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It's not like Megumi liked Yuuji, no.
He simply tolerated him.
Yes, Yuuji is pleasant to be around. He is dumb, but every now and then the boy cracks a really good joke, and Megumi prefers to be with him to hear it first-hand because Nobara sucks at retelling jokes.
Also, Yuuji has a thing for finding cheap and, at the same time, exquisite cuisine. So, it is only logical for Megumi to follow Yuuji just to ensure he will have a tasty meal.
Moreover, Yuuji seems to always be in a good mood whenever Megumi forces himself to join him on their usual outings to the main city. And it's very important to keep Yuuji happy because he is way too pure for the jujutsu world and needs to stay as positive as possible.
Yeah, so no hard or complicated feelings.
"Are you an idiot, Fushiguro?" Nobara asks, loudly sipping her lavender milkshake.
Megumi is not offended, he is just slightly unhappy with her assumption.
"As far as I remember, I have the highest grade out of all of us."
"As far as I remember," Megumi recognizes the tone - Nobara uses it when she prepares to mock someone. "I asked whether you're an idiot, not whether you're stupid."
"I am definitely not, thank you for the concern."
"There was none, actually."
Nobara drinks out her cocktail and changes the now empty glass for the plate of overly sweet chocolate dessert.
"Gojo has a bad influence on you," Megumi notes nonchalantly.
"It's not like he has any good influence to begin with," she replies without looking up from the phone in her hand. “Honestly, it explains a lot of things."
The waitress finally comes with his order, so Megumi gets the chance to shut Nobara up for a brief moment of blessed silence. Such a luxury in Megumi’s life.
"What things?" Megumi proceeds to ask, taking his usual bitter black-as-his-soul coffee from the waitress’s tray.
"You know," Nobara starts, waving her free palm unclearly, like a leaf on the wind. "He raised you. I wonder how you haven't died by fifteen. He probably fed you with sweets and money."
"You can't eat money."
"Don't be a prick, you know what I've meant," Nobara pouts.
He does know. It also doesn’t mean Nobara has to know that he knows. She is already aware of way too many things. For example, his birthday. It was a real betrayal from Getou’s side. Megumi expected Gojo to leak the data, but Getou was always the faithful one in their family.
Little does Megumi know.
"Gojo was responsible for the desserts," Megumi forges memories from his head and doesn't question himself twice whether Nobara should know such things, "and Getou was the one to cook actual meals."
Nobara's face brightens and she squeaks in a gesture of happiness. Or fondness. Or fangirling. Despite having three sisters and two fathers, Megumi's not your best choice in guessing other people’s emotions.
Unless it's Yuuji, of course. Megumi is good at understanding him. For some reasons.
"Getou-sensei, our one and only savior!"
"You praise him as if he's a god or something."
Nobara is at half of her dessert when she decides to reply. So, the answer arrives approximately two minutes later. Nobara may not be as strong as Gojo, but she is clearly in his league when it comes to sweets and spending money. Especially Gojo’s money.
"Isn't he?" she raises her hand and asks the nearby waiter for a glass of lemonade. She could have had some water, but then the universe would have collapsed on itself and Megumi would have become a barista at a campus café. Not the worst outcome, though. "He is strong, handsome and adequate. And there are not many adequate people in the school. We have a fricking talking panda who's name is Panda. It's like to name a white dog as White."
Megumi suspects Nobara’s ignorance of the names of his shadow hounds is for the best.
"You do realize why he is like that?"
"Because he has weekly therapy and a history of being almost a mass murderer, I know. The key-word is almost, Megumi-chan," Nobara grins and points her Gojo-level-lavishly manicured finger at him. "At least he knows he has problems and deals with them. Shoko-sensei doesn't have a therapist, and it shows."
It's not like she's totally wrong. Again, Nobara doesn’t need to know it. They already have Gojo, one vain person is enough for this school.
"You may have a point," he answers instead, looking in the window. Then he remembers his initial question before Nobara asked him why he is always by Yuuji's side. "By the way, why are we even here?"
"Oh, the twins mentioned you’ve wanted to have a date experience."
What?
"What," he states, trying to match his voice to the italics level of drama in his head.
