Chapter Text
Megumi returned to the Zenin estate just before dusk, with mud dried along the hem of his coat and the metallic scent of spent magic still clinging to his skin. The wards surrounding the estate recognized him before he reached the gates, their faint blue glow passing over his body like a silent inspection before allowing him through. He barely noticed them anymore. He had grown up beneath those wards, had walked through these gates thousands of times, and once, when he was younger, had thought the familiar pulse of magic in the stone walls meant that he was coming home. Now it only made him think of how much further he still had to go before he could sleep.
His fourth assignment in as many days had taken longer than expected. A curse had nested beneath an abandoned shrine several miles outside the city, feeding on the resentment of the people who had died there decades ago. It had taken most of the afternoon to find the source, and even longer to force it out without destroying the shrine along with it. Megumi had managed it, but the effort had left his magic thin and sluggish beneath his skin. He could feel the familiar ache behind his eyes, the warning that he had pushed his shadows too far again. His shoulders were stiff, his stomach had been empty since breakfast, and there was a shallow cut across his palm where one of the curse's claws had caught him before he finished the exorcism.
He wanted a bath and a nice warm meal. Sleep would be great too.
Instead, as he stepped into the main building, one of the younger attendants bowed and said, "Naoya-sama is looking for you."
Megumi stopped.
For one brief moment, he considered pretending he hadn't heard. He had never been particularly good at lying, though, and certainly not good enough to fool anyone inside the Zenin estate. The coven was too familiar with him, with the rhythm of his magic and the habits he had developed over the years. There was little he could hide here, and even less that anyone seemed interested in letting him keep to himself.
"Where is he?" he asked.
"The western study."
Megumi nodded and continued down the corridor.
The estate was quiet in the way it was always quiet. Every sound seemed swallowed by polished wood and old wards, every conversation kept behind closed doors. The air smelled faintly of incense and old paper, layered beneath the unmistakable scent of witchcraft that permeated the entire building. Hundreds of years of spells had soaked into the walls. Megumi could feel them whenever he walked through the older sections of the estate, ancient magic humming beneath his feet like something alive.
He passed two witches speaking in low voices near the inner courtyard. Neither acknowledged him beyond a brief glance. A Shadow witch did not need introductions here; everyone already knew who he was.
Megumi reached the western study and knocked once.
"Come in."
He slid the door open.
Naoya was seated behind a broad wooden desk, surrounded by stacks of contracts and several open ledgers. He looked exactly as he always did: immaculate, composed, and irritatingly untouched by the long hours that seemed to consume everyone else. His blond hair was perfectly arranged, his robes unwrinkled, and not a single trace of exhaustion showed on his face.
His gaze moved over Megumi once before returning to the papers in front of him.
"You're late."
Megumi stared at him.
"I returned less than an hour ago."
"And yet you're still late."
Megumi said nothing.
Naoya finally looked up. His eyes settled briefly on the dried blood at Megumi's sleeve, then on the dark circles beneath his eyes.
"You look terrible."
"I've been working."
"Yes. That's generally what assignments require."
Megumi's jaw tightened. He had known better than to expect sympathy, but some small, irrational part of him had still hoped Naoya might at least tell him to rest. Instead, Naoya reached for a sealed document lying at the edge of the desk.
Megumi looked at it.
Then at him.
"No."
Naoya's eyebrow lifted.
"You haven't even heard what it is."
"I've completed four assignments in less than a week."
"And?"
Megumi's fingers curled slightly at his sides.
"And I need to recover."
For a moment, the room was silent.
Then Naoya gave a quiet, humorless laugh.
"You're a Shadow witch, Megumi. If four assignments are enough to exhaust you, perhaps you aren't as capable as everyone seems to believe." The words landed harder than they should have. Megumi hated that they did. He hated even more that some part of him immediately wondered if Naoya was right.
Naoya pushed the sealed contract across the desk.
"Fifth assignment. You're leaving tonight."
Megumi looked down at the seal.
His own exhaustion suddenly felt much heavier.
"What is it?"
"A retrieval."
"Where?"
"Northwest."
Naoya leaned back in his chair.
"Near Gojo's territory."
Megumi's eyes narrowed slightly.
That was the first thing Naoya had said that caught his full attention.
"Why send me?"
Naoya smiled.
"Because you're the best suited for the job." It should have sounded like praise, but on Naoya's lips it was mockery.
Naoya let the silence linger for a moment before breaking the seal himself. The paper inside was thick, its edges marked with the faint shimmer of binding magic, and Megumi recognized the symbol pressed into the corner as belonging to one of the wealthier supernatural families in the region. He stepped closer to the desk, reading the first few lines while Naoya spoke.
"The Kamo family entered into a contract with the Zenin three years ago. They borrowed an artifact from our collection and agreed to return it when the contract expired. It has been two months since the deadline."
"And they haven't returned it."
"No."
Megumi's eyes moved further down the page. The artifact was described as a small wooden box, sealed with several layers of protective magic. Its contents were not specified. That was unusual, but not unheard of. Certain clients paid extra to keep the nature of their possessions confidential.
