The tale of the fox and the knight - Satoru Gojo | Chapter 02
summary: You have been living all your life in almost isolation due to your true nature, one your parents want to hide and protect you from anyone finding it. But when the spring of your 20 year your parents grant you the wish of being able to walk around the city, you meet him. Your doom. Satoru Gojo, a white haired knight whose intentions in your eyes are unkown. And whose presence in your life will change everything, from how you see the world to your way of being.
tags: enemies to lovers, blood, eventual smut, Gojo is pretty rude at the beginning, Gojo ooc, betrayal, fantasy, magical creatures, angst, injuries, heavy language, no use of y/n or minimal use of y/n, female protagonist
Warning for this chapter: it contains kidnapping and violence
notes: it’s been so long, but until last week I wasn’t done with exams, fortunately, if nothing happens I will be able to be more active bringing more chapters soon. If everything goes well Birdie next chapter will be out soon too.
Jujutsu Kaisen materialist | ao3
— sorry for any typo that could be —
You felt your body numb, your limbs hurt and your body was leaning on something hard and cold. You were completely frozen.
Your eyes began to open slowly, the sun was not very high but you could see your surroundings clearly. You were in a forest and a little to the left there was a river that accompanied the sound of birds singing.
“Scream and I will cut your tongue.” You trembled when you heard those words.
Turning your head you saw the figure of a man dressed completely in dark colors, a cape covering his hair and a face mask, you could only see his eyes. Your heart skipped a beat when you saw them clearly.
What was happening? Why was Satoru dressed like that? Why did he tell you that?
You tried to move, trying to reach him but it was then when you noticed. Your hands were tied together.
“What…?” You said looking at them.
“You can try to get loose, but I highly doubt you’ll be able to undo the knot I’ve tied.” Satoru moved from where he was and approached his horse.
The morning breeze seemed much colder and sharper after hearing those words. “What do you mean?” Your voice came out trembling from the back of your throat. “Satoru, this isn’t funny. Untie me! We must return to the castle and find out what happened.”
Satoru chuckled. “I thought you were smarter, I guess I was wrong and you are just a stupid princess.”
Everything started to crumble, you felt how your world started to shake as Satoru’s words hit you right in the face.
Utahime told you. She warned you, but you didn’t pay attention to it, you just ignored it.
Your hands clenched, wrinkling your dress, the dress Utahime had worked so hard to make. Now it was dirty, torn, and you didn't know if Utahime was okay, if your parents were okay, if everyone in the castle was okay…
“Was it you?” You said, not looking at him, not wanting to see his face.
“Yes.” The dagger dug deeper into your heart.
You pressed your lips together tightly, digging your upper teeth into your lower lip, so much so that you could taste blood entering your mouth.
Your gaze lifted to look at the person in front of you.
Satoru smirked, this was not the princess he had known. That look you were giving him could bury him alive, but Satoru didn’t care.
“They are alive?” You whispered, afraid to hear the answer.
Satoru dropped to the ground, and crossed his legs, while biting into an apple. “Who knows.”
“You are…” But your words were left flying in the air.
“I am what?” He raised his chin arrogantly. “Come on, talk.”
“A monster!” You yelled. “Soon they will find me and… and they will catch you and you will pay for everything!”
“And when will yours pay?” You heard him murmur. “That won’t happen.” He then said with his normal tone. “Now change to these clothes.” He threw a bunch of clothes to your side.
You looked at them, they were a similar colour to his clothes. “No.” You said. “I’m not changing. I won’t go with you or follow your orders.”
Satoru sighed and scratched his forehead, irritated by your words. “Would you rather I take off your dress?”
Your face paled slightly and you swallowed hard. His voice sounded so different from what you were used to that it was almost scary. “No… I’ll do it…” You said, grabbing the clothes and holding them against your chest. “But… it’ll be a little difficult to do it with your hands like this.” You looked at your tied hands and then at him.
