Archive of Our Own ^beta

When Megumi found out that his tiny elementary school comprised of less than 100 kids were going to be doing a school play, he wasn’t worried; he didn’t even bat an eyelash as he continued to mindlessly tap the tip of his lead pencil to his notebook.

Upon learning that parents were going to be invited to watch said play—is when he was forced to pay attention.

Because he knew what that meant; he knew that insufferable Jujutsu sorcerer was somehow going to find a way to squirm his way into watching this play. The tip of his lead pencil snapped in an instant as he pressed it to the page of his exercise book, garnering a few looks from his confused classmates.

He was going to have to keep any and all knowledge of this play away from that sorcerer's devilish ears, wasn't he? The idea of going through so much trouble just to keep that man out of his school life was already sounding quite tiresome, but would he rather be burnt out for a couple of weeks, or live with the lifelong embarrassment that was to ensue if that man attended? The former option appealed to him way more.

So when the tinnitus-inducing bell rang to signify the end of the arduous school day, Megumi flew out of his seat and marched down the school halls like a man on a mission, nearly bumping into some people passing by along the way. His body was tense as he kept his fists tightly clenched and body rigid; his face was as disgruntled as always, looking as if he had just taken a big bite out of a very sour lemon.

“Ah, Megumi!” Megumi’s tense face softened ever so slightly at the sweet sound of his older sister’s voice and her hasty footsteps approaching him from behind. When he slowly turned around to face her, he noticed a flyer in her hand that she kept close to the side of her skirt. It very much caught his attention.

“What’s that, Tsumiki?” He watched as her face sparkled, lighting up as she pulled out the flyer and presented it to him an inch away from his face; Megumi leaned back in order to read what was written on it.

“Wizard of Oz: School Play

A production on the timeless ‘Wizard of Oz’ presented by our wonderful students here at ___ is coming your way! Parents, guardians and members of the community are encouraged to watch!

Date: XX Time: XX Location: XX”

How the school had already made flyers for the play when the students themselves weren’t even aware of its existence 2 minutes ago was beyond Megumi, but before he could even question it, Tsumiki quickly spoke up.

“I was going to give this to Mr. Gojo so he could come watch us!”

Megumi’s face returned to that disgruntled lemon-sucking expression again as he winced at her words, physically flinching in response.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay?”

“Uh, it’s just,” great, now he had to come up with a believable enough excuse to stop Tsumiki from forwarding that flyer to that annoying Jujutsu sorcerer without her getting suspicious. She knew that he wasn’t a fan of “he-who-shall-not-be-named,” so if she figured out that he was trying to prevent his attendance, Tsumiki would get mad and invite Gojo regardless of what Megumi protested. 

And Megumi knew what would happen if that happened. A horrific scene that would cause many sleepless nights in the future due to the utter embarrassment that would reign over his mind.

That couldn’t happen.

“He probably wouldn’t be able to make it, being a sorcerer and all. We shouldn’t bother him when he’s saving people’s lives.”

Tsumiki’s beaming smile slightly dimmed at her younger brother’s words. Regardless of her current emotional state, she forced the corners of her mouth to remain upturned. “Yeah, I guess you’re right..” Tsumiki scrunched the flyer and forced it into her pocket as she latched onto the straps of her bag, gesturing for Megumi to follow her home as she walked away. Her head was bowed, with her movements lacking of any sort of her usual spunk.

Megumi hated seeing his sister upset, his sister who was the epitome of goodness in his eyes, and the fact that he had been the one to cause such sadness tore at his heart as he followed her home. Despite this fact, Megumi knew it was for the best.

He wasn’t going to get humiliated by some cocky teenager who was dealing with the aftermath of a messy break-up.

—~*~—-

The draft of a plan was starting to be devised by Megumi. The play would occur in six-weeks time, meaning that Megumi would have to—for six-weeks—go through heaven and hell to make sure that he did NOT find out about this school play. He couldn’t allow even the faintest of ideas to come to the white-haired boy's mind. Which is why in the first week of keeping this secret,  Megumi was on the edge of his seat whenever the mere mention of school was brought up during breakfast. 

“How's school?” Gojo asked as he mostly directed his attention towards his phone; he was slightly rocking back on the kitchen chair whilst shovelling some cereal into his mouth. Tsumiki and Megumi ate their bountiful amounts of breakfast—something that Gojo was extra considerate about.

Tsumiki smiled at the question and stopped eating her pancakes, placing her cutlery down onto the table and sitting up straighter.

“Really good! We have this really cool event coming up!”

“Oh, really?” Gojo glanced away from his phone and readjusted his glasses, leaning forward so that the front two legs of his chairs weren’t floating above the floor anymore as he put his phone face-down on the kitchen table. Megumi felt part of his soul leave as he quickly intervened.

“It’s alright. Nothing too exciting.” Tsumiki gasped as she turned towards Megumi, hand instinctively reaching for her cup of milk as Megumi subconsciously flinched. Gojo watched with keen interest.

“Nothing too exciting? How could you say that?”

“It’s nothing spectacular.” Megumi shrugged as he felt his older sister become even more flabbergasted by his flippant attitude with every second, Gojo continued to watch with amusement painted on his face. Whatever was on his phone could wait, it seemed.

