Uh Oh.
"Not good", Gojo muttered keeping his face schooled in feigned relaxation as he took in everyone's faces and set Megumi down. The kid sways just a bit, maybe he's still dizzy from his first teleport. Maybe he's still sick from being destroyed and combined all at once.
Satoru doesn't know, can't know, his mind is too busy trying to think if all the reason everyone else is glaring at him.
Just what the hell did he do?
Megumi groans, and fumbles towards the couch, gripping it as his head spins and his sight darkens.
Ugh, his stomach is in his throat. His face feels like its been put in the microwave, radiation and heat making him feel almost dead stupid.
None of the adults notice, Tsumiki is too busy ushering the other kinship kiddos back to bed. Kusakabe is too busy arguing on the phone and Utahime is too busy glaring at Gojo.
Satoru can't help but glare back.
Because what exactly is her problem?
What the fuck is she mad at him for now? He hasn't even done anything?
And yet, she's mad at him.
She's always mad at him.
He wonders if her default setting is to just to find something to be angry about. To find every possible flaw she could and yell him about it. He wonders if this is payback for what happened six years ago. If it even matters what he does at this point, will she always be mad at him?
Will she ever forgive him?
Utahime wonders the same.
She wants to yell at him. To screech and fight. She needs to.
Because how could he risk their baby's safety and break Kusakabe's barrier right near curse territory?
How could he fight her so much on taking the fucking DNA test and then just up and visit Megumi without her.
Why was it always so easy for him to abandon her?
When will he ever forgive her?
She wants to yell all of this, spit it out until it no longer holds weight on her tongue or in her heart. But she doesn't, she can't. So she settles for glaring. Praying that for once Satoru could read her mind, apologize, and prove her wrong.
He doesn't.
To make matters worse Satoru Gojo is never one for silence, he breaks the glare match almost immediately, his voice annoyed, tone irritated, "What's got your granny panties in a bunch now", he sneered, opening the floodgates for a fight.
And Utahime unfortunately was just pissed enough to follow him.
"You're so immature. Is it so hard for you to think about others", she spits, her hands fisted together as she tries her best to maintain a semblance of poise. When Satoru rolls his eyes in retort, the very thought of poise goes straight out the window. "Why the fuck is so hard for you to have manners or patience", she added.
Prompting Gojos to narrow his eyes and chuckle.
What the fuck is Utahime talking about. Patience?
"Pretty sure I'm the fucking poster child for it", he bitterly chortled.
He didn't understand, he didn't get it. Why was Utahime mad at him?
Patience?
She wanted him to have patience. Thats rich.
Patience?
This from the same women who made him wait weeks before making their relationship public? The same woman who couldn't wait a year before planning for a baby. Patience from a woman whose bedside he sat at for months only for her to tell him she couldn't do this anymore.
That she didn't love him anymore?
Patience?
How could she even fix her lips to talk to him about patience.
He rolls his eyes again and sneers a small insult about her dramatics under his throat. He knows with Utahime hearing, he may as well have shouted it. He kinda wished he did. Utahime didn't bother mumbling her insult, he's pretty sure the curses three blocks away heard her.
It was a petty remark, a combination insult of both his childhood and god complex.
Brutal enough to make Satoru's glare harden, honest enough to propel his own insult about her childhood, and her family.
The Zenin's always were a trigger for the pretty princess. It's no surprise that his comment forces Utahime to spit back more insults, these ones even nastier than the last. The pair begin arguing, their voices an elevated titer of inconsiderate remarks, childish, cruel, and loud.
Utahime and Satoru were always so damn loud.
They were loud enough that both of their faces started gaining a red hue.
Loud enough that some of the orphans started to ignore Tsumiki as much as their supposed bedtime.
They were so loud that Kuskabe growled and finished the rest of his phone conversation outside.
So loud that Megumi stopped holding his stomach to grip his head. This time he didn't even bother hiding his groan.
Ugh, he felt like he was dying. His heart was beating so fast, his lungs so slow.
Utahime and Satoru are at his side before he can blink.
"I'm fine, go away freak", Megumi muttered, trying to push Gojo's body away and failing as his world started spinning even faster.
"We really need to work on the lying kiddo", Satoru jokes, already bending down to analyze his kid. As his face is twisted in a feigned smile, his six eyes work their magic and mind jumps from conclusion to conclusion.
Sick, Megumi was sick?
How?
The kid was just fine a few minutes ago.
Did a curse imprint on him? Was the blood loss too much?
What had happened?
As Gojo uses his six eyes to survey the kid, Utahime pauses. Her body stills and seconds pass as she finally for the first time in years gets a look at her boy.
