Chapter Text
Megumi Fushiguro was six when he saw Satoru Gojo for the first time.
He’s sure he’d seen him before, on the television in their home, but this was the first time he’d ever seen him in person. The man was tall and gangly, like a ball of rubber bands forced into the shape of a human. He was boisterous and loud and never stopped talking the entire time he was in front of Megumi.
Tsumiki was immediately drawn to the man, eyes following his hands as they moved wildly, a grin wide across her face. Gojo-san seemed to eat up the attention, playing himself up even more for the enjoyment of the seven-year-old until their father put a hand on hers and Megumi’s shoulders and spoke for the first time in a few minutes.
“We unfortunately do have to get going, Satoru-kun,” he said sternly, and Megumi didn’t miss the way the white-haired man deflated visibly.
“Don’t keep them hidden from me so much, Toji-san,” the man replied, grinning at Tsumiki and ruffling her hair. Megumi did his best to dodge the similar movement when it came towards him but failed on account of his father’s hand on his shoulder. “I think they’d have some fun in the lab.”
“Which is exactly why I will keep them hidden,” Megumi’s father replied, but there was something in his father’s voice that he recognized from when they played with toys at home. “Anyway, you’ve got to get ready for your trip tomorrow.”
“I might not go,” Gojo-san said, giggling when Megumi’s father’s jaw dropped. “Kidding.”
“You better be, or I’ll sic Geto-kun on you.”
Gojo-san laughed before turning and walking towards the end of the hallway, disappearing through a glass door before he called out something that Megumi couldn’t catch.
The next day, Megumi and Tsumiki returned from school to find his father pacing the kitchen, phone in one hand as he grasped at his hair with the other. He had been speaking in a hushed tone, clipped but authoritative like he did when he was annoyed with one of the children. He stopped talking as soon as he saw the siblings standing in the doorway.
Tsumiki was immediately concerned, but their father waved them off before moving to his office and shutting the door. Tsumiki went to the kitchen to make them a snack while Megumi shrugged off his randoseru and crawled up onto the living room couch. He fumbled with the remote for a second before turning on the television, watching as words moving too fast for him to read appeared under a picture of Gojo-san. He turned up the volume.
“-u Gojo, CEO of Gojo Industries and son of the late tech entrepreneur Takara Gojo, is missing after an attack earlier this afternoon. Former interim CEO Toji Fush-“
The television cut to black and Megumi looked up to see his father standing behind the couch with the other remote in his hand.
“You don’t need to be watching that,” he said, the same tone from earlier still in his voice. Megumi nodded, staring up at him. His father’s features softened.
“He’ll be fine. He’s the most stubborn son of a bitch I’ve ever met,” he assured, rubbing a hand over his face. “Don’t tell Tsumiki, she’ll just worry. I’ve got to go to deal with this, I’ll be back late. I’ll have someone drop dinner off.”
Megumi nodded again. turning towards the entrance to the kitchen from where Tsumiki was emerging.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing. just some problems at work. I’ll be back later.”
Their father grabbed his jacket from the coat rack beside the door and walked out.
Three months later, Satoru Gojo returned to Japan wearing dark glasses and asked for dumplings.
A month after that, a masked man in white armor was seen escaping the scene of an explosion in Russia.
A week after that, Megumi’s father left the house, screaming in anger as the door slammed behind him. Megumi didn’t see him again after that.
He saw the news, though. Tsumiki did her best to keep him away from it, but at night, he would crawl out of his bedroom and turn the television on, sitting close and keeping the volume low so that it wouldn’t wake his sister.
He saw the destroyed Gojo Industries building.
He saw a picture of his father.
He saw Gojo-san giving a press conference.
If Tsumiki knew what was going on, she didn’t say anything. She just continued helping him get ready for school, telling him that everything was going to be okay and to ignore the strange looks he got from all of his classmates.
They watched together as Satoru Gojo appeared in their doorway, his smile the same and his eyes different, as bright as stars, and told them they’d be living with him from now on.