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Even though Sukuna had started explaining some things, he hadn't yet gone into depth about the structure of the Yakuza. However, Megumi had explained to Yuji at the very least, that the area in which Yuji lives and works, was in a neutral zone. Positioned right by the edge of the boundary of Gojo's reach. This was the reason that they'd been close by when Megumi had been injured.
Dragging Megumi into a neutral zone wasn't as safe as bringing back into areas they control, but it was their best option. If Megumi had to guess, this positioning had been purposefully done by Sukuna. The Yamaguchi-gumi were the biggest family, currently they held the most influence and had control of the widest area. As the sixth and current head of the group, Gojo hadn't expanded it further.
What they had was arguably more than enough but conceding space and downsizing wouldn't be a good look. Gojo made sure to contain the areas around him through and keep anything from bleeding over into neutral spaces. His positioning and disposition are why nobody feared seeing him frequent neutral pace. He didn't mean anything by it. They scorned him for his lack of drive as much as they feared his potential if he did have drive.
Megumi shook his head and brought himself back to the present. He had been lost in thought staring down at the field as they walked towards the exit of the school, the ground soft beneath his shoes. Straightening up with a wince, Megumi lifted his head further and stared up at the sky above them. The moon was surprisingly pretty, the sight was something rare to take in.
At least it was for Megumi, who hadn't spared much time to ever take in the serenity of nighttime. While he did a lot of his work under the cover of night, Megumi had never really thought about the vastness of the inky black sky above them. The backdrop for the moon and the stars that shone with such twinkling brightness. For most other people, this was probably a regular sight.
Breathtaking, was all Megumi could think though. For some reason it made him feel incredibly isolated, like he was standing alone on Earth staring up and something so never-ending and dark. But there was a beauty to it and Megumi also felt oddly comforted by it. So much of his life had been staring down at the ground, staring down at his fists or looking ahead without turning back.
Now he was walking forward with his attention to the sky, comfortable and as closed to relaxed as he could get. Usually, when he's out he has to pay attention to his surroundings with an anxiety and unease. While he was definitely still hyper aware of his surroundings, there wasn't the same time of anxious electricity under his skin keeping him on high alert.
Walking back out onto the main streets and coming across different shops, Megumi took in the bright artificial lights of their signs. People filtering in and out of the stores, music playing from somewhere. A group of men stood around each other, a flickering flame from a lighter between them and illuminating the mouth of the alleyway behind them. Loud with laughter.
They passed a few small steps leading upwards, a cat resting on the lowest step. Completely asleep as it shifts and turns comfortably. It's not like Megumi never had any down time, but this felt different. Walking around the streets taking it all in. Not just as a small moment between work, but as an actual opportunity to just take in a moment away from it all.
"I'm surprised we never crossed paths before now. I meet my friends in one of the places further up to catch up when we all have a moment, this is a neutral space and because we are from different groups. It's the safest option for us not to cause issue for one another."
Megumi isn't so sure why he even starts speaking, his words sound a little silly as he hears them leave his mouth. Flustered and slightly uncomfortable, Megumi looks back down and over to Yuji who'd turned his attention to him. A soft, inviting and non-judgemental smile on his face. As if he was just taking in what Megumi said and welcoming anything else he might want to share.
When Megumi didn't continue, Yuji said, "You must be a trustworthy person if Gojo trusts you around people from other groups without betraying him, and if people from other groups trust you to be around them."
"It's just that we've known each other for so long, being from different families has never really mattered."
Years ago it had been Maki that first found the soba place tucked into an alleyway. They sold different types of drinks and were always experimenting with new flavours too. At first Maki had made it her place to meet up with Mai whenever they had the chance. Back then, the rest of them had only been allowed to come when there was something to celebrate, and they were brought along.
Mai was hospitalized about a year of so afterwards and Maki had to stop going with her. Megumi hadn't been privy to what happened, and he'd still felt too worried about asking others to know more. So he'd never exactly found out what had gotten her in the hospital, but the most Megumi had managed to uncover was it came as a result of some form of family dictated punishment.