Her Megumi.
God, he was something straight out of her imagination, something straight out of one of her dreams. He looked every bit like Satoru, every bit like he did as a baby. He had those same blue eyes, that same black hair, and that same small beauty mark on his neck.
His sweaty, red, heaving neck.
No, Utahime shudders, as time fast forwards and her mind catches up with reality. This isn't a dream, it's a fucking nightmare.
How in the hell is her baby sick?
Her body acts automatically, knees crouching down so she may strip the kid of his jacket and shirt.
Try and make it so he isn't sweating so much. Try being the operative word.
Megumi slaps her hand away the second she touches him. His body curled away, lips set, eyes narrowed. A clear message even in his discomfort, Megumi doesn't want her to touch him. He doesn't trust her enough to do so.
That hurts her more than any slash she's ever received.
Still, Utahime tries not to take it personally, she tries to remember that Megumi didn't grow up like a regular kid. He probably never had anyone help him with a fever before, probably never had anyone care for him before.
It helps for a second, to think that this is temporary. That Megumi will accept her once he gets to know her. That he would act that way with anyone.
But then Tsumiki rushes down the stairs and places a cool wet rag over Megumi's face, kiddos on her back like a fucking superhero.
And it becomes so clear that even as Megumi rushes out another "I'm fine", even as he moves the wet rag off of his head. He didn't stop Tsumiki from placing her own hand on his shoulder, he disn't slap Tsumiki away.
It becomes so clear to Utahime in that moment, that Megumi may be her baby, but she is not his mommy.
How positively absolutely fucking unfair was that.
Utahime bites her lips, a nervous habit she never really got over. She tries to get over this instead, tries not to let this bother her. She manages to hold in her tears, afraid that her emotions and cursed energy might upset the kids.
She thinks she's doing a good job too, just sitting and watching. Giving Megumi all the distance he needs. Watching as Satoru instructs the kid to breathe and Tsumiki rubs his head.
She thinks she's doing a good job, listening as Megumi mutters more about how fine he is, how dramatic they are.
She is doing a great job, Megumi is already looking better. So why does she feel so lousy?
Seconds pass and Megumi's color starts to return to his face, he's still running a fever but it's a start. Tsumiki ushers all of the kids back to bed, taking an extra minute to push a tearful red-haired one away. She then pauses, and studies her clammy kiddo."Wow Fushi you even got Rei worried about ya", Tsumiki chuckles, running her fingers through the kid's hair once more as Megumi groans and Satoru picks up his hand.
It's bleeding again, must've opened up when the kid crashed on the couch. A pinch of the blood clotting near the edges.
Shit. That doesn't look too good.
"Satoru what's wrong with him", Utahime questioned. Her lip worried red as she stared from a few feet away.
Her bleeding lip bothered Satoru but not as much as her distance. Their baby's sick what the fuck was she doing way over there?
Still, he figured now wasn't the best time to ask her that. Not when he didn't exactly have an answer to her question. So he sighs instead, and mutters once more as he tries to figure it out himself. Sure it could just be the after-effect of his teleportation, but it's never been this bad.
Usually, people perk up within the next few minutes. It's been ten and the kids running a fever. Was he sick before and Gojo just didn't notice? His cursed energy looked fine.
As Gojo pondered and prodded at Megumi, Tsumiki began stripping the boy of his jacket. It was a small one. A hand me down she herself had given the kid, old as fucking dirt itself. Still, she's pretty sure it wasn't this tattered when she gave it to him, and it definitely didn't have this red liquid on the sleeve. "Umm Gojo, why does Megumi have blood on his jacket", Tsumiki questioned, her face paling just a bit as she scarily smiled up at the giant.
Gojo grimaces, this was gonna be hell to explain. "He kinda..sort of…. cut himself", he muttered keeping his voice low in hopes that the kinship leader wouldn't hear him.
She didn't, but Utahime did.
"He did what!" Utahime screeched, forgetting her sadness, irritation, and boundaries as she pushed into Satoru's face. "Care to fucking explain how our six-year-old cut his fucking hand in his twenty minutes with you Gojo! It can't be that hard for you to be the fucking adult ", she yells again.
Megumi winces, half from the pain, fully from her words. Our six-year-old?
This has to be a fucking joke.
He coughs out another "I'm fine" and follows it with a quick 'let me go'. Neither Gojo nor Utahime pay him much mind though. They're too busy arguing….again.
"Look it wasn't my fault, Megumi did that to himself. I took the knife as soon as I noticed" Gojo growled, fed up already with her stupid accusations. It's not like he wanted Megumi to hurt himself.
The kid was just stubborn, a trait Satoru would swear he got from his Zenin side.
