❤︎ 1220 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜, 4.5 𝚖𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎
❤︎ 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚘 𝚈𝚘𝚔𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚛𝚒 (横槍メンゴ), 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚊𝚔𝚊 𝚘𝚏 𝙾𝚜𝚑𝚒 𝚗𝚘 𝙺𝚘

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At some point, Geto has secured the leash onto my collar. Holding the hooped handle, he steps backward and stands three feet away from me. I lean forward from his tug. "Follow," he orders. 

I stand up and he walks me across the room. "Master...?" I ask.

He sits down on a leather accent chair. "Who said questions are allowed?" His knuckles close around the handle. "Kneel."

I've never knelt in front of anyone my whole life. My parents? For giving birth to me and bringing me into this world? No. Mr. Yaga? For sheltering me? Of course not. My brother? For staying with me all this time? No way. Director Wes? Producer Sunny? For giving me a stab at a normal life? Not a chance.

Alas, my knees falter and I sink into the rug. So be it...

"Very good girl. Now you've just learned your first two commands: 'follow' and 'kneel'," Geto says, ruffling my hair. I notice that he is wearing a pair of black, leather indoor mules. They are shiny with diamond-shaped engravings. Seeing me staring at his feet, he sits back and extends his right leg between my thighs. "Like what you see? Here's a little something for you. For being a good kitty.

I begin to feel the friction from his shoes against my inner thighs. "No appreciation? That won't do. I didn't bring home an ungrateful brat, did I?" Once more, he tugs at my leash.

"Thank you, Master Geto..." I whisper.

"That's it, y/n, good," he moves his feet to my crotch and rubs against me. Soon, I start sensing wetness exuding from me. I tense myself as I heat up and grow restless. More...more, please... And yet, he stops just as abruptly.

"Seeing that you're such a good student, we have time for one more lesson." I watch him as he ties my leash around the chair's armrest. 

"Close your eyes," he commands. "Stay. Don't move or open your eyes until I come back and say so. Do you hear me?" 

"Yes, Master," I nod, my eyes shut.

I sense him moving away from me. Then, the door closes.

It's hard to gauge how time moves. A second, a minute, an hour... without the ticking of a clock, does time truly exist? I believe it was that day, seeing Geto and Gojo on that bench together, that I first thought about time's subjectivity. It was almost August by then, the height of the cicada season. I was walking back to the school after my routine convenience store run. Apart from my usual grub, I allowed myself to buy a handful of popsicles. They weren't on sale, I just felt like it.

I turned left at the brick wall surrounding ___ park when I suddenly saw the two second-years together. They were sitting close to each other with Gojo's arm resting on the bench's back behind Geto. Gojo leaned in and told Geto something I couldn't hear. Then, Geto laughed-loud and clear as the cicadas. It was the first time I'd ever heard him laugh like that. I'm sure the second-years behaved differently when left on their own and yet, to see Geto with such unbridled happiness... Gojo leaned towards him again and pulled Geto's face close. It looked like they were about to...

I hid myself behind the wall. I couldn't bear myself to see it. A drop of melted popsicle landed on my uniform, right next to the swirl-shaped button on my collar. I looked down and wiped it away with a thumb. That's when I saw a cicada on the asphalt road: its wings torn, its legs limply waving, its stomach turned towards the sky. It was gigantic, oblong, and greasily brown. Its beady, lidless eyes reflected the sun as its whole body twitched with fervour. Sooner or later, the birds, the ants, or some kid will get to it. I squatted down to get a closer look. Cicadas live such short lives. They live underground, they mate, and then they drop like rain. If every life form is a singular unit of time, then every second of a cicada's life must be an eternity compared to a human's. I watched as the dying bug suffered through its eternity, and then, with the stick of my finished popsicle, I pushed it onto the bright green summer grass.

"Y/n! Didn't know you were here!" Gojo walked towards me from my right. "Went to the convenience store?"

"Gojo senpai...! Yeah, thought I might as well. Training doesn't start again for us til evening today," I fished through the plastic bag hanging from my elbow. 

"Want one?" I lifted a melon-flavoured popsicle towards him.

"Aw, thanks, y/n, you're the best." Gojo took it and immediately unwrapped it. "Don't tire yourself too much during training! And say hi to Kento and Yū for me, will you?" He started walking away.

"Senpai? You're not headed back to school?" I yell after him.

"Nah! Yaga asked me to do something for him. But I'll be back soon!" He waved.

I waved back. It wasn't frequent but occasionally, Gojo would leave on his own like that. Where to, I never asked. I turned left again. Geto wasn't in the park anymore. I head back to school to train with Shoko. When she later asked me about bumping into them at the park, I didn't tell her the whole story.

I hear the door open again. Footsteps. "Open your eyes."

I open my eyes to see Geto kneeling on one knee in front of me, his face inches away from mine. "You did good. Really good," he says. "You learned three commands in one session! I couldn't have asked for a better pupil." 

He kisses me. Surprisingly, the kiss wasn't a sexual one but an almost adoring peck. He picks me up to sit with him on the bed and starts to unbuckle my collar.

"Does it hurt?" He asks me.

"No, not really..." I avoid his eyes. "May I ask you a question, Master Geto.?"

He waited for me, rubbing my neck and knees gently.

"Were you ever... in love... with Gojo Senpai...?"

An excruciatingly long pause. My eyes scan across the room, it'd be pitch black in the room if not for the floor lamp Geto switched on. He can be surprisingly thoughtful sometimes. He replies, his palm still cupping my neck, "It's almost time for dinner, y/n. Come, let's go back to the temple."

"Is it okay if I sit this one out? I promise I will join next time. It's just that... the day was so long and I'm beat," I say.

He doesn't speak but takes the collar and leash with him. Before closing the door, he turns to me and says, "I will tell my assistant Manami to leave some food for you. She will come and bring it to you before you leave for work tomorrow."

I listen to his footsteps as he steps downstairs. I find my cigarettes and lighter in my pocket. I light one up. I wonder what Ieiri Senpai is up to these days...? After school, I never saw her again. I wonder if she became a doctor as she told me she would?

I let myself fall back onto the bed and watch as the smoke swirls upwards. Shoko was the one who got me into smoking, after all.

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Author's note!

omg did i just publish a whole chapter in time, wow so proud of myself

i am moving next month so i will be busier but i will still stay on schedule! also i have been reading this manga called X-Gender and it truly is nothing like any mangas i've ever read
⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

anyhow, lemme know what u think about this chapter. meanwhile, here's a cute lil poop my partner drew:

take care & b safe
ikari
jul 23, 2024