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Megumi’s only family is his sister.
When he’s asked about family, the only name he can think about is Tsumiki. She’s his family, his sister, she’d also be like a mother if she was older.
When his father and her mother left, all he had was her. All she had was him. She took care of him and he took care of her. Staying alive wouldn’t have been possible if they hadn’t had each other.
“Is there really no one else other than your big sister?” His classmate asks and he nods. It’s unfortunate, but it also can’t be helped. That’s just how it is.
“I thought you had a dad,” a girl next to his seat says. “When you punched Ari in the face, the teachers called your parent, didn’t they? Then a white haired tall man came in and talked to them, right? I thought that handsome man was your dad!”
Megumi cringes. “That ‘handsome’ man isn’t handsome,” he says. “and he’s not my dad. He’s not even old enough to be my dad.”
“Whaat?” the girl looks at him with a surprised expression. “Turns out my whole life was a lie!”
“Who is he, then?” the boy asks.
Megumi freezes. Who is Gojo to him and Tsumiki, actually? He saved him and her three years ago, let them live in his house, took care of them, keeps taking care of them- He buys Megumi ice cream when he gets in trouble at school. Not the best parenting, but better than scolding. He helps Tsumiki fix her hair after she gets out of bed in the morning. He doesn’t have to, Tsumiki is capable of fixing her hair by herself, but he does it anyway. When Megumi beats a bully up, Gojo is the one his teachers call. When Tsumiki has to get out of school early, Gojo is the one her teachers call for him to come and pick her up.
He does sound like a dad, Megumi thinks. But he’s not. He’s only their guardian in paper and Megumi’s teacher, nothing more. Megumi owes him his life, that’s correct, Gojo is their savior in a way, that’s true. But he’s not a dad.
“He’s pretty much the only adult around,” he says, knowing well that isn’t true. There’s Nanami, Shoko, Yaga, Ijichi, sometimes Utahime– Oh. They’re all Gojo’s friends. They wouldn’t be around if he wasn’t around. “So he’s the one teachers call when needed.”
“Maan… You’re so unlucky.” the girl says. “I dunno what I’d do if my dad was gone. My mom’s very busy, so dad is the one who is usually around. I don’t mind him, though! I love him.”
“Really?” the boy says. “I’m not so close to mine. I don’t think much would change if he left one day.”
“If he left,” the girl laughs, “you’d be homeless.”
“I guess so.” the boy agrees, and then the silence takes over.
Megumi’s not sure how to break the silence. He’s not sure if he wants to break it at all. He doesn’t like the topic, he doesn’t have anything to say, and all of this makes him think about how he was abandoned by the one who was supposed to take care of him in the first place. He should change the topic. He’s uncomfortable.
Just when Megumi opens his mouth to talk about something else, the girl interrupts. “Did you know?” she says. “Yesterday, I was having a movie night with my dad-”
“How can we know that-”
“Hush!” she puts her hand in front of the boy’s mouth. “The movie wasn’t fun at all, and towards the end of it, I was pretending to be asleep so dad could carry me to bed. But before he did, he had a phone call with mom, and it turns out! They’re gonna get me a kitty!” She says with a huge smile on her face.
“What?!” the boy almost yells. “You’re so lucky! I’ve always wanted a cat but I can’t get one because mom is allergic.”
“You can get one when you’re older and live alone.”
And so Megumi stands up. He tells them he has to go to the bathroom and then leaves the classroom.
He shouldn’t get angry at them. They’re normal kids with normal lives, they have no idea how much these normal things mean to him. He’s not angry, he’s really not. He can’t be, he shouldn’t be-
He’s confused. He’s very confused. How can they talk about their parents without feeling uncomfortable? Without something starting to feel heavy on their chest?
She was having a movie night with her dad? Watching a movie with her dad? She was pretending to fall asleep so that her dad could carry her to bed?
Kids do that?
Kids do that.
Megumi never did. He doesn’t even remember his supposed father’s name, let alone his face or his voice. He has never had a dad or a mom to do these things with.
He’s jealous. He’s sad. But that’s just how it is.
There’s nothing he can do about it.
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At the end of the school, he sees Gojo waiting outside of Ijichi’s car for them. That’s not new, but it’s not common as well. He’s usually too busy to randomly show up to their school to pick them up.
“Gojo-san!” Tsumiki waves and runs towards him. “You didn’t tell us you were gonna pick us up today.”
“Well, I wasn’t gonna, but then I changed my mind.” He says with a smile on his face. “I’m not as busy as usual today, so I thought I could spend time with you two.”
“That’s great!” she says and turns to Megumi. “Megumi, do you want to buy some chocolate?”
After seeing Megumi shrug, Tsumiki turns to Gojo. “Can we?” she asks and then Gojo opens the car’s door for them.
“You don’t even have to ask,” he says. “But first, we’re gonna get something else to eat.”
“Yay! Thank you,” she says as she gets inside the car. “Hello Ijichi-san,” she greets, and Ijichi greets her back.
