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"Gojo?" A little voice called, pushing the door gently and peeking inside.
Nobody replies.
"Gojo?" The voice called again entering the room instead.
Satoru was fast asleep on his bed, body spread everywhere and mouth agape.
Eight year old Yuta walked closer to the bed and feels immense disappointment on seeing Gojo asleep.
"He's sleeping" Yuta mumbles, his lips trembling and eyes stinging with tears that he desperately held back.
He didn't want to bother Gojo while he's asleep so the little boy contemplated going back to his room.
His lips trembled even more. He had a nightmare again, it was really scary and the thought of going back to his room, his dark quiet room terrified him.
Gojo always made him feel safe so he wanted his comfort but it seems it's impossible.
"I should just go" Yuta says to himself with a quiver in his voice.
He's walking away when he trips on something and nearly falls down.
Satoru immediately sits up at the loud noise.
"Who's there?" He asks.
Yuta freezes and slowly turns around, all while feeling guilty. He'd woken Satoru.
"Yuta?" Satoru asks in confusion.
"I-im sorry, I did mean to wake you" the boy mumbles.
Satoru sees the tears slowly rolling down the boy's cheek and smiles softly.
"It's ok buddy, what's up? Satoru replies before patting the side of the bed for Yuta to sit.
Yuta slowly approaches him and takes a seat while wiping his tears.
"I had a bad dream, it was really scary that i couldn't go back to sleep" Yuta says.
Satoru nods, in the two weeks the boy has been here he's had nightmares frequently so Satoru wasn't really surprised although his nightmares had never been so bad he'd cried before.
He looked so sad.
Satoru pats Yuta on the head. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Yuta shakes his head. "N-no" he says quietly.
"Ok if that's what you want" Satoru replies before doing the usual routine.
He gets Yuta milk, tries to soothe his worries then puts him to bed, hoping he'll feel better in the morning.
He doesn't.
Satoru can tell Yuta's still sad from his expression.
He doesn't feel right and Satoru is suddenly determined to cheer the little boy up.
He pulls Yuta aside while Tsumiki and Megumi are eating.
"Buddy your not going to school today"
Yuta tilts his head to the side in confusion. "Why? Are you pulling me out of school?" He asks, he must have probably done something wrong.
Yuta's eyes stung.
Seeing his sadness Satoru panicked.
"No, no, no, I'm not pulling you out of school" he assures.
Yuta blinks away his tears. "Your not?"
Satoru smiles "offcourse not, you had a bad dream yesterday, i just want to cheer you up" he explains.
"But you have to go to school, won't they be mad?" Yuta asks.
"Na, it's ok, we barely learn anything in school" Satoru replies.
Yuta still looked unsure.
Satoru dropped to his knees. "It's ok Yuta kay, let's go out and have fun" he says trying to convince Yuta
Yuta thinks for a few seconds before nodding. "Okay"
Satoru smiles. "Great" he says before taking Yuta's hand and heading towards Tsumiki and Megumi.
"Hey kiddos Yuta's staying home today" he says.
"Why?" Tsumiki asks.
"Yeah why?" Megumi asks looking suspicious.
"Umm......he has a doctor's appointment" Satoru lies before gesturing to Yuta not to say anything, he didn't want them (mainly Tsumiki) to feel left out.
"Oh ok, don't worry Yuta I'll take notes for you" Tsumiki says cheerfully.
Yuta smiles a little. "Thank you"
"Doctor's appointment" Megumi says, staring at Satoru suspiciously, Satoru starts whistling to look non chalant.
Megumi sighs, looking at Gojo was giving him a headache.
Satoru claps his hands loudly. "Great okay kids let's get you to school" he says before ushering the kids out of the house.
***************
Satoru walked holding onto Yuta's hand and occasionally sneaking glances at the eight year old.
Yuta had a dull look at his face and his lips still slightly trembled, he was still so upset.
