Chapter Text
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, b-
Reluctantly opening his eyes, Satoru turns his alarm off. To be precise, it was his third and final alarm. He pulls his sleeping mask off and stares up at the ceiling for a few minutes before sighing loudly and noting that it’s time for him to get out of his comfortable bedding. Satoru goes to his closet and grabs a baby blue dress shirt, black slacks, and a pair of black socks - a typical outfit for his office job. He grabs an undershirt from the bedside table and changes into his outfit for the day. He needs to follow the same routine - left sock, right sock, pants, undershirt, and shirt.
Satoru heads into the master bath and completes his daily skin care routine, followed by his hair. He stares at himself in the mirror and realizes that he barely recognizes himself. Obviously nothing drastic changed overnight, but Satoru notes the bags under his eyes and the slight wrinkles forming on his face. He rubs his eyes, turning away from the mirror and leaves the bathroom completely. This isn’t something that he can think about right now.
He heads into the hallway and smiles to himself as he heads closer to Megumi’s room. Last week, Megumi brought home a picture that he drew at school and told Satoru he wanted to put it on the door.
“Gojo! Look what we did at school today!”
Satoru looks up from the boring statistics on his laptop and glances at Megumi’s artwork. It’s extremely hard for him to resist bursting into laughter at the ridiculous drawing of three stick figures in front of him.
“‘Gumi! This is awesome! You are so talented. You know when you’re older you should become an artist!”
Megumi turns his head in shame at the compliments. Satoru has learned that Megumi did not grow up in a household that regularly showed affection - he wants Megumi to know that he is an amazing kid and can trust others.
“Can you help me put it on my door?” Megumi faces back towards Satoru and looks nervous.
“Of course, anything for my ‘Gumi!” Satoru smiles, quickly stands up, and ruffles Megumi’s hair.
“Hey! Stop it!”
After knocking on the door, Satoru waits for a response. When he doesn’t get one, he slowly cracks open Megumi’s door. He peers into the bedroom and sees his son peacefully sleeping, snuggling his wolf plushie. Honestly, Satoru thought the stuffed animal was ugly, but it was one of the only things that Megumi had kept from his old home. It was because of this that he refrained himself from bullying the ugly wolf.
“Megumi,” Satoru attempts. “‘Gumi, hey buddy. It’s time to wake up.”
Megumi stirs awake rubbing his eyes and sits upright. Satoru smiles down at him and ruffles his hair, leaving his room. From the hallway he can hear Megumi grimace about Satoru messing up his hair, making him chuckle to himself as he heads into the kitchen. He quickly makes both their breakfast and lunch, then sets the table. Once everything is ready, he heads into the hall bathroom to check up on Megumi and let him know that breakfast is ready.
He watches as Megumi struggles to make short spikes in his hair, a hairstyle that Satoru himself once had when he was younger. He was the one that had taught Megumi how to put gel in his hair and create spikes, but Megumi was still not the best at it.
“Hey, let me help.”
“No, I got it!”
“Megumi, you’ve got gel dripping down your face. Let me help you out, okay?”
After they ate breakfast in silence (Megumi was still upset at him for ‘messing up’ his hair), the pair headed to Satoru’s sedan. Satoru drops Megumi off at school with an ‘I love you’ and Megumi says bye to Satoru with the only way he knows how, by slamming the door in his face. It never failed to make Satoru laugh, he loved to embarrass Megumi.
On the drive to the office, Satoru turns the radio on and listens to songs that he has never heard before. He zones out and thinks about what he can make for dinner tonight, making note that he should call Megumi’s stepmother later and ask about Tsumiki. Sooner than he would have liked, he arrives at his office building and parks his car. He swipes his badge at the front door and heads towards the elevator - hitting the up button. After reaching the level where his company is located, he heads to his cubicle and sighs as he sits down.
“You okay?” Nanami looks over at Satoru with a concerned look. Satoru fakes a smile and logs into the computer on his desk.
“Yeah, how are you doing Nanami? Oh! How was your date yesterday?” Nanami makes an annoyed face in response to his tone. It was obvious that he did not want to draw attention to himself and his relationship like Satoru just unintentionally did.
“Gojo,” Nanami shushes him. Satoru laughs and figures that he would have to wait later at lunch for a response.
The day goes by quickly, Satoru tweaks and edits a handful of documents that he needs to submit to his supervisor later in the week. His job came easy to him, but it was never something that he planned to do for the rest of his life. Satoru’s parents were extremely overbearing and had planned for him to work in the corporate world once he was in secondary school. Once after working on a group project, Satoru made a comment about how he enjoyed having others listen to him and his ideas and his parents took that as a sign for their son to become a businessman.
Nanami abruptly stood up and Satoru looked down at the time, noting that it was time for their lunch break. Nanami was someone who did not work when he didn’t need to, however, he was always able to accomplish every task given to him. It was because of this that Satoru was able to know when it was time to leave for lunch and when to go home - Kento was extremely punctual.
Satoru follows the blonde into the office’s respective breakroom and pulls out his bento box that he had made earlier that morning. Nanami sighs as Satoru sits next to him, despite the other empty chairs in the room. Oblivious to Nanami’s dismay, Satoru munches on his food.
