Intolerable Heat
The heat can be hard to deal with even on good days, sadly it's a bad one.
link on AO3---
Kaneki loved Hide more than he ever thought possible, yet there were times that his mate could act a tad bit childish. Now was sadly one of those times, “I thought you said you wanted to go? If you really don’t want to I can pick out some clothes by myself.”
He silently noted that if he did that he would have to call Touka and ask her to make sure nothing happened while he was out. Not that he didn’t think Hide could take care of himself, he was the smartest person Kaneki knew and he had fought alongside him enough times to know that he was a force to be reckoned with.
However, that was before Hide became pregnant and while Kaneki knew that he was still strong, he didn’t ever want to see how far his limit was. He was brought out of his thoughts by Hide holding up his trusted notebook, I don’t trust you to buy my clothes. I have a very distinct style that I must preserve.
Kaneki couldn’t help but smile at the sign but before he could respond a new note was being hastily written, some of my stuff still fits. We can go later. Kaneki let out a breath, Hide had said the same thing two weeks ago and it was now clear that something was going on.
“Hide your shirts barely fit you as it is and I’ve seen what you do to put on pants, the longer we wait the worse it’ll get.” Kaneki hadn’t thought his observation could be considered rude to someone nearing their forth month of pregnancy but at the look of hurt the other wore he immediately regretted it.
As Hide wrapped his arms around his expanding stomach Kaneki started forward, “I didn’t-mean I’m sorry. There was a moment of silence that enveloped the two before Hide reached for his notebook, I know.
It looked like he was going to write more but he stopped and showed the page with a small smile, Kaneki still felt like he should be asking for forgiveness but knew that it only upset Hide when he did.
Moving to sit with the omega he tried to figure out how to phrase his next question without forcing Hide to tell him. As usual Hide could guess what the other was thinking and wrote something on the notebook only to cross it out and flip to a new page, the heat.
Realization crashed into Kaneki and he felt guilt begin to seep in, it was still hot outside which made layers stifling. Which meant that Hide’s scars would on show for the world to see. There were times that Hide was comfortable with them but when he was feeling even a bit self-conscious he would cover himself in layers, Kaneki scolded himself for not paying closer attention to his mate's feelings up till now.
Hide swallowed and obviously tried to perk himself up with a smile, must be hormones acting crazy. Happens all the time nowadays. Kaneki knew that Hide was trying to sweep away his own feelings and the alpha felt his emotions struggle against each other, the urge to comfort him competed with the instinct to let him open on his own time argued with each other.
Finally, Kaneki settled to wrapping his arms around the omega and hoped that what he couldn’t convey in words would still come across through actions. It seemed to work as Hide leaned into his chest and wrapped scarred arms around a muscular back, they stayed like this for a few minutes before breaking apart.
Hide’s smile seemed this genuine this time around, though if anything Kaneki’s guilt seemed to have magnetized at seeing how distraught his mate was without his knowledge and Kaneki watched as Hide wrote in the notebook.
While he knew to wait to read the written words until Hide was ready to show him, his curiosity piqued however when a new page was needed. Finally, the blond was finished and Kaneki was handed the notebook, alright time to get motivated and buy some new clothes! Though I’m giving you a fair warning now, if there is something yellow I’m going for it.
Kaneki chuckled at the comment and nodded at the blond, “it is a part of your very distinct style after all.” Hide nodded and gave a small hum in agreement before something appeared to occur to him and he wrote it down quickly, pretty sure Yoriko said she and Touka were going to the mall today.
Kaneki never knew how Hide could catch everything that Yoriko said but he knew that Hide was always paying attention. “Maybe we’ll see them there.” Hide flashed him a smile before moving to get up, waving away a helping Kaneki.
Finally the two were ready, though when Kaneki looked at what the other was wearing it was obvious that they had waited last minute for this excursion, that said he couldn't help but feel an odd flutter of happiness at seeing the growing bump that housed their unborn child.
18 notes
·
View notes
CARMEN
pretty when you cry: part two | Masterlist
Pairing: Toji x fem!reader; Gojo x fem!reader
Synopsis: it is the reception of your wedding to Gojo, you reminisce on your lost love, his son, and prepare yourself for what is to come
Warnings: nsfw, angst, discussion of sex, spoilers from Hidden Inventory arc (chap 66 - ) and the Shibuya arc (Chap 83 -), the Aftermath (Chap 138 - )
Length: 2,5k
You wish you could get properly drunk.
