In case somebody ever asked, Gojo Satoru never knew what exactly it was that drew him to her.
One day, he woke up to find out that he was attracted to her and to see her once a day was what he has been doing for the past weeks. But he was lucky enough that he has his blindfold not to make it too obvious that he has been gazing at her too much so no one would notice—but even if somebody notices, he was never someone to give a damn about it.
But one thing that he knew for sure was that during that exact period, he also experienced this particular oddness when she was around.
Kamo Umeko was not someone like Ieiri Shoko to Satoru, he rarely saw her. He was a teacher and a senior sorcerer who went on a solo mission a lot, and she was a student, a rookie sorcerer, way beneath him in rank or age, but what makes it obvious was the effort that he put into seeing her.
He practically made time to see her once in a while or once in a day, in his busy days or not, on those days before he went on an abroad mission for days or weeks or even after; just to make sure that she was doing fine.
She was fine as ever, beautiful as ever, and was still terrifying. And by simply being herself, in that beautiful and fine state everyday to his eyes, she was the most terrifying thing in the entire universe—terrifyingly beautiful, terrifyingly breathtaking, terrifyingly attractive, terrifyingly… everything. If anything, she can smile and he would be at her mercy, that simple.
But one day he was being shown how fragile that finest girl of his eyes can be. The terrifyingly everything-fine girl that he has laid his eyes on was so fragile that it terrified him even more. To the fact that she wasn't as fine as she was, he was terrified.
When he saw how trembling her lips were before tears fell down, streaming on her cheeks, he froze.
He was inexperienced in this field, very inexperienced.
Truth to be told, Gojo Satoru was never someone who'd known how to do when he was dealing with crying girl and when it was presented in front of him the very crying Kamo Umeko, he just wanted to do everything, to give everything if it ever be enough to stop her from crying.
She looked so scared, terrified, and fragile that he was afraid when he touched her, she would scatter into pieces in an instant.
He thought it was a curse the moment after he saw that it was her who he sensed, but to see how she was crying was a different matter. It was like a game over.
He wanted to offer everything, everything he could, everything that he could grasp for her, to end up with nothing. Nothing but a pat, nothing but a pat on the shoulder that gradually becomes a hug.
The moment he knocked her out, his hold got tighter when her body slumped in his embrace and it was a last minute thought to teleport to Ieiri's room with her in his arms, greeting a simple 'yo' to tell Ieiri that he needed her hand with what he got without needing to say more. And he watched everything that happened.
From the moment Ieiri started to examine her, to how they waited. Satoru was so nervous and was afraid that Ieiri might have noticed something but she said nothing. And until then when Umeko finally woke up from fifteen minutes of being in an unconscious state, he felt genuinely relieved but didn't show it—playing cool and goofy as he was.
To then when she thanked both him and Ieiri, it felt nice. But it just nice nice, not as nice as when she thanked him for her promotion recommendation. But that little thank before she vanished behind the door alone was enough to soothe everything inside of him that was so worried about what happened.
"What are you waiting for? Isn't our business done?" Ieiri asked. The question seems more like a sarcasm than an expulsion.
Satoru pulled away from the wall. As he walked to the guest chair to Ieiri's room, he said with a confident smile, "I'll be here for a while to have a talk with Ieiri."
He missed how Ieiri's brows frowned as his eyes were actually lingered on the door where Umeko was. "What's with that weird calling—and since when were we that close to be able to talk so freely with each other?"
Satoru gave out a half-hearted laugh when he said, "Come on! That's rude!"
Ieiri scoffed, "Alright Mr. good manners!"
"Fine, then!" Satoru clapped, and there was Ieiri staring at him disgustingly.
"What?" She asked.
"Why don't we start by appointing you, Ieiri Shoko, as my best friend?" Satoru was offering his widest grin to the woman who was having the whole look in her face to tell him that she was not having this whatever-everything.
Ieiri simply turned her back as she said, "Suguru is your best friend."
"You're right." Although he did miss a beat before his first words, he didn't miss any beat to say the next. "He was my best friend." He smiled, "It was a beautiful friendship that stays in the past. It doesn't belong here."
Ieiri thought they were in this sorrowful mood when she accidentally brought the talk about Suguru, but Gojo Satoru was Gojo Satoru after all.
Then, with his nonchalant, goofy, and careless tone, he said, "And congratulations for being my honorable best friend for the present, Ieiri Shoko-chan!" while doing all of those stupid gestures.
