Chapter Text
Megumi slid open the door to his dorm with a huff and stepped out into the hallway, rubbing the back of his neck in an attempt to alleviate the stiffness from sleep. He stood there staring at the sun shining in squares on the wooden floor, brain still semi-groggy with sleep, as he waited for his usual wake-up call in the form of his pink haired classmate. A minute passed, and then two, and then the foggy cotton of sleep cleared itself from his brain.
Oh. Right. Itadori was dead.
The boy had been quite lively, even in the mornings, and it had become part of Megumi’s routine to get woken up by him loudly bursting into the hallway and giving him an annoyingly chipper ‘good morning.’ He would respond by grumbling and telling him to quiet down, and Itadori would throw an arm over his shoulder to guide him to the commons area for breakfast, telling him he needed to stop waking up so grumpy. He initially tried to avoid waking up at the same time as Itadori, determined to stay in his room until he could hear the other boy leave, but he just knocked on his door to wake him up anyway, spouting something about it being bad to miss breakfast before training. It had only been two weeks, but it had quickly become Megumi’s new (irritating) normal.
He tore his feet from wooden paneling and forced them to head towards the common area and away from Itadori’s dorm. It had only been two weeks. He’ll get used to quiet mornings again. He hadn’t wanted a neighbor anyway.
The common area was a decently sized square building that sat in the middle of the residential section of Tokyo Jujutsu Tech, connected to the different class dormitories by covered deck pathways. Cicadas could be found hanging on the wooden beams of the awnings in abundance this time of year, their empty light brown shells sticking out against the dark paint. The interior was basically one space - an open concept kitchen and a seating area/living room for the students to lounge in.
When Megumi entered the commons, the second years were already milling about the space. Maki was splayed out on the couch, a cup of coffee in hand and her hair not yet tied up - instead spilling around her shoulders and falling over her eyes. Her glasses were folded on the table next to her. She looked up at the sound of the door sliding open and gave her underclassman a broad, easy smile while gesturing at him with her mug in greeting. Panda was sitting on a high stool at the kitchen island, happily finishing a bowl of rice and chasing it down with miso soup. Inumaki was on the other side of the island, spooning some more rice into Panda’s bowl and sliding it back to him. Kugisaki was nowhere in sight.
“Kelp,” Inumaki greeted, setting the serving spoon down to wave at him properly.
Megumi nodded at him. “Morning, Senpai.” He slipped behind the silver haired boy to reach the coffee pot, grabbing a mug out of the cabinet and pouring himself a liberal amount. Before he turned to go sit down, Inumaki stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. He paused, mug halfway to his lips, and turned back to see him holding out a bowl of rice with a kind smile on his face.
“Oh, thank you,” he said quietly as he took the bowl.
“Salmon!”
Megumi sat down in an armchair near Maki, setting the bowl down on a side table as he reclined his feet on the coffee table in the middle. He brought the mug to his lips and took a large sip, immediately regretting it as the near scalding liquid slid down his throat. He suppressed a wince at the burn, though he couldn’t stop his eyebrow from twitching as he tried to maintain his composure.
“You just poured it, idiot,” Maki snorted before she took her own leisurely sip of her sufficiently cooled, not hellfire-level coffee.
“Shut up,” he grumbled, though there was little bite to the words. “I’m tired.” He set the mug to the side in favor of his breakfast, deciding to finish it up while his drink cooled.
“Where’s Kugisaki?” Panda asked, mouth full of rice.
“Why are you asking me?”
“Well you live in the same building, for starters,” his fluffy upperclassman replied.
Megumi shook his head, resting his chopsticks on his now empty bowl. “Probably still dead as a rock. She’ll show up eventually.” He and Itadori had learned very quickly to let Kugisaki wake up on her own, the one time they tried to wake her up resulting in her throwing shoes and profanities at their heads then slamming the door in their faces.
As if summoned by the mention of her name, Kugisaki trudged in through the front doors looking like she slept about as well as she would have on a boat in the middle of a hurricane. She greeted the room with a dejected ‘morning’ as she headed over to pour her own cup of coffee, turning down Inumaki’s offer of breakfast with a shake of her head while dumping a generous amount of cream and sugar into the beverage. Megumi’s lip curled at the sight. To each their own.
