Chapter Text
Yura’s shoulders perked up when she opened the door to Satoru’s apartment, a delicious smell wafting up to her and tugging her straight to the kitchen. Her lips tilted up as she made her way inside, passing by the living room and dining room—only to slow down when her eyes spotted a suspicious, oddly familiar-looking box resting on top of the dining table.
“I’m almost done with dinner!” Satoru called from the kitchen, and Yura shifted her head between him and the strange box. “Just got to let it cook now.”
Yura turned to look at the box again as she stood by the doorway to the kitchen, and when she turned to look back at Satoru, he had also turned to her.
“Ah, right!” he called, wiping his hands on a towel before sauntering towards her with a widening grin. It seemed that he had noticed what she’d been looking at. “I got you something.”
“Seriously?” Yura huffed, half in amusement, as Satoru stepped close enough to her to slip an arm around her waist. “You got me more stuff?”
Like the two months of gifts hadn’t been enough?
Satoru’s grin widened even more as he tugged her forward, leading her towards the box. “Trust me, it’s important,” he said with a nod, placing her right in front of this new gift. “Open it.”
Yura bit back a smile as she tried to pretend she was annoyed, but her hands still reached out to the box regardless. And when she opened it, she realized why the box looked so familiar.
Because Satoru had just gifted her what looked like another kimono.
“...Seriously?” she asked again, sounding a little confused. Especially when her eyes focused on the hairpin sitting on top of the fabric, a familiar one that almost made her think Satoru had just bought the same hairpin twice. “Wait, this...”
“I stopped by your apartment to get it,” Satoru explained, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “It matches.”
As Yura placed the hairpin on the table so she could pick up the fabric instead, she noticed that indeed, both matched well together. Satoru had gotten her yet another blue kimono, but this one was in a different hue, golden details spreading across the garment in a similar color combo to the hairpin.
Then her brain screeched to a halt, remembering the last time Satoru had gotten her a kimono...
“...There’s going to be another clan event, isn’t there?” Yura asked, looking up at him.
Satoru let out a sigh, tugging her closer as he dropped his cheek to the top of her head. “Yep,” he said, then sighed again. “Although technically it’s the same clan event from a few years ago.”
“The... ‘baby-blessing ceremony’?” Yura recalled—the first time she’d ever been to an official Gojo clan gathering.
“Yep,” he repeated. “There are more Gojo babies that need to be blessed, apparently.”
Yura vividly remembered what that event had been like—walking in next to Satoru to stand in front of the entire Gojo clan, their eyes scrutinizing her very existence. She had tried her best to appear calm and collected and like she actually belonged there, instead of the anxious wreck she’d been on the inside—and she hadn’t even been sure why. Yura didn’t actually need the Gojo clan’s approval for anything, really; she’d just gone there as a favor to Satoru, given their unusual situation.
But looking back, Yura could now understand—or at least admit to herself—the reason why she’d been so nervous. Deep down, she had always wanted to have a place next to Satoru, hadn’t she? One way or the other. There was a part of her that actually wanted his clan’s approval—wanted to prove herself worthy of standing by his side...
Yura turned her head to him, making Satoru pull his cheek away from her. “Well,” she started, making a show of releasing a mock-exasperated sigh. “Guess we’ll be blessing babies, then.”
The way Satoru proceeded to beam down at her had her stomach fluttering, then even more when both of his hands came up to cradle her cheeks. “Of course! Can’t bless babies without my wife present.”
Yura’s heart felt like it did a 360 in her chest, heat crawling up her face as Satoru pressed a quick peck to her forehead before sauntering away. A strange feeling was rumbling inside her even as Satoru started talking about dinner again, one specific word still ringing inside her head over and over again...
“...And I was thinking,” Satoru was saying, and Yura tried to mentally shake herself off this sudden weirdness so she could pay attention to his words. “Megumi and Tsumiki have never visited the Gojo Estate before, right?”
Yura’s brain ran to catch up to what he was saying, following Satoru into the kitchen. “I guess, yeah,” she responded, unsure where this was going.
“Well,” Satoru started, going about the kitchen as he finished readying dinner. “I thought we could ask them if they wanted to come along.”
To come along—to the baby blessing ceremony?
“Really?” she asked, successfully distracted from her previous weirdness by this sudden suggestion. “I mean, why?”
Satoru turned to her to give her a shrug before going back to placing dirty utensils in the sink. “I figured it could be fun.”
Clan events and fun didn’t exactly go hand in hand as far as Yura knew... but...
“I guess we can ask them,” she finally said. Because there was no harm in it, right?
Satoru beamed at her again, and Yura’s lips tugged up into a smile. If Satoru wanted the kids there with them, there was no reason to say no to him if the Fushiguros felt like sitting through a boring clan ceremony...
“Gojo-san, this place is huge,” Tsumiki said, her eyes wide as she took in their surroundings.
The four of them were finally walking into the clan head’s residence after entering the Gojo Estate a while ago, the sheer size of the area owned by the Gojo clan catching both Tsumiki and Megumi off guard. This really was their first time actually visiting the place, wasn’t it? They’d never had a reason to before, but since both Fushiguros had agreed to come to the ceremony as Satoru had suggested, here they finally were.
“You haven’t even seen everything yet,” Satoru replied, shooting Tsumiki a crooked grin. And considering that Yura herself also had yet to see everything the Gojo Estate had to offer, she didn’t think they’d be able to get the full tour of the place today.
“Who else lives here?” Megumi asked, also looking around. It was pretty quiet as they made their way up a short wooden staircase, eventually walking into the traditional-looking building that was large enough to house a whole family in it, and yet...
