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“You’d think he’d be more happy being in Okinawa.” Nobara muttered to Yuji and Megumi, casting a glance at a melancholy looking Satoru.
“He has history with this place.” Was all Megumi replied with.
“Okay…” She gave him a curious look but dropped it. “Whatever! We’re here, and it’s a break so we don’t even have to worry about curses! I can’t wait to lay on the beach.”
“You just jinxed it.” Yuji groaned. “Ku-gi-sa-ki!”
“I-ta-do-ri.” She mocked. “I did not. We have Gojo-sensei, he’ll take care of it. Or Okkotsu-senpai.”
“Why did I hear my name?” Yuta turned around; eyebrows furrowed.
“Okkotsu-senpai, you’ll take care of any curses, won’t you?”
“If they’re around, sure. I won’t go out of my way to do it though.” He replied.
“This is a break, Nobara.” Maki drawled, tossing an arm around Nobara and dragging her along. “Stop thinking about curses.”
“Come shopping with me, Maki-san! I’ll steal Gojo-sensei’s card!”
“Oh?” Maki raised an eyebrow. “A girl after my own heart. Come on, let’s go.”
And thus, the two girls departed, Maki’s arm still around Nobara’s shoulders as they chatted amongst themselves. Yuji turned to look for the rest of their upperclassmen but it seemed Yuta was following Toge, who had beckoned him with an outstretched hand. Panda wasn’t even here, something about the hot weather not agreeing with his disposition.
“And then there were two.” The pink-haired boy sighed.
“Well…” Megumi nodded his head to where Satoru was milling around the souvenir stands. “Not just yet.”
“Is it okay to leave him? He looks kind of sad.” Yuji whispered.
“Wait.”
Megumi disappeared to Satoru’s side and nudged him, saying something in a low tone and getting a nod in return, paired with a ruffle of his hair. He glared at Satoru and brushed his hand away but it seemed to lack the heat that Megumi’s glares so normally held, and then he was back by Yuji’s side.
“He’s fine. Come on.”
“Okay!”
Yuji had never been to Okinawa. In all honesty, he’d never even left Miyagi until Satoru said he was going back to Tokyo to Jujutsu High so to see such bright skies and the glimmering ocean was a sight he couldn’t get enough of.
“It’s so pretty here.” Yuji said in awe, tilting his head up and closing his eyes as a cool breeze blew around them. Megumi tried not to notice the way the sun made him practically glow (key word: tried).
And then, “Watch out!”
It was both of their quick instincts that moved them out of the way of a skateboard that came rushing down the path, right where they had been standing. That would have hurt if it had hit. A red-headed boy came running down from the same direction the skateboard came from, dressed in a variety of bright colours with a headband holding back his locks.
“Sorry!” He panted as he came to a stop by them and grabbed the skateboard from where it smashed against the wall.
“You skate?” Yuji asked excitedly.
“Yeah! Do you?” The boy returned in the same tone. Megumi didn’t know how someone could sound so happy to someone they had just met.
“No, but it looks so cool! I’m Itadori Yuji!”
“Kyan Reki, but you can just call me Reki. Everyone calls me Reki.” Reki held out his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Reki.” Yuji shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you too, Itadori.”
“Oh! This is Fushiguro!” Yuji introduced the dark-haired boy.
“Nice to meet you! My boyfriend’s around here somewhere, he was right behind me, I swear.” Reki furrowed his brows, looking around. “I swear if he got lost again.”
“Does that happen often?” Megumi raised an eyebrow, the tight feeling in his chest easing when Reki said he had a boyfriend.
“Not as much now, but sometimes. He’s not from Okinawa and it hasn’t even been a year since he moved here.” Reki sighed. “I should call him, give me a sec.” Reki dug in his pocket and whipped out a phone with a sticker plastered case, dialling something and bringing it up to his ear. He walked a few metres away and spoke in a low tone on the phone.
“We made friends already!” Yuji said brightly.
“I wouldn’t say friends, or we.”
“Well, I would. It’d be cool to get to know some locals. They could show us all the cool spots!”
But I wanted to spend time with you, just the two of us, Megumi thought. “I suppose.”
“Reki!” A strange, unfamiliar voice called and Reki whipped around, a relived smile on his face when he saw the speaker. It was a tall, blue-haired boy who carried his own skateboard and was running their way. He paused when he saw Yuji and Megumi.
“Langa, there you are. I just met these guys, Itadori and Fushiguro.”
“Hi!” Yuji beamed and Megumi just nodded in greeting.
“You disappear for five minutes and you already make friends. How.” Langa said to Reki, wide-eyed.
“I’m just really good at talking.” Reki shrugged. “This is Langa, by the way.”
“Hi.” Langa waved.
“You skate too?” Yuji asked, gesturing to the skateboard Langa was holding.
“Yeah! Reki taught me! He’s really good.” Langa said earnestly.
“Langa used to snowboard, so it didn’t take him long to pick up skateboarding.” Reki explained.
“Snowboarding? In Hokkaido?” Megumi asked, eyebrows furrowed.
“I used to live in Canada before my mother and I moved here.” Langa shook his head.
“Canada! Wow!” Yuji’s eyes widened. “Cool!”
“Do you even know where that is?” Megumi asked.
“Rude, Fushiguro. Yes, I know where Canada is.”
