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Itadori Yuuji dreams of his soulmate and he dreams of white.
White hair with sharp smiles. Hands that caress and hold his own down, and a powerful body that gives him pleasure like no other. Yuuji never sees his eyes, but he can feel them, taking in every gasp and groan and whispered promise of love.
Yuuji wakes every morning, and wonders if he’ll ever meet the figure of his dreams.
He dates, he’s not opposed to that, besides, Yuuji is happy dating others. His soulmate has white hair, an uncommon enough color as it is, though he’s not one to talk considering his hair is pink. Yuuji’s never met anyone with white hair, and he’s not sure when he will.
So he dates. He dates others who leave him because they found their soulmate. He dates and tries to find the person who whispers saccharine promises in his ear, and he finds no one.
Fushiguro Megumi is not his soulmate.
Yuuji knows this. But he has no aversion to dating. Megumi is quiet, reserved in a way that Yuuji doesn’t normally go for. Yet when Megumi tugs on his sleeve to get his attention, asking if he wants to go out on a date, Yuuji can’t find himself to say no.
Nobara is surprised, she tries to hide it, but Yuuji can read people as well as anyone else, and he pays her no mind. Megumi gives him a small smile, a curl of his lips that’s almost hidden, and Yuuji thinks this should be fine.
It’s not perfect. It’s not as it should be, as his dreams make it out to be. But it’s there, and Megumi is happy, and Yuuji finds himself happy as well.
He still dreams, in vivid white, hands that grip his thighs tight enough to bruise, and a taunting voice that he’s eager to please. Yuuji falls so heavily into dreams that it feels like the time spent awake is when he’s asleep, and he comes alive in his dreams.
But he’s happy with Megumi. He tells himself this when Megumi is more reserved, shying away from his touches out of embarrassment in public. He tells himself this when Megumi pulls back when Yuuji needs him to push forward.
Yuuji shows a picture of his boyfriend to his brother and watches a flurry of emotions that Yuuji’s never seen from him before fly across his face. He’s never seen Sukuna express more than disinterest in the people he dates.
Sukuna looks ready to take the phone from his hand and crush it into a thousand pieces, and not for the first time, Yuuji decides to press his brother's buttons.
Just to see what happens.
“We’ve been dating for three months,” he gushes, because it’s not hard to gush about Megumi. They’ve been dating long enough that Yuuji can, because he knows his quirks and tells.
Sukuna twitches beside him.
“He’s such a nice guy, you know? And he loves pets, he found a puppy on the street and worked nonstop for two weeks to find its owner.”
Yuuji carefully moves the phone out of the way, before Sukuna can snatch it and smash it against the floor, breaking another of his phones. Sukuna would replace it, but it’s a hassle that’s not worth teasing Sukuna for.
Besides, he’s never seen Sukuna act like this. The other man is all tense expressions and a bad attitude. There had been times that Yuuji didn’t think he could care about anyone.
Sukuna’s not the only one who can play dirty though, after all, Yuuji grew up learning from the best. So he says his next words quietly, but not quietly enough for Sukuna not to hear.
“He asked me out first, and I really like him. I think he likes me a lot.”
Sukuna grits his teeth, and Yuuji makes his escape before he remembers just how angry Sukuna can get when he’s in a bad mood.
The thought plays around in his head, nevertheless, as he returns home that night to Megumi, who looks at him with a small smile and a ‘welcome back’ that doesn’t feel as welcoming as it should be.
It’s sweet, it’s something he wants, but it’s not what he needs, and Yuuji wonders if Megumi dreams of someone with the same face as him, with tattoos on his wrists and face and scars underneath his eyes.
That night, Yuuji’s dreams are more intense, brighter, until he’s drowning in a snowstorm of white and teasing, whispered praises.
Gojo Satoru dreams of his soulmate and he dreams of honey.
He dreams of wide, honey brown eyes that look at him with such trust, like Satoru could give them the world and they would be all the more better for it. Honey golden brown eyes that Satoru would kiss underneath, with strong arms that wrapped around and held him close, like they would never let go.
And then he wakes up alone, to the blaring of his alarm clock, and dreams fade into hazy memories.
Something else he can’t hold onto, no matter how hard he tries.
So he doesn’t try. Things that want to stick around will, and the things that don’t want to stay, he won’t try to keep them. He’s learned from experience that the tighter he tries to hold onto the slipping sand, the faster it pours through his fingers.