“Here, in this house?” Satoru started. “Nobody.”
Megumi frowned. “Nobody lives here?”
And Satoru grinned wider. “It’s my house!”
Yura huffed in amusement as Satoru presented the place with a flourish.
Satoru started chatting animatedly about the fact that this house was the clan head’s house alone, and that the rest of the clan lived in different buildings on the property. Less nosy clan members around, he said, something that Yura hadn’t actually noticed the first time she’d visited the place. Maybe she’d been too nervous to pay attention to it.
Well, now, as they walked through the wooden corridors of Satoru’s house, Yura wasn’t feeling the same nervousness that she’d felt three years ago. Maybe that was due to the fact that this place really did feel like a sort of safe space—a place that belonged to Satoru, a place that let her feel more at ease even though she was surrounded by the entire Gojo clan. She probably wouldn’t continue feeling this way in an hour or so as they got to the ceremony, but for now...
For now, Yura was strangely relaxed. Somehow, these corridors actually felt familiar now, or maybe that was just the feeling of walking through them with Satoru by her side.
“Ah,” Yura let out as they eventually rounded a corner to find a familiar face standing there. “Hanae-san.”
Yura wasn’t really surprised at seeing the older woman, since she did need help putting on her kimono again. She and Hanae were even well-acquainted with each other by now, given they would often meet at Satoru’s apartment whenever the older woman stopped by to do her job there and Yura was around.
...But...
Something about this was throwing Yura off a little. Maybe it was the fact that Hanae was using a kimono herself, as opposed to the casual clothes she usually wore whenever she went to Satoru’s place. Or maybe it was the fact that she was accompanied by other staff members, all suddenly bowing down to them with all the pomp and circumstance befitting the head of the clan. Or maybe it was the way they seemed to refer to Yura as Yura-sama, forcibly reminding her of Satoru’s status in the jujutsu world—and what they considered to be her place in it.
Wife.
Yura cleared her throat.
“Alright, everyone!” Satoru called. “Time to get ready.”
“I am ready,” Megumi grumbled. Yura’s lips tugged up as she eyed his formal attire again, Megumi looking quite dapper in the slacks and button-down shirt he’d chosen to get for this occasion.
(She was pretty sure Nobara had helped.)
“Oh yeah?” Satoru said, his face mischievous—and then yep, he promptly ruffled Megumi’s hair, messing it up. “Nope, you still need to comb your hair, kid! More than usual, I mean.”
Megumi scowled, swatting Satoru’s hand away.
“Please come this way, Yura-san, Tsumiki-san,” Hanae called, drawing their attention. Right, time to get ready.
As Satoru left for his own personal quarters, Megumi following him out of a lack of anything better to do, Yura and Tsumiki were guided by Hanae to a vacant room to actually start putting on their kimonos (while Tsumiki hadn’t owned any kimonos beforehand, that had been easily remedied). Another staff member also followed them into this room, Yura eventually realizing that it was so she could assist Tsumiki while Hanae was busy with Yura.
“This is more complicated than I thought,” Tsumiki remarked, her arms open as the staff member tied the kimono around her body.
And Yura was in the same position, letting Hanae do her magic with the overwhelming amount of fabric that made up this thing. “I know, right?” Yura said, catching Hanae’s eye as the other woman sent her an amused smile.
Three years ago, they’d been doing this exact same thing, in what had to be the exact same room, in order for Yura to attend the exact same ceremony as today. And yet, this felt... different.
“It takes some time to get used to it,” Hanae said, wrapping and folding and tying fabric around Yura.
“It’ll only take a little while longer, Tsumiki-sama,” the other staff member said—a girl not that much older than Tsumiki herself who looked just a bit nervous—and Tsumiki blushed in response to the honorific.
“A-ah, that’s okay!” Tsumiki replied, embarrassed. As she turned her head to Yura, mouthing a ‘Tsumiki-sama?’, Yura could only shrug in response as she bit back a smile.
“You’re doing well, Yuzuki-chan,” Hanae called to the girl—Yuzuki?—who seemed a little flustered. “Yuzuki-chan just joined the staff a few months ago, she’s still learning the ropes but is doing well,” Hanae told Yura with a smile.
And the girl in question only got even more flustered, so Yura tried smiling reassuringly at her because it sure couldn’t be easy to deal with the average clan member on a daily basis.
“Nice to meet you,” Yura said, then had to bite back a laugh when the girl tried to do a ninety-degree bow while still trying to hold Tsumiki’s kimono in place.
What kind of nonsense the poor staff of the Gojo clan had to regularly deal with, Yura had no idea—she certainly didn’t envy them.
Yuzuki had been nervous all day after Hanae-senpai had told her the news, even though she was trying to act as calm and professional as was expected of her. But no matter how much Yuzuki tried to tell herself that this was her job and she should be used to it, it was hard keeping a cool head—especially given that the clan head himself was coming home, and that Hanae had asked Yuzuki to personally come and help. Why Yuzuki, though, she had no idea—Yuzuki hadn’t actually been working for the Gojo clan for long, and yet, Hanae-senpai had chosen her to not only serve as part of the clan head’s household but also to come assist them directly today, and Yuzuki couldn’t help but feel nervous at the thought of accidentally messing up right in front of the head of the clan himself.
Truth be told, Yuzuki hadn’t actually seen the clan head all that often even though she was part of his residence’s staff, having become one of the Gojo clan’s servants just a few months ago. Yuzuki’s mother had actually been the one to insist on this job after that curse attack last year—Yuzuki would be safer within the Estate’s walls, her mother kept saying. Safer to be closer to one of the three clans if curses started running around en masse like last December.
