Chapter Text
Yuji slams the door open into what was once a peaceful silence in Megumi’s room. Megumi barely glances at him, focused on painting Nobara’s nails while the girl in question immediately throws him an annoyed glance.
“Watch it Itadori, you’ll mess him up.”
Nobara had arrived a half hour earlier–in much the same manner as Yuji had–to Megumi’s room, interrupting the boy’s reading and demanding he help her with her nails. They had been sitting in relative peace since then, Megumi’s full attention on his work, and Nobara watching one of her cheesy reality shows. Even now the computer sits between them, tilted ever so slightly further in Nobara’s direction and blaring some drama between stars.
Paying no mind to Nobara’s comment Yuji throws himself on the bed next to them, eliciting a loud yelp from Nobara and a curse from Megumi.
“Itadori! You–”
“Guys, guys, guys,” Yuji near shouts excitedly, ignoring Nobara’s complaints. “It’s almost Gojo sensei’s birthday!” He punctuates his exclamation by bouncing on the bed, making the mattress creak.
Both students opposite him stare for a second and then resolutely turn back to what they were doing. Yuji wilts a little at their lack of enthusiasm, but pushes on.
“I was in Ieri-san’s office grabbing a sweatshirt I left there, and I saw it on her calendar! Can you believe he didn’t tell us?”
He shakes his head in a dramatic imitation of disappointment and looks at them expectantly. Only Megumi glances at him, a practiced disinterested expression on his face. Nobara continues watching her show. Yuji frowns at his classmates' lack of excitement.
“Come on guys! We have to get him a gift!” He ends the sentence by giving the bed another bounce. Again only earning glares, he slumps back against the wall and looks at the ceiling.
“I mean, he’s always getting us souvenirs and stuff, I’d feel bad not doing anything for his birthday. Besides,” he turns his gaze down to his hands. “Gojo sensei’s the only reason I wasn’t executed, so I want to show him my appreciation.”
This makes the others pause. Megumi and Nobara exchange a guilty glance at their friend’s sincerity. Megumi shrugs and Nobara sighs.
“Fine. I mean, I guess I am thankful for the training he gives us.”
She shifts a bit and glances away.
“And knowing he’s around when we’re in a fight kinda puts me at ease. So I guess we can find a gift for our stupid sensei.”
Yuji immediately cheers. His enthusiasm is contagious and goes for a high five with Nobara over Megumi’s head.
“Operation get sensei the best birthday present is on!”
“Hell yeah!”
Both of them pause. Nobara frowns.
“What should we get him?” They think for a moment, then simultaneously turn their gazes towards Megumi, who has been conspicuously silent during the exchange. He steadfastly ignores their eyes with the skill of someone who’s had to put up with Gojo for years.
“Fushigorooooo,” Yuji whines, grabbing a hold of the dark-haired boy's shoulder. “You know him the best, please help us out.”
Nobara crosses her arms. “Yeah isn’t he like your dad or something.”
Immediately, Megumi’s face begins to turn red.
“No,” he snaps. “He’s not my dad. And Gojo’s impossible to get a gift for anyways.”
“Impossible?” Yuji questions tilting his head.
“Oh,” Nobara says with a dawning understanding. “You mean because he’s like filthy rich you can’t get him anything he can’t already get himself.”
Megumi shrugs a shoulder as he carefully wipes away a stray bit of nail polish on Nobara’s finger.
“I guess. It sucks getting him a gift when you know if he really wanted it he probably would’ve gotten it. Besides, contrary to how he seems, Gojo doesn’t actually tend to want anything. Other than whatever sweets he’s set his sights on.”
He sighs and frowns at Yuji. “Tsumiki and I would usually just make him a card.”
Yuji nods and can easily picture a tiny grumpy Megumi handing a homemade card to an absolutely ecstatic Gojo. He imagines a fridge loaded with Megumi’s childhood art on display and grins.
“That’s great and all, but I really don’t think that us making him a card is really gonna have the same punch as him receiving one from his little Megs over here.”
“Do not call me that.”
“So you only let your dad call you that?”
“He’s not my dad!”
Before the argument can devolve any further–or ruin Nobara’s nails and make Megumi a dead man–Yuji throws his arms in the air and groans.
“Then what are we supposed to get him! I wanted to get him something super awesome, but this might be impossible!”
Nobara and Megumi nod solemnly in agreement. There’s a momentary quiet as Megumi makes one last swipe at her nails and relinquishes Nobara’s hand, moving to screw on the cap of the nail polish.
“There, you’re done.”
“Sweet! Thanks Fushiguro!” She throws her hands in the air to admire his work. “You’re surprisingly good at this. My hero.”
She pretends to swoon onto him but he shoves her away, almost sending her off the bed.
“Well Tsumiki loved getting her nails painted and I’d help her a lot.” He looks away. “She always said it looked best when I did it, so I guess I practiced a bit.”
