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"Oi. Fushiguro."
Tired eyes fall onto her, and find a bored pair staring back.
"What?"
"How come you-" she pauses, gulping her own saliva before continuing. If that was a response to him scrunching his nose at her drawling, then it is not productive at all. If anything, he is barely holding in a gag now.
"- don't have a girlfriend?"
Out of all the things she could have asked to kill time, it indubitably had to be this.
"How would I know?" He recoils, and tries prioritising the book in hand. But of course, it would not be Kugisaki if she gives up that easily.
"Of course you would know."
He sighs, distinctly on purpose, and she is not even fazed.
"If you aren't getting any girls with that face, there has got to be something gravely wrong that you should be knowing. Well, either that or you are yet to find out."
What's so special about my face? A part of him is itching to drag that conversation forward, even so it is held back by the one telling him that there is no way in hell he is getting a straight answer out of her.
She pauses to take a quick glance around, and Megumi can feel it in his gut that it isn't going to be something half decent that leaves her mouth like this.
Her eyes zero onto him. "Is it something that you cannot discuss, like, in public? Is it like that sort of a thing? " She whispers, or atleast she believes herself to be doing so with her neck bent forward and a hand shielding her mouth, but in reality she is on her standard volume and could have have been heard by any one passing by the room.
He should be yelling at her for that one, and believe him when he says that he really wishes to. Yet, it is knowing that if someone heard what he is mad over, it will not take 2 whole hours for the rumour to reach the entire school that holds him back. Especially when Gojo and Itadori are part of the said school.
"It's nothing like that, you idiot." He hisses instead, and shoots her a glare. He can feel his face heating up, yet he sees her not even flinching, sitting there like the moron she is. Still expecting an answer.
Well, she is not letting him be until he says something, he knows that much. Might as well humour her enough .
"Might be like you and Itadori say, that I'm too gloomy and shit." His face drifts back to the half shut book, but he is well aware it is not over yet.
"Yeah but- argh- " He watches the lollipop drop from her mouth. Megumi cannot tell if it is impulse or frenzy, but watching her grasp it in her bare hand is not doing his gut any favours. Seeing her shove it back in her mouth, though, is where the true horror lies. He gags so hard he almost chokes.
Damn this brat. So disgusting.
"Yeah, but girls these days dig it, y'know. All they want is a tall, dark, attractive looking boyfriend. You should be getting swarmed by them. But you're still so, so single."
Gently, the book is folded shut. He takes a long breath, and then a second one.
She blinks "You okay?"
Setting his book aside, he finds himself slumping on the desk, back of a hand supporting a cheek and the entire focus of seemingly passive gaze now on Nobara, who seems little surprised by the change in demeanor.
"You think I'm attractive looking?"
It takes her five good seconds to aprehend what has been said to her.
"....heh?" Her face loses all colour, and his lips twitch at just how swiftly it occurs.
"You said it yourself, didn't you? Tall, dark, attractive looking boyfriend? I can get the tall and dark part, but no one has ever called me attractive looking before."
"No one?"
She sounds like she finds it hard to believe. It is not really true afterall; he has had his fair share of girls tell him that. But, she does not need to know that.
He shakes his head with a little hmm. This time, the lollipop falls and she does not even move to catch it.
"Well, I didn't mean it that way either...." The fashion with which that previously loud tone falters into nothing but a mumbled huff, is just the cherry on the cake.
"What way?"
Her eyes narrow on him. He believes that this is to be surmised as her glaring daggers at him, but, he does not take that seriously any other time either, and he's even less inclined to do so when she's getting redder than Itadori's hoodie.
Looking at her now, on second thoughts, he should have asked her about his face when he had the chance.
"I meant it generally?!" She professes as if it is supposed to be undoubtedly obvious, but the fumble in her words makes him second guess if even she herself is convinced of it. "Like, it's a thing amongst girls nowadays. They think that depressed guys are hot and all, and you kinda fit their perception of attractive."
He blinks idly. "I see—"
"From what I have seen, atleast."
"Ahh-"
"Or I guess so. I wouldn't know for sure."
His eyes gaze right into hers.
"So, you know any girls that might be interested?"
For a second time in that conversation, she seems dumbfounded, and he knows that she is not happy this time either. He observes her put some pressure on her head for a couple of seconds.
"None that come to mind right now—"
Liar.
"— like I said, it's a general thing."
She is less flushed now, but the grimace on her face just increases.
"Urgh, stop giving me that stupid look." Slamming her fists on the desk is not at all neccessary while she gets up, but she must be pissed afterall. "I swear I'll fucking slap you into next year if you don't wipe that smirk off your face!"
That 'smirk' happens to be a little smile that crept its way out somewhere in the middle of all of this; he does not even notice it until she has already slammed the door and stomped out. He can hear some muttering, but he conjectures he should not put his ear to it unless he is interested in hearing himself be cussed out in Tohoku dialect.
Well, now that that is over, he gathers he can go back to his book. Still, he senses there is no real point when he knows he will not be able to concentrate anymore.
It must be hypocritical of him to be amused by what he did to Nobara when he himself must have been blushing ever since she said that thing about his face, and burning mad when she uttered that stupid thing about private problems and attractive guys, but then again, this is exactly the kind of stuff that little paybacks are for, is it not?