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

The automatic door of the convenience store opened, and the aroma of oden mixed with the cool air wafted out.

Kikawa Sumi paused for a moment at the door, glancing around as usual. She saw a small mountain of new weekly magazines piled up on the magazine rack in front of the cashier, with a smiling cover girl on the cover.

There were two or three people in line at the cashier, so he went straight to the deli section, picked up a paper cup, and took a few pieces of white radish, eggs, and bamboo shoots.

Then he heard a somewhat familiar voice with a drawn-out tone:

"Ah, we meet again~"

Sumire Kawakawa turned her head.

In the dining area by the window, a tall, white-haired man wearing a strange eye patch was waving at him, holding up a cup of milk tea. Three empty pudding cups were neatly arranged on the table, and next to them was a fourth one, its packaging just torn open.

Sumire Kikkawa was taken aback.

"...You're here too."

"Yes, I'm here~" Gojo Satoru nodded with a smile, tapping the row of empty cups with his fingertip, his tone matter-of-fact, "This limited-edition pudding is really delicious."

He patted the chair opposite him very casually, "Sit down~"

Qichuan's gaze swept back and forth between him and the cashier.

He wanted to say, "I'm just here to buy something," but then he couldn't be bothered to say it.

I'm so tired today, too tired to engage in any more social niceties with anyone.

He silently went to buy a hot coffee and a simple rice ball, then took the plate and sat down opposite Gojo Satoru.

The background noise in the convenience store remained monotonous, consisting only of the beeping of the cash register, the low hum of the freezer, and the occasional ding-dong of customers entering and exiting.

Neither of them spoke first.

Gojo Satoru chewed on a straw, his pale blue eyes hidden behind an eye mask, his gaze seemingly fixed on the passing car lights outside the window, yet also seemingly unfocused.

Qichuan sipped his piping hot coffee, letting the warmth dispel his fatigue, his eyes vacant as he stared at some nonexistent point in the air.

"This person's aura..." Gojo Satoru glanced at the person eating quietly across from him out of the corner of his eye. "Still so... quiet."

It was a tranquility like the deep sea, encompassing all things without creating any sense of oppression.

It's like there's nothing at all, yet it's also like there's everything.

Surrounded by this atmosphere, the surrounding noise seemed to recede slightly, and even the brain, which was previously cluttered with information, calmed down a bit.

"What a... strange person." He subconsciously touched the straw with the tip of his tongue, leaving a small white mark on the plastic.

My fingertips touched the neatly folded star-shaped candy wrapper in my pocket.

"Nene~" Gojo Satoru finally spoke, tilting his head, one hand supporting his chin, his lips still glistening from drinking milk tea, his voice sticky like undissolved sugar in milk tea, "Where did you buy those candies last time?"

Kichikawa was taking a bite of rice ball when he heard this. He looked up at him, chewed slowly, and swallowed: "It wasn't bought."

"Hmm?" Gojo Satoru raised an eyebrow.

"It was a gift from a friend," Qi Chuan said succinctly, picking up his coffee and taking another sip.

"Oh?" Gojo Satoru leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the table, his fingertips dangling naturally. "Then... is there anything else?"

He asked casually, with an expression that said, "I was just asking, it's okay if you don't have it," but his demeanor was like a cat that had locked onto its target.

Qichuan looked at him.

"...like a child begging for candy."

He didn't say anything, but simply put down his coffee cup and reached into the pocket of his white coat.

There are three left.

One is grape purple, one is lemon yellow, and one is strawberry pink.

Under the convenience store lights, the transparent wrapping paper containing the candy balls and the tiny star patterns on the packaging shimmered.

This time, he didn't push it over; he simply placed it casually on the table in front of him.

Gojo Satoru's gaze was immediately drawn to the three little things.

But he didn't move, he just maintained that seemingly lazy posture with his elbows propped up, his gaze darting back and forth between Candy and Qichuan's faces.

"Is that pocket of yours connected to some kind of candy factory?" Gojo Satoru drawled, a hint of teasing curiosity in his voice. "And how much is inside?"

Kichikawa thought about it seriously for a moment, then shook his head: "I don't know. I'm used to it."

He picked up the lemon-yellow candy and unconsciously twirled it between his fingers. "A pediatrician should always keep some in his pocket."

Gojo Satoru chuckled softly: "Well, it's quite a nice arsenal."

