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You had left late the previous night, running Tsumiki to her father’s house so he could take her on a family vacation and leaving for Kyoto for a clan meeting. You could have cared less what the meeting itself was about, but they made it painfully clear your boyfriend and children were not allowed.
This meant leaving Satoru to be a single parent for four days, something you were not keen on even though he promised they would be fine. At least, he thought he would be. It was just one kid instead of two, but that kid was also Megumi.
It was the first morning, and he woke up with a relaxed yawn, cuddled into your pillow and enjoying the soft sheets you washed before leaving him. It was a nice morning, he could hear the birds chirping and feel the sun on his cheeks. He was going to kill this single dad thing!
He pushed his eye mask up, brushing back his hanging bangs. He was surprised when he saw his son sitting next to the bed, already dressed in his uniform. He was quiet, mindlessly playing the newest Pokemon game on the DS Lite he bought Megumi and his sister. Huh? Megumi was never the one to be up early. What a good boy.
“Morning, buddy. How’d you sleep?” Satoru messed with his hair, eyes wandering slowly at the alarm clock. Well, this was great; he didn’t have to worry about dragging him out of bed now, and he could make breakfast now without worry.
That was until his blurry eyes focused on the alarm clock– shit SHIT!
“MEGUMI! Why didn’t you wake me?! Do you see the time?!” Satoru was rushing out of the bed, getting tangled in the sheets and falling to the floor with a thump.
“I can’t read time.” Megumi shrugged, too busy trying to find these stupid clowns that were apparently in the town. “Can you help?” He whined, pushing the DS in Satoru’s direction.
“Megumi we are so fucking late we don’t have time for this!” Satoru snapped the handheld closed and quickly threw it on the bed.
“If we are so late, does that mean I have to go? It’s a waste, isn’t it?” He just shrugged, not moving from his spot. His eyes, however, watched where his DS landed and made silent plans to get it back.
When the boy stood up to climb into the bed, he was swiftly hooked by Satoru, his long arms hoisting him into the air, and he could feel the air shift around them as they appeared at the school, much to Megumi’s disappointment.
“Okay, uh, be good. Don’t start fights, end them… anything else mom tells you?” Satoru was frantically trying to persuade the child to walk through the gates, but his feet were cement.
“You forgot my backpack.” Megumi frowned. “And lunch! Mom always makes me my lunch.” He was pouting now, his arms crossed tightly across his chest, and to add a cherry on top, he stomped his foot.
“Can’t you go to school without it?” Satoru whined, stopping his own feet as he looked down at his unfortunately stubborn son. “And I’ll just give you money to buy something.”
“I’m hungry, you didn’t even feed me!” Megumi exclaimed, softly punching his guardian's legs in frustration. “I don’t want to go, Dad,” He softly said. He suddenly went from being a brat to being the sweetest thing on the planet, it was obvious he was trying to butter Satoru up.
But you prepared him for this.
“Nope, you can’t fool me. You have to go–” He proudly announced, and as predicted, his son’s mood changed again, his little foot kicking Satoru’s shin. “I’m going to get your backpack and drop you lunch off after I go home and make it. Just be good.”
After warping back to the house, he collected Megumi’s things and kissed him on the head before sending him off, smiling the whole time as the boy gave him his nastiest glare as he walked into the school. He still thinks he was doing pretty well on his first day.
~~~
On the second day, they got to school at a normal time, and thankfully, everything was going great as they both entered the kitchen.
“I want a snack.” The little boy announced, throwing his bag on the floor without a care in the world. Satoru flinched when the chair legs screeched loudly across the wood before climbing on it.
“Well, what do you normally have?” Satoru looked at him, he could do this. First snack time without you, no big deal.
“Apples,” Megumi told him expectantly, becoming quite grouchy that his afternoon snack wasn’t already made when he came home.
“Alright, here.” Perfect, easy peasy! Damn he's good, Satoru smiled to himself, but the little boy looked at him like he just shot his dog.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” He looked at the adult, confused. Where were his apple slices that looked like bunnies? Megumi wanted his bunnies!
“Eat it, duh.” He looked at the boy in confusion. What six-year-old didn’t know how to eat an apple?!
“It’s too big!” The little boy whined, holding up the apple with two hands to prove his point.
“Take bigger bites? C’mon bud, think.” Satoru, baby-talked to him, fingers tapping his temples as he stood above him.
“My mouth is too small.” Megumi rebuffed, putting the apple on the table and crossing his arms with a huff. Satoru sucked at this.