“Nothing spectacular?!” Tsumiki stood up, hand tightly clenched around the cup as Megumi continued to stare at Tsumiki, before eventually turning away to drink his own cup of milk. That was the last straw for Tsumiki, she was about to splash him with her cup for his dismissive attitude before both siblings were stopped by someone loudly clearing their throat.

“As much as I appreciate the loving sibling display, you shouldn’t be going around splashing milk on your wittle-baby bwother.” Gojo smirked as he took the cup from Tsumiki’s hand and lowered it down onto the table; Megumi grabbed his cup as he prepared to douse him with milk for that unnecessary comment.

“You need to drink your milk so you can have nice, big, strong bones just like me. That way you’ll become stronger when you’re older.” He leaned back into his chair and returned to his former state with a tweaked variation; his hands supported the back of his head as he lifted the front of his chair while resting his leg on-top of the other one.

“But, Mr. Gojo-“

“Gojo’s just fine.”

“Why don’t you drink your milk?”

Megumi sighed, he already knew what was coming; he didn’t even need to look at the wide smirk on the seventeen-year old's face to know what he was about to say.

Gojo titled his head down, allowing Tsumiki to stare into his entrancing blue eyes, “Because I’m already the strongest, I don’t need to drink milk.”

Oh well, Megumi had succeeded in getting the topic of school out and away from this conversation. Even if he had to listen to another annoying rant about how his benefactor was “the strongest” person in every shape in form again, at least he wouldn’t be showing up to his school performance in six-weeks time utterly embarrassing him in front of everyone.

It seemed that Megumi’s plan to change the topic worked after all, all thanks to Tsumiki and her short temper.

—~*~—

The second week of keeping the play a secret from Gojo entailed auditions for parts and roles. Unfortunately for Megumi, the eccentric drama teacher had already made it exceptionally clear that everyone was going to have a part in the performance; if not for this rule, Megumi wouldn’t have even needed to worry about the darned play to begin with, he would’ve just been able to not partake in it. All would have been fine. 

But all was not fine--in fact--a tiny Megumi was standing on stage with a bunch of other kids with a script in front of him. Some students shined and basked in the light of the stage, students like Tsumiki in particular, who was absolutely knocking her audition out of the park. Then there were the other kids, most likely the kids who didn’t care about acting, or who couldn’t act to save their life; Megumi was the former. He tucked himself away in the crowd to avoid any potential attention.

Later that day, Megumi was barraged by excited squeals from his older sister, who had landed herself the main role. She wrapped her arms around him and certainly made use of her vocal cords as she jumped up and down excitedly--he was pretty sure he was going to go deaf if she didn’t stop.

“That’s great news, Tsumiki.” Megumi smiled softly upon seeing his sister’s exuberant energy as he watched her bounce down the hall.

“I can’t wait to tell Mr. Gojo!” Megumi’s smile disintegrated in an instant, which didn’t go unnoticed by his observant older sister as she stopped in her tracks.

“Gumi, you gotta stop making that lemon-sucking face all the time! That’s why you landed the role of a tree instead of a more important part! They said you looked too scary.” Tsumiki frowned as she sympathetically placed a warm hand on his shoulder; Megumi merely shrugged as he continued walking alongside her, “That’s fine by me, I didn’t want a major role anyways.”

Megumi suddenly stopped in his path as he lifted his head; Tsumiki soon stopped walking and turned to look at him once she realised that her little brother wasn’t following her anymore.

“Hm? Is something wrong?”

“Maybe I should tell him instead. You should focus all of your time and energy into making sure you’re prepared for your main role.”

At first, Tsumiki looked at him with a raised brow, confused by his sudden suggestion. However, she eventually warmed up to the idea and enthusiastically nodded, skipping over to him to pat his shoulder and give her thanks before making a mad dash for the theatre to talk to the drama teacher. Megumi breathed a sigh of relief.

"It’s only week two and I’ve nearly had this play exposed three separate times. I need to come up with a more formidable plan.."

The smell of fresh flora danced around in the air as Megumi lowered his head in thought, continuing his lonely trek home.

"My biggest problem is Tsumiki, she’s been the hardest to keep quiet so far and I don’t know how long she’ll be willing to go without telling him about the performance. I think if I keep those two as far away from each other, I should be fine. But for six-weeks? One--if not both of them--are bound to get suspicious if I’m making sure that they both aren’t in constant contact with each other."

The crunch of the autumn leaves went unnoticed by Megumi as he stroked his chin with his finger, lost in thought.

"If I can’t keep them away from each other, then I’ll just make sure that I’m always around them whenever they’re talking to one another. That way, I’ll be able to keep tabs on what they’re talking about, and if Tsumiki brings up school, I can redirect the conversation like I did last time."

"But then there’s also the school itself. If they see him then they’re bound to go up and talk to him, which could lead to them mentioning the play."

Megumi shuddered as he thought about that scary possibility.

"Then again, he doesn’t really show up at our school unless he's called there, so as long as the school doesn’t summon him, I should be fine. There’s also the possibility that they’ll send out an email to the parents about it, so all l have to do is make sure he never sees that email."

He finally stopped out the front of his house, head raised and filled with a newfound determination that burned inside him.

"I’ll block the school’s number and email on his phone, that should fix that problem."

“Oii, Megumi!”

