Chapter Text
Although Satoru was an anomaly for Megumi, what happened yesterday showed him that his guardian- despite what he himself told countless times- had flaws as well.
His guardian, who was the manifestation of annoyance, teasing, and smug smiles. His guardian, who kept on telling every other person he met he was the strongest around. His guardian, who was arrogant and egotistical and stubborn and smug. His guardian, who, despite what he showed on his expressions and what he hid most of the time, was indeed just a normal human with flaws and troubles, like everyone else.
Satoru had talked to him about the Zen’in clan when they first met, and had asked the strange teen in front of him with a weary look ‘ what would happen to Tsumiki, would she be safe?’ , and without hesitation and with the most surest and serious expression ever answered back ‘no’, like he knew first hand what the clan would do to both of them.
Megumi didn’t think much of it at first, but now he started to wonder if Satoru indeed had an idea what would go on with the clans.
With the Zen’in clan, the word ‘awful’ is a beautiful flower compared to the Gojo clan.
He remembered what Yaga said, even if Megumi was half asleep and really didn’t understand what he had meant back then. Now, sitting at the Jujutsu Tech’s courtyard with Tsumiki, he started to think more about it. And he hated how everything now made sense to him.
How Satoru acted when he first got the invite to the wedding. How uncomfortable and uneasy he was, how he himself was mocked and teased by… his cousins, was it? Which was something he would have never guessed would happen. Satoru being teased.
For the year the sorcerer had been Megumi’s and Tsumiki’s guardian, Satoru was the king of teasing, Megumi concurred, making the title for him. And Megumi always hated it. Now, it didn’t seem as bad when he saw an uneasy Satoru.
But even if Megumi was 8 and even if he understood parts of the Jujutsu vocabulary, he really didn’t get the whole clan stuff and all that came with it. Though, the one or two conversations they did have about the Zen’in clan were cut short as Megumi clearly showed his disinterest in any of that. So, Satoru didn’t push.
Not to say that Megumi wasn’t interested in the topic now after what happened during the wedding, but if Satoru acted similarly how Megumi did when having a clan talk, then Megumi wouldn’t push as well. Maybe they were more similar than he first gave credit for.
“Hey, you two.” Shoko’s voice called out towards the two of them. They looked at her as she walked towards them, before Tsumiki sat up and ran to her, hugging her.
“Shoko-san!” She called out as she did so with a smile and a soft giggle.
“I didn’t expect to see you two here at the school.” Shoko started, putting her hand on her hip and raising a curious eyebrow.
“Yaga brought us.” Megumi told as he shrugged, watching as the wind swayed the leaves of the forest. “Came to get us yesterday.”
Shoko’s expression was one of thought. She thought she heard the distant engine of a car starting last night, but she was too busy with an autopsy to really pay any attention to the sounds coming everywhere else but the room she was in.
“Ah, so the wedding went sideways, I’m guessing?” Shoko questioned, sitting down on the bench next to the kids.
“No! The wedding was beautiful and amazing!” Tsumiki chirped up with a big smile, making Shoko smile as well.
“It was alright, I guess.” Megumi mumbled, turning his gaze away.
“Everything was pristine and crystaly and white and shiny!”
“Everything was way too big and noisy.”
“Everything was so blinding and white. So white.” Tsumiki’s tone turned into a quiet one the more she thought.
“Everyone seemed off-putting.” Megumi’s face started to scrunch up the longer he thought about it.
Both Shoko and Tsumiki looked at him. “I mean, I guess?” Tsumiki wondered, looking towards the sky for a moment, before at Shoko. “There were some weird people there.”
Shoko had to resist the urge to snort, but a small chuckle did leave her lips. “Heh, yeah. The clans are all weird, not just the Gojo clan.”
“Is that why Satoru was acting so weird?” Megumi suddenly spoke up, making Shoko turn towards him. Their gazes met and Megumi saw a kind of realisation in her gaze. “He was acting weird. More weirder than normal.”
Shoko only nodded with a soft ‘hmm’ as a response. She knew all too well what Megumi was talking about, having heard bits and pieces from Suguru on what Satoru would say to him. Though not a lot, She could put the picture together quite early on and she did not like what she saw.
She let out a soft sigh before she crossed her hands. “Yeah. The clans are nothing sort of-” She stopped herself from cursing in front of the kids. “But don’t say anything about this to Satoru, alright?” She turned her gaze on the kids, who looked confusedly at her.
“Why?” Tsumiki asked.
