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Gojo and Getou were on the date when they got a call about some weird ass curse in the kindergarten. Curse… in the kindergarten. That was a really bad combination. It could be everything, from the curse that thinks it’s a child and non-intentionally hurts real children, a little cut with a kid’s scissors, to one that skins crying children alive.
When they got into the location, Gojo immediately knew what type of a curse it was. It was actually pretty unique, a rare thing. It looked like a very big, reaching almost to the ceiling, baby doll. It was staying completely still.
„Something off about it” Suguru spoke up.
„That’s a funny one” Satoru smirked. „You can only exorcise it by being effective by it. It transforms the affected one for less than a day, I think.”
„You think?” Getou sent him a glare.
„Two days max” Gojo replied. „Okie doki, I’m taking this one.”
„Sato-” Suguru couldn’t even finish saying his name as his boyfriend, although it’s been so long he prefers to just call him his partner, started exorcising the curse.
A flash of blue, dust and a few lighter toys floated in the air for a moment and then-
No curse, no Satoru either. Just a pile of his clothes on the floor. For a second Suguru’s heart stopped completely. He was already contemplating suicide when he heard a faint shuffle. From the pile of clothes a small head with snow-colored hair and large azure eyes peeked out. Satoru’s blindfold was hanging on his neck. He wrapped his jacket around himself, though it still could fit like three babies like this. How old is he even? Getou asked himself. Three? Little Gojo didn’t speak up, his eyes took in his surroundings and then stopped at Suguru.
„Who you?” baby Gojo asked.
He might be younger than three, if he doesn’t exactly can ask him that correctly. Also it’s not like he really is this young now, he’s just transformed. Right?
„I’m Suguru, I’m-” Getou shut his mouth, he’s not gonna tell a little baby that he’s his boyfriend. Like what the fuck? But… it was his Satoru. The fuck he supposed to say? „I’m your caretaker” Suguru forced a smile but it sounded fake as hell.
Little Satoru didn’t look convinced.
Suguru stretched the top of his head. Satoru never really talks about his childhood. It wasn’t nice or fun, that much Suguru knew. Six eyes was a thing since he was born, right? But the rest of his technique showed up around being five, right? He wasn’t five now for sure, so Suguru shouldn’t worry about the little Gojo teleporting himself out of here but, well. He was worried anyway.
What to do? What to do?
„Alright, I’m gonna be real honest with you, Satoru. You don’t know where you are, because you’re actually twenty-eight years old and the curse just transformed you into a younger version of you. Somewhere in those big clothes of yours is a phone-” does baby Gojo even aware that it's not 92’ anymore? „It’s like a little, thin screen. You can see yourself all grown up in it” he tried.
„You sorcerer” little Satoru said, apparently not interested in the subject of his phone much.
„Yeah, I am” Suguru sat down on the floor, trying to seem less threatening.
„No Gojo?” it seemed like a question.
„No, I’m not from the Gojo Clan, but I’m friendly” Getou tried once again.
Little Satoru tilted his head, eyes still locked on Suguru. The little one frowned, his eyes didn’t leave Getou but they moved, from his eyes to his shoulders, hands, chest and then stomach.
„You… eat curses?” Satoru asked.
„Kind of” Suguru admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. „My cursed technique, Cursed Spirit Manipulation, I exorcise curses into a little sphere and I eat it. After that I can control that curse and summon it as I please” he let a small curse slip into his palm, harmless, weak, barely more than a wisp. It curled lazily around his fingers.
Little Satoru’s eyes widened. Not in fear but in recognition.
„Tamer” he murmured.
Suguru let the curse disappear. „Yeah.”
Baby Gojo finally looked away from him, his eyes quickly widened once again, but way different this time.
„Toys” he said, almost sounding shocked.
He shuffled towards the nearest plushie. Still wrapped in clothes that swallowed him whole, barefoot too. The toy in question was a unicorn, half the size of Satoru in his current condition. His eyes basically glowed as he grabbed it and hugged it tightly to his chest. Yes, it was a familiar sight. Satoru, being almost thirty years old, he loves cute stuffed animals. They never unpacked it, but Suguru could guess it was about healing his inner child or something. Suguru looked at that twenty-eight-year-old that was around three now. Satoru was inspecting the plushie as he pulled it away enough to give it another look, pressing its ear, turning it around, patting it like he expected it to react. Then, very seriously he said: „It’s soft.”
