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As soon as he blinked open his eyes, Megumi knew what day it was. Ice filled his veins.
The first-years were given leave for a few weeks, and instead of staying in the dorms with his friends, he’d chosen to go back to the apartment he shared with Satoru. Satoru had been incredibly pleased and followed suit, staying with him.
For the past week, Satoru had doted on Megumi relentlessly. He made all of his favorite dishes, watched a movie with him every night, and dragged him to one mochi place or another.
However, the spiky-haired teenager sensed a faint heaviness to Satoru’s cursed energy. His bright-blue eyes, normally alight with a luminous glow, were dull with a heavy emotion. Grief.
So, Megumi dug.
He saved himself time by asking Shoko questions instead of Satoru (the albino would just wave him off and tell him to focus on himself). Finally…he found out the truth the night before.
It was Suguru Geto’s birthday.
Satoru’s former best friend. The one he had to kill in the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.
Megumi saw him mourning just minutes after killing his best friend, and he hated to admit that he didn’t offer as much comfort as he should’ve.
But today was different.
Almost immediately upon waking, a wave of grief-ridden cursed energy flattened him to the bed, threatening to turn him into a pancake. Satoru.
As soon as he could move, he threw back his covers and stepped out of his room. He walked briskly around the apartment, eyes scanning everywhere for a hint of Satoru. Nothing.
But it was obvious he was here. His suffocating, out-of-control cursed energy made that abundantly clear.
He stopped outside of his father’s bedroom door. He could physically see Satoru’s cursed energy leaking from underneath the door, almost like it was pleading for help and relief.
Megumi didn’t satisfy him with a response as he knocked softly on the door. “Gojo-sensei?” he said softly.
No response.
He bit his lip. He wasn’t…entirely sure what to do.
“I’m coming in,” he announced, opening the unlocked door. It swung open eerily with a faint crack, illuminating the pitch-black room with light.
What he saw short-circuited his brain.
Satoru Gojo…the strongest, the most powerful, the happiest person he knew (with the sole exception of Yuji Itadori)…was curled in on himself in a fetal position on the bed, muttering to seemingly nobody. His blindfold was tossed on the sleek wooden floor, forgotten.
Satoru suddenly whipped around on the bed, eyes glowing in the dim room. They were darting every which way, not focusing on anything in particular.
“Suguru…please…” he pleaded brokenly, sounding exactly like Megumi did during his most vulnerable moments. “Please…don’t go…we’ll work this out…”
Megumi’s heart was on the verge of cracking permanently. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get this sight out of his mind for the rest of his life.
“Gojo,” he whispered. He crossed the room and perched on the edge of Satoru’s bed. “Can you hear me?”
Nothing. Satoru just kept thrashing around on the bed, blue eyes hardly blinking. They teared up, but Megumi suspected it wasn’t for the lack of blinking.
Satoru was actively drowning in his memories, all surrounding his best friend.
Strolling through Tokyo, sipping sugary drinks that Suguru was against, but he drank anyway because Satoru begged him to. Grabbing a random bike and riding it together to the school, laughing their heads off. Teasing Utahime and Shoko.
He tried breaking out. He really did. But his Six Eyes were overwhelming him with a wave of unforgettable information, such as how Suguru’s cursed energy felt every time he used his cursed technique, or how he would laugh whenever Satoru relentlessly bullied Utahime.
His Six Eyes may be a blessing…but they were also a curse. It may mostly just be his brain showing him these memories. Still, his Six Eyes were doubling their effect and overwhelming his body with infinite information from those moments, effectively trapping him.
And they weren’t giving him a break from this anytime soon.
“Gojo? Gojo!” Megumi shook Satoru’s shoulder, but his father still lay twitching on the bed, eyes rolling into the back of his skull.
It was truly frightening.
How long…has Satoru been hiding his pain from Megumi? And it had all built up…to this.
No. Not anymore.
Without thinking, he snatched Satoru’s arm and pulled him into the shadows.
With no warning whatsoever, the memories stopped coming.
He was no longer trapped by the past.
Instead of staring at Suguru’s face moments before he killed him, pure darkness flooded his vision, dimming his Six Eyes and almost shutting them off.
Something familiar wrapped around him, warm and slightly comforting.
A small smile spread across his face.
Megumi watched his benefactor’s body slowly stop twitching and relax. He exhaled silently, all sound swallowed up by the shadows. He knew that oxygen was only possible for him here (with the exception of Satoru Gojo), but he didn’t want to take any risks.
So he splashed out of the shadows, dragging Satoru along with him. They landed back on the bed.
Satoru was staring at the ceiling, the ghost of a smile still on his face. Tears spilled from his eyes, dripping onto the pillows underneath him.
“…Dad?” Megumi said hesitantly.
Satoru slowly turned his head, his eyes meeting Megumi’s. The small smile was still there. “…Megs. Wait…” His face lit up. “…Did you just call me Dad?”
Megumi let out a gasp of relief and wrapped his arms around Satoru’s neck. The albino was frozen for a split second, but soon his hands came to rest on Megumi’s back, and his head leaned on his son’s shoulder.
Already, Megumi could feel Satoru’s cursed energy withdrawing, under control again. He felt his shoulder get wet, and knew Satoru was still crying.
He didn’t pull away.
He held his father close, just like Satoru had done for him so many times.
“Please…” he whispered, “…don’t hide your pain. Let me share it, as you shared mine.”
Satoru’s grip tightened, and his voice was muffled as he replied softly, “Thanks, Megs.”
They stayed like that for a while, holding on to each other. Finally, Satoru chuckled lightly. “We’re two pretty messed-up people, huh?”
Megumi smiled slightly. “I guess so.”
Satoru pulled back first, and Megumi noticed that his eyes had regained some of their light, though not all of it. Of course. Grief didn’t go completely away.
All Megumi knew was that he didn’t want to see Satoru go through that again.
Shame washed through Satoru’s body.
He couldn’t believe Megumi had seen this. His moment of weakness. He was supposed to be strong for his son; not the other way around.
He noted Megumi’s shirt, the shoulder soaked with Satoru’s own tears, with a wave of self-hatred.
Despite everything, Megumi didn’t push him away, ridiculing him. Instead, he’d held Satoru together.
And he wasn’t sure if he deserved that.
So he forced himself to smile, like usual.
“Enough of this sappy stuff! I’m thinking we go out to eat breakfast! Perhaps waffles…”
Megumi rolled his eyes, but a smile pulled on the corner of his mouth. “You’re going to force me along anyway; what’s the point of arguing?”
Satoru hopped off of the bed, pulling Megumi along with him. “Then let’s go, kiddo! I’m starving.”
He threw an arm around his son’s shoulders, pulling him close. Megumi leaned into his father’s side, not pushing away for one.
They both knew that what had just happened would not be forgotten so easily. But nothing had really changed.
They would continue being there for each other, no matter what. And that’s the true thing that mattered.