Chapter Text
The fresh summer breeze felt nice against your warm skin; the action of lifting and carrying around boxes full of junk was beginning to wear you down. It was a good thing you weren’t doing it alone though, your closest friend, Megumi Fushiguro was assisting you. Truthfully, he wasn't helping you all that much, and was instead taking most of his own things up to the apartment the two of you would be sharing.
Today was moving day—an exciting and exhilarating day, frightening, but exciting nonetheless. It was a step in a new direction, one that was leading into the great unknown and the uncertainties that were at the cusp of adulthood. You were glad that your closest friend was joining you, though, and that the two of you were lucky enough to be able to share this giant leap together.
As you brought the last of the boxes into the apartment, you took a good look at the layout of your new home. It was by no means a penthouse suite, in fact, it was quite the charitable home. It had two bedrooms that were directly across from each other, and a single bathroom at the end of the short hall. The kitchen was quaint and the living room was limited—this small space was all you and Megumi really needed.
As you trudged through the apartment and made your way to the bedroom you had already claimed, you let out a sharp gasp as Megumi popped out and met you at your door frame, a small smile forming on his lips. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” He said softly, yet he didn’t make an effort to move out of the way.
You let out a small scoff. “Yeah, sure you didn’t… Can you just help me with this? It's heavy.” Megumi nodded and grabbed the box from your arms, you didn’t miss how his hands touched your skin as he did so.
“Where do you want it?” He asked as he made his way into your room. It was a small space, but it was big enough to fit a queen sized bed and a small desk, probably some plants and other sorts of things as well.
You gestured over to the closet, that thankfully had a shelf built inside it. “Up there, please.”
Megumi nodded and with a small grunt, he hoisted the box and set it gently on the shelf. Instinctively, your eyes lowered to his abdomen, which was in full view due to his shirt lifting up because of his raised arms; your eyes lingered too long on the shape of his toned abs.
When he finally put his arms back down, you noticed how he readjusted his black sweatshirt, and you mentally facepalmed at the fact that you were so openly checking out your best friend. He didn’t say anything about it though, he never did.
The rest of the day was occupied by the two of you setting up your rooms separately. Megumi’s room was similar to yours—a queen sized bed and a desk for school work, which was very unique of the two of you. In your defence, you just hadn’t gotten around to stylizing it the way you wanted, but for Megumi, he had always been kind of bland with his feng shui.
Hours had passed and the kitchen and living area still weren’t one hundred percent unpacked, but that didn’t stop you guys from ordering pizza and setting up the Netflix account. Instead of preparing for school, or tidying around the house, you decided to watch a horror movie to kill the time; it wasn't even to you or Megumi’s account either, the two of you had been leeching off of your older and more ‘sophisticated’ friends account.
“Satoru is gonna be so mad at us…” Megumi said from his spot beside you. His pizza was resting on a paper plate in his lap, he held the remote for the T.V in his hand and searched through the scary movie category on Netflix.
You let out a small chuckle. “It’s not our fault that he’s a pussy who hates scary movies.”
“True… but it is our fault that we haven’t paid him for our share of the account for months.” He clicked on the movie Hereditary and set the remote down, you noticed how he moved the slightest bit closer to you; the two of you were so close that his knee was touching yours—or rather, his leg was nearly on top of your own.
Sure, the two of you had touched before, being friends since you were in high school, but it was always in a very non-romantic-very-much-platonic sort of way. Head pats were his thing for you, and you chose to go for the classic shoulder punch. Intimate touching such as cuddling or hugging was never really a thing between the two of you, no matter how much you wanted it to be.
You desperately wanted to move away, even an inch, just so he wouldn’t be touching you anymore… but you couldn’t. Something within you felt as if it was forcing you against him—the sensation of his body touching yours was evoking this burning and tingling feeling within you, but you couldn’t pull away… not from him. As you brought your pizza up to your mouth to take a bite, your eyes slid over to the boy beside you, whose gaze was already fixated on you.
“Watch the movie, idiot.” Was all you could muster out—after quickly looking away from him and forcing the blush on your cheeks to stay hidden, of course.
Megumi smiled softly and turned his head to face the T.V, he didn’t say anything, but you knew he was thinking—about what, though? That was the real question.
The first year of high school was nothing like all the romance anime’s you had seen. It was nothing like the dramas on T.V. It was absolutely nothing like the novels you had read. It was boring, bland… mediocre. Sure it was fine in the sense that you weren’t getting bullied every day, but it was truly awful how boring and uneventful it was.
