Archive of Our Own ^beta

When Yuji first sauntered over to her—bright-eyed with a smile almost too large for his face and hair the color of the peonies she sometimes bought for her grandmother—she had written him off as just another typical college asshole looking for a warm hole with a pretty face. 

Or, from her observations at the handful of parties she had allowed Maki to drag her to, sometimes the face didn’t even have to be all that pretty. The description may be a bit crass and unkempt, but Nobara had never claimed to be a shrinking rose or ladylike (at least where her mouth was concerned) and it fit all the guys who had approached her since she enrolled at Jujutsu Technical University.

But regardless, she couldn’t be blamed for how she labeled him because that was all she had been running into for the whole two years she had been here. 

Guys who befriended her after meeting in class or at a club or on the quad who she may have sort of started thinking were actually interesting and sweet—before they asked her out and all the pieces fell into place. It was a special kind of shitty. Learning that someone who you may have considered a friend was just working you until you were ripe enough to maybe let them fuck you. And if Nobara was some other girl—one who cared about what people thought about her or didn’t revel in making young men cry—then she might have been hurt by the frequency it happened to her.

But she wasn’t. Maki and Megumi (her only real male friend who had zero interest in her genitals) called her sadistic for how much she loved tearing down the faux nice guys and incognito dude-bros who gravitated around her. They’d ask her out—“Do you wanna get pizza… as more than friends?”, “I really like you. Like really .”, or “I didn’t wanna ruin our friendship because you mean so much to me but… I can’t deny how I feel about you…”—and she’d whisper out that magical trigger: 

“Oh… no, sorry. I think we’re better as friends.”

Then all of the pretenses would drop from their faces like snow melting in summer. She’d seen it happen so often that Nobara could pinpoint the exact millisecond that their personalities would switch like some psychotic switch was flipped at her rejection, and her smirk would turn into a full-blown smile.

Oh… Maybe she was sadistic?

Because she kinda loved seeing them mad. Hearing how their voice would crack as they started their ‘friend-zoning bitch’ speeches, having them complain about how good of a guy they were and how clearly women only wanted assholes, and if they decided to be bad guys in the future it was all Nobara’s fault. Sometimes they would wax poetic about how they just wanted to take care of Nobara, pamper her, appreciate her for her mind … while staring full force at her tits for what would definitely be the last time.

Nobara would lean up against the table—for some reason these idiots loved to give their little shows when she was trying to have lunch—and look them in the eyes before saying, “Thank you for your kind words, but I’m afraid I don’t feel the same. I think we’re better as friends. Only friends.”

This would usually set them off again and then the games really started. Nobara could unleash all of her aggression onto these well-deserving dumbasses. 

Rarely, the guy would just walk off.

Once, she’d made a dude cry. 

But it was always fucking hilarious . 

Jujutsu Tech University had a lot going for it, but its main population left a fuckton to be desired. Most of the students were non-legacy students from all around Japan, like she was, and they were alright. A lot of them were either frumpy city kids, country bumpkins (of which she did not count herself as) or boring. So fucking boring. 

And then there were the actual legacy students.

The big three.

The Zenin, Gojo, and Kamo families. 

Other than Megumi and Maki (and Noritoshi who was too quiet for her to actively dislike) the rest of those kids were dickheads—plain and simple. A bunch of spoiled boys and girls who might have been generations removed from claiming a spot as heads of any clan but walked around campus like they held actual power. Nobara hated the postering. Most of those kids would shrink away if she even looked at them.

Then there were the stubborn, masochistic few who saw her as something to be conquered because she was one of a handful of girls who weren’t dying to lay under a boy from the big three. They didn’t care that she was stubborn, not from a prestigious family, smarter than any of them or that she was often described as rude and selfish—they wanted her because she didn’t want anything to do with them.

And no matter how much Nobara cussed or yelled or crushed them under her cruelest words, that meant it would always be open season on being the first to bed her. 

Which royally sucked for her libido. 

Nobara had resigned herself to the fact that she probably wasn't going to find anyone decent at this university after all. 

Oh well.

Life goes on.

It wasn’t like she came to Tokyo to find a boy, anyway. She came for herself. Because she was suffocating in her small country town where she was the most interesting thing for miles. 

She came to Jujutsu Tech so she wouldn’t die there. 

Not so she could date. 

And, hey, at least she wouldn’t have anything to distract her from her schoolwork? 

No…

It definitely still sucked. 

All of this was why the rejection to Yuji’s invitation to dinner spilled from her lips without a moment's hesitation even though, compared to all the other assholes who’d pulled this same move, she actually really liked Yuji.

