Birch

AKA the one where Gojo finally gets out of the box.

Satoru Gojo was tired.

He was exhausted, his muscles ached, and he had a headache forming behind his eyes from going without a blindfold for so long. His heart was also furiously pounding away in his chest, a lingering side effect from the adrenaline that was bleeding out of his body after being faced with both Suguru's corpse and poor Megumi's possessed body. The arrogance and gravitas from his standoff with Kenjaku and Sukuna left him with nothing but stress and anxiety in their wake.

The whole "time not moving" within the prison realm didn't help either. He simultaneously felt like one hundred years and only one minute had passed.

He had to go find Yuji and the others. Had to come up with some sort of plan to stop everything from going to shit even more than it already had. He was free now and people were going to expect him to fix everything.

He was tired and those last few moments before he walked into his fate in Shibuya kept echoing in the back of his head.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Kaia muttered. She crossed her arms and stared at the entrance to the station. Her brows were furrowed and her green eyes were narrowed into tiny little slits.

"Eh, it'll be fine. You worry too much," Gojo said. He grinned at her but she didn't return his smile. He noticed the way the tension coiled in her body. Her shoulders were taut, she seemed to cross her arms even tighter around herself, and she tensed her jaw in a way that told him she was clenching her teeth incredibly hard.

"I know I don't have my cursed moon technique anymore, but if I did, I think my future-sight would agree with me," she said.

He tilted his head to the side almost playfully and slung an arm across her shoulders.

"I'm the strongest. What are you so nervous about?" he asked.

She huffed and shot him a glare out of the corner of her eyes. "Satoru, I'm being serious."

"So am I," he said easily. He tugged her closer, causing her to stumble against his chest and leading to her elbowing him in the ribs. "I'll go down there, take care of whatever is going on, and be done before the hour. We can grab a late dinner after."

She sighed and looked up at him with skeptical green eyes.

"Right," she said. She gave him a weak smile that didn't meet her eyes and said a soft, "Let's do Greek tonight."

He grinned and kissed her temple.

"Can do. Just gimme a half hour."

Kaia had been right. Of course, she'd been right. It didn't matter that she no longer had her future-sight, she still had a weird sixth sense for predicting things. He should have listened to her in October, but he supposed it didn't really matter. It wouldn't have changed anything. He still would have gone down there and he still would have fought those curses and he still would have been caught off guard at the sight of Suguru Geto standing before him. He couldn't think of any other scenario where he didn't get sealed.

Gojo pulled himself together. He had to find Yuji and the others.

He took a moment to use his Six Eyes to help him locate the meeting place where he was sure his students and peers were. It only took a few moments, less than a minute really, to be able to locate an influx of familiar cursed energy from several different people. He took a deep breath and teleported across Saitama until he stood in Jujutsu Tech Training Ground No. 4.

"Well, that was a nice rest," he said with a bright smile.

Sure enough, he was right. Yuji stood at the front of the group, surrounded by Yuta, Toge, Panda (when did he get so small?), Hakari, Kirara, Miwa, and… Was that Maki? The one covered in burns? Then there was Shoko, Utahime, and Mei Mei. There were also some unfamiliar sorcerers that Gojo most definitely had never met before.

But most importantly, there was someone missing from the group.

"Gojo!" came the excited shouts from Yuji and Yuta.

"Finally," Maki deadpanned. (Ah. So he was right. She was burned.) She planted a hand on her hip and scowled at him. "Where the hell have you been? Kurusu released you like twenty minutes ago."

"Oh, I just thought I would have a little chat with Megumi before I stopped by," he said easily. He kept that smug smile on his face as his eyes searched the area for the one person who seemed to be missing from the group.

There was a long moment of silence from everyone around him but then it was broken by Utahime berating him.

"What! What the hell are you talking about? You saw Fushiguro? Just now?" she shouted.

Gojo didn't bother responding to her, so his eyes flickered to Shoko and he parted his lips to ask a question.

"Where is K—"

"So then you know about what happened to Fushiguro?" Yuji squeaked behind him.

"Does that mean you also know what's happened with Tengen?" Maki asked.

"Yeah, or the Culling Games?" Panda added.

