Chapter Text
“Satoru, I’m in love with you.”
That was a summer day in 2006.
Geto was nervous all day leading up to his confession and his nerves spiked higher than he thought was possible after those words came out of his mouth. What if Gojo thought he was a creep? What if he thought he was only pretending to be friends with him to get into his pants. What if Gojo resented him after. Did Geto just ruin his one chance at being happy with someone?
“Oh my God, I love you too. So much.”
Oh. Never mind.
Gojo looked as if he was on the verge of tears. So overjoyed that Geto felt the same. So overjoyed that he was able to confess his love for the one person who made him truly happy.
They dated all the way up until high school graduation. A talk about their futures changed everything.
“You know I want to teach, but you know I want to go out and do-“ Geto struggled to find the words and also not offend Gojo. “-do something substantial with my life before settling down and working here.” Geto feels awful. He doesn’t want to leave Gojo. But he knows Gojo can’t leave. Not with what was thrown onto him at such a young age.
“And I get that love, but- you’re going to be gone for years. And I would follow you across the world. But… I can’t. Not right now. I don’t think us being miles apart is going to be good for us.” Gojo said. He was heartbroken about the situation. The two had felt this conversation looming above their relationship the last couple of weeks. Gojo wished the two could go back when they didn’t need to worry about college and long-distance relationships. They only had to worry about hiding hickeys and missing essays.
“Then maybe instead of being unhappy and together, we should be happy and apart. And I know you know what I mean.” God, Gojo wished he didn’t.
“Not sure if I can be happy and apart but, yeah. I think it’s for the best.” Gojo could feel the tears forming in his eyes. He just had to wait a little longer to let them out.
“Me too. I will always love you Satoru. Please never forget that.” It felt wrong to kiss Gojo right now, so Geto placed a hand on Gojo’s shoulder and let it drop to brush his forearm before he left. Gojo was unable to let the tears stay back. As soon as Geto’s hand left his arm he broke down.
God, what was he supposed to do now?
--
Megumi remembers the day Gojo came home to him and Tsumiki after the breakup. He remembers the never-ending tears and the constant sound of the same three dramas playing on the TV. He remembers Tsumiki telling him it was his turn to go sit with the wreck of an 18-year-old. Whenever it was his turn to sit with Gojo, they always did the same thing. Gojo looked over at the boy, giving him the most bone-crushing hug, Gojo crying harder than he did before, then Megumi moved closer to Gojo to lean against him which only made him even more emotional.
This routine lasted around 2 months before Gojo realized he needed to get himself together. The day Gojo left the house to go somewhere that wasn’t the supermarket a block away from the house they were living in, was the day Megumi swore to never shed tears over a romantic partner ever.
He was unable to keep that vow, as he ended up crying when Itadori confessed to him. Thankfully, they were not tears of sadness. They were overwhelming tears of joy. The boy he had been pining over for a year liked- no loved him back. Why wouldn’t Megumi start crying?
--
“Guys! Guys, guess what. We’re finally getting a new teacher!” Kugisaki says excitedly. Normally, people barely even notice when a new teacher enters the school, but this was different.
Norbara, Megumi, Yuuji, and very few other students attended a very prestigious private school. The most people in one year was usually ten. Their year being the smallest with just the three. Granted, the school was in a rather rural area, with few people living nearby. Still, getting into the school proved very difficult. And since getting into the school as a student was nearly impossible, getting in as a teacher was even harder. So the school rarely saw new staff members. That’s why it excited Nobara when she found out there was finally going to be a new teacher.
“Really? How do you know?” Itadori said excitedly.
“Maki told me. She said he used to go here, but he went away for a while. But now he’s back here teaching! I think he’ll be teaching our science classes.”
“Oh good. I never liked the science teacher. She always looked at me funny.” Itadori said, remembering all the dirty looks he got in her class.
“When’s he going to be here?” Fushiguro asked.
“I think tomorrow.”
“Good,” Itadori said, still thinking about their stink-eye-giving teacher.
--
“So did you hear about the new science teacher? I think you’ll like him.” Shoko said.
“What? No. Why do you say that?” Gojo questions, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s Suguru.”
“I’m sorry?” Gojo must’ve misheard her.
“You heard me. Suguru is coming back here to teach.” Shoko repeated.
“Why?” Gojo was in disbelief. Why would he come back?
“C’mon Gojo. He told you himself that once he was done doing whatever he ended up doing, he was going to come back here to teach. He told you.” Shoko said, trying to jog some of Gojo’s memories, despite them being rather upsetting memories.
