𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 → jjk x m! reader

12. | happy pills.

— 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆 taken from: weathers

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The small playground donned by the setting sun's visage was as quiet as can be, with no signs of swarming children playing around in it, except for two familiar figures...

"Brat. Go home already. I don't want to babysit you," Toji grumbled loudly. But, despite the annoyance evident in his features, Toji still kept pushing the swing he was currently sitting on.

Feet swaying in the air, he answered the older male with pouted lips, "I don't want to. Besides, she said I could stay! Told you to keep an eye on me, right?"

The woman he met in the house was, of course, Toji's beloved; beautiful and kind and very much pregnant. He liked the way her eyes crinkled as she smiled, chattering excitedly of the little one inside her belly.

"Who knew you could be such a domestic person," he said. "Is she why you're not taking on any dangerous jobs, Toji-san?"

Toji stayed silent behind him, still pushing him on the swing back and forth. It wasn't unsettling silence by any means, no, more so a wistful one. The man behind him hummed after a while, dark green eyes gazing at the setting sun.

"Yeah, you could say that."

He sighed immediately. "So, I came all this way for nothing. Ugh."

Toji gave him a swat on the head right after. Don't worry, it didn't hurt at all. "Ow," he replied.

"You got free food, brat. That wasn't nothing. Pay up, why don't you? Nothing's free around here."

"You're making me pay for food you didn't even cook? No, thank you. But, if you accept the job I offered—"

"—No," Toji answered, suddenly pushing the swing with more force than he should. "Wha?!" He fell to the ground. Gracefully, of course.

Instead of apologizing, Toji laughed at him instead. "Oops, my hand slipped," Toji said after he finished chuckling at his fallen figure.

He heaved himself upright, doing his best not to scowl at Toji. Crossing his arms, he walked away from the smug-looking older man, choosing to haul the heavy backpack he left on the ground to his back.

"Oh? You're finally leaving?"

"Wow. What do you think?"

Toji curved his lips into a smile. "Gotta say, I'm a little touched, brat. You chose to find me first instead of another sorcerer killer."

He locked his [e/c] eyes with Toji's dark green ones, a gaze that usually incited fear. "To defeat that abhorrent family of mine, I needed someone skilled in the art of killing. Toji-san, you're good at that. You are strong."

A beat passed, and Toji still stayed silent at his words.

He shifted on his feet, narrowing his eyes at the older man's expression. "Why the hell do you look angry? I was complimenting you." The older man looked downright ready to kill him.

Toji widened his eyes at that, then pinched the bridge of his nose in confusion. Did Toji... not realize the anger that was etched all over his face?

"It wasn't aimed at you. Don't worry about it, brat. Your words just made me remember some unpleasant things."

"Uh-huh. Sure it wasn't," he replied, rolling his eyes at the older man. "What is it then?"

Toji leisurely sat on the swing that was clearly not built for men like him, and then said, "Has that brat cousin of mine ever taken you to visit the pit of curses below the Zenin estate?"