Work Text:
Megumi begins to sense an unfamiliar presence around him as he goes about his daily routine. The short walk from Gojo’s car into school, during recess, and during the time he waited outside for Gojo to pick him up, he felt eyes watching him, scrutinizing his every move. The nine-year-old wasn’t stupid, he knew this should worry him and he should tell an authority figure (ahem, Gojo). But he really didn’t feel like alerting the twenty-year-old to something that may not even exist. Whenever Gojo became aware of something that could potentially harm someone under his care, he would go into overdrive mode and smother said someone in annoying safety precautions. Besides, whenever Megumi was at home and around Gojo, he felt safe once more and nearly forgot about the threatening stare that seemed to pierce through him whenever the white haired sorcerer wasn’t around.
In conclusion, Megumi had yet to voice his slight concerns to Gojo and he wasn’t planning on doing so until something extraordinarily unusual happened.
“Bye-bye Megumi-chan!” Gojo waved brightly as he dropped the nine-year-old off at school. The kid had barely reached the sidewalk before he heard the car speed off, most likely far exceeding the speed limit. Megumi knew that dropping him off and picking him up at school took more time out of Gojo’s day than necessary, but the sorcerer had insisted on it, saying that no ward of his would be taking the bus. Megumi figured the reason was so Gojo could show off his fancy car to all of the moms who dropped their own kids off at school, but when he had mentioned his theory to Tsumiki, she had laughed and countered with her own theory that Gojo deemed the bus unsafe. Megumi dismissed her opinion, not seeing why Gojo wouldn’t want him on public transportation alone and held true to his own theory.
Megumi shifted his red backpack and instinctively clutched the straps tighter as he once more felt a presence watching him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and goose bumps broke out onto his bare arms, despite the fact he was wearing three layers of clothing to stave off the biting cold. Megumi paused and slowly took in the area around him, trying to see if there were any unfamiliar faces or evil auras emitting from a single person. Megumi frowned and continued his walk inside the school building. He simply couldn’t pinpoint where the evil aura was coming from. It felt as if it were all around him, consuming his every thought and holding onto his every step. The moment Megumi stepped foot inside the school, the aura dissipated, allowing him to breathe a little deeper and walk a little quicker to class. This has been going on for two weeks now and every day the presence seems to grow stronger and stronger. Megumi wanted to figure this out on his own, but he must admit that if things continue at this rate, he may have to ask for advice after all. Not help, but advice.
Megumi sat down at his desk and took out his notebooks, crayons and pencils, aligning them in the corner of his desk for later use. He then reached for his little blue water bottle and took a few sips before focusing his attention on the teacher and her explanation of long division. The concept was simple enough, so he allowed himself to zone out and think through his options.
The only time I feel the presence is when I’m out of Gojo’s range to sense me. Maybe if I can feel the aura for long enough, I’ll finally be able to pinpoint it and figure out who I’m dealing with. I have to somehow stall Gojo from picking me up for at least thirty minutes after school ends. I could do a lot with that time. If things go wrong, I know that he’ll show up eventually and I would just have to make it until then.
Megumi decides to put his plan into action during recess. He makes his way over to the slide and ducks under it for some privacy. Already he feels the tickling sensation of being watched and he hates it. Megumi pulls out his phone and dials one of two numbers he has saved. The line rings for less than five seconds before the cheery voice of Gojo comes through. The minute he hears the familiar voice, the tingling aura quickly leaves him.
“Megumi! You never call me during school, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Megumi pauses, trying to formulate the best explanation before Gojo once again interrupts his train of thought.
“Megumi, you’re okay, right? Answer me, kiddo.”
Megumi frowned. The voice almost sounded…concerned. Nah, Megumi brushed away the thought as quickly as it arrived. The sorcerer only worried about himself.
“Um, you don’t need to pick me up from school today. I have a project I want to work on here and it’ll take probably thirty minutes so I can just take the bus on the way back,” Megumi said.
