Chapter Text
It was supposed to be a normal day.
Missions, curses, lunch, the works.
Except for the fact that with Satoru Gojo, nothing was ever 'normal'.
After graduation, not much changed. The school was still standing, the higher ups were still a pain in the ass and your days were still filled with fighting curses. To be honest, you weren't sure what you wanted to do with your life after graduation. Climbing the ranks and getting stronger than you already were had been your goal for so long but admittedly, after Suguru's defection, it mattered less to you now.
All you cared about now was doing the right thing.
When Satoru first mentioned to you that he planned to take in the son of the man that 'killed' him — you were stunned. Throughout high school, Satoru had been an arrogant thorn in your side but after the incident? Something had changed in him. Strength still mattered to him — in the jujutsu world, it was everything — but now.. he cared more than just physical strength; The strength that comes from cursed energy.
Now, he cared more about what he could change with that strength — What he could achieve.
That desire of his made you see him differently.
People change, life does that. To see it happen in real time — to someone so set in their ways; to someone brought up thinking that he could do anything — was different. Satoru could do everything he put his mind to, but he couldn't stop his best friend from leaving Jujutsu High — and him — behind.
When he admitted that to you out loud, it changed everything you felt about Satoru.
Because deep down, he actually.. cared. To someone who used to hate bringing morality into Jujustu, it made you feel something when you witnessed him realize that power alone cannot save people. That power alone wasn't the only thing that mattered. That the way the Jujutsu world was governed so ruthlessly by the conservative and stubborn higher ups needed to change.
But your conflicting feelings about him never saw the light of day simply because you'd rather protect the friendship you had now than ruin it with a crush that would probably go away anyway.
Truthfully, you hadn't seen Satoru in a while, you rarely saw him now that you all had graduated, but still. It was rare that he wasn't blowing up your phone with memes or asking you to hang out. You wondered what he was up to as you made your way to the condominium you now owned; Money was stable due to your job as sorcerer so you didn't have to worry about living quarters anymore.
To enjoy the fruits of your labor was a different kind of peace, one you rather enjoyed.
Unfortunately, the peace you were currently enjoying as you stepped into the elevator to get to your level was immediately gone the moment the steel doors opened to reveal a certain charismatic sorcerer with two children at his side.
"What the fuck?" you blurted out.
"Is that how you greet your bestest friend of all time?"
"Satoru, how in the hell do you know where I live??"
"Please, as if I'd ever forget what your cursed energy looks like." He scoffed like it was normal.
It wasn't.
In fact it was a little endearing, but you couldn't tell him that. You wouldn't tell him that.
"Okay that's creepy- but that isn't what I meant. Who.." you glanced down at the two clueless children. You think the black haired one was subtly side-eying you but you didn't look too hard to know if he was. "..Are they?"
"Soo.. you remember Toji Fushiguro?" He said it with a smile. He wasn't happy though, you knew that much. In fact, he looked a little nervous.
You crossed your arms, the familiar line between your eyebrows appearing once before. "He's kind of hard to forget, given what happened like, three years ago." Your voice was quieter at the mention of it. You were there for him through it despite the fact that he wasn't one to dwell on his emotions with others much. You still remember him thanking you for listening, as if it wasn't a natural thing for someone to do.
Though you guess maybe it wasn't — not for someone like him at least.
"Yeah well," still smiling, he presents the two children in front of him, "Say 'hello' to Megumi n' Tsumiki Fushiguro!"
"Why in the hell do you have his kids?!" You ask frantically, your mouth agape at the information. "Actually," you regained your bearings, "Let's go inside, I don't need noise complaints." You unlocked the door and guided him inside, your hands pressing to his back in an effort to get him in quicker.
"At least take me to dinner first," He jokes, your blank expression not once faltering once you closed the door and stood before him expectantly. He raises his hands up, "Okay, okay. I know it's not ideal.. but you're the only person I could come to about this! Shoko's busy 'cause she's needed at the school and I don't really know anyone who's good with kids so I thought-"
"waitwaitwaitwait- wait. You mean to tell me- you came here with the intention to have me take care of these two? Satoru, are you out of your mind? Are even legally allowed to have them??"
"Sugar, if you quit interrupting me, I can explain it all to you. Are you gonna let me?" He pouts, making himself at home, sitting on your couch with a smug grin you'd love to wipe off his face.
