A/N: New character in this chapter. I've waited SO LONG for them to appear in the story XD

Also, this chapter will kind of explain why Megumi was a rather emotionally detached person for most of his life.

Enjoy reading!

Chapter summary: Megumi stays away from his and Yuuji's dorm room for a while.

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Yuuji's cries and sobs amplified in slew and volume, his body releasing all of its pain by means of waterfalls on his face and wailings in his throat.

The weeping sounds of disappointment and grief echoed through the deserted park, birds snuggled in their nested homes between branches being the only ones to bear witness to Yuuji's breakdown.

—---

With a dropped head, Megumi was still standing in the same spot ever since Yuuji had left the room. For how long? How much time had passed since then? Maybe minutes or hours or years or an eternity.

Megumi couldn't tell.

But it definitely felt like an eternity.

Megumi's sorrow was timeless.

Surprisingly, he managed to make the tip of one finger twitch and, like dominoes toppling over, his whole body successively shook and trembled, and he finally broke free from his bodily imprisonment.

Megumi inhaled and exhaled sharply upon realizing that he had been breathing irregularly and sometimes – even worse – holding his breath unconsciously.

It hurt.

The pain.

Everything.

It hurt.

And Megumi couldn't make it stop.

For some reason though, he managed to reach his desk – lethargically – and grab his phone – also lethargically – and his fingers unlocked the phone screen.

Yuuji had given him that number once. Back then after they had visited Yuuji's childhood home together for the first time. Yuuji had given Megumi that phone number in case Megumi needed help from someone who had much more knowledge in medicine. Megumi, however, had never contacted that person. Not even once. He hadn't even saved their number properly.

Megumi was watching the string of numbers on the phone screen. He clicked on the message button – lethargically – and tapped in the message. A short message. Three little sentences, but they were bearing a lot of weight.

[6.19 p.m.] It's me, Megumi. Yuuji knows. He found out when we were dating.

Megumi wasn't wasting a lot of thoughts on what use it had to send Gojo that message, but a part of himself told him that this was something he needed to do.

Not that it could fix anything ...

Megumi could have neglected his phone after that message, but his thumbs ended up hovering above the list of contacts he had recently messaged.

Yuuji was one of them.

But ...

Megumi couldn't do it.

He couldn't bring himself to do it.

So, he didn't.

Instead his eyes wandered down to another contact on the phone screen.

That person and Megumi had sent each other messages sporadically. Ever since Megumi had started med school, he hadn't seen him in person. They were a two hours bus ride (or a one hour train ride) apart from each other. And Megumi had never really felt drawn to that person emotionally. And yet ... now ... Megumi had to go somewhere.

He couldn't stay here, in his dorm room. Not because of the possibility of Yuuji coming back anytime soon, but because Megumi was feeling like he needed to leave this place for a while. If he did that, the agony wouldn't vanish like nothing (even though Megumi was secretly hoping for any change, no matter how little), but at least he could submerge deeper into his own sorrow without having a certain someone intensify the pain — even if that certain someone basically had the right to do exactly that. Megumi had hurt him after all.

Megumi tapped a message:

[6.22 p.m.] Can I stay over for the weekend?

He then tossed his phone onto his bed and grabbed a backpack. Moving around didn't hurt as much as thinking or allowing emotions, but Megumi had a hard time filling his bag with clothes nevertheless. A 'ping' sound steered his attention to his phone once more. Megumi checked the message he had received.

[6.31 p.m.] What?!

I'll take that as a 'yes', Megumi thought, slipped his phone into his pocket and finished packing.

Once he had finished, a numbing feeling began to bloom and evolve inside him; keeping him farther and farther away from the thought of wanting to do the right things right away. Wanting to solve every problem in his life right away and without failures.

Megumi couldn't do that. He was sure that he had ruined everything without having any chances of success left.

Even if he wanted to try, he would fail ... He was sure of that.

When Megumi left the dorm room building and looked back to his dorm room window one last time, there was a strange feeling of having forgotten something — and at the same time it was a feeling of having left something behind.

Yeah. He was leaving behind the remnants of something that had once been the reason for his emotional change that he had experienced.

Once more, Megumi was on his way to lead a life in apathy and indifference towards everyone and everything.

Never ever would he have thought that he would be against that path which he used to favor most of the time in his life.

Megumi was starting to leave his new self behind. Already. It had happened so fast.

He chose the train ride. One hour in a compartment with other people of whom he took no notice, drowning out the noises and chatters, and sitting still; not a single muscle twitching as his chin was dropped to his chest, eyes slowly blinking.