Yuji beams at him and Nobara teases him for being a good little brother. He attempts to hide his rapidly reddening face in the collar of his uniform, which really only serves to spur Nobara on.
Yuji laughs at the two and tries to picture baby Megumi focusing on carefully painting his sister’s nails, which somehow makes him picture Megumi also painting Gojo’s nails. He snickers at the thought of a sour-faced baby Megumi intentionally painting Gojo’s nails shitty, and Gojo loving it anyway, showing it off to everyone who’d look.
“Oh!” He shouts sitting up straighter. “I’ve got an idea!”
The other two pause and he takes their attention as a sign to continue.
“We can’t buy him anything, and a card would be dumb, so what about, like, acts of service or something?” He rubs the back of his neck. “I just thought about Megumi painting other people’s nails and thought Gojo would like something similar. Not to the nails, but, you know.”
Nobara nods seriously.
“Gojo is an attention whore so he’d love something focused on him.”
“Please don’t call him that. Gojo and whore in the same sentence puts terrible images in my brain.”
“So what could we do for him?”
They all stop and think, Yuji going so far as to raise a hand to his chin. Gojo really is one of those people who seems to have everything. He’s rich, and pretty much buys himself whatever he wants. Despite the impression he gives off, he’s a relatively tidy person so they can’t clean anything for him. And it’s near impossible to schedule anything with him since he’s off on missions more often than not. The stumped silence stretches on.
“Could we like, ask one of his friends for an idea? Like Ieri-san?”
“Oh! Or Nanamin!”
“Or–wait, does he even have any other friends?” This brings on a different sort of quiet.
“You know, Gojo-sensei does look kind of lonely sometimes…like he’s all smiley and all but, he really doesn’t do anything beyond missions and teaching us does he?”
It brings about a confusing picture. Gojo Satoru, who by all accounts is probably one of the biggest extroverts on the planet, doesn’t actually have many friends. It’s such a dissonant picture that it throws them off a bit when they stop to think about it. Gojo doesn’t feel like a person made to be alone.
For a few minutes, the only sound in the room comes from the computer on the edge of the bed, still playing Nobara’s reality TV. It’s some sort of dating show, where participants are trying to find ‘the one’.
“It has to be you,” one of the men on the screen pleads. “Ever since we got together, my life has changed. I’m happier than I’ve ever been, when you’re around my whole world lights up, so please, don’t choose–”
And it’s like a bolt of lightning hits them.
Nobara and Yuji look at each other wide eyed.
In unison they cry out, “We should get sensei a girlfriend!”
Yuji leaps off the bed and throws his hands up with a cheer and Nobara claps her hands with glee.
“It’s perfect! Gojo sensei doesn’t have the time to get a girlfriend himself so we’ll do it for him!”
“It’s the perfect gift! We’re now on operation get sensei a girlfriend!”
“Boyfriend.”
“Huh.” Nobara and Yuji pause their celebration and turn to look at Megumi.
“Boyfriend.” Megumi says blandly. “Gojo’s gay.”
“Operation get sensei a boyfriend then!!”
They high five with a cheer and Nobara gets up to join Yuji in an admittedly premature victory dance. Megumi looks at his friends and sighs. He knows he should nip this in the bud now. This sort of meddling never does any good and Gojo…
“I don’t think this is the plan you should go with guys.”
He shifts a little at their immediate attention.
“And why’s that?” Nobara huffs, crossing her arms. “You afraid of getting a second dad?”
“Not my dad.” Megumi grinds out. “And it’s not because of that, it’s just… it’s just that Gojo doesn’t date.”
His classmate’s faces instantly fall in shock.
“No way.” Yuji says. “Uh uh, no way sensei doesn’t date, I mean he’s Gojo.”
Nobara is just as incredulous. “How would you know Fushigoro?”
“In all the time that I’ve known him, he’s never once been on a date, let alone dated anybody.”
“But I mean you were a kid, are you sure you weren’t just too stupid to notice.”
“Yes, thanks for the vote of confidence. Gojo is the most talkative person I know, you really believe that if had had dates or god forbid a boyfriend he wouldn’t be shouting it to anyone who would listen.”
Nobara visibly concedes to his point. “Yeah I guess so. So he’s never had anyone he’s liked, like never?”
Nobara and Yuji look at Megumi with barely concealed hope and desperation in their eyes. He tries to lean away but the force of Yuji’s puppy dog eyes is too much. He clicks his tongue and closes his eyes wracking his brain for any signs and–
“Oh.”
Several years ago, Gojo had gone through a scrapbooking phase. The man was so all over the place he’d often go through phases of a new hobby (“Megs look! I’m crocheting! I’ve heard yoga is super good for you, Miki. Don’t throw this out, it’s my sourdough starter!”) only to give up on it after a week or two. The Fushigoro household was littered with remnants of these failed pursuits. It annoyed Megumi, but he never said anything because Tsumiki loved to try to pick up whatever craft or activity he abandoned.
