"Are we running out of bananas?" your father asks, pushing the trolley.
He looks pitiful. After all, you dragged him to go food shopping after his work with a first-grade curse. Exhausted wasn't the right word to describe him as he is beyond that. You had told him that dealing with Nobara and Itadori's squabbles were far more tiring than some first-grade curse and then, dragged him off the couch.
It was a short walk from the home too, so it was convenient.
"Hmmm...yes, we are." you nodded, backspacing on 'bananas' on your Notes app. It's handy as a shopping list.
He tosses a bunch of bananas into the cart.
"Dad!" you shout, immediately taking it out.
"What?" he asks.
"You have to check if they're ripe enough to eat." you sigh, looking over it.
Men don't know anything. You don't know how he handled the house while you were for two years. Food and cleaning—that was your thing to do as you grew up. Not that you did all of it like a typical female but you organised what to do on different days and the house was always sparkling. It makes a lot of sense that you're a teacher. It's your most compatible path of career.
"Right. Why did you have to drag me out here again?" he groans, cracking his knuckles.
Not only had you dragged you shopping but he's on trolley duty—pushing the trolley as you walk around, finding things to buy.
It doesn't help that there are thirsty mothers around you, who keep staring at the blonde, middle-aged man. You want to throw up at the sight of them. It's like they're not even trying to hide it.
"Do you want dinner or not?"
"Excuse me, young lady." a tiny voice calls from behind you.
You turn around to see a tiny, old woman.
You're frozen.
Your mood sours at the sight of her.
Her eyes widen in realisation too.
"I knew it was you." she tells, "The cursed girl, the witch."
Heart dropping into your stomach, you take a small step back. Your figure is rigid for the most part when you hear those names again.
"How long has it been? Nearly twenty years?" she asks, more to herself.
Had she asked you, you wouldn't have been able to vocalise your answer.
There's no way she's standing in front of you right now, her own shopping trolley filled with hundreds of items which tell you that she's still working at the orphanage. Wherever it is now...
You set your old orphanage on fire, the fire that took away your childhood best friend―the lady in front of you is one of the caretakers from the orphanage.
"Mute as usual. You must've built all that anger up, didn't you, fireball?"
It wasn't your fault.
You try to remind yourself but there's a block in your throat, hindering the cry for help.
"Don't call me that." you begin, "It wasn't my fault―"
"That's enough, ma'am. You should leave before I do something I regret." your father interrupted, pulling you to him defensively.
"Oh, you must be that middle-aged man that took her in. What kind of man would take a young girl into his home? I can only think of one reason why you adopted a young, defenceless girl."
It took a second to get what she means and that was sufficient.
Humiliated.
That's what she wanted, right?
She broke you down to your core and stepped on your humility. It's all gone.
You weren't able to process your actions because the next thing you knew, your feet were moving. Heart being stuck in such a still and damaged position, the rest of your body took over and saved you from being further hurt.
You were walking out of the grocery store, your father's calling deaf to your ears.
Today was supposed to be a relaxed day. You were going to go home, eat dinner and then, mark some papers. Maybe watch a movie with your father but that singular interaction destroyed the hope for a happy night. Instead, you were reminded of your past.
How everyone in the orphanage viewed you.
For killing your best friend.
No matter how much Nanami comforted you with the fact that it wasn't your fault, that you didn't know you had cursed energy.
It didn't matter.
You still did it.
Even if you were at the ripe age of seven.
Right when you were close to believing that you weren't the one at fault, that lady came before your eyes.
"You guys should really lock your do―"
"Gojo, leave," you tell him, voice coming out in a choked sob.
You barely process being home and sliding your shoes off at the door. Gojo is sitting on your couch, somehow.
You can't look at him, let him see the tears and runny nose.
"What happened?" he asks calmly.
"Can you leave, please?"
It's quiet for a second and you're almost happy that he's probably going to leave but he says, "No. I'm not leaving until you tell him who made you like this."
Tears blur your vision as you look at the ledge separating the inside and outside of your house. A second later, the tear falls onto the ledge. A sob turns into a mental breakdown. You grasp the doorway, trying to hold yourself up.
Fat tears roll down your face as you break down in the middle of the doorway.
A herd of shuffling follows and two arms wrap around your shaking body.
"It's all my fault..." you say, allowing your face to rest against his chest.
Maybe you're kinda glad he stuck around.
"No, it's not. Nothing is your fault."
"How can you say that? You don't even know what I'm talking about." you cry.
He strokes your hair gently.
"Maybe not...but I know enough to know you shouldn't be blaming yourself for your past."
―
Your father knocks on your bedroom door, later that night.
"Come in." you promptly reply, on your phone.
The door creaks open, "Feeling better?"
You nod in reply.
"Dinner will be ready soon," he tells you, trying to smile.
You crack up at the sight.
"Okay, goofball. I'll be down."
He chuckles and closes the door, giving you the privacy you knew he knew you needed.
Your phone chimes which is out of the ordinary as you barely text people. You keep your friends to a minimal.
[20:04] Gojo: Feeling better?
You groan and let the phone drop from your fingertips. Why was he so good at taking care of you earlier?
You were trying to forget the powerful impact his protectiveness gave you and there he goes, reminding you of him again.
You'll reply later...right now, dinner.
YOU ARE READING
𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 & 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐎𝐘 ; s. gojo
Fanfiction❝ I FORGOT HOW MUCH OF AN ANNOYANCE YOU WERE. ❞ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ coming back to jujutsu high to teach after three years of going overseas was one thing but to meet a lovestruck gojo again, is another. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ gojo x fem!reader unrequited lo...