And he’s not willing to do that again, to go through the pain of losing what he could never hold onto in the first place.
He meets Megumi for a late dinner, because the young man he adopted when he was barely eighteen is finally allowing him to meet the man that he says is his soulmate.
He won’t pretend that he didn’t notice Megumi’s change in attitude. Satoru practically raised him, after all, and he knows Megumi better than anyone. He knows he wasn’t happy, and when Megumi had called him, finally setting up a date for their meeting, Satoru had heard genuine happiness dripping from his words.
It’s interesting, Satoru can’t help but think. He wonders what changed as he gets ready.
Satoru has never met Megumi’s soulmate before. When he arrives at the restaurant, he’s early, and goes to the bar to get a drink. There’s a large man standing there, with tattoos on his face and scars underneath his eyes.
He’s the type of man who looks like he knows how to fuck , and fuck well. Satoru leans a bit closer to him, smirking at the glare he gets in return.
“Are you here alone?” Satoru asks, wondering if he can do something with the man quickly before Megumi and his soulmate arrive.
“Satoru,” Megumi says, suddenly speaking up, appearing beside him, “please don’t hit on my soulmate.”
Megumi takes the man's hand, entwining their fingers, and Satoru fights everything inside of him to not arch a brow. He still can’t fully believe that Megumi was so unhappy only a few weeks ago.
“So this is the soulmate I’ve heard so much about!” Satoru crones, pretending that he wasn’t just trying to hit on the man.
“Sukuna,” the other man offers. He hands Megumi a drink, arching a brow at Satoru. He doesn’t say that it’s nice to meet Satoru, so Satoru doesn’t return the sentiment.
“So what changed?” Satoru asks, unable to hold in his curiosity. “You were so unhappy.”
Megumi’s lips pursed so tightly that Satoru wondered if his drink was sour, a slice of lemon instead of a glass of wine. And then he sighs, with an exaggerated movement as Sukuna wraps an arm around his waist.
“You were right, so I broke up with him.”
Megumi looked like the words pained him to say. Satoru waits, because Megumi obviously wasn’t done.
“This is my actual soulmate. Yuuji isn’t my soulmate, Sukuna is.”
Oh, Satoru can’t wait for this. A grin stretches across his face but before he can say anything, Megumi shoves a finger in his chest, nail poking his skin.
“Don’t you say a word, Satoru. I will walk out of this bar and you won’t ever see me again!” Megumi threatens.
Well, that just takes the fun out of it.
Still, his lips quirk into a smile, and he tries to keep himself tame as he puts two and two together, and turns to Sukuna instead.
“So, are you Yuuji’s brother?”
Megumi looks like he’d rather be anywhere else in the world, and meanwhile Sukuna looks completely disinterested, arching a single brow and nodding. Satoru feels like he can take on the world.
From Megumi’s contemplative look at his glass of wine, Satoru decides
not
to push the issue any further, though the retorts stick on his tongue. He doesn't want his shirt ruined and wine is sticky when it's thrown in your face.
Nevertheless, he’s happy for Megumi. If anyone deserves someone to make them feel special, it’s him. Megumi deserves happiness, after the life that he’s lived. Satoru’s tried his best, but there are times that he’s failed, and could have done better.
They sit down, the three of them, for a late dinner. Satoru watches Sukuna cling to Megumi like a man clings to shelter on a deserted island. There’s always some part of him touching Megumi, be it their shoulders brushing together, or a hand holding Megumi’s own.
It reminds Satoru of someone he’d rather not think of, and he knocks back another drink in hopes of ridding himself of memories.
Honey eyes await him in his dreams, at least, and those dreams won’t leave him.
“When are you going to tell me about your soulmate?” Megumi asks. Their dinner is over with, Satoru paying the check before Megumi’s new boyfriend can attempt to show off.
Satoru is pleasantly buzzed from the drinks, and answers honestly, before he stumbles out of the restaurant to get a cab home.
“He has the most beautiful honey eyes.”
It hurts, a little, when Megumi breaks up with him. Sukuna isn’t there—thank goodness , Yuuji doesn’t want to get punched today, thank you very much—and it stings a little bit, but his dreams soothe him.