Longer than most others, however, was his scrapbooking phase. He was insistent on taking a million photos of them, then sitting down together to put together their own scrapbook.
“Every family has a scrapbook!” He grinned at them. “This is no exception!”
(Megumi pretends his chest doesn’t warm a bit.)
So they’d sit around the table and assemble pages, throwing in pictures and glitter and commentary.
One of the days Gojo had sat down and proudly whipped out a stack of photos to show them.
“These are some of my photos! Photo albums usually have older photos from the parents for the kids to laugh at, so I brought some too!”
Megumi had stared at Gojo, looking straight past the glasses that slipped down the bridge of his nose and into glittering blue eyes. His heart tingles and suddenly feels a bit like crying, so he turns away to focus on clearing his page of glitter. (He still finds glitter in their apartment to this day)
They work for a while until Gojo jumps up and shows off his finished page.
“Bam! Done! Is it awesome or what?”
Pages done by Gojo alone tend to be a bit of a mess, he loves to cram as many stickers and as much glitter as he can onto it. He also likes to add a veritable paragraph of commentary.
Tsumiki and Megumi look over the page he holds aloft. It’s as glittery and cluttered as the rest but for some reason lacks the usual commentary. In fact, despite the three photos he threw in containing mostly people Tsumiki and him don’t know, not even names are written down.
The first photo is of a young Gojo, staring stonily at the camera in stiff, fancy yukata. Megumi only looks at it for a second before deciding he doesn’t like that one very much. The second is a photo depicting eight people. One is clearly Gojo, younger and in a school uniform but still Gojo. His arm is slung around a black haired boy and he’s leaning into a bored looking brunette girl. Megumi assumes it’s a class photo of some sort. But the one that’s most attention grabbing is the third–a picture with just Gojo and the two he’s touching in the large group photo. The girl is looking directly at the camera, holding up a peace sign that almost covers Gojo’s face. The black haired boy is turned to look at her where she stands slightly in front of them, clearly in the middle of saying something. And Gojo–Gojo is gazing at the boy next to him, eyes crinkled and face arranged into a rare smile. The small softer smile that appears on Gojo’s face when he gives them a hug or one of them sneaks into his room at night. One of his real smiles. And in this photo, the sincerity of it is visceral.
Megumi looks up at Gojo where the man’s still grinning like an idiot and turns his gaze to his sister. She looks up, meeting his eyes quickly and then turns to Gojo.
“Gojo-san! Who are these people?” She thrusts an eager finger toward the group photo.
Gojo follows it and laughs.
“Those were my fellow students! Guess who this is!” He says and taps on the brunette girl.
Tsumiki and Megumi scrutinize it for a moment before she gasps.
“Oh! It’s Ieri-san!” At Gojo’s enthusiastic nod she giggles. “Wow, she looks so young. And less tired. Then how about…”
Megumi watches her pretend to think about it, then point to the black haired boy Gojo has his arm around.
“What about him? Who’s he?”
And if Megumi hadn’t known Gojo for as long as he had, he would’ve missed it. Gojo stills near imperceptibly, his smile falling for a fraction of a second before reappearing just as quick, but slightly too wide and stiff to be as genuine as before.
“He’s… He was my best friend.” He looks away from them and fidgets with a dog sticker. “My one and only.”
Megumi starts a bit at that, and blurted out before he could think, “Was? Is he dead?”
Tsumiki delivers a sharp kick to his shin under the table for his insensitivity as Gojo lets out a strained laugh.
“No, no he’s not dead he just… he left.”
Megumi shares a glance with Tsumiki and there’s a moment of quiet.
“Oh!” Gojo says, leaning forward with a too-wide grin. “Do you guys remember Nanami? Well look here…”
And Gojo goes through the rest of the people in the photo, as boisterous as ever. Not once does he mention the black haired boy again. Megumi’s eyes don’t leave his face for the rest of the explanation.
Megumi shakes himself a bit, trying to dust off the memories like shaking off cobwebs. He looks at Nobara and Yuji’s expectant faces.
“Well…” He starts, then hesitates. He’s still not really sure if pushing into Gojo’s love life is a good idea. He certainly wouldn’t want anyone pushing themselves into his, the thought of intruding on others private lives bothers him.
“Well?” Nobara prompts, impatient.
Megumi shakes his head.
“I don’t know…”
“Come on Fushigoro! We know there’s something, we can see it on your face! Share with the class!”
“Yeah! Yeah!” Yuji encourages. “Don’t you want Gojo to be happy?”
