───

❝darling we're heaven and hell❞

there was something that the empress of curses had said that lingered in gojō's mind.

'what's your purpose, gojō-san?'

gojō's purpose was obvious; it was to keep the world's balance of forcing the curses to stay on the down-low.

he was a sorcerer and that's all he ever was.

but even he did sometimes wonder where and when did his sudden passion for protecting the weak had come from.

perhaps he was just bandwagoning with his past schoolmates, or he was just going with the flow of things.

maybe he was just doing it because he liked the praises and awes from those that knew of his status in the sorcerer world.

occasionally, very rarely, would gojō wonder what his life would've been if he were born a normal human without any powers.

"definitely a model", he cockily muttered to himself, grinning as he lazily sat up from his bed, checking the clock on his nightstand.

"already midnight? time for a snack!", the white-haired male grinned to himself as he got out of bed and checked his fridge.

to his disappointment, he had finished all his sweets the previous night.

"well shit".

gojō sighed as he messily combed through his locks with his thin fingers, debating whether his cravings were enough to make him head out and get some more.

"fuck it", he muttered as he slammed the door to his penthouse and walked towards the nearest sweets shop.

mid-march wasn't necessarily warm, but it brought along a little breeze.

gojō enjoyed walking at night in the empty roads that were poorly lit by the street lights since apparently people don't pay the government enough to fix the awkward flickering.

though what gojō savored the most was probably the peace and quiet that came along with it.

gojō was about to make a right turn before he momentarily paused, his head leisurely turning the opposite way as his feet continued pointing towards the right.

his body weight ever so slightly shifted along with his thoughts that had prompted him to take a left, to which he had given in, as there was an itch at the back of his mind.

'I wonder if it's open'.

his strides weren't particularly large, though he reached his destination quickly.

his interest sparked even more once he saw a dim light inside the café, with the door locked, but one of the windows so narrowly open that one would fail to notice since it hid behind an outgrown bush.

humming to himself, he slipped his arm into the crevice and unlocked the window entirely, jumping in as he landed perfectly on his feet.

the white-haired male then mentally praised himself as he sauntered over towards the table with the single light that was on.

not only was there a plate of apple roses — with the tips made from thin apple slices slightly burnt to give it rosy effect — but a card was placed beside it.

gojō scoffed as he was just slightly impressed by the work that had went into this.

taking a seat, gojō popped one of the apple pastries into his mouth as he read the card.

┌─ 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒,
𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓋𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉.
𝑒𝓈𝒸𝒶𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎,
𝓁𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒.
𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 𝒷𝑒,
𝐼 𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒹𝑜𝓂 𝑒𝓃𝓋𝓎.
𝓉𝒽𝓊𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒽, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝑒. ─┘

gojō then brought his nose forward as the card had a little riddle to it: smell it.

a minty scent had permeated his nose, with a tint of basil-like smell, reminding him of reina, who was quite the peculiar one for picking such a perfume.

"how queer~"

gojō then smirked as he trashed the card, finishing the dessert as he turned off the light and closed the window.

there was no way that he was flying overseas to go find the woman.

reina smiled as she had just closed a $500 billion deal with the u.s.a. as a whole.

the woman confidently marched down the streets of new york city in heels as she pushed her sunglasses upwards, brushing her bangs back that had immediately fell back in place.

america's curses and shamans weren't as intense as japan's, much like all the other areas of the world.

though every curse knew of the empress herself, as they could sense the malice from a mile away.

"flowers? a bit cliché don't you think?", reina teased as she handed the bouquet back to gojō, who had indeed flew all the way from japan a few days after he had trashed the woman's note.

"I haven't seen you in a while and this is how you greet me? how cold~", the male pouted, to which gojō expected nothing less.

indeed, the male had originally told himself that he wasn't going to come.

however, the perfume had stuck.

and reina knew it would.

gojō was a complex man. a normal sweet smelling scent was going to be quickly forgotten with how many women gojō had bypassed in his lifetime.

hence reina picked out a fresh, minty fragrance; one that wouldn't necessarily leave a negative impression, but enough to intrigue the wafter.

"how'd you even know where I was?", reina asked, entering a nearby store as times square was basically an enormous shopping center.

"the note", gojō bluntly answered.

"living their life and letting their dreams be was a reference to the american dream. a place with bustling people and marveling at the sight...I could only think of a few states that are popular. and as for the last clue...it was the apple roses. new york's known as the big apple isn't it?"

reina nodded in approval.

"I would be impressed, but you're gojō satoru, so it's to be expected", reina casually dismissed, looking through the racks of clothing as gojō peeked over the woman's shoulder.

"so I found you, what happens next?", the male asked.

"we're in new york city, the heart of new york, so the question is: what would you like to do, gojō-san?"

it was almost as if reina was daring gojō, daring the man to let go just a bit and unravel himself to the world.

"you know, I've always wondered how I'd be as a model", he answered, making reina smirk.

"then let's go be the most glamorous models of the big apple".