Most of your school friends were all in relationships already, and spent most of their waking and breathing moments with their boyfriends they had known for two weeks. You weren’t jealous, you just didn’t get it. What were you doing wrong? It wasn't like getting a boyfriend was the most important thing in high school, but the act of having one would surely spice up your life a little bit. It was awfully boring, getting up and reliving the same damn day over and over again. Nothing ever changed, nothing thrilling ever happened until…
It happened during the athletic festival—this certain joyous and life changing event. Your friends and you had just finished a soccer game, and now it was time to watch the boys baseball team play; you didn’t even know any of the people playing, but it was still fun to watch it with your friends—and the boys weren’t a sight for sore eyes either. There was one boy in particular who stood out to you—he had dark hair and quite the lanky build. He was nearly taller than every other boy on the field, minus the one he was throwing to. They were just warming up, but you could tell he seemed like the athletic type. You tried to tear your eyes off of him, but something about him was magnetizing.
“That’s Megumi Fushiguro.” Your friend whispered from beside you. “And the other boy is Satoru Gojo, he’s the assistant coach for the baseball team, I think he volunteers to help coach!” You didn’t miss the sound of her voice as she talked about Satoru—it seemed as though your friend was smitten.
As were you, though. “Megumi.” You repeated, liking the way his name sounded on your tongue.
Your eyes followed him as he tossed a baseball back forward with Satoru. His face was very calm and collected, and he didn’t seem to be the type to smile often. You wanted to know more about this boy… What class was he in? Was he kind? Would he even like you?
You heard a voice calling you from beside you—more of your friends who were going to join you in the stands. Your full attention was catered towards them as you waved them over. You heard a scream from beside you and a loud noise right next to your ear. Out of your peripherals, you saw a giant baseball glove just inches away from your face. Your eyes followed up the glove and finally rested on the face of your saviour.
“Are you okay?” He asked, his voice was deep and quite monotone, but there was a look of worry laced in his seafoam eyes. How did he even get over here so quick? The last time you had checked, he was far in front of you—that didn’t matter, you were just glad you didn’t get hit in the face.
You nodded slowly and stood up. Megumi was still taller than you even if he was on the steps below. “Thank you for saving me from getting nailed in the face by a baseball.”
A small chuckle erupted from Megumi’s lips, and you felt your cheeks get warm—you knew that you wanted to hear it again. He turned around to face the older, white haired boy, who looked like he wanted to die from embarrassment. “It’s no problem… It’s Satoru-senpai’s fault actually, he was trying to show off his pitching arm for the team.”
You smiled at him and gave a thumbs up at the boy behind. “It seems like he’s got a good throw.”
“Well, he is the assistant coach after all… you would’ve been seriously injured if it hit you.” Megumi said plainly.
You felt your cheeks get warm again—you could just imagine the embarrassment of being conked in the head… you could definitely see it happening. You shook your head as if you were trying to get rid of the thoughts. “Thank you again, Megumi… I owe you one! I’ll do anything you ask, just name your price.”
A contemplative look danced across his face. “Hm… I’ve been craving rice balls lately.”
With a small wave and a smile, he ran off. He didn’t even give you the opportunity to confirm if he was kidding or not, but at least it was something.
...
The next day, after doing some research, you had found what class he was in. It wasn't a long walk from your own home room, so during lunch you made your way over there. Before entering the class, you let out a breath you hadn’t even realized you had been holding in. Why were you so nervous? He was just a friendly boy who saved you from death-by-ball…
When you saw him eating his bento while he sat at his desk, your heart jumped a little. He looked too good in his white button up shirt, not to mention the partially rolled up sleeves. As you made your way to his desk, you noticed how he looked at you quickly, then did a double take. His eyes softened when he noticed the neatly wrapped box in your hands.
“Hi.” You said shyly as you stood in front of him.
Megumi got out of his desk quickly and stood up as well. It seemed as if he didn’t know where to place his hands, so he wiped them on his pants at first, and then rubbed the back of his neck with one, and then finally settled on holding them neatly in front of him. “Hi.”
You held out the neatly wrapped bento you had made in front of you, gesturing for him to take it. Megumi delicately grabbed the box from you and opened it, his eyes widening at the three perfectly made rice balls.