There was a pause before Gojo chuckled through the phone. “Ah, always so studious. In that case, I’ll pick you up thirty minutes later.”
“Uh…I can just take the bus…really.” Megumi retorted, confused as to why Gojo would want to show up at the school after all the “hot” moms and teachers were gone.
“See you at 2:30 Megumi!” With that, Gojo hung up and Megumi lowered the phone, once again feeling eyes on him. Megumi tucked his phone into his backpack and closed his eyes. He let his hands fall to the ground, and begin playing with the wood chips. He took a deep breath and focused. The feeling was overwhelming and evil, but it seemed to feel stronger on his right side. Megumi’s eyes snapped open and he whipped his head to the right, but all he saw was the merry-go-round and the fence and bushes that encased the playground. Megumi squinted his eyes at the foliage, trying to see if there was anyone or anything hiding behind them, but nothing made itself known. Megumi slammed his little wrist down onto the wood chips, wincing as he felt a splinter pierce his soft skin.
Once I’m here alone, I’ll check out the bushes myself.
Just then, he heard his teacher call all the students back into the classroom and he gladly went, relishing in the feeling of being free from scrutiny.
___
After writing class, his final class of the day, Megumi grabbed his backpack and quickly walked to the bathroom, intending to hide there until the teacher and students had made their way outside for parent pick-up. He picked a stall and climbed onto the toilet, letting the door close but not latch. He checked his watch, which read 2:08. By now, the students and teacher should all be outside so he took his chance and exited the bathroom. He ran for the door that led to the playground and swiftly pulled it open. The moment Megumi stepped foot outside, he was nearly knocked back with the force of what felt like a punch. The aura had grown even stronger in the two hours after recess. Megumi’s eyes immediately turned to the foliage on the far side of the playground and locked onto something out of place. Megumi’s brain raced to catch up with what he was seeing, and when it did, he froze in terror. Peering behind a couple leaves, was a face. It wasn’t a normal face though. It looked too human to be a curse, but not human enough to be normal. The eyes were red and drooping, adding to the sagging nature of the face. A red liquid that seemed to be blood was seeping from the hole where a nose should be. Probably the more horrifying part was the mouth. Its lips were stretched up into a forced smile, muscles fighting against the weight of the sagging skin, but even the mouth wasn’t normal. Instead of teeth, gums and a tongue, there was just blackness. Blackness so dark that Megumi was sure he would be sucked into it if he kept staring.
Megumi realized he had begun to tremble, having broken out of his frozen state. He brought his shaky arms up and attempted to form the hand signal to summon his dogs. The nine-year-old was desperate for protection, but he couldn’t find the strength to summon them. His heart was beating too fast, his breaths were too shallow, there was an incessant ringing in his ears and his chest felt as if it was being crushed from fear.
Run.
Megumi’s mind screamed at him to get as far away as possible, but his legs felt like jelly. He had never felt this sort of fear in his life.
Run and find Gojo.
Megumi’s body tried to catch up with his mind, but his eyes were locked into place. He couldn’t pull them away from the creature. The curses horrifying smile then formed into the open mouth of a scream, but no sound came out. The leaves then shifted as a skinny pale arm poked through the brush, palm out, motioning for Megumi to step closer. Even from the distance, Megumi could see the speckles of blood that stained the hand. Three more arms then appeared through the bushes, all waving for the boy to come closer.
Megumi tried to force his eyes away from the piercing red glare, but he felt trapped. The previous tingling from the aura was gone and now he began to feel stabbing sensations all over him. He fell to his knees with a sob, finally breaking eye contact with the creature. The pain grew stronger and he opened his mouth to scream, but he couldn’t. The nightmare continued when Megumi looked up once again to see the creature had fully emerged from the bushes. Its eight limbs each twitching uncontrollably as it slowly made its way closer to Megumi. The shadow of a mouth formed a smile once more as its red eyes collapsed into its head, leaving dark swirling circles that seemed to want to engulf Megumi.