Sure, he was an idiot but he was funny and goofy in a way that allowed her to be funny and goofy whenever they were partners in chemistry. She had been starting to think that maybe they were actually friends. Like real, platonic friends just like she was with Megumi. Yuji was so genuine, kind, and unassuming that she found it hard to imagine him trying to trick her into bed like the others. 

And he was stupid. 

And maybe him being an idiot made him all that more genuine in her eyes? 

Maybe? 

It added to the sting that Nobara would have actually wanted to date someone like Yuji. Someone who was nice where she could be mean, who was naive where she was worldly. Someone who was just as interesting as she was, in all the ways she wasn’t. 

Plus, Yuji was, like, really fucking hot. 

But alas… 

That didn’t fucking matter. He might not have been from a prestigious family but, clearly, he was just like the others.

So she turned him down without missing a beat. 

“Hey, Kugisaki!” Nobara looked up from her sandwich to see Yuji walking over to her table. His red backpack was slung over his shoulder, and his hair was pink . Nobara blinked. It hadn’t been pink yesterday during class. He stopped in front of her table. “How have you been?”

“Your hair is pink.”

Yuji chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Yeah, it is! I dyed it last night!”

“Why?” 

Yuji shrugged, his cheeks dimpling as he smiled down at her. 

It really wasn’t fair how much the pink suited him. It should have made him look ridiculous—that ridiculous color matched with his ridiculous smile and his ridiculous energy—but it just made him look… hotter. If that was possible.

“Spur of the moment thing.” He gripped the strap of his bag. “I was actually wondering if you wanted to get dinner with me tonight. Toge was just telling me about this super cool sushi place downtown and I know you love sushi…” Oh no. “So what do you say?” 

And that was it. 

That blush, the way he was holding his backpack like some kind of support blanket, how his eyes glittered with hope? There was no way this was a platonic dinner request. 

He was asking her on a date. 

Nobara frowned.

Shit . 

“I’m busy tonight. Lots of homework.”

“Oh,” Yuji said, “okay, then! What about tomorrow?”

Nobara sighed. 

“I’ll be busy then too.” Yuji moved to speak, and she could already see where this was going with startling clarity. He really didn’t know how to play his cards close to the chest, did he? “I’ll be busy the day after that and the day after that, too. I’ll be busy until I graduate.” 

The smile on Yuji’s face finally slipped.

And there was the final nail in the coffin of what could have been a great friendship. 

Except… 

Yuji shrugged, cheeks dimpling again as he shot her a smile that was just as bright as the last. Maybe brighter.

“Oh, okay!” he said. Much too cheery for someone that had just been so thoroughly rejected. He pursed his lips, thinking. “Maybe Fushiguro would wanna go? He likes sushi, right?” 

Nobara blinked. What?

“Or maybe I can get Toge to go again? He is the one who suggested it…” Again—what? Nobara knew Yuji was an idiot but… was he not comprehending what had just happened? Did he not realize she’d rejected him? What was he acting so… normal? “I don’t think there’s a game tonight so maybe Panda can tag along, too?”

“What?” Nobara finally asked aloud. 

Yuji chuckled. “Oh, sorry. I’m just tired of the cafeteria food here…”

“Is that the only reason you invited me?” Had she read the situation wrong? “Because you’re bored of eating sandwiches all day?”

Yuji shook his head. 

“No, of course not.” He chuckled. The sound was just as light and jovial as when they’d fall into giggling fits during the lecture. “I invited you because I like you, Kugisaki.” His face softened. “A lot. But I understand… you’re probably swamped. And it is almost midterms. Maybe we can check it out when you aren’t as busy?”

Nobara was so shocked—of all the ways this had gone in the past she had never experienced this—that she didn’t even reiterate her refusal like she would have for anyone else. 

He knew she was rejecting him. 

But he didn't even seem fazed at all. 

She was honestly stunned. 

Yuji looked down at his watch. “ Shit . I only have like twenty minutes to grab something before Professor Gojo’s class…” He looked back at her, eyes locking. “Mind if I sit with you?”

Nobara still had half of her sandwich and an unopened bag of chips, but she suddenly didn’t feel hungry. 

“I’m actually leaving. I’m really—“

“Busy?” Yuji tilted his head as he smiled at her with understanding in his eyes. “Nah, I get it. I’ll see you in chem, then. Okay?” 

Understanding and not anger or sadness or annoyance. 

Understanding . 

Something in Nobara skipped a traitorous beat (and she’d be damned before she acknowledged it as her heart). Yuji started walking away, turning around to give her a small wave goodbye.

And he walked away, leaving Nobara there watching him until he disappeared into the sandwich line.

That…

That was not what she was expecting.

Nobara shook her head as if that would clear it of all these wayward thoughts, gathered her tray and plate, and dashed out of there at a totally respectable and non-Yuji-related speed. 

