Chapter Text
Age Sixteen
"I think it was alright"
"I can't believe we actually snuck out", Yuuta crossed his arms and looked at Maki, Inumaki, and Panda with profound disappointment or at least, what he hoped looked like profound disappointment. The effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that all three of them immediately burst into laughter.
"Oh, live a little, old man", Panda reached over and ruffled Yuuta's hair.
Yuuta swatted at his hand, "I'm NOT an old man"
"Sorry," Inumaki signed with a completely straight face "He meant short man"
The three traitors laughed even harder.
Yuuta rolled his eyes. Unfortunately, the joke landed because it targeted an insecurity that had been steadily growing over the last year. At sixteen, he had expected to be taller, much taller but instead, he was somehow the second shortest person in their friend group.
Life was cruel.
Panda towered over all of them now, broad-shouldered and solid from years of wrestling with his father. The guy looked like he could accidentally bench press a car if left unsupervised. Maki had shot upward during an early growth spurt as well. She nearly reached Panda's ears and carried herself with the same effortless confidence that somehow made her seem even taller than she actually was.
Even Inumaki had gotten taller, not by much though. The only reason nobody openly teased Inumaki about his height was because everyone still remembered The Incident.
Years ago, Satoru had made the fatal mistake of calling Inumaki ‘pipsqueak’, so in retaliation, Inumaki had photoshopped Satoru's face onto a Furby and printed it into dozens of copies which he distributed throughout the neighborhood.
The caption beneath every image had simply read: PREDATOR.
The resulting chaos had lasted nearly three weeks. Satoru had nearly been banned from attending the neighborhood association's summer festival and since then, everyone had learned an important lesson, that is to never underestimate Inumaki. More importantly, never give Inumaki a reason to retaliate.
Maki snorted, "It's not a big thing, beansprout. Hakari and Kirara sneak out all the time"
Yuuta stared at her, "You're taking them as an example?"
"Fair point"
"Those are literally the worst examples you could've chosen"
Maki shrugged, "Kusakabe isn't getting paid to watch us..” She pulled the lollipop from her mouth to continue speaking, "..plus, we're the older group. He's busy taking care of the younger kids"
That was technically true. Their karate academy had recently started grouping the older students together during weekend sessions. Kusakabe spent most of his time trying to keep the younger children from accidentally concussing each other which had created the perfect opportunity for ditch classes. They had all been supposed to attend karate practice but instead, Panda had convinced everyone to ditch and his reasoning had been simple.
A new Bond movie had come out and according to Panda, this was a matter of national importance. Maki had already been complaining that she wasn't in the mood for karate that day, mentioning strange aches in her legs and insisting she'd rather do literally anything else. Inumaki, meanwhile, simply enjoyed chaos.
And Yuuta……. had somehow been dragged into the situation despite protesting the entire time.
"That movie was crazy though", Panda suddenly broke into animated gestures, "...the Americans go all shoo-shoo!” he mimicked firing dual pistols, “.and when Bond's girlfriend betrayed him, I thought she betrayed me" as he pressed a hand dramatically against his chest, "although….. I'd let a hot girl like her betray me"
Maki smacked the back of his head. The sound echoed down the snowy walkway.
Panda cleared his throat, "Right…” he straightened, "I sincerely apologize to women everywhere. It was not my intention to objectify—"
Inumaki immediately doubled over laughing, and Yuuta wasn't much better. Even Maki looked seconds away from smiling while Panda continued his apology speech with increasing theatricality. He gestured broadly, quoted things nobody had said, invented social movements and referenced historical events that definitely had nothing to do with what he was apologizing for.
By the time he finally finished, Maki nodded thoughtfully, "I accept your apology"
Panda brightened, "Really?"
"Since you're so apologetic, buy me the latest volume of Slam Dunk"
Panda's smile instantly disappeared, "That's extortion"
"I thought you wanted to apologize to womankind"
Panda clutched his hair dramatically and groaned loud enough to scare nearby birds, "Ugh, I spent my allowance on tickets and popcorn"
Maki merely raised an eyebrow.
Panda sighed.
"Fine, Fine,"
Maki gave a victorious smile.
