Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Yuuta follows a simple routine to keep his relationship with Toge smooth. He wakes up, grabs a quick snack, heads to training with Maki, and then wakes up Toge to share breakfast together before they both tackle the day’s missions. Yuuta makes it a point to return by 3 pm or earlier, eager to spend the rest of the day with his loved ones and friends. Most days, he heads straight back to his dorm, where Toge is usually waiting for him—either napping or watching YouTube on his phone if he doesn't have a mission.

But this plan falls apart if Yuuta can’t find Toge.

When Yuuta got back, Toge wasn’t laying around in Yuuta’s dorm, nor was he on his own. Sighing in disappointment, Yuuta hangs his shoulders as he slowly takes off his katana and places it on his desk’s chair. Toge is on a mission. Yuuta pouts, knowing he might not see him anytime soon. I just hope he makes it back in time for dinner. 

Yuuta heads to clean himself up, aware that he reeks of curse blood and despair. Today’s mission had been easy but tedious—just a swarm of about 40 second and third-grade curses holed up in an old high school. While their sheer numbers warranted a special-grade sorcerer, their strength didn’t. Fortunately, Yuuta wasn’t alone; Rika was with him, and she single-handedly took out half of them.

After scrubbing away the grime and dirt from the day’s work, he shuts off the water and throws on some fresh clothes, wanting to at least smell good for Toge when he gets home.

Once dressed, Yuuta grabs his phone from the dresser where it was charging to check for any updates from Toge. To his surprise (and slight disappointment) he finds a text from Maki instead, sent ten minutes ago.

Maki (Not Zen’in):

Go to Shoko’s. ASAP. 

4:15 pm 

Yuuta squints down at his phone, eyebrows drawing together in confusion. Shoko’s? Did someone get hurt? What is she doing there? Is she okay? Or is it someone else like Nobara? Could it be Toge?

Yuuta shakes off the thought and moves on, deciding not to reply to her. He can't afford any distractions right now, especially when there might be others needing his help in the infirmary. Over the past year, Yuuta has honed his reversed curse energy technique. He’s been practicing it ever since last Halloween, when his friends were gravely injured by Geto, forcing Yuuta to use RCT on someone for the first time. It terrified him then, and it still scares him now, but at least he’s more prepared.

He sprints to the infirmary, only to find Megumi and Maki standing outside, talking quietly. Yuuta rushes over, and they both look up as he approaches.

“I got your text, what’s wrong?” The special grade asks, looking toward Maki for answers. Maki scoffs before her eyes sag. 

"What's wrong? Nothing really, just Toge and Panda are being more childish than usual," Maki sighs, rubbing her temple. "It's your turn to deal with them."

Yuuta stares blankly at Maki, confused. She called him to the infirmary just because she got annoyed with them? He glances at Fushiguro, who nods in confirmation.

"Okkotsu, why don't you go in and see for yourself," Fushiguro suggests, gesturing toward the door.

Yuuta nods and quickly opens the door, only to find his boyfriend, his one true love, the man of his dreams, the bonito to his flakes, his soulmate...

Sitting on the medical table, the size of a 6-year-old boy. Toge is now a child, swimming in a uniform that's far too big, and staring directly at Yuuta. At least, Yuuta hopes that's still Toge Inumaki—otherwise, there’s going to be a long conversation later.

“Toge?” Yuuta gently asks, body frozen in place from shock. The little boy reacts to his name being called, as his eyes slightly widen. 

That’s all Yuuta needed to see before his feet moved on their own, closing the distance between him and the now younger version of his boyfriend. He can’t think of anything except how round and squishy Toge’s younger face looks, and he has to resist the urge to pinch his cheeks. Inumaki is always cute, but seeing him as a child gives Yuuta a cuteness overload.

Reaching out to touch the noticeable cut on Toge’s cheek that hasn’t healed yet, Yuuta is stopped by a hand brushing his away. He turns to see Gojo, his sensei, shaking his head.

“It’s not a good idea to touch him right now, not in this state,” Gojo says, his tone serious. “He doesn’t remember you. He has the memories of a 6-year-old Toge Inumaki.”

Yuuta looks at his teacher, studying Gojo’s face for any sign of reassurance before turning his gaze back to Toge, who’s sitting in front of him. The boy’s eyes tremble with a sudden fear that pierces through Yuuta’s heart. He quickly pulls his hand back, staring at Toge in horror. Toge, now realizing the familiar presence behind him, clutches the paw of a de-aged Panda. The realization hits Yuuta hard—he’s scared Toge. But how?

As if sensing Yuuta’s inner turmoil, Gojo speaks up. “Toge can still see cursed energy just fine. Yuuta, you need to reel it in, or you’re going to scare the little guy off.”

Yuuta bites his bottom lip and nods, unable to take his eyes off Toge. Panda, now seated beside Toge, looks up at Yuuta with a curious gaze. Panda is still a pretty big fellow, as he is roughly the same size as Toge. At least Panda’s personality seems mostly unchanged—just a bit more inquisitive than before.

But Toge's eyes are filled with emotion, locked onto Yuuta's, reminding him just how terrifying he must seem to the younger cursed user. Yuuta’s cursed energy is overwhelming, a force that could easily terrify a young sorcerer. Realizing this, Yuuta takes a deep breath, focusing on reining in his energy.

“Sensei,” Yuuta gulps, his voice trembling as he keeps his gaze fixed on the frightened boy in front of him, “what happened?”

He hears a chuckle from his side before a hand rests on his shoulder. Gojo shakes his head with a small smile and begins to explain.

“Well, these two were sent on a mission where college students were mysteriously disappearing. Turns out, it was a semi-special grade curse that could de-age its victims and have them for lunch! Talk about a fear of growing up! Luckily, Ijichi had a bad feeling and called me in, so I swooped in and saved the day!” He grins, pointing at himself with pride, basking in the moment.

"Semi-special grade?" Yuuta's expression darkens as he finally locks eyes with Gojo. Why would they send Panda and Toge on such a mission?

"Yup! It wasn’t fully manifested yet, which gave those two just enough time to scramble away," Gojo sighs, his head hanging low. "Now I’ve got to go give the higher-ups a piece of my mind."

"But what about them? Are they stuck like this?" Yuuta asks, gesturing to the two young boys.

"No, most likely not," a third voice interjects. Shoko stands in the doorway from the back room, clipboard in hand. "After running some tests, I found their cursed energy hasn’t been stunted. They’ve reverted to their younger selves mentally and physically, but they’re not stuck that way. Toge’s cursed energy is growing at a rate faster than a typical young sorcerer’s, indicating his own CE is fighting off the curse."

Shoko looks up, counting on her fingers. "Based on Toge’s current cursed energy growth rate, you’ve got about three or four days before he turns back," she says, holding up her fingers in front of Yuuta’s face as if he hadn’t heard her.

Yuuta turns back to stare at his now much younger boyfriend, who feels so distant in this form. Little Toge is staring right back, his purple eyes boring into Yuuta’s soul. Though less afraid, Toge still keeps one hand tightly clenched around Panda. Yuuta notices the boy’s anxiety by the way Toge is swinging his feet off the table, his oversized pants now more like a blanket draped over his legs.

"Four days? What are we supposed to do for four days? There's no way I can watch both Panda and Toge for that long," Yuuta gulps, anxiety creeping into his voice. "Plus, we don’t even have proper clothes for him!"

"Already thought ahead!" Gojo chirps, picking up a bag from the ground. "I grabbed some of Megumi's old clothes for Toge to choose from. And don’t worry about the four days—you’ll be off missions. Megumi and Yuuji will cover everything. Your only job is to focus on watching Inumaki. Panda will most likely be with Principal Yaga during this time."

Toge is still staring at him with an intensity that seems unsettling for a six-year-old. Yuuta swallows hard, then whispers, "Are you sure I’m the right person to take care of him? He doesn’t seem to like me much."

Shoko snorts. "It’s either you or Gojo, and I think Toge’s better off in your hands."

"Hey!" Gojo protests. "Megumi turned out fine!"

Shoko ignores him, turning back to Yuuta. "Make sure to bring him back here every morning so I can monitor his progress." Yuuta nods firmly in agreement.

Gojo sighs and stretches his arms up, making grabby hands toward Panda, who looks at him blankly. “Well, I’d better get going and drop this one off with his Daddy! Want to see Papa Yaga, Panda? I’m sure he’s eager to see you!” Gojo’s voice rises in excitement as he speaks to the children.

Panda sniffs at Gojo’s hand, as if trying to recall his scent, but hesitates. He turns his head to look back at Toge, his new friend. Panda wonders if Toge will be okay with these adults while he visits his father. Toge looks back at Panda, his eyes filled with a mix of vague emotions but clearly distressed at the thought of being separated. Maybe it would be better if Panda’s friend could come along!

“Can Toge come with me?” Panda asks gently, his paw pointing toward the little boy. Toge keeps his head down, glancing up shyly, too nervous to hear the answer. Yuuta’s heart aches seeing Toge so reserved and anxious.

Gojo shakes his head gently. “I’m sorry, cub, but Toge needs to stay with Yuuta. He’ll get the best care from Yuuta, just like your Papa would want to see you. But don’t worry! You’ll see Toge later, and you two can have all sorts of fun tomorrow!”

“Oh,” Panda says, his head drooping in disappointment. “Okay… We’ll play tomorrow, Toge.”

Panda climbs down from the operating table and approaches their white-haired teacher. He reaches up to grab Gojo’s hand but hesitates when a voice interrupts.

“W-wait!” a young boy’s voice calls out, causing Panda to freeze.

Toge gasps, covering his mouth with his hands, his eyes wide with fear. Gojo and Shoko take a sharp breath as they watch the cursed speech’s effect on Panda. Panda seems more confused than scared, puzzled by his sudden inability to move. Tears well up in Toge’s eyes as he instantly regrets speaking.

Yuuta remains silent as he gently approaches Toge. The little boy looks up at the intimidating teenager, his body trembling with fear. Toge squeaks, closing his eyes and tucking his head down, bracing himself for what he expects will happen.

“Release,” Yuuta says softly. Toge, still terrified, keeps his head bowed and his arms wrapped around himself.

“Huh, that was weird!” Panda remarks, brushing it off as he trots over to Gojo.

Confused by Panda’s ability to move freely, Toge slowly raises his head. He sees Panda being petted and cooed at by the older white-haired man with no sign of distress. Toge squints in confusion before daring to glance at the intimidating teenager.

The little boy gasps in surprise. Staring back at him is a face with the same markings he was born with, now on the scary teenager. Yuuta offers him a gentle smile and lifts his hands to sign, "I can do that too."

Toge gulps, his hands trembling as he starts to sign. “You can sign?”

Yuuta eagerly nods. “I had the best teacher!” He then touches his lower mouth, wiping it as the sigils disappear. “Or I can just speak if that’s what you prefer.”

Toge quickly inhales, astonished by how easily the older boy removed the drawings. He stares in disbelief before signing, “How did you do that?”

Yuuta chuckles, crouching down to meet Toge at eye level. He scratches the back of his head casually. “It’s my technique. I can copy people! Just like your technique is speech, I can choose who I want to copy.”

“Copycat,” Toge signs before he realizes it.

The dark-haired boy laughs. “Yeah, I’ve been called that before.”

Behind him, Yuuta hears Gojo ushering Panda out and Shoko leaving the room to give Yuuta some privacy as he tries to befriend Toge again. Yuuta had been hesitant to reveal his mimicking technique, worried it might scare the boy further. Fortunately, Toge seems more intrigued than frightened.

“My name is Yuuta,” he says, signing out the letters of his name. “Can I ask for yours?”

“Toge,” the boy spells out with his hand.

“Toge,” Yuuta smiles, extending a hand for Toge to take. “Nice to meet you! I don’t think we can stay in here forever, so how about I take us somewhere more fun? Would you like to see the garden?”

“You have a garden?” Toge asks with curiosity.

Yuuta chuckles and shakes his head. “Not mine, but a friend’s. He’s not here right now, but he wouldn’t mind if I showed you. He loves nemophila flowers, so there are quite a few of them.”

“That’s my favorite flower!” Toge's eyes widen with excitement as he signs.

Yuuta gasps, “Really? No way! Do you want to go see them?”

Toge eagerly nods, his face beaming with thrill. Yuuta smiles back, feeling his heart soften at how adorable young Toge is. He raises two fingers. “Okay, but there are two rules. First, you always have to hold my hand so you don’t wander off. This is a big school, and I don’t want you to get lost. Promise me?”

Toge nods and extends his pinky. Pinky promise.

Yuuta looks at the tiny hand and smiles warmly. He links his pinky with Toge’s. “Pinky promise.”

“Second rule: you can’t talk to anyone. It’s not that we don’t want you to, but their cursed energy is stronger than yours, and you might hurt yourself. But don’t worry—everyone knows how to sign, so you can still chat with them. Just no cursed speech on friends, okay?”

“Okay!” Toge signs, nodding.

Yuuta claps his hand excitingly, before helping Toge jump down from the metal examination table. He holds Toge’s small hand in his own larger one, as he leads the smaller boy to the bag on the ground that Gojo has left them. 

“You need different clothes before we head out. These are way too big for you!” Yuuta says as he begins to unpack the clothes from the bag, laying them out for Toge to choose from. The assortment includes everything from fresh underwear to shoes and socks. As Yuuta examines the items, he notices they’re from luxury brands, far more expensive than anything he owns. Yuuta rolls his eyes, thinking, of course, Gojo would have Megumi dressed in high-end clothes at six.

Toge silently examines the clothes Yuuta has laid out. His gaze settles on the largest item, a white T-shirt. For pants, he points at a pair of gray cargo shorts. He looks at Yuuta, waiting for approval.

“Uh, are you sure that shirt will fit?” Yuuta asks, holding it up and comparing it to Toge’s frame.

Toge nods quickly. He’s set on that shirt.

“Oh, okay, if that’s what you want. I’ll turn around while you change,” Yuuta says, quickly turning to face the door as he hears the shuffling behind him. He starts to whistle, shifting on the balls of his feet as he reflects on the situation.

He hadn’t expected Toge to be so quiet at such a young age. The boy is still quite intimidating, Yuuta recalls, remembering Toge’s intense glare while he was trying to conceal his cursed energy. Yet, the trust Toge is showing him in this vulnerable state tugs at Yuuta’s heart. It’s touching that Toge is placing his trust in him, simply because Yuuta revealed that he can relate to Toge.

Yuuta wonders why Toge hasn’t used any of his safe words yet. Perhaps he hasn’t thought of it, but at least he knows how to sign. It’s better this way, preventing any accidental cursed speech incidents. Yuuta remembers how Toge had quivered in fear when he accidentally cursed Panda, and it angers him to think about it. The fear Toge showed when Yuuta approached him, thinking he was going to be punished, suggests a deep-seated fear likely instilled by his clan. The memory of Toge’s fearful expression fills Yuuta with a dark, vengeful feeling. He forces himself to push the thoughts away, determined to keep his cursed energy in check so he doesn’t scare Toge again.

 “Are you done yet, Toge?” Yuuta calls out, hoping for a response.

Instead, he hears a deep sigh, as if Toge is either disappointed or frustrated. Yuuta’s eyebrows knit together in confusion before he asks, “Is it okay if I look?”

He hears Toge hum in response, so Yuuta turns around to find the boy sitting on the ground with a new outfit on, struggling with his shoes. The laces are tangled and poorly tied.

“Do you want me to teach you how to tie your shoes?” Yuuta asks, kneeling in front of him.

Toge shakes his head. “I know how, I’m not dumb. It’s just hard.”

“Nobody thinks you’re dumb if you don’t get it right,” Yuuta reassures him. “A lot of people still find it tricky. Let me show you a trick.” He begins to untangle the knots.

Yuuta gently places one of Toge’s feet on his knee. He makes a bunny loop with one lace and wraps the other lace around it, pulling it through to create a neat tie.

“Now, let me guide your hands,” Yuuta says, helping Toge position his hands. “Hold it here,” he instructs, gently placing Toge’s hand on one lace and guiding the other hand to wrap it around.

“And pull it through,” Yuuta continues, watching as Toge tugs the laces and ties them securely. “There we go! You did it!”

Toge stares at his newly tied shoe before hopping to his feet. He rushes toward the door, eager to head to the garden, but suddenly remembers his promise. He skids back to Yuuta and grabs his hand. Yuuta, however, doesn’t let him drag him out.

“Hold on, bud. I need to grab the bag of clothes,” Yuuta says, bending down to pack the clothes back into the duffle bag with one hand while holding Toge’s hand with the other.

He can sense Toge’s growing impatience, though the boy doesn’t show it. He simply waits, his excitement palpable. He may be young, but he’s not acting immature—just a six year old eager to play.

“All right,” Yuuta says, slinging the bag over his shoulder. “Let’s go to the garden.”

Toge’s cursed energy buzzes with excitement. He hasn’t fully learned to control his energy yet, so his emotions are visibly flowing through his cursed energy. To Yuuta, it’s endearing to see Toge’s feelings so clearly now that he’s not hiding them away.

Yuuta has to walk slower, as Toge has to take more steps in comparison to Yuuta to match his speed. He doesn’t mind at all though, as long as Toge is safely beside him it doesn’t matter how fast they are going. Yuuta believes this campus is the safest place for Toge right now. He just hopes the higher-ups don’t get the dumb idea to send Toge back to his clan, or else Yuuta will be following.  He doesn’t think he can be separated from Toge now, at least not while he’s still so young and vulnerable. 

Toge happily walks next to him, down the long windy halls. Yuuta was right, the shirt is too big for him, as it hangs off him and reaches mid-thigh. But Toge seems to like bigger clothing, as he previously did when he was 17. Toge steals just about any clothing from Yuuta he can get his hands on even if it’s not functional. 

The little boy swings his hand in Yuuta’s, hesitating about getting too close. Yuuta understands that Toge is probably still wary of him, which makes sense—young kids shouldn’t trust strangers too easily. But the fact that Toge hasn’t mentioned anything about his parents yet makes Yuuta wonder if he wants to return to his clan or if he's avoiding the thought altogether.

As they’re walking out, they suddenly run into Itadori, who comes barreling straight toward them. Toge’s eyes widen in surprise, and he instinctively steps behind Yuuta’s leg, seeking protection.

“IS IT TRUE?!” Yuuji yells, skidding to a stop in front of them. “Oh my god!”

He squeals in excitement, crouching down to peer around Yuuta’s leg. “He’s so small!” Yuuji gushes, reaching out to pinch Toge’s cheeks. Toge grips Yuuta’s pant leg tightly, clearly uneasy.

Yuuta quickly grabs Yuuji’s wrist before he can touch Toge, giving him a stern look. Yuuji pouts, glancing up to meet Yuuta’s eyes and seeing the slight glare directed at him.

“You’re scaring him,” Yuuta says firmly, his expression serious.

“Oh!” Yuuji says, standing straight up and scratching the back of his head. “Sorry! I got too excited. I just love little kids, that’s my fault.”

Yuuji then looks directly at little Toge and gives him a deep bow. “My name is Yuuji Itadori. Nice to meet you!” 

Toge looks at him curiously, still hiding behind Yuuta. He looks up to Yuuta, seeing if he’s upset. Yuuta gives him a gentle smile, before crouching down so he can talk to Toge. 

“He’s a good friend of mine. You can say hi, he won’t hurt you,” the dark haired teenager says in a soft tone. 

Toge doesn’t want to let go of Yuuta’s hand, so he settles with signing hello with one hand, while he consciously stands beside Yuuta. 

“Hello!” Yuuji says, also signing back. His signing isn’t as good as Yuuta's or Nobara’s, but it’s still plenty to have a decent conversation. Yuuji can read signs at a decent pace, as long as it’s not too fast for him. 

“What have you guys been doing?” Yuuji continues the conversation, signing shakily again. 

“ Yuuta’s going to show me the garden,” Toge let’s go of Yuuta’s hand to sign more properly, but still keeping a warily space behind Yuuta. 

“The garden! Oh it’s so lovely right now!” The vessel exclaims, crouching down so he can speak to Toge better. Standing tall can be intimidating to some kids. “Did you know there’s watermelon growing there? They might be ready to harvest!” 

“I like watermelon,” Toge replies. 

“You do? Well maybe you and Yuuta can go pick some out! If you bring it back to me, I’ll cut it up for you guys,” Yuuji says, winking at him. 

Toge looks up at Yuuta with almost pleading eyes, his silence conveying a desire Yuuta can’t ignore. “Alright,” Yuuta says with a soft smile, “we can pick one out for all three of us to share.” Toge's eyes light up with excitement, but as Yuuta turns back to face Yuuji, he realizes he's got no clue how to choose a good watermelon. Now, he has to pretend he knows what he's doing.

“Oi! Itadori! Get back over here, would you? Leave them alone,” Fushiguro’s voice echoes down the hall from somewhere out of sight.

Yuuji chuckles. “Guess I’ve got to go, but it was nice meeting you, Toge! I’ll see you later for dinner, okay?” He says warmly, flashing Toge a friendly smile.

“Okay,” Toge signs back, hesitating a bit before adding, “I will see you later. Bye-bye.”

“Bye-bye!” Yuuji calls, jumping to his feet and giving Yuuta a thumbs up before dashing off down the hall. 

“Yuuta, don’t forget to pick some cabbages too! Toge needs to eat his greens!” Yuuji shouts over his shoulder with a smirk.

