Tyrant and Father

"Megumi, have something to eat first!"

Tsumiki Fushiguro came over with a fruit platter to Megumi Fushiguro, who was diligently doing his homework.

"Thanks, sis."

Megumi Fushiguro smiled back, took the fruit platter, and set it on the table.

Though they both bore the surname Fushiguro, the two were not blood-related.

Megumi Fushiguro was the son of Toji Fushiguro and his ex-wife, while Tsumiki Fushiguro was the daughter of his current wife and her ex-husband.

Even so, Megumi and Tsumiki had a very good relationship.

Ding-dong—

"Hold on! Coming!"

Hearing the doorbell, Tsumiki Fushiguro called out as she walked to the front door.

Peering through the peephole, she was startled to see Toji Fushiguro standing outside.

But Toji Fushiguro now had a bruised and swollen face, his forehead wrapped in bandages, looking rather disheveled.

After a moment's hesitation, Tsumiki Fushiguro still opened the door.

Yet her gaze toward Toji Fushiguro revealed a stranger's indifference and curiosity.

"Da... Dad?"

Toji Fushiguro gave a slight nod in response, not displeased by his daughter's detachment.

Ever since he married into the Fushiguro family, he rarely stayed home, and his meetings with Tsumiki were pitifully few.

Though they were father and daughter in name, they had never cultivated the bond that should exist between them.

"Ah... Please, come in!"

Tsumiki Fushiguro stepped aside a bit dazedly, clearly still unaccustomed to Toji Fushiguro's arrival.

Toji Fushiguro scratched his head, showing a rare embarrassed expression. "Thanks."

"Sis, who is it?"

Megumi Fushiguro's spiky head poked out from the room.

The moment he saw Toji Fushiguro, a flash of disgust and resentment flickered in his eyes.

"You remember you have a home? Looking like that, did you lose gambling and have no money to pay, so you got beaten up?"

"..."

Toji Fushiguro was a bit annoyed.

Damn Gojo Sawa—he healed all the other injuries on his body but deliberately left the ones on his face.

What a twisted sense of humor!

"This... it's from work, an occupational injury," Toji Fushiguro explained, then paused, finding it strange that he was being unusually patient today.

"!"

Megumi was even more surprised than Toji.

This was the first time his cheap dad had ever directly responded to him, and with a complete sentence at that.

But the long-accumulated resentment made Megumi's words merciless.

"Occupational injury? Collecting debts for the yakuza and getting beaten up?"

"..."

Toji Fushiguro rolled his eyes, reached out with his broad hand, covered Megumi Fushiguro's head, and rubbed it vigorously.

Megumi's already explosive spiky hair instantly turned into a sea urchin head.

"Bastard! Let go of me!"

Megumi Fushiguro struggled, though his strength was utterly useless against Toji Fushiguro.

This feeling... it's really not bad!

Toji Fushiguro thought, unconsciously letting out a laugh.

"Huh???"

Megumi Fushiguro saw the corner of his cheap dad's mouth lift and froze completely.

Something's wrong! Very, very wrong!

Had his dad been beaten stupid or something?

Then Toji Fushiguro let go, walked into the room on his own, and lay sideways on the tatami, beckoning to Megumi Fushiguro.

"Hey! Grab me a bottle of booze!"

"... Get lost."

Megumi Fushiguro gave a cold snort, then turned and walked into his own room.

Tsumiki Fushiguro looked at Megumi, then at Toji Fushiguro.

Finally, she sighed and grabbed a six-pack of beer from the fridge for Toji.

"Uh... thanks."

Faced with this stepdaughter who shared no blood with him, Toji Fushiguro had no idea what attitude he should take.

But fortunately, Tsumiki was quite sensible and well-behaved—what father wouldn't cherish a daughter like that?

Days passed one after another.

Toji Fushiguro just settled in, spending his days bickering with his son and chatting with his daughter, sometimes cooking on a whim, and even giving up his favorite pastime of gambling.

As for Megumi and Tsumiki, they had gone from initial awkwardness to fully adapting to life with a father around.

One day, Megumi pushed open the door as usual to clean up the empty beer cans Toji had left behind.

Suddenly, he spotted something strange on Toji.

It looked like... a big, black-purple, fat worm, coiled around Toji's body.

Megumi froze for a moment, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him. He rubbed them and stared intently.

Feeling the obvious gaze on his back, Toji turned around with a puzzled look. "What's wrong?"

"You've got..."

Megumi pointed at the cursed spirit, Choubao, his face full of disbelief.

"Huh?"

Toji raised an eyebrow and pointed at Choubao. "You mean this?"

Megumi's eyes went wide. "Huh? You can see it too? Th-this... this is real?"

Seeing this, Toji grinned, clearly already aware of his son's situation.

Technique Awakening!

"Looks like there are some things it's time for you to know... Hey, Tsumiki, come in here."

Though Tsumiki had no talent for jujutsu, they all lived under the same roof as a family—hiding it was impossible, and Toji didn't mind her knowing either.

Then, Toji began explaining cursed energy and techniques to Megumi and Tsumiki.

After a while, Toji finished speaking and grabbed a beer to wet his dry tongue.

Just as he was anticipating his children's reactions, Tsumiki blinked.

"Dad, are you running a fever?"

"..."

Alright, to an ordinary person, this stuff really did sound like a fairy tale.

But Megumi stayed silent.

If he hadn't seen Choubao, he'd have thought his old man had lost his mind too.

But he could see it—he could even clearly sense the cursed energy coming off Choubao!

"There's some fever medicine in the room. Wait here, Dad, I'll get it."

Toji covered his face and stopped Tsumiki.

Then, to prove he wasn't crazy, he took her to the courtyard and personally demonstrated a sci-fi-like display in front of her.

Watching Toji leap dozens of feet into the air, Tsumiki finally believed.

Then her eyes sparkled. "So Dad must be really strong in the jujutsu world, right? What do you do, Dad?"

"Ah, I'm a sorcerer kill—cough cough!"

Looking at his innocent, kind-hearted daughter, Toji Fushiguro quickly pulled back from the brink.

"I... I guess I'm a hired bodyguard."

Toji said guiltily, then, with the thought of building a fatherly image in his daughter's eyes, added:

"As for strength, of course I'm strong. The number of people in the jujutsu world who can beat me is less than a handful."

"Wow~"

Tsumiki showed an admiring expression.

Megumi, standing nearby, gave a cold snort and scoffed. "Didn't you come back with a black eye a few days ago, saying it was a work injury? Clearly you got beaten up and lost your job, right?!"

Toji rolled his eyes. "That was because I ran into three people..."

"Didn't you say you were so strong that less than a handful could beat you?"

Megumi cut him off. "So those three just happened to be part of that handful?"

Toji: "..."

You probably won't believe this, but damn it—they really were!