Nothing about this mattered. 

It didn’t. 

It didn’t matter if Yuji reacted differently to everyone else who had approached her. It didn’t matter that he was still kind and friendly and smiled at her the same way even after she’d rejected him. It didn’t matter that he’d dyed his hair fucking pink. None of it mattered.

Maybe Megumi and Maki were right. Maybe she was enjoying the blow ups and arguments too much. Now she didn’t know how to handle it when someone didn’t become an asshole the instant she rejected them.

It didn’t make Yuji special. 

It made him normal. 

But it didn’t matter. 

As long as he left her alone and stopped asking her out, Nobara could care less about his reaction. 

That was the end of it.

That wasn’t the end of it.

The next morning, Nobara slept through her alarm clock.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” 

She grabbed the closest jacket she could find because of fucking course it would be raining on the one day she let herself have more than three hours of sleep and of course she would be late to Professor Gakuganji’s review class. Moral Philosophy was one of her hardest classes this semester, and she had the terrible fucking luck of having that old fossil as her teacher. Not only was his class the hardest—he didn’t believe in projects or papers or journal entries like any of the other philosophy teachers did; his whole course only had two exams. 

The midterm and the final. 

If she tanked the midterm—and she was already struggling to read all the books he’d assigned—there was no way she could save her grade. 

“Shit. Fuck.” Nobara ran out of her dorm, whizzing past Momo and Mai without so much as a hello into the sudden downpour of rain that had come from nowhere. It had been fucking sunny all week. “Shit, shit, fuck, fuck.”

She stumbled into her lecture fifteen minutes late in her pajama pants and a random sweatshirt she’d gotten from some judo club event Maki had dragged her to, soaked to the bone because in her rush she’d somehow grabbed the only jacket she owned without a hood. 

“Miss Kugisaki.”

She looked like a drenched cat. 

Her laptop was definitely wet too. 

She bobbed her head. “Professor.” 

He didn’t look up from his lecture notes but she could tell he wasn’t impressed. “Try not to… leak all over the place.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

Nobara turned to the hall seats. 

As if this day couldn’t get any fucking worse, her usual seat, next to Megumi in the middle row near the left, was being occupied by some rando. 

She scanned the rows hoping to find an empty seat and spared herself the added humiliation of sitting on the windowsill where all the idiots and the stoners sat. Other than it being like an admittance of her stupidity, she wouldn’t be able to hear anything up there. 

“Miss Kugisaki.” Nobara didn’t want to look at him. She could feel his eyes and the eyes of almost everyone in the hall staring at her. Megumi gave her an apologetic smile. The traitor. “Take a seat, please.” 

Nobara sighed.

It looked like the nosebleeds were calling her nam—

Just as she was about to make her way to her horrible new spot, and praying that she wouldn’t have to go to her next class smelling like a dispensary, a waving hand caught her eye. 

“Pst!” Yuji whisper-yelled, not at all discrete about it, from the left side of the middle row just across from Megumi. Since when was he in this class? She’d never noticed him. But sure enough—there he was pointing at the seat next to him where his red backpack sat. “Over here!”

Nobara blinked. 

Did he save her a seat? 

This was strange for a whole host of reasons. The most striking being that she’d just rejected him two days ago —flat out. Usually, the guys she rejected avoided her like a plague afterward. But, then again, usually they were nursing bruised egos (and sometimes bruises on other parts of their person) and had a good reason but…

This was weird. 

Right? 

She expected Megumi or Maki to save her seats in class. She expected that from her friends. Yuji… Yuji had made it clear that he didn’t want to be just her friend and she’d rejected him. So why was he still being… Yuji . Why was he acting like yesterday had never happ— 

“If you could hurry this along, Miss Kugisaki?” 

Nobara sighed.

As weird as this was, a seat was better than no seat. 

She walked past Professor Gakuganji feeling slightly delighted as he grimaced at the damp trail she was leaving in front of his podium until her wet sneakers sloshed as she climbed the side stairs up to her new seat. She shimmied through the row past other students, ignoring the complaints from her classmates as she dampened their notebooks in passing, and sat down next to the pink-haired boy who she’d already rejected like it wasn’t weird . 

Nobara pulled her laptop out (thankful that it still seemed to be working after taking a swim in her bag). She could see Yuji looking at her from the side of her eye, smiling the same dopey smile that seemed to always be on his face whenever he saw her.

Definitely weird . 

She cleared her throat. 

 "Um, thanks,” she whispered. Yuji smiled bigger and Nobara felt herself flush. From the temperature difference. Of course. Not for anything… not because of.. fuck . “For the seat.”

If Yuji could see her floundering, he didn’t say anything. He just reached into his backpack—ignoring the glare they got from their Professor for the loud sound of him rummaging—and pulled out a small square-shaped thing. 

