Chapter Text
The first time Satoru met Fushiguro Megumi, the first thing he noticed was the black dog at the kid’s side. A bit taller than the young Megumi despite standing on four legs and enveloped in a cloud of cursed energy – at least to Satoru’s eyes – it was undeniably a shikigami.
The shikigami noticed Satoru as soon as he approached, before Megumi did. It turned to face him and barked once, drawing Megumi’s attention and causing the kid to look backwards at Satoru. The shikigami, Satoru saw as soon as it turned towards him, had a symbol on its forehead. A recognizable symbol.
A shikigami that took the form of a black dog with a symbol on its forehead that was reminiscent of the “Jewels of Plenty”. There was only one thing it could be. It was a Zenin innate technique, but Satoru was among the most familiar with it outside of the Zenin clan.
After all, it had been a user of that technique who caused the death of Satoru's predecessor, the last wielder of both the Limitless and Six Eyes techniques.
The Ten Shadows.
And the first wielder of it in nearly a century had been born outside of the Zenin clan. It must have been driving them crazy, if they knew. Satoru figured they knew of the kid’s existence, but if they knew the kid had the Ten Shadows Technique, Satoru certainly hadn’t managed to hear of it.
“You're Fushiguro Megumi-chan, right?” Satoru said.
“No,” said the kid.
Satoru blinked. “You're... not?” he said, baffled. He had not gone to this much effort to track down Toji’s kid with the little information he had only to approach the wrong kid. Besides, this one had the Divine Dogs; there was no way she wasn't descended from the Zenin. Not to mention the (rather unfortunate) family resemblance: she had the same sharp nose and chin, and a remarkably similar disdain in her eyes.
“Nope. I don't tell strangers my name,” the kid said flatly.
In that instant, Satoru knew he was being had. She was lying! Toji’s kid had sass.
“Fine then. I'm Gojo Satoru. Now we're not strangers, so it's fine, right?” said Satoru.
“That's not how it works. You have to be someone my parents know,” Megumi said, turning up her nose.
That was, Satoru reflected, a pretty good gimmick for a kid who (according to his research) probably hadn't had a single parent present for around a year now. How could anyone hope to know parents who were both dead?
Well, the joke was on her. Satoru grinned.
“Oh? As it happens, I did know your dad,” he said smugly.
She hesitated. “Really?” she said finally, mistrustfully.
“Really really! His name was Fushiguro Toji. Actually, to be clear, his name was originally Zenin Toji, because he was from the big-shot sorcerer clan, the Zenin,” Satoru explained, hands flying in wild gestures. “They’re all scumbags, though, and that’s why he left the clan to have you. Don’t look at me like that. You’ve obviously noticed you’re different. You’ve even started tapping into your power.”
He pointed at the giant Divine Dog taking up half the space in the narrow street. Megumi glanced at the dog.
“Well, the Zenin clan loves powers like that!” That was an understatement. “Most kids become aware of their techniques between the ages of four and six, so it’s basically the perfect time to sell a kid off.”
Megumi’s expression, which had slowly inched its way towards interest and curiosity, flipped immediately back to wary suspicion.
“Which is what your dad was going to do! You were kinda like his ultimate card against the Zenin clan, who he hated. Doesn’t that just piss you off?” Satoru continued cheerfully, ignoring her totally-unwarranted suspicion of him.
Megumi didn’t respond. Well, that was fine too. Satoru stepped closer and crouched in front of her, putting his eye level closer to hers. Her Divine Dog inched forward, like it wanted to get between them.
“As for what happened to your dad... The truth is, I killed him,” Satoru said, flicking one hand dismissively, and tried to seem nonchalant. Ahhh, this was the awkward part of following the last wishes of a man you'd killed.
Megumi looked at him very flatly. Without breaking eye contact, she pulled a cheap flip phone out of her pocket.
“What are you doing?” Satoru said.
“Calling the police. I think there's a crazy person threatening me,” she said.
“Huh? Wait, no. Don't do that,” said Satoru, snatching the phone out of her hand. She gave him an affronted look.
