearly been levelled and replaced with bungalows some time ago. This new unfamiliar place, walled up behind a big metal gate, looked like a dark castle in the deep night, and it was a castle that Y/n didn't want to enter. Toji seemed to see through her pretence. "Are you scared?" He seemed a bit amazed and tried to reassure her, his tone wasn't very reassuring, at all. "All thought, we've already slept together, so what else could you be scared of?"

"....."