All Hawks has wanted to do all week is crawl back into bed with Satoru and sleep for days, but as it is he 's barely had time to catch a couple hours of poor, lonely shuteye on his own. He hasn 't even had time to reach out to the other man, let alone ask to meet up again. Not that he could, even if he wanted to.

He 'd completely forgotten about the U.A. work study program.

He was still a bit put out that his stone-faced ninja of an intern totally passed him up without a second glance. Him! The Number Two Hero! The most popular hero in the country (as voted by Nippon TV) and winner of Hero Beat Magazine 's best smile award for the third consecutive year in a row! Who does that?! ' Okay, he 's being a little misleading ' she didn 't actually pass him up so much as she passed up the work study program in its entirety. Apparently she wanted to 'focus more on her studies '... as if she wasn 't studying to be a hero to begin with and the whole part of the work study program was to further her damn studies. Whatever. Hawks isn 't bitter about it 'not at all!

Anyway he supposes she did him a solid, so he really can 't complain. When she 'd turned his secretary down, she 'd mentioned her classmate Tokoyami was looking for an internship and might be a good fit for Hawks. He 's honestly a little stunned she 'd do such a favor for one of her classmates; not to sound conceited or anything but a recommendation to the Number Two Hero is kinda a big deal, and Hawks wasn 't going to deny someone she seemed to think would work well with him. If there was anything he 'd learned over their brief time together, it was that his little former intern had a keen eye for people. A little '

too

keen, in fact.

He shuddered.

'Cold, Hawks-san? ' Tokoyami asks from beside him.

'No, no, just remembering something scary. ' He waves the concern off. 'And how many times have I told you to just call me Hawks? '

He likes Tokoyami, really. He couldn 't have asked for a better replacement intern. The kid is such a little edge lord; it 's fun to wheedle him until he breaks character. He also has a great work ethic, listens well to direction, and a unique quirk that compliments Hawks very well. Hawks thinks with a bit of practice and training, Tokoyami might be able to even use Dark Shadow to fly, which would be especially complimentary to Hawks 's preferred fighting style.

So Tokoyami is great, really.

But interns are

a lot of work.

Especially now that he 's not in Hosu at an agency where he can involuntarily slough off his intern to random unsuspecting heroes whenever he needs to handle something on his own. And since he and Tokoyami have never worked together before, they still have some kinks to work out in their teamwork. And there 's just so much to teach him, and so much responsibility to do it

well.

He scratches the back of his neck, sighing.

It doesn 't help that the case he 's currently on is shaping up to be a real piece of work.

'Hawks, ' Tokoyami says, drawing him out of his musings. At least he finally dropped the stuffiness.

Hawks glances at him, then in the direction of his gaze. Speaking of the case '

A familiar tall, bulky silhouette lumbers in their direction from across the street, where crowds and first responders part like awestruck schoolfish to let him through the police tape.

'Yo! Endeavor! You 're crazy early ' you even beat me! ' He tosses a hand up in greeting.

He 'd heard the suspects for this particular arrest might be tied up in his own case, and had come to check it out. It 's really no surprise to find Endeavor beat him to it, seeing as though both their cases are starting to follow a similarly worrying trend.

Endeavor doesn 't return it. He merely inclines his head in what probably seems like an incredibly rude dismissal to everyone else, but Hawks knows from experience is what constitutes as a respectful form of acknowledgment from the man.

'Todoroki-kun, ' greets Tokoyami, to the boy trailing after Endeavor.

Hawks hasn 't seen him since that mess in Hosu. He 'd forgotten what a handsome kid he is. The coloring is crazy distinct ' he 'll have no trouble at all launching himself to the top of the popularity charts, with a unique look like that. He doesn 't really look much like Endeavor though, despite sharing half his coloring. The face is all wrong. Slim and delicate where Endeavor is all broad angles. Hawks studies him surreptitiously; there 's something familiar about him, nonetheless.