When Satoru looked at the phone’s screen, he found that she hadn’t actually dialed anything. That was a relief. It wasn’t like non-sorcerer police could actually arrest him if they wanted to; he was Gojo Satoru, after all. And he was a sorcerer, so they wouldn’t even try once he showed his credentials. Still, having the cops called because he was harassing a little kid... that was a bad look.
“I’ll give this back, but you’re not allowed to call the police,” Satoru said.
“Give it back or I’ll scream,” Megumi said in return.
Satoru thought about the many people who could be inside the apartment buildings around them. “Fair point.” He gave the phone back, and Megumi put it back in her pocket. “Don’t call the cops on random innocent people.”
“Don’t randomly tell people you killed their parents,” said Megumi.
“I only killed one of your parents,” Satoru said, a bit defensively. Megumi gave him a squinty, judgemental look. “Ah. Yeah, that sounded bad.”
“You’re bad at this,” Megumi said bluntly. Satoru felt like laughing. “Whatever ‘this’ is. Why are you even here?”
“Ah-hah! Good question! Actually, I came here because I wanted to ask you a question. What do you want to do?” Satoru asked. Megumi gave him an uncomprehending look. “Do you want to go to the Zenin clan?”
“...The ones you just said are scumbags?” Megumi said, highly dubious and also judging his intelligence again. This kid...
“The same! But you know, if you want to learn how to use your technique, they’re probably the best ones for that,” Satoru said, straightening back to full height.
“I don’t care about that. I’m fine on my own. The important part is Tsumiki. She wouldn’t be able to go, right?” said Megumi.
“She could, but it wouldn’t be good for her,” Satoru said automatically. “It would be 100% better if she didn’t go.”
Women had to be strong in order to get any respect in the clans. Megumi should be alright, especially if she was already summoning her Divine Dogs at her age. Someone who wasn’t even a sorcerer? She wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Then I’d have to abandon her,” Megumi concluded. “I don’t want to do that.”
Satoru grinned. So that was how it would be, huh? “Okay! Leave it to me!” he said brightly. He ruffled her hair, making her scrunch up her neck like a turtle. “You’ll have to work hard too, okay? So do your best~”
Satoru had signed himself up for quite a bit of extra work. Well, he was Gojo Satoru, so it’d be fine, but somehow people kept accusing him of lying about what Megumi wanted! It was getting really annoying.
The higher-ups of Tokyo Jujutsu High were one thing. It had been easy enough to grab Megumi on a weekend and bring her to the school. Despite her terrible attitude and judgemental personality, she hadn’t argued at all, which had come as a surprise.
But now even the Zenin were accusing him of lying? That was just offensive. It wasn’t like Satoru couldn’t do what he wanted, even if it pissed them off – his existence pissed them off, so everything else was just icing on the cake – but they could cause trouble if they managed to track Megumi down themselves. Actually, it kind of bothered Satoru to think of somebody like Ogi or Jinichi showing up at the little apartment Megumi and Tsumiki shared. They were such huge assholes, and Megumi was too weak right now to keep them from doing whatever they wanted.
So Satoru had made an agreement of sorts with the Zenin. Not that they really had a say in the matter. The agreement was: he would bring Megumi to see them so they could verify for themselves that she wanted nothing to do with them, and they would leave her alone – at least until she started high school.
Which was why Satoru was standing in front of Megumi and Tsumiki’s apartment. He rang the doorbell, and then rang it three more times because he could.
It was Megumi who opened the door, already glaring. “You're secretly the one who's six years old here, aren't you?” she greeted, unimpressed. She was in PJs, a very cute matching set with little pink and red hearts all over it. Her black Divine Dog was crowded into the entry with her, wearing a brown towel tied around its neck like a cape.
“Good morning, Megumi-chan!” Satoru said cheerfully, unapologetic.
Megumi spun away disgustedly without deeming that worthy of a response. Satoru followed her in. He moved to close the door, which Megumi had left open, only for the black Divine Dog to nose it closed before he could. Well, whatever.
Inside, Tsumiki was sitting at the low table in their tiny sitting room with the white Divine Dog (clad in a white towel to match its twin) laying at her side, random papers scattered in front of her. Homework, Satoru guessed, but he really had no idea what kind of homework the average seven year old had.
