Chapter Text
Megumi places a studying hand on Yuuji’s knee. Yuuji knows he’s bouncing his leg enough to jostle the whole bench. If he were any less anxious, he’d have the decency to blush and say “Sorry!”, but all he can muster is a sheepish grin before going back to creating a small earthquake.
He feels a gentle squeeze from Megumi as the other man leans gently into his shoulder. “Hey,” Megumi says softly, “It’s gonna be ok.”
“Yeah.” Even Yuuji doesn’t believe himself.
“I’m serious," Megumi insists. "I know that just getting the test done was a big milestone, let alone coming to hear the results. No matter what happens, I’m proud of you.”
Yuuji blushes at that.
Megumi has been his rock throughout this whole thing.
He’d listened to Yuuji pace around their apartment for months, lamenting the pros and cons of getting genetic testing done. When he’d finally decided to move forward with the process, he had helped Yuuji research the most reputable clinics in the area and determine who had the largest pool of possible sibling matches to test against. And now Megumi, who’d come with him to all the appointments, was sitting by his side six weeks later as Yuuji was about to find out if he had any biological siblings.
Yuuji had tried to imagine what it’d be like not to be an only child all the time growing up. He’d always been jealous of people who had big families.
As a kid, it had been about surface level things. Wishing he didn’t have to make a new friend every time he wanted to play with someone else at the park. Being frustrated that no one else had the same house rules for board games as he did. Not seeing anyone his own age over holiday breaks.
Then he had to plan his grandpa’s funeral by himself.
It didn’t feel like jealousy then. There was something deeper. A profound loneliness. A sense of decay.
He tried not to think about it.
Yuuji didn’t like dwelling on it. Didn’t like the person he became when the rot sank in. He’d much rather pour himself into other people. Starve out the parasite in his gut.
Because maybe he was lonely sometimes, but that didn’t mean he was alone. He had Megumi, which meant he also had Gojo and Geto and Tsumiki and Nanako and Mimiko. He had Nanamin. Then of course, there were all his friends from college — Nobara and Maki and Toge and Yuuta and Panda and —
“Itadori Yuuji?”
An unfamiliar voice pulls Yuuji out of his head. When he looks toward where it came from, he sees a nurse standing near the hallway that leads to the offices and examination rooms.
“You can follow me back this way.”
Yuuji stands to follow the nurse to the back. He turns to see if Megumi is ready to go too. Instead, his boyfriend is looking back and forth between Yuuji and the nurse, trying to gauge if he’s welcome in the office for this part.
Well, he will be if Yuuji has anything to say about it. He turns to the nurse and asks, “Is it ok if my partner comes too?”
“Of course.”
Megumi shoots Yuuji a quick smile and gathers his backpack to follow him into the offices. The nurse opens a door into a room they’ve become very accustomed to over the last few months.
“Feel free to take a seat in here. Dr. Ieiri will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you.”
Yuuji tries to pick at the same hangnail he’s been working at all morning, but Megumi keeps smacking his hand away.
The door swings open, and with it comes Dr. Ieiri Shoko. She’s got a couple of different folders in her hands, which Yuuji hopes means good news and not that they found some terminal illness that he has to deal with instead of finding his sibling.
“Yuuji, how’ve you been?”
“Oh, ya know …” he trails off.
“Nervous. He’s been nervous.” Megumi says, finally deciding that enough is enough and just interlacing their fingers so that Yuuji can’t pick anymore.
“That makes sense. This is a big step, and a big change to your perception of the world. You’re not gonna be an only child after today.”
Is that … did that — did he really just hear what his ears were telling his brain they’d heard? Honestly though, his brain might not be the best judge of reality right now. It’s short circuiting and rewiring and it kind of feels like it’s doing that old dial up tone thingy from the 1900s.
Apparently, doctors drop so much life changing information on people that they’re no longer phased by it because Ieiri continues talking as if she’s said nothing worth stopping and processing for at least three to five business days. “Or I guess it’d be more accurate to say you never were one.”
Yuuji looks at Megumi, since his brain is really big and wrinkly and always in perfect working order, but he looks stunned too. They both just stare at each other for a second, jaws slack and minds racing.
Megumi finds his voice first. “So you found a sibling match?”
“We did,” Ieiri nods. “Itadori Yuuji, you have an older brother.”
I have an older brother. I’m not alone anymore. I never truly had been.
Before hearing the results, there hadn’t been any way of predicting whether his sibling would’ve been older or younger— or if he even had one at all. But something about being a little brother felt correct. A part of him that had always been there, but he’d never had words to label before.
He has a big brother.
“Would you like to know who it is?”
Yuuji can’t bring himself to speak out loud, tears already beginning to prick the corners of his eyes. He reaches to accept the file, but can’t get his muscles to cooperate, his body trembling.
Megumi sees him struggling and takes the file from Ieiri, checks in with Yuuji to make sure he’s ready (he’s not, but how could he ever be?), and starts reading.
“It says here that your brother’s name is Todo Aoi. He’s in college, but he’s a senior, so a couple of years older. He actually goes to our university, just the other campus across town.”
His big brother has been right there this whole time!
Yuuji looks at Ieiri, “Were you the one doing Todo’s testing? Do you know anything about him?”
He sounds like a little kid who’s obsessed with space, getting to talk to an astronaut. Ieiri just smiles at him.
“I was the one who did Todo’s tests. And if you’re asking Dr. Ieiri Shoko about another patient I’d clutch my pearls and say I value my medical license far too much to break doctor patient confidentiality.”
She pulls out a vape the fire marshal bought her after one too many calls about someone smoking inside and takes a hit.
