Father and son

In a house in Tokyo that was neither large nor small.

Toji was in a terrible mood. With a kitchen knife in hand, he stared in exasperation at the fish flopping around on the cutting board.

Then a cruel smile curled his lips. "Pretty lively, aren't you... just watch me chop you into pieces!"

"Dad..."

A sweet female voice suddenly rang out. Toji shot the merrily flopping fish a vicious look, then composed himself and turned to the girl taking off her shoes. "Why are you home from school so early today, Tsumiki?"

"Our teacher took the day off..." Tsumiki put her shoes in the shoe cabinet, then glanced at the apron Toji was wearing and chuckled. "Trying to learn how to cook again? You really don't have to!"

"I just thought this looked good on me," Toji answered defensively. "I certainly wasn't trying to cut up a fish with a kitchen knife."

Tsumiki smiled without a word, took off his apron, and walked into the kitchen. "Just leave it to me. You and Megumi can wait in the living room!"

"So little faith in me..." Toji pursed his lips, glanced at Tsumiki, then turned on the television.

"A terrorist attack recently took place at Miyagi Prefecture's Third Middle School..."

Toji's heart sank as he watched the news report. The damage to the surrounding buildings wasn't something a mere terrorist attack could have caused...

"I'm home~"

Megumi Fushiguro pushed the door open and saw Toji sitting on the sofa. A rare look of awkwardness crossed his face. If there was anyone Megumi least wanted to face, it was his father, Toji.

Looking uncomfortable, Megumi sat down beside Toji. Father and son sat in silence for a moment before Megumi spoke first, breaking the awkward atmosphere. "How long are you staying this time?"

"Well, probably just a day." Seeing his son's demeanor, Toji suddenly felt amused.

Why is this brat so awkward? The older he gets, the more awkward he becomes. Who did he learn that from...

He was pretty cute when he was little, though. Now that he's grown up, he talks less and less. It almost feels like all those years I spent raising him were for nothing.

"Um..." Megumi stammered. "Could you stay a little longer? There's a lot I want to know..."

"But it's mostly Tsumiki who wants to know! It has nothing to do with me!"

"Megumi!" Tsumiki came out and chided him. "You're the one who wants Dad to stay a few more days!"

"The older you get, the less honest you are."

"I do not!"

"You do too! You're just too embarrassed to admit it!" Tsumiki teased.

Watching the siblings bicker, Toji couldn't help smiling with happiness...

This must be the life that kid wanted me to have, right? If he hadn't stopped Satoru Gojo twelve years ago, I might really have died to that attack.

Toji clenched his fists, remembering that terrifying purple cursed energy.

Even after twelve years, he could still recall it. The Zenin Clan's relentless research had uncovered everything about the Gojo Clan's Blue, Red, and Limitless, but that one move...

"You've already tamed Mahoraga?"

Toji's thoughts returned to the entrance of the Tombs of the Star Corridor twelve years earlier.

Rather than continuing to watch Satoru Gojo's excitement, he turned to his student, Ze Zenin, and asked.

"Yeah."

Ze Zenin smiled faintly. "It took some work. I even had to make a trip to Southeast Asia and then come back here. I nearly died of exhaustion on the way."

"Hard to believe..." Toji sighed, looking at the boy who was now nearly as tall as he was. "The little brat who used to chase after me calling me 'teacher' has grown this much."

"Don't forget to treat me to dinner, teacher. I want to go to a five-star hotel."

"You little brat. Trying to bleed me dry?"

"You figured it out?!"

"You little brat..." Toji laughed and cursed, hooking an arm around Ze Zenin's neck.

Toji was so lost in his memories that Tsumiki had to call him several times before she brought him back.

"Dad, what are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing."

Toji waved a hand, then suggested, "It's still pretty early. Why don't the three of us go to an amusement park?"

"What do you think?"

"Yes, yes!" Tsumiki cheered excitedly. Going to an amusement park together as a family was what she wanted more than anything.

"No objections." Megumi still wore that same indifferent expression.

"..."

Toji planted a hand on Megumi's head and ruffled his hair hard.

Ignoring whether the spiky hair prickled his hand, he complained:

"How many years have you even been studying under that brat Ze Zenin?

I sent you to learn how to use your cursed technique, not to copy that infuriating look on his face!"

"I get it!" Megumi shielded his head with both hands. "Stop messing up my hair!"

"You little brat!" Toji glared at Megumi. He had gone to great lengths to keep his son from turning out like Ze Zenin.

The whole family headed out together and arrived at an amusement park.

The moment they entered, Tsumiki completely dropped her mature facade and became as happy as a child. "Look, come look! A carousel!"

"Bumper cars!"

"A Ferris wheel!"

"I want to ride them! I want to ride them!"

Toji affectionately patted Tsumiki's head and smiled. "Have all the fun you want today. I'm paying!"

"Long live Dad!"

Tsumiki turned to Megumi. "What do you say, Megumi? Want to come with me?"

"You go first. I'll catch up in a bit." Megumi glanced at Toji, then smiled at Tsumiki.

"Okay~"

Father and son watched Tsumiki board the Ferris wheel, then sat on a bench beneath it. Looking in Tsumiki's direction, Megumi asked, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Yeah..." Toji leaned back against the bench. He was about to reach into his pocket for his cigarettes, but remembered that Megumi was beside him and simply stretched both arms along the back of the bench instead.

"It's about your mother."

"My mother?" Megumi stared blankly at the less-than-capable father before him.

"Yeah." An image flashed through Toji's mind: someone with the same black, spiky hair holding a child. "She wasn't your sister's mother..."

"She died shortly after you were born because of an underlying illness. I thought it was my fault, so I went back to my old work as an assassin. I didn't know how to face you."

"Even when I met your sister's mother later, it was only because..."

"That's enough."

Toji turned and stared at Megumi.

There was none of the anger Toji had imagined, nor any condemnation. Only a trace of some indefinable emotion lingered in Megumi's quiet voice. "Whatever happened to my mother..."

"The family I have in this world now is you, my sister..."

"And I suppose that guy barely counts too."

"A teacher for a day is a father for life..."

"No matter what you've done or what kind of past you have, you're still my father."

"And for the rest of our lives... we'll always be father and son, won't we?"

Toji fell silent for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed. He covered his eyes with a hand and turned away so Megumi wouldn't notice the moisture at their corners.

"Yeah... we'll always be family."