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“I was a pretty rotten little brother, huh?” Megumi sighed as his hardened and disappointed eyes were staring down at his trembling hands.
Despite it appearing that he was all alone in this tiny dank room, Megumi knew his sensei had long since pierced the privacy of his dorm and took up a spot in on one of the dark corners. “Will you just come out already? I know you’re there!” The boy was trying his best to hold his temper and to stay together, but that was proving to be a rather difficult task.
He had only just moved into Jujutsu Tech, something he had about zero desire to do in the first place. And yet, with his sister now lying cursed with little to no hope of ever waking again, Megumi was being held to the deal he had made so long ago; but now it was being played off as if him training to become a Jujutsu Sorcerer was an act of charity rather than a deal to prevent him from being sold. The only thing he felt right now was anger. The vile emotion was coursing through his veins like a river, the rapids of it all tossing and turning his sanity about like it was nothing more than a capsized canoe.
“Hehe,” Gojo giggled as he came out from his hiding spot. “You found me. I knew you would make such a fantastic little sorcerer; your instincts are already sharp.”
“Don’t call me that.” Megumi nearly snarled. He hated this; he didn’t want to be here. All he wanted was to go home and see his sister there, so they could watch more stupid movies that he hated but would sit down for because they could always make her smile. He wanted her back.
Gojo could clearly see the negative aura surrounding his student and decided to approach his student carefully. Although the way he had his hands held up and the slow movements he was taking forward looked more mocking than cautious, as if Megumi was a caged animal in a movie that had escaped and Gojo was some sort of zookeeper he had bonded with. “Now now Gumi-kun, there is no need to be so snippy with your favorite sensei.”
The teacher could not help but chuckle whenever his sentiments were met with indignantly puffed cheeks, red with embarrassment from the nickname. “How about you tell me what’s wrong instead of moping? That would be good!”
“I don’t want to talk to you!” Megumi hollered, throwing a stray piece of clothing that he had yet to unpack. “I don’t want to talk to you or anyone else! I don’t want to even be here! I don’t want any of this shit, but no one seems to give a shit about that!”
The kid just kept picking up and throwing pieces of clothes at a steadfast Gojo. The teacher didn’t move as sock after pants after shirt were thrown his way as the child in front of him yelled. It wasn’t until a shoe came flying in his direction did Gojo decide it was a good moment to dodge and weave his way up to the very angry child. It looked like the kid was armed with another shoe, but the silver-haired man was able to dispose of it rather quickly and take both of Megumi’s wrists into his grasp. When two stunned deep blue eyes looked up at him, and finally cleared enough to realized what they had just done, Gojo began to speak, “Are you done with all that now? Or do you need to lie down on the floor and kick around for a bit?”
“A-are you…” Megumi let the other man’s words mull over for a moment and then started trying to tug his wrists free, “are you suggesting I’m having a tantrum?”
Gojo didn’t even take a second to think over his answer before saying, “yes” with a big grin on his face.
That was certainly not what Megumi was looking for. Tantrums were for crying toddlers, which he certainly was not. He hadn’t been allowed to be a child since he was in first grade, at just six years old his father and new stepmom just decided to up and leave him and his stepsister. The two of them weren’t granted the luxury of childish fits, because they had to quickly learn the ways of the world and how to take care of themselves. Sure, Gojo appeared very suddenly and put them up in an apartment and gave them enough money for food and rent each month, but it wasn’t like the man was around much. Their new guardian was a Jujutsu Sorcerer after all, he had more important things to do than raise two kids and allow them some semblance of a normal childhood.
So, Megumi was definitely not having a tantrum right now. He absolutely couldn’t be.
“Let go of me.” The boy growled, his tone coming off as sinister as the Devine Dogs he could summon. Megumi pulled on his wrists again but was unsuccessful in getting Gojo to break his grip. “Let go you stupid old man! I don’t want you!” He kept tugging and tugging, growing more and more frustrated by the second and could not help but get even more angry as he felt to horrible sting of tears building up behind his eyes. “I don’t want you! I don’t want you so let me go! Let me go!”
It did pain Gojo a bit to see this boy he has known for the past few years to be hurting this much. He was trying so hard to make this transition a bit easier, joking frequently with Megumi in the hopes of winning a smile, but that was proving to be practically impossible. What was becoming increasingly evident was that the kid was in need of a good cry. He was just jamming all of these emotions inside of him like a suitcase stuffed to the brim, and it appeared that Megumi was finally reaching the point where he was going to explode.
