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If you were to ask him, Gojou Satoru could easily claim that he had no fears, he was untouchable (figuratively and literally), but the nightmares that plagued his mind every once in awhile would suggest widely different.
This was one of those nights, making him jerk awake in a cold sweat, a chill running down his spine while a sinking, disgusting feeling of dread settled in his gut. He clumsily threw the sheet from over his body to the ground and got up on shakey feet.
Making a quick trip to the bathroom, he splashed his face with freezing water from the sink, squeezing his eyes shut and seeing that image all over again. Megumi, on the ground. Megumi, covered in injuries, blood seeping into his black uniform. Megumi, with dark blood over his face and hands, starkly constrasting the pale of his complexion. Megumi, trying to summon his shikigami still with shaking hands, barely being able to hold them up.
Gojou wipes his hands hastily into the towel hanging from the door and pushes it open a moment after, unconsciously starting to walk in the direction of his boy's room. His sock clad feet make dull thudding noises as the walks across the wooden floorboards, thanking the Gods above that they don't creak, he wouldn't want anyone seeing him in this state.
He blinks and he's somehow already in front of Megumi's door, staring at it like its about to curl under his intense gaze.
Gojou Satoru can easily claim that he doesn't cry, for he is the strongest, but he refuses to acknowledge that claim as he wipes a tear stained cheek with the sleeve of his shirt.
He stands. And he listens. Listens to Megumi's soft breathing right behind the door, almost inaudible if he wasn't trying to listen for it. Listens to the wind howl outside, beating with violent thumps against the windows, making them tremble under the pressure. Listens to his own heart, still hammering against his chest, threatening to burst out and explode, covering the walls of the hallway in red.
He listens to the shakey breath he inhales before reaching out and grabbing the handle of Megumi's bedroom door, opening it as quietly as possible.
His eyes have already adjusted to the dark, even though he doesn't really need to see, for he can easily see everything around him thanks to his six eyes. He glaces in the direction of the kid's bed.
He sees Megumi. He sees Megumi's chest rising and falling, his breaths relaxed, unlike his own labored ones. He sees Megumi's face, devoid of the usual furrow between his eyebrows which always makes him look angry or annoyed (which to be fair, most of the time he is). He sees Megumi's long eyelashes brushing against his cheeks. He looks at least 50 years younger like this, Gojou thinks to himself.
The important thing he sees is Megumi, alive and breathing. Not covered in blood, his breaths coming in shallow, sounding like they were going to stop at any moment.
Gojou Satoru can claim many things, but maybe he could admit he had one fear, and that was losing Megumi. He already lost his one and only and his other child, the world couldn't be as cruel as to take Megumi away from him too, could it?
He thinks back on that day, he'd sent the boy on a mission of his own, confident that he would deal with it with ease, considering the amount of time they spent practicing Megumi's technique and the immense amount of progress the kid made in such a short while, must be the blood of the Zen'ins.
But the curse Megumi was sent to exorcise turned out way more powerful than either of them could've expected, easily overpowering him and making him turn to his last resort which was calling his sensei. Megumi would never call unless it's something incredibly important and much less would he call Gojou of all people, but Gojou was so glad he did, immediately rushing over to where they'd tracked down the curse's whereabouts, his heart sinking all the way down to the soles of his feet when he saw the condition the teen was in.
From then on, Gojou would have the reoccurring nightmares, about every 2 or 3 weeks or so, he'd say. Seeing Megumi alive was the only thing that could make his heart settle in his chest, stopping its dangerous palpitations that seemed to want to rip a hole through the white haired man's his ribcage and the pale flesh overtop.
Gojou huffed out a sigh, half full of relief, half of defeat and went to step back, but of course that's the exact moment the universe decided to deliver a giant fuck you to him, making the floorboards creak out a loud, screeching noise under his weight. He looked back inside Megumi's room in terror when the kid slowly opened an eye, his eyebrows immediately scrunching up again at seeing Gojou peering through the gap of his door like a creep.
"Gojou-sensei?" Megumi's tired voice wafted through the air, confusion clearly etched into it, as well as his features.
The older man let out another sigh, he'd been caught, might as well go all in. He opened the door and walked in, clicking it shut after himself. The look of confusion on Megumi's face only deepened, causing Gojou to crack a smile. He slowly approached the bed and kneeled down, awkwardly laying his head on the boy's bed, one of his arms slung over his torso.
"Gojou-sensei?" He questioned again, a bit of hysteria slipping into his tone "Is this some kind of joke?"
Gojou chuckled quietly, closing his eyes for a moment, he should probably say something before Megumi started freaking out. "Nightmare. Wanted to see if you're okay" he replied calmly.
He could feel the way the boy's whole body tensed at his words, then relaxed at a moments notice. As if some entity possessed Megumi's body, he pushed Gojou off of him, grabbing the edge of his comforter and pulling it up, scooting back on the bed as if inviting Gojou in, like he was some kind of little kid that needed their parent's comfort. Gojou stood there, looking at Megumi like he'd just killed a man, like his suggestion that someone could want to share a bed with their father figure was ludicrous to him.
Megumi's next words broke him out of his thoughts "I can hear you thinking from here, just lay down" he murmured in a hushed voice and fuck, who was Gojou to disagree?
He quickly slipped into Megumi's bed, wrapping his arms around his son in a tight embrace. Megumi 'umph'ed in his hold but didn't protest, his head nestling under Gojou's jaw.
"Goodnight, dad"
?
???
The white haired man laid there in shock, wondering if he heard Megumi's words correctly, but he couldn't ask since he was already fast asleep all over again. Gojou felt a smile creeping on his face again bit by bit, making him close his eyes and tighten his arms around Megumi. The night was still now, no more could the wind be heard outside, nor the sounds of crickets, only his and Megumi's breaths, even and steady, alive.
As Gojou drifted off into dreamland once again, he didn't dream of bright red, or the disgusting metallic smell that made the air feel suffocating enough to stop his lungs from working properly. No, he dreamed of furrowed eyebrows and scrunched faces, of annoyed glances and bitter words with no actual bite behind them and the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifted even higher.
Yeah, his unconscious whispered, maybe he could be happy again.