Several other questions popped up from behind Gojo and he ignored them, choosing to look between Shoko, Utahime, and Mei Mei.

"Guys?" Gojo asked.

Mei Mei looked like she was about to answer him, but then he was interrupted by the sounds of bickering over his shoulder. He held back a sigh and looked at where Yuji was talking to some guy with sideburns in a Hollywood t-shirt and raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on?" Gojo asked.

"Nothing!" Yuji said. He ignored Sideburns and started on a frantic ramble. "Gojo, I'm so sorry. Sukuna taking over Fushiguro is all my fault and I don't know what else I can do and I know that Kenjaku taking over Suguru Geto's body is really hard for you and I think that we…"

Yuji kept rambling on and on about how terribly sorry and remorseful he was. And soon Yuta joined in with him. But then Hakari rolled his eyes and told them they weren't helping with anything and Maki started telling Hakari off and it all was too much at once for Gojo to process, Six Eyes or not.

"Guys!" Gojo said a little louder, forcing his students' rambling and bickering to come to an abrupt halt and for them all to stop and look at Gojo with confused looks on their faces. "We can talk about this in a minute but for the love of god, will someone please tell me where Kaia is?"

There was a beat of silence and then thankfully, someone gave him an answer.

"She's back at the meeting point. Not too far from here," Maki answered.

He breathed a sigh of relief and looked Maki directly in the eye.

"Where's the meeting point?"

Gojo teleported to the group's meeting point. It was inside some apartment building that he didn't recognize. He saw that the location was abandoned and largely sealed away from external forces as he made his way through the building. Clearly, the people who once lived in the building abandoned it abruptly when Kenjaku's so-called Culling Game began.

When Gojo arrived at the top floor of the apartment complex, he pushed open the door of the main suite. He held his breath and tried to keep it together. Tried to hold onto that arrogant confidence to make it look like he was less affected than he really was.

The entry hallway consisted of blank white walls and dusty hardwood floors. The whole apartment was blank as he walked through the entryway and into the common area and eventually into the dining room where a person was seated at a black square table, surrounded by at least a dozen thick books, and hunched over in front of a silver laptop.

Gojo cocked his head to the side and cleared his throat, waiting for the person to turn around.

Kaia jumped in surprise and whipped around in the chair, probably ready to yell at him for skulking so quietly around the apartment, but the second she saw him she stopped.

It was like she deflated. Her shoulders dropped and her lips parted in surprise.

"Satoru?" she asked softly.

She wore a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Her red hair was held back with a black hairclip and her green eyes, despite being wide and eyeing him up and down as if she wasn't sure he was really there, were surrounded by dark circles.

"Looks like I'm a little too late to get Greek for dinner, huh?" he asked, still smiling at her.

She raised an eyebrow, looked him up and down one more time, and then scoffed.

"What, was there a gym in the prison realm? Since when are you built like that?" she quipped.

He blinked dumbly a few times and couldn't help it when he snorted.

"What are you talking about? I've always been built," he said.

He noticed that in addition to the dark circles under her eyes, her clothes were hanging a little looser off her body. He wasn't sure how that was even possible, given that he'd only been in the prison realm for just under three weeks, but it was concerning. Kaia had slowly been putting weight on over the past year after spending so long partying and drinking and taking every drug under the sun, and to see her backslide was enough to make his stomach hurt.

And then his eyes caught a flash of something around her left wrist that he was absolutely certain had not been there before Shibuya.

"Bullshit," she said. "Your chest has never been that big in my life."

He realized it was a watch around her wrist. Silver with a black dial. A chronograph too by the looks of it. And definitely way too big for her, as the face of the watch was greater than the width of her wrist and the silver bracelet loosely moved around with every move she made.

He recognized that watch.

"Pfft, whatever," he drawled. "It's been three weeks of not knowing if you were ever going to see me again. I thought you might slap me but I definitely didn't predict you would give me shit for being in such great shape."

She scowled at him a little longer but he kept that easy smile on his face as he waited for her to break. A crease formed between her brows and she pursed her lips tightly.

