Chapter Text
Gojo was, once again, running late.
But to his defense it wasn't his fault this time.
He wasn't late because he thought (like always) "of course I have some time to kill before picking Megumi from school" and then inevitably leaving the house 5 minutes after the school bell rang.
No, he already did that many times, but this wasn't the reason.
He got dressed way earlier than usual and left the house just to run a special errand for Megumi; for a week, the kid had been asking Gojo to buy him his favorite sweet from a local shop that he frequently visited over the years.
The old lady that ran the store was very familiar with Megumi and his sister, and when Gojo adopted the child, she was glad that someone like him could take care of Megumi.
Of course, the lady wouldn't (and shouldn't) know that Gojo could barely look over himself, let alone a kid, but eventually he got the hang of it and the two of them had lived together for over two years.
Although he had become a lot more responsible, some habits were hard to forget, so this time he promised himself that he would pick up Megumi on time while also buying him what he wanted.
However, there was a tiny, little problem that he faced: the shop was in a bad part of town, where shady businesses were a daily occurrence. Megumi originally came from that place, and somehow he always managed to avoid seeing something horrible that could scar a young child.
Gojo on the other hand, with his white hair and flashy appearance, stuck out like a sore thumb whenever he crossed those streets.
One time he almost got caught in a robbery because the thief accidentally bumped into him and started bickering that his plan was ruined.
What a rude guy.
Fortunately, he didn't have to frequent the area so often if not to get those sweets, so he wouldn't have to worry too much about his safety.
Another thing about Gojo was that he is unlucky, and prone to get into weird situations without even trying.
He was finally able to reach the old lady's shop, but he had to stop on his tracks when he heard some shouts from the alley right next to it.
He froze and looked to the direction of the noises, only to see two tall men arguing with each other.
"What the fuck are you doing here, get out of this territory." A blonde man growled, grabbing the smaller one by his shirt and bringing him closer to him.
"Hey man, I was just picking some stuff from the grocery store, leave me the fuck alone!" the other man responded by gritting his teeth.
Gojo would prefer to avoid a potential fight, so he starts to walk slowly to his destination pretending that he didn't see anything.
"Oy, blind rat, where do you think you're going?"
Well,shit.
Gojo slowly turned his head to look at the duo, and he began to panic.
"Uh, I-I didn't see anything, I swear!" he began to respond. "I was just…casually walking around here."
The two remained silent, looking at him like he was an idiot flailing his arms around.
Then the men approached him, and Gojo was unable to move from the fear and frustration.
Fear, because two muscular men were about to beat him up, frustration because he would, once again, be late to pick up Megumi. And he couldn't get the sweets.
"Listen up, kid." the taller man started to say "someone that looks like you shouldn't eavesdrop on important conversations."
Gojo decided to abandon his surviving instincts and furrowed his brow. "I'm so- Wait, important conversation? You were just arguing." Gojo pointed out.
The two stopped, widening their eyes and looking at Gojo as if he just scolded them.
"Well, he came into my boss' territory!" the blonde argued and pointed the finger at the other man.
"Yea, I needed to buy some shit!"
"Then do it at your place!"
"It's not the same stuff!"
Gojo flicked his gaze from one man to the other, baffled that they were actually about to fight just for some groceries.
Gojo decided to break the awkward situation between them by clearing his throat. "Sorry guys, I'm not really an expert of the whole sacred territory and yakuza thing" he said nonchalantly. "But I have errands to do and a son to take care of so-"
Gojo was about to turn around when one of the men grabbed the collar of his shirt, a furious expression painting his face.
"You're not going anywhere." the man said. "You can't just get away after insulting me."
Gojo tried to lose the man's grip, but no matter how much he struggled he wouldn't get away.
"Don't- touch me-" Gojo said with the last scrap of dignity left. Poor Megumi wouldn't see his adoptive father ever again. And most importantly, he wouldn't have his sweet candies at the end of the day.
While Gojo was fantasizing about what he would leave to Megumi in his will, a voice came from the other part of the street.
"I think that's enough, boys."
Gojo tried to crane his neck to look at the new figure, but he only saw a slim shadow at the corner of his eyes.
After a brief time of the person appearing, the blonde man yanked his grip from Gojo and took a few steps back, going rigid as the figure approached.