He held it out to her. 

Nobara looked down at it. 

A protein bar. 

So fucking weird. 

 "Here.” Yuji dropped the bar on her desk next to her laptop. “I’m guessing you probably skipped breakfast, right?” Once again, Nobara wasn’t sure what to say. She just nodded, trying to catch up to whatever plane of existence Yuji was on. Did they cover this in class? “You’re welcome.”

And with that he turned back to the lecture and took notes. Nobara didn’t know what to say—it was becoming a recurring thing whenever she was around Yuji—so she unwrapped the protein bar, took a bite and started typing.

When class ended, Yuji leaned towards her. “He went over chapters two, four and six before you got here.” Yuji handed her his notebook. “He said the majority of the exam would be over those three.”

Nobara frowned. “Then why did he spend twenty minutes going over chapter one?”

Yuji shrugged. “Feint?”

What? “What?”

“It’s a sword-fighting term,” Yuji explained. “It’s a move when you act like you’re going to do one thing and then do another. You know… like a misdirect.” Nobara frowned. “I think it’s French… or maybe Spanish?”

Nobara looked down at the notebook. 

Yuji’s handwriting was actually really nice. Crisp, precise capital letters that she wouldn’t have thought the hectic energy he constantly radiated with would allow for, and it looked like he was right. Professor Gakuganji had apparently crammed the majority of the information that would be in the test in those first fifteen minutes, probably, like Yuji said, as a misdirect. He had four full pages, front and back, filled with minuscule details that he’d probably turn into essay questions.

That sneaky bastard.

But Yuji’s notes… They actually looked really good. Like he’d been writing down everything the fossil said from the moment he sat down.

“You sword fight?”

Yuji shook his head.  “I was in the fencing club in high school.” 

“Oh.” She hadn’t known that about him. They talked about high school sometimes during lulls in lab but mostly just small silly stories. Although, if she was honest, outside of chemistry class she didn’t know much about him. “Do you still do it?” 

“Nope.” Yuji stood up, packing away his book and pencil. He zipped his backpack up and sling it over one of his shoulders letting the other strap hang. “Not since my grandfather died.”

They’d talked about his grandfather.

Half of Yuji’s stories revolved around the man. He was always entertaining her with tidbits about his grandfather’s younger days, weird things he would say while chasing Yuji around, and reliving all the pranks he’d pull on him. The man had basically raised him and it was clear, whenever he spoke, that he admired the man.

She didn’t know he was dead. 

A million questions entered Nobara’s head: When did he die? What happened? Why didn’t you ever say anything, you idiot? Where do you go during breaks, then? How long have you been alone? Are you okay?

But Nobara couldn’t bring herself to ask any of them—it didn’t feel like her place, all things considered—so instead she settled on asking: “Were you any good?” 

“Huh?” 

Shit. 

She could feel herself blushing again. 

“At fencing. Were you any good at fencing?”

Yuji chuckled. “I got a couple medals.”

She almost wanted to ask him to show her.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Nobara quickly stood, gathering her books. Today was clearly not her day. She’d overslept and now her head was all over the place, having her thinking and feeling all these weird things about the boy she had rightfully rejected.

She seriously needed some coffee. 

Her bag was thankfully dry so she slipped her laptop in. Her shoes were still wet as she stood but they didn’t seep when she stepped anymore so that was a plus. 

Maybe things were looking up?

Until Yuji opened his mouth again. 

“Do you want to go grab some breakfast?” She had to be dreaming. But from the way Yuji rocked on his heels, smiling as he asked her out again she wasn’t dreaming. This wasn’t a dream. It had to be a nightmare. “I didn’t have time to hit the cafeteria either, and that protein bar isn’t gonna hold."

Seriously?  

Apparently, all she had to do was give men time and they’d all show their true colors... even if they were really convincing.

Nobara couldn’t help but feel disappointed. 

She looked away, she couldn’t stand to look into those brown eyes. "I have another class in, like, ten minutes and I've gotta run.” She didn’t know why but the word, “Sorry”, slipped out before she could stop it. 

She scolded herself. 

Why the hell was she apologizing? He was the one who couldn't take a hint. He was the one who wanted to join in on this weird game the boys had built around her… It wasn’t her fault. 

“I just, sorry,” she said like a loser. 

Yuji smiled at her and shook his head, adjusting the strap to his bag. 

"No, I get it. Don't worry about it.” He handed her a pencil she’d probably dropped in her haste to the seat. She took it from him and slipped it into her backpack pocket and definitely didn’t feel any spark or goosebumps or anything when they touched. Nope.“Seems like you're having a tough morning... I'll see you around, I guess!" 