The numbing feeling inside him got more prominent. Megumi wondered if this was something that was bound to happen. Closing in on himself – his emotions – and creating that mental dam ... before the burst would happen?

How long until then?

Megumi was feeling vacantly numb — body sluggish, thoughts turned off and his inner self abandoning him.

He was alone — in every sense.

The pain – his downfall – was not meant to be shared. It was all for Megumi to deal with pathetically and by himself.

Something was missing. The whole time Megumi was sure that he had forgotten something.

It was a surprise that Megumi got off the train at the right stop, considering the state he was in. It was a surprise that Megumi managed to walk to the shabby apartment by looking down and without bumping into other people or getting run over by a car.

Once he had reached the apartment and pressed the doorbell, a shockwave of realization rippled through his body.

The rabbit. The white rabbit.

Megumi had forgotten it in his dorm room.

That was it. That constant feeling, earlier, of having left something behind. His plushie.

Megumi was alone. He had no one. If anything, having his mother's white rabbit plushie with him could have given him the only emotional support that he had.

And now he didn't even have that to support himself emotionally.

Megumi groaned inaudibly as he threw his head back, pressing his palms into his closed eyes.

It couldn't have gone any worse for him.

The disappointment Megumi was visited by was so overwhelming that his memories reeled back to a past memory, rendering him numb once again.

Megumi had his head buried in the sterile white hospital blanket, his tiny hands forming tight fists as he sobbed into the fabric. His mother was the patient in that hospital bed.

She got the news a week earlier and had taken her time to accept it herself before she told her husband Toji Fushiguro and her son Megumi.

Megumi's mother didn't have much time left.

Toji was staring out of the window, jaw tense and stern, hands hidden in his pockets, but the quivers of his arms were an indicator enough. He was mad. Angry with the world. A kind and lovely woman like his wife didn't deserve such an abrupt ending.

Megumi had been crying next to his mother for a long time, his mother couldn't do anything to soothe him, merely stroking his unruly hair with silent tears glistening in her eyes.

"Megumi, look at me," Megumi's mother said softly.

"No!" Megumi sobbed into the pillow, his voice muffled, "Why aren't the doctors coming?? Why can't they save you?!" Megumi's shoulders shook and he wet a part of the blanket generously with his soaking tears.

Megumi was too young to understand that not every illness can be "saved by a doctor". Megumi didn't understand yet that some illness weren't curable.

"Please, look at me, Megumi. Let me look at you for as long as I still can." The lithe hands of Megumi's mother's were stroking Megumi's back encouragingly. Of course she was upset because she wouldn't be able to witness her own child grow up anymore, but it was her who had to take care of her child's sadness first.

Timidly and scared by what would come next, Megumi rose his head as the sound of his stifling sobs filled the hospital room. His face was tear-stained, snot was coming out of his nose and his eyes were red and puffy.

Megumi's mother dried the kid's face as much as was possible with her weak, bare hands. She blinked through her own tears, wearing a soft but sad smile.

"I want to make a promise to you, Megumi," she said, attempting to express comfort.

"So you're not going to die?" Megumi hiccuped and swallowed hard, and that question caused Megumi's mother's mouth to twist insecurely.

Toji was still by the window, an unforgiving fist pressed against his lips. He wasn't looking at the mother and her son, but he was listening — with lots of rueful bitterness inside him.

Megumi's mother took her time to choose her words wisely before continuing with, "No, that's not what I mean. I'm sorry, Megumi. You can visit me a few more times, but ..." She realized that she shouldn't go on with that, so her words halted midway and she started anew. "I want to tell you this: Even if we won't be able to see each other anymore soon, I'll always be by your side, my little Megumi. Okay? I promise."

And then she placed something on the bed, between herself and Megumi.

Megumi looked at it with furrowed eyes, taking a while until he understood what was happening.

His mother had placed a white stuffed rabbit in front of him.

Megumi loved plushies; always had. No matter what kind of plushie his mom would give him, he would always love each of them and play with them and sleep with them.

Megumi loved his plushies. Because they were gifts from his mom. And Megumi loved his mother so much.

Megumi took the white rabbit with shaking hands, a sniffle interrupting the silence here and there. He turned the stuffed bunny in his hands repeatedly, inspecting it from all sides as though he was holding something he couldn't decipher.

At that time, the white rabbit plushie wasn't giving Megumi some comfort. Actually, it wasn't give him any comfort.

