Ms. Gojo thought she was dating an ordinary person's boyfriend.

Gojo Satoru glanced down at the hands wrapped around his waist, finally deciding he couldn't bear to continue pretending.

"I didn't say I was really leaving."

"You just told me to go back."

"That's because someone still doesn't know why I'm angry."

Kikawa Sumi hugged him without saying a word.

Gojo Satoru turned around and looked at the person in front of him.

Kikawa Sumi didn't let go; instead, she hugged him even tighter. He lowered his head, his forehead almost touching Gojo Satoru's shoulder, his quietness softening one's heart.

The little bit of anger that Gojo Satoru had in his heart, which was as fragile as paper, has now completely dissipated.

He raised his hand and soothingly patted the back of Susumu Kawakawa's neck.

"Cheng".

"Um."

"I wasn't trying to make things difficult for you," Gojo Satoru said softly, "but I don't want things to always be like this between us."

Sumire Kikawa stiffened slightly.

Gojo Satoru looked down at his shadow on the ground, his tone calm: "You have your secrets, and I have mine. We're not ordinary people, so this kind of thing isn't strange at all."

"But the problem now is not about whether there are secrets or not."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "The problem is that you always tend to shoulder everything alone. Then, when things are exposed and I find out, you turn around and carefully try to appease me, just like now."

A night breeze passed between the two of them, bringing a slight chill.

Gojo Satoru's voice remained gentle.

Sumire Kichikawa noticeably tightened her grip on his arm.

Gojo Satoru sighed softly, raised his hand and touched his face, as if to comfort him.

"What really makes me angry is that even though you've decided to be with me, you still habitually handle everything on your own. It's as if as long as I don't know, whatever the price you pay in the end, it's all your own business."

Sumi Kichikawa's eyelashes fluttered slightly.

Gojo Satoru looked him in the eye, his tone calm, but he gave him no room to dodge.

"But from the moment you came into my life, it became more than just your own business."

"If one day things really reach a point of no return, and I'm the last person to know—Xiao Cheng, what do you think I'd think?"

Sumire Kawakawa remained silent for a long time.

The night breeze swept past the two of them, fluttering the hem of Gojo Satoru's coat on his shoulder.

After a long while, Sumi Kichikawa finally spoke in a low voice.

There won't be a next time.

"real?"

"real."

His tone was so solemn it was almost a promise.

"If anything in the future might involve Wu, I won't hide it from you anymore. And I'll find a way to tell you about things I can't tell you now as soon as possible."

Gojo Satoru looked at him for a while.

Six Eyes quietly observed the person in front of him, but did not detect the slightest lie.

He finally smiled and reached out to ruffle Kikawa Sumi's hair.

"That's more like it."

Kikawa Sumi didn't dodge, letting him rub her a few times before pulling her back into his arms.

"I've been very sad these past few days without Wu."

Gojo Satoru raised an eyebrow: "Are you the only one feeling bad?"

"No," Sumi Kikawa immediately changed her tune, "I'm the one who made Satoru feel bad."

"snort."

"If I do anything wrong again in the future, you can tell me directly."

"uh-huh."

"You can hit me too."

Gojo Satoru's smile faltered for a moment.

"Would I hit you?"

"Um."

How can I hit you?

Kikawa Sumi didn't pick up on the emotion in his words, and simply replied, "Anything is fine. As long as you can calm down."

He thought for a moment, then added, "If you feel that a normal fight isn't enough to vent your anger, I can also refrain from resisting your techniques. Anyway, I won't be that easy to deal with—"

Before he could finish speaking, Gojo Satoru shoved him away.

Caught off guard, Kikawa Sumi froze on the spot.

"Enlightenment?"

Gojo Satoru stared at him coldly, almost laughing out of anger.

"You really dare to say that."

Kikawa Sumi finally realized that she seemed to have said something wrong again, and immediately reached out to pull the person back.

"I'm sorry, I misspoke."

"open."

Instead of loosening her grip, Sumire Kichikawa hugged him even tighter: "I was wrong."

"Where did I go wrong?"

Sumire Kichikawa opened her mouth, but couldn't answer immediately.

Gojo Satoru squinted at him.

"Speak."

"...Shouldn't I have made Satoru angry?"

Gojo Satoru's expression became even more dangerous.

Kikawa Sumi paused for a moment, then changed her tune: "Shouldn't we have let Satoru do it?"

Hearing this answer, Gojo Satoru was both amused and annoyed. He placed his hand on the man's chest but did not push him away again.

After a long pause, he sighed softly and asked, "Do you think it's a good deal to take a few hits and get hurt in exchange for not getting angry?"

Sumi Kichikawa did not answer.

But that moment of silence was the clearest answer imaginable.

Gojo Satoru looked at him, the gentleness on his face completely fading away.

Sometimes he really felt that Sumi Kichikawa was a very divided person.

Sometimes this person seems incredibly thoughtful, able to handle interpersonal relationships perfectly with just a few words, as if they were born with a knack for getting along with people; but other times, they might suddenly come up with some bizarre logic that makes your scalp tingle.

