3.
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3RD POV
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A month passed and as surprising as it may be, Colith seemed to know how to deal with babies.
Even though Toji was always on his guard in case something fishy happened with the dork, seeing Megumi in a good mood made him...happy. That said, he had more time to go on missions and gamble in horse races. Gamblings he lost most of the time but it was more a hobby than anything else.
With the parasite's arrival, his daily expenses were greatly reduced which he particularly appreciated, even though he still had trouble getting used to the new presence in his apartment. Things started getting easier for him and his son.
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"Soo I've been wondering, you actually can't see curses right?"
Colith asked softly, currently holding Megumi in her arms, swaying him gently to make him sleep. A particularly difficult endeavor that she was, somewhat, easily achieving.
"Like, how are you even able to work with Peggy anyways? And why ain't you letting me see her, huh...?" Toji slightly glared at her.
The only thing he did not like about her was her endless nosiness.
He had just returned from a job he accepted yesterday morning, having dumped some of his frustrations on the few unlucky sorcerers who had the misfortune to breathe his way. Apparently, the jujutsu world got wind of her appearance since she was an unknown.
The only thing known about her was that she was an entity strong enough to evade Gojo Satoru's attack and was to be apprehended immediately.
Eh, not like he was planning to tell her. Who was he to warn the annoying bitch of danger? He'd gladly deliver her to them if he wasn't getting cash out of it.
Eye twitching a bit, he walked past her, kissing his snoozing son's cheek in the process before settling on the couch with a grunt, effectively ignoring the pest who made a pouting face as she walked closer.
"What? You're still mad about the door?" she whined quietly, not wanting to startle awake the kid.
Ah yes, the door.
Three days ago, she popped a door out of nowhere in the hallway of HIS apartment and what pissed him off the most was that it led to absolutely nowhere.
Well, she justified herself by saying it was some kind of dimensional bullshit that only she or the people who were with her could access. Which means Megumi was in there at some point, and only Kami knows what’s inside, so it pissed him off.
He had a fucking scare when he couldn't suddenly sense the bitch and his son's presence and thought that she had kidnapped him and broken their deal, which is why he has been ignoring her for three days.
Yes, he could be petty like that.
Colith sighed softly, glancing down at the sleeping cherub in her arms "Hey Gumi, your dad seems to be pretty mad at little ol' me 'cause he thought I took you away"
She quietly chuckled, fondly caressing the baby's chubby cheek with her finger. He made a little content noise then resumed his sleep. Smiling, she left to tuck him in his crib, leaving a clone to watch him just in case. She came back a few moments later to the living room where a stoic Toji was still planning to ignore her by watching TV.
"Hey man, will you stop ignoring me? I've been doing a pretty decent job! Why the foul mood tho? I told you I was sorry!!" He continued to ignore her, staring only at the TV where a random program was broadcast.
Colith's eye twitched before an idea popped into her head.
'ight imma pull a Gojo'
She started repeatedly poking his left cheek since she was on his left.
"Come on, Come on, come on, tell me, tell me, tell me-"
Toji had to hold himself back from decking her to oblivion because she was seriously starting to get on his nerves.
"Alleeeeeeez, I said I was sorry~! but this was better than sleeping on your crappy couch! Answer me, bro-"
"Would you cut that out?!" he harshly grabbed her hand, startling her.
"Not till you talk to me!" she replied, unfazed by the bone-crushing grip that would've already destroyed anybody's hand.
He clicked his tongue, not in the mood for this before letting go. He turned to the annoying pest next to him, finally acknowledging her presence.
"What?"
"Well, fuckin' finally!" She dramatically said, hands raised to the sky, "Let's get to know each other!" before grinning at his unimpressed face.
"Why?" he scowled, suspicious.
She blinked, "Uh, cause I basically don't know shit about you-"
Lies
"AND I'm pretty sure you must be curious about me as well!"
Toji merely grunted.
Granted that she was strange considering she did not possess cursed energy like him, but still relied on an unknown power, and yes, he could not be described as normal either since he could still beat other sorcerers thanks to his extraordinary strength and acute senses, unlike the non-sorecerers. And honestly, a Goddess? What the hell.