Eventually they reached the apartment complex. The familiar collection of apartment buildings stood ahead of them, warm lights glowing from windows as evening settled over the neighborhood, snow dusted the rooftops and the paved pathways sparkled beneath the streetlamps.
Inumaki turned toward them, his hands moved quickly: 'I got the new Nintendo. Wanna come over?'
Panda immediately gasped, "Asking that after a Bond movie marathon?" and he threw an arm around Inumaki's shoulders, "You're speaking my language"
"I'm beat" Maki stretched both arms over her head, making several joints pop, "I'll pass"
Yuuta smiled apologetically, "I need to study for tomorrow's quiz"
After bidding goodbye, the two immediately started heading toward Inumaki's apartment building and as they walked away, Panda was already demanding to know what games he'd bought. The conversation quickly dissolved into excited signing and shouting.
Yuuta shook his head fondly, as he and Maki turned the other way and continued down the walkway together.
The snow crunched softly beneath their shoes. Yuuta stared up at the wafting snow, winter evenings always arrived too early. While they had been watching the movie, the sun had completely disappeared beyond the horizon and now golden streetlamps illuminated the paths winding between apartment buildings and their warm glow reflected off the snow-covered ground.
Everything looked softer beneath the falling snow.
For several minutes they walked in comfortable silence, then Maki spoke up.
"We have a quiz tomorrow?"
Yuuta blinked as he turned his face towards Maki. She was absentmindedly tugging at the white sleeves of her karate uniform. All four of them still wore their academy outfits beneath their winter jackets.
The sight made him laugh.
"Physics"
Maki groaned.
"Remember? Utahime-san was talking about it last Thursday"
Her face immediately fell, "Shit"
Yuuta couldn't help smiling, "I'll give you my notes"
Maki brushed her shoulder against his, "Thank you for saving me, beansprout."
The smirk she gave him was warm enough to melt snow and Yuuta pretended it had absolutely no effect on him whatsoever, "No-o problem, Maki-san"
They continued walking down the pathway. Yuuta kept stealing side glances at her. Maki paused in her stride, and furrowed her eyebrows that made him concerned.
"Is everything okay?" he carefully reached out and touched her shoulder.
Maki bent forward slightly, pressing a hand against her stomach.
"Must be something I ate" her voice sounded strained, "My dad did cook breakfast this morning", she still managed to sound amused, "So there's a possibility it’s from that"
Yuuta laughed softly. That was fair, Toji's cooking existed somewhere between experimental science and domestic terrorism.
Maki straightened slightly, "Don't worry, Yuuta"
He nodded encouragingly, "We're almost there"
The snow continued falling around them. Tiny white flakes drifted beneath the golden streetlights, settling onto their hair and shoulders. They simply continued walking side by side through the winter evening, their footsteps crunching softly through the snow as home waited just beyond the next building.
They continued walking through the steadily falling snow when the sounds of giggling and excited shrieking from the park drifted across the apartment complex. Even in winter, the neighborhood children somehow found reasons to stay outside.
Yuuta turned toward the noise. Under the glow of the streetlights, a group of younger kids darted between the playground equipment, chasing one another through the snow.
He spotted a familiar head of spiky black hair and another unmistakable head of pink hair.
"Hey..." Yuuta slowed his pace "Isn't that Megumi?"
Maki immediately paused. The moment her brother's name left Yuuta's mouth, her attention snapped toward the playground and her eyes narrowed.
"He isn't supposed to be out after dark"
She scanned the crowd for a moment before spotting him and cupped her hands around her mouth, "MEGUMI!"
The shout cut across the playground and Megumi froze where he was running, half a second later, Yuuji crashed directly into his back because he had been too busy chasing him to notice. The collision nearly sent both boys into the snow. Megumi recovered first and pointed toward Maki and Yuuta. Yuuji followed the gesture and his face instantly lit up. The two boys abandoned whatever game they had been playing and sprinted over.
"Mickey!" Yuuji enthusiastically waved both arms.
"Maki," she corrected automatically and despite correcting him for what felt like the thousandth time, she still reached out and ruffled his bright pink hair.
Yuuji grinned.
Then Maki turned her attention toward her brother, her voice stern, "You can't be out after dark, you know that right?"
