Satoru rolls over and props his head up with his palm. He traces an infinity symbol into Kagome's cheek. His fiancé. If he had a choice, which he likes to think that he does, she'll soon be his wife. They just need to get on a plane tomorrow and plan a quick destination wedding. He smiles softly, despite the anxiety thrumming through his veins.
Halloween.
His least favorite holiday. One in which every curse and curse user likes to mingle with all the unsuspecting civilians gathered together. And this year, the death of two students weighs heavily on his chest. They weren't even his responsibility, but he feels like something should have been done. As a whole, the jujutsu world is cold. It does not help that Gakuganji once again tried pinning everything on Yuji.
Have some curses become bolder? Sure. But the sutras they had wrapped around Sukuna's fingers were - are fading. That is not on Yuji.
It's just a fucked-up situation.
Satoru huffs.
"That better be a sigh of bliss," Kagome mumbles, nuzzling closer to his hand. "Pre-marital bliss." She laughs to herself.
He doesn't have the heart to tell her that her joke is not funny, though his heart jumps at the thought of them being practically married. Even Sesshomaru acknowledges that they are mates. For whatever reason, Sesshomaru's acknowledgment actually means something to him. Maybe it is because he can tell that Sesshomaru is strong. He has to be if they consider him the lord of demons.
Man, what he would give just to fight Sesshomaru just once to see how he stacks up against an ancient demon. He wonders just how old Sesshomaru is. Sometimes Shippo says some things that remind him that despite their youthful appearance, these demons are really freaking old.
"You're cute." He pinches her cheek. "Almost as cute as me."
"Oh, whatever." Kagome rolls over to her side. Satoru dips his head and kisses her neck; his hands caress her growing bump. "Tickles."
Kagome brushes his hands away, but he puts his hands right back where they belong. He does not think he will ever tire of touching her. Even if it is just a hand on her back, he just needs it as much as he needs air to breathe. Kagome is in his veins and he would not have any other way.
"I'll probably be late tonight. Halloween - all holidays really are pain." These days, he gets home late every day, but tomorrow they will be on a first-class ticket to somewhere far, far away from Japan. Probably the wrong time to be taking a vacation with all the shit going on, but if there's anything he's learned over the years is that there is always a problem that needs solving. Though this year he can delegate and not have to worry too much about the troubles his students might get into. That Shippo is turning out to be a pretty handy fox to keep around.
"That reminds me!" Kagome shimmies out of his hold and pulls out a necklace from the nightstand. "I got you something." She holds up the necklace. Now he can see that it is a locket.
Wait. He squints at it.
"Is this enchanted? It has your same glow." He sits up and takes it from her. It's gold and in the shape of a heart. Their names are etched onto both sides.
When did she buy this? He doesn't pay too much attention to the amount of money she spends, but surely, he would have noticed a jewelry purchase. Satoru runs his hands along the locket. This had to go for a hefty price. The craftsmanship is practically jumping off of the locket.
"Yep! It's made from my hair since I couldn't exactly donate one of my teeth to make it."
"I'm sorry what? His mouth drops open in shock and he can't do anything but stare at her.
Kagome beams at him, practically preening at her confession. She made this with her hair?
"Back up a second. What do you mean you made it from your hair? And teeth?"
The heck is she talking about? He wills the locket to share its secrets with him because there is absolutely no way that she had a locket made with her hair. Unless she put her hair inside of it? He pops it open, but the only thing inside is a picture of them on one side and a picture of their baby on the other.
He smiles despite himself seeing the life that they created. Satoru never imagined that he would be a father or even in a relationship, for that matter, but Kagome makes it hard to not love her.
"I didn't make it from my teeth, silly. I can't regrow my teeth like Sesshomaru and the others. So, I used my hair."
Gojo shuts his mouth and squints.
That explains the haircut.
"I wanted to give you a little more protection. And I know you're the strongest, but it would make me feel better knowing that you have some extra protection, just in case."
His heart skips a beat and then speeds up to regain its natural rhythm. She got him a gift that can help protect him? He clutches the locket. "Did you ask Sesshomaru to make it?"
"Oh, no." She laughs. "Sesshomaru is great at a lot of things, but sword making and such is so not his thing. I asked him if Totosai was around, so he took me to see him. Sesshomaru got a sword made, too, but he said it was not for him." Kagome leans in and whispers, "I think he's got a crush or something. He gave Totosai a tooth to have a special sword made."
