Chapter Text
When Tsumiki called Shoko she was crying. Shoko couldn’t really make out what the girl was saying just that she wanted her to come to their flat.
She didn’t know what she expected when she opened the door to the apartment with the spare key Satoru had given her.
Maybe a fire or curses. At least a few bodies. Instead, she was met with a quiet flat.
The only sounds came from the living room. A quiet humming of the TV.
When she entered, she found Satoru lying on the couch. He was sleeping with Mimiko and Nanako lying on him in uncomfortable looking positions. It would have been cute if Nanako weren’t whimpering in her sleep and Satoru's eyes weren’t red rimmed.
Beside them on the couch sat Tsumiki braiding Satoru’s hair into several small plaits. She was getting quite good at that.
In front of them sat Megumi glaring when Shoko entered the room as if he was ready to deck her if she made one wrong move.
“Hi, Shoko”, Tsumiki said quietly.
“Hi, Miki.” Shoko sat down on the arm chair across from them.
“What are you doing here”, Megumi asked.
“Your sister called me.”
“Why.”
Tsumiki frowned at her brother. “Don’t be mean. I called her to help dad.”
Megumi crossed his arms over his chest. “He doesn’t need her. He has us.”
“And I’m sure he’s very thankful for that but your sister was right to call me.” Shoko smiled at Megumi.
Megumi wrinkled his nose but didn’t say anything else.
“So Suguru left, huh?” Shoko said after some time, more as a statement than a question.
“Yeah”, Tsumiki said, “he-“
“He hurt dad”, Megumi interrupted her, “if I ever see him again I’m gonna beat him up.”
Shoko raised her eyebrows. “He hurt him?”
“Yes.”
“Satoru said it was nothing bad”, Tsumiki said unconvinced.
“He was bleeding”, Megumi said.
Shoko blinked once, twice. “He was bleeding?”
“We weren’t there but I think he pushed him into the glass vitrine”, Tsumiki said her voice getting quieter with every word.
When Shoko turned around there was indeed the ugly glass vitrine that Yaga had given to Satoru as a present, lying broken on the floor.
“Oh, Toru”, Shoko said with a hoarse voice.
How exhausted had her friend been to get hurt by glass furniture?
Looking Satoru over, Shoko could at least assure herself that any wounds he had had healed on their own.
“Are you two okay?”, Shoko asked after a few minutes.
Tsumiki shrugged weakly while Megumi kept on glaring.
Maybe not a good question.
“I’m gonna get some food and then we can all stay here together and watch Disney movies, okay?”
Tsumiki smiled and nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”
Megumi ignored Shoko.
~
The next weeks were hard for everyone. But especially Nanako and Mimiko. After already being abandoned by their biological parents now Suguru had left them too. Without a word.
They were clinging almost as much to Satoru as Megumi did, who completely refused to leave him alone for the first week after Suguru left. It was surprising that he didn’t follow him to the bathroom.
While Nanako started to talk all the time, as if she wanted to make sure than nobody forgot that she was there, Mimiko completely stopped talking.
For the first time in years Satoru took nearly two weeks off. He was sure they could handle without him for a few days. (He knew they couldn’t.)
Satoru considered getting a larger bed because, every night, at least two of the kids would climb into his bed. Not that he had anything against it, but they tended to move around a lot, and more than once he woke up with a foot in his face.
“I have four kids, Shoko”, Satoru told his friend during one of their mandatory breakfast dates, as Shoko liked to call them. She wanted to make sure that Satoru ate and even though he didn’t want to admit it, Megumi’s and her prodding worked a lot better now that Suguru was gone. “How the hell do I have four kids at twenty-one? Most people never have four kids! Even if they are over thirty and have a partner.”
Shoko raised an eyebrow. “You’re realizing that kinda late.”
“No, you don’t understand”, Satoru said and aggressively stabbed at a piece of bacon. “I already didn’t know what to do with Tsumiki and Megumi! And Tsumiki is the nicest kid on earth. Now I have two more kids? Who are both thoroughly traumatized? I’m so gonna fuck that up.”
“What did the pour bacon do to you?”, Shoko asked as another piece fell victim to Satoru’s vigorous stabbing. “And you’re not gonna fuck them up.”
The certainty in her voice made Satoru freeze mid-bite. “Whut?”, he asked with a full mouth, “how are you so sure?”
Shoko sighed, took a sip of coffee and closed her eyes as if she was about to do something that she already deeply regretted. “I’m only gonna say that once because I know you’re gonna be insufferable about it, so enjoy it while it lasts.” Once more she sighed before locking eyes with Satoru. “You are really good at this parenting thing. Even if you’re a little absent the kids obviously all love you and trust you. I’m sure Megumi is not lying when he says he’s gonna fight Suguru when he sees him and I’m also sure Nanako – that misguided, innocent angel – actually means it when she says you’re her role model. Poor girl. So, don’t worry too much. No one knows how to raise kids and you’re doing a great job.”
Satoru stared at Shoko before he began to wobble his lips exaggeratedly and pretended to wipe away non-existent tears.