Megumi pouted, the expression looked almost comical on his usually serious face.
"..and without a jacket too", Maki sighed heavily. She unzipped her own outer jacket and carefully, she draped the jacket around Megumi's small frame.
Megumi didn't look grateful, if anything, he looked more annoyed.
"I don't wanna go home" he crossed his little arms stubbornly.
Yuuta could practically see where Maki's headaches came from.
Maki stared at him.
Megumi stared back.
Then Maki looked toward Yuuta., and understanding her, he crouched beside Maki (his knees cracked slightly, being sixteen apparently came with old-man symptoms now) and gently, he rested a hand on Megumi's shoulder, "Why don't you want to go home?"
Megumi's cherub-like cheeks puffed into a frown, "I don't like the food Dad makes"
That was understandable.
"And Mom doesn't spend time with me anymore" The second part landed much heavier.
Yuuta glanced toward Maki and he saw the way her shoulders lowered and her expression softened.
Maki sighed quietly, "Mom is just busy with work" her voice was gentle as she explained to her nine year old brother, "..so busy that she's unable to spend time with us sometimes"
Megumi looked away.
Maki reached over and ruffled his hair, "Although…how about we spend time together, Megumi?"
"No!", Megumi pushed her hand away.
"I want Mom!" the words came out louder than he'd probably intended.
For a moment, nobody spoke. Yuuta carefully placed a hand on Maki's back, "Kiyoko-san is working hard for you, Megumi-kun" he could feel Maki glance at the side of his face, "..she wants to get you those puppies you've always wanted"
Megumi blinked and before he could respond, Yuuji's eyes widened to impossible proportions, "Really?!"
Apparently he had only heard the word puppies.
Megumi huffed, "Don't listen to them, Yuuji. They're lying to make me go home"
Maki's expression flattened as she stood up.
"Fine"
Megumi immediately looked suspicious.
Maki crossed her arms, "..but only thirty more minutes and if you're not back by then, I'm dragging you home in front of your friends"
Megumi responded by sticking out his tongue that made Maki's eye twitch and Yuuta sighed.
"Let's go, Yuuta.”, Maki grabbed his arm.
Before Megumi could continue arguing, she turned and began pulling Yuuta away. They had barely made it a few steps when Yuuji screamed.
"AAAAAH!"
Both of them whipped around to see Megumi and Yuuji stand frozen.
"What is it, Yuuji-kun?" Yuuta hurried back.
Yuuji continued pointing, "Mickey…"
Yuuta and Maki exchanged confused looks, as she crouched beside Yuuta, "Why'd you yell?"
Yuuji's face crumpled, ".....blood"
Before either teenager could react, Yuuji launched himself directly into Maki. His small arms wrapped around her neck and he buried his face into her shoulder.
Maki froze and awkwardly, she patted his back.
Yuuta looked around, "Where's the blood, buddy?"
Yuuji's tiny frame shook against Maki's shoulder, they heard muffled sniffles, "there..." another sniff, "There's blood on your pants"
Maki frowned as she carefully pushed Yuuji back and she looked down at herself. The front of her karate uniform appeared completely normal. Confused, she turned slightly. And then they all saw it. A growing red stain against the back of her white karate pants, the bloody sight was impossible to miss.
Yuuji immediately burst into louder tears and Megumi looked horrified, while Yuuta felt a brief spike of alarm.
The sight was startling and for one terrible second his brain raced through a dozen possibilities, when realization hit.
Oh.
Oh.
He recalled what his mother had explained about this. Meanwhile Maki stared at the stain, her entire body went rigid. Yuuta immediately started removing his jacket, "Maki-san, I can get—"
"Yuuta."
Her voice stopped him. She slipped her backpack from her shoulders and carefully lowered herself onto the snowy ground, her expression had gone strangely blank like her brain had completely stopped processing information. The snow continued drifting lazily from the sky.
"Call my parents, please"
Yuuta blinked in confusion, "I can get my mom to—"
"Yuuta."
Her voice sounded smaller this time, "...please don't get your mom involved", she stared straight ahead, "....I don't want her to see this"
Yuuta wanted to argue, his mother was literally a nurse, she could help but Yuuta can sense how mortified Maki looked already so instead, he nodded. Using Maki's phone, he called Toji.
