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“ Fuck! ”
Gojo rushes to the bathroom when he hears Megumi yell. “Megumi? What’s wrong buddy?” He asks with worry, it’s very rare for Megumi to be expressive. An ugly wet laugh comes out of the teenager’s mouth and all of Gojo’s internal alerts immediately start ringing at the sound of it.
His body fills with worry as he finally sets foot in the bathroom and takes in the sight in front of him. Megumi is sitting on the floor, hugging his legs tightly and tears flow down his cheeks.
In an attempt to not overwhelm him even more, Gojo kneels down to avoid towering over the young man. “Hey,” he says in a soothing voice. He brings his hand to the boy but only hovers over him, waiting for consent as he knows better than to directly touch him when he’s in a state like that. Megumi nods vigorously, as if pleading for Gojo’s touch, and the sight breaks his heart. He immediately surges forwards and engulfs the younger boy in a bear hug which probably would have been too tight but the way Megumi seems to tighten his grip even more around Gojo’s middle is all the indication he needs to know that it isn’t.
If Gojo wasn’t too preoccupied by Megumi’s current state, he’d probably smile fondly as memories of similar hugs fill his mind. He remembers Suguru’s breakdowns and how he, too, would always love when Gojo hugged him tight during those times; it’s grounding , he had said.
Using the softest voice he can, he whispers. “Did something trigger it, or is it a bad day in general?” He hears Megumi’s stuttered breathing and his heart breaks a bit more again.
“I–” Megumi sniffles. “I was fine when I woke up. But then I went to the bathroom to get ready and I looked in the mirror and… I didn’t like what I saw. My– My chest –” An ugly sob comes out of his mouth while Gojo gently shushes him, tightening his grip around him and trying to reassure him as much as he can. “It’s bigger, Satoru. I– I can’t hide it anymore with just oversized clothes.”
Gojo’s expression saddens when he realizes that his assumption about the situation was right. He truly, wholeheartedly, wishes it wasn’t. It always pains him to see Megumi like this, and he knows that it isn’t even a quarter of how the boy himself feels.
Now that Megumi turned 16, his body started to develop more and more. Gojo saw how the boy truly despised it and wished he could do something to help. Megumi never asks for anything, always feeling like a burden and Gojo wishes he could change that. He wants the boy to feel at home with him. Yes, he isn’t his biological son, but that has never, and never will matter to him.
Megumi is his son.
“Hey, Gumi,” he starts in a gentle but sure voice. “Do you think maybe a binder could help make you feel better?”
He feels Megumi still under him and for a second he’s afraid he said the wrong thing. “Binders are expensive,” is the reply he gets, mumbled against his chest. That isn’t a no. He knows Megumi, he’s learned to read between the lines.
He feels more mad at himself for not having talked about it sooner rather than at Megumi for preferring pain and discomfort to talking. But he won’t snap at him, that would be extremely ineffective and utterly useless, in addition to being an asshole move in general. “Money isn’t an issue.” He simply states.
“But–”
“No buts,” he interrupts, shaking his head and lifting his index finger – a sign for Megumi to not argue. The boy gets the message and nips at his bottom lip. “Come with me. We’ll look at some websites, I know a few good ones.”
Megumi gets up and splashes some water on his face in an attempt to relax himself. It doesn’t do wonders, but it does enough to ease him a bit. Gojo’s presence is what eases him the most, but he probably won’t ever voice that aloud.
They sit on the boy’s bed and he takes his laptop out. Gojo feels a tight pressure on his chest when he notices that all of the websites in the search bar are in purple instead of blue, meaning that Megumi has already visited all of them before. He does his best to control his expression and to will his eyes to not water, even though he utterly feels like a failure.
He knows he isn’t the best at making people comfortable, but he thought that he’d done a decent job with Megumi. Megumi isn’t just people, Megumi means more to him than anyone else. It truly pains him to see that the young boy preferred to suffer rather than ask him for help. It’s in those moments that he hates how Megumi adopted some of his own characteristics. Out of all his character traits, this one wasn’t something he wished for the boy to have.
He forces himself out of his thoughts, and glances at the boy snuggled to his side. “How about we take a white and a black one? That way you’ll be able to wear them with any clothes you want.”
Megumi abruptly turns his head to him, eyes wide. “Two?! That’s way too–”
“Don’t even dare say expensive.” Gojo challenges him, lifting his right eyebrow.