Gojo could finally turn around to understand what all the fuss was about, and he was met with a particularly interesting view.
The view was a tall and broad boy, with long black hair that passed his shoulder and the top styled in a high bun, leaving only a strand of hair caressing a side of his face.
His hands were in the pockets of his loose black jeans, and his gray tank top left his tattooed arms exposed; matching dragons ran across his muscles, they wrappped around his wrists until his shoulder blades. The ink was beautiful, just as much as his owner.
"What's going on here?" the young man asked, accentuated by a small tint of his head.
Gojo is at a loss for words, still admiring the man that is now a lot closer to him than before.
"Boss! This guy was trying to break into our territory!" the blonde said, putting a hand on the shorter man's shoulder.
The dark-haired man hummed, then dropped his gaze to look directly at Gojo.
Gojo held his breath, meeting his stare, piercing black eyes staring right at him.
"And this guy right here?" the man said, not losing eye contact with Gojo.
"I don't know, he's just some idiot that was taking a walk around here." the guy responded.
"Huh." the 'boss' simply said, then glanced at the shorter man standing behind Gojo. "You, get out of here." He walked past Gojo to tower over the intruder.
"What?! I didn't do anything! Why are you kicking me out-" A hand flew to the guy's throat, slowly gripping it to cut his air off.
"I said," the man said with a wicked grin growing on his face. "get out of here."
The thug beside him froze but didn't make a sound, looking at the scene like it was ordinary to him.
Then the boss suddenly removed his hand, the man falling on the ground gasping for air and quickly getting on his feet to run away while wheezing.
After witnessing that, Gojo should have probably done the same thing, run for the hills and for once break his promise with Megumi.
Instead, Gojo wasn't scared, rather…amused, by the man's strength.
Gojo just learned that if the man wanted to, he could snap him in half like nothing, but now thinking about it, it didn't seem like a bad idea.
"Woah." Gojo whispered, all coherent thoughts disappeared, and the two men turned around to look at him.
The boss then squinted his eyes, making them barely visible, and waved a hand around.
"Oh, my apologies, where are my manners?" the man said, extending a hand toward Gojo. "My name is Geto Suguru. Sorry that we had to meet under these circumstances."
Play it cool, Satoru.
Gojo, still baffled by the beauty of the man in front of him, shook his hand in earnest. "Uh, I'm Gojo Satoru, nice to meet you." he said "I was just around the area to…buy sweets from that shop." Then he pointed out the store behind them.
Suguru smirked, and Gojo dropped his hand to the side. The guy was…kinda hot, even when he smiled.
"You wanted to buy candy for yourself?" Suguru teased, meeting his gaze one more time.
"Oh no," Gojo shook his head "it's for my son, and-"
Wait, what time was it?
He checked the clock on his wrist, only to realize that he had 5 minutes left to get around town.
"Oh god," Gojo slapped his forehead "I'm late to pick him up." Again.
"I'll drop you off then."
Gojo removed his hand to look at Suguru, not believing what he just heard, but Suguru was smiling at him once again.
Apparently even his sidekick was surprised, looking at his boss with wide eyes and his mouth slightly open.
"B-but boss! Nanako and Mimiko are waiting for you!" the blonde tried to explain, but Suguru only spared a brief glare at him.
"What school does your son go to?" Suguru simply asked, and the man stopped intervening.
"Uh, he goes to the elementary school on the other side of town. But don't worry!" Gojo tried to explain "I can pick him up myself-"
"No need." Suguru interrupted him 'Larue, go get the car."
The blonde man, a bit taken aback but still complying with the request, nodded. "Yes, boss!" He then ran across the street, probably to get what his boss asked.
"Uh, thank you." Gojo said, smiling back at Suguru for the first time. "But if you don't mind, I have to get those sweets..."
"Sure, I'll wait for you here then."
—-----
Gojo wasn't sure why this stranger (a very handsome stranger at that) wanted to help him all of the sudden, especially after seeing Suguru almost kill a guy with his bare hands and learning that he was, in fact, the boss of that part of town. He was pretty sure that learning such information would get him killed, but apparently it wasn't the case.
