𝘾𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 | Jujutsu Kaisen

𝟯 | The Favourite

Excitement suddenly made his nerves light up like fireworks as an idea bloomed.

Carefully, he shifted to his knees as a smile made his cheeks pinch. The scar over his eye felt tight but he didn't mind. Hayate was gentle as he reached out to shake his daughter shoulders, chucking when she slapped his hand away and rolled onto her stomach, before reaching out and doing it again just with the slightest bit more force. Tetsuro grunted, head shooting up in confusion, and Hayate could only laugh as her long black locks stuck up in ever which direction.

"Tetsuro" Hayate chuckled "you need to get up"

"No"

He laughed again, pushing himself up to his own feet "yes. I have something very important to show you"

The girls silver eyes flickered around, taking in the still dark sky peaking through the window, before she pushed her face back into the pillow "can it wait till morning? Please?"

"Maybe but I'd rather do it now" He hummed. He large hands poked at her side, making the girl giggle and squirm, before she finally pulled herself up into a sitting position. The sleep yukata she wore was disheveled and crumpled beyond belief while her hair seemed even worse than it was a few seconds ago.

"Fine" she huffed with a roll of her eyes.

"Come on"

Hayates hands almost completely engulfed Tetsuros when he grabbed them to pull her to her feet before beginning to lead the girl through his rooms shoji doors and down the deserted hallway. He didn't need light to see, feet familiar with the path to where he wanted to go, but his daughter stumbled with each step. Her silver eyes were squinted uselessly but he found her annoyed scrunched up nose cute.

"Is the storm over?" Tetsuro whispered, hands gripping her fathers clothes tightly.

"Not yet but I promised I'd protect you so you have no need to worry" He whispered back before turning them down another corner. Tetsuro smiled up at him, eyes barley seeing him through the dark, and he couldn't help but smile back.

The corridor was long and dark, lined on each side by shoji doors, while the roof was littered with red paper lanterns that cast a crimson glow across the polished wood. Shadows seemed to dance across the paper of the sliding doors. It was immaculately cleaned, not a single speck of dust even though the hallway was deserted, while the wooden floor was surprisingly worn down. What confused the girl the most though was the fact that it led to a dead end. Hayate didn't seem to mind. The same calm smile simply pulled across his lips.

"Father?" Tetsuro hissed, tugging on his sleep clothes sharply. He glanced at her and almost chuckled at the visible confusion painted across her scrunched up features.

"Just watch" He assured before brushing her hands off of him. The mans steps were incredibly light as he crouched down in the right corner of the hallways dead end before using his hand to press down gently on a floorboard. It was small, inconspicuous, and lodged into the very corner. One would glance over it if they weren't looking for it. The small piece of wood sank about a centimetre into the ground when Hayate pressed on it.

A small click! echoed around the hallway.

The tiny sound seemed to bounce off each corner before everything fell silent again. There wasn't even a creak when a small square section of the ground beside Hayate suddenly began to sink into the ground. The girl scrambled towards it, falling to her knees at the edge of the hole, before dipping her head down into it. All she saw was a set of stone stairs. More red lanterns lined the low stone roof above it while moss clung to the walls and steps.