Megumi, honest-to-god, pouts as he turns his head back to his laptop’s screen. “Okay,” he says sheepishly. Gojo then shamelessly and intensely stares at him until the boy has selected the correct sizes and put the two binders in his basket. Only then does Gojo grin proudly at him, causing the boy to roll his eyes back so hard he’s afraid they’ll stay stuck.
Gojo then leaves to grab his credit card and enters the required information before confirming the order, “Done!” he exclaims. He then turns to Megumi to look at him more seriously, but still keeping his features soft. “But be careful, don’t over-wear them. The goal isn’t to hurt yourself, ‘kay?”
Megumi simply hums, clearly avoiding his gaze. It’s only then that Gojo notices the blush on the boy’s face. He starts to frown, not knowing what to make of that, but then Megumi suddenly jumps in his arms. He wraps his arms around Gojo and hugs him tightly before mumbling a small “Thank you.”
Gojo sighs in relief. “‘Course, buddy!” He grins and hugs him back.
They stay like that for a while. Megumi isn’t really one for physical touch usually, so Gojo always appreciates his son’s hugs as long as he can. Megumi is smiling at him when they part, and Gojo feels the rest of his uneasiness disappear slowly from his body at the sight. “We should receive them soon since I paid for the express shipping, but would you like sports bras in the meantime?”
Megumi frowns at him. “Why do you have sports bras? And more importantly, your bras would be way too big for me anyways.” He states very matter-of-factly, looking at him as if Gojo is an idiot to even suggest it in the first place.
Gojo snorts at that, he’s glad to see Megumi coming back to himself slowly. “The sports bras aren’t mine,” he rolls his eyes. “They’re kept in a drawer in my room with several clothes that I kept from highschool, so they should probably fit you. Do you want to try them on?”
Megumi eyes him suspiciously but he shrugs and doesn’t say anything more than a simple “Okay.”
Gojo leaves to his bedroom and opens his bottom drawer, immediately smiling at the memories the clothes bring to him. He retrieves the three sports bras that he finds and goes back to Megumi’s room. He hands them to the boy, a white and two black ones, who goes to the bathroom to try them on. That’s why he suggested a binder in each color; he remembers how Suguru found that it was easier to hide under his clothes. One white and two black ones because that’s what he wears more, and luckily Megumi does the same. The thought makes him smile.
Megumi comes out of the bathroom a few minutes later and he’s crying. Gojo immediately panics, the feeling of uneasiness fully coming back to him again. “Gumi, what’s wrong? Do they not fit? You don’t have to wear them if you don’t feel like it of course, it was simply a suggestion!” He starts to ramble and Megumi simply laughs. Wait what.
Megumi is definitely chuckling. “Look!” He turns around several times, showing his outfit. “It looks like I don’t even have breasts at all!” He exclaims, a blinding toothy smile on his face.
The sight before him has Gojo feel something rolling down his cheeks, and he knows it isn’t rain. He also feels his cheeks hurting from how much he’s grinning, but can’t find it in himself to be bothered. Genuinely smiling Megumi is by far his favorite Megumi.
“I promise I’ll pay for your surgery as soon as you’re of age.” He blurts out mindlessly, voice broken due to his tears. That wasn’t how he had planned to approach the topic, but he still means every word he just said.
Megumi is standing completely dumbfounded in front of him. “I can’t ask that of you,” he voices quietly. “And it’s too expensive.” He quickly adds on when he sees that Gojo is about to contradict him. “ Don’t tell me it’s not true, I know how much it costs.”
And, yes, chest surgeries are expensive, Gojo knows that. Bue he also doesn’t care. And even less if it means it would make Megumi happy. “I know how much it costs as well, Megumi, and I am still serious. I told you money isn’t an issue.” Megumi looks ready to argue again, so Gojo continues. “And you’re not asking anything of me, Gumi. You never are. But I want you to realize that you can . If you want something you can ask it of me. You’re my son.”
Megumi’s eyes widen and immediately fill themselves with tears that soon enough roll down his cheeks. “I–” He sobs. “I don’t know what to say.”
Gojo shakes his head as he smiles fondly. “You don’t have to say anything, just accept it.”
Megumi still looks unsure but he nods shyly. He is a very stubborn kid, but even he knows that it’s impossible to stop Gojo when he’s decided on something.
Gojo smiles in triumph. He’s happy to see that Megumi seems to feel better than earlier, but since the boy seems to be fiddling with his shirt, he decides to ask anyway. “Are you gonna be okay for today? Or do you want me to stay longer?”
