chapter 19: the line approached and crossed

cw: mentions of violence, infanticide, unhealthy relationships and bad parenting

For several minutes, Yuna feels relief. Finally, it's over. Satoru knows. He will never forgive her, and Yuna does not want to be forgiven, does not deserve such a thing when she has taken away the one and only thing that Satoru loved.

And then the relief ends, an empty beach flooded as the tide that pulled back is now released, as guilt washes over her and Satoru holds her and all she can do is yield. It's different, this time.

She wants it, even if it's just a little bit.

Satoru's hair is soft, his hand warm, a little sweaty in the humidity of a spring evening. He kisses her waist, his breath damp against her dress. Her arm wraps around him, pulling him close, and she wonders if she has crossed the asymptote.

"Yuna-chan," Yuki's whine is slightly slurred. She must be out drinking with her host and all his business friends. Their group in Shanghai loves to party and bai jiu is Yuki's new favorite hard liquor. "You've been in Tokyo for so long now! Come hang out with me!"

"I'm still taking care of things," Yuna clasps the phone between her ear and shoulder as she used both hands to stack the dry dishes back in the cupboards. "I think I will be here for a little bit more time."

"Why! The library research isn't a big deal, there probably isn't much left there that we don't already know."

"Didn't you want me to go look in the Kyoto archives too?"

"You don't need to. Now that Utahime is teaching there, I can just get her to help! You're more useful with me, all your Barriers and seals make traveling so much easier, and now that Aoi's done with his training, we can travel all over the world!"

"I've never had a taste for travel, Yuki-san."

"Yunaaaa! You said you'd come with me! What changed?"

She thinks of Satoru, who had spent the night which his head in her lap, feet hanging off the edge of the couch. He had not said much else for the rest of the night, content to let Yuna rest her hand on his head, petting him like he was a puppy. Somewhere between four a.m. and sunrise, Satoru had brought Yuna's open palm to his lips and just held it there, his eyes staring straight into her soul, daring her to withdraw from the open sky. She doesn't remember much after that.

"Nothing," she lies. "I just like the pace of life right now."

"I get that," says Yuki after some thought. "You've had a really tough year."

"Yes." Yuki's admission of this fact takes Yuna by surprise. "It has been."

"Fine then," her friend sighs. "I'll go to Thailand by myself, but you better come with me to Europe and America. Your English is better than mine, you'll blend in better."

Yuna's English is actually quite abysmal, and she looks very obviously Japanese especially when compared next to Yuki, who can pass for a Brazilian blonde supermodel. Yuna does not mention these points and instead takes the victory where she can. She listens to Yuki muse aloud about the latest trend of curses in downtown Shanghai, which still doesn't reach the density of even a quarter of Tokyo despite the significant population density, something about Tengen's Barrier acting like curse control. Yuna constantly is reminded of the vast disparity between her and Yuki, but it's moments like these where she can truly feel the weight. The way Yuki theorizes about curse origin is free-flowing and innovative, academic in a way that Yuna cannot hope to achieve because she does not even bother posing the question. Yuna accepts curses for what they are, as natural as environmental disasters, cruel and horrible in a mindless way. Even if humans could not produce curses, they would find another way to damage each other.

Fushiguro Toji was wrong about many things, but he wasn't wrong about humans being the bigger problem. Yuna hates that Toji has now been dead longer than she'd known him when he was alive, and yet his stupid mantras have burrowed themselves into the foundation of her worldview. She feels like a baby bird that imprinted on a homicidal mother.

After Yuki falls asleep in the middle of her third hypothesis, Yuna hangs up and texts her friend a reminder to hydrate plenty to prevent a hangover. She then takes a scalding shower, preparing for an early night in because she has not slept much in the last twenty-four hours—she'd woken up on the couch in the late morning to an empty apartment and a sore neck, and she has not heard from Satoru all day.

Yuna emerges from the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel as steam pours out into the hallway, and finds two children sitting on the couch in her living room. She freezes and stares at them. They freeze and stare back.