Megumi was roused from his deep thinking as he finally noticed a lanky looking teenager waving to him from the front steps of his house. He bellowed as he reluctantly walked over to the Jujutsu sorcerer, cursing his luck. Even though he didn’t want to have to put up with Gojo’s bullshit, he knew that this was probably the most opportune time to steal his phone and knock off one part of his plan.

“Where’s Tsumiki?” Questioned Gojo. 

“She’s still at school; she's asking the teacher for some help for an upcoming test.”

“Ahh, I see.” Gojo crouched down to Megumi’s height; Megumi tilted his head away as he scowled, trying to put as much distance as he could between him and Gojo.

“Aren’t you guys too young for a test though? You guys are like what, four?”

“I’m turning seven this year and Tsumiki is already eight.”

“Eh? Really?” Gojo smiled as he pushed his shades up his nose bridge, “I still remember when you guys were just so tiny! My, my, they weren’t kidding when they said that kids grow up too fast.” He ruffled Megumi’s hair affectionately before standing back up and opening their front door. In his other hand was his phone and a shopping bag, most likely coming to replenish their food stock, or because he wanted to annoy Megumi with his presence. Megumi placed his bets on both being the answer as he entered his home.

He took his place on the couch before being yoinked by Gojo.

“Ah-ah, aren’t you hungry? Come on, I brought some snacks.” Megumi found himself being placed in a chair and tucked in at the dinner table by this weirdo sorcerer who was rummaging through his shopping bag.

“I’m not hungry-“

“Shhh.” Megumi huffed as he watched Gojo place all different assortments of snacks on the table—he already knew that he would not be able to stomach all of this alone, but he knew how insistent Gojo was--especially when it came to their health and eating habits.

“You’re a growing baby boy, you need all the food you can get!” The taller boy took his seat in front of Megumi. For someone who was usually the most arrogant person Megumi knew because he was the so-called “strongest,” he sure softened up when it came to Megumi and Tsumiki.

Sometimes it made it harder for Megumi to dislike Gojo.

“…” Megumi glanced around at the snacks--more like full meals due to the quantity of food in front of him. It looked like it must've costed a fortune to afford as well, maybe Megumi should be a bit nicer to Gojo once in a while. Gojo must’ve noticed Megumi’s apprehension to dig in, because his energy seemed to dim a little as he lightly pressed Megumi for an answer.

“Do you not like the options?”

Megumi stared at Gojo, realising that this was the perfect opportunity to strike. He discredited his previous thought of being nice for the sake of the mission.

“You’re making that pouty face again.”

“I never eat without Tsumiki.”

…

Quiet. The room fell quiet as Gojo let the words sink into his brain for a moment. Megumi didn't say anything either, letting the sombre mood linger in the air as he watched Gojo nod in understanding and stand up from his seat.

“I’ll bring her home then.” He ruffled Megumi’s hair, (again), before turning around and heading towards the front door. Before he exited the premises, he looked over his shoulder, and with a cheeky smirk, held up a peace sign before winking.

“Don’t miss me too much.” Megumi responded by groaning and rolling his eyes as he heard Gojo’s footsteps fade away. When the coast was clear, he launched into his attack.

Megumi locked eyes with the sorcerer’s new store-bought phone as he strained an arm to reach it. Once in possession, he touched the front screen to see his wallpaper.

It was strange. Megumi expected the wallpaper to be some egregious photo of the sorcerer himself, but it wasn’t. It was someone he didn’t recognise. The man looked particularly tall, but it was hard for Megumi to tell since the man was leaning on the railing of a bridge; his arms tucked under his head as it rested peacefully on them; he was  supposedly glancing down at the scenery below him, but once again, it was a bit hard for Megumi to tell. The man had silky black hair that was tied into a messy man bun while wearing some casual clothes with a bag on his back.

"Weird, oh well."  Megumi ignored the significance of the man in the photo and pressed the home button, only to be faced with his first obstacle.

“Password.”

Megumi tapped his index finger on the top-right corner of the phone in a rhythmic pattern that would hopefully stimulate some type of brain activity in the young boy’s mind, but all he could do was just stare at the assortment of numbers in confusion.

“Hmm.” He shut his eyes and squeezed them tightly, trying to remember any time he had seen the sorcerer unlock his phone.

Soon, a memory floated to mind—or—he just remembered seeing the sorcerer type his password in front of the young boy. He remembered it was a late Sunday night; the three of them had decided to watch a movie together--a garbage movie. It was so horrible that it succeeded in boring everyone to sleep. Tsumiki had already crashed at this point, leaving Megumi and Gojo awake to suffer through the horrible 2 hour film.

Megumi was next to fall asleep, he could feel his eyelashes flutter every three seconds and his head grow heavier by the minute, only being kept awake by Gojo's movements.

The young boy had his head resting on Gojo's shoulder--something that rarely happened, Megumi still couldn't believe he had let his guard down so much that he had allowed himself to get that comfortable with someone he supposedly despised. Sometimes, he'd feel Gojo move his arm so that he could wipe the tears from his eyes; the movie was so awful that it bored Gojo to actual tears.

