Chapter Text
Megumi doesn't know when he started calling Gojo "Dad" and Geto "Papa". It didn't feel natural. It didn't feel right, and he wasn't even sure how it happened— why he started saying it in the first place.
He told himself at first that it was just because that's what Nanako and Mimiko have been calling them. He was unfortunately conforming to the standard that the twins had set, and he was now getting trapped in it.
The first time he said it to Geto was an accident, of course, the same as when he first said it to Gojo. And whereas he regretted it right after saying it to Gojo, because of his stupid smile and his smug laughter, Megumi didn't feel as embarrassed after he said it to Geto. He was much subtler in his appreciation at hearing the name, if you could call it that. Megumi didn't try to think about it too much.
Papa and Dad.
Is that how Megumi sees Gojo and Geto? Does he really think of them as his parents? They don’t feel like his parents— that was his first thought, purely off instinct— they don’t feel anything like how Tsumiki's mother or his father felt, but Megumi honestly can't really remember them. It's more vague than a dream.
Megumi supposes that Gojo and Geto are and will be the closest things he'll ever get when it comes to having parents. So in this sense, calling them such seems obvious, but Megumi doesn’t know. It still doesn’t feel right. Yet the words have been leaving his mouth more frequently now, and without him even meaning to say them.
Thunder crackles outside of Megumi’s window as he lays awake in bed. Sleeping’s always been difficult but he finds it harder now without knowing Tsumiki’s also sleeping right down the hall.
When he can’t sleep, he thinks about the apartment they were staying in, and then he thinks about their parents and how they disappeared suddenly. How they left them. He thinks about waiting there for the first couple of days, how Tsumiki would say, they’re coming back soon, but how the next day they never did.
He thinks about Gojo, and how he found him on the street randomly and lodged himself into his life, along with Geto and the twins. He thinks about his current situation and how he couldn’t have possibly imagined himself ending up here.
Curses and Cursed Spirits. Being sold off to a Clan and inherited God-like power. The absurdity of it all.
More thunder roars outside and Megumi’s eyes clamp shut. He tries to get comfier under the sheets but sleep somehow feels impossible right now. He pushes the comforter off of himself with a heavy groan. The hazy thought of getting water or a midnight snack bounces around in his mind. He doesn’t actually think that will help him fall back to sleep once he returns to bed, but at least he’s not just laying down thinking about nothing and everything.
Megumi creaks his door open slowly and leaves it hanging open slightly behind him. The faint sound of thunder hits his ears again. The rain sounds much clearer from outside his room somehow, but he also hears light talking.
He wanders upfront in the darkness and squints as the bright light of the TV comes into view. His head turns towards the kitchen and he’s met with Nanako and Mimiko’s startled faces.
“What’re you doing up?” Megumi asks quietly.
He then notices that they’re both carrying various snacks that they must have just got from the kitchen. He looks back towards the TV and sees blankets and pillows scattered around the couch in a semi-neat way. There’s juice and cups resting on the table.
“We were watching a movie,” Mimiko says softly.
“We were just about to start the next one,” Nanako smiles, “There’s seven. It’s a whole series.”
“We’re gonna marathon them,” Mimiko nods happily.
Megumi hums quietly in response. His skin crawls slightly from the thunder.
“Gojo and Geto are okay with it?”
“Mhm,” Nanako nods, “Papa said it’s fine as long as the TV isn’t too loud.”
There’s that word that’s been vexing him lately. Papa.
“Did you wanna watch with us?” Nanako asks.
Megumi grumbles. He’s not too interested in any movie. He especially doesn’t want to watch something in a seven part series, and he definitely wouldn’t want to right now, as he’s tired. But he can’t help but notice the looks on Nanako and Mimiko’s faces— the clear hope in their eyes for him to say yes— and he doesn’t feel like he’ll be able to fall back to sleep anyway, so why not?
“Sure.”
The twins smile widely. Megumi walks along with them back to the couch. Mimiko pours them all some juice as Nanako hits play on the next movie. They all huddle into the blankets as it starts.