As he starts to tell Utahime just that, as he starts to piss her off even more, Kuskabe finally makes his entrance back into the run-down shack. "Still arguing I see", he starts, his eyes racking over the two pairs of exes before shifting slightly on the tiny tot to their left. "Ah, Fushiguro I'm glad we didn't need to send Tsumiki to bring you back again".
Megumi coughs, it's a wet grizzly noise. Almost murder to Satoru's ears, "Is this some fucking trick of yours", he seethed, pushing Gojo and Utahime off of him once more to stare up at the stupid agent. "Drugging is your normal M.O. but hiring idiots"?
Atusya's eyes jump, a puzzled expression crossing his face as he truly glances down at Megumi. The mini assassin who nearly took half of his team down, the same kid who was swaying in his stance. He peers over at Satoru Gojo, "Did you do something to Fushiguro".
"Did I what", Satoru questioned, sounding almost horrified and angry. Why is everyone blaming him? Who the hell did Kusakabe think he was to even say that?
Atsuya just shrugged, he gets Gojo's outrage but he doesn't have time to sugarcoat. The kid is fucking swaying, it took an elephant tranquilizer to get the mini-killer to falter, two to knock him out. "It's just a question".
"Yeah, and I just gave you a fucking answer", Gojo instantly bites back.
Tsumiki shudders, the thickness of cursed energy and animosity almost too much for her little heart. "Hey guys, since none of us know what happened maybe we should take Fushi to a doctor", she rushed, ignoring her own safety to step in between the two angry men, her hands pushed out ready to separate.
With Satoru's infinity she really only hits Kusakabe's chest, it's cold and impersonal in that same brown suit. A plethora of weapons strapped in every area of his torso. A discomfort Tsumiki remembers well from her and Atsuya's past.
She trembles once more, and stares her big brown eyes up at the man. A pleading look he never could ignore.
Kuskabe sighs, tears his eyes away from the most irritating sorcerer he has ever come in contact with and then nudges Fushiguro. "Kay, kid looks like we're gonna go visit Doc. Renga. Try not to injure him this time".
Megumi glares, his head is realing, his stomach hurts, and he does not feel like dealing with Doctor Renga's shit.
But then again, his stomach really does fucking hurt.
But before he could nod, the freak of nature Gojo grips his shoulder, a shackle in itself that Megumi just knows right now isn't breakable.
To make matters worse the freak starts yelling about how 'better Shoko' will be, his body humming as a bright light forms around him in the midst of his explanation.
Wait. Light? No!?
Megumi tries to edge away eager to escape any kind of pain or dizziness this idiot brings with him. But Satoru practically lassoed him and Utahime into a hug, a barrier forming around them that even Atsuya couldn't break.
Still, Megumi refuses to be left alone with them, he doesn't wish to see any more pictures or hear any more lies. As the light gets stronger and brighter, he uses every bit of his strength to wrestle one hand out of Gojos's hold. It's that very hand that grips Tsumiki's robe.
And it's that very moment that the beam closes, and everyone but Kusakabe is teleported away.
"Ah perfect, I'll let Shoko know why we're here", Gojo grins, as he carefully sets a swaying Megumi back down on the floor and peers over at an equally swaying Tsumiki. "Hime, think you can help the school teacher out", he coaxed, entirely too pleased with the absence of Atsuya to really fight with her anymore.
Utahime rolls her eyes but nods, if anyone knew how to center themselves after Gojo's teleport, it's her. She first leads Megumi to a waiting chair, it's difficult since she's trying her best to respect his wishes and not touch him. She then leads Tsumiki to her own chair and pours the dizzy woman a glass of water.
From the side of them, Megumi watches the floor and groans.
Ugh.
He thought the first one sucked, but the second one was downright abysmal. His stomach heaved, eyes blurred, nose squished. He hated this, he had never felt so fucking sick in his life. The world was spinning, even as he was sitting down. Through his turmoil, Megumi's hands shoot out, and he grips the closet item to him. A poor attempt at steadying himself as he nearly falls out of the chair.
Utahime does an even worse attempt at steadying her heart.
She gasped the second she felt Megumi's touch, the minute his little hand gripped her skirt. He looked so small, so vulnerable. His eyes were teary and his nose red. He kinda reminds her of Naoya in this moment. Made her think of all the times she nursed her baby brother back to health.
Made her think of all the times her father told her she would make the perfect mother.
God, she was this kid's mother.
She steadies a hand over Megumi, and tries to show him she's perfectly fine with the contact. That it's perfectly fine to touch her. She then crouches down, it's selfish but she would like to hold her boy.
