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“Can I have a sleepover with my friends from school tomorrow?”, Tsumiki asks as soon as she sees Gojo when he picks up the two from school on a Friday.
He’d make a habit of picking them up whenever he can, which works out to be around 3 times a week. But he always makes it to Friday, and take them out for ice cream and rent a movie for them to watch over the weekend.
“Well it depends, do I know these friends?”, Gojo hums, taking Megumi’s and Tsumiki’s schoolbags off their backs and slinging them across his own.
“You’ve met them before, Mimiko and Nanako Hasaba, remember?”, Tsumiki looks up at him, sliding her hand into his and swing them as she walks.
Gojo has indeed met the twins, and if he remembers correctly, they’re actually a year younger than Tsumiki, but enrolled in school early.
“Do their parents agree? I’m good for you to go if their parents agree”, Gojo says, while reaching his other hand to put on Megumi’s back to help him keep up with their pace. At 6 years old, sometimes Megumi struggles to walk as fast as Gojo when he forgets that not everyone is 6’3 and has as long legs as him.
“Their dad says it’s okay! He says if you can drop me off at their place tomorrow, I can play with them there and stay overnight, and then he’ll drop me off on Sunday.”, Tsumiki enthusiastically nods her head.
“Then I don’t see why not! I’ll drop you off at theirs tomorrow afternoon. Seems like it’s just you and me at home this weekend, Megumi-chan. Maybe we should go somewhere and make Tsumiki jealous. What do you think?”
No answer from the Megumi-chan in question, as he focuses on toddling at a speed that matches the other two. Gojo chuckles and ruffles Megumi’s head, he is trying his damn best to not pick the little boy up and let him ride on Gojo’s shoulders, he’s already on thin ice as is with the hair ruffling.
“We’ll just play it by ear then, maybe we can go to a park and work on your technique, it’s up to you, buddy.” Because as stoic as Megumi is for a 6 year old, the promise of going to the park was still by far the best thing that Gojo can offer him.
The next morning is taken up by a trip to the shopping centre. Gojo has been wanting to buy the kids new winter coats, their old ones had become too short rather quickly, now that the kids are eating properly and growing like they should.
Tsumiki has taken her liking to a red puffer jacket, which fits her perfectly, and Gojo dares say she looks rather adorable in it. Meanwhile, Megumi gets a little distracted with the wolf plushies he sees on the shelves. He doesn’t tell Gojo he wants it, but from the way his big green eyes are glued to the shelves, Gojo knows they’re not leaving here without the plushies.
“Megumi-chan, what kind of jacket do you want?” Gojo leans down to ask, turning the boy towards the racks of winter coats instead.
As completely expected, the boy turns back to look at the plushies again almost immediately, as if there were springs loaded in his feet.
“How about this, if you pick out a jacket that you like, I’ll get you one of the plushies, hmm?”
Wide eyed and absolutely delighted, Megumi turns his full attention to the selection of jackets. Gojo helps him pick out a blue puffer, similar to Tsumiki’s own, because he is a sucker for the two of them in cute matching clothes. Megumi simply agrees, mainly because the puffer jacket has a small embroidered wolf on the front as a logo, and also because he wants nothing more than the wolf plushy in his hand right this second.
Gojo chuckles and grabbed the plushy from the shelf and hands it to Megumi, who immediately clutches the toy to his chest and press his still round cheeks on the wolf’s head. Right, he is taking care of the two most adorable children ever, Gojo thinks.
After lunch, Gojo drops Tsumiki off at her playdate, he walks her to the front door and tells her to call him if she were to need anything, or if she wants to go home early. Of course, he’s just being overly cautious, Tsumiki in her excitement had packed her bag to the brim with everything that she could possibly need, to the point where it looks like she’s going away for a couple days. He returns to his car before the door opens, another caretaker would probably meet the other parent and introduce themselves and make sure their kid comes in okay, but Gojo has only been taking care of them for a couple months, and wasn’t sure how to explain their relationship and how he is so young yet already in charge of two school children. So he opts to keep watch on Tsumiki from his car, until she enters the house.
