August 2007:
Satoru and I decided to take Megumi and his sister out in the city tonight to go shopping. They don't have a lot in terms of toys or clothes or anything, so Satoru and I decided to take them out and spoil them a bit. Satoru likes to act all tough and unbothered, but I know he really cares. He wants these kids to have a good childhood.
We walk up the steps into the private school we enrolled them in this year. We're dressed in casual clothing, Satoru wearing his black sunglasses and a black shirt with khaki's. I'm wearing high waist jeans with a Vans shirt and black vans shoes and my simple black ball cap.
We walk inside and Satoru wraps his arm around my shoulders pulling me tight to him. I can feel his rigid muscles through his shirt. I blush hard and almost pull out of his arms instinctively. He surely is messing with me.
"Geez Naomi I know i'm not that repulsive. Just play along, we're supposed to be their parents remember?" He says whispering the last part in my ear.
I turn my head away so he doesn't see how red my face is. The low tone of his voice sends shivers down my spine. I kind of don't want him to stop talking to me that way, but I know better. We can't afford any distractions.
"Right." I say clearing my throat.
We walk into the office and smile at the receptionist, "Good morning!" Satoru says.
"Good morning! How can I help you?" She asks.
"We're Megumi and Tsumiki Fushiguro's parents. We need to take them out of school early today." He tells them.
The lady looks confused. Neither of us look like Megumi or Tsumiki at all.
She raises a brow, "you two are their parents?" She says unconvinced.
"That's right! Isn't it dear?" He says planting a kiss on my cheek.
Why did he have to do that? Why did he kiss me? I can't hide how red my face is now. If I turn my face away it'll be obvious we aren't together. So I just smile through it.
"Yes, we have some medical appointments soon they need to make." I tell her.
"Alright, sign here please." She tells me.
I sign the log book and she calls for Megumi ans Tsumiki to come to the office. I hear everyone yell 'OOOOOOH' In Megumi's class room over the intercom at the last second and I laugh and roll my eyes.
Satoru and I turn and walk outside the office to wait for them. I break away from his hold on me and look at him with disbelief.
"What?" He asks.
"You kissed me." I tell him seriously.
He sighs and smirks, "it was just a kiss Naomi. We had to make it look real." He tells me.
"Did you have to do that though?" I ask him.
He steps closer to me, inches away from my face. My heart rate goes up as I look up at him. His tall figure towers over me, and suddenly I feel so small compared to him. I'm not short by any means. I'm about 64 inches tall. But now that he's so close, I realize how small I am to him still.
I feel like tugging him down to me and kissing him. But he smirks as he looks down at me with his blue eyes piercing through his sunglasses and sending shivers all over my body. I stop myself from doing anything stupid. We can't afford distractions.
"Don't tell me you didn't like it." He says in a low tone.
"I, well..." I say awkwardly.
"Are you two in love?" I hear a little girls voice say.
I look over and see Tsumiki giggling next to her brother looking disgusted at the thought.
"Gojo and Naomi in love? No way, that's gross." He says.
Satoru steps away from me and chuckles, picking Tsumiki up and holding her on his hip. He smiles as he tickles her and she giggles. When he finishes, he brushes her hair out of her face and asks how her day was as we walk outside. This drives me wild. He can be so soft and caring sometimes. Especially with kids. I know he wants them to have a good childhood. He doesn't want their hardships they've had already to ruin their lives. I smile as I watch him talk to her as he straps her in his car. I can't help it, but I've fallen for him hard, and somehow this has made me fall harder. He's wonderful with her. He'd make a wonderful father too.
Megumi walks beside me carrying his things. He looks up at me and smiles.
"You love him don't you." He states.
"What? No, he and I are friends and co-workers. That's it." I say, "and besides, aren't you in the second grade? You shouldn't be worried about these things." I tell him.
"I'm not a kid." He tells me trying to act tough.
"Oh yeah? Well," I say as I start tickling him. He can't help but laugh as I get him on his sides and behind his knees and he smiles wide, "you sure do laugh like a kid." I tell him as his laughing dies down as I stop. I kneel down in front of him and straighten out his little uniform and try to brush his hair, which he whined about.
