Chapter Text
Of all the things you expected to be doing on your Wednesday afternoon, marching down to the principal's office of your son's school was not one of them. You had gotten the call while in a meeting with your publishers, and when you were told that your son got into another fight, you quickly had to end things and leave. Although you and your family lived in a town with one of the highest amounts of cursed energy across the country, it was always a risk showing up to his school. But with no other choice, this brought you to the present where you were making yet another trip to the now familiar principals office as you got passing glances from students far too young for you and teachers far too old for you. A skill you developed over time was the ability to camouflage your markings from people, but the curse in you made your already good features more striking to the human eye. They’d never be able to guess it, but your otherworldly beauty was truly inhumane, right down to the poise of your walk. But none of that mattered to you since you weren’t getting the attention from the one person you wanted it from the most… But for now, you pushed those thoughts to the waist side as you entered the cold and stuffy office.
The first thing you saw was the back of your son's head, which was tilted slightly downwards as he twiddled with his thumbs in his lap. Across the desk was the principal, who looked like he was ready to give another one of his long lectures that could bore you to death (or back to life?). In the seat beside your son sat a kid with spiky raven hair. He looked beyond bored as he seemed to be zoning out in his own thoughts. And sitting on the bench seat on the side of the room facing the principal's desk was a man who’s resemblance to his son was uncanny. He was so large, you were surprised he wasn’t the first thing you saw when you walked into the room. Your son's natural salmon colored hair could stand out from a crowd, but the man sitting aside from you had all the dark and brooding characteristics of some forgotten movie star all wrapped up in a too tight package he called a shirt. He was casually twirling a toothpick in his mouth, and after giving the principal a brief greeting, you walked over to the man with your hand outstretched to him. He gave you a once over that seemed a little too appreciative, tongue twirling around the toothpick the whole time as he shot piercing green eyes up at you and finally took your hand. As you introduced yourself, you said, “I hardly know what’s going on, but if I have to be honest, this isn’t my son’s first fight. I’m sorry for any trouble he’s caused and I hope we can resolve this amicably.”
“No shit,” he laughed to your surprise before directing his gaze at his son. “I thought my son was the school bully, but it looks like he’s finally met his match.”
Unable to hide your shock, you turned back to the boys to see them both looking down to the floor in shame. All eyes were brought to the principal as he gave a commanding faux cough.
“Yes, it seems that both of your children have developed a habit of reacting physically during school hours. I suppose it was only a matter of time till they quarreled. Hopefully having you all together we can discuss a way to proactively improve their behavior as they serve their days in in-school suspension.”
You had half a mind to tell the man to save the Shakespearean talk for Literature 101, but that thought was silenced when the man beside you spoke, “Yeah, I think the most proactive solution is for them to just stick to fighting each other. It at least gives the other kids a break. And hell, they might even knock some sense into each other.”
“Mr.Fushiguro! I ask you to please take this matter seriously. If this behavior continues, there are far worse consequences for your son down the line.”
“He’s right, Mr.Fushiguro,” you said while turning on your heels to face the father. “Our sons shouldn’t be fighting…. During school hours. I think we need to teach them the importance of time management, and how there’s a time and place for everything.”
The principal croaked your name from across the room as the man in front of you gave a satisfied grin. The toothpick was caught between his sharp pearly whites and this time when his eyes scanned your body, it was much slower and heated. You couldn’t control the shiver that went down your spine, but luckily the moment was put on pause by the principals heaving words and empty threats.
“There’s no use in leading the blind! Please leave my office. Both of your children will be sentenced to a week in school suspension starting tomorrow. Now please leave!”
He was still grumbling to himself as you all shuffled out the room. Once signing out with the office secretary, you and your son were making a languid pace towards the school parking lot. When you both exited out of the front door and into the fresh daytime air, that’s when you finally spoke. Leaning down slightly as you walked beside him, you said, “I think that’s a new record for the shortest visit we’ve had in his office this year.”
“You weren’t there when he was lecturing. I think he even quoted Catcher and the Rye,” Kiseki grumbled as he kicked a pebble across the pavement.