He takes Megumj grocery shopping, picking up ingredients to make dinner tonight, which they have decided to be hamburg steak—Megumi’s favourite. The whole car ride home, Megumi is silent, which is not weird per se, Megumi is a child of very few words. Gojo sometimes wonder if that is normal, child development-wise. But this is different, usually, Megumi looks out the window in with a child like wonder, looking for people walking their dogs and staring at said dogs with amusement. But today, he keeps his eyes on the dashboard, only lazily petting the wolf plushy’s ears every now and again. Gojo concerned, but doesn’t ask the boy, instead, he stays silent and occasionally humming tunes from the kids shows that Megumi and Tsumiki watches that has been stuck in his head for days.
But something is definitely wrong. At dinner, the two of them sits across from each other at the table, Megumi idly poking at his food, not taking any bites. Gojo knows something is wrong because normally, Megumi would be digging into his favourite dish already.
“What’s wrong buddy? You miss Tsumiki?”
Megumi doesn’t even hum in response, just keeps staring at his plate. The wolf plushy still in Megumi’s lap as he sits at the dinner table is more enthusiastic than he is at this point.
“It’s alright, I miss her too, but us two are gonna have fun as well, okay? After we finish dinner, let’s play some video games, how about it?
“…okay,” Megumi finally lets out a small reply, and starts eating small spoonfuls of food.
But he doesn’t get very far with it. Maybe four, or five bites in, Megumi pushes the plate away from him. “I don’t want to eat.”
“Why, is it not your favourite? Are you not feeling well?”
But the boy simply jumps off his chair and turn towards his bedroom.
After he finishes cleaning up his plate and put Megumi’s portion in the fridge for later, Gojo goes to check up on the little guy, who is currently in a foetal position in bed. Worry fills Gojo’s chest, he turns off his infinity to feel Megumi’s forehead, only to confirm that his entire body is burning up. He takes Megumi’s temperature, 38.5 degrees—not high enough to warrant a trip to the doctors, but evidently enough to cause Megumi much discomfort. Ideally, being the good caretaker that he self proclaims to be, Gojo wants to give Megumi something to ease the symptoms before settling him down for the night, but it doesn’t seem like he is in the headspace to swallow even water. The boy squirms uncomfortably to wiggle his way out of having a thermometer under his armpit, curling in on himself while trying to grab his blanket to cover his little body.
He must be feeling cold, Gojo thinks. Gojo being Gojo, doesn’t get sick very often, well, exactly once. And all he remembers from it is how it would fluctuate from being very cold, to being very warm in an uncomfortable manner, and an ever so gentle Suguru taking care of him between his bouts of consciousness. And since he doesn’t have Suguru here, not anymore, to guide him on what to do in this situation, he does the only thing he could think of to offer the little one some comfort—turning off his infinity completely, and scooping the sleeping boy up from where he’s lying to shuffle him so that they would both fit on the twin bed.
Gojo carefully lays Megumi’s head against his outstretched arm, cuddling him close to ward off the cold, warmth radiating from his body without the restraint of infinity. Normal and non-sick Megumi would never allow this to happen. The most physical contact the boy has ever initiated is when he would grab Gojo’s hands whenever he gets a little overwhelmed from being in a crowded public space. And even then, Gojo feels his heart swells at the small gesture, something tangible that lets him know Megumi trusts him, even if the little one doesn’t show it otherwise. So it’s safe to say that right now, he’s trying his hardest to not completely fall apart as a spiky head of hair subconsciously nuzzles itself closer to Gojo’s chest, seeking warmth and comfort.
Comfort that Megumi has never allowed himself to have, for fear of everything, and everyone he’s ever had in his life abandoning him yet again. Gojo knows as much, so he gives him the boy nothing but time, space and patience, letting Megumi warm up day by day to the fact that Gojo is staying. He’s put down roots in Megumi’s life, whether the grumpy little guy likes it or not, and he’s not ever leaving. Gojo knows all too well how isolating life gets in this jujutsu world, and how it feels to have everyone you’ve ever loved plucked away from your life one by one. Of course, he knows that he wouldn’t be able to shield Megumi from the horrific reality forever, but he’d like to try for as long as he possibly can.