So following her mother’s advice, Yuzuki had done her best to get this job—since she would already help her mother plenty around the house, it wasn’t like Yuzuki was a stranger to household chores. And after a few nerve-wracking interviews, she was eventually hired—she just hadn’t expected to be placed in the clan head’s household right away... or even at all.
And it was kind of terrifying.
Gojo Satoru, the head of the Gojo clan and the strongest sorcerer of the modern age—an intimidating boss, all things considered. It was almost a relief that he didn’t actually come by the Estate all that often, and Yuzuki and the rest of the staff mostly just took care of his empty residence and surroundings on a daily basis.
Today, however, was one of the days he would be stopping by. And not only that, but he would also be bringing his wife with him—and Hanae-senpai wanted Yuzuki to come help with them directly.
‘The Fushiguros are also coming, so I’m going to need someone else to help put on a kimono,’ Hanae had told her, and at Yuzuki’s confused frown, Hanae had continued, ‘The Fushiguros are essentially their adopted children,’ she’d explained, and Yuzuki’s eyes had gone wide.
So she would not only have to take care of the clan head’s wife but their children too?
Yuzuki was double nervous. Maybe even triple nervous.
...However, when they actually got there... they weren’t exactly what Yuzuki had expected.
Yuzuki already wasn’t too familiar with the clan head himself due to the fact that he barely stopped by, although she had definitely gathered that he seemed to be a little... flighty when it came to clan matters, and dealing with other clan members seemed to do a number on his mood. So it was perhaps a little strange to see him in such high spirits today, and as Yuzuki quietly watched the scene in front of her... she had to wonder if the reason for his happy mood was actually his wife.
Wakatsuki Yura.
Yuzuki had never met the clan head’s wife before, as the woman hadn’t stepped foot in the Estate not even once in the months Yuzuki had been working there. But Yuzuki sure had heard the rumors—rumors that were quickly shut down by Hanae-senpai when Yuzuki had brought them up. No, the clan head and his wife didn’t hate each other; no, they weren’t on the brink of divorce—they were actually very happy together, as Hanae-senpai had told her, he just didn’t like bringing his wife to the Estate all that often.
(Then Hanae-senpai had gently scolded her about gossiping—reminding Yuzuki that she must always be discreet when it comes to the clan head’s business.)
Yuzuki had refrained from gossiping after that.
...But that didn’t mean her curiosity had gone away.
What would the clan head’s wife be like? How would the lady of the house behave? According to Hanae-senpai, Wakatsuki Yura was the second highest authority they had to answer to, and yet, Yuzuki had never even seen a single glimpse of her.
Until today, that is. Today, Wakatsuki Yura had walked in next to her husband... and despite Yuzuki not knowing what to expect of her, the woman seemed to defy Yuzuki’s expectations regardless.
Yuzuki wasn’t part of a major clan herself, but she had seen plenty of clan women—especially married clan women—interact with other people in front of her, and there always seemed to be a few unspoken rules of conduct that they were required to follow lest they got shunned by, well, everyone around them. And as Yura-sama walked in, she seemed to have broken a handful of those unspoken rules already—but none that her husband seemed to take much notice of. It seemed strange, but perhaps Yuzuki had expected the wife of Gojo Satoru, head of the Gojo clan, to behave in a certain way, to hold herself a little differently; it was a heavy title to bear, after all, and yet, as Hanae-senpai led Yura-sama and Tsumiki-sama to a separate room, Yuzuki following them as instructed, Yura-sama seemed... oddly relaxed. Casual, maybe, even when talking to staff members, and Yuzuki wasn’t exactly sure how to take it.
‘Just follow my lead,’ Hanae-senpai would often tell her, so Yuzuki ended up doing just that, instead of focusing too much on how to act in this situation. Hanae-senpai seemed at ease around Yura-sama, gently but firmly instructing her as she began to work on the woman’s kimono, and Yuzuki decided to do the same to Tsumiki-sama as Hanae-senpai had previously instructed her to do. It was still a little nerve-wracking working so close to the two people who probably were the closest to the clan head, the possibility of messing up in front of them echoing over and over in her mind as she tried to keep her hands steady as much as she could. But as time passed, Tsumiki-sama proving to be actually nice and understanding as Yuzuki worked on her kimono, Yuzuki eventually started to relax.
And sooner than Yuzuki had expected, both the clan head’s wife and adopted daughter were finally close to being ready for the incoming ceremony.
“Is the hairpin new?” Hanae-senpai asked as she worked on Yura-sama’s hair—sliding a beautiful blue and gold hairpin into the younger woman’s hair. Yuzuki had heard about Yura-sama being of low birth before—especially scandalous given that she had become the Gojo clan head’s wife—but she certainly didn’t look like it when she was all done up like this...
“Satoru’s doing,” Yura-sama replied, and even though Yuzuki was trying not to stare, she saw the woman’s lips tilt up in amusement. “I think he was planning for today.”
“I think he just wanted to see you wear it with a kimono, Yura-san,” Tsumiki-sama responded with a small giggle. She had actually already finished getting ready, sitting on the couch as she waited for Yura-sama to finish up, so Yuzuki had nothing else to do other than just stand there in the corner. “Today was just an excuse.”
“You might be onto something,” Yura-sama replied, and Yuzuki averted her eyes again to try to be polite.
But even as Yuzuki forced herself to keep looking away, she still caught Yura-sama opening her mouth to speak—only to be suddenly interrupted by a voice booming in from outside.