"Aww, Shoko! I knew you thought I was amazing!" Satoru grinned and winked at her. "Not that it's a surprise; after all, no one can resist my charm for too long! But don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I know you have to save face in front of the others!"
“God, I hate you”, Shoko scoffed but couldn’t hold back a small smile. It was good to see Satoru acting like himself again. Completely insufferable.
~
Something Nanako and Mimiko took just as much of a liking to as Tsumiki did was Satoru’s hair. The man wasn’t quite sure why they particularly liked styling his hair, but if growing it out was the only thing he had to do to make them happy, who was he to spoil their fun?
At the moment they had a Sailor-moon-phase, so he mostly ran around with two pigtails. He didn’t mind. If anything, he liked it because his unproper hair annoyed the higher ups. And if other people didn’t take him seriously, well, he couldn’t care less.
This evening they were playing Mario Kart while Nanako was doing his hair up in a complex fishtail braid. Satoru would never tell Tsumiki but Nanako was a lot more talented than she was.
“How are you so good at this”, Megumi whined, “you’re old. You should not be able to understand how a PlayStation works.”
“I’m twenty-one”, Satoru pouted, “you make it sound as if I’m a few years away from retirement.”
“Yeah, don’t be mean to dad, Megs”, Tsumiki said, “that’s bad for his blood pressure. In old age it’s important to monitor that.”
Satoru gasped. “Et tu, Brute?”
Satoru put down his controller and started tickling Tsumiki who let her controller fall. For the first time Megumi was in second place. Mimiko was still better than him.
“Don’t move so much!”, Nanako chastised Satoru, “you’re gonna ruin all my hard work!”
With a guilty look Satoru let go of Tsumiki and lay perfectly still. “Sorry, Nana.”
“It’s okay”, the girl said, “I’m almost finished anyway then you can go back to beating Megs at Mario Kart.”
“Hey!”, the boy exclaimed.
Again, Tsumiki giggled and even Mimiko had to hold back a smile. By now she had won almost as many rounds of Mario Kart as Satoru.
Nanako brought together a few final strands and then let go of Satoru’s hair.
“Tada!”
Satoru sat up and turned his head from side to side, allowing Nanako to see her work. Tsumiki and Mimiko looked with wide eyes while Megumi was still focused on the screen. Now that no one else was playing anymore it was his chance to finally win a game.
“You’re so pretty, dad!”, Nanako said delighted.
Satoru wasn’t even sure if she realized what she’d just said, but Megumi did.
He glowered at Nanako. “Don’t call him that.”
The girl blinked. “Call him what?”
“Dad. He’s not your dad. He’s mine and Tsmuki’s dad.”
“Megumi”, Satoru said, for once not smiling as he gave the boy a stern look.
Beside him Nanako turned red. “I-I’m sorry I didn’t-“
"You don't have to apologize." Satoru petted the girl's head, his eyes fixed on Megumi. "But Gumi does."
The boy crossed his arms. “No. You were our dad first. She doesn’t get to call you that.”
“Megumi”, Satoru said again, in a voice more serious than Megumi had ever heard him talk. “Apologize, now.”
“No”, Megumi repeated.
“Either you’re apologizing now or you’re going to your room.”
Megumi’s face fell. Not once had Satoru send him to his room or even glared at him. No matter how many suspensions he got.
“He doesn’t have to. It’s my fault, I’m sorry”, Nanako said in a small voice. It made Megumi feel a bit bad.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Satoru smiled at the girl. “Gumi is just being an asshole.”
“Language”, Tsumiki said in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood.
Satoru grinned at her, before turning to Megumi again. “So?”
Megumi glanced at Nanako's teary eyes and Tsumiki's disappointed gaze. With his arms still crossed and his eyes fixed on the ceiling, he mumbled: “Sorry.”
Nanako gave him a blinding smile. “No, problem.”
Megumi nodded at her and cautiously glanced at Satoru. When the man grinned at him and ruffled his hair, he felt impossibly relieved. He never wanted to have that disappointed glare fixed on him ever again.
The screen declared Mimiko the winner of the cup. Satoru pulled her and Nanako into his arms.
"Just to clarify, you two can call me whatever you want, okay?" he said, before whispering conspiratorially, "Just try to avoid too many insults, or Tsumiki might get mad at me."
The girls both giggled.
~
Matsu Kato had only been a teacher for two years now, she hadn't had a lot of experience yet, but she could still recognize a troubled child if she saw one. A troubled child like Fushiguro Megumi.
The boy had been in her class for all of three weeks now, and had already threatened five of his classmates, promising to beat them up. Today, he had followed through on that threat. So Matsu decided she needed to meet Megumi's guardian.
That's why she found herself in her office during her free time, facing the glares of a nine-year-old boy. Maybe she should have pursued another career after all.
Megumi seemed to feel the same way as they sighed at the same time.
The boy had only called his guardian five minutes ago so Matsu supposed she could tell her evening dinner bye bye.
Opposite her Megumi started to chew on a pencil.
