THE FOREST WAS YŪJI'S FAVORITE PLACE TO BE. It covered most of the Itadori Estate and was left completely untouched by his parents. That makes it the perfect hiding place for Yūji when he needs one.
He knew the layout of the forest like the back of his hand. He knew every cave, every path, every old and ruined structure. The only thing he didn't know of the forest was the part that he wasn't allowed to be in.
Yūji looks around at the ancient looking trees and the foreboding shadows while the sunlight slowly begins to be blocked. He had run into the part of the forest he wasn't allowed in that stormy night.
Since he's already been here–by complete accident–and he wasn't punished for it... that means he can be allowed here now, right?
Yūji smiles brightly when he sees the steep hill he fell off that night. "Oh, wow..."
Now that it was day time, he can clearly see Satoru's home. It covered the entire bottom of the steep hill with old stone and the decrepit shrine in the middle stood tall despite looking so ancient.
Nature had completely reconquered the shrine into itself. Vines crawled up the walls and stone, working itself into the rotten wood of the shrine.
Yūji wonders what it would have looked like when it was taken care of. He's sure it would have been beautiful.
Yūji messes with the small satchel he had brought with him. He starts sliding down the steep hill, careful not to fall, and quickly reaches the bottom.
"I hope he likes the food I made him. If not, I can always make something else... if Haha and Chichi aren't home." Yūji winces when he moves his right arm. He gently rubs the bandaged injury, wishing it would go away already.
He looks down at the decaying wood of the shrine floor, lightly stepping on it. Yūji walks towards the barricaded door and gently knocks.
"Gojo-san, are you awake? Can I come in?" Yūji takes out the fallen part of the rotten door and slowly crawls through. "I'm sorry for taking so long to get here. I had to do a stupid family meeting or something."
Yūji stands back up and looks around the dark interior. With the sun shining down this time, Yūji could clearly see then entire inside of the shrine.
Sunlight peeked through small holes in the ceiling and walls, the ground was covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust, and the old wooden benches had either completely fallen apart or were barely standing on one leg.
Yūji takes a few steps forward, looking around for the God he had met. "Gojo-san?"
"Why hello, little Yūji." The pink haired boy feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up at the sudden freezing breath from behind. He shivers before whirling around with wide eyes, placing a hand against his neck.
"Gojo-san, you scared me!" Yūji exclaims with a small laugh. He blinks in surprise when the mysterious God slowly stands up to his full height. If Satoru didn't introduce himself as a God, Yūji would immediately think he was one today.
The God completely towered over the nine year old boy. He even thinks the God is taller than his estranged uncle, Sukuna; a behemoth of a man and a nasty piece of work too. Satoru had the purest white Yūji has ever seen for his hair, the strands gently falling over one pair of the God's eyes. The two other pairs of eyes were staring down at him with a mesmerizing scene of an infinite blue sky.
"I thought you had forgotten about me," Satoru croons in a teasing lilt. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't come back."
Yūji blushes lightly and grins sheepishly up at the white haired God. "Sorry... I couldn't escape the stupid stuff my parents needed me to do. Chichi's out with his friend and Haha's drinking in the foyer with hers today."
"Oh? Sneaking out to see an old God, hm?" Satoru leans down again with a head tilt. Yūji smiles brightly when he remembers the satchel hanging from his shoulder.
"Mmhmm! I made you something! I don't know if you can eat food or not, but I wanna thank you for letting me stay here for that night," Yūji exclaims while opening his satchel.
"Hm? You made me something?" Satoru asks in slight surprise. Yūji holds up a decently wrapped bowl, smiling brighter than the sun.
"I usually have to cook for myself most days, so I know it won't be burnt or undercooked." Yūji winces at the sudden strain on his right shoulder and holds the bowl with his left hand. "I've never cooked for someone else though. Still! I hope you like it!"
Satoru hums with a weird smile, staring at his injured shoulder. Yūji doesn't pay any attention to it when the God grabs the bowl and opens the wrapping.
"Mm. Smells delicious. Human food was always a delicious thing." Yūji thinks there was more to that statement, but shrugs it off. It wasn't his business.
"You must be tired from finding this place. Come with me," Satoru says while holding out a hand towards the nine year old. Yūji smiles brightly up at the God and grabs his hand, not bothered by the freezing touch.