"What happens if they refuse to return it?"
Naoya's expression barely changed.
"They lose the item."
Megumi looked up.
"That's it?"
"That's what the contract says."
Something about the answer bothered him, though he couldn't immediately explain why. He glanced back at the document. The wording was precise, as all Zenin contracts were, but there was something else attached to it: a secondary clause authorizing the coven to collect compensation if the artifact could not be recovered intact.
Megumi frowned.
"They're being given the choice to surrender something else."
"They were."
"Then why am I being sent?"
Naoya's mouth curved into a faint smile.
"Because they refused."
Megumi looked at him for several seconds.
"And what exactly am I supposed to do if they refuse again?"
Naoya's smile disappeared.
"Recover the artifact by any means."
The answer was simple enough, but the implication wasn't.
Megumi lowered his gaze to the contract again. He knew how these assignments worked. The Zenin were not law enforcement, and they did not pretend to be. Witches took contracts because supernatural creatures needed things ordinary people could not provide: protection, exorcisms, tracking, retrieval, binding, wards, and so on. Sometimes the work was harmless, and sometimes it wasn't. The coven's reputation had been built over generations on the idea that a contract was sacred once it had been written.
Megumi had always found that easy to accept.
At least contracts had rules.
"You'll have three days," Naoya continued. "I expect the artifact returned before then."
Megumi folded the document carefully.
"Understood."
Naoya watched him instead of reaching for the next file.
"You should be grateful, you know."
Megumi's expression remained blank.
"For what?"
"That the elders continue to trust you with this kind of work."
Megumi didn't answer.
Naoya leaned back, studying him with an expression that was almost amused.
"Most witches would kill for the opportunities you've been given."
"Most witches aren't being sent out five days in a row."
There was a brief pause.
Then Naoya laughed.
"You really are tired."
Megumi's eyes narrowed.
"I told you."
"And I told you that you're a Shadow witch."
The words were spoken lightly, almost casually, but Megumi felt the familiar pressure behind them. It was something he had heard in one form or another for most of his life. A reminder of what he was. What he could do. What was expected of him.
Naoya tapped one finger against the desk.
"The Zenin Coven has given you everything you need. Training. Protection. A place among witches. You have access to magic that most could never hope to learn."
Megumi remained silent.
"And yet you're complaining about being asked to work."
"I'm not complaining."
"No?"
"I'm asking for rest."
Naoya's expression hardened slightly.
"You know what happens to witches who separate themselves from their covens."
Megumi's fingers tightened around the contract.
Of course he knew.
Every witch knew.
A coven was more than a group of people who practiced magic together. Witches were naturally drawn toward one another, their magic settling more easily when surrounded by others who shared the same nature. A coven gave them stability, protection, knowledge, and the collective strength needed to perform more complicated forms of magic. A solitary witch could survive, but survival was not the same as thriving.
Without a coven, magic became harder to control.
Loneliness became something deeper than an emotion. It was an instinctive discomfort, a persistent feeling that something essential was missing. Megumi had never experienced life without the Zenin. He wasn't sure he could imagine it.
Naoya knew that.
Megumi looked at him.
"You have no reason to complain. You belong here."
There was something strangely unpleasant about hearing it. Megumi couldn't decide whether it was the certainty in Naoya's voice or the fact that he believed him.
He tucked the contract into the inner pocket of his coat.
"Do I have to leave tonight?"
"Yes."
Megumi nodded and turned toward the door.
"Megumi."
He stopped.
Naoya's voice had lost its teasing edge.
"Don't disappoint the coven."
Megumi glanced back over his shoulder.
Naoya was already looking down at the papers on his desk.
"I won't."
He left without another word. The door slid shut behind him, cutting off the soft scratch of Naoya's pen against parchment. Megumi stood in the corridor for several seconds, staring at nothing. Then he exhaled slowly and started walking toward his room.
He had three days.
Perhaps, if he finished quickly enough, he could finally sleep.
----------
Megumi left the Zenin estate before the sun had fully disappeared, carrying little more than his usual field bag, a handful of prepared charms, and the contract Naoya had given him. The evening air was considerably colder than it had been when he returned, and the temperature only seemed to make the ache in his muscles more noticeable. He pulled his coat tighter around himself as he followed the old road away from the estate, the familiar wards fading behind him until the sensation of the coven's magic became little more than a distant pressure at the edge of his awareness.
The further he traveled, the quieter the world became. The road narrowed into a path between cedar trees, their branches blocking out what remained of the evening light. Somewhere deeper in the forest, an owl called once before falling silent. Megumi walked without hurrying. There was no point. The Kamo residence was still several hours away, and the contract had given him until the end of the week.
Three days. He should have been relieved he was at least given more than a day to figure this out. Instead, he found himself wondering whether he could finish it by tonight and somehow trick Naoya he was still working on it two days later so he could finally rest a little.
The thought made his shoulders ache. Naoya would figure him out immediately, and he would get punished again.
"Don't be stupid," he muttered to himself. A faint movement came from the shadows beside the road. For a moment, there was nothing. Then he heard it again: the soft rustle of leaves, followed by the distinct sound of something moving between the trees.
