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Gojo Satoru is exhausted. He’d been mercilessly woken up by not his alarm- but by one of Yaga’s phone calls blaring into his ears at four in the morning. Apparently there was a rare special-grade terrorizing citizens that no one could take down, except for the one and only Gojo Satoru.
Since then, he’s had to take care of one job after another without stopping. One after another, it seemed like they were never going to stop.
Now he is standing back in front of his apartment with his kids to take care of. If you had told him even a few months ago that he would be taking care of children, he surely would’ve doubled over laughing.
Twisting the door open, he walks in, kicking off his shoes. His eyes hurt, like a knife stabbing him repeatedly behind his blindfold.
Walking through the apartment, he stops hesitantly. There’s no Megumi lounging on the couch reading some manga, or Tsumiki practicing her violin. She had adored the instrument since Gojo offered they could sign her up for some music lessons.
It can’t be like anything happened while he was gone, it had only been a day, and he had put multiple protection barriers over this apartment, nothing could have gotten in.
He feels panic start to overtake, a cold sweat shrouding his body. He can’t even sense Megumi’s cursed energy, is something wrong with him? Surely nothing bad has happened, there’ll probably still here-
“Gojo-san, you’re back! Sorry, I was in my room and didn’t hear the door open at first!” She pauses, awkwardly gripping the sleeves of her pink sweater.
"Oh, and also, I forgot to mention it but Megumi has gone for a two-day sleepover. He was really begging me to let him go, and since you weren’t home and I didn't want to call to bother you on your mission, I just let him go. Hope that's alright.” She said quickly, her voice hesitant.
Gojo turns around on his heel, eyes wide underneath his blindfold. He sees Tsumiki standing in the doorway of her bedroom, looking slightly nervous. His panic subsides immediately, and he feels instant relief flood his body. That explains why he couldn’t sense Megumi, thank god. All his worrying was for nothing, since surely no one would ever dare to cross the six eyes.
“Ah, Tsumiki, there you are! It’s fine you didn’t call me, I wouldn’t ever say no to you kids, you know”
Tsumiki seems to smile slightly, still hovering awkwardly at her doorway, not really saying anything. She almost seems nervous, or… restless.
Gojo looks over at her hesitantly. In the last few months since he adopted the Fushiguro children he realizes he’s mostly been paying attention to Megumi, since he was the one with the Ten Shadows Technique. A feeling of guilt settles over his body, along with a sense of shame. He hadn’t meant to do that, of course, he cares about Tsumiki just as much as he cares about Megumi, it’s just… he doesn’t know her as well. Or he hasn’t made the effort to get to know her as well, but it hurts for him to acknowledge that he was prioritizing one child over the other because in the fucked up world of Jujutsu sorcery, one of them had more value then the other. He was becoming just as bad as the higher-ups.
Suddenly, an idea pops into his head. He should take Tsumiki shopping. Buy her something. That way he’ll know what she likes, get to know her better while she also gets stuff to take home, and every child wants things, no?
He clears his throat.
“Hey, Tsumiki, would you like to go shopping? I know it’s evening, but why not? It should be fun, no?”
He smiles at her lightly, his voice. Almost tentative. He doesn’t want her to feel like she has to go, or he’s expecting her to say yes. It’s just an offer, it’s all up to her.
Tsumiki’s eyes widen and she looks up, and her hands stop fiddling with her sweater.
“R-really? No, I mean yes, but I– I wouldn’t want to impose! Only if it’s not a bother to you, Gojo-san.”
Her voice sounds dubious, like she can’t believe he’s offering this. Her eyes are still wide from surprise, and she’s staring at Gojo like she’s expecting him to take back the offer, and maybe laugh at her for expecting anything at all.
Gojo feels his heart crack in his chest, like someone was stabbing his with tiny pinprick sized knives. Has no one ever taken her to buy something before? She’d had too much responsibility placed onto her when she was much too young. Much, much too young.
