Chapter Text
Megumi awoke to the usual sound of Gojo on the morning, he always cooked food for them and found a way to be loud while doing it. Metal clinked against metal. Something sizzled and Gojo talked to himself like always.
But something felt off. There was weight on his chest, it was warm and unusually comforting. It was something that shouldn’t be there.
Megumi opened his eyes slowly, and landed on a bright pink head of hair.
His breath caught.
No. He shouldn’t be there.
Megumi thought, suddenly panicking as the night rushed back at him.
Megumi watched him for a second too long. Longer than he should have. His chest felt tight again. Not panic. Not fear.
Something else. Something worse.
Because it wasn’t going away. Even now… with Yuji right there,
close enough to touch, it only got stronger.
Megumi looked away quickly.
This wasn’t normal…and he didn’t want it to stop.
No I don’t have anyone over at my house… I don’t open up. I don’t let people in.
His vision blurred going in and out of focus until his vision went out completely to exchange for a well known memory.
“Love is weakness”
He heard his father say in a rough and jagged voice.
“Love is for fools”
His vision swam again changing back to the present time.
Normally he only had memories at night but lately he’s had them in the middle of the day too.
Just then Yuji stirred. Megumi froze. Because for some reason part of him didn’t want Yuji to move. But despite Megumi’s best efforts Yuji woke up anyways.
“Huh?” Yuji rose groggily. Yuji blinked. Looked at him. And went completely still.
“Oh”
A blush slowly crawled its way up his neck as soon as he saw their positions. Megumi’s legs were intertwined with his own. Yuji’s head was on Megumi’s chest. And Megumi…
Megumi was awake.
And he didn’t move away.
If anything… he leaned in, just slightly. Not enough to mean anything. But enough to make Yuji’s pink cheeks turn a bright shade of red.
“Sorry- I didn’t mean to stay over! I think I just-”
“It’s fine” Megumi hummed to himself, contemplating what to say.
“I don’t mind,” he finally settled with.
He should have.
And that was the problem.
Because he truly didn’t.
Yuji froze. Completely. The color in his face deepened, fast, obvious, impossible to miss.
“…sorry,” he said again, quieter this time.
Megumi swallowed. The room suddenly felt too small. Too warm.
Yuji finally sat up fully, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Megumi slowly pulled himself upright too, trying not to think about how cold his chest suddenly felt without Yuji leaning against it.
An uncomfortable silence settled between them. Not bad. Just… strange. Different.
Yuji glanced around Megumi’s room like he was trying to recover from the embarrassment. His eyes lingered on the shelves, the messy desk, the half-open window letting in the morning breeze.
Then his attention drifted toward one of the framed pictures sitting near Megumi’s dresser.
Yuji blinked.
“Huh.”
Megumi stiffened slightly.
“You really don’t look like Gojo-sensei.”
The words were innocent. Casual.
But Megumi’s entire body locked up anyway. Yuji noticed immediately.
“Oh, sorry, was that weird to say?”
Megumi looked down at his hands.
“…No.”
The word came out quieter than he intended. Outside the room, footsteps paused. Gojo had been walking past with a plate balanced in one hand, fully intending to interrupt before things got too serious.
But then Megumi spoke again.
“He adopted me.”
Silence.
Not awkward silence. Stunned silence.
Gojo stopped moving completely outside the door. Because Megumi never talked about his personal life. Not willingly. Not first. Not without someone dragging it out of him.
Yuji stared for a second before his expression softened.
“Oh.”
Not pity. Not judgment. Just quiet understanding. And somehow…that made it worse.
Megumi’s fingers curled slightly against the blanket.
Megumi looked down at the blanket tangled around his legs.
“…My dad wasn’t a good person,” he said finally.
Outside the door, Gojo closed his eyes briefly.
Yuji didn’t interrupt. Didn’t push. So Megumi kept talking.
“He drank a lot,” Megumi continued quietly. “And when he got angry…” He stopped himself there. His throat suddenly felt tight. “Gojo found out eventually.”
He laughed softly. Bitterly.
“I think he was more angry than I was.”
That got a small smile out of Yuji.
“I can see that,” Yuji admitted. “Gojo-sensei seems like the type to hold a grudge forever.”
Megumi huffed quietly through his nose.
“He does.”
The tension in the room loosened just slightly.
Outside, Gojo finally moved again. Quietly. Carefully. Giving them space.
Inside the room, sunlight spilled through the open window, catching in Yuji’s hair. Megumi hated how distracted he got by things like that now. The curve of Yuji’s smile. The warmth in his eyes. The way he listened like every word Megumi said mattered. It made something dangerous settle deep in his chest.
Yuji leaned back against the wall slightly.
“…You don’t have to tell me anything else,” he said softly.
