That evening, at the Zenin estate's gate.
"Toji, are you sure you don't need to at least say goodbye to your family?"
Sitting inside the SUV, Onshin looked at the brothers who had only packed a few clothes to take with them. She couldn't help asking.
"That's right! You won't even say goodbye to your uncle? Ever since your parents abandoned you, I've been the one taking care of you!"
Naobito suddenly appeared by the car window using his Projection Sorcery. Stroking the two patches of mustache on his face, he wore a mischievous grin.
The two brats had tricked him badly before, and now that he had the chance, of course he couldn't resist running his mouth.
"Hello, Uncle…" Onshin greeted politely. The sudden appearance of this middle-aged man startled her, but remembering who Toji and Mukuro were, she didn't find it all that strange.
"Cut it out. You're not that important." Toji shoved the last bag into the trunk, slid into the driver's seat, and waved Naobito off with a face full of disgust.
"You must be the wife, right? These two boys don't have the best tempers and always act cocky, so I'll be counting on you from now on!" Before the brothers could jump out of the car and beat him up, Naobito shouted and ran back toward the house.
In the entire Zenin clan, he was the only one who genuinely treated them as his juniors. Yet he also knew this heartless, cold-blooded family could never hold onto them.
Cursed techniques and cursed energy came first here. That was the creed of the Zenin clan, and even as the head, he couldn't change it.
"Uh… okay!" Onshin responded, though Naobito was already far away.
"Let's go. Time to go home," Toji said firmly.
With Naoya's resentful gaze following them, the SUV's engine roared to life and pulled away without a hint of nostalgia.
But in an unnoticed corner of the Zenin estate, a pair of eyes filled with resentment quietly watched the car disappear into the distance.
* * *
Nearly a year passed in the blink of an eye.
December 22, 2002. Night.
Inside one of Kyoto's most renowned hospitals.
"Why is it taking so long…"
Normally calm and collected, Toji was pacing back and forth anxiously outside the delivery room.
"It's fine. She's only been in there for a few minutes. That little thing in her belly is already more troublesome than most babies," Mukuro said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Unlike Toji, he was much more relaxed. Maybe it was because he already knew how this would go. He pulled out his phone, lit up the screen and waved it in front of his brother's face.
No one had expected that Onshin, who got pregnant at the end of January, would give birth so late in December. If Mukuro hadn't known better, he might've thought she was carrying some mythical child.
Meanwhile, every muscle in Toji's body was tense. For him, each passing minute outside the delivery room felt like years. He could fight a grade 1 sorcerer or even a special-grade cursed spirit without fear, but this moment tormented him in a way nothing else ever had.
"Who's the family of Onshin Zenin?"
At last, after what felt like an eternity, the doors to the delivery room swung open. A nurse stepped out, calling into the hallway.
"Me!" Toji moved so quickly he shattered the tiles under his feet, appearing in front of the nurse in an instant.
"Ah?!" She flinched at the burst of speed, stumbling back several steps in shock.
"Please don't take it the wrong way. My brother's just too anxious. We'll pay for anything damaged here." Mukuro reached out just in time to steady the nurse from behind so she didn't fall. His gentle tone soothed her complaints before it could turn into anger.
"Everything went smoothly. Both mother and child are safe."
Right as the nurse finished speaking, another one came out carrying a baby wrapped in a blanket.
The two brothers immediately felt the cursed energy radiating in waves from the infant. Ordinary babies born to sorcerer families gave off only faint traces of energy. But this was different. This was talent.
"What an ugly little monkey. Why isn't he crying?" Mukuro leaned in to inspect the small bundle as the nurse gently placed it into Toji's arms.
The baby's skin was soft and pale, though his head had barely a few strands of hair. Mukuro was sure he himself had been cuter at that age.
The tiny eyelids of the infant flickered, as if he was trying to see who was mocking him.
"There's nothing to worry about. Some babies fall asleep very quickly after birth and don't cry right away," the nurse who came later explained quickly, thinking Mukuro was worried about a problem.
Her colleague, though, stood there dumbfounded. Who on earth called their newborn a monkey?
"You're one to talk. You weren't much better than this when you were born," Toji retorted as he held the baby with ease, memories flashing back to the time he'd had to be both father and mother to Mukuro. But the feeling this infant gave him was completely different.
It was like the boy's arrival had calmed something deep within him, as though the last missing piece of his world had finally been set in place.
"Here, take him." Seeing that the child wasn't opening his eyes like his brother had when he was born, Toji simply handed the baby over. He cared more about the one still inside the delivery room.
"What? I don't know how to hold something this small!" Mukuro protested. Even so, with trembling hands and clumsy movements, he carefully accepted the bundle.
He felt like he was holding an oversized piece of cotton candy, afraid he might hurt the baby with the slightest wrong move. Looking down, he saw the newborn who'd been stirring a moment ago was now sound asleep.
"This way, please. We'll take you to the nursery while we—"
"We'll wait for my wife to come out first," Toji interrupted before the nurse could finish.
This time the wait felt mercifully short. A few minutes later, Onshin, pale-faced but awake, was wheeled out of the delivery room.
"Toji, Mukuro…" she whispered, forcing a faint smile.
"Don't talk yet. Rest first!" Toji hurried forward to stop her when she looked like she was trying to sit up.
"I want to see the baby," she said softly, her eyes fixed on the bundle in Mukuro's arms.
"Here, here." He stepped up and bent down so she could get a better look.
"He looks just like Toji… What should we name him?" If she wasn't so weak, Onshin would have snatched the child into her arms already.
"I've had a name in mind for a long time. Let's call him Megumi," Toji replied as a trace of tenderness flashed in his eyes.
This boy is the heaven's blessing to him.
(Mukuro: "Then what about my name?!")
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