His hand lifted instinctively.
Shadow spread beneath his feet. The darkness rippled across the ground like disturbed water, and a large black dog emerged from it, its body forming piece by piece until its paws touched the earth. The Divine Dog shook itself, ears immediately lifting toward the forest.
Megumi crouched beside it.
"Sense anything?"
The familiar turned its head toward him.
Megumi waited.
A moment later, the dog looked toward the path ahead.
"Good."
He stood. The Divine Dog moved ahead of him, nose close to the ground as it followed the magical trail left by the artifact. Megumi walked several steps behind, letting the creature do most of the tracking. It was one of the reasons the Zenin valued the Shadow witches so highly. There were few situations in which Megumi needed to rely entirely on his own senses. His familiars could scout, track, fight, defend, and search places he couldn't reach himself.
It made him useful. The thought barely registered before the dog stopped. Megumi immediately noticed the change. The forest ahead was silent. He stepped closer, eyes scanning the darkness between the trees.
There.
A faint shimmer clung to the bark of an old cedar, almost invisible beneath the moonlight. Magical residue.
Megumi touched two fingers to the trunk.
The trace was weak, but recent.
Someone carrying the artifact had passed this way.
"Let's keep going."
The Divine Dog moved forward, and Megumi followed.
The trail led deeper into the forest, away from the main road and toward a small clearing where the remains of an old shrine stood half-buried beneath moss. Its roof had collapsed years ago, leaving only a weathered stone altar and a few broken wooden pillars. Small paper charms hung from the branches around it, most of them faded and torn.
Megumi frowned.
This wasn't mentioned in the contract.
The Divine Dog growled.
Megumi raised a hand.
"Wait."
He stepped into the clearing alone.
The air felt wrong. He could feel old magic lingering beneath the earth, tangled together with something newer. Someone had performed a binding spell here recently. The residue was faint, but Megumi recognized the structure.
He crouched near the altar. There were footprints of several people in the mud. One of them had been carrying something heavy. Probably the artifact. Megumi followed the prints around the back of the shrine and found a small wooden box hidden beneath a loose stone.
He stared at it.
That was almost too easy.
He reached for it, then stopped. A thin layer of protective magic surrounded the box. Megumi pulled a charm from his bag and pressed it against the ground. The ward reacted immediately. A pulse of energy moved through the clearing, and the Divine Dog growled again.
"Stay calm."
Megumi closed his eyes. He could feel the structure of the spell now. Three layers. The outer one was meant to alert whoever had placed it. The second would bind the person who attempted to remove the box. The third—
Megumi opened his eyes.
"How annoying."
He formed the necessary hand signs and his shadow spread outward. The darkness beneath the box rose in thin strands, wrapping around the protective spell and pulling it apart piece by piece. It resisted, pushing back against his magic with enough force to make his temples throb. Megumi gritted his teeth. His magic felt sluggish. He was already running low on energy, not having fully recovered from his previous mission. The ward cracked, and he pushed harder. For one unpleasant second, the darkness trembled beneath his control. Then the spell broke. Megumi caught himself with one hand against the altar, breathing hard.
The Divine Dog immediately stepped closer, worried.
"I'm fine."
The dog stared at him.
Megumi looked away.
"I'm really fine."
The familiar remained unconvinced.
He reached for the box. The moment his fingers touched it, the remaining magical residue flared. A vision flashed through his mind. A woman kneeling beside the shrine with two children behind her.
A frightened voice.
*Please. We only need a little more time.*
Then the vision disappeared.
Megumi froze. He looked down at the box and noticed there was something attached to it. A thread of magic, almost too faint to notice, stretching away from the artifact and deeper into the forest.
Someone had tried to use the box to protect themselves. Megumi's expression darkened. He opened the contract again. The Kamo family had failed to return the artifact; that was all Naoya had told him. There had been no mention of why, and Megumi did not think to question it.
He looked toward the dark trees.
"Something's wrong."
The Divine Dog stood beside him. He tucked the box carefully into his bag and started following the remaining magical trail.
Whatever had happened here, he suspected the Zenin had left out a few key details.
The magical trail eventually led Megumi beyond the forest and toward a narrow valley tucked between two ridges. The Kamo residence stood at the far end, surrounded by a stone wall covered in protective charms. It was smaller than the Zenin estate, though clearly old and well maintained, with dark wooden buildings arranged around a central courtyard and lanterns glowing softly beneath the eaves.
Megumi stopped outside the gate. The wards recognized the contract before he even touched them. A thin shimmer passed across the stone pillars, followed by the quiet sound of something unlocking.
He stepped inside and immediately, the atmosphere changed. The Kamo household was saturated with protective magic, but unlike the Zenin estate, the wards here were uneven. Some were strong enough to make the air feel heavy, while others flickered weakly along the edges of the property. Several had been repaired recently, their new charms hanging beside older ones that had faded almost to gray.
Someone was struggling to maintain them.
