"(M/N), wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!"
"Go away.."
"(M/NNNN)!"
"Satoru, I swear-"
"I can't find the kids!"
(M/N) flew up from his mattress, only to feel a painful rush to his head. "Agh, fuck!" (M/N) yelled, hands quickly grabbing his head. He looked up and saw Gojou standing above him in a blur. "Why do you look like that? And what the- shit, my head hurts," he muttered. "What the hell do you mean you can't find the kids?"
Gojou grinned and held out a bottle of water, two slices of milk bread, and a (fruit). "Just kidding! They're eating breakfast with Principal Yaga right now. I just knew you wouldn't wake up any other way," he answered. (M/N) glared at him, then raised an eyebrow at the food he was being offered. "Hangover cures! I need you at your best today."
"Hangover..?" (M/N) trailed off before memories of last night slowly began to flood back to his mind. "Shit, Satoru! You and your stupid dares!" He groaned, taking the food and starting to quickly eat. "I'm gonna be a disaster today!"
"Hey, technically I never dared you. I just said you were a chicken," Satoru replied, smirking. (M/N) rolled his eyes and quickly ate (fruit), then chugged the glass of water. "Hey, slow down, you're gonna choke at that rate."
"Whatever," (M/N) replied between bites of bread. "I need to hurry and say good morning to the kids, but I can't go looking like a bum."
He finished his food and slowly stood up, rubbing his forehead. "I'll be ready in ten. Since this whole thing with the Zenin clan is apparently happening now, we need to kickstart Megumi's training. So, go and get one of the school's grade 4 curses and meet us in the courtyard."
Satoru crossed his arms and smirked. "And who are you to be giving me orders? Who's the special grade-?" He began to tease, but a quick glare from (M/N) was enough to stop him right there. "I meannn, I love when you get all demanding and such," he chuckled, backing towards the door.
(M/N) smiled and rolled his eyes. "I know you do. Now go, Satoru," he replied. Satoru left, and (M/N) made quick work getting ready. After taking a shower and changing into some training clothes - a (F/C) tank-top and gray sweatpants - he walked out his room. He walked down a few halls, but when he took a turn down one, he ran into something - well, someone.
"Apologies- oh, good morning (M/N)," Nanami greeted, looking up/down at (M/N). "How do you feel after last night?
"I feel fine, thank you," (M/N) replied with a smile. "I'm sorry if you saw anything, uh, out of character," he apologized with a sheepish rub of his neck.
Nanami shrugged and fixed his tie. "You were able to let a lot of stress out. And dealing with Gojou makes anyone want to drink their sorrows away," he mused.
(M/N) chuckled and nodded. "Right, right. Well, thanks for understanding. I've gotta go meet the Fushiguro's to check on them and start Megumi's training, so I'll see you around," he said with a smile. Nanami nodded and the two began to walk past each other. Then, (M/N) froze. "Wait, Nanami?"
"Hm?"
They turned back to each other and (M/N) asked, "Did you call me (M/N)?"
Both of their faces turned a bit warm and Nanami cleared his throat. "Yes. You said I could last night, and in turn, I said you could call me by my first name. If you'd rather we do not-"
"No, no, I do!" (M/N) cut him off. "I'd be happy to..?"
"Kento."
"Well then, Kento, I will be seeing you around," (M/N) smiled and waved before turning back around and leaving.
Nanami watched him leave and felt his face grow warm again. 'Why does it sound so different when he says my name? Well.. surely it's nothing.'
~ ♡︎ ~
(M/N) finally made it to the dining hall and found Megumi and Tsumiki finishing up their breakfast with Principal Yaga. "(L/N), you made it just in time," Yaga greeted. "The children were just finishing up their breakfast. You may take Megumi to the field, I'll be taking young Tsumiki here to my office to teach her to knit."
"Sounds great! Thanks, Yaga," (M/N) beamed, looking at the two step-siblings. Tsumiki was rubbing Megumi's back while the boy stared blankly at his empty plate. "Everything okay, you two?"
Tsumiki looked up at (M/N) and beckoned him closer. When he bent to her level, she whispered into his ear, "He doesn't like being alone. Please don't leave him anywhere."
He backed up a bit and smiled. "I would never," he whispered back. She smiled and nodded. (M/N) turned to Megumi and pat his head gently. "You want anything else before we go?"
Megumi nodded and pointed to an piece of bacon left on one of the breakfast platters. (M/N) gestures for him to grab it, and when he did, pulled his seat out for him. "Wonderful. Now, come along, you can eat it while we go to the field to meet Satoru and start your training."