Maybe Gojo should have been more careful, before hopping on the car of a Yakuza that could murder him on the spot if he wasn't in a good mood, but all care went out the window the moment the guy looked at him and smiled like nothing happened.
Again, Gojo's survival instincts were not functioning. Maybe this was the last time that he would see Megumi before being kidnapped by a man with big hands and eyes that stared right into his soul.
And right after he obtained the sweets he needed.
They made Gojo sit in the back of the car along Suguru, who was looking outside the window while resting his arm on the windshield.
This made an opportunity for Gojo to look at the man's profile; his lobes were dilated with black earrings, and there was a scar that ran along his cheek and finished right under his chin. His side profile was still, very much attractive, no matter how many times he looked at him.
"You're gonna burn a hole into my head if you keep staring." Suguru broke the silence in the car by being the first to talk. Gojo was too busy analyzing the situation (and analyzing the man beside him) to start a conversation.
Somehow, he didn't feel intimidated by Suguru, so he quickly responded. "You're a weird guy, Suguru." he said.
Suguru then turned his head around to look at him, a confused expression in his eyes and a raised eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" He asked curiously, like he wasn't expecting him to say that.
"It's just, not everyday I get escorted in a fancy car by some kind of boss." Gojo said, adjusting his glasses on his nose. "So why did you do this?"
Suguru huffed, clearly amused by the question. "Because not everyday I see someone all dressed up, with white hair and pretty blue eyes, entering our area." Suguru simply said before slumping on his seat. "And on top of that, someone risking his health just for some candy."
Well, he wasn't wrong. Only a dumbass would go to such a decaying spot just to buy something that they could easily get at other places.
"I guess it's because I really care about that kid," Gojo said, holding the bag of sweets in his hands and thinking about Megumi's face, "and I know that deep down, really, really, deep down, he feels the same way."
Suguru stayed quiet and listened, and he simply smiled at him when Gojo finished talking. Gojo thought that even a dangerous guy like him could understand having a strong bond with someone or something.
But still, even if Suguru’s face had softened when Gojo told him about Megumi, his gaze was making him a little on edge, he felt like the man was scrutinizing him, almost as if he was some sort of prey.
"Boss," the blonde man chimed in, breaking the conversation between them "sorry to interrupt you, but we're here."
Gojo looked outside the window, and he immediately saw a ruffled head of black hair sticking out from the rest of the children.
Gojo then turned to Suguru, who was already looking at Gojo, and that made shivers run down his spine.
"Hey, thanks for bringing me here, Suguru," Gojo said "I guess we'll-"
"Oh but I'm getting out too, don't worry." Suguru responded, already opening the door and putting a leg outside of the vehicle. "I have some business here as well."
Business? What, like, recruiting the small kids into his crew?
They both stepped out of the car and Gojo looked back at Suguru; his appearance might look intimidating to the children, or even the teachers here, so why did he get out?
Gojo, lost in thought, felt something pulling at his pants and looked down, only to be met with Megumi's familiar pouty face.
“You’re late.” the kid said, his expression impassive.
“Yeah, I ran into a little bit of trouble-”
“Whose car is that?” Megumi asked, pointing at the black vehicle.
Right. How could he explain that he got between an argument, got rescued by a literal yakuza that despite his looks, is very nice! So nice in fact that he decided to escort Gojo there of his own free will. All this fuss just to get a surprise for Megumi. It was worth it, or so he thought.
“Okay, you’re not gonna believe this but-” Gojo was already prepared to tell the whole story of how he won a fight (not true) and an attractive boss was impressed by him (also probably not true) and wanted to help him, when said boss approached them.
“Satoru~” Suguru chimed in as his eyes landed on Megumi. “Oh, so this is your son, I presume.”
Megumi squared the man up and down. "Who are you?"
"Well, you can consider me one of your father's friends." Suguru said with his usual smile.
Megumi however, didn't seem to buy it.
"I have never seen you before, though. You're dressed kinda weird."
Gojo turned his head toward Megumi, stunned that the kid could be so straightforward with a stranger. He only hoped that Megumi wouldn't say something much more inappropriate and make Suguru mad.
Gojo couldn't quite understand what Suguru was thinking, as he raised his eyebrows and his mouth pressed into a thin line.