Yuuta sighs as he stands up from his crouched position beside Toge. I don’t know anything about gardening. I just do what Toge tells me, he thinks, feeling a bit overwhelmed. He hopes he doesn’t mess up the garden before Toge returns to normal. His boyfriend would be sad if he ruined it just because his younger self wanted to play in it.

Yuuta grabs Toge’s hand, leading them down the path. Toge seems to have more pep in his step now, excited by the promise of watermelon later. A few times, he tries to walk ahead of Yuuta, but Yuuta gently pulls him back. He can tell Toge wants to run—kids have so much energy. Yuuta briefly considers getting one of those backpack leashes so Toge could have a bit more freedom, but he quickly dismisses the idea. He prefers holding Toge’s hand anyway and knowing Toge, he’d probably figure out how to slip out of the backpack.

As they walk outside toward the garden, a few school workers notice little Toge and give him a smile or wave. Toge stays shy, clinging closer to Yuuta’s pant leg.

Finally, they stop in front of the garden, and Yuuta looks down at Toge with a smile. “Here we are, Toge. It’s pretty, right?” he says kindly. “Why don’t you go pick out a watermelon? When you find a good one, call me over so I can help you cut it out.”

Toge hesitantly lets go of Yuuta’s hand, seeing if he has his permission to explore the garden. Yuuta nods with a smile, the garden isn’t all that large and he’s right here to watch him or sense out any danger. “Go on, it’s okay.” 

The small cursed speech user gently wanders off in front of him, consciously stepping into the garden. His eyes open with wonder, as he looks at all the flowers and produce being grown. Yuuta hears a small squeal of excitement, as he watches a butterfly swarming the flower sit gently on Toge’s shoulder. Yuuta smiles in awe.

He pulls out his phone so he can snap a photo. Once done so, he has the urge to text Maki about his predicament. 

YouTah

You could have warned me about this 

What the flip

Toge is so adorable oh my gawd

Look at this photo

1234555.jpeg

4:50 pm

Maki (Not Zen’in) 

How am I supposed to warn someone that their boyfriend has been de-aged to their six year old self?

I will say, that is a cute photo. He is a cute kid. 

But I’m still holding a grudge, that little gremlin hit me in my nose. 

Ground him, since you’re his dad now. 

4:50 pm 

YouTah

What? He hit you? What did you do?

And gross, no im not his dad.

I’m not his boyfriend either right now that feels wrong to say too. 

I’m just his guardian until he returns to his usual self again. :D 

4:51 pm

Maki (Not Zen’in) 

Yeah, he hit me because I had to hold him down while Shoko drew his blood. 

You should see Fushiguro’s arm, he had to hold Panda down and he got bit in the arm. 

Also, make sure to come to the dining hall soon so Itadori can cook the cabbage for dinner, he’s yapping at me to text you. 

4:51 pm

YouTah

Sounds good I'll head over in five

4:51 pm

“Did you find one yet, Toge?” Yuuta says as he looks up from his phone, eyes scanning to find the little one. His eyes narrow, as he doesn’t see Toge in sight. “Toge?” 

Yuuta moves forward, entering the garden in search of Toge. Fortunately, Toge’s lack of experience as a sorcerer leaves traces of his cursed energy behind, creating a faint trail for Yuuta to follow. He hurries along the path until he spots a pair of small shoes peeking out from behind a bush.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Yuuta walks closer. "Toge, I told you to pick out a watermelon, what are you—AH! Toge, drop that!" he squeals, pointing to the object in Toge’s hands.

As Yuuta gets closer, he sees that the little boy is petting a garden snake that has wound itself around Toge’s arm. Panic sets in— That thing could choke him! Are garden snakes poisonous? He doesn’t recall Toge ever mentioning them before. Yuuta drops down next to Toge, ready to pull the snake off his arm.

"No!" Toge exclaims, pulling his arms back protectively, clutching the snake to his chest. His eyes widen in fear as he realizes he spoke out loud. Without another word, he scrambles to his feet and bolts in the opposite direction, holding the snake close as he runs.

“Toge, wait!” Yuuta scrambles to his feet, quickly closing the distance between them. For a six-year-old, Toge is surprisingly fast, managing to put some space between them and even duck behind a tree. But Yuuta, with his special grade training, easily gains on him. He’s quicker than most people at the school—only Gojo can outrun him.

“Toge!” Yuuta calls out, sprinting ahead to cut off the boy’s path. He reaches out his hands, gently but firmly, to stop him. “Please, stop.”

Toge’s eyes widen, realizing just how fast and capable the dark haired teen is. Unease flickers across his face as he takes a cautious step back, trying to create more distance between them. He clutches the snake tighter to his chest, clearly afraid that Yuuta might harm his new friend; just like his clan members had done to the other snakes in their yard.

Toge tried to backpedal and run in the opposite direction, but it was no use. One moment, he was staring at Yuuta, and the next, Yuuta had vanished from his line of sight. Toge yelped as he was suddenly lifted off the ground, making it impossible for him to escape.

“Toge, let go of the snake,” Yuuta said, his tone firm but without using cursed speech. The command, though not laced with any curse, still felt intimidating and strong enough to make Toge hesitate. But he tried to resist, squirming in Yuuta’s grip as the older boy’s larger arms held him securely.

Tears welled up in Toge’s eyes as he thrashed in Yuuta’s hold. Unable to speak, he quickly used his free hand to sign, “Don’t kill.”

“Nobody is going to kill the snake, but you need to let it go. It could be dangerous.” He says coolly, still holding an unwilling Toge. 

Toge pauses as he hears Yuuta reply. He holts, before gathering the courage to sign, “ Promise?” 

“I promise.” The older teen responds, still not letting go of Toge so he can run off. 

The little one sniffled before reluctantly letting go of the snake coiled around his wrist. He softly cooed at it, humming a gentle tune, signaling the snake to release him. Understanding the cue, the snake slowly untangled itself from Toge and slithered off into the grass.

Yuuta sighed in relief as the snake disappeared into the distance. Good riddance , he thought. He glanced back at Toge, who was still watching the snake with a tense expression, his small frame rigid with lingering fear.

“You know you can’t run off or speak, Toge. Those were the two rules,” Yuuta reminded him, his voice firm but gentle. Without putting Toge down, he started walking towards the cabbages, deciding it was best to keep him close for now. Holding Toge securely in one arm, he’ll use the other to pick the cabbages. The watermelon could wait.

Yuuta sees Toge nod slowly. Yuuta sighs before deciding to stop for a moment to set Toge down on his feet. Yuuta crouches down so that where Toge is standing Yuuta is looking up at him to speak. 

“You know you did wrong, yes?” He questions the younger boy, looking him in the eyes. 

Toge's eyes spill some tears over, while he nods. His nose sniffles, as he tries to hold himself back from crying. 

“ I don’t want them to die again,” the cursed speech user slowly signs, like he’s anticipating Yuuta to yell at him any moment from now. 

Yuuta slowly lifted a hand and gently wiped away a tear trailing down Toge’s cheek. "They won’t die again, not here. I promise you that. But you can’t break the rules, okay? If you had said more than 'no,' you could’ve gotten hurt. And you ran off when I told you to stop."

Toge’s face crumpled as he started crying again, his heart pounding in his chest as he trembled. He knew he’d messed up. Fear washed over him, thinking Yuuta might punish him, and send him away. Desperation took over as he shook his head from side to side and quickly signed, "I don’t want to go."

“You’re not going anywhere, bud. You’re stuck with me, yeah? Come here,” Yuuta said softly, pulling Toge into a firm embrace. Toge buried his face into Yuuta’s shirt, crying into his shoulder. Yuuta didn’t mind the tears, as long as Toge was safe in his arms.

“I’m not mad, nothing’s going to happen. I just need you to know you can’t break those rules. I don’t want to see you get hurt, Toge,” Yuuta said softly, one hand gently petting Toge’s hair while the other rubbed soothing circles on his back. “You understand that, right?”

Toge nodded into Yuuta’s chest, still trembling and crying.

“That’s all I ask, for you to follow the rules. I’m not punishing you or sending you back, okay? You’re safe here. C’mon, I’ve got you,” Yuuta reassured him, standing up and holding Toge close in his arms. He carried him down the path, letting Toge cry as much as he needed while whispering comforting words into his ear. “I’ve got you.”

Chapter Text

Toge at dinner that night remained more silent than usual. At least when Toge was 17, he had his onigiri language and a safe trust in his friends/classmates. At the age of six, Toge has neither of those things. He doesn’t know that everyone is safe, nor does he know that “shake” is a yes. 

It’s not surprising that being in a room of five teenagers might be startling for Toge. He’s already met everyone, minus Nobara. He seemed uneasy around Maki and Megumi, remembering them from restraining him earlier in the day. He might have sent concerned glances a few times, but neither of the teens did anything. 

Yuuta was still Toge's favorite, as the little boy clung to him throughout dinner. He sat right next to him and let Yuuta put anything on his plate without a fuss. Determined not to upset Yuuta any further, Toge even ate all the greens, despite not particularly wanting them. Though reluctant about some of the food, he found himself enjoying the meal and silently thanked Yuuji for it. 

When Yuuta excused himself to go to the bathroom, Toge shifted in his seat, scooting closer to Yuuji, who was sitting to his right. He latched onto Yuuji's jacket sleeve, and Yuuji didn’t seem to mind, happily chatting away about Digimon and showing Toge pictures on his phone. When Yuuta returned, he noticed Toge sitting beside Yuuji, looking content with someone other than himself for the first time. Yuuta exchanged a glance with Yuuji, who gave him a thumbs-up in return. At least Toge felt comfortable with someone else too.

When Toge met Nobara, he immediately decided she was the coolest. She spoke her mind with a bad mouth, something Toge admired. The moment she laid eyes on young Toge, she melted, reaching out to pinch his cheek—and he let her.

The entire dining table gasped as Toge allowed Nobara to touch him without hesitation. Yuuta and Yuuji both pouted, while Megumi chuckled. “Of course the one person Toge likes is Nobara,” Maki scoffed.

Nobara’s cheeks flushed at Maki’s comment, but she quickly cooed at Toge. “He already knows we’re going to be the best of friends! Yuuta, I’m taking him shopping tomorrow for some better clothes. Oh, he’s just a doll.”

“No, you’re not,” Yuuta said, his tone firm as he scolded her. His energy darkened, making it clear to everyone at the table, not just Nobara. “Toge stays on school grounds.”

Nobara remained unfazed by Yuuta's darkening aura, rolling her eyes. “Fine, dramatic much? I’ll just have to go shopping tomorrow and bring you some clothes back! How about a scarf, Toge?”

Toge's eyes widened, and he eagerly nodded. He loved hiding his marks as much as possible, something his current clothes didn’t allow. Yuuta pouted at Nobara, but she ignored him, giving him a cheeky wink before sitting down beside Maki at the dining table.

“We’ll go shopping after you finish training with Yuuta in the morning, Maki,” Nobara said, resting her head on Maki’s shoulder.

“Sounds good to me,” Maki shrugged and nodded before turning to Yuuta. “Hey, emo! Just because you’ve got a kid now doesn’t mean you can skip out on training. I better see you bright and early tomorrow.”

“But Maki, what about Toge? I can’t just leave him,” Yuuta protested, but Maki scoffed in response.

“Just bring him with you, he can watch us,” Maki says nonchalantly, as if bringing a young boy to a training session between powerful sorcerers is a good thing. 

“You, know, now that you’re speaking of training, I kinda want to train with you guys tomorrow, too,” Yuuji says, making a dramatic wink next to his friend Toge who has their hand clung to Yuuji’s sleeve in one and his other hand eating a riceball. “Oh! Let’s train together, Toge!” 

Sukuna’s vessel gives a wink to Yuuta over Toge’s head, to which Yuuta sighs and brings a hand to his head to rub his temple. “I don’t know guys, bringing a young child to us sparring still doesn’t seem safe. Someone will need to watch him as well.” 

“Easy,” Maki declares. She slaps a hand down on the table to get everyone’s attention. “Everyone will train tomorrow morning, bright and early. 6 AM Sharp, so you two,” She says, pointing at Nobara and Yuuji, “can sleep in some more. Sound good, yes?”

“6 AM?!” Nobara exclaims. 

“That’s sleeping in for you?” Yuuji responds, looking at her confused. 

“It’s better than her 4 AM training sessions,” Megumi retorts, shrugging. He usually goes with whatever Maki says, he trusts her judgment.

“No complaints, I better see everyone there sharply or 10 laps for every minute you're late,” Maki smirks, leaning back in her chair. Nobara groans at her side, trying to get some sympathy points from her girlfriend. 

Yuuji leans down and talks to Toge again, “Are you excited to train, Toge?” he says, smiling brightly. 

Toge shrugs, before stealing a riceball off of Yuuji’s plate. He sticks the riceball in his mouth, so he can have his hands free as he signs. “I haven’t trained before.” 

"Hmm, you haven’t trained before?" the pink-haired teenager repeats, curiosity piqued.

The younger boy shakes his head. "No, I get to do some gymnastics when my cousins get back from school. They teach me."

Yuuji hums, about to respond, but Yuuta beats him to it.

"What do they teach you?" Yuuta asks gently, moving closer so he can focus on Toge’s signing.

"Splits, tumbles, cartwheels," Toge signs, spelling out each word with care, most likely not knowing how to sign the words, though he misspells a few. "Tumbles" becomes "tumples," and "cartwheels" turns into "carwell." Yuuta finds it absolutely endearing, feeling like his heart might just explode in the next few days due to how adorable Toge is.

"Well, those are still very important skills to have!" Yuuji exclaims, grinning widely.

"Oh yeah, not everyone is flexible. I mean, look at Yuuta—he could use some work on his stretching," Nobara quips, taking a sip of her tea. Yuuta’s mouth drops open in mock offense.

"Hey! I’ve been working on it!" he protests.

Maki snorts. "You still haven’t been able to touch your toes."

"Alright, that’s enough," Yuuta says, standing up and gathering both his and Toge’s plates. "If we’re all training tomorrow, we should probably head to bed soon and get some much-needed rest."

He walks off, to go clean their plates, leaving the conversation. Yuuji turns to chuckle with Toge. “That’s a sore topic for him,” He whispers to the kid, giggling. Toge ends up giggling with him as well, hiding his smile behind his smaller hands.

“Well, some things never change,” Megumi sighs, leaning back in his chair, “Yuuji and Toge are still gossipers.” 

“Bedtime!” Yuuta comes back, clapping his hands together, “Say goodnight to everyone, Toge. Night Night!” 

“ Goodnight!” Toge signs quickly, before waving. Yuuta picks him up with ease with one hand, and the other grabbing a cup of water. 

“Goodnight Toge!” the rest of the group calls out before Yuuta turns down the hallway walking down into the dorm wing. 

Toge sighs, leaning his smaller head onto Yuuta's chest, playing with the buttons on his shirt. Yuuta hums a melody that he heard on the radio early today, as he walks them down into inumaki’s dorm. He figured that Toge would be more comfortable in a room that was decorated by him, even if it’s an older version of himself. 

Yuuta swings the door open, closing it behind him with his hip. He gently places Toge on the bed, before starting to dig through his boyfriend’s closet. Something in here should ge good enough for little Toge to sleep in. 

He hums, grabbing an old shirt that he can’t recall if it’s his or Toge’s and a pair of drawstring basketball shorts. He walks back over to toge, who has his attention drawn to the stuff animals in the corner of his bed. The little boy retracts his hand back, when he sees Yuuta coming. 

“Here, go ahead and change into this, while I go to my room across the way. I just need to grab a few things before bed.” Yuuta smiles, dropping the folded clothes next to the little one. Toge nods, grabbing them, waiting for Yuuta to leave the room.

"Call out my name if you need me!" Yuuta calls over his shoulder, gently closing the door behind him. He tries to push down the anxiety gnawing at him about leaving Toge alone for a few minutes. He really needs to grab a few things—his katana and the bedroll, for starters. He’s already decided he’ll sleep on the floor so Toge can have the bed. It’s better than being separated.

He hurries to gather his essentials: a pair of shorts to change into, his jacket, katana, phone charger, and the bedroll. Balancing everything in one hand, Yuuta glances around his room. Nothing else seems urgently needed—almost everything important or sentimental is already in Toge’s room. Yuuta was never one for decorating much, but Toge had made his dorm feel much more lively.

Then his eyes land on the stuffed panda bear Toge had left on his bed the other night, insisting Yuuta needed a companion for when Toge wasn’t there. Yuuta had scoffed at the idea, saying Toge was all he needed, but now he sees the thoughtfulness behind it. He grabs the stuffed bear too, figuring it might bring some comfort to young Toge.

He walks back over to the Toge’s dorm again, knocking on the wooden frame. 

“Can I come in?” he says through the door. He pauses, listening to hear any commotion. 

A knock was received for his question. Yuuta assumes the once knock was a yes, as he opens the door back up. 

When he opens the door, hes greeted with Toge wearing the given clothing, thats hanging off him once again. The collar of the shirt is stretched around his shoulders and it hung all the way down to Toge’s knees, making him realize it was probably his shirt. The shorts were more like pants, but they weren’t baggy around the feet, so Toge could walk around fine in them. 

Toge was sitting on the bed, rearranging the stuff animals, currently staring at the tuna fish one that Nobara bought him during one of her shopping sprees. Toge hums, as he looks up at Yuuta entering the room. 

Yuuta gives him a slight smile, before settling everything onto the ground. The bedroll unravels and Yuuta pushes it against the bed, so he’s close enough to Toge if he needed him quickly. He places the katana beside the bed, before remembering he had something for Toge. 

“Oh, here you go!” Yuuta realizes, gently holding out the bear for Toge to take.

Toge gasps, dropping the stuffed fish before rushing to the edge of the bed. His eyes light up as he eagerly grabs the stuffed bear from Yuuta's hands. "Fluffy!" he exclaims, clutching the bear tightly to his chest. His cursed energy hums with soft, smooth vibrations, making Yuuta pause and wonder.

"Do you know him?" Yuuta asks gently, watching Toge stroke the toy's fur, brushing its hair as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

Toge nods, then looks up at Yuuta, his hands still wrapped around the panda bear. He signs, " His name is Fluffy. He's from home. How did he get here? "

Yuuta chuckles, scratching the back of his head. "Oh, well, your family thought it’d be good for you to have him while you're here! Let’s go brush our teeth and get to bed, yeah? We’ve got a big day tomorrow."

When Yuuta moves to lift Toge, the boy refuses to let go of the stuffed bear, so Fluffy comes with them to the bathroom. Yuuta doesn’t mind at all, finding it endearing how much Toge clings to the toy. The fact that Toge never mentioned Fluffy was his childhood toy makes Yuuta's heart flutter. Does this mean Toge trusts him enough to share Fluffy with him?

Toge is very messy when brushing his teeth. Yuuta had to grab a wet towel and wipe away the suds, even when Toge was fussing and trying to twist his head away.  Yuuta gently cooed at him, cleaning him up while Toge sulked. He kept hold of Fluffy while Yuuta kept cleaning up his face.

“Your turn,” Toge signs, pointing at the teenager.

Yuuta laughs at the young boy bossing him. “My turn, you want to clean my face? Alright, go ahead.” He says, bending down and handing Toge the wet hand towel. He closes his eyes waiting in anticipation for Toge to clean him off. 

He feels Toge pat his cheeks with the cloth, running it up to his forehead. Toge scrubs hard on his eyebrows, making Yuuta frown at the treatment. Probably revenge. Toge continues on, making sure to get every spot, even Yuuta’s ears. Eventually, Yuuta doesn’t feel the hands on him anymore. 

“All done?” he says out loud to reach Toge replies with a “Mhm!”

Toge reaches out for Yuutas hand to drag them out of the bathroom, probably before Yuuta gets any more idea about scrubbing Yuutas face.

Yuuta huffs out a laugh, “Alright, alright, I’m coming.”

The older teen lets himself be dragged down the hall by a determined Toge, even if he accidentally went to the wrong door. He almost opens up Yuuji’s door, to reach Yuuta had to usher him in the right direction. When they return to Toge’s dorm, the young born practically runs straight into bed, jumping onto the bed and lets his body fall down on his back. 

“That eager to sleep huh?” Yuuta says, quickly taking off his shirt and changing into something more breathable in the corner of the room. He changes while Toge is distracted with petting the panda, practically curled up on a ball on the bed. Yuuta hustles to change his pants in exchange for shorts. 

“Alright little one, ready for bed, yeah?” the teen comments, walking over to Toge’s bed. Toge stares up at him, nodding. 

Toge stretches his arms out above his head and yawns, dramatically of course. A grin spreads across Yuuta’s face, as he gently lifts up the bed sheets so that Toge can crawl under the blankets. Toge does so but makes sure to tuck Fluffy under the blanket too, holding him to his chest. 

“Goodnight Toge,” Yuuta says, ruffling his hair. 

Toge inclines into the touch, humming, before giving Yuuta a pointed look. Yuuta rolled his eyes. “Goodnight Fluffy,” he says, ruffling the bear’s head too. He turns to lie down on his bedroll before a voice stops him.

“Yuuta,” young Toge whispers, his voice barely audible, laced with hesitation.

Yuuta freezes, the sound of his name spoken by Toge sending a jolt through him. Did Toge just use his name as a safeword?

“Yes, buddy?” Yuuta responds softly, turning to face him.

Toge hesitates again, biting his lip as he uses one hand to gently sign, “I’m sorry.”

Oh, Toge. Yuuta’s heart aches at the sight of guilt in the young boy’s eyes. He sits down on the floor, scooting closer to the edge of the bed so he’s at eye level with Toge. “Hey, little cub, it’s okay. No harm done, alright? I’m not mad, I promise.”

