Confidential Training [Jujutsu Kaisen]

Chapter XIII - Based On My Own Conscious

[2008]

Satoru is tugging on each piece of protection that he had already secured onto Megumi, from the little boy's kneepads, to his elbow pads, and to the helmet that was strapped on ever so tightly. "Do you feel comfortable? Nothing's too tight?"

Megumi was starting to get annoyed. "You've been asking me that for the past ten minutes. I already said I feel fine, didn't I?"

Satoru wears a pout. "Sorry for caring so much." He validates Megumi's argument, however, and lets go of Megumi. "Okay then, emotionally speaking, you ready?" All Megumi does is give him a firm nod.

Once Megumi was on the bicycle, Satoru provides him some simplistic instructions. "All you have to do is pedal; don't even look down, because that'll only cause you get distracted and fall off at some point." Satoru assures to the little boy that he was going to supervising him the entire time. "I'll be right behind you, so I'll know if something's wrong. I'll make sure you don't even fall and hurt yourself. But, you also have to trust yourself, too; you're the one who's in control."

Somehow Megumi understood Satoru's vague explanation. "Yeah..." He's now concentrated on the empty pathway of concrete that is in front of him.

Satoru notices how hesitant Megumi was in beginning his first attempt at riding the bicycle. "You nervous?"

Megumi blushes in embarrassment, but ignores it so that he can deny any assumptions. "No way! I don't get nervous!"

"There's nothing wrong with feeling nervous, Megumi." Satoru does his best not to sound like he was patronizing Megumi. "It's bound to happen from time to time. I still experience it myself when it comes to you and Tsumiki. So, if there's ever a time where you feel like you can't do this, you just tell me, okay? We can go back home and we can try again another day."

And it reaches out to Megumi. Hence the reason why he expresses an understanding look, in addition to nodding. "Yeah, I know..." Though this isn't the first time Satoru has showed his value for Megumi's life, he has yet to accustom to such a behavior that is entirely new to him.

"Okay." Satoru gives him a nod of his own. "Whenever you're ready."

Megumi hums, cautious in taking a seat on the bicycle. He secures his hold on the handles, and focuses his gaze on his front view. He refuses to let the second thoughts consume him, so he takes a deep breath and starts pedaling the bicycle. Satoru doesn't think twice in catching up with him and the bicycle, fulfilling his promise; he grabs onto the very end of the leather seat Megumi sat on, wanting to be prepared if the first ride were to go ever go south.

The bicycle is moving at a slow pace, but eventually Megumi's anxiety transformed into confidence. Within a minute of his first ride on the bicycle, he picks up the pace by pedaling even faster.

Satoru pushes aside his own fear for that moment alone, encouraging Megumi to continue. "Keep going, keep going!" And Megumi does, and Satoru can already tell that the kid was practically a natural. "Go, go, go!" At some point he has to let go of the seat and stops jogging, so that he can relish this moment. This was a milestone in Megumi's life, whereas he has acquired a skill that he will hopefully carry onto his future; and, quite possibly, this might also be a memory that Megumi can cherish as a piece of his childhood.

Satoru can't explain what he felt at that moment. There were many emotions that whelmed him.  Pride. Happiness. Excitement. And maybe even a little bit of sadness. The same little boy that Satoru met in the months prior is growing. Satoru could've sworn that it was yesterday that the two first met one another, but it's already been ten months; just two more months, and it'll be a year since that day.