“You’re not gonna eat?” Maki asked once the other girl sat down in the chair across from Megumi.
Kugisaki batted a stray strand of light brown hair out of her face. “I’m not very hungry,” she shrugged. Megumi narrowed his eyes at that, and when she met his gaze across the table she quickly changed her attention to Maki. She could give Itadori a run for his money with how much she could eat - and things did often spiral into a competition between the two. While their upperclassmen might not be aware, he sure was, and it made something unsavory twist in his chest.
He figured it was best not to push it - not yet anyway, especially in front of everyone - and took a sip of his now tolerable coffee with practiced nonchalance. Kugisaki mirrored him, her expression impassive and aloof for approximately one second before the coffee reached her mouth.
“Shit! Hot!” she sputtered, quickly setting her cup down to fan at her mouth and wipe away the liquid she’d spilled over her chin. Megumi hid his smile behind the rim of his mug, though from the glare she sent him, he didn’t hide the humorous twinkle in his eyes.
“Apparently letting your coffee cool isn’t common sense,” Maki mumbled half to herself.
Kugisaki turned to the older girl, eyes big and mouth turned down in an exaggerated frown. “You don’t have to be so mean, Maki! I’m tired,” she said with a pout.
“Funny, I think I’ve heard that one before.”
Megumi pointedly ignored her comment to avoid the guaranteed mocking from his classmate it would bring.
“Anyway,” Maki continued, looking pointedly at Kugisaki. “You have to eat something. You can’t go out in that heat on an empty stomach - you’ll hurl. And none of us want to deal with that mess.”
“Really, I’m fine,” she dismissed airily. Some other excuse died in her throat when Inumaki appeared at her side, a bowl of miso soup in his hand.
“Bonito flakes,” he said, brows furrowed and hand outstretched for her to take the food. She looked like she was about to turn it down again before her shoulders slumped and she took the bowl from his hands, taking a few ginger sips from the spoon.
“Toge and Maki are right,” Panda called from the sink as he placed his used dishes in. “Nothing’ll get you heat sick faster than not eating.”
“Right, right,” Kugisaki mumbled, taking her time with the soup.
Megumi watched her as he finished his coffee, not liking the way she barely licked the broth into her mouth and swirled the spoon around more than she scooped. His feet and legs kept twitching slightly. He wanted to chalk it up to the caffeine now running in his system, but he knew it was the compounding irregularities of the morning. It bothered him how much the changes bothered him. No annoying Itadori to wake him up. No Itadori and Kugisaki arguing over what to have for breakfast and then trying to eat each other under the table. No watching Kugisaki chase Itadori around the island because of something inevitably stupid the latter had said. No desperately trying to ignore them while scrolling through his phone and drinking coffee. And to top it off, Kugisaki was clearly sulking. He was appreciative of the company the second years provided, but all he wanted right now was the comfortable chaos he and his classmates had carved out while the others were away.
The loud slam of the front door on its tracks, followed by a very obnoxious ‘good morning everyone!’ shook him out of his thoughts and immediately made a vein pop in his forehead. The general grumbling from the others made it clear the feeling was mutual.
In strode Gojo Satoru, a wide smile on his face as he greeted his students. “Glad to see everyone already up and at ‘em,” he grinned, sauntering over to the fridge and practically sticking his head all the way in, having to bend in half to do so. “Aw, no crepes,” he whined and closed the door with a flourish.
“This is the student commons, go get your own food,” Maki snapped as she tied her hair back into her usual ponytail and slipped on her glasses now that their teacher had arrived.
Gojo popped a few scoops of rice into his mouth before turning to face the group. “I have assignments for my favorite students,” he said, mouth still full and doing an unnecessary amount of jazz hands. Everyone stared at him unimpressed, prompting him to awkwardly clear his throat once he swallowed. A quiet part of Megumi ached knowing Itadori would be feeding off Gojo’s enthusiasm and no doubt making it worse.
“Anyways! Panda, Maki, Toge - you three have a curse to exorcize on the other side of town. Ijichi has the brief on the mission, so go meet up with him once you’re done here.”