“Yuraaaa!” the voice exclaimed, and Yuzuki jumped, straightening herself up, as it was the clan head’s voice coming from directly outside the room. “Are you done yet?”
“Like you don’t already know!” Yura-sama exclaimed back, and Yuzuki blinked in surprise at her tone of voice against Satoru-sama of all people.
The door slid open as the clan head poked his head inside, and Yuzuki bowed at him in greeting—right as Tsumiki-sama jumped to her feet, pushing her palm onto the clan head’s face. “Don’t look yet!” the girl said, pushing him back.
And Satoru-sama actually grinned as he was forced back out of the room.
“He’s so impatient even though he’s the one who’s always late,” Yura-sama remarked.
Tsumiki-sama nodded with a grin. “He’s very impatient when it comes to you, Yura-san,” she responded.
...Well, Yuzuki supposed that if there was anyone that would be allowed to treat the clan head like that, it would be his family...
When Yura-sama finally finished getting ready, getting up to leave the room, Yuzuki didn’t know if she should be relieved or even more nervous. Relieved because Yuzuki’s job had been completed successfully without any incident, despite all her previous worries... and nervous because as she and Hanae-senpai followed Yura-sama out of the room, the clan head was standing right there waiting for them, and Yuzuki couldn’t help but stiffen up in his intimidating presence again.
“There! I’m done,” Yura-sama called, presenting her outfit to her husband... even though she sounded oddly exasperated.
Or was she joking?
(It was hard for Yuzuki to understand what was going on between those two.)
“I did say it would look great,” the clan head said, appraising his wife with a grin.
“Again, you’re just flattering yourself at this point,” Yura-sama responded, now definitely amused.
Hanae had once described them as being happy together, and Yuzuki hadn’t thought much of it back then. Happy was a relative term, and in her life, Yuzuki had seen many different types of ‘happy’ marriages (even though she had never been married herself) that she hadn’t been able to imagine what kind of happy those two would be just from what she’d heard.
But now, looking at them with her own eyes (even if she should really be keeping her gaze averted), Yuzuki was finally able to see it for herself. And honestly? She’d never seen a husband and wife smile and grin at each other as often as they were doing just now. Even if Yura-sama was nowhere near as deferential to her husband as Yuzuki had expected the clan head’s wife to be, he showed no signs of being bothered by it; Yuzuki supposed that he was often described as being somewhat unconventional, and considering that those two had been together for a while now—almost a decade if Yuzuki had heard that correctly—then something had to be working in this marriage of theirs.
With an inward nod, Yuzuki finally averted her gaze again. Enough looking, she told herself; she was here to do her job, not satisfy her own curiosity.
...But then the clan head stepped closer, and Yuzuki’s head couldn’t help but snap up again when he stopped in front of them... or rather, in front of his wife. Yuzuki blinked as she watched him raise a hand, his fingers then touching his wife’s neck—or the necklace around her neck—and Yuzuki couldn’t help her eyes, continuing to watch as Satoru-sama adjusted the small pendant there gently.
I should look away, Yuzuki told herself as the clan head grinned at his wife yet again. His wife, in turn, wrinkled her nose at him, even as she bit back a smile of her own. I really shouldn’t be looking.
She was still looking.
...Which was why her eyes went wide when Satoru-sama grabbed his wife’s face to press his mouth to hers in one swift motion.
“Get a room,” Megumi-sama called behind them, and Yuzuki’s face heated up as she finally looked away in embarrassment.
...But not before catching Yura-sama pulling away as she half-heartedly pushed her husband back, covering her mouth with a hand. When Yuzuki snuck another glance (she couldn’t help herself), she saw that Yura-sama’s face was almost as red as her own.
(Was the clan head always this, ahem, openly affectionate?)
“Time to go to the party, then?” Satoru-sama called, and this time, Yuzuki kept her eyes glued to the floor.
“...You’d better keep your hands to yourself,” Yura-sama muttered, though her words lacked bite.
“We’ll just have to see about that,” he replied. Yuzuki guessed that he was grinning.
As the clan head and his family finally left for the ceremony, Yuzuki couldn’t help the relieved sigh that escaped her. Everything had gone well, right? Even though not quite as Yuzuki had expected. While Satoru-sama was still as intimidating as ever, his wife had seemed nice enough—an immense relief if Yuzuki had to serve her again some other time.
“See?” Hanae-senpai said, smiling at her. “I told you it was going to be fine.”
Yuzuki blinked at the older woman, giving her a bow. “A-ah, yes, senpai.”
Yeah, maybe Yuzuki really shouldn’t have doubted Hanae-senpai after all...
Yura could hear voices in the distance as they approached the area that the ceremony would be held in, the same open garden from the previous baby-blessing ceremony that Yura had attended. And just like last time, a nervous rumbling started making itself known in her stomach, because the thought of facing the entire Gojo clan always felt a little daunting—
Just not as daunting as before, somehow.
(Was she getting used to it?)
“...You don’t think me being there will be weird?” Megumi called as the four of them walked together. “Because I have Zen’in blood, I mean.”
It seemed that both Megumi and Tsumiki were also getting a little nervous as they moved closer to the ceremony, and Yura didn’t blame them. Standing in front of the judging eyes of the entire Gojo clan was nerve-wracking, though Yura was maybe growing desensitized to it the more Satoru brought her to these things.
“Doesn’t matter!” Satoru responded cheerfully. “Because I’m the boss, and what I say goes!”