And that’s the thing. Despite the man’s faults and Megumi’s continuous irritation with him, there’s a part of him deep down that recognizes Gojo’s role in his life. Somewhere in a hidden corner that Megumi doesn’t really like to touch, there’s a care for Gojo. Nestled away and held tightly just for himself to hold. So Megumi does want him to be happy. Really does but…
That night, after Gojo said his goodbyes and left on whatever mission he’d been given, Tsumiki walks over to the living room bookshelf and grabs the album. Megumi follows her over to the couch and they sit together. Tsumiki gingerly opens the album, as though she wasn’t allowed to look at the contents. With careful fingers she flips to the newest page–the one with Gojo’s old photos. They both stare at the photo of Gojo looking at his best friend like he hung the stars. Tsumiki bites her lip and looks at Megumi, then back to the photo.
“Megs… “ She stops and furrows her brow. “I think the movies are right.”
He looks at her quizzically and she sighs, closing the book.
“I think there really is such a thing as a broken heart.”
And can Megumi really allow these idiots to force themselves into a situation where they don’t belong and dig up a past that could potentially hurt Gojo? He’s pretty adamant that this isn’t their place but…
Yuji’s question rings in his head. What if? What if…
If there’s a chance, any chance at all that this ‘operation’ succeeds then…
He looks up at his idiot classmates and squares his shoulders.
“I’ll be right back.”
And he rushes out of the room.
Yuji and Nobara share a confused glance.
“So does this mean he’s gonna help us?” Yuji asks hesitantly.
“I think it’s more than that Itadori. I think this means he thought of something.” A wicked grin stretches across her face and she rubs her hands together. Yuji mirrors her smile, albeit a much less sinister version and they high five in celebration of yet another premature victory.
It only takes a minute or two before Megumi barges back into his room, a large book in his hands. He grips Yuji’s arm and drags him back to the bed while Nobara follows. They sit together with Megumi in the middle and he rubs a gentle hand across the book.
“This is our photo album,” he starts. “Gojo was always excited about pictures and we put a lot in here.” He gingerly pulls open the cover and starts rapidly flipping through pages, a stark contrast to the almost reverent way he treated the book before. Pages fly by and all at once they realize that it’s because Megumi doesn’t want them to see childhood photos. Nobara and Yuji exchange conspiratorial grins over their friend’s head and make mental notes to get their hands on this album another time.
“Ah.” They turn their heads back to the book as Megumi points to a photo on a remarkably glitter covered page. They lean in and stare at the photo he’s indicating. There’s a girl in the front throwing up a peace sign.
“Is that Ieri-san?”
Slightly behind her, are two boys. One is instantly recognizable as Gojo and the other–
“Woah,” Nobara comments. “I didn’t know that you could see this much emotion in a picture.” And Yuji can’t help but agree.
Gojo is overbearing and obnoxious by nature, everything he does is exaggerated and over the top. What gives a person a clear indication of his real feelings is often much harder to see. His softer, smaller smiles are the real reflection of his emotions, and the look he’s giving the boy in the photo is the most honest emotion Yuji thinks he’s ever seen on their sensei’s face.
“Who is that?” Yuji asks, a hint of awe creeping into his voice.
Megumi shakes his head. “I’ve never seen him before. In all the years I’ve been involved in Jujutsu society, never once have I seen him.” He stops and frowns. “When I was a kid Gojo said that he was his best friend and that he left.”
“He left? That’s it?” Nobara prods. At Megumi’s short nod she lets out a growl of frustration. “Come on, no way that’s all there is to it.”
“I don’t know, maybe there’s not anymore to it.” Yuji throws in thoughtfully. “I mean Nanami left the sorcerer world no big deal.”
“Yeah but I’m pretty sure he kept in contact with people he knew.”
“Who says Gojo didn’t keep in contact with this guy? It’s not like it’s impossible.”
“Yeah but like Megumi said, Gojo probably wouldn’t shut up about this guy if he were still in the picture.” Nobara glances back at the photo and frowns, leaning in. “What’s his name anyway?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Yuji and Nobara ask incredulously.
“Nope.” Megumi shrugs. “No name, not even on the picture itself. He only ever referred to him as…” Suddenly his sentence stops short and he turns his head away abruptly.
Curiosity peaked, Nobara leans in.
“Come onnnn Fushigoro, don’t leave us hanging. He called him what?”
Megumi glares at her but mutters, “His one and only.”
Silence. If this were a show there’d be a chorus of crickets that breaks out as they stare at their classmate. There’s a few seconds of dumbfounded silence before Nobara breaks out into incredulous laughter.
“Wait seriously? Ha! He's so down bad!”
“His one and only?” Yuji repeats. “Wow, and to think they haven’t even been in contact.”
This only serves to make Nobara laugh harder and Megumi slams the album shut in his embarrassment. Yuji nudges him with his shoulder sheepishly and Megumi glances at him before looking away, fighting a smile.