"No, I'm not! I'm used to running for hours. The Hounds are relentless sometimes," Yūji comments way too casually with a small eye roll. They were nice when they weren't ordered to hunt him down, but their bites really hurt!
Satoru continues to smile quietly, the only noticeable change in his mood is how his hand tightens around Yūji's. He walks up the steps towards his decrepit throne.
"Come. sit!" Satoru exclaims cheerfully as he sits down. He pats his lap with a bright grin. Yūji tilts his head, staying where he stood for only a moment to think, before he mentally shrugs and climbs into the God's lap. He adjusts himself to sit across Satoru's lap, wincing heavily when he messes with his injured shoulder.
"You keep doing that." Yūji blinks when Satoru gently grabs his chin and makes him look up. "Are you hurt?"
"Haha never trusts me to sit still and be quiet during meetings. The family we were meeting asked a bad question and Haha took her anger out on my shoulder," Yūji explains with a shrug. Satoru hums, staring deep into the boy's gold eyes.
Satoru smiles and leans back, releasing Yūji's chin. "May I see the injury?"
"Sure!" Yūji smiles and nods his head without hesitation. He unties his obi before carefully pulling out his right arm from his kimono. He loosens his juban and lets it fall off of his bandaged shoulder.
"I just changed the bandages..." Yūji pouts as he touches the slightly bloodstained bandages. He sighs heavily before focusing on Satoru's hand when it reaches for the wound.
"Your mother must have some really sharp nails," The white haired God comments offhandedly, lightly brushing his freezing fingertips along the hidden puncture wounds. Yūji sighs slightly and instinctively leans his aching shoulder into the freezing touch.
"Haha likes to keep up appearances," Yūji explains, fiddling with the bowl in his hands.
Satoru presses his hand against Yūji's shoulder. The nine year old boy whimpers at the sudden pressure, but sighs quickly afterwards when the cold makes the ache ease up.
"Your family seems to be well-established," Satoru changes the subject while grabbing a piece of food from the bowl.
Yūji frowns and shrugs his uninjured shoulder, messing with the bowl to be easier for Satoru to reach. "I dunno. No one tells me anything. They just expect me to be perfect, and be mean to me when I try. I'm an heir or something and my parents are really powerful."
"Silly humans, thinking they can dictate what's perfect or not when I'm the only one who can dictate that. You're already perfect for me," Satoru states with his teasing lilt. Yūji feels his entire face warm at the compliment and ducks his head further. The choice of words pass by Yūji's head.
"You created humans?!"
"I created this entire universe. I am the God of Infinity after all." Satoru grins widely when Yūji snaps his head up. Stars practically appear in his eyes as he leans forward.
"So cool! Gojo-san, you must be super powerful to create an entire universe!" Yūji tilts his head, a frown growing on his face. "What do I call you? People say calling a God anything short of Lord is asking for a death sentence. Whatever that means."
Satoru grins even wider. Yūji feels the hair on the back of his neck rise again at the sudden presence he feels.
Satoru leans forward, slowly dragging his hand from Yūji's shoulder to the back of his neck. "What to call me? I've never been asked that! You're so cute, little Yūji!"
"I'm not little!" Yūji immediately defends himself with his arms crossed. He flinches at the sudden movement of his shoulder, but doesn't back down. Satoru chuckles before he lightly tightens his grip around the pink haired boy's neck.
"You are to me, little Yūji. Hm... Call me Satoru. We're friends after all," He continues with a teasing grin. Yūji tries to tilt his head, but stops after the first attempt when Satoru's grip prevents him from moving his head an inch.
Yūji grins brightly up at the God. "Satoru-sama, then!"
Yūji hums a bright tune, jumping from stone to stone in front of the ancient shrine. He twirls around, his kimono fluttering in the wind, before he lands on one foot with his arms raised to keep himself balanced.
"What are you dancing to, little Yūji?" Satoru asks from where he sat floating in the air. Yūji shrugs as he starts to jump from stone to stone again.
"It's a song I made up when living with Jīsan. He always said it was a pretty dance. I've only danced alone though," Yūji answers, twirling around again.
"Oh? Are you dancing for me then, little Yūji?" Satoru asks with an amused grin. He grins even wider when he spots the pink flush crawling up Yūji's neck and cheeks.