But after his mother's death he realized quickly just how much it mean t to him to have that rabbit. It was the last thing he got from her and soon enough that bunny had been able to give Megumi solace when ever he needed it .

Megumi needed her by his side right now. Megumi needed his mother right now. But his mother wasn't with him.

He had forgotten that bunny. How could he have forgotten to— ...?!

Megumi sighed, the exhale of his breath close to a whine.

Megumi had been wrong earlier.

He had reached the lowest point in his life right at this very moment.

Nothing could possibly make things worse for him.

Megumi truly was alone. Not even the person Megumi was forcing to take him in for two days could make Megumi feel less lonely.

As if on cue, the door was opened – it was rather ripped open – and Toji Fushiguro met his son's face with a slightly glinting glare.

"You were actually for real when you said you want to stay over, huh?" Toji hurled his words at him with a rude growl.

What a lovely greeting.

Megumi's father Toji Fushiguro had the same hair color as him, but short and flat hair instead of spiky strands. His physiques told everyone that he was keeping his body in shape and preferring a size of muscles that was bigger than what was usual. Moreover, Toji had a face with striking features, keeping a resting bitch face as a facial expression most of the time, and a little vertical scar that was sporting the right corner of his lips.

Megumi had not an ounce of energy left inside him to argue with his own father about wanting to stay at his father's home for a few days. Why did he even have to argue about such a trivial thing in the first place? Megumi was his son. They weren't exactly on bad terms, so he should be able to stay here without problems. That was what Megumi was convincing himself of. He was in dire need of a rest somewhere that was far away from university or the dormitory buildings.

Thus, all Megumi did was give a scowl back and walk past his father, explaining in a low mutter, "It's just for the weekend."

He crossed the short entrance hall and allowed himself into the living room.

Toji snarled at the thought of having someone staying over. What did it matter that it was his own son?

He closed the door with a rough kick of his feet and asked not-so-friendly, "Aren't you living in dorms or so?"

Endurance having been completely drained out of him, Megumi resorted to nonverbal replies — as he usually would at moments like these.

He nodded.

"Can't you just stay there?"

Megumi shook his head.

Despite the lack of words, Toji understood that a 'I can't sleep in my dorm room at the moment.' was accompanying Megumi's silence.

Toji growled and rolled his eyes, making his way to the living room. "Whatever. But don't expect me to be your maid or so. Cook your own food and if you need your clothes washed, do it yourself."

Megumi didn't even bother responding to that in any way. His father had established these rules casually and there was nothing else for Megumi to do than to abide by them. He didn't need to tell his father that he had understood.

Megumi gave a curt look around the living room. His father had lived here ever since the death of Megumi's mother. Megumi noticed that most things were still pretty much unchanged ever since he had moved out a while ago.

The small and unkempt apartment was as impersonal and unemotional as Toji Fushiguro.

Megumi's father had never really been the type to bare his emotions much. But ever since the death of Megumi's mother, he had been emotionally unavailable in every way imaginable. Megumi had lived with him for many years, being an only child to a single father, but Toji had never shown any kind of deep sentiments towards Megumi. Not love nor anger nor despair nor sadness.

Which was probably why Megumi had never really learnt much about the essence of emotions — how to express them, how to show various kinds of emotions, how to actually feel them, how to deal with them.

Toji had basically done no more than to provide for Megumi until high school graduation. He helped him out during Megumi's gap year. But things hadn't gone further than that.

Megumi had never lacked necessities, and living with his dad had never really been adorned with bad experiences either. He had been able to do well in school and grow up decently.

However the entirety of a family bond between a father and a son had never existed between them.

Megumi wasn't emotionally connected to his own father and his own father wasn't emotionally connected to him. Toji did acknowledge Megumi as his kid – his son – but now that Megumi was a university student, he didn't think it was necessary anymore to act out a parental role or a father figure.

To Toji, Megumi was grown-up enough. He wouldn't really need a dad anymore.

That was the status quo between them.

Megumi didn't hate his father. But he didn't really feel any sort of filial love towards him either.

Nevertheless, none of these were reason enough to stay away from his father for the rest of his life. Besides ...

Megumi needed to be somewhere else. He couldn't stay at his dorm room. Couldn't. Not with how things were at the moment.

Out of a sudden, Megumi was surprised by a sight he had never expected to experience within his father's living space.

"A cat ..." Megumi mumbled, his gaze fixated on a spot in front of him.