Endeavor cuts straight to the chase. 'The suspects have been subdued and put in custody. What do you know about the dealers? '

'Tokoyami found a good lead earlier. ' Hawks gives his intern a proud smile. Tokoyami looks away, bashful but too much of an edge lord to show it. How adorable. 'He noticed the building permit of a pachinko parlor in the search area was several months out of date. '

'A front then? '

'Probably, if it 's been sitting in limbo that long. ' Hawks shrugs. 'The problem is, it 's owned by the Shie Hassaikai. '

'You mentioned them earlier, ' Tokoyami notices, recalling a briefing they had both been in just this morning. 'Who are they? '

'Yakuza, ' Endeavor growls.

Tokoyami looks confused. 'They ' still exist? '

Hawks laughs at his surprise, amused if only because he 'd had a similar reaction when he 'd first come to Tokyo.

'Believe it or not they 've actually gotten more powerful in recent months, ' Hawks reveals.

He neglects to mention

why

that is. It doesn 't seem worth mentioning when he 's sure they 're all well aware of the mess society is currently in. How much Dabi had done to hack away at organized crime, only for them to slither up like weeds the moment his hands were tied up in legalities. He flicks a glance at Endeavor, worried the man will take it personally. He seems calm ' for now.

'I thought Dabi had stopped organized crime, ' says Todoroki.

Aaaand

there goes that calm.

Endeavor 's face darkens at the mere mention of him. Hawks won 't presume to know what the Number One 's issue with Dabi is, but Dabi himself confirmed it was personal, so he leaps in to salvage the situation.

'That 's not exactly untrue, ' Hawks hedges vaguely. 'But it

is

a bit misleading and his methods were very specific and, uh,

direct.

Now that he 's kinda been on hiatus while the government tries to figure out what to do with him, criminals are capitalizing on his inaction. '

Endeavor scowls out into the crime scene; he looks upset ' or as upset as a guy like him ever looks ' but doesn 't seem as if he 's about to fly off the handle, which is a good sign. A couple guys had gone explosive with their quirks, tearing up half a street and toppling a nearby bridge, and there was only one real explanation for how that happened; Trigger was back on the streets. Endeavor was probably going to take that personally, now that he was the Number One. He apparently also took

everything

to do with Dabi quite personally, which was why Hawks 's anxiety had been going through the roof ever since he started this case.

On top of a new intern to get used to, he 'd also been thrust headfirst into a new case unfolding in the Tokyo region, and Trigger was at the center of it.

Organized crime was slowly reconvening, and with it came the new dregs of the Yakuza. Shie Hassaikai had been on the outs these last few years, according to his sources, but they 'd been causing a stir amongst the gangs in recent months. Apparently they had a young, fresh-faced new leader eager to prove himself, and a new stream of revenue. Hawks had dutifully relayed his map of the criminal underworld to the Commission, and they 'd been keen to keep him in Tokyo in light of that. Fukuoka was being hit too, but not to the same degree as the capital. They 'd praised him on his meticulously detailed notes on each organization, ' from kingpins to underlings, and reasoned it was better for the country ' and his reputation ' to stay in the thick of things.

In light of this, Hawks has ended up on a case with a spattering of mysterious arms deals that even his most hard-earned underworld contacts haven 't been able to tell him much about.

All he knows for certain is that both the sellers and the buyers have been tight-lipped on the particulars of the goods, and the prices are

astronomical.

Just one of these weapons easily nets hundreds of thousands of yen, yet no one 's squealed yet on the details. That alone is cause for concern. Flipping small time dealers and brokers is the bread and butter of the organized crime unit, but Echo says they haven 't gotten a single one to come clean. Even her Toman contacts don 't know much; just that they 're not involved, and whatever it is hasn 't passed through their streets yet. Hawks hasn 't gotten quite so desperate that he 's felt the need to reach out to Dabi and start asking him to use his own contacts to net him more information, but if things go on like this he might have to.

At any rate, these unknown weapons and sales of Trigger seem to run in similar circles. And now that Endeavor seems to have made it his personal mission to clean the streets of the dangerous drug, he 's been running into the Number One more often than not.

He can 't say he 's entirely displeased with the circumstances. Endeavor does good work, and it 'll be good for Tokoyami to learn how to handle heroes with his kind of personality.

