3rd POV
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A month passed and as surprising as it may be, Colith seemed to know how to deal with babies.
Even though Toji was always on his guard in case there was something fishy with the dork, seeing Megumi in a good mood made him happy. That said, he had more time to go on missions and gamble in horse races. Gamblings he lost most of the time but was more of a hobby than anything else.
With the parasite's arrival, his daily expenses were greatly reduced which he particularly appreciated, even though he still had trouble getting used to the new presence in his apartment, things started getting easier for him and his son.
"Soo I've been meaning to ask, You can't see curses right??" the gold-eyed woman asked softly, currently holding baby Megumi in her arms while swaying him gently to make him sleep.
"Like, how are you even being able to work with Peggy anyways? And why ain't you letting me see her, huh...?" Toji slightly glared her way.
The only thing he did not like about her was when she was being nosy. He had just returned from a job he accepted yesterday morning, having dumped some of his frustrations on the few unlucky sorcerers who stood his way. Apparently, the sorcerer world got a jist of the woman's appearance since she wasn't known by them before.
The only thing they knew about her was that she was an unknown strong enough to evade Gojo Satoru's attack and was to be apprehended immediately.
Eh, he wasn't planning to tell her anyway. Who was he to warn the annoying bitch of danger? He'd gladly deliver her to them if he wasn't getting cash from her.
Eye twitching a bit, he walked past the woman, kissing his snoozing son's cheek in the process before settling on his couch with a grunt, effectively ignoring the woman who made a pouting face as she neared him anyway.
"What? You're still mad about the door?" she whined quietly to not startle the little boy in her arms.
Ah the door.
3 days ago, Colith made a door appear out of nowhere in the hallway of HIS apartment and what pissed him the most was that it led to absolutely nowhere.
Well, she justified herself by saying that it was some kind of dimensional bullshit only she or people accompanying her could access. Which means that Megumi had been in there at some point, and only God knows what's in there so it pissed him off a bit.
Had a fucking scare when he suddenly couldn't feel the bitch and his son's presence! Thought she kidnapped him and broke their agreement, which is the only reason why he's been ignoring her for the past 3 days.
Yeah, he could be petty like that.
Colith sighed softly, glancing down at the sleeping cherub in her arms "Hey Gumi, your dad seems to be pretty mad at little ol' me 'cause he thought I took you away"
She quietly chuckled, caressing the baby's chubby cheek who made a little noise, with her finger in fondness, before leaving to put him in his cradle. She came back a few moments later in the living room where a stoic Toji still planned to ignore her by watching TV.
"Hey man, will you stop ignoring me? I've been doing a pretty decent job! Why the foul mood tho? I told you I was sorry!!" she whined while plopping next to him. The man kept ignoring her, gaze solely fixated on the TV where a random show was broadcasting.
Colith's eye twitched before an idea popped in her head.
'ight imma pull a Gojo'
She started to repeatedly poke his left cheek since she was on his left.
"Come on, Come on, come on, tell me, tell me, tell me-"
The raven-haired male had to hold himself back from decking the woman to oblivion because she was seriously starting to get on his nerves.
"Alleeeeeeez, I said I was sorry~! but this was better than sleeping on your crappy couch! Answer me, bro-"
"Would you cut that out?!" he harshly grabbed her hand, startling her.
"Not till you talk to me!" she replied, unfazed by the bone-crushing hold which would've already destroyed anybody's hand.
The man tched, not in the mood for this before he let go of her hand. He turned his head to the annoying pest next to him, finally acknowledging her presence.
"What?"
"Well, fuckin finally!" she dramatically said, "Let's get to know each other!" before grinning at his unimpressed face.
"Why?" he scowled.
She blinked, "Uh, cause I basically don't know shit about you-" Lies "AND I'm pretty sure you must be curious about me as well!"
Toji merely grunted. It was true that she was an odd one for not possessing cursed energy like him but still had an unknown power, and yeah, he couldn't be qualified as normal either since he could still beat other sorcerers thanks to his extraordinary strength and sharp senses, unlike non-sorcerers. And honestly, a 'Goddess'? What the fuck.
For the Zenin clan, people without cursed energy had less value than a vulgar cockroach and were considered a waste of space. They were even treated worse than the women there. Which was the real cause of his hatred for them since they treated him like shit. Even without cursed energy, the guy still managed to be feared by the clan and decided to get the hell out of it and live his life, to the point of dumping the awful name away. The only contact he has with them is when it's about money. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Where are you from? Since you seem to already know a lot and as creepy as it sounds, I feel like you know a bunch of stuff on me. " he gave her a pointed look which made her giggle awkwardly while looking away, scratching her cheek sheepishly. He gave up on ignoring her since she wouldn't leave it.
"Touché Hehehe! Anyway, I'm from Mali, in Africa!", the enthusiasm in her voice faltered a bit, "Although, I won't be able to go back there...", a sorrowful look filled her eyes while a humorless chuckle escaped her lips to Toji's surprise.
"What do you mean?" He couldn't help but ask. He wasn't expecting this sudden shift in behavior.
