「

so god created man in his own image, in the image of god he created him

」

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"i'm sorry, we only have one room available"

akina's eyes narrowed, subtly looking at gojō, who had seemed completely unfazed by the information.

"we've had a lot of emergency bookings from tourists trying to evade the storm" the receptionist continued, feeling unnerved upon akina turning to him.

gojō nodded, telling the man there were no issues before handing over the silver card between his fingers. the man clicked at his keyboard rapidly before returning gojō's card along with the room key. the pair thanked him, gojō's appreciation for him more apparent than akina's forced thank you.

the two walked towards the elevator, gojō clicking the button marked with a 22 while akina stood a distance away from him with her arms crossed.

"i'm sorry,"

akina glanced at gojo, confusion crossing her features as her arms loosened slightly.

"i know you wanted to find your brother soon, we'll leave as soon as we can"

her eyes narrowed, scrutinising gojō, though in that moment, he seemed more genuine than she'd ever witnessed.

"it's not your fault"

she replied rigidly as the elevator came to a halt, the doors opening to their floor before she stepped out first. gojō followed closely after her, smiling at the smallest semblance of friendliness she had shown.

a few hours after they had settled into their room, akina sat on the sofa across from the sliding doors leading to the balcony, watching the storm only get stronger. she leaned her head against the armrest, looking out at the constellation of lights from the buildings and streetlights below almost disappearing behind the blur of snowfall.

she held back a yawn, feeling slightly tired after wandering around the hotel, asking the staff for an extra bed to save her from the dilemma of only having one to share with gojō.

gojō hadn't been any help at all, instead revelling in her state of embarrassment at the thought of sleeping beside him.

in the end, she couldn't find another bed, the staff informing her that they had been in high demand due to the large influx of guests seeking refuge at this hotel.

akina returned to their shared room, informing him of the situation as she watched gojō feign concern.

"how terrible, looks like we have to sleep with each other then"

akina only glared at him as he laughed at her expression. eventually, gojō ended up sleeping on his side of the bed, comfortably wrapped in the warmth of a white quilt while akina had accidentally fallen asleep on the sofa, watching the tedious snowfall.

the following morning, gojō had awoken to find akina searching through the cabinets in the room. finding most of them empty, shelves caked with dust as though they hadn't been used in years.

"what's for breakfast, beautiful?"

akina softly shut the cabinet, turning to gojō. he leaned against the bench top beside her, his hair sticking out in awkward directions, slightly fluffier from just having gotten out of bed.

"i don't know," akina answered plainly, her eyes shifting to the window behind gojō, eyeing the still heavy snowfall, not allowing her to see further than a few meters away. she looked back at him with a stern expression.

"and why do you expect me to cook for you?"

gojō's smile faltered for a moment, realising how he would've sounded.

"well, they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach"

"and you think i want to find the way to your heart?"

"i wouldn't be too surprised"

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"is that all you're eating?"

gojō pointed to akina's plate, a piece of buttered toast alongside a couple of berries sat sadly in front of her. gojō had taken a couple of plates for himself to accommodate all the variety of foods they had found at the hotel's complimentary breakfast.

akina nodded, picking up the toast and taking a small bite while gojō began to devour his meal that could've fed a family of 7.

she saw him out of the corner of her eye, happily stuffing his face as though he'd come for a vacation. she found it difficult to swallow the dry toast, feeling it scrape against her throat as she reached for her glass of juice.

"gojō?"

he hummed, smiling oh so perfectly at akina as he looked over to face her, and she couldn't help but think that when she heard non-sorcerers speak of deific beings, that they were speaking of gojō satoru.

she cast her thoughts aside for the time being, watching gojō take a sip of water.

"my brother," akina spoke slowly, "he's highly respected in our clan,"

gojō listened carefully, slowly placing his glass back down on the table.

"if you help me, he won't be the only one after you"

gojō leaned forward, placing a hand over akina's clasped ones.

"are you worried about me?"

akina frowned at his teasing response while he tipped his head back in laughter at her expression.

"hey, don't look at me like that," gojō spoke once again, now regaining his composure,

"i'm not looking at you like anything," akina replied sharply,

"you're not taking me seriously, he killed my family because they didn't have cursed energy, my sister's baby is gone, he'll kill every non cursed user, he-"

"akina,"

she shut her mouth instantly at the soft call of her name. her hands trembled and her face was flushed, but all she could think in that moment was that gojō was far too divine to ever hold her crooked name in his mouth as he did.

with an empathetic gaze and his words wrapped in confidence, he assured her.

"i can handle it"

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akina lay on her back, stiffly, she felt slightly uncomfortable knowing gojō was less than an arms length away. he slept on his side, his back facing her, the faint sounds of the pillow rustling with his small movements.

he then turned to look her, his hand coming to rest in the space between their faces.

"have you ever had a boyfriend?"

gojō asked yet another question after the two had been going back and forth, gojō insisting that it would help him fall asleep quicker .

akina had learned that gojō once had three women all throw their drinks at him for suggesting that they all join him in going back to his place and still managed to go home with one of them.

re: in response to 'what is something you're proud of?'

gojō had found out that akina had a small obsession with collecting snow globes when she was younger, but seeing as her parents were reluctant to indulge her, she resorted to visiting small shops with less security to find snow globes from different locations around the world to add to her collection.

re: in response to 'have you ever stolen anything?'

akina replied with a short no to gojō's question, causing him to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"i am yet to meet a man worth my time"

"you've met me haven't you?"

"i know"

gojō scoffed, now moving to lie on his back.

"then-"

"it's my turn now" akina interrupted him, stopping the inevitable whining she expected from gojō.

he waited expectantly, staring at the ceiling when he felt the bed move slightly beside him. he glanced over and saw that akina had shut her eyes, her head facing slightly away from him.

"hey! what do you think you're doing?"

"you can't ask me a question until i've asked you, right?" akina asked, her eyes still shut.

"yes..."

"okay, then goodnight"

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"will you show me your domain expansion?"

akina and gojō once again found themselves at the complimentary hotel breakfast.

gojō finding entertainment in placing random pastries he had come across on akina's plate in an attempt to trick her into trying something new, while akina promptly pushed them to the side of her plate, instead breaking off pieces of her plain toast to eat.

"i don't know," gojō thought for a moment, "i'm not sure if you can handle it"

akina frowned, feeling the familiar sense of inferiority as she picked up a blueberry.

"my brother is very talented with his technique," akina told him, "but he hasn't been able to cast his domain"

akina watched as gojō placed a small danish on her plate.

"that's how i can kill him, i can expand my domain," she explained, "but it's very unstable, so i need you to help me control it"

"okay, i'll show you," gojō agreed before holding up a small strawberry and cream pastry, "but only if you try this"

akina stared at the food for a second before giving in, reaching over to take it from him when gojō pulled it back, shaking his head with a smile.

"open your mouth" gojō leaned closer, his chin resting on his palm while the other hand moved the pastry closer to akina's lips.

"get your hands away from me"

akina turned her head to the side, refusing to taste the pastry just as gojō thought he could push it towards her, causing the cream to smear across her cheek.

she turned back to him, her eyes wide with surprise at the cold feeling on her face while gojō poorly hid his laughter.

he quickly swiped his finger across the cream before akina could object, immediately putting it in his mouth to taste.

"what do you think you're doing?" akina glared at him, feeling her face get warmer.

"i couldn't resist," he grinned, "you just looked too sweet"

akina wiped the remaining cream off her face with a napkin, flicking it towards gojō in anger. her feelings of frustration grew seeing it bounce off an invisible barrier rather than hitting her target.

how annoying.

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