His gaze finally landed on the grape-purple candy, and he slightly raised his chin. "Um... what's the flavor?"

"Grapes," Kikawa replied, pausing as if choosing his words carefully, "but not ordinary grapes..." He seemed to be searching for the right adjective.

He ultimately chose the simplest and safest explanation: "...it's a specialty of a remote town, with a rather unique flavor."

Gojo Satoru did not inquire about the specific location of that "distant town," nor did he delve into what made it "special."

He said "Oh," nodded to indicate that he understood, and then reached out and swiftly took the grape away.

Without the slightest hesitation or politeness.

He held the candy in his hand, not opening it immediately, but looking at the translucent purple candy ball and tiny stars under the light before slowly peeling off the wrapper.

He popped the candy into his mouth, and the familiar sweet grape aroma instantly filled the air. The faint floral scent in the aftertaste made him squint his eyes in satisfaction.

"Hmm," he mumbled, "not bad."

As Qichuan watched him languidly lost in the sweetness, her gaze unconsciously drifted to the edge of his eye patch. The skin there seemed drier and tighter than when they last met at the hospital entrance.

"Does this guy... really know how to take care of himself?" The thought flashed through Kichikawa's mind.

But in the end, he didn't ask anything.

He silently finished the rest of his rice ball, drank the last sip of coffee, and began cleaning up the trash. Gojo Satoru, chewing on a candy, followed his movements with his eyes.

After throwing the collected trash into the bin next to him, Qichuan stood up.

"I'm gone."

Gojo Satoru, chewing on a candy, mumbled an "Oh."

Qichuan walked towards the door, his fingers touching the cold glass doorknob, but then he stopped.

He turned his head slightly to the side, his gaze landing precisely on Gojo Satoru's face, or more precisely, on the area below his eyepatch near his cheekbone.

"Don't stay up too late." His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced through the background noise of the convenience store.

Just as Gojo Satoru was about to retort with his usual retort, "How did you know I stayed up all night?", Kikawa's second half of the sentence followed:

"And another thing," Qichuan pointed to the same spot under his eyes, "my dark circles have gotten worse."

After saying that, he didn't linger and pushed open the door to leave.

The convenience store's automatic door dinged and closed quickly behind him.

Gojo Satoru remained alone, clutching the freshly peeled wrapper of a grape-flavored candy in his hand.

He subconsciously raised his hand and touched the area below his blindfold, the spot that Qichuan had just pointed to.

"...Dark circles under the eyes?"

He had just finished a cross-regional mission today, and the fatigue from working overtime hadn't completely subsided... Wait a minute!

He was clearly wearing an eye patch!

How could he possibly see the dark circles under his eyes under his eye patch?

"Is this guy... playing a trick on me?"

He muttered something under his breath, with a belated, indescribable sense of subtlety.

Under the cold light of the convenience store, he looked down at the crumpled transparent candy wrapper in his palm, the little hand-drawn star on it still shining.

He reached out his other hand, his fingertips subtly smoothing out the tiny wrinkles without him even realizing it, and then, following the previous creases, folded it back into a neat little square.

This time, he was extra careful to put the small cube into the innermost pocket of his pants.

After doing all this, he looked out the window again.

The night was deep, and under the dim yellow glow of the streetlights, a figure in a trench coat and white lab coat was walking slowly along the street, casting a long shadow as he walked at a leisurely pace.

Gojo Satoru's gaze unconsciously followed that figure until it disappeared around the next street corner.

"...What?" He looked away, as if he had just realized what he was doing, and muttered something under his breath.

He stood up, picked up the other two candies belonging to Qichuan on the table, put them in his pocket, grabbed the milk tea cup that was almost empty, and walked towards the door.

Pushing open the glass door, the cool night breeze ruffled the white hair on his forehead.

He stood at the entrance of the convenience store, hesitated briefly, and his gaze involuntarily drifted back to the street corner where Qichuan had disappeared.

"Well..."

A slight smile played at the corners of his lips, as if he had thought of something interesting.

"If we run into him again next time, I'll tease him a little."

He turned around, taking steps that seemed a little lighter than when he came, and disappeared into the neon lights of the city, which were in the exact opposite direction from Qichuan.

The convenience store light shrank behind him into a warm spot, illuminating the table by the window, which now only had three empty pudding cups and one empty coffee cup.