(Art by your resident Simp)
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3RD POV
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A few days passed, and Colith slowly got used to being Toji's girlfriend, much to the latter's delight. At first, their relationship didn't change much, as she had no idea how to behave like a proper girlfriend, having never been in a relationship before. At nineteen and when she was still alive, she had no desire to date, resulting in her cluelessness on the matter now. All she knew at the time were examples from movies, TV series and romance manga. Examples she decided to try and apply.
...
All right, she physically couldn't do those things. They were cheesy as fuck, and were mostly aimed towards high schoolers, something she no longer was. Sure, back in the day, perhaps those tactics would have worked. When she was a high schooler, that is, which, well, she no longer was. Minus some cute situations that'd make one or two chuckles escape her while reading, some of the main/side characters' decisions irked her to such degrees that she entirely gave up on the thing.
Nevertheless, she said "Fuck it, I'm gonna improvise." and immediately acted upon those words by doing wacky and unpredictable things such as...
Surprise him with random pecks and then vanish out of sight before he could say "money."
Squish his face when he's too engrossed in his movie or biting his shoulder when he wasn't focused.
Her most favorite activity though, was cooking various dishes from her home country and making him try them. The easiest one by far, considering that he actually liked it. A notion she was certainly glad to learn. The guy was a glutton. A given with all those muscles.
Aside from that, she would even call him by endearing nicknames, something she tended to do with people she was fond of. So imagine her surprise when it generated a blush from the guy.
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"Sweetheart, did you just blush?"
"..."
"holy Shi- YOU'RE BLUSHING-"
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Other than the "I tease you to annoy the hell out of you" (which by the way became very difficult to achieve since Toji also joined the simp game and would just watch her fondly instead of going berserk like before), they somehow became more casual in giving each other affection despite never going further than mere kisses and hugs.
Even though they were technically now a couple, she had trouble integrating the idea of... doing it with the guy. A coward she was.
She was in no way ready for whatever horny bullshit Toji had in mind and thankfully the guy respected her choice. Even though he sometimes had trouble not pouncing on her when the strong urge to go further clouded his mind, whenever their lips locked. She would always yank his hair to stop him in time.
She knew this situation frustrated him, and she felt bad denying him. Part of her longed for him, but she couldn't imagine doing it, especially with her upbringing and the speed at which things were moving. It was a line she'd rather not cross, at least not yet.
Anyway, a new routine consisting of cuddling sessions on the sofa, since they were both touch-starved creatures, had been established by none other than Toji himself. And frankly, she approved. She didn't know the man was the type to initiate cuddles; then again, he didn't have many opportunities to do so, except with his son. Still, she wasn't complaining!
Especially because It was... comfy as hell.
They would lie on the couch with snacks, courtesy of her, while engaging in small talk. Sometimes she'd joke about random things, like Covid 19 or some pop culture happenstances that had yet to be. His face would scrunch up in confusion, causing the woman to chuckle and pinch his cheek in mirth.
Some nights, when he wasn't already asleep, Megumi would lie on her chest and nibble at her clothes. She'd rest on Toji, her back pressed against him and his bulky arms wrapped securely around her, sandwiching her between him and the other Fushiguro. An amusing sight, to be honest, but one that never failed to make her giddy and eager to embark on another cuddling session with them.
Speaking of Megumi, the little guy has passed the single-digit mark! Colith was so thrilled that she cried when Megumi beamed at her, as if he knew something was up. Toji couldn't understand why she was so emotional until she started preaching about how cute the baby was like a crazy cult member.
Granted, his son was adorable, but what did that have to do with anything?
Colith released an affronted squawk and declared that this was the reason why the squirt preferred her over him; she valued his cuteness more than him!
Toji was mostly lost but decided to roll with it, not wishing to receive another lecture on how adorable his son was. A little contest consisting of who could find the best gift for the boy began between the two, and Toji pulled out a yellow plastic toy knife.
