#thevcssel

@thevcssel​ said:

f a t h e r

"NANAMIIIIIIIIIIIN"

@thevcssel​     𝐡𝐚𝐬         𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝     𝐬𝐮𝐤𝐮𝐧𝐚.  

Baby Yuuji waddles over to Sukuna, making grabby hands up at him and omitting a pitiful whine.

❛❛         𝒕𝒉𝒆      𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍      𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔❟      curled   tongue   tsks   at   his   poor   little   face   and   heart   retching   little   whine.   he   is   a   little   fibber   of   the   utmost   kind   for   he   is   perfectly   fine;   there   is   nothing   wrong   sans   his   need   for   more   of   Sukuna’s   attention.   Attention   that   he   does   not   hesitate   to   bestow   upon   the   little   one   despite   having   such   intimate   knowledge   of   his   tactics.   lower   to   his   haunches,   he   shuffled   the   little   man   into   the   space   provided   him   with   a   clawed   hand   to   his   back   and   welcomed   him   with   a   nuzzle   into   soft   rose   strands   of   hair.

He tells himself that he's used to it, people walking out. Playground bullies attacking any perceived weakness in him had always been shocked into silence and confused about how to progress when they teased him about his parents, namely because Megumi would stand there completely unfazed by their jeering.

His parents were gone. It was just a fact of life, he didn't let it bother him. The same way he didn't understand why Tsumiki was so torn up about their old man, or why she'd got all excited at the prospect of having a new guardian in Gojo.

He had a feeling that deep down, she knew it was better to not bother thinking about it. Not because it was be too emotionally devastating, but because it wouldn't yield anything of value. Kids are frighteningly perceptive, that's how they learn things about the confusing nature of the world around them. Even as a toddler, Megumi had this nagging sense that knowing anything about his father's work would be more trouble than it was worth. So he wasn't surprised either when he found out said trouble had eventually caught up to him.

It's nothing new to him. So why does it feel like the ground had cracked and dropped out beneath his feet- That falling sensation roiling in his lower gut, confusion and shock making his body language taut as a drawn bow string.

One more pull and maybe he'd unravel.

He barks out a sudden laugh at the thought, his normally calm expression wide-eyed and incredulous in response to Yuuji's proposal. That it was 'too dangerous', that he'd 'only suffer' being connected that closely to Itadori. He wasn't stupid, he knew that the ancient being who shared Yuuji's body was plotting something and it might involve Fushiguro's inherited curse technique... Maybe. There weren't a lot details known to them that made guessing any easier.

They were both in this life, both risking their lives as sorcerers, how was dealing with Ryomen Sukuna any different? The seals were deteriorating, so they would have had to confront Sukuna's return eventually...

Except that Yuuji had made it possible for him to manifest, as ridiculously slim as that chance had been- It DID happen. They both were painfully aware of that, but Megumi didn't budge a single centimeter from his word. That if given another opportunity, he still would have tried to save Yuuji's life. 

There was never any other alternative, in his mind- Yuuji’s existence has obvious value. His kindness, the fact that he doesn’t even hesitate to help others- His perspective, his emotions, the way the corners of his eyes creased when he smiled. Megumi would never have experienced any of that if he had resigned the other boy to an unfair execution, even if it was for the ‘betterment of society’. 

The longer he stood there, the more vehemently Yuuji insisted that Megumi would be better off not interacting with him.

“So, you know that this is what’s best for me?” he asks rhetorically, his voice soft and quiet, but each word that fell from his lips carried an edge.

“People are always telling me that, you know. That ‘this is what’s best for you’ and ‘this is so you can have a normal life’.”

He feels enervated, almost giddy with anger at the sheer audacity.

“I don’t give a solitary shit about what you think is ‘best’ for me. This is my life and I decide that for myself. And right now, I can’t even think about a day going by where I wouldn’t want to see you, talk to you about anything and everything, or not say anything at all- Just be there, right by your side. Whenever I see you… I feel like my chest is going to break apart from all the things I want to say- And I feel like if I keep it all inside, I’d be missing out on what things could be like.”