He does not want to have a date experience. Even if he wanted to, Nanako and Mimiko would be the last people in Japan to know about it. Because if they know, Nobara knows. And if Nobara knows, Yuuji knows as well. And if Yuuji knows, everyone knows.
And Yuuji doesn’t have to know that Megumi wants to go on a date. Especially when he doesn't want to go on a date. He clearly doesn’t want to go on a date with some girl he’s never seen prior. Why should he if Megumi can always spend some time with Yuuji, right?
Right?
"So I've got you a date. He's cute and should be here any minute!"
"He?"
"Fushiguro, please, look at yourself," Nobara heavily sighs and measures him with a vertical movement of her hand, her gaze is skeptical. "Of course, he is a he. Do you think I’m blind?"
Yeah, Nobara knows way too many things.
"Kugisaki, for the love of—"
"Fushiguro, you're already here!"
Megumi's head turns by itself; it always does when a certain person is close to him. Like a sunflower turning towards the sun.
"Itadori, hello," Megumi says nervously, trying his best not to panic. The fuck is he doing here? "Why did you come?"
"Oh, Kugisaki called me."
Of course, she did. That's Nobara, after all. This casual meeting of two classmates at the café was sketchy from the beginning. Megumi should have known it as he’d spent ten years living with Gojo and mastered the skill of avoiding meetings when it was a doctor’s appointment in disguise.
But that Yuuji-talk obviously distracted him.
"She said you wanted to see me," the boy is now sitting across from him, where the culprit herself was just a minute ago. The plate and the glass are still there, but no Nobara is in sight. She is fast for her own good.
It's not like Megumi doesn't want to see Yuuji. He pretty much wants to. But doesn't it look like a date Nobara mentioned before?
What if Yuuji is ashamed of it?
"So, what's the deal?"
"Ah?" Megumi is drawn back from his usual state of overthinking by Yuuji’s cheerful voice.
"What's our plan for today?" Yuuji asks again, looking straight into Megumi's soul and banishing away all of his dark and unpleasant thoughts, like the true jujutsu sorcerer he is. Megumi is really proud of him.
"Uhhm—" think, Megumi, you're the smartest person in this school, "you've wanted to go to the movies, right?"
Yes, good answer, Megumi, Getou would have praised you if he were here to witness the quickness of your response!
"Cool, let's go watch something!"
God, please, let it be something else than the ‘Human Earthworm V’.
Yuuji is already on his legs, extending his palm to Megumi. Only to help him get up, not because Megumi likes the way his hands are pleasantly calloused and warm. And because Yuuji knows that Megumi’s hands are always cold, he doesn’t let go of his hand.
"Whatever," Megumi smiles but only a little. He has a reputation, after all.
It's not a date, he tells himself to brush Nobara’s words off, they are just best friends who are going to see a shitty movie. And they hold hands just because Megumi's hands are always cold.
Yeah, that's it. No hard or complicated feelings.
"Salmon."
“Yes, Inumaki-senpai, I totally agree with you!” Megumi exclaims a bit too loudly for the library they are in right now. Thankfully, no one in this school uses it, so they are alone here.
It is common knowledge at the jujutsu high that if you want to lay your thoughts out to someone who is good at keeping secrets - go find Inumaki. It’s the same kind of knowledge as that Gojo and Getou regularly make out in the teachers' room.
Everybody knows but no one talks about it aloud.
Although, Megumi is convinced that Gojo and Getou fucked there at least once as well, but that’s a topic for a completely other conversation. Preferably the one with a therapist.
“And Nobara keeps insisting that it was a date,” Megumi continues his rampage, going circles in the small reading room. “But it wasn’t, we just went to the movies.”
She just couldn’t stop mocking Megumi that day when the boys finally returned from the main city. A simple movie-watching session transformed into dinner at the ramen place and a whole hour at the arcades.
It was fun, truly. Megumi laughed and didn’t want the evening to end, but it was a simple day off for the two best friends, nothing more. How could it be a date when Megumi didn’t even ask Yuuji out properly, with the right words and maybe dressed up in his nicest shirt?
Yuuji deserves to be asked out on a date, after all. That’s Yuuji we are talking about.
“Salmon,” says Inumaki with an unreadable emotion in his voice.
“Moreover, it was that stupid worm-movie Itadori loves so much. And I still agreed to watch it because I’m a good friend.”