And he left, waving jovially over his shoulder.

No name-calling. 

No “friend-zoning bitch”. 

No hatred.

No cussing. 

No fight. 

“I'll see you around, I guess!”

Nobara stood there with her bag hanging from her hand, the last in the lecture hall, utterly confused. 

Her stomach growled. 

"What the fuck is his problem?"

For an idiot… Yuji took really good notes.

She took pictures of the pages from the review and a few from classes where her own notes were lacking before texting him about returning his notebook. He told her to keep it. He took amazing notes but apparently, he never found the time to actually sit down and read them. Which would explain his grades.

It was honestly impressive that he managed to pass his classes if he really never studied like he claimed. 

It was stupid but impressive. 

She got a ninety-four on the exam. 

And if her first instinct was to text Yuji that didn’t fucking matter because she didn’t think about him at all and who was to say it was his notes that helped? She read the textbook. Reread the chapters three, four times and watched copious videos on the subjects online. 

She could attribute her good grade to any of those things, right?

Right.

Nobara didn’t need to thank him because she didn’t need anyone. 

Yuji Itadori 

1:34 PM

Hey! 😆

1:34 PM

That test was killer, right? How you end up doing?

1:35 PM

I hope the notes helped! 

Nobara Kugisaki 

4:12 PM

I got a 94%

4:54 PM

Thanks for the notes. 

A week later Nobara was lying down in her bed, nursing a migraine that drilled holes into her temples at every sound, any light, and all sudden movements.

And she was nauseous.

She was miserable. 

Truly.

A miserable girl cursed never to leave her bed or else she’d be doubled over in pain like she had been since that morning when her alarm clock struck her head like the blunt end of a hammer. It would probably be less painful for her to take one of her carpentry nails and lobotomize herself.

At least then she wouldn’t feel like shit. 

Maki, her roommate, had had to tiptoe around her this morning as she got ready for class and whispered an offer to stop by the pharmacy. For once, maybe because of the numbing pain, Nobara had felt bad about what a big baby she could be when she was sick and had assured her that she just needed a rest and she’d be fine, really .

She wasn’t fine. 

She wasn’t sure she’d make it to the end of the day without crying. 

She was knocking on Death’s door and that bastard didn’t even have the decency to answer and put her out of her misery.

“ Asshole ,” Nobara whispered to the ceiling as if Death could hear her. She probably looked and sounded insane—nauseous, clammy, sickly and insane—but there was no one here to judge her. It was just her and her migraine. No pills, no nurse, no help. “ Finish the fucking job. ” 

A gentle knock sounded through the room in response and Nobara lifted her head, momentarily forgetting that her migraine hated movement just as much as it hated everything else before being swiftly reminded by a painful throb. 

“Shit.” 

Another knock sounded. 

Nobara slowly tore herself from the bed, hoping that it was either Maki with some pain killers, or actual Death.

Either one would do. 

But it was neither.

It was Yuji. 

He stood in her hallway, smiling and holding a plastic shopping bag in his hand.

“Hey!” he said softly.

She was honestly surprised.

Nobara didn’t know Yuji knew how to speak in a tone that wasn’t at the top of his lungs . 

She blinked.

Yuji paused for an awkward moment, clearly fidgeting. 

 "I, um, ran into Maki on the quad. She told me that you had a migraine and, you know, I was going to the store anyway, so I thought you might want these." He held out the bag for her, face open and honest in that way that confused Nobara to no end. Especially when her head still pounding due to the fluorescent lights in the hall. She still didn’t trust herself not to burst into tears at the prospect of drugs, so all she could do was take the bag. “I wasn’t sure if you had a specific brand that you use.” Yuji reached in and presented her with a blue box. “These always help me out but, fair warning, they make you super sleepy. I bought the non drowsy version too and a few other brands they had at the store and just, um, some other stuff. In case you needed food.”

There were three other boxes of medication, a few water bottles, maximum strength painkiller, and some snacks. 

Nobara couldn’t remember the last time someone went out of their way for her like this. Sure, her grandmother had always taken care of her when she was sick, Maki or Megumi usually took care of her here but… she didn’t like bothering people. Maki and Megumi had to drill it into her head that, no, she wasn’t bothering them, so she let them take care of her, but before she had them… she was used to fixing her own problems, relying on her own smarts to take her places, nursing herself back to health.

But Yuji…

She’d rejected him twice… he had no obligation to be so fucking… nice. 

But here he was.

Standing outside her door and bringing her things to make her feel better because he heard she was sick. 

"You didn't have to do this."

"I know,” Yuji shrugged, "but I did it anyway." 

Nobara didn’t know what to say to that. 