"Um," Fushiguro Tsumiki says after a long pause, her eyes wide as saucers, "we were told to wait here. Gojou-san said he'd be right back."

Yuna scans the kitchen, hoping Satoru will burst from beneath the cupboards with an explanation, but of course the rest of the apartment is empty. Fushiguro Megumi's Cursed Energy is barely the flicker of a match, bending like the beat with which Megumi kicks his legs. Yuna only notices it now when she searches for it.

"Do you live here?" says Tsumiki meekly. "We're sorry for intruding. Gojou-san said he lived here, so we assumed you are a s-sorcerer too but maybe not…"

"You are, aren't you?" Megumi says firmly. Up this close, his resemblance to Toji is alarming, down to the slope of his nose bridge and angle of his eyes. "I saw you around our neighborhood last winter. You got rid of a beetle…curse thing."

Yuna finally finds her voice. "Yes."

"Who are you?" he asks, direct but not rude. "How do you know who we are? Are you from the…Zen'in family that that Gojou guy says I'm from?"

"Megumi, one question at a time," chides Tsumiki.

Yuna shakes her head. "It's all right. My name is Morimoto Yuna. I was a teacher at Jujutsu High, a school for young shamans to learn sorcery. I apologize for being surprised. Gojou-kun had not told me he'd be bringing you."

Tsumiki looks mortified. "We are so sorry for causing you trouble! We can wait out in the hallway until Gojou-san returns!"

"No," says Yuna quickly, "there is nothing to be sorry for. He may have left me a message but I must have missed it." She grabs her phone off the counter and sure enough, there is a single text from Satoru.

[21:32] SURPRISE!

Yuna wants to kill him. Instead, she replies,

[21:45] Please call me to explain this situation.

She clears her throat and addresses the children.

"Have you eaten dinner?"

As she reheats leftover rice and stir-fries whatever is left in her refrigerator, the children explain what exactly Satoru has been up to all day. It turns out Satoru had gotten around Yuna's Barriers by cornering Megumi after school, outside the perimeter Yuna had set up. In an abandoned alleyway, he'd dropped a fountain of information on the first-grader, from the basic concepts of curses and sorcery to the ten-billion-yen deal that Megumi was worth to the Zen'in clan. Yuna is certain the information had been dumped on Megumi with the least amount of tact possible, but Megumi does not seem that perturbed. He is remarkably dispassionate and well-spoken for a first-grader, but the impact of the news must be blunted since Megumi has been able to see curses for some time now.

It is Tsumiki's unquestioning attitude that impresses Yuna; the older sister embellishes the barebones of Megumi's explanation with an added detail here and there that showcases not just an acceptance of concepts that she cannot even see, but an understanding of how important of a piece her brother is to jujutsu sorcery's larger scheme.

"The moron said the Zen'in family wants me because of my Technique or something," says Megumi as he shovels rice into his mouth.

"He said your Technique is the rarest Technique of the family," corrects Tsumiki. She stacks some pickled daikon and steamed spinach on Megumi's bowl, and it unnecessarily surprises Yuna to see Megumi eat the vegetables without complaint. Toji had always tried to push the spinach back on her plate.

Yuna sips on a cold glass of water, even though she desperately wants a beer. "That is correct. Techniques are very important in sorcery, and some families value them deeply. The Zen'ins want coveted Techniques in their family because it makes the family strong."

"Gojou said my dad knew what Technique I had, and that was why he tried to get so much for me," says Megumi, tone eerily blasé to be discussing the matter of child trafficking, much less when he is said child being trafficked.

"Yes, that is true."

Megumi frowns slightly. "Did he…" He looks like he changes his mind and lets the half-formed thought dangle like a worm suspended on a fish hook over a shallow pond. "Never mind."

Yuna prays that Satoru, who thinks so little about the words that come out of his mouth, at least knew not to tell Megumi that he had murdered Megumi's father.

"Techniques are strong," says Yuna, "but they do not define a sorcerer's strength. There are many strong sorcerers without Techniques, and many sorcerers with Techniques who are weak." She thinks of Toji, who could cut down a god blessed with not just one but two Techniques. "It does not define a sorcerer's worth."