“But if you’re asking your future honorary aunt in law.” Yuuji glances at Megumi and he’s totally blushing which is really sweet. “Then I’d say he has a good heart. But he can definitely be … intense.”
“Intense?” Megumi repeats suspiciously.
“Intense.” She hits her vape again and nods. “Anyways, you should probably meet him yourself. It’d be weird if you knew everything about him and he didn’t know anything about you.”
“That makes sense I guess,” Yuuji nods.
She hands him a piece of paper she’d been referencing with some contact info for Todo and some other basic details like his birthday. He’s a Libra, so he’s probably really balanced and level headed and —
The door to Ieiri’s office slams open. Standing in the doorway, with no regard for the fact that he just walked into someone else’s doctor’s appointment, is Gojo.
“What the hell Gojo?!” Megumi exclaims, shock and indignation coloring his voice. “You can’t just barge in. What if it hadn’t been us?”
Yuuji wants to be angry with Gojo too— because he knows that Megumi is objectively right — but he’s still too excited about the fact that he has a brother to really care.
“Nah, I’ve got both of you on Find My Friends, so I knew it was you guys.”
He waltzes over to Ieiri and steals one of the lollipops she keeps in a bowl on her desk for patients.
“Ready to go Sho? Happy hour starts in twenty.”
It’s 3:00PM on a Monday, but who is Yuuji to judge?
“You’re crazy,” she laughs dryly. “We just went out last night. I’m not setting foot in another bar with you until at least three weeks from now.”
“But Suguru will be there.” He draws out all vowels in an effort to make his offer extra appealing. Ieiri, of course, is unphased. She's used to his particular flavor of pestering by now.
“No he won’t, we already have plans.”
Gojo gasps like he’s in a soap opera. “Stealing my husband? Shoko, I can’t believe you.”
“Does that mean I get to have one sane parent?” Megumi asks snidely. He knows exactly how to poke his Dad’s buttons, and Gojo turns on him.
“You’d go with Suguru if we ever got divorced?!?”
“Obviously. But also, does it matter? I’m an adult and I don’t live with you.”
“It’s the principle—”
As much as he’d love to listen to Megumi and Gojo bicker all day, Yuuji is practically vibrating with excitement over having a big brother and can’t hold it in for another second.
“Gojo, guess what!” Yuuji interrupts. “I have an older brother! His name is Todo Aoi. Look!”
He hands Gojo the folder with his test results, and the other man gives it a once over. Well, not really a once over. Gojo’s staring at the chart pretty intensely.
The results must be almost as much of a surprise to Gojo as they were to Yuuji since he’s actually quietly reading. Which is weird because Yuuji and Megumi have been together for years, and Yuuji doesn’t think he’s ever seen something shut Gojo up so fast. Megumi must notice it too because he’s staring hard at Gojo— eyes narrowed and lips pursed.
Yuuji gets it though. This is really big news! And everyone processes new information in their own way. He still can’t believe it himself, if he’s being honest. He repeats it over and over again, hoping that the more he says it, the more true it will feel.
I have an older brother. I’m not alone anymore. I never truly had been.
/////
hi ! this is itadori yuuji
i got your contact info from the clinic because it turns out you’re my older brother !!!
surprise!
Message Sent With Confetti
ahhh wait that was an accident ! i didn’t mean for it to have the confetti !
anyways
i was wondering if you’d want to meet up for coffee sometime ? maybe get to know each other better ?
totally cool if not ! i know not everyone is into family
but yeah, if you want to, i’m around
no pressure
BROTHER
WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW
uhhh the parking lot of the clinic ???
EXCELLENT
Meet me here in half an hour
Location Shared With You
oh sweet ! this is super close
see you then :)
BET
/////
“He wants to meet with me.” Yuuji turns his phone toward Megumi. “Like now.”
“Right now?”
Megumi leans in closer to read the text exchange. He puts his hand on top of Yuuji’s to steady the phone (it's such a simple gesture that he's probably done a thousand times before but it somehow still manages to make his heart skip a beat).
“In half an hour.”
“That’s fast,” he looks up at Yuuji, gaze gentle and appraising. “Are you sure you’re ready for that? You’ve had a big day already.”
“I mean I’ve already waited twenty years. That feels like long enough don’t you think?”
Megumi shrugs. “Hey, I’ll follow your lead. He’s your brother after all.”
“Yeah…” Yuuji trails off. “My brother.”
Megumi smiles at him, not wanting to break the magic of this moment.
Yuuji still couldn’t believe it. He has an older brother. An older brother who wants to meet and spend time with him and get to know him better. This is all he ever wanted. Megumi offers to go in with him, but Yuuji figures this is probably something he should do on his own.
The cafe is just a few minutes from the clinic, a pretty average place all things considered. Yuuji orders a latte and then takes a seat near the door. The front walls of the cafe are mostly windows, so he can try to get a look at Todo before he gets here.
He’s not quite sure how he’ll know who his brother is, but he figures that’s just a thing he’ll be able to vibe check his way through, yeah? Like, can’t all siblings just tell that they’re related?
Yuuji’s so engrossed watching every person who walks by, he almost misses the barista bringing his drink to the table. He thanks her quickly before turning his attention back to the window. On her way back to the counter, she almost gets the wind knocked out of her by the force of a refrigerator-sized man throwing the door open and bellowing “WHERE IS MY YOUNGER BROTHER?” from the entryway.
Which is probably overkill, considering that when Yuuji looks around the cafe, the only other people in there are two girls studying together in the far corner. Who are now staring at Yuuji, and who he can only assume is Todo, like they’re crazy. He can’t really blame them.