'The Shie Hassaikai are in Sir Nighteye 's jurisdiction, ' Endeavor intones, turning back to face him. 'If you need further information on them, he 'll be a good place to start. '

Hawks nods. Sir Nighteye, huh? He remembers the last time he 'd gone to see the guy ' he 'd been perfectly polite, if not a bit standoffish. He doesn 't think the man will appreciate Hawks inserting himself into his territory, even if it

is

for a case. He supposes he could always ask the Commission to get involved, but that 's hardly going to endear him to Sir Nighteye.

'He 's called for a hero task force on the matter. I 've been asked to attend the kickoff meeting this afternoon, ' Endeavor adds, dashing Hawks 's concerns away.

He grins at the stoic man. 'A hero task force, huh? Is there room for one more? '

//

'So y 'know, just, like, theoretically speaking ' ' Dabi begins the moment the line connects, which immediately has Naomasa laboring under heart palpitations.

'Oh god, ' he says.

'Listen, hear me out, it 's not

actually

kidnapping, ' Dabi adds, which only makes everything worse. 'But theoretically speaking, if I ended up in possession of a kid that isn 't mine, what exactly should I do about it? '

Naomasa braces himself on the side of his desk. 'You 've ' kidnapped someone? '

Gran Torino looks up with a confused expression from where he 's puzzling over the documents their financial division scrounged up for them. He waves the old man off, and staggers towards the empty break room. He needs several more cups of coffee before he 's in proper condition to handle this, he thinks. His doctor will have some choice words for him about his blood pressure, but at this point its the lesser of all evils.

'More like, rescued without legal consultation. ' Dabi laughs sheepishly.

'Oh god, '

He says again, with feeling. 'You know you were

just

exonerated, right? Not even a few hours ago? And you 're already pulling shit like this? '

'Was I really? Took long enough, ' the (former) villain muses. Naomasa sighs.

'Anyway, Tsukauchi-keibu, I couldn 't just leave her there. She was being systematically abused, and also chased across the rooftops by armed men. '

If anything, this just makes the entire situation so much worse. Naomasa drops his forehead against the kitchen cabinets, scrabbling helplessly for a clean coffee mug.

And you didn 't think to call the police?

He wants to ask, but realizes as he opens his mouth that it 's a bit far fetched. Why would Dabi, of all people, call the police? Especially when he could handle the situation himself? Dabi doesn't hate the police, but he 's never once relied on them either.

'When did this happen? ' He asks, tiredly.

'Hmm~ around ten last night? '

Naomasa sighs, reaching blindly for the coffee pods. 'I 'll check if there 's been any listed missing persons since then. But you said she was being chased by armed men? '

'Yeah, ' Dabi confirms. 'Smells of trafficking, doesn 't it? '

'That 's what my gut tells me too, ' Naomasa agrees, leaning against the counter. 'I 'm actually working on a lead with the League right now, but I can ask around and see if there are any open cases with human trafficking suspected to be involved. There hasn 't been very much though, since you toppled Humarise over. '

'Was that a compliment, detective? ' Dabi returns, amused.

'Just a statement of fact, ' Naomasa denies, dutifully.

Trafficking around the globe has plummeted in the wake of Humarise 's explosive and highly publicized demise. Unfortunately here in Japan, with Dabi 's reputation tied up in the foreign relations office, criminals have been capitalizing on other avenues of income while Dabi is on hiatus. Naomasa was in a briefing just yesterday on the surging drug trade exploding across the country, with underworld enterprises taking advantage of Dabi 's unsteady legal situation.

Naomasa wishes he could say it would change now that word has come down that Dabi 's been dismissed of his crimes, but unless the Commission budges on the issue it's still basically a stalemate. They agreed to exoneration, but won 't recognize his status as a hero without him going through their own program. It 'll be a cold day in hell that Dabi willingly drags himself through that circus, but without it he 'll risk his acquittal status if he tries to intervene with criminal enterprises as he did before. And Naomasa doubts he 'd do that, when he 's gone through all this effort to absolve himself of his criminal charges.

The worst part is ' there are plenty of countries willing to take advantage of Japan 's blatant capitulation on the subject. Countries willing to not only give him a clean slate, but roll out the red carpet for him and give him anything he desires to entice him to emigrate. Naomasa isn 't entirely sure why Dabi even bothers to stay; the band, probably. And those U.A. students he seems fond of. But if Japan keeps making things difficult for him, how long will that be enough to keep him around?

