48 Side Story - Divergence (1)

*This is an "If" side story unrelated to the main plot. Please skip this chapter if you don't like it.

*Tears warning

*If, Zoro had not met Toji that day.

...

November 11, 2003.

Like always, Zoro went out to look for Toji, who hadn't come home since Chi-e's death.

...And like always, he returned home without finding anything.

But Zoro continued to leave home to search for Toji.

The next day, and the day after that.

...

"I'm late in introducing myself. I'm Fushiguro Sakura."

Zenin Toji looked intently at the woman introducing herself. She was tall but had flawed skin, with freckles and pimples visible on her cheeks. Her nose was slightly crooked, and most importantly, she wasn't Toji's type.

However, none of that mattered. This was a marriage meant to find a woman who could take care of the kids in place of Toji, who changed his surname and didn't come home.

In that regard, this woman named Fushiguro was passable. She had no complaints about marrying into the family as a son-in-law, didn't take her frustrations out on the kids unnecessarily. She already had a somewhat grown daughter, and she consistently came home.

"I'm Zenin Toji."

Above all, his taste had already become something he could never encounter again.

...

Neither others nor anything else mattered.

Zenin Toji lived his life with this mindset.

Gambled every day, sweet-talked women into sleeping with him, took on jobs to kill people when money ran low, and gambled again with that money.

It was a life like a hamster wheel. The more he spun, the deeper he sank into the mire, perhaps even hell.

Occasionally, he thought of his green-haired son and an infant who couldn't even walk, but Toji forcibly pushed those memories out of his mind. They had a house to live in and he sent living expenses whenever he had money. That was already a much better environment than the one Toji grew up in.

He didn't contact the Zenin clan, so Megumi probably had to live as a sorcerer without the clan's support... But it was probably better to be with Zoro. The clan might not welcome Zoro, unlike Megumi.

Now, it was all meaningless. Whether it was his children, his new wife, or money. He would just live this way until the end came. An end fitting for trash that rolled in hell.

That too, would be meaningless.

...

And that end came on the day Toji remembered the name of his second son, which he had forgotten.

"Any last words?"

As Gojo Satoru asked calmly, Toji responded just as calmly.

"...None."

Even if there were, it wasn't something to say to the young lord before him. Confused by the inexplicable thoughts, Toji was momentarily disoriented. At the brink of death, who was there to listen to his words?

Seeing Toji remain silent, Gojo left the scene. Perhaps he went to seek out a spirit manipulator colleague or to find a growth subject. After all, Toji, now just a corpse, posed no threat.

Toji staggered a few steps before collapsing against the wall. Unable to comprehend the situation himself, Toji touched the gash on his side then weakly dropped his hand.

Fushiguro Toji was still alive.

He lived with all his might.

For what purpose?

Now, there was nothing left for him.

What on earth was he trying to do?

Tap, tap.

There was the sound of small footsteps. They suddenly stopped as if frozen in place, then quickly approached Toji.

"...!!"

He could hardly hear anything. Only a strange buzzing sound like insects flying reached him, causing Toji to blink.

When he came to a bit, his blurry vision caught a glimpse of a kid with green hair shaking his collar violently. In his drowsy state, Toji slightly furrowed his brow.

He had seen him somewhere.

...Who was it again?

"Come to...! ...the heck! ...Toji! ...Wake up!!"

Dad!

—Take care of Zoro and Megumi for me.

...Ah.

It was Zoro.

'You're here.'

...But you shouldn't be.

Faced with this surreal scene, Toji reached out his hand towards Zoro's head. The coarse green hair touched his hand, staining the grass-like color with drops of blood.

Zoro saw the large hole in Toji's torso and the blood oozing out thickly and cursed.

"You, damn it... After not showing your face for years, what the hell is this mess!"

Amid the cries mixed with despair and rage, Toji realized.

This is real.

The Zoro in front of him was real.

Numerous thoughts floated through Toji's mind, only to drip away like flowing blood. How he got here, what he was doing here, whether he knew that he was dying. Things like that.