You sigh and drop your bag onto the kitchen island, your back to the white-haired sorcerer as you walk to your refrigerator and take out a half empty bottle of peach wine. "Explain."
"You drink that stuff?"
"Answer my question n' I'll answer yours." You sip from your glass of wine.
"Always so stubborn," he sighs, throwing his arms over your couch. You watch him, leaning on the kitchen island as you prepare for whatever adventurous story he's going to drop on you.
And adventurous it was.
"Basically, After what happened.. Toji told me he had a son. Megumi," he gestured to the boy with black hair who was currently near the window with who you assumed was his older sister, "-Is from the Zen'in clan. Toji was going to sell him off but.. I decided to take him in after graduation so I could get all the legal stuff sorted out. I want to train him."
"To do what exactly?"
His crystal blues met your gaze, "I want to change the world of Jujutsu, but I can't do that on my own." His voice held conviction that you only heard when he was serious about something, clearly he'd been thinking about this for some time. "I'm still not sure about becoming a teacher — but we need a new generation of strong sorcerers to change Jujutsu. I really only trust myself to do it — to train them — but as you already know: i don't really know how to raise a kid." His eyes deviated from yours at that last part, an apologetic smile on his face.
Satoru was never one to ask for help and yet here he was: in your home asking you for help with raising kids that weren't even his responsibility for a dream he felt so strongly about.
"So.. You adopted them." You say it mostly for yourself, this was life-changing after all, it wasn't like you were going to accept everything without knowing what it entailed.. but then again you could never really refuse Satoru. You were already seeing yourself taking care of those two, taking them out to the park, playing house like it was a normal thing — Again, it wasn't.
But.. could it be?
"I did. I've planned everything out — Have been, since.." he trails off, but you know what he means, "But I finalized everything about two weeks ago until I decided it probably wasn't healthy for them to be left on their own for so long. especially with me being sent on missions for long periods of time." He sighs again, more tired now as he leans forward, resting his elbows on his thighs.
"So.. I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to help me?"
You down the last bit of wine left in your cup. "What makes you think I know anything about taking care of kids?"
"You've got a younger sister don't you?"
You scoff, "And that's all you need to think I'm fit for childcare?"
He stands, walking over to the kitchen island with his hands in his pockets. "One: You already know more than I do. And two.." He crosses his arms over your marbled counter, "You're the only one I trust with this." The sincerity in his tone makes your heart go haywire; Makes your stomach do flips like it's a fucking acrobat in a circus. Whether he knew about your feelings for him or not, it didn't make his way of convincing you any less.. well, convincing.
"You're a pain in the ass, you know that?" You groan, hiding your face in your hands as you mull it over.
"That mean you'll do it?" He grins, like he knew you'd agree in the end. Which he probably did.
"Only because you'll annoy me if I refuse." You walk over to him and lean onto the counter beside him, your arms crossed as the both of you looked over to Tsumiki and Megumi who were playing some sort of hand game.
"Are you sure about this, Satoru?"
"I'm sure. I've been planning it for years, everything'll be fine." He smiles knowingly. Hands still in his pockets.
"So.. They'll be staying with me? What about my job?"
"More like.. You'll be living at mine and I'll be paying you for your generous services." He half-jokes.
"Living with you?" You turn to him, hoping it wasn't obvious how nervous you were about the prospect of it.
He shrugs like it's nothing, "I'm barely there anyway and you'll have your own room — plus I'll be giving you more than enough to care for yourself and them. Like I said, I planned it. You don't have anything to worry about except taking care of those knuckleheads."
You were scared as hell about the idea of it becoming reality — but he trusted you to do this.
So you did.
When Satoru first thought about how he should go about asking you to take care of the two kids he adopted, he wondered about your reaction to it. You were unpredictable and liked to keep him on his toes — it was one thing he liked most about you. But he didn't expect for you to be so on board and willing to support him in his dream to raise the next generation of strong sorcerers.
But you were. Are.
He was helping you move into the traditional-style home he purchased specifically for this very purpose. About a month after his initial question, Satoru sorted everything out with the higher ups and informed you that your duties as a sorcerer on hold until further notice. It felt strange because you were use to the workload, used to the independence and this was uncharted territory for you.