Still shaking and unable to get up, Megumi resulted to squeezing his eyes shut, praying the nightmare would end and he would wake up in his bed and run to Gojo for comfort. It seems his prayers had been heard, because not a minute later, he heard a panicked cry and felt strong, familiar arms wrap around his frame, pulling him close. Megumi forced his eyes open, desperate to stare into the comforting blue emanating from Gojo’s own. The moment Gojo had encircled Megumi into his arms, the evil aura disappeared, but the fear remained strong. Megumi stared at Gojo’s face, but the older man was looking past him, sending a murderous glare at the creature by the bushes.
“Don’t look,” Gojo said, setting Megumi down again. The kid protested, grabbing at Gojo’s sleeve.
“Please don’t. It’ll hurt you,” Megumi whispered.
Gojo gently removed the youngers hands from his clothes and stood tall. “Don’t worry, I’m the strongest, remember?” Gojo gave Megumi one last grin before approaching the curse. The raven-haired boy did as he was told and kept his gaze focused down on the grass, but he could imagine what was going down. He felt furious cursed energy fill the space. Megumi would’ve been scared, but he knew it wasn’t directed at him. It never would be.
____
Gojo was furious. He could end this creature in the snap of his fingers, but he elected to take his time. This thing deserved to suffer for what it had done to Megumi. That’s right… Megumi.
We have a lot to talk about kiddo.
Gojo raised his hand and pushed out cursed energy, jerking it to the side. One of the creature's limbs was ripped away from its body, sending blood spattering onto the wood chips. Gojo’s lips quirked up into an angry smile when the creature's black hole of a mouth dropped into a scared expression. Gojo twisted his hand through the air and three more of its limbs shriveled up, bones piercing through the thin skin. The creature then made noise for the first time as it howled in pain. Gojo saw red as he heard a scared sob come from Megumi. He decided to finish this quickly as the kid didn’t need this to be prolonged any longer than necessary. Gojo sent purple energy slithering up the curses body and watched it seep into its chest. A moment later, the creature's heart burst out of its chest, leaving a deep black hole where it used to reside. Gojo sent one last wave of energy over, splitting the curse in half and forcing its body to disintegrate into nothing.
Without wasting another minute, Gojo sprinted back to Megumi and picked the kid up, holding him close. Megumi buried his face into Gojo’s neck, his arms wrapping around the same area. Gojo squeezed the kid a little closer in order to slow his own rapidly beating heart.
“Are you hurt?” Gojo asked, rubbing a hand up and down the kids back.
Megumi shook his head no, his black locks tickling Gojo’s ear.
“Let’s get you back home then.” There was no reply to that so Gojo picked up his pace towards the car. The tall man opened the passengers door and bent down to place Megumi in the seat but the boy clung to him even harder. “You’re like a little koala bear,” Gojo teased. “It’ll only be for the ride back, I promise.” The words seemed reassuring enough, so Megumi released his death grip and let Gojo place him in the seat and wrap the seatbelt around him.
The ride back to the apartment was silent, with Gojo sending multiple glances over to Megumi, but found the kid staring off into space, unblinking.
How did this happen? How did I let this happen?! Megumi had seen curses before, many of them being the most vile, disgusting creatures in existence, so how was this one different? Sure it had a spine-chilling appearance, but Megumi had seen worse. Something was different about this one.
Gojo pulled into the driveway and a moment later, Megumi was back in his arms. Gojo’s worry grew when he could still feel Megumi’s rapid heartbeat against his own chest.
Gojo wanted to make the kid something to eat, but having a nine-year-old attached to him would certainly hinder the process so Gojo elected to sit the two of them on the couch and pull a blanket over them. Megumi turned his head to the side, making himself more comfortable and within a few minutes, the kid was out like a light. Gojo carded his fingers through the kids hair before gently removing him from his lap and laying him down on the couch with a pillow under his head and a blanket over top of him. The couch was visible from the kitchen, so Gojo would be able to cook them something to eat while keeping an eye on the kid at the same time.