And maybe because Yuuji’s smile was so sunny that Megumi simply couldn’t find it in himself to turn the boy down. Per usual - Yuuji wants and Megumi follows.
Inumaki nods in an undeniable gesture of agreement. Of course, Inumaki-senpai understands him. He is not Nobara and doesn’t spread groundless rumors.
Mainly because he can’t talk the same way as others, but that’s not the important part.
“Where did she even get the idea of me wanting to date Itadori?”
Yes, they do hang out together more often than not. Yes, Megumi sometimes sleeps over in Yuuji’s room and they end up being curled around each other; it’s cold at the dorms. Yes, once in a while Megumi can’t stop thinking about Yuuji’s plump lips and their nice shade of pink.
But that’s all.
Inumaki shakes his head and shrugs.
“Yes, I prefer to be around him most of the time because he is a good friend,” Megumi decides to give some more context to the case.
“Salmon.”
“Also, why should it be a date? Can’t it be an outing? Why did Nobara use these kinds of romantic labels?”
“Salmon.”
“For it to be a date there should be feelings involved,“ a slight trembling of hands when Yuuji holds them nice and firmly; a fastened beating of heart when Yuuji smiles; a catch of breath when Yuuji places his head on Megumi’s shoulder. “And there aren’t any.”
There are totally no romantic feelings involved. Because if they were, then it means Megumi is in love with Yuuji. And it makes him gay.
And being gay is not something bad, no. It’s just Megumi isn’t gay at all. There was a time when he thought he was one, when he accidentally almost hardened at the sight of Yuuji stretching out on the training grounds. But then he remembered that admiring one's body can be totally possible without involving any romantic feelings.
Megumi is sixteen, he is a healthy boy - of course, he almost hardened when he caught a glimpse of Yuuji’s warm-up routine, how he flexed his muscles, how he sat in a perfect split, how his curved waist and hips looked when Yuuji was stretching his back—
Who wouldn’t have?
“Salmon,” Inumaki agrees as if he heard the whole inner monologue of Megumi.
Moreover, Nobara’s mockery of their so-called date assumes that she knows more about romantic feelings than Megumi himself. And that simply isn’t true. It’s even an offense of some sort. You see, Megumi grew up in a family with two dads who are overly in love with each other, so he knows how it is to like someone.
Indeed, it’s not like Gojo and Getou are normal. But they do love each other and show their affection on every possible occasion. They always walk hand in hand - like Yuuji and Megumi do. They complement each other’s strength and choice of outfit - like Yuuji and Megumi do. They share small kisses every now and then - like Megumi wants to, sometimes—
So, yes, there are absolutely no hard or complicated feelings between Megumi and Yuuji, simply because if there were, Megumi would have recognized them.
Obviously.
“Yes, that’s all I need to do,” Megumi decides. “I’ll go find Nobara and tell her that I know more about love than she does, so my judgment is clearer than hers.”
“Salmon.”
Megumi nods off to Inumaki and, with his new-found resolution, storms off from the library.
Inumaki follows Megumi’s run for victory with his eyes, and only after he is gone, takes out his phone. There is a momentary sound of keys being pressed and he finds the number he needs. Inumaki texts the person with the crying kitten meme profile picture.
why does everyone think I’m interested in their shit
Who was it this time?
fushiguro
Oh, that’s because Kugisaki spilled the tea about his dating life with Itadori.
btw he doesn’t think they are dating
…
The fuck?
Exactly, Yuta, the fuck?
“Why am I here? Alone?”
“For the educational process.”
“We don’t have classes today.”
“That’s the unscheduled one.”
Megumi signs heavily and as dramatically as possible, which means like a drama queen, because he learned from the best out there - Gojo Satoru.
The man in question is currently adjusting the projector in a completely empty classroom, where Megumi was literally dragged to by him and his partner in crime Getou Suguru. The latter is also there, standing on the opposite side of the room and suspiciously avoiding Megumi’s gaze.
Something is off.
When it comes to being the best at exorcizing - Gojo and Getou are the first to come to mind. But, when it comes to being the most annoying ones - they hold the pedestal as well. Megumi can see why none of the higher-ups were opposed to their marriage. Why trouble yourself dealing with them one at a time, when you can put them together and let them bother each other instead?