Megumi noticed three people waiting in the courtyard. A middle-aged witch stood in front of the others, her hands folded tightly within the sleeves of her robe. Beside her were two younger men, both visibly tense. None of them spoke as Megumi approached. The woman looked at the crest embroidered on his coat.
Then she looked at his face.
"Zenin."
"I've come to retrieve the artifact listed in the contract."
The woman's expression tightened, "We were expecting someone."
Megumi glanced at the younger men, "You knew I was coming?"
"The Zenin Coven sent a notice this morning."
"The agreement expired two months ago. The artifact is due to be returned," Megumi reached into his coat and withdrew the contract.
The woman looked at the document but didn't take it.
"We know."
"Then give it to me."
One of the younger men stepped forward.
"We can't."
"Why?" Megumi's gaze moved toward him.
The woman immediately raised a hand, stopping him before he could say anything else.
"Please." There was something in her voice that made Megumi pause. She looked tired. "We haven't refused to honor the contract," she said quietly. "We asked for an extension."
Megumi said nothing.
"The artifact is protecting the eastern boundary of our territory. Without it, the wards will collapse."
Megumi glanced toward the eastern side of the property. He could already see the weakness in the barriers. The protective barrier there was thin enough that even a moderately strong curse could break through.
"Why can't you replace it?"
"We don't have anything as capable as the artifact of doing so."
"And the Coven did not offer alternatives?"
The woman gave a bitter smile.
"They offered to sell us another."
Megumi frowned.
"At what price?"
She hesitated.
"More than we can afford."
He looked at the contract again. The terms were suddenly easier to understand. The Zenin had loaned them an artifact. The artifact had protected them. When the contract expired, the Kamo family couldn't afford to replace it, so they had kept the original. Technically, they were in the wrong. But there was a difference between breaking a contract out of greed and breaking one because you were afraid your family would be left defenseless.
Megumi looked toward the eastern wards again.
"When did they start failing?"
"Three weeks ago."
"Have you been repairing them yourselves?"
"Every night."
Megumi's eyes moved across the courtyard. There were signs of it everywhere now that he knew what to look for. Burn marks on the stones where protective charms had overloaded. Fresh strips of paper layered over older ones. A faint scent of medicinal herbs drifting from one of the buildings. The household wasn't simply refusing to return the artifact for no reason. They were desperate.
"Why didn't you tell the Coven of the full extent of the failed barriers?"
"We did." The woman laughed softly. "They told us that if we couldn't afford the replacement, perhaps we shouldn't have borrowed the artifact in the first place."
Something cold settled in his chest. He knew Naoya's voice well enough to recognize his words even without hearing him speaking them.
Megumi looked down at the contract. The artifact was technically the Zenin's property. There was no ambiguity there, and he had been sent to retrieve it. And yet, for the first time in a long while, the simple act of following an order felt considerably more complicated than it was supposed to.
"Allow me to take a look at the eastern boundary."
The woman blinked.
"What?"
"The wards."
"You aren't here to inspect them."
"No." Megumi closed the contract. "But I will."
He walked past her before she could object. The eastern boundary was worse than he had expected. Several of the protective seals had already failed, leaving gaps in the barrier. Beyond them, the forest pressed close to the property, dark and silent beneath the moonlight. Megumi could sense several minor curses lingering among the trees, drawn by the weakness in the wards. Nothing powerful enough to attack yet. But if the barrier continued to deteriorate, that wouldn't remain true. Megumi crouched beside one of the damaged seals. The magic was crude but functional. Whoever had been maintaining the wards knew what they were doing. They simply didn't have enough power. Megumi reached into his bag and pulled out a small charm.
The woman behind him immediately spoke.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking something." He pressed the charm against the damaged seal, and his magic spread through it, and the barrier shuddered. Megumi felt the weakness immediately. He could reinforce this temporarily, but he hesitated. He wasn't supposed to do this. The contract was a retrieval assignment, not an aid request, and Naoya had been very clear about it.
Recover the artifact.
Nothing else.
Megumi closed his eyes for a moment and released his magic. Darkness flowed from his fingertips into the damaged seal, weaving through the existing wards and strengthening the weakest points. The barrier responded almost immediately, the faint shimmer along the eastern boundary growing brighter.
The woman stared.
"You don't have to do that."
"I know."
Megumi withdrew his hand. The reinforcement would last a few days at most. It was long enough for them to find another solution or make a deal with a different coven. Perhaps. It was not his business to worry about strangers, anyway. He had already done too much.
He stood.
"Give me the artifact."
The woman looked at him for a long moment and lowered her head.
"Thank you."
Megumi didn't respond. He wasn't sure he deserved the gratitude. He had still come to take the thing they needed. A few minutes later, the wooden box was placed carefully into his hands. It was heavier than it looked,d and Megumi secured it inside his field bag and turned toward the gate.
Behind him, one of the younger men called out.
"Zenin-sama."
Megumi stopped.
The young man hesitated.
"Are you going to tell them?"
Megumi looked back.
"Tell them what?"
"That we kept it because we had no choice."
