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The front door clicked shut behind Megumi with a dull thud.
The house was quiet, it was always quiet.
Tsumiki wasn't there. She hadn't been there for a long time now. Gojo wasn't there either, probably off somewhere fighting curses or doing whatever it was adults did when they disappeared for days at a time and came back pretending everything was normal.
Megumi stood in the foyer for a moment, breathing hard. Blood dripped from his knuckles, split and swollen from earlier that day, while rainwater soaked through his dark hair and uniform. A thick crimson drop splattered onto the cream-colored carpet beneath his feet.
His stomach flipped.
Immediately, he crouched down and wiped at it with his sleeve. The stain only smeared wider.
Panic clawed its way up his throat.
Gojo liked this house. It was expensive. Nice. Clean.
Megumi wasn't supposed to ruin things.
His lip stung where it had split open. He hurried into the kitchen, grabbed a wet paper towel, and scrubbed frantically at the carpet. The stain faded slightly, but it was still there, ugly and obvious against the pale fabric. Swallowing hard, he abandoned it before he could make it worse and ran upstairs.
His backpack hit the hallway floor with a heavy thump.
His backpack hit the hallway floor with a heavy thump.
Megumi rushed into the bathroom and turned on the sink. He climbed onto the little stool Gojo had bought him because he was still too short to comfortably reach the counter. At ten years old, he was smaller than most kids his age. Gojo always insisted it was because he needed more food and more milk.
Cold water splashed over Megumi's hands and immediately brought tears to his eyes. The pain hit all at once.
He bit down hard on his injured lip to stop himself from crying out.
The skin across his knuckles was torn open in several places. One finger had swollen into an ugly shade of purple. Blood mixed with water and spiraled down the drain while a bruise darkened across his cheek.
He scrubbed harder, he needed to keep it clean and this was a really nice washroom. If blood got everywhere, he'd ruin something else.
His vision blurred. Tears dripped into the sink and mixed with the pink water circling the drain.
He angrily wiped them away, he wasn’t crying.
He was just—
The familiar click of the front door opening made his breath hitch, he froze as he heard the voice.
“Megumiiii, I’m home!”
There was still blood in the sink. Tissues covered half the counter. Gojo had definitely seen the stain on the carpet downstairs.
He shut off the faucet and shoved both hands behind his back.
“Hey?” Gojo called again. “You home kid?”
Footsteps moved through the entryway, then up the stairs and the bathroom door gently opened.
Gojo stood there, perfectly dry.
He never needed an umbrella thanks to Infinity. His blindfold was pushed up onto his forehead, revealing bright blue eyes, and his uniform looked slightly disheveled from whatever mission he'd just returned from.
He had a small grin on his face like usual that dropped as soon as he processed what he was looking at.
“Megumi.”
Megumi looked down at the floor, he felt like he was in big trouble and heat crawled up his neck.
“M’fine Gojo”
Gojo’s eyes scanned him, the bruise on his cheek, his shaking shoulders and the hands hidden behind his back.
“Megumi, can you show me your hands?”
He spoke softer this time, it made Megumi’s throat tighten.
“Megumi, I want to help you.. Are you hurt?”
The tears came back immediately, he shook his head frantically.
"No."
The answer was barely audible.
Gojo crouched down in front of him.
"Did someone hurt you?"
Megumi’s jaw clenched and Gojo’s expression softened even further, Megumi rarely saw his guardian without a smile on his face so it made him feel worse.
"Oh, kid."
His eyes burned.
"M’sorry."
Gojo shook his head, “Why would you be sorry Megumi?”
“The carpet.”
“What?”
“I got blood on the carpet.”
There was a moment of silence and Megumi felt like he was going to burst into tears but then Gojo let out a small disbelieving laugh, it wasn’t the kind he did when someone made a joke or he was trying to be funny. It was more sad.
"Oh, Megumi."
Gojo reached up slowly, releasing his infinity and brushing damp hair away from Megumi’s forehead, the boy tensed automatically, hands still hidden behind his back.
“The carpet is not important ‘gumi.”
“It is though”
“No.”
“It was expensive hic, an- and I rui- ruined it.”
Megumi bit his trembling lower lip trying not to let any sobs escape him, his voice shook with each word.
