Chapter Text
Tokyo hadn't changed much ever since Gojo Satoru left it. The streets were still busy, full of noisy people and curses looming in dark alleys. There was some kind of nostalgia to the experience of coming back to the city, where he spent all his high school years – where he almost died twice, where he fell in love for the first time, where he gave birth to his baby. He used to roam these streets all the time, either be it missions or carefree escapades he took with Suguru and Shoko. His youth would be forever engraved into these streets.
Well, he wasn't doing missions anymore except for the self-appointed ones.
Just like the one today.
Satoru readjusted the straps of a baby carrier he wore, the weight over his back now a familiar sensation. If there was anything Gojo had to catch up on after pregnancy, it was the gym, because no matter how fit and strong his muscles were before getting knocked up, the time he spent off-missions nurturing his baby sure as hell took advantage of his physical condition.
Thankfully, ever since his body healed after giving birth, his cursed techniques came back under his reign and so Infinity helped him carry the weight of his one year old toddler.
It would have been easier to leave baby alien with Suguru, to focus solely on the purpose of his task but he needed some kind of reassurance, something to keep him grounded. And so Suguru stayed at the corner of the street, Mimiko and Nanako now almost six years old by his side, waiting impatiently for their papa to buy them crepes.
If everything went according to the plan, then Satoru would get his own crepe later on.
He's just a kid, Satoru told himself as his eyes locked on the thin boy right in front of him. He can't hurt you.
Green eyes measured blue with harshness unfit for a six year old boy.
"Fushiguro Megumi-kun, right?" Satoru crouched down staring at the kid, their eyes meeting at the same level, right above Gojo's sunglasses.
"Who are you?" Megumi asked and took a step back, apprehensive of the stranger that just decided to come up to him. "Or rather what's with the face?"
Gojo couldn't help the grimace that twisted his features, the boy looked too much like his father. Suguru was going to give him hell for this. A mini-version of Fushiguro Toji was the last thing they needed in their already hectic life. But Satoru promised himself no kid would ever fall prey to the Jujutsu system and the Zen'ins were already looking for Toji's child.
With all the self restrain he mustered, Satoru tried to ease his face and show the boy that he wasn't a threat.
"Just thinking you look similar, that's all," he said, then he slipped the sunglasses off his nose, baring his eyes to the kid, stripping himself down. "I'm Gojo Satoru and I'm building a new school for sorcerers, for people like you. You have powers and see them, curses, don't you?"
"Why me?" Megumi asked, his thin hands coming to the straps of his backpack. Satoru could see that he was way thinner than a healthy kid should be. Give me a chance, Gojo thought, let me take care of you.
"The big loser, I mean your dad, asked me to find you," Satoru explained, watching as Megumi looked at him with the ever indifferent expression. Somehow it reminded him of his own face, when he was a child locked up in the Gojo estate, sheltered from the rest of the world. "He was born into a big, old Zen'in clan and if it's not me, then they will come to get you because your powers are special to them. You were your father's trump card but he's not around here anymore, is he?"
"I haven't seen him in years. This clan, how are they different from you?" Megumi kept his answers short and measured, making Gojo wonder, whether he truly was a first grader.
The boy tilted his head to the right, green eyes looking past Satoru's face, then going wide, finally morphed into an emotion. Satoru knew what Megumi saw – a set of black eyes framed by white lashes and a mop of platinum white hair. Baby alien may not have had his blue eyes but it was impossible to mistake them for somebody else's child.
As if on cue, Satoru felt his baby's breath fan against his neck before two chubby arms punched him at the back of his head, knocking him forward.
"Ma!" Baby alien exclaimed in the only way they knew calling for Satoru's attention.
"Well, Megumi, meet baby alien," He turned halfway, so that the kids could see each other better. "And right there, by the crepe stand, stands Suguru, my best friend. He saved the two girls beside him and we're raising them now. They're all sorcerers, just like you and me."
Baby alien started wiggling enthusiastically, their post-nap energy release just around the corner, so Satoru took the carrier off his back and held the child to his chest.
"You asked me, how different am I from the Zen'ins. They are a clan, bound by blood and tradition. We are a group of people, who chose each other. A family born out of love, not duty," He pressed a kiss to baby alien's hair, a habit he didn't know he would have by the age of twenty one.