Satoru looked at your hands and stood up from where he was, your heart racing when he pulled out a dagger from one of his side pockets. “Don’t try to escape, bunny, or I’ll hunt you down.”
“I won’t.” You tried to sound as firm as possible. “But turn around.”
“Don’t worry bunny. I’m not interested in you at all.”
You shouldn't have felt anything after hearing those words, because the man before you had betrayed you in everything, but they still hurt.
The rope fell and you carefully got up from where you were. Satoru turned and walked to his horse with his back to you. You walked a little further, far enough to find a sheltered place where you could change.
You needed a plan, something to escape. That man was not the one you had known for 5 months, you couldn't think of the possibility that through your words he would change.
His gaze told you that it wouldn't happen, that you shouldn't even try. The blue, which reminded you so much of the paintings of the sea, was no longer there. Now it was a dark blue, dark like a stormy night.
Utahime's dress fell to your feet and a small sob escaped from your lips. You didn't want to cry, you didn't want him to see you shed a single tear, you wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
The icy cold of that morning hit your skin and you quickly put on the clothes that he had thrown at you. They were dark clothes, suitable if you wanted to go unnoticed. The fabric looked worn and was not very warm. With that outfit you would be unable to survive the Zerua winter.
You turned around noticing how Satoru was still with his back to you, caressing his horse. Grabbing Utahime's dress in your hands and wiping away a few tears, you walked towards him.
“You done?” He turned around, giving you a brief look through your hold body, stopping on your red hair.
With a few steps he was inches away from you. “What…?”
“Your hair… It’s too conspicuous. Something needs to be done about it…” He tangled his finger in your lock of hair. Your eyes met his.
Why couldn’t this be a nightmare? You wanted to wake up in your room and see that it had simply been a bad dream, that Satoru hadn’t stabbed you.
“What are you thinking, bunny?” You heard his voice and you snapped, hitting his hand away from your hair.
“No, leave my hair.” You said holding the lock that was on his hands before.
“Bunny, you have two options…” He showed his two fingers. “Or you dyed it or you cut it.”
“I’m not doing any of that!” You told him with anger.
He sighed. “You want me to chose?” He got closer to you. “No, right? So chose.”
You bite your lip with anger. “I’m not doing what you tell me.”
“You want me to get angry, bunny?” He moved and you walked a step away till you hit a tree. “I’m being nice letting you choose.”
You held your breath as you looked at his eyes, how was it possible he faked his own personality so good during those 5 months? Everything he showed you was just play? Was that the real Satoru?
Before you could say a single word, Satoru’s big hand covered your mouth, preventing you from saying anything at all. His gaze sharpened, and you could feel his body tense up.
It was then that you heard some voices, getting closer and closer. You couldn’t hear what they were saying but you knew they were coming towards you.
Maybe that was your chance, you could ask for help. Go home.
Determined, you grabbed Satoru’s hand and pulled it away from you. “Help!”
Satoru covered your mouth again and his voice came out hoarse from his throat. “Shut up.”
Satoru’s grip tightened as he looked at you and you felt scared. But you couldn’t stop there, that might be the clearest way for you to run away from him.
Clenching your fist you hit Satoru in the ribs, the moment he loosened his grip you hit him in the chin causing his grip to disappear completely.
Given that opportunity you ran in the direction of the voices, you needed to get there as soon as possible. You could go back home, to your parents, to Utahime, to everyone. Your feet moved quickly, getting closer to your destination.
You pushed aside a few branches when you found yourself face to face with about five men. Their clothes indicated that they were not from the royal guard, they were disheveled.
“Please, I need help.” You spoke after a moment of falling silent.
The men looked at each other and then one of them smiled. “Of course, what's wrong?”
You looked back, looking to see if Satoru was nearby. “A man kidnapped me. And… I need to go home.”
“Did he kidnap you?” He smirked, making your skin crawl.
“Boss, look at her hair!” One of the men said excitedly.
“It’s red!” Another exclaimed, looking at you.
“How much do you think they’d give us for her?” Another asked.