Megumi's eyes are fixed on Yuna's neck, which she touches gently, self-aware. "Did you know my dad?"

She blinks. "He was known by many people in the jujutsu world."

He is not mollified by the response. "Why were you there last winter? Were you spying on us?"

"No."

Before Megumi has the chance to become more suspicious of her, Yuna senses familiar Cursed Energy outside her door and is relieved when the door bursts open.

"Yuna!" Satoru announces as he crosses the threshold, eyes bright and a tad manic. "Did you like the surprise?"

Shouko peers from behind his outstretched arms with resigned apology.

"Sorry for intruding this late," she says. "Satoru said it was important."

Behind her towers Yaga, who nods at Yuna in greeting and then focuses on the two children who are perched on her barstools, eating at the counter. The furrow between his brows has deepened since the last time Yuna had seen him, and he frowns even harder when his eyes land on Megumi. No one can deny that Megumi's heritage. Even at first glance, he is such a Zen'in thoroughbred that it is remarkable that some Window for hire hadn't seen him and reported him to the Zen'in clan before Satoru had found him.

"Shit," Yaga mutters. "I thought Satoru was just pulling a prank."

"No," says Yuna.

"You should give your investigator a raise, Satoru," says the Jujutsu principal. "Zen'in Naobito has had his men frantically searching for this kid ever since…" His voice trails off before he mentions Toji's demise. Megumi and Tsumiki are avid listeners.

Satoru clears his throat. "Yeah, well, he was pretty well hidden."

Yuna stares at her water glass. She does not know how much Satoru has told Yaga and Shouko, but judging from the fact that Yaga is willingly under her roof, she assumes that her involvement with the Fushiguro children has been omitted from Satoru's report.

Shouko approaches the children, a black satchel bag slung over her shoulder and her brown hair hanging limply from a home dye job. Yuna has already scheduled her an appointment at a proper salon next week.

"Hi." Shouko softens next to the children. "I'm Shouko. I'm a doctor of sorts. Satoru wanted me to come and make sure you two were healthy. He said you've been living alone for a long time."

Tsumiki nods shyly. "Y-yeah. We're healthy though! I-I cook a lot of vegetables."

Shouko smiles at her, and it is the softest expression Yuna has ever seen her show. "That's great. It must have been hard to take care of yourself for so long."

Yuna starts cleaning the dishes as Shouko introduces herself to Megumi, who regards her warily but lets her place her stethoscope on his chest. She is grateful only Satoru knows about her association with the Fushiguro children; he is selfish enough not to question why Yuna had left them to fend for themselves for the last two years. Any other sane, reasonable adult would be appalled with the fact that Yuna had let a third and first-grader live by themselves for so long, on minimal funds, with minimal supervision. She had considered taking them under her roof after Toji had died, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Keeping the children Hidden was the most she could muster; on her worst days, she'd wanted to turn Megumi over to the Zen'in clan, or just let him be devoured by curses, because that was what the only thing Toji-san loved deserved.

She is worse than Toji.

"Yuna? Yuna!"

She startles and drops a plate. It shatters when it hits the ground, splintered shards of a sakura pattern—stupid, cheap thing.

"Are you okay?" Shouko leans over the counter to force herself in Yuna's vision, looking obviously concerned.

Tsumiki hops off her barstool and scuttles into the kitchen. "I can help clean it up!"

"No." Yuna nearly pushes the child out of the kitchen, as if she's a guard-dog guarding her territory. "I'll take care of it. I apologize. I just spaced out."

"Are you okay?" Shouko says again, decidedly not commenting on Yuna's bizarre behavior.

"Yes."

"You sure?" She peers closely at her. "I was trying to get your attention to ask what happened to your neck."

Yuna touches her neck reflexively. She had been ready to turn in for the night and is embarrassingly wearing a soft, plain T-shirt and wide linen pants. The shirt's collar is low and wide—no wonder Megumi had been staring earlier. The bruises Satoru had left the night before must have blossomed, even though they are not painful.

