you and toji teach little gumi how to do shadow puppets…except he accidentally summons his demon dogs?! ( ˶°ㅁ°)
part 2 of my 1k celebratory series, enjoy!
content: husband!toji x reader, dad!toji fluff, 4 y/o megumi, a little inaccurate to canon towards the end ♡⸝⸝ word count: 1.8k
“…okay…and if you move your second hand like this…”
you’re sat on the floor of four-year-old megumi’s tiny bedroom, trying to demonstrate how to do shadow puppets while he watches and follows along.
the room is dimmed down, the only light coming from the lamp in the far corner. it illuminates the nearby surroundings, soft light spilling across the far wall and the sparse stickers and posters that are blue-tacked across it.
toji passes the room, raising a brow and pausing to lean against the doorway, his mouth curling into an amused smirk.
“trying to teach gumi how to do shadow puppets!” you say, turning to face your husband. “he seemed interested when some of the other kids did them at nursery, so i figured….” you trail off, too occupied with the shadow bunny you’re attempting to form.
toji opens his mouth but doesn’t quite speak. instead, he watches the scene in front of him in silence: you, sat cross-legged with your tongue pressed between your lips in concentration, and little megumi by your side, his facial expression matching yours. his chubby fingers fold over each other in an attempt to copy your movements, and the boy’s spiky hair is still damp from his bedtime shower. loose strands stick to the sides of his face here and there as he grumbles in concentration. you hear a tiny grunt from your husband in what you can only assume is a teasing scoff before you hear the sound of him sitting down in the doorway.
you pause, looking up and throwing toji a look of mild confusion.
“what? i can’t join in?” he murmurs, a tiny grin pulling at his scarred lip. despite his confident tone, you can see the tiniest flicker of uncertainty in his harsh features, like he's not quite sure if he should intrude on this moment.
you sigh empathetically, but choose to keep your tone teasing to match his. “fine, but you better actually try.”
half an hour or so later, megumi’s mastered every animal shadow puppet you’ve shown him so far with almost no difficulty: first the bunny, then the elephant, and finally the frog. toji, on the other hand, is still struggling with the bunny.
to be fair to him, at least he’s trying, but nonetheless his results so far have been lacking.
"how did you just—" he grumbles, dark brows furrowed as you demonstrate more. the sight is laughable: your huge husband hunched over himself, his large hands pressed against each other in a poor attempt at forming a shadow bunny. each time he’d struggled with a shadow puppet, megumi would form it with little-to-no difficulty, a flicker of silent pride in his expression.
“good job gumi!” you coo, ruffling the mess of dark spikes on his head.
toji grunts, throwing you a side glance before muttering, “there’s no way the kid enjoys this. i thought this was supposed to be fun.”
“don’t be silly, toji. it is fun for him, can’t you see?” you roll your eyes playfully at the scowl fixed on his face.
the three of you continue like that for a while. you demonstrate how to do several more shadow puppets to little megumi, who nods determinedly before copying your actions. a comfortable silence settles over you all, save for the occasional grumble or frustrated comment from toji as he struggles yet again with another shadow puppet.
now, megumi’s attempting to form a wolf, his chunky hands pressed together firmly. his eyes are fixed on your hands, thick lashes batting with each blink as he observes your movements attentively.
toji lets out a loud, unceremonious yawn, scratching his neck before lazily casting a glance at megumi and you.
you and megumi both look up in sync, the four year old giving toji a grumpy glare for ruining his concentration.
“you cannot be serious. we finished dinner an hour ago!” you protest.
“and?” he shrugs, clearly unfazed by the unimpressed looks both you and megumi are giving him. he stretches before standing up and walking off to the kitchen, but not without addressing his son over his shoulder. “just keep up the good work while i’m gone, kid.”
you sigh, exasperated, and turn to face megumi, who’s clearly anything but pleased by the disruption.
“it’s okay. he’s being silly, just ignore him.” you murmur, trying to draw his attention away from his gluttonous father and back to the half-complete wolf shadow he’s projecting onto the wall. he does so (albeit reluctantly) and turns his head away from the doorway, cheeks puffed out a little in determination as he faces you again.
after a few minutes, he seems to have mastered the wolf shadow puppet completely. despite his serious expression, there's a flicker of enthusiasm in his eyes as he peers up at you for approval.