'Would you mind keeping this to yourself for now? ' Dabi asks, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Naomasa 's gaze sharpens immediately at his words. 'You think the police are compromised? '

'Can you truly tell me every commissioner in Tokyo is clean? ' Dabi returns, stoically. 'I 'm not taking any chances with her. She 's been through enough. '

Attached already, huh.

Naomasa can 't say he 's all that surprised. Dabi has a reputation for being soft on kids, after all.

Frankly, the first order of business should have been to coax Dabi into setting the girl up in witness protection. But if this is truly a trafficking case, and this girl was a high profile enough target to warrant her kidnappers coming after her, then the safest place for her to be is likely within Dabi 's reach. Although, for all that he goes out of his way to look after them, Naomasa

does

have to wonder if the man is actually any good at taking care of kids. Does the man realize what he 's signing up for here? Even for a few days, taking care of kids is

hard.

And one dealing with abuse and trauma on top of that?

Well, that sounds like a problem for Dabi to figure out.

'Send me whatever info you 've got on her and I 'll look into it. Discreetly, ' he promises. 'If you 're that worried about her safety, frankly the best option for her would be to stay with you, so just try to keep her watered and fed, huh? Hopefully some relatives will turn up eventually, and we 'll figure out the rest from there. '

Dabi laughs. 'She 's, like,

six.

It can 't be that hard, right? '

//

@ru-kun | My Own Worst Enemy (The Remix)

Still on hiatus but here to remind everyone (read: myself) that no one clowns me better than me

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//

Shie Hassaikai.

The name comes up as the likeliest new target for Gojo 's unmitigated wrath, after some careful digging by Tsukauchi.

He 'll be sure to reign fire and brimstone down upon them at an appropriate time, a time which is not now or the foreseeable future, because he is currently occupied with his desperate attempt to turn himself into a reasonably responsible caretaker for a small child. Caring for a small human is far more difficult than he remembered. Megumi and his sister had always just sort of ' handled themselves. He made sure they had plenty of money and lived in a clean apartment that didn 't smell like mold and old cigarettes in a good part of town, and left them to their own devices. It turned out perfectly fine. They always ended up dressed in new and clean clothes and eating well enough and doing their homework and not mortally injuring themselves one way or another, through no input of his own.

In hindsight, he probably had Tsumiki to thank for most of that. If it had just been Megumi alone, at an age similar to Eri 's, there wasn 't a chance in hell he could have been that hands off.

At any rate the Shie Hassaikai are pretty dangerous yakuza, so despite his astounding lack of childrearing qualifications he 's likely the best person to keep her safe for the time being. His siblings are rightfully wary of the prospect of him being the sole caregiver of a small child for any length of time. Gojo would love to say he 's out to prove them wrong, but let 's be realistic here ' he 's bit off a bit more than he can chew.

The first order of business, as it turns out, is not ordering her every single item off the a la carte room service breakfast menu like he 'd originally thought, but finding her something to wear that isn 't

rags,

and making sure she doesn 't drown in the bathtub.

Frantic google searching reveals six year-olds can bathe themselves but only with supervision, so he powers up the master suite 's jacuzzi and Eri has a grand old time making bubble castles in the whirling water while he parks himself on the sink and tries to tackle the next problem that promptly shores up the moment she shucks her clothes off ' he has nothing for a six year-old to wear. He wraps her up in a big fluffy bathrobe and figures that will have to do for now, because room service is knocking on the door. After a bit of introspection, he can admit he may have gone overboard with the food. Even a ravenous pack of teenagers wouldn 't make a dent in the food laid out for them on the dining table when they exit the bathroom.

He drops a wide-eyed Eri in front of the veritable feast and starts a parade of one-sided panic texts in Fuyumi 's direction. She 's got some kind of field trip today so she 's mostly out of pocket, but occasionally she 'll respond to talk him off the ledge. Conferring with Fuyumi reveals he 'll need clothes, shoes and other assorted accessories as the most basic necessities if he intends to keep Eri for any amount of time. Additionally books, toys and other entertaining and enriching items would be helpful, as well as kid medicines and kid-friendly food options. From the way Eri is staring blankly at the luxurious breakfast spread he imagines he might need to bump that one to the top of the list.

