Chapter Text
There’s someone with no face in front of him. No face and no name, taller than him, reaching out for him to pull him in closer. There is someone in front of him who feels like home who he cannot reach, because anytime he reaches out to the blank figure in front of him his hands pass through nothing, teasing, grasping at someone who doesn’t exist to him yet. He steps forward in an attempt to get closer to the silhouette and the nameless seems to float backwards - every step he takes, the being takes three. He opens his mouth to speak, to try and figure out who the person showing up to him in his dreams is, why the dreams have only just started happening, why the dreams are happening every night. He opens his mouth as the figure seems to grow farther and farther until it completely disappears, and same as any other night, the only thing left in the dream realm is one echoing honk.
┈┈┈┈☆┈┈┈┈
Tap.
Tap.
Tap tap.
He wakes up to an incessant tapping at his dorm room window. Tap. Tap. TAPTAPTAPTAP . Tap.
Toge Inumaki rolls over and shoves a pillow over his head, attempting to process what he knows was his soulmate dream and at the same time, trying to drown out what he prayed was one of his friends wanting him to go to an early breakfast, to a soulmate singles hour, to catch an early gym session, literally anything except the damned goose that seems to be essentially stalking him. To be fair, the goose has been around since just before his first year at the university, but it’s never bothered to bother him like this. Up until recently,, the goose just pops up every so often, once or twice a month, checks in on Toge, hangs around for a few days, and leaves. Toge has no idea where it came from or who’s goose it was, only that his (her?) eyes tracked his every movement with an intensity that could rival Maki’s death stare. In the past few months, however, the goose seems to have finally grown an emotional attachment to Inumaki - following him everywhere and waiting for him outside the areas where geese are prohibited (see: in class, konbinis, under the curtain during missions). The goose hasn’t ever shown any inkling of care for his suitemates, just Toge, much to Panda’s disappointment and Maki’s amusement. At this point, Toge is considering just getting the damn thing a collar with a bell and naming- TAP.
Inumaki drags himself into a sitting position and throws the pillow at the window, only to receive a muffled honk noise in return. The tapping returns at a steady pace until Inumaki slowly shuffles his way over the window. What a horrible time to live on the first floor of a dorm. He grabs the ledge of the window and rucks it open, glowering at the overgrown fowl.
“Cod roe. Ikura.” what the fuck do you want.
The goose honks at him and attempts to stick its head in the window, snapping at Inumaki’s baggy sleep tank top. Okay, yeah, no, that won’t work. Toge sighs, shakes his head, and opens his mouth, letting the cursed energy flow through him. “Go away.” The goose looks at him and honks again before flapping its wings and hopping up onto the windowsill. Toge takes a step back, shocked - what the hell? “GO. AWAY.” he tries again, only to be met with the soulless eyes of a bird that knows no personal boundaries and is dangerously close to coming into Inumaki’s personal bubble. The goose snaps forward again, this time managing to snag the front of Inumaki’s top and oh BOY, now his nipples are at risk. He lunges forward and shoves the duck back out the window before slamming it back down and locking it. The tapping resumes. Tap. Tap. Tap. TapTapTAPTAPTAPTAP.
Okay, so the Goose is immune to cursed speech, Toge notes to himself. He gives one more shaky glance at the window to find the goose staring at him, head tilted down, feathers ruffled, almost as if it’s threatening him. For fucks sake, it’s a Friday morning, he doesn’t have class today: he definitely should still be asleep and not about to have to fear for his life against a once-seemingly-friendly goose. Toge bends down and pulls on his shoes, grabbing a hoodie before opening the door and going to seek out his sorcery advisor (heaven forbid) to see if he knows anything about the goose.
Upon exiting the dorm, the goose starts waddling along behind him as Inumaki swipes his phone open and places a mobile order for his shitty campus coffee. If he’s being forced to be up this early and also being forced to deal with Satoru… well, Toge’s going to need the energy. He starts walking towards the student center and prays he can ditch his feathered follower. As he hears the thwap, thwap, thwap of webbed feet behind him, Inumaki grits his teeth and speeds up his pace, trying to… out-speed the goose? Thwap-Thwap, Thwap-Thwap, THWAP-THWAP-
HONK.
The goose cries out behind him, trying to match Toge’s speed. He crosses the main road separating his dorm from the campus without bothering to look both ways, maybe in hopes some idiot looking at their phone would either hit him so he could collect on insurance, or hit the duck and get it to stop harassing Inumaki like he was getting paid to do so. He’s trying to ignore the feeling of eyes on him and his avian accomplice, but in all reality, he’s too tired to actually care.