“So,” Nobara starts, calming herself down. “All we have to do is find this guy and orchestrate a miraculous reunion, then bam! Problem solved, we got Gojo sensei the best gift ever, a fated reunion with his lost love.”
“Yes!” Yuji shouts and jumps off the bed to stand in front of them. “This is now Operation find sensei’s lost love!”
“How many times are you going to change the name?”
“Shush.”
“But wait, how do we find him if we don’t know his name.”
And as a collective they all freeze.
“Ah. I hadn’t thought of that.”
- -
“Ask someone else.”
“But Ieri-sannnnn, Gojo’s gone on a mission and who knows where Nanami is! Please?”
Shoko runs a critical eye down the three of them as they all try to give their best pleading expressions. Well, Megumi is mostly looking away, trying to pretend he’s not present, but Nobara and Yuji are giving begging their all.
They had decided to come to Shoko for the name of their mysterious stranger because she clearly knew him, given their proximity in the photos. They agreed to come under the pretense that they were looking through Megumi’s photo album and got to the group photo, becoming curious about the people. Then, naturally, they came to her to ask about who they were. Which is mostly true, but they mostly only care about the identity of one of the people in the photo.
“Why even ask me?” She asks again, holding her cigarette aloft and crossing her arms as much as it would allow. Shoko is usually a detached person, her cold demeanor matching with the frigid morgue that she spends most of her time in. Honestly, she seems to be more of a part of the morbid room than anything else.
It’s this iciness that she channeled into her glare when they first asked her and she refused. And unfortunately, it isn't melting.
“Is it so bad that we’re curious about our predecessors?” Nobara demands. Yuji nods enthusiastically beside her. Megumi tries his best to sink into the floor.
“No one ever tells us anything about anyone, we’re always finding out last minute—if at all. Is it a crime to want to familiarize ourselves with Jujutsu society, especially people with a close association to our school.”
Shoko raises one sharp eyebrow in response to Nobara’s tirade while Yuji’s jaw drops.
Internally, Nobara celebrates. Yes! Nice one Nobara, there’s no way she can say no now!
“Yeah it’s still a no.” Immediately Nobara and Yuji deflate, the latter nearly falling to the floor. “I’ve got better things to do then play ‘walk down memory lane’ with you guys. I’m not dumb you know, I know you’re after something else even if I’m not sure what it is.”
All three of them freeze. At their guilty looks, Shoko laughs.
“I was a teenager once too, you know? You’ve gotta be less suspicious when you’re up to something or you’ll never get very far.” She casually flicks off her cigarette into her ashtray. (Hello Kitty. Given to her by Gojo because ‘Even though he doesn’t support her habit she might as well look good doing it’ or something)
Nobara lets out a growl of frustration and points a demanding finger at Shoko.
“Now Yuji! Our plan B!!”
Yuji nods and quickly walks toward where Shoko lounges behind her crowded desk. She straightens, visibly wary at whatever they’ve got planned. Yuji marches toward her, determination nearly tangible in the air before he abruptly drops to his knees.
“Please,” he begs, hands clasped together. “Ieri-san we’re depending on you.” His bottom lip pushes out the tiniest bit and his eyes start to shine.
The pure bewilderment on Shoko’s face makes Nobara cough, trying to cover up her laugh. She’s never seen the apathetic woman so stumped.
And faced with the full power of Yuji Itadori’s maximum puppy dog face, she is nothing but a mortal woman, and crumples under his technique.
“Fine,” she says, heaving a sigh so heavy it rustles her papers. She impatiently gestures at them. “Give me the album.”
Letting out a victory whoop, Nobara bounds over with Megumi right behind her, photo album in hand.
Shoko once again raises a suspicious eyebrow when Megumi silently hands over the book.
“You know I’m a little surprised you’re involved in this scheme, Megumi.”
He tries not to meet her eyes as he leans over, flipping to the correct page.
“Usually you’re much more the ‘leave me alone! Stop being an idiot!’ type of guy.” She says wryly, before turning her attention to the photos before her.
They can see the exact moment her eyes catch on the group photo, they soften just the slightest bit and she leans forward a bit more.
“This here is Gojo.” She says pointing at the man.
“Duh, tell us people we don’t know.”
Shoko gives Nobara an unimpressed look.
“You asked me to tell you who’s in the picture and that’s what I’m doing. Now shut up and listen.”
“Next to our resident dumbass is me. Then in the back is Principal Yaga—before he was the principal—and next to him is Meimei,”
“Woah! I can see her eyes!”
“Next to Meimei is Utahime,”
“No scar?”
“I’m ignoring that. Next to her is Nanami—“
“Woah!” Yuji’s shout makes them all wince. His eyes light up and he tips closer to the image. “That’s crazy! I couldn’t really picture Nanami as a kid.”
Shoko lets out a laugh.
“Yeah I’m still not sure if he ever was one, that old stick in the mud. Always mature and a buzzkill even as a kid.”