"Does Tsumiki really have to stay with the principal?" Megumi asked, standing and eating his bacon. "And do we really have to train? What about our normal school stuff?"
(M/N) sighed and began to lead the boy out the dining hall. "You guys will continue attending next week, but we have to jumpstart your training today and this weekend," he answered. "That clan we told you about - they're coming to the school soon to discuss taking you away. We need to prepare you to show them that we'll do a much better job of raising you."
Megumi stayed quiet for a moment before muttering, "Okay, but only because they sound sucky. After they figure it out, I wanna go back to school."
(M/N) chuckled and nodded to reassure the boy. They eventually reached the field, where Satoru stood idly holding his phone in one hand and a cage in the other. "Finally, there you two are," he spoke. "Let's hurry this up so Megumi can kick some Zenin butt and we can train him to be the best!"
"Don't put all that pressure on him yet," (M/N) said as the two men looked down at the young boy. "Megumi, is there anything you might know about your power? Something your father might've shown you?"
Megumi shook his head. Satoru held up and waved his phone, then said, "I did some digging in the school archives while you were grabbing the kid. I found every Zenin clan technique, so we should probably try those out first."
(M/N) clicked his tongue. "The kid doesn't even know what cursed energy is yet, Satoru," he said. "Basics first."
"Damnit, you're right," Gojou sighed, backing away from the two. He opened the cage door and out flew a small, green, one-eyed and white-winged curse. "Megumi! Watch this!"
Megumi was on guard, trying to hide himself behind (M/N)'s legs. He stared at the curse in horror. "Wait, wait, they're real? Those- those nightmares are real?"
(M/N) grimaced and nodded. "Afraid so, dear," he said. "Don't be scared. We'll step in and kill it if it tries to hurt you, but you have to try first."
Megumi nodded and stepped from behind his legs, but still held onto one with a shaky fist. "Now, watch Satoru. The first blow he's going to deal to the curse is pure cursed energy."
Satoru held his hand up and suddenly, the curse hit the ground with a loud thud. Megumi winced, but nodded to show he understood. "Now, this is cursed technique," Satoru said as he crossed his fingers. The curse lifted into the air and its limbs started to grotesquely twist and struggle.
Megumi stared in disgust and hid his face in (M/N)'s leg. (M/N) shot Satoru a look, causing the other man to release the curse. "Do you understand, Megumi?" He asked gently.
The boy slowly looked up. "One was like.. pure strength, right? And the other was some sort of controlled strength?" He asked.
"Pretty much!" Satoru exclaimed. "Think of cursed energy as electricity, and cursed techniques as the appliances fueled by it."
"We'll start with accessing your raw energy first," (M/N) said. "Then we'll figure out your technique."
"How?"
Satoru shrugged. "It'll pop up eventually. Man, you should've seen (M/N)'s first time with his technique! His raw energy sucks, but his first technique?! Yikes!" He laughed.
(M/N) rolled his eyes, then kneeled down beside Megumi. "Let's start small, alright?" He spoke as he pointed to the curse. "Cursed energy is fueled by negative emotions. So, I want you to think of something annoying, look at that curse, and try to do something to it. Think you can handle that?"
Megumi nodded. The two adults backed away from him, and he stared at the little green thing on the ground. 'Something annoying,' Megumi thought. 'A lot of stuff's annoying. School, homework, chores. What if there's nothing annoying enough for this to work?'
He held his palm out to the curse and sighed. 'Think, think.. this Satoru guy?' He thought as he glanced at the white-haired adult. 'No, I just met him, that's not enough. Hm.. school, people..'
(M/N) watched Megumi with concern and crossed his arms. "He always looks so serious," Gojou commented. "Tsumiki always looks so happy though. They're quite opposites."
Megumi's eyes widened a bit before he furrowed his brows. Then, out of nowhere, the curse slammed into the ground and screamed in agony. (M/N)'s eyes widened and he grinned. "Great! Already off to a great st.." he trailed off as he watched the curse slowly get crushed against the ground until eventually, it started to bleed. He noticed that Megumi's eyes were blank and his expression was slowly growing more serious. 'He's seriously spacing out,' (M/N) thought as he looked back at the curse, its condition only growing worse.
"Oh- oh, alright, Megumi, you can relax-!" He began to say, but was cut off by a gut-wrenching sound; the curse screamed and squealed in agony until its head finally burst, dark matter spewing out on to the grass.
Gojou grabbed (M/N)'s arm and pulled him away from the head explosion, pulling him close to his body. "Well, the kid sure does have raw power!" He exclaimed with a grin. "A little concerning, but still," he added in a whispered breath, noticing (M/N)'s worried stare.
