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There was a loud crash. Parts of a building were tumbling to the ground together with a thick cloud of suffocating dust. It was a huge curse spirit in the middle of the street that just appeared out of nowhere, with an unnaturally great number of limbs, a massive, hideous body, and a long dragon-like head with two rows of sharp teeth.
Not too far away, a young boy stood frozen on a sidewalk and stared at the creature while no one else seemed to look in its direction.
Of course, they can’t see it. I have to do something.
Even after that thought crossed his mind, the boy was still paralyzed with fear. What should he do exactly?
At that moment, he heard running footsteps going in his direction which made him turn his head. It was a young girl, around a year or two older than him, with a ponytail swishing behind her head with every hurried step.
“Megumi! Are you alright?”
As she was running, she also seemed unaware of the huge cursed spirit, which she was getting closer and closer to. But before he managed to warn her, the creature swiftly extended its long head and caught the girl in its large jaws.
“Tsumiki!!”
The boy screamed and when his legs could finally move he started to run in her direction. But it was too late. His steps were too slow. The girl screamed as the cursed spirit raised her up and threw in the air, before biting down hard on her falling body with an audible crunch of broken bones.
Her screams stopped abruptly but were soon followed by the screams of the young boy. The moment he launched at the beast, it shot its head with bared teeth again – this time aimed straight at him.
***
Megumi awoke with a start, tightly gripping his blanket. It took him a moment and a few shuddering breaths to realize it was only a nightmare and he was in his own, dark room.
There was no cursed spirit and Tsumiki wasn’t crushed to death.
At least Megumi really hoped so but he still felt the need to check anyway. Yet, just as he set his small feet on the ground he remembered that he couldn’t. Tsumiki was on a week-long school trip so she wasn’t in her room.
Panic started crushing his chest yet again. He was aware it was just a dream but being unable to check on her right now made his young imagination go wild. His eyes began to sting but he refused to cry just yet.
Normally when he had a bad dream he’d go to Tsumiki but yet again, it currently wasn’t possible. It left him with only one option and he wasn’t too thrilled about it.
Nevertheless, he was still only a scared child in the middle of the night, so no amount of pride was enough to make him go back to bed to lay alone in a dark room. He silently opened his bedroom door and carefully made his way to the room at the other end of the corridor.
He stood before Gojo’s door and hesitated again.
***
Being basically a single guardian/father figure of two at the age of eighteen wasn’t really on Gojo’s checklist but it wasn’t exactly like he hated it either. He loved those kids honestly, they were adorable and fun to tease, and the fact that both of them were extremely intelligent was quite helpful in taking care of them, he couldn’t deny it.
It was just… awfully tiring to be responsible and take care of additional lives on top of his own. He had his training, his missions, his doubts, but he also had to feed the kids, do their laundry, make sure they're healthy and clean, etc. And while he had people that helped him from time to time like Shoko or Nanami, it was still mainly his responsibility.
And after Geto left, sometimes even tasks as simple as breathing became an unbearable burden to Gojo, not to mention everything else.
But he wasn’t giving up. He couldn’t. He was the strongest after all, so there was nothing he couldn’t handle.
Still, after he came back from today’s mission, tiredness completely overtook his body. He saw that Megumi was already asleep so he went straight to his own room, only changed his clothes, and collapsed onto the bed.
He slept for only an hour or two when the door to his room slowly creaked open. Usually, Gojo would be instantly awake. However, usually, he wasn’t this exhausted.
Only when he felt a small hand gently touch his forearm did he open his eyes. In the dark, he saw Megumi standing next to his bed, with an apprehensive look on his face and one hand tightly gripping the hem of his own t-shirt.
“Megumi? What happened?”
Gojo was still half asleep but he immediately noticed that the boy was clearly uneasy. A moment passed before Megumi finally spoke, though really quietly.
“I had a bad dream. That Tsumiki died. Do you think we could call her or something?”
Gojo was stunned for a second. At that point, he was already wide awake so he sat up straight on the bed, turned on the bedside lamp, and rubbed a hand across his face.
“It’s like 3 am so I don’t think that’s a good idea, Megumi. It was only a dream, Tsumiki is fine. But we can call her first thing in the morning, okay? Does that sound good?”
Megumi didn’t say anything but after a moment he slightly nodded his head while looking down. Gojo stared at him for a moment and pondered. He also noticed that although the boy didn’t say anything more, he still stood in the same place and looked as if he was battling with himself.
Ah, of course. How else do you comfort a kid after a nightmare?
He realized that Megumi was too embarrassed to ask if he could sleep with him. If the boy wasn’t obviously disturbed and Gojo wasn’t so awfully tired this would be the golden opportunity to mess with the little grumpy kid. But he chose not to.
He tapped on the mattress and the boy looked up.
“You wanna hop in?”
A few seconds of silence.
“...Yes.”
He slowly climbed into the bed just as Gojo remembered something and slipped out of it.
“Wait a second, I’ll get you some cold water.”
He quickly went to the kitchen to pour some cold water and back to the bedroom to hand the glass to Megumi.
“It should help a bit.”
“Thanks.”
He mumbled under his breath and took a few sips, while Gojo slipped back into the bed.
“Do you wanna talk about it or do you just want to go to sleep?”
Gojo would much prefer the second option but he left the choice to the kid. After the boy set the glass on the bedside table he thought about it for a bit, fumbling with the blanket that was over his lap.
“There was a large cursed spirit. No one else saw it and I didn't know what to do, and I couldn’t move.”
There was a deep frown on his small face like he was dissatisfied with the words leaving his mouth.
“Then Tsumiki started running towards me and this thing grabbed her and ate her whole and I couldn’t do anything and then it attacked me too and I-”
He started speaking very quickly and from the tone of his voice as well as the slight glint in his eyes it was apparent the boy was close to tears.
The last thing Gojo wanted was to see the kid crying hysterically so he tried to calm him down. He ran a hand through the boy’s hair then hugged his small head to his chest.
“Shh, it’s okay. It was only a dream, Megumi. I’d never let something like that happen to any of you, kiddo. Tsumiki is fine, you are too. We all are.”
While talking, he used this moment to close his fatigued eyes. Gojo was also gently stroking the boy’s hair, a gesture that comforted both of them. After a moment Megumi had embraced Gojo completely, sniffing silently from time to time – the only sign that he was quietly crying.
Gojo didn’t know what else he could do to console the kid so they just stayed like that for a bit. When he assumed the boy stopped crying and calmed down a little, he asked gently.
“Do you wanna lay down and try to sleep?”
Megumi peeled himself off Gojo and after wiping his face on his sleeve, he nodded.
“Should I leave the lamp on or not?”
“We can turn it off, I’m okay.”
Whether he was sincere or just putting on a brave face, Gojo didn’t know but didn’t argue. He turned off the light and laid down on his back. Megumi was lying on his side and once again looked as if battling with himself over something.
Gojo felt the boy’s eyes on him after a moment, so he looked over. He pondered on it for a bit then raised his arm in an invitation.
“You can come over if you want to.”
This time Megumi didn’t hesitate and he simply scooted closer to lay his head down on Gojo’s chest. The man chuckled a little and put his hand back down on the boy’s shoulders.
“Sleep well, Megumi.”
He left a small peck on the top of Megumi’s head and while the boy didn’t respond, he hugged Gojo slightly harder.
Megumi thought that maybe Gojo wasn’t as stupid and useless as he always considered him to be.
As Gojo gently stroked Megumi’s back for comfort, he thought that perhaps all the effort he put into this parenting business didn’t go in vain.
They both drifted off to sleep not too long after.
The next day they both knew each other just a little bit more.