“Well, I’ll start it, I guess.” Satoru was quick to grab up, and Megumi watched in horror. What was he? A hippo! Why was his monstrous mouth so big?!
“You just ate half of my apple!” The little boy screamed, standing on the chair so he could try and stop him, but the damage was done; it was too late for his apple.
“Why are you so damn picky?” The gross adult said with a full mouth, little flecks of apple flesh and juice spraying on his face. That was it! Megumi was uprising.
“I want to call Mom!” He screamed, spotting Satoru’s phone from his vantage point on the chair. He hopped off and tried to run to the other side of the kitchen, jumping up and down with nothing to show for it.
“That’s tough luck. I told you we can’t.” Satoru just waltzed over to him, took the phone, and pocketed it. Having the audacity to give Megumi the apple.
“This place is a nightmare!” He screamed, running past him and to his room, slamming the door loudly behind him.
“What the fuck?” Another loud bite of the apple echoed in the apartment. He pulled his phone back out and dialed the closest possible thing to you. “Nanamiiiii, can you make Megumi a snack? I’m a nightmare, apparently!”
“Smart boy. I knew he was a good kid.” Kento’s bored tone made Satoru pout.
“Hey!”
“It’s been one day, and you’re already a nightmare. I owe Shoko money now—” Satoru gasped.
“Are you going to help me or not!?”
“For (Y/N)’s sake, I guess I can.”
“But not for me! That’s so mean Nanami-Kun. What a horrible junior you are!” Satoru cried dramatically.
“Horay,” Nanami said in a monotone voice. “Does this mean you’ll never speak to me again?”
“What is it? Being mean to Satoru Day?!”
“Yes, I’ll petition it to be a real holiday for everyone’s sake.”
~~~
On their third day, Saturday, thankfully, something warm roused him from his sleep. It was slimy, wet, and quickly waving back and forth on his nose. It felt like a dog lick. Satoru hummed softly and didn’t move away, perhaps he moved closer to it subconsciously. But something stopped him, maybe the dawning realization he didn’t have a dog.
His eyes flew open, but he was met with darkness. He pushed himself back, cold fingers quickly pushing his sleeping mask up so he could find the owner of his weird awakening.
The midmorning sunlight assaulted his already sensitive eyes and made it difficult to adjust so rapidly, but Satoru was panicked, his eyes still scanning his small room.
“Megumi, for the love of fuck what are you doing?” He sighed when he saw the small child at the side of his bed. His wild hair made him look like a small urchin on the ocean floor.
“Curse jar.” He said with a bored tone.
The small boy could barely peek above his dad's mattress; even on his tippy toes, the boy narrowly got his eyes level. Nevertheless, he wore his typical judgemental stare, his green eyes burning holes in Satoru’s now conscious body and seemingly looking unimpressed with him like he always was.
But that’s when he noticed, the little boy’s tongue was still sticking out.
“Were you licking me?” Satoru was appalled now, wiping his face on his sheets.
“Dogs say hi like that.” He simply told him, his tone heavy with sass. He rolled his eyes and acted like it was common knowledge.
“We aren’t dogs, Megumi, remember?” He sighed, shaking his head. The little boy ignored him, climbing into his bed and settling himself in. Stretching his little body on the warm spot Satoru’s body was previously occupying.
“Hey, that’s not nice,” Satoru whined, laying himself back on the cold side of the bed. “If you were cold, you could have told me.”
The little boy ignored him, quietly covering himself with the blanket and rolling away so he wasn’t looking at the older man. Megumi was always a standoffish child, always grumpy and pouting, but he was still a kid. He wanted attention from Satoru whether he liked it or not. So the older man knew something was wrong.
“Hey, it’s too early to frown.” He softly said, wrapping his arm under the little boy’s body and bringing him closer. “Did something happen? Bad dream?”
Megumi didn’t say anything, he kept hiding his face from Satoru. His little hands were death-gripped on the covers, trying his best to shield himself, but his body's gentle shake gave him away.
“Woah, what’s wrong?” Satoru said, a little stronger, worry evident in his tone.
He tried to peel the blankets back, but Megumi put up a fight, his socked foot colliding with the man’s stomach immediately. He took a moment to groan but continued their fight until he successfully uncovered him.
Megumi continued to hide himself, his small hands covering his face, but the older man was able to catch a glimpse of his teary red eyes.
“Hey, Gumi. Buddy, what’s wrong?” He softly said, his arm scooping under the little boy's body and bringing him to his chest. Finally, the little boy surrendered, his little arms wrapping around his guardian's neck.
