Disclaimer: I don't own Jujutsu Kaisen nor the characters, except Mio and the plot of this fanfiction.
T/N: Thank you for all the likes and follows! I am writing only for my own enjoyment, but I hope you guys will enjoy it as well. Once again, there will be sudden changes of POV without any warn. Please be prepared for it :)
She just noticed that her mother was pregnant when she was a first-grader.
It was when she was just woken up to prepare to go to school, the sound of someone vomiting was heard from the bathroom. As she was worried, she quickly ran towards the source of the sound and, of course, she found her mother in front of the sink.
"Are you okay, Okaa-san?"
"Yes, I am okay." That was the only thing she said as she smiled gently at the girl.
Mio made a worried face. She somehow had a prediction why she was vomiting in the morning for several days. "... I think we should go to the doctor."
The little girl wondered why the mother made a troubled look, although she was still putting her smile there. "Hmm, it is a mother's role to be worried about her daughter, but I don't know if the reverse sounds right."
She made a sigh and replied, "Both sound right to me, Okaa-san. Let's go to the hospital together."
"... Okay, but after you come back from school. Is that alright?"
Mio nodded and then searched for some bread to be toasted.
xxxxxx
Another life joined the family.
He was named Megumi.
I wonder why he was named so, as he was a boy. But the thought slid out when I looked at my mother's gentle expression. I did not bother to do any more reasoning as it was useless.
And unexpectedly, Otou-san was there with us, standing on the other side of the hospital bed across from where I was.
I curiously stole some glances at him who were watching Megumi in his wife's arms. He showed no expression, but somehow I noticed the softness inside his eyes. Sometimes, I hoped I could read minds so I knew what was inside his head.
Let it aside, Megumi is very little and cute. I reached my right hand towards his tiny fingers. Okaa-san just made him stop crying just now and the pair of sleepy eyes were ready to close. When my finger touched his, he grabbed it and went to the dream world.
As I worked in kindergarten before, children were not something unfamiliar to me and I loved taking care of them. However, my sudden affection for this baby was different.
Is it what it feels like to have a little brother?
It was just the happiest moment I ever had. There was Okaa-san who smiled gently at me, Otou-san who I missed so much, and Megumi who was sleeping soundly with my finger still in his small grip.
I want to protect this family.
I vowed so as I unconsciously smiled brightly.
But…
A memory was special because that was the one and only. And it was called memory because it had ended in the past.
xxxxx
Of course, she noticed.
Even before she had Megumi, her mother often fell sick. At first, Mio thought it was not something she needed to put into account. Every time she asked about her condition, she always answered that it was normal for her so Mio did not need to worry about it. She always said so with her soft voice and smile that always weakened her anxiety and assured her that she was really okay.
Besides that, she also began to see creepy things. It was usually on the way back home after school. She saw creepy monsters on the back of dark alleys
It's dangerous.
And of course, her instinct told so. She always tried to not make eye contact with any of them and always safely reached the house.
But it would be a lie if she said she was not afraid.
Humans are frightened of everything they do not have any knowledge of.
But she got no one to be asked, no one to give her advice.
No, there was someone but she did not want to burden her mother when she herself already had too much on her shoulders.
Otou-san.
No, he was nowhere to be found.
He was not within her reach.
Otou-san.
Otou-san…
Where are you…? I-
And not even one year had passed since Megumi was born.
The mother left the world and her children.
She is gone.
No...
No…
Where are you…? Please… please… please come back...
Maybe she was destined to not have a family.
Her heart screamed as it was ready to shred apart.
When she just got what she always wanted for decades, God took it back from her in the blink of an eye.
She wondered. Then, why was she given one when it would be retrieved later?
xxxxx
My little brother was lying on the crib, sleeping. It was already dark outside and the house was silent and there were only the two of us there.
Looking at Megumi and listening to his breath, my mind went blank.
What should I do? What can I do? What can a six-year-old do in this situation?
Feeling the despair, I squatted and put my palm on my eyes.
The scene of the funeral was still rolling inside my head. There were not so many people coming. Most of them were our neighbors, and maybe some relatives that I had never seen before.
I stood on my feet with a blank face. Some of them gave me their condolences as they looked like they pity me. It could not be helped. It was normal for them to do so, although I hated the way they looked at me so much.
But more than that, I hated myself for not bursting into tears. I could not cry at all as my tears had been dried up.
And of course, Otou-san was not there.
While I was blaming myself for feeling tired of grieving, Megumi suddenly cried loudly. I twitched and quickly stood up and took a look at the baby in the crib.
I picked him up to calm him up, but Megumi who usually stopped crying when I hugged him wailed harder.
And then, out of nowhere, I felt a cold glare from my back.
"Vwooo"
I knew this voice.
It was the same with the voice I always heard in the dark alleys.
As I took a peek from my shoulder, the green creature was about to strike its claw towards me.
I was barely able to evade it with Megumi inside my arms as my left cheek stung. Full of terror, I quickly ran out of the room, heading to the entrance door of our apartment.
But I never reached the door. As I was too focused on running away, I did not notice it was already in front of us.
My breath was uneven and my body was stiff as a stone. I knew well that I should quickly run away, but my body did not want to listen.
Megumi's crying did not even bother me anymore as I kept reminding myself. I must protect him. I need to do something.
Inside my head, I was panicking but, a moment later, I could feel something behind me appearing and it sucked me inside it.
There was only darkness. But it did not last that long.
The sight of the familiar bedroom came inside my eyes. It was my bedroom. As my head could not follow the sudden situation, I could feel that the monster was heading towards our position.
The only exit is the entrance. I need to go there with the same method, or else we will die.
And while I was thinking about how to save our lives, my eyes darted on the wooden bat that somehow lied near the door.
No, I did not have the confidence to repeat the same method to go back to the entrance. This was the only choice.
I hugged Megumi with only my left hand and then grabbed the bat quickly before the monster got near it.
The sound was not very near, so I took the courage and took a peek at the hallway. The monster was coming towards the room.
Hiding behind the wall and letting the door open a little, I made a stance and tightened my left hand on Megumi.
"Vwooooooo!"
Just the time when the thing was entering the room, I put all of my strength to my right hand and hit the bat hard at the big eyes in the middle of it.
The monster screamed with high pitched as it would break my drum ears. I didn't miss my chance to run away and headed towards the entrance when it was stunned.
Unfortunately, it recovered quickly and gave no more leeway for me to make more distance with it. I ran with all my might and did not dare to take a look behind.
Just when I nearly reached the door of our apartment, I heard the clicking sound and in a flash, the high-pitched scream echoed at the same time when I felt a big hand wrap around my shoulder.
xxxxx
He could sense a curse inside his apartment. Just when he was about to open the apartment door, he was confused by what his senses told him, but without wasting more time, he picked his weapon and unlocked the door.
His daughter was running towards him with her little brother inside her arms. Her face was full of terror as she was chased by the curse behind her.
In seconds, he took the girl into one of his arms and exorcised the curse in one swing before the screeching sound of the dying curse was heard.
Why was there a curse inside the house?
He did not have the answer to that question he asked himself. However, he was glad that he made it in time or else…
The girl was still holding the baby tightly, but her legs gave in and she was about to fall to the ground if the man did not catch her. He bent his knees to get the same line of sight as the girl.
Her body quivered so hard that he could feel it clearly when Mio let her body leaned onto his. Unconsciously, his arm circled the shoulder and the other hand patted the back of the little girl's head.
Indeed, he was really glad that he decided to return home that day.