chapter 24

❝she likes hanging out with the fushiguros❞

"and so papa got mad because I mixed up boyfriend and boy space friend", marri explained, spilling the tea on what had happened on halloween as megumi and tōji weren't sure how to react.

"he's still looking for a mahito, but anyways, I was thinking we could go like relax and stuff since you both are really...umm...in..."

marri looked up at megumi.

"intense?"

"YES! you both look very intense! I mean, I get that it runs in the blood, but if you keep furrowing your brows, you're going to end up looking like you dad!", marri stated.

"hey! what's wrong with looking like me?!"

"nothing! you said it, not me", marri smartly replied, grabbing onto megumi and tōji's hand as the three walked towards the mall, where many people had thought that the three looked like an oreo based on their hair color.

"should we get a massage first or a man...icure??", marri asked, to which tōji could give less of a shit, wondering why he was now babysitting gojō satoru's kid.

"which do you want?", megumi asked.

"we should get a massage! mr. tōji's face looks like it's about to give out from squeezing together too much", marri observed as tōji had harshly clicked his tongue.

"watch your mouth kid. I can and will cut your—"

megumi shot his father a glare as tōji had promptly huffed, making marri sigh.

"mr. tōji, as much as you're one of my favorites, my papa will get to you before you get to me...no offense", marri stated as if it were a fact.

before tōji could scrunch up his brows even more, marri had greeted the kind female at the cash register, where she had offered three seats for them to lay on.

"I'm okay. I'll just wait for them because I'm stress free right now", marri smiled, taking a seat between the two males as she watched massagers instruct for them to lay on their fronts.

marri could see megumi and tōji's disgruntled faces as they were squished against the pads of the massaging chair.

"smileeee~", the girl said as she took megumi's device and snapped a picture of the two, making the boy wonder when marri had stolen his phone.

"I'll be your photo taker today, so that you two can have an album. and we can decorate it together!!", the little girl cheered, making the massagers chuckle at her cuteness as tōji rolled his eyes.

once the two fushiguros had finished getting their massages, marri then unintentionally led them into a clothing store for kids when she stared at a dress for too long.

"go try it on", megumi urged, to which marri had hesitated, though the boy insisted.

giving in to her own desires, marri went into the changing room meanwhile tōji and megumi took a seat inside the store.

"so...this is what you do in your free time? babysit a brat?", tōji asked, waiting for the little girl as marri was struggling to get her arms through the right holes.

"she's not a brat, and I enjoy spending time with her. she's better than some certain others", megumi mumbled, clearly referring to marri's father, and maybe his own.

tōji heavily sighed.

"you make one wrong choice and you get blamed for the rest of your life", the man sarcastically stated, to which megumi had rolled his eyes as marri had appeared by jumping out of the changing room.

"hello again!! how do I look?", the girl excitedly asked as she spun around in her black dress with a huge smile.

megumi nodded with a small one.

"it looks great, but I thought you usually picked the more colorful ones", the boy noticed.

"oh...yeah...black's a little out of my comfort zone, but I match you two now don't I?!", the girl asked as indeed, both fushiguros wore black today — just like everyday.

megumi deeply breathed in, meanwhile tōji gave his son a weird look, not understanding what was wrong with him.

megumi looked like he was about to experience a cardiac arrest.

"you look good kid. now let's pay and get out", tōji stated a he ripped the tag off the dress and slammed a twenty dollar bill on the counter, leaving only after he got his change.

"okay!! one last thing before we get food. there's this place where we can take pictures with different clothes and stuff! we should go", marri suggested.

"orrrr we could not", tōji replied, making marri stop in her tracks and turn to the dark-haired man.

"if we don't go, we could also have a sleepover at the zenin household and I'll even bring my pe—"

"okay, okay!! let's go", tōji grunted as marri softly snickered.

walking into this newly opened photoshoot store, marri hastily picked out outfits for the two as she nicely asked the photographer to make them look like they tolerate each other.

"hugs?", marri sweetly asked, battering her lashes as the two fushiguros stared at each other in disgust.

"absolutely not", they said in sync.

"can you two stand closer together please?", the photographer asked, to which megumi had scooted over a bit meanwhile marri had given them a thumbs up.

"doing great goomi!! and mr. tōji!!", marri waved, to which the two couldn't be more embarrassed.

although the two didn't smile, the picture came out colorful just like how marri had wanted.

she was sure that one day they were going to look back on it and thank her for forcing them into this.

"okay!! let's go eat now", marri smiled as tōji thanked the gods.

"by the way, why isn't your dad taking care of you or something?", tōji asked, holding the little girl's hand as she hummed.

"because I like hanging out with goomi", marri said.

"oh wow. I'm just feeling all the love now", the man sarcastically snorted.

"but you don't want my love, so I don't even know what you're so pressed about", marri muttered, making tōji click his tongue in vexation.

"however, you're not too bad, mr. tōji. like...you're actually kind of cool", marri whispered, to which tōji had cracked a grin as his ego had boosted.

marri glanced upwards as she sighed, shaking her head as she then looked over at megumi.

their fathers were the same.

they both loved having their egos fed.