When Gojo had first entered the dingy, uncared for apartment the Fushiguro’s were living in, he was shocked at the state they were in how Tsumiki had all the responsibility dumped onto her shoulders from the age of 9. How she was literally paying their utility bills and doing their taxes. That’s something every 9 year old shouldn’t have to be worrying about, much less taking care of her.
Tsumiki Fushiguro had her childhood stripped away from her, and it was Gojo’s priority to give it back.
Gojo looks down and couches down to her level.
“Tsumiki, listen to me. You are never a burden.” He bites the side of his tongue, his next words more tentative, “I know I haven’t been the best at showing it, but I care about you, a lot.”
Tsumiki looks at him, almost with… wonder. Or disbelief. He still couldn’t tell what what was going through her head
“So? What d’you say? You wanna let the one and only Gojo Satoru take you shopping?”
She looks at him, still with the almost adorably confused look on her face. She nods hesitantly.
Gojo grins and stands back up, patting her hair affectionately. “Alright then, go get ready and we’ll go whenever you want, kiddo.”
“Thank you, Gojo-san!” A sweet smile breaks onto her face and Gojo’s heart melts.
“No need to thank me, Tsumiki! I’ll be waiting.”
She bows quickly and nods before running off into her room, presumably to do whatever she needs to get ready.
Gojo sighs softly and walks away from her doorway and finds himself sprawled on the sofa, his eyes still aching. Of course, he was still exhausted, but he had more, much more important matters at hand.
What if- what if he had been neglecting Tsumiki? What if he had been neglecting both of them? Bile rises up his throat, and he massages his aching temples. No- no he would never want to do that, but what if he had, accidentally? He hadn’t been paying either of them much attention, since he was always away on multiple day missions. He’d send them more than enough money and drop by to visit sometimes, but they were 7 and 9 years old. They needed more than someone to just “drop by” every now and then.
He’s so stupid. But what is he even supposed to do? He’s 19, he can’t even legally drink, forget taking care of two living children.
Tsumiki still hasn’t come out of her room, so he slips into his own. He knows he’s being stupid, but he just has to make sure he’s not…
He sat down on his bed grabbing his laptop. With a hesitant finger he types in “signs of bad parenting” and hits the search button. Hundreds of articles pop up. He clicks the first one. He scrolls down and reads the first topic, which is just conveniently about “over and under involvement”. So he might be under-involved in their life but he still cares about them. They’re always bathed and fed, so he must be doing something right.
He sees the next topic, “strict/rigid or little to no discipline”. He blows a breath through his teeth. Alright, he was lax with them most of the time, but the Fushiguro children are so well-behaved he doubts they’d actually ever need to be disciplined, but that also doesn’t excuse his lack of authority in their life…
He shakes his head. Scrolls to the next topic, “withdrawing affection and attention”. His breath hitches. Had- had he ever hugged these children? His children. He hadn’t, had he? He always had infinity on, ever since Toji he’d been much too paranoid to take it off, not that he’d admit that to anyone. He felt sick now. He was doing a horrible job with them, they probably felt just as lonely as he was when he was being raised in the gojo clan. He’s going to become just as bad as they were.
He breaks into a cold sweat. What if he ruins these kids' lives?
But sometimes little Megumi looked too much like Toji and he just couldn’t bring himself to-
A few knocks are heard on his door. He slams his laptop shut.
“Come in!”
The door pushes open and Tsumiki walks in, her hair put into a neat ponytail with her side bangs framing her face. She looks so excited, the type of expression he’d have on when succeed in making grumpy little Megumi laugh.
“Gojo-san, I’m ready. We’re still going, right?”
She looked at Gojo who was sitting on his bed awkwardly, computer on his lap. He looked a shade paler than usual, nervous sweat lining his forehead.
“Of course we are, and you’re going to have the best time of your life.”