It scared you a little once you began to put your room together because it made the situation all that more real. Moving into your high school crush's house wasn't where you expected yourself to be at this point in your life. Far from it actually. But you weren't complaining. The space was more than enough and—
"You kept this?"
The sound of his voice broke you out of your thoughts, "What?" You walked over to him, he was holding a photo — the photo of Shoko, Satoru and yourself taken at graduation. "That? Yeah. Of course I kept it. That reminds me actually.." You dug into the small box of photos you had until you found the polaroid photo you were looking for. You pulled it out and handed it to your tall best friend beside you, "During my little 'photography era', I managed to snag a picture of you guys after the baseball game that day. The lighting looked good so I wanted to take a picture and Suguru told me to get his 'good side'," You laugh at the memory as you rummaged around another box to get through the move-in, "You're in the back too but you're blurry. You were messing with Shoko I think," You shrug. "Do you want it?"
He stays quiet for a moment, his thumb brushing over the photo of Suguru smiling like its the first time he's seen him. "I can keep this?" he turns to look at you. The way the sun falls onto your skin through the uncovered window makes it seem like you're glowing.
"Yeah, I don't mind." Your back faces him and you can't see the way his eyes glean over. He recovers before you can see his vulnerability.
"Thanks.." He inhales deeply, pocketing the polaroid. "Um, are there any more boxes or are these the last of your things?"
"These should be," you strained while climbing the chair you'd pulled up to the wall so you could hang up a poster, "the last of it."
He rolls his eyes and smiles, "You're such a nerd."
"Buck-Tick is not nerdy."
"They are when you go into depth about the lyrics like its a math equation."
"I am not taking this from the same guy who was all over Digimon in high school. I've seen your card collection, in case you've forgotten." you snicker, stepping down from the chair and placing your hands on your hips while peering up at Satoru with a smug look on your face.
"Whatever," He sticks out his tongue and gives the room a once-over. "Do you like it?"
You hum, "It's not as big as my old place, But it'll do." You joke, which earns you a dramatic jaw-drop from the sorcerer beside you.
"You wound me!"
"As if," now it's your turn to roll your eyes, "I can't even touch you."
He laughs at your sarcasm and the two of you unpack the rest of your stuff with snarky remarks and playful banter here and there. The night ends with you under the covers of your new bed with the sheen of moonlight shining on you through the open window on the left of where your bed was. You always liked sleeping close to the window because it allowed you to see the moon at its different phases.
So far, it looked like everything was going fine and dandy, just like he'd planned it.
"Megumi! Tsumiki!" you called from the kitchen, "Go wash your hands, Dinner's ready!" The water from the faucet washed your hands clean of the spices that were present on them. The aroma of fried pork, savory curry and seasonings filled the kitchen. After drying your hands, you opened the window above the sink to let the afternoon fresh air in.
You served them each an adequate amount of food and packed up left overs for Satoru in case he wanted any later. Currently, the man was away on another mission — as per usual. You thought he was joking when he said he was barely home, after month three of babysitting, you realized he wasn't joking at all. The man quite literally only came home to sleep and that was when he wasn't away on missions.
But kids weren't too bad.
Or maybe it was just them. Megumi and Tsumiki were naturally well-behaved, it almost concerned you because kids at their age are usually erratic and overwhelming. You had expected them to be like that, but they weren't. Save for the shenanigans you got up to with them, they very rarely disobeyed or acted up.
"How is it?" you asked them while you pulled a chair out for yourself. After about an hour and a half of cooking, you were hungry too of course.
".. It's okay." Megumi spoke quietly, specks of rice at the corner of his mouth.
"You don't like it?" You ask, slightly embarrassed at how much a six-year-old's food ratings matter to you.
"I like it more than the first time." he clarifies.
"Me too," Tsumiki chimes in.
You smile brightly, "My cooking's getting better then, huh?"
"It's better than what Gojo was making for us." Megumi states.
Tsumiki nods knowingly, and takes a spoonful of rice and curry into her mouth, "Way better than Gojo's food."
You grimace a little, "Damn. Kinda makes me wonder what he was feeding you guys."
"He adds sugar to everything."
You nodded with a tired inhale, "Yep. That sounds like him."
"Sounds like who?"
You almost jumped out of your seat; You weren't exactly used to him teleporting everywhere at the most unexpected times. "You have got to stop doing that, Satoru. Use the door like a normal person." You roll your eyes, continuing to eat.