Megumi didn't answer immediately. He could already imagine Naoya's response. The contract had been broken, and the artifact had been recovered. As far as the Zenin were concerned, the matter was finished. Megumi's gaze shifted toward the eastern wards, still glowing faintly in the darkness.
"No," he said at last.
The young man's shoulders loosened.
Megumi stepped through the gate and continued down the road. He had fulfilled the contract, and that should have been enough. Yet as the Kamo residence disappeared behind the trees, Megumi found himself thinking about the woman's exhausted face and the words Naoya had spoken earlier.
*You belong here.*
It felt like a warning.
------
By the time Megumi reached the northern road, the moon had risen high enough to silver the tops of the trees. The journey back to the Zenin estate should have been straightforward. He knew the road well, and with the artifact secured in his bag, there was little reason to hurry.
His body disagreed.
Every step seemed to remind him how little rest he had gotten over the past few days. The ache behind his eyes had settled into a dull throb, and his magic felt distant, as though it were sitting somewhere beneath the surface of his skin rather than responding naturally to his thoughts. Even the Divine Dog had stopped ranging far ahead of him. It walked close to his side now, occasionally brushing against his leg.
Megumi glanced down.
"You tired?"
The dog looked up at him.
He sighed.
"Me too."
The admission felt strangely embarrassing, despite the fact that there was no one around to hear it. They continued in silence. Then Megumi noticed the wards, and he stopped walking. A faint shimmer crossed the trees ahead, stretching from one side of the forest to the other. It wasn't a barrier in the way Zenin wards were. There was no pressure against his skin, no warning telling him to turn around.
Instead, the magic felt almost warm.
Megumi frowned. Gojo's territory. He had known he would be passing near it. Naoya had mentioned it deliberately, probably as a reminder to avoid unnecessary trouble. Megumi hadn't intended to enter. The Divine Dog suddenly lifted its head, and Megumi felt it too. There were creatures nearby, and several of them. They were not curses, and he could not sense any malicious intent. Their scents drifted through the forest in a confusing mixture of fur, earth, herbs, smoke, and something sweet that Megumi couldn't identify. He could hear movement between the trees, but nothing approached.
He kept walking.
A branch snapped somewhere to his left, and Megumi stopped again.
The Divine Dog growled in warning.
"Wait."
Another sound echoed in the forest, much closer this time. Megumi turned toward the trees and two golden eyes stared back at him. It took everything he had not to yelp. For several seconds, neither of them moved. Then the animal stepped into the moonlight.
It was a wolf. A very large and fluffy one. Its fur was dark enough that it almost disappeared into the shadows, except where the moon caught along its back. It stood taller than any ordinary wolf had a right to be, broad through the shoulders and heavy with muscle, yet there was something distinctly unthreatening about the way it held itself.
Its ears were forward, and its head was tilted slightly. It was staring at the Divine Dog with curiosity, and the Divine Dog stared back cautiously. Megumi slowly reached into the shadows for his weapon. The wolf's attention immediately shifted to him. It took one step forward, and Megumi's shadow stirred. It made the fluffy wolf stop in its tracks, and it tilted its head curiously at him. It was kind of cute.
Neither moved.
Then, unexpectedly, the wolf lowered itself onto the ground. Megumi blinked. The Divine Dog's growl faded. The wolf's tail moved once against the leaves like a dog's.
Megumi stared at it.
"...What are you doing?"
The wolf's ears twitched. It stood again and took another careful step forward. Megumi's fingers tightened. The wolf stopped several feet away. Then it looked at the Divine Dog and back at Megumi. Then the Divine Dog again. Megumi slowly realized what it was doing. It was curious and not hostile.
"You've never seen a familiar before?"
The wolf's head tilted. Megumi immediately regretted asking. The wolf walked closer, and the Divine Dog stepped forward to meet it. Megumi didn't stop it. The two animals stood nose to nose for several seconds. The wolf sniffed. The Divine Dog sniffed back. Then the wolf's tail began wagging happily. The Divine Dog looked back at him as though waiting for permission.
Megumi sighed.
"Fine."
The wolf immediately became more enthusiastic. It lowered its front half into a playful bow, tail sweeping through the leaves. The Divine Dog responded with a small bark. Megumi watched the two of them circle each other. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen his familiar behave like that. The wolf suddenly dropped onto its back.
The Divine Dog stared.
Megumi stared.
The wolf rolled over and stood again.
"...You're strange."
The wolf's tail wagged harder. Megumi rubbed his forehead. The wolf approached him next, and Megumi tensed. It stopped directly in front of him. For a moment, Megumi wondered whether it could smell the artifact and prepared for an attack. Then the wolf sniffed his coat. Its nose moved toward his sleeve. Megumi pulled his arm away.
"Don't do that."
The wolf looked at him and sniffed him again.
Megumi sighed.
"I'm not food."
The wolf sneezed and turned into a human.
Megumi stared at him.
"...Were you making fun of me?"
"I was not!"
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed far more casually than anyone Megumi had ever seen inside the Zenin territory. His pink hair was messy, his clothes were slightly disheveled, and he looked completely unconcerned about the fact that he had just walked into a witch in presumably his own territory.
