Kagome groans as she stretches. Her chest hurts so dang much. It's like someone put a boulder on her.
Wait.
She sits up, pushing the cover off her. Koushi isn't in his bassinet. Did he sleep longer? She touches her breasts and winces. Yeah, he definitely slept past his normal feeding time. Still, it's not like him not want to nurse almost immediately after waking. Kagome slides out of the bed and pads across the room and down the hall toward the smell of breakfast.
"Mornin'," Satoru greets, looking over his shoulder at her. Koushi floats next to him and Kagome blinks at the sight.
This feels like a dream. When Mom hears Koushi is floating, she's going to have a cow. Gramps will probably shout something about needing sutras or something. And Sota, he'll think it is the greatest thing in the world.
Satoru's eyes widen. "Kagome," he says, voice strained. His tongue darts out and his cheeks are rosy.
What's with him?
Wait a minute. Her shirt is wet. Oh crap! She's ruining Satoru's shirt, and she can tell by the feel of it that it's some ridiculously overpriced brand. He probably only has a couple of nice shirts and she's ruining it.
"I'm sorry!" she blurts out, crossing the room to take Koushi. "I can have this dry cleaned."
"It's fine." Satoru turns the stove off and grips the counter. He exhales as though he is trying to gather his thoughts, or maybe count to ten.
Kagome frowns. It doesn't seem like it's fine with him. Great. Not even 24 hours and they're already running into problems. She huffs silently and sits down at the small table with Koushi. The shirt is ruined. Not much she can do about that, so she may as well feed Koushi and then deal with the shirt problem later.
"Koushi must have wanted to see you more than he wanted milk," she says, trying to break up the tense atmosphere. Perhaps she and Koushi should go after he gets done eating. They've clearly overstayed their welcome.
"I don't mind," Satoru says, setting the plate of pancakes and eggs in front of her. "I wasn't able to teleport until I was a teen. It's impressive that he's teleporting before he can even crawl…he can't crawl, right?"
Kagome shakes her head. "No. Last night was the first time he's teleported." She glances down at Koushi and then back at Satoru. "We'll get going after he's done."
"What? Why?" Satoru grabs his plate of food and sits down next to her. "Is this because of the shirt? I don't care about the shirt."
"You seemed pretty upset about it and I don't want to crowd—"
"Kagome," Satoru stresses, "you can ruin every single shirt I have. I wasn't." He swallows. "I wasn't upset because you got milk on the shirt. I'm trying to keep it together here when I really just want to bend you over the counter."
Her face warms.
Oh.
"Satoru…" Kagome inhales. "I think you are just feeling a lot of emotions right now. Last night was a lot. And—"
"Do you think I'm not attracted to you?"
"Well…I'm not as small as I was the last time we saw each other."
He barks out a laugh. "Kagome, that night is the only thing that got me through the end of last year and this year. But you're right, I am feeling a lot right now and I'm fighting with myself because seeing you and Koushi here, seeing you in my bed, coming home to you early this morning, yeah, it's messing with me because I like it too much." He lets out a breath. "There's a million things I should be worried about right now. Last night would have been a bloodbath if you hadn't shown up and freed me. Even so, the only thing I'm worried about right now is if you and Koushi are good. And if you think a five-bedroom apartment in the city is too much."
Five-bedroom apartment? Kagome wets her lips. She isn't sure what to respond to first. Satoru leans over and cuts her pancakes. He holds it out for her to take a bite. She maintains eye contact as she eats.
Oh. It's surprisingly good. She didn't know he could cook.
"Here," he holds out his hands. "If he's done, I can hold him so you can eat."
Kagome sits Koushi up and pats his back. He burps and then giggles. She hands Koushi over and her stomach tightens.
Between his words and how he is taking to fatherhood like a fish to water, Kagome gives herself a mental shake.
A five-bedroom apartment, huh?
No. No. No. What is she thinking? A five-bed room apartment? Why is she even entertaining that? Satoru isn't serious. Yeah, he's in a one-bedroom apartment, but it's not like she'll always be here when he has Koushi.
Her heart pangs.
