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The sun was high in the mid-afternoon sky, the humid wind brushed past the 1st years of Jujutsu Tech as they went on to conduct their investigation for the recent disturbances—in Megumi’s past school. He never said anything much about his past, so to say that the duo (Yuuji and Nobara) were surprised to hear that he used to go to school there—with the addition that he had quite the reputation as a delinquent—they were pretty surprised.
“You went to school here Fushiguro?”
“And you were a delinquent? Wow, who’d have thought our calm and collected Fushiguro Megumi was a badass in middle school.”
The urchin haired male simply stared at the two, before ignoring their remarks and going off to ask about the recent happenings.
“Ah, (l/n)! What a pleasant surprise!”
He hears her name, and like a moth drawn to a flame, Megumi turned around. She looked just like she was the last time he’d seen her, but it seemed that she cut her hair shorter. She still had that boyish charm about her, and the sparkle in her amethyst eyes. Her smile was just as bright as he remembers it to be—and suddenly, Fushiguro Megumi is brought back to the days she was with him.
Her footsteps would always be so light on the tiled floors. The way she moved would always be so bright, and sometimes, it even hurt to look at her. (l/n) (y/n)—the perfect girl—consistent honor student, student council officer, athlete, and advocate. It was as if the gods themselves molded her into the person she was—but no one was really jealous of (y/n). She was kind and compassionate, always pushing to help others rather than reprimand them for their mistakes. Megumi was no exception.
He’d been eager with punching his way through middle school, and honestly didn’t give a damn on what others would said about him. He got in trouble with the teachers and the principal, always being called to the office. They were intimidated with Megumi, others liked him for his ‘bad boy’ charms, while others didn’t exactly pay him any mind.
That day, when he was called in the principal’s office, he officially met her for the first time. They were in the same year, but he’s never really spoken to her nor seen her up close—being an A class student must have its perks, since she was always around the best people in school. He was still being reprimanded for the recent ruckus he’s been caught up in, Tsumiki beside him, also being told that she should at least watch over her brother. Megumi couldn’t help but feel angry at the fact that they had to drag Tsumiki here—she had no business with whatever’s happening to Megumi.
“I’ll be sure to tell Megumi to behave more often, Mr. Principal.” Tsumiki says, but they turn when they heard a knock and the door opens.
She peeks from the gap, purple eyes glimmering behind thin round specs. Megumi was speechless for a moment.
“Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were having a meeting, sir.” She apologizes, smiling sheepishly as she rubs the back of her neck.
It seemed the principal had also felt the sudden shift in the atmosphere; now smiling at the girl in front of him. He urges her to come in, and dismisses Megumi and Tsumiki. The young boy doesn’t particularly care about who she was, but she smiles as he passes by her. He closes the door behind him after taking one last look at the girl.
The next time Megumi sees her, she was sitting alone in the yard. In her lap was a magazine. She twirls a pen in her hand, sometimes pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Megumi doesn’t realize that he was staring, until she looks up at him. He doesn’t look away, and instead looks at her for as long as he can. She doesn’t look away either, a smile forming on her lips slowly, as she gave him a little wave. Megumi doesn’t notice, but his hand moves on his own, sharing back a small wave as well.
He knows her name, and that she plays sports, that she’s consistent in joining competitions for their school. Megumi also knows that she’s kind, because one day, she helped him. Though it was true that there were some girls who fawned over Megumi, she didn’t seem like she was one of them. (y/n) was a very friendly girl to everyone, so Megumi never really thought she had anything for him. She helped him that time when he got seriously beat up, hiding him from the principal when the young boy steps at the entrance of their school looking all bruised up.
She tells him she won’t rat him out, knowing that the principal had told Megumi he’d be suspended the next time he got in trouble. They sat in the warehouse at the back of the gym as she treated his wounds.
“You should be careful, Fushiguro. If you’re going to fight, you should at least be able to defend yourself well.” She says, gently wiping his cuts with a clean wet towel. “Here, place this on your head.”
Megumi follows, taking the ice pack as he gently presses it on his head. He took quite a blow; thank goodness it wasn’t that serious. He watches her as she takes an ointment and a cotton bud, applying it to the cut on his lip. He hisses.
“Ah, sorry. I’ll be gentler.” She apologizes, giving him a smile as she slowly applied the medicine again.
“What would you gain from helping me?” Megumi asks, and she looks up at him with wide eyes.
Of course she’s got something to gain, right?
“Nothing.” She answers shortly, this time it was Megumi’s turn to look surprised. “I’m just helping you because you need help.”
They stay in silence as she places band aids on his cuts, and once she was done, she gives him another smile.
“There you go. You’re all set! Now go and pick another fight.” She jokingly says as she fixes the first aid kit she had borrowed from the infirmary.
Megumi helps her in silence. When she was done, she stands and grins at him—so bright.
“Thank you, (l/n).”
“Any time!”
She leaves Megumi in the warehouse, feeling a little warmer than he did before.