“Hm, interesting choice. I’ll have to mark that one down,” you said as you began to dig for your keys in your tote bag.
“I think if I sat through another one of his lectures, I would’ve gotten in school suspension,” came a deep voice behind you. You turned to see Mr.Fushiguro walking beside his son who gave his father an irritated side glance.
“Dad, shut up,” the boy said.
“Hey, watch what you say before you end up on dish duty for a month,” he said while digging into the pockets of his baggy pants. He held out a pair of keys to his son as he said, “Go get the car started, and crank that AC up while you’re at it.”
The boy silently took the keys in his hand and started to walk forward, head still tilted down till an arm came out and patted his chest, stopping him in his tracks.
“Hey, no hard feelings, right? They usually let you off early if you finish all your school work,” said Kiseki to the boy, giving him a neutral look.
“Yeah, I know. And yeah… We’re cool,” the raven haired boy had the smallest hint of a smile on his lips before turning back and disappearing into the sea of parked cars. You couldn’t help but to smile fondly at the shared moment between the boys. This was exactly why you could never really get mad at your son for his bad habit of fighting. It wasn’t something you encouraged, but at least he was a good sport about it and never seemed to go overboard. Considering his lineage, you made it a priority to teach him to understand his own strength and how to control it. You handed Kiseki the keys and told him to do the same before turning back to the man, and for a moment it looked like his eyes had been staring at your ass when your head was turned. You arched your brow ever so slightly and the man coughed into his fist before saying, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too that you had to come out here. You seem like a very important woman.”
He waved loosely at your office attire, which made you duck your head while you laughed, “Don’t be fooled, I’m not all that important.”
“What do you do?” He asked, seeming genuinely curious.
Shifting on your heels, you still felt so small standing in front of him. His stature was even more intimidating vertically, but you looked up into his eyes as you said, “I’m a writer. I’ve co-authored a few study books, but I don’t have a catalogue of my own yet.”
“Really? You must be really smart. Smart people are important.”
“Well, I don’t know about all that…,” you said as you tilted your face to the side to cover your blush.
“Important to your husband?”
That caught you off guard, and you looked up at him in surprise before saying, “Uhm, what kind of work do you do, Mr.Fushiguro?”
“Please, call me Toji. I’m kind of like a contractor,” he said confidently.
“ Kind of like a contractor?” You asked with a small smile on your lips.
“I’m in between jobs right now but I help out where I can. Mostly manual labor stuff, heavy lifting and the sorts,” he said as he dug into his back pocket and pulled out a card. Holding it out to you, he said, “My cell is on there. Keep it in case you need anything.”
“Ah, so you’re a jack of all trades, huh?” You said while pinching the card in your fingers, thinking that Toji would let it go but instead he held onto the other end, and it only took one step for him to be towering over you, barely a few inches apart. The way his long dark hair was casted over his features look even more fierce, and the side of his lip that has the scar tilted up as he looked down at you.
“I guess you could call it that,” the leer in his eyes was unmistakable as they traveled down and up your body before meeting your eyes again. “Really, it’s whatever I can get my hands on.”
Before you could respond, he let go of the card and started heading towards the parking lot, leaving you utterly shocked as you blankly stared after him. When you looked down at the card, you contemplated for a moment if you should hold onto it. Convincing yourself there was no harm in it, you shoved it deep into your purse and made your way towards your car.
—-
It was day one hundred .
It was pathetic that you knew that, but it was the truth. It has been a hundred days since the last time you or your son saw Sukuna. When you went to bed the night prior, a small stupid part of you thought that maybe he was counting too. And that maybe he wanted to wait till the hundredth day so you could wake up to him. You’d have a hundred stories to share, big or small. A hundred touches to make up for lost time…
But that was all blind faith. Because when you woke up in the morning, there was nothing but a cold empty bed beside you. You had long given up the routine of searching for any hand written notes he might have left, but as you walked to your bathroom to get ready for the day, your eyes still scanned the room to no avail.
The worst part is that he really had no excuse. After much convincing on your part, you got Sukuna to keep a cell phone on him, and taught him the basics of how to use it to communicate to you. Him ghosting you for this long meant that something could’ve happened to him. You couldn’t even begin to fathom where he could be, but a more realistic (and depressing) side of you told you that he just didn’t care enough to respond to any of your texts or calls.