“With that hair color? A lot for sure.” The last man finally spoke.
Your heart rate began to rise rapidly and you took a step back. You had escaped from the claws of a ferocious eagle only to fall into the mouth of a pack of wolves.
The group began to approach and when you tried to run away, one of them grabbed you by the hair, throwing you to the ground.
You couldn’t help but sob at the pain and fear you were feeling at that moment.
“Tie her up.” The sturdiest of them all spoke. “And don’t make a single mark on her, you know the price will go down if she has a scratch.” He grabbed your face as he looked at you.
You broke free from his grip but the one holding you shook you, causing you to whimper. You closed your eyes tightly as you prayed for that moment to pass quickly and for someone to appear and help you.
The voices of the group of men mixed with the sounds of nature. But that peace was interrupted when a child pierced your ears.
Your eyes widened and you watched as one of the men lay on the ground, dying in pain.
“Bastard!” You heard another scream.
It was then that your eyes saw him, the white hair that reflected the faint rays of sunlight that passed through the branches of the trees.
Satoru was there, he looked much larger and creepier, so much so that it made you shiver when his gaze met yours. It almost seemed like his eyes were red and not blue, no shade of blue could be seen in his gaze.
One of the men lunged at Satoru with his sword and you gasped in fear. The one next to you grabbed your arm tightly and pulled you, trying to get you away from the scene.
You watched as Satoru easily dodged each sword strike, as if it were child's play to him.
“Come on!” The man yelled at you.
“Let me go!” You yelled back, throwing your arms in the air trying to hit him.
“Shut up!” He yelled as he pulled you tighter.
Satoru was too focused on fighting the other men to see the situation you were fighting. You couldn't depend on him either, especially knowing that he was someone ruthless too.
You shook yourself trying to get him to let you go but to no avail, his grip was stronger than all your strength. You began to move away from where all the commotion was happening.
The man had your hair tied tightly, almost as if his life depended on it, he walked in front of you and your head was looking at the ground, you could only see his feet as he practically dragged you. No matter how much you hit him with your arms, you were clumsy and weak.
What could you expect from a princess who had been sheltered in a castle all her life? Nothing.
The man stopped walking abruptly, causing your face to crash into his back. With your eyes still closed the man pulled you.
“Don’t take another step!” He shouted.
Your eyes widened as you felt the sharp blade of the sword touch your throat.
“Come on…” You heard Satoru laugh, he was standing in front of you. “You have no choice, haven’t you seen your friends?” He tilted his head.
“Bastard…” The man whispered through clenched teeth, tightening his grip and moving closer to your face. “One cut and it won’t be worth anything, you know that right?”
“I don’t care.” Satoru said with disdain.
You gritted your teeth at his indifference and looked at him with contempt, and he just smiled.
The man started laughing, as if he had lost his mind. “You know what…” You felt the intense pain when the sword grazed your cheek and you sobbed. “Keep it, but I...” He pulled at your hair. “I’ll keep this.” With the sword he had used to hurt you, he cut your hair. “Red hair, this will make me rich.” And he turned to walk away.
Your knees hit the ground and the metallic taste of blood touched your lips. You didn't look up, your mind was too far from reality to look at what was happening around you.
Satoru, for his part, sighed in frustration as he watched the man begin to walk away. You had wanted to run away from him and in the end you ran into some smugglers from the mountain.
Satoru reluctantly grabbed his bow and one of the arrows he was carrying with him. Closing his eyes, he aimed at the smuggler who was getting further and further away. The string tightened and just as it had tightened, it loosened and the man fell to the ground.
Satoru turned his eyes back to you, who still had your head down.
“Come on, get up.” He said, passing by you to get his arrow.
The sound of birds and leaves breaking under his feet was the only thing that could be heard during the time that Satoru walked towards the corpse of that man. He forcefully pulled out the arrow and cleaned it before putting it back.
You were still on the ground, not moving, almost like a statue. Satoru scratched his head frustrated and walked towards you.
