Blissfully snoring, Toji Fushiguro shifted his position in bed so that he lay on his stomach with an arm extended out to drape over his wife. The man was dreaming deeply of some of the rare, happy moments of his childhood prior to the Zen'in clan realising he possessed no cursed energy, where the life he once knew was turned upside down in the blink of an eye. Toji dreamt of the times he spent playing hide and seek with Jinichi and the way the elder looked to him so fondly, gladly indulging in his childish antics. Suddenly, Toji was forcibly dragged from the safety of his dream back to reality by a gentle shaking of his shoulder and, once he came to, his blurred vision adjusted to the shape of his only son standing at his bedside.
"...Daddy?" Megumi whispered, shuffling his feet awkwardly in place, quickly retracting the small hand pressed against the man's broad shoulder as his father woke.
"What is it?" Toji inquired, his tone notably holding annoyance. The man tilted his head to his wife, who was still sound asleep and hadn't been disturbed by the toddler's presence, looking back to the child with a single eyebrow raised.
"T-Tummy hurts...feel sick..." The boy stammered, arms wrapped around his abdomen and his large green eyes looking to his father full of tears. Toji's gaze on the boy softened a little, sensing the child was serious and that this wasn't a stunt he was pulling just so he could sleep in bed with him and his partner. Toji swung his legs to the side of the bed and felt the child's forehead. No fever. Then came a sense of urgency. If the child was going to vomit, he'd much rather he do it in the bathroom and not on the bedroom carpet.
"Ok, come with me to the toilet, let's go" Toji instructed, hauling himself from the warmth of his duvet and taking Megumi's hand, leading the boy to the bathroom. As the pair travelled the short distance down the darkened hallway, Toji flicked the light switch on and guided his son to face the toilet bowl, with the man kneeling down beside him.
Feeling an unpleasant sensation claw up his throat and the anxiety that came with knowing that he was going to be sick, the child began to weep. Toji, who'd been supressing the urge to yawn and had taken a second to rub the sleep from one of his eyes, let out a heavy sigh upon seeing his son becoming increasingly distressed at what was inevitably coming.
He was in for a long night.
"Hey, its ok, take some deep breaths and close your eyes" the man gently used a hand to rub the boy's back. Toji theorised that perhaps the cause of this mysterious illness came from something the child ate earlier in the day. Either way, the man did his best to make his voice sound as soothing as possible so as to ease the child's nerves, though he was painfully aware of how 'cold' he was often perceived by others and that being 'comforting' was unnatural for him. Unfortunately, the conscious effort Toji made to be sound more calming had little effect on the distressed boy who, at this point, began retching whilst still sobbing. "That's it, keep your head down kid, you're doing great" Toji murmured, still rubbing Megumi's back while continually shifting his eyes between the child and the floor. He did not do well with puke.
"Daddy...don't wanna be sick...don't like it!" Megumi wailed, balling up his tiny fists to rub his eyes as he turned to reach for his father for comfort, throwing himself into Toji's arms as snot and tears oozed from his face.
"No one likes it kid, it's just one of those things. Now let go before-" Toji didn't even have a chance to finish his sentence before the child vomited profusely over his father, half-digested food coating the man's shirt and lower body, spilling across the tiled floor and covering Megumi from his mouth to his toes. The whole affair lasted a few measly seconds, but in that short period of time, Megumi had managed to create quite a mess. Toji, feeling a sense of disgust and irritation concocting inside of him, had to repress the urge to vomit himself. "Daddy I'm sorry!" Megumi cried, upset at having been sick over his father for he now fretted that Toji would reprimand him, especially as the boy was instructed to remain facing the toilet bowl and did not do this.
"It's ok, you're ok" Toji reassured the child, stroking the boy's raven hair and moving to undress the boy so that he did not get cold from his soaked clothing, "stand and aim for the toilet, I'll just quickly clean the floor so you don't slip". Megumi, now stood in nothing but his underwear, observed his father as he too undressed and tossed the soiled clothing to one side. The child turned and kneeled in front of the basin, panting heavily. Toji grabbed the mop and an old rag to clean the floors with, continually checking in with his son as he did this so that Megumi knew he was present.
"Daddy...!" Megumi squeaked, alarm building within the child as he once again began to gag despite his futile attempts to resist the urge to be sick. Toji was by his child's side in an instant, consoling the toddler as best as he could. This time, Megumi managed to throw up into the toilet bowl. This continued for another half hour before the child's stomach showed mercy. Megumi stood up from the toilet unsteadily on his feet to flush the expelled contents of of his stomach, his head feeling clouded. Luckily, Toji caught the boy in his arms and scooped him up, carefully carrying the child to his room and tucking him back into bed. "I'll be back now, if you need to be sick again go to the toilet like you did before" Toji promptly left the room, stopping by the bathroom to retrieve the dirty clothing and place it into the washing machine to be cleaned. Then, the man swiftly moved to gather up an old washing basin and a glass of water to take to Megumi who, as he descended back up the stairs to his son's bedroom, was sat up eagerly awaiting his arrival.
"Ok, if in the night you don't think you can make it to the toilet you can be sick in here" Toji explained, showing Megumi the basin as he placed it at his bedside so it was easy to reach for the child. Toji then offered the boy some water, which Megumi gratefully sipped on under his father's supervision.
"Try to get some sleep, I'll be down the hall if you-"
"Daddy no! Daddy stay! Stay Daddy!"
Toji felt his heart strings tug at the sight of his child's bottom lip quivering, tears again threatening his eyes as he crawled to where Toji sat on the bed and laid his tiny head on his father's lap. How could he say no? Toji gave in and pulled the covers back, squeezing himself into Megumi's small bed with an arm wrapped protectively around the boy. He tenderly stroked Megumi's cheek, unable to quash a small smile at seeing the boy's eyes slowly droop. Eventually, Megumi gave in to sleep, for which Toji was glad. The man hoping his son would wake in the morning feeling somewhat better and praying there would be no more vomit.
'Seriously, how did someone that small have that much inside of them?' Toji reflected, planting a small kiss atop of Megumi's head and closing his eyes.
Maybe now, he'd have some uninterrupted rest.