He looked at Megumi, then at the Divine Dog again.
His face lit up.
"Your dog is so cute!"
Megumi stared at him.
"It's a familiar."
"Still cute."
Megumi had no response to that.
The young man scratched behind its ear.
"I'm Yuuji, by the way."
"...Right."
Yuuji laughed.
"What's your dog called?"
Megumi glanced down at the Divine Dog, and he decided he was too tired to come up with a name on the spot.
"Divine Dog."
"That's his name?" Yuji's eyes widened. "That's a cool name."
The Divine Dog sat proudly beside Megumi.
Yuji crouched down.
"Can I pet him?"
Megumi opened his mouth, then closed it. The Divine Dog looked at him with what could only be described as puppy eyes.
"Just don't pull his ears."
"I won't." Yuji laughed.
Megumi watched them for a moment. There was something strange about this place. Everything about it felt strange. The magic in the trees. The creatures he could sense moving freely through the forest. The absence of the rigid pressure he associated with Zenin territory. And now this wolf, who seemed entirely comfortable approaching a witch he'd never met. Megumi had spent most of his life learning that supernatural creatures were dangerous until proven otherwise.
Yuji seemed to have decided the opposite.
"You're on Gojo's land," Yuji said.
Megumi straightened.
"I know."
"You're not supposed to be here."
"I'm sorry, I crossed over by mistake."
Yuji glanced toward the road.
"You're really close."
"I know."
Yuji studied him for a moment.
"You look tired."
Megumi's shoulders stiffened.
"I'm fine. I'm going back to the Zenin Coven."
"Now?"
"Yes."
"Have you eaten?"
Megumi paused.
"...That's none of your business."
Yuji's eyebrows rose.
"That means no."
"I ate."
"When?"
Megumi didn't answer.
Yuji looked at him for another moment, and his expression softened.
"You're really tired."
Megumi looked away.
"I'll be fine."
Yuji didn't argue, and Megumi expected him to leave, but he didn't. Instead, he started walking beside him.
"...What?"
Yuji shrugged.
"I'm going this way too."
Megumi looked at the path. It led in the exact opposite direction from Gojo's territory.
"That's not the way you're going."
Yuji glanced over his shoulder.
"Huh?"
"You're going the wrong direction."
"Oh."
Yuji thought about this and smiled.
"I'll go your way."
Megumi stared at him.
"Why?"
Yuji shrugged again.
"I don't know."
Megumi looked at the wolf.
"This is weird."
Megumi sighed, but he was too tired to bother, so he just kept walking. After a moment, he heard footsteps behind him.
The wolf padded beside him.
And for the first time in a long time, Megumi wasn't walking alone.
----
For several minutes, neither of them spoke.
Megumi was beginning to wonder if Yuji intended to follow him all the way to the Zenin estate. The thought should have irritated him more than it did. He was used to silence, and he was certainly used to walking alone, but the quiet presence beside him wasn't unpleasant. Yuji seemed perfectly content simply to walk, occasionally glancing toward the Divine Dog as though he were still trying to decide whether it might let him pet it again.
Eventually, Megumi looked over.
"Why are you still following me?"
Yuji blinked.
"I'm walking with you."
"I noticed." Megumi frowned.
Yuuji smiled. It was an annoyingly easy smile, the kind that seemed to appear without effort and made his whole expression softer. Megumi looked away before he could stare for too long. He was handsome. The thought arrived so suddenly that Megumi almost stumbled. He immediately dismissed it. It was an irrelevant observation. Yuji was a stranger. His appearance had nothing to do with anything.
"Because you looked like you shouldn't be walking alone," Yuji said. "You look like you are 5 minutes away from passing out"
Megumi glanced at him again.
"I told you I'm fine."
"You did."
Yuuji didn't sound convinced.
The Divine Dog walked between them for a few steps before drifting closer to Yuuji. Yuuji looked down.
"Can I pet him again?"
"No."
The wolf's ears flattened.
Megumi noticed.
"So dramatic."
Yuuji laughed.
"He likes me."
"He doesn't know you."
The Divine Dog looked up at Megumi.
Then, very deliberately, it moved closer to Yuuji.
Megumi stared.
"Traitor."
Yuuji laughed harder.
"See?"
Megumi shook his head and continued walking.
After a moment, Yuuji asked, "So you're a Shadow witch?"
"Yes."
"Is that rare?"
"Among witches."
Yuuji considered this.
"Is it difficult?"
Megumi shrugged.
"Depends."
"On what?"
"On what I'm trying to do."
Yuuji nodded as though that made perfect sense.
"Can you summon all kinds of creatures?"
"Not all kinds."
"How many?"
Megumi hesitated.
"Ten, so far."
Yuuji's eyes widened.
"Ten?"
"Eventually."
"Eventually?"
Megumi glanced at him.
"I haven't mastered all of them."
Yuuji smiled.
"That's still really cool."
Megumi wasn't sure what to do with that.
The Zenin rarely called his technique cool.
Powerful, certainly. Useful and rare, occasionally. Important or dangerous, most of the time. Those were words he had heard all his life. Cool was new, and he unconsciously took pride in it. The Divine Dog bumped its head against Yuji's hand. Yuji immediately scratched behind its ear.