Yura bit back a snort, shaking her head. She then turned to Megumi. “You’re not a Zen’in, so it’s not going to be a problem either way,” she assured him.
Megumi nodded at her, falling silent. Yura took the opportunity to also offer Tsumiki a reassuring smile as they walked forward together.
Soon enough, they eventually reached the area of the ceremony, the whole place falling silent as the clan head finally walked in. Both Megumi and Tsumiki also halted on the spot as all eyes were suddenly on them, but Yura placed a hand on both of their backs to guide them forward as Satoru barely paid any mind to all the curious gazes and just kept walking.
“Is everyone just going to keep staring?” Tsumiki whispered to Yura as people kept indeed looking straight at them. And while they seemed to greet Satoru at first, their curious eyes quickly shifted to the other three with him...
“They’ll get bored eventually,” Yura replied.
Eventually being the keyword.
“C’mon,” she urged them, following Satoru up to the main table—exactly like the one from three years ago.
The Gojo clan really was a stickler for tradition, huh...
“Are we really sitting at the most conspicuous table of them all?” Megumi asked—because yes, the main table was set in front of everything, perpendicular to the other tables and raised a little higher than the rest.
“You are with the head of the clan,” Satoru replied with a shrug, completely unbothered. Since this was what he’d grown up with, Yura supposed Satoru didn’t even bat an eye at this kind of attention anymore.
Speaking of attention, though...
“Satoru,” a voice suddenly called as they reached the main table, and when Yura turned her head, she found a familiar face slowly approaching them. “...I didn’t realize you would be bringing... so many guests,” Gojo Sadajiro said, eying Yura and the two teenagers next to her.
“Gotta shake things up every now and then,” Satoru replied with a cheeky grin.
Satoru’s father said nothing else as he regarded them with a look, his face difficult to read. Unlike Satoru’s uncle, Ichiro, Sadajiro seemed to usually keep his emotions contained, not glaring at Yura with barely hidden contempt like his brother would often do. As he greeted her politely and Yura did the same, she dared to think that he had actually resigned himself to her presence in Satoru’s life, even if he wasn’t really happy about it—but since he seemed to largely leave her alone now, Yura would take it. She’d much rather deal with him than with Satoru’s pushy uncle, or even his gossiping aunt, and Yura thought that maybe she should be glad that she had Sadajiro as a...
Father-in-law.
“Ah, you haven’t met yet, have you?” Satoru interrupted her thoughts, motioning between the Fushiguros and his father. “This is my dad,” he introduced. “And these are Megumi and Tsumiki.”
Both siblings bowed politely in response, even though Megumi did seem a bit wary. But like with her, Sadajiro also bowed in return, saying little otherwise.
“...I’ve heard a few things about you two,” he eventually said, nodding at the two teenagers. But he also just left it at that, thankfully not bringing up Megumi’s relation to the Zen’in clan.
Unfortunately, someone else did.
“Satoru!” Another voice called, and this one made Yura tense up slightly. It was Ichiro, Satoru’s uncle, and someone who she would much rather avoid. “At least you’ve brought your wife with you this time,” he remarked, turning his nose up at her.
And next to her, Megumi started scowling.
“You know me—I don’t want to subject Yura to you lot more than necessary,” Satoru said with a mocking grin. He turned his head to the Fushiguros. “This is my annoying uncle, by the way,” he casually told them, waving a hand in the man’s direction.
Ichiro scowled at him, displeased. And next to his brother, Sadajiro only frowned, his face remaining neutral otherwise.
From the look on Ichiro’s face, Yura could just tell that he was biting his tongue not to snap something back at the head of the clan. It was a little amusing, watching the man be forced to swallow down his displeasure because Satoru outranked him in every way, and she did always enjoy Satoru using some of his power and influence to shut up really annoying people...
“And do tell, who are—” Ichiro eventually started again, trying to change the subject as he glanced at the two teenagers next to Satoru. But then something dawned on his face as he stared at Megumi, and Yura tensed up some more. “Is this the Zen’in boy?” he asked, and Yura did not like the look on his face. “He does look a lot like—”
“I’m not a Zen’in,” Megumi interrupted, his voice firm as he fixed the older man with a harsh scowl.
Ichiro, of course, continued scowling back, that same displeased look on his face that made Yura wonder if anything ever actually pleased him. “Satoru,” he started. “You took him from the Zen’in; you ought to teach him some manners.”
“No, thanks, I’m good,” Megumi quickly replied.
Yura’s lips tugged up, and when Ichiro opened his mouth to respond, she interrupted him. “No, thanks, he’s good,” she repeated, shooting the man a decidedly fake smile.
Watching Ichiro’s scowl deepen was pretty amusing.
“Alright!” Satoru suddenly exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “Let’s go sit down, shall we? I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry,” he said, then grabbed Yura’s hand to tug her with him. But when they took a step forward, Ichiro opened his mouth to speak, and Satoru ended up releasing a loud dramatic sigh that had people’s heads turning his way. “Can’t you just not be annoying for once?” he said, throwing his head back in exasperation. Yura felt his hand give hers a squeeze, then another one when Ichiro tried saying something again. “Nope, no talking about duty, or heirs, or anything like that today—that is off-limits,” he said, and Ichiro frowned, but still opened his mouth to speak once again, so Satoru quickly interrupted, “No being annoying, or I swear I will slap you.”
Ichiro blinked, taken aback, even if Satoru’s tone had been light and joke-y. But, well, a threat was still a threat, especially when coming from the strongest, so no one dared to interrupt them again as Satoru tugged Yura and the Fushiguros up to the main table.