As he lays there and lets his thoughts consume him, his free hand—the one not currently asleep right now due to the weight of the head of a sea urchin—idly smooths the spiky head of hair and listens to Megumi’s regular breathing. Sometimes, it had even surprised himself how he was so used to having the pair of siblings around in such a short amount of time. Maybe it’d been Gojo himself who was just as lonely and helpless as the kids were, he needed them just as much and they needed him, if not more. He’d quickly slotted in time to spend with them regularly despite the hectic schedule of being the strongest sorcerer. Winding down with the kids after a day of exorcising curses did him a world of wonders. Before them, he’d only ever be able to return to an empty apartment, devoid of any semblance of warmth that only comes with the apartment actually being lived in, which it hasn’t been, not ever since his one and only defected and left a Suguru-shaped hole in his heart.
But now, he gets to spend most evenings listening to Tsumiki chatters about her day at school, making simple dinners with her help while Megumi sits on the kitchen counter meticulously doing his homework, never chiming in, but listening always. His focus face never fails to melt
Gojo’s heart. He gets to experience the joy of dozing off on the couch after a particularly boring movie he’d put on for the three of them, and pretending to have be awake the entire time when the kids rise from the couch to prepare for bed. He loves how every time they have one of these movie nights, Tsumiki would curl up on the couch and rest her small head on his lap, and Megumi would subconsciously inch closer and closer, until by the end of the movie, he’d be leaning against his shoulder.
In the midst of jujutsu society turning his life into nothing but ruins, within Megumi and Tsumiki’s presence, they allow Gojo to forego much of the concerns around the ultimate answers of his existence as the strongest, but rather cherish those trivial moments that helps him find his humanity. One of these days, he hopes the haunting rumination will become nothing but fleeting glimpses.
That day may be far into the future, but for now, he finds himself woken up in a cramped twin bed by something soft rhythmically whacking him in the face. Confused, and quite frankly a little bruised by the force, Gojo looks up to the source of the attack to find one of Megumi’s divine dogs perched atop the boy’s head, between Gojo’s outstretched arm and the headrest. It doesn’t take long for him to find the other of the pair at the foot of the bed, resting its chin on Megumi’s legs. Gojo chuckles to himself, Megumi must have subconsciously summoned them during the night, after all, besides Tsumiki (and hopefully Gojo), the dogs are what bring him most joy and comfort. Or maybe, he can feel that Gojo’s infinity was off, and decided to summon the dogs to protect them two during the night. Either way, Gojo finds Megumi oh-so-adorable, and can’t help but look down to plant kisses all over the boys face.
The sudden movements wake Megumi up, and he rouses from his curled position to give Gojo a questioning look.
“Good morning, baby, how are you feeling this morning?”, the term of endearment slips out faster than Gojo could catch it. He’d normally call Tsumiki “sweetheart”, but he wouldn’t dare try to pull the same thing with Megumi. Today, however, Megumi’s bed head and sleepy eyes are making Gojo so tempted to call him every silly nickname ever.
But to Gojo’s surprise, those big green eyes do not shy away from being called so, or even protest in anyway.
Huh… so sick Megumi would let you call him anything. Gojo notes to himself, intending to fully take advantage of this.
Nothing but a grumble in response to his question, spiky head of hair falling against the bed once more, nuzzling closer to his chest.
“I should get up and make us some food, so that you can take some medicine after you eat to make you feel better. How’s that sound, buddy?”, Gojo says, reaching down to wipe the thin layer of sweat that has accumulated on Megumi’s forehead as a result of his fever.
“No… you stay with me”, Megumi commands, muffled sounds vibrates against his chest, and Gojo almost complied.
“You’ve still gotta eat, sweetheart, you didn’t have a proper dinner yesterday either”, Gojo coaxes while slowly lifting himself up and out of bed.
Megumi whines at him leaving the bed—Gojo didn’t know he was capable of that, Megumi has always acted older than his age, and that includes minimal whining and whinging. Small hands scrambling to tug at Gojo’s sleeve, trying his best to get Gojo to stay.
“It won’t take long, buddy, I’ll be right back. I’ll just be in the kitchen, okay? Then I’ll come right back to you, promise.”
