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“Yuuji, I’m just warning you that this isn’t going to be a fun time.” Megumi grumbled as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Megumi hated seeing his extended family for the holidays. It wasn’t that he disliked his family, he was very fortunate to have them in his life, it was just that he hated the drama that surrounded the dinner.
Yuuji just smiled at his taller boyfriend and latched onto Megumi’s left arm. “You’re acting like I haven’t been to one of these family dinners before.”
Megumi grumbled. “Well that was before you moved away, it’s gotten even worse.”
Each year for Christmas, Megumi’s adoptive father Gojo Satoru threw the most extravagant family dinner and invited the entirety of their family and their friends. Despite the thousands of dollars that Satoru spent on physical invitations, only about twenty people responded and attended the dinner.
The last time Yuuji had attended one of these dinners was when he and Megumi were still in middle school. Yuuji had just officially been adopted by Nanami Kento and the two were planning on moving to the countryside to live with Nanami’s boyfriend. That year, the dinner doubled as a going away party for the pair. That dinner was one of Megumi’s least favorites, but it all worked out as Yuuji came back to Tokyo for university.
A year or two after that dinner was the Christmas dinner where Satoru and Suguru announced that they were getting a divorce. It was one of the smallest; only Megumi, his three sisters, his aunt Shoko, Yaga and Ijichi. Megumi hated seeing his sisters cry, especially Nanako. Nanako was the strongest of the four of them. Whenever she was visually upset, he knew how severe the situation was. It was weird not having her and Mimiko around the house after the divorce was finalized. He could tell Tsumiki was just as upset as she moved abroad for college as soon as possible.
Two years ago was by far the worst, as most of the Zenin family attended. This, of course, led to Naoya and Maki getting into the most hostile argument that Megumi had ever witnessed between them. Megumi was thankful that Satoru banned Naoya and most of the family from the invite list after that catastrophe of a dinner. Megumi was also thankful that he did not have to grow up in the Zenin family; even though he got along well with Maki and Mai, the twins scared the shit out of him.
This year was supposedly going to be one of the smaller dinners they’ve hosted, however, Megumi wasn’t too sure. He knew that Satoru liked to downplay most situations so that expectations weren’t too high. He didn’t blame his father for thinking that way but Megumi couldn’t help but secretly hope for the best. He had went behind his father’s back and invited a few extra people to dinner. Although, it was never confirmed if they could make it.
“Fushi, you there?” Yuuji shook Megumi gently. “Did I lose you?”
“No.” Megumi responded and looked at his pink-haired lover. “Sorry, just lost in thought.” He felt Yuuji shift his hold on him by wrapping his arms around Megumi’s waist.
“We’re almost to your house, just a few more blocks!” Yuuji smiled up at Megumi and pulled him along to walk faster. Megumi and Yuuji decided to walk to the Gojo household from their dorm building since it was only a forty minute walk. It was hard for Megumi to say no to Yuuji.
“We can look at all the holiday decorations and just enjoy the view!” Yuuji bounced on the heels of his feet. “Plus, I know you hate public transportation. If we need to, we can just take it back but let’s take advantage of the nice weather!”
They walked in a comfortable silence for a block and a half before Yuuji lit up again in excitement. “Oh! And you can finally meet Kiyoshi! He is just the cutest little thing, you know, I always wanted a younger sibling or just a sibling in general… it can get pretty lonely after awhile.”
Megumi couldn’t imagine not having siblings but he could understand the feeling of being an only child. It was pretty lonely following the divorce and the two years since Tsumiki’s move abroad. He felt bad for moving out of the house and leaving Satoru all alone when he started college but his father assured him that he wanted the best for Megumi and that included living at his university.
“I’m looking forward to meeting him and I’m looking forward to seeing your dad again. I always did like him.” Megumi said as Yuuji giggled beside him. “Of course you like my father, you two have similar personalities. All doom and gloom, everything is a serious matter, no dessert before dinner.”
Megumi gave a soft smile as they rounded the corner of Megumi’s home street. His nerves started to act up again and his stomach started to churn. What if no one showed up this year? What if Satoru wasn’t doing well in the time that Megumi was away, what if– ding! ding!
“Fushi, it’s going to be okay. Don’t worry about it.” Yuuji mumbled in his ear as he kissed Megumi’s blush-red cheek. Unfortunately, Yuuji kissed him just as the door open and he was greeted by his favorite extended family member.
“Ew. Are you serious? You brought your boyfriend?” Hikari’s lip curled up as she rested her one hand on her hip. “Gojo-san is going to love this.” She motioned for them to come in and closed the door behind them.
“It’s nice to see you, Hikari. This is Yuuji Itadori.” Megumi said as he took off his shoes and put them on the shoe rack. “I don’t think you two would remember each other. Yuuji, this is Hikari Utahime.”
