Chapter Text
August 2007
The summer heat seemed to do little to deter the usual lively noise of the playground. The children’s joyful laughter and yelling mingling with the distant hum of traffic. Satoru leaned casually against a tree, hands in his pockets and a lazy grin on his face as he did his best not to look too out of place. It wouldn’t seem too strange to the parents, right? A teenager hanging around a place like this. After all, he was sure they’d all seen him show up with that gloomy kid.
Megumi was supposed to be in the thick of things, enjoying the playground like any other kid his age. Even seeing how he’d behaved when Satoru first found him, he was sure it couldn’t be too hard taking care of a kid that young. What else was a four year old to do other than play around and all that? Satoru knew how to be silly. He was sure they’d be close super easily.
Satoru should’ve known from the boy’s aloof persona that he was in for a bumpier ride than he’d anticipated. Just as he’d expected from a kid made by…that guy. Even so, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to give the boy a more “normal” childhood experience. Just a bit of a break from the otherwise quieter life he led. While the other kids were shrieking as they took turns on the slide or running around with soccer balls, little Megumi sat on the edge of the sandbox, hands in his pockets as he gazed out at the grass with a mixture of boredom and resignation on his face.
Satoru squinted, tilting his head in thought. Maybe the kid was just shy? After all, he seemed pretty content sitting there with his knees drawn to his chest as he observed the other children. He thought about saying something to the boy, giving him gentle encouragement to be a bit more social.
Just then, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket, lighting up with a text from Suguru. He pulled it out and started typing back, chuckling at whatever Suguru had sent him this time.
Meanwhile, Megumi continued to sit, watching the other kids but not really engaging. He didn’t feel particularly interested in joining them. There was something so loud and chaotic about the way they played. He felt it was exhausting just to watch it, let alone engage with it. He wasn’t particularly shy, no, he just didn’t see the appeal. Instead, he glanced around, studying the trees, the pigeons pecking at crumbs on the ground, the clouds rolling passively across the sky.
That was when he noticed it. A boy, around his own age, staring at him. Between his spiky pink hair and wide, curious grin, Megumi subconsciously knew he was bound to be trouble. Before he could look away, the boy came over, eyes bright and energy practically radiating from him. He was clearly unperturbed by Megumi’s quiet staring or the fact that he hadn’t even invited the attention being focused on him.
“Hi!” the boy said much louder than Megumi would’ve liked. “Wanna play?”
When Megumi didn’t respond right away, the boy simply sat down next to him on the edge of the sandbox, an eager grin still on his face.
“My name’s Yuji Itadori,” he said, casually fiddling with the sand at their feet. “What’s yours?”
“...Megumi.” He glanced at Yuji with a wary expression. Megumi was still convinced the boy was trouble, yet something stopped him from walking away like he usually would’ve by now. A faint curiosity betrayed his otherwise stony exterior.
“Hey, Megumi, how come you’re just sitting here by yourself?”
Megumi shrugged. “I’m fine here.”
Yuji’s head tilted in slight curiosity. It was a strange concept to him. The fact that a kid could be “fine” without playing.
“But it’s fun! C’mon there’s a big jungle gym over there.”
Megumi glanced in the direction Yuji pointed. Kids were already all over pretty much every surface of it by now. Even the sandpit, which was relatively quiet, still had kids noisily building a castle—at least, they were attempting to.
“No thanks,” Megumi muttered.
Yuji, somehow undeterred by Megumi’s standoffish behavior, still did his best to engage with the other boy. “What if…we just play on the swings? Everybody likes those!”
Before Megumi could protest, Yuji had already started tugging him away from the sandpit, his body practically vibrating with enthusiasm. He tried to shrug him off, but Yuji was persistent and he eventually relented, allowing himself to be dragged over to the swing set. Yuji hopped onto a swing and pushed himself back, his legs kicking out as he grinned at Megumi.
“See, it’s fun, right?”
Megumi had begrudgingly sat down on the adjacent swing with an exasperated sigh. “It’s fine, I guess.”
Yuji laughed, a warm sound that echoed across the playground.
“You’re funny, Megumi. You say stuff is fine, but you look all grumpy about it.” He continued to swing with great enthusiasm, clearly not fazed by Megumi’s lack thereof.
The two swung for a while, the only sound between them being Yuji’s almost infectious laughter. Even someone like Megumi couldn’t hold back the faint smile that formed at the sound of it. He began to relax, almost enjoying his more gentle and reserved movements on the swing. Yuji suddenly jumped off mid-swing, landing in the grass with a loud thud.
“Hey, wanna see something cool?” Yuji whispered, leaning in close to the other boy. “There’s a place in the park with all these, like, bushes and stuff. You can pretend you’re in a different world. My grandpa says you can even eat the berries!”
Megumi’s face scrunched up slightly, his apprehension plain as day. “Are we allowed?”
“Of course!” Yuji replied confidently. “Uh, well, maybe not…but that makes it more fun! It’s like a secret.”
Against his better judgment, Megumi found himself nodding. Yuji took off toward a cluster of bushes at the far end of the park with Megumi reluctantly following close behind. The two boys ducked under branches and squeezed between thick shrubs. Yuji was practically vibrating with excitement. They found themselves in a small, secluded area surrounded by tall bushes and overgrown grass. It was far enough from the playground that they could just barely hear the other kids, a fact that Megumi enjoyed.
“This…isn’t bad,” Megumi looked around, half-impressed.
“Told you! It’s like a secret base.”