Megumi’s in the middle as the twins latch onto his arms for warmth. He sighs lightly. He’s not sure why he lets himself get into these situations. Their blankets are warm though. The pillows are soft.
The movie is boring and albeit, a little predictable, but the twins seem to like it. It has a few funny jokes here and there and Nanako cracks up at all of them. Megumi’s getting used to the bounciness of her laughter.
It’s hard to tell at first if Mimiko’s only watching the movie for Nanako’s enjoyment or not, but Megumi glances at her every now and then and he can see the faintest smile on her face as she leans into his shoulder more.
He’s sure that she likes it too, for whatever reason. The plot’s way too simple for him. He’s getting used to Mimiko’s quietness, her almost shy demeanor. Megumi likes the fact that she doesn’t talk much, and he likes the fact that Nanako is very talkative. He strangely isn’t bothered by it.
At some point, the movie’s credits start rolling. Megumi thinks he fell asleep somewhere in the middle of it. Mimiko’s snoring softly against his arm. He figures that he’s trapped on the couch now until further notice. Nanako yawns loudly as she stretches her arms up. She rubs over her eye faintly before looking over at Mimiko.
“Aw, did she fall asleep?”
Megumi nods, silently.
“I should wake her up so we can start the next one,” she says with a yawn.
Megumi shakes his head. “You should let her sleep,” he says quietly.
Nanako yawns again, clearly not hearing Megumi over the rain from outside. As she stretches her arms up again, Megumi thinks about when they first started living together. He thinks about how aloof he was being. Tsumiki got mad at him for it. He feels a twinge of guilt from it now in retrospect.
He’s sure if Tsumiki saw him right now, that she would be very happy. He can picture her smiling brightly and ruffling up his hair, making it messier than it already is.
Tsumiki’s the one who told Megumi that Nanako and Mimiko are their sisters, despite the fact that they aren’t blood related. Just like how Tsumiki is his sibling, without them being blood related either.
Megumi thinks about how silly it all is. If he can consider the twins his sisters then shouldn't he be able to do the same for Gojo and Geto when it comes to them being his parents? The thought claws against his brain. It’s been silently tearing him open all night.
What exactly makes a parent?
He had told Nanako and Mimiko before that just because Gojo and Geto are taking care of them, doesn't mean that they're family, but people accidentally call their teachers Mom and Dad all the time. He’s heard kids say it enough around school to know that it’s true.
Megumi supposes that it’s easy to view someone in a maternal sense as long as they act maternal in any way. That much should be obvious but still. It bothers him.
Is it all really that simple? What dictates being a parent? What does it mean to be someone's child? Does Megumi even want that? Does he want to be Gojo and Geto’s child? It almost feels like he doesn’t have a choice. He supposes that biological children can't choose their parents either though.
That thought feels strangely comforting. It makes him feel surprisingly normal for once in his life. Megumi wishes, hollowly, that this could be true— that somehow he was Gojo and Geto’s biological child as well as Tsumiki and the twins’ biological sibling.
He thinks that maybe if that were the case, that this dissonance in his brain would fade— that things would feel right— that it wouldn't feel slightly wrong to call Gojo and Geto his parents.
Megumi thinks that and still... He doesn't view himself as his biological father’s son, even though they are blood related. He's sure the same can be said for millions of other people around the world. He doesn’t think he’s special in feeling this way. So what does it really mean then? Megumi doesn't understand. If Tsumiki was here, he could ask her.
Nanako rests back into the couch and their shoulders brush gently. Megumi looks over her sleepy face. She’s staring forward at the TV blankly and blinking, probably trying to keep herself from falling asleep. She’s no Tsumiki but she’ll have to do.
“Nanako.”
“Hm?” She glances over at him sluggishly.
“How can you be so casual about calling Gojo and Geto our parents?”
He doesn’t realize the straightforwardness of the question until after he says it. If it was Tsumiki, she’d get it. She knows he’s not that great at this type of thing. Megumi hopes Nanako gets it too.
She hums for a moment, seemingly in thought, before answering, “I don’t know. It's just easy I guess.” She doesn’t look at him like he’s weird for asking at all.
