Work Text:
He doesn’t jump when a hand is suddenly placed on his back; from the way the shadow above him looks, Toji can tell it’s one of his kids behind him.
“Never would’ve considered you a gardener, yanno.”
He only glances back towards his son as he lowers the once-potted plant into the hole he’d just made in the ground, giving a smile to their raised eyebrow.
“What, ya hate’em? I think they’re nice.” He muses as he looks back to the plant, clumping the dirt up around it so it will be anchored into the ground. “I know a bit about’em. Just hope I can keep’em alive.”
His son, Megumi, hums, kneeling down and getting onto their knees so they can watch him for a moment. They don’t speak again, so Toji decides to instead.
“You’re home early; ya didn’t wanna go with Miki and Yuuji to the store?”
(He’s talking about their siblings, both adopted: Tsumiki, who was his eldest—and only—daughter, whom had entered his life via his second wife; and Yuuji, who was Megumi’s age and his other son, whom had entered his life when he picked him up off a street corner. While Tsumiki was a year ahead of the boys and thus already in her freshman year of high school, the three of them typically walked home together. Or, on the rare case Toji had his days off (like today), he’d go and pick them up himself, take them out to eat or something like that.)
“Nah; they left before I got out, even though I don’t have any extra curriculars today. They all got cancelled, but Miki and Ji-Ji didn’t wait, so I walked home.” They reply, reaching out to hand him the watering can he gestured for. Toji raises his own eyebrow now.
“Shit, Megs, you could’a called me; I’ve been doing this all damn day, but I could’a taken a break.”
Toji shifts onto his haunches for a moment to nudge his elbow into Megumi’s side, both for his own amusement and their chagrin. He grins at them as he does so, which only makes them scowl at him.
“I didn’t want to because you’re annoying. I already regret coming to look for you.”
“Rude-ass,” Toji chuckles despite their harsh attitude; it’s just how they are, and he doesn’t mind it one bit. Most of the time, at least, but even when he does, they can normally tell, and they’ll usually stop on their own time.
“Still, it’s odd that you wouldn’t go with them; you’re doin’ okay, right?”
“Yeah,” Megumi answers dismissively, but there’s an undertone in their voice that lets Toji know that they’re being serious. “I just felt like coming home. I remembered you saying you were off today.”
“So you felt bad for your old man and came to keep’im company, huh?” He grins again, though his chest warms at the thought. “You’re a good kid after all, Megs.”
Megumi begins to stand up. “Yeah, no, I’m going to my room.”
“No, no, I’m messing with you, you fuckin’ brat,” Toji laughs, reaching out to flick at their cheek with his dirt-covered glove. Surprisingly, they don’t dodge it, but they do raise their hand to flip him off; a sign of their own that they’re just messing around with him.
“Company’s good; works out because I need the quiet to concentrate, and you’re the quietest out of all of us.”
They both know full well that he isn’t wrong in the slightest, so Megumi relents and returns to their spot at his back, chin resting just on his shoulder blade. It’s not really comfortable at all, but Toji thinks that’s probably why they picked it to watch over, the little shit. Ah well; Can’t win’em all, right? He thinks.
He gets back to work, only three other holes to dig to place the rest of the plants in. He’s no master gardener, of course, only vaguely knowing what he’s even doing, but he thinks a bush of what he’d bought would be nice enough to have in their backyard. Minakami’s not a bad area for this particular plant, anyway, since they grow along the slopes nearby easily (though he’d, somehow, hilariously never noticed them until just a month ago, despite living in Minakami for over ten years), so he has, at least, a little bit of faith in what he’s doing.
“These are the lavenders you bought, right?” Megumi asks suddenly, after several minutes of being quiet. “After Miki went and got you some?”
Toji grunts in assent, pulling out a weed. “Planted hers first, but with the rest of’em, they’ll make a good-sized bush, I think. Make the yard look cute, or… Somethin’.”
His son scoffs lightly, rolling their eyes. “You say it as if you hate the stupid things. Just say you like them and shut up.”
“I do like’em,” he agrees, successfully digging another hole. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be planting them.”