Sesshomaru with a crush? Satoru grits his teeth to stop the laughter from bubbling over. Kagome looks so happy and earnest at this latest find, so he just let's her continue to gossip about who this mystery woman could be.
"She must be the complete opposite of him. I could not imagine him going for someone that says so few words. Nah, someone would have to be the talkative one of the pair."
"Maybe it is a gift for the baby?" He puts the locket on and gives a one shoulder shrug at her stupefied expression. "What? Shippo said that Sesshomaru was going to give the kiddo a dragon egg. Which dragons don't exist, right? Shippo was just fucking with me?"
"There are dragons. Though I'm surprised that Sesshomaru has an egg. Maybe Ah Un laid one?" She taps her finger to her lips. "I don't know that much about them. Maybe two headed dragons are just different."
... Two headed? Now his head hurts. How is he supposed to explain a dragon? He's still dodging questions about what kind of power Kagome has.
"But why would he give the baby a dragon egg? Where the heck would we even hide one of those? They are massive. And last I checked, they cannot shrink like Buyo Jr." Kagome continues to rant, all the while Satoru feels more dread building up in his gut.
Seriously, how is he supposed to hide a freaking dragon?
"And then Megumi-kun will take it and then we would have to figure out how to keep other people from worrying about why he has a dragon."
Megumi? Satoru coughs. Someone is still a little peeved that Buyo Jr. chose Megumi over them.
"We might look into rebuilding the clan house. There would be enough room for a dragon there." He hopes. The only thing he has to go off on is the dragons that he has seen in the media. "If you don't mind taking over that project."
"You want me to rebuild your clan house?"
"You'll be a Gojo soon. Not that I don't like we're we live, but if we are getting a freaking dragon or whatever creature your friends want to give to us, then we should probably look into a more secluded home."
While they are at it, maybe he will ask her to bless the area. Something about living in a spot where his clan members were brutally murdered seems like prime real estate for curse activity.
Kagome scrunches up her nose. He may not be a mind reader, but he can tell what kind of thoughts are running rampant in her mind. She has gotten more comfortable using his money- their money - but there are still times where she hesitates.
"It just seems really expensive, and you paid a lot of money for this house."
"Yeah, don't worry about a budget. I'll get you connected with a builder and you can go from there. The only thing I request is a similar bathroom set up." Finding a bathtub that can accommodate him can be difficult. Satoru leans over and kisses her cheek. She worries too much about such trivial things such as money. He has way more money than he could ever spend with being a special grade sorcerer and then having access to the Gojo clan's resources.
Money is the least of their worries.
"Well... okay," she says, though he can tell that she is still a little unsure.
"It would mean so much to me knowing that you are building the home for our children and their children."
"Aren't you going to be late for work?" Kagome huffs. The blush spreads across her face and dips down to her cleavage. It's crazy to him how flustered she gets.
"You're so cute." This time, he kisses her lips before sliding out of bed. He really, really, does not want to go into work today. He would rather get on the plane to their destination. Which he still does not know where they are going. Kagome said it was a surprise. He would follow to the south pole if she chose. Just as long as he is with her, he does not care where they are.
Satoru grabs his phone from his nightstand and pinches the bridge of his nose. A Shibuya kind of day, huh? He yawns and sets the phone back down. "Any plans for today?" he asks on his way to the bathroom. Go for causal, he tells himself. Up to him, he would have her stay in the house, but he knows if he tells her not to do something, the more likely she is to do that something.
Kagome is stubborn. She's lucky she is so cute.
"Sesshomaru mentioned going out because it is the one day that they do not have to wear their glamor out in public. I think they like to believe that they are getting over on the unsuspecting humans."
Satoru splashes water on his face. Makes sense. But he does not like it. "Cool, so you two are just gonna go sightseeing then?" He grabs his toothbrush and brushes his teeth.
"Yep! I'll even get to have my bow and no one will bat an eye," she replies, with so much joy in her voice that he keeps his concerns to himself. Sesshomaru would not let anything happen to Kagome, that much he knows.
"You gon wear a priestess outfit without me?" he asks, his voice slightly muffled from the toothbrush in his mouth.
Kagome sticks his head into the bathroom. "Is that code for role play? Big, bad, sorcerer, corrupts the pure priestess."