"You just hate to see my extraordinary abilities!" He chimes, heading over to the stove to see what you had made for dinner. "Ooo, Tonkatsu! Is it good?"
"Why don't you find out?" you muttered, wiping the rice from Megumi's mouth with a napkin. It seemed to natural, so.. casual. Like you were always meant to be here. But Satoru wasn't one for sappy emotions so he brushed it off and chalked it up to normal best friend things.
"Only if you'll feed it to me!" He smirks, walking into the hall to take off his uniform.
"Over my dead body," you remark, continuing to eat with the kids with a smile on your face.
Megumi set his chopsticks down, "Do you guys like each other?"
"Yeah, you guys seem so close." Tsumiki chimed in, a teasing smirk ever present.
"Oh hell no, I'm just doing him a favor. Plus, you guys are kinda cute so I'm sticking around." you smile, pinching their cheeks and standing up from the table afterwards. "Are you guys done?" They nod and they help you wash the dishes in the sink together. Megumi dries the dishes while Tsumiki gives the dirty ones to you and you wash them before handing them to Megumi, like a little assembly line.
When you all finished, the kids went to go brush their teeth and were tucked in bed all before eight at night. You were proud of yourself for being able to come up with a good system, or parenting as one might call it. You thought it was going to be hard but after thousands of parenting videos on youtube, you think you've finally got it down.
"They're asleep already?" Satoru asked, walking into the kitchen to serve himself a plate of food.
"Uh-huh," you lean your head back on the couch, closing your eyes and mentally de-stressing from the day. A glass of wine on the table. Taking care of kids wasn't as hard as fighting curses but it was definitely more tiring. "They need like ten to twelve hours of sleep at their age. Did you know that?" You turn and lay your chin on the plush cushion of the couch, looking at Satoru across the room. He was in casual clothing, a simple white shirt and black sweats that shone a little under the warm kitchen lighting.
"I didn't but I do now." He snickers, grabbing his plate to sit next to you on the couch. "The kids seem to like you, ya know?"
"You think so? I don't even know what I'm doing to be honest." you laugh tiredly, leaning your head back on the couch again. "They said your food sucked, by the way. What were you feeding them?"
"I'm not answering that." he says, stuffing his mouth full of fried pork. "This is really good.. you made this?"
"Is it that hard to believe?" you deadpanned.
"Just a little."
You roll your eyes, "Shut up, you love it." He only shrugs and continues to scarf down the food you made. Looking at him now, he seemed tired despite the fact that his sunglasses were still on. "You look tired."
"I look fabulous, Sugar." he says, mouth full of rice.
"Whatever makes you feel better." You laugh humorlessly, "Seriously though, ..are you okay?"
"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me." Because you didn't. People weaker than The Strongest don't need to worry about The Strongest, because he is The Strongest. Yet regardless of that unshakeable fact, you fretted over him like it was your job. Even when you tried to not show it.
"Of course I do. Even you get tired." you sigh, leaning forward to take a sip from your wine glass.
"No I don't."
"I'm not stupid, Satoru. Just 'cause I'm weaker than you doesn't mean I can't worry about my best friend." He was gazing at you now, his expression hidden behind the sunglasses he wore. It was strange to be worried over because for his entire life, he didn't need that. Logically, you knew that he was more than capable of taking care of himself. He knew that you knew this, but it didn't stop him from relishing in it when you did. It didn't stop you from worrying about him regardless of his status either.
"You're so sappy," he says, setting his empty plate down in front of him and stretches his arms over the couch cushions, behind your neck.
You turn to him, not lifting your head off of his arm, "I'm human," And like that, his azure gaze is on you again, leading you to slip his sunglasses off. The pads of your fingertips brushing against his cheeks. "-Just like you."
Blue skies, Clouds hung in the sky like decorations on a Christmas tree and the overwhelming scent of cleaning products. A Saturday — Or as Satoru likes to call it — Hell.
"Why are we here again?" The tall man beside you whines like a child as he looked upon the plethora of detergents, dish soaps, cleaning solutions and a bunch of other things he doesn't care to name. He lagged behind, always making sure you, and the kids of course, were safe. Unfortunately, you had a tendency to pull him closer to all of you, as if you didn't want to leave him behind.