As she carefully moves her arms up, her hands begin to shake. This is her baby. This is her blessing. She's wished for this moment, dreamt of this moment. She never thought she would see him again. Never thought she would hold him again. It feels like it took years and milliseconds for her hands to finally engulf the boy and when they did her heart sings. Her baby, she's actually holding her baby. Seconds pass and reality sets, the frown of Megumi face from earlier enters her mind. She trembles for a bit waiting for the kid to push her away.
He doesn't.
Megumi leans into her almost, his world swirling once, then twice. He's not sure whats going on, he's never been this sick. It's never been this bad. Just what the fuck did they hit him with. Ugh, He not sure what the fuck is going on, but he's so cold. He leans in more, trying to find some warmth, trying to get his vision to steady. His world spins again, the womans perfume hits his hyper sensitive nose, his throat gets hot, his stomach heaves, and his lunch forces its way out of his mouth and on the womans shoulder.
Ugh, he has never felt so sick.
"Well add vomiting to the symptoms list Sho.", Satoru cackled, as he walked back into the room and smiled over at a now smelly, sullen Utahime.
Uta has little time to glare back at him, her hair already soiled and her hearing muffled. Megumi hugged her, kinda. Nothing not even Satoru's stupid little jibes could ruin this. She smiles over at Megumi, the boy nearly delirious as he pouts and mutters a small apology.
It's touching, a small display of manners that means entirely too much in this moment. He feels sorry, he is sorry. Doesn't he know how silly that is, if anything she's sorry.
So damn, fucking sorry.
She smiles again, not noticing Satoru's inhale nor Megumi's as she reassures the boy it's fine. She then sighs, stealing the key from Shoko's pocket and making her way out of the room.
It's not ideal, she'd rather not leave Megumi, but vomit does have an odor. And if the kid is sick, it's best Utahime wash it off of her now rather than later.
Cause she downright refuses to get her son sicker. Plus, she knows Shoko has a shower and spare clothes at her lab. The woman practically lives there.
Once Utahime leaves, Shoko reintroduces herself to the kid and begins her own poking and prodding. Megumi grumbles but allows it, pouting just the slightest as the doctor directs none of her questions to him and all of them to the idiot.
"You said he was fine a few minutes ago", Shoko murmured, her hand still in the kid's mouth as she swiveled her head over to Gojo, watching as the giant let out another quick nod. She then pulls her finger out of the tot's mouth, her plastic gloves flying into the trash. "Hm kids pallet looks fine", she added.
"Because it is fine", Megumi muttered for the umpteenth time that day, undeterred by Gojo's and Tsumiki's immediate whines that it was not.
Amongst the chaos Shoko just nods, the kids running a fever of 105. He's the farthest from fine, she didn't Gojo nor Tsumiki to tell her that. But she's not exactly gonna upset the kid by arguing with him.
Instead, she hums, biting her pen as she takes notes on Megumi's appearance. Slight fever, clammy hands, vomiting, a bruise on his left shoulder, dislocated right wrist, and an abrasion on his right palm.
Wait? Abrasion.
She grasps his small hand in hers, immediately, pushes at the wound, and watches as the blood curdles, cloats then flows.
Weird, a deep cut wouldn't do that. Not a normal one.
"So what's your diagnonsence", Satoru pondered, peering over Shoko's shoulder like a goddamn mother hen. If this was any other day, Shoko would have the pleasure of teasing him about it. Maybe even being annoyed about it. But she can't cause her God kid's blood is coating.
An unusual cursed energy kind of coating.
"Hmmmmm", Shoko muttered again, bottling a bit of the blood and watching as the liquid sloshed in her test tub.
"Hmmmm what", Satoru hysterically repeated, once again putting all of his weight and energy on Shoko's left shoulder.
To their right Tsumiki nodded, apparently she felt better enough to join Gojo in his anxious echoing, " Yeah hmmm what", she exclaimed, shifting her weight to Shoko's right.
Damn near mirroring Gojo as she too peers over Shoko's shoulder.
The brown-haired woman nearly snaps up at her. One Gojo was bad enough. And she needed them to back up if she was ever gonna really get some work done. She has a theory but she so desperately hopes she is wrong.
Cause seriously she just saw the kid hours before, the chances of the coating being that were slim to none.
Right?
It's at this moment that Megumi peers his gaze up, a clear displease look on his face, as each adult in the room frets, paces, and worries.
Seriously, even the fucking doctor looked troubled. As if this shit was really that bad.
"I was drugged, should be out of my system in a day. And unless you're going to give me antibiotics, then get the idiot to send me home", he immediately cuts, glaring just the slightest as both Tsumiki and Gojo stop their squealing gawk at him.