“Good morning, Gojo-san,” Tsumiki said politely, though she looked puzzled and, behind that, wary. She was much sweeter than Megumi and tended to come across as more innocent, but she had had an equal hand in their little act to convince the world they definitely still had parents present. She didn't appreciate the presence of a random adult any more than Megumi did. She was better at hiding it, though. Mostly by virtue of actually trying at all to do so.
“Good morning, Tsumiki-chan,” Satoru said.
“Don't bother Tsumiki. Come on,” said Megumi, striding further into the apartment.
The black Divine Dog circled Satoru, trying to usher him in Megumi's direction, which was almost as adorable as Megumi’s PJs. Satoru graciously allowed it to herd him. Megumi headed for the closet masquerading as a bedroom that she and Tsumiki shared. It was pretty much the only place to go, given the kids’ flat refusal to so much as open the master bedroom door.
There was one chair in the miniscule room, placed next to a miserable excuse for a desk, and Satoru sprawled out in it. With the chair back against one wall, his stretched-out legs could nearly kick the opposing wall. Ridiculous.
Megumi sat on her bed, arms crossed. The effect was ruined by the cream bedspread with little – Satoru looked closer – squirrels on it. Satoru was well aware that the six year old Megumi had certainly not bought these things for herself, nor likely had any say in them, but it was still hysterical to see the overly-serious child surrounded by cutesy things. Megumi thought the Divine Dogs, dire wolf-sized shikigami that were built for combat, were the peak of cuteness.
“So, why are you here, Gojo-san?” Megumi prompted, less irritably than Satoru had expected. It seemed he was forgiven for deliberately annoying her by ringing the doorbell repeatedly.
The black Divine Dog jumped up on Megumi’s bed next to her and laid down with its head in her lap. The bed being child-sized, the immense Divine Dog took up most of it. Megumi petted its head absently, stroking from between the eyes, over the symbol on its forehead, and down the back of its neck.
The great and mighty Ten Shadows Technique, reduced to being the source of a six year old’s lap dog. Truly incredible. This was the funniest possible option, Satoru was pretty sure.
“Well, you see, the Zenin clan are being douchebags,” Satoru said.
“Isn’t that their default state?” Megumi said without missing a beat.
Satoru grinned. “True! The Zenin clan are being douchebags again, I should say. They’re saying I kidnapped you and am cruelly refusing to give you up to them, your rightful family,” he said dramatically. Megumi’s face scrunched up in disgust, and he pointed at her. “I’m glad you see it my way! Anyway, they’ll probably start sticking their ugly noses in your business soon.”
“Do they have particularly ugly noses?” Megumi asked in a tone of polite curiosity.
“They do. The ugliest noses I’ve ever seen,” Satoru said seriously. “But I’m not here just to warn you to keep an eye out for especially ugly noses. As a matter of fact, they’ve agreed to leave you and Tsumiki alone, but they want to hear that you don’t want to join them from you personally. So!” He clapped once, sharply. “Basically, we have to go see them.”
Megumi processed that. She looked at him. “Right now?”
“Right now,” Satoru confirmed.
Megumi sighed. “Okay,” she said. “Get out, then.”
“Huh?”
“I need to change,” said Megumi.
“Aw, not going to go in your cute little PJs?” Satoru teased, standing.
Megumi gave him the flattest look he’d received yet. “I will if you will,” she said. “Out.”
Satoru went.
Tsumiki peered curiously at him. “Where’s Megumi? What were you talking about?”
“She’s changing. We’re going on a field trip! Don’t worry, it’s going to be really boring, so you’re not missing out on anything,” Satoru said.
“Um, okay,” Tsumiki said dubiously.
The bedroom door opened and Megumi emerged wearing a hoodie and jeans. Very modern.
“Tsumiki, apparently I have to go–”
“On a field trip?” Tsumiki said jokingly.
Megumi sighed again. “A terrible field trip,” she said. “Will you be okay?”
“Of course! Have you forgotten who’s the older sister here?” Tsumiki teased. “Go, do whatever it is you need to do.”
Megumi nodded reluctantly. Satoru ruffled her hair just to annoy her. She yelped and ducked away.
“Okay! Let’s go, then,” said Satoru, clapping. He offered Megumi his elbow. “Grab on.”