Toji picked up the call on first ring and his voice came through surprisingly gentle, "Maki-dear, what is it?"
Yuuta hesitated, "Fushiguro-san..."
Silence.
"Oh" the gentleness vanished, "It’s you"
Yuuta internally winced.
"What are you doing with my daughter's phone? Where is she—"
Maki suddenly snatched the phone from Yuuta, "Dad"
"Maki—"
"Dad, I've always loved you"
Yuuta blinked.
"What?" Toji sounded just as confused as Yuuta was.
She continued, "..and I want to thank you for everything you've done for me"
A pause.
"Right..." Toji cleared his throat, “ Where is this coming from?"
Yuuta looked at Maki, who looked unusually pale and saw that her eyes remained fixed on the snow.
"I don't think I have much time left."
"What?!" Toji practically barked through the phone, but Maki continued.
"Dad, you should probably never cook again….I know you did it out of love"
Yet another pause.
"But promise me you'll never cook again"
"Okay??" Now Toji sounded completely lost, "..but what's this about having no time left?" His voice echoed, "Is it the Okkotsu kid? I told that kid—"
"Dad, listen."
Toji immediately fell silent.
Maki inhaled deeply, "Please pass on my wishes to Mom."
"Maki—"
"I'm sorry if I ever troubled either of you"
"Hey—"
"I want you both to be happy when I'm gone"
Yuuta stared.
Megumi had now come beside Maki, with tears in his eyes and his voice trembling, "You're dying?"
Meanwhile, Toji was shouting from the phone, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING, MAKI?! ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY WITH THAT OKKOTSU KID?!"
Yuuta closed his eyes.
"I SWEAR THAT OKKOTSU—"
Before things could escalate further, Yuuta snatched the phone back. "She got her period."
Silence from the other end.
"Her pants are stained, we're near the park in the apartment complex"
A beat then "On my way” and the call disconnected. Yuuta slowly lowered the phone and around him sat Maki and two sobbing nine-year-olds mourning her entirely fictional death.
"Don't go, Mickey!", Yuuji wailed.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you" Megumi buried his face in her shoulder.
Yuuta rubbed his face.There was absolutely no way this was happening, he thought. Apparently Maki knew less about female anatomy than he'd assumed.Because from the look on her face……she had genuinely believed she was dying.
"Maki-san", He crouched beside her, "you are not dying"
"But the blood!" Yuuji cried.
"It's a normal thing that happens to women", Yuuta spoke as calmly as possible, "It happens every month"
Maki looked at him, clutching his jacket tight around herself.
"I guess you didn't know about it"
Maki slowly shook her head.
"Well..." he smiled gently, "My mom's a nurse. She told me about it." Maki listened intently as he continued, "It's called a menstrual cycle"
"Maki will die every month?" Megumi asked in horror.
"No, Megumi-kun" Yuuta almost laughed, "No one is dying. Maki's body is just doing something completely normal. It's part of basic biological functions"
The two younger boys stared at him and neither seemed convinced but they nodded anyway.
Maki’s voice came out small, "I got so... scared"
Yuuta nodded, the reaction made sense. A sixteen-year-old suddenly discovering blood where she wasn't expecting it? Anyone would panic.
"Since it's your first time, the sight can be alarming", his voice remained reassuring, "..you had a normal reaction"
Maybe the funeral speech had been slightly excessive, he inwardly thought, but still, reasonable enough.
Maki let out a shaky breath and the tension in her shoulders eased. Yuuta dug into his backpack, pulling out several wrapped toffees giving one to each, "My mom says you should eat proteins and sugars during this time"
Maki unwrapped the candy, listening.
"..and green tea." Yuuta lectured seriously, “she also says to avoid sodas whenever possible"
Surprisingly, Maki let out a small huff of laughter. The sound was weak, tired, and thoroughly mortified as she rubbed both hands over her face and groaned, "This is so embarrassing..fuck"
"Language"
The voice came from above them. All four kids looked up simultaneously.