Through half-lidded eyes, Megumi watched as Gojo fished his phone out of his pocket. It seemed to be a new phone, an upgrade from the gold flip phone he used to carry around all the time. He watched Gojo's thumbs twirl around before eventually pressing down on 4 digits to unlock his phone:

“2-3-9-0”

The screen changed; Megumi had successfully gotten into Gojo's phone. The background changed again, depicting a photo of what looked to be the same man from before but this time, his face was visible. He seemed to be in school, situated at a desk with his notebook open as he read over his notes with a calm expression on his face. He had large black circular earrings and his hair was still tied up in that easily recognisable man bun, with some of his hair falling down at the front. What stuck out most to Megumi, however, was his uniform.

It was the same uniform Gojo wore.

"I guess he does have friends, so why doesn't he hang out with him instead of insisting on bothering me all the time?" Megumi mused to himself as he swiped through Gojo's phone; he was trying his best to not invade Gojo's privacy, but seeing as how he was going through his benefactor's phone without permission--perhaps that ship had already sailed.

"....Ah," it clicked in Megumi's head, why he had never seen nor heard of this man that his benefactor seemed quite close to, seeing as how his wallpaper was set as this man and this man alone.

"This must be who he had that messy break up with. He's always talking about his other associates, but not this guy."

"...Oh well, not what I'm here for." Megumi continued on his mission to locate either Gojo's contacts or the application in charge of harbouring his mail. Unfortunately, Megumi was at the disadvantage of being a 6 year old who hadn't yet grasped the complexities that was technology, so navigating the phone was proving to be much harder than anticipated. Eventually, Megumi was able to locate the contacts. He scrolled through many different names, noting that they were all ordered alphabetically.

He started looking for keywords like, "Megumi and Tsumiki," "Fushiguro," "School," and his school's name in their respective orders. Soon enough, Megumi had found a contact he was confident was his school's number.

"The Kids' School 👎"

Ignoring the thumbs down emoji--which--Megumi whole-heartedly understood, he spent a good two minutes skimming his eyes over the screen to try to find where the "block" button was before eventually finding it.

"That's one down." He hurriedly exited the app to try to find where the mail app was located, which didn't take too long. Figuring out this app proved to be a bit complicated for him; Megumi didn't know what the hell an "Inbox" or and "Outbox" was, but after some searching, he found an interesting email.

It was the flyer that Tsumiki had shown him but sent through as an email.

 Megumi  quickly deleted the email. As an extra step of precaution, Megumi managed to block his school from sending Gojo anymore emails, ensuring his secret safe for now. He let out a relieved sigh, not before springing into action as he heard footsteps coming from outside. He quickly placed Gojo's phone exactly where it was, face down on the table and tried his best to appear normal in his chair.

Megumi considered this mission a huge success.

--~*~--

It was now week three of keeping Gojo in the dark about this school play, this week was centred around rehearsals. Nothing to cause Megumi too much alarm, though he very much wished he didn't have to participate in this stupid school play. Of course he was happy for Tsumiki, who was once again glistening on stage like the young star she was, but for him? He was just a background character, a literal tree. Was his presence really needed for this play?

Despite these facts, he remained still on the stage, among the other two trees. He was on the very end of the trio and unfortunately for him, he was also close to the front, but no reason to worry, right? It's not like there was going to be someone he personally knew sitting in the audience watching him.

But that wasn't what Megumi needed to worry about, because mid-rehearsal--while Tsumiki was delivering her lines--the principal stormed into the auditorium with a scowl so prominent her veins looked like they were going to pop out of her forehead.

Behind her standing outside the auditorium, was a boy who had been badly injured and was quivering from fear. His arm was completely covered in bandages and his head had various coloured band-aids with little monsters on them plastered all over his face, his knee had a large plaster band-aid and some dried blood that had been wiped recently. Megumi recognised him immediately.

That was the kid he had just beat up during recess for picking on one of his sister's friends.

"Class B, I would just like to speak to you for a moment about something very important." The principal signalled with her hand for everyone to come off from the stage and to all congregate in front of her. All the kids awkwardly shuffled off of the stage, including Tsumiki who was subtly staring daggers into the back of Megumi's head-- and Megumi, who could feel her death stares aimed at him.

"Now, a student has just been gravely injured during the recess break, and I would like to know who was responsible for this."

Quiet, the class didn't say a word. She continued.

"I won't say who was hurt, but they told me that it was someone in this class who hurt them, they just won't say who did it."

Silent, the class continued to not say a word. Megumi felt his heart rate begin to pick up, but his facial expressions remained controlled--aside from the bead of sweat that ran down his cheek.

"No one will admit to it? That's fine," the principal's shoes tip-tapped towards the exit of the auditorium; she lingered in the door way before turning around and directing her attention to the young students once again, "I'll find out who did it." She finally left with the bandaged kid in tow.

Megumi let go of his breath that he didn't even know he was holding as he felt all the tension drain from his body. Luckily for him, he had managed to beat up that kid in an isolated area that barely anyone frequented, meaning the chances of someone dobbing him in were astronomically low.

However, that didn't mean he was completely off the hook; he'd definitely be getting an earful from Tsumiki when they got home later that day. Better than getting in trouble with the school.

Everyone returned to their positions and resumed rehearsals until the final bell for the day rung. Megumi tried his best to leave without Tsumiki noticing, just so that he could enjoy the last few moments he had before getting lectured by his older sister, however, fate had other plans for him.

"Megs, Miki!"

Megumi stopped in his tracks, a violent chill going down his back.

"Oh! Mr. Gojo!"

Tsumiki ran ahead of Megumi, that was fine, Megumi didn't feel like being the first one to greet Gojo anyways.