In the end it turns out she 's not a picky eater, she simply doesn 't know what she 's looking at.

Gojo walks her through the gamut of assembled western and traditional breakfast foods laid out before her, and with some quiet input from Eri, picks out the dishes he thinks she 'll like the most. He piles her plate with fresh fruit and eggs and grilled fish and a whole assortment of fine pastries and she picks at it like a bird. More frenzied texting with Fuyumi reveals this is normal for kids, and she might not have a big appetite after all the excitement of last night. She advises him to bring snacks if he intends to take her out today, because a meltdown is all but assured if she starts to get hungry.

At first he dismisses this because hadn 't intended to take her anywhere; then he realizes he has no choice.

He can 't just leave her unsupervised in this hotel room while he goes and procures all the necessities for her. On a related note, he can 't keep her in a hotel room indefinitely. Kids need structure and stability and a loving home and all that jazz. And he might technically be a home owner, but his house can barely be justified as a home in its current state.

Right, well, he 'll put a pin in that for now but he makes a mental note to look into contractors to get that place kid-ready as soon as possible. Tsukauchi had mentioned finding relatives to care for her at some point, but who knows how long that might take.

And then he whips out an

actual

list in a frantic attempt to sort out all the things Fuyumi assures him small children require. They 're so small! How can something so small possibly need all this

stuff?

'Eri-chan, ' he says, trying to keep the panic out of his voice as he scrolls through the aforementioned list on his phone. 'How do you feel about shopping today? '

Eri 's crimson gaze lifts from her solemn contemplation of her strawberries. The bathrobe swallows her up whole until only the top of her bedraggled half-dried silver hair (fuck he was supposed to dry that for her wasn 't he) is visible from where he 'd draped it over her head in a desperate bid to keep it from falling off her. The rest of it trails down her seat and pools on the floor like the train of a king 's cape. Clothes, he thinks, warily. Clothes are definitely first on the list.

'Shopping, ' she repeats this like a foreign word.

'Yeah, shopping. Going out to the store and getting you some stuff to wear that actually fits you. How does that sound? '

She stares at him with those big eyes of hers. Swallowed up in an adult-sized bathrobe, she really does look like an adorably fluffy white rabbit like this. ' '... I 've never been shopping before. '

Gojo leans back in his chair. He hasn 't asked her directly about her situation, but just from what he 's observed the conclusion he 's coming to is ' not good. She 's either lived the last few years of her life in seclusion, or she 's been a very sheltered child. From the wounds she had when she arrived and her reckless bid to escape her own circumstances, he has to imagine that seclusion wasn 't voluntary. But the swell of anger that rises in response to that revelation won 't help anyone, least of all Eri, so he pushes it down in favor of turning an easy smile her way.

'Well, today 's as good a day as any to try it, right? '

//

Gojo goes

two full days

without any kind of kiddie meltdown. He thinks that deserves a medal of recognition, or something. According to Fuyumi, an entire forty-eight hours without any tantrums or tears is something worthy of celebration.

As it is, he 's a little too shocked to even think about celebrating.

The absolute last place he 'd ever expect a kid to have a meltdown in is a

toy store.

But Eri 's reaction from the moment they walked into the place was decidedly odd.

He 's gotten a good read on her, over the past two days. Their first shopping outing was a bit of a baptism by fire, with Gojo fleeing in a mad rush to the nearest department store and begging the first attendant he saw to procure him as much children 's clothing in Eri 's size as she possibly could. Considering he 'd wandered into the ritzy place with a child wrapped up in one of his t-shirts like some kind of mangled toga-dress, the attendant took pity on him and led him to the dressing rooms first. They got Eri into the first dress she could scrounge up in the girl 's size, and afterwards purchased so many more dresses Gojo honestly lost count of them.

