Chapter Text
Satoru had known loneliness longer than any person he’d ever known. He’d been intimately familiar with it since birth, as if he’d come out of the womb of isolation instead of his own mother.
Yes, he’d been pampered as a child, never wanting for anything in a material sense. He went to bed with a full belly every night, and woke up to a house of adoring servants and parents. The Six Eyes and Limitless were his most coveted traits, and for that, he was worshipped like a god.
But throughout his entire childhood, he was completely and utterly alone. His pedestal was a high one, higher than anyone could climb. A gilded cage. None of the other clan children wanted to play with him, though whether that was from his cold, egotistical demeanor or fear was hard to tell. The end result was still the same.
Then… then there’d been Suguru. His best friend, his lo–
No. They hadn’t been able to reach that. They didn’t have the time.
Satoru had planned out everything in his head, from the first date to burial plots on the Gojo Clan estate. Ostentatious for a teenager, he knew, but it was what he’d wanted. He always got what he wanted. And who was going to deny him something like that?
The day they first met, Suguru had made fun of Satoru. Almost immediately. He’d teased Satoru about his white hair and blue eyes. About his jeans, which, according to Suguru, were so skinny they looked as if they were choking Satoru’s legs. If it were anyone else teasing him, Satoru would’ve killed them. Or at the very least, threatened them. He certainly had the power to.
But… something about Suguru drew him in.
Maybe it was because Suguru wasn’t scared of him, wasn’t timid in his presence like everyone back home had been, save for his parents.
Maybe it was because Suguru hardly meant his teases, doing it for the sake of fun rather than insult. As far as Satoru could tell, for the most part.
Or… or maybe it was because Suguru treated him like a person. For the first time in Satoru’s life, someone remembered that beneath his Six Eyes, under his Infinity, there was a beating, red, bloody heart. Satoru made mistakes, and Suguru pointed them out. He climbed up the pedestal and sat next to him without a second thought, and freed him from his cage.
But it turned out, fate denied him. Suguru denied him.
Suguru betrayed him. He left. With barely so much as a goodbye. And he took his half of Satoru’s shattered, bleeding heart with him.
The only thing that had saved Satoru were the kids. Megumi and Tsumiki. The children of Fushiguro Toji.
After discovering they existed shortly after Suguru’s betrayal abandonment departure, Satoru took them into his care. He couldn’t let Megumi be devoured by the hounds of the Zen’in Clan for the boy’s potential, nor could he let them shun Tsumiki for her lack of cursed energy.
When Satoru announced to the Zen’in Clan — of whom already knew of Megumi’s existence — that he was taking the siblings in, they allowed it to happen with barely restrained fury. Megumi had the Ten Shadows technique, a rare and valuable tool in the Zen’in Clan’s eyes. It was a powerful hereditary cursed technique that the founder of their Clan so famously had, and they were willing to buy Megumi off of Satoru. He’d not-so-respectfully declined their offer.
Megumi was a child. No technique could change that. The boy should have a chance at a normal life, at least for a while. Eventually, he was going to wind up at Jujutsu High. Nothing could change that. But he had time before the world of jujutsu forced him to grow up too fast. And Satoru was determined to keep that clock ticking for as long as he could.
So, Satoru bought a house on the outskirts of Tokyo and moved in, the Fushiguro siblings in tow. It was a twenty minute commute to Jujutsu High by car, and there was a school nearby that Megumi and Tsumiki attended.
Only a handful of people knew the location of the house; Shoko, two assistant managers that Satoru trusted, and Yaga. Satoru didn’t want any lookee-loos, and for once, he wanted the least amount of attention on him. He needed to keep the kids safe. Having all of jujutsu society know his address was counterproductive.
Between being freshly graduated from Jujutsu High, missions, and taking care of two kids as a teenager, Satoru could barely find a moment to breathe. But it was enough to distract him from Suguru’s absence.