You shrug and point to a lavender detergent that's too high to you to reach. Without a word, he gets it for you and places it into your hands. "We need more laundry detergent," you told him, "And the kids ran out of snacks so I'm getting it for them."
"Right," he nods slowly, "But why am I here?"
You shoot him a glare, "Because I want you here? They're your kids too ya'know." He rolls his eyes and looks through the sponges on the left side of the aisle absentmindedly; He's not looking at the soaps at all though, he's looking at the way you've got Megumi by the hand, the way Tsumiki tugs on the leg of your pants to call your attention.
The way you've infiltrated his mind so much as of late.
Satoru never really thought much about romantic relationships. He didn't think he needed anyone in that sense. He was the strongest, the most capable sorcerer — he wasn't supposed to need anyone at all for any reason, ever. That was the whole point: He watches over everyone else and no one watches over him because everyone else is weaker than he is.
And you're definitely weaker than he is.
But the growing ache in his heart paid no mind to the principles he had engraved into his mind since he was a teenager.
He didn't need your love.
But he found himself wanting it.
And that alone was terrifying to him.
"You want this one?" Currently, you were crouched near a couple of toys that Megumi was looking at. He held up a box of Hot Wheels that caught his interest, asking if he could get it. The boy nodded and you, with a smile, ruffled his hair and stood up. "Alright then. Tsumiki, is there anything you want? Satoru's paying." You say, looking back at the love-struck sorcerer with a mischievous grin.
"Who said that?"
"Me." you roll your eyes and watch Tsumiki pick out a toy with her brother. The both of them ended up getting dolls because Megumi didn't want Tsumiki to play by herself. After getting some much needed household items and a heck of a lot of groceries, everyone was headed home.
Or at least, they were until you got held back.
"Hey- Miss..!" A male voice called out, prompting you to look back to see who it was. It was the cashier from the market, the young one — who looked no older than eighteen — he had a freckled face and shaggy black hair. He seemed like a nice kid, diligent at his job, so you wondered what exactly it was that he was doing out here.
"Um.. hi?"
"You forgot this," The young boy hands you a bag containing the fabric softener you'd purchased.
"Did I? Oh my goodness," you laugh, taking the bag from him. "Thank you so much."
"It's no problem!" His hand finds the nape of his neck, but it doesn't look like he's leaving. Instead, he starts looking at his feet with a noticeable blush on his face. "I was actually wondering.. Can I get your number? You seem really nice and well.. I dunno. I was just wondering if you'd let me take you out..?" He chuckles nervously and you're flattered but..
Satoru's trying not to look over at you, he's with the kids — entertaining them — while this polite cashier casually asks you out like you weren't in the presence of The Strongest. He had half a mind to go up there and shoo him from you by being his obnoxious self, but he didn't.
It wasn't his place.
Plus, It's not like he had feelings for you anyway.
"I'm flattered," you begin, "But I think I'm a little too old for you don't you think?" You smile sweetly — at least that's how Satoru sees it — and laugh softly.
"No," The cashier smiles bashfully, "I'm of age. I promise, just one date and we can take it from there, yeah?" Satoru can tell that he's so badly hoping you'll take him up on his offer. It almost makes him feel bad for the poor kid. Almost.
You give the young man an apologetic smile, "Sorry it's just that, I'm already with someone." It's a lie but the cashier doesn't know that. He gives you a surprised look and it's only then that he sees Satoru behind you with Tsumiki sitting atop the sorcerer's shoulders and Megumi walking towards you.
"Oh! Are you married? I'm so sorry!" The cashier apologizes immediately and puts his hands up in front of him in defense, "I didn't realize your husband was with you, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Miss."
Your eyes widen and your hands come up in defense. "What-? Wait no, I 'm not-"
"Seriously, it's alright, Miss. You don't have to explain to me. I'll get going now, have a great rest of your day!" The young man leaves before you can clarify that you are, in fact, not married to Satoru. At this time, Satoru walks up to you with a smirk.
"So.. What's up, wifey?" he teases.
His words make your brain go fuzzy but you still retort. "I'm not doing this today, Satoru." Your face is hot and you offer Megumi a place on your shoulders, which he gladly takes.
"But whyyyy~?" Satoru whines, keeping the joke going. "Megumi said he approves of us being together, right 'Gumi?"
