After leaving the music room, Gojo Satoru stretched his arms above his head and let out a long yawn again.
"Fuaaah..."
The quiet corridor of the fifth floor echoed slightly with the sound.
His original plan had been simple.
Return to the office.
Charge his phone.
Then head over to the Service Club and borrow a table for an afternoon nap.
A perfect schedule.
A flawless schedule!
The schedule of a man who had already given up trying to act like a normal teacher and become the very best.
But that schedule was ruin because of his own curiosity.
As he walked down the stairs, Gojo pulled out his phone and glanced at the message he had received earlier.
The sender was Nakano Nino.
A short message appeared on the screen.
Nino: Are you coming to the rooftop for lunch?
Gojo stared at it for a few seconds.
Then he replied with an amused smile.
Gojo: Sorry, I'm not very hungry today and you should spent sometime with your sister too. Otherwise, I am scared they might hunt me 😅.
After sending the message, he slipped the phone back into his pocket. Normally he would have gone to her with a big smile on his face.
After all, free food was free food.
But after spending the entire morning dealing with students and forcing dozens of exhausted boys to run ten laps, and after playing piano, now all he wanted now was sleep.
Food could wait.
Sleep was eternal.
With this sacred belief in mind, Gojo continued walking toward the teachers' office.
....
A few minutes later—
Click!
He opened the office door.
Immediately after he was slap by a rich aroma that hit him directly in the face.
"..."
Sniff! Sniff!
Gojo froze, his nose twitched, eyes widened slightly behind the blindfold.
The scent of broth, spices, meat, and vegetables mixed together and spread throughout the room.
The effect was immediate.
The appetite he claimed not to have suddenly returned.
"Okay." Gojo clapped his hand together in a praying motion as he silently apologize to Nino, "I take it back. I'm hungry as the Future Pirate King next door."
Inside the office, Chihiro stood beside several desks that had been pushed together into one enormous table.
In the center sat a steaming hot pot.
Various trays of meat, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, noodles, and seafood surrounded it.
The entire office looked less like a workplace and more like a restaurant.
Seeing Gojo enter, Chihiro smiled happily,
"Perfect timing. I was just about to call you."
Click!
Gojo closed the door behind him. "Hot pot?"
"Hot pot."
"At school?"
"At school."
"You've completely stopped pretending to follow regulations." Gojo asked in mild amusement.
"Those regulations never stopped me before."
Gojo nodded.
Fair point.
That sounded exactly like Naruko.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and sat down heavily in a nearby chair.
"Do you know how much work it took to move all these desks?"
"I'm looking at the evidence."
"My arms are going to fall off."
Gojo glanced around.
The desks had been rearranged into a large square.
Extra chairs seem to had been gathered from nearby classrooms.
Several extension cords were running across the floor with some plastic box and cans.
"How long were you preparing this?"
"Since this morning." Chihiro sighed dramatically. "I saw a flyer for a discounted hot pot restaurant."
"Then?"
"Then I got hungry."
"And?"
"And here we are." Chihiro answersd with a cheeky smile.
"..." Gojo couldn't even argue. The logic was surprisingly straightforward.
Chihiro pointed proudly at the mountain of ingredients that was forgotten on the corner of the room.
"There was a forty percent discount. I regret nothing."
"You'll regret it when the principal sees this." Even Gojo didn't believe that he was the one to say something like this.
Today is a very eventful day.....
"The principal isn't invited."
"Ah."
"See? Problem solved." Chihiro said proudly, as she pushed her chest.
Gojo nodded again.
The reasoning was flawless. In a completely illegal sort of way.
Taking a seat, he casually reached for one of the desserts placed nearby.
A small cake.
One bite later—
"Hm. It's average." Gojo commented as he taste the cake on his tongue.
"You didn't even wait for lunch." Chihiro complain with a 'Are-you-serious' face.
"Quality control."
"That's not quality control." Chihiro complain again.
"It is now."
The two continued chatting while waiting for the others.
After which, Chihiro relaxed into her chair with a content sigh.
"Finally. My back is killing me."
Gojo glanced at her. "You know, if you had called me, I would've helped move everything."
Chihiro scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"I figured you were busy covering Hiratsuka-sensei's classes."
"That's still less work than moving half the office."
