Chapter Text
Summer is near and you could definitely feel its presence under the sleeves of your uniform’s blazer. The thick fabric isn’t giving you any comfort from the sun’s scorching heat, plus the fact that the street is pack with people. Today is not Tokyo’s busy hours but you are in a commercial area, which means it’s busy there 24/7. Of all the rewards I could give myself, why do I have to crave for kikufuku mochi?
You walk around, searching for the new Tokyo branch of that famous kikufuku shop—Kikusuian—people talk about in the internet in hopes of satisfying your cravings. It’s been a long time since you visited this part of the city that you already forgot where the exact stores are. High school is totally exhausting for you to forget other matters outside the academic grounds.
With your neck sore from craning, you sigh in defeat and decide to ask a local for directions. It wouldn’t hurt to ask someone about the whereabouts of that holy Kikusuian shop, right?
You approach a tall guy standing in front of a ramen shop. His dark hair is styled in a spiky way that remind you of a sea urchin and also very familiar.
You clear your throat to get his attention but he continues to scroll on his phone, completely unaware of your existence. Great, of all the strangers I decided to ask, I ended up choosing this ignorant brat. So much for my introvert ass.
“Um, hi, sorry for interrupting but—“
He finally turns to look at you and both of your eyes widen. It is someone you never thought you’ll see again.
“FUSHIGURO MEGUMI?!”
“(L/n) (Y/n)?” he stutters, sharing the same surprised expression you have.
You finally took in his appearance. His darkest-of-blues shade of hair is still styled in his trademark sea urchin look. Skin still pale but there’s no evident bruises or cuts from fistfights anymore. And his eyes—oh those dark blue irises one could easily get lost in—are still the same colour and shape, but this time, they are not cold. This time, despite of looking tired, they hold that warmth you never thought he was capable of. He is now the better and taller version of that scrawny troublemaker from middle school. Also, there’s no lie that he became so, or rather, more handsome.
“Megumi-kun, wow, it’s been a long time. Nice to see you!” you greet him.
He gives you a small smile and scratches the back of his head. “Yeah, it’s been awhile. Y-You look different now, (L/n),” he mumbles which made you puzzle. When did the most feared boy in middle school become so shy?
You chuckle a little to ease his discomfort and lightly slap his arm. “Megumi, it’s not like we’re not old friends for you to call me (L/n). The last time I remember you even insulted my first name.”
That made the tall boy blush in embarrassment and he look everywhere but your eyes. He always thinks that his middle school self is an embarrassment and should be locked up in the deepest corners of his memory, and this is one of the reasons. He doesn’t want to be remembered as “Fushiguro the ass beater” or “Fushiguro the bully”. He just want to be remembered as who he really is: just Fushiguro Megumi.
“Ah, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it back then, really.”
“That my name is ‘as trash as my personality’? I know, Megumi. I know.” You sigh and start to play with your fingers. “Because I know that you wouldn’t let me help you if you really mean it. I know my worth, Megumi. We both know that I’m not a trash or what.”
But I was, he thinks.
The truth is, he always saw his sister Tsumiki at you. How the both of you stood up for the weak and call out people on their bullshits in your own righteous ways—ways he opposed that time. Both of you could easily see the best in others and that makes him want to vomit. Also with the fact that even though he messed with you sometimes, you never failed to forgive and scold him. How, aside from his sister, you were the only one who looked out for him.
“I already told you to stop picking up fights. Look at what it brought you,” you grumbled while applying antiseptic on his bruises. “A broken nose and wounds. Ha, I didn’t think you could be uglier that what you already are, idiot.”
You dabbed the cotton on a cut under his left eye which made him wince. “Could you be a little bit gentler? That alcohol burns. Why not hydrogen peroxide?”
You crossed your arms and stared him straight in the eyes. “To serve you right and give you a lesson.”
“And what would a cotton of isopropyl alcohol would teach me?”