The ugly thoughts didn’t go away, not even as you headed your way towards the kitchen. At one point you zoned out with your hand cupping the edge of the kitchens’ island counter as your mind wandered to the possibility that maybe he’s already started a new family. Maybe he had grown bored of the mundane platonic family life, and decided it was time for him to focus on something that was more his style. Or maybe he woke up one day and realized he didn’t actually lo-
All thoughts were halted when a cracking noise broke in the air and you nearly fell over. Catching yourself just in time, the piece of the counter that you were holding onto had crumbled beneath your touch and scattered at your feet. These were one of the few times where you’d forget your own strength, and you felt guilty for doing it so out in the open. As you walked towards the hallway closet to grab the broom, a voice stopped you in your place.
“Hey, mom? Could Megumi stay the night this weekend?” You stopped to see your son sitting at this computer desk, headphones on lopsided.
It took you a second to put the name to the face, and with much curiosity, you said, “The spiky haired kid you fought the other day? Really?”
“Yeah, he’s actually pretty cool,” he said plainly, but knowing him you knew he was being genuine.
Trying your best to cover up your proud mother smile, you said, “Sure. Just make sure his parents agree as well.”
“Okay. But just so you know, Megumi only has a dad.”
That shouldn’t have made a tingle travel from the center of your chest, but it was there even when you casually said, “Oh, okay. Noted.”
Without a second glance, your son turned back to his desk, and for a moment you completely forgot why you were in the hallway in the first place.
—-
‘It’s been 100 days since we’ve seen you.’
That was the text message you sent Sukuna that night when you were preparing for bed. You hadn’t called or messaged him in weeks, simply because you were tired of being ignored. And even though you doubted he would read this either, a part of you hoped he did. And that he could read between the lines to see your frustration and disappointment. You stared at the screen for far too long, wondering if those three dots you rarely saw would make an appearance this time. But soon enough, your phone screen went black due to inactivity. Opening the drawer to your side table, you threw your phone in there and shut the drawer firmly.
If he had anything to say, he could say it in person.
—
Maybe ending the school week your son spent in in-school suspension with a sleepover with none other than half the reason why he was there in the first place was considered bad parenting, but a part of you felt bad for Kiseki. He didn’t ask much about his fathers whereabouts anymore, you could tell the vague answers you gave him didn’t make him happy. You’d rather him spend the weekend enjoying his youth with his peers rather than worrying about his absent father.
Yup, that was the only reason.
Throughout the evening, you kept yourself busy with work. Your phone was still in the drawer of your room, untouched. Keeping yourself preoccupied was the only thing that was keeping you from going up stairs to check for any missed notifications, however you went a bit overboard and didn’t even realize what time it was till you heard the front doorbell ring. Swearing to yourself, you shut down your laptop and made your way to the front entrance. Standing in the hall was none other than Toji and his son, the latter of which giving his dad a half hearted goodbye before disappearing into the living room with your son. When Toji’s eyes landed on you, you almost felt like prey being hunted in a forest as his green eyes looked you up and down.
“Hello, Toji. What an interesting turn of events these last few days, huh?”
“Believe me, no one was more shocked than I was to hear Megumi utter the word ‘friend’.”
“Shut up, dad,” Megumi’s voice could be heard from the other room, causing Toji to smile.
“Would you like a drink?” you offered, pointing to where the kitchen led before he agreed to follow. You had to fight the urge to not look back as you heard his heavy footsteps behind you, and ran your sweaty palms down the sides of your skirt.
“Worked late today?” He said behind you while you turned the corner of the kitchen island. At first you were surprised he was able to guess it until you looked down at your outfit.
“Uh, yeah. Sorry, I lost track of time.”
Making his way around the counter, he said, “There’s no need to apologize. It’s a good look.”
You turned towards the fridge, in part to hide your burning cheeks, and opened the door, “Did you want coffee or a water?”
“Oh,” he said, causing you to look up at him as he scratched his head bashfully. “By drinks, I thought you meant beer. My bad.”