Toge nods, his expression softening slightly.

“But listen, if you’re ever in trouble, or if you take off again and can’t find me, call out my name as loud as you can. I’ll come for you, okay? We all care about you too much to let anything happen. You’re precious to us,” Yuuta says, ruffling Toge’s hair gently.

Toge giggles, nodding in understanding, though his eyes start to droop with sleepiness.

Yuuta smiles, watching him yawn. “Goodnight, Toge,” he whispers, before lying down to sleep in his own bed on the ground.

Toge hums back, already half-asleep.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

It’s no surprise to anyone that Toge is a deep sleeper. Even when Yuuta’s phone alarm blared at 5:00 AM, little Toge didn’t stir. Deciding to let the boy sleep a bit longer, Yuuta quietly got up and started getting ready for the day, changing into his uniform in the dim light of the room. The sun was barely beginning to rise as he made his way to the bathrooms, relishing the quiet halls.

As he brushed his teeth, Yuuta’s thoughts drifted to breakfast. He knew that Toge, no matter the age, has a deep love for toast. While Yuuta wasn’t exactly a cook (that spot was reserved for both Yuuji and Toge), he figured he could manage some scrambled eggs to go along with it. It would be a simple but filling meal for the both of them.

By the time Yuuta returned to Toge’s dorm, it was 5:30. He knew it was time to wake the little guy and start the day. Walking over to the bed, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight before him. Toge hadn’t moved much in his sleep, his hair tousled in a way that gave him a bit of a punk-rocker look. Fluffy was still clutched tightly in his arms.

Yuuta grabbed his phone from the nightstand and quickly snapped a photo of the sleeping boy. The sight was too precious not to capture. With a fond smile, he set the phone aside and quietly began rummaging through the duffel bag, pulling out a few clothing options so Toge could choose what to wear for the day.

Yuuta sighs, getting up to comb his finger gently through Toge’s hair. “C’mon, it’s time to wake up, sunshine.” He says softly, still playing with his hair. 

Toge’s eyes squeezed shut even tighter, and he huffed in his sleep, trying to turn away from the disturbance. Yuuta clicked his tongue playfully.

“Togeee… our friends are waiting for ussss,” he coaxed, drawing out his words to catch the boy’s attention. “You don’t want Maki to yell at us, do you?”

That seemed to do the trick. Toge groaned, stretching out his arms in a lazy arc, almost smacking Yuuta in the face if he hadn’t flinched back in time. The little boy grumbled, pulling Fluffy closer to his chest.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Yuuta greeted him with a smile. “Let’s get you dressed so you can show our friends those cartwheels of yours. Go ahead and pick out some clothes, little one.”

Toge sighed before rolling over to glance at the clothes laid out on the floor. Groggily, he rubbed his eyes and pointed to a green hoodie and a pair of dark blue cargo shorts. Yuuta handed him a random shirt to wear underneath, a simple black undershirt. He turned around to give Toge some privacy, waiting patiently as the younger boy slowly dressed himself. It was taking longer than usual, with Toge yawning every few seconds.

Yuuta turned back when he heard a soft hum from Toge, watching as the little one flopped back onto the bed, clutching Fluffy and looking ready to drift off again.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Yuuta chuckled, bending down to scoop Toge into his arms. “You still need to brush your teeth. We’ve got fifteen minutes before Maki starts yelling at us. Let’s go.”

Toge whined softly but allowed Yuuta to carry him to the bathrooms. When they arrived, they found Megumi and Yuuji already there, both too tired to speak. They gave Toge a gentle wave, acknowledging the little one with sleepy smiles.

Toge begrudgingly brushed his teeth, scrubbing them thoroughly until Yuuta gave him the okay to spit. As soon as he did, Yuuta quickly wiped his face with a wet towel, making sure he was all cleaned up.

Yuuta picked Toge up again, heading back to the dorm to grab his katana before heading out. As they were about to leave, Toge huffed and stretched his hand toward the bed. Confused, Yuuta followed his gaze and noticed he was reaching for a blanket.

Realizing what Toge wanted, Yuuta picked up the blanket and handed it to him. Toge eagerly grabbed it, trying to wrap himself up. With a smile, Yuuta helped him, turning the little boy into a cozy blanket burrito. One of Toge's hands clutched Fluffy's paw while the other held onto Yuuta’s shirt.

Satisfied that they had everything—katana, Fluffy, and blanket—Yuuta headed out the door and made his way to the training grounds.

Toge yawned once more in Yuuta's arms, and before long, he had drifted back to sleep, snuggled up warmly in his makeshift cocoon against Yuuta’s chest. The morning air was crisp, and the grass was still dewy, making it chilly enough that Yuuta couldn’t blame him for wanting a bit more sleep.

When they arrived at the training grounds, Maki and Nobara were already there. Maki was stretching, while Nobara had opted to lay in the stadium chairs, clearly too tired to function at this early hour.

“You wanna hang out with Nobara?” Yuuta asked gently, noticing Toge barely had his eyes open.

“Mmm,” Toge hummed, lifting his head off Yuuta’s chest to glance around sleepily.

Yuuta walked over to Nobara and gently tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"What?!" she snapped, lifting her head up from the bench, only to see Yuuta holding Toge. Her demeanor instantly softened as she began to coo at Toge. "Oh! Good morning, little guy! Look at you all snuggled up!"

She extended her arms, making a "gimme" gesture, offering to take Toge from Yuuta. With care, Yuuta slowly peeled the sleepy Toge off his chest and placed him into Nobara’s lap, where he immediately clung to her.

"Ah! He is such a doll!" Nobara squealed, hugging Toge closer.

Toge yawned, then dropped his head onto her shoulder. Since Nobara was the smallest of the group, Toge fit perfectly in her lap like a six-year-old would. Being a bit smaller than most kids his age, Toge actually looked his age in comparison to Nobara.

"Are you going to stay here the whole time?" Yuuta asked.

"Planning on it! At least until Maki starts yelling at me," she sulked, starting to play with Toge’s hair.

“Well, call out if you need me!” Yuuta says, smiling at her, and runs off to Maki to start some warm-ups. 

Nobara hums, still content with sitting her and letting little Toge snooze on her. He was easily relaxed in her hold, making it look like Toge is at ease with her around. She smiles, looking down at the kid. 

She never had a thought of really wanting children before. With the life of a sorcerer, her only two main goals were money and fame. She just wanted out of the countryside and was willing to do anything. A kid didn’t fit in that description. But if all kids were this cute and easy, maybe she’d reconsider adopting one later on in life. 

“Poor Toge, being hid away by mean ole yuuta,” she coos, patting his back. She’s pretty confident Toge isn’t even listening, most likely fell asleep. She still continues talking. 

“Me and Maki are going to get you the biggest stuffed animal we can find, and then we are going to pick up some candy! That will be our secret, though, Yuuta might scold us if we feed you too many sweets,” she whispers, looking over at the two. They’ve begun to run laps. 

Toge hasn’t responded, but he clutches her shirt with his small hands. 

Nobara smiles, humming a tone that she likes. 

“We’re here! We’re here!” A voice yells out, causing Toge to jump slightly awake. Nobara groans, throwing a glare over her shoulder. 

Of course, it’s doofus and his idiot running over, late again. Megumi is usually one for being on time, but with Yuuji’s influence, they both slack off. 

“You’re late!” She snaps in a hushed voice, pointing down at the child in her lap. 

Yuuji gasps, covering his mouth. “Oops! Sorry!” He says in a whisper voice, that’s loud enough to be heard still. 

“We grabbed snacks and water,” Megumi retorts, walking over to Nobara to show her the bag. 

This piques Toge’s interest, as his little head picks up from her shoulder to look slowly around. His eyes land on both Megumi and Yuuji. 

"Good morning, little fellow!" Yuuji greeted, bending down with his hands on his knees as he waved enthusiastically. Megumi also gave a casual wave. Toge, holding Fluffy’s paw, managed a sleepy wave back at them.

“Oo, who’s that there?” Yuuji asked, pointing at the teddy bear.

"Fluffy," Toge signed tiredly.

“Fluffy! What a great name!” Yuuji squealed, giving Toge’s head a playful pat.

Megumi scoffed, “Yeah, we should start calling you Fluffy with how your hair looks.”

Megumi sat down next to Nobara, rummaging through a bag before pulling out a green juice pouch with a twist-off cap. “Toge, would you like some applesauce?”

Toge glanced at Megumi, a bit hesitant as he remembered him from the medical bay, but then reached out to take the applesauce. Remembering his mother's stern manners, he signed with one hand, “Please.”

"Of course you can," Megumi said, twisting off the cap and handing the applesauce to Toge. Both Nobara and Yuuji couldn’t help but coo at how adorable Toge looked, sipping on the packet after politely signing "please."

“Where did you guys even get applesauce? I didn’t see either of you go to the store,” Nobara remarked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Well, uh…” Yuuji laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

“It’s Yuuji’s," Megumi answered nonchalantly. "He loves these kid packets for some reason and hides them in his closet."

Nobara burst out laughing, pointing a teasing finger at Yuuji, who sulked as his one secret was unceremoniously outed by his own boyfriend.

“Oi! Itadori, get to running!” Maki called out as she completed another lap. Yuuta was right beside her, keeping pace and waving at Toge. “You’ve got an extra 10 laps to do.”

“Ten?!” Yuuji exclaimed, his shoulders sagging in despair. He pointed at Megumi, “What about him? He was late too!”

“He at least brought something,” Maki retorted over her shoulder, running off.

Yuuji sighs, before patting Toge on his head and then takes off towards the track. He’s fast, so he easily catches up to the two other second years. When he gets to them, he starts to chat away, not even out of breath. 

Nobara sighed, glancing down at Toge, staring off into the field. "Toge, do you want to train?"

Young Toge responded with a yawn, setting aside his now-empty apple juice before snuggling back into Nobara's embrace. She chuckled, patting his back affectionately.

She then turned to Megumi, who had sat and watched the others run off. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Why aren't you out there?"

"This wasn’t my idea; it was Yuuji’s," Megumi replied, meeting her gaze. He glanced at the little one and sighed, slumping his shoulders. "I don't think he likes me much."

"Aw, don't take it personally," she teased, swatting his arm playfully. "Most kids don’t like you anyway!"

“Geez,” The spiky-haired one said, face dropping, “That makes me feel better.” 

Training that morning went by slower than usual, with Yuuji getting distracted and Yuuta fusing over Toge. When Yuuta was done running, he jogged over to check in on Toge again. Toge was still slumped against Nobara, not paying any attention to any of the commotions. Of course, Yuuji couldn’t help but snap photos of Toge, with Nobara even posing for some of them. That was before Toge woke up to watch Maki and Yuuta spar with their weapons. He was awoken by Yuuji’s cheering and hollering, making the young one awake. 

Toge squirmed in Nobara's lap, signaling that he wanted to get down. She gently placed him on the grass, where Yuuji was already sitting. The pink-haired teen leaned in and whispered, “Do you want to train now?”

Toge eagerly nodded, a burst of energy surging through him after his nap. He walked over to Megumi and placed Fluffy on his lap without a second thought. Megumi froze, surprised that Toge trusted him enough to hold his precious stuffed animal. Nobara snickered at his stunned expression before she, too, sipped on an applesauce packet.

Yuuji quickly scrambled to his feet, grabbing Toge’s hand to lead him to a more open space where they could "train." Nobara and Megumi watched them go, exchanging amused glances. Megumi shrugged, then offered to spar with Nobara, who readily agreed. Before they began, Megumi carefully placed Fluffy in a pile of blankets and jackets, making sure the stuffed bear was safe.

Meanwhile, Maki and Yuuta noticed that the stadium seats were now empty. Yuuta's face immediately darkened with concern as he scanned the area, searching for Toge. He quickly spotted him off to the side with Yuuji, both of them seemingly engaged in a breakdance contest. Toge was clearly winning, effortlessly lifting himself into the air with one arm before flipping over into a perfect split. Yuuji cheered him on, laughing and chanting, “Wait, let me try that!” before failing miserably in his attempt.

Yuuta sighed and shook his head, turning back to Maki. She snickered at him, placing a hand on her hip. “You know, you worry too much.”

“He’s six, Maki!” Yuuta protested. “Do you know how fragile kids are at that age?”

She snorted. “Geez, I can practically see the grey hairs growing on you. Relax, you’re not the only one taking care of him, okay? You've got all of us. And besides, he seems to adore Nobara and Yuuji the most.” She nodded toward the duo, where Yuuji’s laughter echoed as Toge started playfully wrestling with him.

“I can’t help but worry,” Yuuta admitted, his shoulders slumping. “Just yesterday, he almost had a panic attack, begging me not to kill a snake he was trying to hide from me. And of course, he befriended the thing! Who knows if it was poisonous or something!”

“Snakes are venomous, not poisonous,” Maki corrected, earning a frustrated groan from Yuuta as he threw his hands up in exasperation.

“Same difference, who cares! Actually, I care because I’m realizing just how traumatizing Toge’s childhood was by living it with him!” Yuuta continued, his voice heavy with concern. “He flinches if I raise my voice even a little or if he accidentally breaks a rule. I don’t want him to think I’m going to hurt him, Maki!”

Maki went silent, letting Yuuta calm down before speaking again. She jabbed him with her pole, making him hiss in pain as she hit his arm. “Look, you can’t change the past, so stop dwelling on it. Clans suck, but these next few days don’t have to. Make the most of it while he’s still little, yeah? Toge clearly trusts you the most—he runs to you every chance he gets. He knows you’ll keep him safe, so stop wallowing in misery. Everything’s going to be fine. He’ll be fine.”

“How can you be so sure?” Yuuta asked, glancing over at Toge, who had started playing tag with Yuuji, running towards Yuuta to hide behind him.

“Because he has you, dummy,” Maki replied, watching as Toge clung to Yuuta’s leg, peeking out cautiously to see where Yuuji was.

“I’m gonna get you!” Yuuji called out, making a dive for Toge, but before he could reach him, Maki smacked Yuuji on the head with her pole. 

“Ow!” Yuuji yelped, collapsing to the ground and clutching his head. “What was that for?!”

“Me and you, spar right now,” Maki demanded, delivering another tap with her pole.

“Okay, okay!” Yuuji groaned, curling up in a ball.

Toge’s quiet laughter echoed from behind Yuuta, who looked down to see a happy grin on the little boy’s face. Yuuta smiled, lifting Toge and propping him on his hip. Toge wrapped his small arms around Yuuta’s bicep, giving him a tight hug.

“Did you win?” Yuuta asked with a playful grin.

Toge nodded, signing with a sleepy hand, “It was easy. Yuuji is bad at dancing.”

Yuuta let out a hearty laugh. “Yeah, I’m afraid you’re the only good dancer around here.”

“Is that twerp making fun of my dancing?!” Yuuji called from the ground, still nursing his head.

Yuuta whistled, walking off without responding, as Toge giggled in his arms.

Chapter Text

After training that morning, Yuuta made good on his word and made scrambled eggs and toast. Toge didn’t say a word about his cooking, as he happily munched on the food while Yuuta randomly scrolled on his phone. Toge was content with eating and playing with Fluffy, petting his faux fur. Toge has taken Fluffy with him everywhere so far, so the stuffed animal has gotten a little dirty. Yuuta will have to clean him up later when Toge isn’t noticing. 

After breakfast, they went down to Shoko’s to have a check-up again. This made Toge anxious, told through his cursed energy was bursting everywhere. He clung to Yuuta’s chest the whole walk over, hiding his face in the crook of his neck. Yuuta had left reassuring words to him, rubbing soothing circles on his back. 

At the check-up, Toge clung to Fluffy in front of him, embracing him in a hug, while Shoko just did a simple look-over. He looked at Shoko with uneasy eyes, but Shoko just laughed and continued her work. Yuuta’s thankful that Shoko ditched her smoking habits for when Toge is in the room, knowing the smoke irritates his throat the most. The doctor gave Yuuta a thumbs up, saying they were free to leave and that Toge was cleared. Yuuta thanked her, before swooping down and placing Toge on his feet, while holding his hand. The little one all but runs out of the office, dragging the older teen out with him. 

Toge tries to run ahead of him, but Yuuta holds him back gently with his grip on his hand. The little boy grumbles, as he sets himself to walk next to Yuuta, accepting defeat. He can tell Toge is growing bored, even if he doesn’t voice it. 

“We’re going to go see Panda, remember him?” Yuuta comments, looking down at him. Toge’s eyes widened, before nodding happily. 

“ Panda, Panda, Panda! ” Toge signs, chanting. He skips, beside Yuuta, having his energy grow. 

“He’s at Principals Yaga’s office waiting for you, but you need to be on your best behavior, okay? Principal Yaga is someone important.” The teen says looking down, pointing a finger up. 

Toge nods his head, as he grows quiet. He trots beside Yuuta happily, but still remains a bit more mature than a six year old should be. 

Yuuta leads him out of the medical building and up to where admission is, constituting a flight of stairs they have to take. Toge struggled, as his shorter legs put in more work to walk up the steps, falling behind Yuuta. Yuuta chuckles, before swooping down to pick him up instead, walking up the steps with ease. One hand with Toge, the other on the strap of his Katana. He knows he has these next few days off to take care of Toge, but he feels wrong if he doesn’t remain ready.

Toge may not look at it, but he beams happily as they walk through the halls. Toge’s eyes catch on to the wall paintings and photos, intrigued. Yuuta looks and sees Gojo’s class photo as well. 

They continue to walk down the hall until they stop in front of a door. Yuuta gently lets Toge down onto his feet, before opening said door. Toge peaks through, only to see nobody is there. 

“Huh, I guess we beat them here,” Yuuta comments, shrugging. He lets them through the door. 

Yuuta sits down at the sofa, while Toge curiously walks around the room. He gasps when he sees a fish tank, practically putting his head to it to watch the fish swim by.

“Careful, back up a bit, yeah?” Yuuta calls out to him, worried that Toge could knock down a 60 gallon tank and hurt himself. 

Toge ignores him, using one finger to point at the fish. “ Nemo.” He signs, glancing back at Yuuta. 

Yuuta nods, “Yes, principal Yaga has Nemo.” 

Toge’s face is still plastered to the tank, and Yuuta sighs. At least he’s not knocking on the glass , he thinks. He’s worrying too much. 

They waited around for about 10 minutes, and that whole time Toge was being entertained by the fish. Yuuta senses Principal Yaga enter the building before he hears or sees him. He sits up, waiting for the man to walk through the door. 

The door squeaks open, and Toge still doesn’t turn to look. His mind is still laser focused on the fish. A panda nose peaks through the door, making Yuuta raise his eyebrow in question, before the door swings open. Principal Yaga is standing behind Panda, and Panda trots in like he owns the place. Principal Yaga’s face brightens in seeing Yuuta and Toge. 

“Hello to you both,” he says, nodding towards Yuuta and the little boy. Toge hasn’t acknowledged the newcomers. 

“Hello Principal Yaga,” he says, he turns to Toge who’s standing by the fish, “Toge, come say hello.” 

Young Toge turns, eyes curious at the tall older man, before his attention draws to the very much alive panda bear. His eyes widen, as he eagerly walks over to the panda, happy. Panda seems to be happy too, as he picks up Toge and puts him in a bear crushing hug. 

Toge squeaks, as he is taken off the ground and practically squeezed the air out of him. Yuuta is about to say something, but Principal Yaga beats him to it. 

“Panda, release him please. You’re hurting him,” he says calmly, turning towards his son. He turns to Yuuta. “I’m sorry about that. Panda at this age doesn’t know his own strength.” 

Panda releases Toge, dropping him onto the ground, to which the younger boy giggles. “Oh! I’m sorry. I forgot humans are more fragile.” 

Toge seems to brush it off, before grabbing Panda’s paw and drags him over to the fish tank. He starts pointing at fish, to which the panda entertains him and looks, pressing his nose to the glass. After a few moments of watching, Panda breaks the silence. 

“This is making me hungry,” Panda comments, watching the fish swim by. 

Yuuta chuckles, watching the two, as Principal Yaga sighs. 

“It’s nice seeing Panda so young again, but I tend to forget how raising a cursed corpse wasn’t a walk in the park,” he comments, crossing his arms, “It is great to see him have a friend this time around.” 

“Did he not have any friends growing up?” Yuuta questions. 

Yaga shakes his head, “No. He had me, the school staff, and his brother and sister. Toge is a new friend. I’m sorry if Panda gets him into trouble. Pandas' curiosity gets the best of him at times.”

Yuuta shook his head with a small smile. “It’s okay. I’ll be watching them along with the others today.”

Principal Yaga nodded in appreciation. “Thanks for that, Yuuta. I’d do it myself, but I’ve got meetings with the higher-ups all day. I should be done before nightfall.” He sighed, glancing at his watch.

“Alright, I better get going,” Yaga said, calling out to Panda, “Be good today, Panda.”

Panda turned and nodded earnestly. “Of course, I’m always good.”

Yaga chuckled, then gave Yuuta a final nod. “Goodbye, kids. Goodbye, Yuuta.”

“Bye, Principal Yaga,” Yuuta replied, lifting a hand in a casual wave as Yaga walked out the door. 

As the door clicked shut, Yuuta let out a sigh and slumped into a chair. He could already tell—it was going to be a long day.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Yuuta regrets his words, knowing that he manifested this. He spent the rest of the morning watching over Panda and Toge play around the courtyard, tagging each other. Yuuta had to observe them making sure they didn’t run off too far while they played. Since Maki and Nobara were out shopping and Fushiguro and Itadori were out on missions, it was only him today who could watch over the two of them. 

