Chapter Text
MEGUMI FUSHIGURO
Megumi absentmindedly scrolled through his phone, uneaten sandwich in front of him and another one a plate on the other side of the small table.
The seat it belonged to was yet to be filled, no sign of Yuuji—someone who chronically came too late most of the time—anywhere to be seen.
It was not much of a surprise that the other came late, but it did piss Megumi off when Yuuji had been the one to ask him to meet up for breakfast and not the other way round. He could have at least had the decency to text that he was late, but there had been radio silence so far.
With a sigh, Megumi took a sip of his stupidly bitter coffee, shaking his head as he opened his ridiculous chat with Yuuji from last night.
Itadori (DO NOT RESPOND) 11:34pm
hey megumi lets get breakfast tmr
sandwbcich 🤤
My treat 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤 same place as always
8am be there or be ◻️ bbabyyyy
Megumi had sent a simple thumbs up, not bothering to put any more effort into responding, especially after Yuuji had ever so rudely disrupted his attempt at falling asleep at an acceptable and healthy time.
Since Yuuji had yet to show up, Megumi had just gotten their usual orders and paid already, before claiming their usual seat by the window.
Yuuji always liked to be able to look outside while they ate, even if it meant that he would get distracted and drag out breakfast for stupidly long, talking about this and that for so long Megumi lost track of time, always with a big grin on his face.
It was not as enjoyable for Megumi to sit here, who couldn't help but feel watched whenever they sat in a place where everyone had access to staring at them, but he pushed that feeling far to the back of his head and just tolerated it for Yuuji's sake.
He hadn't always been that paranoid, but time did that sometimes.
A few more seconds passed, and Megumi began typing, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he furiously tried to find the most appropriate way of expressing his anger at the situation.
Megumi Fushiguro 08:17pm
Itadori if you don't show up in the next few minutes, I WILL eat your food AND I will be mad all day AND you will give me my money back.
Itadori (DO NOT RESPOND) 08:18pm
Shit megumi im sso sorry I feel asdleep again but im almmost there ik so sotry 💔💔💔😪😪😪
I'll makr iy up to u bbg the big Y's gor ts I'll do anythinng u want
🤤🤤🤤 forgive me ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ FORGIVE ME!!!!!!!!! SEND YES TO CONFiRM !!!!!!!
Megumi Fushiguro 08:18pm
use that emoji one more time and I might just kill myself.
Itadori (DO NOT RESPOND) 08:19pm
Noooo dont kill ursrlf ur too sexy megumgi🤕🤕 im drrooling at the thought of u can u see it 😛😛😛😛😛
Megumi Fushiguro 08:19pm
????????????????????
Megumi put his phone down after that, deciding that maybe he did not want Yuuji to show up after all.
Texting with him always managed to reach a level of ridiculousness he would rather avoid, especially since he somehow managed to still feel flustered by the idiotic things Yuuji said to him.
Even stupid jokes managed to throw him off, as long as they came from Yuuji, and it was getting embarrassing.
Roughly five minutes later, Yuuji finally burst through the door of the café, a few heads turning and whispering at his loud entrance, and Megumi had to hold himself back from commenting on it, the embarrassment of being associated with him evident on his red face.
Yuuji made his way towards him with an apologetic grin, hair dishevelled and his jacket hanging off his shoulder as if he hadn't had the time to check his appearance in the mirror even for just a second.
He was panting as he pulled back his chair and sat down, eyes widening in joy at the food in front of him.
"Dude, I'm so sorry it took so long—", he began to apologise, taking out his wallet and fishing out some money that he tried to hand to Megumi, who simply pushed it back towards him with a shake of his head.
"Just pay next time and we're even, I don't care", Megumi said with a roll of his eyes, although the heat behind his words was missing.
He couldn't stay mad for long when Yuuji seemed genuinely sorry, and he didn't necessarily enjoy harbouring negative feelings for him anyway.
Yuuji smiled at him gratefully as he took a bite out of his sandwich, humming in content as Megumi mimicked the action by finally being able to eat his own food too.
"I had, like, six or seven timers set so I'd wake up on time, but I slept through, I don't know—", Yuuji seemed to think for a few seconds, happily chewing on his food as he did so, "—I just slept through most of them and the only reason I woke up and started panicking that I'd be too late was because I dreamed of you getting mad at me.."
Seemed like an appropriate reaction.
Megumi occasionally hummed and nodded between bites, eyes always on Yuuji.