“...Do you always threaten to slap your uncles?” Megumi asked as they started sitting down. And he sounded... amused.
“No, but I should have started long ago!” Satoru replied with a grin.
Yura snorted.
...Because maybe Satoru was right.
There was some mild chatter in the air as the Gojo clan slowly settled down in their seats, but Sadajiro was not paying much attention to them. His eyes only absent-mindedly scanned the crowd in front of him, part of him glad that there’d been no more incidents after Satoru’s little outburst from earlier had gotten people talking. Really, threatening to raise a hand against your own uncle; even if he had no idea if Satoru would actually go through with it or not, Sadajiro only wished his son would be a little more respectful sometimes. Was that too much to ask? Sadajiro had never been one to want much in life, so he didn’t think he was out of line wishing for this one thing.
As the youngest of his siblings, Sadajiro had never considered himself in a position to actually want for things, really, his expectations appropriately set according to his standing inside his clan. From an early age, he’d thought his future had been decided since birth: to live a quiet life inside his clan, doing his best to fulfill his duties and carry the Gojo name as was expected of him.
But then his son had been born, and everything got turned upside down. His son, born with the Six Eyes, the first in generations; when they later found out Satoru had also inherited Limitless, his place as the heir of the clan had long been set. And so, Sadajiro fell into a new role inside their clan: that of the father of the Gojo clan’s heir, the one responsible for raising him—
And oh, what a difficult job that ended up being.
Saori, your son has turned out to be a troublemaker, he silently lamented, looking up at the sky. Sadajiro couldn’t help but once again wonder if things would have turned out differently had his wife stayed alive to help raise Satoru.
Sadajiro let out an imperceptible sigh, closing his eyes briefly.
...Speaking of wife, however...
When Sadajiro opened his eyes again, his gaze turned to his left, discreetly trying to watch his son and his son’s ever elusive wife. But that was harder to do this time, as, while his wife and the Fushiguro girl were sitting to Satoru’s left, Satoru had actually sat the Fushiguro boy on the seat directly to his right—the seat Sadajiro usually occupied as Satoru’s father—which had earned them a few looks. If Sadajiro didn’t know any better, he’d almost think that Satoru was declaring the boy to be his heir—but Satoru had already made it abundantly clear that Fushiguro Megumi would not be officially joining any clan, be it Zen’in or Gojo, so having a Zen’in being made the Gojo clan’s heir was thankfully out of consideration.
...He hoped.
He never knew with Satoru.
Sadajiro ended up just turning his head their way when Satoru dropped his head to the table in a dramatic fashion, watching as Satoru then sat back to say something to the woman next to him.
Looking on the bright side, at least Satoru was starting to bring his wife to clan events more often, which should hopefully mean that they were taking their marriage more seriously. Sure, the ideal next step would be actually tying themselves together legally, to have Wakatsuki Yura finally become Gojo Yura, but one thing at a time. Considering that, years ago, Satoru kept swearing up and down that he and the girl weren’t actually together despite having literally bound their souls to one another, at least it’d finally become clear that they were really together now. Sure, she wasn’t exactly who Sadajiro had wanted Satoru marrying—the one to become wife of the head of the clan, the one to help continue the Gojo line—but if this was the woman Satoru chose to bind himself to for the rest of his life, there was little to do about it now other than to try to get him to take it seriously for once.
(Also an heir would be ideal, but Satoru had already made it clear he didn’t want to have that brought up in front of his wife again...)
“Alright!” Satoru suddenly started, rising up to his feet. “Time to get this ceremony started, shall we?”
Sadajiro blinked at him in confusion, as it was usually Ichiro who did the opening speech. Or, well, it was usually the clan head who did the speech, but Satoru had never bothered before—so Sadajiro straightened up in his seat, his shoulders perked up. Did this mean Satoru was finally starting to take all of it more seriously?
Maybe bringing those children with him today had been a good sign, after all.
“You know,” Satoru continued. “This has got to be the least annoying clan ceremony I have to attend, and you know why?” He grinned. “Because instead of celebrating old, stuffy traditions, what we’re here to celebrate is... the youth. The new generation.”
Sadajiro didn’t miss the way Satoru glanced at the two teenagers next to him before continuing with his speech.
Satoru was not who Sadajiro would call the best speaker, but, as Satoru talked about the importance of the new generation—of nurturing them, teaching them, guiding them... there was an odd sincerity to his voice that Sadajiro didn’t usually hear coming from him. It reminded Sadajiro of when Satoru had first told them that he was going to become a teacher at Jujutsu Tech—the same kind of idealistic talk about future generations that had made Ichiro scowl but had left Sadajiro feeling strangely thoughtful.
Because was this what mattered to Satoru? What Satoru considered important—what he wanted to work towards?
Even though Satoru was his son, Sadajiro had to honestly wonder where Satoru had gotten most of his personality from. Sometimes Sadajiro thought that Saori was somehow influencing her son from beyond the grave, although Satoru had definitely developed a few traits that couldn’t be found anywhere near any of their immediate family. Maybe the Geto Suguru boy had really been a bad influence on him, but that’s not something Sadajiro dared bring up—nor did he find any point in it, because there certainly would be no changing Satoru now. Just like his bond to Wakatsuki Yura, this would be something they’d just have to deal with from now on, and antagonizing Satoru about it had clearly shown no results so far.
...That didn’t mean that Sadajiro couldn’t still wonder, though.
‘Hanae,’ he called, his arms crossed over his chest. The woman in question briefly stopped what she was doing as she waited for him to continue. ‘What does Satoru see in that girl?’