Drugged? Megumi was drugged, and he knew? Wait, he knew!?
"Why didn't you say that earlier!", the duo screeched sounding more like a barn of chickens as they both pushed into the little boy's face and grabbed random portions of his body. Arms, legs, elbows, and cheeks. Apparently, they were trying to examine him, find the needle mark they both felt awful for missing.
Megumi tried to fight them off, kicking his feet as hard as he could and twisting his body left and right.
"Let me go now", he demanded, annoyed to the highest degree as neither adult listened and each of his socks were removed.
Great, now the freak is looking in between his toes.
Fucking weirdo.
All while this is happening Shoko is re-examining her sample, she's nearly finished with her analysis by the time duo stopped. At this point, a freshly showered Utahime has returned.
The Zenin songstress takes one look at the scene before her before turning her attention back to Shoko, "Why is Megumi pouting in his underwear", she asked, one eyebrow raised as the young boy huffs and snatches his shirt back from Gojo.
Tsumiki shyly grimaces, "We were looking for the needle mark", she explains. Handing Megumi his pants next, and watching as the boy sends her a hefty glare.
His mother nearly mirrors it.
"I'm sorry what", Utahime exclaims, pondering just what the hell could have happened in the ten minutes she was gone. Needle mark? But then that would mean Megumi was drugged. "Just when would he have been drugged", she asked, turning all her attention to her all-seeing ex.
Thankfully Gojo is too busy still scrutinizing Megumi with his six eyes to notice.
Drugged? How in the hell did he miss Megumi being drugged?
And where the hell was the needle mark?
"Stop looking at me like that", Megumi snapped, irritated enough with stares, "I'm fine, wouldn't be the first time I was drugged", he added more for clarity than sympathy. But Satoru and Utahime don't see it that way.
The two of them practically glower at the testimony.
Fucking freaks.
Megumi then visibly shuddered as another sway of dizziness passes him. Fuck, okay maybe he wasn't completely fine. "Are you gonna give me antibiotics or not", he angrily asked Shoko, hoping his tone didn't show just how much he desperately wanted them.
Unfortunately if anything it made it even more clear.
"Antibiotics won't really work against poison" Shoko deadpanned, not even looking up as she once again surveys the blood sample.
The fuck?
"Poisoned", Gojo echoed, now more confused than ever.
Drugging was bad enough but poison? How in the hell did he miss poison?
Shoko sighed, once more grabbing the child's palm and watching as the gooey blood splurts out." It's centered on that cut, so I'd assume someone coated whatever blade cut him. Had to be after I took his blood too since his test results were normal earlier", she explained.
And for once, neither Gojo, nor Utahime, or even Megumi spoke.
The cut? Poisoned? Megumi doesn't fuck with poison, it wasn't his style. Killed to slow. Plus, why the fuck would he poison himself?
"Oh no Rei", Tsumik grimaced, the last few minutes finally making sense to her.
Gojo glares, still upset and still very confused, "Who the fuck is Rei", he demanded, not even breaking his glare as Tsumiki flinches at his tone and shyly rubs her head.
"He's one of my kinship kiddos", she reluctantly confessed, "A little bit older than Fushi, they don't exactly get along. Got in a nasty fight a few days ago. He must've coated the blade before dinner today".
"The fight was so bad he was gonna stab Megumi with a poisonous knife", Utahime angrily questioned, her face pinched into a perplexed state of wonder as she pondered just where the hell has her child been staying.
Sure some kinship cares are harsh, and yeah all the kids have volatile curses.
But attempted murder.
She has to be fucking kidding.
Tsumiki shyly let out another chuckle her face turning just the slightest bit of red as both Gojo and his ex unhappily stare at her, "Uh well ya see Fushi has been kinda prone to carrying a knife under his pillow-"
"Why would he need a knife", Gojo questioned, his cursed energy damn near surrounding Tsumiki at this point.
His baby, his baby felt unsafe. His child was scared. He can't have that.
"It helped him sleep" Tsumiki quickly protested, eager to show both Gojo and Utahime that she does have valid reasoning. She then pauses as Utahime fixes her with an even more unimpressed glare. God, that woman was scary, almost Kuskabe scary. Wait shit.
"Uh don't tell Atsuya that, please", Tsumiki nervously rushed, her big eyes wide as she pleads to the less-than-happy couple." Look Fushi promised to never use the knife on any of the other kids, and he hasn't. Every fight he's had has been in was a fist fight, even the twenty man huddle last month", she cheerfully clarified paling just the slightest as she realizes she just openly admitted to even more Megumi turmoil.