Not wanting to break her routine completely, Maki had then started dragging Megumi along with her. She claimed that he had taste closest to Mai, so it made sense if he could try things out and decide what Maki should bring back to the hospital for her sister to have. Megumi never questioned it or pointed anything out, it seemed to make it easier for Maki to do whenever he was there with her.
In spite of the amount of curiosity he internalizes, Megumi had learnt to hold his tongue so as to not risk punishment from others thinking he's digging into something he shouldn't be. He'd been relatively expressionless and neutral since he was young, when he'd learnt to keep it all in. It probably comforts people then, that he doesn't show pity on his face while watching people at their lowest.
"After my father died and Gojo took me in, I learnt that he'd wanted to keep me away from the Sumiyoshi-kai. My father was apparently apart of the family before he defected. It holds members of the Zen'in family and although I never took the last name, they are my relatives. Our groups aren't on the best of terms, apparently it is a generational thing not even Gojo could break.
Working in the Yakuza, the men you work alongside are your brothers and the man you work under is your father. Generally, if you have sisters, they are ladies who work in pink salons or in clubs. Women who have close ties to your group. When I met Maki and Mai, I was surprised that they'd allowed women to serve so openly under the current head. Especially given he seemed to despite them.
Being women and working within the Yakuza, they don't have an easy time. They always treated me with kindness though, never pushed me to come over to the family when our groups would meet for something. There's a lot of loan sharks in their family, people who are unpleasant to be around. Deeply traditional, and while Gojo still upholds certain traditional systems, it's worse there."
They were walking down the street together but not exactly side by side as they talked. Megumi, basically on instinct, had gravitated towards walking about a step behind Yuji. This gave him a nice view of Yuji's side profile as he nodded along, listening to Megumi explain some history. His cheeks were still a little red from when he had been running, his eyes reflected the lights on the street.
"Oh, there's also the Inagawa-kai, I'm not sure if Sukuna has told you anything or if he'll be annoyed I'm even telling you this much." Megumi cut himself off to think.
Yuji was still smiling gently as he countered with, "He's been giving me little pieces of information lately, but I'm appreciating hearing it from your perspective."
"Well, the Inagawa-kai then, there's a lot to say about them. Most of them men work in weapon's distribution, and they have a long history of training contract killers and cleaners. Known as probably the most honourable family amongst the Yakuza. Never participating in petty disputes and they don't argue for more power, they don't share information or make bad deals.
Getting traditional tattoo work on their back isn't all they do, each of them have tattoos around their mouths. It's symbolic for their presence in the Yakuza, easy to identify so they can't betray where they come from, and it symbolizes their words never being used to harm those they are affiliated with. Most of them don't actually speak at all.
I met Toge when Gojo had to sort something out. Back then I wasn't really well educated, after being taken in by Gojo my first experience with education was the personal tutors he enlisted to educate myself and Tsumiki. He would get me books for my age that normal kids would be reading, because for the most part it was all done professionally. Also he was the one that taught me sign language."
Megumi can't exactly say that their families were on great terms, but they were certainly more than friendly enough. Having worked together with an understanding over the years and through generations of heads. While the Inumaki family would generally get their men to speak for them, Gojo had found it important to learn sign language for them. Megumi therefore, had learnt too.
Going out together in public wasn't too difficult for them. The only tattoo's Inumaki had across his back where hidden by basic shirts and he wore a plain surgical mask to hide his mouth, using his hands to communicate anyway. Maki was the same, any tattoos she once had were now more than hidden underneath layers of healed and healing scarring.
She'd come out of whatever situation she had faced with Mai, with more scars than Mai had. But Mai had ended up in the hospital after whatever happened. Despite the sheer volume of pain Maki must have endured, she always seemed to feel like Mai had suffered worse. In what little she expressed, Megumi had taken her word for it. He of all people knows it's not always visible, what you've been through.