Matsu sighed once more before taking the pencil away from the kid. "Stop that, that's bad for your-"
Before Matsu could finish her sentence the door to her office flew open. In walked the most beautiful woman Matsu had ever seen.
The woman was tall and seemed rather thin, though Matsu couldn't be sure as she was wearing a coat that was at least four sizes too big. Her long white hair was artfully done up in two buns and Matsu was sure even close up she wouldn't find any blemishes on her light skin.
But the most striking thing about the woman were her beautiful blue eyes that were different from any eyes which Matsu had ever seen. They made the woman look otherworldly as if she didn't quite exist on the same sphere as everyone else.
"He-hello", Matsu stammered before the newcomer could say anything, "you must be Megumi's mother I guess?"
The woman's pink lips formed a perfect 'O' before they curled into a grin. A groan from Megumi diverted Matsu's attention. When she saw the annoyed look on the boy's face she was confused for a second before Megumi's supposed mother started talking. In a distinctively male voice.
"Yeah, I am Gumi's mother!" The man took a step forwards and threw his arms around the boy sitting in front of the office table. "I carried him nine months and birthed him, I remember it as if had just been yesterday!"
Megumi grimaced and pushed his guardian away before giving Matsu accusing look. "Thanks for that. He won't shut up about it for the next half year."
Matsu's face was on fire. "I'm so sorry, sir. I just - you are very... pretty?"
Matsu wished the ground would swallow her but the man's grin only got wider. So at least someone was having fun.
Megumi buried his face in his hands.
"Thank you!" The man held out a hand for Matsu to shake. "I'm Satoru. And don't be embarrassed I know I'm just too beautiful!"
The man - Satoru - fluttered with his long eyelashes and Matsu was quite certain that he was making fun of her.
Instead of addressing it she shook his hand. "I'm Matsu Kato, Megumi's teacher. And you're his father then?"
"Not biologically", Satoru said and sat down on the chair beside Megumi, "but in a way-"
"Yes, he's my dad", Megumi said firmly which surprised Matsu as only a second ago he seemed to be embarrassed by his guardian.
The warm smile Satoru was giving Megumi was completely different to the grin from before. It made his flawless face look even more ethereal.
Matsu cleared her throat. "So... there's no easy way to say this, but you’re here today because Megumi got into a fight with a few of his classmates."
If Satoru was surprised it didn't show on his face.
"Why were you fighting?", he asked Megumi.
"Doesn't matter. I'm not telling you", Megumi said, his eyes locked onto the wall behind Matsu.
"That's what he's been saying since we found the other boys all beat up."
"So you won? I'm so proud!" Again, Satoru threw an arm around the boy beside him.
Matsu raised her brows and gave the man an indignant look.
Satoru rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, bad joke." He didn’t sound sorry at all.
Beside him Megumi seemed to hold back a grin. At least that was good, Matsu had thought the boy couldn't do anything but frown.
"Sure...", she said, "so, Megumi will be suspended for a week and you should probably have a talk with him about violence."
Satoru tilted his head. "But is it fair to decide that if we don't even know what the fight was about? Are the other boys getting suspended too?"
"Um", again Matsu blushed, "no, they -"
"So, why is only my child getting suspended?"
"I mean the other boys got rather hurt-"
"That doesn't mean they were innocent. And I know for sure Megumi wouldn't beat up some kid s for fun." Satoru nudged Megumi. "So, tell us the reason, I know you had one, Megs."
Megumi didn't look away from the wall. Once more Satoru nudged him.
"Stop sulking and speak to your mother!"
Megumi sighed and gave Matsu a clear do-you-see-what-you-have-done-look before he mumbled: "They were making fun of Mimiko. Because she doesn't talk." Megumi turned up his nose. "So, I beat them up! And I'm not sorry about that!"
Matsu had not been ready for the serious look on Satoru's face. "They were making fun of Mimiko?"
Megumi nodded.
"Did you know that?", Satoru asked Matsu, his pretty eyes suddenly seeming dangerous.
"I - no – I didn’t."
Satoru raised an eyebrow. "So, I think my son shouldn't be suspended but you should get better at your job. If those boys don't apologize to Mimiko in the next week I want to talk to their parents."
"I - don't -"
Satoru's voice softened a bit again as he seemed to notice Matsu's discomfort, bordering on fear. "Look, that kid has just lost her father and it's really hard for her. I know being a teacher is not an easy job but please look out for her." Then he turned to Megumi. "And you: don't go beat up other kids, just tell me and I'm gonna beat up their parents!"
At this point of the conversation Matsu wasn't sure anymore if the man was joking or not. She just wanted this teacher-parent-conference to end.
"Okay. I'm gonna, ehm, talk to the other boys’ parents and I will look after Mimiko more."
"Wonderful!" Satoru gave her a blinding smile and though Matsu had been scared a second ago now she was blushing again.
"Come on Gumi", Satoru said and stood up, seemingly having decided that there was nothing else to be said.
Megumi stood up and took the hand that Satoru was holding out for him.
