Chapter Text
“Oh my – I’m so sorry!” Yuji cries out, running towards the boy he’d just shot with his bow.
The two wolves lunge towards Yuji at lightning speeds and he freezes, paralyzed with fear.
“Stop!” The boy yells. The wolves obey immediately and stop dead in their tracks. The black wolf runs back to check on the boy while the white one stands in place and continues to bark and growl viciously at Yuji.
“You come back too, Hito.” The boy commands, though his voice is broken when he says this. Hito cautiously backs away, still keeping its eyes fixed on Yuji. He lays his bow and quiver on the ground, something his grandfather had taught him to never do when in this part of the forest.
It can be dangerous out there, Yuji, he’d warned. Especially past those weird trees, remember them, try not to go past them. Bears, wild boar, wolves, you must be cautious. If you’re ever unsure, always shoot. Better them than you. Ha, you don't get this old by hesitating!
Yuji regrets it. He regrets wandering past the trees he was warned about, regrets drawing his bow, regrets letting it go.
I need to get to him, is all he can think to himself. I need to treat his wound.
Hito’s still eyeing him dangerously, willing to pounce at a single step forward unless –
Yuji takes out his knife and quickly cuts the string of his bow before the wolf can react. He then places the knife on the ground and shows his empty palms to the creature, asking for safe passage.
Hito stops growling and fully retreats, running back to the injured boy. Yuji follows behind at a bit of a distance.
When he reaches the black-haired boy, he finds him kneeling on the ground gripping his bloody hand. His dark blue robe is stained with blood and his face is wet with tears. Understandably so; Yuji just shot him in the hand with his arrow. The two wolves stand between the two of them and bark viciously at Yuji as he approaches. They are unsure of his intentions and he was already spared once: there would not be a second time if he made the wrong move. They still don’t bite though – not yet – they had not gotten permission from their master.
“Down.” The boy pants, sounding drained. The wolves obey, allowing Yuji to come closer and following closely behind him. “It’s okay. Do not hurt him.”
When Yuji reaches him, he gets on his knees and immediately starts to apologize.
“Oh my fucking god, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, god I – I saw your wolf in the distance and I instinctively drew my bow and – “
“I understand,” the boy replied weakly, trying to wipe his tears with his good hand. He ends up smearing more blood onto his pale face. “You’re a hunter, right?”
“Kind of. . . My grandpa was one of the village’s best hunters!” Yuji says proudly before remembering the situation he’s in right now. “I’m still training, uh, clearly.” He finishes awkwardly.
The boy laughs at that, surprising Yuji given the circumstances. “You’re funny,” he simply states, genuine. Yuji blushes at the compliment before turning his attention to the other’s hand. “Your aim is good though. If I didn’t get in the way, you’d have killed Rua.”
“I’m sorry,” Yuji repeats again, avoiding the other’s eyes. He can’t even describe the guilt he feels. All he can do now is try to make this better. “Can I see it?” He asks, putting his hand out.
The boy wordlessly puts his hand in Yuji’s. The wood of the arrow is still embedded into his hand and Yuji knows better than to take it out when he doesn’t have the right supplies to treat it.
“I’ll need to apply pressure on it to lessen the bleeding,” he explains. “It’ll hurt.”
“Okay,” the boy pants.
Yuji carefully breaks the extra wood before holding the boy’s hand in his own, applying pressure while the other hisses and tries to hold back his tears.
“Don’t hold back. Crying out might make this a bit easier for you.” Yuji advises calmly. He knows this from first hand experience which makes him feel even worse.
"Will I lose my hand?" He's unable to mask the fear in his question.
"No," Yuji reassures. "Your hand will be damaged. Can't say how badly or for how long, but we won't have to cut it off or anything." God, that's still not very comforting, Yuji, he thinks to himself. The boy just nods, hanging onto that thought.
“It’s okay, he’s helping. Don’t hurt him.” he reminds his wolves in advance before he lets out cries of pain. They watch sadly in silence, and Yuji continues his job.