Yuuji stands up sheepishly, very much aware that everyone is staring at him. “I’m …”
“You.”
The man is to him in two strides and swallows Yuuji in a bear hug. Ieiri had been right when she picked the word intense to describe him. This certainly was a lot.
But also, Yuuji hadn’t been able to hug anyone in his family since his grandpa died in high school. He didn't think he'd ever get a chance to again. And so, in that way, this was really nice.
For the first time in years, he doesn't have to work to keep the emptiness at bay. It just … isn't as loud right now. His breath hitches in his throat, almost like he might cry. He might already be, water dribbling from the top of his scalp, down to his cheeks —
Wait.
That’s not …
Yuuji pulls away to see Todo ugly crying over him. It’s super cool that his big brother is so in touch with his emotions. Clearly this also meant a lot to him, which is a good sign.
Now that he can actually see his big brother’s face, they don’t exactly look alike. Todo is all broad shoulders and muscles. He’s kinda shaped like a Dorito. Yuuji’s not tiny (he is a very frequent face at his local gym, thank you very much), but he’s nowhere near as big as Todo.
Yuuji's also has what Megumi calls "stupidly round and persuasive doe eyes" that he didn't see staring back at him. Their mouths also didn't seem like they were the same shape. Maybe their noses or chins looked more alike?
It's probably just because Yuuji isn't looking at himself that it's hard to find the similarities. Surely if they took a picture together or stood side by side in front of a mirror it'd be super obvious that they were brothers. Everyone else can probably totally tell just by looking at them.
In an instant, Todo's gaze turns deathly serious. He places his hands on Yuuji's shoulders, and all of a sudden things feel very Serious.
"I must ask you a very important question. One that will be foundational to our relationship as brothers."
He over-enunciates each word. Ensuring that not a single syllable is missed. Yuuji nods — ready to answer whatever question Todo has for him.
"What kind of woman is your type?"
Oh.
He's not sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that.
Yuuji is bisexual — he does like women. He's been dating Megumi since their freshman year of high school, so it doesn't really come up all that often anymore, but, like, there is an answer. And if Todo says it's foundational to their brotherly relationship, then obviously he'll tell him.
"Uhm, I like tall girls …"
Tall people really, but they can get to that later.
Todo's face drops in disappointment — it's so severe he might start crying again. Had Yuuji said the wrong thing? He can't already be fucking things up with his big brother. He's gotta think of something.
"And I've always been an ass guy," Yuuji blurts.
Todo immediately stops crying — or wait. No. Does he?
It's weird. He definitely doesn't look as sad or disappointed as he just did, but he does still look like he might cry.
"I knew it," Todo gulps, obviously trying to fight down tears.
Oh god. Did Yuuji say the wrong thing? Was it actually a trick question that he shouldn't have answered literally? Was Todo gonna call him a misogynist? Should he interrupt and tell Todo that he's dating a man or—
"You are my little brother."
Yuuji's body finally releases all the tension it's been holding, a deep sigh of relief coursing through him. He hadn't totally beefed it. Awesome.
"And that's important," Todo continues, "Because family matters above all else."
Yuuji smiles. "That's … I agree. Family — it's really important to me too."
Todo smacks Yuuji on the shoulder, then goes to sit down at their table. Yuuji chuckles and goes to sit down with him.
They have a lot to catch up on.
/////
"And then," Yuuji laughs, the memory almost as funny as the actual experience. "He started laughing so hard that coffee came out of his nose. Can you believe it?"
"He certainly sounds … energetic," Megumi says, leaning back further into one of the chairs in Gojo's office.
Gojo taught in the physics department and their university, so whenever Yuuji had a short break between classes or something he'd pop over to Gojo's office to hang out with him. Like now, when he was waiting for Todo to commute from the other campus so he could spend the day with Yuuji and Megumi. Megumi probably wouldn't set foot in the physics building unless Yuuji was with him, but what are boyfriends for? Besides, Gojo always has the best snacks, and there is no denying that.
"Yeah, he's kinda wild," Yuuji chuckles. "But I can be too sometimes. Just those brotherly similarities, ya know?"
Gojo leans forward onto his desk, resting his head in his hands. "And how are you two related again?"
"Oh, Todo said his mom died in a car accident just after giving birth to him like my mom did, so we must have the same mom."
Gojo and Megumi's noses crinkle in a way Yuuji would describe as genetic if he hadn't seen the adoption papers.
"But wait —" Megumi starts, but gets interrupted by the door to Gojo's office nearly rattling off its hinges as it's slammed open.
"Brother!"
"Todo!"
Yuuji hops up from his seat to give Todo a hug. It kinda hurts, but he's getting used to it.
"Todo, this is my boyfriend, Megumi, and this is one of his dads, Gojo. Guys, this is my big brother, Todo!"
His big brother.
It was still so exciting! Yuuji had a big brother. A big brother who was here— meeting his boyfriend and one of his boyfriend's dads.
Yuuji can still remember meeting all of Megumi's sisters back in middle school. It was definitely a lot, getting to know such a big family after only growing up with his grandpa. But it also made it even more obvious to him all the things he'd been missing out on by not having any siblings or other family. All the little inside jokes and rituals and habits and teasing. Now he gets to have that too.
"Well." Todo turns to Gojo. "Sir Gojo." He turns to Megumi. "Mini Gojo, it's an —"
"It's Fushiguro, actually." Megumi interrupts curtly, certainly not pleased at having been just called "Mini Gojo". Gojo, on the other hand, looks like it's Christmas morning.At least someone's happy right now.