Yuji frowns, looking ready to argue on Nanami’s behalf so Nobara jumps in.
“Next to you—who’s that?”
“Haibara Yu.”
“Oh. I’ve never heard of him.”
“He died.”
“Oh.”
There’s a moment of silence. Then Shoko slams the book shut and tries to shove it back into Megumi’s hands.
“Well I did what you asked, now can you leave so I can actually get some work done?”
She stands up and tries to start ushering them towards the door.
“But Ieri-san wait!” Yuji twists in her grip and pulls the album out of Megumi’s surprised grasp. “There’s still one more person!”
She stills and Yuji takes the opportunity to flip it back open to the correct page. He holds it up to her face, pointing at the unnamed boy.
“Who’s he?”
Shoko stares for a moment. Her eyes roving over the picture and hands motionless at her sides. After a moment she says, “Geto Suguru.”
Yuji frowns. “I’ve never heard of him.”
“He left.”
“Left?”
“Left. Now out you hooligans or I’ll call Yaga to give you tasks to keep you busy.”
This gets them going and they start to willingly leave the room.
“Thanks Ieri-san!”
They wave and carry on down the hall, the echoes of excited voices following them.
Shoko mechanically returns to her desk and sits. She stares at nothing for a few moments before pulling open a drawer and staring at a picture she keeps inside. Three students laughing, full of all the adolescent elation in the world. They have responsibilities, but they are not all-consuming. They’re free. Happy. She closes the drawer and lights another cigarette.
“Damn it.”
- -
“Ok team, we’ve got a name, what now?”
They’re once again holed up in Megumi’s room, the now unofficial headquarters of Operation find Geto Suguru and reunite him with Gojo. (“You changed the name again? And this one sucks” “Shut up!”)
“When in doubt, google.”
Then they’re all crowding around Nobara’s computer as she types in ‘Geto Suguru’. Rather anticlimactically, there doesn’t seem to be much. They scroll through several ‘Geto Suguru’ social media accounts; facebook, instagram, but none of them seem to be the man they’re looking for. Yuji runs out of patience and sprawls on Megumi’s floor to ‘brainstorm’, though from Megumi and Nobara’s point of view he’s really angling for a nap. Megumi shifts his search to his phone, figuring they can cover metaphorical ground twice as fast. They scroll for a while longer before Nobara hits the bottom of the page she’s reading and something catches her eye.
‘Star Religious Group’
But it’s not the title and website that catch her eye, but the small blurb beneath it.
‘Blah, blah, blah, something, something, Geto Suguru’
Encouraged, she clicks on the link to scroll through the page. It’s some vague religious jargon that she scrolls right past, seeing no point. She’s only scanning for his name, no sense in reading some inane holier-than-thou bullshit. She makes it all the way to the bottom of the page, slowly losing hope, when she sees it.
Current Organization head: Geto Suguru
Bingo.
“Guys, look at this!”
Megumi looks up from his phone and Yuji sits up dazedly from the floor. She turns the computer around for Yuji’s sake.
“Geto Suguru! I found him!” She exclaims. “He’s the head of some religious organization, I bet if we can get in contact, we can find him!”
“Nice!” Yuji cheers, bouncing up from his seat on the floor. “Awesome work Kugisaki!”
Nobara flips her hair over a shoulder, Megumi irritatedly leaning away as it just barely misses him.
“This is light work for someone with my detective skills.”
“Okay, ‘Miss Detective’, how about telling us how we’re gonna get this man to agree to date with Gojo?”
That makes her pause. In fact, it makes all of them pause, even Megumi who had brought up this issue.
Shit.
“Oh no!” Yuji shouts, hands on his head.
“Quiet down!” Megumi hisses and grabs the other boy, pulling him onto the bed by the arm.
“How do we know that this guy will even like Gojo-sensei back?”
Nobara shakes her head.
“Poor guy. Imagine we reunite them only for him to get turned down.” She sighs and puts a hand to her forehead in a dramatic swoon. “Oh, unrequited love! Our sensei is truly a tragedy!” She falls limp towards Megumi, who leans back so she hits Yuji on the other side of him.
“Seriously though,” Yuji says, once Nobara’s done lamenting over their sensei’s love life. “What are we going to do? This whole thing kinda hinges on it being a mutual thing.”
They all sit, brows furrowed and collectively thinking it over. Obviously, Geto has to like Gojo back, or the whole operation is a bust. And they can’t find out after reuniting them because that would only hurt Gojo worse. So, they need a way to assess Geto’s fondness for Gojo, without managing to clue either man into what they’re doing. And as they’ve been oh so reliably told, they’re not the most subtle people in the world.
A few more minutes of silence reign, then–
“What if we join?”
“Huh?”