You leaned on his face and continued to clean his injuries again. “That pain is also present in healing. That it is everywhere. You may not be able to avoid it but you can ease it by becoming a stronger and bigger person. Your version of justice isn’t what justice really is, Megumi. Beating them ‘til they couldn’t walk doesn’t solve anything. It will just give you more pain than necessary.”
“You sound like an essay,” he said which made you roll your eyes. “So what do you want me to do, just let them go? Wish that they trip on their way home? You know how much I hate bad people.”
You let out a low chuckle and an exasperated sigh afterwards. “I know. I know, but you don’t have to stoop on their level and be as bad as them to teach them anything.” You gently pressed the cotton on the throbbing bruise beside of his lower lip. “They’ll learn their lesson and have their karma someday. Report them to elders or talk to them if you want them to have their prize right away. See, avenging isn’t always about fighting, Meggy. Letting go and forgiving, too.”
He slapped your hand away from his face which made you drop the cotton, a piece inside you dropping off, too. You cursed under your breath as you poured the alcohol on a new ball of cotton. Pretending that you didn’t see his icy glare, you dabbed it on his cuts again. He’s being a dick as always that you became immune of it.
“Don’t call me that. It’s not cute, okay? And I’m not like you or Tsumiki who are saints that could easily forgive people.”
“I know that isn’t easy, okay? It’s hard for me, too, but forgiving people is also doing yourself a favour. Because having less grudge to carry gives peace. And offering yourself some peace is a way of loving yourself.”
You finally finished tending his bruises and disposed the cotton. With (e/c) eyes meeting his dark blue ones in a deep gaze, you put a hand of his cheek, and unexpectedly, you felt him leaning on it. A weird feeling started to bloom inside your gut, like there’s someone doing backflips inside. Also, you could feel the air around you getting hotter, despite of the fact that you’re outside a convenience store in the middle of October dusk. The foreign feeling started to spread in your systems, and oh god, you are not liking it.
“Look, you may say that you can’t forgive others but I know that one day, you will. You’re better than any of us, Megumi. Maybe not now, but I know that someday you’ll be the bigger person.”
Without really thinking, you pressed your lips on his forehead, giving him a soft kiss. You felt him freeze under your touch and his breathing hitched. Inside you was a mess either. You could hear your own heart beating in a mile and that knot in your gut became tighter.
Nevertheless, you still chose to tell him the truth.
“Because you, Fushiguro Megumi, is the kindest, delinquent-beating jerk I had ever met. Not bad nor good. Just somebody with empathy, and that made you the best sea urchin in this town.”
He let out a low chuckle but it immediately died down. Both of you continued to stare at each other’s eyes, and the air around you became thicker and warmer, definitely not normal during fall. This time, it was him who started to lean in. His dark blue eyes shifted on your lips as your faces moved closer, mere centimetres apart. And just like the ghost of rare cool breeze every summer night, his lips brushed against yours . . .
“By the way, I haven’t seen you around—not that I’m even going out—but where are you studying now? Our old classmates never had any news about you,” you ask.
Megumi blinks a couple of times to pull himself back to reality. People just walk past the two of you, cars continue to honk from a distance, and the world continues to rotate. He just realised that you asked a question when you repeat yourself.
“Uh, w-where I’m studying, you asked?” He scratches the back of his head again. He doesn’t want to tell you the truth but not wanting to lie either.
As if she’ll believe that I’m a jujutsu sorcerer… she’s the most logical and science-based person I ever met. Curses and exorcism don’t exist in her vocabulary, he thinks. “Tokyo Jujutsu Tech. You probably don’t kn—“
“I heard that one! Ah, Megumi-kun, I never thought you’re someone who’ll study in religious schools. Are you planning to be a monk or something? Perhaps a priest, Father Fushiguro?” you tease, wiggling your eyebrows with a smirk.
He roll his eyes before he could stop himself. After realising what he did, he starts to apologise which make you laugh. He’s really different now.
“Uh, how about you? Where are you studying now?” he asks, obviously changing the topic. “You’re in third year now, right?”
“Yeah. I’m now in Tokyo Tech High School of Science and Technology under their Applied Chemistry specialisation program. It’s a pain in the ass, by the way. So many chemicals to balance,” you groan.