The liquor was high-class, as was everything else at the reception. Nothing but the best for the messiah of the jujutsu world. You couldn't remember when last you'd had champagne, let alone champagne of this quality. You hum into your flute. You were having fun, right?
Most of the elders were out of action or out of the picture by the time nine pm swung around. The women, including your mother, had left at eight, after dinner and the first few dances. Fortunately, Gojo had been nothing but a gentleman with your mother, and you'd planned to thank him until Nanami had told you he'd bribed Gojo with foreign chocolate to be kind to your immediate family. Then you had really begun planning to attack your husband with your bouquet, which was now being held reluctantly by Gojo's counterpart from Kyoto. Utahime, you think her name was, though you could not be sure. Whoever she was, she looked incredibly unhappy to be attending Gojo's wedding and even less happy to have caught your bouquet (although she had not so much caught it than had it been hurled into her face. You still underestimated your strength).
Throughout the drive to reception you'd wept. Large, choking, sobs that had shook your entire body as you doubled over yourself. Gojo had stayed silent, his grip loose on the neck of his vodka bottle. Every so often he'd take a slug of the burning liquid, and he pointedly kept his eyes averted. You wonder if it was out of kindness or indifference. Your gut firmly pulled toward the latter.
As she had left, your mother had cried, her wet cheeks hidden in the crook of your neck. Somehow, you both knew how fortunate it was that your father had not lived to see you pushed into an arranged marriage, yet you wondered if your current circumstances would have even happened if your father had survived past your fifteenth birthday. Your parents' marriage had been arranged, but they had grown up together, from toddlers exchanging flowers to high school sweethearts exchanging rings. You had only met Gojo three months ago. Your marriage was an entirely different beast.
Your husband was an entirely different beast.
Your mom had pressed your hands to her chest, her soft palm cradling your cheek.
"I'm so sorry," she'd whispered, tears falling freely down her lined face. She was still young, yet so tired. At least now that you were married the clan would leave her to live in peace. Her life was safe.
"If only I had been stronger - " she started, only for your finger to shush her lips. She gave a weak smile, "I wonder if the clan knows what a strong individual they lost today."
Oh, they have no idea. They would not believe half of it.
Suddenly her grip tightened, and she pulled you closer. She breathed your name out with a sigh.
"Please. Please be happy," you began to speak, to recite the worn out spiel you'd given her since the start, but she was the one to shush you, "No, I mean true happiness. Forget the clan, forget me. If this," she gestured vaguely in Gojo's direction, who was currently forcing Nanami into some form of waltz, "If this person cannot make you happy, or give you the support to be happy, then leave him. I'm serious." Then she'd whispered more into your ear, before kissing you softly on each cheek and leaving with the rest of the aunts, your jaw slack and mouth dry.
First Toji's hand signal, then your mother's cryptic message. You needed more to drink. Something stronger than champagne, although you doubt this bar stocked the gasoline your local bar called whiskey. With a monumental effort of gathering your skirts and wobbling upright, you begin your quest to the open bar. You pass several snoring elders, their bashful nephews and nieces shaking them awake to remove them from the lavish hotel the Gojo clan had rented for the night.
For the twentieth time today, you give Gojo a thumbs up across the room, eyes and smile big and bright. He gifts you an equally false mask. You receive another set of pats and dry kisses on the cheek from some relatives. Gojo's? Yours? You'd given up telling the difference between the clans, just the difference between the types of congratulations you received: the genuine, and the poorly disguised opposite. You lied with ease. All liquid tongue, flushed cheeks and shining eyes. The perfect bride for the perfect man. Polite, charming, and the human-equivalent of a doormat.
You seethe, and to prevent the reality of genocide, you concentrate on imagining it, and puzzling over what had happened throughout the day.
What had your life become? Here you were, dancing with your lover's son, after getting married to the man who'd nearly killed him, all for the sake of family politics. No matter how hard you struggled free, the jujutsu world of old traditions, backward practices and outdated beliefs always caught you. And now you were bound forever. You briefly glance at your left hand on Megumi's shoulder and grimace. The diamond on your engagement ring was enormous. And indestructible, you'd discovered, after you'd spent an explosive afternoon hammering, beating, smashing, and striking it with whatever cursed weapon Toji owned that you could find lying around your flat. He'd had to restrain you then, caging you in those thick arms, muffling your screams and tears with his chest.