Ieiri didn't care. She won't give a damn about that. Gojo Satoru would do whatever he wanted. And she was aware enough to know that what little chat that he mentioned earlier was never his real excuse to stay longer there. He was there for something else, something else that heaven knows—something else that dear god was so obvious that Gojo Satoru was so dumb thinking that she didn't notice at all. But that's Gojo Satoru, and so Ieiri decided to turn her back and let him be.
Ieiri got a point though. The next seconds to minutes were so silent.
Satoru was sitting cross-legged on the couch with this mysterious expression that explained too much, while his fingers, tapping lightly to the arm of the couch as if counting something—as if he was waiting.
Yes. He was waiting to sense that she was some certain-meters away—that says that she was safely back to her room in the dormitory. Until then, when he was sure she had arrived in her room, he finally got up from the couch. "Well, well, it looks like I am not really welcome here."
Ieiri, with an obviously irritated frown, staring at him, "Huh?"
Satoru smiled while he casually walked out to the door. "But it was an honor to be able to watch how silent you could be when I am around." He didn't let Ieiri respond as he was ready with another thing on his lips, "That's hurtful but it's okay. This is your first day of trial."
"What trial?"
"To be my best friend." he said with no care at all, like it was the most casual thing somebody could ever come up with.
"Only an idiot can come up with the idea of having trial days to be bestfriends."
"Or a genius. Ja, na! Shoko-chan!" And then he vanished behind the door, but he can still hear how Ieiri warned him not to come without knocking on her door ever again in her typical cold, low, murderous-like tone.
Satoru shrugged as he slipped both hands to his pockets, taking two steps away from the door, saying, "Oh, kowai kowai." with a thin curve drawn in his lips.
And then a few steps more, before he came to where Ijichi was waiting in front of a car, he stopped. Turning his head to stare at the exact direction that Umeko took some minutes before, he stayed silent until Ijichi had to ask. "What's the matter, Gojo-san?"
A moment more before he then turned to Ijichi who was waiting patiently for both his answer and for him to enter the car. "It's alright." when Ijichi opened the door for him, he asked just before he got in, "Where to, Ijichi?"
"Your home…? Gojo-san?"
Ijichi was still waiting for Satoru's answer and hadn't closed the door. When Satoru leaned to the backseat saying, "Right. Home. My home it is." and the door closed.
The whole journey to his home, Satoru was quiet. His mind roamed somewhere not where his body was present. He was wondering about what happened to Umeko.
He was wondering what made her cry, who was it that she was desperately trying to stop in her unconsciousness? He was wondering about a lot.
It was then Ijichi spoke from the driver seat, "I will pick you up at 7 and head straight to the airport tomorrow." Ijichi paused and sighed, "Please don't be late. The plane is at eight on the dot. I will really appreciate it if you're ready when I show up, Gojo-san."
Satoru simply said, "I'll try my best."
"Try my b—" Ijichi gave out a relented sigh.
"Ijichi urusai." Satoru fixed his position into a more comfortable slouch and then said, "Turn on the music."
He truly was questioning who was it that she was crying for? He could tell from the way she grabbed his jacket that she was so scared that the-whoever-person would leave her. But who it is was the question and it has been in his mind for a week during his mission in Okayama.
But if anything, he wasn't someone who had a deal with it, was he? He was a total stranger to her to know such things. The only thing that connected him with it was that he was there being the one who… what was he again? her saviour?
If anything, anything that matters more, he hoped that she was doing fine. And today, a day after his return from Okayama, he had decided to invade their training.
And there she was—the only girl that he ever seriously has his eyes on in a romantic way, the only girl that was the cause of the first serious crime he ever committed: to stare at her like crazy if somebody ever noticed.
And man oh man, the awkwardness was built before he even had time to realize. It was there the moment he stepped into the court joining them on their training. And however calm he tried to act, it was only successful on the outside. On the inside, on the contrary, he failed miserably.
He couldn't deal with everything.
She was there and if she was there, then he'd be staring at her too much, then if he has his eyes on her too much, somebody will notice, and everything that he has been trying to attain will crumble down and he knew that whenever he tried to do something or fix something about all of this, he'd just ruin what's there and that's not good because she would see him as someone weird… he didn't want to give her an impression of him being weird around her—though he was being himself (which clearly says that he was as weird as that).
He wanted her to see him as… his mind echoed his thought with the word lovers that he immediately dismissed—too early.
He wanted her to see him just fine, a normal human being.