He trudges through the student center and heads towards the pickup counter for his mediocre caffeine boost. He takes his first sip of the sweet sweet bean juice and turns to go towards his advisor’s building when he catches sight of the distinct spiked hairstyle further along the hallway. Inumaki adjusts his backpack over his shoulder and starts a brisk walk until he’s shoulder to shoulder with the man.
“Kelp.” Good morning.
“Ah, Toge-kun! What a wonder- what is that you’re drinking,” Gojo asks him, plucking the cup from Inumaki’s hands and turning it to look at the label before taking a sip. Inumaki stutters in protest but before he can take his drink back, Gojo is throwing the cup in a nearby trash can.
“That was horrible. Honestly, with the amount that you guys pay to go to school here, and the ridiculous cost of the meal plans, you’d think they’d get you guys decent coffee. A starbucks or something, at least, not whatever that shit was.”
Toge huffs out a laugh and tries not to mourn his java.
“Ah, anyway. What brings you to campus on a Friday?” questions Gojo.
“Mustard leaf, tuna tuna, tuna mayo…” he gestures behind him at the goose following the two of them. Uh, I have.. A goose following me? For a while now, I’m not sure why…
Gojo stops, turning to look behind them.
“Ah. So you do. Well, I could imagine you have some questions about that.”
Inumaki nods, watching the goose catch up to them in the hallway of the student center.
“Tell you what, let’s go get you some decent coffee and a muffin, and- don’t give me that look, I’ll pay- and I can answer whatever you’d like to ask me about the goose. Or ask me about anything else that’s on your mind,” He says, shooting Toge a pointed look.
Toge opens his mouth, about to protest, but Gojo is already walking away and swinging his keys on his finger.
“Let’s go, Toge, the faster you agree to come with me the faster you get your coffee.”
Toge watches the goose as it starts to flop after his advisor, lets out a heavy sigh, and resigns to follow them both out of the building.
┈┈┈┈☆┈┈┈┈
The bell above the door Overtime Snacks jingles as Gojo pushes the door open and calls out to the man behind the counter, “OIIII~~ NANAMIIIIIIIN!!”
A few of the customers in the bakery turn their head towards the sudden noise, those who know about Nanami’s soulmate remain impartial. There is a visible tension that grows across the broad shoulders of the blonde bakery owner as he turns around. “Satoru. What are you doing here at this hour? And, Satoru,” he glances at the feathered follower they have, “What on earth are you doing with a goose??”
“Business, sweetheart, don’t worry about it. What you CAN worry about, however,” Gojo winks at the man behind the counter, “is getting me my coffee order, whatever Toge here wants, and two muffins. Please and thank you!~” He turns, gesturing to Toge that he should come forward to place his order as he wanders to sit at one of the unoccupied lounge chairs in the front.
Gojo flops into a chair, Toge doing the same catty-corner him, and the goose hopping up into a chair in between the two.
Toge swipes open his phone and scrolls mindlessly while he waits for their drinks to arrive at the table, Gojo watching his partner work behind the counter and around the cafe. When he finally gets to them roughly fifteen minutes later, he sets down the plate of muffins, hands Toge his iced coffee, and just looks at the goose for a moment before turning to go fetch Gojo’s drink. He returns, handing the cup to the other half of his red fate string, and brings along an additional plate with the end slices of a loaf of bread. He sets it hesitantly in front of the goose as Gojo takes a sip and speaks,
“Sweetheart, have you considered taking on any help for the cafe? You’re so tense~”
Nanami sighs, “Yes, Satoru, you know I have. Nobody’s been fit for the position just yet. I have a few prospects right now, one of them will be doing a trial run with me in a few days, but please, for the love of god, stay away when he’s here.” He shoots Gojo a pointed look at walks back behind the counter to help whoever was next in the queue.
Gojo rolls his eyes, sets his coffee down in front of him, stirs it before leaning forward into Toge’s space.
“He’s so dramatic. Anyway, Toge.. You want to know about the goose?”
“Tuna.” yeah.
“And you know about soulmate signs by now, I’m sure?”
“Tuna.” yeah.
“Do you know what yours is?”
“Bonito flakes? Tuna mayo, mustard leaf. ” Not particularly? I’ve been having dreams lately so I assume it goes along with that… if I even have one.
“You know, Toge, it’s only a select group of people that get them anymore… As humanity evolved, so did the soulmate signs. It's pretty much just sorcerers who get soulmates now, and even then it’s rare. Just as things have changed over time, it becomes quite the lucky thing to get to have someone who can match you perfectly,” his advisor muses, rubbing his fingers over his pinky where his own soulmarks land on his body,
“When one is so lucky enough to have a person - or people - sent for them from the universe itself… it’s typically the first words thing, the countdown timer, or in some cases,” he pauses, shaking his hand in Toge’s direction and directing his eyes towards the bakery owner behind the counter.