Todo shifts his weight to be fully facing Megumi now, sizing him up. Megumi doesn't break eye contact, never one to be intimidated.
"Well then, Fushiguro," Todo taunts back, "I certainly hope this isn't the kind of attitude you subject my brother to."
"Don't worry about him." Gojo attempts to soothe. "He's always —"
"Oh, so you are like this with my brother?" Todo snaps.
Great.
Yuuji had a suspicion that the two of them might butt heads, but he didn't expect it to go downhill so fast. Like, this has to be a new world record for the shortest amount of time between introducing your boyfriend to your brother and them hating each other. Which, ultimately, sucks. They're both so important to Yuuji. He was so excited about the three of them getting to spend the day together and be a family — like how it is when Yuuji hangs out with Megumi and his sisters.
They don't need to be best friends for life right here and now, but he'd at least like for them to get along. But sometimes in life, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. And goddammit, Yuuji will make these two get along.
"Why don't the three of us head on out?"
"Brother, do you truly think that I would ever hang out with someone who clearly doesn't respect the incredible man that you are by being so —"
"Sure," Megumi interrupts, already standing and making his way to the door. He turns to look back at Todo from the doorway. "After all, Yuuji took the time to plan this. I wouldn't want to ruin the day he put so much work into."
Megumi takes Yuuji's hand and squeezes it. "I'll go get the car."
Without a second glance, Megumi starts walking out to the parking lot. Todo, meanwhile, is fuming — his whole world view reordering as Megumi's words clearly get under his skin (exactly as intended, no doubt).
"Listen here, you little —"
The rest of Todo's sentence is lost to the hallway as he races to catch up with Megumi and, presumably, continue to tear into him.
Yuuji looks to Gojo. "If I leave them alone, they're gonna fight in the parking lot aren't they?"
"Normally, I'd say I raised my son well enough to hold his own in a fight." Gojo's shoulders slump. "But I also have eyes, and that guy could absolutely beat him to a pulp if he wanted to, and it kinda seems like he does."
Yeah. He was afraid Gojo would say that.
Yuuji sighs, enjoying what will probably be his last moment of silence for the rest of the afternoon, and runs after them.
/////
Yuuji can't remember the last time he set foot in a baseball stadium. He probably hasn't seen a full game since his days in little league — if you can even count picking flowers in the outfield actually playing baseball. If there ever was a reason to come back though, it was what brought him here today.
Todo had invited Yuuji (who obviously invited Megumi) to watch his team play in the Semi-Finals of the All-Japan University Baseball Championships. There's easily a few thousand people here, all clad in various shades of red and yellow for the visiting team or white and navy for the home team, like Yuuji and Megumi were there to support.
Megumi hadn't been thrilled that this was how they'd be spending their day, but he knew it was important to Yuuji, so he was willing to put on a brave face and come anyway. It really meant a lot to Yuuji. He knew the two of them hadn't gotten off on the best foot, but Yuuji was sure they just needed some time to warm up to each other. And what better way than a baseball game!
It's not Yuuji's favorite sport — he's always been more of a basketball guy — but baseball's nice too. It's pretty relaxed and low key compared to other sports, which was surprising to Yuuji. Todo seemed like he'd be into American football or rugby — something full contact.
Maybe he had a secret chill side after all. If he could just bring that out a little more, maybe it'd be easier for him and Megumi to find some common ground. Which is — famously — the first step of getting along.
Megumi gets them some beers and hot dogs right as the teams finish shaking hands before the game. Yuuji kisses him on the cheek and digs in. Baseball did have the snack situation figured out. He'd give 'em that.
As the teams head out for the first inning, Yuuji searches for Todo. It's not hard to find him. He's suited up in catcher's gear, ready to play defense this round (also, he's the tallest person on the field by a good foot). Todo catches sight of him and Megumi in the stands and waves to them with both hands.
The teams are pretty evenly matched. It's a tight game all the way through. It takes three innings before anyone finally gets on the board — one of Todo's teammates gets a good grip on the ball and sends it flying past the outfield for a home run.
The crowd roars as his teammate rounds the bases — culminating in a chant from the home team as their man slides into home plate that makes the ground beneath Yuuji's feet tremble. Even Megumi's getting into it. He's smiling and cheering and clapping, and Yuuji is so happy right now. His boyfriend is here watching his big brother's game with him. The two of them cheering him on from the stands. It's just this is the kind of thing he would've killed for as a kid. And he has it now. It's real.
And maybe it's Yuuji's fault for letting that lull him into a false sense of security. But, of course, this was still Todo. And Todo was still … intense.
Todo had just gotten on base and was trying to steal second. The pitcher reared his arm back to pitch and Todo started sprinting. But at the last second, the pitcher diverted course and sent the ball to first base instead. Before Todo had a chance to reverse directions and try to slide back into base, the first baseman caught the ball and tagged the base. Yuuji grimaces in time with the umpire calling Todo out.
It's a shitty technicality, but he is out. And to his credit, Todo does seem to respect the umpire's judgment. Who he does not respect is the other team's first baseman. Some guy with shoulder length dark hair and a creepy porcelain doll smile. Todo gets all up in the guy's face and starts screaming at him. The kind of angry that has veins bulging in his neck and spit flying in all directions. The other guy is just as pissed, holding his own and screaming back just as intensely.
Players on both sides are making their way over to the pair, trying to assess the situation and decide if they need to intervene.
The other player throws his glove to the ground like a medieval knight challenging someone to a duel. Todo picks it up and slaps the guy with it.
