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CHAPTER FIVE
soft mornings
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(episode 8 — boredom)

THE SOFT RAYS of light made the sweat on Naomi and Satoru's skin glisten. Nothing could be heard but the faint chirps of the waking birds outside and their heavy breaths as they clung onto each other.

Basking the in the come down of an intense high, Naomi felt a giggle bubble up her throat as Satoru laid his head on her bare chest.

"What's so funny?" He hummed as he peered up at her, a soft look in his eyes, they weren't activated at the moment, which always makes Naomi melt a little when she notices.

"Nothing," she smiled as she brought her fingers up to his hair, carding her fingers through the strands, lighting scratching his scalp before bringing her hand to his undercut, enjoying the way it felt under her fingers.

"Oh yeah?" He asked, tilting his head into her touch, his lips grazing against her wrist, "are you sure?"

His fingers came up to her forehead, tapping softly as he traced invisible letters into it. She's known him long enough to know the words he's traced, the language he's tapped rhythmically against her forehead so gently.  Her heart fluttered as he propped himself up to look her in the eye better, she could see him smile when her face flushed slightly.

"Well," she obliged, "have you ever thought about how much you miss when Gumi and Miki were younger, and what they might have been as babies?"

Satoru's eyes widened, she can see the gears turning in his head.

"Yeah, I have," he said cautiously, like he was trying to figure something out, "like what they looked like taking their first steps, or what their first words might have been... stuff like that."

"Well," Naomi smiled, "I know it wouldn't be the same, and it's not a replacement, but what if we started trying—"

"Yes, wait," Satoru suddenly got up, running around the room, no regard to the open window of their apartment that let in the light of the rising sun, ant and all potential peeping toms were getting show.

Naomi laughed as he dug around in a box in his closet that was a few feet away from the foot of his bed. She sat up in the bed, watching him curiously as he hunched over the box, rummaging around in it for god knows how long, muttering how he remembered leaving it in there.

A few moments later, a small leather bound notebook was held in his hand. Well. It was small for his hand. When he climbed back into the bed, pulling her close to him as he handed her the notebook, it was an average size. She recognized this from highschool, a few months after they graduated, he stopped writing in it.

"Yaga told me I should keep a journal after everything that had happened," Satoru explained, "coincidentally, we started dating a few months into me writing, so... there's some stuff I wrote in there when thinking of you... stuff like baby names."

Naomi's heart skipped a few beats as she held the journal tightly. She knew the implications of him just willingly handing her this. Yes, they usually told each other everything, but there are things that they've mutually agreed to leave unsaid, and she knows for a fact that he probably went to this journal to keep those things for him.

"And you're—"

"Of course," Satoru spoke up, pulling her eyes to his softened features, "if I can't trust you with this, I might as well just purple myself."

"Toru," she scolded, giggling, "don't talk like that when we're discussing kids."

"Sorry, honey," he kissed her neck, gently reaching over to open the journal, flipping through entries, Naomi tried not reading stuff from 2007 when it was infront of her, but she did see her name mentioned a few times, along with Suguru's, which made her chest clench slightly until he stopped flipping.

Naomi widened her eyes as the entry. It was dated March 2nd, 2008, she recognized that date, it was only a day away from something else. Looking down, her eyes scanned the list that Satoru had written down.

With tears springing up, Naomi choked out a small chuckle. Two lists, categorized as boy and girl, with names and small little notes next to some of them in Satoru's scratchy handwriting.

She could see names scratched out, little notes like "she would think it's dumb" and "wait— she'd hate that" in the margins, only making her giggle again.

"Sora is beautiful," Naomi gasped, looking over at Satoru when she sees, "where did you come up with it?"

"I think I heard one of the maids in the old estate mention a friend named Sora to one of the cooks, and it stuck." Satoru admitted, a faint flush on his cheeks now.

"I love it."

Naomi nuzzled her nose against his before she went back to look through the names, snorting at the fact that he had actually wrote Megumi's name in under the boys. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of his name in the book, it had been a year since she said it aloud. And a rush of emotions flooding through her made her glance away from it, not wanting to dwell on those feelings much more.

She saw Satoru's name written but also furiously scribbled over, a small note next to it — "my child should make their own legacy".

"Toru," Naomi was beyond choked up, struggling to get his name out.

She laid the book down for a moment to turn her body and wrap her arms around him, melting into him as he hugged her back, nuzzling his face into her neck. The heat of his body permeated her skin as his soft breaths hit her clavicles. She smiled softly into his hair as she buried her face in it, smelling his shampoo and just him.