Anything to keep the void he left in his wake tucked in the furthest reaches of Satoru’s mind.
ৡৡৡ
Quiet days were rare in the household, but every so often, one of Satoru’s mission-less days aligned with the kid’s schooldays. Satoru much preferred when he could be home on the weekends, but a day off was a day off.
Tsumiki hadn’t gotten home yet, as she was out shopping with her friends. Satoru had given her a credit card when she turned twelve, and she really only made use of it when she was with other people or grocery shopping, despite Satoru’s insistence that she could use it for whatever she wanted. He had more money than he knew what to do with, so why not spoil his kids?
Satoru sensed Megumi’s cursed energy approaching before the boy even knocked on the door. It was a stagnant rock of lukewarm energy, occasionally pulsing with emotions that Megumi wasn’t able to hide. Sensing cursed energy was one of the few non-fighting benefits of his Six Eyes. Satoru liked to use it to his advantage to open a door right as the other person was reaching for the handle.
Satoru jumped up from his place on the couch, racing to the door. But when he opened it, he gasped, stumbling back.
Megumi was covered in dirt, his clothes ripped, blood dotting the edges of the torn fabric. His knees and hands were skinned, pieces of gravel digging into the angry wounds. The boy said nothing as Satoru stood in horror, his small, bloodied fists clenched. He wouldn’t meet Satoru’s eyes.
“Megumi, what happened, who did this?” Satoru asked, scooping the kid up and rushing him to the bathroom. A million thoughts raced through his head at who hurt Megumi, who dared to set a hand on him.
Satoru set Megumi on the edge of the bathtub before pulling the first aid kit out from under the sink, barely able to keep his hand from shaking.
Megumi huffed, crossing his arms. “Some fifth graders,” he muttered. His gaze was centered on the ground, a rare dose of shame radiating from his energy. “They were picking on some kindergartener.”
“You can’t get into fights with the big kids, Megumi,” Satoru said, peeling the backing from a band-aid and setting it on a cut on Megumi’s shin. “What if you get suspended? Or expelled?”
Megumi winced as Satoru pressed an alcohol pad to the cuts on his knee, little fingers curling into fists. He sniffled, turning his gaze away so Satoru wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes. “‘M sorry,” he murmured, voice wobbling. “I know you’re mad at me.”
The whispered words made Satoru freeze, his breath hitching ever so slightly. He sighed under his breath, and sat up, taking one of Megumi’s hands in his own so he could bandage it. “Kiddo, I can’t get mad at you for this,” he said, trying to meet Megumi’s elusive gaze. “I’d be a pretty big hypocrite if I get mad at you for getting into fights when I get paid to do exactly that, wouldn’t I?”
Megumi wiped his nose with the back of his free hand. He pondered the thought for a moment. “Yeah,” he eventually murmured, “you would be.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Satoru said, tying off the end of the bandages. “I can’t be mad, and I’m not disappointed. If anything, I’m proud of you for standing up to those bullies.”
Megumi looked up, dark blue eyes glazed with tears. “What?”
Satoru nodded. “Yep,” he said, standing and dampening a washcloth. He wiped the blood and dirt from Megumi’s face, trying to be as gentle as possible around the bruises, cursing himself whenever Megumi let out a hiss of pain.
“Did you win?” Satoru asked, glancing up at Megumi’s face, an eyebrow raised. A little humor twinkled in his eyes, the ends of his lips curling up in a smile.
The boy smirked a little and wiped the tears from his face. “Yeah. Beat ‘em up real good.”
Satoru grinned. “Good. Wouldn’t expect anything less from you, ‘Gumi.” He stood, scooping Megumi up into his arms and setting the boy on his hip. For once, Megumi didn’t squirm out of his grip.
“Come on,” Satoru said, walking into the hallway. “Let’s get some ice cream before Tsumiki gets home.”
“It’s not dinner yet. We should wait.”
“You’re a real buzzkill, you know that?”