Chapter Text
"Megumiiiiiii," Yuuji hollers, letting himself into Megumi's office. He hasn't knocked in years, so why start now?
This acceptance of Yuuji letting himself in uninvited seems to be a two way street, since Megumi doesn't even flinch. He keeps typing away on his computer as Yuuji flops down in one of the chairs across from his desk. The loud thud Yuuji makes as he lands isn't enough to pull Megumi's focus, so Yuuji drapes both legs over one armrest and throws his head back over the other. Then groans loudly for good measure.
Megumi still doesn't look up from what he's working on. Which, rude. Yeah, there's a lot more paperwork and assignment grading that needs to be done for the second years, but none of it could possibly be that important.
Besides, Yuuji had Ibuki and Aemu last year when they were first years. They're both incredibly talented sorcerers, so their homework is probably already great. Yuuji also knows from experience that if it happens to take an extra a day or two for them to get their work back, they're super chill and understanding about it. Especially if you bring them ice cream when you tell them. Plus, Megumi only has two students this year. Yuuji has four, so he's got twice as many kids to worry about. And right now he is worrying.
"Can this wait, Yuuji?" Megumi's voice is tight and thin. "I'm in the middle of something."
Yuuji doesn't want to wait, but Megumi isn't exactly leaving any room for argument.
"Fine," he huffs, sitting upright in his chair.
There isn't much for him to fiddle with in here while he's forced to wait. Megumi tends to keep his desk pretty bare except for the essentials — pens, papers, a calendar, his laptop, a picture from their wedding. All the usual suspects. But Yuuji's favorite desk trinket to play with is right where it always is. Technically, it's Megumi's only desk trinket, but it's still Yuuji's favorite.
It's the blown glass fish with the funny little pout that Gojo gave to Megumi as an office-warming present his first year teaching. Neither of them ever really got what about Megumi screamed fish to Gojo, but Yuuji has fun playing with it. Picking it up and running his fingers over the fins and tracing the —
Apparently fun is off the table today because Megumi snatches the fish out of Yuuji's hands and puts it back on his desk.
Which means he just has to … sit here. Great. Exactly what he needs today. Complete silence while he's forced to coexist with his thoughts.
He tries to avoid it. Focusing on the hangnail on his thumb or picking at the dry skin on his lips instead of the thoughts buzzing around his head. It doesn't help that every time he adjusts in his seat Yuuji convinces himself he felt his phone buzz, but when he checks the screen there's no missed calls or texts from any of his students.
It's stupid. He should be over this by now. It shouldn't get to him so much. It's not like he hasn't done this before. This is his eighth year teaching, which means it's his eighth time sending his students out on their first solo mission.
Maybe Yuuji's just getting older, but it seems like his students get younger and younger every year. He still remembers what it was like to be their age — the burning need to help people however he could. Having to grow up so fast that he already felt like an adult at fifteen anyway.
Now that he's actually an adult, it's becoming more and more apparent all the ways he wasn't one, even when he thought he was. It's just hard when he can see how badly his students want to be out there, but Yuuji knows better than most how dangerous what sorcerers do is.
He's pretty sure it'd be hard to let them go even if he wasn't sending his kids out to exorcise curses. The world is dangerous for a million reasons that aren't curse-related.
Moaya especially is too trusting. She's got this gentle demeanor about her that makes strangers stop and ask her for directions even if there's a map right there or tell her all their secrets for no reason. And she'll let them — will listen to them talk and offer advice as best as she can with a genuine smile the whole time.
Yeah, she's the best fighter in her year and is absolutely ruthless in combat, but those people don't know that. They just see the long braids decorated with fresh flowers or the poetry anthologies she annotates on the train or the thank you she whispers to the Sun when it's nice out and assume they've found the easiest person on the planet to pick pocket.
Yuuji'd like to see anyone try to pull that with Wakumi. He'd probably be able to hear her giving the pick pocket a thorough public shaming through even the strongest of Tengen's barriers. Even if she was in Fukuoka and he was in Sapporo, Yuuji's still pretty sure he'd be able to hear it. She grew up in Tokyo, so he's less worried about her ability to handle herself in a city than he is about the others.
But she jumps into things without thinking. A "run directly into mortal danger" first, "ask a single question about how we could have avoided mortal danger in the first place" later kind of person. What if she talked her classmates into doing something crazy like surprise attacking a curse from above by jumping off a twelve story building (again) and Yuuji wasn't there to catch them this time?
If she listened to Hibiki more then maybe it would be different. They're the most logical of the bunch — they could be a little quiet, but nothing gets past them. Yuuji's started to break them out of their shell a bit and he was really glad he had. They tell him all the gossip and are super witty and seem like they're adjusting well.
But they're still working on being precise with scale when it comes to their technique. What if they only need to create an Echo Ripple that's the size of a room, but end up making one the size of a city block? Or worse — what if they need one that large but don't have the cursed energy to make it happen and end up getting hurt?
The one Yuuji is most worried about is Ruku. Mainly because he knows that Ruku is the most worried in general. Ruku didn't come from a sorcerer family like the other three, so he didn't know about curses until he was already a teenager. The adjustment hasn't been easy on him, but Yuuji is so proud of him for how hard he's working to face his fears head on. He knows from experience that this isn't an easy world to dive into. And Ruku wants to be a great sorcerer so badly that Yuuji has no doubt that he will one day.