Yeah, sometimes Gojo and Getou team up and begin terrorizing everybody around them, but only when they are not busy being the lovesick birds, and that’s a rare occasion.
However, it’s still considered a bad sign to end up in a closed space with either of the men, rightfully proven by almost every person at the jujutsu high. And now, Megumi is alone with the both of them.
Suspicious.
“Okay, it’s ready,” Gojo leaves the projector alone and takes his place near Getou. They still look uncomfortable, and it makes Megumi want to flee.
There is a click on the projector remote and the first slide appears on the projector screen.
“‘The ways of the safe sex’,” Megumi reads the title, written in italics with too many curls. He has a feeling that something is wrong, but he's somehow interested in how bad it can get, so he lets them talk.
“You see, Megumi,” Gojo speaks first, gesturing with his hands as he can’t find a place for them to put. “We’ve noticed that you finally acknowledged people around you.”
“And, that for some time,” it’s Getou who continues the speech, and the transition is so smooth as if they practiced it beforehand, “you’ve been going out with Yuuji.”
Oh, no. It is that bad.
“Wait,” Megumi tries to stop this nonsense from unveiling but he’s late.
“So, we’ve decided it’s time to teach you how to fuck—”
“How to be intimate with each other safely!” Getou interrupts Gojo mid-sentence with some kind of panic written on his face. “Satoru, we must stay professional.”
“It’s not like he’s a child,” the other man pouts and crosses his hand on his chest.
“He pretty much is.”
“Then should we prohibit him from having sex?”
“I’m not planning to sleep with Itadori!” on the other hand, they are already sleeping together in a literal sense, and Yuuji’s body is warm and fit, and feels so safe. But they are simply cuddling, like the best friends they are, because friends cuddle. They do not fuck.
Maki and Nobara cuddle as well, and it doesn’t mean they are sleeping together. Why does no one question them? Why it’s only him and Yuuji?
“No, the forbidden fruit is always the sweetest,” Getou replies in his typical philosophical manner, not sparing a single gaze towards Megumi while talking about theoretical sex between him and Yuuji. “It’s better to prepare them.”
“You don’t need to prepare me for anything!”
Megumi is right in front of them now, snapping his fingers in their faces. He doesn’t want Yuuji to be exposed to all of this shit-storm of assumptions that is going around the school, so he needs to stop it right here and now.
“Of course we do,” Getou says with his favorite calming smile. He then places his hand on Megumi’s shoulder and, keeping that sweet tone of voice, continues: “We are your teachers and, what’s more important, your parents, so it’s only right to tell you about this stuff.”
“We initially wanted to invite Yuuji as well, but then decided it would be too uncomfortable for the both of you,” Gojo smiles stupidly, adding this piece of information.
Thank God they didn’t do it.
“You should be proud of how great your parents are! We didn’t chicken out but embraced ourselves and prepared this wonderful,” Gojo points his finger to the projector screen with the atrocious title on the pinkish background with some floating red hearts, “presentation to teach you. Lucky you, Megumi. When I was your age, I didn’t know we could even have sex with Suguru.”
“Please, stop!” Megumi swears he can hear his blood boil, but he must stay calm. Not only he is the smartest person in this school, but he is also the sole sane person in this room right now.
Unfortunately, even though God blessed Gojo Satoru with unmatched abilities, a good husband and beautiful kids, he also took away the most important thing in return - the ability to be a normal human being. So, obviously, he didn’t stop.
“Really, you didn’t?”
“No, I was fully prepared to jerk off for the rest of my life.”
“Oh, Satoru, that’s so sweet of you!”
The men immediately start to exchange lovely glances forward and back, holding hands and blushing and giggling. And when their heads start to close the distance between each other with every passing second, Megumi decides he doesn’t want to be a witness of his fathers making out in front of him.
He had it enough while he was still living with them.
“You know, maybe you can teach me something,” he says, drawing attention to himself with these words; his hands form a familiar seal. “For example, how to kill a god.”
“What?”
“With this treasure I summon—”
“Megumi, no!”
Yeah, works like a charm every time.
“Your muscles are stiff, Fushiguro.”
“Had a hard couple of days.”