Gojo tilted Megumi’s face up slowly to look him in the eyes, his eyes seemed less blue.
“You could paint this whole house red and I wouldn’t care right now.”
Gojo reached out his big hands and Megumi shuffled forwards, still hesitating to show his hands.
“You aren’t in trouble ‘gumi I promise, I just want to make sure I can help you.”
Megumi slowly brought his hands out from behind his back and placed them in Gojo’s hands, hovering just above, he didn’t turn infinity back on but Megumi was scared that he was actually in trouble.
Gojo’s expression darkened as he looked at Megumi’s hands
The knuckles were split open and one finger looked badly jammed, blood was still leaking from several cuts and scratches across his arm.
Gojo was so gentle as he took Megumi’s hands and examined them, like they were made of glass.
“Who did this.”
Megumi shrugged.
“Just some kids.”
“‘Some kids’”
Gojo echoed, still staring at Megumi’s small ruined hands.
Another shrug.
His guardian inhaled sharply and exhaled, he did that when he was angry.
“Are you mad at me?”
“No ‘gumi I’m not angry at you, just upset that you’re hurt and I wasn’t here sooner.”
Gojo led Megumi into his bedroom and sat him carefully on the edge of the bed.
The mattress was high enough that Megumi's feet dangled above the floor. Usually he had to climb or jump to get up by himself, but tonight Gojo had plopped him up.
Rain tapped softly against the window.
The room was dim except for the warm bedside lamp Gojo had switched on.
Gojo disappeared into the bathroom and returned with a first aid kit.
"Alright," he said quietly, kneeling in front of him. "Let's see the damage."
Megumi stared at his hands.
His knuckles were scraped raw. Dirt clung to the cuts on his palms. One sleeve of his uniform was torn near the shoulder. His lip throbbed every time he moved it.
Gojo's expression tightened when he got a proper look.
"How many?"
Megumi shrugged.
A sigh.
"That's not an answer."
"Three."
"Three?"
Another shrug.
He opened a packet of antiseptic wipes.
"This is going to sting."
Megumi nodded once.
The first touch burned.
His fingers twitched but he didn't pull away.
Gojo noticed immediately.
"You can complain, you know."
"I'm fine."
"You are very obviously not fine."
Megumi looked away.
Gojo didn't push.
Instead he continued cleaning each scrape with patient, careful movements. He treated every injury as though it mattered, no matter how small. Dirt was washed away. Tiny cuts were disinfected. Bandages appeared one after another.
The silence stretched between them.
When Gojo took Megumi's injured hand to examine a swollen finger, his movements became even gentler.
Megumi watched him from beneath his bangs.
Gojo carefully bent the finger.
"Does this hurt?"
"A little."
"A little?"
"Maybe more than a little."
Gojo wrapped the finger with a small splint and tape before reaching for a tube of ointment.
"Look at me."
Megumi obeyed.
Gojo gently tilted his chin upward.
The split in his lip looked worse up close.
For a second Gojo's joking expression disappeared completely.
Something protective flashed across his face.
But when he spoke, his voice remained calm.
"Hold still."
The ointment was cool against the cut, it didn’t stop Megumi from flinching though.
"Sorry."
"It's cold."
"I know."
Gojo worked carefully until he was satisfied and then gave Megumi some ice to hold against his cheek.
“Alright mister you are all patched up thanks to Doctor Gojo.”
“You aren’t a doctor, Auntie Shoko is.”
“Details.”
That night Megumi slept in Gojo’s room next to him on the bed, his guardian had called the school before bedtime then he got in tucking Megumi under the blankets.
“I’ll deal with this alright ‘gumi?”
Gojo whispered, they were next to each other face to face, his eyes were so blue even in the dark that Megumi could practically see every expression on his face.
“S’okay Gojo, I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can ‘gumi-bear, but sometimes you should let other people help you.”
“I can do it myself though.”
Gojo gnawed at his bottom lip, looking down for a second. He always did that when he was nervous, his lips were always chapped because of that.
“...I had an old friend, and he wanted to deal with a lot of things himself too.”
Megumi had never heard of Gojo having a friend, Gojo always called Auntie Shoko and Nanami-san his co-workers but never mentioned having a friend.