Megumi once again falls quiet at that, seemingly content to just watch as he does his thing. Toji really doesn’t mind it; while he’s neither here nor there when it comes to talking, Megumi is the one who normally doesn’t speak much, so it’s not the biggest surprise, nor worry, that they keep going silent. Toji enjoys talking with his kids, there’s no argument to that, but he won’t force any of them to have a conversation with him. Megumi isn’t exactly one to be fond of plants, either, so Toji doesn’t mind that the kid is just watching him do all the work, too. The kid’s got more of a love for animals and their siblings, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
“That woman,” Megumi starts again, after another several minutes have passed. “Your surrogate mother. She liked them too, right?”
Huh. Maybe Megs doesn’t feel like being quiet today after all.
“She did,” Toji responds, a smile coming to his face. Megumi’s gaze softens as they see it.
“She used to say she got her eye colour from a lavender petal. Her eyes are pretty, so I believe her.”
“Not believed?”
Now it’s Toji’s turn to be annoyed, but it’s a fake annoyance. They both know it. “’Course. Can’t a man believe the woman who raised’im?”
“Over something like that, no.”
“Okay, smartass, who still believes in Santa Claus?”
“That’s Ji-Ji and you know it.” Megumi snaps at him, shoving at Toji. The man doesn’t move—the kid would have an easier time moving a damn mountain—but he grunts as if he’s been injured.
After some hesitation, however, he asks, “…Yuuji doesn’t really still believe in Santa Claus, right?”
“If you tell him otherwise, Miki and I are gonna kill you.”
Toji can’t help how he laughs at that, pride surging through him; Megumi is incredibly protective over Yuuji, and Toji’s not entirely sure if it’s because he’d made them share a crib as babies (he hadn’t been able to afford two for a while, and even when he’d tried to get them to sleep separately, they had thrown major fits; even now, despite them both having their own rooms, they often still slept in the same room if they didn’t go and bunk in Toji’s bed), but he has always been fond of the fact. It’s adorable, in his eyes, and really, he loves his kids, so why would he go and ruin one of their worldviews? Believing in Santa Claus still was the least of his worries, after all, when it came to them.
“Speakin’ about your brother,” he says when he’s finished laughing, having now planted another one of the lavenders, “text him and Miki for me. Tell’em to bring home some meat for dinner.”
“I want beef shigureni.”
“Then tell’em to get the shit we need for it.”
Toji knows they’re happy just from the eagerness in which they retrieve their phone, which in turn makes him smile, so he goes back to digging a third hole, not at all concerned for anything else. He just so happens, however, to miss how Megumi is looking at their phone in confusion, glancing at him to make sure he didn’t catch them. He feels, rather than sees, them turn, probably towards the house, but still, he doesn’t feel the need to be concerned. There’s been no trouble, with people or Curses, for some time now, and the boys have even managed to go a few weeks without fighting at school, for once (though they only ever got into fights because Yuuji would get bullied by his classmates, which thankfully has been resolved for some time now), so he doesn’t feel any sort of difference within the air around him. Maybe it’s because he’s finally allowing himself to relax; maybe it’s just because he wants to believe they’re safe for the time being.
Whatever it is, Toji’s none the wiser as Megumi really does stand, then, saying, “I’m gonna go get a drink.” It’s a hot day, after all, and they had walked home, so he’s not at all surprised that they might need one.
“Bring me somethin’ too,” is all he replies back with, not turning over his shoulder to them. Unbeknownst to him right then, it’s a good choice. They go off, however, and leave him alone, his senses telling him that they’re up and into the house before half a minute has passed. He’s not lonely now that he’s the only one in the yard, not one bit.
(He’s a little lonely, but he’s not going to say anything about it to Megumi; the kid isn’t alive solely to keep him company, after all, and even if he did say something, they’d just tease him about it. He’s not getting teased by his own damn kid—or kids, at that—on his watch.)
He manages to get through two of the three lavenders left by the time he senses someone walking closer to him again. As he knows (thinks) Megumi is the only other person besides him there, he doesn’t bother looking too closely at the shadow that now stands above him. He doesn’t jump when a hand is expectedly placed on his back.
“What’d you bring me, kiddo?” He decides to ask, however; partially to make sure his son actually listened to him, partially because he just wants to hear their voice again. He’s always happy to listen to his children.