"I love you so much, 'Omi," he muttered into her skin, "I want to be the father of your child, if we didn't have our vacation coming up, I would marry you all over again."

"Why not renew our vows in Korea?" She muttered softly, they were going to Seoul for the first two weeks of August to celebrate their wedding anniversary, even though the anniversary itself was in late July, the two decided to stay with the students until the month of July was over.

"My wife is so smart," Satoru mumbled, pressing soft kisses into her neck, "always coming up with great ideas, can't believe I convinced you to marry me."

"You're such a dork!" Naomi laugh, twisting her head to press a kiss into his temple, "I want to look at these names more, but we should probably hop in the shower while we still have time."

Satoru groaned as he closed the journal and tossed it somewhere on the bed, fully wrapping his arms around her again, he laid back into the bed, pulling her down with him.

"No," he frowned, "fuck them, they can take care of themselves, I just want you."

"Toru, Gakuganji is coming today," Naomi reminded, "didn't you threaten Ijichi to tears to get him to mess with Yaga's schedule so we could talk to the old geezer alone for a few minutes?"

"I hate when my wife is right and points things out to me," Satoru pouted, looking up at her with big puppy eyes, though this morning they didn't have the effect he wanted.

"That's so funny, Satoru, say it again."

"... No thanks."

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THROUGH THE SHOJI walls, Naomi could hear Gakuganji complaining about how long Yaga was taking. She had to stifle her smirk as Satoru opened the door to the room, stepping aside to let her in first and head to the empty couch that sat across from where Gakuganji waited.

He was meeting with Yaga today after classes to discuss what would be needed for the Exchange Event that would be held here in Tokyo next month. Normally, it's only Yaga and Gakuganji in the room, but Satoru and Naomi have a few choice words for him and they had the chance to give themselves enough time to speak to the Old Man who only knows how to complain.

Standing against the wall next to the door was one of Utahime's students, the girl with blue hair and cool bangs that came down in a slant. She had a serious expression on her face and with her uniform looking more like a managers suit, Naomi would've mistaken her for just that if she didn't have the signature buttons of a student along her coat.

"I'm sorry, but Principal Yaga won't be here for a while yet," Satoru explained as he followed her into the room, leaving the door wide open, a bad habit of his since highschool.

"Oh?" Gakuganji was indeed an extremely old man, with hair on the top of his head and a beard unlike no other, he was more wrinkles than skin these days.

Naomi wondered how he could still manage to do anything without assistance. A glance over at the student whose name she swears she remembers reminded her of how the Old Fart probably even managed to sit down on the couch.

She took her seat and smiled softly as Satoru sat down next to her, his arm automatically resting around her like it always does. She allowed herself to lean into him, she doesn't need to look threatening when she's warning people to behave, her reputation is enough.

"Somehow, the schedule he was given was incorrect," Satoru went on, "thank you for the other day, Principal Gakuganji."

"Sorry?" The principal asked, raising his extremely overgrown eyebrows in slight confusion, though Naomi wonders if he thinks his act is believable, "what day are you referring to?"

"Don't play dumb with me, old man." Satoru removed his arm to lean over his crossed legs, his arms crossing now as well, "I'm talking about Yuji Itadori. As head of the conservatives, you were involved too, right?"

"My goodness, youths these days, have you no manners anymore?" He asked, "have you lost all respect for your elders?"

"Manners?" Naomi scoffed, "respect? Where were your manners when discussing the suspension of my students? Where was the respect for a young boys life when you sent three 15 year olds on a suicide mission knowing it was too much for them to handle? You still have to earn our respect like anyone else around here."

"You better watch your woman, young man," Principal Gakuganji didn't even give her the respect of addressing her properly with her husband in the room, making her blood boil.

"And you better watch your back, you old fucking fart."

"Watch it!" The girl standing at the edge of the room finally spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention in the room, "your conduct is unacceptable. Stop it, or I'll report you to the proper authorities."

There was a waver in her lip when Naomi raised her eyebrows as she regarded the student. The name was on the tip of her tongue. Utahime was just bragging about having her as a student because of her cursed technique.

"Miwa? Is it?" Naomi stood up, she wanted to be with Gojo as he warned Gakuganji to not fuck with the students anymore, but she was too angry to continue, and she didn't want to give this old man the satisfaction of seeing her emotions, "I'll help you submit it."

Naomi walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her, making the shoji shudder as she paced the area, doing one of her breathing exercises as she listened to Satoru speak. The paper doing nothing to muffle them.