___
“NO! Don’t take him!” Megumi screamed, lunging for Gojo, but it was too late. The curse’s gaping dark mouth engulfed the white-haired-sorcerer. Megumi forced his hands together and summoned his divine dogs, who attacked the curse, furiously barking. Megumi could only watch as they were both sucked into the darkness after Gojo. The curse then turned its focus to Megumi. Its red eyes once again fell back into its skull and were replaced by a set of new ones. The familiar blue gaze now fixed him with an evil glare.
“NO! GOJO!”
“Megumi! Megumi!!”
The boy's eyes flew open and he sat up, gasping for air. Gojo’s worried face immediately filled Megumi’s vision and he cupped the younger boy's face in his hands, wiping the tears away.
“I’m here, I’m here. I’ve got you.” Gojo’s hand cradled Megumi’s nape in comfort. “Nightmare?”
Megumi nodded, chest still going up and down too fast for Gojo’s liking.
“Hey, hey, breathe with me kiddo. In…1…2…3.. And out…1..2..3..repeat.” Gojo placed a hand on Megumi’s chest and was relieved to feel his heartbeat slow to a normal pace.
“I made some udon if you feel like eating something,” Gojo said. “Then we can talk a bit about everything. Sounds good?”
Megumi nodded and stood up from the couch. He made his way on wobbly legs to the table and sat down. He breathed in the delicious smell of udon and began slurping at the noodles, trying to forget everything that had transpired in the past few hours. Gojo placed his own bowl down and sat across from Megumi.
“It’s not over, you know that, right?”
Megumi swallowed and looked up in confusion. Instead of Gojo’s blue eyes meeting his, evil, fiery red eyes stared back at him. Megumi gasped and pushed back from the table aggressively, nearling falling out of his chair as he scrambled away.
“You can’t escape, Megumi. We’re going to find you and not even Gojo will be able to protect you.”
The red eyes followed Megumi, who had collapsed onto the floor out of fear. There was no one to protect him. They had gotten Gojo and he was the strongest.
“Stop!” Megumi pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes, desperately trying to block out the unnatural red of the eyes where Gojo’s blue ones should be. “I’m dreaming, I’m dreaming, this isn’t real.” Megumi flinched as he felt hands wrap around his arms, gently pulling them away from Megumi’s eyes.
“Hey, hey, it’s me, Megumi I promise. Whatever you’re seeing, it isn’t real. Whatever you’re hearing, it isn’t real. I destroyed that curse, okay? Your mind is making you see things that aren’t real. Open your eyes, you’ll see.”
Megumi, whose eyes were still closed tightly, whimpered. “Do you promise?”
“I promise.”
Megumi slowly opened his eyes and soft blue ones looked right back. Gojo offered Megumi his hand and the two stood back up. Once they were seated back at the table, Gojo couldn’t help but notice Megumi avoiding eye contact.
“Megumi, you’re safe, I promise.”
The boy kept his gaze focused on a fish cake slice that floated in his udon. “I’m not worried about me,” he said. “I don’t want to look up and see your eyes look different.”
“I understand. But I want you to know that what you saw wasn’t real.”
Megumi still didn’t look up. “Then why did it happen? Why would I hallucinate something like that?”
There was a moment of silence as Gojo stopped stirring his noodles around. Megumi wanted to look up, but he managed to stop himself.
“I’m so stupid,” Gojo said.
“Huh?” Megumi’s eyes snapped up. It was the first time Gojo had ever said something like that.
“You were in the curses aura for so long that some of the remnants must still be attached to you and your clothing. It’s not a stretch to say that it would be the cause of your hallucination.”
Megumi suddenly shivered, feeling very uneasy in his own body. “What do I do?”
“Simple.” Gojo clapped his hands together. “Go take a shower and I’ll have your clothes and backpack professionally cleansed.”
Megumi nodded and hopped off of his stool to make his way to the bathroom. Before he entered the room, the boy paused. “Could…could you sit outside the door? Just in case?”