You were almost there, you'd caught the attention of the bartender, only for a hand to gently wrap itself around your wrist.
"Gojo-san," Megumi peers down at you through long lashes, his eyes clear and steady, "may I have this dance?"
You gulp. Not him. Anyone but him. Hell, you'd take another wrestling match of a foxtrot with a drunken Itadori over a dance with Megumi.
But you nod, and the youth leads you onto the floor. Thankfully, the song is upbeat, and you can blame the silence on your need to concentrate on not stepping on your partner's toes.
Once again you drift, your thoughts tangling themselves around Toji's actions at the church. What did that raised finger mean? One? Up? Wait? Was it his final salute, the last puzzle of Fushiguro Toji you would ever receive? He had led you in circles in the beginning, first treating you like you were the only thing worth caring about in his shit little world, then ignoring you as if you were nothing but a paper fluttering down the sidewalk. He was an absolute mystery. On the surface, nothing but a money-hungry assassin, a heartless machine interested in nothing but finding a tight little hole to fuck for the night. Of course, when you met you were just 'colleagues': an infamous 'sorcerer killer' and a small-time mercenary, picking up odd jobs and trying desperately to avoid being noticed by your clan. There was no need for anything deeper or more intimate than a work relationship based around minimal personal exchange. You were just a guard hired by his employer, an extra set of eyes to keep watch over the location whilst Fushiguro took care of the target. You had hardly shared more than ten words with the guy by the completion of the contract. You had heard about Fushiguro and his way with women, and were more than happy to keep your distance.
Until your next job, again as a lookout. You were hyper-sensitive to cursed energy, yet emitted deceptively low amounts of cursed energy yourself. The perfect watchdog. Fushiguro was already in action when you'd picked up on several energy signatures approaching his location. So you did your job, and had unfortunately caught the assassin's interest (a rare occurrence, his world barely extended past himself, unless someone was offering money, an easy lay, or both). The lack of blood, the neatly lined up row of corpses tucked out of sight, your acute strength, the fact that not a single hair was out of place and the cold, steady look in your eyes, all of those had piqued his interest. Here was someone like him. That had been the beginning. Now it was the end.
What would he say if he knew that you were the cause of the money packets every year since Shibuya? - the anonymous birthday and holiday cards with Toji's barely legible, generic "Happy Birthdays," "Merry Christmases," or once, a very meaningful "New Year." Toji's compliance to your suggestion had floored you. It had been a comment in passing, a month after Gojo had been recovered and Toji had finally started mentioning what happened that night his body had disappeared. You both silently agreed that it was too late for Toji to even pretend to be a father, for his sake and Megumi's. But he could at least make sure Megumi could support himself, especially as the boy reached graduation. The destruction of the Zen'in contract had surprised you even more. You would never forget Toji climbing through your window at three am with a stack of papers and a manic grin on his face. You had sat on your tiny balcony that morning, shoulder to shoulder, passing a smoke back and forth as you watched Megumi's shackles burn to ash in a waste-paper basket.
"Is everything alright?" Megumi's voice was gentle, as was his grip around you. Your eyes widened as you came back to reality. You mumble out an apology, and Megumi gives your hand a squeeze.
"It's okay, I'm just concerned that you're getting tired." Megumi carefully leads you off the dancefloor back to your chair. As he pulls out your seat, you were struck dumb.
How unlike him.
Awkwardly, you thank him, and he gives you that soft smile once again before walking off. You exhale deeply, rubbing under your eyes. Your makeup artist had been so upset when you had arrived at the hotel. Half of your mascara had smeared down your cheeks, and you'd rubbed the foundation right off your nose. She would probably scream if she saw you now.
A glass of water clinks beside you, and you look up from prying your heels from your aching feet. Megumi looks down at you before sinking into the chair across from you.
How like him.
Like clockwork, no matter how late or how rushed he was, if you'd fucked, Toji would get you a glass of water. Aftercare was never his strong point, he'd never cared enough for a bedpartner before. But, even on the first night you'd had sex, Toji had rolled off you, only to return with a bottle of water and watch you finish it before turning around to go to sleep.
"I don't understand why you women wear those things if they hurt so much," Megumi eyes you through his wayward fringe. At some point he'd lost his tie, which you were sure was knotted around Itadori's forehead, especially since the energetic boy had two of the expensive accessories dangling down either side of his head like ears.