“He dealt with so many things by himself he ended up getting- he was really sad and got really sick because he wouldn’t tell anybody what was going on.. And I couldn’t help him because he wanted to deal with it on his own.”
Gojo paused, Megumi heard a sniffle. Maybe Gojo was catching a cold.
“But- hic- I don’t want that to happen to you ‘gumi.”
Megumi nodded in the dark, he knew Gojo probably couldn’t see him but his eyes could sense it.
“Where is he now?”
“We lost- we lost touch a few years ago.”
Megumi curled up into a small ball.
“I don’t want to lose touch with you.”
“I’ll never leave you Megumi.”
The second day was worse.
Because Megumi had known it was coming.
The moment he'd walked through the school gates, he'd seen them watching him. Older boys. Bigger boys. The kind that had figured out months ago that the quiet kid with no friends and no real parents around was an easy target.
Megumi was small, way smaller than most kids his age. Before living with Gojo he remembered being hungry a lot and Gojo always gave him a glass of milk with each meal saying he had to “make up for lost calories”, but the years had left a mark on his body.
By lunch he was cornered behind the gym. The boys were bigger and older than him, Megumi barely made it past the corner before one of them shoved him hard enough that his backpack hit the ground first.
Concrete scraped against his knee and he let out a hiss of pain.
“Gonna cry for mommy?”
One laughed as he kicked again hitting Megumi’s face, Megumi tried to get up but got pushed down again his head slamming against the concrete with a sharp sickening crack, white noise played in his ears.
“Doesn’t even have a mom,” one of them said, laughing. “She left him.”
Megumi doesn’t know why but survival took over as he grabbed one of their ankles and bit down as hard as he could, teeth and all, the boy screamed and then Megumi felt a foot make contact with his nose and everything went black.
Megumi woke up alone, for a moment he just stared at the blue sky.
Then, slowly he pushed himself up despite his ribs throbbing and vision swimming.
He gathered his scattered things from the courtyard in silence, hands shaking slightly as he picked up his backpack.
By the time he reached home, the sun had started to dip lower in the sky.
The house was empty again once he arrived, the side of his head throbbed as he entered and locked the door behind him.
Megumi barely made it halfway up the stairs before he coughed and blood came out splattering against his uniform sleeve, he felt his eyes burn as he quickly made it to his room and laid down to roll under his bed. Gojo had helped him learn his techniques so he easily let the shadows swallow him as he curled up and cried quietly in pain.
Hours passed.
Megumi’s ribs hurt, his head hurt, everything hurt and his eyes stung from how much he had cried.
But he felt safe under there and hidden, nobody would see him like this so he stayed.
The front door finally opened.
"Megumi?"
Megumi didn’t reply, he didn’t want Gojo to see him like this again.
“Megumi?”
The footsteps started climbing the stairs. His bedroom door slid open and Megumi could make out a pair of black shoes enter, the door closing behind him. For a few moments there was silence.
Megumi knew that Gojo had six eyes, he could always find Megumi so it didn’t take long for him to crouch down sitting on the floor cross-legged, blindfold missing and bright blue eyes craning down to look under the bed.
"Found you."
Megumi squeezed his eyes shut.
Gojo tilted his head slightly.
“You know you’re not exactly great at hiding from me, right?”
Nothing.
"I literally have magic eyeballs."
Silence.
“Unfair advantages,” Gojo added thoughtfully. “But still.”
Minutes passed, Gojo shifted and he stretched out slowly, lying flat on his stomach so his face was level with the space under the bed.
Blue eyes blinked into the darkness.
“Hi.”
Nothing.
A small smile tugged at his mouth.
“Nice hiding spot.”
A beat.
“You should try this next time you play hide-and-seek with Nanamin. Very strategic.”
Still nothing.
“A bit dusty though.”
The smile faded slightly as the silence stretched on.
“Megumi..”
The gentleness in his voice landed heavier than anything else.
The shadows under the bed trembled faintly.
“There you are.”
Megumi’s throat tightened.
“You don’t have to talk,” he said quietly. “But I’d really prefer if you came out and laid on your bed instead of nesting in the dust.”
Gojo sighed, no response again.
“I’m really worried about you, kid.”
The shadows shifted.