She winces immediately, opening one eye and unfortunately meeting the infamous blue Gojo gaze. Ooh shit, if Utahime is almost as scary as Atsuya, Gojo definitely is. He's probably the scariest person Tsumiki's ever seen.
Her eyes cut, and she directs all her further attention to Shoko, even if her words are for the fuming parents, "Rei's curse is poison saliva, it's pretty harmless when you touch it. Only makes you a little dizzy, he probably just licked it to make Fushi get a headache. There's no way Rei would've done that if he knew how bad Fushi would react. It never caused this much pain" she explains again, hoping Utahime will finally stop glaring at her. Maybe even get Gojo to stop too.
But Utahime doesn't, she doesn't stop glaring nor does she even address Satoru. Instead, she huffs, utterly annoyed as she replays the last few moments in her head.
Seriously, who the fuck lets a six-year-old sleep with a knife.
While Utahime simmers and Tsumiki simpers, Shoko begins shifting the blood sample she took from Megumi earlier onto her holo screen. The large Tv flickers once, before a blur of red and green blobs are present. She then saunters over to Satoru and plucks a small cut on his thumb.
"Ow", Gojo whined, his scary gaze gone as he pathetically held his bleeding thumb and frowned. Shoko of course ignores him, not even giving his a bandaid as the blood begins leaking and Gojo pushes the appendage into his mouth. She then walks back over to her station, and puts Gojo's sample with Megumi's/
As soon as Shoko adds the sample of Satoru's skin to the tube, the blobs begin moving on the holo screen. The green mushed circles almost scurrying away from the new addition, fleeing more so than fighting.
Gojoi isn't sure what that means, but he assumes Shoko does. Eagerly the woman begins taking more notes, hurriedly scribbling observation after observation. Finally, after what feels like eons, she stops. Pushes her pen back in her lab coat and sets her face on Gojo and Utahime once more.
"So Tsumikis right it isn't deadly", Shoko starts, easily letting a bit of the tension of out the room. "Based on my analysis the poison is a b class poison when it gets on the skin. Causes a minor reaction but nothing major. The problem is when it hits the bloodstream it turns into venom, attacks the red blood cells, and destroys the white ones. Satoru's teleportation only made it worse for the kid. His body was being rebuilt with fewer blood cells. It's a miracle Megumi's even standing right now" she finishes.
Her mechanical voice was almost detached as she once again prods at the sample. Her face a blank slate of disinterest that only Utahime and Gojo could really see through.
Megumi doesn't bother trying to, he's still kinda pissed off from her words.
A miracle he was standing. Just how weak does she think he is?
Still, Megumi doesn't argue with her, he doesn't correct her. He just slightly holds his head to the side, begging his body to fight back faster. Trying not to wince as ache after ache hits him and the room starts spinning again.
Satoru of course notices, and picks the kid up before he can even think of falling again. He then brings his son over to the medlab bed, calling out to Shoko over his shoulder, "Okay, Sho if you're gonna give Megs a shot or two I suggest now's the time. He's a little more docile right now but trust me kids a runner when he wants to be. Nothing to be afraid of kiddo, I'll even hold your hand", he swears, laughing just the slightest as Megumi makes a terrible attempt at pushing him away.
A shot? Please can the doctor give him the fucking shot.
Then maybe he can find a gun and shoot this idiot.
"Gojo don't tease him" Utahime reprimands, though it is half-hearted as her eyes set on the father on son duo. God, they look like twins. Megumi is a mini mirror through and through. Same eyes, smile, and face. Even if all he did was frown and push away.
All Utahime saw was Satoru, Satoru, Satoru.
The man from college who she hated then loved. The same man who she still hated and loved.
For could she stop, when the living embodiment of that love was sitting right in front of her.
A piece of her heart in human form.
She's dreamed of moments like this. She wishes so badly she could join them, and hold him.
And for a second she almost does, her feet even take a step. But then she's reminded of Megumi's boundaries, of her separation, and every other fight she and Satoru have had.
She stops moving and bites her tongue again. The dream remains a fantasy.
On the other side of the room, Tsumiki opts to turn her gaze away from the trio and help Shoko gather materials. She's no doctor but she's nursed a kid or two back to health before. And giving a shot doesn't seem all that hard. But when she skips over to the sleep-deprived doc, she isn't handed a needle or bottle or even a syringe.
In fact, she's handed the very thing she wished Shoko didn't have.
"Umm Dr. Ieri, what exactly do you need a scalpel for", Tsumiki questioned, nervously peering over at the box of the knives Shoko presented as well as the four large metal buckets.