“So, how was the date?” Satoru breaks the silence in the room.
“Don’t talk while you’re eating - it’s both rude and gross.” Nanami looks at him with disgust. Satoru rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out at him. He was extremely childish for someone that was raising a child and holding a position in an extremely competitive company.
After realizing that Satoru was not going to apologize (he unfortunately has learned his lesson after being around Gojo for several years), Nanami sighs and begins to explain how his date went.
“It went well. He was really sweet, and I think we’re going to meet up again later in the week.” He attempts to hide his blush from Satoru, but the redness on his cheeks remains visible, contrasting against his complexion.
“I see,” Satoru’s tone dies down, and he clicks his tongue.
“Hm? What are you thinking about?” Nanami directs his attention to Satoru and notices that he is staring off into the distance.
“Nothing!” He starts laughing at the expression on his coworkers’ face. “I just never thought I would see the day that you of all people would be pursuing a relationship - you’re getting soft Nanamin.”
Kento rolls his eyes and goes back to eating his lunch that he had picked up earlier that day from the bakery across the street from their office building. Satoru zones out, once again, and thinks about how much different his life would be if he hadn’t let his parents control his life as a young adult. He was going to turn 29 this year, yet he hardly accomplished anything that he planned on doing when he was a young and naive teenager.
The day continues and eventually it is time for Satoru to pick up Megumi from school. It was his favorite time of the day - being able to leave his shitty office job and seeing his son. He might have hated his job, but at least he had somewhat flexible hours that allowed him to leave work early enough to pick up Megumi.
Satoru waits in the carline for a good 10 minutes until he finally sees Megumi rush towards the familiar car. Megumi hated crowds and always tried to avoid as many people as possible, but it was difficult at the end of the school day - all the students would huddle around outside looking for their parents or talk to one another.
“‘Gumi! How was your day today?” Satoru asks once Megumi finally gets into the car and puts his seatbelt on.
“It was fine,” Megumi faces the floorboard and tries to grab something from his backpack. Satoru would have to ask for more details later - it was obvious that Megumi was worn out from his day at school. Everyday was similar to this; Satoru would ask Megumi how his day went, but usually didn’t get many specifics until Satoru begged to hear everything that happened during the day. It was a behavior that Megumi learned from a young age, before he was officially adopted by Satoru.
Once they were home, Satoru turned the television on for Megumi (and himself - it was obvious that he enjoyed watching the cartoons more than Megumi) while he went into the spare bedroom and worked ahead on tasks that he would need to complete later on in the week. Satoru wanted to have a weekend dedicated to Megumi (and hopefully Tsumiki), one where he did not need to think about work and how much he would disappoint his parents if he lost this job. Now that he thought about it, the realization of how much his parents’ opinions affected him was upsetting. He was still dependent on their judgment despite cutting them out of his life.
After his eyes get irritated from staring at the computer screen for too long, Satoru gets up and heads to the kitchen to prepare dinner. He checks the fridge and sighs at the realization that he would need to go grocery shopping in a few days. Megumi’s head pops up from the couch at the noise and realizes that Gojo had finally left his office. He runs over and sits at the barstool next to the kitchen counter to get closer to him.
“Gojo,”
“Yeah?” Satoru turns around to face Megumi at the counter with several plates in his hand.
“I made some friends today at school.” Megumi smiles but looks down at the counter. Was he hiding his expression out of shame?
“You did? Oh my god ‘Gumi, that's amazing! I am so proud of you!” He sets the plates down and immediately comes over to hug Megumi from behind the barstool. This was a great first step - Megumi has always been shy around others that were his age, even around Satoru.
Megumi tried to push Satoru off, but unfortunately for Megumi, Satoru was determined to continue hugging him and patting him on the head. He wasn’t a dog? Why did Gojo do this to him? Megumi wondered if he would ever understand him. After a few more minutes of uncomfortable hugging, Satoru continues to prepare dinner and eventually the two eat and talk about their days.
“So then, Nanamin- wait. Did I tell you that Nanamin went on a date?” Satoru interrupts himself and wonders if he should be talking about this with an 8-year-old. Oh well.
“With that one guy from the bakery?” Megumi talks with his mouth full. He’s picking up on some of Satoru’s bad habits.
“Mhm, yeah. I forgot his name. Anyway, he said that it went well! We should spy on them the next time they meet up.” Satoru laughs to himself at the thought of an embarrassed, angry Nanami trying his hardest to not yell at Satoru and his son next to his date.
“I don’t think that Nanami-san would like that.”
“That’s why it’s funny!”
After eating dinner, Satoru and Megumi catch up on their favorite show at the moment. After Megumi yawns, Satoru turns the television off and tells Megumi that it’s time to get ready for bed. Megumi argues with him more than once, but Satoru tells him that if he doesn’t get ready for bed then they wouldn’t be able to hang out over the weekend. Obviously, this was a lie - Satoru would always have time for Megumi, but he was a growing boy that needed sleep.