He didn’t mind, but his head wouldn’t stop worrying. A few times when Toge would scrape his leg or Panda would fall face first in the dirt, he would have to get up and check them over. He kept in his bag a small box of bandaids luckily, as cleaned Toge’s leg off with his water bottle, before giving him the bandaid and placed it over his knee cap. Toge didn’t fuss much about the bruising or cuts, but Panda would express his discomfort better. 

After giving them a quick lecture on being mindful of where they are running, they were off playing again. Yuuta sighs, leaning against a tree, while watching the two of them start up another game of cops and robbers. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Yuuta trying to wrangle everyone inside for a quick lunch of peanut butter sandwiches, the one thing he was confident in making. But Panda’s curiosity got the best of him. While Yuuta wasn’t looking, Panda managed to open a cupboard and snatch a can of tuna. By the time Yuuta caught him, Panda was already licking the can clean, earning a stern look as Yuuta crossed his arms. Panda gave a small apology before trotting over to the table where Toge was sitting, doodling on a piece of paper with the few colored pens Yuuta had managed to find—one of which was a highlighter.

Yuuta set down the plate of cut up sandwiches for them to eat, looking over at the drawing Toge was doing. It was an orange highlighted fish. Toge looked up at him and signed “Nemo!” 

“That is Nemo,” Yuuta confirms, ruffling his hair before watching the two eat. 

Toge takes smaller bites in comparison to Panda, but that should be a given. Panda also stole half a sandwich from Toge, but Toge got back at him by stealing some of his chips. Yuuta had to split them up, because they kept stealing from one another. 

After lunch, Toge and Panda wanted to head back outside, much to Yuuta’s dismay. He was sure they’d be ready for a nap after all the playing they’d done, but the two kept insisting, tugging at his hands to take them out. With a sigh of defeat, Yuuta led them back to the courtyard.

Panda and Toge seemed to feed off each other's energy, bouncing off every surface they touched. The more they played, the more creative they became. While playing cops and robbers again, Panda, acting as the cop, began picking up small pebbles and tossing them at Toge, the robber, all while making pistol noises as if he were shooting a gun.

Toge, in a rebellious mood, grabbed a large stick and swung it at Panda, who barely dodged in time. Yuuta quickly intervened, separating the two before things escalated. He confiscated both the stick and the pebbles, leaving them to come up with a different game. Unfazed, Panda shrugged and gently tapped Toge, declaring, "You're it!"

Yuuta sighed, shaking his head as he watched the two boys dart off again. Deciding to take a break, he sat down beside a tree, content to keep an eye on them from a distance.

After about two hours of energetic play, Toge came running back, leaping onto Yuuta and clinging to him, clearly ready for a nap. Yuuta chuckled, wrapping his arms around the little one, only to be caught off guard as Panda tackled him from the side, knocking the wind out of him. Panda, being a bit heavier than Toge, settled down beside them with a satisfied grin.

The two boys quickly dozed off, nestled against Yuuta's chest. Smiling, Yuuta held them both closer, nuzzling them gently with his head.

Though Yuuta wasn’t one to nap, or even sleep much, he found himself leaning back, closing his eyes, and listening to the soft sounds of the forest. He didn’t fall asleep, but instead slipped into a tranquil state, meditating as he felt the steady rhythm of Toge’s breathing and Panda’s gentle snoring. It was a moment of pure bliss.

The peaceful moment was abruptly interrupted by the snap of a phone camera. Yuuta cracked one eye open and saw Maki and Nobara giggling as they scrolled through the photos they had just taken.

“You look like you’re having a blast,” Maki teased, smirking.

Yuuta rolled his eyes before closing them again. “Watching over two hyper six-year-old boys is incredibly meditative, Maki. You should give it a try sometime.”

Maki scoffed, pretending to gag. “Ugh, no thanks. Daughters only for me, please.”

Nobara chimed in with a playful grin, “Oh, I wouldn’t mind, as long as I get to dress them!” She swung a bag in the air. “I brought goodies!”

Apparently, that caught Toge’s attention, as his little head lifted from Yuuta’s chest. “Hmm?”

His sleepy eyes squinted, trying to focus on the commotion. Yuuta gently shushed him, smoothing down his hair. “You can keep sleeping; it’s fine,” he whispered.

But Nobara wasn’t having any of that. “I said I’ve got gifts!” she announced again, louder this time.

Toge’s curiosity got the better of him, and he scrambled out of Yuuta’s lap to see what Nobara had brought. Yuuta pouted, but then hugged Panda closer to his chest. At least he still had one more little one to cuddle.

“Panda, I got you bamboo to munch on!” Nobara exclaims, causing Panda to stir. 

“Bamboo?” Panda asks groggily, rolling off of Yuuta to get to Nobara. 

Yuuta sighs, bending his legs closer to his chest. Fluffy is in his lap, Toge long forgotten about him for right now. 

The two girls crouched down, distributing gifts with wide smiles. Panda received a bundle of bamboo, and Toge was given a quilted scarf, along with other objects and sweets for the two of them to share. Yuuta couldn’t help but pout as he watched them wrap the scarf around Toge. He knew the little boy felt safer with his markings hidden, but Yuuta secretly resented it. Maybe it was selfish, but Yuuta adored Toge’s unique features—the snake eyes and fangs—and preferred when Toge felt confident enough to express himself openly.

The scarf was so long it practically swallowed Toge, but the boy seemed pleased with the gift, keeping it on as Nobara squealed and snapped a few more photos.

Meanwhile, Maki lifted Panda, feeding him the bamboo while watching him munch with amusement. The two girls clearly enjoyed spoiling the boys, treating them with the kind of care and affection they’d give to their own family, even if this moment wasn’t going to last forever.

“Yuuta, why don’t you go take a nap, while we watch them,” Maki suggests, ruffling Panda’s fur. 

Yuuta rolls his eyes. “No, no, it’s okay. I’m fine watching them.” 

Nobara frowns, picking up Toge from the ground and hugging him. “He wants to steal you all to himself,” she grouches, nuzzling her face with his. Toge hums, letting her give him such affection and not protesting. In fact, he leans into the touch, humming and smiling. 

“It’s not that,” Yuuta stampers out, trying to explain. “I’m just protective, I guess? I won’t relax if I can’t see or be of help.” 

Maki rolls her eyes, “Yeah, we know.” she says, hoisting Panda to sit on her hip. “But you can trust us, too, you know.” 

“I do, I do!” He protests. 

“Aweee,” Nobara comments, pointing at Yuuta, “I think it’s cute! He’s just protective over the kids! But that’s a given, since one of them is Toge.” 

Yuuta sighs, realizing he's going to be teased no matter what. Glancing at his phone, he notices the time—4:37 PM. They've been outside all day, and the hours seem to have flown by. With the sun beginning to set soon, he assumes Principal Yaga is running late since there’s been no word from him yet.

“So, what’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Nobara asks, looking over at him.

“Well,” Yuuta says, pausing to think, “it’s almost dinner time, so I need to figure that out. But after dinner, I thought I’d let them watch ‘Finding Nemo’ since Toge keeps talking about it. At least until Principal Yaga comes to pick up Panda.”

“Sounds fun!” A third voice says, walking over. They all turn to see that Itadori and Fushiguro have made it back, returning from their missions for the day. Yuuji waves at the two boys, before cooing at little Panda. 

Panda sees Megumi and huffs, turning his cheek. Nobara laughs, pointing at a sulking sorcerer. 

“Leave dinner to me! I’m thinking pasta!” Yuuji offers with a grin. Yuuta smiles, grateful for Yuuji stepping up to cook. He’s not much of a cook himself, and the idea of wrestling with dinner after such a long day wasn’t appealing at all.

“Let’s head out then,” Megumi suggests, gesturing toward the dining hall. “We should all start heading back, anyway.”

“Why?” Nobara asks, a bit puzzled.

Megumi sighs and lowers his voice, not wanting the kids to overhear. “I overheard Ijichi on the phone today. They’re bringing in some curses to the labs for observation.”

Yuuta’s expression hardens. “What grade are they?”

“First and seconds, I believe,” Megumi replies, nodding slightly. Yuuta immediately stands, securing Fluffy in one hand and gripping the strap of his katana with the other.

“Let’s head back,” he says firmly, leaving no room for argument. He waits for the others to start walking ahead before taking his place at the rear, keeping a watchful eye on everyone.

Yuuta trails behind the group, his eyes darting left and right as if expecting something to happen at any moment. He sighs, realizing he’s letting paranoia get the better of him again. They’ve transported first-grade curses here plenty of times for study—nothing unusual. Just as he tries to shake off the unease, a soft voice breaks through his thoughts.

“Yuuta,” Toge calls out, still clinging to Nobara but tilting his head on her shoulder to see Yuuta walking behind them.

Yuuta looks up, caught off guard, but quickly offers Toge a reassuring smile. “Hi, Toge.”

Toge squirms in Nobara’s arms, reaching out toward Yuuta. “Yuuta,” he mumbles, pointing at him. Nobara notices and exclaims, “Oh!” before gently passing Toge over into Yuuta’s embrace. She smiles at the pair before hurrying off to catch up with Maki and Panda.

Toge yawns, instantly feeling sleepy in Yuuta’s arms. Yuuta chuckles softly and hands him Fluffy. Toge grabs the plush toy and hugs it close to his chest. “Fluffy,” he murmurs.

Yuuta nods, smiling down at him. “That’s right, Fluffy,” he replies, breaking the comfortable silence. It seems like Toge now has two safewords: “Yuuta” and “Fluffy.” Those are the only two things he needs, apparently.

“Nemo? ” Toge signs, looking up at Yuuta with hopeful eyes.

Yuuta nods. “Yes, we can watch Nemo after dinner.”

“Everyone?” Toge signs again, curious.

Yuuta shrugs. “Yeah, we can ask if everyone wants to watch it too.”

Toge nods, then looks off into the distance, clearly deep in thought. Yuuta can tell he’s trying to figure out how to express something. Toge hesitates but finally signs, “Family?”

Yuuta blinks in surprise. “Family? You mean my family?” he asks, a little confused.

Toge nods, and then points at back at the rest of them. Oh.  

“Are they my family?” Yuuta questions again. 

Toge nods once again. 

“Yes, they are,” Yuuta confirms, giving Toge a gentle nudge. “But they’re your family too.”

Toge shakes his head, looking down as he signs, “I have family. My clan.”

Yuuta tightens his embrace, shaking his head softly. “No,” he says, ruffling Toge’s hair. “Family is what you make it. You get to decide who’s your family, not blood.”

“Family?” Toge signs again, looking up at him. “Me?”

“Yes, you choose,” Yuuta replies.

Toge pauses for a moment, then suddenly crashes into Yuuta, wrapping him in a tight hug. “Yuuta,” he says, holding onto Yuuta with his smaller arms, wrapping around Yuutas neck. 

Yuuta lets out a boyish laugh, before hugging him back. 

When they got back to their dormitory, Itadori and Fushiguro took off to get clean before making dinner. Yuuta nods, knowing he should probably get Toge and panda cleaned up, too. He informs this to Nobara and Maki, to which Nobara protests, saying she can at least take care of Panda. Knowing that her girlfriend really wants more time with a toddler, Maki backed her girlfriend. Yuuta exhales, looking at them with a blank expression, before giving up. Sure, if they want to deal with a fussy Panda trying to have a bath, they can go for it. 

Yuuta knows Toge should get a proper shower, so he heads to his own dorm. There’s a few privileges with having special grade status, and that’s having his own personal bathroom and shower in his dorm. It pisses his classmates, but his boyfriend Toge abuses his status, leaving all sorts of shampoos and soaps in there. 

Yuuta instructs Toge how to start the shower and where the supplies are, and gives him a set of fresh pajamas he found digging in the duffel bag from Gojo. Yuuta stands outside the door, just incase, knowing he shouldn’t leave a six year old in the shower unsupervised. Toge does his business though, and thirty minutes he was out of the bathroom, hair wet and shivering. Yuuta gives him his hoodie from early to wear while he properly dries off Toge’s hair with a towel. 

After the shower, they head to the dining/common area where Itadori was already there cooking alongside Megumi who was aiding. Toge runs to the sofa, with Fluffy in hand, and jumps on it so he can lay down. Yuuta snorts, but picks up a discarded blanket draped over the back of the sofa and lays it over Toge, he curls up and accepts it. The little one proceeds to doze off, while Yuuta scrolls on his phone beside him on the sofa. He hasn’t been checking up on his phone much lately. 

He notices a few missed calls from Shoko, the last one placed just 30 minutes ago. With a sigh, he decides he should step out and call her back—it seems urgent.

Carefully, he rises from his seat, trying not to disturb the sleeping figure beside him, who doesn’t even stir. Moving quietly to the door, he whispers to the two underclassmen, “I need to call Shoko.”

Megumi nods, continuing to cook, while Yuuji gives him a thumbs up with a smile.

Yuuta glances back at Toge, still napping peacefully on the couch. He’ll be fine, Yuuta reassures himself.

Stepping into the hallway, he presses call and waits. The phone rings and rings, but the call doesn’t go through. Yuuta frowns and tries again, still with no answer. A sense of unease creeps in as he extends his senses throughout the building, scanning for any unusual cursed energy. Finding none, he feels a bit more reassured about their safety, but his suspicion remains.

But he knows his growing anxiety won’t ease until he checks on Shoko. Flicking his phone off, he pockets it and heads back inside. He doesn’t want to leave them, but right now, he has no choice. It’ll be quick, and he’ll be back before Toge wakes up. Besides, he’s already decided that, other than himself, Toge is safest in Yuuji’s care.

As he walks back into the common area, he notices that Nobara and Maki have joined them, with a sleepy Panda dozing off on a beanbag. The girls are sitting at the island, watching the boys cook.

Yuuta bites his lip before walking over. “I have to go,” he says, hating the words even as he says them.

“Hm? Why?” Maki questions him, raising an eyebrow. 

“Shoko’s not answering her phone. I’m going to go check up on her,” he says. “I should be back before dinner.” 

“Okay! Sounds good!” Yuuji says, pouring the pasta into a boiling pot of water. “Call us if you need us!” 

“Actually, you guys should stay here and watch them,” he says, throwing a look at the two sleeping kids. 

Megumi nods, shrugging. “We can do that. No problem.”

Yuuta sighs, “thank you, I’ll be back soon.” 

“Relax,” Maki says, tossing her hand over, “They will be fine, they have four finest sorcerers to watch them.” 

Yuuta gives her a small smile. He’s right, they’re safest here with their care. He nods, before walking over to the couch to gently ruffle Toge’s hair, and patting Panda. He deeply inhales, before going to walk out, throwing a small bye over his shoulder. He doesn’t want to leave, but he needs to. Knowing Shoko it could just be her being lazy to answer his calls. It’s probably nothing. 

He heads down the halls, making it towards the exit of the building, walking down the stairs at a fast pace, he all but runs out of there. He tries to hustle over to Shoko’s, but it’s almost across campus. 

When he gets to the building, he has an eerie feeling. He can sense the curses and where they were transported to. He walks down the hall, going to where Shoko's office is. He knocks, but the door creaks open, showing nobody is in there. 

His suspicion rises, as he figures to continue to walk down the medical building. 

—-

Back in the common room, Itadori and Nobara begin to bicker, causing Panda to stir. He cracks his eyes open, squinting as he watches Megumi toss down a bag of trash into a door beside the corner of the window before walking back over to the island, and with his animal senses, he can hear it fall down a chute. Curious, Panda interest gets pique, before he pretends to be asleep again.

“Where did you put my shampoo, you doofus, I know you took it!” Nobara accuses Itadori, pointing at him. Itadori scoffs, before responding. 

“Why would I use your shampoo? I don’t like the way it smells, too minty for me.” He says, tongue sticking out to gag, 

“Then it was you!” She points to Megumi. 

He deadpans at her, “You really think I took it?” 

She throws her hands up in the air, shrugging, “I don’t know, but I know it has to be you two. I have gone through everyone’s stuff but you guys.” 

“Shh,” Maki says, putting her finger up and then pointing at the two kids napping, “you don’t want to wake them up, so you?” 

Nobara scoffs, “please, those two can sleep through anything,” before turning her interest back to the two boys, accusing them again. She stands up, getting up in their faces now. 

Itadori squeals, as Nobara grabs his shirt and pins him to the wall. She will get him to confess one way or another. Maki laughs getting up to support her girlfriend while Megumi winces, watching in anticipation to see if Nobara is going to beat him. 

Panda takes this as his moment. He slowly gets up and crawls over to Toge, poking him with his claw. The little human continues to snooze, before Panda kept poking him. Toge then jolts awake, eyes looking up at Panda, who brings one of his paws up to his face, making a shush motion. 

“I need your help, but we have to be quiet and quick, while they’re still fighting,” he whispers, looking over at the teenagers. 

Toge slowly gets up, nodding as he yawns quietly and runs his hands. 

Panda ushers him to crawl over to the door to the chute, luckily it’s blocked by a bookcase, so once they’re there they won’t be able to see them. 

Toge crawls quickly behind him. He looks up and sees that both girls have the boys pinned, Maki is laughing out loud, yelling at Megumi, “you better tell her!”

Toge winces but quickly hustles behind Panda.

When they reach the bookcase, they find a hidden door. Panda turns to Toge, whispering in his ear.

“I need you to hold onto my legs while I crawl in and see where this leads,” Panda instructs. The young human nods, eager to help his animal companion.

“Okay, here I go,” Panda says, slowly opening the door and beginning to crawl in. Toge grabs onto both of Panda’s legs, grunting with the effort. Panda shuffles in a bit more.

“I can’t see anything yet; I need to go in farther,” Panda says, continuing to move forward. Toge shakes his head, knowing he can’t hold Panda’s weight much longer, but he promised not to speak again, so he remains silent.

As Panda inches forward, the weight becomes too much, and momentum starts to take over. Before he knows it, Panda is sliding down a hidden chute.

“Uh oh,” Panda mutters as he starts to lose control. He turns and grabs Toge’s hand, trying to stop their descent, but it’s too late.

Toge gasps as he’s pulled in with Panda. His small frame can’t support the cursed corpse’s weight, and the two boys are sent tumbling down the chute. Panda goes first, rolling and yelling as he slides.

Toge winces, bracing himself for the fall, trying his best to stay quiet so he doesn’t accidentally use cursed speech.

They tumble down the chute, with Panda landing first, belly-flopping onto a pile of bags. He grunts, but the bags cushion his fall, leaving him uninjured. Toge follows soon after, landing directly on Panda, which softens his own fall. He then rolls off Panda, tumbling down the pile and onto the cold, hard ground with a groan.

Toge slowly gets up, feeling the gritty, dirty surface beneath him. He looks around and realizes they’ve landed outside, in what seems to be a dump. Panda, still sprawled on top of the garbage pile, tries to get up as well. 

A sense of dread washes over Toge—he knows he needs to get back quickly, or Yuuta will be upset for breaking one of the rules.

He groans again as he sits up, noticing scrapes on his knees and palms. He wipes the dirt off on his pant leg before pushing himself to his feet. His leg aches slightly, but he forces himself to walk over to Panda, determined to ignore the pain. He can still move, and that’s what matters now.

Panda rolls down, landing beside Toge. He voices his concerns and complaints louder. “Oww,” the Panda says, moving to sit on his bottom. 

Toge gets in front of him before signing “ We need to go.” 

Panda questions him, “Go where?” 

Toge looks at him, sternly. “Yuuta will be mad.” 

Panda snorts, shaking off the dirt as he stands up. "Okay, okay, let’s head back."

Toge glances around and spots Fluffy lying discarded on the ground. He quickly rushes over to grab the stuffed toy, remembering he had tucked it into his hood earlier. He stuffs him back in his pocket and then turns to Panda. Meanwhile, Panda's attention is caught by the trash surrounding them. He pokes at one of the bags, revealing a few discarded books.

"Who throws out books?" Panda asks, his voice tinged with sadness.

Toge looks over his shoulder, offering a small shrug in response. Just as he's about to turn back, his body suddenly goes rigid.

A menacing hiss slithers through the air, followed by the sharp sound of nails scraping against wood. Panda winces, covering his ears against the piercing noise.

" Oh ? " a chilling voice echoes, dripping with malice. " Young sorcerers . "

Chapter Text

Yuuta rushes through the dimly lit corridors of the medical building, descending deeper into the basement where the laboratory is located. His heart pounds in his chest, a sense of dread eating at him. Something is terribly wrong.

He skids to a halt in front of a door that’s been ripped off its hinges, the wood splintered and claw marks are deep into it. Without hesitation, he dashes inside and finds Shoko hunched over an injured lab worker, her hands glowing with the energy of her reverse cursed technique. The room is a chaotic mess with broken cages and shattered glass that are laid out everywhere.

“Shoko!” Yuuta calls out, sprinting toward her.

She looks up, relief washing over her features. “Thank god you’re here. Something’s gone wrong. I don’t know how, but all the curses have escaped.”

Her gaze shifts back to the unconscious man she’s tending to. He has claw marks and slashes across his chest. He looks around, but none of them are dead, just gravely wounded. “They need medical attention, but I need you to go and stop those curses.”

Yuuta nods, gripping his katana tightly. His ring burns with heat, but he hesitates to summon Rika, unsure if the situation warrants her appearance just yet. He doesn’t like to abuse her power if he can do it himself, he doesn’t like relying on her, “How many curses are we dealing with?” he asks, scanning the room for any signs of the escaped creatures.