"I knew I was going to see you again," she said. There was a sort of finality in her voice. There was a softness there too. Something that Gojo thought sounded a little scared for some reason.

He plunged his hands into his pockets and let out a heavy sigh that gave away how tired he really was, and he knew Kaia picked up on it.

"You okay, Bunny?" he asked gently.

It was like the levee broke and her face suddenly scrunched up as her eyes quickly flooded with tears. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her left hand to hide her tears, but Gojo saw them nonetheless behind the flash of the watch.

"…I'm fine," she gasped out.

He didn't wait any longer and crossed the space separating them. He crouched down and cupped her face in his hands, kissing her forehead and temples.

"I'm sorry," he said under his breath.

She shook her head and pulled her hands away from her face so she could wrap her arms around his neck in a tight embrace.

"I knew I was going to see you again," she said for a second time, voice thick with tears.

He returned the embrace by coiling both arms around her waist. He stood up straight, pulling Kaia up with him, and kept whispering broken apologies into her ear.

"But—" she hiccupped. "We lost Nanami."

"I know," he murmured. Truthfully, he didn't know. No one told him anything about the losses they sustained, but he figured something terrible happened when he saw the watch Nanami wore for over a decade around Kaia's wrist instead.

"His body was—it was so burnt," she choked on ragged sobs and all Satoru could do was hold her close and promise her that he would take care of them. That he would deal with Sukuna, and Kenjaku, and whatever other plans they had in store for them.

Part of him wondered if the thing that killed Nanami also had something to do with the burns that now covered Maki's body from head to toe.

She sniffled and pulled back so he could see her face. He wiped away her tears with his thumb and she weakly smiled at him.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I really am happy to see you."

He smirked and pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"I know you are, Bunny," he said. "I'm happy to see you too."

She leaned back and laced her fingers together at the back of his neck. Her bright green eyes flitted across his face and she released a tiny little breath before kissing him on the lips.

The sensation was like water in a drought. The calm after a storm. Having her so close again, having her in his arms, and kissing her was a desperately needed breath of sweet oxygen after being locked away for so long. He squeezed her body against his as tightly as he could manage, desperate to get as close as humanly possible. It wasn't enough though. It could never be enough.

"'M sorry," he murmured against her lips.

"Stop apologizing," she said back as her fingers soothingly combed through his hair.

He kissed her again, harder this time, and lifted her off the ground so he could place her on the table she'd been working at to stand between her legs.

He shook his head and said, "I should have been more careful. I'm sorry I was gone for so long."

"Satoru," she said before he cut her off by kissing her harder and making her groan in obvious frustration.

"I love you," he whispered between kisses. "I love you so much. I'm sorry I wasn't there."

He said it like a prayer. He kissed her until he couldn't breathe, savoring every single touch and sensation. The scent of lemon and mint filled his senses and the comforting familiarity of her perfume made the anxiety bleed right out of his body. Her body was as warm and inviting as he remembered and he sank into her embrace until he felt weak and dizzy from the relief that pulsed through his veins.

He was alive. She was alive. They managed to live to see another sunrise.

For a few blissful moments, none of it mattered. For a few blissful moments, he could bask in the touch of the woman he was going to make his wife one day.

"Uh. Um… Ahem. Sorry to interrupt but uh, Murakami?" a voice squeaked from somewhere at Gojo's back.

He broke the kiss with obvious reluctance and craned his neck over his shoulder to see a young man in a tracksuit with long, light blond hair with a black hat perched on the top of his head. He nervously cleared his throat for a second time and sheepishly smiled at them as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Who are you?" Gojo asked curiously.

"One of the new sorcerers from the culling game," Kaia answered. She planted a hand in the center of Gojo's chest and pushed him back so she could get down from the dining room table and straighten out her clothes.

"New sorcerers?" Gojo asked.

"What do you need, Amai?" Kaia asked, ignoring Gojo's question.

"Uh, Ieiri called," he said. "Said we should keep an eye out for that Gojo guy but uh… This guy must be Gojo, huh?"

Gojo could see the exact moment everything clicked for the young man and he couldn't help it when he snickered to himself when he saw the guy's face turn bright red and the way he seemed to be slowly inching out of the dining room and back into the common area.