They poked around for a bit, inspecting rocks with Yuji’s guidance as he was a self-proclaimed beetle hunter. Their exploration was interrupted by the rustle of the nearby bushes. Megumi tensed, his mind instantly wondering if Satoru had noticed his absence and was coming to lecture him about walking off on his own.
Instead of Satoru, two older kids, no older than ten, emerged from the bushes. They looked at Yuji and Megumi with a mild disinterest that put Megumi on edge.
“What are you two brats doing here?” The first older kid said with a scowl. “This is our spot.”
“We were just looking,” Megumi said quietly.
“Looking’s not allowed unless we say so,” The other kid sneered.
“It’s a park. We can look if we want.” Yuji interjected. He stepped carefully between them and Megumi, looking much braver than he felt.
“We’ll just go if you don’t want us here,” Megumi was hopeful that they could escape the encounter without much trouble.
“You’ll go when we say you can go,” the first kid stepped past Yuji, shoving Megumi back. He stumbled, but didn’t fall completely. Yuji’s fists balled up at his sides. His face twisted in anger. Before he could think of anything else, he bent down, taking small handfuls of dirt and pebbles and throwing it in the older kids’ faces. As the two were slightly disoriented, Yuji took hold of Megumi’s hand and ran off with a surprising speed.
When they were finally within the safety of the park, Yuji let go and turned to Megumi with a sheepish smile.
“Thanks,” Megumi finally mumbled after a brief pause. He didn’t want to admit it, but Yuji’s quick thinking had actually gotten them out of a sticky situation. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yeah, but that’s what friends do, right?”
“Friends?” The word had caught Megumi off guard. He hadn’t actually had someone he considered a friend before. And yet, this random boy, who Megumi had to admit was kind of annoying, was standing here saying that they were.
“Yeah, friends!” Yuji replied with a grin. “Unless, uh, you don’t want to be.”
Megumi paused. Yuji was, admittedly, kind of annoying. He was loud and got into trouble and was so overly persistent. But his persistence, somehow, actually made Megumi feel comfortable rather than overwhelmed. Slowly, he nodded and spoke in a barely audible voice.
“Alright. Friends.”
The boy beamed and as they sat down on the grass, Megumi listening to him talking about everything and nothing as if they hadn’t gotten into a close encounter, he felt himself relaxing around the comfort of another child for the first time in his life.
A few minutes later, Satoru finally looked up from his phone, realizing with a jolt that he hadn’t seen Megumi for a while. He scanned the park, his eyes narrowing as he spotted the two boys sitting in the grass, looking slightly disheveled but otherwise unharmed.
He walked over, causing Yuji to pause whatever story he’d been telling by then. He tugged on Megumi’s sleeve, his eyes lighting up with curiosity.
“Hey, who’s that?” he whispered, the same energy he’d shown all afternoon clear on his face.
Megumi followed Yuji’s gaze, his expression still neutral as ever. “That’s Satoru.”
“Is he your big brother?”
“Uh…no.”
“Oh! Is he your dad, then?”
As he stood over the two boys, Satoru struggled to contain his laughter at the suggestion. Megumi shook his head again, his cheeks faintly flushed as he struggled to find an answer.
“Oh, cool!” Yuji looked up at the teen with a wide grin, as if things made perfect sense to him. “I don’t live with my mom and dad either. I live with my grandpa.”
Satoru crouched down to their level, his usual grin plain on his face. “Having fun, huh?”
“Yeah,” Megumi mumbled. “Something like that.”
“Hi, I’m Yuji!” The boy said, holding out his hand for a handshake which Satoru graciously accepted. “Megumi and I are friends now.”
Satoru raised an eyebrow, glancing at Megumi who didn’t protest. Instead, he shifted shyly, looking slightly embarrassed by the declaration but still okay with it. He didn’t call attention to it, but Satoru noticed the faint, genuine smile on the boy’s face. Clearly the kid was special if he could even catch Megumi with his bright, contagious energy.
“Friends, huh? How about I take you to your granddad, then? Megumi and I were about to leave.”
Yuji nodded, his smile growing even wider. “Sure, thanks! He’s at home.”
“Alright, then,” Satoru said with a chuckle, patting the boy on the shoulder. “We’ll walk you home.”
As they left the park, Yuji and Megumi walked side by side with Satoru following a few paces behind, a proud grin on his face. Yuji couldn’t contain his curiosity about Satoru, bombarding the teen with all the questions that came to him.
“Hey, Satoru, how do you know Megumi? Why’s your hair white? Are you a wizard? Why do your eyes look like that?”
Satoru answered what questions he could, Yuji occasionally laughing at his more outrageous answers. They finally reached Yuji’s house, where he was met by an older man with a stern, weathered face. Yuji introduced him as his grandfather before turning back to the two with a big smile.
“Thanks for walking me home!” He said to Satoru cheerfully. Then, on impulse, he leaned forward, wrapping Megumi in a quick hug. “Bye, Megumi!”
The boy’s eyes widened in surprise as he awkwardly hugged him back. “Uh…bye, Yuji,” he replied, clearly flustered.”
Satoru watched with a fond smile as the boy bounded up the steps and waved goodbye. Megumi seemed to be deep in thought as he and Satoru turned to head home. He didn't know what it was about him that had done it, but Yuji had somehow gotten past the walls Megumi usually put up around others. It was an unexpected development, but what was even more unexpected was the eventual revelation in the months to come that the encounter had been the beginnings of a family he hadn’t known he needed.