Shoko, still focused on her work, glances up briefly. “I’m not sure, but at least 10, maybe 15 first-grade curses. They haven’t tried coming back here; they’re likely trying to escape the campus. Go, Yuuta. I’ll be fine.”

She pauses and holds her hand out to stop him, remembering one thing. “But be careful, there’s one curse that is ungraded. I think it's the one who broke the other’s free. I know it’s smart and capable of speech.” 

“Got it,” Yuuta replies, determination hardening his features as he bolts for the door. Abandoning his usual policy about using his speed indoors, he races out of the building in mere seconds. Once outside, he pauses, closing his eyes to sense any nearby curses. There ; he’s locked onto one.

In a blur, Yuuta dashes to the left, swinging around a corner. With a swift motion, he decapitates the curse before it even realizes he’s there. He hesitates, realizing the situation does require him to warn the others. He had to put in an effort of cursed energy into defeating it in one blow. He needs to warn them so that they can protect Toge and Panda. 

Pulling out his phone, he quickly dials Itadori’s number. Yuuji answers on the third ring, his voice barely audible over the background commotion. “Hello?”

“There’s around 15 first grade curses roaming the school. Protect Toge and Panda.” Yuuta says directly, before dashing off to where he believes he spots another. 

Yuuta dashes behind it, stabbing it in the neck with one hand, the phone in the other. Yuuta Twists the blade, as the curse screams out in anguish. Yuuta looks down in disgust, as some of its blood has got on his white converse shoes. 

“Got it.” Yuuji says, before hanging up the phone. Yuuta hears the line go, so he pockets the phone and yanks out the blade. The curse still writhers, trying to fight. Yuuta lifts up his foot and kicks it in the head, watching as the head rolls off it’s shoulders. Two down.

—

Yuuji turns to the others, who are still bickering. Maki and Megumi have started wrestling, locked in a playful struggle. Nobara is chilling on the island, looking down at her phone, probably playing a game, 

“Guys,” Itadori says, his tone suddenly serious. The energy of the room quickly shifted. “We’ve got a situation. The curses are roaming the campus—about 15 of them, according to Yuuta.”

Maki and Megumi freeze, turning to face him.

“Does Yuuta need backup?” Nobara asks, quickly getting up from her chair.

“No,” Yuuji replies, shaking his head. “He said we need to protect Toge and Panda.”

Maki snorts, laughing. That idiot Yuuta is always so protective of others. “Well, those two are right there, snoring-” She stops mid-sentence, her expression shifting to alarm as she glances over to where Toge and Panda were sleeping, only to find their spot deserted except for the scattered blankets. “Oh no,” she mutters.

“THEY’RE GONE!” Nobara exclaims, scrambling to move out of the room. She runs down the hall to where their rooms are at. “Yuuta is going to kill us!”

“We need to find them,” Megumi says urgently, sprinting after Nobara down the halls and checking every nook and cranny. They’re probably playing a poor game of hide and seek, at the worst possible time, ever. 

Yuuji bursts out of the common area, a sense of dread painting him. “I’m going to check outside.”

Maki, catching up, says, “I’m coming with you. This is my fault.”

“There’s no time for blame!” Yuuji shouts, racing ahead. They both dash down the stairs and burst through the building doors. Yuuji turns to her, saying, “You go left, I’ll go right!”

“Got it!” Maki replies, disappearing into the distance with sharp eyes scanning for any sign of the children.

Yuuji focuses ahead and spots a curse lurking in the shadows. His eyes narrow as he channels his cursed energy into his fist. Tonight , he’ll make sure this situation will end tonight. 

—

Toge feels his body tremble as he instinctively steps back, placing a protective hand in front of Panda. What could Panda possibly do in this situation? He’s a Panda! Panda lets out a low growl, bearing his smaller teeth. 

His wide eyes lock onto the curse looming over them. It’s tall and green, with bulging eyes protruding from the sides of its head. Long, drooping antennae dangle from its head, swaying as it moves. The curse's red eyes narrow menacingly, focusing on the two boys. Its body is segmented like an insect, with a head, thorax, and abdomen. Two arms extend from its body, each equipped with small, sharp blades beneath. One of its large claws reaches out toward them, moving with calculated precision.

Toge gasps, recognizing the creature before them. It’s a giant, cursed scary version of a praying mantis. He would know, he loves Kung Fu Panda. 

Toge regrets his actions before doing it, knowing it’s going to make Yuuta mad, but he has to. He has to break another rule. 

He opens his mouth, yelling out, “Don’t move!”

Toge feels his throat shred, as he coughs before grabbing Panda’s paw and running. Panda trots behind him, looking back as Toge pulls him farther away. The curse was blocking them from getting in the building, so they have to run away from getting back inside the safe doors. 

Toge coughs out again, feeling blood trinkle down his chin. He doesn’t know much about his speech, but he knows his voice usually hurts from talking to strong people. It really hurts talking to this curse. 

They both keep running down, heading straight head, trying to get into the other building. Panda tries to open the door, but it doesn’t budge automatically. The door is locked. Panda tries to use his strength to pry it open, while Toge looks at him and hopes he gets it. 

Toge glances behind them, seeing another curse coming their way. This one looks like a moth, and it flies to them like it’s attracted to the light. It screeches, causing the panda to whimper and cover his ears, while toge is forced to open his mouth again. They can’t do anything if their ears won’t stop hurting. 

“Shut up!” Little Toge yells. Coughing out again. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts. 

The moth does quiet down, but it doesn’t stop it. The moth takes aim, directing a hit to both of them with its wings. Toge gets separated from Panda, as he lies on the ground wincing, colliding with a trash can. He hurries to scramble up, even if his face hurts from the fall. 

The moth dives again for him, but this time, Toge sees it and he’s able to jump out of the way. He huffs, and he dodges the dive by doing a flip over. Toge lands in a summersault, before his eyes widen and turn to look back. Panda is still laying on the ground, body hidden in a corner, possibly hurt. He needs to get them away from him.

Toge starts running off, farther down the path, making it the same way that’s towards the garden, he thinks. Maybe he can hide out there.

He keeps running, his heart pounding in his chest as he glances back, seeing both the moth and the prey mantis closing in on him. Their pursuit is relentless, and the eerie chuckle of the pray mantis sends shivers down his spine. " Hungry ," it croaks, its broken speech laced with cruel intent.

Toge stumbles as he runs through the trees, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He ducks behind a large trunk, pressing his back against the rough bark. His lungs burn, and his hands tremble as he tries to steady his breathing, but fear consumes him like a disease. Tears prick at the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision. He can’t let Yuuta down. He can’t.

" I don’t want Yuuta to be mad, I don’t want Yuuta to be mad, I don’t want Yuuta to be mad," Toge repeats to himself in his head like a mantra, forcing his legs to move again. He pushes off from the tree and bolts deeper into the forest, the shadows thickening around him. He can handle this. He has to. All he needs to do is lose them, get them off his back. Then everything will be okay.

As he sprints forward, he suddenly feels a weight shift. Fluffy, the small bear that had been tucked safely in his jacket, slips out and tumbles onto the ground. Toge’s breath catches in his throat as he risks a glance back, seeing Fluffy lying there, slowly fading into the distance as he keeps running. His heart aches, but there’s no time to go back. Fluffy will have to wait. He’ll come back for him later. Fluffy will be fine. He just has to keep going.

Toge hears the moth screech again, as he winces, but tries not to cover his ears. His throat hurts, and he can feel blood dripping out. He’s not trying to leave a trail, but the blood slips down his chin and throat to cover his nice clothes that Yuuta gave him in his own blood. 

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts. 

His pain echoes in the back of his head. Toge makes a sharp left turn, trying to throw them off. He hears rustling and commotion, as the moth screeches once more. The desperate blood scream it releases isn't usual, as if he got hurt. 

Toge hears another voice cutting through the darkness, a twisted echo that chills him to the bone. "Food, mine ," it snarls, the words garbled and disjointed. His eyes widen in shock as he realizes what’s happening—the prey mantis has turned on the moth. A curse has attacked a curse. Monsters hurt their own kind.

He feels a strange mix of fear and hope bubbling up inside him. The curses are distracted, which means he has a chance. But the sounds of them tearing into each other, so viciously, makes him sick to his stomach. He has to keep moving, keep running. There's no time to stop and think about what he's just heard.

With a determined breath, Toge forces his little legs to move faster, ignoring the burning pain in his muscles. He’s exhausted, but he knows he can’t give up. Not now. Not when he’s so close to getting away. The trees blur together as he races ahead, the ground beneath him uneven. He stumbles over a tree root, almost falling, but catches himself just in time, pushing forward with all the strength he has left.

The sounds of the curses fighting grow fainter behind him, and for a brief moment, he dares to hope that he’s managed to escape. But he knows better than to slow down. They’re still out there, and he can’t let his guard down. Not even for a second.

As he weaves through the dense forest, his mind races. He needs a plan, something to throw them off his trail for good. He scans his surroundings, searching for anything that might help— preferably a hiding spot. Maybe he can hide out while the cursed give up and go away. But the forest is dark and unfamiliar, and panic starts to creep in. 

Toge's breath catches as he spots a narrow crevice between two large rocks up ahead. It’s a tight squeeze, but it might just be enough to hide him, at least for a little while. He changes course, heading straight for it. His heart pounds in his ears, the sound almost drowning out the crunch of leaves underfoot. He just has to reach it, to crawl in and wait. If he can just make it there, he might have a chance to catch his breath, to think of a way out of this nightmare.

As Toge begins to crawl away, a cold, clammy grip seizes his leg, yanking him out of the hole. Startled, he turns to find the Praying Mantis curse looming over him, its bulging eyes fixed on him with a curious glint.

Toge opens his mouth to shout, but the curse’s other hand strikes him in the chest, knocking the breath out of him before he can utter a word.

“Little human ,” the curse hisses, lowering its head closer to Toge. It inhales deeply, taking in his scent.

“ Sorcerers taste good ,” it murmurs, its mouth opening wide as a long, slimy tongue slithers out, licking his face.

Toge sobs, scrambling to get away, but his body is weak from the blow. He coughs, choking on his own fear, while the insect watches him with sinister delight, savoring the moment.

One of its sharp claws stabs into the ground beside his head, and Toge flinches, gasping as he looks up at the monstrous creature. The curse retracts its tongue, the malice in its eyes unmistakable. It’s playing with him.

“Tastes good,” the curse hisses, bringing its other claw to Toge's face. The sharp edge slices his cheek, and warm blood trickles down, stinging as it flows.

Toge has had enough. Trembling, he weakly commands, “Let me go!”

The curse releases him instantly, and Toge stumbles to his feet, nearly collapsing but managing to brace himself against a tree trunk. He bends over, coughing up more blood than he’s ever seen, his head spinning from the effort.

Gasping for air, Toge tries to run, putting a few yards between himself and the curse. But his voice is too weak, and the Praying Mantis quickly recovers, charging at him.

With a yelp, Toge is thrown aside, crashing into a tree. Pain shoots through his back as he lands, and he cries out, watching in terror as the curse stalks toward him, its eyes leering. He chokes on a sob as it grabs his shoulder, pinning him down once more, the pressure unbearable.

“ Bad human, ” the monster comments. 

Toge's heart has begun to beat out of his chest, as he see razor sharp blades for teeth smiling down at him. He tries to wrap his little head about anything, thinking for what he could do. What could he do? He coughs again, more blood spilling from the sides of his mouth. 

Toge doesn’t want to be alone—he wants Yuuta.

Tears stream down his face as the Praying Mantis slaps him again, toying with him like a helpless prey. All he can hear in his mind is Yuuta’s voice, telling him that everything will be okay. Yuuta, Yuuta, Yuuta.

“YUUTAAA!” Toge screams, using the last of his strength. His voice is hoarse, his body trembling as the cry echoes. The curse strikes him again, punishing him for breaking the silence, and he chokes on another cough, his chest burning.

He’s terrified of being alone.

—

His katana swings in the air, hitting one of the curses straight in the forehead. It falls backyard, dead. 

Yuuta grunts as he retrieves his blade, surveying the area. These curses have been strange—each one an insect of some kind. First a caterpillar, then a spider, and now a mosquito.

Clicking his tongue in frustration, he senses two more curses fleeing. His instincts kick in, and he starts after them, scanning the surroundings for anything unusual. What kind of curses are these, and why did the school want to study them? They all seem connected somehow.

He sighs, dragging his blade behind him, the tip grazing the grass. All he wants is to return to his room and eat the pasta Yuuji made with Toge. But getting back before dinner isn’t happening now. He just hopes Toge isn’t upset with him for leaving.

Yuuta's ears prick up, his eyes narrowing as he catches the sound of distant commotion. Something is screeching, the sound raw and desperate, as if it's being torn apart. That's strange—he's supposed to be the only one out here hunting curses. No one else should be attacking.

Another screech reaches his ears, and his curiosity spikes. He starts moving toward the noise, weaving between the trees with a growing sense of unease. As he pushes forward, he suddenly senses something off to the side, a faint residual of cursed energy. He veers toward it, crouching down to dig through the shrub.

When his fingers brush against something soft, his eyes widen in recognition. It's a stuffed animal. Fluffy?

Why is Fluffy out here? Yuuta frowns, trying to piece it together. He could’ve sworn he left Toge curled up on the couch with the bear. As he inspects it, he feels a faint trace of cursed energy lingering on the toy. Something’s not right—Toge should have Fluffy with him, not abandoned in the woods.

Another screech pierces the air, followed by a voice, sinister and unsettling. The curse Shoko warned him about.

Yuuta's heart races as he dashes through the shrubs, heading straight for the source of the noise. He quickly tucks Fluffy into his belt, improvising since he doesn’t have his bag on him. He can't shake the feeling that he’s running out of time.

He gets to the scene of the crime, and there’s purple blood smeared all over the trees. Wings ripped off and tossed aside. A carcass of a body with no head, twitching. The head is presumably nowhere to be found, Yuuta observes tensely. It was eaten. 

Who killed it? Where is the thing that ripped off it’s head? Yuuta freezes, realizing one possibility. That thing that caused this massacre is out here, and Fluffy is out here. He feels his heart beat, pounding out of his chest. Toge might be out here, with that thing. 

As if on queue, yuuta’s head picks up hearing a cry from far in the distance. 

“YUUTAAA!” he hears, body goes into shock. The scream was full of terror and cursed energy. He would’ve heard that scream if he was across campus. That’s little Toge, screaming out his name for help. 

Yuuta's body springs into action before his mind can even catch up, driven purely by instinct. His eyes narrow, and his grip tightens on his katana as he draws it in one fluid motion. In a heartbeat, he zeroes in on the source of the commotion, his senses honed on. 

Within seconds, he locates Toge, sprawled on the ground, pinned under the weight of the monstrous mantis. Toge’s frail form is trembling, tears streaming down his face as he tries to curl up, choking on his sobs. The mantis looms over him, its disturbing head lowering as it sniffs at him, savoring the anticipation of its next meal.

But the curse’s twisted game is abruptly cut short. Its head jerks up, sensing the overwhelming surge of dark, cursed energy coming toward it. Its bulging, insect eyes widen in terror, but it’s too late. The mantis barely has time to react, its legs scrabbling futilely against the ground in a desperate attempt to flee.

Yuuta's expression hardens, his gaze icy with focus. Without hesitation, he channels an overabundance of cursed energy into his katana, the blade crackling with lethal intent. He dashes forward in a blur of motion, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. The mantis barely registers the attack before Yuuta's blade cleaves through its body, slicing it cleanly in two.

The curse doesn’t even have time to scream. It’s obliterated in an instant, the sheer force of Yuuta’s attack leaving no room for survival. As the pieces of the mantis fall to the ground, lifeless, Yuuta stands over Toge, breathing heavily, his katana still humming with residual energy.

Yuuta drops to his knees, moving to pick up Toge. Toge had closed his eyes long ago, hands above his head, trying to hide away from the monster. His body was shaking. He was shivering in terror.

“Toge…” Yuuta says, gently scoping him holding him to observe his injuries. 

Toge keeps sobbing while Yuuta tries to reassure him with words. Yuuta sees the amount of blood that has poured out of Toge’s voice. He tried fighting it. Oh, toge. Yuuta feels himself choking back a sob, as he starts to apply some RCT to his throat. He’s been crying so much that he’s barely making any noise, his throat shredded. 

“It’s okay, little one,” Yuuta murmurs, his voice steady and calming as he tries to soothe the trembling boy. Miraculously, Toge seems to hear him, his eyes fluttering open with a flinch. The moment he sees Yuuta, recognition washes over him. Yuuta is here. Yuuta has found him.

He lets out as much as a whimper as he can, throwing himself into yuuta’s chest, hands gripping his shirt like he's afraid Yuuta will leave him. He smears his blood onto Yuuta’s nice white jacket, but the older teen couldn’t care less. Toge almost died.

“I’m here, I’m here,” Yuuta murmurs repeatedly, pouring more of his Reversed Cursed Technique into Toge’s small, trembling form.

Toge’s shaking begins to subside, whether from the calming effects of the RCT or sheer exhaustion after his ordeal, Yuuta isn’t sure. But it doesn’t matter now. “You’re safe,” he reassures softly, continuing to heal him.

A small hiccup escapes Toge, followed by a weak, hoarse whisper muffle into his shirt . “Yuudah…”

Yuuta gently shushes him, his hand smoothing down Toge’s disheveled hair. “Shh, it’s okay,” he soothes, his voice a soft balm. “Save your voice.”

He pours a little more RCT before cutting it off. He doesn’t want to over do it. Toge is smaller, he’s a child, he doesn’t know what he can handle. Toge goes slack in his arms, sniffling.

But if Toge is one thing, it is persistent. He lifts a small hand, slowly and sluggishly signing. “I’m sorry.”

That’s what shatters Yuuta. Curse spirits be damned—nothing else matters to him right now. The fact that Toge is apologizing, when Yuuta should be the one apologizing for not rescuing him sooner, breaks his heart. Tears well up in his eyes as he pulls Toge closer to his chest, tucking him into his embrace.

“No, no, don’t apologize,” Yuuta says, his voice trembling as he fights back tears. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

His hand comes to hold Toge’s head with one, the other wrapping around his body. God, he could’ve lost Toge. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself, not without Toge in his life. Not after everything with Rika. He can’t go through that again. Toge is going to live a happy long life full of love and joy, Yuuta will make sure of that. 

Yuuta lets out a deep exhale, before inhaling shakily. 

They sit on the forest ground for how ever long it is before Toge goes slack in his hold. Toge finally fell unconscious. He was probably fighting it off, scared to go to sleep. Yuuta sighs, knowing he needs to go back. There’s still curses out here, he can sense them. But he doesn’t want to fight anymore. He needs to take care of Toge. 

Yuuta looks down at the ring on his head, before summoning her. 

“Rika.” He calls out, voice lower, as his cursed energy turns dark once more. 

“Yes, Yuuta?” her voice calls out, and slowly, he sees her manifest in front of him. 

“Kill all the curses you see on campus.” He tells her, nodding his head off to where a batch of them reside. 

Rika giggles, before letting out a girly squeal, excited to go out and play. “Rika will gladly!”

Rika takes off with a voosh , as her laughter is heard echoing in the trees. She’s playing tag, and the curses are it. She will handle it while having her own fun. 

Yuuta exhales before moving to get up, holding little Toge to him in a protective stance. He starts walking over the way to where the dorms are. Yuuta only has one thing in mind, he wants to get Toge cleaned up and then for them to go to bed. He doubts Toge will be waking up anytime from now, pasta a long forgotten desire. 

He makes sure that Fluffy is still attached to his belt, confirming he’s there. He would hate for Toge to lose him again. 

The older sorcerer strides back with long echoing steps, his narrowed eyes betraying the intensity of his focus. He can't hold back his cursed energy, which spills out, creating a tense aura around them both.

As he walks, the distant screams of curses fill his ears—Rika is tearing them apart. That's where Yuuta and Rika differ in battle. Yuuta prefers swift, decisive strikes, ending the fight as quickly as possible. Rika, on the other hand, likes to play. She toys with the remains, lingering until her next victim catches her interest.

Rika’s giggles fill the air, as Yuuta sees in the corner of his eyes her ripping the wings off of a beetle. It hisses in pain, as she lifts it up and then smashes it against the side of a building. Yuuta can’t find it in him to care all that much about what she’s doing, he wants them all dead. Dead for hurting Toge. 

He’s glad that Toge is asleep, not being more traumatized by the remains of curses spread around campus. 

Yuuta continues walking until he reaches the dormitory. Ahead, he spots Nobara and Megumi handing a battered and unconscious Panda over to Principal Yaga. 

Yuuta's eyes narrow into a fierce glare. How did they all end up getting hurt?

He overhears Megumi cautiously say, “Yuuji and Maki are stopping them right now. They’re looking for Toge, as well.” 

Principal Yaga nods, his gaze fixed on his injured son. Panda lies unconscious, covered in cuts and bruises. The curses likely didn’t target him because he’s not human—he isn’t their preferred prey.

Suddenly, everyone’s heads snap up, sensing the overwhelming wave of dark cursed energy approaching. Nobara gasps, probably never having felt anything like this before. His energy is suffocating, some would describe as sinister. There's a reason they call him second only to Gojo.

Megumi shifts on his feet, and Principal Yaga watches as Yuuta comes up to them. 