"Last night, my wife and I were attacked by two unregistered Special Grade Cursed Spirits."

"Oh? Well that is very unfortunate."

"Don't get me wrong here, it was about as much trouble as answering a sidewalk survey," Satoru said, "these two Cursed Spirits were capable of communication like the Cursed Spirit my wife reported to you guys earlier in the week."

Flashes of Kugeki flooded her mind, making her cringe as she remembered his emaciated figure. A shudder went down her spine as she tried forgetting him.

"They probably have allies who are just as strong, I'm sure that Famine curse my wife exorcised was one of them. And it's not just our foes," Satoru pointed out, "Hakari, Okkotsu, and your Todo, in recent years, the quality level of our students has risen dramatically as well. Then there was last years incident with Suguru Geto. And now, the appearance of Sukuna's vessel."

"What are you trying to say?"

"You're still not getting this?" Satoru asked humorously, "the wave of power you guys have been trying to hold back with your pointless status and traditions has grown bigger than you can handle and is now descending upon us, you won't be able to measure the coming age with just the classification of Special Grade, and if you really believe I'm the only one whose gonna fight back, you're gonna wind up hurt, old man."

"I think that you're way out of line, young man."

"Oh, I'm scared," Satoru sarcastically chuckled, Naomi wishes to see what Gakuganji's face looks like right now, but she doesn't want to give that man the satisfaction of seeing her. "Well I've said all I wanted to say, so I'll be going now."

Naomi stopped her pacing when she heard Satoru's approaching steps to the door. He opened it and stepped through, his hand automatically coming up to her shoulder to squeeze it assuringly.

He paused before leaning back into the room with a shit-eating grin.

"Oh, and Principal Yaga will be along in a couple of hours, later!"

Satoru actually shut the door behind him before wrapping an arm around her waist, walking with her as they exited the building.

When they felt the warm air hit their skin, Satoru opted to only holding her hand.

"Sorry for losing my cool," Naomi huffed, "I just can't stand old fashioned men like that."

"I'll stop holding doors open for you if it helps," Satoru teased, as they approached the wooden bridge, nearly off school grounds.

"You're such a comedian Satoru, you're almost funnier than that Takaba guy we saw a few months ago."

"Ouch, I resent that," Saturo held his free hand over his chest, "as your husband my number one priority is—"

"Mr. and Mrs. Gojo!" A familiar voice called out, pulling the couples attention behind them.

Miwa was running after them like a fire was lit under her ass, her phone clutched tightly in her hand.

"Are you okay?" Naomi asked, concern riddling her face as she assessed the girl for any potential injuries even though she had just seen her perfectly fine inside.

"Yes, I— um— could I get a photo with you guys?" Miwa's face was bright red as she alternated her attention between Naomi and Satoru, nervously fiddling with her phone now that she stood before them.

"Aw, of course," Naomi smiled, tension was released in her shoulders that she didn't even realize she was holding onto.

"Oh, thank you!" Miwa squealed, pulling her phone up and turning into it's view, Satoru and Naomi stood on either side of the blue haired girl and grinned for the camera.

Naomi could see two long fingers rising up behind her head and due to the way Miwa stood between them, she couldn't smack her husband without hitting the student. A press of a button and a camera shutter later and Miwa was lowering the phone to face the couple once, her face blushing once again as she made eye contact with Naomi.

"Thank you so much!" She giggled as she reverently bowed to the them.

Satoru only waved her off as he turned, Naomi joined him after bowing back to Miwa. Falling inline with his footsteps as he shortened his gait for her.

"Oh it's our pleasure!" Satoru spoke as he took Naomi's hand in his again.

"She's a sweet girl," Naomi pointed out, leaning into her husband as they headed for the exit, the school day had been over for them for about an hour now.

"Yeah, and before she got onto you, I was really enjoying watching you tear into Gakuganji," Satoru smirked, squeezing her hand as he nudged an elbow into her side, "maybe you should yell at me like that."

"Oh? Is this something new that I've unlocked?" Naomi looked up at him with a smirk of her own, "I know you love your praise but if you—"

Naomi was tired of being interrupted today. A groan escaped her throat as she pulled out her ringing phone, her frown pairing with her pinched eyebrows as she stared at Ieri's contact on her phone screen.

"Ieri's calling." Naomi pointed out before answering on speaker, "hello? You're on speaker with Toru."

"I figured," Ieri spoke, "I'm doing my obligatory phone call to let you know I had to see Megumi in my office today."