A black cat. There was a black cat eyeing him, warily walking sideways with its back arched threateningly. The cat raised a paw slowly, made a step slowly and repeated the action, all the while not taking its eyes off Megumi.

Megumi's dad wasn't an animal lover.

"I didn't pick her up from a shelter or so," Toji justified himself fast and grumpily, sipping on a can of beer, "She followed me home one day from the streets."

"What's her name?" Megumi asked weakly. His voice was on the verge of a breakdown, but he continued watching the cat being wary around him.

"Black."

Ridiculous, Megumi thought, tiredly.

Toji considered that little conversation finished and Megumi fell into silence. The former one went back to what he was doing while the latter one unpacked his belongings with much emptiness inside him.

***

Megumi had finished eating a slice of delivery pizza and was closing the lid of the pizza box now. He couldn't eat more than that.

Megumi could feel it approaching.

He couldn't put a finger on it, but there was something within him that was impending. Foreboding. A bad omen.

He felt empty, but at the same time he felt as though he was about to explode. A feeling equivalent to the Big Bang.

With shuffling feet, he went back to the living room. Toji wasn't paying him any attention, his eyes glued to something that was broadcasted on TV.

Even if he had the chance to, even if his dad were to lend a listening ear, Megumi wouldn't be able to put into words what he was feeling right now. But something ... something wanted to be freed.

There were two sofas in the living room and Megumi chose the unoccupied one. On his way, he picked up Black who was still hesitant and cautious around Megumi.

An unfamiliar cat that Megumi had never seen before couldn't replace something as valuable as Megumi's bunny (his one and only support), but he needed to hold something.

Megumi was so close to just ... fall apart.

He laid down on the sofa, back meeting semi-stiff cushions, Black on top of his chest and kept in place by his hands. Black was turning to the left and right under Megumi's hold. The cat wasn't trusting the newcomer yet.

Megumi disregarded her struggles for now, blinking at the ceiling. Megumi was feeling it. He really was feeling something. It was so close. It would happen. Very soon.

On the other sofa, Toji was watching a jockey game on TV, an arm resting lazily on the armrest. He then turned his attention to his son. Toji grinned boldly, being in a good mood when he asked, "How's med school going? Are you gonna make your Papa rich?"

To that, Megumi closed his eyes, unresponsive. It's only the first semester, he thought, exhausted. Megumi was not in the mood for his father's shenanigans.

And then it happened.

The numbness couldn't conceal Megumi's emotions anymore. They build up, like water that started boiling, and then they overtook Megumi at once and without a warning. The welled up tears spilled over Megumi's face as low whimpers began to get louder.

Toji saw that and his face turned appalled. "Oh my fucking god. Don't start cryi—"

"I lost him!" Megumi sobbed, hard, and that was when Black struggled the hardest, biting the hand that was holding her, desperately wanting to get out of the grasp. Megumi let go of the cat, the feline sprinting away, too scared about Megumi's sudden cries. And the worst was that his crying worsened — in magnitude and volume. He sobbed again, crying without restraints, swallowing and breathing poorly, when he clarified miserably, "I never really had him, but ... I lost him. There wasn't m-much between us yet, b-but I lost ... him ..."

Toji pinched the bridge of his nose. He stayed in that position for quite a while, the corners of his lips pointing down.

He then breathed out a heavy sigh as he rolled his eyes upwards.

Toji was contemplating scenarios and decisions at first, but ultimately decided to approach his crying son. He sat down on the armrest of the other sofa, looking down expressionlessly. Nothing had changed about Megumi's lying position. Toji saw how his son's eyes were pressed closed, how his lips were shivering as whiny sounds slipped through them, and how his face was covered with streaks of tears.

"It's just a phase," Toji claimed with a nonchalant tone.

"It's not a phase!"

Toji didn't really mind his son being into guys, but at the same time he didn't really believe in Megumi staying gay forever.

After that, Toji remained silent, not even going for a second attempt of consolation.

Toji Fushiguro was anything but a consoling father.

This was one of those moments where Megumi remembered just how emotionally unavailable his father was — to the point that Megumi's emotional side had gotten dull early on in his childhood.

Megumi used to always dismiss deep emotions, until ...

He didn't want to think about that right now.

Megumi tried to dim his sobs, swiping both palms over his face. Even though his eyes were closed, he could practically feel his father looking at him with nothing but a lack of understanding. Megumi crying like that. Must be a hideous sight to Toji.