Satoru barks out a laugh. There is nothing pure about the things she does, but because he values his life, he keeps that opinion to himself as well. Rinsing his mouth, he reaches for a towel to wipe his face.
"Keep it up and I'll call in sick."
"You never get sick, remember?" Kagome laughs and side steps his attempt to grab her.
Tease.
It was not as though he was gonna bend her over the bathroom counter or anything, because he totally was - he still could...
His phone rings, forcing his thoughts to float away into the shoulda coulda box in his mind. "Seriously," he mumbles, hitting the light switch on his way out. Satoru hits the end button and shoots off a text to Ijichi instead.
One would think that Ijichi would know by now that he cannot be rushed. He'll start his day when he feels like it.
"Be nice to Ijichi," Kagome yells from downstairs and he's tempted to teleport to where Ijichi is just to bully him.
"I'm always nice." He trots down the stairs and heads towards the kitchen. "Coffee," he says, staring longingly at the coffee pot. "Join me in the bath after?"
Kagome snorts. "The faster you go in, the faster you'll get off, and the faster we'll be on the plane."
She's got him there.
"But we could meet up for lunch and you can see my outfit."
He pauses. Any other day he would agree without question, but today when something always wants to pop off? Ugh. "Maybe...my schedule is pretty packed today. I don't know if I'll have much of a lunch break today."
Kagome frowns and places her hands on her hip. "You don't want to get lunch with me?"
"I didn't say that." He jumps at the coffee pot dinging and grabs two mugs for them. "I'm just saying that we should play it by ear."
His phone rings again.
Can he just enjoy his morning?
"What?" he answers, holding the phone between his ear and shoulder while he prepares his and Kagome's coffees. He puts just a hint of sugar in Kagome's mug. Just because he likes a lot of sugar in his coffee, doesn't mean his baby should be getting a lot.
"We really need to get to Shibuya," Ijichi says, his voice just barely wavering. "I'm outside your house."
Satoru rolls his eyes. As if he didn't know Ijichi was outside his house.
"Like now? I've got at least another hour before work." Satoru winks at Kagome, ignoring the pang in his chest.
"Someone stole the bodies of Miwa and Mechamaru and strung them up outside the station."
"Sounds like someone is getting into the spirt of Halloween," he quips and exchanges his mug for a travel one instead. "I haven't even taken a bath yet."
"You take your baths at night," Kagome says.
"Gome-chan!" he admonishes, though he's sure Ijichi couldn't hear her. "Anyway, I'll be out. Give me a moment." He ends the call. Why didn't Ijichi open with that the first time? That is some shit you need to tell someone instead of pussyfooting around and saying we need to go to Shibuya today.
"Everything okay?"
"Hmm, yeah. Everything is fine. I just gotta go in early." He takes a big gulp of his coffee and grimaces from the scalding liquid. "Send me a picture of your outfit." He heads out of the kitchen without waiting for her answer.
Whoever stole those bodies must work for jujutsu high. Or they've been there before. Old students?
Satoru changes out of his pajamas and slides on his uniform. Tying his blindfold on as he walks, he takes two steps at a time.
Kagome greets him at the end of the staircase with his coffee and bento box. She must have prepared one for him last night.
"Here, just in case you can't make time for lunch," she says.
"You're too sweet to me," he admits, more so to himself. Most sorcerers live lonely lives and the ones that do have spouses tend to spur them, so to come home every day to a home filled with warmth feels like he hit the jackpot.
"Hey Gome-chan?"
Kagome tilts her head. Her hand hovers over the door.
"Do me a favor and stay out of Shibuya today." He presses a kiss to lips, silencing the protests he knows she was about to unleash on him. "I'll call you if I can make it for lunch."
Kagome pouts and opens the door for him. Ijichi stands upright by the car, engrossed in whatever conversation he is having on the phone.
"Promise me," he says, not helping himself.
"Yeah, yeah." Kagome waves him off. "Stay safe."
"Don't worry, I'm the strongest." The words roll off his tongue effortlessly.
Why should he worry? No one can touch him after all, and as long as Kagome stays far away from trouble, then everything will be just fine.
A/N: Thank you everyone for your support! Sorry, I've been slacking. Stay safe and well-hydrated. I think the next chapter will hurt me more than it will hurt you.