It takes away the pain from a breakup he felt was coming and soft lips smooth over the wrinkles in his brow. Yuuji falls harder in his dreams, until the desire to date is gone and he sleeps more and more every day.
Megumi invites him out, with Sukuna of course. The two had been inseparable since they met, and Yuuji’s happy for them. Though he doesn’t really get how Megumi is happy with Sukuna, his brother was like a brick wall when it came to emotions.
“You knew,” Yuuji accuses during their dinner, when Megumi leaves to go to the bathroom. Sukuna shrugs, not denying it. “When I showed you the photo, you knew.”
“I did,” he admits.
“Then why didn't you say anything?” Yuuji asks, annoyed. This is just like when they were kids and Sukuna kept trying to steal his toys.
Megumi’s already walking back, a smile on his face, more relaxed than he had ever been with Yuuji. Sukuna’s eyes are sharp when he looks at Yuuji, and yet they are so soft when they look at Megumi.
“He seemed happy.”
Megumi sits down, and Yuuji doesn’t get a chance to say that they were happy, but not in the way that Megumi is with Sukuna. It’s still happy, but not the way that Megumi, or him, needs.
“It doesn’t matter,” Yuuji dismisses as Megumi sits back down, Sukuna’s arm wrapping around his shoulder. Yuuji thinks of the touches in his dreams and his smile grows a little strained.
“I knew you weren’t my soulmate anyway, I always dream of this guy with white hair.”
White hair and vivid blue eyes, that could be as cold as ice and yet as welcoming as a warm fire.
Megumi blinks, glances at Sukuna, and opens his mouth to say something. Sukuna places a hand over Megumi’s own, and the two of them seem to talk silently for a moment, gestures hidden between them that fly over Yuuji’s head.
And then Megumi sighs, looking very, very, tired, and looks Yuuji in the eyes.
“Yuuji,” he says, like he’s delivering the worst news, “there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
Yuuji wakes from a dream that feels so real, he can still feel the touches against his skin, running up and down his arm, across his thighs and lap.
He sighs and rubs his eyes, clinging harshly to the memories of ice blue eyes and sharp, teasing nips against his collarbone.
He pulls himself from bed, and chases those thoughts as he goes to the cafe Megumi wanted them to meet at. He’s running a little late, but he’s always been someone who’s run a little behind schedule rather than in front of it.
When he arrives at the cafe, Megumi is already there, with Sukuna, hands wrapped around a cup of peppermint tea. Megumi gives him a small smile that’s full of so much life that Yuuji realizes he’s never seen Megumi really and truly smile before.
“You’re late,” Megumi chides, gesturing across from Sukuna and himself.
“My bad,” he says, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “So who did you want me to meet?”
Megumi glances down at his watch, shaking his head as well. “He’s late too, but that’s less surprising.”
The question of
who
it is burns on Yuuji’s tongue just as the cafe door opens, and everything seems to stop before it begins, at least for Yuuji.
Time doesn’t slow down to a trickle though; Yuuji’s frozen where he sits, as the figure he’s seen in dreams walks casually over to them, with startling white hair and black sunglasses hanging off the edge of his nose.
Yuuji’s seen those hands, in his dreams, he’s seen the smile on his face at, he’s heard that voice before. The man approaches, not even glancing at him, and Megumi is already rising with Sukuna in tow.
“Megumi,” Yuuji’s soulmate—because that’s his soulmate, standing before him—whines at Megumi, tilting his head. “Where are you going?”
“Sukuna and I have a date,” Megumi says easily. “And so do you. Gojo Satoru, this is Itadori Yuuji. I think you two have a lot to talk about.”
Yuuji stands, nearly knocking into the table as finally, startling blue eyes land on him, widening a fraction. Megumi’s already walking out the door, leaving both of them standing awkwardly together staring at each other.
Yuuji makes the first move, forcing his body to move as he gives Gojo Satoru a wide smile, unsure what else he could do. Satoru looks just like his dreams, breathtakingly beautiful.
And yet before he can say anything, Gojo Satoru reaches for him first, lanky arms wrapping around his shoulders and bringing him against a strong chest. The scent of ice and cologne rush up to Yuuji, and he takes a deep breath before he can help himself.
“Finally,” he hears Satoru murmur against his hair. “Finally.”
Yuuji wraps his arms around Satoru in turn, and everything falls into place in his world.