"Anyway! Not what I wanted to talk about…", he continued, fingers slipping between the handle of Megumi's cup of coffee, before pulling it towards him and taking a sip.
Yuuji grimaced at the taste and shook his head, trying to shake off the bitter feeling the liquid had left on his tongue.
Megumi lightly kicked after him underneath the table, trying to remind him that they were in public after all, and that even if Yuuji wasn't embarrassed, Megumi was.
The other took it as an opportunity to simply nudge him back and let his feet rest between Megumi's, rather than actually listening to him for once and behaving.
With a sigh, Megumi pressed his shoes to the side of Yuuji's, trapping them between his own.
"I'm assuming it's about Okkotsu?"
Yuuji hummed and put down his sandwich, instead reaching for a sugar packet and dumping the contents in Megumi's coffee, claiming it as his own instead of just getting his own.
"I've talked to Maki yesterday since she reached out to me a bit after Okkotsu did", he explained, stirring the coffee with the spoon that had come alongside it, "she just wanted to warn us, I guess? I mean, we've met Okkotsu before, but she said that he might be a bit… intense…"
Megumi eyed his coffee that was currently being ruined—or 'turned into something drinkable' as Yuuji would put it—quietly listening to the other's words.
"Apparently he's just a bit.. I don't know… she's asking us to try not to stress him out and that he's bringing along her and Toge too"
"He's… seemed a bit anxious before, yeah", was all Megumi could think of, unsure what else to say.
He wasn't close to Okkotsu at all and the two of them rarely got the chance to talk to each other, but watching him was enough to be able to tell that the man was already stressed at even just being looked at sometimes. Any inconvenience, no matter how small, seemed to already be too much.
Megumi frowned at the image of Okkotsu's big, sad eyes and furrowed eyebrows that appeared in his head; the aura of stress that was looming around him always present.
"Mhm…", Yuuji took a sip of 'his' coffee before he continued, a look of delight on his face now that he was able to drink it without wanting to spit it out, "I know you're, like…. More organised 'n everything compared to me… you know.. like, less overwhelming, so I'll probably try not to get involved too much when he shows us the picture"
"You're not overwhelming", Megumi blurted out, his lack of acknowledgment for the far more important rest of Yuuji's words hopefully going unnoticed.
"I am and you know it", with a laugh, Yuuji took another sip of his coffee, although the look on his face had changed into something resembling a sadness that rarely showed on it.
"I'm not sure if me talking to him would be too much or not"
Megumi had never liked that look. It was so wrong on Yuuji's face that usually always seemed to be full of joy. He knew that the other was allowed to be sad or disappointed, but that didn't not mean that Megumi particularly enjoyed seeing it.
"Well, some people like you just like that, Itadori", he finally said, once again ignoring half of Yuuji's words.
"Wow, maybe Nobara was right when she accused you of being whipped"
Oh okay.
Megumi couldn't do anything but stare at his friend, mouth agape as he tried to form words that just wouldn't actually leave his mouth.
"I— I was— What the fuck?!"
Yuuji burst into laughter, and this time Megumi was too distracted to even notice the people staring at them.
While he had wished two seconds ago to be able to wipe that expression off Yuuji's face, he had not expected it to happen at his own expense.
"You're such an idiot, Itadori!"
"And you can be so sweet if you want to, Megumi"
"Shut up!"
━━━━━━━━━ ✦
YUTA OKKOTSU
The world was gray as Yuta Okkotsu stepped out of his apartment.
It remained gray as he locked the door behind him, and it did not regain the colour it was supposed to have even as he left the building.
By now, he was used to it.
People passing by, snippets of conversations finding their way to his ears.
They were all so overwhelming. All the emotions he was confronted with just by the few words he got to hear, and then couldn't help but hold onto.
He turned them around in his head—conversations of strangers that he did not have to care about—inspecting them from every side; thinking and thinking and thinking until his brain could no longer store anything other than what he had heard.
He just wanted to know if they were talking about him or not. If they had anything to say about him, if there would be an explanation for why his life had resulted in what it was today.
There was never an explanation, no matter how long he searched for one, though.
Yuta Okkotsu did not know if his life had always been like that, but now at the age of 25, despite how little it did to ease his mind, he knew that it did not matter regardless, because it did not seem to stop.
Being depressed was not new. His life had always been dull and devoid of anything that made it worth living. It had been one of the rare things that had constantly stayed by his side for so long now that it would be more weird than grounding if it suddenly were to stop entirely.
As he pushed past the masses of bodies around him, Yuta could feel droplets of rain hitting his skin, slowly sliding down from his cheeks to his chin, coating his face in a n uncomfortable layer of water.