“If you don’t want me, then who Gumi-kun?” Gojo was forcing himself to keep his voice the same light and happy sound that it normally carried. No reason to tip the kid off.
“I said don’t call me that!” Megumi shook his head furiously, hating the fact that no matter how hard he tried to tug himself away, there was no breaking Gojo’s hold on him. “Just leave me alone.”
The broken whisper coming from his student made Gojo believe things had finally calmed, at least enough were it would be safe for him to release of one of the kid’s wrists so he could clutch the wobbling chin before him. However, before the sensei could go into a heartfelt speech for the ages, a sharp pair of teeth sunk into his fingers causing Gojo to yelp in pain and release his hold entirely on the younger boy. “Did you just?” Gojo looked at his student, shocked that the sad child in front of him could be the direct cause of the pain in his hand. “Did you just bite me?”
“I told you to leave me alone, you should have listened.” Megumi huffed. He crossed his arms and looked down at the floor, his wild dark locks obstructing his face just enough to block Gojo’s sight from his tears. Megumi was not fooled by the blindfold; he knew his teacher could still see what was going on perfectly fine without it.
“Alright little boy,” the mood in the room dramatically shifted. Megumi couldn’t fight off the chill that ran down his spine at his sensei’s cold words. No one had ever addressed him that way before, not even his teachers back at school. It was always ‘problem child’ or ‘delinquent’, but never a seething ‘little boy’.
This was definitely dangerous, and Megumi didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out what would happen next. His eyes darted towards the door, a mistake. Gojo could clearly see the boy forecasting his next move, and quickly placed his body in a position to catch Megumi whenever the kid tried to run away.
“I take back my comment about sharp instincts,” Gojo chuckled. He had the kid contained in his arms, but the feat wasn’t exactly easy given the boy was squirming around like an angry wet cat. In this moment, the sensei actually pitied some of the curses that Megumi had fought, his student really was a pain in the ass when he wanted to be.
Gojo grunted whenever a blade like elbow stabbed him in the gut. “Okay, I’ve been patient enough.” The silver haired man reported. “You want to act like a naughty little brat then I will deal with you like one.”
Megumi did not like the sound of that, queuing him to start struggling a little harder. His sensei was one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, Jujutsu Sorcerers in the world. Whatever punishment he saw fit would most certainly be terrible.
“No,” Megumi whimpered. “I just...I just wanted to be left alone.” This isn’t how he had wanted his first night at this dumb school to go. If he was going to be trapped here, he at least just wanted some time to himself, away from the smiling and kind faces of the second years Gojo had introduced him to and definitely some time away from his peppy sensei. He wasn’t ready to be happy yet, couldn’t anyone see that?
“So, you could do what? Throw a pity party?” The typical playful tone behind Gojo’s sharp words was long gone now. All that was left was this stern voice of an adult that left Megumi feeling horrible unease for his own future.
Suddenly, Megumi felt his bicep being grabbed and he was dragged over to his newly made bed. “Wait sensei,” he sputtered. He had an idea of what this action alluded to, and it was nothing but trouble.
“Nope, sorry kiddo. I waited long enough for you to stop being so pouty, but apparently drastic measure needs to be taken.” Gojo chirped as he pulled the stubborn boy across his lap. “Clearly something is wrong, and if you aren’t willing to talk to me about it like a big boy then I will let you kick and scream until you are tuckered out. It didn’t matter what you chose, I’m going to get to the bottom of this either way.”
“That isn’t fair!” Megumi grunted after the first smack made contact with his bottom. He thanked whatever deity was out there that he had worn a thicker pair of sweatpants tonight, because there was pretty much the only thing that kept the next few spanks tolerable. “You didn’t actually give me a choice. This was a trap!”
Gojo didn’t even try to hide his nod in agreement. “You betcha!” He agreed as he landed another circuit of spanks on Megumi’s bottom. “You are a sorcerer in training kiddo, you need to get better at spotting traps. Think of this as both a little therapy session and your first bit of training!”
“I hate you.” The younger boy seethed, clenching his fingers into fists and resting them against the creaking floorboards.
“So, you are angry at me?” Gojo pondered. The words that Megumi had said weren’t exactly hurtful, the kid was a mess at the moment and lashing out was pretty much expected. Still, they were a good hint as to what might be going on with his student. “Well then,” he mumbled, and for a second the blue haired teenager thought he was getting a reprieve. “Looks like the spanking is working! Guess we need to continue so we can work this all out.”
