Chapter Text
Satoru once had a full house. Megumi, Tsumiki, and Yuuta filled the halls and rooms of the Fushiguro apartment. He wasn’t able to stay there every night, so Tsumiki migrated into the natural position of house leader, but he couldn’t say with a single fiber in his being that he didn’t cherish the nights he was there. Three children, Tsumiki being the oldest at seven, Yuuta at six, and Megumi at five.
It was a cold day in February. The kids came back from school. Tsumiki was beaming, Yuuta was holding out his backpack to Satoru who had just collapsed on the couch after a mission, and Megumi bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling.
“What are we all so happy about hm?” Satoru asked. He made a wounded and disappointed sound in the back of his throat, pushing his face into the couch, as he forced his sore body to sit up. Yuuta climbed onto the couch beside him, pushing himself right up against his side. He unzipped his backpack to reveal a paper bag filled with individually wrapped chocolates. Satoru gasped and poked his cheek.
“What’s all this!”
“Our teachers got us chocolates for valentines day!” Tsumiki beamed and revealed her own bag. “Megumi got one too.”
“That’s so fun, I hope you all said thank you.” Satoru turned his head to peer behind the couch as Tsumiki walked towards her room.
“Tsumiki made a special one for this boy in our class, Aki.” Yuuta said. Tsumiki ran over to the couch and shoved him.
“A boy?! Young lady, you are way too young for boys!” Satoru scolded with a fake seriousness.
Tsumiki giggled and turned a bit red. Satoru made a wounded and exaggerated sound.
“Can you believe this, Megs!” He threw his head back to look at Megumi who was still at the door.
Megumi held out a piece of pink cardstock with a piece of chocolate taped onto it, red hearts scribbled onto it. Satoru’s eyes thinned as he read the upside down writing. From Kirin, to Megumi.
“What?!” Satoru exclaimed, genuine. His head whipped towards Yuuta. “Did you get one?!”
Yuuta giggled and shook his head. Satoru exhaled and brought him into a tight embrace, squishing his cheeks against his shoulder. “Oh good. You’re the only one I’ll have left!”
“But Rika did ask him to be her boyfriend though.” Tsumiki said.
Satoru whined into the top of Yuuta’s head. He giggled louder.
That evening, the kitchen smelled of warm food, Yuuta set the table while Megumi cleaned the living room. Tsumiki grinned up at Satoru on her step stool, anxiously waiting for Satoru to feed her a spoon of the sauce he had made.
He scratched her head and pushed her to sit at the table, the food would be ready soon. Yuuta sat at the table with his stuffed dog. He has made a lot of progress apart from it, he no longer had to hide it in his backpack to go to school. In the comfort of home, however, he never went anywhere without it. Megumi huffed as he climbed onto the seat and rested his head on the table.
He’s always had trouble sleeping.
Satoru appeared behind him with a plate of noodles with pork in it, he brought it close to Megumi’s face and taunted.
“Oh well if you’re too sleepy maybe we should skip your dinner?”
Megumi’s head lifted with a groan as he reached for the plate. Satoru chuckled and placed it in front of him. He then slid the plate in his other hand to Yuuta. Walking back to the kitchen he served another two plates.
Tsumiki smiled at him over her shoulder. “Thank you for cooking!”
“Of course.” He nodded as he placed a plate in front of her. “I have a surprise for you all after dinner. So eat quickly, and make sure you finish it all.”
After they finished dinner Satoru left for a few moments. He came back with three boxes of gourmet chocolate. Tsumiki and Yuuta gasped, Megumi’s mouth dropped open.
“Gojo!” Tsumiki exclaimed. “These are the really fancy ones!”
He nodded and placed them in front of the kids. “One for each of you. I know the girls usually get some for the guys but I wanted to get them for you three! I hope they aren’t dull in comparison to your classmates’ gifts.”
When the kids brushed their teeth, bathed, and got ready for bed they excitedly brought their chocolates into their rooms. Tsumiki said goodnight to her brothers from the door to her room, and the boys returned the phrase from their shared one.
“Don’t eat all of them at once!” Satoru called out from the kitchen where he was cleaning, as he heard doors begin to close.
He stayed up a few hours longer in the living room, working on paperwork. Yaga was running him to the bone, and he couldn’t get out of the administration part of being a pillar of society. It was around one in the morning when Yuuta came into the living room, dragging his feet and stuffed dog against the floor, rubbing his eyes with his fist. Satoru looked down at him and smiled softly.