Hanae paused to consider the question, but then only offered him a polite smile in return.
Sadajiro sighed. Hanae was a loyal one, and now that she answered directly to Satoru, she refused to share any information that Satoru didn’t want to be shared.
...And yet, Hanae still insisted on stopping by to handle minor tasks in Sadajiro’s household, and he had to admit that felt like an... oddly comforting gesture. It reminded him of a time when Saori had still been alive and Hanae had been her maid—a time when the house hadn’t been this empty.
‘She...’ Hanae suddenly started, drawing Sadajiro’s attention back to her. ‘She makes him happy,’ she finally said.
Sadajiro’s brows furrowed, but Hanae only offered him another smile.
Wakatsuki Yura made Satoru happy.
That was what Hanae had told him all those years ago.
As Satoru sat back down after his speech, immediately leaning in to say something to Wakatsuki Yura, Sadajiro wished he had a better view of it so he could judge it for himself. Though maybe... was that even necessary? Sadajiro still remembered the event last year, when Satoru had walked in, arm in arm with his wife—he’d honestly never seen Satoru enjoy himself at a clan event like that before. Usually, Satoru would just hang around looking bored until he got tired of it and disappeared, but not that time. That time, and all those times he’d brought Wakatsuki Yura with him, Satoru actually seemed... happy to have her there.
Sadajiro’s shoulders slumped back ever so slightly, his eyes shifting back to the front. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been so surprised that Hanae had been right—despite her being a couple of years younger than him, she always did seem so much wiser somehow.
“Oh, wow, he’s gotten so big,” Yura remarked, looking down at the young boy hiding behind his mother’s legs. “He was so tiny the last time.”
“That was three years ago,” Satoru responded, amused.
“And he keeps getting bigger,” Tomori said, smiling fondly at her son—while carrying yet another toddler in her arms.
Satoru’s cousin, Kousuke, smiled proudly, patting his son’s head. “He’s growing up to be quite the strong one, maybe that was thanks to your blessing from last time, Satoru!”
Three years ago, at the previous baby-blessing ceremony that Yura had attended, Tomori and Kousuke’s son had been one of the babies to have been blessed. Kousuke—Satoru’s cousin; Tomori—the woman that Satoru’s family had been trying to get him to marry before Yura and the soul bond came along. Last time, Yura had been afraid that it was going to be awkward, but it seemed that Tomori truly had no hard feelings and that she was happy where she was right now, so Yura was much more relaxed meeting them this time around.
“Of course!” Satoru exclaimed. Then he clapped down on Megumi’s shoulder, who only shot the man an unimpressed look. “I’ve got a knack for making kids stronger—don’t I, Megumi?”
Megumi only directed his unimpressed look to Yura, like he was trying to say ‘how do we put up with this guy.’ And Yura bit back a grin, because it seemed that Megumi was trying to keep any harsh remarks contained in front of the Gojo clan—but was having a very hard time doing so.
“...You’ve got a knack for being a pain in the ass...” Megumi ended up muttering anyway, and Yura almost started snickering. So Satoru wrapped his arm around Megumi’s shoulders, pulling him close to ruffle his hair and annoy him further.
“It does look like the Gojo genes were stronger with the second one, though,” Yura said, changing the subject. The subject in this case being Tomori and Kousuke’s second child—a one-year-old girl with the signature Gojo white hair, unlike her older brother or even her father.
“Biology is a little funny,” Tsumiki commented. Tomori smiled in return, and the conversation kept going amicably.
This was the third time Yura attended a Gojo clan event, and it was a bit strange how Yura was starting to actually know these people by now. Enough for them to hold a pleasant conversation like this (Ichiro thankfully stayed away), casually discussing Tomori and Kousuke’s kids as well as the Fushiguros’ lives at Jujutsu Tech like they were all just catching up with each other.
And this was strange because it no longer felt strange; the familiarity Yura now felt as she walked among Gojo clan members threw her off whenever she actually stopped to consider it. For the longest time, the Gojo clan had only been an abstract idea of nagging family members and strict rules, all centered on the one white-haired menace she actually knew—never in her wildest dreams would Yura have considered that she might get pulled straight into the heart of it all. And yet, here she was, chatting with Satoru’s cousin and his wife, dodging Satoru’s aunt’s myriad of questions as the older woman fished for gossip, having dinner at the main table sitting right next to the head of the clan himself... and everyone treating her with a similar amount of respect because, as was the clan law, she and Satoru were married.
Yura stared at Satoru’s profile in silence as he guided them back to the main table, tugging her along by the hand, his palm warm against hers.
...Was this her life now?
Was this how things would continue to be?
(It was almost scary how easy it was—getting used to this.)
“What?” Satoru asked as they sat back down, his lips tugging up. Ah, he caught her staring...
“...You know, people keep looking at my stomach,” she said instead—because that was actually true. No doubt people were speculating about some things.
“You did eat a lot of appetizers,” Satoru replied, and Yura bit back a grin as she slapped his arm.
He snickered.
“Dumbass,” she replied, picking up her champagne glass and motioning to a waiter. Maybe that would stop any more speculation, she thought, thanking the waiter after her glass had been filled—
Only to blink in surprise when a soft peck was pressed against her cheek, Satoru pulling away just as quickly with a shit-eating grin on his face.
Her face heated up.
She slapped his arm again.
“Behave,” she told him, her complaint half-hearted. To try to hide the heat on her cheeks, Yura gulped down almost all of the champagne she’d just been poured—her heart fluttering in her chest.
And Satoru was still grinning. “What, I’m not allowed to kiss my wife?” he said, promptly sending her heart fluttering yet again.