Suguru huffed under his breath. „Groundbreaking discovery.”
No reaction. Satoru just buried his face into it for one more second, like he needed to confirm its softness again.
„Satoru, we should go” Suguru said eventually.
Two days max, this idiot said. They couldn’t stay here for two days.
Satoru looked just sad to hear it. „No more toys.”
„Those are kindergarten's toys-” before Suguru could finish the sentence, which was supposed to trick the little child into agreeing to go with him… this sounds way more diabolical than the situation really is, baby Gojo cut him off, letting go of the stuffed unicorn.
„Kindergarten for normal kids. Not the strongest” he repeated something he definitely heard from someone.
„Satoru” Getou shifted a bit closer to the transformed strongest. „How about we buy some toys just for you?”
That’s his trick. Maybe it will work. Or maybe they're gonna stay here till Gojo transforms back into his regular twenty-eight-year-old self. Although, it would be very awkward, when the real kids show up in the morning.
Little Satoru just gave him a quick look, didn’t say anything and looked back at the unicorn, grieving.
Fuck.
Suguru moved to Satoru's pants, left a meter away, as the kid wrapped himself in just his too big jacket and also too big, black compression-shirt. He picked up Gojo's phone and unlocked it. He knew the code. 90023. He didn’t exactly know what he was doing, but he didn’t want to stay here with this sad Satoru for two days. The sadness of this child was hard on his heart. He opened the photo gallery on Gojo's phone, opened the favorite folder, because that was pretty safe territory. There were a lot of their stupid selfies together or Gojo with the students. He chose the photo with just two of them, doing some silly faces and showed it to the little Satoru. His blue eyes widened once more, he blinked like he couldn’t believe it.
Before Suguru had a chance to say what he wanted to say, the child asked: „My dada?”
„No, it’s you” Suguru replied quickly. „I told you. You are an adult, you being like this and not remembering anything is an effect of a curse.”
„So… you don’t know dada?” little Satoru seemed disappointed with that.
„No, sorry” this is way harder than dealing with most of the curses.
Satoru looked down at the screen again, small fingers hovering uncertainly over the image. Him, older, smiling wide and unrestrained, leaning into Suguru like there was nowhere else he’d rather be. Then baby Gojo looked back at Suguru. Then back to the photo, his little brows knit together.
„Me?” he asked quieter.
„Yes” Suguru said gently. „That’s you.”
The smaller one looked up again. Long, searching. „Why you there?” he asked.
Suguru blinked. „What do you mean?”
A small finger pointing at the screen. „You close.”
Getou let out a little sigh, this situation was ridiculous.
„Well, we’re best friends and we work together” those weren’t lies.
„Sorcery work?” little Satoru blinked at him with those big eyes.
„Besides doing regular missions and exorcism, we teach young sorcerers. Older than you now, though” he answered.
He swiped to the other photo, which itself seemed to surprise Satoru. Yeah, big technology upgrade since 92’, touch screen. There was a selfie of Satoru in his regular age with the first year students. Megumi looked like he was forced to be in the photo, when the other two posed perfectly. In the picture, again, Satoru was happy. He was always happy around their students.
„We teachers? Like my tutors?” the little one asked, looking at the photo.
„Not like your tutors” Suguru replied immediately.
They talked about it maybe twice. He knows that sorcerers from Gojo Clan, who were doing for Satoru's tutors, were some cold, heartless assholes.
„We like the students, and they seem to like us” Getou added.
Satoru stared at the picture a little longer. Then he looked up at Suguru again. „They not scared?” he asked.
Suguru’s expression softened before he could stop it.
„No” he said. „Never of you.”
Satoru blinked, like that answer didn’t quite fit into whatever he knew about the world.
„Why?”
Suguru huffed quietly, but there was no humor in it. „Because you don’t give them a reason to be. You care about them a lot.”
That earned him a long look, too long for a child, too aware. Then Satoru glanced back at the phone again, fingers lightly gripping the edges.
„They like me?”
Suguru's heart was about to break. „Yes.”
Gojo's thumb brushed over his own face on the screen. „Why?” he asked again, quieter now. Not confused this time, but careful.