“Hum… Do you–” Megumi clears his throat awkwardly, his cheeks becoming redder and redder as he purposely avoids Gojo’s gaze. “Do you think he likes me?”
Gojo grins. “Of course he does! Why wouldn’t he? He asked you out on a date, didn’t he?”
Megumi frowns at him, as if to say that Gojo’s question is dumb because its answer is obvious. “What if–” Gojo sees how the boy’s chin wobbles and he immediately frowns. “What if he doesn’t like the fact that I… that I wasn’t born male?”
“I’m sure he doesn’t care about that.” Gojo reassures him. And he knows he’s right, because Yuuji came to Gojo at the end of his class to ask him questions about his sexuality.
It surprised him at first. Gojo didn’t understand why Yuuji would come to him for love and relationship advice, since Gojo clearly doesn’t have much experience in the matter considering that he has been in love with the same person since he’s fifteen. But Yuuji came to him panicked, asking him if it was normal to like someone but not care about their body, and Gojo didn’t understand at first why Yuuji would ask that but he of course still answered all the questions the boy had.
It’s only when he came back home later that day to a furiously blushing Megumi that he connected the dots. He promised Yuuji to not talk about that, and as a teacher he has the obligation to respect his students’ privacy when said students decide to confide in him about anything. Plus, quite honestly, Yuuji reminded him of himself when he was younger.
“How do you know?” Megumi’s voice is quiet as he’s still nervously playing with the hem of his shirt.
“Hey look at me, Gumi.” Megumi reluctantly does. “Has Yuuji ever been disrespectful towards you?” Megumi scoffs as if this was completely impossible – it probably is – and shakes his head, immediately replying no. “Has he ever made you feel like you couldn’t be yourself around him?” The boy shakes his head no again. “He knows you’re trans.” That’s a statement and Megumi nods. “And he’s asked you out on a date.” Another statement, Megumi blushes and nods sheepishly. Gojo smiles at that. “Then you have nothing to worry about!”
The young boy smiles shyly and he nods a bit more surely. “Alright, so go get yourself dressed now, lover boy!” Gojo smirks and Megumi groans.
He laughs as he leaves the room to let Megumi get dressed, but he’s being stopped by a hand grabbing his arm. He starts to turn around and stumbles a bit back when Megumi hugs him again with full force. Damn, he’s never been so tactile before , Gojo tells himself as he wraps his arms around him softly. He doesn’t have any complaints of course.
Megumi then stands on his tiptoes, “Thank you. For everything… dad .” He mutters in the crook of Gojo’s neck in such a small and quiet voice that the latter almost doesn’t catch it.
Oh. Well there’s absolutely nothing he can do to stop the tears from flowing endlessly down his cheeks. He tightens his grip around Megumi – his son – more and more to the point where the boy has to tell him to stop. And, even though he’s blushing to the tip of his ears, he still makes fun of Gojo for his reaction when they part.
“Now you can leave so that I can get dressed.” He shrugs, trying to appear nonchalant as he actively avoids Gojo’s gaze. Still, Gojo can see the smile on his face.
“Right,” he says dumbly, still somewhat awestruck. He then snaps out of his trance and starts turning around again in the direction of the door. “Love you, kid.” He says, smiling, before closing the door behind him, but not without seeing the smile on Megumi’s face one more time.
He’s still crying when he reaches the living room. “He called me dad,” he says unbelievably.
A snort, “I heard.”
Gojo just cries more; he’s never felt happier. “Come here you big baby,” Suguru says, opening his arms. And Satoru definitely doesn’t need to be told twice, he jumps in his lover’s arms and cries a bit more.
They stay in each other’s embrace for a while. “You kept the clothes,” Suguru says once Satoru stops crying.
“Of course I did.” He replies, as if it was obvious, and it is.
“You’ve been amazing with him. Everything you told him, everything you did for him, you’re amazing. You’ve always been.” Suguru kisses his temple softly and Gojo finds himself closing his eyes as he sighs happily at the tender gesture.
And, because he can’t help it, he smirks. “You shouldn’t be eavesdropping.”
Suguru snorts and settles back into the couch comfortably. Satoru snuggles into his side more and they go back to their series.
No matter how sad the current episode they’re watching may be, Gojo realizes that he hasn’t stopped grinning ever since he left Megumi’s room.