“You didn’t have to go out of your way to make me these…” He said softly, a tint of pink grazed his cheeks.
You waved your hands in the air. “No, no, no. It was no problem at all.” You clasped your hands together behind your back. “I did owe you… for the whole baseball thing.”
Megumi set the box on his desk next to his other one. “I- That was nothing… but, thank you for this [name].”
A wave of confusion was sent through you. How did he know your name? Had the two of you been in the same class before and you hadn’t realized it? No… you would have noticed him… How?
He must have picked up on your confusion. “I… I asked around to find out your name. Sorry if that sounds creepy.”
You shook your head. It wasn't creepy… it was nice. No one had ever really been that interested in you to go out of their way to find out who you were. You smiled up at him and his eyes widened the tiniest bit. You stuck your hand out in front of you, waiting for him to grasp it with his own. “It’s nice to formally meet you, Megumi.”
He slowly brought his hand up to reach yours. You noticed how long and slender his fingers were, and how beautiful his hands looked—it was a weird thought, but he could have definitely been a hand model. “It’s nice to meet you too, [name].”
After Hereditary was over and all the pizza was eaten, the two of you finally started to unpack more around the apartment. It was mostly silent, except for the music that played on the speaker the two of you had connected. There was this weird tension in the air, and it was one that you had never felt with Megumi before. It was like he was itching to tell you something, but he couldn’t find the words to do so. The only other time the air had gotten like this, was the time the two of you were so drunk that you had almost confessed your feelings for him. It was a month before high school ended, and there was a party being thrown. Normally, you weren’t much of a heavy drinker, but this was right after Megumi had started to get involved with this girl from school, and your way of coping with this was to pour alcohol down the hatch.
This ended with him driving you safely home, and you being all over him the whole car ride back. The memories were hazy, but you were sure you almost confessed—Megumi covered your mouth with his hand before you could say anymore, though, so you were grateful for that at least. After that night, he stopped seeing that girl, and you couldn’t help but wonder if you were the reason why. You also wondered why he never brought it up again… if he knew about your feelings, why had he just pretended to be okay with it? Maybe that was his way of telling you that he wasn't interested in you that way… that’s what you told yourself.
If Megumi liked you romantically, he would’ve done something by now… but then, there were some moments where it seemed like he did. It was confusing and irritating and too complicated for you. It was better and more simple to stay as friends… so that’s what the two of you were—only friends, and nothing more. The night went by fast, and the two of you split off into your separate rooms. For some sick and selfish reason, you had hoped that he was having troublesome thoughts about the two of you as well—it was horrible to think that way, but you did. You slept restlessly that night, and you dreamt about him… as much as you tried not to. Before you fell asleep, you desperately hoped that everything would work out, as he was your best friend after all, and the two of you had only just begun to live together.
Classes were starting today, which meant early and painful mornings. Your alarm was triggering and you practically slapped the shit out of your phone to turn it off. From the other side of the hall, you heard Megumi’s buzzing as well. You sat in bed for a while, hoping he would get the memo to use the bathroom first so you wouldn’t have to be in the confined space together. After waiting for about 10 minutes, you opened your door… only to be greeted with Megumi and his bed head across from you, seemingly doing the same thing.
You both opened your mouth to speak, probably to tell the other to use the washroom, but nothing came out. The two of you wordlessly made your way to the bathroom, standing a good space away from each other in front of the mirror and over the vanity. Megumi applied the toothpaste on his brush, and then handed it over to you, who did the same. You avoided all eye contact with him, and you knew he was doing the same. This awkwardness, it felt so new and unusual… and you didn’t even know where it was coming from all of the sudden. Things were going fine last night—it was just two friends who were living together and doing all platonic friend activities. What changed? Was it because of him touching you? Did he feel weird that you hadn’t decided to move away from him? You didn’t know, but it was irritating.
After brushing your teeth and spitting it in the sink, you noticed Megumi’s eyes in the mirror, and they were looking at your body—your pyjamas to be exact. You were in a tank top and shorts, and you sorta wished you were wearing more. After realizing he had been caught, he quickly looked up and spat out his toothpaste as well. You looked up and down at his body as well; he was wearing a blue sweatshirt and shorts, and you realized that he looked incredibly attractive, even if he had just woken up. The two of you continued to do your morning routines as best as you could while also avoiding the other—which was kind of impressive given the small space. When you were finally done and had applied a minimal amount of makeup, you made your way to leave the bathroom, that is, before his hand was wrapped around your wrist, causing you to freeze in place.