“Because- just don’t, alright? It would only made Satoru more upset.” Shoko told and she got an eager nod from Tsumiki as Megumi raised an eyebrow. “It’s like a secret, alright?” Shoko suddenly said and zipped her lips up, pretending to throw away the key. The kids nodded again, Tsumiki following Shoko’s actions with a smile.
Though, Megumi couldn’t help but be curious about what Shoko meant. But if it meant that talking about this would make Satoru act the same was as yesterday, Megumi would keep his mouth shut. He could deal with annoying and irritating Satoru, he couldn’t deal with an uneasy and quiet Satoru. He hated that version of Satoru.
“Talking about Satoru, where's he at?” Shoko suddenly remembered, before she looked around, trying to locate his cursed energy, but seeing it nowhere.
“Still asleep.” Tsumiki answered with a soft smile and pointed towards the dorms. “I wanted to go see him, but Yaga said something about him having a headache and said we shouldn’t bother him.”
“Ah.” Shoko didn’t need any more information and understood the situation. “Where’s Yaga?” She instead asked. Both the kids shrugged. Shoko sighed and ruffled their heads before standing up. “You two are up qute early. Want me to make breakfast?”
“Yes please.” Tsumiki grinned and Shoko nodded once more.
She, along with the kids in toe, walked towards the kitchen with the promise of making pancakes for them. The kids were surprised to hear that Shoko was an expert pancake maker, and got even more excited by the news.
Getting to the kitchen, Tsumiki had already asked if she could help, but Shoko politely said she could handle it, and ‘that she needed to work her magic alone’ . The kids went to the room they were sleeping in last night to pass the time while Shoko was preparing breakfast. But she stopped to take a glance towards Satoru’s room. She let out a frustrated sigh and walked along the hallway towards it, quietly opening the door when she got to it and took a peak inside.
Satoru was laying on the bed on his stomach, head buried into the pillow. She could hear his soft and deep breathing, indicating that he was in a deep sleep. But she needed to be sure, it was eating at her, so she slowly entered the room. Getting to his bed side, she put her hands on his head, but didn’t make contact in case he would wake up.
She took a deep breath and let her cursed energy flow through her hands into the body of his friend, which did make him stir a bit in his sleep, but settled soon enough. After a few seconds, she pulled her hands back, finding the headache Tsumiki mentioned earlier. Although small, she could feel the slight uneasiness in his body still, but hoped it would go away. She looked at her friend for a moment before walking out of the room and began to make breakfast.
It didn’t take her long to finish cooking and when he called the kids to eat, they saw the most delicious-looking pancakes ever made. They were thin and perfectly and evenly golden brown and just the right size as the plate, it being barely covered all the way around along with a happy face decorated with chocolate syrup. Some flowers accompanied on Tsumiki’s pancake with a heart, and a wolf’s head on Megumi’s, at least what seemed to be a wolf’s head.
The taste was even better then the sight. Soft yet a small crunch at the edges, chewy yet melting in the mouth and easy to swallow, and the syrup made it even more delicious. Shoko saw the bright face of Tsumiki as she bit down on the food and even Megumi’s face cheered up more than an inch, which made her smile as well. No one could say no to Shoko’s famous pancakes.
At some point, Satoru’s door opened and he joined in as well. Although he looked rested, his posture was a bit slumped forward, getting a small teasing smirk from Shoko. “Well, well. Look at the sleepyhead who decided to wake up.”
Satoru only rolled his eyes with a smirk of his own. “Yeah, well, you would sleep so much too after what happened yesterday.” He responded, moving his glasses up his nose before sitting behind the table and getting a pancake for himself.
Shoko reached over to the syrup bottle she knew Satoru would try to grab and gave it to him. “Do I want to know?” She asked as Satoru shrugged. She watched as he almost completely drenched the pancake with syrup. “Hey! Watch it, or you will taste only sugar and not the actual flavor of the pancake.” She slightly scolded, furrowing her brows.
“That’s the only thing he eats anyway.” Megumi commented, getting a glare of narrowed eyes that said “not true” and a slight snicker from Tsumiki.
But Satoru shook his shoulders and stuck the fork into the rolled-up pancake before shoving it into his mouth, biting it into half. “It went as well as I thought it would.” He spoke, with his mouth full, making Shoko sigh. “This is really good, by the way.”
“Don’t talk while your mouth is full, idiot.” Shoko told with a frustrated sigh, making Satoru chuckle.