Gojo gets up from his bed, and they leave his room. Gojo tells Tsumiki to go put her shoes on and she excitedly dashes before him, putting on her shoes hurriedly. Gojo follows behind her, grabbing her rain coat and umbrella since it’s drizzling rain outside. He has his infinity, so he’ll be alright.
Tsumiki stands by the door with Gojo putting on her jacket and grabbing an umbrella while Gojo slips on a jacket for warmth. It was only 4pm, so they still had more than enough time to shop.
“So Tsumiki, are you ready to go? All geared up?”
She nods excitedly and Gojo crouches down to adjust her jacket. It’s a little big for her.
“What do you wanna shop for first? The day is all yours.”
He stands up, adjusting his blindfold. Tsumiki frowns, her face contorting slightly. She hadn’t actually thought about that.
“Um, I’m not sure, Gojo-san. I didn’t really think about that. Actually, I wouldn’t mind if Gojo-san picked for me!”
She smiles up at Gojo and he stiffens imperceptibly. Sure, in concept he doesn’t mind choosing for her, but he has no idea what a 9 year old would like. Tsumiki is always putting her time into playing with Megumi or helping him with homework that Gojo doesn’t actually even know what her interests are. He could buy her some clothes, but that seems shallow in a way, like it’s the default option he’d say if he didn’t have interest in this trip. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing..
Fuck it. He just has to say something and hope she likes it, and if she doesn’t he can always suggest something else, right?
“Hm, alright then! What does Tsumiki think about makeup shopping?”
Tsumiki looks at him, her smile growing. Gojo feels himself relaxed, for once he made the right call.
“Really? Oh, I’d love to! C’mon, let’s go!”
Gojo laughed to himself and pushed the apartment door open. Well that's something to take note of: Tsumiki certainly likes makeup.
Soon there out the door, Tsumiki practically skipping as they walked, one hand holding her umbrella and the other gripping Gojo’s fingers.
Unbeknownst to Tsumiki, Gojo had specifically turned off infinity just so she could hold his hand, so now he was steadily getting covered in rain. Thankfully, it was just a sprinkle, so he wasn’t sopping wet.
Tsumiki turns her head up to Gojo as they walk through the streets of Tokyo.
“Gojo-san, can I tell you something?” she says cheerfully.
Gojo looks at her through his blindfold as they continue to walk.
“Sure thing, kid. What is it?”
“Well, I think it’s really cool that you’re letting me buy makeup! Y’know, I was talking to my friends- you know her actually. Remember Ayame?”
Gojo nods, tiny raindrops soaking his hair, dripping down onto his blindfold. His nose is pink from the cold. He sniffs.
“Mhm, you invited her over for a sleepover once, no? Good friend to you.”
“Yeah, her. Anyways, she was telling me she wanted to buy lipgloss, the sparkly, with colorful glitter. But her mom said she couldn’t because she said she was too young. You’re a lot cooler than her though, like a lot. You asked me! You’re so cool!” Tsumiki ends excitedly, looking up at Gojo with stars in her eyes.
Gojo takes a second to process what he was hearing before laughing out loud. Well yeah, damn right he was fucking cool. What was sparkly lip gloss going to do to a 9 year old anyways? It’s not like Ayame was asking for an entire makeup set.
“Why thank you, Tsumiki! I feel flattered that you think I’m so cool, that’s the highest praise coming from you!”
She giggles slightly. “Your welcome, Gojo-san.”
Gojo smiles. She’s too kind for this world.
Suddenly, Tsumiki is tugging at his hand. Gojo looks down. “Hm?”
Tsumiki sighs a little, holding the umbrella up to Gojo. “Gojo-san, can you hold it? My arm is getting tired. And you’re all wet!”
Gojo feels the smile tugging at his lips again and he nods, taking it from her and holding to cover them both. He was still holding Tsumiki’s hand.
“Look over there, that's where we’ll be going. Are you excited?”