Gojo looks at Megumi. “You coming?” he asks and Megumi stares at him.
(Maan… You’re so unlucky. I dunno what I’d do if my dad was gone.)
He gets in the car without answering Gojo. “‘Miki!” Gojo calls out to her. “Megumi’s ignoring me again.”
“That’s not nice, Megumi!” Tsumiki tells him. “I thought we were over this.”
Megumi sighs as Gojo gets in the car as well. “Let's go, Ijichi,” Gojo says and Ijichi starts driving.
(My mom’s very busy, so dad is the one who is usually around. I don’t mind him, though! I love him.)
As Ijichi drives, Gojo asks them about their day in school. Tsumiki is the one that answers him, like she always does. She tells him about how her favorite teacher praised her and told her to keep up the good work. She tells him about how one of her friends got pissed at another friend of hers but things worked out well in the end. She tells him about how she is the one that always fixed issues in her friend group. Gojo praises her, tells her that she’s doing amazing. Then he asks Megumi about his day, and Megumi responds with “it was like any other day.”
Realizing Megumi’s not really in a good mood at the moment, Gojo asks them what they should do after getting something to eat. Tsumiki suggests going home and playing video games or watching a movie together-
(Did you know? Yesterday, I was having a movie night with my dad.)
Gojo agrees.
-------------------------
He buys them McDonalds.
And while eating, Megumi listens as Tsumiki and Gojo talk. They talk about what kind of movies they could watch, what kind of games they could play. Then the topic somehow changes to school, Tsumiki’s friends, and then Gojo’s past. He talks about how he, Shoko and another friend of his used to have lots of sleepovers. He talks about the nights they spent playing lots of games and watching lots of movies together.
“Who is that friend’s name?” Tsumiki asks him. “Are you talking about Nanami-san?”
“Not important,” Gojo answers her. “What I’m trying to say is that when you make friends, you gotta make the best of it. Sometimes, friends come and go. So while they’re here, you gotta have fun with them, ‘Miki.” he says. And then he turns to Megumi and ruffles his hair. He loves ruffling his hair, for some reason. “Are you listening, Megumi? You gotta live your youth to the fullest. That means you have to make friends.”
“I have friends.” Megumi tells him with a small frown.
“So tell me about them. You never talk about your friends.” Gojo says and Megumi sees Tsumiki smile a little.
“I, uh,” Megumi struggles. “They’re okay? I guess.”
Gojo snorts with laughter. “You don’t have to step out of your comfort zone and force yourself to be more social right now. The day will come, but there’s no rush in it. All I’m saying is at least try to have one or two friends that you can depend on. Trust me, life is easier that way.”
When they get home, Tsumiki says she wants to shower first. Gojo nods and tells her to take her time. He sits on the couch that’s in front of the TV, turns on netflix and starts to search for movies to watch.
(The movie wasn’t fun at all, and towards the end of it, I was pretending to be asleep so dad could carry me to bed.)
Normally, when Megumi gets home, the first thing he does is to throw his bag into his room, lay on the bed and look at his phone for a while. But now, he puts down his bag next to his bed, comes back and sits next to Gojo without saying a word. Gojo looks at him, smiles and starts to stroke Megumi’s hair.
Megumi lets him.
They sit there in silence for a while; Gojo searching for movies to watch while playing with Megumi’s hair and Megumi pretending not to see the big smile Gojo has on his face. The silence is not awkward, instead it’s comforting in a way. Megumi feels like he could stay here like this, without getting bored for a long time.
(I thought you had a dad. When you punched Ari in the face, the teachers called your parent, didn’t they? Then a white haired tall man came in and talked to them, right? I thought that handsome man was your dad!)
“If you’re not as busy as usual today, why didn’t you take me to train?” He asks. “You’ll be overseas this Saturday, so I won’t be able to train with you this week.”
“Oh, please,” Gojo laughs a little. “You’re not in the mood for it. Plus, watching a movie instead of training sounds much better. What do you want to watch?”
“Something calm, maybe?” Megumi suggests.
“Something calm? What do you mean?” Gojo asks.
“I mean…” He says, “A relaxing movie? I don’t know.” A movie to fall asleep to, he doesn’t say.
“Hmmm…” Gojo holds his chin. “Okay. Go change to your pajamas, I’ll find something.”
Megumi nods, stands up and goes to his room. He comes back, wearing his blue pajamas, and sits next to Gojo again. It’s been three years since Gojo took them under his care, and despite that this is the first time they’re going to watch a movie together.
(...towards the end of it, I was pretending to be asleep so dad could carry me to bed.)
(...I was pretending to be asleep so dad could carry me to bed.)
(...so dad could carry me to bed.)
Megumi frowns. He’s jealous. He’s so jealous. He envies these kids his age who have parents they can love and be loved by. These kids his age weren’t abandoned by their mothers and fathers, they weren’t forced to live by themselves, barely managing to survive.
While Megumi and Tsumiki weren’t daring to use the air conditioning even just a little bit in freezing winter, these kids were being carried to bed by their parents. How was that fair? Megumi wants that too.