"Earlier. . ." Yuji starts. "You tried to stop the arrow with your hand. Why did you do that?"
“I told you: you were going to kill my wolf."
"Yeah," he sounds apologetic again. "But this could've been way worse. Why risk your life for your animal?"
"My dog is worth more to me than my left hand. I care for them more than most people I know."
"Mm," Yuji hums in response. What an interesting person.
"I guess it would be hard for a hunter to understand that." The boy thinks out loud, but it isn't rude, just observative. "You kill things before they get the chance to hurt you."
"It's not that I want to though." Yuji admits. He's simply following in his grandfather's footsteps; keeping a promise. That's just how it is.
“You don’t have to do this just because your grandfather wants you to,” he starts. Yuji is surprised, not realizing he’d said that last part out loud to the boy. “It. . . doesn’t seem to suit you. You seem too gentle for this.”
Yuji smiles at his words. “Thank you. You know, you’re being awfully nice to me considering I. . .” he trails off.
“I know you didn’t mean to.” What an odd situation; Yuji just shot this boy but now he is trying to comfort Yuji. “When you first saw us, you probably thought it was going to attack me, yes?” He asks.
Yuji is quiet. It’s his fault, no matter what the circumstances were. The boy gives him an understanding look that Yuji doesn’t see; he just continues to look down at their hands, avoiding eye contact.
After a while, the bleeding around the wound lessens and Yuji tears off one of his own sleeves. He takes the boy’s hand back into his own and wraps the fabric around the wound carefully.
“That’s all I can do with what I’ve got,” he says. “Come back to the village with me, I can get someone to take the arrow out and properly clean it.”
The boy is quiet for a while before he hesitantly agrees. “Okay.”
Yuji says to him. “I’ll carry you on my back.”
“N-no,” he sounds tired. He must be, after all that. “One of my dogs can carry me, just lead the way.”
“Sure, but I don’t think it’d be a good idea to bring them into the village. They can get you closer but I’ll have to carry you in. Is that okay?”
“Yes. . .” he agrees.
Yuji helps the boy onto Rua while he walks in front of them.
After a while, Yuji breaks the silence. “So what is your name?” he asks, making sure the boy was still conscious.
“Megumi. The wolves are Hito and Rua.”
Yuji is relieved to hear his voice. First names? He wonders to himself.
“Cool! I’m Itadori, but you can call me Yuji. How’d you come up with their names?”
Yuji tries to keep Megumi’s mind occupied and they converse as well as they can, given his fatigued state.
They’re relatively close to the village now. Yuji stops them and with Megumi’s permission, effortlessly picks him up off of Rua. He's got an arm under the other's knees and the other supporting his back. Megumi wraps his good arm around Yuji’s neck while he nurses the injured one close to his body. The boy unconsciously leans into the touch, nestling himself closer to Yuji's face.
“Go. Hide.” he says. “I’ll be back for you two soon. I just need to get this fixed up here.” His wolves whimper, but follow his orders and trot backwards a bit.
"Let's go?" Yuji asks.
"Mmn."
His wolves hesitantly watch the two of them walk out of the forest before they run off to hide like their master requested.
Yuji brings Megumi to the local doctor who properly cleans the wound and gives the injured boy something to bite on while she removes the remnants of the arrow from his hand. Then, she sews the wound closed and cleans it up again. It’s a long process but Yuji holds Megumi's good hand in his own two the entire time, letting the other squeeze and dig his nails into his skin. It's the least he can do.
The doctor does not pry into Megumi's life or ask about his situation, just makes conversation with Yuji and Megumi is a little more at ease listening to them talk.
"All done. Yuji did a good job on first aid, but your hand still won’t fully heal for a while. Could be a year, maybe two depending on how you use it." The doctor tells them. Yuji avoids looking at Megumi. Two years? It wasn’t even that bad when I was hit that one time. “If you check in often, it could be sooner.”
"Thank you, Doctor Ieri!" Yuji bows and Megumi follows suit curiously.
"Thank you, doctor." Megumi repeats weakly, appreciative of her work and her respect for his privacy.
