Megumi Zenin had been curious about something lately.
What would his brother give him for his birthday present?
He had a guess about Tsumiki's present. In the past few days, he had seen Tsumiki sneaking into her room alone and making something out of colored paper.
After figuring out it was his birthday present, he pestered Tsumiki to show it to him, but she firmly refused to reveal the gift before his birthday.
"Give it!"
"No. I'll give it to you on your birthday."
Ultimately, Megumi didn't get to see Tsumiki's present before his birthday. He puffed his cheeks and huffed in faux anger, but Tsumiki just smiled back.
That was okay. After all, Tsumiki would give him the prepared present on his birthday.
Megumi was more curious about Zoro's present than Tsumiki's.
Zoro wasn't always a kind guardian to Megumi. Sometimes he was brusque, and sometimes he scolded him strictly.
Especially when he said something mean to Tsumiki, ignored his warnings not to run on the stairs, or tried to pull out Zoro's sword.
Yet, Megumi never thought Zoro would forget to prepare a birthday present for him.
"I love you."
He said that every day and hugged him tightly.
Still young and inexperienced, Megumi didn't fully understand what Zoro meant by 'love'.
But he liked the warm embrace when he said those words, so he would wrap his small arms around Zoro's back, say "I love you" back, and hug him. Just like a child imitating what they've seen and experienced.
Then Zoro would pull him even closer into his embrace, enveloping him in his warm, humid heat.
Megumi was certain such a brother wouldn't forget his birthday present.
'Papa will give me a present too.'
This wasn't just a guess. A few days ago, he caught Toji coming in with a huge dog plushie he had never seen before. It was clearly not for Zoro or Tsumiki.
"..."
Toji rolled his eyes for a moment, then stealthily covered Megumi's eyes with his hand.
"Let's pretend you didn't see that."
How could he pretend not to see what he already had? Though he didn't understand, Megumi nodded with his eyes closed. When he opened them again, both the plushie and Toji had disappeared.
In the end, before his birthday, Megumi knew about two of the gifts and remained clueless only about Zoro's.
Finally, on the morning of December 22nd, 2005, Megumi's third birthday arrived.
He woke up full of anticipation and excitement.
Upon opening his eyes, he saw his loving sister Tsumiki sleeping beside him. Megumi reached out his hand towards Tsumiki but stopped, thinking he might wake her.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Hearing the sound of something heavy being swung, Megumi got up. In the corner of the room, Zoro was drenched in sweat, swinging a heavy weight.
Gray eyes met small green ones. Zoro, who usually doesn't interrupt his workout for anything, hesitated for a moment before putting down the weight and approaching Megumi.
"Did you wake up?"
"Yeah."
"Happy Birthday."
Zoro spread his arms wide, as if to hug him, but Megumi cringed and stepped back.
"Why?"
"You smell like sweat."
"Hey."
Toji emerged from behind Zoro, slinking in. To take the day off today, Toji had been swamped with heavy duties over the past few days. Thanks to that, he had no missions or classes today.
Toji grabbed the collar of Zoro's shirt and hoisted him up.
"Your brother's right. Go take a shower."
"I can walk there by myself, you know?"
"...The way you say that makes me not trust you."
It seemed entirely possible for Zoro to get lost even inside the house.
"What?! What do you take me for?"
"A person with a poor sense of direction."
Toji kindly carried Zoro to the bathroom, set him inside, and closed the door neatly in front of a dumbfounded Zoro.
Witnessing Megumi, with sparkling eyes, attempting to reach for the weight Zoro had been using, Toji realized the potential danger.
'He could get hurt doing that.'
Quickly stepping between Megumi and the weight, Toji scooped him up.
Megumi pouted with a sulky expression, giving Toji a sense of déjà vu. It was like seeing a younger, grumpier version of himself in the mirror.
'Zoro doesn't resemble me at all, but Megumi is like my clone.'
One child who doesn't resemble either parent except in personality, and another who, aside from personality and hair, is a spitting image of Toji.
Faced with such extreme genetic distribution, Toji pondered deeply about the genetic formula. Where did their mother's genes go? All into the kids' personalities and Megumi's hair?
Well, that's fine. It's better than them having my personality.
Megumi tightly grabbed Toji's hair.
"To—ji."
"...It's Toji."
"Toji."
"Right."
Perhaps because Zoro occasionally calls him "Toji," Megumi sometimes refers to him as "Toji" instead of "Papa."
Although it wasn't a polite form of address, Toji didn't really mind. It was fine however his son chose to call him, especially since Megumi was polite and bowed respectfully to others, saying "Hello" courteously.
Megumi pointed his finger at the weight.
"I wanna lift that."
"Absolutely not."
"Can I when I'm bigger?"
"Maybe."
Since Megumi is a sorcerer, he might be able to lift it once he grows up and can enhance his physical strength with cursed energy.
Megumi jumped around excitedly.
"Will I be strong? Stronger than brother?"
"..."
That seemed unlikely. Toji thought to himself.
Even if Megumi grows up to manifest his technique and becomes a sorcerer, it seemed improbable that he could become as strong as Zoro. After all, Zoro is... Zoro.
'Unless he manifests some extraordinary technique... but even then, it would be difficult.'
Zoro had left a scar on the face of the man touted to become the strongest since birth, who indeed reached that pinnacle.
'But he seemed pleased.'
Toji frowned, recalling Gojo grinning with his forehead exposed, showing off the scar left by his son. Toji, who had been there at the time, knew all about it, but what was he supposed to do? Pay for the treatment?
Regardless, without manifesting a particularly powerful technique, Megumi stood no chance.
'Come to think of it, the manifestation of his technique should be in a year or up to three years from now.'
A sorcerer's technique manifests between the ages of 4 and 6. Toji remembered this because he too was somewhat protected by the Zenin family from the age of 4 to 6, just in case.
...Of course, after that period passed and the last hope vanished, the bullying intensified as a backlash.
Click.
Zoro, having showered and changed clothes, opened the bathroom door. Then, Megumi pushed Toji's face away with his hands, although Toji didn't budge at all. Is that what you call pushing, Megumi? Was that just a touch? You need to get stronger. That's what sea urchins do, poking sharply.
Megumi punched Toji's sturdy arm and shouted.
"Let me go!"
"I don't want to."
"Waaah!"
As soon as Toji set him down, Megumi dashed and nestled into Zoro's embrace. Whether he knew his spiky hair was poking Zoro's cheek or not, he rubbed his face against it, burrowing further in.
"Toji's mean."
"Oh, smart one, Megumi."
Toji chuckled at Megumi's clearly different attitude when hugging him compared to Zoro. His likes and dislikes are very clear, my little sea urchin.
Zoro, who had been hugging him, released his arms and gently patted Megumi's back.
"Let's wake Tsumiki up and have breakfast."
"Presents! Cake!"
"After breakfast."
"Ugh..."
"But it's your favorite, pork ginger fry."
"Ginger!"
Excited, Megumi sat down on a chair. Zoro went to wake Tsumiki, and Toji headed to the kitchen to heat up the food they had bought in advance.
It was a moment of rare peace.
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