Instead of accepting defeat against it, he tried to wipe it off with the back of his hand, the cold wetness of the water clinging to his body.
Today, he would change his life.
Today, he would take back the control he was not sure he'd ever had.
Today, he would get a bit closer to becoming the person he'd always wanted to be.
Well, at least if things worked out the way he wanted.
Which they usually didn't, but Yuta tried not to think about that too much right now.
He sighed as he stepped onto the train, hand clutching the pocket of his white jacket as he closed his eyes for a few seconds. He had to go over the facts again, a slight reassurance that eased not a lot of the tension in his body, but at least distracted him from other thoughts.
He was Yuta Okkotsu. 25 years old, a total disaster with only a bit more confidence than a year ago, and he would survive today without being branded as nothing but a weirdo.
Toge and Maki would meet him soon. They would go there together and then afterwards Maki suggested they all go out and eat together. He was not alone and he wouldn't be, even if Itadori and Fushiguro were to not accept. Which wasn't likely, since they knew Maki and were friends with her, and Maki had told him countless of times that they were kind people and liked him well enough to not decline.
He was not alone in this. His friends would be by his side, even if nothing worked out the way he wanted it to.
Lost in his thoughts, Yuta's gaze was on the ground; on his worn out shoes that he should replace but couldn't let go of even if he tried. He was too attached to them, just like he was to so many other things in his life. Things that blinded him, covered his eyes and hid all that made life worth living.
It was the same today, despite the rain from earlier.
What he didn't see was how beautiful of a morning it could be if only he looked up.
There was a slight breeze outside, enough to make him shiver without his jacket but comfortable enough for it to not be of any disturbance. It was warm enough for it to not matter much; the sun already shining down onto the city now that the rain was gone, embracing everyone in its warmth.
Yuta rarely noticed those things.
Maybe when he was with Toge and Maki, but not when he was alone.
Being on his own felt isolating, even when bodies pushed against him; even when it was too crowded to move forward and he knew that surely out there would be someone who understood what he was going through. Someone who might even be going through the same.
Yet, it felt like he could stand out everywhere. Like people would point and whisper everywhere he went. They would know that he didn't belong with one look at him and nothing else; enough to judge and form their opinion on him.
He could finally breathe again as he stepped off the train, fingers trembling as Yuta pulled the hem of his jacket over them, hopefully somewhat hiding the small tremor.
It was only a three minute walk to where Toge and Maki would be waiting for him, and Yuta could feel his body relax at the thought of getting to see them soon. Of no longer being isolated; finally able to step into the small bubble of warmth they had blessed him with.
He would get better soon. He had taken the step to actually try, rather than avoiding any confrontation with the many things that held him back in life.
He was not independent and never would be, but maybe it wasn't what Yuta needed.
Independence was what someone like Maki had longed for and achieved, but what Yuta needed were people to guide him and stay by his side when things became rough. When he couldn't do it on his own anymore. It was exactly what he wanted to finally allow himself. Even if it had been difficult to accept that he could rely on others, rather than drowning in a pool of misery, he knew now that they wanted to help him.
He just had to learn to fully accept it without the guilt of it consuming him every time he did so.
Toge and Maki were already walking towards him as Yuta spotted his friends, a small smile finding its way onto his face at the sight.
-
A bell chimed as Maki pushed open the door to the photo studio, and Yuta internally cursed himself at the volume of their entrance.
The others didn't seem to mind at all as they walked into the studio, and Toge was waving at Itadori and Fushiguro who had peeked out of the other room, before Itadori excitedly rushed towards them.
"Itadori", Fushiguro said quickly, the tone of his voice neutral but Yuta acknowledged it as a warning towards his friend, who came to a halt in front of them.
He was awkwardly scratching the back of his head as he looked back at Fushiguro, who still hadn't moved any further into the room.
"Right— Sorry—"
Maki huffed out a small, knowing laugh next to him, a hand on Yuta's arm to remind him that she was there.
He could feel Toge right beside him too, arm brushing his own.
It was as comforting as much as it made him feel miserable. The thought that everyone had to accommodate to him because Yuta couldn't get a grip on his life.
They always did this. A hand on his back, a gentle touch to his shoulder when Yuta was stressing over things too much. Ever since he had met the two of them, they had done it without a second thought and without expecting anything in return.
He was allowed those things. He was allowed those things and they were not pathetic at all and he was allowed to—
Toge squeezed his arm, making Yuta look up again at the two men in front of him, who seemed to had just quietly waited for him to get ready.