"When did I say that?" Megumi looks confusedly at Satoru, earning a hearty laugh from you, one that would've made Satoru smile if it wasn't for the traitor on your shoulders.
"You're the worst wing-man, 'Gumi."
"What's a wing-man?"
"Nunya."
"What's that?"
"Nunya business." Satoru sticks his tongue out at the six year old who's currently frowning at him. You laugh at the encounter and try to brush off Satoru's flirtations like you always have. It's nothing new; His advances were always jokes — At least that's what you thought because he never made it seem like they weren't jokes.
But you still couldn't bring yourself to get over the way he called you wifey.
Soon enough, the years began to pass by like hours.
You took the kids out on picnics to the park; Played games with them in the living room you made feel like a home to them. Taught them right from wrong in ways they could understand, went to their school plays, created 'game night' and made it a tradition — In short, you became a staple in their lives. Tsumiki was growing up to be as responsible as she was as a child, she was always looking out for others, including you.
You were there for Megumi when she fell into a coma. You helped him look after her too; Not only because she was dear to Megumi, but because she was like a younger sister to you. You saw her play tag with her brother in the backyard at home; Saw her scold her brother when he did something he shouldn't have.. You saw her grow up.
For her to have fallen into a coma because of a flimsy curse made you fill with anger at yourself.
You should've warned her— Should've been around more, Should've-
"There was nothing you could have done."
It wasn't reassuring, not in the slightest, but it was something you expected Satoru to say to you after a week since Tsumiki had fallen unconscious.
Admittedly, you weren't doing well. Satoru knew that and still decided to barge into your dark room, interrupting you while you looked out at the moon. It was a comfort of sorts — The moon was the only thing that would change and yet consistently be in the sky whenever you looked at it. Sure, it was strange. But it gave you that odd sense of solace you so desperately needed.
Until Satoru invited himself into your room of course.
"..." Your eyes widened and your brows furrowed when you turned to look at him — a look of anger on your features, "What the hell do you mean there wasn't anything I could've done, Satoru? I should have warned her. I should have been more strict about who she was seeing- who she was hanging out with!" You gestured, "If I would have been more attentive- If I took care of her better she would've never-!"
"You did everything you could-"
"And it still wasn't enough!" You cried, hot tears pricking the corners of your eyes. "It still wasn't enough to keep her safe.." you tore your sight away from him, choosing to look back at the window, wiping your tears. "Why are you here?" you spoke quietly.
Satoru sat on the edge of your bed; You felt the mattress dip under his weight. "Megumi told me he was concerned about you."
"I don't need you to cheer me up." you said coldly without looking at him.
"You don't." he affirms, "But that doesn't mean you don't want me to."
You scoff, "How would you know?"
Because I've felt it. "I know you better than anyone."
"Yeah, whatever. Just go away.." You mumbled the last part. You didn't want him to. In fact, you wanted him to pull you in and embrace you, to reassure you that everything would be okay and that she would wake up, that everything would return to normal — But this was Satoru Gojo. This was your best friend since high school — Someone you know for a fact would never think about you the same way, ever.
"Is that what you want?"
You don't know how to tell him you don't want him to leave, so you deflect. Leaning your head on the wall beside the window, you ask, "How is Megumi..?"
"Better than you." Satoru half-jokes. "You know how he is."
"..Is he angry with me?" You ask quietly.
And as if he's able to peel back the layers of you, he says, "Nobody blames you for this, I hope you know that." You say nothing and he must have moved closer because you can feel the dip of the mattress beside you. Before you can ask him what he's doing, or tell him to go away, he just lays his arm around you and turns you so that your cheek is smooshed against his chest. "C'mere."
"What are you doing?"
"Comforting a big baby apparently." Satoru snickers, his arms warm and reassuring around you like a safety net you didn't know you had.
"I don't need you to do this for me, Satoru.. I'm fine."
He tuts and shakes his head, white strands swaying as he did so, "Nonsense. You're always taking care of me. It's what best friends do, don't they?"
You sigh, biting the end of your thumb nail absentmindedly, still tucked under his neck and into his chest. "You're always taking care of people. That's why I take care of you."
Your words hit him like a truck because .. what? There was a warmth that laid dormant in the confines of his heart, specifically reserved for you after these years he spent living with you. But you didn't know that. Hell, you didn't even know about how his flirtations were only promises dressed in a light-hearted tone. He meant every word he ever said to you and yet you were here, thinking that you were the worst person on earth for a mistake that you never made.