It was nothing, really.
The whole situation where he ended up being there for her happened because he happened to sense something strange around the academy at the weirdest time—it was two in the morning.
It was nothing, really.
Everything that happened was purely coincidental—a serendipity. If there was anyone who was as sensitive as him that night, they might have sensed her as well and will be the one who… wait—why was it so irritating to think that if he wasn't there, someone else would probably come to rescue her?
Oh right, he was in love. That one felt nice.
It was a serendipity. A very advantageous situation where he was the one rescuing her, not someone else. A very advantageous chance to discover something new about her, in which he did.
He still hasn't gotten over the whole portrayal of how she was crying, of how hopeless and desperate she was, and of all, of how fragile she was. But in a distant part of his mind, it was unfair, to still look fine even after crying like she'd lost everything in the next second. To look just as fine as that one night even when the whole situation was different.
Heaven was rude to him.
Today, she was as fine as ever. Being simply beautiful the way she is.
But heaven was being extra rude to him today for how beautiful she looked during the whole hand to hand combat training. Even with those sweat that looked like a falling crystal on her forehead, deeply frowning brows, and a certain amount of negative energy, she was still as terrifyingly fine as ever.
And then the next one was how she accidentally got caught in Kinji Hakari's blow. It was quite a blow for her.
But Satoru knew how she was able to dodge that one if she wasn't distracted. Surprise, surprise, he knew that she was distracted. Because if it was not the reason, she could have dodge Dai's blow—she is a grade 2 sorcerer, that one attack wasn't supposed to make her look as miserable as that.
In the last second, without any second thought, Satoru shifted himself a few feet from where he was standing to catch her. Infinity was turned off, and it was just him, his hands to her arms and his chest to her back.
"Hakari, you idiot!" Kirara screamed.
"Oh! Kamo! Sorry!" In an almost indifferent tone, Hakari said to Umeko without doing anything according to what he said.
In that very moment, everything became very real to Satoru: that everything was happening, and he was there holding her—his palms grasped her arms in a steady, iron grip.
Heaven knows he was fighting for his life on the inside to be sane enough so that he could get off of every kind of awkwardness that he felt on his skin.
This wasn't the closest proximity he had been with her, he had held her once, closer—literally chest to chest. But this one was different. There was a certain amount of oddness and hotness by being this close to her while she was conscious, while they both were.
Mustering up the remnants of his sanity, he gathered himself back into his wholeness and he could feel how tense she was before he put her back in place. And gradually, his iron grip loosed, turning into a more relaxed, gentle touch to her shoulder. He was still close to her ear when he tried as soft as he could to say something, something like… "I got you." if that was the most appropriate term to use.
Though hesitated, his hands were finally leaving her shoulders.
And then, time to get back to the normal Gojo Satoru.
His hand pointed at Hakari, "Kinji! You need to control yourself a little more." Rather than the gentleness he had just before when he spoke to her, this one sounded more like the Gojo Satoru that he was.
"Warui." Hakari raised a hand to Satoru just before he groaned as Kirara slapped him hard on the shoulder. "Hey! That one just hurt so bad!"
"Hakari no baaka!" Kirara didn't care.
Satoru had both his hands on his waist watching Hakari and Kirara's dynamic—or so everybody thought, because heaven knows that he had his eyes on Umeko the whole time. He missed everything the duo were saying but he didn't miss the flustered look on Umeko's face and how she looked like she was thinking about a lot of things.
"But, Gojo! You are being unfair!" Hakari's voice brought him back.
Satoru finally land his gaze on Hakari, "Huh? Me?"
"Yes! You actually turned off your infinity to catch Kamo and kept it on while fighting me!"
Oh shit. "Ah? I didn't turn it off, did I?" Satoru had one finger snapping before he pointed at Hakari.
"You stupid blindfold." Hakari scoffed.
Satoru casually folded one arm in front of his chest while the other prompting his chin. He looked like he was thinking hard, and ended up saying something such as: "Hmmm… then we can try again." in his usual tone. "But I think you will be fine to fight me while I keep my infinity." Satoru once again flicked his hand and ended up pointing at Hakari. "Because you. are. worthy!"
"I'm not okay with that. I want to get high on the fever of fighting you while you are being serious." Hakari insisted.
"Am I not being serious enough?" Satoru, with his playful nonchalant tone, asked in a very annoying way.
"Don't play dumb. All you did was just be there." Hakari bluffed with an irritated face.