Megumi took deep, shaky breaths, not opening his eyes yet. His hands felt empty — too empty at a time like this. "I forgot to bring mom's bunny with me," he croaked out, "The one she gave me before she passed away." He tugged at his restless fingers and dared to open his eyes now.

Toji watched his son for a few seconds, no words spoken. Then, he stood up and left the living room. Megumi was used to his dad's peculiar demeanor. He wasn't expecting his father to react or deal with Megumi's emotional breakdown in any way. So, he pressed his lips together and spilled more unwelcomed tears.

Toji came back and sat down at the same spot as earlier. Megumi had been staring at the ceiling once the other had left, but his blurry vision came to sight with a blue and a white thing that his father was holding out in front of his face.

"Your mom used to give you lots of plushies when you were a toddler. These two are the only ones that I have left." Toji's voice was monotonous, but Megumi accepted his father's words gratefully.

His vision cleared and he came face to face with two plushies—a dark blue hound and a white one. Both had red triangular marks on their foreheads.

I don't even remember these, Megumi said to himself.

But he was happy with everything that reminded him of his mother's calm and comforting self.

He grabbed the dog plushies hastily, turning to the side and clinging to them the same way he'd have done with his bunny. His shaky breathing gradually eased off and he closed his eyes once more. His deceased mom was by his side. Things were a bit more endurable now. He was still feeling horrible, but at least she was with him.

He hadn't lost everyone who was important to him because his mom would always be by his side. No matter the things Megumi did or would do wrong, she would always be by his side.

He heard a ruffling sound and was soon met with a blanket that was enclosing his body. The blanket felt like a barrier sheltering him from his own messy life.

And, just like that, Megumi was able to fall asleep.

***

On Saturday, Megumi spent most of his time on that same couch, either lying awake on it and tossing around at random times or taking uncomfortable naps. The two plushies from his mom were next to him. Black had accepted Megumi as a visitor so much that she would sense Megumi's distress and lie down next to him to give soothing support in a feline way.

Still more than Toji had done or would ever do.

Toji didn't embody the best parental role and he didn't know how to fix Megumi's emotional problem anyway.

Toji regarded his son with disgust when he got back home in the afternoon. "Don't tell me you haven't left that couch at all today." His voice was cladded with underlying aversion.

Megumi was lying on the side. If he were to open his eyes, he'd be facing his father — more like his father's legs. "Bathroom. Once," was all Megumi gave as a retort.

"Get up. You're not making anything better, if you keep being unnecessarily gloomy." Toji would never be able to understand how the things Megumi was going through would lead to him not feeling like doing anything at the moment.

Megumi frowned as he clenched his fists. "I will stay only for the weekend. Can't you leave me alone for two days?" He dared to make his tone harder than Toji favored.

Toji didn't let that go unnoticed, frowning in the same fashion as Megumi, his words accompanied by roughness. "Talking like that... in my house. I'm your father."

Megumi sighed heavily, still mad.

Toji's irritation made something in his head snap. "I'll beat you up."

Megumi's father had never laid a finger on him, even though he'd threatened him like that a few times in the past. That was why Megumi was unfazed by the empty threat.

However, he did react to it, doing that with with sarcastic sassiness even. "Do it. At least then I'd feel something that isn't bothering me much."

Toji clicked his tongue, evidently annoyed, but left Megumi alone after that.

The only exception was when Toji placed a plate with heated up food on the couch table some time later. Megumi didn't want to eat whatever was on that plate, but quickly changed his mind, when he saw Black pawing at it to have a taste of the meal.

Megumi grabbed the plate and ate everything, not savoring the bites, but at the same time he didn't leave a single chunk of food or sauce behind. Because of Black.

He then laid back on the sofa and dozed off. The next time he woke up, Black was curled up next to his face, purring.

Megumi had read about a cat's purrs having a calming effect on humans, and somehow Megumi did feel a bit better with Black being around — snuggling into him and licking his face.

Megumi combed his fingers through Black's shiny black fur. The purring picked up on volume.

"If she likes you, take her with you," came Toji's indifferent and carefree voice from behind. He was sitting in front of the TV, watching yet another jockey game.

Megumi ignored him.

***

On Sunday morning, Megumi felt more like wanting to be somewhere else than on the couch. He sat on the kitchen table, a bowl of cereals in front of him which he had left untouched so far.

Instead of eating, his thoughts had trailed off to his problem. His trouble. One he had caused all by himself.

"Why did you pour yourself some cereals, if you don't want to eat it?" Toji complained, sounding gruff and irritable. If Megumi hadn't known it any better, he'd have blamed it on the early morning hour. "You're wasting food," Toji added.