Wife.
There’s that word again.
Yura pressed her lips together, still trying to will away the heat on her face. As any other words seemed to escape her except that one, she ended up slapping his arm again instead, even though the action was now half-hearted and more like a lazy tap. “...Behave,” she repeated.
When her eyes roamed around, she ended up catching Megumi’s unimpressed gaze—and why did it seem like it was aimed straight at her this time around...
When Satoru walked out of the bathroom, he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face.
“...What?” Yura muttered against the pillow, her eyes blinking slowly as she fought back sleep to look at him.
Adorable.
“Nothing,” he lied, his smile turning into a grin as he resumed walking back to the bed.
Yura let out a half-hearted grumble against the pillow but otherwise didn’t move a muscle, curled up in bed as exhaustion clearly weighed down on her body. She did always get very sleepy after sex, and tonight had been no different; much like the last time he’d brought her to the Estate, today they had also indulged in some after-party activities within the privacy of his quarters... even though Yura had worried a bit about Megumi and Tsumiki overhearing since they had ended up sleeping over at the Estate too.
(But Satoru had arranged for them to sleep on the opposite end of the building for a reason...)
“You’re staring...” Yura mumbled against the pillow again after Satoru had sat down behind her in bed.
“Me?” he said, still grinning. “No, I’m just getting you cleaned up.”
To emphasize his point, Satoru gently brought the towel he’d grabbed from the bathroom to her thighs, starting to clean up the mess he’d made between them.
Yura only hummed in response this time, burrowing her face deeper into the pillow as Satoru busied himself with her lower body. His grin shifted back into a smile as she let him work unimpeded—perhaps even enjoying herself as she released small, happy sighs—and Satoru’s eyes couldn’t help but take in everything in front of him. From Yura’s relaxed, bare form on his bed, to the fact that it was her bare form on his bed at the Gojo Estate... it was all sending his mind spinning and his stomach fluttering, because when did this sight suddenly become so right?
“There, all done,” he said, pulling the towel away. But Yura only barely responded with another hum, and he realized that she was almost well into full sleep by now.
Do I always tire you out that bad, he thought with amusement, but decided against saying anything as he got up to ditch the now dirty towel.
Satoru was just as bare as Yura as he walked back to the bed, only stopping briefly to fold up a couple of discarded parts of her kimono (his fault, really) and turn off the lights before sitting down in front of her. But then he paused, his eyes glued to her face, and his hand reached up before he could even think twice about it.
Yura’s nose twitched slightly as he brushed a few strands of hair away, and his lips tugged up at the sight. Even when there were no more strands to brush away, he couldn’t help himself—his thumb kept caressing her cheek for a while, his eyes roaming over every dip and curve of her face.
...Yeah, he could get used to this. Bringing Yura to the Gojo Estate more often, actually attending a few events together—having her by his side even when he was forced to be Satoru the Head of the Gojo Clan...
Sharing this one bed with her, like it wasn’t just his bed anymore...
Quickly but gently, Satoru pulled the covers over them both, scooting closer to her in the process. When his head hit the pillow, his hand returned to her cheek, and then he was staring again.
Satoru sighed, his breath gently ruffling Yura’s bangs. Even in the darkness, his eyes could still make out every detail of her face, and something in his brain was intent on committing this moment to memory.
...But would that even be necessary, committing this one moment to memory? Wouldn’t they have more of these as they continued to stay together, just like this?
‘At least you’ve brought your wife with you this time,’ his uncle’s voice rang out in his head, and even though Ichiro was decidedly annoying...
Wife.
Satoru’s lips tugged up.
If that was what they got to be whenever they came to the Gojo Estate together... he could get used to that.
His thumb continued brushing against her cheekbone, but his muscles were also starting to feel heavy. Heavy, but content, a kind of peace settling in his body that kept urging him to close his eyes and enjoy it.
And he supposed he could do that.
Satoru scooted closer, adjusting his and Yura’s bodies so they would be neatly slotted against one another. He let one of his arms slip under her neck to bring her closer as he pressed his face against the top of her head, finally closing his eyes as he breathed her in.
To think that he had almost ruined it all not even a year ago out of sheer stupidity—he could almost kick himself for it. But now, he could only feel relief that they’d been able to pull through despite his carelessness, and in a way, maybe even come out stronger because of it.
Because now, he felt like he could actually say that they were really together. And as far as he was concerned, they would continue to stay together until—well, until always. He had no plans to let go of her if he could help it.
Yura mumbled something in her sleep that he couldn’t quite catch, shifting her head further towards him. And another smile broke out across his face as he tugged her closer, one of his hands slipping into her hair as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
...He really was lucky, huh? Not for being Gojo Satoru, not for being the strongest—but for having her in his life like this. Satoru didn’t think he would ever be able to fully forgive himself for hurting her, but he would continue to be ever grateful that she had decided to forgive him—happily coming back to his arms even after everything.
“Yura...” he muttered against her hair, but she gave him no response—dead to the world, she was.
Satoru let out an amused huff, pressing his lips to her head again.
“...thank you,” he eventually breathed out, his heart doing an odd somersault in his chest that he couldn’t quite explain.
As Satoru finally let his body fully relax into the bed, a nagging feeling was still poking at him from the back of his mind. Even when sleep started to cloud his brain, darkness slipping into his vision, Satoru couldn’t help the feeling that there was something right on the tip of his tongue that he had yet to let out.
...Maybe tomorrow, he thought—the last thing that went through his mind before sleep finally claimed him for the night.