That sentence spoke volumes and stole every retort that she could possibly think of from her, so Yuji continued, "I'd ask you to have lunch with me, but you should rest and get out of these lights. I'll see you later, alright?"

Nobara didn’t respond.

She just watched Yuji walk away and waved goodbye like a fucking loser before shutting her door.

Nobara slowly walked back into her dark cave,, and proceeded to take two of the blue pills from the box Yuji gave her. She settled back into her blankets in silence, closing her eyes and waiting for the pills to send her to sleep as promised, where hopefully her heart would slow down and these emotions (not all of them bad) would leave her the fuck alone. 

It didn’t happen often but maybe—and that was a strong italicized bold printed underlined maybe —Nobara was wrong about Yuji. 

When Nobara opened herself up to the chance, the small minuscule chance, that she was misjudging Yuji, she was suddenly at a loss. 

He remained the same—kind, dorky, bright—but she suddenly didn’t know what to do with her hands around him or what to say or how she was supposed to be… so she avoided him. 

Completely and obviously. 

It was easy enough around campus. 

With his weird bright pink hair, Yuji was easy to spot, so whenever she saw him she would just walk in the opposite direction. It made her commute to class a little longer and, yes, she had had more lattes these last few days than her entire college career, but it was worth it to avoid confrontation. She would continue it as long as possible. 

Yuji was surprisingly observant, though, and every so often he would spot her before she spotted him and call out to her, forcing her to—in a completely normal and discrete fashion—run way. It was nearly impossible to dodge him during chemistry class, but this close to the end of the semester, they didn’t really have time to chat during class like they used to.  As soon as the bell rang, Nobara would run out of the classroom, leaving him to put away the bunsen burners and titration equipment without a moment’s hesitation.

All things considered, avoiding Yuji was working out pretty well, but there was one problem with her solution…

She still had all of these feelings . 

Feelings that made her want to talk to Yuji and get to know him. That made her wish she had agreed to get lunch with him so she could know definitively if Yuji was full of shit just like everyone else or if he was really just a nice guy.

She thought he might be—a real genuine nice guy.

But she couldn’t be sure.

Did Jujutsu Tech even enroll nice people? 

The whole school was either filled with pampered idiots or students, like her, who had come here on scholarship and were fully immersed in their studies.

Yuji didn’t belong to either of those camps. 

What was his deal? 

Part of her wanted to find out… 

But the other part of her—the larger, squishier part of her—knew that if she let him close and she was wrong that may very well fuck her up bad. 

So she decided to do what any sane person would do in her situation. 

Get answers.

And that was precisely what she was in the process of doing days later when Megumi happened upon her hiding in the bushes beside the baseball field, watching Yuji stretch before practice. 

“What the hell are you doing?” 

Nobara, rightfully, freaked out and grabbed Fushiguro. In a matter of seconds, she had him behind the bushes with her, crouching and staring out through the small hole she’d fashioned in the bush to see Yuji touch his toes. 

Once Megumi found his balance in his new position (and saw exactly what the hell she was doing) he felt the need to reiterate himself. “What the fuck are you doing?” 

“Getting the truth,” Nobara hissed. She tried to keep her voice down, which Megumi didn’t get since they were not that close to the baseball pitch anyway. But Nobara was very committed. “This is a stakeout.”

“No, it isn't.” 

“Yes, it is.” 

“This is stalking.” 

“Shut up. No, it isn’t.” Nobara had considered that and decided that if the police could get away with this without being creepy then so could she. But the look on Megumi’s face made her think otherwise. “Shut up. Shut your face.” 

“ Shut my face? ”

“Don’t look at me like I’m crazy!” 

“I’m not looking at you like you’re crazy,” Megumi said. “I’m looking at you like this because you are crazy.” He poked her. “You are a crazy lady spying on a nice guy.” 

“Nice guy?” Nobara watched Yuji chatting with the guy at third base. He threw his head back, laughing. Nice guy? She’d find out. “You think Itadori is a nice guy?” 

“Look at him.” Megumi pointed at the field. “He has this weird ability to make anyone his friend. It’s freaky actually. Did you know Todo wanted to fight him back in freshman year? They made arrangements and everything—Todo had something to prove apparently as a senior member of the Judo club, and I’m pretty sure Yuji just really enjoys sparring.” 

“What happened?”

“They beat the shit out of each other.” Megumi chuckled as if the memory was a fond one. Nobara was trying to figure out how Yuji was still walking. She’d seen one of Todo’s judo matches once—the guy was a beast. “And walked away arm in arm laughing like old friends. I swear that’s his superpower—making random people his best friend. It happens so often. You know Kokichi Muta? The kid with the prosthetics who had to miss like five months of school freshman year? Yuji would visit him at the hospital every week. Even went to his classes and took notes for him. Helped him with his assignments and got his professors to let him take all his exams in the hospital.”