Your body was like ice and his skin to skin contact was like fire, spreading this certain warmth throughout your body. “Megumi-” You began, but you stopped when he brought his opposite hand up to cup your cheek.
He leaned in close to your ear, his hot breath sent chills up your spine. “You look cute in those pyjamas.”
Your heart stopped and your eyes widened at this. He had never been like this, ever—not even to the girls he dated in high school. Megumi Fushiguro was never one to be a smooth talker, or a flirt for all that matter. It was like a whole different person stood in front of you. You didn’t know whether to like it or hate it so-
You pulled your wrist away quickly and made your way back to your room, leaving Megumi alone in the bathroom, his eyes were shut tightly as you sped off. You shut the door as fast as you could and began walking around your room frantically; your hands running through your hair each step that you took. Thoughts of him were filling your mind, specifically thoughts about how close he had gotten to you, and the way his warm breath felt against your skin—it was all too much for you to take in, so you plugged in your earphones and began getting dressed for school, trying to ignore the insanely loud thumping of your heart.
After the events from this morning, you had quickly rushed out of the apartment—being extra careful to avoid interacting with Megumi. It pained you, having to avoid your best friend, but it was definitely for the better; the two of you needed some alone time… That’s it, maybe all you really needed was some space away from him, and after doing so, everything would go back to normal.
Those were your thoughts as you made your way to your first class. The campus was quite large and the seating areas outside were very beautiful—you could imagine laying a blanket down and studying outside alongside Megumi. You closed your eyes at the thought of him again, and there was this weird and tight feeling erupting inside of you, but you kept walking and chose to ignore it. Things would work out… they always did… and they always would. As you finally made it to your classroom, your eyes widened at how much larger it was than you had previously expected it to be. There were two staircases along the sides of the room, and in between them were hundreds of red padded seats. The professor's desk was at the front of the room, and there was a giant screen behind him.
This was a first year English class, so you knew that there would be a lot of people in it, but you hadn’t expected this many. While looking around the room, you had accidentally locked eyes with your professor, Mr. Nanami—he seemed to be around Satoru’s age, maybe around late twenties-early thirties. You sent a small smile his way and headed up the stairs, stopping at a spot near the middle. You wanted a seat near the outside, so you grabbed the nearest vacant one. Truthfully, you didn’t really want to engage with anyone in your classes—it was kind of a shitty mindset, you knew; but you weren’t here to make friends, you were here to learn and study, and that was basically it. You had Megumi, anyway, so you didn’t really need anyone else. The spot you had chosen to sit at was perfect, as there was only one available seat beside you, and on the other side, there was the end of the aisle.
You began to take out your laptop and set everything up to your liking—you were so enamoured in it that you didn’t realize someone had plopped down in the seat next to you. After a minute of not realizing, finally with the use of your peripheral vision, you had noticed him. You turned your head to get a better look at him and were greeted with a warm smile.
“I’m Yuji Itadori!” The boy said, louder than you had expected. You noticed that he had light brownish-pink hair, and large soft brown eyes.
You sent a small smile of your own back to him. “I’m [name], It's nice to meet you, Yuji.”
“It’s nice to meet you too! I’m glad that I get to sit next to a pretty girl for my first ever university class!” His forwardness was unusual, but refreshing in a way. You hadn’t expected to meet someone like him today.
You felt your face flush at his words, and you shook your head. “I should be the one who’s glad.” You muttered out before you could stop it. Yuji cocked his head to the side at that, and a cute confused look graced his features. “I mean… I’m glad that I’m sitting next to you and not some weirdo or something like that.”
The boy laughed, and it sounded nice to your ears. “How do you know I’m not a weirdo?”
You shrugged. “Who knows, maybe you are… but I’m still glad I get to sit next to you. Your presence is kind of welcoming, I guess?” It felt weird saying it outloud, but it was the truth. Something about this boy just felt warm and bright, and you had only known him for a couple minutes.
A pink tint danced across his cheeks. “You’re gonna make me blush…” He said shyly. “But, thanks for that, you seem kind.” You began to shake your head at that, but were stopped as Yuji let out another laugh. “Very modest as well.”
You opened up your mouth to keep the conversation going, but were stopped as Mr. Nanami stood up, gathering everyone’s attention. Instead, you sent Yuji a smile and turned your attention back down to your computer.