For the Zenin clan, Non-sorcerers were less valuable than a cockroach and were mostly seen as a waste of space. They were even treated worse than the women there. A way of thinking he harbored with passion, though his hatred was mostly due to the way they treated him. Like shit.
Still, even without cursed energy, he was unnaturally resilient, and that scared them for they failed to entirely control him. One thing led to another and one day, he said fuck it, and left to live his life, even deciding to dump the surname.
The clan had initially tried to prevent his departure.
Keyword: tried.
Slaughtering a few members, especially those from Hei and the Kukuru unit proved to be a good way to drive the point across. Ultimately, he left behind hundreds of corpses, killed his father and almost permanently disabled his cocky brother. An act that forced the elders to reluctantly back down less they lose more valuable members in their foolish attempt to keep him there.
The only contact he has with them is when it comes to money. Nothing more, nothing less.
"So, where're you from? Since you seem to already know a lot, and as creepy as it sounds, I feel like you know a bunch of shit about me. " He gave her a pointed look which made her giggle awkwardly. She averted her gaze, scratching her cheek sheepishly. He sighed. He might as well humor her.
"Touché Hehehe! Anyway, I'm from Mali, in Africa!" The enthusiasm in her voice faltered a bit, "Though, going back there might not be a good thing, all things considered..." A sorrowful look came across her face and a humorless chuckle escaped her lips. Toji blinked.
"What do you mean?" He couldn't help but ask. He wasn't expecting this sudden shift in behavior.
She sighed softly and brought her bare legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She only wore a gray sweater and a pair of black shorts that made her dark skin look good despite the few scars he saw here and there.
Despite her annoying nature, she was quite attractive. Then again, Toji wasn't known to be difficult women-wise.
He was honest when he said that she was his type last month. Her beautiful golden eyes shone with happiness every time she saw him, which troubled him, considering that he was always rude to her.
Even after snapping or sneering at her disdainfully, she'd just respond with a silly joke followed by that melodious laughter that never failed to make his heart flutter- Toji did not like where this was going, and now was not the time to get attached. His libido was probably getting to him, that must be it.
"Remember when I told you I was sent here? Well, where I'm from we...kind of don't have access to cursed energy, or anything related to Jujutsu...or maybe it was the case but we were too dumb to notice, who knows," She spaced out for a few seconds before shrugging, "Since this realm eerily resembled my former world, I was convinced that my family must've still been around, living their life or were just, y'know, existing. And to my surprise, they do!"
Toji frowned, "So what's the problem? And how the fuck did you—" He blanked for a split second before deadpanning, "..right, you can... teleport, forgot about that detail." He wearily ran a hand through his hair, eyes closed. She snickered in response.
"Yup! I can fuckin' teleport! And well...the reason why I can't go back there is that...I don't exist here. At least in this world, which means that I have no connections to them. I mean, wouldn't it be weird if a random woman suddenly appeared at your front door claiming to be your daughter you've never known you had?" She chuckled, eyes downcast.
That was...kind of depressing.
Toji glanced discreetly and watched her stare off into space, noticing the miserable look in her eyes. His frown deepened.
"I mean it's alright I suppose.." she let out a weak laugh, "They won't be the same anyway, and meeting them will only serve as a reminder of what was lost, so it's not important... I just hoped that...maybe..." she got quiet, eyes blurring as her lower lip quivered before forcing down the growing lump in her throat.
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She eventually accepted the fact that it would not be possible to see her family again after her arrival in AOT, and after five years spent without them, only seeing snippets of their lives through social media, she came to terms with it. However, being thrown into a remotely similar universe made her regain the hope that maybe... seeing them again and interacting with them was possible. Unfortunately, nothing was that simple.
She was dead and they wouldn't even be the same. The worst part is that she didn’t exist here this time. Being a Goddess was just one more nail in the coffin and although she welcomed the new abilities with open arms, in hindsight, it wasn't worth losing everything that made her...her.
'There's no going back I guess...'