Eri didn 't have much preference on styles and colors, looking progressively more overwhelmed as they walked through the kid 's section and picked stuff out. She got quieter and quieter as she grew more distressed, until she was hiding in his shoulder and refusing to make eye contact with anyone. She was the sort of kid that reacted to stressors by trying to make herself as invisible as possible ' something he probably should have guessed, given what little he knew of her history. They had to return to the quiet refuge of his hotel room for a short spell (mercifully just a few blocks away) before she was settled enough to continue their shopping. Gojo has been told he 's just an overwhelming person in general, and his haphazard attitude towards life is chaotic on the best of days, but he makes an effort to be more sedate after that. He stops asking her for her opinion on every single color and style of every single garment after he realizes that all the choices just confuse her, and the clothes shopping goes much smoother.

Gojo definitely has more fun with the experience than Eri does, but by the time they 've been parked in the shoe section for a few hours and the grandness of the department store stops having her cower into his side, she seems ' not quite happy, but quietly content. She even smiles just a little when Gojo gets them matching Sailor Moon sneakers; hers in rainbow and his in black and white. It 's the first time he sees her smile, and he makes the executive decision to dress them up in matching outfits as much as possible if it gets her to smile like that.

Since they 're in Tokyo, Natsuo skivvies off his evening study sessions to get dinner with them, and he 's suitably impressed by Gojo 's ability to keep a child alive and dressed and in relatively good spirits for an entire twenty-four hours. He doesn 't realize how much Eri has grown comfortable with him until Natsuo slides into the booth with them at the McDonalds Gojo had dragged them to. Natsuo gives him a nonplussed look over his choice in restaurants but

come on

what kid doesn 't like happy meal toys? She hadn 't been particularly emotive over the day, but she all but clams up when Natsuo shows up. It takes Natsuo coloring random shapes with her on the kiddie placemat he 'd snagged from the front counter and plenty of silly faces and embellished stories from his younger brother until she relaxes enough to actually talk to him. Even then it 's only to briefly answer questions when he asks them of her directly. This is how Gojo learns her favorite food (she doesn 't know, but so far chicken nuggets are at the top of the list) her favorite color (also doesn 't know, but maybe blue) and her favorite animal (cats). She doesn 't offer up any information of her own accord, which puts Gojo in a bit of a difficult bind, as he 'd been hoping she 'd tell him what had happened to her on her own time and save him the unpleasant task of dragging the answers out himself.

They part ways with Natsuo after dinner 'Gojo and Eri to start what Fuyumi refers to as a 'bed and bathtime routine ' whatever that 's supposed to mean, and Natsuo to likely call Fuyumi the moment he 's out of earshot and relay every single detail of the dinner to their sister. For the record there 's nothing to relay; Eri didn 't have a

single

meltdown at dinner (and there had been plenty of kids of a similar age doing so at the restaurant) and behaved herself perfectly, even if she 'd only made a slight dent into her dinner. And bed and bathtime weren 't nearly as much of a struggle as Fuyumi had painted it out to be in her ominous text warnings. No tears at all! Not even when he used his newly procured princess comb to brush her hair! And Eri had no trouble settling down to sleep in the spare bedroom ' and

no,

Fuyumi, singing her to sleep is not cheating, that 's just making use of his talents.

Okay, so maybe Gojo had let the first day get to his head a little bit.

Either Eri was a great kid, or this parenting thing just wasn't as hard as everyone made it out to be. He survived a full day with her, and neither one of them had broken down in despair. He was a

pro

at this, obviously. Gojo Satoru, as good at parenting as he is everything else in life!

And just when he thinks he 's not too bad at this whole childcare thing, she has a full blown

panic attack

in the middle of a luxury toy story and makes him look like a failure of a human being in front of all the judgmental shoppers and staff.

Gojo honestly doesn 't even know what sets it off. She 'd looked confused when he 'd carted her into the store after they 'd finished off their breakfast and hit the streets for more shopping, which was odd, because he 'd mentioned they were going to a toy store today and kids usually had a reaction to that. Gojo was all but buzzing in excitement, watching eagerly for her reaction when he announced this was a toy store, and they were here to pick out new toys for her.

Then catastrophe hit.