“Come on princess.” He spoke, but still you didn’t move. “You should have listened to me from the beginning.” He said.
Satoru was startled when his back hit the ground and he felt your weight on him, you were looking at him angrily. Your eyes were wet and your face had turned slightly pink, because of the rage that was accumulated in you.
“It’s all your fault!” You screamed and began to hit him angrily. “Everything! Absolutely everything is your fault!”
Satoru took your blows, one by one, without saying anything until he got tired of your tantrum and grabbed your wrists, spinning you around and trapping you beneath him.
“Stop being a child, I told you not to do anything stupid and the first thing you did was run into the lion’s den.” His face came closer. “Did you live in such a bubble that they never told you about the mountain bandits?”
You gritted your teeth as you looked at him. “I hate you…” You whispered. “You don’t know how much I do… I hope they find us and you suffer the worst punishment.”
Satoru looked at you and then pulled you up from the ground. “I’m sure you do.” He simply said. “Now let’s go.”
You snorted and wiped the tears from your cheeks, you didn't want to go with him, but what other option did you have? None. Satoru was right. You were nothing more than a princess who had always been locked away in a castle, away from everything for her safety.
“If it makes you feel better.” Satoru said, looking at you. “The man who cut your hair is dead.”
You rolled your eyes and stifled an ironic laugh.
Silence fell again as you followed Satoru's steps. You noticed how Satoru had changed direction after a while. That wasn't the path you had walked when you had tried to escape from him. Was he trying to keep you from seeing the corpses of those bandits? You quickly shook that idea out of your head. You didn't want to paint the image of the person in front of you and convince yourself again that something of the one you had known was still there.
The dry leaves of the trees broke under your feet as you walked along a path. Your eyes were on the ground, checking where you stepped to avoid falling.
Satoru finally stopped walking and your eyes went up, finding his black horse. Its coat glistened under the bright sunlight. You carefully approached it and petted it gently, the horse responding by shaking its head and bringing it closer to you.
A smile appeared on your face, the first since you had woken up in that nightmare.
“He likes you.” You heard him say.
Your smiled dropped as soon as you heard him. “What’s his name?” You asked.
You needed to keep the whole situation as normal as possible, or else you would lose yourself if you were construido thinking about the situation.
Having a “normal” conversation would help you with it.
“You never told me.” Your voice slowly disappearing as you said those words.
“Name?” Satoru looked at you while putting a few things in a bag that he then hung on each side of the animal. “He doesn’t have.”
“How could you not give him a name?” You said following his movements.
“I didn’t feel like it, he is going to die eventually, so is better not to get attached to it.” He said. “Now, go up.” He moved his head to the horse.
“I can do it myself.” You said grabbing the reins and the seat. You pushed your body forward and tried to get on, your leg failed and you fell back to its initial position. Closing your eyes you blew. “You can do it.”
“We don’t have all day.” You heard Satoru speak behind you.
You let out a growl and tried again, you don’t know if it was the anger you had inside or the fact that you didn’t want to hear Satoru’s voice again that made you manage to get on the horse.
You sat proudly on the top of the horse and look at Satoru with arrogance.
“So the princess can really ride a horse?” Satoru said.
“Didn’t you say we didn’t have the whole day?” You responded with irony.
“And actitud…” He said and sat behind you. “Alright bunny, let’s go and remember to follow my words.”
“Don’t call me that.” You looked at him over your shoulder. “And keep your hands on the reins.” You said and turned your gaze away from him.
“Alright…” He said your name this time and your heart jumped.
· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·
Utahime injuries weren’t severe, but what hurt the most weren’t the injuries, it was her heart which ached everytime she remembered you.
Looking at the empty room Utahime felt an urge to cry.
Where are you, princess? Are you okay?
That bastard, I know he was not trustworthy.
“Iori.” She heard her name being called.
Utahime turned around, whipping away the tears she had. “Yes?”
The other maid hesitated, but she finally spoke. “I heard they might have a clue.”