But then, he huffed a laugh. "You sure took your personality from your dad, huh." He said, meeting Gojo's eyes in the process. "He is also very honest about what he thinks."
“Of course, he has taken from the best after all.” Gojo retorts, crossing his arms and pretending to be cocky. “But anyways, why are you still standing around here? Waiting for someone?”
Suguru nodded. “I am.” he said, then turned around at the crowd of children that were playing together and called out “Come on girls, it’s time to go!”
Soon two little girls came running towards Suguru and they both grabbed the wide legs of his jeans, one on his left side and the other on the right side. The girls must have been twin sisters, as the only difference between them was the colour of their hair.
The two children were giggling and trying to steal Suguru’s attention from each other. In return, Suguru was giving them a warm smile, a smile that was different from the ones he showed before, perhaps a lot more authentic.
“These are my daughters,” Suguru said while gently placing his hands on their backs. “Nanako and Mimiko.”
The sisters looked at Gojo and waved timidly at him, trying to hide behind Suguru and getting a bit closer to him.
Gojo smiled and waved back at them in an attempt to make them less shy, but he was currently in the midst of processing a new information:
Suguru had daughters, two that seemed more or less a year younger than Megumi. So it meant that Suguru was a father, a young father as well. He didn’t look older than 22, so he must have had them really early? Or were they adopted like Megumi was?
Aside from these, the most important question of all..
Was Suguru a single dad raising his kids? Or maybe did he have a partner that would help him? Oh God, did Gojo fantasize about a man that already had another person? And with kids on top of that?
All thoughts are discarded when Gojo heard one of the girls calling out to their father.
“Dad, can we go home now?” the girl at his left asked, while the other simply looked at Suguru and hugged the doll in her hand tighter.
“But of course.” Suguru said warmly, giving the girls a little pat on their head. “Wait for me in the car, will you?”
The twins nodded and ran back to the vehicle. From that small interaction he just saw, Gojo could presume that they were quite close as a family. The way that his face lit up when they got near Suguru was enough proof alone.
This cute moment made space for a (probably rushed) revelation in Gojo’s mind: Suguru was good with kids, and as a result, that possibly made him a good family man. Yeah he might have been an individual that shouldn't ever be messed with and a leader of a very deadly organization, but he must have his good sides too, right? Gojo wasn’t being just a tiny bit too delusional, right?
“Sorry, I have to cut our meeting short.” Suguru apologized, looking over at Gojo.
“Oh no worries, we should- be going too.” Gojo replied, avoiding looking directly at the man standing in front of him. If their children went to the same school, it was likely that they would cross paths again. Suguru was proving to be an interesting person that Gojo wanted to know better, deeper, and with the way that Suguru observed him, those eyes that would constantly land on Gojo and make him shiver, he got his hopes up for more.
Suguru smirked at him, almost like he knew what effect his gaze had on Gojo, and to give a final blow to Gojo's delusions, the man left him with "See you around, pretty boy." and walked away.
Gojo's eyes went wide, not sure that he heard what Suguru said correctly.
Pretty boy.
Alright, he had received many compliments for his looks in the past, the majority coming from girls that were flirting with him and what not, but being called pretty by a gorgeous and fine man like Suguru? Never.
That's why his brain was now short-circuiting, but trying to appear indifferent on the outside. Maybe his plan wasn't working, as he could feel his cheeks growing hot.
"Okay we can go now-" Gojo said, grabbing Megumi's hand and walking a little faster than normal to their home.
Unfortunately, Megumi was a smart child, perhaps smarter than his dad.
"Why did your friend call you pretty?" the child asked, totally not buying the "friend" excuse anymore.
"I don't know, he's just weird." Gojo drily responded.
"Were you two flirting back there-"
"Don't question it." Gojo started walking faster, maybe too much faster to be considered a casual walk home, but he didn't want to answer any more doubts Megumi had.
But in the middle of all the chaos that just happened, Gojo forgot to take something important.
He unconsciously put a hand on his pocket to retrieve the sweets he purchased, but came to a terrible realization.
Shit.
He stopped completely walking and Megumi looked at him confused.
"The sweets." Gojo whispered, searching around every possible pocket on him.
"What?"
"I lost them."
Well, he thought, I'm fucked.