“He did? I didn’t know he did that.” Nobara looked back at the field. What was this guy? An angel? “Superpower, huh?” 

“He did.” Megumi nodded. “Yuji missed a shit ton of his own classes in the process and almost flunked out of his first semester, but that’s just who Yuji is. He can’t turn away from someone in need. He’s kinda like an angel. A dumb, stupidly buff angel.” 

It was weird hearing Megumi speak so highly of someone but, from what she’d heard, Megumi and Yuji had their own odd friendship. She’d never seen them interact, but from what Maki told her, Yuji was the closest thing that Megumi had to a male best friend, whether he would admit it or not. And he wouldn’t. He denied it in fact. But here he was… waxing poetic about his nonfriend. 

He made Yuji sound too good to be true.

Perfect, really.

But… she just didn’t know. 

She just couldn’t… Could she just trust him? Take a chance on letting him in and risk him hurting her, humiliating her? 

Or…

Breaking her heart? 

"What if he's not, though?" Nobara asked, watching Yuji hit the baseball across the field in what was sure to be a home run. He seemed… unreal. "People can be fake."

Megumi paused, looking at her and the small unconscious smile she probably didn’t even know was on her face.

"You're right. People can be fake. But they can also be real. That’s gonna be a risk with everyone you meet. But you're not going to actually find that out by stalking people in bushes and turning down nice guys who genuinely just want to get to know you.” 

Nobara pursed her lips in thought. Coming from Megumi—who probably had the highest guard up on the entire campus—that was saying a lot. Maybe it was time for her to give a little and get to know someone. Maybe Yuji was just… Yuji . 

Megumi continued, “You’ll have to suck it up, stop being a baby, and stick your head out a little.” 

She paused, frowning. 

Why was this whole thing so damn scary? 

“I’m not a baby,” Nobara muttered. “Asshole.” 

“How do you expect to find anyone worth your time if you don’t give them some of it?” Megumi bopped her on the head like she was a child. “Are you going to say no to everyone because you’re scared that they'll be like everyone else you've met? If you do that you’ll end up as an old lady with saggy tits and cobwebs in her vagina whose most memorable sexual experience was in high school.”

“What?” Nobara cupped her breasts. “You think my tits will get saggy?” 

“Is that really what you latched on to?” He frowned.

"Shut up. I heard you.” Megumi was a good friend. Maybe her very best. “Hearing you get all sentimental makes me wanna throw up."

"Stop avoiding Itadori like some kind of anxious ninja. People around campus are starting to talk." Megumi flicked Nobara’s forehead. "And stop stalking the poor guy like a sex offender.” 

Nobara frowned. “Whatever.” 

“Not every guy is out to get you, you know,” Megumi said. “You should try trusting someone. Itadori is a great place to start. I don’t think he’ll disappoint you…” 

Nobara made up her mind three days later.

She sat out on the steps of the library, writing up a last minute history paper when an infamous red backpack plopped down to her right. Yuji stepped down before sitting a couple of paces away from her, and he leaned back to smile at her. She smirked, fingers still typing away at her paper, but she felt his gaze locked on her face.

It was nice. 

She never realized how warm he made her feel when he looked at her—like she was glowing from the inside. It was almost enough to excuse the fact that she could definitely see up his nose.

Nobara reached into her bag with one hand, pulled out a tissue and tossed it at him. 

It landed perfectly on his face, floating up as he blew against it before catching it with his right hand. He looked back at her curiously. 

“You need to blow your nose,” she said. She turned to look at him, taking in his flushed cheeks and the way he turned away to blow. God, she thought he was handsome even after seeing the inside of his nose? How had she not realized she was so far gone? He sounded like an elephant as he cleared his nose and she couldn’t help but smile like an idiot because it was so fucking Yuji . “You’re a dork. You know that?”

“I’ve been told.” Yuji chuckled, stuffing the used tissue into his pocket. “Whatcha doing?”

“Professor Gojo is offering extra credit for Cursed History 1201.” 

“Really?” Yuji pouted. “He didn’t offer extra credit when I took his class.” 

Nobara chuckled, typing out the last few sentences and messing with the margins. 

“Didn’t you take the class with Todo?” Yuji nodded. “Yeah. I’d say you’re lucky he didn’t just fail both of you and call it a day.”

Yuji’s puppy dog pout deepened, if that was possible. “Mean.” 

“I never claimed to be nice.” 

“But you are.” Nobara stopped typing to stare at Yuji. He smiled at her again, nose clean and eyes soft. Had he always looked at her like that? “You’re a good person, Kugisaki.” 

A good person, huh? 

Not a quick fix or hot or bragging rights. Not something unattainable that would lose its value and its shine when he’d had her. Not something he’d get bored with and throw away. 