"....Maybe."
"Definitely."
"Okay, definitely."
The two laughed. Then Gojo leaned back and took his seat on the chair.
"You know, Chihiro."
"Hm?"
"You'd probably make a decent housewife."
Chihiro blinked. Then proudly puffed out her chest. "Of course. I have many hidden talents."
"Such as?"
"I can sleep for twelve hours straight!"
"Impressive." Gojo praise her honestly.
"I can also survive on instant noodles for an entire week." Chihiro continue to reveal her hidden talent.
"That's not a talent."
{T/N: You ruin it}
"It absolutely is."
"That's a survival skill."
Chihiro blinked before she pointed dramatically in the sky with a wide smile, "Exactly."
Gojo rubbed his forehead.
Sometimes he genuinely wondered how this woman functioned as an adult. At first, she was like the calm and mature teacher who does her work very seriously but as time goes he was finally able to see her hidden self.
Then again, he wasn't exactly qualified to judge.
Their conversation continued until—
Click!
The office door opened.
"We're here!" A cheerful voice rang out.
Naruko Yokoshima entered first. Behind her came Chabashira Sae and Kirisu Mafuyu with a calm expression.
The moment they entered, all three paused. The smell alone was enough to stop them in their tracks.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Chabashira Sae looked around helplessly. "You're not even trying to hide it anymore."
"No point."
"Fair."
Meanwhile, Kirisu Mafuyu calmly massage her temple,"I feel like this violates some school regulations."
"Only some?" Chihiro looked surprised, before she muttered to herself in dissatisfaction, "I was aiming for at least ten."
"..." Kirisu stared silently at the teacher who is finally revealing her true color.
Gojo laughed.
Even Sae seemed briefly speechless.
The group gradually gathered around the table.
Then finally Chabashira noticed Gojo sitting in the corner.
"Oh? Gojo-sensei is here too."
Gojo raised a hand. "Yo."
He could understand that Chihiro matter was too much for them to look around and see who was in the office.
"You're surprisingly early."
"I followed the smell."
"Reasonable."
Kirisu nodded politely towards Gojo, "Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon."
The atmosphere became much livelier as everyone settled into their seats.
Just then,
"Gojo-kun~!"
With a drawn-out, utterly foolish cry, Naruko Yokoshima launched herself straight at Gojo Satoru, burying her face in his chest.
"Sniff, sniff~! I knew it! The moment I walked in, I smelled something familiar and delicious. It was Gojo-kun's scent all along!"
She took another exaggerated sniff and shivered from head to toe.
"It smells so good... I can't take it anymore... I want to..."
Before she could finish her sentence, her body trembled dramatically for several seconds before she finally relaxed, looking completely satisfied.
The sight left Kirisu Mafuyu and Chabashira Sae staring in stunned silence.
Was this really the Naruko Yokoshima they knew?
Had someone secretly swapped her out with another person?
Who was this shameless creature?
Seeing their expressions, Chihiro Chifuyu sighed. She had already gotten used to it.
"That's definitely Naruko," she explained calmly. "She just became... different after meeting Gojo-kun."
"Different?" Mafuyu asked.
"Yeah. A complete idiot."
"Hey!"
Naruko immediately lifted her head from Gojo's chest and puffed out her cheeks.
"I'm not an idiot! I'm very serious!"
The two teachers exchanged silent looks.
No, you really aren't.
The way she had pounced just now was far too practiced. Not to mention the way she was enthusiastically sniffing him like some suspicious old man.
By any reasonable standard, she was a hopeless pervert!
Gojo simply laughed and rubbed the girl's brown-red hair.
"Alright, enough fooling around. Go help prepare the vegetables. I'm going to mix the seasonings."
"Okay..."
Naruko reluctantly climbed out of his arms, looking as though she had just been sentenced to hard labor.
If it were up to her, she would happily spend the entire day curled up against him.
The only reason she was behaving at all was because Hiratsuka Shizuka wasn't here.
If Shizuka were present, Naruko wouldn't even be able to get close enough to steal a whiff of Gojo's scent, let alone monopolize his arms.
...
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Bonus Chapter:-
4 Bonus chapter at 100 powerstone
6 Bonus Chapter at 150 powerstone
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Word Count — 1,502