„Because you’re kind to them” Suguru said. „In your own way.”
Satoru once again didn’t look convinced. „I strong?” he asked, like that contradicted everything.
Suguru huffed a small breath. „Yeah. You are, but you don’t use that to hurt them.”
Satoru's eyes flickered.
Suguru continued. „You protect them. You teach them. You annoy them a lot” he added, a faint smile tugging at his lips. „But you also make sure they’re safe.”
„Safe” the little one echoed.
Suguru nodded.
Gojo looked back at the picture one last time. His shoulders dropped just slightly, tension easing in a way that didn’t match a child his age. Carefully, Getou reached out and took the phone from Satoru's hands, locking it and slipping it away to his own pocket. Satoru didn’t protest, he shifted closer. He leaned just a little.
Suguru exhaled slowly, like something inside him finally unclenched. „You ready to go?” he asked.
Satoru nodded against him, so Suguru picked him up. It was so strange. His Satoru is heavy. A meter ninety of a man, shaped like David by Michelangelo, after all. Sure, Suguru can still pick him up, but he can feel all the hard muscles. And this Satoru, although it’s the same Satoru, practically weighs nothing. Baby Gojo settled immediately, arms looping loosely around the adult's neck. Suguru adjusted his hold.
Suguru picked up the rest of Gojo's clothes and a few steps toward the exit Satoru spoke again, voice barely above a whisper. „Suguru?”
„Yeah?”
„I like you?” it wasn’t a statement. Not much of a question either. More like checking something the kid didn’t have the words for.
Suguru kept walking. „You do” he said quietly.
There was a small relieved exhale against his neck. Then, nothing else. Just the soft weight of the little one, held close as they stepped out of the kindergarten.
Suguru called Ijichi, because there was no way in hell, he was going to use the metro with a barely three-year-old looking fella, wrapped only in a very oversized jacket. He and Satoru talked about nothing in particular when they were waiting. The ads around the buildings. The shape of the clouds, a little dog in a stroller and wearing a turtleneck, that was passing by with its owner. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Ijichi to arrive. Even before Getou got inside the car, he could see Ijichi's shocked gaze from behind his glasses. When he got inside, the younger man even turned around in his seat, looking at Satoru, now looking kinda terrified. It said a lot, Ijichi's usual politeness would stop him from doing that, but apparently this sight was surprising enough. Satoru pressed himself closer to Suguru, but didn’t turn his eyes away from the man looking at him.
„Gojo-san has a child?” Ijichi's voice pitched higher.
Suguru wasn’t sure if he wanted to explain it. „You have to ask him that yourself.”
Ijichi turned towards the wheel. „You want him to murder me? Congratulations on becoming a father, Gojo-san. How do you manage to keep it a secret for so long?” he said.
„Murder?” Satoru repeated.
„He’s joking.”
„Yes, joking” Ijichi agreed immediately. „Where are we going, Getou-san? Gods, we need to buy a child seat. Do you think I can subsume it under employee expenses?”
„No need” Suguru muttered, pulling his phone out and checking where he could buy baby clothes near or on the way to his and Gojo's place. „Go to Shinjuku Station, from the Miranda Tower side” he added.
„With all due respect, Getou-san, what if someone would hit us?”
„Then I would summon the curse that would protect the car. Don’t worry.”
Ijichi went quiet after that. Not even remotely reassured, but quiet. Which probably meant that he was internally rewriting his will.
„Of course” he said finally, voice tight as he started the engine.
„Satoru, we will go to the clothes store. You will wait in the car with Ijichi-san. I promise to be quick” Suguru said to the kid.
The said kid, still, was only wrapped in his adult-self jacket and way too big shirt under that. Getou can’t walk into the store with him like this. People gonna think he kidnapped Gojo or something. Ijichi frowned when he heard how Suguru call the child. Ijichi's hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel. His eyes flickered to the rearview mirror briefly but he didn’t ask.
Satoru, meanwhile, didn’t answer immediately. He looked at Suguru, long and quietly. Processing. Then his grip tightened. „No” he said softly.
Suguru blinked at him, frowning slightly. „Satoru-”
„No” the little sorcerer repeated, this time pressing closer, fingers bunching into the fabric at Suguru’s collar. „Go with.”