“Some water, dear,” a new voice, light and airy—beautiful—says to him, causing him to stop and stiffen up in place immediately; as new as the voice is, he’d never forget its owner, for they are so ingrained in his mind, so familiar in their gentleness.
“You shall find, however, that I am no child; neither yours nor in age.”
It can’t be, he thinks, trying to stop himself from shaking. He hasn’t yet decided if he wants to turn around or run away. She wouldn’t be here. She can’t be here.
“Hi Dad!” Comes another voice; it’s Yuuji. He and Tsumiki must have gotten home without him or Megumi noticing. Maybe they hadn’t even gone to the store. Still, it’s odd that neither of them noticed, given Megs’ ability to sense out Cursed Energy almost as well as him, and Yuuji sure has enough to make himself and Miki noticeable if they’re together, but he decides to let it go in lieu of the crisis he’s having. Yuuji’s promptly shushed, however, by his two siblings, Tsumiki whispering loudly for him to be quiet. It’s her unexpectedly chastising tone that seems to be enough for his body to decide to turn, on its own and without his mind giving the okay, and look behind him, the glint of the sun glaring at the corners of his eyes.
He doesn’t care, though, he can’t. His world has narrowed down to the woman standing above him, piercing emerald gaze locked on her kind lavender one. Her smile is just as he remembers it; gentle, loving, and warmer than any summer day. It’s not so searing that it hurts him; no instead, it’s comforting, like he’s come home to his kids who’ve stayed awake, waiting for him despite his late work hours.
Like he’s come home to his mother (she is the one he considers so), who’s stayed patient all this time, waiting for him.
“My Toji,” the woman says, sounding like she is in disbelief; as if she can’t believe she’s even looking at him. He knows the feeling. “You’ve grown so much; and yet, you’re as handsome as the day you left.”
She reaches out, then, her free hand (the other is holding his cup of water) coming to rest on the right side of his face; just as she always used to do in their idle time, her thumb traces his scarred lips with the utmost love he’s ever been honoured to feel. Horrifyingly, and almost without him realizing it, he feels a tear escape his eye and run down to her hand. He can hear how his kids gasp from the porch; it’s the second time in their lives in which they’ve seen him cry.
She, however, gods bless her, has seen him cry far more than they, so she is not surprised—she merely smiles at him even more and wipes it away, giving a light chuckle as well.
“Don’t cry, my son, there’s no reason to cry; it’s just me.”
Just you?! He wants to yell, disbelief of his own growing. You’re the most important person within my life aside from the kids; there’s no “just me” about this!
“You…” Is what comes out from him, his voice small. “You’re, you’re here…”
“I am.” She says with the utmost patience. She’s kneeled to him, now, cup of water set aside, and she grabs his face in both of her hands. Now, without so much glare, he can see how her own eyes are teared up.
“I am here, Toji; your mother is here.”
And it is enough for his walls to break.
“Mother Chiyo!” He exclaims, practically in delight, as he surges forward, grabbing her around the hips and raising them both. He spinks on his heels, twirls her around in the air, making her laugh and making him grin the largest grin he’s ever been capable of; it has been years since he has seen her, since before even Tsumiki had been born to her mother! He’d left her to live on her own, moving in with his first wife at both of their behests, having Megumi several years after that—and yet, she’s here, in his arms, all the way in Minakami! He can’t help the way he brings her down and hugs her, pressing a kiss upon her forehead, her cheeks; he’s damn near ready to get on the ground and bow to her, grass and dirt and knocked-over-water-cup be damned!
“Dad!” His children cry—which specifically, he isn’t quite sure—and in the next moment, they’ve gathered around him, as well, hugging tightly onto him and Chiyo. They’re happy, he can tell, both for him and for her, but with the way they’re hiding their faces into or away from him, he can also tell that they’ve gotten emotional with his reaction. He can’t quite blame them; he has no clue of when the last time he was so outwardly happy was, for them.
“Oh, my dear grandchildren!” Toji’s mother laughs again, the sound music to his ears. Her hands reach down from where they’d grabbed onto his shoulders to theirs (she makes sure hers splay across both Yuuji’s and Megumi’s, not wanting to miss them), her eyes twinkling with delight.