"Have a nice evening!" Satoru waved at Matsu before leaving er office.
"...you too", Matsu whispered as the door fell close after the odd parent-child-pair.
And when she heard Megumi ask if he really should stop beating up kids if they were mean to Mimiko and Satoru answer 'nah, only if you don't win' through the closed door than no one ever had to know.
Her mother had been so right. She should have become a doctor.
~
It took half a year for Mimiko to start talking again.
“Your daughter,” Mimiko’s class teacher told Satoru on the phone, “told her classmates today that they were ‘spineless idiots who definitely have to compensate for something, going after Megumi ten at a time’.”
Satoru had rarely been this proud.
“She also told them that her dad was going to beat up their parents”, the man continued.
Oops.
~
It was a few weeks after Satoru turned twenty-two that Shoko decided that her friend needed a time out.
“You, Nanami and I will go out drinking tonight”, she informed Satoru after helping him empty the dishwasher. “You can’t spend your whole twenties playing board games and watching Disney movies.”
“But the kids-“
“Are old enough to be alone for a night”, Shoko interrupted Satoru, “also: Utahime will stay with them, so no worries.”
Satoru frowned. “How did you get Utahmine to-“
“I told her you wouldn’t make fun of her for a month.”
“That’s-“
“And you’ll keep that promise.”
Satoru nodded, slightly dazed.
~
That evening Satoru ended up black out drunk, leaning onto Kento who was talking about the Cuban missile crease. Apparently, he tended to focus on historical events when drinking. Though Satoru had never really drunk before, he was pretty sure that was not a typical reaction to alcohol.
Not that Satoru really minded. After all he prided himself with having something to say to everything, even after drinking a bottle of sake.
“Do you also think that if it happened while Nixon was president, cold war would have turned into a normal war and the USA would have won, consequently, young North Korea would have fallen along with the USSR and now we would have a united Korea”, Satoru said in one breath, “provided that not everybody died because of the nuclear war?”
Astonished Kento looked at him. “That is an excellent point!”
“I know I’m excellent”, Satoru grinned.
Kento blushed.
Sitting opposite them Shoko, who was at least as drunk as Satoru, giggled. “You guys are such nerds!”
Satoru threw a coaster at her. “No, you are!”
Even in his alcohol-fogged mind, Satoru knew that hadn't been his best comeback.
Shoko snorted as she lightened a cigarette.
“Can I have one too?”, Satoru mumbled.
Shoko raised her eyebrows. “You don’t like smoking.”
“Yeah… but they remind me of Suguru…”
Shoko groaned. “Not that again.”
“What”, Satoru pouted. “Aren’t drunk people supposed to talk about their ex?!”
“Yeah, but Suguru is a fucking dick”, Shoko slurred as she threw the coaster back at Satoru. It stopped a few millimeters away from his face. He stuck out his tongue at her.
Kento nodded and said with a stern voice: “Ieri is right. He is a dick.”
Shoko and Satoru stared at him before bursting into laughter. Kento looked at them perplexed.
“What? What did I say?”
“You said dick”, Satoru blurted out between fits of laughter while Shoko choked on her beer.
Kento frowned. “I’m an adult. I can say dick if I want.”
Shoko and Satoru laughed even harder.
“I never heard you swear before”, Shoko cackled, “I was kind of convinced you weren’t able to.”
“I can swear.” Kento crossed his arms. “It’s just not proper to do so.”
His pout did little to calm down Satoru and Shoko.
“Please say asshole next!”, Satoru demanded.
Kento looked into his sparkling eyes before he sighed and mumbled: “Asshole.”
This time it was Satoru who almost choked on his drink.
~
When he woke up Satoru’s head was killing him. He groaned. Beside him he could hear Shoko cackle even before he opened his eyes.
“Looks like someone has a hangover, huh?”, Shoko asked as Satoru blinked his eyes open. She held out a glass of water to him.
Satoru sat up and took the glass. Looking around he realized that he was in his own room, lying in his own bed.
“How…?”
“Nanami carried you home”, Shoko explained. Her sleep-tousled hair told Satoru that she slept over.
“Oh”, he said and downed the water.
“You know”, Shoko said, “I’m kind of sorry for him.”
“Who?”
“Nanami, obviously”, Shoko explained, her voice way too loud in Satoru’s opinion.
“And why is that?”
“Maybe, because he’s being all ‘I can treat you better’ and ‘why can’t you see you belong with me’ on your ass and you keep brushing him off for a guy who left you with four kids?”, Shoko said, in her are-you-really-this-dense-voice.
Satoru fell into bed again and pulled the blanket over his head. “You make it sound as if Suguru is just not paying alimony.”
Shoko hummed. “I mean he isn’t.”
Satoru’s snort was muffled by the blanket.
~
It was on accident that the kids found out about the curse of the strongest. Shoko had told Satoru for years that he should tell them, but he hadn’t wanted to until they got into contact with the jujutsu world. After all what good would it do to worry them about something that had no influence on their life?
