Sinner and a Savior

Ch. 9 - A Father's Determination

Toji kept careful as he crept through one of the side courtyards of the Zenin estate. His usual route kept him out of the eyes of family members and attendants. He was used to this kind of sneaking around, but this early in the evening was different for him. With the family still awake, he was creating quite a risk for himself.

With this in mind, he deviated from his usual route with the idea of a warm, familial visit. 
He crept toward the master suite of the estate, where he knew his uncle would be at this time of night. Keeping a careful eye on the attendants, he waited until the last left the area before sliding in. 

Naobito sat up in his bed, glasses perched upon his face as he read what looked to be an older book of jujutsu technique. 

"Uncle!" Toji gave a wide smile to Naobito who quickly made eyes with the man at the far end of his bedroom. "Just who I wanted to see."

"Toji," Naobito immediately put his book down and removed his glasses. His tone was that of anger and defense. "You aren't to be on the premises, explain yourself."
Naobito continued to get out of bed, swinging his legs over the side of the mattress. He stood with the same defensive stance that Toji took, closed fists and apart legs - ready for any type of movement.

"I'm here to see my son," he answered directly, walking closer to his uncle who was becoming easily cornered. This, however, meant nothing to Naobito considering his jujutsu technique involving speed. Toji was merely attempting to intimidate the old man.

"You sold that right," Naobito declared, tone still angry yet in control. His fat, crooked index finger pointed in Toji's direction. "That damn nanny!" He cursed. "I'll have her-"

"You'll do nothing to her," Toji began to steadily walk toward his uncle, the large room creating enough of a gap for several strides. "That's what I'm here to tell you."

"And why on earth would I listen to you?!" Naobito was flabbergasted at Toji's request. "You've broken our contract repeatedly, and that damn nanny is no different than the others!"

Toji scoffed and rolled his eyes, "out of everyone within this damn estate, I'm the one who understands your technique the best. I'm the only one here capable of killing you...and I won't hesitate to do so."

He moved even closer to his stunned uncle so that his figure nearly stood over him. Naobito continued scowling, understanding that if he were to use his technique on Toji at that moment it would be fruitless.
Toji had always been one step ahead of Naobito, his next second always planned out before Naobito could touch him and activate his FPS technique. Should Naobito activate his technique, Toji's next 24-frames would clearly be to annihilate him. The only way Naobito could succeed against such a trained assassin would be to catch him off-guard, something nearly impossible.

"So if anything happens to Y/N, I'll come for you," Toji leaned toward his uncle's ear, his voice in a threatening growl. "In fact," he continued, pulling away, "I want you to help her in any way that you can." This kind of request was absolutely obnoxious, but knowing the hold Toji had over Naobito, the man stayed silent as Toji spoke. "And if you don't, I'll know."

"What happened to you?" Naobito suddenly stood straight, nearly ramming his head into Toji's nose. "Since when do you stand up for others? You're supposed to be the monster that we cast out, the shame of the Zenin family." He used a particular tone to attempt to get under Toji's skin. He slowly turned to meet Toji's gaze, a single eyebrow raised as if to judge his thoughts. "Don't act like you care about that child or that wretched nanny."

Toji's jaw flexed out of irritation. "Listen here, old man," Toji moved swiftly to grab his neck. Naobito struggled out a smile, attempting to be bigger than the threat before him. Toji's grip slowly tightened around Naobito's jugular, the pulsing, purple veins begging for mercy beneath his fingertips. "Don't worry about who or what I care about, just worry about your own head. If you don't listen to me, I'll be sure to remove it from your possession."

Toji released his uncle to which he let out a gasp and used his bedside to hold his body up. The threat began to walk out of the room.

"Don't put blood in the water, Toji!" Naobito shouted toward his nephew who was halfway out of the shoji door. "You kill me, it'll only mean your downfall!"

But instead of paying any mind to Naobito's final words, Toji continued on his way out, making a point to spit on the gravel in front of his door before casually and confidently meandering back into the courtyard.

Though he didn't look it, Toji's blood was boiling. This happened each time he paid his dear uncle a visit. But this visit was unlike Toji. He had vowed to never return to face his uncle since he was disowned and he wasn't one to break that kind of vow. 

He continued on until he reached downtown, twiddling the end of a toothpick between his incisors after a quick stop at an izakaya. At this point it was late into the night with the sleaziest, drunkest of the bunch left on the sidewalks.
Finished with his toothpick, he flicked it onto the ground in front of a hot and heavy couple too into it to care for the rude gesture. His mind was busy thinking about your brief conversation.

Something within him broke a little bit when he heard what Masaru did; it was something else that was unlike Toji. He wasn't necessarily a faithful man to previous relationships, but for his late wife he was true.
He wouldn't want to admit it, but something behind the look in your eyes that night reminded him of her. She wasn't in the best situation either when they met, in fact that was something she and Toji had in common when he was recently disowned; it was what sparked their relationship to begin with. When he found her, broken, he felt not only as if it were love at first sight but he felt defensive of her. And it seemed as though he had found himself in that situation yet again.

This night, instead of his usual pickup and love hotel, Toji meandered toward an internet cafe. Not only were they a cheap way to spend the night, but he needed to know the type of guy who'd broken his son's caretaker's heart.

Once settled and logged in, he quickly searched up old newspapers of small towns just outside of Tokyo to find wedding announcements. It took quite a bit of digging, not something foreign to Toji,  but he eventually found it. 
It was a small column with a picture of you and your husband at the altar the size of Toji's thumb. The two of you had big smiles and wore the traditional black tux, white dress. It was clear you had a small bump in the image, already several weeks along with Tsumiki. The column listed your happiness and how local friends and family attended. It listed both you and Masaru's current occupations at the time and future goals as well as the fact you were pregnant and due in January. The cheesy journalism nearly made Toji gag. He was happy that he and his late wife decided to keep things informal, considering the circumstances. 

He zoomed in on the photo to get a better look at your husband's face, his body hunched over toward the screen glowing in the darkness. As soon as he got a close enough look, he gave a single chuckle and leaned back in his chair, arms over his head and foot on the desk in front of him. Needless to say, he was unimpressed.