Chapter Text
It wasn't unusual to wake up to screaming in the Gojo-Fushiguro household. Whether it was nightmares, arguments, or the horror shows Megumi insisted on watching, it would be more weird if Gojo woke up and it was silent.
Which is why, when Gojo woke up and it was silent, he immediately began to panic.
After a quick check of the clock, he realised Tsumiki was probably at breakfast club, which is why he couldn't hear her cajoling Megumi through his door. And Megumi, who wouldn't get up without a bit of cajoling, was probably still dead asleep. Gojo untangled his legs from his bedcovers and got up, finding a neon pink sticky note on the outside of his bedroom door.
gone to breakfast club! megumi's still in bed.
he needs to be at school early today, he has a project.
have a good day!
- tsumiki
Absently, Gojo wondered how early "early" was. Hopefully not too early, because chances of getting Megumi out of the house at any kind of speed besides 'snail' were slim to none.
As if to prove the point, Megumi's response to Gojo's knock on his door was a loud, aggressive snore. Gojo sighed and opened the door.
"Wake up, Megumi," he whispered, gently shaking the mattress. "School time. Tsumiki's already left."
A groan. Gojo shook Megumi again. "Come on, kiddo, I heard something about a project?"
Megumi moved a little, then sat up violently; Gojo just managed to dodge a wildly swinging arm that was heading straight for his face. "My project!"
"Yeah, yeah, your project. Breakfast first."
"My project!!" Megumi threw back the covers - they landed happily on Gojo's head - and attempted to spring out of bed, only to get his foot caught. And fall. Flat on his face.
"Are you okay?!"
A groan. Gojo hauled himself up and round to the other side of the bed. Megumi, still sprawled on the floor, had obviously given up on ever standing back up.
"Oi, Megumi, you have to stand up. What about your project?"
Megumi shrugged, face smushed against the carpet. Gojo knelt down beside him. "What's going on? Did you hurt yourself?"
"Head hurts." Megumi reached up and tugged the covers off his bed. "'M gonna stay here." He began rolling himself into a burrito on the floor, only acknowledging Gojo again when he rolled into him.
"Concussion?" Unsure what to do next, Gojo took the opportunity to put a hand on Megumi's forehead. "You feel a little warm. Don't go anywhere."
"Couldn't even if I wanted to."
"Good, good." Gojo stood up and wandered across the hall into the bathroom. He had no idea where Shoko had put the thermometer when she had helped him stock the bathroom a few months ago, so he rustled through all the drawers until he finally found it in a mini bucket on the shelf. After reading the instructions - better safe than sorry - he went back to Megumi's room, where Megumi had already fallen back asleep on the floor.
"Wake up, kiddo," Gojo said, pushing Megumi (gently) with his foot. Once Megumi had blinked a few times, Gojo put the thermometer in Megumi's mouth and waited for it to register. "Is a temperature a symptom of concussion?" he mused under his breath. Megumi rolled his eyes, but the thermometer prevented whatever scathing comment he wanted to say.
In the meantime, Gojo took to Google. He made Megumi follow his hand and shone his phone's torch in Megumi's face, before judging him concussion-free in time to check the thermometer.
"You have a temperature either way," he sighed. "I don't think you can go to school today, bud."
"Really? How much of a temperature?"
That was a question. What was normal Child Temperature?
Gojo googled it. "A very big temperature. Lie down."
Megumi obediently went limp on the floor again. Gojo sighed.
"On the bed."
Megumi struggled for a minute, and then gave up, having burrito'd himself too tight to move his arms. "Can't."
Gojo reached down and scooped him up, moving Megumi to the bed as fast as possible before Megumi decided to try and wiggle away.
Megumi pouted and rearranged his burrito as best he could. "Thanks, I guess."
"Anytime." Gojo stood there for a minute, lost. "Do you want breakfast?"
"No."
"Anything to drink? You probably should. Hydrate or die-drate, as I always say."
"You don't say that."
"I don't?"
"Nah. You say 'hydrate or die straight'. I don't even know what that means."
Gojo just about avoided choking on air as he attempted to look like he, too, had no idea what that meant; he managed to disguise his snicker with a cough. "I'll get you some orange juice or something."
Megumi wrinkled his nose. "Ew, no! Just get me water."
"What, you don't like orange juice now?"
"I've never liked orange juice, pay attention."
"You did! You liked it, like, yesterday."
"Yesterday was yesterday. I don't like orange juice," Megumi said solemnly. It was the kind of sentence you expected to see in a philosophy book, not being used to gaslight a poor, stressed, teenage guardian.
"If you liked it yesterday, how come you don't like it today?"
"Can't a guy change his mind?" Megumi snarked, which, okay, is definitely a phrase he stole from Gojo. Whoops.
"Okay, okay, I get it. Just water." Gojo paused. "With a little juice packet?"
"Obviously."
Gojo laughed and saluted. "Yes, sir."
For a moment it looked like Megumi was going to laugh too, but then he started a violent coughing fit. Just as he was beginning to turn purple, Gojo ran for the water.
No matter what horrors (read: sick small children) were circulating through his personal life, Gojo still had to go out and do stuff during the day. Usually, Megumi and Tsumiki were at school; since Megumi was happily snoring away in his small, neon-green bedroom, Gojo judged it safe to go out and get everything done as quickly as possible. He wanted to be back before Megumi decided it was a good time to throw glitter on the walls, or possibly microwave a fork. (Had Gojo learnt this the hard way?
.... He didn't want to talk about it).
By the time he got back home, Gojo had managed to work himself up into a panic. What if he walked in and the walls were orange? What if the toaster was on fire? What if Megumi had jumped out the window after discovering the door was locked?
What if there was a curse?
Luckily, the hallway seemed pretty silent, and he could still hear obnoxious snores from Megumi's room. Tsumiki wasn't back yet, he noticed as he counted the shoes in the hall, though Megumi had obviously left his room at some point, judging from the trail of cornflakes around the house.
"I'm home!" he called, although he wasn't expecting a reply. A quick peek in at Megumi proved that the kid was still deep asleep, face covered in crumbs and a suspicious ring of jam around his mouth. After putting a hand to Megumi's head, Gojo estimated that his temperature had gone down. Kids were tough cookies, that was for sure.
Megumi stirred as Gojo took his hand away.
"Ssh, go back to sleep," Gojo whispered. "It's not dinner time yet."
"...Gojo?"
"Yeah, it's me." Megumi began to sit up, but Gojo put a hand on his shoulder. "You can sleep longer, it's okay."
"Okay." Megumi snuggled down again. Gojo patted his hair gently. "That feels nice."
"Does it?" Gojo smiled. "I'll do this for a bit, then."
They sat in silence, Gojo stroking Megumi's hair, which was sticky with left-over hair gel from yesterday. Megumi hummed in contentment, making Gojo laugh a little. "You sure like this, huh?"
"Comfy," was all Megumi said. His eyes fluttered closed. He had long eyelashes, Gojo noticed. If they were biologically related, Gojo would probably say Megumi got them from him.
"Get some rest, kiddo. I'll make dinner." Gojo rearranged the strands to frame Megumi's pale face. "Night, Megumi."
"Night, Gojo."
Gojo stood up and went to the door, turning back to spot the small smile on Megumi's face. "Feel better soon."
"Okay. Love you."
Gojo froze. "What?"
Nothing answered him but a small, quiet snore.