A knife.
For a one-year-old toddler.
Okay.
The day was filled with the boys' giggles of happiness, a lot of toys, and the occasional "my gift is better than yours, see?" or "ji, you can't give him this, it ain't kid-friendly."
In the end, a content Megumi fell asleep on the couch surrounded by a mountain of gifts and what was left of a smash cake.
That same day, Tsumiki and her grandma arrived, both bearing gifts and a homemade cake for they had thought Toji wouldn't have bothered to do anything. They were both surprised to find scattered toys and a blissfully asleep Megumi in the living room.
Colith was caught off guard by their presence, having completely forgotten Tsumiki's existence, and was surprised to see the elderly woman. Toji had hardly ever mentioned her, so she never insisted. She felt a little uncomfortable, but banished this feeling in the hope of being a good host.
She was aware of the little tension between them; after all, the old lady had lost her daughter to him.
However, the tension vanished the moment little Tsumiki crashed into the man's legs with a wide, gummy smile. The three-year-old smiled at him and began to recount her day, from spotting a beautiful calico cat in the street to earning a star for helping with household chores. Her babbling stopped when her eyes turned curiously to Colith, who smiled warmly back at her.
She was so small and adorable.
Her grandmother, Hanae Fushiguro, is a petite woman in her fifties, whose graying hair, pulled back into a bun, reveals her advanced age. Her gentle face, dotted with wrinkles and laugh lines, bore witness to a cheerful existence. She looked like the grandmother everyone wished they had.
The little old lady was initially bewildered by Colith's presence in Toji's apartment, but refrained from asking any questions. He wasn't her son and she had no authority on him. Her questions were answered, however, the moment she saw her former son-in-law's loving gaze every time it rested on the foreign woman who had left them to play with Tsumiki in the living room while they chatted. She realized that the worries she'd had on her way here were for nothing after all.
Although their relationship deteriorated somewhat after her daughter's death, Hanae didn't resent Toji; on the contrary, she welcomed him into their family with open arms, hence the surname Fushiguro. Rather, she worried about his destructive behavior... he was wasting, burying himself in his work to the point of no longer visiting her. This worried her. The last time they'd seen each other had been a month after the funeral, and the blank stare she'd seen had worried her greatly. This visit wasn't just to celebrate Megumi's birthday, it was especially about confronting him about his behavior. No one would have had the courage to confront him, but she wasn't a Fushiguro for naught!
Yet, after entering and seeing more life behind those dull eyes of his, she couldn't help the gentle, relieved smile from surfacing and utter a simple:
"I see."
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Toji had no clue what she meant by that, so he simply shrugged in response. Hanae-baasan was weird.
The day went smoothly and Tsumiki asked if she could come back next week, to which he replied positively.
Meanwhile, Colith exchanged pleasantries with the old lady over hot tea, during which Hanae-baachan cast a critical eye over the toy knife and immediately began a lecture on what to give a one-year-old. Toji groaned, on the receiving hand while Colith and Tsumiki laughed at the sight of a big man being lectured by a little old lady.
Megumi slept soundly all night.
A fun first anniversary one would say.
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Colith sat in her bed with a dilemma.
Could she proudly say that she loved Toji now? Well... they'd never explicitly said "I love you" or anything like that, apart from admitting they liked each other, which wasn't the same. It was quite complicated since she was aware of the influence she had on him (to hell with the Higher-Ups for that), and she feared that none of it was genuine-which was the only reason she wanted to spend the year and get to know him like a normal person. But hell, there was no way she could stop him, except by getting the hell out of here, which would obviously have been a dick move, and as she was now yearning for something more natural, there was nothing she could do about it, plus she'd miss Megumi too much.
As for her feelings for the Dilf...well...there was this warmth she felt towards the guy and Colith was sure as hell that she had never experienced it before. Of course, she understood familial love, the love you held for a sibling, children (her beans), parents, and such, but...this was different. It definitely wasn't the usual simping because she knew people could simp for someone and not fully love the person afterwards, so, yeah...it was different. No, stronger than the mere fictional crush she had before...it undeniably was something more than...