After they ate, the kids went to wash up and Satoru and Shoko were left alone in the kitchen as he took the last piece of pancake onto his plate. “How ever did you get to be such a good pancake maker, Shoko? What’s your secret?” He itched to know with his wide grin as he rolled it up.
“Like I would tell you. You are already good at everything, let someone else in on the spotlight sometimes.” Shoko told, leaning back on the chair and looking at him with a small smile.
“You know that isn’t true.” He told between bites and swallowed before continuing. “You can heal better than anyone in Jujutsu. I can’t even heal others!”
Shoko thought for a second. “Yeah, that may be true. Guess you’re not as great as you make yourself out to be, huh.” She teased with a soft giggle, making him scoff in fake annoyance.
“Whatever, Sho.” He rolled his eyes playfully with a smile.
“Hey.” Shoko told after a while. Their gazes met, and Satoru could see she was a bit hesitant with whatever she wanted to speak about. So, Satoru ate the last piece of the pancake with an exaggerated ‘mmmh’ and licked his lips from the syrup, as if he needed to show any more how delicious Shoko’s breakfast was. But it made her chuckle softly, so that was a win in his book.
“You have something on your mind.” Satoru started, seeing as she wasn’t going to speak first. “So? What is on your mind?” He leaned forward a bit, insistent on knowing with a teasing smirk.
Shoko sighed and turned her head away for a second, not knowing how she should start. She looked back at her friend. “Tsumiki said that Yaga said you had a headache.” Shoko started, making Satoru’s smile drop an inch and stopped leaning in. “How bad was it?”
Shoko wasn’t one to sugarcoat her words and she got straight to the point she wanted to talk about, letting Satoru decide whether he wanted to speak about it or not. He sighed softly and leaned back on the chair as well, he looked towards the ceiling and swayed the chair back and forth with his heels.
“The people not so much as the music was. Plus, my older cousins stole my blindfold, so I was left uncovered for a while. I guess it could be compared to an overwhelming mission. Or three in a row.” He told as he tried to keep the annoyance in his voice low.
“The strongest sorcerer got his blindfold stolen.” Shoko told in a slightly monotone way, shaking her head in disbelief and slight sarcastic mockery. “You’ve gotten sloppy, Satoru.” She smirked as he rolled his eyes.
“They’re just bullies.” Satoru scoffed.
“And let me guess, you couldn’t just teleport out of there because there was something holding you back?” Shoko asked, raising an eyebrow.
Satoru let out a heavy breath, before making his head hang somewhat limply in front of himself as he looked on the ground as he thought. Not to say there wasn’t something holding him back, but he wasn’t a kid anymore. He was an adult, so technically he didn’t need to listen to his father anymore. But he was always like that. He made sure that Satoru would know whenever he was near. And he hated it. He closed his eyes and shook his head.
“I guess you could say that.” Satoru told bitterly, slowly and a bit quietly.
“Satoru.” Shoko heard the different tone and was slightly on guard. “Tell me.” She told softly, having a gentle expression on her face as she reached towards his hand. “You can trust me with this, you know.”
Satoru raised his head and took a breath. He held her gaze for a while and for a moment, he wanted to take his glasses off. For a moment, he wanted to say everything he once told Suguru years back. Wanted to say everything to the one he trusts. He opened his mouth and saw the slight smile on her lips, hoping he would actually open up fully.
But what if she left as well?
“I’m the head of the clan!” He instead resorted with a wide grin. “I just couldn’t leave in the middle of a wedding! Which you know is like the Gojo clan’s own special tradition.” A slight laugh. And if it was forced, maybe pained, Shoko said nothing.
“Satoru. You can’t keep hiding behind closed doors like this.” Shoko told softly, reaching her hand towards his and almost managing to take his hand.
Their gazes met and Satoru sighed. “I’m… just not right now, okay, Sho?” He told, looking at her as she nodded.
“Take your time. I’m here for you.”
Satoru nodded with a smile. A genuine smile, Shoko noted. This made her happy as well. Satoru saw her hand reaching for his and he caved, putting his hand on the table, so she could grip it.
“Friends, right? We’ll be here for each other.” Satoru reminded with a smile.
Shoko looked at him with a gentle look and nodded, remembering the promise they made when they were first years. “Forever. The three of us.”
Shoko wasn’t the one to pry. And unlike someone right next to her, she was patient. She would wait until Satoru would eventually fully open up to her. Then maybe, she could try and put things back together again and heal the deep wound she knows Satoru had had for years, but wouldn’t show to anyone except himself.