“The red string of fate.”
“Tuna… takana?” right, yeah, what does that have to do with the goose.
“Toge, have you had anything strange happen to you since the goose started showing up?”
“Tuna mayo. Salmon, tuna tuna.” I’ve been having dreams about someone I can’t seem to reach. I don’t know them, but every time I get close the goose shows up and it ends.
“Yes, that would make sense. WELL, Toge-kun, to put it simply then,” Gojo begins, trying not to laugh.
“Your soulmate sign is this Goose,” Gojo says, reaching over to pet it. The goose snaps at him and Gojo snatches his hand back quickly, avoiding the bite.
“It’s an older soulmate sign that not many people have experience with… not that it hasn’t been around, it’s just not as commonly documented, which is strange considering how it works,” he muses, leaning forward in his chair.
“The soulmate goose of… enforcement, I think is the legal title? The soulmate goose of enforcement, is a rare, elusive creature. Not everyone gets one. They come around and start supervising you when you’re close to meeting your soulmate.”
“Tuna tuna.” uh.. alright?
“The soulmate goose is not your delicate red string of fate or your cutesy timer, oh no, this is a goose. An actual
goose, as you know and are currently experiencing
,”
Satoru emphasizes each word with a clap of his hands, “who appears to you and aggressively leads you to your soulmate and eventually
attacks you,”
he points at Toge,
”Until you meet and establish that you ARE, in fact, soulmates.” He pauses to take a sip of his coffee and relaxes into the back of his lounge chair.
“Similarly to most soul marks, the goose first shows up to you in your dreams with the hint of who your soulmate is,” Satoru waves the hand with his red strings around in a vague gesture. However, your dreams will give you a little more information than most– as you can imagine, it might be pretty hard to just find your other half from a Godly Goose chasing you around and snapping at your heels constantly.”
The goose honks from the chair where it’s settled and seems to nod in agreement.
“ Now, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, the geese are immune to cursed energy,” Gojo continues, “and the powers that come with it… but I will warn you that you need to be aware that when you are around your soulmate the goose will become SEVERELY aggravated and violent, and attempt to move you closer by way of biting, pecking, shoving, and other goose-typical violence. The closer you are to them, the more aggressive your goose becomes.”
“Takana… Mentaiko… Tuna tuna???” Are you telling me… I’m going to have a fucking goose following me around until I have to meet my soulmate by forced proximity and a goose attack?
His advisor nods. “Yes, that’s exactly it.”
Toge gives the goose a weary glance and runs a hand over his brow in an attempt to process the information he’s just been given.
“Tuna .” I- alright, I guess.
“So, Toge, now that you know what this goose is.. Would you consider giving it a name?”
“Bonito Flakes.” What.
“Well, you know, I just think that maybe if this goose is going to be following you around for the foreseeable future you may as well try to befriend it!”
Gojo once again gestures at the goose, “after all, better to have this thing on your side, right? Are you into movies or music at all? You could call it Geese Witherspoon-”
Inumaki shakes his head.
“Bonito flakes.”
“ Okay, what about Chick Clark? Goose Springsteen? Kanye Westie,” he continues, and with each name that Gojo lists, Inumaki’s faith in his advisor grows smaller bit by bit.
“Ryan Goosling, Liam Geeson, Benjamin, OH, you could call him TOM HONKS, Toge-”
“IKURA, Cod Roe!” FUCK no, absolutely not.
“SATORU.” The baker calls over from where he’s stationed behind the counter once again, “Keep it down. Seriously.”
“Oh, Sweetheart, I’m sorry,” Gojo says, standing and walking over to the counter. “I’m just trying to help Toge name his soulmate goose, you see~”
Nanami looks over at the goose in the chair. “Mhm. Well. Keep it down, you’re bothering everyone else.”
“Will do, babe.” Gojo turns back to look at Toge and leans against the ledge of the bartop behind him. “Okay, we could do something more stereotypical then - what about honkers, Toge-kun?”
“After all,” he starts, turning to stare directly at his soulmate behind the counter as he slightly raises his voice,
“Who doesn’t love Honkers?”
Nanami slams down the glass he was cleaning.
“Out. Now. How many times have I told you not to objectify me at work, Satoru, that’s sexual harrassment-”
Inumaki thunks his head down onto the table in front of him, not caring that there will probably be a bruise on his forehead later from the impact, and ignores the argument behind him that will surely end with Nanami banning Gojo from the bakery for life (again).