They found out because of Yu. The kids had been at Kento’s because Satoru was away for a longer mission when Yu had visited him.
He had talked with Kento about recent developments between the big Jujutsu clans when he’d mentioned ‘Satoru’s curse’.
If it were anyone else Satoru would have strangled them. But Yu was just too precious to be angry at him.
“I’m so sorry Satoru, it is totally my fault and I swear I’d do anything to take it back! I know you didn’t want to tell them yet and to take that decision away from you is-“
“It’s okay”, Satoru interrupted the distraught man. He feared Yu would start crying if he talked himself even more into a frenzy.
Yu sniffled. “Really?”
Satoru put his hands on the man’s shoulders and nodded. “Really.”
~
“Are you dying?”, Nanako asked Satoru as soon as he entered Kento’s kitchen. She sat together with Mimiko, Tsumiki and Megumi at the man’s table, all seemingly in a different states of grief.
“No.” Satoru frowned at Kento who stood at the side at the room. “Did you tell them-“
“No, obviously I didn’t!” Kento sighed. “But they don’t believe me.”
Satoru nodded as he sat down at the table, putting his arms around the two kids closest to him – Mimiko and Tsumiki.
“I’m not dying”, Satoru repeated.
“But Yu said you’re cursed and curses are dangerous”, Mimiko insisted, “you always say so.”
“Yeah that’s right, but-“
“Don’t lie to us just because we’re kids!”, Megumi snapped, “if you’re dying, we have the right to know!”
Behind Satoru Kento cleared his throat. “Ehm. I’m gonna leave this to you, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Satoru nodded and the other man left the room.
Satoru’s eyes roamed over the children. While Tsumiki only seemed mildly worried, Nanako and Mimiko looked as if they were already planning his funeral and Megumi, as always, looked ready to throw down.
“I swear I’m not going to die”, Satoru repeated.
“But you’re cursed?”, Nanako asked, not convinced.
“Kind of”, Satoru admitted, “but it’s not like the normal curses I told you about. Not one that leaches on you and steals your life energy.”
Megumi squinted his eyes. “You promise?”
“I promise.”
Megumi scrutinized him for a minute before he nodded satisfied, which calmed down Nanako and Mimiko.
“As if you could get rid of me that easily.” Satoru grinned, patting every kid on the head once. He hoped that now that their immediate fear had vanished, they’d forget about the curse again.
He was not that lucky.
“What curse was Yu talking about then?”, Tsumiki asked.
Satoru ran a hand over his face, when the looks of relief turned into worry again.
“It’s- um- let’s talk about that at home, okay?”, he said and held out a hand for everybody to hold onto.
As soon as everybody touched his hand they lay on the couch in their home.
Satoru could feel the worried stares on him as he pulled off the heart-shaped sunglasses they’d given him for his birthday. He was unsure how to explain the disaster his life had been so far to three eleven-year-olds and one fifteen-year-old.
“Okay…”, he started. “Um, you know how I always say I’m the strongest?”
~
After Satoru had finished an – extremely downplayed – version of his childhood until he went to Jujutsu high, it was now Tsumiki who looked at him with the most sorrow in her eyes. Satoru assumed, that she understood the influence of the curse best as she was the oldest.
While Nanako and Mimiko were also concerned they seemed a bit confused at the same time and Megumi had the weirdest reaction as he only stared blank-faced at Satoru.
“So…”, Mimiko said into the silence, “your clan made you do things you didn’t want?”
Nanako frowned. “That’s not nice of them. Someone should have told them not to do that.”
Satoru smiled as Nanako lay her head on his shoulder. He wished it was as easy as she made it sound.
“That’s why you don’t like being called Gojo”, Tsmuki said.
“Yeah.”
“But the curse isn’t working anymore, right?”, Mimiko asked.
“No”, Satoru said, telling only a half-truth. After all the curse was still there, he just got really good at controlling it.
Megumi was still not saying anything, which worried Satoru. He’d though he’d be the first to declare war on the curse of the strongest. Not that it would have led to anything.
“So, movie night?”, Satoru asked after a few minutes.
“It’s one a clock in the afternoon”, Mimiko giggled.
Satoru shrugged. “It’s night on the other side of the world.”
~
Only in the actual night, Satoru found out why Megumi hadn’t uttered a word after hearing Satoru out.
It was long past his bedtime when Megumi came into his room. Without saying anything the boy lay down beside him.
“Bad dream?”, Satoru asked as he pulled the blanket over Megumi.
“No.”
Satoru hummed, not prodding more. That didn’t work with Megumi, either he wanted to talk or he didn’t and if he didn’t want to talk it was impossible to get a word out of him.
“I activated it”, Megumi finally said after Satoru had already given up finding out what upset the kid.
“What do you mean?”, Satoru asked, though he had a pretty good idea what Megumi meant.
“The curse. I activated it when I was younger, right?”, Megumi chocked out, “that’s why you sometimes just did what I told you.”
“Sometimes”, Satoru admitted.
Megumi started crying.
“Why? Why didn’t you stop me? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Satoru pulled the boy into his arms.