"It's not like it could get any more worse." is what Megumi told himself, unknowingly jinxing himself.

"Mr. Gojo, it's a pleasure seeing you here."

Megumi heard the sound of the drama teacher's voice as he watched her make her way to where Gojo and Tsumiki were standing.

"Never mind, it could get much more worse." He thought to himself as he braced for whatever the hell was going to happen. He reluctantly made his way over to the trio; Gojo must've noticed Megumi's uncomfortable demeanour, because he called out to him before affectionately ruffling his hair. Megumi snapped away from him and scowled, causing the drama teacher to laugh.

"Why are you here?" Megumi mumbled as he kept his glare trained at Gojo, the older boy merely laughed as he waved him off, "Your teacher called me, she wanted to talk to me about Tsumiki's amazing performance in school as of late."

Tsumiki's eyes widened and sparkled as she looked up at Gojo, he gave her a proud pat on the head as he turned his attention to the drama teacher.

"Yes! Exactly that!"

"Oh no, she's going to tell him about the play.."

"Tsumiki here-"

"I can't let that happen, I have to stop this!"

"was born for the-"

"I beat up that kid at recess." Blurted Megumi. His fists were clenched as he kept them to his sides. When he looked up, he saw both the drama teacher and Gojo just staring blankly at him as Tsumiki looked shocked that he would actually admit to that.

So much for not getting the school involved.

__~*~__

The fourth week of making sure that Gojo didn't find out about Megumi and Tsumiki's school play entailed.. well, nothing. Nothing for Megumi anyways.

He had been suspended for a week for beating up that boy, which he usually wouldn't have cared about, except for the fact that apparently during the week Megumi had been suspended, they had been studying wolves for that week and that week only.

Of course, he was glad that he kept his mission safe, but he was incredibly pissed he had missed out on learning about his favourite animal. Poor Gojo had to deal with Megumi's wrath, even though he had nothing to do with it. Actually, Gojo--with his charming looks and incredible persuasive tactics--had lightened Megumi's suspension from three weeks to just one week, but even Megumi was pissed about that. If he had been suspended for three weeks, he wouldn't have to participate in that dumb play.

It was safe to say, Megumi had learned his lesson.

--~*~--

It was now one week until the school play, which made this week week five of keeping it a secret from Gojo. This week entailed last preparations, which included making sure everyone's costumes fit nicely and that the stage designs were finalised. Because costumes were sorted out the week before--the week that Megumi was "out of commission"-- he was subjected to waiting in the backroom as one of the nice teachers got it sorted out for him.

He didn't mind, as long as he wasn't on stage with a bunch of kids who were sweating under the stage light possessing temperatures similar to that of five-thousand suns, he was content.

But there was someone who wasn't content, who hadn't been content for a while now. Megumi had no idea about their true feelings, until that day when he was waiting.

The door swung open as a familiar figure approached Megumi; he raised his head up from his bowed position and made eye contact with his older sister, Tsumiki.

"Tsumiki, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get a prop for the show, you know, the one I'm starring in?" Her voice was dripping with a sharpness that he had never heard from her, only when she was really, really mad. Megumi wondered what on earth had gotten into her to make her so mad.

"Uh, yeah, I'm in it too."

"Are you really in it? You don't seem like you want to be."

"Really? I couldn't tell." The next second he knew he had a little basket tossed at his head, he winced as he rubbed his forehead.

"Gah, ow." Megumi glared at Tsumiki, who looked slightly guilty but at the same time still wore an annoyed expression. "What was that for?"

"I was really excited for this play, you know. I spent so much time practising my lines, making sure everything was right, talking to the teacher for any critiques and improvements." She moved closer, her expression starting to falter as her voice became shakier.

"But what's the point if no one is going to see it?"

"What do you mean?" Megumi stood up from the bench and turned to face Tsumiki, "Everyone's going to be there to watch it, they've been talking about it non-stop."

"Except for one person, because you won't tell him!" Tsumiki broke; her hand flew to her chest as she let her tears unfurl from her eyes as she let out a sob. Megumi's eyes widened.

"..."

"Even if I didn't get the main role, it wouldn't have mattered to me!" She wiped her eyes as she continued to vent her frustrations, "Because I was just excited to have Mr. Gojo see me, see us on that stage. I was so excited, Megumi." Tsumiki sniffled; Megumi felt his stomach tie into a knot.

"But you wouldn't let me tell him. In fact, it seems that anytime school gets mentioned, you quickly avert the conversation. I let it slide because, I know how you feel about Mr. Gojo." The knot grew tighter, getting tied up with other organs as they continued to squeeze him from within.

"You want to let him in but you're too scared, so you push him away." With her fists clenched, she once again wiped the stray tears and glared at Megumi, "but you're not just pushing him away from yourself, you're pushing him away from me as well!"

Tsumiki was becoming even angrier at this point, she stepped towards him and pressed an accusatory finger to his chest, causing him to back up--but she followed him--like a predator hunting their prey.

"You were only thinking about yourself, you never once considered that maybe I wanted to show him something I was proud of! But I let you do it like a fool!" Megumi's back was pressed against a wall as Tsumiki dropped the last bomb, the worst of them all.

"All because you're scared that he's going to leave you all behind, just like how our parents did!"

Megumi felt his organs snap from the tension, as did his patience. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as his head shot back up.