Standing at the edge of the playground was Kiyoko, still dressed in her office clothes after what was clearly a long day at work, she held a briefcase in one hand and stared down at the scene before her with complete confusion. Snowflakes had settled onto her dark coat and shoulders, and exhaustion lingered beneath her eyes, but even tired she somehow maintained the composed aura she always carried.
Her gaze swept over the situation.
Maki was sitting on the cold pavement wrapped in a boy's jacket, while Yuuta was crouched beside her and two emotional nine-year-olds were hovering nearby. All of them gathered in the middle of a snowy playground after dark.
Kiyoko blinked, then blinked again, "Now what in the world are you kids doing sitting on the cold pavement?"
"Oh, Kiyo—"
Toji's voice cut through the night. The larger man came hurrying toward them, breathing heavily from what appeared to be a full sprint across the apartment complex. Toji stopped short the moment he noticed his wife and then he looked down at the children.
His expression twisted, "Everyone's here?"
For a few seconds nobody answered.
Then Yuuta, being the only person remotely capable of explaining the situation without immediately making it worse, took a deep breath and calmly began recounting the events.
"Mickey was bleeding!"Yuuji immediately interrupted.
"She thought she was dying, and then I thought she was dying…” Megumi added, "...and she said the f-word," Megumi informed Kiyoko with the seriousness of a witness testifying in court.
"Megumi cried too" Yuuta heard Yuuji whisper loudly.
"I DID NOT"
"You did"
"I didn't"
"You did"
"I didn't"
Meanwhile, Yuuta desperately attempted to continue his explanation over the chaos. Across from him, Maki's face became progressively redder with every passing second as more details emerged, the more she seemed to shrink into herself. Eventually she gave up entirely, and with a groan of pure humiliation, she covered her face and lowered her head. Her dark bangs fell forward, hiding her eyes completely.
If the snow had opened up beneath her feet right then and swallowed her whole, Yuuta suspected she would have welcomed it.
Toji listened to the explanation in silence, an increasingly dangerous silence that suggested his brain was processing several things at once, namely: His daughter had thought she was dying, two nine-year-olds had also thought she was dying and Yuuta had somehow become the most medically informed person present.
When the explanation finally ended, Toji slowly rubbed his face as he crouched down beside Maki and without a word, he helped her stand. Maki looked thoroughly defeated. Yuuta's jacket remained wrapped tightly around her waist. At some point she had pulled it closer around herself without realizing it, which Yuuta noticed but then promptly decided not to say anything.
The jacket looked warmer on her anyways.
Kiyoko, meanwhile, was pinching the bridge of her nose. The expression suggested she was mentally composing several lectures simultaneously.
One for Maki.
One for Megumi.
One for Toji.
Possibly one for the universe itself.
Finally she exhaled, long and slow as she walked over to Yuuta and pulled him into a brief hug, "Thank you for helping her"
His ears immediately turned red, "It wasn't a big deal"
Kiyoko gently squeezed his shoulder, and turned around.
Bonk.
Maki received a light smack on the head, "Ow"
Bonk.
Toji received one too, "What was that for?"
She shook her head, "Honestly"
Toji grumbled while Maki stared at the ground, and neither argued.
A few minutes later, the family began heading back toward their apartment building. Megumi shuffled alongside them and Yuuji trailed after them until someone reminded him he did not actually live there. Maki walked between Toji and Kiyoko, wrapped in Yuuta's jacket, still looking like she wanted the earth to swallow her.
For some reason, that image settled into Yuuta's memory: the golden streetlights, with the falling snow and the embarrassed look on Maki's face which he found cute
Yuuta stood there watching until their figures disappeared around the corner as the light snowfall continued.
"So when am I going to get my period?" Yuuji's little voice appeared beside him.
Yuuta closed his eyes and slapped a hand over his face.
Of course.
Of course this was the next conversation he had to have.
"What if I get one tomorrow?"
"You won't" Yuuta’s voice was muffled behind his palms.
"How do you know?"
"Because you're a boy"
"What if I'm a surprise? my uncle Sukuna told me I was a surprise"
Yuuta stared up at the night sky as the snow drifted down peacefully. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear Satoru's voice in his head telling him that children were a blessing and at that moment, Yuuta disagreed.
.