Suddenly, the layer of protection that Megumi had been so thankful for was slipping away. When he reached his hand back, Gojo quickly grabbed ahold of it and moved it away. “Naughty naughty,” the teacher sang, spanking Megumi’s thighs hard two times. The pained grunts from his student were enough to confirm that he had learned trying to block the spanks was a very bad idea. “So how about we start with something easy, hmm? Why are you mad at me Gumi-kun?”
“Maybe because you insist on calling me a stupid nickname after I’ve asked you to stop.” The boy quipped back. Gojo had to give the kid this, he was a bold one. Not many people had ever done enough to earn themselves a trip across Gojo’s lap, and even fewer went about prolonging the experience. Apparently, this kid was just determined to be special. “Ow. Ow. Ow!” He cried as three very hard spanks connected right on top of one another.
“Try again.” Gojo said, as he patted his student’s backside much more gently. “And the truth this time. Why are you mad at me?”
The kid opted to stay quiet and swallowed the howls that were meant to accompany the next three hard swats and the three more after that. It was only when Gojo raised his hand to bring down the next set that his student finally decided to answer him. “Because you didn’t save her!” He yelled. “You promised to keep us safe if I agreed to go to this dumb school, but Tsumiki was still cursed and I’m never going to get to talk to her again and tell her I’m sorry!” Hot tears were leaving staining tracks behind as they fell from Megumi’s eyes. Every word he had just cried out were soaked with pain and self-loathing. “I can…I can on-only be mad at…at me for so many hours of the day.” He hiccupped. “So, I…I decided to be mad at you too. Okay?”
“Oh sweetheart,” Gojo sighed. The teacher let on his large hands massage small circles along the kid’s tense back. No wonder he had been so cranky last night while packing up the apartment and this morning when meeting the other students and faculty. He wasn’t nervous about starting this new life, he was angry about leaving the old one behind. “What happened was not your fault. It is a horrible realization to come to, but I need you to understand this Megumi: sometimes bad things just happen. There isn’t always a rhyme or reason behind things.”
Megumi had tried to time his breathing along with the rhythm of his guardian’s hand and calm himself down, but he could not fight off the ferocious head shake whenever he heard this new philosophy. “It was my fault!” Megumi choked. “If I hadn’t been getting into so many fights, she wouldn’t have gotten so frustrated with me that she felt the need to hang out with other people. So, she never would have gone to the bridge that night and she wouldn’t have been cursed! Don’t you see! It was my fault.” The confession had taken a lot out of him, and Megumi was left panting for air at the end. Trying to grasp on to whatever self-control she had left.
“And it was your fault for not giving a damn.” Megumi whispered.
Gojo had heard enough at this point. “You think I don’t give a damn?” He asked as his hand took hold of the waistband of his student’s underwear. “I can assure you Megumi that a lot of things you said just now were wrong, the biggest being that I didn’t care about you two. So, I think it’s time I showed you just how much I care.” The teacher lifted his leg ever so slightly, making quick work of pulling down the underwear to join the sweatpants around his student’s ankles. The position was also useful in giving him a better angle to spank both the full part of Megumi’s bottom and also the sensitive under curve, a fact that was not lost on the kid.
“Stop it.” Megumi shunned, squirming a bit in an attempt to get some momentum to pull himself up. “Ow!”
“No trying to get up little boy.” Gojo chided. “You have already earned yourself a red butt for the night, any more trouble will only guarantee you getting the same treatment tomorrow too.”
The wiggling stopped immediately, and Megumi lay frozen after another whimper escaped from his lips. “Good boy,” Gojo said. His laid his barehand in the center of the kid’s now bared bottom, noting that it had already taken on an evenly distributed dark pink color pattern.
“While I’m spanking you, I’m going to be talking and you are going to be listening. At the end of it, I will ask you a question that definitely has a right answer. You give me the correct answer, then you can finish getting ready for bed and can get some much-needed rest. But” Gojo patted the pink cheeks his hand was resting on twice for emphasis. “If you answer incorrectly, I’m going to get your hairbrush and see if that will help you figure things out. Am I understood?”
“Ye-yes sensei.” Megumi sniffed. This was the first time something like this had happened to him. Gojo and his elder sister were pretty much the only people in his life who actually cared about him, but when he had messed up in the past the most, he had ever gotten was a pop across the head and a lecture. And those were mostly from Tsumiki.