Slowly.
Reluctantly.
Then dissolved.
Megumi appeared curled into a tight ball under the bed frame.
Even though he was visible now, he still tried to make himself smaller.
Gojo's smile vanished.
The damage on Megumi was terrible, his eye nearly swollen shut, new bruises layered on top of old bruises and he clutched his ribs in pain.
“Jesus Christ,” Gojo breathed before he could stop himself.
Gojo whispered out loud, he hadn’t meant too but he felt a hot flash of anger go down his spine.
“Megumi come out,” He tried to keep his voice steady, not wanting to scare the kid any further. “I need to check how bad you’re hurt.”
Megumi shook his head immediately and pressed himself further into the corner.
“Alright,” Gojo said after a beat. “Then I’m coming in.”
Gojo flattened himself and tried to make himself as small as possible to fit under the bed where Megumi was, once under and facing Megumi he smiled, trying not to let the horror of the injuries get to him.
“I like what you’ve done with the place, spacious.”
Nothing.
“Hey,” Gojo said more gently. “I’m not mad at you. Was it the same kids?”
Megumi nodded.
“I didn’t think they’d—” Megumi started, then stopped abruptly, gripping his own hair in frustration.
Gojo immediately caught his wrist.
“Hey,” he said softly, redirecting it into his own forearm instead. “It’s okay. You’re okay. I’ll call Auntie Shoko”
Megumi’s breathing wavered.
“I don’ want to be a problem,” he whispered.
Something in Gojo’s expression cracked just slightly.
He reached up and cupped Megumi’s face carefully, tilting it upwards.
“You are not a problem,” he said firmly. “Do you hear me?”
“Megumi you are not a problem, I’m sure Shoko would be worried too, if I was hurt would you want me to go see a doctor?”
Megumi’s eyes flickered to the side as he let out a small hum of agreement.
“So since you’re hurt, I want you to go see a doctor, you understand ‘gumi?”
The boy nodded.
“Good, let’s go” Gojo said as he ruffled Megumi’s hair.
By the time they got to Shoko’s place, she already got the text and was standing at the door of her apartment, she let them in and sat Megumi on the kitchen counter.
“Shit kid, Gojo go grab ice and my first aid kid.”
Usually Gojo would have some quick quip to say or a comment but he silently went to the bathroom where he knew Shoko kept her medical supplies.
Shoko began patching up Megumi slowly, his ribs weren’t broken, just bruising and a bit of pain but it should be good with a warm compress, ice and rest. No concussion either which is a miracle considering the impact on his head.
“He’s a champ, want some hot chocolate?”
Megumi went to sit in the living room waiting for his hot chocolate but he could hear Gojo and Shoko talking.
“-Found him under the bed, he was using his shadow technique.”
“Gojo, you have to call the school.”
“I did Shoko! They won’t do shit!”
“This is assault, this isn’t just bullying anymore.”
“Shoko I fuckin’ know!”
“...”
“Sorry I didn’t mean to shout, I’m just scared.”
“... I haven’t seen you like this since-”
“-Shoko can we- can we not?”
“.. It’s been years Gojo you have to-”
“This is about Megumi right now, you know what, we have to go anyway.”
“Alright Gojo, safe drive.”
“Thanks Shoko.”
Gojo appeared in the hallway with a crooked smile that didn’t reach his eyes and a travel mug of hot chocolate.
“Ready ‘gumibear?”
The drive home was quiet except for the steady patter of rain against the windshield.
Megumi sat in the passenger seat with an ice pack pressed against his ribs, staring out at the blurred city lights. He was exhausted enough that his eyelids kept drooping, but every time he started to drift off, pain pulled him back awake.
Gojo kept one hand on the wheel and occasionally glanced over, checking on him without making it obvious. The bruises on Megumi's face looked even worse beneath the passing streetlights.
For several minutes neither of them spoke. Gojo knew better than to push too hard when Megumi got like this, but he also knew silence could let bad thoughts grow roots. Eventually he sighed and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. "Talk to me, kid." Megumi shrugged without looking away from the window.
"They do it because I'm weak," Megumi said finally. His voice was quiet enough that it was almost swallowed by the sound of the rain. Gojo's grip tightened slightly on the wheel, but he didn't interrupt. "I'm smaller than everyone else." Megumi picked at a loose thread on his sleeve. "They know I can't fight back."
