𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 | fushiguro t.

14

You wiped the table and arranged the chairs that the four drunk men left messy. Working at a bar isn't really something you recommend to someone who's not strong-willed and doesn't have a lot of patience. Men would catcall you, try to touch you and would shamelessly flirt at you even if you don't want them to. You're used to this kind of attention, cock-blocking men who blatantly show their interest towards you. You have a love-hate relationship with this job, but you don't have a choice. You're a single mother raising a kid. You had to.

Letting go of your dream job was the hardest part when Megumi was born. You can't do a full time job because no one is going to look after your son while you're away. You don't trust a nanny yet to be left with Megumi for a whole day. So you had to sacrifice and look for another job that pays enough to provide for Megumi's needs. Looking back at it, you're thankful you met Gojo. Never did he once miss an opportunity to be with Megumi whenever you're out for work. He always clears his schedule for Megumi at night, which was weird, since he's a bachelor, and you assume he goes out at night to party or look for someone to hook up with.

He's become a family, not just a friend. He's been good to both Megumi and you, and you wanted to tell him how much you appreciated him.

You went back to the counter then wander your gaze around the almost empty bar. The bar isn't that packed on weekdays. Yes, this was the bar where you and Toji first met. As ridiculous as it is since you were trying to forget about him, you still went for it. Not everything has to be about him, you thought. Even though you can still remember where you and your friends sat, and where Toji sat when he you first laid eyes on him. This job paid enough to buy whatever Megumi needs.

It's almost 9pm, which left you another hour left for your shift to end. Utahime was giving the table their orders, placing it on their table one by one. She's been there when you had no one to talk to. Luckily, she approached you first on your first day here, and you both clicked instantly. You weren't really the type of person to talk to a stranger confidently, and luckily, she did the talking for you.

She approached the counter, where you were at, then you felt guilty that you haven't told her yet about Toji's sudden appearance. She's always told you everything that's been going on in her life and yet, here you are, keeping things from her. It's a family matter, but you trust her enough to tell her about Toji. She knows you're divorced, but she never knew the real reason behind it. You only told her that "it didn't work out" so you had to divorce him.

Little did she know it was the other way around.

"Hey, Iori," you call for her. She walked towards you with a calm demeanor. "What's up?" she asks, and you didn't hesitate to tell her everything. About how Toji was the one who insisted the divorce, the process of it, how he walked into your life once again and is willing to fix things. You let it all out, including how hot he makes you feel, and how frustrated you are at him for being bossy at times. He's even trying so hard to apologize for what he did, and it upset you that he's too prideful to do that. The two of you don't interact that much, but when you do, you're always at each other's throats.

This morning, Toji showed up at your door, with your favorite food in his hand, leaving you baffled and flustered. You didn't show him that you were affected by his gift and just thanked him quietly. You want to punch him for catching you off guard like that. Slap him for being... thoughtful. He was smiling a bit, which makes it even worse. He never smiles! He only do that when he's being genuine or when he means what he's saying. Your guess is this is his way of apologizing, which got you having mixed feelings. Damn him. You tell Utahime that, too.

You shake your head. "I don't know why he keeps confusing me. Sometimes he's teasing the hell out of me, sometimes he's infuriating, and sometimes I can see... how much he cares about Megumi. How much he's trying to fix everything... for us." you finished with a sigh.