Gojo was always so laid back. When Megumi had to have his guardian sign a note about the fights he had been continually getting into, his sister had been less than pleased but Gojo had just given him a thumbs up and a happy giggle whenever he had learned Megumi had won. So being draped across his sensei’s lap was entirely new and uniquely awful.
When the spanks started up again, Megumi was forced to swallow another sob. He didn’t want to show just how much this was affecting him. A spanking was a child’s punishment, and he was a Jujutsu Sorcerer in training. If he couldn’t handle a couple of smacks on his bottom, then he had no business at this school in the first place.
“For starters, you are not anymore your sister’s keeper than she was yours.” Gojo lined up each spank perfectly so one after another were overlapping ever so slightly. “Was it her fault you got into all those fights? Had she been a better big sister, would have listened and decided to be a model student?” Gojo felt two hands wrap around his ankle and squeeze it. The grip wasn’t trying to throw him off though, he could tell that Megumi was merely trying to anchor himself and maybe hold whatever was left of his emotional state together.
“No sensei,” Megumi whimpered. “My misbehavior wasn’t Tsumiki’s fault. She,” the kid paused a moment to hiccup on his own grief. “She was the best big sister ever.”
The silver haired man nodded along, feeling a pang of his own sadness at all but assured loss of the bright young girl. Tsumiki had a heart of gold, always loving and accepting others before they even had the time to ask for either of those things. As far as Gojo could tell, she was the only reason Megumi had to smile for the past few years, so it was no wonder the kid began acting out even more recently. He was just lost and confused and so very very heartbroken.
“She was,” Gojo agreed, his voice taking on its softest tone. “She loved you so very much Megumi, and she wouldn’t want you to spend the rest of your life isolating yourself in a dark room while you slowly suffocate in your guilt. If she were awake right now, I’m fairly certain she would be taking the hairbrush to your sorry behind because she would be furious with you for blaming yourself over a decision she made. You didn’t make her go through to the bridge that night,” Gojo brought down a hard spank on one cheek. “You didn’t curse her.” He brought down a matching spank on the other.
“You are not to blame.” Gojo emphasized each word with a swat, one over the other, to the center of the boy’s bare bottom. Megumi’s head threw back in a howl, his tears now rolling down his neck he was crying so hard. “I want you to say that for me young man.”
Megumi rested his forehead against one of Gojo’s calves, hands still holding on tight to his sensei’s ankles. It took a moment for him to slow his breathing down enough to be able to speak, and even when he went to talk, his throat was so dry from the sobbing that his voice was starting to crack. “I-I’m no-not to blame.” He whispered. The teenager turned his face, so his bloodshot blue eyes were looking up at Gojo, the older man’s heart aching in sympathy. He had done that; his hand had caused his precious student to dissolve into something so agonizing. “I-I…I miss her.”
The blindfold was proving to be a blessed gift, because Gojo had never been more grateful that his own tear-filled eyes were hidden. A new school wasn’t going to replace the void Tsumiki left behind, but he had hoped it would ease some of the pain. Apparently, he had miscalculated. Megumi had to have viewed Gojo rushing him off to Jujutsu Tech as the older man once again trying to help while keeping the everyone at arm’s length. No wonder the kid blamed him too.
“I know sweetheart,” Gojo said, running one hand through the boy’s thick and untamed hair. “I miss her too. And I am so sorry that I wasn’t there to save her. I need you to understand that if I could trade places with her right now, I wouldn’t hesitate.” It was a thought that had kept Gojo awake on more than one occasion. Could it be possible to transfer curses, make it so one person could bare the punishment of another? The first week after Tsumiki’s coma, he had searched endlessly for the answer and had come up short of it every single day. If he had found a way, the fire burning in his gut told him that he would have certainly found a way to switch places with the young woman, Megumi was the future after all, and she gave him something to fight for. Right now, Gojo feared that Megumi didn’t have the will to achieve his destiny because he was indifferent to a world without his sister.
“No!”
The yell brought Gojo back to reality, where his charge was looking on to him with desperate eyes. “No what kiddo?” He asked, mildly confused.
“I don’t, I don’t want you to switch spots.” Was the boy’s hoarse reply. “I want you both.”
Gojo couldn’t help himself, he smirked at the kid’s words. Silly boy couldn’t get his story straight. “You just said you didn’t want me just ten minutes ago.” He smirked.
