Gaiden - Zenin Zoro 3

As Megumi finished speaking, an awkward silence filled the infirmary.

Maki looked somewhat uncomfortable, and Toge was at a loss for words, saying nothing. Panda was... being Panda, and Nobara seemed taken aback by the unexpected story, as was Itadori.

"..."

The faculty members also kept their mouths shut. Being adults and teachers, they didn't want to pry into the wounds of a student abandoned by their parents with rash questions.

Gojo stared intently at Megumi. His expression was hidden by his eye patch, but he seemed mostly indifferent.

Zenin Zoro looked at Megumi with an inscrutable expression, then spoke briefly and decisively.

"No."

"..."

"Toji... So, your father is probably not living well, as you think."

Megumi was taken aback and retorted.

"What do you know to say that..."

"How much do you know?"

At Zoro's counter, Megumi was left speechless. After all, it was true that Megumi didn't know much about his father. Even if the person right in front of them was from another world, he was still a brother who had the same parents as Megumi.

Megumi, avoiding Zoro's piercing gaze, muttered.

"...I know he's not a good person."

"That's correct."

Itadori asked Zoro, who was nodding seriously, somewhat hesitantly.

"Is it okay to talk about your senior's father like that?"

"It's the truth."

Zoro had no intention of sugarcoating Toji as a good person.

In the past, Toji was undeniably a villain. He vented his past frustrations on others and made money through murder. Despite that, he didn't treat his family well.

'Things have changed a lot now...'

Still, the sins of the past are not easily washed away. He would definitely go to hell if he died, just like Zoro.

While harboring such disrespectful thoughts, Zoro spoke up.

"However, that doesn't mean your father will be living well after abandoning you."

If Megumi's father is 'Toji' in another world, he could never be 'well'.

Because Toji not being by Megumi's side means, in this world, Chie is dead.

That signifies Toji's world has been utterly shattered.

As Megumi said, it might have been better if he could forget everything, whether it's his dead wife or child, and live well.

As Megumi said, it might have been better if he could forget everything, whether it was his dead wife or child, and lived well.

But he could never do that.

Because he couldn't let go of the first salvation that was bestowed upon him.

Because he couldn't pretend to bury his first love as if it never happened.

No matter what he did or where he was, that deficiency and loss could never be filled.

Forever.

To Toji, Chie was such a lover.

The love that Toji and Chie shared was of that nature.

And the child born from Toji and Chie's marriage could never be a being that Toji could just casually abandon.

Even if everything else fell apart.

'This child seems unaware.'

It was perhaps inevitable. It's not exactly clear when Chie died in this world, but if she died around the same time as in Zoro's world, then Megumi would have been less than a year old at that time.

"...What are you trying to say?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, that your perception might be wrong."

Megumi let out a sigh.

"On what evidence?"

"Your name."

Megumi (恵).

"That was something he agonized over for months before deciding."

Zoro clearly remembered Toji flipping through a kanji dictionary whenever he had the chance while Chie was pregnant with Megumi.

In the end, he chose a common kanji for a common name, but the meaning embedded within it was anything but common.

"From the moment you were born, you were a grace, and that person, without even a bit of a curse to his name, was cursed. So, he gave you, a sorcerer, a name that's the exact opposite of a curse."

A being that was a family's blessing and grace from birth.

A being blessed with sorcery like no other.

A being that, from birth, was the exact opposite of Toji, who was completely ostracized from his kin and the world.

Hoping that your life and fate would be as blessed as that overflowing love and effort.

Megumi (恵).

Megumi's eyes wavered at the unexpected revelation. It was more confusing because he had thought all along that Toji had mistakenly given him the name Megumi thinking of his gender.

After opening and closing his mouth several times as if trying to say something, Megumi finally managed to speak.

"...But he's still a bad person and a bad parent. I won't forgive him."

Embarrassed by such a child-like statement, Megumi blushed. However, Zoro accepted it coolly, saying, "Is that so."

Forgiveness is entirely Megumi's right and his heart. It can't be forced, nor was there any intention to do so.

The reason for sharing this was simply because not forgiving someone with knowledge and not forgiving someone out of ignorance are different. If one hates without knowing and then it turns out that reality is the opposite of what was thought, the feelings harbored all this time would lose their direction.

Megumi, with a complicated expression, hesitated before asking,

"Do you... forgive your father?"

Zoro blinked twice before answering,

"No, I just beat him up and dragged him home."

"..."

Bringing him home was the first step, and forgiveness, if it were to come, would be the next. Whether or not Zoro forgave Toji, the Toji he encountered in that moment was undoubtedly his father.

If Toji was still their father, then he rightly belonged by their side. That's why Zoro had decided to knock him over the head with a spirit bone and drag him home.

'I don't care why that man left us.'

As long as Toji was his father, Zoro had no intention of simply letting him go.

