→ 𝐀𝐔✨ even with the all seeing six eyes at his disposal, the world's greatest jujutsu sorcerer did NOT see this one coming.
→ written from mar. 2021 to present
"Welcome home, my dearest Kugisaki! We were just waiting for you so that we could get this family meeting started!"
Having just returned to the dormitory from her own shopping spree in downtown Tokyo, Nobara let out a deep sigh upon seeing everyone gathered in the common room and put down her bags.
While Gojō sat on the floor playing with Keigo, who was now sitting in his new state-of-the-art baby bouncer, the second years were seated at the kitchen table, with Megumi and Yūji occupying the couch behind their teacher.
If not for the couches and TV, the living area of the common room would have been almost unrecognisable. The once drab walls had been covered with a baby blue wallpaper adorned with colourful dinosaur motifs, and a line had been created on the floor between the living room area and kitchen area with bright red tape. Lined up against this tape were the slippers of those in the living room zone, where the regular wooden floor had been covered with a lively, multicoloured carpet specifically for Keigo.
From Keigo's cot, clothes drawers, and changing table, to a bath tub, a bookshelf that was already full of books, and stacks of drawers filled with toys, diapers, and all of Keigo's other necessities, the common room resembled a nursery more than it did a living space for high school students.
"You got all of this set up already?!"
"Why the surprise? I'm a hard worker, you know."
Scowling at her teacher, Nobara begrudgingly headed towards the living area to join her classmates.
"Woah, woah, woah! Hold on there, buddy!" Gojō pointed at the three pairs of slippers lined up tidily against the red tape. "The living room is a no shoe zone, to make sure everything stays absolutely clean for Keigo."
"Huh? But these are our indoor shoes!"
"Yes, but how do I know you haven't forgotten to change your slippers before going into the bathroom? What if you've picked up nasty germs from the toilet, and ended up bringing them into Keigo's space? What then, Kugisaki?"
Nobara scowled but removed her slippers anyway, before finally walking over and dropping onto the seat beside Megumi.
"Perfect! Our family meeting shall now commence!"
The students remained quiet as Gojō began to speak, starting by reaching out one of his long, slender fingers to Keigo and allowing him to grab a hold of it.
"As you all know, it's been almost two days since we were graced with this little man's unexpected presence," stated the sorcerer, his voice softening as he felt the child's firm grip on his finger. "He came as a surprise to all of us, but even though—as Maki so aptly put it—this would be considered a personal matter, I am going to have to ask you all for your help.
"Tomorrow, I plan on having a DNA test taken on Keigo so we can at least ascertain who he belongs to, and from there I will make further plans on how to go about caring for him. In the meantime, since you are all on vacation, I would like to ask you all for your help in looking after him. As someone who has absolutely no experience in looking after children, this is probably my toughest mission as a sorcerer yet, and I have to admit, I'm going to need a lot of help.
"On top of that, looking after a baby will be good practice for all of you. Regardless of whether any of you are wanting to have children or not, caring for Keigo will be a good experience. We could all learn a thing or two about childcare, especially because we never know when it'll come in handy."
Nobara and Yūji both exchanged looks and snickered at Megumi, who had his arms crossed tightly and a frown plastered onto his face.
"So, everyone. Can I trust you all to lend me your aid?"
A simultaneous sigh rippled across the room.
"It's hard to say no after you've given such a rousing speech," called out Maki from the table. "And we don't really have a choice either, do we?"
"Nope!"
Gojō beamed and pointed towards the fridge, where a roster had been pinned onto the door.
"I've already mapped out everyone's scheduled days for the foreseeable future!" he announced gleefully, prompting everyone to look at the roster. "Starting from tomorrow, everyone will be assigned to look after Keigo on different days. Since Itadori-kun so generously looked after him yesterday, and I took him in today, tomorrow will be your turn, fairest Kugisaki! For this first week, I'll accompany all of you in looking after him so that I can help you familiarise yourselves with his routine, but from next week onwards you're by yourselves.
"Basically, I'll have Keigo up and ready every morning at nine for you to come and pick him up from my place, and then you'll have the liberty to babysit him right here in the comfort of the common room! I'll graciously relieve him from your hands at exactly six o'clock in the evening, and look after him overnight. You're allowed to take him for walks around campus, but please try to stay close to this building. How does that sound?"
"Surprisingly fair, coming from you," blinked Yūji. "Nine to six? Almost sounds like an office job."
"Will there be any remuneration?" asked Panda, raising his hand.
"I guess we can figure something out," relented Gojō, immediately piquing everyone's interest. "Tell you what, the kid came with a whole lot of money, but since we don't know how long this system will be in place for, we have to be smart with it. How about for now, we put your rate at a thousand yen per hour? That's a solid nine thousand yen just for hanging out with a baby. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?"
Kugisaki's hand flew into the air.
"Would we be able to put in extra hours?" she asked enthusiastically, eager at the prospect of making some easy money.
"I don't see why not. If you're wanting to look after him overnight on occasion, I'll pay you for that too. Heck, if you want him for the whole twenty-four hours, I'll pay you for it!"
Although the monetary gain had proved as a small incentive for the students, the majority of them seemed to be nonchalant about the news.
Toge in turn raised his hand, and asked, "Takana? Tsuna mayo?"
"Hmm..." Gojō rubbed his chin. "Well, in the case that you want to make plans on your scheduled day, you can always ask to swap shifts with one of the others. I'm not picky about how you choose to do so, as long as you inform me in advance, and as long as someone picks Keigo up at nine in the morning. As for taxes... I won't say anything about this informal agreement if you don't."
"Shake."
"Great!" Gojō gently shook off Keigo's hand and retrieved his finger, then rubbed his hands together. "Does anyone have any other questions?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Perfect! I look forward to working with all of you!"
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