Okay. Who is she kidding? She'll always want to be where Koushi is. It's hard enough leaving him with her mom sometimes when she needs to run a quick errand.
"Are you working?" He asks, making funny faces at Koushi, who laughs and slaps him.
Kagome nearly drops her fork.
The handprint is small, but the force behind it was not. Satoru slowly moves his face back to face Koushi, who giggles some more and swats at him. Satoru holds Koushi a little further away from his face.
"Umm…no, I'm not working at the moment. Is your face okay?" That looks and sounds like it hurts. Koushi is normally an easygoing baby. He rarely cries or hits. What is going on?
"I'm fine," he says. "It'll heal up…it's not healing."
"That slap had some purification to it. I'm not surprised." Kagome bites her lip. Satoru has negative energy, just like Koushi does. Well, everyone has some kind of negative energy to them, but the sheer amount that Satoru has is…overwhelming.
Satoru's eyes bounce between Koushi and her as though he can't figure out who to focus on. "Is that the energy you have?"
"Mm-hmm. I thought it was obvious since I live on a shrine."
"I didn't sense it that night."
"I usually keep it suppressed out of habit."
"Just how strong are you?"
Kagome shrugs as she takes a bite of eggs. "How do you usually measure strength?"
"Sparring." He hums. "But if I sparred with you, I'd lose."
She squints. How does he know he'd lose? "You've never fought me. How do you know that?"
"Easy. You pinning me. Me pinning you. Either way, I'd end up throwing the match."
Kagome snorts. "It's far too early for your mind to be in the gutter." She grabs their empty plates and silverware and cleans them in the sink. "Koushi and I should still go back to the shrine today. Not like I packed any extra clothes for myself." And she still needs to go back to Ayumi's and get the diaper bag.
"While you're there, do you mind ordering stuff for here?"
"What kind of stuff?" She turns and crosses her arms as she leans back against the counter.
"Stuff for Koushi and you, so you don't have to lug around a bassinet or other stuff for him." He pulls out his phone and texts something one-handed while holding Koushi. The handprint is still on his face, but it's not as bright. "I'd love to show him off some time to my students, but we should probably tell the clan first."
"Students?" Her eyebrows shoot up. Satoru is a teacher? Her eyebrows pinch together. How is he affording this place on a teacher's salary? He did say something about being a clan leader, too. She runs a hand down her face. "You're a teacher and a leader of a clan?"
"Yep," he pops the p. "Jujutsu sorcerers are hard to come by and I don't care too much for how the…older generation likes to gatekeep things, so I opted to be a teacher in addition to working as a sorcerer to help build up the next generation. Encourage them to think for themselves. Be greedier. Don't let traditions hold them back."
Satoru makes a fist. Koushi raises his own and mimics his dad. Kagome sighs and shakes her head. So, this is the kind of man she has a child with.
"So, clan leader," she says, reclaiming her seat next to him. "Does that mean Koushi's next in line?"
He stares at her and then flushes. "Actually, yeah. He has the six eyes, and he has limitless, which automatically makes him next in line. That's the difference between the Gojo clan and the other clans. We don't fight over who will lead. If you have the prized family technique, then it's a given."
She hums. Satoru wants her to pick out stuff for here too. Right now, she's been relying on the income she gets from the government for having a child so she can stay home with Koushi. Asking him feels wrong even though it is stuff for his apartment. But what if this apartment is just a subsidy or something that the school or whoever his true employer is?
Satoru leans forward and pokes her forehead. "What are you thinking about so intently?"
"Budgets." She gives a half shrug. "You want stuff here which makes sense, so I was thinking of the numbers."
"There is no budget." He pulls back and pulls out his wallet. "Take this." Satoru slides a black card her way. "Just order whatever online that you want. Even if you don't think it's a need."
Kagome blinks at the black card. Her brain is refusing to compute.
"Clan leader aside, I make more than you can fathom from being a special grade. There are only three special grades alive. Only four in modern times. But there are far more special grade curses out there and not enough sorcerers that can handle them."
Kagome picks up the black card. "Still…should you really be trusting me with this? What if I decide to take myself out for a spa day?"