Fushiguro finally stepped forward, the neutrality of his voice also visible on his face, although Yuta was sure there was something else to be found there, too.
What exactly it was, he couldn't tell, but Fushiguro interrupted his attempts at deciphering it before it could get anywhere.
"Uh, so…", Fushiguro scratched the back of his head like Itadori had done earlier, an awkwardness Yuta hadn't expected peeking through his carefully chosen neutrality.
"I'm assuming you know that we need a picture and some information about the situation, if you don't mind…", he continued, "we know the basics, but if you find yourself ready and comfortable then, uhm.. we would like to talk to you, if that's, like, okay"
"Don't feel rushed", Yuuji added quickly, him and his friend exchanging a few silent looks, "we're free all day so we don't have to start right now anyway"
It was almost funny, how fragile they must think he was, but at the same time Yuta knew that there was more truth behind it than he would like to admit.
He was weak, and there was no sense behind hiding it.
We can also stay with you while you explain Toge had written on his phone before holding it towards Yuta, who shook his head in response.
"I.. I have to do this now.. and on my own", he said, eyes closed because a single look at his friends would probably make him change his mind; would make him run into their arms despite knowing that it was something he had to do for himself.
He knew that they would always be there for him and that he could ask for help if needed, but right now was not the time to take them up on that offer. If anything, he would repay them for their kindness today and he would lessen the weight he had put on their shoulders.
"Alright, uhh…", Megumi started again, but Yuuji jumped in before he could say more.
"Maki and Toge can just stay here and you come with us", Yuuji said with a nod towards the room they had come from earlier, before he gently pulled Megumi back by his shirt and towards the room.
The other glared in return, but followed along and Yuta took it as a cue to do the same.
-
Eyes trained on the untouched glass of water in front of him, Yuta took a deep breath, shaky hands taking out the picture he hadn't dared to look at ever since he had reached out to Fushiguro and Itadori.
It was slightly crumpled at the corners, and Yuta carefully placed it on the table in front of him, still not wanting to look at it.
"This is … my friend Rika", he explained, vaguely gesturing towards where she was visible on the photograph.
It showed the two of them on the playground they had always been at as children, Yuta playing in the sand as Rika had taken pictures with the small digital camera she had gotten from him for her birthday that year.
He'd saved up for a while, and while it had only been enough for a second hand one, she had been as happy as if it had been new.
There were more pictures she had left behind, but Yuta had never wanted them when her grandmother had offered him a box full of her belongings, instead only taking a single one.
Anything else would have been too greedy. He had had no right to take that much from them when he had not been able to help her; even though her grandmother hadn't necessarily seemed unhappy to finally get rid of anything related to Rika.
"She took the picture before she… died", Yuta swallowed as he finished the sentence, finally taking a sip of the water to have an excuse for taking his time.
The cold of the water served as a short distraction from the situation. For a moment he could almost let himself relax, before the soft thud of putting the glass down onto the table brought him back to reality again.
"I… we promised we'd marry each other when we were young, shortly before she… she died"
He let out a shaky breath, fidgeting with the ring around his finger; the one object that represented all of his worries, yet also something he could not let go of no matter how badly he wanted to.
"Back then, I— I agreed—"
It was so childish, to talk about a promise he had made at such a young age and get so nervous, and it was even more pathetic to still not have moved on even as an adult. It was embarrassing and stupid and he felt so awful for bothering someone else with his sob story of a life, but he could not turn away now that he was finally so close to being able to move forward.
"But now— It's— It's so—"
Yuta's breathing grew quicker as he tried to think of how exactly he was supposed to describe it to them; how he was supposed to tell those two who were almost strangers to him that a promise he knew would never come true anyway was so suffocating, he was sure it would kill him if he had to do this for any longer.
"It's killing me— It's going to kill me—", he finally got out, hands gripping his hair tightly, the pain doing little to help him focus right now.
"I'm so sick of still clinging onto that promise— "I'm sick of nothing in my life being about someone else ever since that day— I just— I can't let go of her on my own"
The exhaustion on his face probably made him look older than he likely was, eyebrows furrowed as he bit his lip, teeth sinking into his skin.
Everyone always told him so. That he would probably get wrinkles and die an early death if he kept getting stressed over everything, but Yuta couldn't help himself.
He was so tired. He looked the part too; knew the effect of hours spent awake because he just couldn't get a grip on his life for once. He couldn't even hold back from spilling all that useless information to two people who should not have to care, yet here he was.