"What?" Naomi paused in her steps, glaring at the phone as if it would make her get the answers faster. "What happened? Is he alright?"

"He's doing better now, apparently some of Kyoto's students came by and there was a huge fight." Shoko explained.

"Fucking hell," Naomi huffed, looking up at Satoru with a frown, "is he still in your office?"

"No, he's heading back to his room now, I did what I could, but he responds to your positive energy better than my RCT now, so I would stop by before you leave the school today."

"Thank you, Ieri," Naomi sighed, "I'll bring you back a souvenir from Toru and I's vacation."

"Don't worry about it, I have to go, Kugisaki had a run in with the other Zen'in."

"Okay, text me how she's doing after, I'll see you soon."

"Okay, bye."

Naomi probably broke a record with how quickly she had gotten to Megumi's dorm room. Furiously knocking on the door, she barely waited for him to answer before she's swinging it open to see him lowering his t-shirt over his bruised torso as he sat on his bed.

A groan escaped his lungs when he saw her huffing body in his doorway, glaring daggers at him.

"You got into a fight— again?" She hissed, stomping into his room as she took his chin between her thumb and forefinger, raising it up to inspect his face, pushing his spiked hair back to get a better look.

She can see where Ieri cleaned off the blood, a clotted scar ran along his brow line. His lip was busted and beginning to swell and she can see the faint flush of a bruise in its beginning stages on his right cheek. Naomi glared at his injuries as she raised her free hand over his head, golden light shining down in rays from her palm onto the scar and made it turn into a feint line on his head.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Naomi started after Megumi seemed to relax from the healed injuries, "the exchange event is just over a month away, you couldn't wait until then to fight the Kyoto students?"

"I couldn't help it!" Megumi frowned, "the big guy, Todo, asked me what my type was and he didn't like my answer so he attacked me!"

"What the hell did you tell him that he felt the need to beat you up after?" Naomi exclaimed, lowering her hand from his head but the grip remaining on his chin, "why can't I turn my back for a second without you getting beat up, Gumi?"

"I told him I like personality, a good character!" Megumi frowned as he defended himself, pushing her hand away from his face, "and stop calling me Gumi."

Naomi paused as she stepped back, assessing her son's flushed cheeks and averted gaze. Her heart was melting as she looked down at him.

"Megumi Fushiguro, you are the sweetest kid I've ever met," She smiled softly and tackled him into a hug, cradling the side of his face as she kissed the top of his head, "my sweet sweet son, Aoi Todo is lucky that he's still a student or I would be kicking his ass right now."

"Get off!" Megumi grumbled, but not moving to push her away as she held him tightly in her arms.

Naomi couldn't really hear him over her cooing as she rocked back and forth. Tears threatening to spring in her eyes as she placed a couple more kisses on his hair.

In the nine years that she's known her son, she's learned that he isn't the most affectionate person, but she's also learned that when it comes to her and Tsumiki, he tolerates it for their sake. Naomi has always been grateful for that fact, even if it embarrasses him when she hugs him in public.

When she stepped away to assess him for any hidden injuries, she ignored his reddened face, sparing him the extra humiliation considering the face that he did get his ass kicked by a first grade sorcerer student.

"Alright, Megumi, I don't see anything else wrong," Naomi admitted, "I don't want you doing any assignments for a week, especially since Toru and I will be out of the country for two weeks, I don't want to be worrying about you the whole time."

"I know, I know, I won't," Megumi muttered, avoiding her gaze again as he hid behind his black hair, "... Have fun on your vacation, you earned it."

Naomi smiled softly, patting his cheek.

"We will, call me tomorrow, okay?" Naomi asked as she headed for Satoru who stood in the doorway, a smile on his face, even behind the blindfold, she knew that he was probably trying to hide the fact that he wants to laugh.

"I will, Mom." Naomi heard his mumble as she started to shut the door behind her. She paused, processing the way those three words made her want to break down in sobs as she finished closing his door.

Satoru knew exactly what to do, wrapping an arm around her and guiding her away from the dorms.

"He called me Mom." She choked out.

"I know, baby, the brat refuses to call me Dad."

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3.8k words

hey yall!

we're back with another update and aw all this family talk is just so cute!

I love this comedic, slice of life anime! :) Isn't everyone just so happy and carefree? Nothing can go wrong when living the good life!

:)

anyways, I hope to write some more, I'm REALLY wanting to get to act 2 because there just so much good stuff that I have prepared!

thank you all for reading and I hope to see you at the next update!

— greta!