“I didn’t mean it.” Megumi squeezed Gojo’s ankle again and stared straight down at the floor. The kid sniffed and whipped his face, trying his best to bring himself back to normal. “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
Gojo’s brow furrowed in confusion. Why would the kid be so afraid of being seen upset? Gojo had seen him upset plenty of times; every parent teacher conference being the first examples to come to mind. “Why’s that kiddo? I know I have high expectations of you a lot of the time, but I would never expect you to be perfectly fine just a couple of weeks after losing your sister.”
The words that came next only served to stab Gojo in the heart.
“I didn’t want you think I was weak and leave me too.”
That was it, the teacher quickly pulled up the kid’s underwear and kicked away the sweatpants to join the rest of the clothes Megumi had thrown about earlier. They could be picked up later, or never for all Gojo cared, but knowing Megumi the room would be spotless by tomorrow afternoon. “Alright sweetheart, it’s okay it’s okay.” Gojo said as he pulled the kid up to rest in a spot between his legs, making sure the tender bottom wasn’t touching anything that would cause it more pain, and held Megumi close to his chest.
Gojo leaned down a bit so deep blue eyes could look into his own blindfold covered ones, which may be odd for some but at this point it was something Megumi was rather used to. “Death comes for us all eventually, so I cannot promise you that I will never leave.” His student’s gasp told him that it wasn’t the answer that Megumi was expecting, but it was still an answer that needed to be given. “Despite that though,” he continued, “I can swear to you that I will never intentionally leave you behind before you are ready to be without me.” A small hand reached up and clutched onto his shirt, conveying that the young boy believed he would never be well and truly ready to stand without Gojo by his side. “For now, though, you still need me, so it seems like you will be stuck with me for a while.”
“I…” Megumi leaned his head in to rest his face against his teacher’s collarbone. “I think I’m okay with that.”
“Good!” Gojo smiled brightly, once again his happy demeanor taking over and making Megumi feel as if things were returning to normal. “Because you didn’t have a choice!”
They sat like that for a few more minutes, Megumi just resting against his teacher and breathing in his comforting sent. “I think it’s time a certain someone gets to sleep.” Gojo said before he placed a gentle kiss on top of Megumi’s head. “It’s a bit early, but you had a rough night and look pretty exhausted. Why don’t you go wash up and then get some sleep?”
The kid nodded his head, and ever so carefully used some impressive flexibility to get off of Gojo’s lap without his butt ever having to touch another object. “Oh Gumi-kun!” The kid stopped as he was trying to finagle his sweats back on as quickly as possible. “I do care about you…very much. I know my personality makes it hard to tell sometimes, but never doubt that you hold a very special place in my heart.” The teen pulled up his sweats without a second’s thought to his sore rear and then launched himself into his sensei’s arms once again. Tonight, was a very huggee night apparently.
“I care about you too sensei.” Megumi said as he broke the embrace and started to turn for the door again.
One of Gojo’s hands though stopped the kid from advancing out of the room just yet, and he could see his boy’s eyes moving past that loving softness and back into annoyance. “Just one more thing kiddo,” Gojo said as he held up his pointer finger of his other hand, smile big on his face and a clue to Megumi that what was about to be said would not make the kid laugh. “Bite me again and you will be holding a bar of soap between your teeth during your spanking. Yeah?”
Megumi’s face turned scarlet about a second after hearing those words. “Yes sir.” He said, quickly giving and apologetic bow before taking off once his wrist was released. Gojo knew he had just dashed any and all hopes the kid had of this punishment being a one off, but at least that meant Gojo was giving him fair warning. That was pretty nice of him as a sensei! The silver haired man rose from his spot on his student’s bed and gave the room one last look over. He was definitely going to be taking the kid to Tokyo to get him some more stuff to personalize the place, but he still smiled when his eyes landed on a framed photo that was sitting by itself on the kid’s desk. Walking over, Gojo’s heart warmed when he saw it was a picture of himself, Megumi, and Tsumiki celebrating Megumi’s tenth birthday. It was one of the only photos with all three of them together, and even more rare, it had a smiling Megumi front and center.
Gojo decided he might need to steal that so he could make a copy of his own.
“Don’t worry Tsumiki,” Gojo sighed as he traced his finger along the section containing the young girl’s face. “We will find a way to wake you up, and in the meantime, I will take care of your baby brother. I swear.”