He also felt that way. Had always felt like time moved way quicker for him than anyone else; like he was running out of it and missing out on everything there was to experience, all because his mind was still stuck in the past while his body was uselessly in the present. An empty shell of who he could be if he let go.
Simultaneously, time dragged forwards so painfully slow it felt like he would lose his mind if he didn't do something about it. Anything, as long as things would change.
Yuta had been tense ever since he had stepped into the room, but it seemed to only get worse by the minute. The more he thought and talked, the worse he felt, and the more he silently begged for this moment to end.
"I don't want to do this for Toge or for Maki", he clarified, eyes fixed on the floor, not wanting to look anyone in the eyes, "I want to do this for myself so I can finally let them in— I'm doing this because I cannot keep living a life without being able to connect with anyone— "
He tried to look up, but his head wouldn't move. As if limp, his body refused to listen to his commands, no matter how badly Yuta wanted to see the look on their faces.
Would it be disgust that he would see? Would Itadori and Fushiguro think that he was pathetic; too old to have those struggles while everyone else would have moved on for years by now?
Would they laugh in joy and think that they were oh so grateful to not be in his shoes?
Or maybe he would be met with pity. Maybe they would feel bad for him; something Yuta wasn't sure wouldn't be equally as awful to see as disgust.
He settled on imagining that their faces would show discomfort instead. It seemed to be a common reaction that most showed at the sight of Yuta Okkotsu's vulnerability, and by now he was used to it, even if it still hurt.
Even if it still sent a wave of nausea through his body, at least it wouldn't be new.
"… It just… it just happens to be them who finally pushed me to do this.."
He repeated the words in his head, finally managing to force his head to move and let him look up, although he couldn't get himself to focus on the faces of the two men in front of him. His vision was too blurry, and he wiped away tears he hadn't noticed were even there.
"They— They didn't pressure me or anything! That's not what I meant, it's just….", he paused a few seconds to collect himself, hands still in his hair as he pulled on it lightly, the feeling finally having the grounding effect he had longed for.
His friends would never pressure him to do something like this, especially since they knew how difficult it was for him. But they had encouraged him; Maki having been the one to suggest this, whereas Toge had offered that they would come with him. They had been there from the beginning, and even if Yuta wanted to just go home to his miserable life, he didn't want to let them down like that.
"Maki and I, or Toge and I aren't… romantic… Maki and Nobara probably think Toge and I are, and I can't blame them, but I just don't think I'm capable of something like that…"
Yuta didn't know why he was even telling them; didnt know what relevance it had to Rika and his need to adjust his past, but the moment he started talking, he couldn't stop anymore.
"I think… I think they sometimes think I do it for him because we've— we've grown closer the past few months, but it's not that… I don't want people to think that that is the kind love I do this for…"
His eyes finally managed to focus.
The faces that met him where far from what he had imagined, and strangely enough, Yuta finally felt calmer.
Itadori looked sympathetic; almost like he was about to cry just from hearing all this, although Yuta wasn't sure why he felt that way.
Fushiguro's face showed neutrality. No judgement, but also no empathy, even if it was obvious that the only reason it was not written all over his face was because Fushiguro was holding back. It felt grounding in some way.
"… my relationship with Toge and Maki is… it means a lot to me, and I just cannot look at them while knowing I can never fully commit to a bond with another person; especially when that love is so much deeper than that— deeper than romantic feelings—"
Deeper than that.
Yuta wasn't sure it was the best way to express himself, when most people did not feel like there was a bond deeper than romantic feelings.
Whenever he had said things like that in the past, he had been met with laughter. No one had seemed to understand it before he had met Toge.
What bond could possibly be stronger than loving someone in the way everyone expected him to feel?
He did love Toge and Maki. In his own, personal way that most probably wouldn't understand.
He knew especially Toge understood just fine—felt the same way even—but it was frustrating when others around him had always tried to act like what he felt was not real, just because they couldn't understand it.
He knew even Maki and Nobara didn't fully grasp what it was either, even if they at least didn't pressure Yuta into putting a label on his feelings that he did not need or want. They just assumed that Yuta and Toge were the same way as them, assumed that it was the default when, for Yuta, it had never been.
Maybe it was his own fault for being different. He'd always been an outcast. He'd always been thrown aside because he was weird.
Unsettling was the word they'd whispered behind his back when he had still been at school, to the point where Yuta had had to simply accept it and pretend to understand why he was so wrong in their eyes.