Megumi tucked her hand into Satoru’s elbow, and he clasped his hands together and warped them both to Kyoto. Sooooo much faster that way. Obviously, the Zenin clan compound wasn’t within the city itself. The clans liked their space, and the older ones tended to have a lot of land. So, a little ways outside the Zenin compound, Satoru and Megumi were practically in the middle of nowhere.
Megumi’s black Divine Dog, no longer wearing the towel cape, emerged from her shadow without her making the shadow puppet for it. It had already been summoned, but nothing Satoru had read – which was a lot more recently, now that it was kind of his responsibility to provide Megumi any form of education on her technique – had mentioned the shikigami being able to move through shadows in that way.
Well, whatever.
“Gojo-san, should I not bring Ankoku?” Megumi asked, also looking at the Divine Dog.
Satoru blinked. He looked at her, then at the Divine Dog, which he had literally never seen Megumi without. “Why not?”
“These... ‘Divine Dogs’ are a part of that Ten Shadows Technique, you said. That’s why they want me in their clan. Isn’t bringing Ankoku just flaunting it in their faces?” she reasoned.
“It absolutely is,” Satoru confirmed. “But it won’t matter. Actually, it’s pretty funny.”
It would piss them off, probably. But that wouldn’t matter in comparison to Megumi herself declaring that her will was in line with Satoru’s: that she had no intention or interest in joining the Zenin clan. Therefore, pissing them off was actually a good thing, in Satoru’s opinion.
“If you say so,” Megumi said dubiously.
Satoru grinned. “What, don’t you trust me?”
Megumi’s flat expression made the answer clear, but Satoru just laughed.
“Alright, c’mon! We’ve got a li~ittle bit of a walk ahead of us,” he said, and started walking. Megumi hurried to keep up with him. There was no one around (he’d be able to tell) so he said, “Oh yeah, let me tell you a little bit about what you’re walking into. So, the Zenin clan – ugh, there’s a ton of them, actually, but I don’t care about that. Most of them don’t matter at all.”
“That’s very helpful,” Megumi said dryly.
“Shhh, don’t interrupt me! Okay, there’s three of them you need to worry about – ehh, maybe four. First of all, there’s the old man, Zenin Naobito. He’s the current clan head. He’s a slimy scumbag who loves to drink, but he’s the clan head for a reason. Anyway, he’s probably the most motivated to get his hands on you. He wants to secure a strong successor, you know? Then there’s Zenin Ogi. He’s Naobito’s brother. He’s on the traditional side. To be honest, I don’t think he’s likely to approve of you as the next head... because you’re a girl,” Satoru said frankly, shrugging.
“Ah... so it’s like that,” Megumi muttered, more cynically than Satoru would have expected from a six year old who’d grown up in modern society.
“It’s like that,” Satoru agreed. “But however he feels about you as a possible successor to Naobito, since he’s traditional, it’s probably really bugging him to think of somebody with one of the Zenin’s famed techniques outside of the clan. Next is Zenin Jinichi. He’s your uncle. Toji’s older brother. He haaaates Toji though! So I don’t know how he’s gonna react to you.”
“Great,” Megumi said flatly. “Who’s the maybe-fourth?”
“Oh yeah. Naobito’s youngest son, and currently favored successor: Zenin Naoya,” said Satoru. “He’s gonna hate you for sure, but he shouldn’t be around. Probably. He’s just a punk so he won’t be involved with the old guys’ meeting.”
Megumi shot him a dubious look. “...How old are you, again?” she said.
“Don’t be so rude. Maybe I am a punk, but I’m a strong one, so they can’t stop me from doing what I want,” Satoru said casually. “Zenin Naoya isn’t strong. If he was, he wouldn’t have to worry about a six year old taking his place as heir.”
“They really think that highly of this technique? The ‘Ten Shadows’ that I have?” said Megumi.
“They really do! Don’t discount it. You know, around five hundred years ago or so was the last time there was someone with your Ten Shadows Technique as well as someone with both my Limitless and Six Eyes Techniques alive at the same time? Supposedly, they got in a big blowout fight and killed each other,” Satoru said. Megumi was giving him her squinty-eyed judgemental look again, this time a little disturbed. “My point is, your technique is strong enough to potentially match even mine! That’s really strong!”