After that, everyone else on the field picks up the pace, but at that point it's already a full on brawl. It takes five of his teammates to drag Todo back into the dugout. Yuuji thinks it's pretty generous that the umpire is even letting him stay on the field at all and not fully ejecting him from the stadium.
The game goes by pretty quick after that. No one else tries anything remotely close to what Todo pulled, and even without him, the team still ends up winning 5-3.
After the game, Yuuji and Megumi track down Todo, who seems to be in a much better mood now that Yuuji is here. He puts both hands on Yuuji's shoulders and steers him like a lawn mower — guiding him to each of his teammates and proudly proclaiming that this is his little brother.
Apparently, he'd been talking about Yuuji a lot ever since he found out they were brothers, so all his teammates knew who he was already and were excited to meet him. Yuuji doesn't think he stopped smiling the whole time. These were some of Todo's best friends and he'd really gone out of his way to make Yuuji feel welcomed and wanted here, even before meeting all of them.
One of the guys, Muta, that seems to be particularly close with Todo even invited Yuuji and Megumi out after the game to get drinks with the team to celebrate the win and Yuuji says why not.
It's about as dive-y as there is around here — sticky floors and splintering wood everywhere. The wall decor seems like it consists mostly of confiscated fakes and pictures of various staff members holding fish.
Yuuji goes to the bar and orders a round for him and Megumi. Beer for him and a boulevardier in a rocks glass for Megumi. Well, it's supposed to come in a rocks glass, but this isn't really a multiple glassware kind of establishment, so it also comes in a beer glass. Yuuji's honestly just impressed they had Campari.
Megumi accepts the drink with an apprehensive grimace and a furrow in his brow that Yuuji smooths with a kiss. Yuuji knows that Megumi has very strong opinions about the glassware certain cocktails come in and this place is certainly missing the mark. Something about the opening of the glass needing to be wider to aerate the tannins properly? Yuuji wasn't really sure about all that, but if Megumi said so, then it was probably true.
Todo comes over and smack's Yuuji's shoulder, a dopey grin overtaking his face. "You made it, brother!"
"Of course," Yuuji beams. "We wouldn't miss it. Right, Megumi?"
Megumi nods and downs the rest of his drink in a single gulp.
"Let me buy you two another round," Todo offers. "We've got a victory to celebrate! We're getting wasted!"
"Sure, thanks!"
"It's alright, you don't have to get me anything," Megumi says simply. "I'm not gonna feel anything from just a couple drinks. Might as well save your money and spend it on another round for the team or something."
Yuuji's eyes dart back and forth between the two of them. Already anticipating the shit storm that awaits him on the other side of this conversation.
Other people can have a hard time with Megumi at first. They think there's layers of condescension or judgment hidden behind his matter of fact delivery, but really he just says exactly what he means. It's actually less work to understand what's going on with him once that finally sinks in. But other people weren't always used to not needing to read between the lines and try to anyways. Which leads to situations like this.
"Well, since you're so certain a few drinks couldn't possibly affect you," Todo mocks. "Care to make it interesting?"
Megumi's brow pinches in the center. "What do you have in mind?"
"Drinking contest — plain and simple. Shots until one of us taps out. Winner gets 10,000 yen. You in?"
Megumi thinks it over for all of a second and a half before the cocky grin he'd been fighting back completely overtakes him.
"Sure," Megumi shrugs. "It's your funeral."
"Please," Todo laughs, "I've got this in the bag."
Now normally, Yuuji would happily sit by and watch two friends engage in a drinking contest. But here's the thing about Megumi — he has a scarily high alcohol tolerance. His cousin Maki is the same way. The two of them could down six shots each at the pregame, then another six at the function, and still be more sober than Yuuji was after three the whole night. Apparently, it was just a thing all the Zen'ins could do — which, horrifying. What could possibly be happening in that family where you pop out the womb able to handle that much alcohol? Yuuji's eternally grateful that his future in-laws will be Gojo "lightweight" Satoru and Geto "only drinks tea after 10:00PM" Suguru — not any of the Zen'ins.
Todo, of course, had no way of knowing this so, as his little brother, it was Yuuji's job to try to convince him this was a bad idea.
"Hey, Todo." Yuuji interrupts slowly, like he's trying to prevent a rabid raccoon from going rogue. "I don't really think that—"
"Nonsense, brother." Todo cuts him off, not breaking eye contact with Megumi. "I can handle this."
Megumi scoffs at him.
Yuuji let out a heavy sigh. This was not going to end well.
Todo orders shot after shot for him and Megumi. The first three or four are no sweat. Todo downs all of them with a cocky grin and slams his shot glass on the table after each one. Practically standing up in the same breath to go back to the bar and order another round.
Yuuji notices after about the sixth shot, Todo seems unsteady on his feet. Not to the point where he's falling over or anything crazy, but he's noticeably shakier than before. In contrast, Yuuji looks back at Megumi who, honestly, seems a little bored.
"You don't feel a thing, do you?"
Megumi smirks at him. "Nope."
It's too late to stop whatever train wreck is waiting for them at the end of this, so all Yuuji can do is laugh as Megumi downs the next shot that Todo hands him before sending him back to the bar for another.
Around shot eight, Todo starts to realize that he's miscalculated. While he's slurring his words and is swaying back and forth in his chair, Megumi is correcting the tip math for the couple next to them, trying to close out their tab.
But Todo is just as stubbornly competitive as Megumi and is not going to admit defeat. So he tries to play dirty. He starts switching up the liquors he orders — branching out from the green tea shots they'd started with to orange vodka, then Bailey's, then jalapeño tequila, then straight up everclear.
Megumi downs each of them like water.