She is careful not to glance Satoru's way when she answers. "Ah. It's nothing. I had some difficulty with a curse on my way home yesterday."

"It got close enough to choke you?" says Yaga, alarmed.

"I was distracted. It was not an issue once I focused." Yuna bends down to sweep up the ceramic pieces, hoping that she is out of sight long enough to let the conversation move on without her. When she straightens up, she is lucky to find that Satoru and Yaga are discussing matters among themselves with the children listening keenly, though Megumi's eyes keep skirting to Yuna's neck.

Unfortunately, Shouko has sidled beside Yuna and is examining her neck carefully.

"This has no Residuals to it," she says flatly, her voice low.

"They've faded, Shouko-san."

She frowns and lets her Technique weave into Yuna's skin, repairing the broken capillaries in a gentle stream. "Why are you lying? This was Satoru, wasn't it? Why did he bring the Zen'in kid here?"

"There are Zen'in spies at the School. He probably thought Megumi-kun would be easier to hide here."

Shouko's eyes narrow. "You're a lot better liar than I thought you were, Yuna."

"I am not lying."

She purses her lips, shiny with a caramel gloss. "Whatever. I'm gonna bully it out of Satoru anyway, and then I'll kill him."

"I don't think that is possible, now that his Infinity can be on forever."

"There's always poison."

"His Six Eyes can detect it."

"Over the counter laxatives have no Cursed properties," Shouko is deathly serious. "I've thought about this a lot."

Yuna smiles a little. "It seems you have."

Shouko eyes Yuna's neck, now smooth and clear, but lets it go. They join the others in the living room, where Satoru is explaining Megumi's options.

"I offered the Zen'in option to him already. He doesn't want it, because they're a bunch of sad fucks—"

"Language, Gojou-kun."

"Fine, sad jerks and they'll make both Megumi and Tsumiki's lives miserable. So that leaves coming to the School outside of Zen'in jurisdiction, which means I'll have to make a claim." Satoru props his feet up on the coffee table and sucks on a hard candy (green apple, by the looks of the wrapper). "He'll be under Gojou protection."

Shouko snorts. "Your parents gonna go for that? You're raising a Zen'in kid with the rarest Zen'in Technique under Gojou protection. No way they don't see that as a Zen'in plant to assassinate you in the future."

Yaga intervenes before the topic of assassination progresses—Tsumiki and Megumi look too alarmed already.

"The logistics can be worked out later, but let's assume that is a possibility. The Institute would be happy to have that. We're always low on sorcerers, much less someone with a Technique so powerful."

"What do you think?" Satoru says to Megumi. "Want to learn how to be a sorcerer?"

"I thought we were talking about options," Megumi says slowly. "You only gave me one."

"Well, you shot down the Zen'in one, which sucked anyway, so yeah, there's only one left."

"That is not true," says Yuna quietly. "There's another option."

Satoru seems annoyed that she's interrupting, but she returns the stare pointedly and says,

"They don't have to enter the jujutsu world. We can hide them and teach Megumi-kun to exorcise basic curses, but otherwise he and Tsumiki-kun can continue happily living non-sorcerer lives."

A long silence ensues, punctured by the rev of a passing motorbike and the irritating thud of Megumi's feet kicking into the side of her kitchen counter. The children look at each other, confused, while the remainder of them clearly struggle with coming up with a reasonable response to Yuna's proposition.

Yaga tries first. "Yuna, that won't work."

"You tried to do that when you found me."

"I didn't know you could see curses. I didn't even know if you had Cursed Energy. And it's different. He's a Zen'in."

"He is a Fushiguro." It still bothers her deeply, the way everyone refers to Toji by the name of a family who'd ruined him to the point where he had no humanity left. Megumi was Toji's, whether Megumi knows or not.

"He has the Ten Shadows," says Shouko, tone tempered. "It's not something Megumi-kun will be able to hide, even if he tries. It's a Technique that can be fate-changing."