Yuuta's expression is icy, his face set in a cold, emotionless mask. His usually bright blue eyes are darkened as he strides forward, ignoring everyone around him. As he walks, he hears Nobara gasp, covering her mouth as she whispers Toge's name.

Without breaking stride, Yuuta heads toward the building. Megumi tries to speak, "Yuuta, I—"

"No." Yuuta cuts him off, his tone cold, as he opens the door with the hand clutching his katana. He has no patience for conversations right now. He doesn’t want to hear their apologies or excuses. What happened could have been prevented if they would have just listened to him, and protected the two. Why didn’t they protect them?

He moves up the steps, ascending the stairs and Toge remains unconscious in his arms. He needs to get Toge cleaned up. Toge lost so much blood, spilling it all over his clothes. Even Fluffy has gotten a cut, some of his fluffing has poked out. Nobody has remained unharmed but him. 

He moves down the hall towards Toge’s bedroom, grabbing the same pajamas that he wore last night. It’ll have to do. He then shuffles off to his own room, towards his bathroom. The shower has a tub built in, so Yuuta gentle sits Toge down while he sits on the edge. 

He peels off the top that is drenched with blood. He tosses it aside, discarding it, as he uses a damp towel to scrub off the blood on his face and down his neck. 

God, it’s everywhere . 

Yuuta fights back tears as he gently cleans him up, scrubbing the corners of his mouth. Toge was really trying to fight until the very end. He tried his best without Yuuta. Older Toge could have taken on that monster, but not little Toge. He’s untrained and his cursed energy was less than that of the curse. He had no chance if Yuuta didn’t hear his name. 

Yuuta wipes away his tears, smearing them onto his jacket sleeve. He knows he shouldn’t cry—he's not the one who’s hurt.

But as he looks down at Toge, broken and injured, he can't help but remember seeing Rika lying lifeless on the road. He chokes back more tears, the thought of how close Toge came to a similar fate if he’d been just a few minutes later. He would have failed him, too.

Yuuta leans forward, pulling Toge close to his chest again. The boy remains still, his head falling gently into the new position. Finally, Yuuta gives in, tears streaming down as he cradles Toge’s head.

“I’m sorry,” he chokes out between sobs. He’s so, so sorry that this had to be Toge’s life. 

Chapter Text

Sleep didn’t come easy to Yuuta that night.

Not like sleep was ever easy for him to begin with, but today was especially different. After he got Toge cleaned up and dressed, he tucked him in his bed for the night. Toge’s cursed energy was growing back to where it’s usually was, so Yuuta knew he didn’t need to worry about any damages (but of course he still does). 

After tucking in Toge, Yuuta changed into new clothes as well. He takes to his katana, picking it up and grabs a rag from his bag to clean the blade. He needs to be doing something, or he’ll feel useless. He could tell long ago that Rika had gotten all the curses, with probably Itadori and Zen’in’s help. Rika didn’t even appear in front of him, just slowly returned back without disturbing him. He’s slightly grateful for that, it’s like she knew that he just needed the space.

He’s probably wiped the blade clean 20 times by now, but it had become his nervous habit. The curse’s blood long gone from the blade, as the metal is clean enough to see a reflection. Something else draws his attention on the floor from where he sat. Fluffy. 

He forgot that fluffy got hurt out there too, as he sets the blade back into its proper bag and reaches out to grab the stuff animal. He inspects it, holding it in his lap. The arm has been ripped, dangling off by a few threads. 

Figuring it will give him something else to do, he searches Toge’s room for a sewing box. It happened to be up on the high shelf in the closet. Yuuta remembers how Toge had instructed him to put it up there, since he couldn’t quite reach the high shelf without a chair to stand on. Yuuta hums, grabbing the box, before sitting back down on his bedroll. 

He learned how to sew from his mother, long ago when he was younger. Yuuta was a clumsy child, so he would always fall and scrape his knees, putting holes into his new pants. Instead of his mother reprimanding him for it, she just taught him how to fix it instead, to sew patches in the jeans. 

Yuuta threads the needle, and begins his work, patching up the stuffed animal. It was an easy task, but Yuuta made sure it was secure. He didn’t want to risk ruining Toge’s childhood stuffed animal again. 

He is cautious, so he begins sewing it again, and again. He made sure that it was secured, before going ahead and began to clean the fur up gently with the damp rag. He brushes off the dirt, good as new. He places it on Toge’s bed, where the little one is snoozing off. 

Yuuta watches for a while Toge’s chest rising up and down, breathing. His face was drawn without emotion, as he already cried out his tears from earlier. Yuuta chuckles to himself,nervously, scratching the back of his head, if this is what having a child is like, that I’m not ready. 

But he’s always dreamed of having a child, imagining a small family of his own, despite knowing it’s a selfish wish. People say it’s selfish for sorcerers to have families, knowing they might not make it home. That’s why Nanami refuses to settle down—no one wants to hear that their father or husband isn’t coming back, and in this line of work, it’s almost inevitable.

Still, maybe ten years from now, Yuuta can allow himself to be selfish, just once.

His thoughts are interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Yuuta’s heart sinks as he debates whether he’s ready to talk. Closing his eyes, he senses who’s on the other side. It’s Itadori.

Yuuta holds a lot of respect for his underclassman. He knows Itadori has the potential to become just as strong as him, maybe even stronger. Yuuji’s a good guy at heart, with a protective streak that rivals Yuuta’s own. In many ways, Yuuta sees himself in Yuuji—both of them still under the shadow of an execution order, burdened with immense cursed energy they never asked for. So, he knows why Yuuji’s here—to apologize.

Yuuta sighs, then rises and walks toward the door. It’s only fair to listen, even if part of him wants to ignore it.

When Yuuta opens the door, his expression is stern as he looks down at Yuuji. Standing to his full height, his presence becomes imposing, and the tension in the air thickens. Yuuji hesitates, beginning to speak, but Yuuta raises a hand, cutting him off before a single word escapes. Without a word, Yuuta steps into the hallway, closing the door softly behind him to avoid waking Toge.

Leaning back against the door, Yuuta crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing as he signaled Yuuji to continue. The silence between them was thick, the unspoken anger hanging in the air like a dark aura. Yuuta was exhausted, but underneath that weariness was a deep hot rage that was simmering in his chest. He was fully aware of the intimidating presence he projected—his cursed energy, his imposing build. He could see the effect it had on Yuuji, who seemed to shrink into himself, unnerved by the sight of Yuuta in such a state of barely contained fury.

“Yuuta,” Yuuji begins, his voice barely above a whisper, a mix of guilt and need. “I know you’re mad, and you have every right to be. But I can’t live with myself if I don’t apologize. I’m sorry I didn’t watch him properly. I’m sorry I didn’t protect him.”

Yuuta’s jaw tightens, his eyes flicking away from Yuuji for a moment before returning to him with a steely gaze. He’s mad. “Sorry doesn’t change what happened,” he says, his voice low but carrying a weight that makes Yuuji flinch. “Toge could have been seriously hurt or worse. Do you realize that?”

Yuuji nods, his face falling and he gulps, as he absorbs Yuuta’s words. “I do, and that’s why I’m so sorry. I should’ve been more careful. I should’ve—”

“You should’ve,” Yuuta interrupts, his tone cold. “But you weren’t. You let your guard down, and Toge and Panda had to suffer for it. There were four of you, and you didn’t notice them leaving? What could you guys possibly be doing that was more important than our friends' lives?” 

The harshness in Yuuta’s voice makes Yuuji’s heart sink, but he forces himself to meet Yuuta’s gaze, to face the anger head-on. “I know I messed up, and I won’t make excuses. We were being stupid again, but I know you put the most trust in me to protect them. I just want you to know that I’ll do better. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Yuuta studies Yuuji for a long moment, his eyes searching for something—genuine remorse, perhaps, or a sign that Yuuji truly understands the gravity of what happened. After what feels like an eternity, Yuuta finally exhales, the tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction. He’s mad, he’s simmering with rage that Toge got so hurt and it could have been prevented, but he knows at the end it was a mistake. A simple mistake that could’ve cost two lives. Still, he knows Toge would want him to forgive him. And in this moment, Yuuta just wants nothing more to end this conversation and go back to bed. He exhales, knowing his next few words. 

“For Toge’s sake, you’d better,” he says, his voice still laced with frustration, but softer now, more resigned. “Because if anything like this happens again, I won’t be so forgiving.”

Yuuji nods, knowing that Yuuta’s words are not just a promise, it is a threat. He won’t get another chance to make things right. As Yuuta turns to go back inside, Yuuji’s voice trembles as he speaks again. His eyes waver, “Thank you, Yuuta. I really am sorry.”

Yuuta pauses, his hand on the doorknob, and for a moment, it looks like he might say something more. But instead, he just nods once, a curt acknowledgement, before slipping back into the room, the door closing behind him with a quiet click.

Yuuji stands in the hallway for a moment, then slowly walks off to his own dorm. The weight of what he did hangs heavy on him. He knows he deserves any harsh words or punches Yuuta might want to throw his way, but instead, Yuuta held back. It’s not fair; Yuuta showed him mercy and forgiveness when he could’ve lashed out. Yuuji wanted him to, he wanted Yuuta to scream at him. Yuuji almost cost them their friends' lives… nearly ended Yuuta’s boyfriend’s life. As he makes his way back to his room, he wrestles with the guilt, knowing he won’t be going to Fushiguro’s room tonight. Everyone is staying in their own rooms, left to deal with the consequences of their actions alone. All because they were too immature to deal with watching the kids. 

Yuuta sighs, before opening the sliding glass door leading to outside of Toge’s room, stepping out onto the cold dirt. He closes it behind him, as he digs into he jacket’s pockets, pulling out a cigarette box. He doesn’t smoke much, barely at all, but only at moment like this. Moments where Toge isn’t around and he needs to feel something. He lights it, before inhaling, feeling the burn in his lungs. He holds that feeling, until it becomes to much that he needs to release. Yuuta exhales, blowing up at the moon. 

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

In the morning, Toge wakes up early for a change. His small arms stretch above his head as he yawns, then curl back around Fluffy. He tries to drift back to sleep, but the sunlight hits his face, forcing him awake. Grumbling, he fusses with the blanket, pulling it over his head to block out the sun.

A soft chuckle reaches his ears, and Toge tenses, daring to peek out from under the covers. Yuuta is sitting nearby in a desk chair, watching him wake up. Toge’s eyes widen, and he quickly turns over, curling onto his other side with his back to Yuuta.

As memories of the previous day flood back, Toge's heart begins to race. He had nearly been eaten by a huge scary mantis. Clutching Fluffy tightly to his chest, he squeezes his eyes shut, trying to block out the thoughts. But it's hard to forget, especially when his throat still feels sore.

“Hey,” Toge hears, as the bed dips by the end of his feet. He can feel Yuuta’s hand rubbing circles on his back. “It’s okay.”

But Toge knows it’s not okay. Last night, he broke Yuuta’s two rules, even though he didn’t mean to. Panda was too heavy for him to hold, and if he hadn’t spoken, Panda would’ve been hurt even more! He was just trying to save a friend! But he still remembers the stern look Yuuta gave him when he wouldn’t let go of the snake, the anger in Yuuta’s eyes. He disappointed him again.

Tears start to well up again as Toge pulls the blanket over his head, hiding.

Yuuta sighs before gently lifting Toge into his lap. Toge yelps and tries to squirm away, but his self-made blanket burrito only makes it harder. Plus, Yuuta is simply stronger.

“Hey, hey,” Yuuta says, trying to get his attention. Toge tries to twist out of his hold, but it’s no use. “Let’s talk, yeah?” 

Toge stills in his hold, waiting for Yuuta to yell at him, but he doesn’t. Toge shakes, before putting his hands up to cover his eyes as he cries some more. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Yuuta comforts him, rubbing circles on his back again. Toge shakes his head no, as he still tries to get out of Yuuta’s hold. Yuuta is going to get mad for learning what Toge did. 

"Toge, hey, look at me," Yuuta says gently but firmly as he carefully lifts Toge's chin, guiding their eyes to meet. "I'm not going to yell at you, okay? I just need to understand what happened. Last night was scary for both of us, and I want to talk about it, alright?"

Yuuta’s voice is calm and reassuring. "I’m really grateful that you called out for me, just like I told you to. You did the right thing. If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll always come for you—not just now, but when you’re older too." He looks directly into Toge’s eyes. "Do you understand?"

Toge pauses, his big, tear-filled eyes looking up at Yuuta. Yuuta can see some snot running down his nose—Toge's been crying so much over the last 12 hours. Slowly, Toge nods, showing he understands.

Yuuta offers a small smile and continues, "Good, that's good. Here, let me clean you up."

He gently uses the sleeve of his jacket to wipe away the tears and snot from Toge's face. Toge flinches slightly, tensing up in Yuuta's hold, but he lets him do it. Yuuta is gentle, not rough like the mantis that had held him down. Yuuta is here to protect him. This is safe.

“Can I ask what you were doing out there, little one?” Yuuta whispers, brushing Toge’s hair out with his fingers. 

He hears Toge inhale shakily, preparing himself. He looks off to the side, scared of looking Yuuta in the eyes. Toge slowly moves to sit up on Yuuta’s lap, so that he can look down at his small hands. He tries to be brave, as he confesses. 

“ Panda saw a door by the books, ” Toge signs, still looking down. “ He wanted to go in, but fell. He was too big for me, and he grabbed me. I'm not strong enough to hold Panda, and I fell in with him.” 

Toge looks scared, frozen, as he hesitantly begins to sign again. “ I’m sorry, I told him you wouldn’t want us gone. But we couldn’t get back in the building, we got stuck by the mantis. I’m sorry, please don’t be mad.” 

“Toge…” Yuuta says, before falling forwards and crushing Toge into a hug. His large hand cradles Toge’s small head once more. The two kids put themselves down the garbage chute, of course they did. Yuuta whispers, “I’m not mad at you. It’s a mistake, yeah? We make mistakes. You knew you shouldn’t have been in there. You tried to come back.” 

Toge shakes his head, before pulling away. “ But I got us stuck. Panda got hurt.”

“Panda’s going to be okay, his Papa has fixed him up, he’s okay,” The teen said to him. “But Toge, how were you able to go down there? Where was everyone else? Nobara? Yuuji?” 

Toge frowns, before signing. “ They were talking, loud. Fighting. Shampoo.” 

Yuuta face falls, all four of them were arguing about shampoo, not noticing the two kids getting into the garbage chute. He can feel himself begin to simmer with anger, but Toge signs again, “ Not their fault .” 

“Toge, you got hurt last night,” Yuuta says, one of his fingers touching the bandaid on Toge’s cheek, “they could have prevented that.” 

But Toge shakes his head no. “ Not their fault. Mine .” 

Yuuta tries to talk again, but Toge”s eyes being to water up again as he starts to sign even more. “ I broke the two rules. I spoke and I went away. I didn’t want to, I'm sorry.” 

“Don’t,” Yuuta says, warning him. He holds back, swallowing. “Don’t apologize for saving yourself, okay? If you didn’t speak out, you would have been way worse. I’m not mad at that, Toge. How could I ever be?” 

“ The rules,” Toge signs. 

“I don’t care about rules, I care about you being safe!” Yuuta states, hugging him again. “You gave me such a scare out there. Your heart is in the right place, Toge, you did nothing wrong. Am I sad that you went off without any adults? Yes, but you’re okay. It’s a mistake. It’s okay.”

"Yuutah?" Toge's voice is still a bit shaky as he pulls back slightly. He signs, " Are you mad at the adults?"

Yuuta exhales a shaky sigh, dropping his head for a moment. "I don’t know. I want to be."

" Mistake, " Toge signs again, his small hands moving carefully.

"Yeah, I know," Yuuta replies, gently patting the top of Toge's head. Why is six-year-old Toge just as forgiving as 17-year-old Toge?

A soft rumble from Toge’s stomach breaks the tension, making Yuuta chuckle. He realizes Toge must be starving, especially after skipping dinner.

"Let’s get you something to eat, yeah?" Yuuta suggests, ruffling Toge's hair affectionately.

Toge mumbles, before going back to hugging Yuuta. He doesn’t want to get up. Yuuta laughs, chucking. “Yeah, fine, I’ll carry you.”

Toge took to clinging to him with only Fluffy in between them. Yuuta was still hesitant to see everyone else, but it’s unavoidable. Plus, Toge’s hungry and he can’t have that go unattended. The little boy chirps at the suggestion of French toast, to which Yuuta starts to mentally prepare himself. He makes sure to do a quick little pit stop at the bathroom’s, so him and Toge can brush their teeth. 

Nobody is in the kitchen for once, but Yuuta comes to see the disaster of last night. The noodles were still in the pot, now grown cold. They were left here forgotten after the kids went missing last night, but at least Itadori had the thought to turn off the stove before rushing out. 

Yuuta gently sits Toge in the chair by the dining counter, as the dark haired teenager starts cleaning up the kitchen. It didn’t take too long, just throwing the spices back into the cabinet and tossing out the cold soggy noodles. Such a shame, Yuuji knows how to make amazing pasta. 

Yuuta handed Toge more paper to draw on, while he had to pull up a YouTube video on how to make French toast. He just needs four ingredients; cinnamon, milk, eggs, and toast. He can’t screw this up. 

Toge, who did not feel like drawing at the moment, was folding the paper into an airplane. He didn’t know what challenge Yuuta was going to face right now. 

Yuuta grabbed everything needed, 6 slices of bread because he was starving too. Maybe he should just make the whole loaf. He could go for some eggs on the side. There’s strawberries in there too, he could make this a great meal for the both of them. 

He wished he was as skilled in the kitchen as he was in fighting cursed spirits.

Determined, he buttered up the pan and turned his attention to the eggs first. Scrambled eggs were his go-to—simple and almost foolproof. He cracked nearly an entire carton’s worth of eggs, whisking them with care before pouring them into the hot pan. To his relief, the eggs turned out perfect. He transferred them to a plate with a small sense of accomplishment.

But the toast was another story. Somehow, some slices came out perfectly crisp and golden, while others were a soggy disaster. How did that happen? He couldn’t figure out where he’d gone wrong. Frustrated, he separated the good from the bad, setting aside the soggy ones on a different plate. He decided he’d eat those himself—no way was he going to serve them to Toge.

He placed a single piece of toast on Toge’s plate, along with a handful of fresh berries and a generous serving of scrambled eggs. Toge, as usual, ignored the utensils Yuuta had carefully laid out, opting to eat with his hands instead. Yuuta watched as Toge nibbled on the toast, but after just two bites, Toge pushed it aside, turning his full attention to the eggs.

Yuuta sighed inwardly as he looked at his own plate—seven slices of toast, five of which were a soggy mess. He forced himself to eat them, one by one, silently vowing to figure out what he’d done wrong next time.

As he was eating, he would catch Toge’s smaller hands creeping up on his plate and steal some of his eggs. 

“Hey!” Yuuta whined, not really serious. Toge needs the protein more than he does. 

Toge just ignored him, stuffing it into his mouth. Yuuta snorted, grabbing a napkin to wipe the syrup and egg from Toge’s face. The little one whined, trying to scurry away from Yuuta’s cleaning, but he caught him and wiped it off. 

As they finished their meal, Maki and Nobara walked in, their footsteps soft but noticeable in the quiet room.

Yuuta and Toge looked up at the same time, and Toge’s face immediately lit up with excitement. He scrambled out of his chair and sprinted towards Nobara. Her eyes shimmered as she saw him, her breath catching in her throat. She knelt down just in time to catch Toge in a tight embrace, holding him close as he wrapped his arms around her.

Yuuta watched the scene quietly, his gaze shifting to take in both of them. He noticed the state Nobara was in—she looked exhausted. Her eyes were reddened, likely from crying, and her usually well-groomed hair was tangled and messy. The makeup on her face was smudged, as if she hadn’t bothered to wash it off before falling asleep, if she even did sleep.

Maki appeared more composed, but there were subtle signs of distress. She wasn’t wearing her usual workout suit which meant she probably had skipped her morning training. Her glasses were absent, and her hair, typically pulled back in a tight ponytail, hung loose around her shoulders. 

Maki’s eyes met Yuuta’s, and he couldn’t hide the deep scowl spread across his face. Anger flared in his chest, burning hot and unforgiving. Toge had forgiven them, and Yuuta had managed to forgive Itadori, but a stubborn grudge still lingered. He couldn’t shake it—especially not when it came to Maki. He feels most betrayed by her. She was always the responsible one, the one who took every mission seriously. But this time, she had been reckless, and her carelessness had nearly cost them everything. How could she, of all people, let something like this happen?

“Yuuta,” her voice cuts the air, hoarse. She takes a delicate step forward, looking towards him. “Yuuta, I need to apologize.” 

She bites her lower lip and look up to the ceiling, either to formulate some words or hold tears in. She sighs, looking back at him. “I should have been more attentive. I was being careless and messed around when I shouldn’t have. I should have known something suspicious was happening, but I didn’t sense it until it was too late. I'm sorry.” 

Yuuta’s eyes burn into her, his anger has begun to rise out. “You’re sorry?” He echoed back into her face. “You out of everyone kept telling me to relax and that you guys could watch him. I trusted you! Maki, out of everyone, I feel the most betrayed by you!” 

She puts her head down, casting it toward their shoes. She is sorry, he can tell by her body language. Maki wouldn’t be so submissive in an argument. She’s being sincere. 

“I know, I abused your trust. I was being stupid, I’m sorry. I know I messed up. I should have been more vigilant.” She says, looking back at him. 