You always do as you please, even when it comes to saving others, my little marimo child. Zoro remembered something Toji had said in passing.

'...And this is just speculation.'

But Zoro felt Megumi needed to know, so he spoke up,

"Your father, he's probably dead."

"...!"

"Eh...?"

"Really?!"

Zoro's bombshell remark elicited shocked reactions from all around.

Utahime cautiously asked,

"Don't tell me your father too..."

"That guy is perfectly fine."

Too fine, actually.

Toji had recently encountered a special grade spirit with a curse technique that was immune to physical attacks.

Pretending to go on a mission but actually sneaking off to play pachinko, Toji was caught by Megumi and ended up going to work. Annoyed, he took it out on the unfortunate special grade spirit, tearing it to shreds with nothing but his bare hands and bravado.

'And then he threw it in front of Suguru, saying if you want it, take it.'

Tearing apart a spirit and bringing it back barely alive was a feat in itself. The spirit was in such bad shape that it couldn't become one of Geto's underlings and was executed.

'Satoru asked why he was taking out his anger on the spirit instead of arguing with Megumi.'

But from Toji's perspective, Megumi wasn't someone to take his anger out on, so it made sense.

'He must have heard from Nanami by now.'

He'd definitely grab Zoro and shake him down the next time they met. He might even put him under a curfew.

'Because of you, my hair will turn white like the young master's, huh? Eh, my little marimo child.'

The voice of Toji grumbling about his disobedient, willful marimo bouncing around came echoing in Zoro's mind.

Nobara looked at Megumi, who had turned pale, and cautiously asked,

"Why do you think he's dead?"

"He hastened his own end."

Without any attachment to life, he accumulated karma that need not be accumulated and engaged in fights that need not be fought, driving himself into a corner.

"And if he faced a wall that couldn't be overcome, he would just die."

Gojo flinched faintly. Zoro seemed not to notice and casually continued,

"If he were alive, he would have returned to Megumi at least once."

Months, maybe even years, might have passed, but he would have returned. Because, with Zoro not yet born, the only thing that would have been meaningful to that person would have been Megumi.

Whether it was because of remaining attachments, simply to check if he was still alive, due to the remnants of affection, or whatever.

He would have come to see Megumi at least once.

The fact that he didn't meant he couldn't.

'Then he must be dead.'

Zoro coldly assessed the situation.

Separate from that, something surged within him. Even though he didn't consider the Toji Megumi of this world to be the same as his father, the news of his death still felt bad.

...It hurt, a little.

"..."

Megumi wanted to deny Zoro's words but couldn't. He remembered what Gojo had said to him when they first met long ago.

"It's irritating, isn't it? Having such a father, that's why I—"

That's why, I.

...I....

...What did Gojo do to his father?

Megumi looked at Gojo with wavering eyes. As their gazes met, Gojo smiled his usual annoying smile.

Upon seeing that smile, feelings of boredom and annoyance were replaced by fear and unfamiliarity in Megumi's heart.

'Gojo-san.'

It's not possible, right?

You couldn't have.

You, to my father....

But then Megumi remembered something else Gojo had said.

"If you ever want to know about your father's affair, just ask."

Thinking it would be quite interesting, he had ended the conversation like that.

'If it's about that,'

Why, did you...

"..."

Zoro quietly observed both Gojo and Megumi.

Yaga coughed deliberately, drawing Zoro's attention to him.

"Sorry, but I'd like to ask a question on this side."

"Go ahead."

"Satoru called you a non-sorcerer, is that correct?"

Zoro tilted his head in confusion.

"What's the definition of a non-sorcerer and a sorcerer?"

"...Is there a difference in meaning between them?"

"Recently, the sorcery regulations have changed on this side."

According to the recently revised sorcery regulations in Zoro's world, the definition of a sorcerer was as follows:

An entity belonging to the Sorcery Headquarters or the sorcery classics, capable and willing to exorcise spirits and curse users with a multitude of abilities including ample sorcery power, curse techniques, Ten Shadows Technique, swordsmanship and other martial skills, and physical prowess.

Based on that definition, Zoro was undeniably a sorcerer. He might lack sorcery power and be unable to see spirits with the naked eye, but he was affiliated with the sorcery classics and capable of exorcising spirits and curse users with his swordsmanship.

Gojo counted off on his fingers as he listed,

"Low in sorcery power, unable to control the emission of sorcery power, lacks or is unable to use innate curse techniques, and unable to see spirits."

"If those are the criteria, then yes. I'm a non-sorcerer."

According to Gojo, Zoro had very little external emission of sorcery power for a non-sorcerer, but nonetheless, the rest applied to him.

Gakuganji frowned.

"How could a non-sorcerer who can't even see spirits get admitted to the classics?"

Zoro replied calmly,

"Because I'm strong."

"How strong?"

"...Hard to say."

In Zoro's world, Satoru did refer to Zoro as the strongest.

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