"well done, megs!" you beam. "when your dad gets back from the kitchen we can show him, 'kay?" megumi perks up slightly at the mention of showing his dad, his face showing a hint of interest.
you smile at that before gently encouraging him to keep practicing while you both wait for toji's return. megumi continues testing out the different shadow puppets, letting the light from the lamp cascade over his hands and onto the wall behind him in uneven flickers. with each hand movement, a new shadow animal appears, and a comfy sense of quiet settles over the room as he continues to test out each newly-learned animal shadow puppet.
first the bunny. then the frog. then the bird. then the elephant.
his movements are surprisingly precise for a four-year-old, and each action seems meaningful, calculated. truthfully, it shouldn't come as that much of a shock to you, considering his unusual levels of patience, but it still does.
you hear the sound of toji's footsteps approaching and megumi immediately stops the shadow puppet that he's practicing, straightening up and turning to face the doorway as your husband comes into view.
toji immediately raises a brow, eyes flicking between your face and then megumi's determined expression.
"what's up, kid?" he leans against the doorframe, mild interest settling over his features as he gestures towards the wall. “how’s it going?”
"he learned a new shadow puppet and wants to show you. isn't that right, megs?" you smile at the boy encouragingly and he nods. he then turns his body towards the far wall and the lamp once more, clasping his hands together to form the wolf shadow puppet once more with surprising speed and skill.
it's almost exactly the same as the past few times he’s practiced it, except for one thing. this time, shadows seem to surround him, trailing up his legs and then around his arms and hands. once the smoke-like shadows disperse, you're met with a very strange sight.
right there, in the centre of the room, stand two wolf-like dogs, their thick fur still half-shrouded in the remaining shadows. they seem to be puppies seeing as they’re much too small to be fully-grown, and yet they reach up to megumi’s waist in height already.
they pause at the sight of the new environment, cocking their heads in interest and taking in the interior of the room. one of the two, the one with white fur, turns to face megumi with its tongue stuck out, panting heavily. soft streaks of ivory are scattered across its body, the shades standing out more obviously in the warm light. the other puppy, the one with jet-black fur, simply nudges its head against megumi’s leg before sniffing at his pj pants in curiosity.
megumi stands frozen in the middle of them looking mildly confused before a tiny, pleased grin settles on his face. carefully, he reaches a hand out and lets the two eagerly lick at his fingers, then experimentally tries to pet them. he watches the dogs carefully, eyes wide and brows furrowed, as though determinedly trying to study their reactions. each pet he gives them is met with an excited yip, which spurs him on to continue rubbing their heads and ears in turn.
you turn to face your husband, surprise written all over both of your faces.
"…so i'm guessing that wasn't part of what he'd practiced?" he grins, the scar on his lip curling as he does so.
"no!" you laugh breathlessly, smiling at him and pushing yourself off of the floor so that you can stand by his side. he looks notably pleased, his features a fraction softer and a hint of pride lingering in his smile.
you’d already known about your husband’s previous worries, about how he’d been shunned from his own clan for his lack of a cursed technique during his childhood. and while you’d tried to reassure him that it would be okay, that megumi would be just fine regardless of whether he inherited a cursed technique or not, you knew that deep down the matter weighed on toji’s mind much more than he’d let on.
toji pulls you to his side, letting you rest your head on his shoulder as you both watch megumi giggle with the puppies, letting them sniff and nudge his hands with their heads.
“i can’t believe he got his cursed technique just like that,” you smile, a sense of pride welling in your chest before you turn to meet toji’s gaze. his eyes soften almost imperceptibly as they rest upon yours. “…we did well, huh?” you murmur.
“you did well, you mean.” toji replies, shaking his head a little. “i was awful at those puppet things. he wouldn’t have learned a thing from me.”
“pffft.." you sigh contentedly, leaning your head a little further into your husband's shoulder.
you both stand there like that, fondness filling your chest at the sight of the two puppies rushing around megumi, both of their silhouettes casting shadows onto the bedroom wall behind them in the lamplight.
after about ten minutes or so, the puppies seem to be worn out, snuggled together comfortably on the carpet. megumi is sat between them both, busy testing out a few of the other shadow puppets you’d shown him, as though trying to see whether he can summon any more animals.
when none of them work, he seems to consider his next options for a second before instinctively clenching his fists together and holding them out in front of him, a determined expression on his chubby face.
“um…toji, why is he clenching his fists like that..?”
author's notes: sorry for any inaccuracies !! i tried to make it work but certain bits may not fully follow the canon (like the ending, it was just to be funny) ><
also sorry if the end half is a little weird/cringey agh
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