“Because you’re a child, Gumi. My problems aren’t your problems”, Satoru said softly, “and you needed an adult who you trusted, not someone you weren’t even able to touch.”
“But I hurt you”, Megumi sobbed.
“No, you didn’t. You could never hurt me.”
Even in the dark Satoru could feel Megumi’s calculating eyes on him, trying to find out if he was lying.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
~
Megumi didn’t let Satoru sleep through the night. Instead, he shook him awake only a few hours after he’d finally fallen asleep.
"I didn't hurt you but others did", Megumi stated.
"What", Satoru asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Because of the curse. Other people hurt you."
"Gumi it's in the middle of night, what are you talking about", Satoru yawned and closed his eyes again.
Megumi petted his head, and if Satoru were a more awake, he would probably find it a bit bemusing. After all, he was the adult.
"It's okay. I'm going to protect you", Megumi said.
"Whatever you say, Megs. As long as you gonna let me sleep now", Satoru mumbled.
Megumi nodded satisfied.
~
Megumi was thirteen, when he made is first friend.
When Megumi brought Yuuji home for the first time, Satoru was in the midst of cooking, something he was getting – not good – but at least passable at.
“Hey, dad”, Megumi said as he pulled off his shoes.
“Hey, Gumi.” Satoru hummed in response, not looking up from the casserole in front of him.
Only when he heard two pair of footsteps, he looked up. He knew for sure, that the girls all had after school activities today.
Beside Megumi stood a pink-haired boy, bowing deeply: “Hello, Megumi’s dad.”
“No, need to bow”, Satoru said, waving around the kitchen ladle. “You’re Yuuji right? Megs, told me about you.”
“Yes, I’m-“ Yuuji faltered as he lifted his head and really looked at Satoru for the for the first time.
Satoru gave the boy a questioning look. “Yeah…?”
“You’re so pretty.” Yuuji marveled. “Megumi, why did you never tell me how pretty your dad is?”
Satoru laughed as Megumi punched Yuuji in the arm. “Because he’s my dad?!”
Satoru hit Megumi lightly on the head with the kitchen ladle. “Be nice to your friend, Megs. Yuuji must be a saint to be able to handle you.”
Megumi glared at him.
“Can we get married when I’m all grown up?”, Yuuji asked Satoru with wide eyes.
The man laughed again while Megumi shrieked. “You can’t get married to my dad!”
“Why?” Yuuji tilted his head. “I promise I’m going to be a great stepdad!”
“That’s not the point!”
Satoru ruffled Yuuji’s hair. “Sure, we can get married when you’re all grown up.”
~
The only event Satoru hated even more than meetings with the council was the annual Jujutsisten dinner.
It was a dinner where all sorcerers with status and reputation came together and bragged about all the things they had achieved.
Satoru hadn’t been to a single dinner since finishing Jujutsu high.
The only reason he was here tonight was Yaga. The man had asked him to go.
”They are scared of you Satoru. Not only are you raising some of the most promising sorcerers of the future, you now even became a teacher. They fear your influence on the next generation. After all everybody knows how much you hate how the current Jujutsu society works. Just go to one dinner and show them you’re doing what they want. Only for one evening.”
Satoru would probably still not have gone if he didn't know what a hassle it would've been for Yaga when he next met with the council and had to defend Satoru’s actions. After all he owed the man quite a lot, so one evening of brainless smalltalk was the least he could do.
Besides, Megumi, Mimiko and Nanako were here with him, so maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.
Satoru hadn’t wanted them to come but Megumi wouldn’t budge and Nanako and Mimiko had the bad habit of following his example. Shoko had said that it might not be that bad to introduce them to Jujutsu world at least once before they started school.
Additionally, Tsumiki had just left for university, so their separation anxiety was pretty bad again, which was another reason why Satoru let them come in the end.
At the moment Satoru was talking to Falin, a man in his age from the Kamo Clan, who really liked to hear his own voice.
For the most parts Satoru turned out Falin’s rambling, only nodding or humming from time to time.
On the other side of the room, he could see Megumi talking to Maki Zenin, while Nanako and Mimiko were trapped in a conversation with an old woman, looking just as bored as he felt.
At least the food was good, Satoru thought as he shoved a sushi roll whole into his mouth.
“So that’s why I think the money depositing of the Kamo clan is better than-“
“Mhm.” Satoru nodded, belatedly realizing that it was not the right time for a nod.
Falin stopped talking. “Are you even listening?”, he asked, a tinge of amusement in his voice.
For the first time Satoru really looked at Falin and said with a full mouth: “Nof, really.”
Instead of being scandalized, the man chuckled.
Satoru swallowed the last of the sushi. This was weird behavior for a member of one of the three big clans.
“Why are you here, when you obviously don’t want to be?”, Falin asked.
“Favor for a friend.”
“That’s nice of you.” Falin smiled and held out a shot glass for Satoru. “Drink with me?”
“Nope, thanks.” Satoru didn’t want to know what he would do if he got drunk tonight. Probably kill one or two of his relatives.
