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Knock… Knock… Knock…
Megumi wakes up to soft raps on his door. The dim and quiet room is slowly taking shape as his eyes begin to adjust to the darkness.
Knock knock… Knock knock…
The sound continued. Although it was faint, Megumi heard it since he trained his body to be alert at all times even if he was inside campus. After all, Jujutsu High is full of eccentrics.
… Knock knock …
Groaning as he stood up, he searched for his wall clock to find the small hand. He started to make a mental list to guess which eccentric decided to wake him up at two in the morning.
It wasn’t until he heard the fragile voice of his girlfriend calling for him that his features immediately softened with worry and he scrambled for his door.
“Nobara?” he said as he quickly swung open his door revealing a messy bedhead and an anxious eye. He did not sense any immediate danger and, upon inspecting the hallway, no one was there with her as well.
Looking back at Nobara, he waits for her to say something – do anything other than pick at her sweater. Seeing her like this only doubled his anxiety. He wants his confident Nobara back.
After a long moment of carefully examining him, Nobara exhaled a sigh, “Thank goodness, I’m so relieved.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, actually. And it should stay this way.” Nobara replied with nervous laughter.
Megumi notices Nobara's trembling form and takes one of her hands with his.
He knows what this is. An experience he is all too familiar with. He knows the suffocating helplessness and the hair-raising chills an ominous dream brings.
Some nights he dreads the thought of sleeping, afraid of what would haunt him as soon as he closes his eyes for the night. But most nights he wishes he could dream a good dream. At the very least, he hopes a good memory resurfaces in his sleep to remind him of better times.
When his sister showed him her favorite constellations. The first time he ever summoned his Divine Dogs. That time he got home safe and sound from his first solo mission. The days he first met Yuuji and Nobara.
His teacher and guardian standing proud in their graduation ceremony. His friends at a summer festival, watching the fireworks together. A parent he vaguely remembers cooking a home-cooked meal. His future with her in their peaceful neighborhood surrounded by all their friends and loved ones.
He’d like to think that there will be better days ahead. It didn’t come naturally for a pessimist like Megumi to think like that, but being constantly around Nobara made him see things in rosier tints of glasses.
Right now his rose needs him, and he needs her to feel safe.
He can see through her and she knows this. Tears are starting to pool in her eyes, and she clutches his hand tighter.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
Her lips quivered and the tears threatened to pour down, but before they could Megumi pulled her close to kiss away the lonely feelings and doubts inside her.
Caressing her face, he kissed her forehead.
Near her eyes.
Her cheek.
Her hands.
Finally her lips.
After making sure she was feeling better, he closed the door behind her and pulled her further inside the room.
“Come on, you need to sleep.”
Confused and startled by the sudden invitation into her boyfriend’s room, she stuttered “Megumi, this isn’t necessary… I’m going back to–”
“Just accept it while I’m still feeling generous,” he cut her off, accepting no excuses from her. Despite this, he was a blushing mess, but he hid it well thanks to the dark room.
Guiding her to his bed, he placed her on the side away from the door, and pulled the blanket over her legs. Nobara waited for him to lie down and open his arms for her, so that she could lay her head on his chest and wrap her arms around his torso.
The closer the better, as if two traumatized people could become unbroken just by keeping each other close by. In his arms, she felt safe and she felt whole. She could feel Megumi's heart alive and kicking, and all was right in the world.
They were no strangers to this position. Often times, cuddling naturally happens after opening a Netflix movie一soon to be forgotten as they would rather tell each other about their day or the latest gossip around. Or after a nasty argument that would leave them wanting to comfort the other despite of their pride. The moment hurt expressions are revealed, it’s all over.
This is the first time they did this in a sensitive and vulnerable state in the middle of the night.
After relieved and contented sighs, as his hand soothingly rubbed the back of her neck while his other hand was placed around her, he quietly asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
When she didn’t answer for a while, Megumi was prepared to give her the space she needed. Suddenly, he felt her attempt to get closer to him as if that was any more possible.
“It felt so real,” her voice came in a whisper that he almost missed it. “I dreamt that you died.”
Oh.
“I screamed and screamed and screamed, but there was nothing I could do to take it back,” her voice began to shake.
“I know it’s just a dream and I shouldn’t look into it too much, but… I’m reminded of the fact that he cursed* you… and I don’t know if I can protect you from that.”
The truth is he doesn’t know if anything would actually happen to him, but he won’t live in agony while waiting for that to happen. He could die tomorrow or he could die fifty years from now, anything could happen. With everything that he has been through, he needs to do himself a favor and be selfish with his life. He can’t be shackled, he decided he deserves better. No more regrets and no more holding back.
"Nobara, I'm not going anywhere soon."
"But…"
"We don't know for sure what he means. He was a dying man. Besides,” Megumi brushed her hair away from her eye, "I'm not leaving you alone."
"Even if I did, I'll make it hard for you to forget me," he sealed his promise with a kiss on her forehead.
Nobara, now in a calmer state, responded after some moments. “There’s only you, Megumi,” she answered nuzzling her nose to his neck, “Only you.”
And there was nobody else but her. It was a mystery how he had gotten by without her before. She was a puzzle piece he didn’t know was missing. Just like now with their arms tangled around each other, legs overlapped, and heartbeats as one. Everything was right. Everything was beautiful.
“Get some sleep. When you wake up, I'll be here and you won't be alone... Isn't that the scary part of nightmares? Waking up alone in the middle of the night,” Megumi pondered while he rubbed her scalp gently to coax her into sleeping.
“Yeah… Knowing somebody is with you kind of invalidates the nightmare. Makes you realize faster it's not real,” Nobara sighs as she says this.
Knowing this might not be the last time this happens, Megumi cleared his throat and meekly offered, “You’re welcome here anytime. I can go to your room too, just give me a call.”
Her eyes grew round while her lower lip protruded covering her upper lip as though she was a child who was given her much-deserved candy after a long day.
“You’re a good person, you know that?” Nobara quietly teased, “I would even think you’re flirting with me.”
Megumi snorted. Despite her attempt to make the situation lighter, it was the most endearing thing he had seen all day… besides the fact that it was still a couple of hours into the day, he wanted nothing else but to smother her with kisses right there and then.
However, Nobara suddenly asked, “What if you’re away on a mission?”
Megumi clasped his hands together and formed a shadow under the moonlight, “ I can leave you with this. Think of this as me.”
A rabbit from his Datto sprung up causing Nobara to stir and hold up the white ball of fur, gasping she asked him, “Is this my own personal bunny shikigami?”
“Well, sure.”
“AAAAWW Hello cutie!” Nobara couldn’t contain her excitement. Kissing the rabbit and praising it for how cute it was, she was starting to think of names for her new friend.
It seems he needs to find a way for Nobara to remotely summon Datto without him being there. Maybe there’s a cursed object in the storage shed where he can store a shikigami. He’ll have to ask Ijichi-san later in the day.
Long forgotten are her worries from earlier, too occupied by the rabbit cuddling up to her in her arms. It seems her companion was forgotten as well. Suddenly, he withdrew the shikigami back into his shadow.
"But you don't need Datto right now," he pulls her back close to his chest, "Because I'm here, right?"
"Hmmm… are you jealous of your own shikigami?" Nobara giggled.
“Quiet. If you’re not going to sleep, I will.”
“But Megumi, the night is young, we’re young, and I have bunnies to cuddle!” The girl teased her blushing boyfriend as she poked his cheek.
“Take my advice or else you’re gonna wake up looking like a walking nightmare today.”
Not like she could if she tried.
“As if! You know I’m a dream come true!”
There’s my girl.