Megumi looked at him. And that somehow made him want to tell him more. Before he could stop himself, the question slipped out.
“What about you?”
Yuji blinked. Megumi immediately regretted asking. But then Yuji looked away. Just slightly. And Megumi noticed. Of course he noticed.
“My old school kinda sucked,” Yuji admitted with a laugh that sounded too forced to be real. “People there weren’t exactly… great.”
Megumi frowned slightly.
“What do you mean?”
Yuji shrugged like it didn’t matter.
“It’s whatever.”
It clearly wasn’t. Megumi opened his mouth to ask more…
and the bedroom door suddenly slammed open.
“GOOD MORNING CHILDREN!”
Both of them jumped violently.
Gojo stood in the doorway holding an absurdly large stack of pancakes.
“You two are disgusting,” he announced dramatically.
Yuji nearly fell off the bed. Megumi groaned into his hands.
Breakfast somehow turned into chaos almost immediately.
Gojo kept making comments every few minutes just to watch Megumi die internally while Geto sat beside him pretending not to enjoy it.
“You slept in the same room?”
Gojo gasped dramatically.
“We fell asleep watching a movie,” Megumi deadpanned.
“Mhm.”
“Shut up.”
Yuji nearly choked on his juice trying not to laugh. And for the first time in a long time… Megumi felt normal. Not broken. Not strange. Just… there. With them. With Yuji.
By noon, Gojo had somehow convinced everyone to go to the fair downtown. Megumi was almost positive it was just an excuse for him and Geto to flirt in public.
Yuji, unfortunately, seemed very excited about it.
“This is gonna be fun,” Yuji grinned.
Megumi glanced at him.
The sunlight caught against Yuji’s face again. And Megumi looked away immediately.
“…Sure.”
—
The fair was loud. Too loud. Children running past. Music blasting from old speakers. Bright lights flashing everywhere even during the day.
Normally Megumi would’ve hated it. But Yuji kept talking. And somehow that made everything easier to handle.
Yuji dragged him from booth to booth excitedly while Nobara loudly judged every game they passed.
“Oh my god, Megumi, you look miserable,” she laughed.
“I am miserable.”
“You’re literally holding cotton candy.”
Megumi looked down. At some point Yuji had shoved it into his hands without him noticing. Yuji laughed brightly beside him. And Megumi’s chest tightened again.
That feeling. Again. Always him.
—
A few booths later, Yuji stopped suddenly.
“Oh, no way.”
Megumi followed his gaze. A stupid carnival game. The prize sitting at the top shelf was a tiny pink tiger plush. Yuji immediately pointed at it.
“I need him.”
Megumi stared.
“…You need him.”
“Yes.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Megumi,” Yuji said seriously, placing a hand over his heart. “Look at him.”
Megumi sighed.
Five minutes later, he was holding the game rifle. Yuji watched from beside him excitedly while Nobara loudly claimed Megumi would fail.
He didn’t.
Three shots later, the worker handed him the plush with visible disappointment. Yuji lit up instantly.
Megumi thought the stuffed animal was supposed to be the prize.
Apparently not. Because the way Yuji smiled at him after…
that felt far more like a prize than anything in the world.
“You actually won it,” Yuji laughed.
“You sounded surprised.”
“I am surprised.”
Megumi handed him the plush awkwardly. Yuji hugged it dramatically against his chest.
“I’m naming him Megumi Jr.”
“…Absolutely not.”
Yuji grinned. And Megumi realized something horrifying.
He would probably do almost anything if it meant Yuji kept smiling like that.
The realization hit hard enough to make his chest ache.
Because this wasn’t normal anymore. It wasn’t just curiosity. Wasn’t just fascination. It was becoming something deeper. Something terrifying. Something that made him feel too warm and too nervous all at once.
And worst of all…
he didn’t want it to stop.
—
Later, the crowd thickened near the center of the fair. Megumi walked slightly behind the others now, his shoulders tense from the noise. That was when he heard it.
A man yelling. Sharp and harsh. Instantly familiar.
Megumi froze.
A little boy stood nearby clutching the sleeve of his hoodie tightly. Completely still. Too still. Like he was frozen in place.
The only movement visible was the shaking of his hands. Like they itched to move. But he knew… that would only make things worse.
And suddenly… Megumi knew. He knew that fear. He knew that silence.
The man raised his hand.
And something inside Megumi snapped.
He knew he couldn’t just sit back and watch. So he moved.
Megumi placed himself directly in front of the kid. A loud thwack rang out through the air.
Megumi’s face stung. He had forgotten how much it hurt to get punched. But that wasn’t the biggest problem.
Because the man had held up his arm again ready to hit him.