His body was suddenly wracked with sobs, his wet hot tears falling onto his neck as the little boy rubbed against him. “When is Tsumiki coming home? And mom!” He cried, “They are coming home, right?” His little body was oozing insecurity as he became accustomed to such a loving home, but after losing so much, he was scared.
“Of course, Megs, Tsumiki is just visiting family, she’s going to—” Satoru did his best to comfort him, but his words only upset the little boy more.
“But I’m her family! So why don’t they want me?” He wailed suddenly, shaking Satoru to his core. It was apparent that the little boy had put a lot of thought into this, coming to the heartbreaking conclusion that he was slowly being left behind.
It wasn’t like Megumi didn’t have any living family; he had a ton of it, but Satoru was quick to keep him from it. He thought it would be for his own good to shelter him from the hate and abuse most kids faced in the major clan halls. But what if he was wrong? Maybe he was hurting his child more than helping.
“It’s not like that, Megs—”
“Then why couldn’t I go?” He pushed away from Satoru’s chest, his body shaking with anger now. There was a buzz in the air as Megumi’s cursed energy spiked around them. Satoru needed to calm him down soon before he summoned something or overexerted himself.
His hands firmly grasped the small shoulders, pulling him back to Satoru as he battled the little boy's swinging arms. But he didn’t stop, he battled his rabid son until he was back in his embrace again, silently taking his scratches and kicks as he vehemently tried to escape.
“Megumi, calm down!” Satoru was growing frustrated. It wasn’t the kid's fault, but the lack of sleep that always came with an empty bed had him on edge. Megumi’s outbursts weren’t uncommon, and they were slowly getting fewer and far between; however, without you, he was forced to take the brunt of the pain. You always knew what to say. Satoru didn’t need to say anything to him; he just came in and cracked a joke or two.
“I miss them,” Megumi whimpered, his arms halting and falling limp to his sides.
“I do too, darling, but just one more sleep before Mom comes home and two more until Tsumiki. Do you think we can handle that?” Satoru gently hugged him, rubbing his back. He prayed you could talk with him tomorrow, maybe you’d help quell all these feelings. It was decided that Megumi needed at least one more person at home at a time.
He could handle you being gone as long as he had Tsumiki, or vice versa, but this was uncharted territory for him. He couldn’t run to his comfort people if they were both gone! All he had was Satoru, which, up until now, wasn't a lot.
“I think I can handle it,” Megumi softly murmured, resting his arms on Satoru’s shoulders. “Sorry…”
Well, this was new!
“Why are you sorry, buddy?” Satoru gently patted his back as he rocked back and forth, softly humming for both of them.
“I hit you, I promised Mom I wouldn’t make you sad— are you sad?” His little voice squeaked as he panicked; the last thing he wanted was to be a bad boy again.
“No, Megs,” Satoru chuckled above him, kissing the top of his messy hair, “I’m not sad, so don’t worry. How about we lie back down, hm? I bet you’re tired.”
“Yeah, I am.” Megumi agreed, not holding back his yawn. “I want to lay on Mom’s side.”
“Only this once! I’ve claimed that side when she’s gone, so be thankful,” Satoru dramatically said, releasing the little boy from his hold.
“You’re so weird,” He huffed, back to his normal self. Satoru could have ignored it, but his fingers found his sides, tickling him ruthlessly.
“Take it back!
“No!” Megumi squealed, trying to get away. It was no use, he was trapped.
“Then I guess I’m tickling you until you pass out!” Satoru exclaimed. He had every intention of continuing until Megumi's curse energy spiked again, and he saw a familiar handhold forming. “NO! I said no shikigami in the house, young man!”
“I don’t even want to know what’s happening.”
Both boys stopped and looked, Megumi gasping loudly as he clamored over Satoru.
“Mom!” The little boy looked so happy to see you; it made your heart melt. “But Satoru said I had one more sleep!?”
“I took an overnight train. I couldn’t stand being away from my boys any longer,” you explained to him, picking him up by his armpits. God, he was getting big. “I hope you were good—”
“I didn’t make Toru sad!” Megumi was quick to tell you, frantically looking to Satoru, who crept up to you both. “Tell Mom!” He demanded.
“Well, I don’t know, there was this—”
“Nuh huh!” Megumi was frantic to stop him. “Mom, he’s lying!”
“I know, be nice, Toru,” you reminded your boyfriend, quickly pecking him on the cheek and ignoring the small ‘gross’ that came from Megumi.
Satoru brightened up immediately and wrapped the two of you in a hug. “My lovelies?” He hummed happily, “c’mon, nap time!” He decided, looking at your exhausted face. You just smiled and kissed his cheek. It was good to be home.