"He is a child who happens to have a Technique," Yuna replies. "Perhaps we are putting too much emphasis on a Technique. I think we all know that one does not need a Technique to change fate. Maybe the opposite is the same."

Satoru very clearly finds Yuna's suggestion the stupidest thing he's heard in his lifetime, and Yuna braces herself when he opens his mouth to respond.

"It'll be like forcing a fish to breathe on land." His voice is even, though he is obviously struggling to control his facial expression. "If my parents had tried to send me to some non-sorcerer school, curses and Curse Users would have found me no matter what—even if I wasn't trying to be a sorcerer. I would have died before I hit first-grade. Megumi's gotten this far because of…special circumstances. Whatever protection the deal his dad struck offered is over. It sucks, but he doesn't have other options. He either goes to the Zen'ins and learns under their tutelage, or he learns under mine. That's it."

Silence falls after Satoru's explanation. Both Shouko and Yaga appear mildly surprised with Satoru's restraint, but Yuna senses the effort Satoru is putting in and again, the tide recedes and Yuna yields.

"All right, Gojou-kun. I understand."

Megumi frowns. "Is he even a teacher? Isn't he a student? Is he qualified?"

"You brat, I'll have you know I am the best and strongest sorcerer in the whole fucking—"

"Language."

"Freaking world. You should be kissing my feet and thanking me for taking you under my generous, gracious wing."

Megumi does not look convinced. Yaga clears his throat and offers,

"We will all teach you the basics, Fushiguro-kun. Morimoto was a teacher at the School, too. She is very qualified."

"No one has ever believed that, Yaga-sensei."

"There's really not that much to learn," says Shouko. "So much of Technique practice is individualized and doesn't really manifest until later. Most of us still went to normal, non-sorcerer primary and middle schools for basic education. You'll have plenty of time."

"So we can still go to school in the fall?" says Tsumiki hopefully.

"If Satoru sorts things out with the Zen'in clan, you can," Shouko replies. "You'll have to hide until then."

"Hide where?" says Megumi.

"Here!" Satoru points to the ground. "This place is super hard to find unless you know exactly who or what you're looking for. It's not hard for my Eyes, but any other sorcerer kind of glosses over this apartment without understanding why. It's safer than you going back to your apartment, and I'm ninety-percent sure a Window or auxiliary manager at the School is on the Zen'in family's payroll. We wanna keep you a secret for now."

"Gojou-kun," Yuna's voice is strained, "we did not discuss this."

Tsumiki looks anxious. "We don't want to cause any trouble!"

Satoru ignores her. "Yuna, you know I'm right."

"We don't have the space."

"They're two tiny kids!"

"I'm not tiny!" argues Megumi.

"It's just for a week or something," Satoru insists. "After we sort things out with the Zen'ins, they can move to campus."

Yuna wants to verbalize the terrible dread that is curdling like spoiled milk in her stomach. She does not want to live with Toji's child and stepchild in Toji's old apartment—she has never been good with children, and she should honestly be arrested for child neglect because she'd let two primary schoolkids live on their own for years. Not to mention there is something blasphemous about the arrangement, with how close by Toji's resting site is, with how close Megumi would be to the recording stored in her closet of his first Christmas.

Instead, she relents.

"Just one week."

Satoru beams. "Just one week."

They both know it is a lie.

After the children go to bed, (Tsumiki insists that they can both sleep on the couch, "We don't mean to kick you out of your bed, Morimoto-san" and does not stop insisting until Yuna picks them both up and drops them on the mattress), Yaga and Shouko return to Jujutsu High with plans for all of them to meet back in Yuna's apartment the next morning. Yuna prepares the couch with spare sheets and blankets for her to sleep on while Satoru rummages through her cabinets for a slab of ginger chocolate he swears he'd left behind the day before.

"Gojou-kun." Yuna is tired and wants him to leave. "It's late."

"Not really," he says brightly. "It's not even midnight."

He finds what he's looking for and shuffles into the living room with chocolate in hand. He plops down on the couch, forcing Yuna to draw her legs in to give him space, unwraps the bar and offers her a piece. She shakes her head wearily.