Before the man’s hand came crashing down onto Megumi. Megumi moved on instinct, grabbing the man’s arm before he could swing again.
Megumi’s grip was tight and unwavering.
“What the hell is your problem, kid,” the man spat out. “Move”
Megumi didn’t falter. He didn’t waver. He knew what would happen. And yet he stayed.
The man shoved him to the ground. Hard.
The man raised his hand to hit the kid. And Megumi snapped.
He rushed over to the man and punched him in the face.
Megumi didn’t hear the crack of the man’s nose.
He didn’t see the blood that dripped from it.
He couldn’t think about anything except for his father’s voice running rampant in his head.
Megumi hit him. Once. And then again. And again.
He lost count of how many times he punched the man.
The crowd blurred together into noise. Someone was shouting. Maybe Yuji. Maybe Gojo. Megumi couldn’t tell anymore. All he could hear was that voice in his head.
“Love is weakness.”
“Weakness gets you hurt.”
The man underneath him stopped mattering. For one horrible second… all Megumi could see was his father.
Yuji
Yuji stumbled back the second Megumi hit the man. The sound echoed through the fair louder than it should’ve.
For a second, nobody moved. Not the crowd. Not Nobara. Not even Gojo.
Yuji stared. Megumi’s expression was wrong. Not angry. Not fully there. Like something had cracked open inside him and everything underneath was spilling out all at once.
And suddenly…
Yuji was somewhere else. A hallway. Different voices. But the same feeling.
“Freak.”
The word rang through his head so clearly it made his stomach twist. Yuji blinked hard, but the memory kept coming anyway.
—
“Seriously, what’s wrong with you?”
Yuji stood frozen beside his locker while laughter echoed around him.
“You stare at guys like you wanna date them or something.”
More laughing. Someone shoved his shoulder hard enough to slam him into the lockers.
Yuji remembered trying to laugh it off. Trying to smile. Trying to act like it didn’t hurt. Because if he smiled enough maybe they’d stop. Maybe if he acted like it was funny it wouldn’t feel so humiliating.
“You’re disgusting.”
“Dude probably wants to kiss us.”
“Careful, Itadori might fall in love with you.”
Someone grabbed his wrist. Too hard. Yuji yanked away immediately. And all the laughter got louder.
—
The fair snapped back into focus violently. Yuji’s chest tightened.
Megumi hit the man again. Not because he wanted to hurt him. Yuji could see that now. It was panic. Pure panic. Like Megumi wasn’t seeing the man anymore.
Like he was seeing someone else entirely.
The crowd started shouting.
Someone nearby pulled the little boy away. Nobara looked stunned. Gojo moved first.
Fast.
“Megumi.”
Yuji had never heard Gojo sound like that before. Not joking. Not playful. Serious. Megumi froze for half a second. And that was all it took.
His breathing became uneven immediately.
Yuji’s stomach dropped. Because suddenly Megumi looked terrified.
Not of the man. Of himself.
Yuji knew that look. He’d seen it in mirrors before. The look of someone realizing everyone around them was afraid now.
Megumi stumbled backward. The crowd blurred around him.
Yuji took a small step forward instinctively… and Megumi flinched.
The movement hit Yuji harder than it should’ve.
Megumi
Megumi looked at Yuji like he expected him to hate him now. Like he expected fear. Like he expected to be abandoned.
And his chest physically hurt.
Megumi’s breathing started getting worse. It was Fast and uneven. He could feel the weight of everyone around him’s eyes pressing down on him, it felt like drowning in an endless sea with no bottom and no top, just sinking without anywhere to go.
His gaze darted wildly around the fair, landing on his hands. There was blood.
Too much of it.
Megumi’s hands started shaking. His vision shifted into something else. His hands no longer looked like his anymore. And his hand was balled up above his head.
And below him… was tsumiki…laying on the ground, unmoving.
Megumi looked around again before landing on Gojo for half a second.
Then he turned…
and ran.
Megumi didn’t know where he was running to. All he knew was that he needed to get away from Yuji. He saw the fear on his face clearly. and in that moment he realized that he never wanted to see it again. In that moment he wished that, for just a second, he couldn’t see Yuji’s face.
Megumi tried to push the memories away. But it was fruitless. All he could do was bear the pain and keep running.
He saw flashes of tsumiki when she wasn’t in her coma. He saw himself crouching over tsumiki crying out for help.
Megumi kept running until the fair noises disappeared behind him. His lungs burned. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Blood. There was blood under his fingernails. His stomach twisted violently.
The memory hit him all at once. Broken glass. Her voice. His own hands shaking when he tried to wake her up.
“Tsumiki?”
Silence.
“Tsumiki, wake up.”
He remembered crying so hard he couldn’t breathe. He remembered Toji standing above him. Not helping. Just staring.
