lifeline | bl | jjk

26: gojo and zenin (2)

26: gojo and zenin (2)
Alt. Title: gojo being the best friend he is

Okkotsu Yuuta placed three plates on the table. One for him, one for little Shihori, and another for a certain Gojo Satoru. He wasn't sure why his sensei insisted on sleeping over. No matter how strong his objection had been, the seriousness in his tone made Yuuta give in.

Just by Satoru's tone, something serious was bound to happen. And it definitely had something to do with Shihori.

Dinner was quiet, unlike yesterday when Yuuta answered every little question the six-year-old little Hori asked. The child never ran out of curiosity and at times, his questions were far beyond Yuuta's capability to answer.

Satoru broke the silence all of a sudden. "Say, dear Hori, what do you make of all these? To be honest, I've never really known about the effects of the cursed tool that made you this way." The thing that pricked Shihori yesterday was a hammer whose handle's been chipped.

"Based on your description," little Hori first savored the taste of seafood, "Perhaps the user had regrets from when they were young but were unable to recall it on their own? Or they were trying to figure out something from the past. Who knows, that sort of shitty cursed tool had never appeared before, after all."

"Oh? Then, basing on your theory, what was your regret when you were six?"

Zenin Shihori stiffened just as he was about to drink a spoonful of soup. Yuuta and Satoru were quick to notice this odd reaction, and Satoru was just about to say that it wasn't important when Zenin Shihori's lips parted.

"I didn't get to see how my old man died." Then, he proceeded to drink the soup, acting as if he hadn't said something odd. "Dying in the hands of a local gang was going easy way too fucking much. Why did trash like him have an easy death?"

"Hori-"

Green eyes flickered towards Satoru. "It's fine. If it really is because I have regrets, then I've got to say them, right?" He tore his gaze away from Satoru and focused instead on the table before him. "You don't know this, Satoru, but I was a child born out of wedlock. Neither of my parents loved each other, really.

"My old man just took fancy of my mother's beauty. He was scum, way scummier than me. I wasn't allowed out of the house, not allowed to have friends, not allowed to even call him familiarly. In his eyes, I was his biggest disgrace. Well, that was until he found out I have talent as a fucking sorcerer.

"That's why, when we met, I had a bellyful of questions to ask. Thinking about it now, it's kinda embarrassing. Anyway, a year after training as a sorcerer, that idiot actually got caught up with a local gang. I don't know how he fucking provoked them but he definitely did something beyond stupid.

"When I was six, I thought that such death was too soft on a bastard like him. He should have suffered longer, should have seen how I became the sorcerer he wanted to be. Ha," a dry laugh suddenly filled the room. "A non-sorcerer like him actually made me that miserable."

And then, Zenin Shihori chewed aggressively on the shrimp.

"What, What about now?"

He paused, glancing at this child he almost killed that morning. Despite the tremor in his voice, the flinching of his hand; Shihori found it odd how this kid still had the courage to look him in the eyes. "My regret now? Probably because I'm not supposed to kill non-sorcerers."

The disposable chopsticks in Satoru's hand snapped in two. "Right, sorry to interrupt."

Gojo Satoru almost lost his composure. When he heard what Shihori said, his eyelashes trembled as realization sunk in.