“Your loss”, Falin said and poured himself a glass.
Satoru looked over to Megumi and the twins again, who had been able to lose the old woman and had joined Megumi’s conversation with Maki. It was nice that they were getting along with her. After all they’d be schoolmates in less than a year.
“Your kids?”, Falin asked, following Satoru’s look.
“Yup”, Satoru said, not at all eager to give out any information about the three.
“Must be hard. Having three children.”
Four, Satoru thought but didn’t correct the man and only shrugged.
Falin downed his shot. “They talk about you a lot you know?”
Satoru raised an eyebrow. “Who?”
“Everybody. After all every Jujusist knows who you are.”
“And what do they say?”
Fail poured himself another shot. “They’re scared of you.”
Satoru gave a sunny smile. “They should be.”
Falin laughed. “They also talk about how pretty you are. But never how charming.”
Satoru gave the man an unimpressed look. “What do you want.”
“Can’t I just make a compliment to the most beautiful person in the room?”
“Sure.” Satoru rolled his eyes.
“Okay.” Falin nodded. “I see this is not going anywhere.”
“You think?”, Satoru deadpanned.
Again, Falin laughed. “Oh, I can see why you annoy them so much. Not really the behavior that’s expected of the strongest, huh?”
“I live to disappoint.”
Falin looked at him for some time while Satoru stared at the clock wondering if one hour was enough time, to show that he had been here and that nobody needed to worry about him overthrowing any systems in the near future.
Though they definitely should worry.
“Okay, I’m coming straight to the point”, Falin said, “I have a proposition for you.”
Satoru sighed. Until now he’d kind of liked Falin, but he knew exactly where this was going.
“Let me guess: I should marry into your clan to have the Kamos' protection. You gonna let me do what I want as long as I’m their for council meetings and not do anything that directly hurts the reputation of the Kamo clan?”
Falkin swirled his glass around. “Not your fist offer?”
“Not by far”, Satoru said.
More than a few people had made him the same offer over the years and it was only through pure self-control that he hadn’t killed a single one of them. No one would make him a puppet in their purposeless political games ever again. No one would get even a semblance of control over him ever again.
Abruptly Satoru stood up, “Thanks for the nice talk, but I’m gonna go now or otherwise I might do something I’m going to regret later. Tell your clan to go fuck themselves.”
Falin nodded, before laughing once more. “Really, so charming.”
~
“What did the man want?”, Megumi asked as Satoru came over to them. He had watched their whole conversation, just in case he had to intervene.
Satoru wondered a lot if the boy knew that he was more than able to protect himself.
“He wanted to marry me”, Satoru explained and said a short ‘bye’ to Maki before teleporting back home.
The landing was a bit bumpy as Satoru was still trembling from repressed rage. However, only Megumi ended up on the floor, while Mimiko and Nanako teleported directly onto the couch. Satoru was still standing upright.
Megumi jumped up. “What? Why did he want to marry you?”
Trying to calm down, Satoru breathed in and out a few times before sitting down beside Mimiko. Then he gave Megumi a mischievous grin.
“Why wouldn’t someone want to marry me? I’m funny, beautiful, talented – “
“Oh, shut up”, Megumi scoffed.
“Don’t be like that.” Nanako giggled. “After all even Yuuji wants to marry dad.”
“Shut up!”
~
The first time Megumi saw Satoru genuinely scared was the day on which he got assigned his first mission.
He’d been sent out to collect a cursed object from a high school. Precisely, from the high school Yuuji was going to. Megumi really didn’t understand why someone would hide one of Sukuna’s fingers at a school, but since he knew about the curse of the strongest, he’d stopped questioning the actions of higher-ranking members of the Jujutsu society.
Before Megumi could even start his search Yuuji called him to tell him that his grandfather died and while Megumi wasn’t the most empathetic person in the world, he wasn’t a bad friend either.
Sukuna’s finger had been hidden at this school for years, what was one more day?
Luckily, coming to comfort Yuuji, made tracking down the finger unnecessary as the boy was completely tainted by cursed energy. Unluckily, Yuuji had already given the finger away to his friends from the occult club, that he’d told Megumi about.
So, instead of being a good friend, Megumi was an awful friend who pulled Yuuji into his problems at the day of his grandfather’s death.
Yuuji being who he was didn’t doubt what Megumi told him about curses for even a second, but also refused to leave Megumi alone. Instead, he came with him to help his friends and fight the curses unleashed by Sukuna’s finger.
When it became clear that they wouldn't be able to defeat the curses, Yuuji had the crazy idea to swallow Sukuna’s finger. If Satoru had been even a second later, Megumi might have lost his best friend and died on the same day.
Satoru teleported beside Yuuji just before the finger could touch his tongue, snatching the cursed object away at the last moment.
Megumi sighed with relief. Satoru was here, everything would be good now.
“What the fuck. Yuuji what were you doing!”, Satoru said and the horror on the man’s face was enough to let Megumi stiffen again.