"I have a sister. Would she be happy, if we went with the Zen'in clan?"
Fushiguro Tsumiki. Satoru had already learned about her and decided to include her into their tiny family. Suguru laughed at him, when he heard about her, holding him close and pressing kisses to his pale neck.
"I can give you another child, if you want it so bad."
"No, I can guarantee you that she'd never be happy with them."
Megumi's face washed over in the mask of indifference yet again, his eyes getting distant but still set on the far end of the street, right were Suguru and the twins were. His hand settled over his stomach and Satoru wondered just how hungry he must had been. Fushiguro Toji was a mad man, one of the worst of Satoru's nightmares and the force that drove Suguru into the darkness he would never truly be free of.
However, none of his actions were Megumi's fault.
"Would you like to meet them?" Satoru asked and watched as baby alien made grabby hands at Megumi. The boy seemed appalled at first but then he gave in and let the baby grab at two of his fingers. "Do you like crepes, Megumi-kun?"
Satoru reached out and tousled Megumi's spiky hair, watching as the kid's cheeks dusted with a deep blush.
"I don't know, I never tried them," the boy answered and Satoru feigned surprise, holding a hand to his heart as if Megumi's statement was the most atrocious thing he ever heard.
"We have to change that," Satoru exclaimed loudly and secured baby alien on his back again. Then he reached down and took Megumi's little hand in his own, guiding him towards the stand. "I'm going to buy you all the crepes in the world!"
Suguru watched them come closer, his black eyes finding Satoru's blue, long hair flowing in the spring breeze. His lips widened in a gentle smile, cursed energy less terrifying than it used to be last year.
"Pa!" Baby alien shouted upon seeing their papa, small hands pulling at Satoru's hair to make him hurry up.
"Oh, I see the Gojo genes are acting out," Suguru said once they came closer, his eyes shining with mirth and Satoru wanted to fight that stupid, sexy smirk off his face.
He stuck his tongue out at Suguru in the most mature response he could muster.
"Megumi, meet Suguru, the meanest man I know," Satoru said and had to instantly stifle a laugh as Suguru uttered you know other man in false disbelief. "And here are our lovely daughters, Mimiko and Nanako."
Megumi's green eyes scanned their faces carefully, legs ready to flee but his hand holding Satoru's tightly. He looked like a wild animal, scared of all his surroundings, assessing danger all the time. After a moment of hesitation, he introduced himself to Getou and the twins, then watched in shock as Suguru offered to buy him a crepe.
"I want one too," Satoru whined beside them, accompanied by baby alien's loud Pa!
"You two are the worst," Suguru said but still leaned over and placed a kiss on their baby's cheek, then on Satoru's lips. He also ruffled Megumi's spiky hair before ordering another set of crepes, which caused the boy to blush deeply.
Once they got their food, Nanako pulled Megumi to sit with her and Mimiko on a bench, while Satoru, Suguru and baby alien took the opposite one. It was enduring to watch the kids bond, talking much more casually with the one another than with adults. Satoru could already see them becoming siblings.
"He'll be safe with us," Suguru said, bouncing baby alien in his lap, his hands holding their sides. The hands that used to kill, now only destined to raise children. "Even when he bares this face."
"Ugh, you see it too," Satoru whined from around his treat, whipped cream smeared over his lips. He squinted his eyes, while looking at the kids, his sunglasses left hidden in his pocket.
"He's not at fault," Suguru circled Gojo's shoulders with his arm, resting his hand over Satoru's sensitive eyes. "Just like you never were."
It was left unsaid Suguru's actions were actually his fault and he was atoning for them now.
Satoru took another bite and leaned his head over Getou's shoulder, his free hand coming to rest over their toddler's lap. If two years ago someone were to tell Satoru that this little baby would posses the power to stray Suguru away from murder, from the resolution that all non-sorcerers had to die, he would have laughed at their face. The day Suguru kissed him goodbye in Shinjuku seemed like a final farewell. They were never supposed to get back together, never to raise kids and start a school of their own. The blood on Suguru's hands would always be there – even if he never killed again, even if he gave Satoru another child – his hands would always be stained red.
But Gojo Satoru wasn't a saint himself and it was his choice to hold onto that blooded hand nonetheless.