SubhanAllah, she was deep, wasn't she?
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"You look kinda dumb."
"What?"
"I said you look dumb, 'ji."
The male slowly blinked in response to the unexpected comment. Had he been doing something foolish? He glanced down at where the cursed worm was supposedly wriggling beside several scattered weapons he had decided needed maintenance today. In one hand, he held a knife while the other clutched a tissue. A bottle of sanitizer rested on the ground nearby. He blinked once more. Was cleaning weapons considered stupid?
"Why?"
He watched her shrug, pull her weird phone out, and quickly doodle something with her finger on it before showing him the result. It was an awfully accurate doodle of himself with a dumb expression.
"You were making that face, boo."
Toji's deadpan stare made her stifle a laugh.
She lazily took a seat on the ground in front of him, snatching Peggy and placing her on her lap in the process. The male resumed cleaning the knife and placed it near the clean weapons before taking another one. A clone was currently playing with Megumi in his room since she wanted to be with the two males at the same time and there was no way in hell she'd let the cherub near his dad's weapons...and was that a Glock...? Only Allah knew what would happen if the toddler set eyes on the shiny pointy stuff and Colith had no wish to know.
"So... tomorrow's your birthday, huh?" Colith softly inquired, catching the male's attention as his grassy eyes met warm gold.
"hm-hn?"
"Anything you'd like?"
He thought for a moment before shaking his head. He had nothing in mind. Colith pursed her lips.
"Really?"
"It's not like it's something worth celebrating. Don't bother." He shrugged, making her eye twitch.
Right. Zenins. Assholes. Sexist Clans. Bunch of bastards. Yeah.
Her jaw clenched and she abruptly stood up, causing poor Peggy to squirm away with a whine for being removed so roughly. Colith whispered her a small apology. "Sorry." Then resumed her outrage, "I'm going to go beat your clan leader's ass real quick."
Toji chuckled. "Kick his balls while you're at it! The old fucker deserves it."
He watched her take a few steps towards the door before grumbling something and spinning back to plop on his back. Toji shook his head in amusement.
"A change of heart?"
He heard her mumble curses as her warm breath tickled his ear. He wanted to kiss her now.
"Hmph! I know the moment I step foot in there, I'll decimate everyone out of spite. They deserve a good ass-beating from me, but I'd just get into more trouble... Hmm... But if I disguise myself...yeah, yeah, that might work."
"Why would you do that?" Toji asked, genuinely curious. He felt her anger spike through her scowling face. "I don't recall them hurting you."
"I just... tch! I still can't believe all the shit you've been through! Treating a child like that just because he wasn't born with fucking cursed energy? Sure, you don't have any, but you're still a badass! More than any of those bitches! They're really lucky I wasn't there at the time. I'd have beaten to death anyone who even had the slightest idea of looking at you funny! The audacity of them ruining my man's childhood..."
She kept angrily ranting while doodling nonsensical shapes on the back of his hand she had grabbed mid-rant. He felt butterflies in his stomach at the mention of "my man". An unnatural blush crept up his cheeks; he wasn't one to get flustered over compliments. He felt like a schoolgirl in front of her crush - how humiliating!
"...Do you mean all that?"
Toji's low voice stopped her rant, compelling her to look at him as if he was dumb. "Of course! I lo- I mean you're precious to me!" she quickly corrected.
"What were you going to say?"
Nothing! Don't worry, here-" She pecked his lips before skipping to Megumi's room before adding, "I'll give you a gift tomorrow! See ya, Ji!" With that, she left a dumbfounded Toji on the ground still surrounded by Peggy and his weapons.
He touched his lips, eyes softening at the thought of Colith, somehow, showing her appreciation through her anger.
'huh...'
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