Yuuji’s understandably flabbergasted, this is probably the most Fushiguro’s ever talked during an argument between them (normally he tended to take the Cold War approach). It’s this moment he takes advantage off- Clothes soaked down to the bone, hair matted unattractively against his head- to grab the front of Yuuji’s equally damp uniform jacket. Hands dig so hard into that stupid red hoodie attachment that he can feel rivulets of rainwater streaming from between his fingers, hard enough that Yuuji practically falls against him, chest to chest. 

It’s messy and desperate and it hurts, his lip is bleeding from where it collided against the upper ridge of his partner’s teeth that leaves a tinge of copper caught between the heat of his tongue and Yuuji’s. He doesn’t give the other boy a chance to breathe, let alone form any more bullshit excuses. When he finally does pull away, both of their lips are reddened and kiss-bruised, parted slightly as they try to recall that air is just as important as this.

He’d take a bullet, or two, for his superiors. And that’s what he did for Kogami.

UNPROMPTED ASKS — always accepting!

Sibyl’s assessment noted that Itadori Yuuji was fearless, though Kogami didn’t anticipate the capacity that could’ve possibly extended to; it may as well have bordered on batshit insane when the young man tossed aside his Dominator and charged right at the criminal.

Kogami didn’t doubt the kid’s abilities to fend for himself with his bare hands; he’d gone against them himself in some training sessions prior to this mission to say he was very much capable of taking someone down. Yet, the criminal had a gun, and Yuuji created ten feet between his own.

The next set of events felt inevitable, with the gunshot slowing time in the room. One, then another. Kogami’s ears rang, though the static hadn’t deafened him enough to miss Yuuji grunt in pain.

“Yuuji, step back!” Kogami barked when time sped up again; the gunman was stunned by how Yuuji remained standing despite the wounds he sustained. It opened up a small window of time that Kogami could take action.

No time to freeze up; he’d probably have more rounds where that came from.

Kogami lifted his Dominator, using both hands to keep himself steady. The criminal’s criminal coefficient, initially measured moments before they chased him into this apartment room, skyrocketed well into the extermination values; his Dominator shifted accordingly.

Yuuji’s feeble protests were muted in Kogami’s ears when he pulled the trigger, sending a blast to the criminal.

His entire body bloated pitifully before it exploded into a bloody radius, leaving a pile of pulsating organs that drilled in moments.

Kogami exhaled when the deed was done and spoke into the Division 1 communication channel.

“This is Hound 3; the criminal has been eliminated. Hound 5 is wounded, and I’ll be treating him until backup arrives.”

After he signed off on the channel, Yuuji turned to Kogami with such scared eyes that made his heart drop.

“Yuuji, what were you thinking?” His voice softened.

Satoru couldn’t help the smile that spread over his lips as he sat there, watching his students interact, more specifically; Yuji and Megumi. It was nice to see Megumi spend his time with someone his own age, instead of being cooped up in his room. The elder had of course tried spending his time with him - he had, when Megumi had been younger, but now, being as busy as he was, his time with Megumi wasn’t what it used to be.

Seeing Megumi leave with a wave, Satoru focused on Yuji as the bright boy came closer while remaining quiet. Nanami would have enjoyed this moment of his mouth being shut for once, a thought which made Satoru smile as he leaned back on the bench he was sitting on.

   ❝  Yuji.. thank you.  ❞  It was spoken calmly as the teen sat down while clad hues gazed out at the old nearby buildings.

❛❛ All I saw was bloodless ideology. ❜❜ And the words were bitter copper on his tongue as he spat them out, fists clenched tight as his rumbling stare darkened with anger, fresh as an open wound as he recounts years of a life spent pacing, wary, an animal on the verge of being hunted.

Drawing a sigh, he props a leg up to rest an arm on, chucking a stick into the campfire, eyes shifting over to @thevcssel​ for a moment. Conversation with anyone tended to drift to where they were before, what cards the war had dealt them; still, it was odd, talking about himself honestly, his mouth malfunctioning with the act, twisting and biting at itself.

❛❛ Earth Kingdom look after their own. Were you ever told that as a kid ? ❜❜ He laughs with no mirth and it sums up his thoughts acutely, gaze returning to the gentle glow of fire as he continues with a shrug. ❛❛ It was a mob mentality. They set their sights on me. ❜❜