"Ja… then let's try again!" Satoru had decided to take on that one. To linger there while Umeko was still there was another chance, wasn't it? "What about you, Hoshi? Are you coming with Kinji?"
"Yes. I'm with him." And there's Kirara joining the game.
"Good then." Satoru turned to Umeko.
And hopefully…
"De… What about Kamo?"
she won't mind staying a little longer.
When he was staring at her with a smile—a smile that heaven knows was one of his successful attempts dealing with the whole awkwardness in the air—Umeko didn't say anything and so he waited for her answer patiently while hoping, praying, whatever… that she'd say she's in.
He doesn't even care how loud his thumping heartbeat was. All he cared about was his world that was this beautiful existence in front of his very eyes, staring straight into his eyes.
Heaven was being extra rude to him. Those deep-brown eyes of hers could take away his breath if she decided to. She could stay like that, just staring at him like that, and then the next second when she made up her mind, she could kill him and he would be grateful.
She was beautiful. She was terrifying.
She was terrifyingly beautiful. If there's ever a perfect embodiment to the word breathtaking, Satoru would definitely say that it was her.
And the most terrifying of all that happened was that he saw this particular shade of red dusting on her cheeks.
Everything happened at once.
She was there, right before his eyes, not too close but close enough for a reach, fine, beautiful, terrifyingly breathtaking and now… blushing. Blushing for whatever—no, wait, was it possible that she was blushing in regard to what just happened a moment ago? Was it—
She was there, blushing, and he was surprised to witness those redness dusting her cheeks—man oh man, it was very clear.
Was it—oh no, there you go.
Satoru had to immediately turn his face away to hide whatever. And that whatever should be none other than him also blushing to the sight.
Clapping his hands to get everyone's attention, he said, "Alright. Everybody back in position."
He shifted, then took an unnecessary step further as if it could fix everything. "Let's just leave Kamo in her own world." followed with how he was clearing his throat the next second.
Hakari pointed at something he saw from Umeko, "Oh! Fever!"
Then Kirara quickly turned to Umeko, "Kamo! Are you okay?"
And there was Hakari echoing the same thing when he looked at Satoru, "Oh, same fever."
But Gojo Satoru distracted them with his next words. "Kinji! You better get ready because I'm really going to be serious from now on." His tone was still as playful and nonchalant as ever.
"Hah? Bring it here, you stupid blindfold!"
Satoru sighed, "Kinji! People can get hurt by being too proud. Be careful." and then he carried on to the next session of their training. Hoping that all is fine, hoping that she won't think of him as someone weird.
There was another thing that he should have his head on to and that was how to talk to his crush.
The idea was ridiculous. It was insultingly ridiculous as it made him sound like he was some kid 'crushing' on another kid. And the fact that he was literally pondering on how to start things showed just how he was actually hoping for something about this 'crushing'. He was childish—whatever, he wanted to talk to her.
At first he was dismissing the idea, like it was well this isn't right or something of sort. Because he was so nervous when he saw her and all he could think was him finally having the chance to talk to her: it just felt so wrong to him. He was the only one who wanted to talk but just wanting that wouldn't be enough. It didn't make him qualified enough to have the chance. And if he was the only one who wanted to talk then there would be no talk because it contradicted the idea of talking, where talking is where there are more than one person communicating.
Does she want to talk to him like he wanted to talk to her? Probably no…
But Gojo Satoru was Gojo Satoru. After all, he would just mess up rather than not doing anything at all. It'll feel better for him—like well fuck everything let's try.
And so there he was; trying.
At first he was about to just talk to her when he saw her on the drink machine but Kirara showed up and he had to hold himself for another time. Then the next time he saw her, he was so convinced that he'd just go and talk to her like two normal human beings but he had to withdraw because it was the very Ieiri Shoko and his beloved junior Kento Nanami who showed up.
He hated it.
He hated it that the very Kento Nanami that he knew wouldn't be having any unnecessary conversation with anybody could have the chance to talk to her. But he was mature, Satoru was so mature that the next time he saw Nanami, he stood and stared at him like he was about to drown Nanami into an ice tub.
The very next time he saw her, there it was, the whole chance of talking to Kamo Umeko. It was perfect, once in a bright afternoon, nobody was around, not even Hakari or Kirara. It was only her somewhere in her favorite spot on the court, gazing to the sky.
And there he was, walking towards the court, joining her with both hands inside of his pocket, clenched.