"How do you know he won't? You don't even realise that you're just as scared as I am, which is why you're a total suck up! You think if you suck up to him then he'll want to keep your sorry a-"

Contact. Tsumiki's hand made contact with Megumi's right cheek, leaving a horrid stinging pain in its wake. Tsumiki gasped as her hands flew to her mouth, watching as Megumi pressed a hand to the red area; he was shocked. He never would have expected Tsumiki to actually hit him.

She quickly muttered an apology before running out of the backroom and back to the stage, leaving Megumi alone to deal with whatever just happened. He slumped back down onto the bench as he felt tears brim at the rims of his eyes, he couldn't force them away. They provided some sort of relief to the physical pain he was experiencing, not so much the emotional pain.

He had been selfish. He had been taking advantage of Tsumiki's kindness without even realising it, all because he didn't want Gojo to find out about the performance. Why? In actuality, Megumi wanted Gojo to be there, not only for him but for Tsumiki. Seeing how happy and proud she was of herself made him happy in return, and he knew that Gojo definitely would've made time to see his kids perform had he been told about it.

She was right. Megumi was scared. He was scared that if Gojo knew about it, he wouldn't want to show up, making Megumi feel embarrassed for even asking. He didn't want to get too close to Gojo either, what if he left him just like his father had?

But even if he was scared, it wasn't right to do what he did to Tsumiki. She had worked so hard and just wanted her caretaker to see all of her hard work.

He knew what the right thing to do was, and that was to tell Gojo the truth.

--~*~--

In the beginning of the the sixth week, the week the play would be held on, Megumi woke up to quietness. That was strange. Usually he would wake up to the sound of Tsumiki's lively voice as she enthused to Gojo about whatever was on her mind. Instead, the air was cold and lacked the usual warmth it held--something was wrong.

He pulled the covers off himself and slid to the side of his bed; his feet made contact with the cold floor, sending a chill up his body as he shivered. Megumi walked into the kitchen, noticing Tsumiki standing over the table with her head hung low.

"Tsumiki?" Before he could ask her any questions, she spun on her heel and pushed past him, wiping her eyes. Now he was worried.

With a hint of trepidation, Megumi made his way to the small circular kitchen table and spotted a note on it.

"I won't be popping in this week -- I'm very busy!

I've done all the shopping you need for the week, I'll be back next week!

Don't miss me too much!

- Love, Gojo"

Megumi's grip on the paper tightened, causing it to rip a little at the corners. The guilt he felt was unbearable--he felt like the biggest asshole in the entire world.

"Sorry, Tsumiki."

Gojo had left before he could even tell him about the play, and now Tsumiki really wasn't going to have anyone watching her perform, all because of Megumi. If he had been honest from the beginning, maybe Gojo would have been able to request time off to watch their performance?

No, that's not how the real world worked. Gojo had a responsibility, a serious one at that. People relied on him to save the day from curses, even if he had requested time off, there's no way it would have been allowed.

So it technically wasn't Megumi's fault, in the end, it would have ended up like this either way.

But it still hurt to see his loving older sister, the one who sacrificed so much for him, absolutely down in the dumps over this.

And there wasn't anything that he could do about it.

--~*~--

It was now the end of the sixth week, the day of the school play.

Even though Tsumiki was absolutely heartbroken over Gojo not being able to watch the performance, she managed to keep herself together throughout the week. During the last run-through, however, she lacked the energy and joy she originally had during rehearsals. It was so noticeable that the drama teacher pulled her aside and asked her what was wrong. That made Megumi feel ten times worse.

He really messed up.

But there was nothing he could do about it now, the show was starting in 10 minutes and they needed to be backstage. Tsumiki rushed ahead of them as they entered through the school gates; they were considerably late because they had a late dinner, and even though Gojo wasn't there, they knew that if he was he would've harped on about how important it was for them to eat their meals, hence their tardiness.

Luckily, they both made it in time. One of the teachers quickly ushered the two of them to the bathrooms so that they could get changed into their costumes. When Tsumiki stepped out, she looked adorable in her costume. Some of her spark had returned to her when she put the costume on and was all glammed up, it made Megumi smile.

"Heh, you look funny as a tree." Said Tsumiki, as she stood next to him backstage.

"Shut up."

The two siblings stood side-by-side, not saying anything. Until Megumi broke the silence.

"I'm sorry." Tsumiki sighed, smiling softly as she turned her head towards him and gave him a reassuring look.

"It's fine, it couldn't be helped." She fidgeted with her basket and tapped her ruby red shoes against the floor, "Still, I wish he could have been here."

"..Me too." Tsumiki turned her head in surprise, checking to see if he was just saying that or if he really meant it. When she saw his eyes, she knew.

He meant every word of it.

"Megumi, I'm sorry about what happened before, I went too far and I shouldn't have slapped you like that."

"I'm sorry too," Megumi bowed his head, "I said some pretty rude things."

"Hey," Tsumiki lifted Megumi's chin with the tips of her fingers, a soft smile painted on her lips, "I technically started it, I said some pretty mean things too."

"But if I had told Gojo-" Tsumiki wiped the tear from Megumi's eye before it even had a chance to roll down, "It wouldn't have changed anything," she interrupted, "He still wouldn't have been able to make it."