"...do–do you want me to?" Yūji asks nervously, still dancing to keep his gaze away from the God. Incredibly faint thunder booms in the distance, creating music for Yūji's dance.
"Why else would you give this dance as an offering? We are in my domain, after all." Satoru rests his chin on his palm, watching Yūji gracefully spin around once more.
"Your domain?"
"My shrine. This is where I am most powerful, not that I'm not the most powerful being in the universe outside of the boundaries," Satoru idly explains as if he was discussing the weather. Yūji forgets his shyness for a moment to give the God a small look.
"I never really noticed. The name God of Infinity isn't really that obvious," Yūji retorts sarcastically, making Satoru grin.
"Cheeky brat," Satoru chides playfully before he gracefully lowers himself towards the ground. He uncrosses his legs and gently lands on the old stone of his domain.
Yūji finishes his dance with one last spin, his kimono sleeves fluttering around him as he stops right before Satoru. He glances up at the God before tilting his head in a silent question.
Satoru simply smiles and holds out a hand. "It will rain, and you must be tired. We must go inside to rest, hm?"
Yūji smiles back with flushed cheeks and takes Satoru's hand without hesitation. Something flashes across Satoru's expression before his smile becomes sharper, unnoticed by the nine year old.
"If you can leave your domain, why do you wanna stay when I'm here, Satoru-sama?" Yūji asks with wide, innocent eyes. Satoru hums in thought, despite the answer not requiring any kind of deep thought. Simply put, he's still enjoying his vacation.
"Do you wish to leave my domain when you visit?" Satoru asks instead, making Yūji vehemently shake his head not even a moment later.
"No way! Being with Satoru-sama is amazing! And your home is super cool!" Yūji exclaims brightly while being led into the decrepit temple.
Satoru chuckles and doesn't speak more. He simply glides over to his decrepit throne and sits down. Yūji doesn't need to be told to climb up onto the God's lap.
"I won't be able to visit for the rest of the week," Yūji states with a cute scowl. "Chichi and Haha have some stupid party at the end of the week and won't take their eyes off me until it's passed."
Satoru hums while he hugs Yūji tightly against his chest. He runs a freezing hand throwing Yūji's hair, unbothered by the fact he's being used as a pillow.
"How disappointing... but you do promise to visit as soon as you can?" Satoru states, watching the boy intently when he yawns quietly. Yūji hums and rests his head on Satoru's chest.
BA-DUM...BA-DUM...BA-DUM.
The almost deathly slow heartbeat lulls Yūji in between the precipice of consciousness and sleep. He hums again as his body relaxed against Satoru's.
"Mmhmm. 's long as you wan' me to..." Yūji speaks softly, not noticing how strangely fast he was falling asleep.
Satoru hums, grinning widely while he continues to run his hand through Yūji's hair, finishing the spell to put his darling Yūji to sleep. "So mote it be... little Yūji."
Yūji tries to move his legs as slowly as possible, successfully hiding a wince when sharp pains travel up his spine from sitting in the same seiza for so long. He holds in a sigh of relief when neither Kaori nor Jin notice his movements.
He wore one of his, currently, most formal kimono–a pure white with soft pink water lilies and small streams and a sunny yellow obi–and it completely sucked. It was way too stuffy to even walk comfortably in.
The dinner was still continuing, even though hardly anyone was eating anymore. Yūji only sipped his tea.
"Psst! Hey!" Yūji only twitches in his surprise at the loud whisper and turns towards the direction it came from. He blinks when he spots the heiress from that one meeting, Kugisaki Nobara. She was wearing a much more formal kimono this time; dark blue with goldfish and waves and a lilac obi.
The young girl grins triumphantly at successfully grabbing the pink haired boy's attention before she casually shuffles herself closer.
"Are all of your parties this boring?" Nobara immediately asks bluntly, making Yūji blink.
He tilts his head with a slight frown. "These aren't my parties? They're Chichi's and Haha's..."
Nobara snorts loudly while rolling her eyes. She lightly punches Yūji on the shoulder before she moves.so she was sitting on her hip instead of being in a seiza.
"You're their heir, idiot! So, it's your party too," Nobara states as if it was common knowledge. Yūji blinks again before he shrugs his shoulders.
"I guess? They are pretty boring though," Yūji agrees with a small smile. He flinches when he hears a sharp laugh and immediately glances over at his mother.