Yuji sits forward from his position leaning against the wall and Nobara opens her eyes to stare at Megumi from where she’s splayed across both their laps. Megumi glances at them both than says again, quietly,
“We could join.” He gestures at Nobara’s computer, which is kind of pointless since the thing has long since turned off. “The religious group I mean.”
“Oh!” Nobara shoots up from where she was laying, shuffling back to sit on the bed again. “Yes! Fushigoro you’re a genius!” She bounces in place and shakes his shoulder. On Megumi’s other side, Yuji seems to warm up to the idea as well.
“So, we could just ask to join, and try to talk to Geto during the meetings and stuff?”
Megumi shakes his head. “It won’t be that simple. If Geto Suguru is the head of the organization, he’s most likely wherever the founding branch is so we’d have to locate that just to get a chance at seeing him. Then we’d have to find a way to run into him naturally, no way the leader of the whole organization is going to be showing up to your average weekly meeting.”
“Okay, so all we gotta do is find their headquarters and work from there.” Nobara pumps her fist in the air. “Sounds easy enough.”
Megumi sighs in that specific irritated way of his, the one they hear when he thinks they're being particularly big idiots. “No way we’re just running into him. We’ve gotta–”
“Whatever buzzkill.” Nobara waves a flippant hand. “No use over planning if we’re not even sure where he’s gonna be. I say we go and feel it out once we’re there.”
“Absolutely not.” Megumi grits out. “There’s no way in hell we’re doing anything until we know 100% we’ve got a strategy that will work.”
Unfortunately for Megumi’s last remaining shreds of sanity, they do not do that.
Two days later, he finds himself sitting on a train, once again sitting between his idiot classmates.
“How I ever let you convince me to do this, I’ll never know.”
Nobara shoots him a grin from where she sits to his left. “Never underestimate the power of physical force and threat of violence Fushigoro my friend.”
And, what she said really isn’t too far off the mark of how he joined them. After finding a lead on their mysterious Geto Suguru, the three of them poured over information about the organization–which, to their dismay–wasn’t much. Much like Nobara figured on her first once over of the website, all of the information online is incredibly vague, all with staunchly religious undertones. It was enough to give them pause and debate the possibility that they were going to join a cult. (It was decided that even if it was, they wouldn’t be deterred. Something about a bucket list…?) Fortunately, despite the lack of information about the actual goings on of the group, there is basic branch location information that’s easily accessible. The foundation of the headquarters was very clearly listed, much to their delight.
After that, it was simple. Yuji and Nobara bought the train tickets and asked Yaga for a few days with no missions. He gave in surprisingly quickly, but that's probably due to how Nobara did less asking and more demanding. Then, all they needed to do was force Megumi out the door and onto the train, steadfastly ignoring his complaints.
So really, Megumi hadn’t had much say in this endeavor at all. Though, maybe it was for the best. Something about this makes Megumi's gut twist in all the wrong ways when he thinks of meeting this man. If it were down to him, perhaps they never would have left. Perhaps he would’ve kept putting it off and he never would’ve gotten one foot out the door.
In an odd, subtle sort of way, Megumi is grateful for his friend’s tenacity and stubbornness. He thinks, sometimes, it’s exactly what he needs.
He thinks Tsumiki would think so too.
“Anyway, I think we should just walk in and pretend to be orphans.”
“Orphans?!”
“Yeah. You know Yuji, churches gotta have a soft spot for orphans. We’ll just say we used to steal and beat people up for a living, but want to change our ways and serve the lord. Those religious old codgers will eat it up.”
“Maybe we should leave the beating people up part of it out, Kugisaki.”
“Whatever. I think–”
And the conversation mostly continues like this for the entire train ride. And the walk to the place. No one comments on the sudden nervous edge to their banter the closer they get to the place.
Yuji had honestly expected some sort of mansion. Some giant fancy building, built like an old mansion or church. Probably somewhere out in the countryside where their cult or not-cult activity could carry on uninterrupted. Something like in the movies that have some sort of foreboding vibe.
Nope.
The building they come to is an ordinary looking office building in the middle of the city. Its towering height blending in with the other shining skyscrapers surrounding it. Though, its height does manage to make it more intimidating. Just how many people are in there at once? Is this where they hold meetings?
Yuji looks at the others and they look back with an intimated sort of awe on their faces that he’s sure is mirrored in his own. He worries his lip, suddenly unsure. Megumi shifts his weight from foot to foot, uncharacteristically nervous. Nobara takes a big breath, grits her teeth, and marches toward the entrance.
Megumi and Yuji share a quick glance, then quickly follow suit. Together, they push through the unlabeled glass doors and into their destination.
The sight that greets them is jarringly normal. Where Yuji’s mind again had conjured images of occult circles and maybe some brainwashing activities, there’s an ordinary looking lobby.