At that moment, the question Gojo Satoru had asked him calmly earlier brushed through Toji's mind.

"Do you have any last words?"

"...Ah."

I see.

Toji's body had desperately clung to life just for this moment.

To leave words behind for his son, who had finally found him.

"...What should I say?"

When there's nothing left but to die.

Zoro's hands, covered in blood, trembled.

"Who is it, exactly who did this to you...?"

"Do you plan to, avenge me?"

"Who would avenge someone like you—!"

Zoro yelled as if he was choked up. Toji faintly smiled.

"Right, don't do it. Don't bother with avenging me."

There's no reason for Zoro to be burdened by such a thing. After all, he was a father who might have been better off not being there.

Toji cupped Zoro's face with his only hand. It was much bigger than the last time he remembered. Still small, though.

"Live."

Toji said calmly.

"Don't end up like me."

Both of you.

That's all there is to it. I don't deserve to ask for more. I couldn't even be there for them as a parent. What right do I have to meddle in how Zoro and Megumi live their lives?

His strength drained hand slipped away. Even until the last moment, showing such a state as a father, Zoro held that hand. Regrettably, Toji could no longer feel the warmth of the small hand.

It's the end. All of it. His eyelids grew heavy. Zoro, sensing this, gripped Toji's hand tightly, veins bulging on his hand. Still, no sensation came through.

Zoro's lips quivered. Toji's entire attention focused on the last words he would hear in his life.

"..."

Toji's eyes widened to their limit upon hearing Zoro's words. A mix of incredulity and pity leaked through a faint laugh.

Really, Zoro was consistent to the very end. And so...

Blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth. Toji tapped Zoro's cheek lightly.

"For someone like me... you should be cursing."

Zoro.

Everything felt unbearably heavy. Breathing was difficult, Toji struggled to swallow his breath and closed his eyes.

And then, everything faded to white.

...

Zoro silently observed Toji, who had just breathed his last in front of him. The face of the father he had seen for the first time in years, aside from being bloodied, was not much different from the last time he had seen him.

That made it all the more unbelievable.

"...Damned bastard."

Zoro spat out the words as if cursing. His stomach churned.

When I met Toji again, I wanted to be angry at him. I wanted to punish him, confront him, blame him to my heart's content, and beat him up thoroughly.

Why did you leave us? Do you know how hard it was for me? After you left like that, for a while, I couldn't even find Chie's grave. If you weren't going to come home after getting married, why did you marry at all? Megumi doesn't even know your face. The woman you married hasn't been coming home recently either. Do you even know what has happened up until now...?

But all of that was meaningless to a dead person.

"What is this mess, this mess..."

If he had been living well, I could have given him a piece of my mind. If he had completely forgotten about us, I could have stomped on him to make him remember everything.

Toji left them and died miserably without gaining anything.

Making it impossible for Zoro to be angry or to blame him.

...And impossible to bring him back by his side.

"You're the worst, you know."

Really, the absolute worst.

For a long time, Zoro sat and silently watched the dead Toji. Then, at some moment, he stood up. And, he picked up the already lifeless body of Toji.

"...!"

The weight was too much for a child to handle, and Zoro's body momentarily staggered. As the cursed spirit tried to slip off Toji's body as if trying to escape, Zoro bit down on the tail of the spirit to prevent it from running away.

It's heavy.

...It's heavy.

Drip, drop.

A lot of blood flowed from the open wound. Zoro looked at the red stains it made and then turned his gaze away in pain.

Step by step.

Zoro struggled to carry Toji and took one step forward. And then another step, and yet another.

Finally, it was the end.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

[Afterword]

(The place where the author's tears fell)

...I wanted to write something different from the main story, so I wrote one of the side stories I had planned... but why did I choose this one? I had many happy or comedic side stories planned, I should have written those... waaaaah

This side story, "Divergence," is not the end with this part but continues with "Divergence (2)." When will that be... when the author's mental health has recovered...