Megumi isn’t surprised to know that you’re enrolled in an SSH high school after you were accelerated to senior high back in 8th Grade. You are always the star pupil. Acing almost every subject especially Math, and hearing you complain about something related to it is so ironic that he can’t help but laugh.
“Damn, (Y/n). You’re sounding like a normal student now. It must be so hard studying there,” he says.
You let out an exasperated groan and nod your head vigorously. You start to rant out how Organic Chemistry and Thermodynamics exhaust you, animatedly voicing your struggles with frantic hand gestures—something Megumi always find interesting. He listens attentively to every word you say even though he couldn’t understand them. Every time you talk about something with so much emotions piques his interest and even though years had gone by, he find himself getting drawn to you again. Don’t you fucking tell me that I’m—
“Oh my gosh, I talk too much. I’m so sorry. You might be thinking that I’m so self-centred now.”
He tries to tell you that it’s all right but you continue to apologise about your oversharing habit as if it is something Megumi isn’t aware of. You have been like that ever since you were little. Explaining too much and apologising for oversharing later. Old habits don’t die easily huh.
“How about you, Megumi? How’s your school?” you ask him.
Megumi scratches the back of his neck and finds your shoes interesting. They are black high-cut Converse. Not everyone wears that over their school uniform. Still quirky.
“Uh, it is fine, I guess. Bit dangerous sometimes but it’s alright.”
'Dangerous'? You raise your brows at him and fold your arms to your chest. “Dangerous huh? What, do y’all do some weird religious rituals? Sacrificing cows and what not? That’s kinda sketchy for a religious school if you ask me.”
His eyes widen at his careless slip and he starts to panic internally. He couldn’t think of an excuse about the “dangerous” thing without exposing their deadly missions. For once, Fushiguro Megumi isn’t capable of thinking straight because he couldn’t bring himself to lie to you. If Itadori and Kugisaki knew about this, they would surely tease him to death. Kami-sama knows how much those two love to push him to the edge.
You notice the pallid expression on his face and chuckle. You shake your head and coo him, “My, my, Megumi. You don’t have to explain it if you can’t, okay? Just be safe always, got it? Especially when you’re such an ass when you’re injured.”
You put your hand on his left arm and gently squeeze it, causing the butterflies inside his chest to go berserk. Right, she used to tend my injuries back then. Oh how I miss her gentle touch against my skin—wait, what are you thinking, Megumi?!
On the other side of the street, Itadori Yuuji casually strolls around the marketplace with his arms resting behind his head. Tokyo never fails to amaze him even though he’s been staying there for months. How the streets are packed with people all the time, the picturesque skyline and Instagrammable sights, towering buildings that could reach the skies, and the mouth-watering foods served in unique ways (like his favourite bullet train sushi); you don’t usually see that in the countryside.
The pink-haired teenager cranes his neck to look for the ramen shop his classmate Fushiguro said he’s been waiting. Before he could even find the ramen shop, he immediate spots Fushiguro’s thorny hairstyle amidst the crowd passing by. Yuuji thinks that it would be harder to locate the dark haired guy if he’s underwater with sea urchins rather than in the sea of strangers.
He starts to sprint towards his friend but immediately stops on his track that he nearly stumble on his feet when he witnessed a miracle.
Fushiguro is talking to a girl with (h/c) hair and they exchange their phones! Are they exchanging numbers? This is a sight that could bring peace to the world. Bring hope to the hopeless. Make the curses exorcise themselves. A miracle indeed.
Yuuji watches the two of you exchanging phone numbers, like a member of FBI lurking behind the lamp post to hide himself, not making any noise or even breathing to avoid being caught (or perhaps, an idiot who thinks he's being stealthy while spying his friend).
You take a photo of Megumi and giggle at his reaction. He tries to take your phone away and begging that you shouldn't put it as his contact photo. Even from a distance, Yuuji sees how red his supposed to be stoic friend is and he nearly loses his shit.