Megumi snapped out of his trance and looked down at the curse, gasping. "Did- did I do that?" He asked, pulling his hand close to his chest. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," he apologized as he looked up at the two adults. He saw their stares and tried to keep his composure, but was internally panicking. 'I can't mess this up - not when they saved Tsumiki from all that stuff at that dumpster house. I can't-!'
"You're fine, kiddo, I'll just go grab another curse."
The young boy looked back up at Gojou and (M/N) with surprised eyes. (M/N) waved his hand over the curse's corpse and Megumi watched as lightning shot out and turned the body to sparks and smoke. Gojou, on the other hand, walked over to Megumi and pat his head. "Good job. Now, time to control and channel that energy!"
"How?" Megumi asked.
(M/N) and Gojou looked at each other - Gojou shrugged, (M/N) facepalmed. He said, "Well, sorcerers have to train to control their negative emotions so they don't waste cursed energy. So, we need to find a safe, controlled way for you to do that."
He looked at Satoru again. "Any ideas, Satoru?" He asked.
Gojou tapped his foot rapidly, tapping his chin in contemplation. Then, he snapped his fingers. "I got it! I'm a genius - how did I not think about this before?!"
~ ♡︎ ~
"Your plan.. is to have him watch movies?"
Gojou grinned and nodded. "Yep, an amazing idea, isn't it?!" He said as he put a VHS tape into the TV. They were now in a basement beneath the school, with old relics lying around in boxes. "We have all types of genres down here, some child appropriate, some not. The goal is to have the movies draw out his emotions and get him to pour them into a constant, steady flow of cursed energy."
(M/N) tapped his chin and hummed. "Sounds like a halfwit idea," he decided. "But how are we gonna manage his emotions?"
Gojou held up a stuffed, white dog - specifically, one of Yaga's cursed dolls. "He'll constantly and steadily pour them into this lil guy! And if he doesn't, the dog's gonna bite him!" He exclaimed. (M/N)'s eyes nearly bulged out of his head as the white-haired man handed Megumi the stuffed dog, while the child simply gaped at the way it realistically stuck its tongue out and wagged its tail.
"What.. movies can I watch?" He asked quietly as he sat down on the couch.
Gojou held up the box of VHS tapes. "All types! Action, comedy, romance- well, maybe not romance, some of these are kinda.. eh, you'll watch those when you're older," he mumbled to himself. "Oh, and horror! All types of emotions, all at different intensities!"
"You know he's only like, five, right?"
"Four."
"YOU'RE FOUR?!" Gojou yelled suddenly, whirling around to look at Megumi. "YOU TALK LIKE YOU'RE AT LEAST TEN!"
"I had to pick up the slack to help my sister," Megumi answered, petting the dog's head. "Now, can we start this movie marathon or not?"
Gojou shrugged and pressed play on the VHS tape player, then went and sat on the other couch. (M/N) joined him, and soon, the movie was playing. Then, the next one. Then, another, and so on and so forth. The entire time, though, (M/N) couldn't watch the movie. He was too focused on observing Megumi; his mannerisms, his concentration on the movie, the way he held the dog.
(M/N) thought to himself, 'He's just like Toji. I wish that moron hadn't given up a kid like this - he'd be so proud of him. Probably is, all the way up there..'
Gojou glanced at his best friend and noticed his zoned out look. "I know what you're thinking," he whispered. "He's a strong kid. He has us now, and all we can do is train him. So, stop thinking about the past and focus on his present. It's all he has now."
(M/N) turned and finally looked Satoru in the eyes. They stared into each other's gaze with the softest shared look that could be mustered in the dark, dimly lit room. (M/N) cracked a small smile and leaned his head against Satoru's shoulder. He softly replied, "Yeah. You're right. Thanks, Satoru."
Satoru stiffened at (M/N)'s contact, but quickly relaxed. He smiled and tossed an arm over his friend's shoulder, then turned his head back to the movie. "Always, Sunshine."
Meanwhile, two small eyes were staring at the best friends. 'They're.. different. Not weird, but different,' Megumi thought. 'I.. don't mind it though. I think they're.. okay.'
He turned his attention back to the TV and smiled a little. The dog in his lap howled with affection, nuzzling into Megumi's hand.
'They're okay.'
~ ♡︎ ~
ex nihilo nihil fit: nothing comes from nothing
sorry for such a delay on this chapter (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ the direction honestly shifted like 15 times the more i read into the world of jjk and the manga instead of just watching the anime (;'༎ຶٹ༎ຶ')
oh i also got dumped, failed most of my exams, and got abandoned by an entire friend group
but those are small beans in the big jar of life so im all good :D
until next time! ♡︎