Satoru didn't like it, he looked the same way he did when Satoru met him, sad, scared and alone
"Not for long, I'll turn that frown upside down" Satoru thought as they approached an amusement park.
All kids loved amusement parks, even grumpy Megumi so surely Yuta will too.
"Are you excited Yuta huh?" Satoru asks hoping to get a reaction out of him.
Yuta just looked, no change in demeanor.
Satoru sighs, this was going to be harder than he thought.
"Come on buddy" Satoru says, he picks Yuta up and places him on his shoulders.
"We're going to have so much fun" he says.
Yuta just nods.
They went on so many ride, rollercoaster, ferris wheel, merry go round, go carts but no matter how many nothing made Yuta smile or laugh.
"Here you go Yuta" Satoru says handing the boy an ice cream cone.
"Thank you" Yuta says as they continue their walk.
"Did you enjoy the rides, which one's your favorite?" Satoru asks, maybe if he got Yuta to open up he'd feel happy.
"I liked the merry go round, the rollercoaster was kind of scary though" Yuta says in a monotone voice.
He didn't sound like an excited kid.
"Great, let's go to the zoo, you like animals right?" Satoru asks.
Yuta nods
"Not much of a talker i see" Satoru says to himself.
***********
The zoo was a bust, it didn't make Yuta happy either, if anything some of the animals scared him and he clinged to Satoru's leg the entire time.
"Zoo didn't work, let's go Yuta" Satoru says to the little boy who was still clinging to him.
"I'm sorry" Yuta says.
"Don't apologize ok"
*************
Yuta always heard don't apologize from Satoru but he couldn't help it.
Satoru went through this, skipping school and spending all this money on these different locations just to get him to smile.
But he couldn't.
Yuta hugged his knees to his chest and sobbed quietly.
They were at a carnival and Gojo went to buy cotton candy leaving Yuta alone to reflect.
He didn't understand why he couldn't be happy like Gojo wanted, to smile like a normal kid, but he couldn't. When he got like this he just couldn't.
"I'm wasting Gojo's generosity, I'm so selfish" Yuta says to himself.
"Hey Yuta I'm back, i got cotton candy" he says.
He frowns when he sees the eight year old face buried in his knees.
He takes a seat and gently shakes Yuta.
"Hey are you ok kiddo?" He asks.
Yuta doesn't reply or raise his head, he didn't want Gojo to see him cry.
Satoru frown deepens and he raises Yuta head, Yuta tries to lower it but Satoru was way stronger than him.
"Yuta what's wrong?" He asks. "Why are you crying?"
"I'm ok really, i just have something in my eye" Yuta mumbles.
"Yuta please don't lie to me" Satoru begs, growing more worried with each growing second.
Yuta's tears increase. "I-im so sorry, i know you want me to be happy but i just feel so sad, I'm sorry i can't smile and laugh like a normal kid, I'm wasting your time, you should just send me back" Yuta says, voice cracking.
Satoru feels a pang of guilt for making Yuta feel so pressured to be happy, he doesn't want him to think he's not normal just because he's sad.
After losing Geto Satoru remembered how upset he was, he just couldn't be happy, he shouldn't have pressured Yuta into being.
Satoru pulls Yuta into his lap, Yuta looks up at him with his tears stricken face.
"Your normal Yuta, it's ok if you're sad especially after having a bad dream, i shouldn't have made you feel like you couldn't cry" Satoru says, looking at Yuta with understanding.
"Your not mad I'm not happy?" Yuta asks innocently still looking unsure.
Satoru smiles at him. "Offcourse not, it's ok not to be ok, sometimes people just need time to feel better on their own, I'm sorry i forced you" Satoru says.
Yuta sniffles and gives a weak smile. "Thank you Gojo" he says before hugging him and laying his head on his lap.
"I'm glad i met you" Yuta says.
"Me too" Satoru says with a smile while petting Yuta's hair.
Satoru held Yuta in his arms, being his comfort untill he felt better.