Megumi watched in silence.
"You really like dogs."
"I like most animals." Yuuji shrugged. "Animals don't pretend to like you because they want something. If they don't like you, they'll usually just leave."
Megumi looked at him. There was nothing particularly profound in the way Yuji had said it. He sounded as though he were stating something obvious. Still, Megumi found himself thinking about it.
After a moment, he asked, "What about your pack?"
Yuuji's expression brightened immediately.
"What about them?"
"You said you're part of Gojo's pack."
"Yeah."
"What are they like?"
Yuuji grinned.
"Everyone's different."
Megumi waited, but apparently, that was the entire answer.
"Different how?"
"Oh. There's a witch, a fae, a few wolves, a couple of people who are... complicated."
"Complicated?"
"Yeah."
Yuuji thought for a moment.
"One of them is a panda."
Megumi stopped walking. Yuuji took another few steps before realizing he was alone.
He turned.
"What?"
"A panda?"
"Yeah."
"You're telling me there's a panda in Gojo's pack."
"Yep."
Megumi stared at him.
Yuuji stared back.
"...A talking panda?"
Yuuji smiled.
"Maybe you'll meet him one day."
Megumi wasn't sure whether he believed him. He started walking again, and Yuuji quickly caught up.
"You should come visit." Yuuji shrugged. "You'd like them."
"You don't know me."
Yuuji looked genuinely puzzled.
"I just think you'd fit in."
Megumi didn't answer.
The words were strangely uncomfortable. He had spent years being told where he belonged. The Zenin had never asked whether he wanted to be there. They had simply told him that he was fortunate to have a place among them. Yuji had said it differently. They continued walking until the trees ahead began to thin. Megumi recognized the boundary of Gojo's territory before they reached it. The wards shimmered faintly between the branches, warm and almost imperceptible.
Yuji slowed.
"This is where I have to turn back. I can not leave the boundary without letting Gojo know"
Megumi nodded.
"Good."
Yuji laughed.
"You really want to get rid of me."
"I have somewhere to be."
"You have somewhere to sleep."
Megumi gave him a flat look.
Yuji grinned.
"Right. Sorry."
The Divine Dog moved closer to Yuji.
Megumi looked down.
"You can't stay with the wolf."
The familiar stared up at him.
"No."
It whined softly.
Megumi sighed.
"We're going home."
Yuji crouched down and scratched its ears one last time.
"See you later."
The Divine Dog looked at Megumi and then at Yuuji.
Megumi narrowed his eyes.
"Don't even think about it."
Yuuji laughed as he stood.
"Come visit, okay?"
Megumi hesitated. He should have said no. Naoya would never let him get out of the Coven for anything other than a mission, and sneaking out was impossible.
Instead, he said, "We'll see."
Yuji smiled.
"I'll take that."
He stepped backward toward the trees. Then, with almost no warning, his body shifted. The change was smooth and familiar, bones and muscle reshaping beneath his skin until the young man disappeared and the large dark wolf stood in his place again. He shook out his fur, glanced at Megumi one last time, and then disappeared between the trees.
Megumi stood there for a moment. The forest was quiet again as he turned toward the road home. He had only known Yuji for a few minutes.
There was no reason for the strange emptiness he felt when the other man was gone.
It was simply quieter.
That was all.
-------------
It was well past midnight when Megumi finally returned to the Zenin estate. The wards recognized him immediately, their familiar magic passing over his body as he stepped through the gates and settling beneath his skin with the quiet certainty of something he had known his entire life. Usually, the sensation was almost comforting, a reminder that he was surrounded by the coven even when he was away on assignment, but tonight he barely registered it. His body was too tired, his magic too depleted, and the thought of his bed was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Still, the artifact was in his bag, and Naoya expected it to be delivered before Megumi did anything else.
The estate was almost completely silent as he made his way through the corridors. Most of the lights had been extinguished, leaving only the faint glow of enchanted lanterns along the walls, and his footsteps echoed softly against the polished wood. For a moment, Megumi considered going straight to his room and dealing with the artifact in the morning, but he knew better than to give himself that excuse. Naoya would only come looking for him, and being woken after a few hours of sleep would be even worse than going now. He changed direction and headed toward the western study, already expecting to find Naoya awake.
He was.
When Megumi entered, Naoya was sitting behind his desk with several documents spread out in front of him, looking as composed as he had earlier that evening. His gaze immediately settled on the field bag hanging from Megumi's shoulder.
"You're back."
Megumi nodded and crossed the room, placing the wooden box on the desk. "The artifact."
Naoya examined it carefully, running his fingers over the protective seal before opening the box just enough to inspect the contents. He checked the wards, the condition of the artifact, and the binding around it before closing the lid again.
"Intact?"
"Yes."
"No damage?"
"No."
Naoya nodded once. "Good."