FUSHIGURO IS BLUSHING!?! THIS IS A ONCE IN A BLUE MOON EVENT. I MUST TELL GOJO- SENSEI AND KUGISAKI!
He starts to run swiftly, so fast that would put Zenin Naoya into shame, towards where the hell his teacher Gojo Satoru and classmate Kugisaki Nobara are.
Unfazed by the warm temperature, Yuuji immediately spots his sensei and other friend hiding from the scorching sun rays under a potted tree. Both of them lean on the trunk limply like the sun just sucked their cursed energy and other chakras and will to live. Of course, who wouldn't feel like they're going to have a heatstroke if they are wearing uniforms that cover most of their body?
He calls their names but the other two just groan. For a split second, he thinks that maybe they are cursed but one of them is the Gojo Satoru so that's unlikely.
Nobara weakly glares at him and grumbles, "Huh? So annoying. It’s too hot for your craziness."
He ignores her usual brattiness and excitedly announces his very important news report. "Fushiguro’s getting hit on!"
As if somebody just splashed an iced water to them, Nobara and Gojo spring back to their normal selves and the orange-haired girl bombards Yuuji with questions that made his ears hurt.
Beside them, Gojo Satoru dramatically wipes his "tears" below his blindfold like a proud dad. He couldn't believe that after all these years, his student finally boarded the train of love. That's what you get when you have Gojo Satoru, the strongest and most handsome man in this planet, as your guardian and mentor.
Damn, I'm such a good example to him. He surely followed my charms and wooing skills. I'm the best Sensei and Dad of the Year.
"Listen up, kids," he calls the two of them. "We need to show our support to Megumi. I have a plan . . . "
* * *
"What? You look cute here! Candid shot~" you tease Megumi in a sing-song tone.
The taller male huffs in defeat and rolls his eyes. He checks his phone, your face grinning at him while posing with a peace sign. You took a selfie on his phone and set it as your contact photo. The way your eyes crinkled and that adorable smile on your face makes his heart flutter. What is happening to me?
"Oi Megumi," you call him, lightly poking his arm.
He looks up from his phone with lazy eyes staring back at you (he tries to put up an uninterested look because that's what his normalcy looks like).
"Do you . . . do you know where Kikusuian is?"
He raises his brow at you which make you look down on your shoes and play with your fingers again. Gosh, this is so embarrassing. I live in Tokyo but I don't know where is where.
"You craving for mochi? You don't look like someone who eats it," he teases.
Your forehead crease and you pout in annoyance. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He tries not to smirk at your annoyed expression but fails. He catches how your face contort while trying not to lash out at him.
"Yes, I know where Kikusuian is. I recommend zunda and cream flavour, by the way."
"You tried it? Does it tastes good?"
Actually, he never tried it. He just recalls what his Gojo-sensei said back in Sendai. Thinking about the memory, it starts to piss him off again.
"You want some?" Gojo asked while munching his kikufuku mochi across him.
They were on their way back to Tokyo inside a bullet train and Gojo Satoru happily ate his souvenir from the mission he treated as a vacation trip.
Megumi swallowed the spit building up in his throat and stared at the green filling of the zunda kikufuku. With how the events turned that night, he hadn't eaten dinner and they're in a rush to return to Jujutsu High. But his man-child sensei preferred to ride the train instead of teleporting them, reasoning that "bullet train rides complete the experience".
Despite of his blindfold, Gojo saw how he ogled at his food and smirked. He pushed the food inside his mouth and chewed it loudly.
"You woont eet? Go bhuy eet."
Megumi never wanted to hurl a sleeping Itadori beside him to his idiot sensei so bad at that moment.
"Well, I trust you, Megumi. So where is it? I need to go back at my dorm and study again," you ask him while checking the time on your wristwatch.
14:47.
Before he could finally give you the directions, somebody's screams interrupt your conversation.
"FUSHIGURO-KYUN!"
Two students, male and female, in slightly similar uniform to Megumi are running with their hands flailing like an Abnormal Titan from Attack On Titan.