To her credit Shoko doesn't even heave as she puts all the materials on the table and fixes Tsumiki with an annoyed stare, "How else am I going to get the poison out", Shoko deadpanned, effectively gathering the attention of the two doting parents and their murderous tot.
A scalpel? Bleed him out?
Hell No.
Instantly the protest begin, and for once all of Megumi's pseudo-parents are in agreement. Shoko is NOT bleeding him out. He's too little, to hurt enough, there has to be another way.
They start arguing, huffing out their complaints, and whines as Shoko rolls her eyes and disinfects her blades.
Honestly, they act like she wants to cut up the kid.
Finally, when she has finished cleaning, she saunters over to Megumi. He's watching her with a deadpanned expression, looking more like her twin than Gojos. "Sorry, there isn't any other way kid. You'll be in pain for days if we don't. I'm gonna put you under before we start though, you'll barely feel a pinch", she explains. Putting on her best doctor voice, in an effort to placate the tot more so than his parents.
It sort of works, for the parents that is. Tsumiki finally shuts up. Gojo and Utahime don't.
Megumi doesn't respond. He just glares at her, he doesn't understand why everyone is treating him like this. He's not fucking stupid, isn't at all fragile. He's been fucking bled out before.
In an effort to prove this, in an effort to wipe that stupid look off of their faces, Megumi grabs the scalpel from Doctor Ieri's hand. His own hand not even shaking as he begins cutting one of his wrists himself. When he's finished, he starts pressing on the wound until the blood pours. His right arm a leaking faucet, his face a nonchalant blank slate.
None of the adults look impressed, Utahime even looks upset by it.
Still, impressed or not, they finally stopped arguing and the doctor finally stopped patronizing him. She even put her stupid anesthesia away when she slashed his other wrist. Her knife skills were far better than his as her wound was gentle and careful. Megumi barely even felt it as the brown-haired woman began pressing down, his blood trickling like a steady stream.
It's annoying and painful, but he starts to feel better when the first bucket gets filled. He knows he's getting better when the second bucket is filled. But he can't tell if it's really all gone by the third, his vision had left him by that point. His consciousness soon followed.
When he opens his eyes, his mind feels a lot clearer. His body is a lot lighter. The bed he is in is small, with white linen sheets and scratchy covers.
A medic's bedroom, he's still at that hospital.
The doctor, eh Shoko, is nowhere to be found, and Kusakabe still isn't there. The idiots Gojo and Utahime are huddled in the corner outside the door, whisper arguing if their faces were anything to go by. Only Tsumiki resides in the room with him. Her body hunched down into a chair, with her eyes closed and a small frown set on her lips.
Hmmm even in her sleep Megumi thinks she cares too much.
When she begins mumbling apologies and squinching her eyes, he thumps her forehead. It's soft enough to not really hurt, hard enough to wake her.
She blinks open her eyes, the troubled frown leaving her face immediately, as she surveyed the room and rubbed her now red forehead, "Feel better", she asked, smiling slightly as Megumi slowly nods.
Physically he feels better sure. He can tell the poison is out of his system. But without the poison, without the fog of sickness. Reality has set. As he looks over at Gojo again, as he replays his last few interactions that night his stomach lurches. He feels almost sicker.
Kid. Gojo thinks he's his kid.
The woman does too.
And no one corrected either of them.
He doesn't feel better.
Not understanding, or following his train of thought Tsumik frowns at his lonely stare. "Sorry about Rei", she starts, her lips already pouting as she eyes Megumi's figure. He looks so small, so different with bandages on his wrist."I promise I'll have a big talk with him about it when I get home".
Megumi just waves her off. He could care less about Rei getting over on him. He had bigger issues than the idiot's vendetta. He had a bigger idiot to deal with after all. He bites his lip, a bad habit the Suns of Shiro would always scold him for. "Do you know that idiot", he finally asked, motioning back to the still-closed door.
Tsumiki follows his gaze and they both watch as Utahime throws her hand up in the air and Gojo mimics her.
This time Tsumiki grimaces, they weren't exactly giving Fushiguro the best impression.
"Yeah Fushi I do", she bites out after a moment, almost disappointed that she could feel Megumi's disdain for the duo. In an effort to sway the kid's opinion, she fishes her cell phone out of her pocket and pulls up a cheesy article from her favorite magazine, Sorcerors Unlocked. "He is a really powerful person. One of the best sorcerors in history", she adds, though Megumi looks anything but impressed.
Power? As if that made this any better.
The blue-eyed boy purses his lips, his eyes narrowing as he watches Gojo roll his eyes and stick out his tongue. Childish. Megumi then shifts his gaze to Utahime, the woman from the picture. The same one he threw up on earlier. He hadn't noticed it before but she had the same hair as him.