Your first university lecture was quite interesting. Mr. Nanami had gone over the course syllabus and had already assigned readings that were due the next class. It was fine though, as the subject of English was one that came easier to you than some other things. The whole time though, you couldn’t help but glance at Yuji, who typed away at his own computer. You didn’t miss how his leg bounced up and down, or the way that he spun his pen around in his hand—it seemed as though he was nervous or something.
When the professor concluded the class, Yuji was the first to speak. He jumped up to meet you as you had already stood up and began to collect your things. “Um… [name]?”
You turned your full attention over to him. “Yes?”
Yuji let out a large breath it seemed he had been holding in. “Wouldyoumindexchangingnumberswithme?” He said quickly—nearly so fast that you almost didn’t comprehend it all.
You let out a small laugh. “I usually don’t give my numbers to people I’ve just met, but since I’ve already established that you aren’t a weirdo… sure.”
A grin spread across his face and he gave you a thumbs up. “I think that was a compliment, so thanks!”
Yuji handed you his phone and you entered your phone number into it, adding your name with the cowboy emoji as the contact information. As you continued to pack up your stuff, you noticed how his cheeks were the slightest amount of pink.
“See ya, Yuji.” You waved to him as you went down the steps to leave the class.
Yuji smiled down at you and waved back; the sight of that made you feel warm inside, and you were glad that he was the person who had sat next to you in class.
The first day of school had come and gone—sometimes slower than you had wanted it to go. But with that, it also meant that you would have to see Megumi at your apartment. You had hoped that a day apart was enough to ease the tension between you. As you slipped in the doorway, you were shocked to smell something familiar in the air. As you made your way to the kitchen, the first thing you saw was Megumi standing over the stove—his sweatshirt rolled up past his forearms—stirring away at a pot.
“H-hello.” You said suddenly, making yourself known in the room, even though you were sure he had heard you enter the apartment already.
“Hey. How was your first day?” It was weird. This was weird. His voice was calm and he seemed completely normal, very much unlike this morning.
“It was okay.” You set your school bag down on the ground in the living room and made your way over to him; you took a look at what was in the pot and gasped the slightest amount. “Is that what I think it is?”
You hadn’t realized how close you had gotten to him until he leaned down closer to you, his eyes glued to your own. “Yeah… as an apology for this morning.”
“Oh.”
Megumi leaned back and continued stirring the pot of curry—his delicious and homemade curry that had been one of your favourite things he cooked. “I overstepped my boundaries this morning… I don’t know what was up with me, but I’m sorry.”
You shook your head. “No apologies necessary, I was also in a weird mood too.”
A small smile formed on his lips. “So we're good?”
“Of course we are… Now dish me up some curry.”
It was nice eating at the table with Megumi—you felt like a little family. Things were less tense as well, and everything seemed to be resolved, just like you said it would be. While Megumi was browsing through Netflix to put on a show while you ate, you mindlessly scrolled through instagram. Suddenly there was a new notification that popped up, and you immediately clicked on it.
Your eyes widened at the sight of it—Yuji had requested to follow you on Instagram. You quickly clicked on his profile and realized that he wasn't on private, which made sense for him. He had many pictures with his friends, and some of him competing in different sports, it seemed like he won a lot as well. There were also photos of him doing goofy things like posing in front of statues and pretending to touch the penises and such—immature stuff of the sort.
“What are you smiling about?” Megumi asked, and you realized that he was by your side now; you hadn’t even known that you were smiling, either.
Megumi leaned down to look at your phone with you, and he froze in place when he saw what you were looking at. You looked over at him, and his face was unreadable.
“This is a new friend I met in English.” You said, but it seemed as though Megumi’s attention was placed elsewhere. “His name is Yuji Itadori.”
Megumi moved away from his spot beside you and grabbed his dish off the table. “I just realized that I have an assignment due tomorrow, so I’m gonna eat in my room.” He said quickly, and then he was off, leaving you alone in the kitchen.
“What the fuck…” You muttered to yourself. The thick tension seemed to be back in the air again, but you had no idea why. Was Megumi jealous? Did he actually have an assignment? Why would he be so upset over you making a new friend?
All your thoughts were interrupted by a ding on your phone. Your eyes widened as you read the text.
Hey [name]! It’s Yuji! I was wondering if you want to study with me tomorrow?