"I already brushed my teeth."

"Suit yourself," he shrugs. Satoru has the annoying habit of chewing on all candy, no matter what it is. There's something oddly disgusting but endearing about the way he chews chocolate, chomping on it because he's too impatient to wait for it to melt.

Yuna waits for him to say something, but he simply sits and makes his way through his chocolate bar, munching all the while.

"Gojou-kun," she says quietly.

"Y'know, I've been thinking. You should call me by my first name."

"…Why?"

"Well, I call you by yours. And everyone else calls me by my first name."

"Only Shouko-san and Yaga-sensei do."

And Suguru, but we don't talk about him anymore.

"You call Shouko by her first name. What's different about me?"

Yuna thinks there is more to this sudden request, but does not want to delve into it. Only twenty-four hours ago, she was ready for Satoru to kill her on this couch. Now, he lounges on her opposite side, eating chocolate, telling her to call him by his given name, as if the intensity of her betrayal has faded out of memory just like the bruises he'd marked on her throat.

"I'll think about it," she says.

"You can practice. Sa-to-ru." He half-turns to her. The living room is dim, illuminated only by a tableside lamp with a yellow shade, dark enough for Satoru to put aside his glasses and for his Six Eyes to glow like blue flickers of foxfire.

"Maybe later," she whispers.

He scoots closer, and she draws her knees tighter to her. "What's wrong, Yuna?"

"Nothing. I just…why did you bring them here?"

"Who? The kids?"

"Yes."

Satoru arches an eyebrow. "I answered that earlier."

"No, I meant. Why did you bring them."

Satoru crouches over her so that they are face to face. Yuna leans back so that there is still space between them; she does not know why Satoru is getting so close, how their position has somehow become her leaning completely back, her head against the arm rest, Satoru's arms framing her face. The Six Eyes are bright, brilliantly cut sapphire, the clearest sea shimmering sunrise. They make her bare her truth, only so all of this can just end.

"I thought you would kill Megumi-kun."

Satoru freezes above her, and now both his eyebrows raise. "Hah?"

The strange mood between them has shattered, and Yuna is relieved, even if it means Satoru will be angry. She knows anger: it is familiar, manageable even if she is frightened. This—whatever it was, in the soft glow of a solitary lamp, the spring breeze through a cracked window, Yuna in her pajamas in front of Satoru when he has not seen her like this before, when he hovers above her and some part of Yuna thinks he may kiss her—she does not want this. She does not know what to do with this.

But then Satoru is not angry. His expression relaxes, but he does not withdraw. He stays above her, Six Eyes fixed on her like she is the only thing in the omniscient vision of a god, and Yuna wants to shrink away but has no more room to run. She has already crossed the asymptote, as found the point of convergence when it only exists in Infinity, and cannot draw away no matter how much she wants.

Satoru leans in even closer, and his forehead presses against hers. He smells like the spice of ginger and warmth of chocolate.

"You really think I'm a monster, huh."

Yuna immediately remembers her lesson from the night before, the promise she had made because she had to, but also because she'd wanted to. She reaches forward to rectify her mistake, her hand finding the front of his shirt. "Gojou-kun."

"Nah. It's okay." He wrestles her grip out of his, but it is gentle. "Goodnight, Yuna. See you tomorrow."

His lips touch her forehead, and then he warps away. The half-eaten chocolate bar falls on her blankets, as if he'd left it for her to finish.

Yuna did not agree to this.

She'd agreed to one week of hosting Toji's son and stepdaughter in his—now her—space. She'd even budgeted for Satoru's penchant to dramatically under- or overestimate important matters and had mentally made peace with two, even three weeks.

It is now in the dead of summer, and Yuna has been living with the Fushiguro children for two months.

