"If I'm remembering right, the village should be in that direction."
Gojo glanced around, talking half to himself.
Before Puck could react, the world blurred again.
Same as before. Gone in an instant.
When the two of them reappeared, the village sat just ahead, close enough to make out individual rooftops.
"There we go. This is the place. The village Subaru and Emilia are coming to tomorrow." Gojo smiled down at the small spirit beside him. "Feeling a little more at ease now? If anything happens, I can be here before you'd have time to worry about it. With you, if you want. I could drag Roswaal along too, if that'd help."
Puck stared at the village, then turned to look behind them.
The mansion was nowhere in sight. Not even a speck on the horizon.
He'd heard talk about the distance between the two places. The village and the mansion weren't exactly neighbors.
Yet Gojo had covered it in the time it took to blink.
That speed. That distance.
Puck studied the village ahead, thinking it over carefully.
At last, he gave a slow nod.
"Fine. I'll admit, what you just showed me was convincing."
"Though, from what I've seen, we could keep an eye on things from a distance without any issues."
"That's not really my idea of a good time. If you don't feel like keeping Betty company, you're welcome to fly over here on your own."
Gojo shrugged, utterly indifferent.
"Just so you know, Betty's looking forward to it."
"You're impossible. You know that makes it hard to say no."
Puck spread his tiny paws in resignation, but his meaning was clear enough.
"Then it's settled."
Gojo flashed him a wide, white grin.
---
Night fell.
Gojo was in his room, working through the latest round of desserts Rem had delivered. She'd taken to preparing sweets for him at every opportunity: afternoon tea, late-night snacks, even alongside regular meals.
He'd been lavish with his praise, and in return, he'd started sharing recipes from the modern world. He dressed it up nicely, calling them flavors from his homeland, wondering aloud if a maid of Rem's talent might be willing to grant a weary traveler a small wish.
"Miss Rem, I thought of another good one today. It's called dorayaki."
"May I decline to listen, sir?"
Rem stood nearby, expression blank, waiting for him to finish so she could clear the dishes.
"Learning a new recipe is priceless for a maid, you know."
He kept eating, launching into the recipe whether she wanted to hear it or not.
Mid-conversation, a knock rattled the door.
Rem glanced at Gojo, then went to answer it.
"Gojo! I can't slee..."
Subaru's voice died halfway through. The person standing in the doorway wasn't Gojo. It was Rem.
Late at night. A man and a woman. Alone in a room.
His brain stalled for a beat, then kicked back into gear.
"Oh, uh, don't mind me. You two carry on..."
"Sir, please keep your indecent thoughts to yourself."
Rem said it with perfect composure, stepping aside as she pulled the door wide.
"Yo." Gojo had one arm draped over the back of his chair, a spoon dangling from his lips. "It's late. Shouldn't you be resting up for tomorrow instead of coming over here?"
"I'm, uh, not interrupting anything?"
Rem eyed the empty dessert plate, collected it, and headed for the door.
"Goodnight, both of you."
The moment she was gone, Subaru ducked inside and shut the door behind him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" Gojo leaned back, looking him up and down. "You're no cute girl like Miss Rem, you know."
"Forget about that." Subaru's face was flushed, half with embarrassment, half with something else entirely. "I keep thinking about going out with Emilia tomorrow and I'm too wound up to sleep."
He fidgeted, then looked at Gojo with a hopeful expression.
"Would you, maybe, come check out the village with me?"
"Now?"
Gojo glanced at the pitch-black sky beyond the window.
"It's fine, I'll borrow a Dragon Carriage from Roswaal. I was lying there thinking, and it hit me that I've never even been to the village. I have no idea what's there, what's interesting, where to go. This is my first date. Going in with zero preparation would be embarrassing."
Subaru rubbed his hands together, practically vibrating.
"You really are a hopeless romantic, aren't you?"
Gojo sighed.
"Come on, Gojo. One trip. It won't take long. If I go by myself, I'll get lost out there in the dark and never make it back."
No streetlights. Nothing but blackness in every direction. Even with a Dragon Carriage, that single little lantern wouldn't do much. For a high schooler, the thought was enough to set his nerves on edge.
"Honestly." Gojo set down his spoon, paused, and then his tone shifted. "But hey, what are partners for? Of course I'll help."
He stood and clapped Subaru on the shoulder.
"Let's go. I'll come with you."
"Great, let me go ask Roswaal about the Dragon Carriage..."
"Don't bother. I'll take us there directly."
Gojo grabbed Subaru and led him out of the room, through the mansion, and into the open air. The same trick he'd shown Puck earlier. In the span of a single heartbeat, he compressed the distance between origin and destination using Blue, and the two of them appeared at the village in what amounted to teleportation.
"Here you go. The village you'll be visiting tomorrow."
Gojo held Subaru up by the collar, both of them hovering in midair.
Wind moved beneath Subaru's dangling feet. Nothing solid anywhere below him. His face went completely blank, brain struggling to catch up with reality.
It took a while. When his voice finally came back, it had climbed at least half an octave.
"You can fly?!"
"And teleport?!"
"Yeah. What about it?"
Gojo lifted him a little higher and met his eyes with a look of perfect innocence.
"What do you mean, 'what about it'? You... this is..."
"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!"
The shock burned off fast, replaced by raw excitement. His eyes were bright, brimming with awe and envy.
For humans, the dream of soaring through the sky was something primal, something wired in deep. Even people who got dizzy on a tall building still carried it. Given the chance to fly under their own power, no one alive would turn it down.
"Well, like I said before." Gojo's voice was easy, casual. "Once things settle down for a bit, I'll teach you Jujutsu. You can't use magic, and a hero's partner who can't do anything is just going to get pushed around by small fry. Can't have that."