Yuuta scoffed, his frustration evident. “Yeah, sure. You risked their lives, but yeah, I should just accept your apology,” he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“It wasn’t her fault!” Nobara interjected, rising slowly from where she’d been crouched beside Toge. She hesitated as Toge tugged at her pajama pant leg, clearly distressed by the loss of physical contact. Nobara gently patted his head, trying to comfort him. “It was mine.”

“If I hadn’t started that ridiculous argument over shampoo with the boys, none of this would have happened. Blame me, not Maki. I’m the one who messed up,” Nobara confessed, her voice trembling as tears began to well in her eyes.

Maki’s eyes widened in shock at Nobara’s sudden outburst, glancing over at her girlfriend with concern. Yuuta, however, remained silent, his face set in a grim expression. He walked slowly towards the two girls, his presence radiating an undeniable dark energy.

It was evident that Yuuta could be intimidating when he chose to be. After a year of grueling training in Africa, Miguel had pushed him to his limits. He had packed on muscle and experienced a noticeable growth spurt, standing now at six feet with broader, squared shoulders. His friends had never seen him as a threat before, because they had never been on the receiving end of his anger.

For the first time, both Nobara and Maki were confronted with the full weight of Yuuta’s imposing presence, realizing just how frightening he could be when pushed to his limits.

Yuuta's intense gaze softened as he looked down at Toge. The little boy, despite his tender age of six, met Yuuta's stare with an unexpected glare. With a determined expression, Toge signed a single word: “ Mistake .”

Yuuta's shoulders sagged, and he let out a weary sigh, dropping his head. Toge was right; last night there had been a series of mistakes. He had forgiven Yuuji, and he knew he needed to extend the same grace to Maki and Nobara.

“Yes, it was a mistake,” Yuuta said, lifting his head to meet their eyes with a serious expression. “I can forgive this once. But if something like this happens again—where you have the chance to protect Toge and fail to do so—you won’t have a place in my life any longer.”

Nobara swallowed hard, while Maki nodded solemnly. Maki had seen Yuuta’s lethal side before; she knew his warnings were never to be taken lightly. If their roles were reversed, she knew she would be giving him the same threat.

Nobara, on the other hand, wasn’t used to seeing Yuuta this serious. She had never seen him so angry—he was usually the kind, awkward one, always seeming a bit tortured but never a threat. She had hit him in arguments before, knowing full well he was letting her. Yuuta was a gentle soul, but when it came to protecting the people he loved, he didn’t mess around.

“You don’t have to worry,” Nobara said, her voice breaking as she fought back tears. “I’d rather die than let this happen again.”

“Agreed,” Maki added, her voice firm. “If I were in your position, Yuuta, I’d be boiling with rage too. I understand that no apology can truly make up for this, but trust me—I will never let one of my friends get hurt like this again.”

Yuuta looks at them, studying their faces, before nodding. 

He exhales, before picking up their dishes and making a move to wash the dishes. He turns his back, as he scrubs off the gunk. 

Maki and Nobara’s attention turns to little Toge, who is pulling on Maki’s leggings. He’s looking up at her with a blank expression. 

Oh. She bends down and picks him up, holding him in one of her arms. 

Toge stares at her, before leaning down to get comfortable in her hold and begins to dozy off, hugging her. 

Oh. 

Maki bites back tears as she looks down at him. Toge is so small, smaller than what they usually tease him about. He was so vulnerable and she failed him. She hugs him back, before muttering, “I’m sorry, Toge. I’m so sorry.” 

Toge doesn’t respond, as young Toge doesn’t have many words to share. He’s not as talkative as the Toge they know. But he clutches her shirt a bit tighter and she knows what he’s trying to say. She was forgiven before she apologized. 

Nobara sniffles next to them too, before getting in on the hug and holding them both. Both the girls profusely apologize, but there was no need to. Toge wasn’t ever mad at them in the beginning. If anything, the little one thinks he should apologize to them. He caused them to worry so much. He was the one who went with Panda’s plan. He was not strong enough to hold them. 

I’m midst of their apologies, they somehow end up on the sofa, with a sleeping Toge laying across their lap. Both the girls know that they have a lot to make up for, even when Toge gets back to his original state again. He’ll get a proper apology then too. 

While Maki is petting his hair and Nobara looks at them gently, Yuuta gets a call from his phone. Hey looks at the user calling him, seeing it was Principal Yaga’s contact. 

“I need to take this, it’s Principal Yaga,” he mutters, looking at the girls cuddling with Toge. He nods before stepping outside the room once more. 

Yuuta sighed, taking a moment to steady himself and regain his composure before answering the phone.

“Hello?” he answered, his tone clipped and to the point.

“Yuuta, it’s Yaga,” the older man’s gruff voice crackled through the line. “I got Panda to spill everything. I’m sorry, kid—I should’ve seen this coming. I’ll be swinging by the dorms with Panda and Shoko so she can check on Toge. Have everyone there.”

“No, it’s alright,” Yuuta replied, though his voice remained tense. “But yes, okay. Please bring Shoko. We’re in the common area.”

“Understood. We’ll be there shortly,” Yaga said before the line went silent.

Yuuta heads back in, seeing the girls both still staring at Toge. Maki’s head does lift up when he comes walking through the door. 

“Principal Yaga and Shoko are going to be coming by,” he comments, before leaning against a wall to watch them both. “He said for everyone to be here.” 

Nobara nods, before getting up. “I’ll go fetch the boys.” And she hastily walks out. 

The room falls silent except for the breathing of Toge. Yuuta didn’t have any words to share with Maki, and she didn’t have any words to give him. Yuuta's eyes remain on the one thing of his concern, Toge. He never gets used to how easily the boy can sleep anywhere at any time. It’s a technique he wishes he could copy. 

The room remains silent as they both wait for the others. Maki takes to looking down at Toge and brushing out his hair. His hair style is practically the same length as 17 year old Toge, so it’s easier to get knotted.

Yuuta closes his eyes while he waits.

Enters Nobara, with both of the boys walking behind her, heads down in shame. Yuuta looks at them with a side gaze, as he watches Yuuji nod to him before Megumi pauses. Yuuta’s eyes narrow. 

Megumi looks at him, opening his mouth. “Yuuta, I just wanted to say-” 

“You’re sorry?” Yuuta says, cutting him off, looking at Toge on the couch.

Megumi stops mid-sentence but nods slowly, acknowledging his mistake. "Yes, I was being stupid, and I owe you an apology. It was—"

"A mistake, yeah, I know," Yuuta interrupts, his gaze meeting Megumi's. "I've heard it all before. Everyone's given me the same speech, so let me make this clear."

Yuuta's eyes darken as he continues, "I hate seeing Toge hurt. That should be obvious. I trusted all of you to protect him, especially now, when he's so vulnerable. But you let me down." His words hang heavily in the room, and everyone’s gaze drops to the floor, absorbing the weight of his disappointment.

"Look, Megumi, I'll tell you what I’ve told everyone else: I forgive you. But don't ever break my trust again. Not with anyone we care about. Especially not with Toge’s life." Yuuta's voice is firm as he locks eyes with Megumi. "Anyone who puts their own needs above our friends doesn’t have a place in my heart."

Yuuta’s cursed energy buzzes around him, normally kept tightly controlled, centered in a neat ball at his core. But when his emotions surge, so does his cursed energy, reflecting what he feels. If he's sad, it shrinks down, but when he's angry, it swells to an overwhelming size. Last night and today, he nearly lost control completely. The sheer amount of his cursed energy nears limitless.

“Of course,” Megumi replies with a nod. “I agree with that. Thank you.”

Yuuta chuckles softly. 

“Thank the little one,” he says, a hint of warmth in his voice. His energy slowly pulling back. “He’s the one who convinced me to forgive you all.”

All the others' attention goes to Toge, who’s still snoring away not realizing who was in the room or what was going on. He was blissfully out like a light just from eating breakfast. 

All the teens stand awkwardly around, nobody talking or wanting to break the silence. Megumi took to looking around the room, while Yuuji ended up getting comfortable on the ground. It’s a miracle nobody has been sent out on a mission right now. 

Everyone turns their heads when they hear footsteps coming their way. 

Yaga arrives first, holding the hand of a shy Panda who peeks out from behind his legs. Shoko follows, offering them a small smile. But the real surprise comes when their familiar teacher appears, looming over them with a wide grin and a wave.

“Alright, let me see the little guy,” Shoko says, nudging her way in with a kit of medical supplies. She kneels beside Toge, who’s asleep on the couch, carefully examining him.

Gojo whistles as he strolls into the room, hands casually tucked into his pockets. “Wow, I can feel the tension. Teenage angst?”

“And where were you?” Yuuta snaps, his tone sharp.

Gojo raises his hands in mock surrender. “Whoa, easy there, Tiger. I was busy smoothing things over with the higher-ups and keeping the Inumaki Clan out of the loop. Plus, I had a mission in Paris. Did I miss anything?”

Everyone glares at him. 

Gojo, not reading the room, looks at Toge on the couch. “Huh? Who beated up little Toge?” 

“Gojo, stop talking,” Principal Yaga spits out. 

That’s when Panda decided to speak up, stepping out from behind Yaga’s pant leg. “I did! I hurt Toge!” 

“It was my fault he followed my plan!” His voice raised, his little paws curling in on his sides. 

Yuuta sighs. “It wasn’t your fault Panda,” he says softly, like he’s been repeating those words on loop. 

“Yes it was!” His little paw foot stomps, a burst of cursed energy spikes in the foot and the table shakes. “I wanted to go into that door and I forced Toge to go with me. I waited until they weren’t looking and then we fell into the trash!”

“What is even happening…” Gojo mutters to himself, confused but clearly amused by the unfolding drama.

Yuuji steps in, his voice firm. “Panda, no one’s blaming you, alright? This is on me. I was supposed to protect you guys, and I didn’t. I’m sorry, Panda.”

“No,” Maki interrupts, getting to her feet. “I told Yuuta he could count on us, and I let him down. It’s my fault for breaking his trust.”

“I’m the one who started the whole argument about shampoo!” Nobara blurts out. “If anyone’s to blame for the distraction, it’s me!”

“Nobara,” Megumi chimes in, sounding resigned. “I took your shampoo, and I didn’t protect Toge or Panda like I should have. So really, you should all blame me.”

“You’re all at fault,” Yuuta mutters under his breath, eyes narrowing as his cursed energy starts to rise. 

“Okay!” Gojo says, cutting off everyone. He raises his hand, signaling for them to stop talking. 

“First off, Yuuta, you need to reel it in, okay? You stinking up the room with your brooding energy.” Gojo comments, pointing at him. Yuuta’s face falls flat, before he inhales and cools himself down. 

“Second of all, someone tell me what happened? Preferably an adult.” He comments, turning to Shoko or Yaga. Shoko doesn’t bother to speak, as she listens to Toge’s heart beat with her stethoscope. 

Toge began to stir, slowly waking up, his eyes scrunching tighter as he mumbled softly. He hummed quietly as Maki’s fingers gently resumed brushing through his hair.

"First and second-grade curses broke out of the lab, and these two got injured," Yaga explained briefly. "Yuuta was sent to handle the situation, while the others were tasked with watching them, but they escaped."

"Injured? Toge almost died!" Yuuta burst out, his voice rising unexpectedly. It wasn’t like him to speak out of turn, especially not to a teacher, but now he was correcting Principal Yaga. "If I hadn’t found him when I did, he would have been gone!"

“He’s six, not seventeen. When I found him, he barely had a throat left,” Yuuta said quietly, staring at the floor. “He could’ve been killed.”

“But he wasn’t,” Gojo cut in, raising his voice as he walked over to Yuuta, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You saved him, alright? Stop dwelling on what could’ve happened—it’ll only eat you up. This stuff happens when you’re dealing with kids. Trust me, Megumi was worse than Toge.”

Megumi shot him a glare, but Gojo pressed on. “Look, you need to stop blaming the others. They messed up, and they know it. You don’t need to keep holding it over them.”

Yuuta hesitated, then reluctantly nodded. Gojo turned to face the group of teenagers, his expression shifting to disappointment.

“Seriously, guys? Slacking off in the off-season? You should’ve been more alert! I trained you better than this!” he scolded, looking genuinely offended. “Guess I’ll have to start giving you more missions.”

The teens look hesitant to agree, wanting to argue back. Nobody wants more missions, but they know that they deserve punishment. Biting their lips, they all nod. 

Gojo clapped his hands together, turning to Shoko. "Great! Now that’s sorted out, how’s my little guy?"

Shoko rolled her eyes, packing up her medical kit. She stood and joined the rest of the adults. “His ribs and lungs are bruised, but his cursed energy is circulating well. Yuuta did a good job healing him. Honestly, he’ll be back to normal in two days—maybe even one if his CE keeps growing at this rate.”

“Perfect! Now it’s my turn to hold him!” Gojo said excitedly, scooping little Toge up from the couch.

Toge, still half-asleep, yawned and stretched his arms out before resting his head on Gojo’s shoulder.

Gojo beamed, practically squealing. “Oh, how I miss Megumi being this small. You’re way cuter than he ever was, yes you are, Toge,” he cooed, patting Toge’s head. “Yes, you are!”

“I’m going to steal you from Yuuta,” Gojo loudly whispers, earning a scoff from Yuuta. 

“Okay, give him back,” Yuuta extended his arms out to take him back. Gojo whines, trying to shield toge in his arms fron Yuuta. 

“C’mon, five more mins!” 

Chapter Text

Yuuta begrudgingly let Gojo hold Toge for another hour while Yuuta sat around sulking.

It’s not that Yuuta doesn’t trust his Sensei, but he’s heard stories of how he raised Megumi. He’s treading cautiously, okay? So when Gojo started to toss Toge in the air, higher and higher, he had every right to step in and catch him before Gojo does. 

Gojo tried to complain, whining some more time with Toge, but Yuuta had to but his foot down, shaking his head in disappointment. His Sensei huffed, before patting Toge on his head, heading out the door to do whatever he does. 

The group had gathered outside in the courtyard, where Panda and Yuuji were caught up in a friendly game of tag. Principal Yaga, needing to attend another meeting, entrusted the students with looking after his son, reminding them that they didn’t want a repeat of last night’s events. He also made a point of scolding Panda in front of everyone, warning him not to try running off again. Panda nodded, visibly embarrassed at being reprimanded in front of his friends. Shoko had already departed, mentioning she had a series of patients from the previous night who still needed check-ups. She left without a word, offering only a wave over her shoulder as she disappeared.

While Yuuji was playing with Panda, Toge must’ve grown jealous, and ran out from behind Yuuta’s legs to grab Megumi’s hand. Megumi is shocked, as Toge drags him to go play with him. He looks back at the others, to see Nobara laughing and covering her mouth, while Yuuta gives him a small smile. 

"Let's play chicken fight!" Panda exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the two who had just joined him.

Megumi blinked in confusion. "But... we're not in the water?" he questioned, unsure about Panda’s idea.

Yuuji, however, was already brimming with excitement. His eyes lit up as an idea sparked. He quickly scrambled to the side and found two large sticks. 

"They can sit on our shoulders and try to hit each other with the sticks, and we can be on our knees!" Yuuji explained enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear.

Megumi’s face fell, about to protest, when he felt a tug on his shirt. He turned to see Toge signing excitedly, " I want to play!" The little boy was already trying to climb onto Megumi’s back.

With a sigh of surrender, Megumi bent down, letting Toge hop onto his shoulders. He had clearly lost this round.

When he looked back, Yuuji already had Panda perched on his shoulders, both of them with hilariously serious expressions on their faces, ready for the battle to begin.

Meanwhile, Yuuta seems exhausted with last night's ordeals, and has sat down under a tree, quivering an eyebrow at the others. Maki laughs at Megumi’s misery, while Nobara has her phone whipped out, recording.

Megumi shook his head, mentally preparing for what was sure to be chaos. "Alright, but let's not get carried away," he muttered, mostly to himself.

Toge, now securely on his back, eagerly held onto Megumi's shoulders. His small hands clutched tightly as he leaned forward, eyes focused and determined. Meanwhile, Yuuji, barely able to contain his excitement, handed one of the sticks to Toge, while Panda took the other.

"Okay, ready?" Yuuji asked, barely able to keep still.

Megumi gave a halfhearted nod, already regretting his life choices. "Yeah, sure."

"Go!" Yuuji shouted, charging forward with Panda sitting on his shoulders like a towering warrior. Toge let out a muffled laugh, raising his stick with as much force as he could muster while Megumi cautiously moved forward, trying to avoid any actual injuries.

But Toge does something unexpected—he lifts his arm and hurls the stick straight into Yuuji’s face. In an instant, Yuuji lets out a dramatic gasp as both he and Panda tumble backward onto the grass. Panda’s arms flail wildly, windmilling as he desperately tries to regain balance, but it’s no use. They crash down in a heap.

Megumi chokes on a laugh, barely able to keep it together, while the sound of laughter from the sidelines erupts.

"Nice thinking, Toge!" Maki calls out with a smirk, one hand resting on her hip as she watches the scene unfold.

“Not fair!” Yuuji exclaims, pointing his finger at Toge. “I didn’t say anything about throwing.” 

“But you didn’t make it a rule,” Megumi retorts, to which Toge nods his head in agreement. 

“Rematch!” Panda demands, stumbling to roll over and get up from the ground. 

Yuuta chuckles to himself, seeing the others bicker. After everything that happened last night, he’s just glad that those two are able to move past it and enjoy their day still. Yuuji definitely looks better, as he gets to play with them. Even Megumi seems to hold a smile, even if it’s small.

“This might be Toge’s last day being small,” Maki comments to him, glancing. “What are you planning on doing for the day?” 

“Whatever he wants,” Yuuta shrugs. He is saddened by the fact that he won’t be able to hold or play with six-year old Toge again, but he does miss his boyfriend. Toge is adorable in this form, sure, but he’s also a sorcerer. If he stays this size any longer than a week, then there’s no doubt that the higher ups are going to try to get the Inumaki Clan involved. Nobody wants to deal with that headache. 

“I am excited for him to change though,” Maki admits out loud to them. “It’s been a hard few days.” 

Yuuta whistles in agreement, kicking the dirt around on the ground with his shoes. He can agree to that. “Yeah, it’s been stressful.”

“Maki, you should turn into a kid next,” Nobara says, sighing. 

“What?! Why?!” Maki turns to her, cheeks red with embarrassment. 

Nobara shrugs. “I don’t know, I think you would be cute. I want to hug you at that size and dress you up. Oh you would be so adorable if I got to play with your hair!” 

“Well it’s not happening,” maki huffs, turning her cheek. 

“Let’s hope none of us turn back into kids,” Yuuta comments, watching as Panda climbs back on Yuuji’s shoulder, using his hair as a clutch and Yuuji is wincing. “I don’t know how much longer Panda has until his curse is broken.” 

“Shoko said another week,” Maki comments. “A rejuvenating curse affects cursed corpses differently than humans, apparently.”

“Hmm,” Yuuta says in thought. “At least when Toge turns back, he'll still get to play with Panda. He would be sad if he couldn’t.” 

Yuuta sat there quietly, while the two girls chatted to each other. He was content watching Toge become a bit more aggressive, pulling on Megumi’s hair to control him, watching Megumi suffer. It’s nice seeing a bright smile on both their faces. Both boys like to mask their emotions, but in the moment they’ve let loose. 

It was the last day with Toge being small.

Yuuta felt a knot form in his stomach, unsure if it was from despair or relief. He should be happy—Toge would finally return to his normal age, and Yuuta would have his boyfriend back. They could talk about everything they’d missed. But another part of him wanted to hold onto this version of Toge—the one still untouched by the cruelty of the world, the one Yuuta could easily scoop up and shield from everything. Each time he was reminded of how young Toge was, his protective instincts flared, urging him to take Toge far, far away from here.

Is this what it feels like to have a child?

Yuuta sighed, resting his chin on his hand. Kids… Maybe he actually wanted them. Kids with Toge… That didn’t sound so bad.

But heaven help anyone who tried to threaten his family.

He almost went feral when Toge was hurted by the curses, practically killing any curse on sight. He can’t imagine how he’ll be if he has to protect Toge and a little one. In his line of field, he can’t say for sure how safe they will be. 

He knows he should trust Inumaki more. Toge is a strong sorcerer, already a Grade 1 as a second-year, but that knowledge doesn’t ease his anxiety. As a Special Grade, Yuuta has seen horrors that even Grade 1 sorcerers haven’t experienced: massacres, the lifeless bodies of children. How could he imagine bringing a child into this life?

He’d have to leave the jujutsu world entirely. Wrap Toge and their child in layers of protection and run away, disappearing forever into the sunset, far from the terrors of this life. Yeah, he could do that.

His thoughts are interrupted as Toge jumps off Megumi’s shoulders, launching himself to tackle Panda off of Yuuji’s back.

Yuuta smiles to himself. Yeah, Toge can handle himself.

A guilty conscience still lingers in the back of his mind. How can he have a family if he couldn’t even protect Toge right this time? 

“Toge, no!” Yuuji scolds as Toge grabs a handful of grass and chucks it at Panda, who’s sprinting away from the tiny cursed speech user. The grass smacks the Panda on the back of the head, causing him to stumble and trip.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Yuuta calls, standing up and placing his hands on his hips as he shoots Toge a pointed look. “Apologize to Panda.”

“Yuudahhh!” Toge whines, pointing an accusatory finger at Panda. He started it!

“It doesn’t matter who started it,” Yuuta says firmly. “I’m finishing it. Apologize, now.”