She understands that there is a plan and process in place. Yaga and Satoru have decided to wait until the end of the summer to announce Megumi's existence and arrangement with the Gojou clan to the Zen'ins, contingent on Satoru gaining the approval of the Gojou clan elders and on Megumi being able to manifest some element of the Ten Shadows Technique at will. Satoru insists that Gojou family approval will not be difficult ("Worst comes to worst, I'll kill them all and then the only approval needed is mine!") though he has promised Yaga that he will attempt to convince his parents diplomatically. Their cooperation also allows Satoru to more easily find Gojou family records of their rival clan's coveted Techniques, which he gives to Megumi to read so he can learn the basics.

In the children's defense, they are wonderful houseguests, better than Satoru on all fronts. Tsumiki shows a concerning duty to be as little of a burden as possible and insists on doing chores: she launders her and Megumi's clothes and is embarrassingly a better cook than Yuna, so she perches on top of a step stool and cooks dinner for the all of them twice a week. Megumi is less chore-inclined, but he is quiet, polite if not reserved, and clean. He likes Yuna's calligraphy and sometimes asks for paper and brushes to practice on when he is not practicing hand signs for shadow puppets.

Still, it is an adjustment that Yuna had not bargained for. She has given up the bed for the children to sleep on and has relocated permanently to the couch. Despite the tiny space, Satoru sometimes still wants to stay over, which has forced Yuna to buy a small air mattress that barely fits in her living room even when her coffee table is pushed right up against the television. The apartment shrinks with the bodies, the noise, and undeniably (and with no credit to Yuna), the warmth.

Tsumiki loves Satoru, finds him funny and charming and handsome. They both share an uncontrollable sweet tooth that Satoru exploits to curry favor, not that Tsumiki would ever deny him her attention regardless of bribes. Megumi is not so easily won over. He clearly finds Satoru Too Much and will scowl deeply whenever Satoru tries to get a rise out of him. He rarely engages with Satoru willingly, instead plugging in headphones to Yuna's old iPod and reading the scrolls Satoru brings or a novel Yuna finds at a used bookstore. He is only truly comfortable around Tsumiki, clearly able to tell how uncomfortable Yuna herself is with the children in her space. When given the choice, though, Megumi prefers to sit at the kitchen counter, reading a book while his stepsister and Satoru argue about the best way to complete a mission in Zelda, sometimes asking Yuna about a kanji character or two while she cooks.

Shouko swings by more often now, having taken a liking to the children. She finds the entire family routine bizarre, if not something to focus on and make fun of rather than think her impending graduation and transition into a non-sorcerer school. She'll drop by with snacks, flowers, sometimes the occasional toy (or what she thinks is a toy, but in reality is often a preserved body-part or scalpel that Yuna confiscates because it's "wholly inappropriate for children their age"). Some evenings, the five of them walk around the riverside and they let the children collect shells or find treasure on the shore, and Yuna tries not to think about Toji when she watches Megumi retrace the same steps Toji had on their walks.

Most of the time, it's just the four of them: Satoru, Yuna, Tsumiki, Megumi. After a hearty homecooked meal or the occasional takeout, the four of them cram on the couch together to watch a movie, their legs sprawled out on the mattress and their laps covered in chip crumbs. The couch is so small that in order to fit, she and Satoru practically hold a child each, and the domesticity of it all—and who it entails (Toji's killer, Toji's son, Toji's stepdaughter, and whatever Yuna was to Toji)—is unbearable.

She will always need to leave in the middle of the movie, peeling away to the roof to smoke. Under the starry night and surrounded by solitude and cigarette smoke, she tries not to remember how this was where she'd confessed to Toji that she'd killed her child, when Toji had shown her a kindness she had not deserved, even though she is not supposed to believe he has even a speck of kindness now.

Megumi is the same age as Yuna's child, if she had not buried it in the ground.

She does not deserve any of this.

One night, she does not return to the apartment for hours. It is only when Satoru finds her that Yuna realizes how late it is, well past midnight.

"I put the kids to bed," he says brightly.

"Ah." She scoots to the side as he sits down next to her, in her favorite corner of the rooftop, furthest from the road and right underneath the full moon. She puts out her cigarette—Satoru was not pleased when he found out she smokes. "Sorry."