Gojo nodded with a slight smile. “Was already planning on it, kiddo.”
___
Thirty minutes later, Megumi was dressed in his soft pajamas and was curled up on his bed with a mug of tea in his hands. He looked as Gojo entered the room with a couple movie disks to choose from. The older man scooted next to Megumi and tugged some blanket over his own legs.
“Before we pick one of these masterpieces to watch, I want to hear everything from the beginning, okay?” Gojo looked down at Megumi to gauge his reaction. The words didn’t seem to phase the nine-year-old, who just nodded and began to pet the fur of his divine dogs he had summoned a few minutes prior.
“I would hardly call those ‘masterpieces,’” Megumi grumbled, pushing the B-side romance movie disks aside.
“Then you clearly have no taste for art,” Gojo said. “But then again, I already knew that.” Megumi just rolled his eyes and the two fell into a comfortable silence for a while before Megumi began talking.
“It started two weeks ago. Whenever you would drop me off and pick me up from school and during recess, I would feel that something was watching me. It started out barely noticeable, but every time it would grow a little stronger. I figured out that it manifested every time I was outside without you around me. I already know you’re gonna ask why I didn’t tell you.” Megumi sighed and looked up at Gojo, who’s blue eyes were switching between concerned and angry. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. It wasn’t at first. I know you have so much going on and I didn’t feel like adding something onto the pile. Also…I just wanted to be able to take care of something myself for once. I…I lied today about the school project. I just wanted extra time to find out what was watching me but this time it felt so strong. So evil.” Megumi put a hand up to his chest. “It felt crushing. I’m sure it saw that I was alone so it took its chance. I’ve never felt so weak in my life. I was so scared. The aura started hurting me, it felt like being stabbed everywhere. I…I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t shown up…” Megumi drifted off into silence, face flushed red in embarrassment. Gojo didn’t say anything, forcing Megumi to look up at him once again. This time, Gojo didn’t meet his gaze and just stared down at his lap.
“Megumi, I’m sure this goes without saying, but if anything like this ever happens again, tell me. It wouldn’t be a burden, nothing is a burden when it comes to you. You’re just a kid, and I know you hate people saying that, but it’s true. You don’t have to take care of things on your own. That’s what I’m here for. There’s…a couple of things you don’t know. The reason you only felt the aura when you were outside of the school is because I placed an emblem on the school building that wards off any curses. I guess I didn’t even consider placing one on the playground.” Gojo shook his head. “Guess I’ll add that to my ‘to do’ list. Also…the curse that you met was an unusual curse. It was a special grade of course, but that kind of curse doesn’t appear ‘naturally.’ They’re created by a sorcerer. Only a high grade sorcerer can create a curse like that. Some have a particular motive and use the curse like a puppet, but others just create them to wreak havoc. I’m guessing yours was the latter. The goal of that kind of curse is to absorb its victims' cursed technique. That’s why you felt weak, it was literally draining you of your cursed energy.” Gojo wrapped an arm around Megumi, he couldn’t help it. “You’re not weak, Megumi. You’re just not prepared to deal with those types of curses. Not yet.”
“I will be able to deal with them someday, right?” Megumi asked.
Gojo nodded, ruffling Megumi’s hair. “You bet you will. I’ll be the one to teach you.”
“Thank you,” Megumi mumbled, fiddling with his fingers.
“Of course, kiddo, you’ll learn in no time! Now, let's find some crappy American reality show to watch, yeah?”
“I didn't mean thank you for that, Megumi said. “I mean thank you for saving me and just…you know.”
Gojo grinned and gave the kid a squeeze. “Yeah, I know.” With that, Gojo popped a disk into the T.V. and sat back to watch the cheesy drama. Ten minutes in, he felt a small thud against his arm. Gojo turned his head slightly and saw a sleeping nine-year-old resting against his arm. A smile blessed Gojo’s lips as he turned back to the movie.
“Sweet dreams, Megumi-chan.”