Suguru exhaled slowly. Right. Of course. He glanced toward Ijichi, who very quickly pretended to be deeply invested in the red traffic light.
„It’ll just be a few minutes” Suguru tried, gentler. „You’ll be safe here.”
Satoru shook his head. „No” he didn’t say it louder, but absolute.
Suguru paused. He could probably push it. This wasn’t actually a three-year-old, after all, it was Satoru, just transformed for short. Would he even remember this afterwards? Getou let out another sigh and looked down at the kid. His small shoulders had gone just a bit tense again. His eyes looked at his face, pleadingly. Yeah… No. Not worth it. He ran a hand through his long hair.
„Have you checked the delivery apps, Getou-san? I think some of them deliver baby products. I don’t know if it includes clothes, but maybe it’s worth checking out” Ijichi suggested.
Suguru immediately opened the delivery app on his phone. „You’re a genius, Ijichi.”
Ijichi blinked rapidly.
„I- I wouldn’t go that far-”
„No, seriously.” Suguru cut him off, already typing. „If this works, I'll get you a bonus.”
„I am not sure you have that authority, Getou-san.”
„I’ll make it happen.”
Ijichi looked like he didn’t know whether to be flattered or concerned.
Meanwhile, Satoru had shifted just enough to peer down at the phone in Suguru's hand again. „Magic?” he asked, watching the screen change.
Suguru huffed. „Something like that.”
He scrolled, quickly filtering with one hand, while keeping the other steady under Satoru. Clothes for kids. Nearby. Come on. He tapped on some store with "basic" in its name that popped up. Yeah, basic clothes indeed, white and black T-shirts, black pants, tights, socks, underwear. Kids' clothes! Only one shirt in a few colors and the most basic pajama-looking pants. Underwear and socks were available too, thank goodness. He ordered larger sizes, it would be better for it to be a little too big than too small, underwear and socks were one "size fits all" for this age.
„We will still go where I planned. I gave you money and you're gonna buy him some shoes, Ijichi. Slip-ons would be good, I guess. And buy him strawberry milk in Family-Mart or whatever is gonna be near. Would it be fine?” Suguru said, turning on the measure app on his phone to measure Satoru's foot.
„I think I can do that” Ijichi replied.
„Is there any parking spot that I can point to as a delivery location?” Getou asked the other adult, as he sat Satoru beside him and grabbed his foot to measure it.
Baby Gojo giggled. Ijichi gave him the address.
After they arrived at the parking lot near Shinjuku Station, delivery arrived pretty quickly after Ijichi left to do the shopping for them. Suguru walked out of the car to take it from the delivery-man. It still felt kind of weird to pick up kid's clothes in some parking lot.
„Thank goodness, you’re so fast. My kid has some stomach issues and now the entire back seat is in poop” Suguru laughed nervously, taking the bag, looking behind his shoulder and seeing Satoru, glued to the side window. „Thank you so much, seriously.”
The delivery-man looked to be in his early twenties. „And people are surprised that the birth rate is so low” he muttered under his breath. „No offense” he added and bowed slightly before turning to their bike and riding away.
Suguru stood there for a second, the plastic bag in his hand, watching the guy disappear.
„Yeah, fair.”
He turned back toward the car. Satoru was still pressed to the window, small hands flat against the glass, watching everything like it might vanish if he blinked. Suguru entered, sliding back into the seat. Satoru leaned closer, eyes flicking briefly to the bag.
„For me?” he asked.
Suguru huffed. „Yeah. All yours.”
Suguru pulled the clothes out, getting rid of the tags. The clothes were so small. It still felt wrong in his hands.
„Alright,” he said, more to himself than anything. „Let’s fix this situation before you catch a cold.”
Satoru watched carefully as Suguru placed the clothes next to him.
„You can dress yourself, right?” Getou asked.
Satoru moved his head from side to side, which probably meant "so so."
„Okay. I help you out of this jacket, you put the underwear on and I help you with the rest. You think you can do that?”
This time Satoru nodded.
„Arms up.”
Gojo obeyed. Suguru reached for the oversized jacket, carefully peeling it off. Satoru sat there, small with bare legs, in the too big compression shirt. Suguru handed him the underwear and turned his head the other way. He heard Satoru moving.