“Erm, I- Megumi said-“
Aghast Satoru turned to Megumi. “You told him to –“
“No! I didn’t!”
Satoru looked from one boy to the other. “Okay. We’ll talk about this later.”
Then he went of to exorcise the rest of the curses.
“What?”, Yuuji asked, “how did he even get here? And shouldn’t we help him?”
Megumi sat down. “He teleported and no, he got this.”
“He teleported? What-“
Yuuji was stunned into silence as he watched Satoru fight curse after curse. It took only seconds before the man was back, both of Yuuji’s classmates in his arms.
“I’m gonna bring those two to the next hospital and then we’re going to have a talk”, Satoru said and took both Megumi and Yuuji by the hand.
Instantly they stood in their flat. Yuuji’s eyes widening even more. At this rate Megumi feared they’d pop out any minute.
Not sparing even a look for the boy, Satoru teleported away again.
Knowing exactly how it felt to teleport for the first time, Megumi got a glass of water from the kitchen and pushed Yuuji onto the couch.
“Megs”, Yuuji said after taking a few sips of water and calming down. “I’m a bit confused.”
Megumi sat down beside his friend and patted his back. If Yuuji was only a bit confused he took the existence of curses and the fact that his best friend was a jujusist better than probably any other person in the world would.
Before Megumi could think of a way to explain more to Yuuji, Satoru stood back in front of them.
Again, Yuuji gaped as if he himself hadn’t just teleported.
Satoru had taken off his tacky glasses and Megumi could see the genuine worry in his eyes. He felt bad making the man worry about him. But in his defense, he hadn’t thought anybody would be dumb enough to unseal Sukuna’s finger!
“Are you two okay?”, Satoru asked, before sitting down on the floor right in front of them.
“Yeah”, Megumi said, while Yuuji nodded silently. “You were there soon enough.”
“Good, good.” Satoru ran a hand over his face before lifting his head again. “Then what the hell were you thinking? Why would you eat a finger of the king of curses? You could have died Yuuji or got possessed and kill everyone around you!”
With every word Yuuji paled a bit more. “Megumi said I would get stronger when-“
“Don’t drag me into this!”
Satoru sighed. “I mean technically, maybe you could have gotten stronger.”
Yuuji looked at the man in front of him with wide eyes. “Are you mad at me?”
Again, Satoru sighed. He was positive no one could stay mad at Yuuji when he looked like this. “No, I’m not mad. I was just… really scared, okay? I mean who would I have married if you died?”
Yuuji laughed when Satoru ruffled his hair.
“So.” Satoru clasped his hands. “How far are we into the explanation of what just happened?”
“Not that far…”
“Did you already tell Yuuji I’m the most awesome sorcerer that there is?” Satoru grinned widely.
“Wait. So, you’re a jujusist too?”, Yuuji asked.
“You didn’t get that by now?!” Megumi stared at his best friend, baffled.
Yuuji flushed. “No, I mean- I guess that makes sense, I just… always thought you were unemployed…?”
Satoru blinked at him, then looked around the large flat in the centre of Tokyo. “And how did you think I was paying rent?”
“I um.” Yuuji got even redder. “I kind of thought you had a sugar daddy…?”
While Megumi buried his face in his hands, Satoru burst out laughing.
“What! Neither Megumi or you ever talked about your job! What was I supposed to think!”, Yuuji whined.
~
“You don’t really use your office that much, do you?”, Megumi asked Satoru a week later out of the blue.
The man who’d just come home after a three-day long mission gave him a blank look. “What.”
“Your office”, Megumi repeated, “you don’t really use it, right?”
Satoru pulled off his coat. “I guess I don’t.”
Since becoming a teacher, he mostly used the office at Jujutsu high.
Megumi nodded. “And you remember when I told you that Yuuji’s grandfather died, right?”
“Uhu”, Satoru said, lost on what the boy was getting at.
“And you remember when you told me that you killed my father”, Megumi continued, looking at Satoru with wide, innocent eyes. As if he had cared for even a minute when the man had told him.
“I- eh- um-, Sorry?”, Satoru stammered, „I thought you didn’t-“
“No, I don’t really care”, Megumi said, “just, because of you I’m kind of missing a male attachment figure in my life, right?”
“I guess…?” Satoru felt horrible and had literally no idea what brought this on.
“So, what I wanted to ask”, Megumi said slowly, “is: CanYuujimoveinwithus?”
“What?”
“Can Yuuji move in with us?”, Megumi repeated, “in your office. That you don’t need. He’s here all the time anyways and he’s alone at home. And you killed my father so you kind of owe me a brother.”
Satoru gaped at him.
“That’s what you’re wanted to get at? For that you had to play the you-killed-my-father-card?”
Megumi gave Satoru an innocent look, that didn’t work at all.
“So can he?”
“Obviously he can! Unlike you, he’s an angel who won’t make me any trouble, you brat!”
“Thanks, dad!” Megumi smiled and hugged Satoru.
Satoru glared at him and muttered under his breath: “You killed my father, my ass. Horrible child.”