"Megumi," I tell him seriously as he looks at me with wide eyes, "you are a very strong and smart kid. And you will achieve incredible things one day. And one day, people will look to you for wisdom and knowledge." I say as he looks at me intently, listening and absorbing everything I tell him, "but today is not that day. And it won't be for a long time. It's okay to be a kid sometimes."
He sighs as he looks at his shoes, "okay."
I smirk, "can I have a hug?"
He groans.
"Oh c'mon, pleeaase?" I beg him.
He smirks and sighs, "fine. Just this time."
"Okay, fair enough." I tell him as he hugs me with his little arms. I hug him tightly, not wanting to let him go. And to think this sweet little boy was almost sold off to the Zenin's.
We let go and I hand him his things. He walks to the car and climbs in, Satoru closing the door behind him. He looks back at me before walking to my side of the car and blocks me from the handle.
"What?" I ask confused.
"You're great with him. He doesn't open up to me like that." He says smiling gently.
I chuckle, "maybe it's because you always mess with him."
He laughs, "nah, I'd never do that."
"Sure you wouldn't." I say rolling my eyes.
We both smile and look at each other for a bit too long, but we don't notice.
"Well, we should take them to the shops now." I tell him.
He smirks, "yeah, you're right."
We both climb in the car and take off for the city. Tsumiki falls asleep quickly on the car ride there. Her little body slides over and rests on Megumi's shoulder. He smirks and lets her sleep there, looking back out the window as we ride into the city.
Eventually, we find a parking space and get out near the toy shops. When we get there, Tsumiki wakes up and her eyes and toothless grin go wide.
"Wow! Look Megumi! Look at how colorful everything is!" She says in awe.
He smirks, "yeah, it's great."
"Well, you kids ready to go shopping?" Satoru asks.
"Yeah! C'mon Megumi!" Tsumiki says excitedly. She gets out on the side walk and Megumi hurries after her.
"Tsumiki, wait for us okay?" I tell her.
"Okay. Sorry Naomi." She says.
I step out of the car and Satoru follows close behind. I can see he's using his infinity right now, not willing to risk making any more mistakes. Satoru and I walk side by side as Tsumiki grabs Megumi's hand and drags him in a toy store.
"Slow down Tsumiki!" I call after her.
"She's fine Naomi. We can see her. Let her go wild for a bit." Satoru says grabbing my hand before I have a panic attack.
I take a breath and nod my head. I look down at our hands and he let's go. His hand was strong but gentle, and I wish he could have held it longer.
"Sorry." He says clearing his throat.
"It's fine." I tell him.
We walk into the store and laugh as we watch Tsumiki drag Megumi around showing him just about everything in the store. In the end, she picked out quite a few things. A princess dress, a stuffed Zebra, some kitchen toys, a few dolls and some fake make up. Megumi's selection was a lot smaller. He picked out a lego set and a dinosaur action figure.
Tsumiki returns to us with her things as she goes and dumps them in the cart we have. We chuckle as her face grows with surprise as we encourage her to go pick out more. By the end, she didn't know what to do with herself. Megumi had no words, he kept his usual indifferent attitude, but with a hint of surprise.
"This is going to cost too much." He says concerned.
"Megumi, we don't mind. Get what you want." I tell him.
He goes and picks out a few books and Manga to read and puts them in the cart apprehensively.
"Is that all you want?" I ask him.
He nods his head, "i'm okay with this stuff."
I nod, "alright. What about you Tsumiki? Want anything else?"
"Nope!" She says excitedly.
"Well then, I'd say this is a good haul. Let's pay and get outta here!" Satoru says.
Tsumiki hops on the front of the cart ready to ride it to the register.
"C'mon Megumi, you know you want to." Satoru says teasingly.
Megumi sighs, "fine."
He hops on the front and Satoru takes off for the register. Tsumiki laughs first causing Megumi to soon follow. I walk to the clothing store while Satoru pays for the toys. I pick out some cute clothing for both of them knowing they'll be too excited or bored to care. I pay for their clothes and find Satoru outside on the bench waiting on me with the kids. Only all of them are eating sweets.