He started thinking it was taking a bit long, but then Satoru said: „Done.”
When Suguru turned his head to look at him, he was already wearing all the new clothes. Just one sock wasn’t pulled all the way up.
„Woah, you did it all by yourself. That’s impressive” he admitted, adjusting that one sock. Maybe putting the clothes on wasn't exactly impressive when his regular Satoru did that, but in these circumstances, well. Suguru tied the strings attached to the waistband of the kid's pants.
„Easier than Kinagashi” Gojo stated.
A few minutes later, Ijichi came back with a little box of shoes and a carton of strawberry milk.
„Oh” he let out, seeing Gojo.
Suguru raised a brow. „What?”
„He- he looks-”
„Like a normal kid?” Suguru finished for him.
Ijichi nodded slowly. „Yes. Exactly.”
Satoru, now properly dressed, sat quietly next to Suguru, holding his forearm with one hand. His gaze shifted to the small box in Ijichi’s hands.
„For me?” he asked again.
Ijichi immediately held it out with both hands like he was presenting an offering to something divine. „Yes, Gojo-san. Shoes.”
San? More like chan, but whatever.
Satoru took the box. Suguru opened the lid. Inside were simple black slip-ons. Satoru stared at them for a moment, then looked up at Suguru.
Suguru nodded. „Go on.”
Satoru shifted, pulling one foot up awkwardly onto the seat.
It took him a second. The shoe went on halfway. He frowned. „Wrong.”
Apparently the shoes were more complicated than the rest of the clothes.
„Here” Suguru leaned over, gently taking over, adjusting the angle, guiding the little foot in properly, then repeating it with the other one. „There.”
Satoru wiggled his toes. Tested the feeling and nodded satisfied.
Ijichi handed over the strawberry milk next. „And this.”
Satoru took it immediately. He turned it in his hands, inspecting the packaging as if it was fascinating. „Pink” he noted.
Suguru snorted but nodded.
Satoru looked at the straw, then at Suguru. He held it out.
Suguru stared at it. „You want me to open it?”
A small nod. Suguru took it, punctured the top, and handed it back. Satoru watched closely how he did it, like memorizing the process, before bringing it to his lips. A small sip. His eyes widened. He probably hadn’t had any at his clan's place.
Suguru didn’t even try to hide the smirk. „Good?”
Satoru nodded quickly and took another sip.
Ijichi visibly relaxed at the sight.
„Ijichi, I promised the little guy to buy him something. Can you drop us by Kiddy Land. After that I won’t bother you any longer” Suguru said after a moment.
He and Gojo have an apartment in Shibuya, so they could get there on foot. He just wraps Satoru in his oversized jacket or something.
It was evening already, so traffic wasn’t thick. Satoru finished his drink somewhere along the way. When they arrived, Suguru thanked Ijichi for driving them around and helping with the shopping.
„Stay close to me, okay?” Getou said before they entered the shop.
Satoru nodded, getting closer to Suguru's leg.
„You can have anything you want, there’s a few floors but each floor has its own cash register. So, we can go to the other floor only after we pay if you choose anything” Suguru added.
Gojo nodded once more, already focused. Inside the store the little one pulled Suguru by his hand. He didn’t touch most things, completely ignoring most stuff from movies and anime. On the second floor there were a lot of generally cute plushies. Satoru's breath hitched at the sight of one of them. He grabbed white bunny with big ears that looked like strawberry on inside of it and had a zipper on the side. The ears could be zipped together and close the bunny inside its ears that made it look like a strawberry. Suguru didn't expect Satoru to start crying at the sight, visibly holding back from making any sound that would indicate he’s crying, but he did.
„Hey, why are you crying?” he asked gently, crouching down to Gojo's level. „If you want it we’ll get it”
„You won’t take away?” Satoru asked through tears. „You won’t break?”
Suguru hated it, it was breaking his heart. He hates everything that fucking Gojo clan done to this kid. If he ever meets someone from Satoru's past, he's gonna murder them.
„No, it’s gonna be yours, ’Toru. No one is gonna take it away from you. I won’t let anyone do that” he spoke softly to the transformed kid.
Satoru's grip on the bunny tightened, his hands shaking. His shoulders trembled.