“God, he did. Ugh, he did. Why haven’t I prepared myself for this? Shoko, what do I do?” Gojo pleaded. He had gotten himself to a place in life where he felt secure. Financially and emotionally. Having to all of a sudden take care of a ten-year-old and a twelve-year-old at the age of eighteen set him way back financially and then breaking up with the love of his life two months later did not help his mental state.
“Maybe you should’ve thought about this a day before it happened. Talk to him at least. Try to make things less awkward.” Shoko suggested.
“Maybe. But that’ll be so awkward I think I’d die.” Gojo said, trying to think about what he could say to Geto. “And what if he got super hot? How would I be able to do anything?”
“I’m sure he didn’t get that much hotter.” She replied, rolling her eyes.
“You don’t know that.”
--
The day of Geto’s arrival arrived and the three first years were all very intrigued to meet this new teacher. Kugisaki was asking all kinds of questions to the two boys.
“I wonder what he looks like.”
“What if he’s old and weird.”
“What if he’s super nice and gives me good grades?”
“He better not ruin my GPA.”
Fushiguro and Itadori were just excited about the change of character, both were tired of the old lady before. The three were snapped out of their own thoughts when they heard the door open revealing the new teacher.
“Hi, guys. Please call me Geto. Oh, you’re a small group.” He introduced.
Uh-oh. Megumi recognized that face. He had only seen it a couple times when he was younger, but each experience was very memorable. He knew Gojo was not going to be happy about the new arrival.
“Phew! You’re not old.” Kugisaki exclaimed. Geto simply raised an eyebrow.
Yuuji raised an enthusiastic hand “Kugisaki said you used to go here. Why would you come back to work here? Once I graduate, I’m never coming back here.” Yuuji said firmly. Fushiguro couldn’t help but grin at his boyfriend's comment.
Geto laughed “Well, I like teaching. And when they found out, the school board said they wanted me to come back and work here. And they pay well.” Geto said with a smile. “Okay, well I’m pretty sure I know all your names. There's not many to remember. Kugisaki Nobara?” He said pointing at the girl. She nodded in response. “Itadori Yuuji?” He said pointing at the pink-haired boy. He also nodded. “And…” Geto said, dragging the word as he looked back down at the paper with their names.
“Fushiguro Megumi. Oh.” There it was. Megumi was waiting for this awkward interaction when Geto realized that he was teaching the same child that his ex-boyfriend adopted.
“Hi,” Megumi said with a awkward wave. Nobara sensed something. She wasn’t quite sure what it was, but she sensed something.
“Fushiguro. Do you know him?” Nobara said with a rather accusatory tone.
“Um, yes. He um-” He looked to Geto to see if he could help him out. Thankfully, he saw how awkward Megumi was about the situation.
“His adoptive father, Satoru Gojo, is my ex-boyfriend,” Geto said.
“What!?” Itadori and Kugisaki said at the same time eyes darting back and forth between Megumi and Geto. Megumi felt like dying at that moment.
“Yes, but let's not dwell on that any longer. It was a very long time ago. And besides, I'm here to teach you science, not talk about mine and Fushiguro’s father’s love life."
Megumi was not excited with what he was going to have to deal with after the day was over.
--
“Gojo!”
He looked from the papers he was grading to see Megumi walking towards him.
“Megumi! Hey. Wait- you know you’re not supposed to be here right?”
“Yeah. You gonna kick me out?” Gojo went silent. Sure, students weren’t allowed in the teacher's lounge but Megumi never initiated a conversation with Gojo anymore so who was he to shoo him away?
“What’s up, kid?” Gojo said leaning his elbow on the table the two were sitting at resting his chin on his hand.
“Well, you know about the… new addition to the faculty, right?” Megumi said cautiously. He saw Gojo’s mood dampen.
“Yes. And I know who it is.”
“Well. I just came to say, please talk to him. I don’t care how awkward it’ll be, just talk to him. It’ll be more uncomfortable if you don’t. For the both of us.” Megumi said bluntly.
“Yeah. I will today. I just- I’m… Nevermind. Don’t worry, I am going to talk to him after school ends.” Gojo sighs.
“Good.”
“Now scram before I kick you out,” Gojo said, using his hand to shoo Megumi away.
“You would never,” Megumi said with a small smile as he got up and left.
--
“Megumi! There you are! We’ve been looking for you!” Itadori calls out from the empty hall. Despite it being lunch break, the hallways were always empty. Not enough people to fill them.