She gets it.
“But how?” he asks.
“Like… how it's easy to call you our brother. It just makes sense,” she shrugs.
Mimiko snores a little louder against Megumi’s shoulder. Megumi tries to talk quieter.
“I guess I just don't understand,” he laments.
Nanako rests her head against the cushions of the couch more. “Well I don’t know. It’s like a choice.”
“A choice?”
Thunder strikes outside the window. Megumi shivers slightly.
“Yeah,” she smiles, “Anyone can be your parent or sibling. You can’t choose who your family is but,” she pauses, “you can choose you know?”
The rain seems to grow quieter outside as the words settle into his brain.
“You can choose, huh?”
“Yeah, like, if I was crazy and didn't want Mimiko to be my sister anymore, then she wouldn't be. It's all up here.” Nanako taps the side of her forehead. “If you want Gojo and Geto to be your dads, then just let them be, and if you don't, then just don't. It's simple,” she says cheerfully.
“Simple…” The word echoes around in his mind.
“Mhm,” she nods. “Like, how we're siblings, right? We weren't born siblings but we all decided, didn't we?” Nanako looks at him with this soft expression, but there’s a hint of uncertainty too, like she isn’t sure that he’ll agree with her.
“... Yeah, I guess we did,” Megumi smiles faintly, not being able to push it down.
He wishes he could say more to reassure her. He’s not sure how. Nanako smiles brightly at his response though, so he hopes his words are enough.
“Mhm, see. So you just have to decide, I guess, and for Mimiko and I, the answer was simple.” She pauses for a moment. Megumi’s not sure what to make of the soft smile creeping onto her face. “... I like Gojo and Geto being our dads. I love it. And I love being your sister.”
She smiles at him, sleepily. Megumi really is starting to get used to that smile. And he’s getting used to the weight of Mimiko leaning on his shoulder too. The feeling he gets with them is akin to the feeling he normally only gets with just one person.
“You and Tsumiki are alike.”
Nanako smiles fondly at that, like Megumi’s just given her the best compliment in the whole world.
A slight red covers her cheeks as she giggles, “Really?”
“Yeah,” he smiles softly. “Thank you.”
“Mhm,” Nanako nods.
The thunder crackles again and she leans into Megumi’s shoulder. He feels really boxed into the couch now, stuck between Nanako and Mimiko. He hums though, as his eyes close faintly. He strangely thinks that there’s nowhere else he’d want to be right now. He feels trapped but in a good way. In a safe way. The best way.
It made sense after talking to Nanako about it. If Megumi wants Gojo and Geto to be his parents, all he has to do is just let them be. It isn’t about letting them take care of him. It’s about letting them be, almost like a feeling, like an idea that surpasses words or actions. Just letting them be.
Megumi thinks that they are— that they already are being— acting as his parents. But in his mind, he's holding them back. He's pushing them away. He's not letting them be.
And maybe him calling them by their last names is an easy way of blocking them off. Maybe he’s looking into it all too deeply. But it feels like that’s what he’s doing. And Megumi... regrettably and embarrassingly, Megumi does want to be their child.
He wants to be their son. He used to think he didn't care about that. All he cared about for the longest time was just Tsumiki and nothing else. Nothing else at all. But now, he thinks he's lonely. Incredibly, soul crushingly lonely.
And maybe not being anyone's son was the cause of that. Maybe it wasn't. But regardless of the reason, he thinks that perhaps being a son to somebody, but to Gojo and Geto especially, will make that loneliness a little lesser. Just a little. Just maybe.
And he wants that. Megumi wants that so badly. And so even if he doesn't know how to say it— even if he doesn't know how to express it in a way that would really be moving… Megumi thinks he can do this much. He thinks he can call them Papa and Dad at least.
So maybe it started off as an accident. Maybe he only said it because it's what Nanako and Mimiko were saying. But softly, apprehensively, Megumi did start to believe it, as he said it. That they are his parents. And that he wants them to be. He started believing it.
And now he says it all the time. Not by accident, but because he believes. Because he’s decided. Because he wants to let them be. He wants to. More than anything.