When he was a few feet away from where she was sitting, he could see how she was straightening up just before she turned herself to see that he was there and man his heart dropped to the view of Umeko just being herself. He was about to pull one hand out and raise to greet her with his typical 'yo' when she preceded him with how she slightly bowed down. And like an autopilot, his body echoed her movements, suddenly being polite enough to give her a slight bow before awkwardly lifting one hand to the side and putting it back into his pocket.
It was the worst start—what's with the unnecessarily awkward bow? Really?
Idiot.
He cleared his throat and his mind and took a few steps ahead to even himself with her.
This is super extra perfect. He was standing some feet away to where she was sitting. This looks like a scene straight out of a romantic movie that he watched on board to Okayama.
But then his idiocy ruined everything. He just stayed silent for a moment and he knew there was this anxiety growing on between them. But before he could ruin it even more, he started talking. He wanted to save this one.
"I didn't see Hakari and Kirara today."
It felt like… a good start.
Satoru turned to Umeko and asked, "They're off to some mission?"
Umeko simply nodded. Right, she hated talking.
Satoru echoed on her nod with small nods while his mind desperately tried to find his next words. This is bad. He had to find what to say next or else—
"Thank you for the other night."
Satoru immediately turned to the one who just spoke. Oh, she talked. And just now she was looking—
Umeko had already turned her head to the direction where Satoru was staring at her. "I forgot to thank you properly. I have been being mannerless, sorry."
"No." Satoru shook his head and there was Umeko who just lifted her brows watching him. "Well I mean—uhm," what just happened? "No need to apologize. It's alright. You thanked me."
Satoru and Umeko spent some moments more to linger in each other's eyes before they both decided that it wasn't really a great idea and immediately looked away at the same time.
Oh that was just really great.
Satoru had some moments to regain his sanity and he was thinking hard. Behind the bandages that were his blindfold, his brows frowned just before he finally asked.
"Umeko… uhm…" She was there, staring at him as he turned to look at her. He inhaled before finally asking, "What happened?"
Satoru had enough time to see how her expression changed and her eyes gradually leaving him, to where his head was facing. He might have messed it up but he just felt like he needed to know if it ever made sense.
Some moments were spent in silence after the very question was asked. None of them were talking. Umeko was somewhere in her head thinking about what to say while Satoru was waiting patiently while staring at her. He watched how she nervously squeezed her hand and everything else before she finally said something.
"I don't know." There was a momentary pause before her next words, "I remember sleeping at the dorm and—" he watched how her brows frowned while she paused, trying to figure out what happened while she gathered up the remnants of her memory. "Home," another pause. To the word and whatever happened on the inside of her head, it must be something so bothering that she squeezed her hands even more. "I… then I woke up in Ieiri-san's room. I don't know."
Satoru nodded, "Alright. That's enough of it."
Umeko came back to stare at him and Satoru flashed a smile to her before asking. "Then… What are you doing here? Training?"
Umeko was hesitating to answer that question, but then she answered. "Just going out for a small walk."
"To end up sitting here watching the sunset? That's rich." Umeko was staring at him when he finished the whole sentence. "Coming from someone who rarely goes out."
"How do you know?" She asked.
"Just a hunch." That was close. "Besides, you don't look like someone who would go out often." He had enough time to watch how her brows were both pulled upwards. "Your face says so."
What's with the last one?
Umeko smiled, "Right. I do have the face of a homebody, don't I?"
She was smiling at him—heavens was being super extra very rude to him today.
"Kirara says having a walk once a while can help."
"Help what?" He asked.
She hunched her shoulders. "Just… trouble sleeping?"
"Insomnia?"
She nodded. "Why? Experienced?"
"No." Satoru shook his head. "I can sleep anywhere. Surprise."
Umeko stopped for a moment to stare at him for a while before she retorted with, "You definitely can. Your face says so."
That one was…
Satoru smiled amusingly at her.
natural.
"Sorry." But she immediately took it back and returned.
"No." Satoru let out a soft chuckle when he heard her and he didn't miss it when she was smiling. "It's alright." he cleared his throat just before he came back with what he had picked up from her, "I do have the face of a sleepyhead, don't I?"
He didn't miss it when she smiled just before she returned with another question. "Have you ever tried avocado?"
Satoru turned, "Avocado?" he echoed.
"It's probably good for some sleepyheads like you."
For a moment when their eyes met, they both held on before immediately breaking it and returning back to where they were staring before.