“Hi Yuuji.” He said giving the other a small smile and pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“Ew. We need to talk Fushiguro.” Nobara said rolling her eyebrows. Megumi knew he was going to be interrogated by the two at some point about their new teacher.
“Fine, What do you wanna hear?” Megumi said begrudgingly as they reached a table for them to sit at. Itadori and Kugisaki are on one side of the table and Megumi is on the other. Now he really felt like if was getting interrogated. “Everything. Tell us everything about Geto and Gojo and you.” Nobara replied.
“Well, they started dating back in high school. Before Gojo met me. Tsumiki and I only met Geto a couple times, but from what I saw, they were really happy with each other. Got irritating at some points. But after they graduated they broke up. I had to deal with Gojo crying about that for two months. Not fun.” Megumi explained.
“That’s it? Why’d they break up?” Itadori asked.
“I dunno. Gojo never really properly told me. All I know is Geto wanted to leave here and Gojo didn’t. And… couldn’t. And from what I could understand from Gojo’s constant crying was that they both believed long distance wouldn’t work out.”
“What?! That's so tragic!” Yuuji cried out.
“It is! But! Geto’s back! So can’t they get back together?” Nobara questioned.
“Well that makes sense, but I guess it’s not that easy,” Megumi said. “I don’t care if they get back together or not, I just don’t want Gojo to be all mopey and for Geto to be all weird with me.” Megumi shrugged as he got up. Norbara and Itadori followed and Itadori took Megumi’s hand in his.
“Well, if we ever break up because of long distance and we find each other again, I wouldn’t hesitate to get back together with you again.” Itadori said smiling at Megumi.
“Well lucky for you, I’m not going anywhere,” Megumi said smiling back. Nobara rolled her eyes. Her eyes are going to get stuck one day.
--
Gojo: shoko
Gojo: shoko
Gojo: shoko
Shoko: What.
Gojo: my own son is forcing me to talk to geto
Shoko: Good, you should listen to him.
Gojo: rude
Gojo: i am going to talk to him
Gojo: but how
Shoko: Wdym just go up to him and say something.
Gojo: its not that easy
Gojo: do i just approach him randomly???
Gojo: how should i greet him????
Shoko: Walk up to him and say hi and whatever, and tell him you don’t want things to be awkward.
Gojo: sometimes i think ur a robot.
Shoko: Bye.
It wasn’t that easy right? He can’t just saunter up to Geto and tell him to not make things awkward. No way! And how was Gojo going to find Geto? He doesn’t know his schedule! And he isn’t going to walk around the whole school just to-
Oh, no need. Gojo was snapped out of his panicked trance when he saw Geto walking towards him looking down at his phone.
“Uh, Geto!” He called out. He felt like pissing himself, he’s never been more nervous in his life. Geto looked up when he heard his name to see Gojo and started to freak out a little bit.
“Oh, uh- Gojo. Hi.” Geto said with an awkward wave.
“So, um, how are things going?” Gojo said shyly, rocking back and forth on his heels.
“Uh, good.” He paused. There was a long awkward silence. It probably lasted 2 seconds but it felt like two hours for the two. Geto shook his head “Sorry, things are going good. I’m feeling better.” Gojo always knew Geto struggled with his mental health and keeping himself healthy, so it was nice to hear that Geto wasn’t feeling as bad as he used to.
“How are- how are you doing?” Geto asked.
“I’m fine. Nothing big happening right now.”
“Oh. Well, how’s Megumi and Tsumiki?”
“Tsumiki’s good, she got sick for a while, scared me and Megumi, but she’s doing better now.” He said smiling at the thought of Tsumiki being better. Megumi was terrified for her when he found out she got sick. “Megumi’s… good. He’s going through his teenage brooding phase, but I suppose he’s always been like that.” He said bringing a finger to his chin and smiling softly.
“That’s good. I’m glad. Megumi actually in one of the classes I teach.”
“Is he? He never told me, but figures, he was the one to tell me to t- never mind.” Gojo said, stopping himself before he outed the fact that he was being bossed around by his 15-year-old son.
Geto’s small smile dropped. “Look. Let’s just say it.”
“What?”
“Well you know, given our… past history, neither of us want this to be awkward or uncomfortable.”
“Oh, yeah I guess so. But, how do we make things less weird?” Gojo asked. He secretly wished he would say for them to get back together.