".. You really know how to make a man speechless, huh Sugar?"
"Quit joking Satoru." It earns him a smile from you — the first genuine one in a week — so he doesn't stop.
"I'm not joking."
You slowly look up at him, he can feel the warmth off of your face. "What?"
He smirks and boops your nose, "Do you know how often you say my name? Or is that just something you do for everyone?"
"Huh?" That cute look of confusion washes over you.
"You say my name all the time when you speak to me, like you like the way it sounds." And it's a fact. Whether you knew it or not, his name rolling off your lips was the only sound he could consider addictive, like the good part of an old pop song you never tire of hearing.
"Now you're just overthing it, Sato.. ru." You look away from him and pull yourself out of his arms. "You're so annoying."
He laughs at your slip up, "You really didn't notice it? How cute."
You throw a pillow at him but he catches it. "Go away! You're not helping at all..!"
"I made you smile though, that's helping isn't it?" He throws the pillow back at you. When you catch it, instead of throwing it back at him, you hug it and hide your face in it while sighing.
"It's embarrassing. We're in our late twenties and you're still as childish as ever."
"Is that a bad thing?" He scoots closer to you, long legs criss-crossed as he looked down at you, his hand brushing over your hair.
"Never," you tell him a little too quickly, your eyes finally meeting his. "I don't want you to ever change."
His breath hitches but he laughs anyway to cover up his speechlessness. "Careful or I might think you're trying to romance me, Sugar."
Two can play that game. "And if I am?" you smirk.
"I- What?" his eyes widen under those sunglasses of his and that smile that could shine over a thousand suns goes slack.
You chuckled and got up from your bed, suddenly feeling too hot to be near him, "I'm kidding." He grabs your pillow and watches as you leave, deciding not to go on further. But as soon as you open the door, Megumi's outside with an expectant look on his face.
"Me- Megumi? What are you doing .. here- Sorry that was a stupid question, um.. How are you..?" It came out more nervous than you had expected. It wasn't because of Satoru's flirting but because of the fact that you may have been avoiding Megumi for the past week.. You resigned to care for him from afar after what happened.
You'd pack him lunch with a note but you wouldn't come out of your room when he knocked on your door; Dinner would be on the table before he came home, again with a note, but you wouldn't dare face him. Not after..
"No one blames you for this, I hope you know that."
Right.
"Is Gojo bothering you again?" Megumi deadpans, like you havent been fervorously avoiding him. Either way, it makes you laugh. You missed the kid in front of you, it was a lie to say otherwise.
"No, he's just being him."
"So he is." Megumi peers past your shoulder to the six-foot-three sorcerer in your bed. The sorcerer sticks his tongue out at Megumi but doesn't say anything else. Frankly, the two of them have been worried about you because of how much Tsumiki's coma seemed to affect you. You laugh and ruffle his hair; He's much taller than he was as a kid. It makes you proud to see him so sure of himself, so well mannered and a genuinely good person. If he turned out this well under your care, than you must've done something right.
It's hard not to get so sappy when the reality of Tsumiki's situation sets in.
"Give me a breakkkk~" Satoru speaks from behind you, the usual arm around your neck. "I was just trying to cheer her up! Wasn't I?"
"Is that what you were doing?" You lift a brow, a playful smile on your face while you look up at the snow-haired sorcerer.
"Oh, hush." He tuts, "On a more serious note, are you okay?"
Megumi's focus comes back to you and nods at Satoru's question in agreement, "We've both been worried about you."
You try not to tear up but its hard when they so uncharacteristically demonstrate their concern for you. Of course, you were strong and could take care of yourself, but to be fretted over was a feeling you quite appreciated.
"You always take care of us, so let us take care of you for once, Okay?" Satoru brings Megumi and you into a hug, one that Megumi doesn't evade for once.
You weren't strong in the way that Satoru was, but you had your own strengths. It took months for Satoru to acknowledge it but now that he had, it was troubling to not see you as the hardworking woman you were. In the same way that you grew up beside him, he was also able to see your growth. Not only as a sorcerer, but as a person.
And maybe it would take him a few more months or years even, to admit his own feelings to you, but for now, he would enjoy what it was like to hold you like this.
With the little family you all made.