Gojo points at a store called Kiddyland in their line of sight and Tsumiki positively squeals in excitement.
“Oh my god, it's so pretty! Cmon, lets go, lets go!!”
Tsumiki breaks into a run and Gojo lets her drag him along to the store, whilst holding the umbrella in one hand to shield them from the rain. He’s so happy. So happy that Tsumiki gets to experience this, that she doesn’t need to carry the responsibility of a full adult at 9 years old anymore.
The walk rushed into the store which is fairly quiet since it's later into the evening. Gojo shuts the umbrella, shaking off any excess rain before walking in.. Tsumiki is practically bouncing on her heels as she drags Gojo towards different shelves. The entire store is full of sanrio merchandise, and Tsumiki has never seen something so awesome in her entire life.
“Gojo-san! Look!! It’s like the sparkly lipgloss I was telling you about but with My Melody! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, it's so cute! Can I get it Gojo-san? Pleaseee?”
Tsumiki holds the gloss up for him to see and he nods in approval.
“Of course, you can ‘Miki. Knock yourself out. This is a very good choice by the way, you have a good eye.”
Tsumiki thanks him, giggling slightly before running off to look at other products. Gojo on the other hand has a grin so wide on his face he feels his cheek muscles starting to ache. When was the last time he smiled this much, this genuinely? No matter, right now he’sis thinking of getting one of these glosses for himself, which is obviously very important. I mean, who couldn’t use some Cinnamonroll lipgloss, right?
“Gojo-san! Come over here, look at these!!”
Gojo’s head perks up and he sees Tsumiki on the other end of the store, gesturing to him eagerly. He strolls over, hands in his pockets.
“What is it? You find something super cool?”
Tsumiki nods eagerly, pointing at a stickersheet.
“Doesn’t this one look like Megumi? It looks just like him, they even have the same hair!”
Gojo raises an eyebrow in surprise and looks over to the shelf she’s pointing at. There’s a sticker sheet covered in what looks like these little grumpy black birds. They look exactly like Megumi. Honestly, it seems like the creator used Megumi as inspiration since he and the Sanrio character, Badtz-Maru, seem to share just about everything. They even have the exact same eye-roll, for God’s sake.
“Huh, well look at that! You’re completely right, this bird is a spitting image of little ‘Gumi.”
Tsumiki nods, picking up on the sheets.
“We should totally get this for him! I want to surprise Megumi and this is the best thing ever!”
She grins up at Gojo, a shark tooth poking out of her mouth, her eyes sparkling with excitement and happiness. Gojo nods and she squeals, grabbing another sticker sheet and some Badtz-Maru keychains for good measure.
Gojo stands still, watching her explore the small store, picking up trinkets and some more makeup. She looks so… content. He’s never seen her this happy before, and that makes him feel… happy? No, no that… well of course he is happy, that’s just not the right word…
He strolls around the store aimlessly, keeping an eye on Tsumiki. He ends up picking up a Cinnamonroll gloss for himself, just for the memories. Suddenly, something catches his eye. It’s shoved into a corner behind some Hello Kitty toys and seems to be the only one left. He stops, picking it up from a shelf, brushing off any dust. It’s a My Melody eyeshadow palette for kids, with blues and pinks. He’d noticed Tsumiki had been picking up a lot of My Melody related things, so she’d like this, wouldn’t she?
He smiles to himself, seeing Tsumiki take a small My Melody plush off a shelf into her already full arms. He walks up to her.
“Hey, ‘Miki! I found something you’d like~!”
She looks up at him curiously and he hands her the palette. Her eyes widened.
“Oh my gosh! Is that a My Melody pallette? Where- where’d you find it? When I looked they were all gone! Thank you so much, Gojo-san!”
She takes the palette, her eyes lighting up.
“Woah, it’s so pretty! I love it so so so much! Thank you, Satoru!”