“Look what you did.”
Megumi stumbled into the bathroom and barely made it to the sink before getting sick.
The bathroom door creaked open softly behind him.
Megumi froze instantly.
“…Megumi?”
Yuji. Of course it was Yuji. Megumi didn’t turn around.
“Go away.”
Yuji hesitated.
“…No.”
Megumi’s grip tightened against the sink.
“I said go away.”
“You ran off.”
“I’m fine.”
That was enough to make Yuji take another step forward.
“No you’re not.”
Megumi laughed weakly at that. A horrible sound. Shaky and exhausted.
“You should’ve just stayed back there.”
Yuji frowned.
“What?”
Megumi finally turned around.
His eyes were red. His breathing still uneven. There was blood smeared across one of his sleeves now.
“You saw me.”
Yuji’s chest tightened immediately.
Megumi looked sick. Like he was falling apart from the inside out.
“You were scared of me.”
The words came out flat. Certain.
Yuji opened his mouth immediately.
“No I wasn’t-“
“Yes you were!” Megumi snapped.
The outburst echoed harshly through the tiny bathroom.
Megumi looked startled by his own voice afterward. His breathing worsened again.
“You flinched,” he whispered.
Yuji froze. Because he had. Not because Megumi scared him. Because the situation did. Because it reminded him of something else entirely. But Megumi had seen it. And now he looked devastated.
“You should stay away from me,”
Megumi said quietly.
Yuji stared at him.
“What?”
Megumi laughed again. Bitter this time.
“You saw what happened.”
“Megumi-“
“I lost control.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“And the worst part is…” Megumi swallowed hard. “For a second I didn’t even care.”
Silence
Yuji’s stomach dropped. Megumi looked away immediately after saying it, like he regretted it the second it came out.
“You didn’t mean it,” Yuji said.
“You literally watched me beat someone until Gojo had to pull me off him!”
“Because you were trying to protect someone!”
“I scared you.”
Yuji went silent. Megumi noticed immediately and looked sick all over again.
“See?”
And suddenly Yuji was angry. Not at Megumi. At himself. Because he understood now.
Megumi thought fear meant abandonment.
Yuji stepped forward before he could think too hard about it.
“You wanna know why I flinched?”
Megumi stiffened. Yuji’s hands curled tightly at his sides.
“At my old school people used to corner me in the hallways.”
Megumi blinked. The words just kept coming after that. Like Yuji couldn’t stop them anymore.
“They thought I was weird,” he said quietly. “Because I liked guys.”
Megumi’s eyes widened slightly. Yuji laughed weakly.
“Religious school. Super strict.”
The memories crawled up his throat before he could stop them.
“They used to shove me into lockers and joke about me staring at them.” His voice shook slightly now. “One time this guy grabbed my wrist and told everyone I was probably imagining kissing him.”
Megumi looked horrified. But Yuji shrugged like it didn’t matter.
His eyes were glassy now.
“I got really good at pretending stuff didn’t hurt.”
Silence filled the bathroom. Then Yuji looked directly at him.
“So no,” he said softly. “I wasn’t scared of you.”
Megumi stared at him.
“I was scared for you.”
Something in Megumi’s expression broke completely. His face twisted like he was trying desperately not to cry.
“You don’t understand,” he whispered.
“Then help me understand.”
Megumi looked down at his shaking hands. And quietly…
he told someone the truth.
“When I was little,” he said carefully, “my dad got angry at my sister, Tsumiki.”
Yuji stayed completely silent. Megumi’s breathing shook.
“I tried to stop him.”
Flash. Broken glass.
“I pushed him.”
Another flash. Tsumiki falling.
“I didn’t mean-“
His voice cracked.
“I didn’t mean for her to get hurt.”
Yuji’s chest physically ached listening to him. Megumi looked like he was reliving it.
“There was blood everywhere,” he whispered. “And she wouldn’t wake up.”
Yuji moved without thinking. Slowly. Carefully. He stepped closer. Megumi tensed immediately. But Yuji didn’t stop.
“You were a kid,” Yuji said softly.
Megumi shook his head hard.
“I hurt her.”
“No,” Yuji said immediately. “You didn’t. You made a mistake.”
Megumi looked unconvinced. Yuji reached forward carefully before resting a hand against Megumi’s shaking wrist. Gentle. Enough to give him time to pull away.
Megumi stared at the contact like it hurt.
“You protected that kid today,” Yuji whispered. “The same way you tried to protect Tsumiki.”
Megumi’s eyes burned.
“And you protected me too.”
That one broke him. Megumi covered his face suddenly as his body shook with sobs. Not loud sobbing. Not dramatic. Just exhausted, shaking grief. And Yuji stayed there through all of it.