♡｡༝☆.ᐟ 𝟱𝟮. 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧
──── 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧: 𝟭,𝟲𝟯𝟲
❝ 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗙 𝗜 𝗔𝗦𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧, 𝗜 𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 ? ❞
──── 𝙉𝘼𝙊𝙆𝙊 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝘽𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 heavily as she ran up the hill she often ran with gojo in the mornings. it had been two weeks since they broke up. was she doing well? no, she wasn't but she was learning that it's fine if she wasn't ok. but she slowly tried to get life in track even if meant one step at a time.
rather than staying in bed all day she decided to go for a run to clear her mind. a run to keep herself busy. she had still cried at night, but it became more tolerable like a routine. cry at night, but get over it in the morning. but she truly wasn't over it when she woke up. more like she put on a mask to gaslight herself into thinking she was ok.
today she was going to start training with her father. he was going to teach her the ropes of being the clan head. it felt like something unimaginable. something she never thought she'd be able to do. but now it was a reality.
she wasn't looking forward to spending that time with her father though. but maybe she would actually learn something from him. maybe he could actually respect her now that she was a special grade. or was it more of because she was a special grade, he was afraid of what she could do. maybe not, but maybe it could be different.
she thought about all these possibilities as she ran to the zenin household. and upon reaching her father's room she greeted him as she sat in front of him in the dark room, "hello, father."
"follow me, naoko." he stood up as naoko followed him outside the room and showed her into his office. this was a room she was never allowed to enter. there was book upon books that filled the shelves in the dusty room. "as a clan head you are responsible for making sure there is a record for everything that occurs in the clan." he brought out a book, it was filled with many reports ranging between dates that occurred last month to a year ago. "we are supposed to keep track of all that happens throughout the year. this book is dedicated to the agreement we had with the gojo clan. your prior engagement."
naoko held her head down as she read the pages. her father took note of everything. everything each clan member said. everything she said. any important data. all the records of the scheduled dates her and satoru were supposed to do. everything. her whole relationship was on paper, and her father had it. but he didn't keep record of one thing: the truth.
naoko thought about whether she should tell him the truth. at this point there wasn't anything he could do anyways. she was done with gojo so it's not like he could tell her to never see him again. so she sighed deciding to tell her father everything "father. do you remember the night of my promotion party i told you that i wanted to speak to you about something?"
his back faced her as he looked through more of the record books, "yes, before you left the party so suddenly without permission." he answered wondering where this conversation was going. as far as he remembered, naoko never talked to him one and one like this.
maybe it was the fact that naobito couldn't look down on her anymore. or maybe the fact that he decided to respect his daughter better. treat her like a person now. maybe that's why naoko was even wanting to converse with him in the first place.
"i was going to ask for your approval. that was what i wanted to ask you that night." naobito raised his eyebrow in confusion as he turned to her, looking down at her small figure. "for what?"
naoko held the book, flipping through the pages, "you have record here about everything about me and gojo. and yet you don't have everything, you're missing a lot in here." he was taken aback at her statement. maybe even a little offended that she even questioned his ability to record everything on paper, "that can't be. i've recorded everything diligently." he argued, not raising his voice though.
"not just what was said at meetings. not data or dates. there's something i didn't tell you and i probably never intended to tell you while i was engaged to gojo." naoko explained closing the book and placing it onto the desk that sat in the middle of the room. naobito followed his daughter's action and then giving her eye contact as she said, "i was going to ask for your approval to marry satoru that night. he had proposed to me some time before and i was going to work it out with you so i could somehow still be the head."
naobito was silent. he certainly didn't expect this kind of sudden confession. he was confused. his mind missing a few pieces. "why would he propose to you after we had broke off the agreement?" he asked wanting to gather more information.
naoko paused before answering his question. she was beginning to wonder if she should go this far. but she was already here explaining everything so might as well go all the way. she sighed before answering, "because he loved me. and i loved him."
naobito sure wasn't expecting such an answer. he never taught his daughter anything about love and he didn't know much of it either. so it came as a shock that his daughter had fallen in love with someone, especially her former fiancé, the gojo boy.
he continued to hear her explanation. he was quiet and naoko didn't know what to think of this. 'what was he thinking?' she thought. "so yes. i got my feelings involved. i lied at that meeting because i was afraid you would pull back the engagement if you found out feelings were involved." she explained further.
and yet again naobito did nothing but listen, but naoko also grew silent, not sure what to say next.
"and you thought that i would've let you marry that gojo boy? i would've never allowed such a stupid idea to pass. that's why we broke the engagement. we wanted to have you as our head." he said bluntly as naoko retorted to her father's statement. "i probably would've offered you something. something that would've given me both. marry gojo and become head of the zenin clan. maybe have children until one of them possesses my technique? i don't know... but i never got around to ask you any of that." she sighed at the end.
naobito grew silent once again and naoko looked at her father. he was definitely thinking about this now. naoko paused before saying, "you don't have to worry anymore. i'm not going to ask you to approve of the stupid idea anymore, father."
naobito grew curious. this was new to him. to hear someone talk about love to him. especially his daughter. he never thought they'd be having this conversation, "why? didn't you say you love him? plus it seems like the perfect way to defy your father. bringing two special grades to the fight." he made a point. maybe if gojo was involved, they would find a way to get both of clans' approval.
"satoru handled it himself. i broke up with him two weeks ago because he cheated on me, not that i expect you to care. but i guess since it doesn't matter anymore i figured i would be honest and tell you." she sighed explaining to her father as he just listened, "but would you have approved if i asked that night, i wonder? i thought maybe since the tables had turned and i got promoted to a special grade that i had the courage to ask you of such a thing because who would let the opportunity of having a special grade as their head go?" she asked curious to what his answer would be. sure she thought he would decline without a doubt, but she was unsure, maybe he would understand, or accept it if she made some deal with him.
she wasn't nervous for his answer. after all, it's not like it mattered anymore.
"you make a good point, daughter. the clan probably would've backlashed if i disowned away our greatest weapon. maybe i would've made an exception so long as you made an offspring that carried the ten shadows technique to carry down the family technique." her father explained as naoko realized how easy it would've been.
she could've been engaged to satoru again. she could've and yet she wasn't. "so i guess now i can put all the blame on satoru now. he ruined everything." she chuckled to herself but then later holding her head down low.
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♡｡༝☆.ᐟ 𝗞𝗢𝗝𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗔𝗔'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘
──── 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 !!
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