Gojo was silent for a moment before speaking. "You're ten, Megumi. Of course you're smaller than fourteen-year-olds." Megumi shook his head. That wasn't the point and they both knew it. His shoulders curled inward as he stared down at his hands. "They say that's why my real dad didn't want me."
The words hit like a punch to the chest.
Gojo's jaw clenched hard enough to hurt. Beside him, Megumi kept talking in that detached voice he used when he was trying not to care. "They say nobody actually wants adopted kids." He swallowed. "They say you're not really my dad."
Gojo immediately pulled the car over to the side of the road. The tires hissed against wet pavement as the vehicle came to a stop.
Megumi looked over, startled by the sudden movement. For a moment neither of them spoke. Rain streaked down the windows between them and the rest of the world.
"Look at me," Gojo said softly.
Megumi hesitated before turning his head. One eye was swollen, nearly shut and there was still dried blood near his nose. He looked so small sitting there that Gojo's chest physically ached.
No child should have carried this much pain. No child should have been made to believe those things about himself.
"I'll never be like you," Megumi admitted. His eyes dropped almost immediately. "You're the strongest." The title sounded strange coming from him, almost reverent. "I'm just..." He shrugged helplessly. "Me."
Something inside Gojo broke.
He reached over and gently pushed a few strands of messy black hair away from Megumi's face. "Kid, do you really think I care whether you're the strongest?" Megumi frowned but didn't answer. Gojo gave a small, disbelieving laugh. "Do you think that's why I keep you around?" The very idea sounded ridiculous.
Megumi looked uncomfortable. "No."
"But?"
"But..." Megumi struggled for the words. "I don't know."
Gojo nodded slowly. He could work with honesty. What hurt was that Megumi genuinely didn't know why anyone would choose him. The realization settled heavily in his chest. Somewhere along the way, the kid had learned that love was something that had to be earned.
"You know what I see when I look at you?" Gojo asked.
Megumi shook his head.
"I see somebody who keeps getting back up." Gojo's voice was calm and steady. "I see somebody who worries about other people even when he's hurting." He smiled faintly. "I see somebody brave enough to keep going when things get hard." Megumi immediately looked away, embarrassed by the praise.
"They beat me up."
"And you still got back up."
"I cried."
"So what?"
"I hid under my bed like a baby,"
"You were hurt."
The answers came instantly. Gojo didn't even have to think about them. To him, they were obvious truths. Megumi stared at him like he was speaking a different language.
"I don't care that you’re technically adopted," Gojo said quietly. "I don't care that you're small." He paused for a moment. "And I definitely don't care if you're never the strongest." His hand rested briefly against Megumi's cheek. "I just care that you're Megumi."
The car fell silent again.
Megumi blinked rapidly and turned his face back toward the window. He hated crying. He hated it even more when Gojo noticed. Unfortunately, Gojo noticed everything. The older man pretended not to see the shine in his eyes anyway.
By the time they got home, Megumi was barely awake. Gojo carried him upstairs despite weak protests and tucked him into bed while pretending not to hear complaints about being too old for that. The Divine Dogs settled beside the bed as soon as he was under the blankets. Their presence made the room feel a little less lonely. Within minutes Megumi's breathing had begun to slow.
Gojo stayed anyway.
Moonlight spilled across the room and illuminated the sleeping child curled beneath the blankets. The bruises would heal eventually. The cuts would fade. The memories were the part that scared him. Gojo sat quietly beside the bed and watched over him, feeling that familiar ache in his chest.
Megumi didn't understand.
He didn't understand that none of this was about strength. He didn't understand that Gojo would have chosen him a thousand times over. He didn't understand that somewhere along the way he'd become the brightest part of Gojo's life. Looking at the sleeping boy, Gojo felt his throat tighten.
Megumi was his beautiful boy.
His light.
His world.
His everything.
Tomorrow there would be schools to call, adults to confront, and problems to solve. Tomorrow Gojo would deal with every single person who had failed this child. But tonight he simply sat beside the bed, listening to the steady rhythm of Megumi's breathing, grateful that he was safe enough to sleep.