Itadori hums in a response, without stopping the movement of his hands but applying a bit more pressure to it. He circles Megumi’s shoulders with a steady rhythm and occasionally touches his neck; combined with the heat from Yuuji’s body and the perfect weight of his hands - Megumi smiles at how good it is.
They are tangled together in Yuuji’s room, barely fitting on the small bed. The position they ended up in is awkward, and not because there is literally no space between their bodies, the boys actually prefer it this way. It’s because Yuuji is bulkier and decided to give Megumi, who is sitting between his legs, a little massage so that Yuuji's hands are now bent not in the best way possible.
None of them complain, though.
The darkness of the room, the massage, the quiet sound of the movie playing on the laptop - all the things together make Megumi sleepy. He really doesn’t want to doze off, but his body and mind are too tired to resist the thrust. The past days were hard indeed, filled with Nobara’s constant teasing and that ridiculous presentation, topped with a couple of missions. Megumi’s eyes are closing without his consent.
So, he slowly untangles himself from Yuuji’s legs, moves up and fully lands on top of the other boy. Megumi’s hands routinely wrap under Yuuji’s shoulders and he places his head on Itadori’s chest. The only thing that’s missing is the weight of Yuuji’s hands, but they are immediately back on Megumi’s shoulders and waist, and it’s perfect.
It’s also warm. Not the warmth of a blanket, but rather the natural warmth that comes from your heart and spreads to your chest, heating your whole body. Megumi thinks it is the feeling you can only experience with someone who is your person, your other half. Perhaps that is why Gojo and Getou cuddle so much.
Megumi is almost asleep when he feels light pats on his head. Yuuji’s hands are still there, but strange pleasant touches don’t stop. It takes two or three minutes for Megumi’s shut-down mind to figure this out.
Yuuji is kissing him. His hair, to be exact, but still.
“What are you doing?” Megumi immediately goes up, supporting his upper half with his hands placed on Yuuji’s chest.
“Kissing your hair?” Yuuji half-says half-asks, but his eyes definitely have a questioning gaze.
“Why?”
Really, why? And why does it feel so good?
“Because I wanted to?” the boy half-asks again, and his hands are now going up and down Megumi’s sides in a comforting way. Megumi really wants to lean into the touch once more, but not until he clears the situation.
“Why?”
“You were stiff, and I wanted to calm you down, I guess,” Yuuji says, pouting a little. “And because I wanted to kiss some part of your body as well.”
There is a blush on Yuuji’s cheeks and nose now - though it’s barely visible in the darkness - and, for some reason, he averts his eyes. He is cute, so damn cute Megumi has to swallow down the urge to hug him because he can’t do it now. Not now, when Yuuji just said he wanted to kiss his body, and wow, that’s insane.
Yuuji probably sees confusion written on Megumi’s face, so he continues:
“I thought it is okay for people to do it when they are dating,” and then, to finish Megumi’s remaining brain cells, he adds in a shy and somewhat sad voice: “Don’t you want to kiss me, Megumi?”
Okay, the part with the kisses is not insane at all.
Megumi, still in a deep state of shock, starts to scoop himself up in an attempt to move away from Yuuji, which doesn’t sound right but he has to do it. For him, for Yuuji, and for his mental health. Unfortunately, in the process of moving around, he eventually ends up right on top of Yuuji’s lap, and whatever thing he feels under him - no, he does not feel it, it is an illusion.
Illusion, do you hear him?
Yuuji looks at him with a mix of confusion and something that looks like an embarrassment. Still, his hands never leave Megumi’s body, and now rub small circles into his hips. Megumi is almost sure - with the part of his mind that’s not occupied with dating updates - Yuuji does it subconsciously, without recognizing the actual movements of his own hands. It’s automatic, and of course it is, because they were cuddling and sharing touches constantly.
With every passing second, and there are a lot of them because the boys stare at each other non-stop, the embarrassment grows in Yuuji’s gaze, and no, Megumi does not like this look on his face. There should be only smiles, and joy, and happiness - but not any kind of sad emotions.
And, if you don’t remember, Megumi is still the smartest person in this school, so he decides it is time to speak.
“Yuuji,” and the other boy instantly focuses his attention on Megumi, which reminds him of how his hounds react whenever he calls their names, and Megumi loves his dogs with his whole heart. “Since when are we dating?”
That is an awkward question, but it has to be asked.