Megumi stirred the content of his bowl once, but didn't take a bite. Black was strolling around by his feet, purring contently and rubbing her scent off on his leg.

Toji sat down on a chair by the kitchen table detrimental to Megumi with a big, heaving sigh. "You better clear away later today. Uncle Shiu is coming in a few hours." Toji winked at his son when he said, "We need to tend to some business, ya know?"

Megumi watched his dad mutely. "Uncle" Shiu Kong wasn't his real uncle, but he used to watch over Megumi sometimes, when his father was away. Megumi didn't even know what kind of job Toji had and he never really wanted to know. It wouldn't surprise him, if the job wasn't exactly on the legal side, so it was convenient to him that he didn't know anything about his father's profession. Toji, of course, never told him what he was doing and he was more than glad that his son wasn't asking any nosy questions.

Toji busied himself with opening a brand new pack of cigarettes. He peeled off the plastic wrapper, pulled out a cigarette, put it between his lips and then searched through his pockets for a lighter.

Megumi went back to losing himself in nagging thoughts, still not eating his breakfast, stirring his spoon once in a while. He heard Toji groan since he couldn't find his lighter. Megumi then saw how a big, calloused hand of his father's snatched a pack of matches in the middle of the table. Toji lit his cigarette with a match instead.

For some reason, Megumi couldn't bear this maddening situation any longer. His father doing his own thing next to him, while Megumi was barely keeping himself sane in the midst of his damaged life.

So, shifting his glance from his cereal bowl to his father repeatedly, Megumi eventually decided to dare it — he dared to ask his father for advice, being hopeful even.

"How do you deal with mistakes you've made in life?"

Toji looked at his son as his eyebrows rose up once quickly. He took a long drag, exhaled all of the smoke at once and said with a big, shameless smirk, "I've never made a single mistake in my life."

Of course I shouldn't have asked him. Megumi sighed deeply, turning his head away from his father.

"I wasn't even finished yet," Toji complained again in his own brash manner.

Megumi turned his head back to him, reluctantly; not expecting anything of worth to help his current state of misery.

Toji took another drag, posing as though he was the head of a clan or the mafia that was about to make a major declaration. Megumi was annoyed by that act.

Toji started his speech by saying, "I don't believe in having made any mistakes in my life, but I do realize that some things I did were better than others. I never regretted them, though. Regret won't bring you anywhere. Stuff has already happened. What happened, happened. You can't change anything about it anymore and there is no use in losing a single breath on regretting it or crying over it. All that is left for you to do is to face the consequences. Face the mistakes, if that's what you consider them to be. The only thing you can do is to deal with them. Deal with it in a way that you can endure it. In a way that is not self-destructive." For the finishing line, Toji went dead serious, "Whatever you do, good or bad, live with it. You have to live with it."

Megumi was speechless—not figuratively, literally.

He let a long period of silence pass, and Toji didn't add anything to his answer. All was said that he'd wanted to say.

Megumi scratched his neck, unsure about how to respond. Then, he opted for, "Don't smoke when Black is around. Cigarette smoke is harmful to pets, too."

Toji groaned, rolling his eyes and taking another drag before he said, "Nuisance. Just go back to the dorms."

Megumi didn't answer. In his mind, he went over his father's words again.

'The only thing left for you to do is to deal with it.'

Megumi stirred his cereal and raised his spoon. Hesitant at first, still deep in thoughts, he then took a bite of his – by now – mushy breakfast.

Strangely enough, somehow, in some way, that advice was giving Megumi some sort of comfort.

It was giving him a direction on how to go on.

Megumi would have to deal with his mistakes.

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A/N: Toji being blessed by the cat distribution system only for him to give his cat the most generic-ass name ever 😭😭😭

Proofreading this chapter made me realize just how hilarious I made Toji as a character in my story. That man does NAWT know how to deal with a heartbroken son 😂

Tried to keep Toji in-character while figuring out what kind of father he would be.

To be honest, my favorite lines of Toji were "Are you gonna make your Papa rich?" and "It's just a phase." because that man is so UNSERIOUS lmao

This was it for the chapter!

What do you think about this chapter? About Toji (especially as Megumi's father)? What do you think about Toji's advice? (The advice isn't meant to be flawless)

What do you think about the Toji & Megumi interactions?

As always, any kind of feedback is very much welcomed <3

(The Megumi & Yuuji angst will continue next chapter!)