Both Satoru and Megumi head into their respective bathrooms to shower and brush their teeth. After changing into his nightwear, Satoru heads down the hallway and knocks on Megumi’s door - just like he did earlier in the day. After hearing a small ‘come in’, Satoru opens the door and sees Megumi shuffling the sheets around on his bed.
“Just wanted to say goodnight,” Satoru sits down on the edge of Megumi’s bed. His bed looked huge in comparison to the small child.
“Goodnight,” Megumi finally says after settling down hugging that godforsaken, ugly wolf plushie.
“Sleep well,” Satoru stands up and ruffles Megumi’s hair. He turns back around to look at him once more before turning the light off and beginning to shut the door.
“Wait!” Megumi exclaimed.
“Yeah? What’s wrong Megumi?” Satoru immediately halts what he was doing and turns his attention towards him.
“Can you leave the door open tonight? I, um-” Megumi trails off and looks down.
“Sure buddy, I’ll be right down the hall if you need anything, okay?” Satoru smiles at him and leaves Megumi’s door open.
He heads back down the hallway and grabs his laptop from the spare bedroom, heading towards his bedroom. Satoru still had a few things that he wanted to finish for work before he went to sleep. Besides, he didn’t think that he would be able to get much sleep anyway - he never does anymore.
Once Satoru realizes how long he had been working (off the clock - Nanami would probably give him a mouthful later), he shuts his laptop and grabs his sleep mask. He tries his best to shut his mind off, but unfortunately it seemed like it was going to be another night where he would be up late running through what he would do in various unlikely scenarios. Satoru attempts to remember a time when he was able to sleep peacefully, without these overwhelming thoughts occurring each night. It had been a while.
When he finally does sleep, Satoru dreams about being with Megumi and Tsumiki laughing at the table. He felt genuinely happy, and he didn’t feel like he had to put on a performance for everyone to appreciate his company. There were others at the table too. Was it Nanami? No, the person didn’t have blonde hair. Who were they? It kind of looks like-
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, b-
The week carries on and Satoru no longer remembers the dream or how it made him feel that next morning when he was rudely interrupted by his alarm. Nanami ends up going on a second date with ‘bakery boy’ (Satoru still hasn’t asked for his name), and something in Satoru longs for someone that he can spend more time with. Maybe he should start to hang out with Nanami more? Was he jealous of ‘bakery boy’? Did he have a crush on Nanami?
Eventually, it was the weekend and Satoru couldn’t be more excited to spend time with Megumi and Tsumiki. Her mom had agreed to let Satoru pick her up so they could have a ‘family’ day. After Satoru and Megumi get dressed, they get into the car and head downtown to pick up Tsumiki. After seeing the living conditions of Tsumiki’s home the first time, Satoru tried his best to let the adoption agency allow him to take in both children. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to since her birth mother was still alive and willing to take her in. Apparently the government didn’t care much about the condition of the homes that children were living in, as long as the child was with their birth parent(s). At least, that’s what Satoru told himself.
The three of them headed towards their favorite downtown cafe and ate breakfast together. They didn’t have much time together before Tsumiki’s mom needed her back at the house.
“How has your week been Tsumiki?” Satoru asked, right before stuffing his face with a strawberry crepe.
“It went okay. Mom let me help her around the house and I got to walk the dog outside all by myself for the first time!” Tsumiki smiled and laughed at Megumi’s shocked expression.
“You have a dog?! Gojo, why don’t we have a dog?” Megumi pleaded as he looked towards Satoru with big eyes. Satoru couldn’t contain his laughter and laughed louder than was probably polite in a public space.
“‘Gumi, how would the two of us possibly manage to care for a dog?” Satoru continues to snicker at his son.
“Easy! I could take it on walks, they could sleep in my room, and I could feed it.” Megumi looked so confident in his answer, it was hard for Satoru to deny his request.
“As much as I would say this is a great idea for you to learn about responsibilities - our apartment building doesn’t allow pets.” Megumi grumbles in response and Satoru could only laugh as he ruffled his hair.
“How was your week at school Megumi?” Tsumiki finally spoke again after watching the two bicker about the logistical reasoning about why their apartment didn’t allow pets.
“I made two friends,” Megumi looked at his sister and smiled, knowing that she would be proud of him. Tsumiki was the oldest of the two of them and was always pushing Megumi to try his best to get to know others rather than scare them away. Satoru obnoxiously spit some of his hot chocolate onto himself and the table.
“Friends?! I thought you said you made a friend?” Satoru wonders aloud, attempting to clean up the mess he made.
“Gojo, I told you this on Tuesday.” Megumi looks embarrassed as Satoru once again caused a scene in the cafe. He doesn’t think they’ll be able to come in next time they get to hang out with Tsumiki.
“That was a long time ago,” Satoru attempts to reason with the 8-year-old. Tsumiki laughs at their fighting and eventually everything continues as normal. Megumi and Gojo would continue to bicker throughout their family day up until they had to drop Tsumiki back home. Afterwards, the mood of the day would always take a shift and the two of them were no longer in a cheerful mood.
The weekends were Satoru’s favorite and least favorite part of the week. He couldn’t wait to repeat the cycle and follow the weekly routine once more.