Yet again it was Toji leaning back in the chair across from you, legs lazily crossed and arms folded on his chest. Of course, Megumi hadn't filled out yet, although the breadth of his shoulders and increasing height indicated that he had definitely inherited his father's build.
You look sheepishly down at your heels, much like you had when Toji had asked you the same question a few years before.
"Honestly, I don't know. Blame the aunts. I would have preferred house slippers,"
You pause. The sarcasm had slipped out, even though you were meant to be the perfect embodiment of quiet submission. Your mouth opens, a weak excuse nearly launched from your tongue before you hear Megumi's giggle. You watch on in fascination as he laughs. You feel like you'd just witnessed a rare bird take flight.
"I think Gojo-sensei also would have wanted slippers, he looks like a drunk stork," at the mention of his teacher your smile slips, but Megumi doesn't catch it as he points to the man in question, who was doing... something(?) with Itadori.
"Maybe that's just because he's drunk," you mumble bitterly, and Megumi raises an eyebrow at you. You shrug,
"He started off with a bottle of vodka on the way here, if he's kept up the same pace since then, then I'm surprised that he's still standing."
Megumi shifts to watch his mentor, his elbow slung over the top of his chair, his other hand loosely holding his crossed ankle. His features were far sharper, more delicate, and those lashes were definitely not directly from Toji.
You sink your cheek into your palm and examine the boy. You wonder how he would feel, how he would react if he learned the truth. That not even forty-eight hours ago you were screaming his father's name, how his words were etched into your ribs, how you had shared your deepest and darkest secrets with the man who'd abandoned Megumi before he'd even been born.
Megumi turns back to you, and your eyes find the bottom of your water glass. He was too old for his years. Granted, there were still traces of boyish charm, in the way he blushed when Itadori got too close or when you held his gaze for too long. But at this point he was probably the most mature person in the reception hall, bar Nanami, who you were convinced had been born with the soul of a grumpy old man. Speaking of Nanami, the man and your groom were approaching your table, Gojo slightly dragging his heels.
You give Nanami a small smile. In the brief year you'd been allowed to attend Jujutsu Tech, Nanami had been your third-year upperclassman. He alone had recognised your potential as a shaman, but the words of an eighteen year old from an unknown family had hardly been registered by the clan when they'd discovered upon your father's death that you were attending school against their wishes. You were grateful to Nanami, for his quiet support, and the brief communication you'd shared over the years since you'd separated. He'd made this whole wedding situation bearable, often intervening on your behalf when Gojo got out of hand.
"Gojo-san," Nanami addresses you, and you could barely contain your wince. You would have to correct that later.
"I think it's time the students and I took our leave, it's getting late." You frown.
"What's the time?" you'd left your watch behind. A military grade time-piece hardly suited a designer wedding gown.
"Twenty-three-thirty. The hall is booked until twenty-four-hundred hours." Trust Nanami Kento to know your schedule better than you did. You were just shocked you had lasted so long. The church ceremony felt like it had happened years earlier.
But the wedding proceedings were not over. Not yet.
"Ah I suppose I should go see what the hotel has prepared for us then." You glance at Gojo through your lashes, internally screaming. The man has the nerve to smirk before rummaging through his pockets.
With a sigh, Nanami pulls two key-cards from his breast pocket and hands you one.
"Twentieth floor, suite five," he deadpans, before his eyes soften, "Goodnight, I hope you rest well."
Megumi also murmurs his goodbyes, a sudden blush painting his face crimson. You awkwardly pull yourself upright, and dust non-existent crumbs from your skirts. You peer at Gojo from the corner of your eye. For once, the strongest jujutsu sorcerer looks unsure of himself. You wonder why, it wasn't like he didn't have experience with women in the bedroom. He clears his throat,
"You can go up ahead of me," he throws his arm over Nanami's shoulder, "I'm going to have another drink with my cute kohai, okay?"
You nod, and tuck the key-card up the long sleeve of your dress. Nanami was grumbling about how a twenty-nine-year old could hardly be a kohai as you begin your retreat, your heels hanging in your hands. In the distance, you could hear Itadori chanting something about a slumber party, and Megumi groaning in response. Someone calls your name.
"Make sure the champagne's cold, wife - I'll be up in a bit~." You nod at Gojo and limp to the elevator.
You step inside, and once you were sure you were alone, you sink to the floor with a sigh.
You were not ready to have sex with Gojo Satoru.
105 notes
·
View notes