“Yourself being the greatest point of comparison, of course,” said Megumi.
Satoru grinned. “Of course~! Not just anyone can hope to match me, you know! I’m the strongest, after all.”
They were approaching the Zenin compound now. It was a massive, sprawling gated community, all in traditional styles. Satoru knew the type. If it was anything like the Gojo clan compound, it probably hadn’t been updated in two hundred years.
It was fenced, but the gate was open. Of course, there was a guard, middle-aged and nondescript. Satoru didn’t recognize him, but that didn’t mean much. Like he’d told Megumi, most of the Zenin weren’t worth remembering. The guard came up to them, expression distrustful, as they approached the gate.
“You’re Gojo Satoru,” the guard said warily.
Satoru clapped. “That’s right! Good job!” he cheered patronizingly.
“Why are you here?” the guard ground out between gritted teeth. Satoru fancied he could see a vein throbbing in his forehead. Some people were just too easy.
“Megumi-chan here and I have a meeting with the old man,” Satoru said.
“Show some respect, you punk!” the guard snapped. “Naobito-sama certainly doesn’t have a meeting with you. You have no reason to be here. You’ve got some guts to think I’d let you in.”
“You’ve got some guts to think you could stop me,” Satoru said lazily. “Anyway, just tell Naobito that this is his only chance to meet Megumi. I won’t bring her here again. And just between you and me–” He leaned in conspiratorially. “–he wants to meet with her.”
For perhaps the first time, the guard dragged his eyes away from Satoru’s stunning good looks (he couldn’t blame him, truly) and looked over, and then down, at Megumi. He saw her Divine Dog by her side first and his eyes widened.
“Fine,” the guard muttered, and proceeded to pull out a cellphone and start texting.
Satoru glanced over at Megumi and found her shooting him an unimpressed look. He shrugged. The Zenin clan was not his responsibility. Or his fault, for that matter.
“Tch. Alright, you can go through,” the guard said begrudgingly after a few long minutes. “But don’t expect Naobito-sama to drop everything to see you immediately!”
He stepped aside, but he was sure to aim another glare at Satoru while he did. Satoru just smirked back at him as he strolled past, Megumi at his side.
Once they’d passed by the guard, Megumi said, quietly, “You didn’t actually arrange a meeting, did you.”
“Ehhh, well, I did tell him I’d be dropping by at some point, probably on a weekend. Does that count?” Satoru said.
Megumi sighed.
There were eyes on them. There had been since they entered the compound, of course. People were curious, naturally. They spied from the windows of buildings that Satoru and Megumi passed. Some bold few even watched from open doorways or from the side of the path. Then someone approached them. It was an old man with an ugly mohawk who Satoru vaguely recognized. He was probably pretty important within the clan or otherwise a noteworthy sorcerer, Satoru guessed.
“Gojo-kun. How good of you to come,” said the man with the mohawk, smiling. Satoru tried to remember his name. “And this must be Megumi-chan, correct? A pleasure to meet you. I am Zenin Chojuro.”
Megumi’s expression was flat and uninterested. “Nice to meet you,” she said emotionlessly.
The guy – Chojuro – clearly felt the snub. His smile became forced. “Regrettably, Naobito-sama is otherwise occupied at the moment,” he said, a little too short to come across as truly apologetic. “Please, allow me to show you to his home.”
“Sure, thanks,” Satoru said carelessly, waving his hand. Go on, then.
Chojuro’s eyebrow twitched. “This way, then.” He turned to walk away, glancing over his shoulder to make sure they were following. As they walked, he said to Megumi, “Megumi-chan, if I’m not mistaken, this is one of the Divine Dogs created by your Ten Shadows Technique, is it not? That’s very impressive, at your age.”
“If you say so,” Megumi said.
Satoru was startled into a laugh, which he stifled poorly. What a response. It was nice to see Megumi’s casually mean sassiness turned on someone else for once.
Chojuro didn’t attempt to make conversation again.
Before long, they came to a stop in front of a large, two-story traditional mansion. It was the nice section of the compound; everything nearby was large and fancy.