She started screaming and hyperventilating and kicking out at him like she was trying to claw her way away from an axe murderer. The nice lady who 'd come up to greet him startled at her reaction and then before he knew it the whole store was staring at them, as she wailed and shoved at him. He 'd been just as startled, and worried just from the decibel that he might have accidentally hurt her or something, so he 'd put her down on her own two feet. Rookie mistake. She 'd darted off into the aisles the moment her feet hit the ground and led him on a chase through the store, shrieking

'No!! '

at the top of her lungs as he dodges around bewildered kids and parents and attempts to catch her without setting her off worse. In the end he just snags her by the armpits and hauls her over his shoulder kicking and screaming and marches them out of the store.

So here they are, forty-eight hours into his child rearing trial by fire, and she 's still sobbing on a nearby park bench while he watches her cry helplessly, pedestrians side-eying them warily and giving them a wide berth. Gojo groans and buries his face in his hands, crouched beside her as she cries and wondering what the hell he did wrong.

He senses someone behind him, and looks up just in time to see an elderly

obaa-san

reach out to pat his shoulder. She hits his barrier, but doesn 't seem to notice. 'There, there, ' she says, kindly. 'It 's always hard with the first one, isn 't it? '

He stares at her blankly. Distantly, he notices Eri has stopped crying. The old woman looks down at him with kind, empathetic eyes ' the eyes of a wizened veteran who 's seen her fair share of childhood tantrums, no doubt.

'I 'm a failure, ' he tells her, plaintively. Gojo has never really failed at anything in his life, so it 's a bit of a grating revelation.

'Nonsense, ' she denies, and pats his Infinity-covered shoulder once again. 'You 're just new at this. '

He sends an exhausted smile her way. 'What gave it away? ' He asks, wryly.

'New fathers always have an air about them, ' she says, vaguely. 'But chin up, lad. You 'll get better with practice. '

He lets out a mirthless huff of laughter. 'Great, so I can just continue to traumatize her in the meanwhile? ' He doesn 't think he 'll ever forget her screams for the rest of his life, nor the wretched, powerless feeling he 'd had as he watched her run away from him with fear in her eyes.

'Children may stumble, but they grow wiser from the experience. So do their parents. As long as you continue to try to learn together, you have nothing to fear, ' the old lady intones, sagely.

So long as you continue to try, huh?

It sounds too good to be true, but he imagines the lady must be speaking from well-earned experience, so he clings to it anyway.

She hobbles over to where Eri has stopped crying and stares up frozen at her from her spot on the bench. 'And you, little lady. Try to be good for your father too, hm? He 's doing his best. '

Eri 's tears have dried up. She just blinks shocked eyes at the old lady, who nods approvingly at them both one last time before scuttling away with her hands behind her back, leaving a rather reverent crowd of onlookers in her wake. Eventually the crowd stops lollygagging and returns to the usual rhythm of foot traffic, and Gojo scrubs his hands over his hair one last time and pulls himself together. He 's faced down monsters and villains and entire armies ' he 's not about to be defeated by a six year-old.

But before he can even begin to formulate an apology, Eri beats him to it.

'... I 'm sorry, ' she whispers, with a crestfallen expression.

Gojo blinks at her. He picks himself up and slides onto the bench next to her, peering down at her. 'What exactly are you apologizing for, Eri-chan? '

'I hit you. ' She looks down at her hands clasped in her lap. Her brand new designer dress is looking a bit worse for wear after her mad sprint through the store; they 'll have to go back and change at some point. 'That 's not nice. '

'No, it 's not nice, ' he agrees, reaching out to smooth out the worst of her flyaways. The painstaking style he 'd had it braided into (it had taken six attempts, three youtube videos, and much coaching by Fuyumi) has gone into disarray, bows all but falling off her head. 'But I don 't think you hit me just because you wanted to, right? '

She bites her lip, shaking her head rapidly and dislodging the clip-in bows even more. Gojo sighs and gives them up as a lost cause, plucking them out of her hair.

'You hit me because you were upset, right? ' He continues calmly, easing the pins out of her hair.

She doesn 't respond, just bites down on her lip harder, little hands fisted into the skirt of her dress.

'Do you want to tell me what made you upset? ' He figures it 's a fair question ' the reaction came out of left field, but it had to have come from

somewhere,

right? Eri had been perfectly fine with him up until that point. Unless '

'...Did

I

do something to upset you? ' The thought occurs to him belatedly, sitting sourly in his stomach.