The two siblings stood in silence for a moment, before the older sister brought her little baby brother in for a hug--which was quite a challenge due to the fact he was currently a tree. She had to manoeuvre herself in a way that allowed her to give him a satisfactory hug.

Eventually, the curtains began to rise, and the play began.

Megumi didn't have to be on stage until later on in the play, so he just watched his older sister shine like a star on that stage. When he saw her walk on, he watched as her eyes lit up with joy, she became so ecstatic that she nearly messed up her opening line. Megumi was a bit confused, but perhaps it was because of the inner theatre kid inside of her basking in the light of the stage.

He heard a man's voice yell, "That's my girl!" He couldn't deny that it sounded vaguely familiar, but who the voice belonged to pervaded him.

"Maybe it's someone's dad." He thought to himself, not giving it much thought as he continued to watch the play, waiting for his turn with bated breath.

Unlike his sister, Megumi was not meant for the stage. With every second that passed, Megumi felt his breath quicken and his heart race as his turn to go on stage drew near.

Before he knew it, he--along with a few other kids-- were shuffling onto stage. He took his position close to the front of the stage, and that's when he heard it.

"WOOO! MEGUMIIII! DADDY'S SO PROUD OF YOU!!"

Megumi was snapped out of his somewhat panicked state and scanned his eyes across the crowd, trying to locate the source of the obnoxious voice.

He found it quite easily.

There Gojo was, sitting in the second column, ninth row to the left, one hand holding up his phone and the other one waving very enthusiastically--with the biggest grin on his face that Megumi had ever seen before.

Without Megumi even realising it, his own lips turned upwards, and he had the biggest smile on his face upon spotting his dad in the crowd.

The wholesome moment was broken when the words Gojo had said finally sunk in to Megumi, and his face immediately flushed bright red as he tried to hide his face--but was unable to. He continued on with his part, trying to ignore Gojo's spontaneous exclaims of glee as Megumi silently begged to be off that stage.

When he finally got off stage, he was incredibly relieved. "Thank goodness, I thought I was going to die of embarrassment out there. Geez, that idiot. How did he even make it in the first place? And why did he have to make it? I didn't want him here, Tsumiki did." Megumi thought.

So why were there tears of relief welling up in his eyes upon seeing that Gojo had actually made it?

He didn't want to cry in front of his classmates, so he tried his hardest to hold back the tears until the show had ended--which took forever.

All of the kids were brought back on stage to do a final bow, and that's when Gojo lost it.

"THOSE ARE MY KIDS UP THERE! YEAH, DOROTHY AND THE TREE!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Lots and lots of whooping, many parents were laughing while some were scorning at what looked to be a random teenager from another school making a ruckus at their kids play.

Megumi couldn't wait to get off stage to greet Gojo, and neither could Tsumiki. The both of them were racing to the bathrooms to take their costumes off so that they could bolt to where the parents were. They eventually found Gojo waiting outside, two bouquets of roses in his arm and a wide gleeful smile on his face, he looked happier than a kid on Christmas Day.

"G-Gojo!" Tsumiki was the first to go to Gojo, she had tears streaming down her face as she launched herself onto him. She clung to his leg as she sobbed onto him, darkening his school uniform with her tears.

"You were amazing, Tsumiki, you really are a star." He bent down to hand her the roses, and to comfort the child who was hysterically crying.

Megumi slowly made his way over to Gojo, being cautious with his movements.

"Megs," Gojo smiled as he handed Megumi the other bouquet of roses, Megumi huffed.

"You embarrassed me in front of everyone, you know. Why'd you have to say all that?" The young boy petulantly crossed his arms, giving the older boy a mean scowl. Gojo raised his hands, "Hey, I was serious, you know." He smiled devilishly, taking pride in the fact that his little prank on Megumi went off without a hitch, "Daddy really is proud of you!" He opened his arms and beckoned the boy over.

"Shut up." Megumi pushed his arms away and stepped back, receiving a fake pout from Gojo, pretending to be horribly wounded.

"Don't listen to him Gojo, he really is happy you're here, he was-"

"S-Shut up."

"Hah, don't worry, I already knew. I saw his big ol' smile on stage when he saw me." Gojo laughed as Megumi turned his head away, trying--but failing to--hide the embarrassment on his face once again. Tsumiki giggled as the plastic from the bouquet of roses rattled in her arms.

"Come on, take your flowers." Gojo held them out to Megumi, who reluctantly snatched them away before crashing into Gojo, who wrapped an arm around the young boy.

"How did you know there was a play? I spent all those weeks trying to keep it under wraps so you wouldn't find out."

"Kid, I've known for a long while now." He laughed as Tsumiki exclaimed in surprise, 'What? B-But how?!"

Gojo pressed a finger to his chin, "Well, it was that one time we were having breakfast together and you guys nearly doused each other in milk." His lips morphed into a fond smile as he glanced back down at his tear-struck kids, "The reason why I was on my phone was because I was actually reading an email I received from your school about it."

Megumi's eyes widened, "but- I blocked the school's number and email so that wouldn't happen!"

"So that's who did it!" Gojo swung his head down as he laughed.

"You knew?"

"Sure did. First of all, I noticed I had something in my bin in my mail account when I never deleted anything, and saw that it was the email about the play. Then it was the school that actually called me to tell me that their number was blocked."

