The Zen'in Clan

Chapter Twenty-Three: Confrontation

Hiii all! I just wanna say thank you for voting your favorite chapters. It means a lot to me, knowing that people are acting enjoying this story. To be honest, this storyline has changed from my original plan. Feel free to leave some comments. I would love to interact with you all. Anyways, happy reading!😊
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"Where are Naoki and Naori?" I asked Toji when we headed in. "Hoshiyomi took them out." "Good. Dining room. Now." I ordered. They followed me and sat down. I remained standing. "You two need to find common ground. I don't need fighting in my house. I do not want my son upset and I cannot have my two babies see you fighting. Toji, you go first." I said. "I know you hate me. I know that you want me dead. Mostly by your hands. I understand that. I left you twice. I left your mom, twice. I left your siblings. I didn't leave this time because I didn't want to be a father. I truly believed I didn't deserve to be a father. I never raised you. I couldn't raise you. I couldn't watch you grow into the person you are now. I struggled a lot with raising Naoki and I'm sure he wouldn't be alive if Y/N wasn't helping me. I never got the chance to mourn your mother after faking my death. I stalked you while watching my own back. Once our clan was no longer a burden, it all crashed down on me. I was raising another kid that's not mine. And when I adopted him, it felt like I was replacing you. Falling in love with Y/N felt like I was replacing your birth mother. How could I fall in love and raise a child knowing I was a terrible husband and a deadbeat? Over time my mind was clouding me with words like 'you don't deserve to be happy. You should be dead. You don't deserve love and to be a father' and it was challenging. Too challenging to overcome. When I saw Naoki's face, I couldn't help but think of all the things I missed out on with you. When I looked at Y/N I thought about your mom and I just couldn't take it. I know she would hate me if she were still alive. I wasn't mentally there to be the father you and Naoki needed. Back then, I thought my absence would make things better for the three of you. I didn't want to add on to anything. But I put you all in a deeper situation than I anticipated." He said. "I never needed you. I already have a father figure in my life even if Gojo is a man child. But Naoki needed you. He only knew you as his father. Y/N loved you despite already knowing you're a deadbeat. I wish she didn't bare your child but I'm glad she did because I wouldn't trade her or Naori for anything. A man is supposed to work it out with his partner. Communicate. Go through the obstacles together. But you did what you always do best. You run. You leaving didn't hurt me at first. It's expected from you. But you didn't see Naoki's face every single time he asked for you and why you weren't around. You weren't there when we found out Y/N was pregnant. There was nothing we could do to make her pregnancy experience easier and we tried so hard. They both needed you. Knowing Naoki and Naori needed you brought back so many of my own memories asking where you were. The daggers in my heart will always be there. But I did everything in my power to take your place so Naoki didn't feel completely abandoned. Do you know how it felt when the doctor said they both didn't make it? My heart shattered. That was the day I realized how much I loved Y/N and how much I see her as my mom. And losing a sibling that I wanted to protect made me feel like I failed as an older brother. Once they came back to us, I was there around the clock. We all were. Overtime, we all healed from it. When I see you now, I just want you dead. I want you to feel what we all went through. Physically and mentally." Megumi addressed. "I wish I could take all of your pain away and bare it on my shoulders. I completely regret leaving you all. I was a coward. I'm a terrible husband and father." "So you think acknowledging how shitty you are is going to change things? Like all is forgiven and everything is okay?!" Megumi yelled as he jumped up, while his hands slammed on the table. "Hey hey! Sit your ass down." I sternly said. "I just told you, nobody is fighting. Megumi, you will have this conversation like a civilized adult. I understand you're upset but physically hurting him won't help. Trust me I still want to hurt him but it's not satisfying enough. Because it doesn't damage him mentally." "Oh so you want to hurt him psychologically? Say less." Megumi disappeared upstairs and came back. He had a notebook in his hand. He slammed it on the table. "What is that?" I asked. "My journal." He slid it across the table. I stood behind the table as Toji opened it. "I photo documented and recorded her entire pregnancy. Look at how small she was as the weeks went by. Look at how fragile she was. She ate because we physically made her. Those are ultrasounds of Naori every time my mom was hospitalized. And if you turn the page some more, you'll see a photo of Naori stillborn. And one final photo I had of Y/N after the doctor said they both didn't make it. Next you'll see photos of them both alive but not even healthy. And finally, you'll see photos of Y/N on bed rest. I wrote down the date and time of death and how long until they were revived. Seventeen hours. How was that even possible? I pressed for them to keep trying long after they declared her gone. We were all in shambles. I was in denial. We were asked to contact you but I myself told them that you were already dead. Cause that's would it should've been. And since we're putting it all out there, I wish it was you on your deathbed and not them. I wish you were