Suguru reached out, slow and careful, and brushed his thumb under Satoru's eye, wiping the tears away. „I meant it.”
Satoru sniffed. „Promise?” he asked.
„I promise” Suguru pulled him into the hug.
„Mine?” Gojo asked, quieter now, wiping his face against Getou's shoulder.
Suguru nodded. „Yours” he held the little one for a moment. „You wanna pay for your strawberry bunny now?”
Satoru nodded against him.
Getou picked him up. Other people who were there with their kids were looking at him. He wondered briefly, did these people take him for a dad? It rubbed him the wrong way but he ignored it. He walked to the register, like nothing about this was strange. The cashier glanced up, took in the scene, the child, the tear-streaked face, the plush, probably thought it’s another little drama queen that cries until it gets whatever it wants. The bunny was scanned. A soft beep. Satoru flinched, barely noticeable but Suguru felt it. His hand came up instinctively, resting against the back of baby Gojo's head.
„It’s fine” he murmured. „Just the register.”
Satoru hummed against him, looking at the bunny in the cashier's hands. Suguru paid, didn’t even register the number.
„Can you please take the tag off” he asked.
The cashier did and handed the plushie back. Suguru gave it to Satoru immediately. „All yours.”
Satoru hugged the stuffed animal. Getou thanked the cashier. He walked a few steps away to not hold up the line.
„Do you want to see the next floor?” he asked the little one.
Satoru shook his head, keeping his eyes closed. He was probably overstimulated, it was a long day after all.
„Enough” Gojo said quietly.
„Oki”
In the end Suguru just buttoned up his own jacket, so it wrapped around Satoru in his arms as well. He walked home, it didn’t take long.
When he made it to the apartment, Gojo was half asleep against him. Suguru placed him down on his own feet, in the bathroom directly.
„Let’s just wash your hands and you can lie down in the bed after that, if you want” he said.
Satoru just nodded, barely opening his eyes. Suguru quietly grabbed a stool, so the kid could reach the sink. After that Suguru picked Satoru up once more. The kid looked sleepy as hell, and considering Gojo has been up since like six in the morning today, that tracked.
Since the place is big, Satoru bought it of course, they both have their own offices, which kinda do for their separate rooms when they need some alone time. Not that they have any troubles in their decade-long relationship, but it seems healthy to have some alone time when they spend so much time together and work together. The offices were very them themed, decorated with stuff that didn’t really make a cut to the shared space. Satoru described Suguru's room as esoteric but Suguru had no idea how to describe Satoru room. It was… comfy? Baby blue and baby pink accents, knitted blankets, fluffy rug. A few plants in cute pots, that were alive only because Suguru waters them. Overpriced chair and a lava lamp with baby pink stuff inside. Since Gojo heard about it from their students, the big light, ceiling light, is banned in this household. He has bought so many lamps since then. But the most important stuff in his room, is the collection of plushies on the couch. All of them white, because Satoru stated this is his signature color along with the baby blue and well, it’s hard to disagree.
Suguru placed little Satoru on the couch and turned on the closet lamp.
„Look at those, they’re all yours” he said gently.
Satoru rubbed his eyes and then suddenly straightened in shock, fist clinched in his new bunny's fur. His eyes were wide open and startled, as if he’d just stepped into something he wasn’t supposed to see.
„No” he said under his breath.
Suguru stilled for a brief second. „What?” he forced a smile, his voice sounded awkward.
Satoru's gaze was moving fast. Over the plushies to the door and to Suguru, pressing his bunny tighter to his chest.
Suguru sat down on a rug. „They’re yours” he said, pulling his phone out.
He quickly found a pic of adult Satoru, carrying his huge version of Miffy Bruna Animal plushie, that happened to also be a bunny. Some child in the background looked at him with jealousy. It happened to be in the favorites folder, yeah, Suguru definitely likes this pic. Satoru was grinning stupidly in it, it was their anniversary, Suguru got him that as a gift.
„Look” he showed the pic to the transformed baby, and pointed to the big, special, miffy plushie which was one of the many plushies on the couch. „It’s yours.”
Satoru shook his head quickly. Not in a tantrum or rejection of his words, but in something closer to… fear?
„No” he repeated. „They don’t stay.”