The second years nodded, moving to clean up the rest of their dishes and head out.
“As for the first years,” Gojo continued, turning his blindfolded eyes to the two around the coffee table. “Your assignment is to take it easy. No missions for a week.” He finished with his hands on his hips and his smile stretching even wider.
Kugisaki shot out of her seat. “What?! No way! What are we supposed to do while sitting around on campus all week?”
Gojo shrugged. “Train, relax, find a new way to give Principal Yaga a headache maybe. Fact of the matter is, you two need to cool it for a few days.”
“We need practical, real world applications to the stuff we’re learning while training,” Megumi objected, turning more to look fully at their teacher. “Sitting around here is pointless.”
“I already sent your missions to other people or took them myself,” the white haired man said with an air of finality. “There’s no changing it now. It’s just a short break from missions - you’ll be back out there soon enough. I suggest you enjoy the downtime. Have fun you two!” He tossed a wave over his shoulder as he left the commons.
Kugisaki fell back into the chair with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest in a pout. Megumi immediately rose from his seat and rushed out after Gojo. The summer heat was already growing unbearable this early in the day, the humidity making the air sticky and smothering. He quietly cursed the dark long sleeves as he jogged after his teacher, who was strolling away from the dormitories with his hands in his pockets. He stopped once he heard the boy’s footsteps on the gravel.
“We don’t need a break,” Megumi insisted, mouth set in a firm line as he looked up at him.
“I said there’s no changing it. Yaga agreed with my sentiments too, so even if you could convince me there would be no missions anyway,” Gojo stated plainly. “You’re not gonna get anywhere by pushing yourself headfirst into work.”
“We’re not going to get anywhere if we don’t get stronger,” he retorted.
“It’s not like I’m chaining you down to your beds for a week. You can still train and improve.”
“I don’t need your pity,” Megumi hissed. “Don’t keep us from our work just because you feel bad about what happened to Itadori.”
“It’s not pity,” Gojo bit out immediately. He was taken aback by the curtness of the reply, but after knowing Gojo for so long he knew the tightness of his jaw and the hard line of his mouth meant ‘don’t ask.’ The man sighed, releasing the tension in his posture. “If you push yourself into missions right now you’re just going to get sloppy.”
Megumi opened his mouth to argue, but his teacher stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Despite how you may act, and what you may think, you’re still just a kid.” There’s a heavy pause. He could feel it in his chest, stretching against his ribs and making him squirm. “So is Nobara. So was Yuji. Take the break - it’s a rare thing for sorcerers. I would’ve given you longer if I could.”
He stared up at Gojo, his lips twisting like they weren’t sure whether to sit in an impassive line or deepen into a frown. He broke the eye contact after a few moments to look for nothing in the trees instead. The man’s gaze was piercing even with the blindfold on, and he hated how it made him feel exposed - his carefully hidden insides taken and thrust into the sunlight like they had been on display the whole time. Megumi shrugged his hand off his shoulder, schooling his expression back to neutrality after a moment.
“Whatever. Just don’t come bothering me all the time now that I’ll be on campus all week,” he sighed.
Gojo smiled softly at him, shrugging playfully. “No promises.”
Megumi turned on his heels and headed back to the commons, his pace leisurely despite his growing agitation at the heat. It was suffocating him, made worse by Kugisaki’s obvious moping, Gojo’s meddling, and the black hole that was Itadori Yuji. It all festered within his chest, making him want to strip every layer from himself - his jacket, his undershirt, his skin, his muscles, pick out each of his ribs so he could rip out the heavy lump that had replaced his heart. Maybe then he’d feel better. He shook his head and exhaled heavily to try and ease the tension.
When he was back inside, the common area was completely empty - dishes cleaned and food put away. He furrowed his eyebrows, annoyed that he had to go find Kugisaki now. He didn’t think he could better her mood, but he needed to talk about it at least before they both popped from too much pressure.
--
Gojo watched Megumi leave, guilt thick and slippery in his throat. He released a deep sigh before turning back down the path that led to the main building. “Sorry, kid. I’ll make it up to you soon. I promise.”