She sighed softly, bringing her bare legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around them since she was wearing a gray sweater and a pair of black shorts that made her cocoa-colored skin look good.
Even though she annoyed Toji most of the time, she was still awfully good-looking.
Well, he stated the truth when he said she was his type last month. Her beautiful golden eyes would shine with happiness whenever she saw him which confused the hell out of him because he was always rude to her.
Even when he answered her with disdain, she would reply most of the time with a dumb joke accompanied by that melodious laugh that never failed to make his heart flutte- Toji did NOT like where the situation was going and now was not the time to get attached.
"I told you I was sent here, didn't I? Well, where I come from, we didn't really have cursed energy, jujutsu, and all the stuff related to sorcery...or maybe we didn't know about it but meh," She shrugged, "I went to see if my family still existed in this version of my world and surprise! They do!!"
Toji frowned, "Then what's the problem? And how the fuck did you go-..right, you can teleport, forgot about that." he tiredly massaged his scalp, eyes closed while hearing her snicker next to him.
"Yep guessed right, I can fuckin' teleport! And well, the reason why I can't go back there is that...I don't exist here for them."
Oof, that was...pretty depressing.
Toji glanced discreetly and watched her stare off into space before noticing the miserable look in her eyes. His frown deepened.
"I mean it's alright I suppose..", she let out a weak laugh, "they won't be the same anyway If I go meet them, so it's not important... I just hoped that...maybe...", she got quiet at the end, eyes blurring a bit while her lower lip began quivering.
She did come to terms with the fact that seeing her family again when she was still in AOT after spending 5 years without them wouldn't be possible anymore. However, being dumped in a remotely close universe gave her hope that maybe...she go meet them and maybe...be with them again but nothing was this simple. She was still dead and they won't be the same and the worst part was that she didn't even exist here this time.
Toji was pretty surprised that this annoying and goofy woman till now could make this kind of expression. She seemed so weak now that he thought about it. Sure, he wasn't one to be on good terms with his family, because...they were awful as fuck, but to see that painful look when she thought about hers somehow...didn't sit right with him.
Without thinking, he reached out to wipe the tear from her scarred eye.
'soft...' he was kind of curious to know how she got that nasty scar on her left eye-
Stiffening, Colith promptly looked at him in shock while Toji froze, surprised by what he did and thought.
'What-' they both thought at the same time.
Quickly regaining his composure, he cleared his throat, uncomfortable with what he had just done, though he still kept his hand on her puzzled face, stained with freckles.
"Uh, I don't...really know what it's like to have a...loving family, but...don't say it's not important since it looks like it's hurting you...", He slowly started, looking straight at her, unsure of what to say and do next.
What the hell was he even saying...?! He wasn't one to comfort others! He'd rather leave them in their problem and walk away but...when he saw this part of the usually happy-go-lucky dork, he could not help but want to comfort her...
Colith blinked her tears away, reaching to grab his hand in hers before giving it a light squeeze which snapped him out of his musings.
She gave him a small smile that somehow made his breath caught in his throat.
"I..you're right...! Thanks, Toji...", She grinned, suddenly making the man question his own sanity.
"you're ugly when you cry, stop it..." He grunted, causing her to chuckle as he reluctantly?- brought back his hand from her strangely warm hold while avoiding looking at her. For some strange reason, this interaction wasn't unpleasant to him which confused him.
Wasn't he supposed to be mad at her? Why was he feeling light all of a sudden...? They continued discussing for another hour without the usual jokes the woman would usually do as the man learned more about her family.
He found himself strangely at ease when she wasn't speaking nonsense all the time to the point where he had spoken about Megumi's mom and her first daughter, Tsumiki, who was currently living with her grandparents. A subject he would've avoided if it wasn't for Colith who opened up to him first.
Though he did ask about that 'One shot' thingy he heard her squawk back at the abandoned building the first time around, which she blatantly ignored and proceeded to instead boast about her art skills instead. Knowing she wouldn't answer his questions, he didn't push it.
Later on, she went to fix dinner like usual and made an unknown dish he wasn't familiar with and for the first time since she came here, he decided to have a taste of it, and God he didn't regret it one bit. Maybe he should be nicer toward her...
He watched her fix food for the baby, grabbing the feeding bottle before heading to Megumi's room like she usually did at this hour. Seeing her so devoted to his son made him think about the boy's mother and how she would've handled things if she was still alive. He wasn't particularly a family man or in love with her but she was a kind soul he got attached to.
He still felt a pang of hurt in his heart at the thought of her. She had let him take her maiden name since he had been seriously was fed up with the clan bullshit and wished to have nothing to do with them anymore. She had been the only person to make him remotely happy for a while. And when she blessed him with a son, his world crumbled when she didn't survive the delivery. He could've run off and left the baby to her family but decided against it because the boy was his as well.
He may be an asshole but he wasn't that disgusting.
Sighing, the man went to take a shower after washing the dishes he would usually leave for Colith to do to bother her. But after their talk, he didn't feel like acting like an asshole for some time.
Oh oh?