Recovering from the awkwardness, Satoru said something else. "Right. An avocado kikufuku sounds like a great idea. I'll try that tomorrow." Then he went on with, "I don't know anything about some foods that can reduce insomnia but walking does help."
Wait—hey, this felt more like it. He was surprisingly doing great at this.
"What are you doing, yourself?" The question came to Satoru right after.
"Hm?" When he turned, Umeko was staring at him, waiting for his answer. "Oh. I was just stopping by to greet Principal Yaga and his son Panda. And here I am."
"Yes?"
"I just saw you sitting alone here like you're some kind of loner—which you don't, I know. I didn't mean it that way, but then I just decided to join you—you know, talking helps."
"As in?" Umeko was frowning.
"Building a better understanding."
Satoru's answer made Umeko laugh and it was—hey, that one was nice. She was fine. She laughed. And Satoru didn't realize that he was smiling watching how she laughed until she recovered.
His smile gradually relaxed into a flat line as he asked, "This is personal but… I don't know you." He had enough time to watch how Umeko's expression changed and he had to repeat himself to make it clear. "I don't know you like I do know Hakari and Kirara."
Umeko slightly looked away. At the moment when Satoru thought that he messed up, he heard her again. "And just like that you decide to talk to me?" and her eyes were on him again.
Satoru paused; thinking. That's probably right but not exactly how it was— "Just like that." he echoed.
Umeko breathed before she said her next words. "My name is Umeko, you know where I belong to. I am twenty one, almost. Third year and still stuck in grade two in rank—but they're considering your promotion I hope so. And have insomnia and apparently, a loner." There was a slight innuendo in her words, especially how she looked when she said everything. She was teasing but not exactly in that connotation.
And he retorted, "Wow, that's a lot. I couldn't ask for anything more." And again, he made her smile. "I didn't mean to know all of those. I can find it easily in your student card."
"But they don't say I have insomnia and a chronic loner."
Satoru snapped his finger and pointed at her, "Thank you."
And Umeko laughed softly, which he echoed with a smile.
He watched how she was sighing and then he heard her next words, "I just… don't talk often."
"And hates people?" Umeko was staring at him when he continued with, "Don't worry, I hate them as well. Especially the higher ups of our almamater."
Umeko laughed again.
He watched her and told her this, "And you apparently laugh at something so simple." and when he had her staring at him he finished it with, "Just like that." And he tried to enlighten the mood by being his ordinary self, "But that's antique. I like your personality. You laugh at simple things, you smile at simple things… I don't know—perhaps, just, cry at simple things…" and are breathtakingly beautiful by being as simple as that—he wouldn't dare ruin everything by saying so. "Simply put, Kamo Umeko is pretty simple."
Umeko smiled, "Probably."
Satoru nodded and looked away. His eyes wandered around while trying his best to deal with the chaos inside his head caused by this entire oddness, this newly developed. He breathed before his next words came, "One thing I surely know about you, though," Their eyes met when he said, "Personal experience." His nods made Umeko frown, but he carried on. "You're always stuck up there." his head looked up pointing at the open space. "I noticed it the first time during our mission in Harajuku. You're staring at the sky like you're lost in there. What is it—the color?"
Umeko tried to open her mouth, wanting to say something only to close the gap again. But Satoru has faith in that, he knew that she would say something.
"Someone likes to stare at the sky." When she finally spoke, she sounded more silent than she already was.
Satoru nodded, "So you're basically… kind of… echoing this likeness of someone towards the sky?"
"I am." Umeko's answer came right after, following the question given.
Satoru nodded—alright she has someone… but whatever— "Who is… this someone?"
There was a pause. It was one of the most significant pauses that she ever took the whole time they were talking and her facial expression was telling him that this conversation was leading to something that she didn't want to talk about. Well she did say how she doesn't like talking or what's worse from that is the idea of having a conversation with somebody was too much for her but this, this was different.
"My little brother."
Just like that when her answer finally came, Satoru could tell how she sounded like she didn't want to give any more information and carrying on to this topic would just make the whole situation get worse and he didn't want to do that.
The next second, it was unexpected to hear her next words.
"I never love the sky."
Satoru stopped and just listened attentively.
"My brother does so I just kind of went with the idea of liking the sky as well."
"Rather than talking about your little brother," Satoru's words caught her attention, "why don't we switch and try talking about you?"
"I thought we already did?"
Satoru smiled before he asked.
"Say, Umeko," Their gaze reconnected, "If the sky was never yours to like, what is it for you?"