Hikari smiled and waved. “Please just call me Hikari. Also, do not go in the kitchen. It’s a warzone already.” Megumi turned towards Yuuji and raised his eyebrows in a ‘see what I mean’. “I suggest we go to the den. No one else is here except for me and my moms.”
“Oh?” Megumi smirked at Hikari as he and Yuuji followed her into the den. “Moms?”
Hikari’s lip snarled as she rolled her eyes. “It’s complicated. Don’t tell Shoko-san I said that. I haven’t said it to her yet.”
Hikari was officially adopted by Iori Utahime when she was six years old. They first met when she was left on the doorstep of the social work agency that Iori used to work at in Kyoto. Hikari was only eight months old when she was abandoned, however, Iori had felt an instant attachment to her and Hikari was constantly on her mind. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much authority on the foster homes that Hikari was placed in for the first three years of her life but she took the opportunity to foster and adopt Hikari as soon as it was possible for her to do so. The two recently moved back to Iori’s hometown of Tokyo as Iori and Ieiri Shoko rekindled their relationship. It wasn’t that Hikari disliked Shoko-san, she was just annoyed that she had to leave Kyoto and all her friends so that her mom could live with her girlfriend.
“So I heard something about Nobara and Maki finally getting together?” Hikari asked as the three of them sat down on the sofa. “Do you know if they’re coming today?”
“I don’t think they’re coming. Nobara mentioned how she was going to her sister’s house for the holidays.” Megumi looks at Yuuji for confirmation to see the pink haired boy shaking his head in agreement. “And Maki usually spends the holidays with Mai and her friends if she doesn’t come here.”
“Or maybe she went with Nobara to Saori’s place.” Yuuji added. “Let me do some research.”
Hikari elbowed Megumi and mouthed the words ‘nice catch’ which made Megumi smile and roll his eyes. ‘Leave me alone’ he mouthed back and Yuuji showed his phone to Megumi and Hikari. “Okay look, Nobara posted this on her story twenty minutes ago. If you look in the corner, you can see a familiar looking blue trenchcoat.” Megumi lightly tapped Yuuji’s screen to see the next post, which was a clear selfie of Nobara with Maki. “Oh! Look at that!” Yuuji exclaimed. “Mystery solved!”
Megumi fondly rolled his eyes at his boyfriend and groaned as he stood up. He had a weird feeling that the door—ding! ding!—bell was going to ring. “Wait!” Hikari scrambled to get the door. “I want to get it!”
Megumi put his hands up in defense as he let his younger cousin run past him to the front door. He hasn’t seen her this excited to greet people since–
“Oh boo. You’re not Yuuta either.”
“Hikari-chan~” Megumi heard a strangely familiar (and hurt) voice answer from the doorway. As he rounded the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn’t believe it. His sisters had actually came.
“Megu-chan!” Nanako Hasaba called out as she ran to give him a hug. “Oh, it’s been too long nii-san!” Megumi returned the hug a bit awkwardly as he wasn’t used to being the taller of the two. Mimiko quietly appeared beside her sister as Nanako pulled away from Megumi. Mimiko gave Megumi a warm smile to which Megumi returned. He was still in shock that his twin sisters were actually here and a little sad that Tsumiki wasn’t able to come for dinner.
“Did you tell tou-san you were coming?” Megumi asked. “I wasn’t sure if you two could actually make it so I didn’t say anything to him.”
“Tsumiki mentioned that she told him on their last phone call.” Mimiko responded as she collected her jacket and Nanako’s jacket. “I’m assuming you haven’t said hello yet?”
“Gojo-san and okaa-san got into an argument so I advised everyone to stay away.” Hikari stated, folding her arms. “Everyone?” Nanako asked as Yuuji shyly came out into the foyer. “Yuuji-chan is here too? Why is he here?”
“Oh you didn’t hear?” Hikari’s mischievous smile made its appearance. “Megumi and Yuuji are dating.”
“No way!” Nanako’s voice rang throughout the house as Mimiko let out a high-pitched shriek. “Megumi! How could you not tell us! I’m utterly insulted, we video call twice a month!”
“Well that’s partly why I wanted you two to come today…” Megumi grumbled. The five of them heard clambering from the kitchen and a distressed Satoru Gojo ran out into the hallway. His shirt was half unbuttoned, flour was across his face, hair spiked in every direction. As he saw Nanako and Mimiko, he dropped to his knees. Megumi guessed that his father forgot about his sisters coming to dinner despite Tsumiki telling him the last time they talked.
“Nanako? Mimiko?” Satoru whispered, his voice starting to sound watery. Megumi could see Nanako and Mimiko starting to get teary-eyed as they walked towards their father and knelt on the ground to give him a hug.
