beautiful one, sharer of my longing

32: Good times, more bad times

It was as close to sunset as it could get when the Zen'in family arrived. The sky was barely beginning to shift, and in their wake of footprints in the snow, along came a chilling silence in the town square. Zen'in Naobito wore an indifferent look as the men of the Gojo fief stared him down while Naoya looked at you with an enraged look in his eye.

Megumi was avoiding looking at the older men as he trailed behind. For that you could not blame him.

Finally, behind Megumi, were your next to worthless older half brothers, all seven of them. The pleasant look on your face was almost marred by the fear of seeing everyone again but to your relief, Satoru was ignoring formalities altogether and wrapped an arm around your shoulder. He smiled down at you before placing a kiss to your temple and murmuring "it's okay."

"I'm fine." you assured.

"I know," with that, he looked back to the unwanted visitors and smiled wide. "Welcome, all! I know, I know, everybody, you aren't a big fan of this!"

"You're damn right!" a voice shouted from the crowd (everyone laughed), making your family's faces fall into scowls, but Satoru only laughed as he met your father in the middle but tugged you behind by the hand.

"We're all gonna be nice for tonight!" he finished off his statement and bowed to Naobito who had only ducked his head in response.

Grumbles from the townspeople sounded around you as you bowed and then looked up at Naobito for the first time in months. He was not a welcome visitor and neither was Naoya, but for tonight, you had to pretend that they were.

"My daughter," Naobito said quietly, "how much you have grown since I last saw you."

You smiled a pleasant one, but your mess of a father didn't know it was nervous in the slightest. He raised his hand slightly and you felt yourself tense. Eyes widening slightly when Naobito pulled you in for a quite informal hug, his bony hand holding you in place (although it's strength had faltered).

Satoru kept a close eye for a second and then looked over his shoulder at Geto who was grinding his teeth in discomfort. You were clearly not okay with this, but tried to put up with it for the time being but ready to intervene if things got worse. If you recoiled into yourself, Geto would be there to swipe you away. If Naobito cursed at you, Satoru would cut his tongue out.

No matter, Satoru kept a close watch on the way your breath shallowed as the one sided hug went on for far too long, until he pulled away and you subtly stepped back to your husband's side.

"Now, Naoya has something to say. Do you not, son?"

With a short sigh, he stepped forward while you pressed into Satoru's side further. Naoya must've noticed based on the raise of his brow but instead of commenting, he clicked his tongue and spoke quietly.

"I am sorry I had pushed you too far, and I am sorry you came close to losing the fetus."

You automatically looked up to Satoru with a furrowed brow. Did this guy just call your child a fetus? Your husband looked confused too and when you turned back to Naoya, you found that he was completely serious.

"Thank you." was all you managed to say. Naoya then cleared his throat.

"I also want to introduce you to my fiancé," he said, turning his head slightly and jutting it to the side for the poor soul to stand beside him. The woman that sauntered up was familiar to you. Her feet crunched the snow on the ground and as you met her daunting, competitive, and utterly mean eyes, you could only smile with a small scoff. "This is-"

"Yoko," you finished for him. Naoya looked caught off guard but the woman's smile only widened. This is the same bitch from that day in the fief with Maki. The same she-devil that decided she hated you for existing and here she was like a leech, coming after the same lifestyle she hated you for. "Lovely to meet you again." You smiled. That grin held poison.