For the thirteenth time, Todo stands to make his way back to the bar. At this point Yuuji is a horrible person if he lets this go on any longer. It's just cruel. Todo can barely take two steps without knocking into something. He's starting to become unintelligible when he talks, both from how slurred his words are and how incoherent his train of thought is.
"Hey bud," Yuuji gently pats Todo's shoulder, "Why don't we get you a glass of water?"
Todo tries to push Yuuji off, but has the coordination of a newborn giraffe, so he immediately trips over his own feet and starts to fall face first toward the ground. It's a close thing, but Yuuji is able to catch Todo in time to keep him from going down.
"Easy there, bro," Yuuji smiles as he helps Todo back to standing.
"Brother."
When Yuuji meets Todo's gaze it's full of tears — thick droplets of water already streaming down his face. Had he gotten hurt? Yuuji caught him as gently as he was able to, but maybe —
Oh and he's on the move again. Slipperier than an oil-coated snake, Todo slinks out of Yuuji's grip and (somehow) is able to use the bar stools as a stepping stool to his current position. Standing on top of the bar
"Actually, everyone here needs to hear this," Todo hiccups, consonants becoming vowels as all harsh sounds are completely out of commission. Words too slurred to tell where one ends and the next begins.
"My little brother, is the nicest. Most generous— and kind. He's really, really kind too. I am so proud — everyone clap for him. Right now. I think we should all clap for my little brother. His name is Yuuji and he's my little brother."
Todo's voice bellows throughout the entirety of the bar, commanding the attention of everyone in it.
It definitely should be embarrassing, but Yuuji doesn't really feel any shame right now. Todo is so proud to be his big brother and it makes Yuuji proud to be his little brother. This is honestly maybe one of the best —
"YOU."
Todo's voice turns on a dime. There's no hint of the affection each word carried mere seconds ago. Just pure, unbridled rage. Yuuji does his best to follow Todo's gaze to see what could have caused such a sudden change.
Oh.
Oh no.
In the back corner of the bar is a few guys from the other team. Specifically, the first baseman that Todo almost beat the shit out of during the game.
There's no umpire to save him now. The guy clearly has some survival instincts because he books it out of there as fast as he can. It's considerably faster than Todo, who walks straight off the edge of the bar like he's Wile E. Coyote and splats down just as hard once he realizes that he in fact cannot walk on air. But never one to be deterred from his goals, Todo collects himself as best he can and tries his hardest to run after him. Yuuji wouldn't say he's moving efficiently, but he's certainly moving faster than he'd have thought possible in his current state.
Megumi sighs loudly next to him. "Should we…?"
He doesn't need to finish asking the question for Yuuji to know the rest of it is chase after Todo and prevent anyone from ending up on the news?
Yuuji sighs right back. "Yeah."
The two of them take off as fast as they can, racing to catch up with Todo before he becomes a Problem.
/////
Yuuji is so fucking screwed.
He'd done everything in his power to make it to his date with Megumi on time. They'd had these reservations for weeks — Yuuji made them in the throes of Megumi studying for finals last semester because he was miserable and needed something to look forward to, and this was the first available reservation. Megumi doesn't show his excitement in the same way Yuuji does, but he can tell that Megumi really has been looking forward to it. The date is circled with a pink highlighter in his planner, the restaurant's menu is open tab on his computer — Yuuji even caught him tearing apart their closet to plan out his outfit last night.
And even though Yuuji left Todo's apartment early (much to Todo's very vocal disappointment) so he'd have time to pick up flowers for Megumi on the way home, shower, get ready, and meet him back here, he's still running about eleven minutes late. Which, in general, probably isn't that big of a deal. But when the restaurant has exactly a ten minute grace period before cancelling the reservation his boyfriend has been looking forward to for weeks, it is a big fucking deal.
When he makes it into the entryway, the place is as fancy as he'd been led to believe. It's all low lighting and dark hardwood and crisp white tablecloths. There's even candles on all the tables — like, real candles. Not just battery-operated ones.
In the center of the dining room under the sparkliest chandelier Yuuji has ever seen is a grand piano. The pianist is playing some old jazz standard that Yuuji's pretty sure his grandpa used to listen to.
It's not hard to find Megumi. He's the only one waiting near the host stand. Even though they've been dating for years, he still manages to take Yuuji's breath away. He lets himself stare slack jawed for exactly three and a half seconds before going and wrapping an arm around Megumi's waist.
"Hey, baby." He kisses Megumi's cheek and gives him the flowers. "Happy date night. Sorry I’m a bit late, Todo was being … Todo."
Megumi is looking fondly at the flowers and definitely blushing. He catches Yuuji staring at him and smacks him with the bouquet. "It’s fine, they’re still cleaning off our table."
Yuuji takes a peak into the dining room proper. There's plenty of two tops open, but who is he to judge and mess with the rotation.
It's not long before the hostess returns and leads them to their table. Their table is near the back of the restaurant and really large for just the two of them.
"Your server will be with you shortly. Enjoy your meal." They thank her as she turns and heads back toward her post at the host stand.
Yuuji pulls Megumi's chair out for him — because he's a gentleman — then has to choose if he wants to do the normal thing and sit across from Megumi or do what he actually wants to do which is sit next to Megumi. He decides to say fuck it to whatever anyone else thinks and picks the seat next to Megumi.
But wait — why does he even have a choice to make right now?
Apparently, Megumi can tell something is bothering him because he asks, "What is it?"
"Nothing," Yuuji brushes off. "It’s just … I’m pretty sure I made the reservation for two, but —"
"Apologies for being late, brother." Todo says as he plops down in the open seat across from them.