She smiles at them. "Take care. It's good to see you with a new friend, Yuji."
They thank her again before stepping out.
"Can you walk?" Yuji asks, holding his good arm in an attempt to support him.
"Yes," Megumi replies shyly, taking his arm away to scratch at his head, to fix his hair. "I was shot in the hand, not the leg." Yuji laughs at that.
"But you're tired. Did you want to go back home?"
Megumi hesitates. He decides to be selfish a bit longer. "Not yet. . . If you're free, could you show me around a bit before I go back?"
"Of course." Yuji smiles. "Right this way, your highness," he jokes and offers Megumi his arm to hang onto. Although Megumi can tell it's a joke, he internally cringes at his words, but links his good arm with the other's.
Before they know it, Yuji is showing Megumi around the whole village. They visit the market, look at the animals, get some street food. Everyone greets Yuji excitedly, happy to see that he's returned. Megumi instinctively tries to hide himself behind the other, trying to avoid the curious gazes. Everyone surprisingly seems to respect his unspoken wish to be left alone, though it probably also helps that Yuji doesn't even give them the chance to inquire about the stranger. He responds to their greetings politely before pulling Megumi on to the next thing on his tour, happily explaining everything.
Megumi laughs more than he can ever remember.
"Are you from around here?" Yuji eventually asks. He’d been wondering this for a while and Megumi seems comfortable with him now. "I don't think I've ever seen you around before. What were you doing in the forest? Are you a runaway or something?"
Megumi is hazily trying to gauge how honest he should be.
"I live nearby," he starts. This is true. "I'm. . . Typically not allowed to leave my house. I just wanted to leave, you know? At least once, I wanted to leave. I guess you could say I ran away today since no one knows that I left.” This was also all true. He couldn’t seem to lie to the pink haired boy who had cared for him today. Realizing what he’d just said, Megumi frantically looks around, afraid.
“I need to get back. I wasn’t supposed to be gone for this long. They’re probably already looking for me.“ It comes out as a whisper, like he can hardly bare to say it.
“If you don't want to go back, you can stay here with me." Yuji suggests instinctively, grabbing his hand and looking at him with worry.
"No, I - I have to go back. I don't want to, but I have to," Megumi pulls back and he sounds like he's pleading with himself. Yuji is torn just listening to him.
"Alright," a brief pause. "I can take you back then. Just tell me where?”
“No! No, I don’t know what they’d do to you,” Megumi’s voice breaks, sounding even more panicked at the thought. “You can’t come. I’ve got to go alon– “
“I want to.” Yuji is firm. “I was pretty deep in the forest when I found you, it’ll take you a long time to get back. It’s already getting dark out, it’s not safe.”
“You don’t understand!” He shouts weakly and Yuji flinches in response. “You’re not safe, Yuji - !” Megumi’s eyes widen in shock? Fear? Yuji can’t quite place it before he feels a sharp pain in the back of his head. The last thing he sees is Megumi hunched over him, tearing up again and yelling, although he can’t seem to hear his voice.
When Yuji comes to, he’s laying in a dimly lit room on the cold hard ground. His arms and feet are bound.
“Good, you’ve woken up.” A voice he doesn’t recognize says. He looks up and a man sharing a resemblance to Megumi is addressing him.
“As I understand it, you are the one who shot Megumi, yes?” he asks and his voice is icy.
“Yes,” Yuji confesses, still groggy and confused but that, he still knows. How could he forget?
“Are you aware that you’ve severely damaged his hand? Are you aware of the importance of hands to the Zenin family; to our sacred techniques? Actually, I suppose a dirty peasant like you would not even be graced with such basic knowledge,” he ponders to himself before Yuji can answer. “I suppose I might as well tell you, since you’re about to die anyway.”
What?
“Oh, right,” the man says casually, remembering something. “You, Itadori Yuji, are sentenced to death for the kidnapping and injury of crown prince Zenin Megumi.”
He gives Yuji a toothy grin and gestures to himself. “And I am Zenin Naoya. I will be your executioner.”