“Forgive me for assuming.” Megumi’s lips quirked up slightly and Reki and Langa exchanged glances.
“You guys wanna learn how to skateboard?” Reki asked.
“Dude!” Yuji whipped around, looking very excited. “Yes!”
“Reki’s a great teacher.” Langa said fervently.
“You’re exaggerating.” Reki huffed, but his cheeks were flushed as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “You both wanna learn?”
“Fushiguro?” Yuji turned to look at Megumi, an inquiring look on his face.
“I’ll just watch.”
“You’re sure?”
“Mhm.” Megumi nodded his assent and watched as an excited Reki linked arms with Yuji and led them a little distance further, but still close enough to be within eyesight of Megumi. “Not going with them?”
“Nah.” Langa shook his head. “Reki’s the teacher. I’m not very good at that.”
“Mhm.”
“They’re similar, Reki and Itadori.” Langa said after a pause. “Both bright and bold and sociable. Not like me.”
“Me neither.” Megumi sighed. “Itadori and I… we’re opposites.”
“Reki and I too.” Langa nodded. “But he saved me. I wasn’t in a good place when we moved here, and he saved me.”
Megumi knew that feeling all too well. He’d never before met anyone like Yuji, so self-sacrificing and happy to be of use to anything even at his own detriment. It pained Megumi to see him throw his life away like that if it meant he got to help someone else.
“You should tell him.”
“What?” Megumi snapped out of his stupor.
“Itadori. You should tell him how you feel.” Langa clarified. “Life can be unexpected so… you should tell him while you still have the chance.” Life was even more unexpected for sorcerers in comparison to regular citizens. No one knew when their last day on Earth would be, if today was the day a curse would end their life.
“Maybe.”
Further, Reki appeared to be having a similar conversation with Yuji while he taught him at the same time.
“You like him, don’t you?”
“Fushiguro?” Yuji asked, attempting to balance on Reki’s skateboard while the red head stood close by, arms ready to catch him if he slipped off. “Yeah.”
“We’re clear on the fact that it’s a romantic liking, right? You’re not in denial or anything?”
“No, I know it’s romantic. Don’t think it’s very platonic to want to kiss the homies.” Yuji huffed out a laugh.
“Yeah, it’s not.” Reki snickered. “Are you gonna tell him?”
“I want to but… it’s hard. We both have a lot on our plates back home and I don’t want to put more on him.” Yuji sighed.
“It’s a relationship though, isn’t it? So, you support each other if either of you has stuff to deal with. You don’t let your significant other shoulder it all.” Reki explained. “Langa and I do that. If I feel down, he’s there for me and vice versa.”
“Fushiguro and I are both the types of people to keep everything hidden because we don’t want to trouble others.”
“Well, it’s a good time to start changing that. Together.” Reki encouraged. “Want to try skating? You could go all the way to where Langa and Fushiguro are?”
“Yeah!”
“It was really nice meeting you!” Yuji waved as he handed the skateboard back to Reki, grinning.
“You too! Text me if you’re ever around Okinawa again!” Reki beamed back. He’d given Yuji his phone number to keep in contact.
“Only if you do the same if you’re ever in Tokyo.”
“We will!”
“Bye!”
“Bye!”
Langa and Megumi merely waved while their counterparts exchanged their goodbyes and then they went their separate ways.
“We should clean your hands when we get back to the hotel.” They would only be staying for the night before they had to head back to Tokyo tomorrow morning.
“It’s fine. Nothing too bad. I can handle it.” Yuji waved it off, sparing a glance at his scratched up hands from falling and bracing himself on the ground with them.
“I wish you wouldn’t brush off shit like that so easily.” Megumi muttered, frowning. “It doesn’t matter if it’s not bad, you’re still hurt.”
“I’ll clean it if it bothers you so much.” Yuji said softly.
“It should bother you too.” Megumi insisted. “Not just me.”
“Sorry.” Yuji whispered. “It used to bother me a lot more when I got hurt. Then I died and I guess that’s the worst feeling so… as long as I’m not dying…” He laughed but it sounded wet.
Megumi stopped in his tracks and Yuji followed. The darker-haired boy stepped in front of Yuji and pressed a hand to his chest, right above his heart. He relaxed upon feeling the strong thrumming beneath his fingers.
“Hey, I’m fine.” Yuji placed his own scarred hand above Megumi’s, so warm and present it sent a rush through his body.
“You can still be upset and bothered by getting hurt even if you’re not at risk of dying, you know that right?” Megumi asked.
“I know.” Yuji nodded. “Just… I can’t help it. Besides, you worry enough for the both of us.” Megumi gave him a look. “It’s a good thing, Fushiguro.”
“Is it?”
“Mhm! Reki was telling me him and Langa shoulder stuff together, you know? So one person doesn’t feel overwhelmed or – or like everything is too much. They support each other.” Yuji explained. “Can I shoulder some of your troubles?”
“Reki and Langa are also dating.” Megumi didn’t dare raise his voice above a whisper.
“I know.” Yuji’s smile was soft, gentle and reassuring. “So, can I be there for you? Can you let me help you carry all that weight you’re letting crush you? Can I be the Reki to your Langa?”
“You’re so stupid.” Megumi silenced him with a kiss. “You can’t be the Reki to my Langa. You’re Yuji, and I’m Megumi.”
“Okay, so can I be the Yuji to your Megumi then?”
“Yeah. You can.”