"Satoru." I say seriously putting my hands on my hips.
"Nothing." He says as their faces grow serious and eyes grow wide. He slides the bag of sweets behind him and he motions for them to hide their Mochi cakes.
"I saw that!" I tell him jokingly, "you're going to ruin their dinner!" I tell him laughing
"Ugh, quit being so lame Naomi and join in on the fun." He says smiling.
I sigh, "we need to go get real food Satoru." I tell him.
He groans, "you have always been a major stick in the mud. C'mon kids, let's go with miss lame-O over here to get dinner." He says standing and the kids huff in disappointment.
I glare at him and he smiles widely, "or we could just finish these quickly."
I sigh, "fine. Then we get real food." I tell him.
"Yay!" Satoru says in a goofy tone and I chuckle. Tsumiki walks over to me and hands me a Mochi cake with her little hand.
"Here Naomi, try one! They're really good!" She says.
I sigh, not being able to resist how cute she is, "alright alright, i'll try one."
I take a bite and smile closing my eyes, "this is good."
"See! I told ya so!" Satoru says mockingly.
"Shut up dork." I tell him.
He chuckles and we all finish our sweets. We close the package and head to a nice ramen place. We all order food and sit and listen to the kids tell us how their days were. Tsumiki says she has a play she wants to be in, and Megumi doesn't say much as usual. Once we finish our food and pay, we gather our things and make our way back to the car. As Tsumiki walks, she yawns big and rubs her eyes.
"Uh-oh, tired little one?" Satoru asks.
"Yeah." She says sleepily.
He smirks and picks her up carrying her the rest of the way. She lays her head on his shoulder and falls asleep there. She's had a long day.
"I can carry you too Megumi." Satoru says jokingly as he looks up at his sister.
He scoffs, "no thanks, i'm good." He says simply.
I chuckle and walk with him as we make our way back to the car. I smile as I watch Satoru in front of me carrying Tsumiki protectively. His back and arm muscles straining in his t-shirt as he carries her. My face grows hot but I bury it down deep, willing those dangerous thoughts away. I walk up beside him and Megumi walks on the other side of him.
"You're really good with her you know." I tell him.
He smirks, "she's a sweet girl. I want her to have the best."
I smile, "well, you're doing a great job."
He smiles and looks at me, "thanks, I think so too. I mean I am the greatest thing to ever happen to them." He says cockily.
I groan, "alright don't push it."
He laughs as we reach the car. He let's Megumi climb in and buckles a sleeping Tsumiki in after. We all get in the car and take Megumi and Tsumiki back to their house. They stay at their private school. Lot's of more elite families send their children here. They share a room and the place has tight security. They're safe until they get older and can attend Jujutsu High.
We unload everything they got and leave them the sweets. Satoru tucks Tsumiki into bed and we tell Megumi goodnight as he opens one of his books to read. We leave the place and head back to Jujutsu High. It was a good day today. Megumi and Tsumiki had a great time I think. I think about this little broken family dynamic we have and smile. It's not perfect by any means, but it works, and we all look out for each other. I've never had a family, but it's as close to a family as I've ever dreamt about.
———
July 2018: Present Day
I watch as Satoru is trying to put together a little swing device we got for the baby. It isn't much longer now. Only three more months until our baby is here. I smile as I sit in the recliner we have in the corner of the babies room. I'm supposed to be reading the instructions to him, but I couldn't help but to think of this beautiful memory we have of when Megumi and Tsumiki were little. I think of our son, and how amazing Satoru will be with him. Thinking of it just sends butterflies to my stomach it feels like.
"Naomi!" Satoru says snapping me out of my head, "you okay?" He asks concerned.
"What? Oh, sorry, yeah. Lost in thought I guess." I tell him looking at the instructions again.
He chuckles, "thinking of my good looks?" He says teasingly as he turns back to the swing.
I smirk, "yeah, something like that."
He's going to make an amazing father.