Suguru's chest tightened. „These do” he said, calm and steady. „No one takes them.”
Satoru's breathing picked up just slightly. His eyes flickered between Suguru and the plushies and the door. Tears in his eyes were already back.
„Sensei breaks” he sniffed. „Or it’s gone.”
Suguru's forced smile disappeared completely. All he could think of, all he saw in his head, was him killing this piece of shit “sensei” from the Gojo clan slowly. Yes, first he would break every bone in this asshole's hands then his curses would take care of him.
He blinked a couple of times, coming back to reality, to his transformed Satoru crying. Gojo once more seemed to try to make no noises, as if he learned it only makes his situation worse.
„He- he-” Satoru was crying to the point that speaking at the same time was difficult for him. „He- pulls the head off” he cried out, hugging his bunny very tightly and placing his hand where the plushie's head met the rest of its body.
He was crying so hard now, probably thinking all those poor toys were gonna end up headless. Suguru inhaled slowly, exhaled. Trying to keep himself from saying anything wrong. Every sharp, violent thought got shoved down, locked away, buried where it wouldn’t touch this moment. Satoru's hands were still gripping the bunny like it might be next, like it was already in danger.
„Hey, that’s not going to happen here. I won’t let anyone do that to your things” Getou said.
Satoru threw his arms around his neck and pressed his face where Getou's shoulder met his neck. „Pwease. Don’t go. I wanna stay here. No Gojo. No Sensei” the kid sniffed but still was crying hard, his entire small body shaking.
„Satoru” Suguru muttered, close to tears himself now, wrapping his hands around the child. „This is your home. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to leave you.”
Small hands fisted in his clothes. Breath hitching, uneven, breaking on every inhale.
„I’m not going” Suguru repeated. „I’m right here, baby.”
Satoru shook against him, more tears escaping his eyes, fingers digging in. Suguru could feel every tremor, every bit of fear that didn’t belong in a body that small.
„No one’s coming here” he continued quietly. „No one from the clan. No sensei. No one.”
Satoru made a broken sound at that, grip tightening even more. Suguru didn’t pull away, didn't try to loosen it. He just held him. Letting him hold him.
„You’re safe” he murmured. „You’re safe here.”
Satoru’s crying didn’t stop immediately. It came and went, sharp, then quieter, then his breath catching again like his body didn’t know how to come down from the panic like this. Suguru kept holding him through all of it. One of his hands steady on the small back, moving in slow, grounding circles.
After a moment Satoru calmed down slightly, not spiraling anymore. Suguru shifted just a little, enough to sit more comfortably while keeping Satoru exactly where he was. Not moving him away even a little. After another moment the kid passed out because of tiredness mixed with crying. Suguru placed little Satoru back on the couch, his new bunny by his side and covered him with a blanket from the neck down. As soon as Suguru pulled back, the little arm followed and Satoru's eyes glowed under his pale eyelids. He didn’t wake up but sought contact.
„I’m here, baby” Getou said quietly, pressing his hand gently against the transformed child's arm.
Satoru's eyes stopped glowing immediately. Suguru allowed himself a little smile, grabbing his phone with his free hand. He made a few pics of Satoru, because there probably won’t be another chance like this. He also messaged Yaga, that neither of them will be able to show up in work tomorrow. Violent diarrhea, he wrote. Students will have only academic classes tomorrow. They’ll survive. An additional hour of math or something is going to be good for them. After that he himself passed out, sitting on the floor by the couch, his face pressed into the cushion.
„Suguru”
Getou had a dream about him and Satoru back in their high school days. Them flying on the back of his Rainbow Dragon.
„Love-” he slowly opened his eyes, his back was fucking killing him.
The first thing he saw after opening his eyes was Satoru, his twenty-eight-year-old, regular Satoru Gojo. Shirtless, naked probably but his lower part was hidden under the blanket. His eyes were a little puffy. The strawberry bunny was close to his hand on the couch.
„Come here, your back must hurt” Satoru smiled, pulling him closer by his hand.
Suguru did climb on the couch, there wasn’t much space for two grown men, but Satoru wrapped himself around him like a koala.
„You remember what happened?” Getou asked, his voice still low from sleep.
„More or less. Felt like a dream” the taller one replied.