She reaches forward and hugs his legs and he nearly stumbles back from utter surprise. She’s.. Hugging him? She- she just called him Satoru. He’d always told the kids to call him that rather than “Gojo-san” but being as formal and polite, and still wary of him as they are, they never did. So he had just given up on asking them too at one point.
But she- she just said it. She said his name. He’s no longer Gojo, the strongest sorcerer, the six eyes, or the honoured one in her eyes. He’s just Satoru.
He feels an odd lump forming in his throat, making it difficult to swallow. He pats her awkwardly on the back.
“Well, it was just shoved in a corner, I just happened to have found it, so-”
“It doesn’t matter! You still brought it for me, and I’m so happy! You know no one’s ever taken me shopping before, right? So I’m really happy no matter what today, since you took me and I can get all these pretty things!”
She finishes sweetly, smiling up at him. Then she adds quietly, voice more mischievous, “also I’ll be able to flex on Ayame for having sparkly lip gloss because I have a way cooler Dad than her!”
Everything stops. It all comes to a halt, and suddenly he can just hear the sound of his own quick breathing. She just called him Dad. He’s- he’s her dad, he’s a father, and he has a daughter. Tsumiki Fushiguro is his daughter.
The lump in his throat seems to somehow be even more prominent than before, and he feels his eyes start to water. Thank god he’s wearing his blindfold. His face feels hot and he’s almost sure it's splotchy red. She- she just called him Dad. He can’t get over that.
“Y-yeah, what can I say, I am a lot cooler than Ayame’s mom. I'm much better…”
He can’t seem to get the word out of his throat. Dad. Does he even deserve it? What if he’s just as bad of a deadbeat as Toji was and he doesn’t even realize it? He is always gone for missions, he barely even even sees the kids, his kids…
He forces a smile onto his face for Tsumiki and she grins back, seemingly oblivious of what she had just said, and of the inner turmoil ravaging Gojo’s mind.
“I know, you are a much better dad!”
Gojo nearly loses his balance at her saying it again. So it’s not a mistake, she knows what she’s saying. He nods at her and she takes his hand, chattering on about something as they go to the cashier and proceed to check out their items.
He can’t believe this has all happened in one day, one trip. At first when she called him Satoru he was already ecstatic, but when she said dad? He must be dreaming. Is it normal for kids to suddenly just change their minds and decide to say stuff like that. What if-
“...so, can I? Satoru, wait, did you hear me?”
Tsumiki's voice cuts through his thoughts and he glances towards her, after giving all their items (27 things in total) to the cashier to scan.
“Hm? Oh no, I didn’t, my sincerest apologies, dear Tsumiki.”
He makes his voice teasing an attempt to lighten the mood. Thankfully, it works.
“It’s okay! I zone out a lot at school and stuff too. Anyways, I was gonna ask if I can call you ‘Toru? Since your name is Satoru, right? So ‘Toru' is like the short version! And it sounds nice too.”
Gojo stares down at her, eyes blank for a moment. There was only one other person that called him. He had long, black hair, which he’d always tied back and left these stupid (pretty) curtain bangs hanging in the front. He’s gone now. Forever, most likely.
“Yeah, I’d say it suits me, don’t you think? And it’s much better than if you call me Gojo-san anymore, its too formal for me.”
Gojo sticks out his tongue playfully and Tsumiki giggles.
“So yes, I give you my blessing to call me ‘Toru, Tsumiki.”
She grins and nods, while taking their very full bag of goodies from the cashier. Once they’re outside, Gojo opens up the umbrella to shield them from the rain, while holding Tsumiki’s hand. She’s happier than he’s seen her… well, ever.
“Thank you again! You’re right, I did have the best time of my life, ‘Toru.”
Gojo smiles and they continue walking back to their apartment. Now, Gojo realizes what that feeling was. What it is. For the first time in a long time, or maybe even the first time ever, Gojo Satoru feels fulfilled.