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Gojo was just stopping to grab some food after finishing up a mission when he got the call.
"Gojo speaking," he said cheerily, handing the money over to the cashier and taking his bag of food.
"It's me," the voice came over the line.
"What d'ya need now, Ijichi? I thought you were waiting for Fushiguro?" Gojo asked without trying to hide his annoyance.
"I am, but he's not at the agreed-upon meeting place," the manager said with onset panic in his voice—probably more for getting reamed out by Gojo than for Megumi's safety, however. "Did he call you with a change of plans?"
"No, why would he call me, when you're supposed to be picking him up?" Gojo demanded, digging in his bag of food to grab the sandwich he had bought, opening the packaging with his teeth as he walked toward the train station. "Can't you handle one job? Try calling him."
"I have, several times, and he's not picking up. That's why I called you. Gojo-san," he added respectfully.
Gojo furrowed his brows slightly. Of course Megumi might have still been deep in the mission, but it was supposed to have been an easy, cut and dried one. That had been the point anyway. It being the first time he'd been sent out solo. It wasn't like Megumi to ignore calls—that was more Gojo's schtick.
A slight unease began to form in Gojo's stomach as he wondered if something actually had gone wrong.
"Alright, just stay where you are in case he shows up. I'll meet you there and we can go check in on him if he's still not back by the time I get there. He might have run into a little trouble."
"Alright," Ijichi said and Gojo ended the call, hurrying toward the train station in time to make the next one. As soon as he got to his seat, he quickly dialed Megumi's number, but it only rang until it went to voicemail.
Gojo refused to be a worry-wort. That wasn't really his thing. He knew students learned best in the field and Megumi was talented, this mission had been a simple retrieval of a cursed object, and nothing whatsoever should have gone wrong. He was probably just exercising his independence. He hated it when Gojo hovered. Megumi was still young but he was also incredibly self-sufficient.
Gojo was startled by the obnoxious ringtone on his phone a second later and glanced down with some relief to see Megumi's name flash up. He answered it quickly.
"Heeey, kiddo! First solo mission—how did it go?"
There was silence on the other end for too long before Gojo was suddenly aware of heavy breathing.
"Go…jo…" came the whispered reply.
Gojo sat up straight at Megumi's strained voice. "Megumi—hey. Are you doing all right?"
There was a hitch in the breathing and the very obvious suppression of a pained sound. "'M not…gonna be able to…to…get out…by myself."
"What happened?" Gojo demanded.
A muffled cough. "Over…did it."
Gojo furrowed his brow. "Did you have to fight something?"
"Mhm," Megumi murmured.
Gojo's worry spiked again. There shouldn't have been a problem unless the object had been stronger than they had anticipated and was attracting some nasty Curses to it. It was in a pretty unpopulated area so just the act of Megumi showing up there could have been enough to bring any dormant Curses out of hiding. And while the kid was skilled, he was still learning how to sustain his powers for long periods of time and if he'd been forced into a position to have to fight for his life…
"Listen, Megumi, you still at the spot?"
"Mhm."
"Okay, I'll be there. Just sit tight, I'll come get you."
"Okay," came the whispered reply.
Gojo ended the call and simply warped to the spot, refusing to waste any time when he didn't have to.
The place was a wreck, even by the standards of a typical abandoned warehouse. Gojo could sense the cursed energy lingering even without extending his Six Eyes very far. How the hell had this escaped his notice? He could have sworn there was nothing this strong here the last time he had come to check on the object, but then, it could happen. He just didn't understand why it had to be when his student was going out on his first mission alone.
"Megumi!" he called as he stepped into the wreckage. He could feel the lingering sparks of Fushiguro's cursed energy as well and, using Six Eyes, he was able to locate the boy among the wreckage.
Megumi lay in one corner, surrounded by pieces of the wall that had thankfully not fallen on him. He still had his phone clutched in one limp hand, but his eyes were closed.
"Megumi," Gojo called and hurried over to the collapsed figure, crouching down beside him. Megumi was so still he might have panicked if he couldn't already tell he was breathing. He reached out to check the boy for injuries, brushing the dust off his hair and clothing.
Megumi finally stirred and blinked his eyes open, though one was almost glued shut from drying blood. "Gojo?" he murmured.
Gojo grinned at him. "Hey, told you I'd come get you, right? Ijichi's waiting for us so we should probably get going before he starts to worry. You good to move?"
Megumi shifted but didn't seem to get very far. He closed his eyes again and shook his head with a look of embarrassed defeat. "Can't move," he murmured.
"Are you hurt?"
Megumi sighed wearily. "Tired."
So, he really had overdone it. Gojo pressed his lips together. Megumi had been getting better with using his cursed technique but it still took a lot out of him to summon some of his shikigami. Especially if he had been forced to summon something he wasn't practiced with.