Yuuji's eyes threaten to bulge out of his head. Megumi masks his surprise better, but he has a death grip on Yuuji's knee underneath the table.
"Todo," Yuuji whispers harshly. "What are you doing here?"
"You said that you needed to leave in order to be here by eight, so I figured that included me, too." He says it so simply, as if he's talking about what he had for breakfast this morning. Not like he just crashed Yuuji's date with his boyfriend and apparently doesn't see anything wrong with that.
"I left because I needed to stop at the florist to pick up flowers for Megumi before our date— which I told you." He says the last part mainly for Megumi's benefit, desperate to emphasize to his boyfriend that Todo showing up was not his idea.
"Why else would you have mentioned the date if you didn’t need a wing-man for it?"
Does Todo seriously think that he's helping right now?
"I don’t need a wing-man for my boyfriend," Yuuji blusters. "We’ve been dating for six years. He’s pretty locked down."
Megumi is doing his best to be polite, but is wearing a very we'll talk about this at home look that Yuuji hopes Todo doesn't clock.
"Fushiguro doesn't mind. Right, Fushiguro?"
Yuuji knows that Megumi absolutely minds and will say it to Todo's face.
"Actually —"
"Gentlemen." They're all saved from that argument by their waitress coming over to their table. "Can I start you off with some appetizers? Our Alpine fondue is what we’re most known for. It's a combination of Gruyère, Swiss, Gouda, —"
"Sorry, definitely not that," Todo interrupts. "My stomach can’t handle that kind of dairy after sun down."
"Oh," their server startles, clearly recalibrating. "Well, uhm, you could always go for our miniature stuffed bell peppers. That item doesn't have any dairy in it and is also very popular."
"That sounds perfect," Todo decides. "We can all share that."
"Megumi actually really hates bell peppers, so we’ll probably get the fondue, but if you want the bell peppers for yourself, that’s fine." Yuuji bites, frustration gnawing on each word.
Todo tilts his chin to one side, tone petulant as he chastises, "Brother, you're embarrassing me."
"I’m embarrassing you?!" It comes out louder than intended. The tables next to them all turn and shoot them dirty looks and go back to whispering about them.
Clearly sensing the questionable energy emanating from the table, their waitress tries to (politely) give them a chance to get their shit together. "How about I go get you gentlemen some waters and give you a second to look over the menu. Do you prefer still or sparkling?"
Yuuji and Megumi say still at the same time that Todo says sparkling.
"I’ll just … bring both …" Dazed, confused, and undoubtedly emotionally bolstering at the prospect of dealing with this for the rest of the meal, their server heads on her way.
The second she's gone, Todo turns to Yuuji. "Brother can I speak to you for a moment?"
"Sure," Yuuji says through gritted teeth.
He sends Megumi a look that he hopes conveys I'm so fucking sorry please forgive me before following Todo to an out of the way corner of the restaurant.
Todo looks somber — almost mournful — when he starts speaking. "Brother, I'll be blunt. I worry that Fushiguro is harshing the vibe."
Oh hell no.
Megumi has actually been insanely kind and understanding about the chaos that has overtaken their lives ever since Yuuji found out that he in Todo were brothers. No way was he gonna let Todo try to pin this all on Megumi.
"Megumi isn’t doing anything wrong."
"He's being argumentative."
"I think that he's just frustrated because you crashed our date with no warning." Yuuji explains with as much empathy as he can muster, but it's really fucking hard.
"That's not true," Todo corrects. "I warned the waitstaff I'd be coming when I called to add myself to the reservation."
"You… What — Why did you do that?"
"I thought you wanted us all to spend time together," Todo's voice hitches as his eyes take on a glassy quality around the center. "But clearly you value time with your boyfriend over time with your family."
Yuuji wants to be upset with Todo for crashing his date, but honestly, his heart kind of breaks watching Todo try to hold it together. His methods might be unconventional, but at the end of the day, Todo just wants to spend time with him and that's all he ever wanted from his brother. It's like making up for lost time. Albeit in the most inconvenient way possible.
But family isn't always convenient. He's seen Megumi have to cancel or rearrange things at the last minute to help one of his sisters out plenty of times. That's just a thing you do for family.
Yuuji takes a deep breath. "Look, Todo, I know that family is super important to both of us. I'm not trying to harsh the vibe and neither is Megumi. I know we're all still getting to know one another, but Megumi and his family are family to me too. So it would really mean a lot if you could try to get along with him. Please?"
Yuuji has been told before that his "stupidly round and persuasive doe eyes" can move mountains. And right now he's desperate to move the mountain that is Todo to just try to get along with Megumi for the rest of this meal.
Because this matters to him. He knows from hearing Megumi talk about Tsumiki and Mimiko and Nanako that having siblings isn't sunshine and rainbows all the time. There are fights and disagreements and that's all normal, but it all feels so much more fragile with Todo. Everything is so new, and there isn't the same decades of history there, so it feels like it could all fall apart at any second and he'd be alone again.
So, sue him, he wants Todo to be willing to meet him halfway here. To show that he's willing to fight but then hug it out because at the end of the day they're brothers and their bond is strong enough to overcome disagreements.
Todo softens. "Alright. For you brother, I can pull it together. But only if he does too."
"Right," Yuuji nods.
Todo pulls him into a headlock and ruffles his hair. Yuuji wriggles free and does his best to fix his hair based purely on sense memory since he doesn't have a mirror right now. But even if his hair is a little messed up, he doesn't really mind. He and his brother are both laughing.