Suguru let out a quiet breath, eyes half-lidded as he adjusted against him, trying to ignore the protest of his spine. One of his hands came up almost automatically to rest at Satoru's side to check if he was really there. Real, warm and solid. Back to normal.
„I remember you, talking to me gently, car ride, crying and then crying again” Satoru said after a moment, voice softer than usual.
„You missed the part of me figuring out how to get clothes for you, as you didn’t want me to leave you in the car with Ijichi, and I didn’t want to carry around the naked kid just wrapped in adult's clothes.”
Satoru let out a laugh. „Ijichi saw me like this?”
„Don’t worry, that wasn’t the part when you cried. I’m not sure if he connected the dots. He may think we somehow have a kid or that every relative of yours is named Satoru Gojo” Suguru replied.
„Did I give you a baby fever, Suguru?” the blue-eyed one asked almost seductively.
Suguru would smack his shoulder, if there was any space left between them. „Don’t even joke. I almost had a breakdown of my own and I still very much want to murder everyone from your past. Your shitty sensei the most.”
Satoru went quiet at that. He shifted just a little, enough to look at Suguru properly, even in the cramped space.
„You really would, huh” he said, not quite joking this time.
Suguru didn’t soften it. „Yeah” no hesitation.
Satoru studied him for a second. Then exhaled quietly, something in his shoulders easing as he let his head fall back against the cushion. „You always get like this when it’s about me” he murmured.
Suguru huffed. „No, I don’t”
„You do.”
„I don’t.”
Satoru tilted his head slightly, giving him that knowing look. „You’re threatening murder over a plushie incident” he pointed out.
„It wasn’t about the plushie” Suguru replied.
„Mhm” Satoru's gaze drifted to the bunny resting between them. His fingers brushed over its ear absently. „I didn’t remember it before exactly” he said after a moment. „I mean… I had this flash of memory of him ripping the head of some old teddy bear I found. But that’s it. I wasn’t even sure if it really happened.”
„He was part of your clan?” Suguru asked, his hand joining Satoru's on the plushie.
„Yeah, he was teaching me jujutsu basics, recognizing curses and stuff, some basic combat too. He was one of the clan's elders, died fast.”
Suguru hummed under his breath, such a waste he won’t have a chance to kill him himself.
„You were… so patient with me” Satoru smiled softly.
„You were like… three and you were already fucking traumatized. I was well aware three big clans are fucking full of conservative monsters but… Fuck. Seeing you like that, pulled right out of there at that age” Suguru shook his head lightly. „First you were scared that someone would hurt or take away this guy” his fingers brushed the strawberry bunny's fur. „When you saw those-’’ Getou vaguely waved at the collection of plushies „-you were expecting someone to burst up here and commit mass murder.”
Satoru looked at his stuffed animals. „I think… Since that one beheaded teddy bear, I missed the feeling of something soft like this. That’s probably why…” he smiled in a bit more guarded way now, his eyes getting back from his collection to the new one in their hands. „I like getting them now.”
Suguru's hand moved from the strawberry bunny to Satoru's hand holding it. „You don't have to justify it to me, baby. But thank you for telling me.”
Satoru quickly wiped a lonely tear, escaping his eye.
„Oh baby” Suguru pulled him back against his chest.
„They didn’t let me have toys or anything really, because attachment was a weakness” Satoru's voice cracked as he pressed himself against his partner.
„No one from that clan deserved you. You are the strongest because you do care and you love and you aren’t some soulless motherfucker” Suguru said.
Satoru let out a shaky breath, close to the laugh. „They’d disagree” he muttered, voice muffled in Suguru's shirt.
Suguru didn’t miss a beat. „They’re wrong and fuck them.”
His hand moved slowly up and down Satoru's back again. They stayed pressed like this in silence for a couple of minutes.
„Thank you” Satoru said quietly after another moment. „For everything.”
Suguru gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. „Don’t mention it. I love you, but next time we're gonna discuss who will get hit with something like that.”
Satoru smiled. „Deal, love you too”
They stayed like this for another moment.
Then: „Shouldn’t we be at work?” Gojo asked, glancing at the clock.
„I messaged Yaga yesterday evening. Violent diarrhea” Getou replied.
Satoru bursted out laughing.