You ran your tongue across your teeth to subdue your smile as you turned to him and said, “Did you drive here?”
He shook his head no and you turned back to the fridge, inspecting the drink cabinet as you said, “I’m not much of a beer drinker, but I have some fruity seltzers if that’s okay?”
“Sure,” he said while taking the can from your hand. You didn’t even realize you were staring as he took a few long gulps of his drink, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. When he lowered his head back down, you quickly turned to set your drink on the counter.
“What happened there?” Toji points to the part of the kitchen counter you had accidentally chipped off the other day. Because the aftermath of the act itself caused you to have deep guilt for allowing one person to get such a reaction out of you, you had cleaned up your mess and told yourself to forget about the whole thing. You just didn’t think about the prospect of anyone else seeing it.
“I think it got some water damage. This sink can be leaky sometimes,” you lied effortlessly, though you thought you’d be saying this to someone else.
“Damn. Well good news is that I can definitely patch up the spot so your counter doesn’t look like a horse bit into it. But you should also let me take a look at that sink to fix that leak.”
You smiled against the aluminum can in your hand as you said jokingly, “What you’re saying is that you need to flex your jack of all trades talents on me?”
“And if you’re impressed by them, what will you do?” He said while taking a step forward, closing some of the distance between you two. You hoped the lighting was dim enough to hide your blush.
“Pay you, of course,” you said while trying to pass off as casual when you took another sip of your drink.
“I won’t accept money from you,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Well I don’t expect you to do this for free!”
Leaning back against the counter, he looked off to the side at you as he said against the rim of his drink, “I’m sure you’ll figure out some way to repay me.”
—-
You didn’t expect for your conversation to go on with Toji for as long as it did, but when Megumi stepped into the kitchen and saw that his dad was still present, all it took was one death glare for him to start making his exit.
You weren’t drunk, but you definitely felt a little tipsy with the seltzers you had during your time with him. Your conversation continued with him as you made your way to the front door, and at one point you stupidly tripped over one of the boy's shoes, causing you to trip before being caught in a pair of strong arms. Once you realized the position you were in, your face tingled with embarrassment. He had his arms wrapped low around your waist, stopping you from nearly face planting into his chest, your hands resting on his pecs. Even though you immediately felt guilty for feeling it, you couldn’t deny that those few seconds you spent in his arms felt good. It felt good to be held again, even if it wasn’t from who you wanted it from the most.
“I know you’re small, but can a couple of club sodas really get you this drunk?” He grinned down at you, flashing perfect teeth.
“I’m not small,” you said as you started to push yourself off his chest. However, Toji’s hands pulled your waist closer to him, gripping you in a way that emphasized just how much surface area his hands were able to cover.
“Looks pretty small to me,” he said before sliding his hands off of you. Your body was still in shell shock as you watched him turn towards the door.
“Just shoot me a message whenever you get tired of him and I’ll come pick him up.”
“I don’t know. He’s so adorable, I might have to keep him forever,” you crossed your arms over your chest. “I’m pretty sure I heard Kiseki mention an arcade they wanted to go to. He said they should be back home tomorrow by the afternoon.”
“In that case, I’ll come over with my tools before then to work on that sink. Does 11 sound good to you?”
“Uh, yeah, that works,” you said while your eyes darted off to the side. So you’d be alone with him. The idea of that kind of made you nervous but you weren’t sure what for.
“Unless you’d like me to wait till your husband is home?” He asked, sensing your hesitation.
“No, no! It’s fine, really. He’s not really… around right now,” You said with your head tilted slightly down.
“That’s his loss,” Toji said before walking to the front door. Turning back with a calm look over his scarred face he said, “See you tomorrow.”
You definitely needed another drink.
---
The next day after you dropped off the boys, the time you spent in your house pacing around the room as you anxiously waited for your guest had you rethinking every decision you have made up to this point.
‘He’s just here to help. Why should I be nervous. I trust that he’s not dangerous.’
‘Should I change? Is this dress too revealing? Why should that matter.’