Inumaki pouts and turns away, giving Yuuta the cold shoulder. Oh, so now he’s got an attitude? When did Toge get so bratty? “Toge, you’re going to apologize, or no riceballs today. That’s final.”

Toge whips his head around, staring at Yuuta with wide, glossy eyes. Wait—was he about to cry?

He huffs, his lower lip jutting out as he reluctantly turns his gaze to Panda. With a dramatic sigh, he raises his hand and signs one word “ Sorry ”.

Yuuta knows he doesn’t really mean it, but there’s something else beneath Toge’s frustration that he can’t quite put his finger on. He sighs softly and walks the few steps over, scooping Toge up into his arms. “Alright, I guess we’re heading out. Say goodbye to everyone, Toge.”

Toge squirms in his hold, trying to wriggle free, but Yuuta holds him firmly. Huffing again in defeat, Toge glances around at the group before giving the smallest, most begrudging wave to each and every one of them. They all wave back happily, as Yuuta drags him away. 

Toge still squirms in his arms, grunting that he can’t break out of. He turns around to glare at Yuuta, as if to intimidate him. 

“No, no more play time right now,” He says strictly, making sure his point is across. 

“Hmm,” Toge pouts, humming, staring away from him. 

Yuuta looks at him confused. “What’s going on Toge? You haven’t acted like this before.”

Toge continues to pout, looking away, not answering him. He’s upset about something, but he won’t say right now. Yuuta sighs, knowing he needs to calm down this little firecracker. 

They walk in silence towards the dorms, as Yuuta leads them up the steps. Toge had gone silent in his arms, but  the way his cursed energy is swirling around him, he’s been sulking and is deeply sad. Yuuta needs to get to the bottom of this. 

Yuuta goes into Toge’s room where camp has been set up these past days. Toge is not going to like the mess for even when he comes back, he can already tell he’s gonna be frantic. 

As soon as they stepped inside, Toge squirmed in Yuuta’s arms until he was finally set down on the ground. Without a word, Toge dashed to the bed, grabbed a blanket, and wrapped it tightly around himself. He curled into a ball in the corner, his back turned to Yuuta as he lay down.

Yuuta’s heart tugs, seeing Toge so visibly upset. He’s shutting him out. 

He softly walks over to the bed, before sitting down at the end of it, giving Toge some space. Yuuta turns to him and frowns. He hears the little snuffles, Toge’s crying. 

“Hey hey hey,” Yuuta says, patting the little one’s back. “What’s wrong bud?” 

Toge doesn’t answer, but he turns in more and tugs the blanket more tightly over him, covering his face. Yuuta knows it’s a serious moment, but he can’t help think its adorable to see him in a ball of blanket. Though, it hurts his heart that Toge is crying and won’t let him help. 

“Did you get hurt playing? Was anybody being too rough?” The black haired boy questions out loud. 

No comment. He’s pretty sure that’s not the case anyways, since Yuuta was watching all of them. In fact, Toge was the one causing most of the trouble. 

“Did someone say anything?” He questions again. 

The sniffling continues, as Yuuta sees him moving under the blanket, probably to wipe away tears. Yuuta shifts closer, the distance is bugging him. He continues patting the bundle of blankets Toge has become. He keeps his voice soft, in a non-threatening tone. 

“Toge you can tell me anything,” he tries again. “I just want to help you.”

Toge shifts under the blanket, making Yuuta think he’s going to turn around, only to see Toge’s shoulders tremble a little. Yuuta’s chest tightens at the sight, feeling helpless and desperate to talk to him. 

“Okay how about this,” Yuuta says, leaning towards him, “You can stay here for as long as you want, and I won’t ask. But, I am not leaving until you tell me what’s wrong. I’ll sit here patiently, and I will wait. I will wait forever in fact. I am a great waiter, so I will wait and wait and wait,-“ 

Yuuta gets cut off by Toge kicking him in the side. 

“Oh hey!” Yuuta says, offended. “I’m waiting here!” 

That gets a reaction from Toge, before the smaller one peeks his head out from the blankets and stares up at him with a tear streaked face. 

“ I don’t want you to wait,” Toge signs aggressively, sharp angry movements. “I don’t want you here!” 

Yuuta’s face flashes with confusion. What did he do? 

“But this is my room,” he naturally lies, countering easily. “And you’re my responsibility, so wherever you go, I go too.” 

Toge glares at him, anger and frustration portrayed in his face, but in his eyes, it looks like betrayal. He looks like he’s about to turn over again, before he hesitates, and decides to tell off Yuuta some more. 

“ Responsibility ?” toge signs each letter, but misspells it. Yuuta knows it’s a serious moment, but he can’t help finding the mistake cute. “ You don’t want me !”

“Toge!” Yuuta says, offended. How could he think that? Yuuta has shown he would do anything for him. “That’s not true at all!” 

“ Liar !” The little one counters. Tears start to form on his face again, falling down. “ You’re lying !” 

Yuuta reaches up his hand, trying to wipe away Toge’s tears and soothe him, but the movement must have been too sudden. Toge flinches violently to his hand, eyes widening in fright. The little one then drops his head into his lap, curling up tightly with his arms wrapped around his knees. He trembles in a small, fragile ball, and Yuuta can hear his sobs now, loud and unrestrained, no longer trying to hide his crying.

Yuuta freezes, his hand hovering in the air, looking down at a frightened Toge. He wants to fix this as soon as possible, but Toge is not telling him anything. He wants to pull Toge close and promise him everything will be alright, but he can’t. He doesnt want to scare him even more. Instead Yuuta slowly retreats, scooching back on the bed a bit as he swallows the lump in his throat. 

“I’m sorry, Toge,” Yuuta murmurs softly. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you, alright? I promise. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Toge’s sobs are loud and uncontrollable, each one tugging at Yuuta’s heart, but the more he speaks, the less frantic they become.

“I won’t touch you, okay? I’ll just sit here until you’re ready to talk. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay right here with you,” he soothes gently.

Minutes pass, with Yuuta helplessly listening to Toge’s cries, unable to do anything but be present. Slowly, the harsh sobs soften, turning into shaky sniffles.

Toge peeks up at him cautiously, eyes swollen and still full of uncertainty. Yuuta offers a small, gentle smile, hoping to be as reassuring as possible. He’s not sure what else to do, but he knows he’ll always try his best for Toge.

Then, without a word, Toge’s small, trembling hands lift to sign again.

“You want me to change ,” he signs slowly, his movements are hesitant. “ I heard you. you said I’m stressful.” 

Yuuta’s heart drops, the smile vanishing from his face. “What? No, Toge, that’s not—” 

But Toge just looks at him with those sad, searching eyes, waiting for an explanation that Yuuta struggles to find.

Yuuta decides to take a small risk, inching forward bit by bit. Toge tenses slightly, his eyes wary, but Yuuta keeps his movements slow, never pushing too far. “That’s not what we meant, Toge. You’re not stressful, sweetheart. Everything else, the environment, the situations we get put in, that’s what’s hard on me. But you? You’ll never be.”

“All I want is to see you happy and safe. I hate seeing you hurt or crying. I do this because I want to, not because I have to. I like being with you, Toge. It’s not a task someone dumped on me.” He pauses, searching Toge’s face for any sign that he’s getting through. “I could’ve asked someone else to look after you, any of the other teens or even Gojo. But I didn’t want to. I’m selfish, Toge… I wanted to be the one to protect you. No one else.”

“I go crazy if I can’t make sure you’re safe, that's true. It is stressful, but you will never be.”

Toge freezes as he stares at Yuuta with big eyes still glistening with tears he’s hesitant to sign the next few words. 

“ You guys want me to change ,” he says, confronting him. 

“We want you to change, yeah, but not in the way you’re thinking,” Yuuta murmurs, leaning in a bit closer. “We want you to grow bigger and stronger so that you’re safe. We just want what’s best for you, so maybe one day we won’t have to worry so much. But, if I’m being honest…” He pauses, offering a gentle smile. “I think I’m always going to worry about you, no matter what.”

Toge tense expression softens, as he continues to look at Yuuta with his head down. He shifts in place, hesitant about Yuuta’s words. 

“ You’re always going to worry ?” His hands still shake. 

“Always,” Yuuta confirms with a firm nod. “Even if you grow taller, get stronger than me—I’ll still worry. And…”

He carefully slips his hands under Toge’s arms, lifting him into a warm embrace. Pressing his cheek against Toge’s, he nuzzles him affectionately, like a cat seeking comfort. “I’ll always be here for you,” he murmurs quietly. “You’re stuck with me. There’s no getting rid of me that easily.”

Toge giggles at Yuuta nuzzling him, a boyish laugh. Yuuta smiles, happy to hear that sound again. 

Toge rests his chin on Yuuta’s shoulder, his small body finally relaxing as the tension melts away. He snuggles closer, a clear sign that he’s no longer upset. Yuuta could almost wipe imaginary sweat from his forehead in relief.

“Yuudah,” Toge murmurs softly, a yawn escaping him.

“Hm?” Yuuta responds gently, patting his back in soothing circles. “Are you tired? Do you want to take a nap?”

Toge shakes his head in protest, but it’s weak and half-hearted, making it obvious that he’s completely drained. “It’s okay if you do,” Yuuta murmurs, smiling softly. “You can take a nap if you want.”

“Yuudah?” the cursed speech boy questions. 

“Yes, I’ll stay.” He answers softly, understanding the meaning of the safe word, his name. 

Toge nods slowly, as he clutches onto Yuuta’s shirt tightly, not wanting to let go. He yawns again, not bothering to muffle it. 

Yuuta gently kicks offf his shoes before monuvering the both of them to lay down. Yuuta lays down on his back, while toge curls on his chest. Toge’s feet accidentally kick his chin, as toge tries to get conformable in a little ball. Yuuta winces, but toge settles after a moment. Yuuta grabs a blanket from the side, laying it over them. 

He brushes his fingers through Toge’s locks of hairs, humming. Toge’s chest vibrates with glee, as his cursed energy spikes up in a calm vibrant shape. With his little head laying on Yuuta’s shoulder, he watches as the little one becomes lured to sleep. 

Yuuta smiles softly at him, brushing away strands of his hair. 

“Sleep well, little one.” He whispers.

He leans his head back, laying it on the pillow, before closing his eyes, like he’s closing a chapter. He lets himself rest, being lured to sleep

——

Yuuta is jolted awake by a sudden weight pressing down on him, the sound of fabric tearing, and a sharp gasp.

He blinks rapidly, trying to clear the blurr of sleep from his eyes. The first thing he sees is a pair of familiar violet eyes staring back at him in wide eyed and shocked. Yuuta squints, focusing on the face in front of him, until it all suddenly clicks into place. He sits up abruptly, inhaling sharply.

Older Toge, his Toge, is right there, looking utterly mortified. His cheeks are flushed a deep red as he clutches the blanket to his chest, covering himself, clearly flustered and embarrassed.

“Toge!” Yuuta exclaims with uncontrollable joy, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him into a crushing embrace.

Toge lets out a startled yelp, but before he can react, Yuuta pulls back just enough to hold him at arm’s length, locking eyes with him, his expression serious and intense.

“Let’s have a child together,” Yuuta blurts out.

Chapter Text

“Takana?!” Toge blurts out, stumbling back under the weight of Yuuta’s intense gaze. A child, now?

“Yeah, like right after we graduate,” Yuuta continues, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. “I need to have a child with you.”

Toge’s blush deepens, spreading all the way to his ears. He feels completely exposed as Yuuta barrels on, eyes shining with excitement. “I could start a savings account now, set up a fund for the future. We could get a home—or build one, if you want. I could work and take care of everything, and you could stay home if that’s what you wanted. Or, if you still want to be a sorcerer, we’d figure that out too! Our friends would love to babysit. We could even take time off… I just—I need this, Toge. Please let me have a child with you!”

Toge’s eyes widen, frozen in place as Yuuta keeps going, his words spilling out faster and faster.

“And if we have a kid,” Yuuta rambles, barely stopping to breathe, “please, let them be like you. I ate worms when I was a kid because Rika told me to! I did every dumb thing anyone suggested; I was so gullible. My kid would be useless!”

Yuuta takes a deep breath, his eyes lighting up with a new thought. “Oh! And if they were born with the snake sigils… oh, they’d be the cutest baby ever!”

Toge stands there, stunned, his mind reeling. Yuuta’s enthusiasm is both overwhelming and… kind of terrifying. It’s like he’s already planning out their entire future in detail, right down to potential cursed energy. The cursed speech is extremely rare, he doesn’t know the luckily hood of Toge’s offspring inheriting it. At least he knows that Yuuta would be thrilled if they did. 

“Yuuta,” Toge says, cutting his thoughts short. Yuuta stares at him, before scratching his neck, clearly embarrassed. 

“I’m sorry,” he says sheepishly. “You were such a cute and good kid. Of course I was panicking every five seconds, but I loved every minute. Please I need a kid or I’m going to go insane. Am I being too much?”

“Shake,” Toge shakes his head, before continuing. “Konbu, tuna mayo fish roe? Salmon nori.” Ask me when we get there, okay? Not right now. 

“I’m always going to be with you, no matter what; kid or no kid,” his boyfriend replies firmly, a look of unwavering dedication in his eyes.

Yuuta yanks him into another tight hug, almost squeezing the breath out of him. “You were such a cute kid!” he exclaims. “But I’m so glad to have you back. I missed the older you so much.”

He suddenly pulls back, his expression shifting to panic. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry about the grasshopper incident. I really trusted the others to watch you guys while I handled it, but they started messing around, and then somehow you all ended up in a garbage chute, and got caught by a bunch of curses. I should’ve been there! I killed every single one of them, but you still got hurt,and I can’t take that back. Maybe we shouldn’t even think about having a kid.”

“Yuuta!” Toge snaps, breaking away from the hug to glare up at him. “Tuna tuna, tuna mayo. Konbu salmon roe,” he snaps. I remember everything. Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault. He pauses, eyes softening. It wasn’t their fault either.

Yuuta stares at him, taking a deep breath as the tension drains from his shoulders. “You’re right. Sorry, I just,” He shakes his head, a faint smile returning. “I get carried away.”

Toge nods firmly, stepping closer and resting his forehead against Yuuta’s chest. “Bonito flakes,” he murmurs softly. It’s okay .

They snuggle together, before Toge yanks him down to sleep some more. Toge yawns, before resting his head back on Yuuta’s shoulder. Yuuta is completely rest up, only needing a few hours at a time, but Toge doesn’t work like that. His boyfriend has always been a napper, tired if he hasn’t taken a nap throughout the day. 

He must be drowsy from the sudden return of his cursed energy, Yuuta thinks, staring at him. His CE flutters around him unrestrained and beautiful, as it repairs still some of the lingering curse. Toge should rest more, so by the time he wakes up he’ll feel rejuvenated again. 

Yuuta stares down at the boy laying on his shoulder, eyes closed. His lashes hang long and his hair is still as silky as ever as Yuuta brushes it with his hand. 

Toge shivers in his sleepy state, shifting closer to Yuuta to steal his warmth. That’s when it dawns on him, with Toge’s bare shoulder peaking out from under the blanket. 

“Are you naked?” Yuuta questions, stunned. His cheeks turn red as he realizes he’s cuddling up with his naked boyfriend. 

“Mmm” the other hums, barely able to talk by how drained they sound. He yawns before snuggling into the croak of his neck. “Salmon… bonito flakes.”

Ya, nothing you haven’t seen before. 

Toge shivers again, prompting Yuuta to reach for another blanket and gently drape it over both of them.

“Goodnight, baby,” Yuuta whispers, pressing a soft kiss to Toge’s forehead. He’s pretty sure it’s only around 6 p.m., but if Toge wants to sleep, then that’s what they’ll do. “Maybe tomorrow we can see if Panda is still little.”

At the mention of Panda, Toge groggily lifts his head, squinting up at Yuuta, trying to process what he just said. His eyes widen, as a smile spreads across his face. Yuuta knows that smile, it's mischievous and evil, showing the moment Toge probably got a really good idea that he’ll drag Yuuta into doing. 

Before Toge tries to get up and act on his evil scheme, Yuuta does the one thing he knows will calm him down. He kisses him causing Toge to pause, before relaxing in his hold and kissing back. 

As they pull away Toge whines at the loss, but Yuuta knows that his boyfriend needs to sleep off the rest of the lingering curse. So just before Toge can say or do anything, Yuuta speaks for them. 

“ Sleep ,” he murmurs softly, using his Cursed Speech as he leans in to press a gentle kiss to Toge’s head.

Yuuta watches as Toge’s eyes flutter shut, too tired to try to fight it, as his head settles back against Yuuta’s chest once more.

——

After Toge returned to his original state, Shoko ran some tests and gave him the all-clear. The teasing that followed was relentless, everyone kept bringing up how much of a troublemaker he was as a kid, sharing stories that even made Toge laugh.

Toge had about a day to enjoy playing with the younger version of Panda before Panda shifted back as well. During that time, Panda kept Toge all to himself, and Toge had a blast treating him like a life-sized doll. He even helped Panda set up a prank on his father, filling his office completely with balloons.

It’s safe to say everyone was relieved that Panda turned back before Toge could go on an all-out pranking spree.

——

Months later, Toge woke up late on a Tuesday afternoon. Of course he had slept through the day, coming back to the dorms late in the night from a mission far out. He had collapsed on his bed, before even taking off his shoes and uniform. 

He wakes up in a ball tangled up with blankets, as he’s blasted awake by his phone blaring. He’s startled awake, jumping and twisting as he tries to free himself from the prison of blankets and looks for his phone. 

With a sigh of relief at finally being free, Toge picks up his phone and squints at the screen to see Maki’s name flashing.

He answers just before it goes to voicemail.

“Kelp?” he says, voice curious.

A burst of shouting and curse words erupts from the other end, so loud that he has to pull the phone away from his ear.

“GODDAMMIT, GRAB HIM!” Megumi’s voice cuts through the chaos.

“Toge!” Maki yells, sounding breathless. “Get to Shoko’s—now!”

“Salmon!” he responds quickly, jumping out of bed and rushing to get moving. Glancing down at himself, he notices that he’s no longer in his uniform. Instead, he’s wearing a baggy white shirt and a pair of shorts—Yuuta must have changed him this morning. Was he really so out of it that he doesn’t even remember?

He shakes off the thought, slips on some sandals, and dashes out the door.

He sprints toward Shoko’s as fast as he can, even cutting through his beloved garden. It’s the spring harvest, and he really should be pruning right now, he thinks, glancing down at the abundance of ripe produce. Focus, Toge, stay on track .

He actually ends up getting there at a decent pace. For someone quite lazy as him, he does not slack in cardio. He’s a long distance fighter, his focus is on defense. He has to know how to dodge and stay hidden, so most of his training evolves around sprinting and tricking. 

He runs into the building and he immediately feels it. The dark presence of abundance of cursed energy. His eyes widened in realization. That’s Yuuta’s CE and it’s out of control. 

What happened? He thinks as he hears the sound of a crash down the steps. 

He practically leaps down the stairs, rushing to get to Yuuta and the others as fast as possible. The closer he gets, the more he hears the clanging of objects being thrown against walls, mixed with Maki’s grunts and Megumi’s frantic shouts.

Toge skids to a stop at the door and flings it open, only to have to quickly sidestep a wheelchair flying straight at him. He barely dodges, his heart racing.

“Konbu?!” he calls out, peeking warily around the doorframe.

“Toge!” Maki yells, struggling to hold her ground. “Get in here and help us grab him!”

More medical equipment goes flying, a saline bag whizzing past his head as he ducks. He sprints over to the bed, weaving through the chaos to see what Maki and Megumi are wrestling with, their bodies blocking his view. He has to block multiple items, jumping over a table skidding across the room. In the corner of his eyes he can see Shoko sitting against a metal cabinet in the corner of the room, blocking herself from all the chaos. She takes a drag of her cigarette, as she gives Toge a raise of an eyebrow. 

Maki is actually struggling to hold something down; so Toge knows this person is strong. It must be Yuuta. What is happening? Why is Yuuta losing control of his cursed Energy?!

Toge pushes between them, his eyes widening in shock as he finally sees what they’re dealing with. His heart stops, he feels stuck in his steps. 

Yuuta’s big blue eyes stare back at him, filled with confusion and distress—except they’re in the body of a seven-year-old.

Toge gasps, taking a step back. “Shake…?”

Yuuta’s energy starts to settle a bit, while he’s staring at Toge, the newcomer. All the medical equipment in the air drops suddenly, clinging onto the ground. He hears Maki and Megumi sigh in relief, letting go of their hold on the child. 

“Well,” Megumi says, huffing out of breath, “at least he’s still head over heels for Toge.” 

Toge continues to stare at Yuuta, frozen in his step. 

Maki laughs out loud, slapping Inumaki on the shoulder. 

“Now it’s your turn!” 

Yuuta’s glazed over eyes, once filled with tears, are now locked on to Toge, not breaking his focus. On instinct, Toge reaches a hand out slowly to not spook him, wiping away his stray tears. 

“Oh…,” Toge says, voice barely even a whisper. The boy's face perks up to the sound of his voice. “Yuuta.” 

Those wide blue eyes still stare up at him with wonder and confusion, before the boy leans his head into Toge’s reassuring touch. Toge must feel familiar, even if in Yuuta’s mind they have never met before. Yet, Yuuta is looking at Toge like he has risen the moon and the stars. 

“Toge?” Yuuta’s young voice whispers, echoing his name.