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Toji was rather thrown off by the sudden shift of emotions. She went from bubbly and obnoxious to gloom and doom. She looked so... weak and pathetic. And more...normal, granted that he had no clue what being normal even meant. He kills people for fuck's sake.
Listening to her talk about her family reminded him of...them. Hell, they were awful as fuck, and he couldn't comprehend how someone could be sad about it. Then again, a microscopic part of him might...be able to relate. Love was a foreign concept to him, but he knew that if something were to happen to the squirt, he might lose it...Yeah, he could understand actually.
He caught sight of her misty eyes. It looked... So wrong.
Without thinking, he reached out to wipe the tear that was threatening to fall from her scarred eye.
'Soft...'
He was actually curious as to how she got that scar on her left eye—
Stiffening, Colith promptly looked at him in shock just as he froze, bewildered by his own action.
'What-' they both thought.
Swiftly regaining his composure, he cleared his throat, somewhat uncomfortable with what he had just done, though he didn't pull back his hand.
"Uh, I don't...really know what it's like to have a..." he cringed, "loving family, but...stop saying stuff you don't even believe..." He slowly started, looking straight at her, unsure of what to say next.
Look, the whole sentimental shit wasn't his forte. Kill? He can do that with his eyes closed. But comfort? Might as well tell him to go back to the clan. Comforting people wasn't something he's ever done, to be honest. He'd rather leave them to rot in their problem and walk away. Or give them water at best. Still, some part of him just refused to let her be.
What the hell was wrong with him?
Colith blinked, reaching to grab his hand before giving it a light squeeze which effectively snapped him out of his thoughts.
She cracked a small smile that somehow made his breath catch in his throat.
"I..you're right...! Thanks, Toji..." She grinned. Toji suddenly questioned his own sanity.
'Definitely a lack of sex, there's no other way.'
"Stop bawling your eyes out, makes you uglier than usual." He grunted. She chuckled and he reluctantly?- brought back his hand from her strangely warm hold and avoided looking at her. For some strange reason, this interaction wasn't that unpleasant.
Wasn't he supposed to be mad at her? Why was he feeling light all of a sudden...? They kept discussing for another hour without the usual jokes she would do. He surprisingly learned more about her family, though he didn't always pay attention for...reasons.
He was strangely comfortable when she wasn't talking nonsense all the time to the point where he mentioned Megumi’s mother and her first daughter, Tsumiki, who was currently living with her grandparents. A subject he wouldn't have bothered to bring up if she hadn’t opened up first.
He asked about the 'One shot' thing he heard her complain about back in the abandoned building, but she ignored it and started bragging about her artistic skills instead. Knowing that she wouldn’t answer, he didn’t insist. Not that he was that interested, to begin with.
Afterward, she went to fix dinner like usual and made an unknown dish he was unfamiliar with. She'd always cook for him despite knowing that he'd refuse to eat or simply ignore the food. It didn't seem to deter her since she kept doing it, and today wasn't an exception. What was an exception however was that he finally decided to have a taste. Least to say that he didn't regret it one bit.
She was promptly bewildered when he ate and proceeded to beam, delighted to see him eat her cooking.
Maybe he should be nicer toward her...
He watched her prepare food for the baby with a skip in her steps before taking it to the boy's room.
Seeing her so devoted to his son made him wonder how the kid's mom would have handled things if she were still alive. He was not particularly a family man, but she was a kind soul to whom he became attached.
He still felt pain at her thought. She had let him take her maiden name since he had had enough of the clan’s bullshit, wanting nothing to do with them. She was the only thing that made him somewhat happy for a while. And when she blessed him with a son, everything came crashing down when she didn’t survive the delivery. He could have run away and left the baby to the Fushiguros but decided not to because the boy was his too. He may be an asshole but he wasn't that disgusting.
What was he, Naobito? Hell no.
Sighing, he took a shower after washing the dishes. He usually left them for Colith to do just to bother her, not that it worked since she never complains about it. He just...didn't feel like acting like an asshole for some time.
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Oh oh?
(REWRITTEN)
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