A good person. 

It was kind of sad that this was the first time she could remember someone who was interested in her had commented on her character. Had called her a good person. 

It made her feel… happy but she also didn’t know what to say in response to that. 

So she started typing again and changed the subject. 

“How’d you know I was here? Maki tell you?” 

“Nope.” Yuji popped the ‘p’. “Don’t worry, I’m not stalking you… I just happened upon you. Serendipity.” 

Part of Nobara was shocked that Yuji knew what the word serendipity meant. 

“You just happened across me?” 

"Well,” Yuji shrugged, “you stand out.” 

Nobara snorted. “Meaning?” 

“ Well… ” Yuji paused, considering his words for the first time since she’d known him. “You kinda… scare people away.” 

Nobara stopped typing so suddenly it might as well had been the scratching of a record. “What?”

“I promise it's not bad. Promise!” Yuij laughed, leaning his elbows on the step behind him. "It’s just you have this… energy about you. It's very bold and… the way you walk with your head held high and how you talk to people… You look right at them, right in their eyes, no matter who they are… and your sarcasm? I guess some people think it's a little…” he paused again, ”...intimidating?” 

“Intimidating?” 

“I think people are afraid you'll, like, bite their heads off.” Yuji laughed again. “Or, you know… punch them."

Nobara groaned. "You heard?"

“Our campus isn’t that big. Everyone heard about it,” Yuji said in between giggles. “Naoya had a black eye for two weeks and he ran in the opposite direction whenever he saw you.” 

Nobara watched him laugh for a moment. She’d seen him laugh plenty—Yuji always looked like he was on the verge of breaking out into a giggling fit at any moment—and even made him laugh when they were in chem but for some reason beyond her comprehension, she was entranced by the sight of him. 

Has Yuji’s laughter always been so… bright? 

She was being ridiculous again. 

Maybe it was because most of the freshman class, even though they all knew Noaya was an ass and probably deserved whatever punishment he got, was also pretty frightened by her when they heard about that particular spat. Everyone but Maki and Megumi. 

Nobara hadn’t minded at the time. She’d always been rougher than the girls around her even back in the country, of course a display like that was bound to ruffle the feathers of the prissy city folk but she didn’t care. She wasn’t here to please any of them or make them comfortable. And she damn sure wasn’t about to let Naoya get away with squeezing her ass just to keep the status quo. Nobara would always stand up for herself. It was her thing, and Naoya deserved much more than the right hook she gave him.

And Yuji seemed to agree. 

Nobara smiled. “He still does.” 

Their conversation lulled and silence took over as Nobara finished off her adjustments, sending the paper to her professor, and Yuji watched her as she did it. Nobara had never really liked silence. It was why she had decided to work on the library steps instead of going into the library—she liked the noise of other people. It helped her focus. 

But with Yuji there, near her, she didn’t mind it so much. It felt comfortable. Like they didn’t need to keep chatting to fill the space. They could just be.

It made her feel comfortable and content. 

And brave. 

“You should try trusting someone. Itadori is a great place to start. I don’t think he’ll disappoint you…” 

Brave enough to allow herself to ask the question that had been on her mind ever since that day in the cafeteria: “If I’m so intimidating then why do you keep approaching me?"

Yuji exhaled as the sun came out and painted his pink hair a milky orange. 

“You don’t scare me,” he said, simply. 

It wasn't much of a confession—not romantic or flattering or anything of the sort—but Yuji’s eyes were open and honest as he said it, his smile was softer than ever and something electric leapt from between the two of them. 

Nobara took a deep breath and closed her laptop.

Yuji looked over at her, startled by the sound. 

"So… Um…” Nobara stuttered. Nobara didn’t stutter. Nobara was cool and confident and… intimidating. She was brave, goddamn it , she could do this. "I was, uh…going to grab something in the cafeteria before class. You could… I mean, if you want... “ Yuji’s smile grew. The cocky little shit, he was enjoying this! And people called her the sadist. Nobara stomped her foot—actually stomped her foot like a child—and glared at him. “Fuck you, Yuji! Do you want to join me or not?

Yuji paused, smiling up at the sky again. 

"Is it my turn to say no now?"

Nobara leaned over and nudged his shoulder roughly. 

"You’d better fucking not!"

Yuji caught her hand, bringing it up to his mouth and kissed against her knuckles, taking her by surprise. Nobara froze, flushing bright red as she stared into those warm brown eyes that had sneakily become her favorite color. 

A warm, gooey, pleasant feeling spread up her arm to her chest, forcing a smile on her face just as dumb and dopey as his, as he said, “I’d love to.” 

It didn’t happen often but maybe— just this once —Megumi was right.