Both of them throw themselves to him and start to cling to him for their dear life. The orange-haired girl wraps her arms on Megumi's shoulders while the pink-haired boy clings on his waist and slumping on the floor.
"Who is that woman?!" Nobara dramatically asks. "Have you forgotten the night you toasted to my eyes?"
"Was it a lie when you said your time with me was the most enjoyable of all?" Yuuji cries like he's in a soap opera.
"That night! That night!" the girl starts to holler.
"What?" Megumi is frozen on the spot with an "I'm-so-done-with-these-idiots" face and internally swearing due to his friends' shameful acts. "Seriously, what?" he asks again dryly.
You are also frozen on your feet with your mouth hanging open. His classmates continue to do their dramatic antics which made you so confused and ashamed on Megumi's behalf. People are starting to look at the four of you and you never wanted to run away so bad from this shameful mess. Yet, the look on Megumi's face is so priceless as he stares blankly to no one, like a character in a mockumentary film, so pissed about his choice of friends and even questioning his existence.
"Could you not touch him so casually, please . . . YOU HOMEWRECKERS?!" somebody shouts from behind you.
Turning around, your eyes meet a very tall and handsome, white-haired man wearing a light blue polo shirt and dark blue tinted glasses. If you are frozen on the spot because of embarrassment earlier, now you're surely out of breath because of this smoking hot dilf.
"Megumi-chan has violin practice with me now," the handsome man says, making your jaw touch the ground.
EH? CHAN?! DON'T TELL ME HE'S MEGUMI'S GLUCOSE GUARDIAN?! A SUGAR DADDY?!?
"Let’s go home, Megumi-chan. Today I’ll have you master 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'."
You surely look so horrified that Megumi gives you a concerned look. He probably thinks that you're absolutely weirded out by what is happening right now. Yes, you're puzzled but mostly, you're kind of jealous of him because he has a major hottie violin teacher, whether that's a joke or not.
"It’s okay. Don’t mind them," the dark haired boy apologises. "Just walk straight then turn left. You'll see the kikufuku shop eventually."
"T-Thank you so much," you manage to thank him before walking away.
"Huh?" three of his friends say.
You don't have the time to bid him goodbye because you could sense that his patience is dangerously thin now. Knowing him, he's not that nice when he's pissed. The last thing you want is to get caught on Fushiguro Megumi's wrath on your brief break time.
After you are out of earshot, Megumi turns to look at his Gojo-sensei with a scary look on his face. "Okay, seriously, what is this? Could you stop? You’re embarrassing me."
Instead of answering, Gojo just flirtatiously points him with his lips slightly parted.
"Explain!"
Yuuji notices how angry his friend is and he is kind of regretting what they just did. Before he could explain himself, you walk back to them and you give the pink-haired and Nobara a smile.
"Ah, Megumi?"
His blood pressure immediately returns back to normal when he heard your voice. He is surprised to see that you came back after what the hell just happened.
He opened his mouth to ask you if you got lost but all his words retract back to his throat when you stood on your tippy toes and pecked his cheek.
You could hear his friends' surprised gasps and he isn't moving because of shock. His cheeks are beet red and he is so sure that you could hear his drumming heartbeat.
Then, you lean closer to his ear, accidentally brushing your lips on his helix which sends shivers down his spine. "Call me later. I also want to have a violin lesson together with you and your hot teacher."
After that, you bid your goodbyes to everyone and head to where Kikusuian is. The need to reward yourself with mochi just doubled today. Where did I get the nerve to do that? After over two years, I finally flirted him.
Back at the front of the ramen shop, the three idiots are shrieking like dying pigs. They couldn't believe what just happened. That it is true that Fushiguro is getting hit on (they absolutely thought it's only 50/50 true but it turned out to be 100).
Nobara and Yuuji are shaking the poor boy again, demanding for an explanation while Gojo is rambling how he raised him so damn well that he turns out to be as charismatic as he is.
To Megumi, all of the noises are nothing compared to the pounding of his heart. His eyes follow your figure as you finally head to your destination, not having any idea about how you bewitched him.
Maybe I also need some kikufuku mochi right now.