Chapter Text
Only a few days had passed, Minnow was sitting in Gojo’s office—he made it into his own after his death—making sure certain missions were unsent, or “mysteriously disappeared,” when Reijiro knocked on the door.
“Minnow.. You called me?” He’d be nearly dragging his feet, his voice quiet and mellow.
Minnow looks up from his computer, “Oh, you weren’t− Never mind, I did, do you have any plans for the next.. Couple days?” He says while getting up from his chair, grabbing a small basket from the floor next to him.
Reijiro shakes his head a bit at the question, eyeing the basket with a raised brow, “Why..?”
Walking towards Reijiro, Minnow offers his hand for Reijiro to hold, “I’ve got plans for us then, a break from.. Everything going on, Gumi isn’t able to join, higher ups have sent him on some missions lately, ones I.. Unfortunately couldn't stop, especially with how many I have been.”
Reijiro hesitates for a moment, unsure of himself, before he takes Minnow’s hand, “Are you sure you want me to come along? I’m sure Suguru or Neptune wou−”
“I want you with me,” Minnow gives his hand a gentle squeeze while leading him out of the office, and towards an open field on campus, “You and Gumi are more important than anyone else to me, and I think you need at least one good day after.. Everything”
After a good bit, only a couple minutes really, they get to a lone tree atop a small hill, the view from it is gorgeous. Red poppies intermixed with white roses and lilacs, no buildings in sight, and the sun is setting in the distance. Minnow takes a blanket from the basket and places it down with the basket in the center, “C’mon,” He sits, patting the spot next to him, “We’ve got a lot to catch up on and.. More to ignore”
Reijiro sits down carefully, “What would we catch up on? It’s not..” He pauses, trying to form the words to say, “It’s not like you don’t know what happened.”
“I don’t know everything, I know parts.. A very small part, but I thought you would need someone to talk to, and Neptune and Yūji are.. They’re your younger brothers, we both know you don’t like putting anything on them− “ Minnow pulls out a small tin of strawberries, ones he had cut that morning, “So talk to me, Rei. You don’t need to say everything, but even the smallest thing could help.” He offers the berries to Reijiro.
He seems to stiffen at the mention of talking about it, “I don’t.. I don’t remember it, not really” He does however, take the strawberries.
Minnow sighs slightly, “You don’t need to talk now, but don’t lie, Rei”
Reijiro doesn’t respond for a moment, looking away from Minnow and popping a strawberry into his mouth, “I− It’s not worth the trouble, Min.”
Turning to the sunset, Minnow pulls out a Ziplock bag of carrots, eating a few of them, “I know you, Rei. I won’t force you to speak, but I know you, and you know that.”
Reijiro waits, they both do, for a while. A minute, two, maybe an hour before Reijiro leans on Minnow. Time isn’t what matters to them in the moment, but when the silence is broken, it’s by Reijiro, “It was quiet,” He takes a breath that sounds too much like a sniffle to be coincidental, “Only Ryomen was there for.. Most of it, and he made it so.. Quiet” His voice breaks at the word, and he loops his arm through Minnow’s, but then he’s back to quiet, only interspersed sniffs breaking his silence.
Minnow doesn’t speak immediately, but he places his hand on Reijiro’s head when he does, “You were alone, with no one but.. him around, and it didn’t help” He runs his hand over Reijiro’s head, petting him slightly, “But you aren’t alone now, you never will be again. You’ve got your brothers, Suguru, Melinoe, Sao, Toji, Megumi, Shuku, and me. You aren’t alone anymore, Rei, and I won’t let you be alone again” He pulls Reijiro in for a hug, in which he rests his face in Reijiro’s hair, “I love you, Rei, and that won’t stop just because there are some bumps in the road”
As Minnow says the words, Reijiro trembles a little, “You.. You what?”
“I love you”
“And that won’t..” His voice cracks a bit, “That won’t disappear?”
“Not even Death could stop me from loving you” He kisses Reijiro’s head.
Reijiro is silent for a moment, “You love me..” He repeats the words a couple times, but he cuts mid sentence, shaking, “I.. I don’t”
“You deserve it, not only from me, but from everyone. From Neptune, he never stopped talking about finding you. From Yūji, he went to Shuku nearly every night because he didn’t know if you’d be back. From Megumi, I held him in the middle of the night whenever he missed you, though we never did stop cuddling” He says with a small chuckle, “From Suguru, he was always there to make sure the search parties had minimal flaws with the teams.” He hugs Rejiro a little tighter, “You−” Minnow feels a warm wet spot on his shirt, but he continues, “−Deserve it from me.. But the one person who you need the most love from right now, is you, Rei. You deserve to love yourself.”
“I deserved..” He breathes in shakily, “I.. He said that no one missed me, that you− That you preferred it without me” Reijiro’s voice trembles, and as he says the last word, tears begin streaming down his face, and his breathing stutters with each breath he attempts to take.
And all Minnow does is hold him, he holds Rejiro close to his chest, and breathes calmly, “I− We’ve got you now Rei, and we won’t let you be hurt, not again” Minnow’s face betrays nothing of his thoughts, he plans to make those reality later, but for now, he is content being here.