As soon as the maid told her everything about it Utahime rushed to the place. Her knees hurt, but she didn’t mind, she needed to hear everything.
She entered without a knock, she knew someone of her status shouldn’t do that but she was too anxious to think about anything else.
The room fell silent when she stepped in, all the eyes were locked in her.
“Oh! Utahime dear!” Your mother tried to move from her seat but Utahime quickly moved to her.
“Her majesty, please don’t move.” Utahime held her hand.
“Utahime, my baby, where is she?” That was the first time Utahime saw the queen so vulnerable.
“I don’t know…” She said defeated.
“You were her closest maid, right?” An old voice filled the silence of the room.
Utahime look at him, he was one of the elders, one of the king's advisors and one of the reasons for your contact with the world.
“Yes sir.” Utahime responded.
“So maybe you know what happened to her.”
“Maybe you can confirm with us the fact that she ran away with her personal guard.”
“The princess wouldn’t do that!” Utahime said in a loud voice.
“How are you so sure, miss?” The old man smiled. “According to the people working for her, the princess looked very much in love with the guard. And now both of them are gone.”
Utahime gritted his teeth, you would never do that, cause an accident and run away? No, you loved that place, the people there, you would never be capable of that. “She would never…” Utahime’s words hung in the air when the door to the room opened.
Utahime narrowed her eyes as she looked at the figure standing there, it was a knight, he was wearing armor, but it was in poor condition, stained with mud and a crimson red color.
“Knight Geto!” One of the knights shouted approaching him.
Utahime knew who he was, he was one of the knights in the castle, apparently a skilled one and one of the candidates to be the princess guard, but ended up losing against Satoru Gojo.
She narrowed her eyes, seeing how his arm was heavily injured and he looked like he came back from a battle.
“Hey! You are bleeding.” A knight spoke as he held him. “Stop! You need to…”
“I need to speak with the king!” Geto spoke and the room fell silent.
“Speak.” His majesty said.
“It’s about that knight, the escort of the princess, Gojo. He was plotting against the kingdom and I’m sure he was behind the incident that happened yesterday.” The silence felt heavier than before.
“Why are you so sure about this?”
“I found him receiving a message outside the castle.”
“And why didn't you warn everyone? Look what happened now! The princess is gone and who knows where they are taking her.” The elder spoke.
“I fought him…” Geto took his own arm. “But he was stronger than me.”
“So what? That’s everything you had to say?” The elder choked laughing. “We already knew this, tell us something new.”
Utahime saw how Geto rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Gojo mentioned something or at least that’s what I think I heard before passing out.” He sat down, sighed leaving his lips due to the pain. “He talked about revenge… something about what happened 20 years ago to his family.”
“That’s it?” The elder exclaimed. “You didn’t bring anything new to the table.”
“Enough.” His majesty the king finally spoke. “The princess has been kidnapped by someone who was close to her, we made a mistake by believing the lies that man told us when he joined our army.” He stood from his place. “Now what matters is finding the princess, before…” The king focused his gaze on the elder.
A mischievous smile appeared on him. “Exactly! The princess needs to be back. Put your best men to search for her.” He spoke to the commander of the royal guards.
“They will start searching as soon as they are ready.”
“I would like to…” Gato tried to talk.
“Aren’t you embarrassing enough? After being defeated by the enemy and letting everything happen you wanna help?” Geto felt silent as the elder spoke. “You.” He pointed at Utahime. “Treat him.”
“Yes sir.” Utahime approached. “Let’s go and treat your wounds.”
Geto only sighed and he walked carefully besides Utahime, still feeling the anger on his chest after hearing that man’s words.
The room soon enough was only left with four people, the king and queen, who were holding hands trying to erase the anxiety that they were feeling, commander Yaga and the elder.
“Warlock… you think he is behind this?” The king spoke as he looked at the elder.
“It could be… the information about the princess' real identity might have been leaked.”
The king, frustrated, touched his face. “Yaga, I trust you to find the princess. Please bring my daughter back home and the head of that bastard.”