“I believe for a month, already,” Yuuji mumbles. And the way he furrows his brows and presses his lips tightly into one thin line, and how his words are barely recognizable… Yuuji is nervous.
He wasn’t nervous when he ate that old-ass Sukuna’s finger, but he is now. Yuuji is experiencing these emotions because of him and, for reasons Megumi doesn’t want to unveil, this fact makes his heart beat faster. That’s something he will think about later.
For now—
“Okay,” Megumi slowly begins, “but we haven’t asked each other out even once.”
“But we have had,” Yuuji argues, and there is a determination in his whole demeanor that Megumi admires so much. “We went out two days ago for a start.”
The movies, when the Nobara incident happened.
“That was a date?”
“It wasn’t?”
Was it, actually?
What do people do on dates? Megumi casts away all his memories of Gojo and Getou going out because what they usually engage in can’t be considered a normal date. Last time they got arrested because they decided it would be fun to stalk Nanami while he was picking out the gift for his husband’s sister. At least that is what the police told Megumi when he came to pick up his parents. So, instead, he remembers what Tsumiki mentioned to him.
Ordinary people hold hands on a date - check.
Ordinary people hug each other on a date - check.
Ordinary people have fun on a date - check.
Ordinary people kiss and tease each other on a date - not a check but that’s negotiable.
Megumi covers his mouth with his hands when he has the revelation. They were on a date!
“Okay, it was a date,” he admits shyly. “But we still haven’t asked each other whether we want to be—” Megumi masters his courage under Yuuji’s impatient gaze, “boyfriends.”
“I thought we didn’t have to,” Yuuji says. “Initially, I wanted to ask because my grandfather always told me that’s how it works,” there is a shy smile now on his lips and Megumi fights himself not to smile back; that’s not the appropriate moment for it, “but I wasn’t sure if people nowadays, you know, pop the question.”
“That’s not how you use that phrase,” bet it on Yuuji to ruin the mood by using words incorrectly.
“Whatever. So I’ve asked Kugisaki for a bit of relationship advice—”
“Of course, it was Kugisaki,” Megumi signs heavily, throwing his head back and covering his face fully with his hands.
“Megumi?”
“I should have known!”
“Hey, Megumi, I’m sorry for making it awkward for you,” Yuuji quickly says, taking his hands away from Megumi’s hips to start twiddling his fingers instead. Megumi instantly begins to miss his touch. “I probably should’ve asked Gojo-sensei to help me—”
“No-no, Yuuji, wait, stop,” Megumi interrupts him, covering Yuuji’s hands with his own. They intertwine their fingers instantly, without a second thought, and up until Yuuji calms down, Megumi is silent. It takes a dozen deep breaths - Megumi counted - for Yuuji to finally stop twisting his fingers and normalize his breathing. “Listen, you did nothing wrong.”
The hopeful look in Yuuji’s puppy eyes urges Megumi to continue, using the softest voice he can produce.
“Next time, please, just ask me. Okay?”
Yuuji nods twice and, clutching their hands tighter, takes a deep breath before his next words.
“Then, do you want to date me?”
Megumi closes his eyes.
Does he want to? It’s not a thing you deal with unseriously.
But, considering all of the new information Megumi learned in the past half an hour… Yuuji thought they had been dating for a month already. And for the exact same period of time, Megumi believed he was the luckiest boy in the whole world. He enjoyed their inside jokes, he had fun going out with Yuuji and experiencing all kinds of new things, and he was so impatient when it came to waiting for Yuuji to finally come and get a chance to hold his hand. And wasn’t it Megumi, who first started holding hands with Yuuji because he just felt it was the right thing to do?
It was so easy - to be with Yuuji, to thrive in his presence. And the kisses, he doesn’t want them to stop when he just got the taste of being kissed so gently, as if he was Yuuji’s only treasure.
It feels so good to be loved, so why should he resist the feeling?
“I think I do,” he answers genuinely, taking Yuuji’s hands closer to his face and kissing his fingers one by one in an attempt to showcase his emotion.
And when Yuuji smiles softly, looking right into his eyes, Megumi gets the second revelation of this evening.
Indeed, there are no hard or complicated feelings between him and Yuuji, because there is only one emotion between them - love.
And loving Yuuji is always easy.