“Well, I don’t know. But the fact that we’re talking about it is a step in the right direction.” He secretly wished Gojo asked him to get back together with him.
“Yeah. But I just- I don’t want us ignoring our past with each other.”
“How could I?” Geto said with a smile.
“True, I was a very integral part of your teenage development,” Gojo replied with a sarcastic smile.
“Oh don’t go around taking credit for raising me in my teens.” He said gently pushing Gojo’s shoulder with his hand.
“But like, I kinda did,” Gojo said laughing.
“Please.” He responded, rolling his eyes. Geto and Gojo began walking to nowhere in particular, no longer in an awkward silence. It felt comfortable. Almost like how it used to be.
Almost.
Gojo quickly pulled out his phone to text Shoko and Megumi about his successful interaction with Geto.
Gojo: i talked to him
Shoko: Good. Now don't bother me about him anymore.
Gojo: i talked to him
Megumi: Ok.
--
A week goes by and Gojo and Geto work through the awkward conversations and the catching up on each other's lives. Conversations between the two have become similar to how they used to be, but they both realize that it will probably never be the same. Unless they get back together. And Gojo desperately wants to get back with Geto.
Around six months after the two broke up and Geto had left, Gojo recognized the fact that most people don’t stay together with their high school boyfriend. But he didn’t realize he’d also lose his best friend. After they broke up, the Geto left right away. Leaving Gojo no time to say goodbye. He wanted to hate Geto for that but he couldn’t bring himself to feel such negative feelings about him. However, Gojo still holds a small grudge against Geto for it. He hated not talking to his best friend every day. It ate him from the inside for years.
Geto on the other hand is very unsure about his feelings about the situation. On one hand, he’s glad he’s with Gojo again. He really missed him. The first few months away were hard for Geto. He didn’t have the energy to do anything. The heavy weight of losing his best friend plus all of the self-worth issues he’d been carrying for the past two years was definitely taking a toll on him. He was able to clean himself up after a period of rotting in bed and crying his eyes out, but he still had the pain of leaving Gojo eating at his brain. He was still worried that Gojo despised him, despite them getting along well. He thought Gojo was pitying him. He thought Gojo was over him and had moved on. Geto was also heavily overthinking.
Maybe they should talk about it. That's the right thing to do. Right? What if Gojo had found another? That thought made Geto's heart cry. He was never able to bring himself to go out with anyone else. He went out on a few dates, but they never worked out. He never clicked with the person. Maybe it’s because none of them were Gojo.
“Satoru.” The two were sat next to each other on a bench outside of the school. The school day had ended around an hour ago and Gojo usually would’ve been gone by now, but when he saw Geto sitting alone looking at his phone, he decided to stay a little longer. They had been sitting in a comfortable silence. Gojo’s head perked up from the book he was reading.
“Hm? What’s up?”
“I want to… apologize,” Geto said as he sat across from Gojo.
“What? Apologize? For what?” Gojo tilted his head. Geto always found it adorable when Gojo did that.
“For leaving. For leaving you so suddenly.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Gojo said closing his book and placing it beside him.
“I mean, I was going to leave in any case but, I feel so bad for just leaving and not letting you say goodbye.” He explained.
“Right. I was always kind of upset at you for that. But I couldn’t bring myself to resent you for it. I could never. You could kill an entire village and I would be so mad at you but I don’t think I would resent you.” Gojo said smiling. Geto laughed. Oh, how Gojo loved Geto’s laugh.
“Just one question.”
“Hm?” Geto’s head perked up.
“Why’d you do it? Why did you leave so suddenly? Why didn’t you give us a chance to have a proper goodbye?” Gojo’s mood changed. Geto took a deep breath before answering.
“I was scared. I was scared that you would say goodbye and I’d see you and not want to leave you. But I had to leave. Not because of you. But you had and still do, such a strong grasp on me. That was the only way I could let go.” Geto ducked his head down. He felt terrible. Gojo felt terrible too, but for different reasons.
“Suguru…” He said placing his hand atop Geto’s which was resting on his leg. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for making you feel tied down.” He said, turning to hug Geto.
“No Satoru, you never once made me feel like that. I promise. You were always so encouraging about what I wanted to do. I was just-“ Geto said, embracing Gojo back like his life depended on it. “-I just was so in love with you and so connected with you.” Geto was aware of how cheesy that had sounded, but he honestly didn’t care because that’s how he really felt. He could hear small sniffles coming from Gojo. That only made him more emotional.