“Yes my king.” Yaga kneel down. “I promise I will bring the princess back home.”
“And Warlock… are you sure the information about the princess has been leaked?” The elder nodded. “I will trust you with the investigation, you have served my father before and me, I know you can do a good job to find the traitor.”
“I will do my best, my king.”
· · ────── ·𖥸· ────── · ·
Satoru could swear that you had snorted a thousand times, and probably rolled your eyes a thousand times throughout the journey.
The last rays of sunlight were beginning to set behind the mountains and not far from you the lights of a small village were beginning to appear. Satoru knew he had to be careful with you, you could try to escape again. But luckily for him you had gone quite far from the capital and if they had started the search it would still take them a while to find you.
When you finally reached the village the sun had completely hidden behind the mountains and the streets of that place barely had any life.
“We will spend the night here.” Satoru got off the horse and looked at you from below. “Can the princess get off by herself?” He said disdainfully.
You snorted and rolling your eyes you moved your leg to get off the horse without any complications. You looked over your shoulder at Satoru and smiled proudly.
Satoru just smiled. “Very well. Now.” He took a step towards you. “Remember, do as I say.”
“Do I have a choice?” You crossed your arms.
“No, since I need you alive.” Satoru said it casually.
You narrowed your eyes and looked at him. “Why? Do you know about…” You let the words hang in the air.
You shouldn’t talk about it, there was a chance he didn’t know and the reason for all of this was to blackmail your father for land or something else. But it wasn’t possible for Satoru to know about your secret, not when only a few people knew about it. Not even Utahime, the person closest to you knew about it.
“About what?” Satoru crossed his arms.
“Forget it. I’m hungry.” You said crossing your arms.
“Unfortunately, your personal chef isn’t here and I’m not going to be yours.” Satoru argued.
“I didn’t want you to be either, I’m sure you cook badly.” You said back.
“Come on, there’s a tavern open over there and remember, keep your mouth shut.” He whispered the last part into your ear.
You looked at him coldly and he just smiled. Your stomach rumbled and you touched it, you were really hungry. The walk to the tavern was short and silent, but the silence that had been created was soon interrupted by the hubbub coming from inside the tavern.
Satoru’s hand grabbed the hood and placed it over your reddish hair. You slapped his hand away and he rolled his eyes.
The two of you entered the tavern and were soon greeted by the smell of alcohol and smoke that made it practically impossible to see anything. You sat down at a table, a bit away from the crowd and near a window.
“You two are travelers right?” A man asked as he approached your table. “The journey must have been exhausting, what would you like to have?”
You bite your lip, you were really hungry at that moment. “We will have the chicken.” Satoru replied before you could even say anything.
Satoru looked at you and smiled. “Dear, you will able to eat one full chicken?”
Dear? Was he pretending to be a couple so no one would suspect anything? You wanted to laugh. “Yes please.” You looked at the man and then back at Satoru. “And don’t call me that.” Satoru’s smile dropping as yours grew bigger.
“Oh I guess the couple is having problems.”
“We are not a couple.” You spoke with a smile.
The man looked at both of you and with a silent bow he left. Your gaze then met Satoru’s who was coldly looking at you. “What are you doing?” He said with a low tone.
“I told you to follow what I said right?” He looked at you with those intense blue eyes.
You rolled your eyes. “If you thought I was going to be the submissive princess you knew, I’m sorry but no.”
If you wanted to survive and go back home, you needed to change, you couldn’t flinch before him even when your heart still reacted at him.
You needed to be smarter than him and you needed to start by changing your attitude towards him. That was not the Satoru you knew and you couldn’t be the you he knew.
Satoru only looked at you, locking your eyes with his and feeling the burning anger that you had there.
final note: remember that this Gojo is completely ooc and that is a slow burn, and I don’t want to rush things with reader and Gojo so it will take time for them to start something. Also I’m not planning another couple in the story, just in case. But I’m planning on telling the castle pov from Utahime and reveal things of the story from her pov
— comment if you wanna be tagged