Megumi could still remember what his body had looked like, malnourished and small. He will forever be grateful to Gojo for getting him back to a healthy weight, making sure there were always doctors on hand to talk to. Always offering to step out if Megumi needed privacy through the process but never suggesting that Megumi couldn't have him there throughout it.
Those physical marks had faded, there were some things that still reminded Megumi and haunted him. But he had honestly come to believe that seeing your body change and be impacted visibly by your trauma and experiences was the worst. It's why it was so difficult for him to see Yuji who looked so genuinely joyful, so very untouched by unhappiness, and see someone who knew what painful experiences were.
Yet Megumi had seen just a small bit of Yuji and he'd already seen enough to know. Yuji's body was probably a whole lot like Maki's. Scars given to them that wouldn't fade, a constant reminder or what they'd been through. Made him take a step back and reevaluate gain. It was confronting though, the way Yuji had spoken was like Maki, as if their scars were minimal.
Continuing on to talk about Tsumiki a little and how she'd always been smarter than Megumi, how grateful he was to have had her. That he wouldn't have made it to meet Gojo without her, so she hadn't struggled much to adjust to learning under tutors or going to in person school. Megumi had always been impressed by her perseverance and ability, pushing himself to try as well.
Sharing even just this little bit, and Megumi could see it written plainly across Yuji's face. A sadness that didn't look down on Megumi, but felt for him and all that he had experienced. To Yuji, hearing about Megumi's struggles, even just the small bit he shared with him. Made him feel like Megumi had suffered to greatly in this life, his scars didn't feel this sensitive.
They were approaching the store by now and Megumi was sad to leave the comfort of their walk. But he had felt oddly loosened up, comfortable enough to start talking and sharing some things. Yuji had probably sensed some of the built-up tension in him, taken him out for a change of pace. Yuji didn't seem to do a whole lot for himself, but he knew Megumi would probably deny it if he'd asked if he needed to get out.
"Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi is probably the last group you'd need to know about. Out of the biggest groups, it's the most fractured and disorganized because it split off from the main family. Gojo isn't affiliated with them but he tried to smooth over their relationship, they'd left during the fifth head's time I believe. Yuta is from that group, he's distantly related to Gojo.
Not really sure exactly how, you'd probably have to ask Gojo directly. But Gojo was handed Yuta to deal with over something, the head of the family tried to take him back some time later but Gojo wouldn't. They tried to make their relationship friendlier but it's definitely mostly just on the surface. They mostly run pink salons and the casino's, they make reasonable wealth.
Gojo had been trying to monitor them and make sure they aren't doing anything that would cause issue. Though he doesn't have control over them, since they split apart from the main group before he had even become the current head. There's been whispers of them getting braver. It could be what Gojo's dealing with now, but I can only guess given Gojo hasn't shared anything with me."
Still attentively listening even as he unlocked the front door of the store and got Megumi inside Yuji asked, "What I don't understand is why 'Kuna has been brought back into the fold. I'm not so naïve to not understand even if 'Kuna didn't explicitly state it, that being kicked out of the apartment was so that 'Kuna would have an easier time moving about without me monitoring him."
"Both of us have been kept out of the loop. I can't think of what connection Sukuna could possibly have with the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, he seemed to know Yuta though and spoke about him that night I came in."
Neither of them had much to offer the other in the way of information. Despite being involved in different ways and knowing those involved, they'd ended up almost entirely oblivious to the current goings-on. Frustratingly, there wasn't much they could do until someone informs them or they get involved themselves somehow. The pair of them walked through the main part of the shop in the dark.
Finding the stairs using the lighting shining in from outside, they were finally back in the second floor bedroom. It was well into the morning by that point, they'd even taken the long way around to come back to the store. Megumi felt minutes away from passing out and such as much to Yuji, who seemed pleased and pushed him away off towards the couch.
Disappearing and coming back, now holding some pills and a cup of water to wash them down with. While Megumi could take the pills dry, he appreciated the thought and water sounded heavenly to him right in that moment. Leaving the empty cup on the floor by his feet once he was done. Megumi got comfortable on the couch; he was out like a light almost instantly.