'No! ' She denies immediately, with more fervor than he 's ever seen from her. She shies back after her outburst, looking down and fiddling with her dress. 'I... I ' don 't like toys. '

Gojo blinks.

Then blinks some more.

'

seriously?

That 's a

thing?

What kid doesn 't like toys?!

'Back

there,

they ' they would ' ' she squeezes her eyes shut. 'They would always give me new toys. To make me feel better after they hurt me. '

It 's Gojo 's turn to close his eyes. He said he 'd table the whole Shie Hassaikai thing until

after

he 'd gotten Eri sorted out, but immediately finding them and eviscerating every single member of that group right this very moment is starting to sound more and more appealing. He has to remind himself that there 's a scared and hurt little girl in front of him who is so traumatized she can 't even walk into a

toy store,

and Gojo has a responsibility towards her safety and wellbeing first. Perfectly justified murder can wait.

'I see. So the store upset you, ' he says, once he feels calm enough to respond. 'Do you not like toys at all, Eri-chan? '

She shrugs helplessly, picking at the lacey hem of her pinafore.

He frowns slightly. Fuyumi had been pretty adamant that kids needed toys. They were more than just entertainment; they provided enrichment and education as well. And

toys

as a concept was applied pretty broadly. So far, Eri had used plenty of things he 'd considered 'toys ' without issue. Her entire Sailor Moon outfit had come with a little Luna cat doll, and her Disney princess dress had come with a light-up magic wand that blows bubbles and plays little Disney jingles on command. If that 's not the

definition

of a toy, then he doesn 't know what is. And that was to say nothing of all the happy meal toys they 'd procured at McDonalds yesterday, now waterlogged and slightly irreparable after bathtime. Maybe it was the concept of the shiny newness of the toys in the store, the wrapping and the packaging, that triggered the response? Most kids adored tearing open new presents, he was fairly sure, but dolls and stuffed animals all neatly wrapped in gleaming plastic boxes and shiny paper probably set her off.

'Eri-chan ' I know it must be hard to talk about, but could you tell me what happened to you? What you were running from when we met? '

She looks frightened at the very thought of having to answer these questions, and Gojo feels for her, but it 's also become very clear in the last twenty minutes that he needs to know. He can 't properly ' he can 't properly

parent

her if he doesn 't even know the first thing about her; not just her likes and dislikes, but the things that scare her, her past traumas, her overall mental health, and even the basic physical metrics like age, height and weight. Right now, he doesn 't even know any of that.

He knows it 's a lot, to ask her to trust him ' a veritable stranger ' after everything she 's been through, but aside from the episode in the toy store she hasn 't seemed uncomfortable with him. He hopes that 's enough of a start.

Eri doesn 't say anything, head bowed, hair covering her eyes as she all but rips her dress beneath her flexing fingers.

Gojo sighs.

'Why don 't we get you into a new dress, huh? We 'll go back and change, and then we can talk back at home. ' This probably isn 't a conversation they should be having on the side of the street anyway.

He picks her up again, and is quietly relieved when she doesn 't kick out at him in protest like she had earlier. Actually, she rests her head against his shoulder and pushes her nose into the collar of his jacket, almost deadweight in his arms. The hand he places over the back of her head to steady her as he stands is totally instinctual, and he doesn 't even realize he 's doing it until he catches sight of them in the reflection of one of the nearby storefront windows.

Huh.

No wonder that old lady ' and probably everyone else who 's encountered them so far ' thought he was her father. Carting her around on his hip like this, one arm supporting her and the other in her hair as she buries her face in his neck ' they really do look like father and daughter. It doesn 't hurt that their hair colors are so similar.

The thought leaves him in a bewildered daze the entire walk back to his hotel room.

Fatherhood has never crossed his mind ' not in either of his lifetimes. And whenever the notion was brought up to him he dismissed it out of hand immediately; he 'd never had to give the subject any kind of thought. He was never having kids. And if he was ever forced to do so by the Gojo clan, he 'd been certain he 'd come to resent them one way or another, through no fault of their own.

And yet, the idea of everyone assuming Eri is his child isn 't entirely distasteful nor unwelcome.