“Please, wait here,” Chojuro said with a tiny incline of his head that might have been the third cousin of a bow if it was raised by wolves. Without waiting for a response, he turned and strode off, entering the mansion they stood in front of.
Satoru raised his eyebrows. Was Naobito really going to make them wait? It was exactly the kind of power move that asshole would pull. It wasn’t like Satoru could leave Megumi here. He could take her and leave, but if he was going to do that, he wouldn’t be here in the first place. He rolled his eyes.
Megumi petted her Divine Dog and looked tense. Satoru wondered briefly if she was aware of the scrutiny they were under, even now – there was nobody on this street, but still people watching from windows and two kids peering around the corner of one of the other houses. Then he recalled the Divine Dog. It was nothing on Satoru’s Six Eyes, but the Divine Dogs were notable for their awareness of cursed energy, as well as ability to track it. So she was definitely aware, at least second-hand.
The time passed with excruciating sluggishness. Bored, Satoru sighed, shuffled his feet, crouched, straightened back up, stretched, and otherwise made a fantastic nuisance of himself, mostly to Megumi, who was the only one present to put up with him. She largely ignored him, intent on petting her dog.
After an approximate eternity – or about ten minutes – Megumi apparently became fed up with waiting. She turned and walked directly over to... the two girls peering around a corner. They were still there, too, but Satoru wasn’t terribly surprised; there wasn’t much entertainment to be had when one was a kid trapped in the compound of one of the old clans. Satoru didn’t stop her.
“Hi,” Megumi said gently (for her), stopping a careful distance from them and leaning to peer back around the corner at them.
The girls squeaked and disappeared around the corner. Then one poked back around. “Hi,” she said shyly. Slowly, the other one returned. The first blurted, “Who are you?”
“I’m Fushiguro Megumi. What’s your name?”
“My name is Maki,” said the first – braver – one. She indicated her sister with a tilt of her head. “This is–”
“Mai,” said the other. “That’s a big dog.”
Megumi nodded. “This is Ankoku,” she said.
“Huh? A... dog?” said Maki.
“You can’t see it?” said Mai.
Maki flinched. “Um...”
Ah. Satoru knew who they were now. These were those twins. Ogi’s daughters.
“My sister can’t see her either,” said Megumi. She put a hand on the Divine Dog’s head. “Her head is here. Do you want to pet her? She’s really soft.”
Maki brightened a little. “Is it okay?” she said, but looked a little wary.
Frankly, who wouldn’t be wary of an invisible dog? As Megumi coaxed the twins into petting the dog, Satoru put a hand to his forehead and laughed. Trust Megumi to immediately beeline towards the literal most derided members of the Zenin clan, and befriend them.
There were dual gasps, and Satoru looked up to see Maki and Mai disappear back around their corner. Standing there in front of Megumi was Zenin Naoya. Of all the possible people to appear. He was reaching for Megumi, and as Satoru watched, the Divine Dog lunged forward, teeth snapping an inch from Naoya’s hand. A deep, snarling growl built in its throat. And Naoya flinched.
Satoru laughed. That was legitimately, hysterically funny. What was it he was saying about Naoya being threatened by a six year old? Even more true than he’d known!
Still, Naoya could seriously injure Megumi if he got pissed off, which seemed likely. Satoru tried to seem casual as he hustled over to them. He stepped in front of Megumi, between her and Naoya. The twins were long gone.
“Wow, Naoya, reduced to picking on little kids? I always knew you had it in you,” Satoru drawled.
“Who are you to talk? Aren’t you the biggest offender?” Naoya said, glaring. He looked down at Megumi, still glaring as he demanded, “Megumi, right? Hasn’t this guy been bothering you?”
“Nope,” Megumi said immediately. She even stepped a little closer to Satoru, as though to sell the point. That was almost cute.
“Why even bother pretending you care about Megumi’s welfare, Naoya? When you’d rather see her dead in a ditch, rather than alive and better than you,” Satoru said lightly.
Naoya’s back straightened and he managed a decent affronted expression. “Don’t put words in my mouth,” he hissed. Then he sent Megumi a hateful look and stalked away.
“...What just happened?” Megumi said.
“Who knows?” Satoru said, and laughed. “Well, if I had to guess, I’d say he’s probably been told to try to get you in the clan and he’s mad about it.”