“I’m sorry, Yuuta, was my light too bright?”
Yuuta shook his head, approaching the kitchen where pushed the step stool to reach the cupboard, taking out a glass. He hopped down and rose onto the balls of his feet to fill it with water.
Satoru watched him.
When Yuuta wandered back to the couch he climbed onto it and sat next to Satoru.
“Gojo?” Yuuta’s sleepy voice called out.
“Hm?”
“You know we aren’t actually leaving right?”
Satoru chuckled, he gathered the papers sprawled across the couch and threw them onto the coffee table in front of it. He wrapped an arm around Yuuta and pulled him into his side.
“Of course I know that.”
“It’s just that you asked if we liked your chocolates better than our classmates’ chocolates.” Yuuta frowned. So sensitive.
Satoru pressed his cheek onto the top of Yuuta’s head. “You’re so kind. And yes, please don’t go anywhere.”
Yuuta took another gulp of his water. Satoru pushed him off the couch incredibly gently. “Now off to bed young sir.”
Yuuta nodded with a yawn. “You go to sleep too.”
“I will, don’t worry about me.”
Satoru watched him leave.
Yuuta was back in Japan after his trip abroad to Africa. He left right after Tsumiki fell into a coma. He’d gotten a chance to train under a sorcerer there, in his dorm room with Satoru, head in his hands he spoke with their dad.
“I mean, is this even a good time for me to leave you guys?” He had asked.
“I think you should go.” Satoru said, leaning against his door frame. “And I think you should go not just for your sake but for Megs.”
Yuuta looked up at him through his fingers.
“He already blames himself because the two of them got into a fight before she…” He trailed off, then sighed."He'll be guilt stricken if you lose this opportunity to stay and take care of him.”
“But what about you?”
“I’ll be fine, of course.”
So Yuuta left.
Now, Megumi was sitting on the steps of Jujutsu High and pretending he wasn’t waiting for Satoru to walk up to him with Yuuta beside him. The rest of the students were there too. Yuuji and Nobara sat beside him, while Maki, Toge, and Panda stood closer to the gates.
Yuuta appeared in sight with a backpack and rolled his suitcase along the ground. Satoru walked behind him with his hands in his pocket and smiling. Yuuta grinned and waved, speeding up.
Panda ran to him first, picking him up in a tight hug.
“I missed you too!” Yuuta said, voice muffled by fur and raspy from his lungs being crushed, but he sounded entirely genuine. When his feet were back on the ground, the others swarmed him with greetings. Satoru silently took his suitcase and walked towards the front doors. He nudged Megumi and nodded towards Yuuta, Megumi scowled at him.
He pushed himself off the steps and waved to Yuuta.
Yuuta grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into a half hug. Megumi stayed solid.
“So this is the Okkotsu we heard so much about?” Nobara asked, holding out a hand to him. Yuuta shook it politely.
“Okkotsu Yuuta, so nice to meet you…”
“Kugisaki Nobara.” She pointed behind her to where Yuuji was waving. “This is Itadori.”
“Nice to meet you as well.” He nodded politely to Yuuji. His attention returned to Megumi where he pulled him into another sad attempt at a hug.
Megumi groaned.
“Can you please indulge your brother?” Yuuta whined quietly. “I’ve been gone for a year.”
Nobara and Yuuji gawked at him. Megumi rolled his eyes and hugged Yuuta with one arm. It seemed to satisfy him as he made a happy humming sound.
Megumi walked away with Yuuji and Nobara following him closely. “Okkotsu is my big brother. Adopted.”
His two friends looked over their shoulders to see Yuuta chatting with Toge, his fingers delicately interlocking with Maki’s. As the three students entered the building Satoru stopped Megumi by grabbing his shoulders, he turned him around to look out at the scene in front of them. Yuuji and Nobara turned around too. Satoru pointed at Maki and Yuuta.
“What do you think about that?”
“I don’t want to think about that.” Megumi said blatantly. Satoru clicked his tongue and shoved his head.
“Do you hate your family?”
Megumi brought a hand to his chin and lowered his head in thought, Satoru groaned and shoved his head again, this time letting the three of them walk away.
Yuuta’s fingers gently pressed against Maki’s. They had kept in contact while he was in Africa, and more than once had Maki fallen asleep on call due to their time difference. Yuuta wasn’t sure if they were anything special, but Maki was the one who brought their hands together, so who was he to complain?