Gojo pulled away from their embrace, tears very visible in his eyes. “So was I. You are my better half. And you just left. And you know how I am with saying proper goodbyes. So please never do that again.” Geto could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. He did nothing to stop them from falling.
“I’m so sorry Satoru. I’m so so sorry.” He sobbed as he threw himself back into Gojo’s arms. “I felt terrible and I still do. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I forgive you. I can never stay upset with you.” Gojo said as he brushed up and down Geto’s back to try and soothe him. “It’s alright baby.” He cooed.
After a few minutes, Gojo heard the sobs turn into soft sniffles. Geto pushed away from Gojo and rubbed at his eyes.
“Thank you, Satoru. And I’m sorry.” He said softly.
Gojo rubbed at his own eyes, feeling tears he didn’t realize had fallen.
“It’s okay. I promise I forgive you. Just please never do it again.” He said with a smile. Geto couldn’t help but smile back.
“I would never.”
--
A week goes by and Gojo and Geto are content with where they are in their relationship. Content with staying friends. But they weren’t content with staying just friends forever. The problem was neither knew that. The only one who noticed how they really felt was Megumi. And it was driving him crazy.
He had to deal with witnessing all of the lingering stares whenever the two were in the same room. He had to deal with Gojo rattling on about his interactions with Geto, without realizing he sounded like a lovesick teenager. And it had only been a week of this behaviour. There was no way he’d survive any longer. And the worst part is no one else saw what he was seeing.
“Yuuji. Nobara.” He said approaching the two. They were sitting on a couch in the school common room. Like most rooms in the school, it was empty.
“Hey, Megs!” Itadori says excitedly.
“Yo,” Nobara says without looking up from her phone.
“I need to talk to you.” He says sitting across the two with an overly serious face.
“Oh, did we do something wrong?” Itadori asks nervously.
“Yes.” Nobara looks up from her phone when she hears this. “What? What did we do?” She asks.
“I don’t think you guys are noticing something very terrible happening.” The two looked genuinely worried. Megumi was fully aware that he was playing up the situation for dramatics, but he thought it was funny.
“Gojo and Geto.”
“Huh? What about them?” Nobara asked, not hiding the annoyance in her voice.
“I can’t believe you aren’t noticing this,” he said pointing at Nobara. “They’re… they’re acting like how me and Yuuji acted before we started dating.” He said. It felt embarrassing to admit but it was the only way he could describe it.
Nobara was shocked. Her mouth was hanging open as she sat in disbelief for several moments before finally speaking. Itadori was also at a loss for words.
“No. No way. This is crazy.” She said,
“I know.”
“Wait, so they’re into each other? Again?” Itadori asked, looking shocked.
“I think so,” Megumi replied solemnly.
“This is good, right? They broke up and now have the chance to get back together. Why is this terrible?” Nobara asked.
“Because they’re awful together.” Itadori and Nobara looked at each other in confusion. “They’re probably one of the most dramatic, affectionate, and cheesy couples I have ever seen. And I only had to deal with it for a couple months. But if they get back together, they’re staying together. Which means I’ll have to deal with that for the rest of my life.” He explained.
“So… you don’t want them to get back together?” Itadori questioned.
“That’s pretty mean dude. You don’t want your own father to be in a happy relationship?” Nobara said.
“No, that’s not- He’s not my father first. Second, I want them to get back together. Having to watch them stare at each other sucks. I just don’t want them to be all affectionate and annoying.”
“Well, they were just teenagers when they started dating. They’re older now. So they probably won’t be that bad, right?” Yuuji explained.
“Gojo alone has barely changed since high school,” Megumi said flatly.
“Oh…”
“Well Geto’s probably gotten better, and besides you’re older now. If it gets to that, just tell Gojo to quit it. He’ll stop. He hates making you annoyed.” Nobara says.
“Yet he still does,” Megumi mutters.
“Well, either way, we need to figure out how to get them back together,” Nobara says, ignoring Megumi. “Without them ending up being an annoying couple!” Itadori adds. “That too.’ Nobara agrees.
“And how do you plan on doing that?”
“Simple. Confront them and make them face their feelings for the other, and then they’ll realize how in love they are with each other!” Nobara exclaims.
“So basically what you did with me and Megumi?”
“Yep.” She nods confidently.
“I can’t believe that such a simple plan worked on me,” Megumi said, shaking his head, but he was grateful it did work on him.
“Megumi, you talk with Gojo. Itadori and I will talk with Geto.” Nobara ordered.
“Fine.”