Megumi shook her head.
The door Chojuro had previously disappeared into opened, and he stepped back out. He looked confused to find Satoru and Megumi across the street, on the engawa of a different house.
“If you’re quite finished, Naobito-sama is available to receive you now,” Chojuro told them, expression judgemental.
His judgement was considerably less scathing than Megumi’s so Satoru felt utterly unaffected.
“Sure thing!” he said brightly.
Together with Megumi, he walked into Naobito’s house. A woman was waiting inside – possibly Naobito’s second wife, Naoya’s mother. Or was Naoya’s mother Naobito’s third wife? Satoru could never remember. In any case, she looked to be in her mid-thirties and she was dressed in an old-fashioned kimono, hair pulled back severely. She also looked pretty miserable, but Satoru guessed that was par for the course for someone married to Naobito.
“Please, follow me,” Naobito’s wife murmured, bowing, once they’d swapped their shoes for slippers.
She led them to a sitting room. Naobito was waiting inside, sitting at a low table. His mustache was as ugly as ever, but he didn’t seem to be drunk, which was a small mercy. Or it might have been better if he was drunk, actually. Behind him stood both Ogi, narrow face weaselly as always, and Jinichi, who was burlier, uglier, and more heavily scarred than Toji had been. All of them, naturally, wore traditional clothing, all in different styles.
Satoru had guessed exactly right on who would be involved. Was he good, or was he good?
“Took you long enough, old man. Did you just wake up?” Satoru said. He’d never promised to be nice.
“That’s cute, Gojo-kun. When you’re ready to join the world of adults, you might try calling ahead to arrange meetings,” Naobito said mildly.
“Nah, sounds boring,” said Satoru, walking over to sprawl on the cushion opposite Naobito.
Following his lead, Megumi perched in a wary seiza on the cushion beside him. Her Divine Dog sat next to her, utterly dwarfing her.
Naobito’s wife kneeled next to him and began pouring tea. Naobito didn't even acknowledge her.
Pointedly, Naobito turned away from Satoru, towards Megumi. “Welcome, Megumi. I am the head of the Zenin clan, Zenin Naobito. You may call me Grand Uncle,” he said generously. His wife set a cup of tea in front of him.
“No thank you, Zenin-san,” Megumi said promptly.
Naobito looked a bit like she’d just stomped on his toes. The other old guys’ expressions darkened. Even Naobito's wife paused in the middle of setting a cup in front of Megumi. A snicker tore its way out of Satoru’s throat despite his best intentions.
It was genuinely a fairly nice offer from the kind of person who otherwise expected his more-distant relations to call him sama, but even acknowledging the familial relation was... dangerous. Satoru was glad that Megumi had either spotted the hidden trap, or else was just such a feral, unfriendly little gremlin that she refused on principle.
“Very well, then,” Naobito said, a little stiffly. “In any case, behind me are Zenin Ogi, my brother, and Zenin Jinichi, who is your paternal uncle.”
Neither Ogi nor Jinichi did a convincing job of looking approachable, friendly, or happy to meet Megumi. In turn, Megumi’s expression was even sharper and more disdainful than when she’d met Satoru for the first time.
Naobito recovered admirably from the ensuing awkward silence. “Onto business, then. I don’t know what he’s told you, but Gojo Satoru here has been blocking our attempts to bring you into our clan, claiming that he is enacting your will,” he said, long-winded like, apparently, everyone over the age of 40. He drew in a breath to continue.
“He is,” Megumi said.
“...I see,” said Naobito, wind sucked out of his sails. “Why is that?”
Uh oh. The answer to that – what Megumi had told Satoru – was because she didn’t want to leave Tsumiki. There was a very easy solution to that, and it was ‘bring her with’. Which was bad.
But Megumi didn’t say that.
“My father left your clan. He took my mother’s surname when he married her, and they gave me her name, too,” Megumi said. “I think that paints a clear picture of what my parents wanted.”
“Your father wanted you to join us. That’s why he made an arrangement with me to that very end,” Naobito said pointedly. “An arrangement which Gojo has deliberately interfered with.”