There’s some chairs to their left, reminiscent of a lounge area in a hotel. To their right is a reception desk with a stern looking woman sitting behind it. She glances up sharply when they enter. They shuffle forward under her glare up to the desk. The whole area is picturesque, like it was ripped from a movie set. If you had asked Yuji beforehand to imagine the most stereotypical lobby he could think of, this pretty much would have been it.
They make it up to the desk and the woman leans forward a bit, bracing her hands on her desk.
“State your business.” Her voice is exactly how he imagined, like all of his strict teachers rolled into one angry looking older woman. Yuji gulps.
Nobara, their unofficial spokesperson, takes a step forward.
“We came across your organization and were… impressed by what we saw from it. We wanted to join up, but were unsure how, the internet wasn’t exactly clear. This was the closest branch.” A lie. “So we thought we’d come here and ask how to join up.”
The woman stares at Nobara over her glasses. Yuji can’t help but notice that she isn’t wearing a nametag. Her gaze roves over all three of them, stopping on Yuji longer than the others.
“You were…impressed you say.” Her eyes still haven’t left Yuji’s. He takes this as his que to step in.
“Yeah! We’d be super dedicated to the cause if you’d give us the chance.” Ignoring the fact that Yuji isn’t exactly sure what their cause is.
She stares at him a heartbeat longer. Yuji could swear that her gaze lingers on the marks below his eyes. Then she sweeps her gaze over the other two once more, before pursing her lips. She sighs.
“You’re in luck, our leader is in today. He oversees all members, they must be personally approved by him. I can check in with him and send you up if he allows.”
Yuji fights to keep the shock off his face. Geto Suguru is here?! And they can meet him?! Today?! It sounds too good to be true. He faces the others and instantly knows they feel the same from the barely concealed shock and euphoria creeping onto their faces.
“Oh yes please.” Nobara nods excitedly. “We’d very much like to meet him.”
“Have a seat then, I’ll notify you when he’s ready.”
They thank her quickly then nearly run to the seating area.
“Oh my god.” Nobara says, leaning over in her plush chair. “We’re going to meet him!”
“Yes! What are the odds? We lucked out!” Yuji struggles to keep his voice lowered in his excitement.
“We’re actually going to have a meeting with him.” Awe filling Megumi’s face. “I can’t believe it.”
Nobara leans even closer and Yuji follows suit.
“Okay, so now we need a game plan. How do we 1) Discern whether Geto has feelings for Gojo and 2) get them to meet?”
Megumi frowns. “Maybe we can pretend to still be a little unsure? Like ask him about his motivations for the organization. Get personal and try to sneak a question in there.”
“Yes! I like the way you think Fushigoro.” She jabs a finger at his cheek and he swats it away.
“Cut it out.”
Yuji claps his hands together lightly, a metaphorical lightbulb going off. “We could tell him we need our parents permission? Like ask him to meet with them?”
“I don’t know, if we had parents, wouldn’t they just have come with to this meeting?”
Yuji deflates. “Good point.”
“I don’t know, I think it sounds like a solid idea, just needs some tweaking.”
Megumi, if possible, frowns even harder. “I think–
“Our leader will see you now.” The receptionist's voice cuts through their heated discussion. They stand quickly, making their way back over to her.
“You’ll need to take the elevator over there,” she gestures down a short hall. “and head up to floor twenty seven. There’s a meeting room there where he’ll meet you. I’ve sent word so he should arrive soon, you shouldn’t wait long. The conference room is the second door on the right.”
“Thank you!” They bow in thanks and hurriedly walk to the elevator. Once they’re inside the elevator and the doors have securely shut, they circle back up.
“Ok, so I think Megumi’s info plan is what we’ll go with. We’ll aim to subtly get to the question we need, then we’ve got to work out a way to schedule a meeting with him.”
Megumi nods sharply. “Agreed.”
Yuji wrings his hands nervously. “What if he catches on? Shouldn’t we have a back up plan?”
Both Nobara and Megumi wince.
“I hadn’t thought of that.” Megumi admits.
Nobara snorts. “And here I thought you were all about planning ahead. Thought you would’ve been scheming on the way here.” He raises his eyebrows at her.
“Seems you’ve taken the lead in this part of the operation Kugisaki. Shouldn’t you have thought of a back up plan?”
“Excuse me? I–” Whatever retort Nobara had geared up dies in her throat as the elevator lurches to a stop. Floor thirteen, an entire fourteen floors too soon. That means someone’s getting on. Immediately, they scoot to the back of the elevator and try not to look suspicious as the doors slide open and a man steps in. He enters with a sort of supernatural grace, his long black hair flowing behind him. He spares a glance at the floor buttons then turns to face them, back facing the wall. His hands are folded in the rolling fabric of his sleeves and the gauges in his earlobes sway slightly as he tilts his head to offer them a saccharine smile.
“Yo.” He greets, pulling one hand from his sleeve in a wave. “I’m Geto Suguru.”