‘Maybe I should go upstairs and check if I have any missed c-’
Your anxious thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell ringing, and as you walked to the front door, you mentally pushed all those thoughts to the side. Standing on your front porch was none other than the man of the hour. The morning sun was making a late arrival today, and you swore you could see every muscle underneath his black t-shirt that casted against the light. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you forced yourself to meet the man's eyes as you said, “Hey! Thanks again for doing this.”
“Don’t thank me just yet,” he said as he stepped into the house with a tool box in tow. “I might end up flooding your kitchen.”
“In that case, you’re definitely not getting paid,” you smirked as you closed the door. This proceeded with Toji first checking underneath the sink for any water damage and good lord it should’ve been illegal for how good he looked lying down in the middle of your kitchen, long legs sprawled out below a large torso. You didn’t even realize you were staring till you saw Toji’s hands grip the counter above his head and push himself away from the sink.
“There doesn’t seem to be any leaks or broken valves. You still might want to get a real professional out here to look at it just in case,” he said while putting down his tools. Afterwards, you gave him the lump of counter that you had chipped off and he proceeded to glue it back onto the island with some type of paste. There were some gaps from where the piece had chipped around the edges, but Toji had a sealant on him that made the cracks look almost invisible.
“That part looks fun,” you said, sitting across from him on one of your bar stools as you watched him slide his fingers over the counter to pick up any extra paste that was seeping out.
“Did you wanna try it?”
“Oh, I don’t know...”
“What’s wrong, princess? Afraid of getting your hands dirty?”
Well you definitely couldn’t have him thinking you were some kind of priss. So when you hopped off the stool and made your way to the spot he was working on, you were a bit surprised that he hardly moved out of your way, his shoulders almost caging you in against the counter. Maybe you were a bit uptight, considering you’d wipe your finger off on a hand towel every time the glob of paste that collected on it was about the size of a dime. Grunting, one of Toji’s hands came out to run extra paste that was on his knuckles on your hand that you just wiped clean. You were about to give his hand the same exact treatment, but he pulled it away before you could reach it. This caused you to turn around to face him as you raised your messy hand towards Toji’s face in a threatening yet slow pace.
“What’s wrong, princess, ” you smiled wickedly at him as you tried to push your hand out of the grasp his wrists had on it. His hold on you wasn’t the least bit painful, but your attempt at revenge was cut short. Holding back your grin, you started to pull your arm away, only to be met with the same amount of resistance. This little battle went on for a few more seconds as you threw your head back in a laugh, but that was interrupted when the grip he had on your hand loosened up just enough for you to slide away from his grasp, but he was quick to capture your hand in both of his. When you placed your hand over his to try to pry them open, you realized then how much you were touching each other in that moment. He was hovered over you with his hips just inches away from your abdomen. It made your chest feel heavy with how this man's body had such an effect on you even though you knew it shouldn’t.
“Okay, you win,” you said while loosening your grasp on him. He let your hands go but still had you sandwiched between him and the counter. Your hands drew back to grip the counter, thinking that it would create more space, but instead your chest came in contact with his, your clothed nipples ghosting over his chest. You could feel the nerves in them swell for attention, but you were too embarrassed to make another move, averting your eyes from him
“What do I win?” You could hear the smirk in his voice, and it only made the nerves in your body go haywire. He could probably tell you were too nervous to respond and said, “How about I get to use that fancy hand soap you were talking about yesterday.”
He held up a messy hand, the veins on the back of his palm visible. Before you could stare too long, you squeaked out a ‘sure’ and squeezed past him towards the staircase. He followed behind you as you mentally told yourself that you weren’t swinging your hips. When you entered the bedroom, you pointed to the attached bathroom. When he closed the door behind him, the urge to check your phone could not be capped. You sat on the side of your bed as you opened the drawer, seeing your phone in the same spot you left it. The few seconds it took to grab it and power it on felt eternal, an anxiety that couldn’t be stopped even with an undead heart. But once you unlocked your phone, you saw that there was nothing but spam emails and pointless notifications. When you opened your text chat with Sukuna, your heart dropped when you saw that he had read your message days ago. There was no response, no missing calls.
Nothing.