"They put themselves to bed, really."

Yuna nods. "They're very good kids."

"Yeah." Satoru stretches his legs out in front of him and eyes the four empty cans of beer next to her. "So why dontcha like them?"

"I never said that."

"You don't need to. You're just really quiet around them. Even more so than normal." He glances down at her, and she avoids his eyes. "I thought you'd want this, Yuna."

She can't help but laugh, the alcohol making her disinhibited. "In what universe would you think that?"

Satoru does not miss a beat when he answers. "In the universe where I killed your boyfriend, so gave you his son instead."

Yuna jerks her head up to stare at him, speechless and wide-eyed and incredulous.

Satoru's expression is serious. "It wasn't just that. I have plans for changing the jujutsu world, and Megumi is a part of that. But I thought you'd appreciate Megumi living with you. I thought you'd kept him away because you were worried I'd find out."

"No," says Yuna hollowly. "That wasn't it."

Satoru doesn't understand everything, but seems to understand some things.

"Guess I read it wrong. You want me to move him to the School?"

"No." It comes out faster, firmer than she expected of herself. "No, he's safer here. With us."

The edge of Satoru's mouth pulls upward, glimpsing a pearly canine. "Yeah, he is. With us."

He yawns widely and stretches his arms out. One comes around Yuna and lands on her shoulder. It makes her laugh a little bit, the elementary nature of the move, and Satoru looks a bit miffed.

"What?"

"Nothing." She does not pull away, her mind fuzzy and her cheeks warm. Satoru's touch is comforting and familiar now, so different to how it had been even months before. "I do not give you as much credit as you deserve sometimes, Gojou-kun."

He snorts. "Tell me something I don't know."

"I mean it. If I were you…I do not know if I'd have the heart to take care of Megumi-kun. Not after what Toji-san did to you."

Satoru's expression becomes pensive. He looks lovely under moonlight, the silver clinging to his hair, a god descending on a path of cool fire. "He's a kid. He doesn't know anything. Doesn't even remember his dad. And I…" He makes an aggravated noise in his throat and his face twists in distaste the way it does whenever he mentions Toji. "Fuck. It sounds bad, with everything he did to Amanai and how that changed…Suguru, but when I think about that asshole, I hate him but don't hate him, y'know? Like…I kinda get it. It wasn't personal. Me killing him wasn't personal either."

Yuna nods slowly, even though everything about that failed mission—from Toji's side, from Satoru's side—all feels unbearably personal to her.

"It was Zen'in shit. Jujutsu world shit," Satoru continues. "It's bigger than him, or Amanai, or…or even Suguru." The Six Eyes are alight and they dance like supernovas. "I'm gonna change all that."

"It's not bigger than you, hm?"

Satoru grins wolfishly, and Yuna does not recognize him for a moment. "I alone can change it."

She hums. "I know."

He stiffens at her expression and looks away from her, though his hold around her shoulder tightens.

She does not know what to do with this. She does not mind.

"Gojou-kun, I'm sorry I thought you would kill Megumi-kun. You are capable of many great and terrible things. But I think it is time I admit to myself that you yourself are not." She lifts her face so that her chin rests against his arm as she looks up at him. "I hope I can give you the credit you deserve from now on."

Satoru is looking everywhere except for her, so Yuna brings a hand to his cheek. Infinity is dissolved, and her skin touches his, and his cheek is burning. When his eyes meet hers, they are wary and the blue is sharp and electric, but his pupils are wide.

"Yuna?" Satoru's voice is strangled.

"Yes, Gojou-kun?"

"Can you try…calling me by my first name now?"

If he weren't backlit by the moon, face cast in shadows, she could swear that he is blushing. Or maybe she is. Her blood is warm. His hand brushes her bare arm, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

"Satoru," Yuna says.

She glimpses Six Eyes blazing, and then Satoru's lips find hers, his hand curls into her hair, and it is scorching and soft and tastes like beer with strawberry soda and chocolate and feels nothing like the anointment of a monster or a god.