Kaori delicately held a wine glass while speaking with one of her more talkative friends. Yūji glances at his father and relaxes when neither pays him any attention.
"Aren't you hungry? Your plate is still full," Nobara bluntly points out, making Yūji wince. He smiles sheepishly while he fiddles with the inside of his kimono sleeves.
"N-no. Not really, Kugisaki-dono," Yūji lies with another shrug.
Nobara stares at him with narrowed eyes and opens his mouth to speak, but a loud cough from down the table interrupts whatever she was going to bluntly speak about next. Both children look over at where the cough came from, watching Jin stand up gracefully.
"Thank you all for coming to such a momentous celebration." Jin waves a hand and two sets of shoji doors open. "As a token of our immense gratitude, my wife has arranged for some entertainment and refreshments. Please enjoy."
About five or six women glide in and up onto the large stage set up on one side of the room. Yūji stares at their loose and brightly colored kimono.
"I want to wear one of those..." Yūji sighs in longing, wishing to wear a kimono that flows with his dancing rather than makes him incredibly unbalanced.
Kaori nor Jin will get him one... but Jīsan will. Yūji will ask him to get him one in a really pretty sky blue. Satoru-sama would love it if he–
Yūji feels his cheeks burn hotly and he quickly pushes any thoughts of his God friend out of his head, averting his gaze by grabbing his lukewarm tea to drink it.
He doesn't notice a narrowed gaze from Kaori. Her friend pulls her away and she puts on a fake smile, taking a sip of her wine.
"How amusing..." Satoru croons into the empty air, watching the horrifically boring party his little Yūji is clearly being forced to attend. Satoru rests his elbow on top of his knee before resting his cheek on his knuckles, grinning widely.
His little Yūji is so easy to read, even without Satoru peering into his thoughts.
A kimono like those little whores are wearing would look stunning on the boy. Especially in blue.
If Yūji offered one of his dances in such a beautiful kimono, maybe Satoru can have him promise something else of himself to the God. And watching the dance is simply an added benefit.
Satoru will gouge out and eat the eyes of anyone who watches Yūji dance. No one can watch such beauty unfold, and eating an old favorite is another added benefit.
Satoru blinks when such an innocent giggle reaches his ears. He focuses back on Yūji and simply stares at such a pure expression on the boy's face.
He was covering his bright smile, laughing at whatever the girl next to him had said. Satoru leans closer, his hands twitching to caress Yūji's face.
He wants the boy to look at him like that. He wants Yūji to smile up at him like that; laugh at what he says like that. He wants that purity for himself.
His eyes narrow when he sees a woman slam her hand against the table while fully glaring at Yūji. The pink haired boy flinches and ducks his head, hiding his hands below the table. So, this is Yūji's mother...
"How can such an average woman give birth to such a beauty for me?" Satoru sneers, glaring at the woman's wine glass. The women surrounding Kaori scream when her wine glass suddenly explodes into dozens of shards. Satoru smiles widely when more than a few of those shards dig deep into her palm.
It will definitely scar, no matter how well the woman will take care of it. Good.
Satoru glances back at Yūji and blinks in surprise when he meets those beautiful gold eyes. Yūji frowns slightly in confusion, tilting his head as he stares up at where Satoru sat. He stares for a few more seconds before turning to look at his mother once the rest of the adults start to fret over the woman.
Satoru grins widely before he teleports back into his domain, lazily resting over his throne. Of course his beautiful Yūji would have an inborn talent in Divine Sight.
How long has it been since he's met with someone born with Divine Sight rather than being blessed by him with it? The more Satoru watches, the more he's utterly fascinated by Yūji. He's truly meant to be his. And only his.
"How about a little blessing, little Yūji?" Satoru speaks to himself, fluttering his fingers and distorting reality around them. "I'm sure you'll enjoy it immensely as you grow older."
HELLO! HOW'S IT GOING?! I hope you all like the new (two years late) chapter!!!!
I'VE FINALLY FINISHED IT! HOLY FUCK.
Anyways, there's going to be quite a bit of time skips throughout the story. They'll be somewhat unspecified, unless I specify an age or a time WITHIN the story, so be prepared for it.
I hope you all are enjoying the story so far (even though this is legit the second fucking chapter in two years)! Bye.
WhovianWhoudini