Just like that sentence, "You can hit me."

Gojo Satoru could tell that when Sumirei Kawakawa said those words, she wasn't deliberately trying to gain sympathy or testing anyone.

He genuinely felt that there was no problem with it.

Even in his own view, this might be the most natural concession and compensation.

As long as Gojo Satoru doesn't ignore him, doesn't push him away, and doesn't mention being beaten, even if the outcome seems worse, he can calmly accept it.

This is what really bothers Gojo Satoru the most.

Because this means that Sumi Kichikawa may be treating himself in a much worse way than he originally thought.

"Sumi," Gojo Satoru asked in a low voice, "do you think that you don't care what I do as long as I'm happy?"

Sumi Kichikawa did not answer.

He genuinely felt that as long as the result was fine, what happened during the process was actually not important.

Looking at his bewildered yet cautious expression, Gojo Satoru's anger slowly turned into helplessness.

"Cheng, I also want to apologize to you. It was also my fault for ignoring you."

Sumire Kikawa was slightly taken aback.

"The Cold War won't solve anything, and I was also at fault these past few days." Gojo Satoru raised his hand and touched his face. "But you can't think you can do anything just because you're afraid I'll leave."

Kikawa Sumi lowered her eyes and fell silent.

Gojo Satoru looked into his eyes. "What I want is for you to learn to tell me what happened, not for you to sacrifice yourself to make me happy."

Kikawa Sumi's lips moved, and after a long while she said in a low voice, "But I don't know how to make Satoru calm down."

"Then learn slowly."

"What if you can't learn it?"

"If you can't learn it, come ask me," Gojo Satoru said matter-of-factly. "I'm so smart, do you think I can't teach you?"

Sumire looked at him and finally nodded gently.

Gojo Satoru looked at him for a while longer, but ultimately didn't ask any more questions.

"Alright." Gojo Satoru patted his arm. "Let's go home first. If we keep talking, I'm afraid you'll say something that will drive me crazy."

Kikawa Sumi slowly released his grip, but didn't let go completely; instead, she took his hand in her own.

Gojo let him lead him.

Kikawa Sumi opened the car door for him, and only closed it after he was seated before walking back to the driver's seat. Soon, the car drove away from the roadside and disappeared into the night.

Only after they had gone far away did Shoko slowly emerge from the side.

She was on the phone when she turned around and saw an unfamiliar car stop.

The man who got out of the car walked straight towards Gojo Satoru; it was obvious who he was.

But what happened next was truly beyond her expectations.

Gojo Satoru kept saying that the man usually spoiled him and had been carefully coaxing him these past few days.

Shoko initially thought that there was some exaggeration involved in Gojo Satoru's self-satisfaction.

Now it seems that it was all true.

She wasn't very close and couldn't hear exactly what the two were saying, but she could see every movement the man made.

When he draped the coat over Gojo Satoru's shoulders, his gaze never left Gojo Satoru's face; he kept trying to gauge Gojo Satoru's expression.

Several times I wanted to hold his hand, but I timidly withdrew it halfway through.

Later, seeing that Gojo Satoru was about to leave, the man visibly panicked and, in a fit of desperation, grabbed the man and held him tightly in his arms.

This contradictory reaction of extreme restraint and extreme loss of control does indeed match the mental state that Shoko had heard about before.

On the surface, they appear calm and composed, as if they would never lose their composure.

But if Gojo Satoru showed even the slightest intention to abandon him, all the composure he had been maintaining would immediately crumble.

And so it went on.

The man had been holding Gojo Satoru and whispering something, but after only a few words, something he said angered Gojo Satoru. The man had just been pushed away, but the next second he reached out and pulled Gojo Satoru back into his arms, as if afraid that if he was even a little too slow, Gojo Satoru would really leave.

This was the first time Shoko had ever seen anyone make Gojo Satoru so angry that he was giving her the cold shoulder, and it was also the first time she had ever seen anyone make Gojo Satoru angry again while trying to coax him.

From a certain perspective, he is indeed a talented individual.

However, what surprised her even more was Gojo Satoru.

It's not surprising that Gojo Satoru could be annoyed, but it's not so easy to get him to express his displeasure without restraint.

As a longtime classmate, Shoko knew very well.

Gojo Satoru is used to using jokes to mask his true attitude, and he also hides all his deep emotions beneath his nonchalant and carefree exterior.

But that man was able to make Gojo Satoru let down all his guard and reveal all his emotions without any pretense.

When they get angry, they just turn their faces away; when they're unhappy, they push people.

There's no need for probing, no need to weigh the pros and cons, and no need to wear that frivolous disguise.

This can only prove one thing—

When he was with that man, Gojo Satoru was truly in a state of absolute relaxation.

He didn't need to hide his talents, and he was certain that the other party would not turn away because of his willfulness and temper.

Shoko stood there, gazing at the now empty street.

Complete trust.

The other one was almost obsessed with it.

For a moment, Shoko couldn't tell which of the two was more seriously ill.

Finally, she could only sigh helplessly at the night.