Satoru’s biggest life regret was letting Suguru slip away from him so easily. The second biggest regret Satoru had was not officially adopting the twins. Since Satoru wasn’t one of the twins’ legal guardians, he wasn’t entitled to a custody agreement in the divorce proceedings. It also didn’t help that by the end of the divorce process, Suguru was not very open to Satoru seeing his daughters. None of that mattered anymore considering the twins were now legal adults.
“I missed you girls so much.” Satoru whispered as he kissed the tops of both heads. “Megumi, you too.” Megumi walked over to Satoru’s outstretched hand and fell into a hug with his father and sisters. Megumi wasn’t usually a hugger but today was an exception. He heard Hikari and Yuuji cooing at the reunited family and snapping pictures to commemorate the reunion.
“Alright.” Mimiko broke the silence and visually shook off her emotions. “Do you need any help with dinner, otou-san?” The four of them slowly stood up and Satoru nodded. “Please help me, your aunts are annoying the shit out of me.”
Nanami and Mimiko giggled as they made their way to the kitchen. Satoru took the opportunity to knuckle Megumi’s head now that they were standing, much to Megumi’s annoyance. “I’m happy to see you too, Gumi. I need to hear all about your little romance with Yuuji-chan. Kento is the worst person to get information from.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Megumi grumbled and pushed Satoru away. “Yuuji and I are going to go for a walk.” He grabbed Yuuji’s hand and raced out of the front door. Megumi was starting to become overwhelmed and needed sometime to digest what just happened. Yuuji clued into the shift in Megumi’s emotional state and willingly let himself be dragged outside. They walked in silence for the majority of the time, the only conversation was random comments from Yuuji about the little neighborhood.
When the pair arrived back at the house, it seemed like more cars were parked out front. Megumi wasn’t sure who else was coming besides Yuuji’s family and Yuuta Okkotsu but it seemed like quite a bit. Satoru was such a liar for saying that this was going to be a small dinner. The kitchen and dining area was buzzing with voices and laughter.
Yuuta Okkotsu had finally arrived with his boyfriend, Toge Inumaki. The pair were sitting in the corner of the dining room, talking to each other in sign language. Hikari was sitting with Hiro Yaga across from Yuuta and Toge on the other side of the table. Nanako and Mimiko were setting the table while Ieiri Shoko was trying to console Satoru.
“Look at them, they got so big! Do you think Suguru knows they’re here? Do you think he’ll show up?”
Masamichi Yaga and Iori Utahime were catching up, a half empty bottle of wine was already sitting between them.
“I guess my parents aren’t here yet.” Yuuji said glumly. “I hope they’re okay.” Almost on cue, the front door opened and the sound of small feet running echoed throughout the house.
“Yuuji!!” a small child hurled himself into Yuuji which caused the pink haired boy to laugh. The child couldn’t be more than five years old and he looked like a carbon copy of Kento Nanami. Yuuji scooped the child up and blew a raspberry on his cheek. “Hi Kiyoshi! Oh, this is Megumi, can you say ‘hi Megumi’?”
“Hi Megi-me!” Kiyoshi smiled and gave a short little wave. Megumi didn’t know what to do with small children so he tried to smile at him. Almost all of his relatives were older than him or the same age as him, except for Hikari.
“Nanamin!” Satoru cheered and went to hug his old friend who rejected Satoru’s advances and pushed him towards his husband, Yuu Nanami. “Oh, Yuu! How are you two? How’s little Kiyoshi-chan?”
Megumi walked away from the little reunion and took a seat next to Toge. Hello Toge, Yuuta Megumi signed.
Hello Megumi. How are you enjoying university? Toge responded. The three conversed until the food was finished and brought out to the dining room table. It was surprising how well of a cook Satoru can be when he has the ability to dedicate the time. Yuuji was able to slide in the chair next to Megumi and slip his hand into Megumi’s beneath the table. Before everyone passed around the food and took their portions, Satoru stood up from his seat and dramatically hit his glass with a fork.
“Thank you everyone for coming out tonight to celebrate the holidays. I appreciate you all putting up with my shenanigans.” Satoru took a long drink of his wine. “And congratulations to Megumi and his new relationship with Yuuji. Hate to be that person but I saw it alllll the way back when you two were in grade school.”
“I despise you.” Megumi grumbled.
“No you don’t!” The whole table sang.
Perhaps Megumi didn’t hate seeing his extended family for the holidays. After all, they were a strong constant in his life and all showed up. When it came down to it, they truly do make him feel loved.
Yuuji looked over at him and smiled. “I think I can get used to these dinners every year.”
“Yeah me too.”