"That'd be correct," Kaia drawled in a voice that was surprisingly light.

"I'll um. Give you two a moment. Sorry," he said quickly as he took another step back. "Ieiri didn't mention that you guys were… Um. Yeah… Okay. I'll be in there if you need me!"

He all but ran out of the dining room. Kaia chuckled softly and shook her head with a tiny little smile playing at the corner of her lips.

"He's recovering from an injury, so Shoko wanted to leave him back here with me," she explained easily.

Gojo nodded but his mouth was moving before his mind could catch up.

"Why weren't you there with everyone? You were the first person I looked for," he said.

She sighed and rubbed her hands together, looking down at them and refusing to meet his eyes.

"I don't know," she mumbled. "I think I was a little worried that you wouldn't be you when you got released from the prison realm. I didn't…" she huffed and looked up at him with big sad eyes. "I didn't want to see you as something else. Not after I saw Nanami's body and he looked so different. That um," she cleared her throat, "that was hard. I was worried that the prison realm had destroyed you. I couldn't go through seeing someone I love like that again."

He didn't know what to say to that. He understood the sentiment and his heart cracked a little more when he had to grapple with the amount of damage that had been done after his sealing.

"I'm sorry," he said yet again, voice softer than a whisper.

"Don't apologize," Kaia said right away. Her eyes flashed and she grabbed his hand, holding it tightly in both of hers. "What matters is that you're here now and we have work to do. So don't apologize, okay?"

He fought back the urge to argue with her and apologize yet again. He should have been there. He should have known better. He shouldn't have let Kenjaku catch him so off guard with Suguru's body.

But Kaia was right. He did have work to do. He had to save Megumi, lay Suguru's body to rest for the final time, and exorcise Sukuna.

"I love you," he said when all other words failed him.

Kaia smiled softly at him. This time the smile reached her eyes, though it was still small and worn away from the trauma she'd been through since Shibuya.

"I love you too," she said.

He tugged her closer and kissed her deeply.

"I'm going to take care of everything," he said against her lips.

She nodded and leaned into his touch, placing both hands on his chest and resting her head against his shoulder.

He would. He would take care of everything. No matter what. He swore he would.

"Just don't forget to make sure you come home after you've taken care of everything, okay?" Kaia said quietly.

Gojo's entire body tensed and he was certain she felt it. A ripple of guilt tore through him and he tried to push it out of his mind.

How could he forget that? How could he forget that he had people who wanted him to come home? Maybe a few years ago he wouldn't have cared if he came home or not. But now? He had his students and Yuji and Megumi and Kaia. God, he had Kaia now. How could he possibly leave her behind? After he only recently got her back? No. He refused.

He swallowed back a lump that had formed in his throat and nodded.

"I'll come home to you," he murmured. "I promise."

"You don't have to come home, but at least try," Kaia said. And hell, her voice sounded so sad and so broken. He cradled her face in his hands and made her look at him. He shook his head and looked her dead in the eyes so she couldn't doubt his conviction.

"There is no 'try.' I'll come home to you," he insisted.

She blinked dully at him two times and gave a slight head nod as she said a weak, "okay."

He swallowed loud enough for her to hear it.

"I promise. I'll come home."

Author's note:

Hi! I've decided to post drabbles set in the My Boy Builds Coffins universe. There's really no update schedule with this. I'm just going to post drabbles when I want. I do have a couple of pre-written ones that I'm ready to post, so those will go up every Sunday for the next month or so. This series is just something fun for me to do and enough people have asked for drabbles that I felt compelled to finally post it. I'll include spoilers in the chapter title so readers will know which chapters to avoid.

Please also keep in mind when these chapters are released. There will likely be times where I get something wrong (such as fates of certain characters) because new manga chapters were released after I wrote the chapter. I know this goes without saying, but if y'all saw my DMs you would understand why I'm including this disclaimer lmao.

The title of the series comes from the song A Praise Chorus by Jimmy Eat World, which is a song I listened to on repeat when I wrote both parts of My Boy Builds Coffins. The title of this specific chapter comes from the song Birch by Big Red Machine.

See you in a week! Okay bye!