He’d never thought they’d get to meet her. He’s never once before thought to take them to her, too afraid his presence might disrupt her surely-calm life. He’d never forgive himself if it did.
“How’re you here?” He asks her, breathless, making her turn back to him. “You’re—I left you in Tokyo!”
She grins at him, then, with amusement, as if she’s found a joke funny. He’s told no jokes, has made no attempts to be funny, so he doesn’t quite understand the sentiment.
“Well, your lovely daughter and son here happened to find me,” she begins, a hand resting, respectively, on Yuuji and Tsumiki’s heads now. They look proud of themselves, turning to look up at Toji happily.
“We saw her at the store,” Yuuji says, just as breathless as Toji from his laughing along with Chiyo. “You told me so much about her, I recognized her right away!”
“He was a little scared to walk up to her, though, so I went and did it,” Tsumiki cuts in then, jumping on the balls of her feet in excitement. “She agreed to come home with us when we told her you were our dad!”
“When I went to get a drink, they were already here,” Megumi explains as well, a small smile adorning their features. “She… Chiyo-san said it would be funny if we let her bring you a drink.”
“Oh, dear, don’t you be so formal with me,” Chiyo chastises gently, smiling at them as she reaches to pat their cheek; flushed, they turn away slightly, though Toji can see how they smile. “I’m your grandmother, after all, so there’s no need to be formal with me!
“Just as well,” she continues on, turning back to Toji with a twinkle in her eye. “I am here because I am home, my dearest; when I gave you your first lavender, so many years ago, I did mention that they grow rather well in my home-town, after all~”
Ah, he thinks to himself, astounded by her ability to have kept it secret for so long, so you were the one with the jokes all along, Mother.
He cannot help how he laughs, overjoyed, as he hugs her and his children again.
Welcome home, Mother Chiyo.
Epilogue
“You know, you talked about my being handsome, but how in the he—world do you look as young as you did nearly two decades ago?”
Toji’s been meaning to ask his mother this question for some time; as a child, he hadn’t quite cared, but now that his twenties have long-since come and gone, he can’t help but wonder how she doesn’t look any older than her mid-twenties, herself. It shouldn’t be possible, considering she had been the woman who raised him at the Zen’in Clan’s Estate, practically two decades worth of life in itself.
“You can’t just ask a woman her age, Dad, even in such a roundabout way!” Yuuji, scandalized, cries, on the couch opposite from Toji and Chiyo. All three of the kids are on their own couch, actually, leaving the other open for their father and grandmother; Toji’s nearest to the armrest, while Chiyo is at his side. Both of her hands are holding one of Toji’s, his free hand propped against his face.
“How did you ever have two wives?” Megumi wonders aloud, running a hand across their forehead, just as exasperated as their brother.
“I’ve gotta say, Dad, that’s… Yeah, that’s bad, even for you.” Tsumiki simply agrees.
“Whaddya mean, ‘even for me’?!”
His mother laughs, then, shaking her head. “No, no, it’s no bother to me, dears, I assure you,” she says to them gently, smiling at Toji as she adds, “though I was honestly expecting such a question much earlier on, I must say. Nevertheless, it’s my Cursed Technique, my dear; Eternal Youth.”
“A Cursed Technique?” Megumi sits forward, intrigued. “You’re a Sorcerer?”
“No, dearest, not exactly,” she replies, briefly raising a hand to wave the subject away. “Being a Sorcerer was never important to me; and what with my Technique not being suitable for combat, there was little way in which I could be one. I’m not a Curse User, however, either, if that was to be your next question.”
It’s said as a joke, obviously so since it makes Megumi smile lightly, taking some weight off of Toji’s chest; he’s glad they, all of them, seem to like Chiyo so far.
“Dad says you were a surrogate for the Zen’in Clan,” Tsumiki pipes up, looking slightly apologetic. “You were one of the women who raised the children they didn’t want, given their own mothers didn’t, too.”
A brief anger crosses his mother’s gaze, her grip on Toji’s hand tightening. “Those foolish Clan members cast aside my Toji so quickly, I can say with confidence that that was the only time in which I was grateful I was employed there.”
She sighs heavily, her anger dying as quickly as it had come. “It is a long story, dear, one in which I’d rather not speak of. I do hope you understand, but it’s not a tale I wish to repeat.”