"Huh?" Gojo just laughed at Megumi's confusion, Tsumiki on the other hand was not impressed.

"They make you put your number so that if there is an emergency, they can call your parents, and because you guys don't have parents," Gojo smiled mischievously, "I put the parents as both my numbers for my phones, and the emergency contact as Nanami."

"Oh.."

"So when they couldn't get a hold of me, they rung my old phone," Gojo reached into his back pocket and pulled out his golden flip-phone that Megumi had always seen, "Pretty sweet, huh?"

"So, you knew this whole time?" Tsumiki wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked up at Gojo with a swell of happiness in them; Gojo nodded.

"Why didn't you say anything?" asked Megumi, Gojo shrugged his shoulders, "Because you always avoided talking about it, so I just assumed you didn't want to."

"Megumi!" Megumi flinched at Tsumiki's annoyed shout, "There was no reason for you to hide it then! This all could have been avoided."

"Yeah, yeah, I said I was sorry." Megumi huffed as he felt the heat on his back from Tsumiki's wrath burn his skin, he really caused everyone so much trouble all for nothing.

Majority of his questions had been answered, but there was still one that lingered in his head, one he was dying to know the answer to.

"Gojo." Gojo titled his head down to make eye contact with the boy, tilting his head as he signalled for him to ask his question.

"You said you were going to be gone for the week," Megumi lowered his head and focussed on the beautiful red roses in his arms, "So, how did you end up making it?"

Gojo went quiet, his usual obnoxious and cheery mood becoming serious for a moment as he pulled his two kids closer.

"Because I wanted to see you guys, I wouldn't have missed this for the world. It's also why I got them to shorten your suspension from three weeks to just one, so that you wouldn't miss out on the performance."

"It was a pain in the as-" he felt a glare at Tsumiki, "-rear.. but I managed to finish my mission early and make it in time."

Megumi felt his eyes cloud up with tears as he smooshed his face against Gojo's leg, his body jumped with every sob as he muttered out a response.

"I'm glad you made it."

Gojo's eyes softened as he saw the vulnerability and sincerity in the boy's voice; he pulled the two of them closer and bent down so he could properly hug them. Tsumiki re-joined Megumi in their crying fit, which left Gojo feeling a bit awkward as he was still a bit inexperienced in the realm of parenting.

"I'm glad too." He said, softly. 

"Is this a bad time?" A somewhat timid voice broke the sombre atmosphere as the three of them looked up and made eye contact with the drama teacher, who was standing over them with a sheepish smile on her face. Gojo quickly straightened himself up and the two children wiped their eyes. Tsumiki smiled brightly as she hugged the roses to her chest as Megumi blankly looked up at the teacher. He was getting real sick of seeing her face after being forced to see it for the past five weeks. 

"Not at all, how may we be of help?" Gojo threw her his charming smile, garnering a laugh from the teacher and a huff of annoyance from the young boy.

"I just wanted to say how impressed and proud I am of Tsumiki, she truly is a star." The teacher slightly bent down to Tsumiki's height, flashing her a sincere smile, "You were amazing, the best little Dorothy we've seen!"

"Thank you! I had so much fun!" Her smile grew bigger as the teacher turned to face Megumi, who was trying to hide his growing disdain for the woman. He just wanted to go home and she was stopping that

"You too Megumi, you were a great tree! I've also never seen you smile like that before, it was a nice change from your first audition!" The teacher laughed; Megumi buried half of his face in his roses-- Gojo really had thrown him off guard by showing up without saying anything. While the teacher spoke to Megumi, Tsumiki tugged on Gojo's arm because she wanted to watch the footage from the performance, to which Gojo obliged and pulled out his phone.

The teacher cleared her throat, "You know, your smile looked exactly the same as Mr. Gojo's! I can really see the resemblance." She lifted her head to make eye contact with Gojo, only to see him covering the lower half of his face as his shoulders jolted with every exhale, and...wait, was that... sobbing?

"This is when little Megumi shows up.." He had to stop speaking due to how shaky his voice was, Tsumiki found it very funny.

"Um.. Mr. Gojo?" The teacher's question was answered by a large sniffle as Gojo lifted both kids into his arms, "You both are so talented! Tsumiki, you were so adorable as Dorothy in your little red shoes!" Tsumiki smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her head on his chest in an attempt to soothe the man. Megumi on the other hand, was trying to move away from Gojo in his arms.

"And Megumi! Megumi, you're so talented!" Gojo started wailing, causing a few people to cast some curious glances their way. Megumi was slightly mortified.

"You are the most amazing tree ever!"

"I didn't even have any dialogue, s-stop crying!" Megumi, in his own attempt to comfort Gojo, pressed a hand to his cheek as he grimaced at Gojo's very loud display of love. The white haired teenager continued to bawl his eyes out from pride whilst holding his pride and joy in his arms; the teacher ended up feeling too awkward standing around watching so she left to go talk to other parents.

Eventually, he pulled himself together and threw on a loud smile, "Come on! Let's go get some dessert, you guys have earned it!"

Gojo turned on his heel and made his way out of the school gates, holding his kids close to his chest, who were holding on for dear life trying to not fall asleep from their very busy day. Tsumiki had already conked out, her soft breaths floating in the air as Megumi fought for consciousness--failing miserably.

"Thank you.. Satoru." Muttered Megumi, before he eventually fell asleep in his father's arms.