You tried not to let your assumptions get the best of you, but this was the confirmation you were dreading that you and your son had been forgotten. Seen as disposable. The anger that stirred in you made you act on impulse. Getting up and walking across the bedroom, you hit the FaceTime button and propped your phone against the spines of some of your books sitting on your bookshelf, back camera side facing out. You didn’t have time to second guess your actions when your perfect distraction walked through your bathroom door. You were already halfway across the bedroom when he met you in the middle, catching you off guard when he stuck out his hands to fling water at you.
“I know how you women can be with your fancy towels, so I didn’t want to risk soiling one ,” he said with a devilish smirk.
“So you use my face instead?!” Your laugh giving away your mock offense, smacking his hand away but he grabbed your wrist and turned you so fast you didn’t know what was happening till your back was pressed against his chest. You were frozen in place as he tilted his head down to speak into your ear.
“What’s the phone there for?” He asked softly, tilting his chin towards your bookshelf. At this point you both had gone too far for subtleties.
Turning your head to look into his eyes, you said “I want to show someone what they’re missing out on.”
“Hm, I don’t know about that,” he said and for a moment your heart sank until you felt the hand that wasn’t holding your wrist up travel down the side of your waist and rest on your hip before he started to ball up the fabric of your skirt in one hand. “I’d much rather be the one showing them.”
You could feel the cool air touch your upper thighs as he continued to inch up your skirt. You were glad he moved his other hand down to your abdomen, holding you against him as your thighs squeezed together to dull the growing ache between them. Just when you felt his fingers make contact with your bare skin, your breath hitched against his lips, causing his smirk to grow even wider.
The only thing that took you out of the moment was the sound of the doorbell ringing. You both paused for a moment before you stepped forward and out of Toji’s reach. Probably looking completely flustered, you turned to him and said, “I should get that.”
A thousand thoughts were racing through your mind as you made your way down the stairs, patting down anything that might’ve been out of place. By the time you answered the door, you are too zoned out to register the picture in front of you.
The picture being Sukuna. Standing at your doorway, hands in his pants pockets with a dark hoodie covering his upper half. The attire was the most human you’ve seen him in in a while, but the markings on his face, sharp teeth gleaming between plush lips, and red eyes that showed nothing but hate were anything but human. However, they weren’t looking in your direction.
“Hey, I’m Toji,” the man who was now standing behind you said as he stepped over and brought his hand out for a shake that was never reciprocated. Instead, Sukuna looked down at it and up to the owner's face like he was looking at a piece of trash on the sidewalk.
“You can leave my house now,” Sukuna said before directing his gaze at you, and you could’ve sworn you saw flames in his eyes.
His words stirred something in you. As if he has ownership over everything you two shared even though he’s clearly proven that it doesn’t matter to him. Crossing your arms over your chest, you said,“Actually, he’s a guest of our house, and the parent of Kiseki’s friend. You would know that if you’ve been around.”
“Clearly you’ve been getting around just fine by yourself,” Sukuna’s brows tilted up as he flashed a fanged smile at you. You were trying to stand your ground but his stance alone was enough to make you quiver.
“Hey, I’m not trying to cause any trouble here,” he said before turning toward you, resting a hand on your forearm. “Do you need me to stay?”
That was the entirely wrong thing to say at a time like this, and with each passing second you were anticipating some type of horrific bloodshed. For the sake of everyone involved, you needed to break up whatever tension was being built right now. But before you got the chance, a hand was gripping your opposite forearm possessively. In an instant, you were being pulled across the living room and into your home office. When the door slammed closed behind you, you turned to Sukuna with unfiltered anger as you said, “What are you doing?!”
“That’s a pretty stupid question to ask, considering you were the one to call me,” he said as he stood in front of the door, towering over you like the menacing figure he was.
“I know it wasn’t the right thing to do, but apparently it’s the only way I can get your attention nowadays,” your nostrils flared under his gaze.
“And you expect me to behave myself like some pathetic dog after what I witnessed? In front of that filthy human pet you adopted?”
It astonished you how he could be smiling in spite of his cruel words. “He’s not a pet, I don’t own him. He’s a friend and the most present father figure that’s been in this house for months.”
“None of that will matter after I rip his spine in half.”