never our father." I looked at Megumi completely shocked. "Megumi you've gone too far." "Why? He should experience exactly what we went through. You know it. I can see it in your eyes. Stop trying to spare his feelings when he didn't give a damn about ours mama!" "I'm not sparing his feelings. I just don't want you to reopen old wounds upon yourself. I didn't even know you had this. Had I known, I would've burned it for your sake." Toji was crying. I walked over to Megumi and hugged him tightly. He pulled me off. "I said what I said. And I won't hit him anymore. Only because you told me not to." Megumi went upstairs. The door slammed, shortly after. I sat down in the chair, Megumi was in and rubbed my temples. I let out a sigh. I covered my face with my hands. My stress level was rising. All over again. Only this time, my son wasn't happy. "I can fix this." I lowly said to myself. I wasn't even sure who I was convincing anymore. My family was losing its happiness. Was allowing Toji to co-parent the right decision? Or should I have told him to kick rocks? I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Toji standing there. He looked worse than when he was in shambles. His body was shaking completely. He stood me up and wrapped me in his arms. "I will fix this. I will win him over even if it kills me. Literally. I'm not giving up. So please don't stress yourself over this. Don't worry about a single thing." I pulled away from Toji. "Thank you for comforting me, but I need to comfort my son. He is my priority. Not how I feel or how you feel." I walked upstairs. I knocked on Megumi's door. "Go away." "It's your mother." There was silence on the other end. The door opened. "Yes?" "I'm just checking on you." "I'm fine." "No you're not. And that's okay. Quit being stubborn." He stepped back and I walked in. "You summoned your divine dogs?" "Yeah." We sat on the bed. Something flew past. "Is that your Shikigami?" "Yeah." "Glad this place have high ceilings." I brought Megumi closer to me and he rested his head on my shoulder. "Are you mad at me? I'm sorry if I made you mad." "How could you say that? Of course I'm not mad at you." "You brushed off my hug. And I didn't want you to think I was siding with him." "I'm sorry." "Don't worry about it. I just wanna make sure you're okay. My kids are my top priority." I had my arm wrapped around his shoulder. "You're a good mom." I smiled. "I try to be. I'm raising three kids with Zen'in blood in them. The Zen'in are a little crazy." "Your clan was the worst." I laughed. "That's true. But you...you're really crazy. Like Maki. But on the bright side, you did perfect your domain expansion. I'm proud of you. It'll never beat mine. And your sister will surpass you. Your brother will too. So you better guide them." "I will. I want them to be strong sorcerers." I kissed his forehead." "I love you." "Love you too." "Since I have a family, I'm leaving Jujutsu High and my coffee shop to you, Naori, Naoki and Hoshiyomi in the future. Basically in my will." "I think Hoshiyomi or Naori should take over. They're your blood." "Just because you and Naoki don't have Takahashi blood pumping in your veins, doesn't mean I love you less. You are my sons and I will add you both to my will." "Don't die soon." "I won't. You and Hoshiyomi better not die either. I don't want to bury my kids or my nephew." "We're always careful." "No pressure but I want some grand babies in the future." "Uh we're not talking about that." Megumi was flustered. I laughed. "Just keep that in mind. You have three no four options. You can use the Zen'in name, and restore the clan, use my last name, use your mom's last name Fushiguro, or take on your wife's last name for your kids." "I've been thinking about restoring the Zen'in Clan." "Really? After your father killed them all?" "Well yeah but it won't be like how they were." "If you do that, that makes your father the head of the Zen'in Clan until he passes it on to you. I'm pretty sure Hoshiyomi will restore the Takahashi Clan. He'll automatically be head of the clan. Naori is half and half." "Why are we talking about this?" "Just trying to change your mood." "I'm fine. I said what I needed to say." "You want to explain why you have that book?" "So I could show him one day how everything went. Why did you keep yours?" "The same reason. Guess we think alike." He nodded in agreement. "So what do you want to eat? I'll cook." I offered. "Can we just order in?" "Didn't Gojo ever teach you about saving money?" Megumi gave me that look. "This is Gojo we're talking about." "You're right. He's a man child. But he's also rich so he doesn't know the value of a dollar." "Says the one who owns Jujutsu High and a coffee shop." I looked offended. "Hey I know the value of a dollar. I was flat broke after killing my clan. I had to work three jobs to make ends meet. Then I had to do some things that shall never be named so I can be financially comfortable and quit all three jobs. Once I saved up, that's when I opened up the coffee shop." "What did you-" Megumi looked at me with horror. "Gross. I don't want to hear that." "It wasn't even like that. I sold pictures of my feet to old rich guys. I said I wouldn't speak on it because people with a foot fetish creep me out."  Megumi laughed. "That is terrifying." "Well I'm glad your mood is better. That makes me happy." I squeezed him and got up. "Figure out what you want to eat." "Will he be eating with us?" "Yes. If you want I can call Shinosuke over." "Invite him over." "I got you." I said as I headed out of his room.
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Do you think Megumi went too far with his dad? Or do you think Toji deserved it? Feel free to write your opinions!😊