“Fushiguro Toji is dead,” Satoru said, emphasizing the surname. “Whatever deals he made are invalid.”
Naobito’s lips thinned. “Megumi, we are your family,” he said, making intense eye contact with her. “The only family you have left. It is in your best interest to join us.”
Megumi stared back evenly. Her eyes were a startling shade of green, very different from the normal brown and black eyes of the Zenin clan, and almost eerie in their intensity. Satoru wondered idly if that approached the effect that his eyes tended to have on people.
“My surname is Fushiguro,” Megumi said without hesitation, still meeting Naobito’s gaze. She didn’t even look at the others. “I have all the family I need. And I don’t want to join your clan.”
All of the old guys looked constipated. Satoru had to try really hard to suppress the laugh that wanted to burst out. Watching a bunch of grown-ass adult sorcerers try to intimidate a six year old wasn’t his idea of a good time, but watching a bunch of grown-ass adult sorcerers fail to intimidate a six year old wasn’t so bad, actually.
“Do you wish to learn how to master your technique?” Ogi said abruptly, taking a step forward. “Clearly, you have some idea how to use it already.” He nodded to the Divine Dog at Megumi’s side. “But the full potential of it goes far beyond some measly dogs. We are your only option for true mastery.”
Oh snap. He insulted the dogs. Satoru watched intently.
Megumi’s eyes narrowed. “Measly dogs?” she repeated, puffing up with offense. “Why should I want to have anything to do with you if you’re just going to insult my dogs? I can handle my technique just fine on my own, thank you very much.”
Persuasion attempt: backfire.
Ogi looked about ready to explode. Naobito sighed sharply. Jinichi looked like he was contemplating murder, but then, he always kind of looked like that.
Satoru snickered. “Well, looks like we're pretty much finished here!” he said, standing fluidly.
He offered Megumi a hand, which she accepted after only a fraction of a second of eyeing it dubiously, though she put no weight on it as she stood from her seiza pose.
“Gojo–” Naobito began, warningly.
“Hm? You have something to say? You wanted to make sure Megumi really didn’t want to join you, and now you know,” said Satoru. “I’ll be taking her home now.”
Angling his head, he met Naobito’s gaze over the top of his sunglasses. Naobito was even uglier without the barrier of his sunglasses between, but Satoru knew the effect his eyes had on people. This was the most efficient way to get his point across: and you can’t stop me. From the way Naobito subsided, resentful though he was about it, he’d gotten the message.
Satoru turned away dismissively. Megumi walked off ahead of him, letting Satoru keep himself between her and the old guys as he followed after her. Was she thinking about it like that, or was she just genuinely irritated? Impossible to tell.
There was some scuffling and angry muttering behind them, barely audible even before the door closed and cut it off entirely. The door reopened and Naobito’s wife scurried out.
“Please allow me to escort you,” she said as she caught up, hands clasped demurely in front of her.
Satoru had no issue with her, so he just waved a hand. “Sure, whatever,” he said.
She’d clearly been told to keep an eye on them, presumably in case Satoru was feeling petty and wanted to destroy or steal anything. It was a bit laughable to have her do that, since Satoru doubted she was even a trained Jujutsu sorcerer. Women in the old clans typically weren’t trained unless they showed some particular aptitude (or a technique like the Ten Shadows) or they fought for it. Then again, even if Naobito or Ogi had bothered to do it themselves, it wasn’t like they could stop Satoru either.
Naobito’s wife waited silently while Satoru and Megumi changed back to their shoes, and then she bowed them out and closed the door firmly behind them.
“Ready to go?” Satoru asked, offering Megumi his elbow.
“Do you even have to ask?” Megumi responded, taking his elbow.
The Divine Dog slipped into her shadow and Satoru warped them both directly to Megumi and Tsumiki’s apartment. He brought them to the one place he’d seen that he could be 100% certain Tsumiki wouldn’t be: in front of the door they never opened, the one leading to the master bedroom.
“Home sweet home! That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Satoru said brightly.
Megumi shrugged noncommittally, then said, “You lied to me.”
“Oh? Did I?” Satoru said, trying to remember if he had told a lie that she would be able to call him out on.
“Yes,” Megumi said. She looked up at him very seriously. “Their noses were all normal.”