“What’s with frown?” Gojo asks him while searching through Netflix. “You’re really in a bad mood today, ‘Gumi. Wanna tell me what’s up?”
Megumi hesitates to talk. He can’t just tell him the conversation his classmates had in front of him at school, that’s embarrassing. He’s not sure what to say.
“It’s nothing important, really,” He ends up saying. “It’s stupid.”
“Well, something’s been bothering you for a while so it’s important to me,” Gojo tells him. “I’m sure it’s not stupid. I won’t judge you for it if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Megumi looks anywhere but Gojo. “I, uhm…” He tries. “It’s just, at school, some kids…” His voice gets a lot quieter, Gojo has to get closer to him to make sense of what he’s saying. “They were talking about… their parents… so…” He stops talking.
Gojo looks at him with an expression, Megumi’s not sure what to think of it. It’s hard to face him at the moment, so he turns his head, waiting for Gojo to say something.
After a while, Gojo finally decides to speak.
“...‘Gumi,” He says. “It’s okay. I know it hurts but…”
It looks like Gojo’s not sure what to say as well. He always seemed like the type to be bad at comforting anyway. Great, now Megumi just made the whole situation awkward. He messed up. Tonight was supposed to be good, Gojo had time for them and they were gonna watch a movie together, but now it’s just weird. Megumi should’ve kept his mouth shut.
Gojo awkwardly hugs Megumi and starts to stroke his hair. “I… Want me to tell you a secret, ‘Gumi?” He says. Megumi doesn’t answer, so Gojo keeps talking. “This is just between the two of us. Our little secret. Don’t tell anyone. Not even to ‘Miki.”
He sighs. “I, uh… Both of my parents… They’re alive.” Megumi looks at him. “My mother and father, they’re alive and well but… I don’t really have a good relationship with them. The truth is, it’s been about… I don’t know, six years? Yeah, I think so… Uh. It’s been about six years since I last talked to them. They don’t really see me as a human being so… Yeah. My relationship with them is not good. Not at all.”
He laughs a bit. It’s a nervous laugh, nothing happy about it. “I think I would be much happier if my parents weren’t my parents. I know it’s weird but… That’s just how I feel. And you, Megumi, uh… I knew your father and you know that. Let me just say that, even if he was around, he wouldn’t do a good job raising you anyway, I think.” He turns his head to Megumi and tries to look at him in the eyes.
“I know that it’s lonely sometimes and I know that you feel bad about all of this but… I’m here, you know.” He says. “Not that I’m trying to replace your father, it’s-” He sighs. “It doesn’t matter how busy I am. Just, tell me you want me to be around, and I’ll always make time for you. You, uh… You come first, Megumi. You and your sister, you guys always come first. Okay?”
Megumi looks at Gojo, then the television, and then his legs. “Mhm.” He nods and hugs his legs, then he starts to rest his head on Gojo. “Okay.” He says after a while and hears Gojo let out a breath.
(Is there really no one else other than your big sister?)
Tsumiki comes in about five minutes later and sees them cuddling. “Huh?” She almost yells. “Oh, no, did you guys start watching the movie without me?”
“No, no, no, don’t worry about it.” Gojo laughs. “We were waiting for you, come here.”
Tsumiki sits next to Gojo and leans against him. “What are we watching?” She says with a big smile on her face.
“I was thinking about ‘Spirited Away’, how does that sound?”
“Oooh! Mirai was talking about that about a week ago! Sounds good. What do you think, Megumi?”
“Yeah, that’s good. Let’s watch that.”
The movie’s good. It’s not boring, he likes the story. But still, towards the end of it, he looks to his right and sees Tsumiki sleeping on Gojo’s lap with Gojo’s hand playing with her hair.
It’s okay. He’s not gonna fall asleep, he’s just gonna pretend. It shouldn’t be awkward, Gojo told him he always comes first. That sounds like something a dad would say, doesn’t it? It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.
He lets out a breath and without taking a look at Gojo, he closes his eyes. He closes his eyes but listens- Listens to the movie, listens to Tsumiki’s soft breathing, listens to Gojo’s heartbeat. He’s not gonna fall asleep. He’s not sure why he shouldn’t fall asleep, but the girl was pretending to fall asleep instead of actually doing it and the boy didn’t question it at all, so… That’s probably something every kid does with their parents, right?
After he hears the movie end, he hears Gojo laugh quietly. And after a while, he feels Gojo hold him, he feels Gojo starting to carry him. He’s awake, but he’s not opening his eyes. That would be awkward. He feels Gojo walking to Megumi’s room, he can’t see anything but he can somehow feel Gojo’s smile. That’s weird. Since when did he start feeling smiles?
He feels Gojo put him down on his bed, and cover him with a blanket. He feels Gojo’s eyes on him for about ten seconds, and then-
“Good night, ‘Gumi.” He hears him whisper. “Have a nice sleep.”
Gojo leaves the room. That night, Megumi has the nicest sleep ever.