What they say about children’s grip strength is indeed true, Gojo now finds out. Still no signs of Megumi letting go of his shirt, and the divine dogs are now lying at his feet and very much in his way as per Megumi’s commands.
Which is how Gojo finds himself in the kitchen with a 6 year old hanging from his hip. Still having his face pressed against Gojo’s neck, Megumi offers no interest in the whole debacle that Gojo is currently having, which is cooking one-handedly. He decides to make congee, perfect for his limited ability at the current moment, and he also doesn’t know if Megumi can keep down any other kind of food just quite yet.
Spoon feeding is not a skill that Gojo has, because both kids had been past that age when he met them, and far too self sufficient to require someone else feeding them. But right now he is tasked with feeding small spoonfuls of congee to his sick 6 year old while he teeters on the verge of falling asleep mid bite. Getting Megumi to take his medicine was a whole other debacle, but Gojo soldiers on.
Gojo tucks the boy into bed again to do some cleaning in the meantime, before tiring himself out and climbing back into the little one’s bed to snuggle with a currently very defenceless Megumi. He did say he was going to take full advantage of this after all. He awoke this time to Tsumiki shuffling to join them on the tiny bed that’s almost all taken up by Gojo. She must have been dropped off by the twin’s dad not too long ago.
“Gojo-san”, Tsumiki whispers.
“Yes, sweetheart?”, his voice low to not wake Megumi.
“I missed you guys when I was over at my friend’s house. It was fun, but I kept wondering what you and Megumi were doing instead. Can we- can we hang out together next weekend?”
Of course, of course they can. If you’d ask Gojo a year ago what his weekend plans were, he would not imagine 2 little kids would fit anywhere into his perfect weekend activities. But right now, and for the foreseeable future, that is exactly where he wants to be. Somewhere deep in his little noodle, Gojo secretly wishes Megumi would get sick more often, nothing serious of course, just simple colds. So that he can experience all this tender affection over and over again.
Megumi makes a full recovery—to Gojo’s delight and only slight disappointment—and returns to school after a few days of absence. In truth, he’d felt much better by day 3, but Gojo wanted to keep him home until he was completely recovered. And because he’d wanted to keep living in this domesticity forever. He’d even allowed Tsumiki to stay home one day, not for any other reason than to spoil and be surrounded by his two blessings.
The next Saturday, Gojo finds himself at home alone with Megumi again, Tsumiki currently out on an excursion with school to a nearby prefecture.
Gojo makes the two of them lunch while Megumi sits silently at the counter with a jar of pickled daikon he’d been tasked with to set out on a plate. Gojo watches him struggle to open the jar from the corner of his Six Eyes, not offering help unless Megumi asks for it. He’s been wanting to get Megumi to use his words more, of course, with his all-seeing-eye and understanding of Megumi, Gojo almost always knows what troubles him. But not everyone is going to have the same patience and knowledge of the boy as he does.
“Can you help?” Megumi blurts out, after struggling for five minutes and his frustration boils over.
“With what, buddy?” Gojo pretends that he hasn’t been watching Megumi for the last five minutes.
“…I can’t get this jar to open.” Megumi huffs.
“Of course, you just have to say the word!” Gojo sports a smile that makes Megumi rolls his eyes before saying “please”.
Gojo laughs before grabbing the jar and opening it so easily that it seemed like the jar was never closed to begin with. He ruffles Megumi’s hair and pinches his cheek before returning to the stove.
“You know you don’t have to keep babying me, I’m not sick anymore.” Megumi says after a while, with his signature scowl that Gojo doesn’t have to look at him to know he has it on.
“Sure I don’t, but I want to. I want you to feel like you can rely on me for things. It’s not a sin to be a child, Megumi, I want to help you and your sister do the things that you can’t do just yet.” Gojo walks to the other side of the counter where Megumi’s sitting, and sling an arm over the boy’s shoulder to plant a kiss on top his spiky head. “Will you let me do that?”
Megumi grumbles in what Gojo will take as agreement. Maybe life hasn’t dealt him the best of cards since as long as he can remember, but for Gojo, this is quite enough for him to keep on fighting and his heart to keep on beating.