After the incident in the warehouse, Megumi began to see her more. He’d begin to notice her more in the crowd—not like he didn’t before—but this time, she became more… visible. The hallways would seem brighter when she passed by. He’d glance out the window if he wasn’t skipping class—he hated to admit it, but sometimes he doesn’t even skip class just so he’d see her pass by the classroom. He began to notice the little things about her, like the beauty mark under her left eye, how she smelled of lavender, how she usually bought from that vending machine near his classroom. Sometimes he’d go there just to see her, and Megumi wasn’t quite sure why.
Tsumiki seemed to notice how her brother became tamer, getting involved in less fights than he usually did, often conversing with (y/n) by the vending machine, and sometimes helping the girl with the various things she’d be bringing back and forth from the council office. Megumi didn’t seem to know what it was about, but Tsumiki knew it all too well.
Megumi would go to her games, congratulate her during her wins, and treat her to something when she lost. He’d also figure out that she wasn’t as helpless as he thought she was—having found out that she defended herself from boys from another school who thought they could use her to get to Megumi.
“I just made sure I hit them in the right areas.” She said with a shrug.
Megumi couldn’t help but laugh at what she said, feeling something bubbling in his chest. Graduation came by soon enough, and he watches her as she delivers her speech. He sees the shine in her eyes, and how she smiled so genuinely as she congratulated everyone in their batch for passing. After the ceremony, he sees her standing by the cherry blossoms with her friends, taking photos with them and sharing last memories before they went their separate ways.
Her purple eyes meet his green ones, another one of those pretty smiles appearing on her face. She waves at him, approaching the young male soon after.
“Congratulations on graduating, Fushiguro!” She said, a little joking lilt to her voice.
“Thanks. You too, (l/n).”
They stood in silence for a little bit. She shifts from one foot to another, looking as if she wanted to say something.
“(l/n).”
“Fushiguro.”
They both looked surprised at speaking in unison, but she urged him to speak first—which he didn’t do, since he told her to say what she wanted to say first. She laughs heartily, and Megumi smiles softly. (y/n) looks pretty under the sunlight, and the little petals of sakura falling made her look more ethereal. Maybe she really was what everyone called her? An angel? A goddess? Megumi would say she’s both.
“I think you’re pretty.”
The words slipped from Megumi’s lips faster than he could stop them. He looked at her surprised expression, and quickly covered it up.
“Pretty awesome. Cool. Amazing. You know? You’ve always been so amazing.”
Way to fucking go, Megumi. What the fuck was that about.
He notices the little disappointed look on her face, but it was soon masked by another big grin.
“I think you’re pretty cool too, Fushiguro.”
“(y/n)! Come on! We gotta go now!”
She flinches at the sound of her friends’ voices calling her. Megumi turns to look at them, then at her—should he tell her? But he doesn’t, a small smile appears on his lips instead.
“See you around?” He says, there wasn’t really an assurance that he would, but he’d like to hold on to that thought.
(y/n) nods with another bright smile.
“See you around.”
And then she’s gone.
Her eyes meet his for the longest time, and just like the last time he’d seen her, she smiles another one of those bright smiles of hers. She approaches him, and Megumi feels like the world was moving way too slow. The sun became brighter, the wind became warmer, he felt lighter.
“Fushiguro! It’s been so long!” She greets, giving him a small wave when she stands in front of him.
“(l/n), good to see you again.” Megumi says, unsure what to say next.
She didn’t wear glasses anymore, and looked taller than she did the last time he’d seen her. She was also wearing a different school uniform—seems like she’s in one of the main high schools in Tokyo. He doesn’t ignore the fact that Yuuji and Nobara were sharing glances at each other.
“What are you doing here?” He asks this time, somehow eager to carry on with the conversation.
“Oh, I’m here to get some papers and my yearbook. Have you gotten yours?”
“Yeah, I already did.”
(y/n) had this pondering look on her face, looking at Megumi in a way that the green eyed male thought she’d swallow him in those pretty amethyst eyes of hers. She goes on her tip toes, and Megumi takes a step back after noticing she was a little too close.
“Ah, sorry. Wanted to see who was taller.” She grins. “You’re not getting into more fights, are you?”
“No, not anymore.” That was a white lie.
Yuuji and Nobara laugh at the corner, clearly amused with the face Megumi had at that moment. God, he looked adorably constipated—wait, is that possible? He sends them a glare, and (y/n) looks over at the two of them.
“Nice to meet you! I’m (l/n) (y/n). I’m friends with Fushiguro!”
“Itadori Yuuji!”
“Kugisaki Nobara. Mind me asking, how exactly did you become friends?”
(y/n) only smiles, sharing her short answer of;
“Oh, I helped him when he got beat up.”
And the two laughed at Megumi again. She turns to face him, taking her phone out as she hands it to him.
“Sorry I never got to ask for your number. It’s been a year, hasn’t it? Gosh, this is so late already, but do enter your contact info! I’d love to catch up.”
Megumi almost immediately takes his phone out, losing his cool a little bit.
Fuuuuck, he’ll never hear the end of it from Nobara and Yuuji later.
They share their contacts, and she smiles at him again. It’s always that smile.
“See you around?” It was her turn to say it this time.
Megumi smiles, genuinely. Knowing that he’ll get to see her again, they’ll get to talk, and he can tell her what he felt back then. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll work out this time.
“See you around.”