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They met eyes for the first time in a tiny narrow alley. Back then, this gangly, gangly weirdo seemed strange to Megumi. Strange, but not scary. He mumbled something about that man, stuck his fingers in his hair and disappeared, leaving behind only bewilderment and a bunch of questions.
At that time, he still did not know that it was possible to describe the whole essence of Satoru Gojo in this way.
The weirdo seemed even more strange to him when he came to his and Tsumiki's house and loudly announced that he was taking them to his place. He just said that from now on Megumi and his sister are his children.
You're not even twenty, strange, and you already want to get someone else's rug rats?
Megumi thought he was an idiot, and Tsumiki suddenly took a liking to Gojo. His sister always trusted people easily, and that's why she was liked by others. Unlike the perpetually gloomy and suspicious Megumi. But he doesn't care. He knows that he will never leave Tsumiki, and she will not turn away from him, and this knowledge is enough for Fushiguro Megumi to live. To sleep and see a broad back hiding behind a bend, to look after him through a cloudy haze before his eyes.
Megumi is a smart boy, so he knew then that this was the last time he would see his father. And that's why he didn't take his eyes off the road for a long time, as if cherishing a dead hope in his chest.
His father didn't even turn around then.
The once-familiar face had long been clouded in his memories. Only occasionally do blurred scenes from his distant childhood flash before his eyes when he smells cheap sake.
Megumi doesn't remember his parents. But then why is it that in his dreams he increasingly sees his father with blue eyes and white matted hair climbing over dark glasses?
Satoru Gojo annoys him. Satoru Gojo is an oddball from the alley, always trying to pull into his arms. Satoru Gojo is an annoying splinter who does not stop appearing regularly in the apartment he rented himself.
His sister likes Gojo, and Megumi less and less wants to slam the door in his face.
With an effort of will, he tries to suppress these useless, incorrect, naive thoughts. Life has taught him not to trust anyone but himself, so he will take the brunt of it, allowing Tsumiki to get attached to people. Megumi Fushiguro himself should always think with his head, and not with his heart fluttering stupidly in hope. Therefore, he does everything necessary to push this naive eccentric away from himself. He will be able to survive this loss if he does not have time to get used to his presence too much.
He knows that Satoru Gojo will leave just like everyone else before him. But for some reason, being indifferent to this fact is getting harder every day.
He knows that Satoru has a lot to do. He knows that he and his sister are just toys for the Strongest, with which they can dilute the gray monotonous everyday life surrounded by weakness and at least for a couple of moments feel like not a deity in the flesh, but someone humanoid.
And even if Satoru says otherwise, Megumi is no fool. Megumi has been dumped many times, so he knows when to keep his mouth shut and pretend he doesn't know the truth.
Perhaps Satoru really sincerely thinks so. Maybe Satoru thinks they can become a family. Perhaps Satoru thinks Megumi doesn't notice how he winces when he sees him with his hair plastered to his forehead after a shower.
After all, in his dreams, his father's hair, though white, does not stick out in all directions, but lies obediently on his forehead. Megumi is a smart boy, and this is not physics, so he can put two and two together.
He understands, of course, that Satoru doesn't take care of them out of pure altruism. And it's not just about all the little things that Megumi sometimes notices and mosaics together the overall picture of their intertwined lives. He just would never have believed in wanting to help the first boy from the alley. It's unlikely that a man like Satoru would owe money to someone like his father, but he doesn't know for sure. There must be something else here.
Megumi is a smart boy, but he still hopes that there is something involved besides debt.
Satoru keeps coming, as if not noticing his disgustingly displeased face. He seems to ignore the fact that Megumi never opens the door to him or comes out to greet him, pretending with perfect hearing that he did not hear. It's in the spirit of Gojo to joke about sore ears and the need to see a doctor, but for some reason he keeps his tongue under control. He just leans his temple against the doorjamb and drills the back of Megumi's head with all six eyes.
Tsumiki is still happy with the groceries and clothes he bought, Gojo is still deliberately making his unfunny jokes, Megumi is still frowning at him. And when he turns away, he doesn't notice that the ice in crystal clear blue eyes is gradually melting.
Gojo supports them, Gojo visits them almost every evening when he is not busy on missions, Gojo settles all matters with the Zenin clan, so Megumi learns about it only briefly, catching carelessly thrown phrases.
Gojo is trying to learn how to take care of two abandoned children, Tsumiki is trying to make her brother be grateful, Megumi is trying not to get attached.
Gojo teaches him to put his hands in seals and summon shikigami. Gojo shows him his technique. Gojo takes him to a nearby wasteland and shows him how to kill minor curses.
He's trying to teach Megumi how to ride a bike. It all ends with a silent bandaging of the knees and dirty weeds in the white hair.
Satoru, always tactile, tries not to touch him again, and Megumi, despite everything, does not throw his spider paws off his ankle.
On his birthday, Satoru arrives with a huge cake and tries to dress Megumi up in an ugly cardboard hat for the amusement of Tsumiki, who does not believe in the success of the event from the very beginning. Satoru's hand freezes in his hair when Megumi allows the paper to be placed on his head and looks at the almost torn sore on his knee, so as not to inadvertently look into warm blue eyes framed by fluffy eyelashes.
One day, Tsumiki goes to the store when Satoru habitually appears on the doorstep. Megumi silently opens the door and silently comes a little closer, nuzzling into someone else's stomach just above the cold belt buckle. Not a word comes out of Satoru's chatty mouth as he first gently strokes Megumi's hair, and then gently picks him up, puts him in the crook of his elbow and lets him rest his head on his shoulder.
Megumi is a smart boy and he understands physics. But here everything is much more complicated.