But, still, that change doesn't just happen overnight. The things sorcerers face are scary in theory, but horrifying up close. There's only so much that listening to Yuuji tells stories about the curses he's fought can prepare his students for what it's like to be the ones fighting the curses themselves. What if Ruku isn't ready yet?
That was harsh. Ruku is ready — they all are. Yuuji wouldn't have let any of his students accept this mission if he had deeper concerns about their abilities.
And Yuuji knows all this. He spends every day with these kids and knows exactly how brilliant they are. They're prepared for their mission. The four of them have grown exponentially over the past several months since coming to the school. Yuuji is so proud of all of them. They are more than capable of succeeding today.
But what if something goes wrong on their mission and he isn't there to protect them? What if he forgot to teach them some vitally important bit of sorcerer lore that ends up being the difference between life and death? Four sorcerers in one place is a lot of cursed energy. What if something bigger than the curse they've been sent to exorcise comes for them? Or what if —
"They're going to be fine, you know." Megumi says, not looking up from his work. "You've trained them well. Today's mission will be a success."
Yuuji's nose scrunches. "How'd you know what I was worried about?"
Megumi turns his desk calendar around to face him. Yuuji leans in and sees today's date circled in red pen with a note that reads Yuuji's student's first solo mission. Cancel office hours to offer moral support.
"Well, my morals are not feeling supported right now." Yuuji pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. "I should be getting your full attention if you went through all the trouble of telling Aemu and Ibuki not to show up today."
"My office hours start in fifteen minutes," he explains. "Once they do, you'll have my full attention."
"Some husband you are," Yuuji mutters. Megumi exhales sharply exactly one time, but doesn't say anything else.
It ends up taking Megumi seven minutes to finish whatever he was in the middle of. Once he puts everything away, he finally looks at Yuuji. His eyes soften in the way they only do for him and maybe everything really is gonna be alright. Megumi comes around to the front of his desk and sits in the chair next to Yuuji. He takes one of Yuuji's hands into his and rubs small circles into the top of it with his thumb, spinning Yuuji's wedding band around his finger as he does.
"What's on your mind?"
Yuuji's worries make him feel small and powerless — like his kids are trapped out there and he has no way to help them. Saying it out loud to anyone else would make him feel like an idiot for being so anxious, but if Megumi's the one asking then he can find a way to talk about it. It might even help. He takes a deep breath.
"I'm just worried about them is all. Every year I think it'll be different, but it's not. If anything, it's harder."
"You care about them." Megumi says simply. "That isn't a bad thing."
Yuuji smiles, being the center of Megumi's blunt honesty — his matter of fact way of complimenting him — never gets old.
"I know it's not, I just … I wish it was easier to let them fly the nest, ya know? I want to trust them — and when I think about it I know they can do it, it's just hard not to worry about it anyways."
Spelling it out makes him realize how irrational it is. Feelings are, like, known for not needing logic to exist, so it's very much charted territory as far as emotions go. Saying it out loud definitely helps Yuuji pretend he's a little more in control of what's happening.
Megumi helps too. Just being near him has always made all of Yuuji's problems feel smaller. He relaxes into Megumi's touch, bringing his other hand to rest on top of the one already holding Megumi's.
"I can think of a way to take your mind off it," Megumi flirts and Yuuji's eyes snap to his.
Megumi leans in to kiss him. Yuuji does too, drawn in by his husband's handsome face and pretty eyes and —
The sound of Yuuji's phone ringing cuts through the room. He shoots a bashful look at Megumi as he pulls it from his pocket to see who's calling. The Caller ID says it's Hibiki and Yuuji almost drops his phone like four times trying to bring it to his ear as fast as possible.
"Hibiki, are you hurt? Are the others ok? Is everything alright?" Yuuji stands, ready to start sprinting to the mission site. "I can be there in —"
"Relax, Itadori-Sensei," they interrupt. "We're fine."
They're fine.
Yuuji's shoulders slump away from his ears and it finally feels like he can breathe at a normal rate. Clearly, he's just been worried over nothing.
"Well, Ruku did start crying after he punched the curse in the face, but the rest of us are fine."
From somewhere behind Hibiki, Yuuji can hear who he assumes is Ruku yelling something to the effect of Shut up! I did not — Wakumi, tell them I didn't! There's some more arguing after that, but Yuuji's so happy his kids are safe that all he can do is laugh.
"In that case, why don't the four of you get outta there and go get some lunch. Anything you want, my treat. I can't wait to hear all about the mission when you're back."
"Well, actually …"
Yuuji freezes. All the anxiety he'd just let go of is back in full force. Probably even more intense than before if the way Megumi's looking at him is any indication. His husband comes closer and threads an arm around his waist. Yuuji didn't realize how on the brink of collapse he was until he slumps into Megumi. The pressure of keeping himself vertical more than he can handle right now.
"Maybe you should come down here anyways."
"Hibiki …" His voice sounds haunted — choked — when he finds it. "What's going on?"
There's a thick gulp from Hibiki's side of the call. "The four of us are fine, but as we were leaving … we found someone. And she doesn't look so good."
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Megumi and I are en-route with Ijichi now. Do not do ANYTHING until we get there (Wakumi please re-read that last sentence at least twice).