"No worries, kiddo," Gojo said fondly. "We'll get you back to the school soon."
He swiftly reached under Megumi and lifted him up before the boy could protest. He still made a slightly annoyed sound, but didn't have the energy to fight right now so he gave up and settled heavily in Gojo's arms.
"Got the item," he whispered.
Gojo looked down and realized that Megumi's hand was clutched around a small box, wrapped in protective seals. He smiled.
"You did good," he said.
He thought he saw the corner of Megumi's mouth turn up ever so slightly, but couldn't be sure.
They made it to the meeting place, startling Ijichi who instantly leapt out of the car, scrambling to open the back.
"What happened? Is he all right?"
"More going on than we thought," Gojo said quietly. "Kid's just tired himself out."
Ijichi furrowed his brow, but didn't say anything else as he helped Gojo get Megumi into the car and settled. Gojo took the cursed object and put it in a safe container that Ijichi handed him before taking it and placing it in the front passenger seat.
Megumi shivered as Gojo got him settled in the backseat and the older sorcerer hurriedly slipped off his jacket to wrap around the boy's shoulders. Megumi finally closed his eyes again and sank heavily against Gojo, obviously asleep. The way his face softened from its usual frown made him actually look his age for once. Which made Gojo feel worse about the fact that he seemed to have so badly miscalculated this mission.
The drive back was silent, just the sound of Megumi's heavy breathing next to Gojo's ear.
When they finally got back to the school, Megumi was still completely out. Gojo simply carried him to his room and got him into clean clothes. He called Ieiri to come look him over just in case, before he went to properly store away the cursed object Megumi had retrieved.
When he got back, Ieiri was simply cleaning blood off Megumi's face and hair.
"How is he?" Gojo asked.
"He'll be fine. He's just suffering from exhaustion due to expending too much cursed energy," the healer said with a snort. "Not that you'd understand anything about that anymore."
Gojo shrugged. It wasn't that he didn't get tired, just not nearly as soon as any off the other sorcerers.
"If you want to sit with him I'll bring you something to eat," she said.
Gojo nodded and pulled the chair from Megumi's desk over to his bed, settling down. He worked on some reports he had been putting off, detailing his own mission, and finally dozed off himself.
He woke to the sound of sheets moving and cracked his eyes open to see Megumi shifting slightly in bed with a small moan.
"Hey," Gojo smiled, leaning in.
Megumi startled and blinked his eyes open, staring at Gojo.
"How are you feeling now?" Gojo asked.
Megumi furrowed his brow, trying to shift enough even to sit up, but the act of simply propping himself more onto the pillows seemed to tire him out.
"Here," Gojo said and quickly resituated him, stuffing pillows behind his back. "Take it easy. It might take you a little while to get your energy back fully."
He turned to the side table and grabbed a bottle of water, handing it to the boy. Megumi lifted it with herculean effort and drank thirstily.
"Didn't think I was that weak," he murmured.
"It takes a long time to master stamina, and your technique in particular takes up a lot of energy," he said. "But we'll work on it, okay? Practice makes perfect."
"Sorry," Megumi murmured, looking down at the water bottle in his hands.
Gojo frowned. "Why are you sorry?"
"Should have been able to finish the mission myself. You didn't have to come get me, I—"
Gojo held up a hand to stop him. "Megumi, I'm not gonna listen to that kind of talk. You were never intended to fight a Curse on this mission at all. I'm the one who needs to apologize for putting you into that position. I should have looked into it more. On the other hand, you did finish the mission. The item is secure, and you eradicated another Curse. I'd call that a win."
"What good am I if I pass out every time I use my powers?"
"You won't, trust me," Gojo said. "As soon as you're feeling up to it again, we're going back to training and you'll only be stronger because of this. Learning jujutsu sorcery is about breaking thresholds in what you are capable of. You can't expect to learn it all at once. Even I didn't."
Megumi rolled his eyes slightly and picked at a scab on his hand. "Thanks. I know I have a lot to work on."
"Well, in the meantime," Gojo stood up, patting Megumi's knee, "How about some soup, and then you can get back to sleep?"
Megumi nodded tiredly and Gojo turned to the thermos Ieiri had brought him, pouring out a small cup of miso to hand to Megumi.
"I can feed it to you if you want," Gojo teased as Megumi's hands shook slightly in exhaustion.
"Shut up," he muttered, sipping the hot soup gratefully.
Gojo watched as he finished it and then collapsed back into bed almost instantly, eyes sliding shut. Gojo sighed and leaned over to pull the blankets over the kid's shoulders before he turned the light off and left the room.
He was sure that Megumi was going to be a great jujutsu sorcerer one day. In the meantime, Gojo would make sure he had everything he needed to become one.