Megumi waited for a moment, although he wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps after everything that had happened that evening, some part of him had expected Naoya to ask whether the mission had gone smoothly, or whether the Kamo family had caused any trouble. Instead, Naoya simply pulled the artifact toward himself and returned his attention to the documents on his desk. Megumi felt a faint irritation settle in his chest, but he swallowed it and turned toward the door.
"Wait."
Megumi stopped.
Naoya leaned back in his chair, watching him with a more attentive expression. "You passed through Gojo's territory." It wasn't a question, and Megumi wasn't particularly surprised that Naoya knew. The Zenin had wards throughout the surrounding region, and Naoya was responsible for assigning fieldwork; he was probably more aware of Megumi's routes than Megumi himself.
"The road runs alongside it," Megumi replied.
"Did you enter?"
"Near the boundary."
Naoya's expression tightened. "Did you speak to anyone?"
Megumi hesitated for only a moment, but Naoya noticed.
"Who was it?"
Megumi thought of golden eyes watching him from between the trees, of the large wolf who had seemed more curious than threatening, and of the young man who had eventually shifted into human form and proceeded to walk beside him as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Yuuji."
Naoya went still.
"You spoke with Itadori?"
"Is that his family name? Yes."
"For how long?"
"I don't know, a few minutes."
Naoya leaned forward slightly, his earlier indifference replaced by a seriousness that made Megumi pay closer attention. "You should be more careful."
"He didn't do anything."
"That isn't the point." Naoya's voice was quieter now. "Gojo collects strays. Wolves, witches, fae, anything else that happens to wander into his territory. He has always been willing to shelter creatures who have no business being together, and that doesn't make them trustworthy."
Megumi said nothing. He found himself thinking about the way Yuuji had spoken about the others in his pack, as though their differences were the most ordinary thing in the world. A witch, a fae, wolves, people whose nature Yuuji had described as complicated. There had been no hesitation in his voice, no sense that any of them were strange for belonging together. It was difficult to reconcile that with the picture Naoya was painting.
"Yuuji was harmless," Megumi said eventually.
"You've known him for one evening."
"I know."
"Then don't pretend you know what he's capable of."
Megumi looked at him for a moment before giving a small nod. "I'll be careful."
Naoya seemed satisfied with the answer. He reached toward another stack of papers on his desk, and Megumi's eyes followed the movement almost without thinking. When Naoya pulled out another contract and placed it in front of him, Megumi stared at it for several seconds, unable to quite believe what he was seeing.
"Your next assignment."
The words took a moment to register.
"I just returned."
"And?"
"It's past midnight."
Naoya gave him an unimpressed look. "I'm aware."
Megumi's exhaustion suddenly felt heavier than it had a moment before. "I've completed five assignments."
"Yes."
"I need to sleep."
Naoya leaned back, studying him with an almost amused expression. "Then sleep, and tomorrow morning you finish this one."
Megumi stared at him. For a moment, the room seemed unbearably quiet, the soft ticking of the enchanted clock on the wall suddenly much louder than it should have been. He could feel the familiar pressure of the coven surrounding him, the accumulated magic of generations of Zenin witches woven into the estate, and normally that sensation would have been enough to settle the restless part of him that sometimes wondered what existed beyond these walls. Tonight, however, he found himself remembering something else instead.
Yuuji walking beside him, noticing that he was tired when Megumi had insisted he wasn't. Yuuji telling him that he should come visit, simply because he thought Megumi might like it there.
The memory was strangely persistent.
Megumi looked down at the new contract. He knew what the Zenin expected from him. He had known for years. He was a Shadow witch, one of the most valuable members of the coven, and the nature of his magic made him particularly suited to fieldwork. There were few assignments where his abilities couldn't be put to use, and the coven had never hesitated to make use of them. He had always accepted that. Perhaps because accepting it was easier than asking himself what would happen if he didn't.
Megumi knew what witches were like without covens. He knew that the separation could be painful, that magic became harder to control when there was no collective energy to anchor it, and that the instinctive pull toward other witches did not simply disappear because someone decided they wanted to live alone. The Zenin had given him a place from the moment he was young, and even when that place had become restrictive, even when he had begun to resent the expectations placed upon him, some part of him had always believed that leaving was impossible.
He reached for the contract.
Naoya gave a faint, satisfied smile as Megumi took it.
"Good."
Megumi didn't answer. He turned and left the study, closing the door quietly behind him before walking through the empty corridor toward his room. The contract felt heavier in his hand than it should have, and by the time he reached his door, he was struggling to keep his eyes open.
He entered the room, placed the contract on his desk, and stood there in the darkness for several seconds. Outside, the estate was silent, the wards humming softly through the walls, and everything was exactly as it had always been.
Yet something had changed.
Megumi couldn't have said exactly when it had happened, or even what had caused it. Perhaps it had been the Kamo family, or the realization that he had followed an order he no longer entirely agreed with. Perhaps it had been the fifth assignment, or the sixth contract now waiting for him. Or perhaps it had simply been a friendly wolf who had walked beside him for no reason other than deciding that Megumi shouldn't have to walk home alone.
Whatever the reason, the thought of leaving the Zenin coven no longer felt as frightening as staying within it.
It felt like something he might one day choose.