“Of course.” All three of the kids immediately responds, something that, again, makes Toji proud; they’ve always been intuitive.
“Can you tell us more about your Technique, then?” Yuuji continues on, curiousity in his gaze. “I know it’s probably a bit self-explanatory, but if even Dad doesn’t know about it, then maybe there’s somethin’ more to it?”
Chiyo smiles, patting Toji’s hand lovingly. “Unfortunately, it is just as it sounds; my appearance will always be youthful, no matter how long I come to live,” she explains, “though, on that note, it does come with the added benefit of an elongated life. Why this is so, I have never been told, but it seems it’s simply part-and-parcel of the ability.”
Turning to Toji once more, she smiles at him and, with a chuckle, says, “I’m sorry, my dear, to have never told you, but you never once asked, and so I felt no need to explain without prompting.”
“There’s no apologizing, Mother,” he tells her almost in exasperation, shaking his head. How silly of her, thinking she had to apologize to him, of all damn people! There wasn’t a person in the world she ought to apologize, to, either; there were only people who needed to apologize to her.
“I was just askin’. Don’t think about it.”
A pillow is thrown his way, quick and menacing, but he catches it easily with his free hand before he even turns to look at it. When he pulls it away from his face and looks, he can see that Tsumiki had been the one to throw it, which is surprising; she was the one who advocated for no violence most of the time!
“Don’t be so damn crass with her.” Megumi snaps, sounding annoyed. Toji wants to throw the pillow at them.
“You don’t even know what that means,” he snaps right back at them instead, shaking the pillow in their direction. “And don’t you cuss in front of your grandmother, you brat, you better watch your mouth.”
“You let them cuss with Tsumiki’s grandma.” Yuuji supplies thoughtfully. Toji chooses to ignore it, which makes him chuckle, knowing he’s made a point.
“My,” Chiyo laughs lightly, squeezing Toji’s fingers. “What thoughtful children you’ve raised, my son. So caring, as well. I’m proud of you, I truly am!”
“Throwing a pillow at me is thoughtful?” Toji questions, even as he knows she’s joking (evident by her laughing again and winking at him, making him smile), as the kids grin and thank her. His mother’s humour sure has grown over the years, something he finds hilarious to no end.
“Chiyo,” Megumi speaks up then once more; they’re not as quick to change as Yuuji and Tsumiki are, so Toji feels no need to be bothered by their usage of her name.
“What was it like, raising Dad?” They ask when they each settle, Toji’s mother looking over at them. “I know you don’t wanna talk about the Clan, but… I’m curious.”
There’s a part of Toji that is very touched by the fact that Megumi’s asked about his past in such a way, as unexpected as it is. Megumi has hardly ever thought to ask Toji himself about anything from his past, especially not regarding the Zen’in’s. In fact, Megumi and Tsumiki had only learned about Chiyo because Yuuji had asked Toji, one day, what having a mother was like, due to his lack of one. Toji had told him all about Chiyo that day, and they’d gone home to recount the tales to the other two as soon as he had finished telling Yuuji. Had he not asked that question, he’s sure the kids would have walked right-on past her at the store, neither party knowing who they were to each other; hell, they wouldn’t have even ever learned that his favourite flower was a lavender had Yuuji’s question gone unasked, since it was so integral to Chiyo herself.
It’s… Heart-warming, he decides on, that Megumi actually is interested in learning about him. They must have refrained from asking him directly for his own sake; the idea gets him misty-eyed again, and he has to blink rapidly to keep the tears from falling.
Chiyo, however, brightens considerably, her pretty lavender eyes once more twinkling, though instead of amusement, this time it’s with joy and interest.
“Don’t you worry, my dear; I could talk about my Toji for hours,” she says with the utmost conviction; Toji coughs suddenly, caught off-guard, and flushes deeply. The kids snicker at him, though when he goes to glare at him, they only smile innocently at him. Chiyo, too, gives her own giggle at his reaction, smiling at him lovingly when he looks at her (for he’d never dare, never let himself, glare at her).
“I suppose, however, that I should start at the beginning of it all, shouldn’t I?” She continues on, a dream-like smile gracing her lips. “Yes, I rather think I should;
“the day my son, my dearest Toji, was born, I…”