"I… I just want to stop being different", he concluded, voice trembling as he squeezed his eyes shut, needing the few seconds of nothing to process his own words.
"I want people to stop assuming— I don't want them to label how I love my friends or to tell me how to feel correctly—"
His hands were trembling as he spoke, but by now Yuta barely cared about it.
"But I feel like everyone I love is cursed by being around me— I cursed Rika with that promise, and now I can't help but feel like she won't be able to rest, I— I love her so much, even now, but it's not in the way people want me to love others—"
"I love them because they're my friends, but I… I want that feeling to not be the way everyone says it should be— I— I want my love to be pure, but right now it's just tainted by my past—", Yuta closed his eyes again, letting go of his hair as he shook his head, "I just want it to be the way I choose for it to be…"
"I'm so sick of finally being accepted but not being able to actually give anything back or accept it without feeling like shit— that's why— that's why—"
He took another deep breath.
"I don't want to curse Rika by promising that we'll get married… and I w want to finally be able to really let others into my life—"
There was silence from the other two, and Yuta wasn't sure whether they were granting him the time for himself or if they were silently communicating how to break the news that they wouldn't help him.
Maybe they'd call him a freak.
Nothing new, but he felt like it would hurt more than usual after he had laid bare his desperation; his deepest desire of wanting to be just as human as everyone else.
"I'm sorry— I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm so confused, I— I'm sorry for inconveniencing you so much, I'm—"
He felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and as he looked at who it belonged to, he was met with Itadori's face, who softly smiled at him.
"You're not inconveniencing us, dude", he said, and Yuta could see Fushiguro stepping closer too, "we're here to help, and we're glad you told us about this"
Fushiguro hummed in agreement before he spoke, the same awkwardness from earlier now even stronger in his voice, "Yeah, like… like Itadori said, we'll help you.."
He scratched the back of his head again before looking at Yuta, "We'll definitely see what we can do to— well, help... "
"You're not alone in this, so don't worry too much", with a squeeze to his shoulder, Itadori let go of him and stepped back, "Megumi and I will deal with it, so feel free to hang out with Maki and Yuta in the meantime"
Fushiguro nodded along to Itadori's words, "We'll just give you a call once we're done, so just... leave it to us..."
Yuta nodded reluctantly, still shaking as he eyed the photograph he had put on the table and wiped away his remaining tears.
"Thank you so much, I—.. I don't even know, it's…"
"It's nothing, dude, don't worry", Itadori tried to reassure him, and for the first time since he had come here, Yuta managed a small smile.
━━━━━━━━━ ✦
MEGUMI FUSHIGURO.
Maki and Toge had left with Yuta shortly after their conversation had been finished, leaving Yuuji and Megumi on their own to discuss how they would approach this.
The others weren't needed for something like that, especially since none of them knew how exactly what they did worked. Megumi wasn't very keen on revealing it to anyone, even if it meant not being able to give Yuta some more reassurance that his decision to tell them had been right.
"Dude, you were soawkward!", Yuuji laughed, one finger holding onto the belt loop of Megumi's pants before he could go through with his plan of walking away and flipping him off.
Megumi glared in return.
"Well, you could have said something if it bothered you that much!", he hissed back, face flushed as he pushed his friend away from him, which just made Yuuji laugh even harder.
"No, no, it was just funny considering I thought it would be better to let you handle it, and then you had no idea how to approach this either"
Megumi groaned in embarrassment as he let himself fall onto the sofa, snatching the photograph from the table and inspecting it closely now that he finally had the time to.
"I never said I had a plan either, Itadori!", Megumi blindly kicked after him from the sofa, but Yuuji dodged and pushed back his legs to make some space for himself to sit at.
"I know, I know", he sighed, leaning to the side to get a good look at the photograph too.
Lightly tapping it with his finger, Megumi pointed at Rika as he spoke, "She's the one taking the picture, and I saw she's also the one who initiated the whole promise in the first place, so what we will do is that we will let her say something else and just never put Okkotsu in the position he was in in the first place"
Yuuji nodded along, eyes on Megumi as the other spoke.
"It's the easier option to keep something like a promise, adjust it in a way that won't change the past, and will let Okkotsu have some peace", Megumi continued, eyeing Yuuji to see if he was actually listening.
"It's pretty easy to not mess up, so you better listen to what I say for once, Itadori"
"I always listen to you, Megumi!", Yuuji whined, but there was a small hint of something almost apologetic in his eyes.
"Well, you're getting the chance to show just how good you are at listening to me now"