"Do you need me to carve out time to watch Koushi?"
She squints, but his attention is already back to his phone. "I can't be away from him that long. Not unless I pump."
"Pump?" He looks up.
Kagome motions with her hands. "A breast pump." Speaking of milk, she needs to change out of this top. The milk has dried, and she feels sticky and gross now. Satoru stares at her hands, no….. he's looking at her breasts.
"Do you know what it means to take it slow?" she asks with a sigh.
"Not really. Never been in a relationship."
Kagome opens her mouth and then closes it. They aren't in a relationship, and she should correct his line of thinking, but…if he keeps looking at her like that, she's going to forget why she wants to ease into things to begin with.
"We aren't together," she points out. "We're co-parenting."
"That's still a relationship." He smiles. "Besides, Koushi isn't a normal child. How would you explain him teleporting to a normie?"
She sighs. Being in a relationship is the last thing on her mind. "I told you, Koushi didn't start doing that until last night when he felt you. It's clearly you that's making him want to teleport."
Satoru hums and then slides his phone across the table toward her. "What do you think of this place? The clan house is far out in the middle of nowhere, and you probably want to be close to the city. To your family, right?"
Kagome blinks and blinks again. "This is 3.2 billion yen." She slides the phone back, but he slides right back to her. "Satoru, that's too much."
"You didn't even look at the rooms," he complains. Koushi looks up and grabs his face and pulls, hard. Satoru winces.
Kagome frowns, but picks up the phone and scrolls through the pictures. It is nice. Better than nice. And it is close to the shrine.
But.
3.2 billion yen. That's staggering!
"What would you do with five bedrooms? It would just be you and Koushi, eventually."
"Huh? You'd be there." He peels back Koushi's grip on his face and makes another silly face at him.
"I mean in the future. When he's much older."
"You'd be there, I'm sure of it."
He's persistent, she'll give him that. "Okay, Satoru," she sighs. "What would you do with the other two rooms?"
"Three." He lifts Koushi up and makes airplane noises. "You wanted to space them out, right? Better to get the space now than later."
Kagome leans forward and places her hands on his legs. "Do I look like a game to you?"
He holds Koushi high in the air and brushes his nose against hers. "If you were, I'd play you all night."
Kagome flushes and pulls back. She swallows. He didn't even come on this thick when he hit on her at the bar. "I need to see it first. In person."
"Okay. Would you be able to set that up for tomorrow or later in the week?" He brings Koushi back down and cradles him. "Unfortunately, I need to get going for work, but I can drop you two off at the shrine." He blows out a breath. "Don't take this the wrong way. Swear I'm not trying to control ya, but I need you to keep a low profile. It's not known yet that I know. That the clan knows, so I don't want anyone getting any grand ideas."
"When are we meeting the clan?" She drums her nails on the table. Lying low is a pain, but Koushi's safety is more important to her.
"Tonight, if you two are up for it." Satoru stands and then bends, so he's closer to her. Kagome cranes her neck up and quirks a brow. Satoru smiles cheekily and then brushes his lips against hers. "Just remember, you're mine." He winks.
Kagome huffs, but her cheeks are on fire. "I-I'm going to shower." She hurries out of there and away from the sound of his laughter.
Satoru is just horny. He doesn't actually want her. Kagome turns on the shower and undresses. She just needs to hold fast until he moves on and realizes that a relationship between them isn't really what he wants.
They're just co-parents. Nothing more.
A/N: Hope you guys enjoy more baby Koushi because that How to Tame chapter ain't looking so nice. RIP someone(s) lolol.
I think Ryu ( legit forgot about Satoru's uncle) will probably make an appearance because he's a dick. Leaning towards not having Syouma in this fic since now I just ship him with Mama H lol.
Yo. I started watching My Little Pony with the kiddo. Why didn't anyone tell me these ponies were wild? Swear first season is like yayy friendship and the next season is like ughhh friendship. I thought my stories had drama lol.
Have a wonderful week! Sending great vibes through the screen. Get plenty of rest. Get up and stretch throughout the week. Drink your water. And don't let anyone make you feel like you're less than.