Together, the look a lot like him.
"Lots of powerful people are liars", Megumi mumbles after a beat of silence, this time doing everything in his power to beat around the bush.
To not ask.
His parents? They can't be his parents.
He doesn't have parents.
And the days of wanting them are far behind him.
Tsumiki shifts, a bitter smile pitching through her face, she knows what Megumi is asking, even if he won't say it, "I haven't known him that long, but I think Mr. Gojo is an honest person" she saids, as she scoots her chair even closer to the blue-eyed kid.
Megumi pauses, he then blinks once, twice, before snapping those same eyes back to her. "Thinkings not knowing", he murmurs again, eager to stop the conversation where it lies. He then begins pulling at his IV, cursing as he realizes he has more than fucking one strapped to him.
Taking them all out would be stupid, it would alert the machine and that would alert the idiots outside.
And he's not ready to face them.
As he ponders all the ways he can get out this without them knowing, he doesn't realize Tsumiki has gotten up from her chair and is now sitting on his bed. He doesn't see that she is scrolling through her phone. Doesn't realize she has paused at the DNA test.
He doesn't notice anthing, untill its all right infront of him. Every picture comparison, every theory and every blood test.
He blinks again, his eyes watery. He doesn't feel better, not at all.
This changes everything. They changed everything.
Tsumik holds her breath, she knows Megumi needs time to think, to process. She understands that this has changed his whole world, she hopes its for the better. After a few minutes, she places one arm on Megumi's shoulder, watches as he flinches and shudders. "They're good people Fushi, really good people. You'll be happy with them", she whispers.
And again Megumi flinches. Happy?
"I don't want to go with them", he angrily murmurs, leaning his body fully into Tsumiki's chest as if he could somehow hide into her. "Tell them I'm not going with them", he demanded, childilishly barking the order as if he was some drill sergeant.
This only made Tsumiki hold him harder, only made her eyes water faster. It hit her in this moment, that as happy as she was for Gojo and Utahime, as happy as she was for Megumi. She was still sad too. "Don't think it works like that chief", she wetly chuckled, fluffing Megumi's hair once more as her body enveloped the kid.
It's nothing short of a miracle that Megumi lets her. He was always so opposed to hugs.
But in this moment he relaxes against it. At this moment his life replays through his eyes, he realizes everything he knew with the Suns of Shiro was a lie. Everything he knew about himself was a lie.
He thinks of his training, of his worst missions, of his best. Of all the people he's killed and all the blood he's spilled. He thinks of when he got caught, of when the CCB questioned him, of when he wished for death, only for stupid Atsuya to stop him. He thinks of all the times he escaped Tsumiki's kinship home. And all the times she brought him back.
He realizes once more that this moment, this time, everything changes.
And for the first time in his life, for the first time ever, he really wished it didn't.
Badaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Dun!
Yay Chappie Number 5 is finally posted and boy was it a doozy.
So Chapter 5 is really more of a development chapter, I wanted to introduce Megumi to Utahime of course, but I also wanted to further explain the dangers of the kinship care facility and also hint at Megumi's life there. As previously stated their kinda like if an orphanage and juvenile detention center got morphed into one. Basically kids who have volatile curse techniques, kids who have harmed their parents or been given up from their parents are sent to kinship camps. Sometimes they end up getting adopted, but most of the time they age out. This leaves a lot a bitterness and angst for some of the kiddos throw in puberty and Megumis no shit attitude and well you get trouble. Also i kinda hinted at Rei's poison a little earlier when Gojo got cut. He felt dizzy and stuff, but better when he healed himself. Kinda wanted to show that while Gojo is so strong an damn near invisible, Megumi is so clearly not. Thats gonna cause Satoru to be a major mother hen, one Megumi so won't appreciate.
In chapter five I also wanted to expand further on Utahime's troubles just a bit. If it isn't clear I'm trying to showcase our girl is having an issue with Tsumiki and Megumi's relationship, on top of having issue upon issue with Gojo. Both of them suck at communicating. And each thinks they know the person so well, they just end up assuming the intentions without asking. It doesn't really help that they're both hotheads.
Finally, in Chapter 5 I wanted to expand more on Megumi's feelings. In the last chapter, he was denying everything and really confused. In this chapter, he kinda comes to grips with reality but is still so confused. His entire life was a lie, he's not sure who he is anymore. He also is having trouble because he realizes he will have to leave Tsumiki's kinship home. And while he has tried to escape it a few times in the past, he's kinda in a place right now where he pretty much thinks of it as his home and Tsumiki as his family. It's not a situation he wants to leave.
Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter, please let me know what you think.