As they take their seats again, Yuuji responds to Megumi's why the fuck is Todo still here look with his best I know it's not ideal, but please forgive me look in return.
Megumi scowls, but seems to accept his fate.
There's a quiet standoff brewing between Todo and Megumi, but thankfully the fanciness of the restaurant and Yuuji's repetition of how important this is to him keeps them from bickering right away.
The waitress returns with two bottles of water — one still and one sparkling — and helps them narrow down an appetizer they can all agree on. Yuuji's going back and forth on what cocktail he wants to try, so Megumi explains what all the different components of the drinks he's considering will taste like. It's really interesting to hear Megumi talk about anything, but when it comes to mixology, he really knows his stuff. Todo even takes some of Megumi's advice and orders some whiskey based drink that he ends up really liking.
School seems like a pretty safe conversation topic, so Yuuji starts there. Lamenting about classes and exams coming up, and teachers overworking them. Todo is studying Kinesiology, and Megumi is studying Veterinary Sciences, so that's like both bodies, yeah? Different species, sure, but Yuuji is grasping at straws for any common ground between these two.
It's a little painful at times. There are awkward silences and strained glances and moments where Yuuji is sure one of them is gonna jump across the table and throttle the other.
But there are also glimmers of hope.
Megumi cracking a small laugh at a story Todo tells about something that happened at baseball practice recently. Todo giving Megumi props for standing up to an entitled pet owner at the vet clinic that he volunteers at. The two of them joining forces to tease Yuuji when he tells the story of how he misplaced his class's pet goldfish in kindergarten when it was his turn to take it home for the weekend.
It's simple and small, but it's also progress. Tangible proof that even when it's annoying or inconvenient, these two people were both willing to do something they didn't particularly want to just because Yuuji said it meant something to him.
When their waitress comes back one last time to see if they'd like anything for dessert and Yuuji excitedly orders himself a Baked Alaska. He's only ever seen it in movies before and was stoked when he saw it on the menu. Like, how did they get it to stay on fire like that?
It doesn't take him long to find out, one of the chefs gingerly placing a plate of flaming meringue down in front of him. Yuuji's eyebrows go all the way up to his hairline — this is so cool!
"Oh, come on," Todo points to Yuuji's plate. "There's barely any flame on that thing. Here."
Todo takes a big gulp of his drink and picks up the candle from their table. Before Yuuji can even process what the fuck he's doing, Todo spits his drink out and brings the candle right next to his mouth, turning the spray of cocktail into a small flame thrower.
He doesn't quite spit his drink out well enough though because some of it dribbles down his chin and that liquid is also on fire so now Todo's literal face is on fire.
"Oh my god!" Yuuji screeches. On instinct, he pushes Megumi back. Ensuring that he's between him and the flames.
Beyond that though, Yuuji has zero ideas because what the fuck do you do when your brother accidentally sets his face and most of the tablecloth on fire.
"Quick! We need a fire extinguisher — or water. Something!" Megumi shouts from behind him, trying to get the attention of any staff member or manager who might know where any of those things are.
None of them are moving fast enough for Todo though, who grabs the first thing he can get his hands on to try to pat the fire out. The closest thing too him is the flower's Yuuji got for Megumi, so he picks up the bouquet and begins trying to use it to smother the fire on his face. Unfortunately for Todo though, Megumi is a sucker for roses so the thorns dig into his skin and do almost nothing to stop the fire. So now he's on fire and bleeding.
His next idea is to remember basic fire safety which is to stop, drop, and roll. Todo flings himself to the ground hard and starts frantically rolling back and forth.
And because they haven't already caused enough of a scene, one of the line cooks picks that moment to run up to their table with a big bowl of water and throw it onto Todo's seat. But seeing as how Todo is rolling around on the ground and is no longer in his chair to be aggressively waterboarded, the water keeps surging past where he was just sitting, missing the Baked Alaska entirely, and landing squarely on Megumi's face.
The whole restaurant is staring at this point. Every conversation halted, every staff member making their way over — even the pianist stopped playing to rubber neck at the disaster unfolding.
Blessedly, Todo's stop, drop, and roll method did the job and his face is no longer on fire. Can't beat the classics, apparently.
Megumi's hair is drenched, his bangs falling in stringy clumps over his eyes. Even without being able to see his expression, Yuuji knows that he is glaring daggers at Todo right now.
Yuuji rubs the back of his neck, nervously chuckling because what the fuck else can he do but awkwardly laugh in this moment? "I swear I'll make it up to you."
He hands Megumi a napkin that his boyfriend snatches out of his hand and uses to start patting himself dry. Yuuji waits for the ground to open up beneath his feet and swallow him whole.
/////
Yuuji is committed to following through on his promise of making up for Saturday's disastrous date.
He'd woken up early to go to the pretentious coffee shop a few blocks from their apartment that Megumi loves to pick him up breakfast. Yuuji wanted to love it there too, but he accidentally called a cappuccino a caprese one time and the baristas took that shit personally. They do make really good drinks though, so he was willing to brave their dirty looks to get Megumi his favorite coffee.
On the way home, Yuuji stopped to get him fresh flowers (since the ones from yesterday didn't make it out of the restaurant) and to chat with the old woman who owned their favorite little hole in the wall restaurant in the neighborhood. She asked where his better half was and Yuuji smiled back and promised they'll both be by for lunch in a few hours.
Yuuji had a whole plan. He'd give Megumi his favorite coffee and flowers in bed, they'd spend the morning together, get lunch at their favorite place, and hopefully by the time they met up with Maki and Nobara to go to the movies tonight, Yuuji would be out of the doghouse. There had been some disagreement about the movie they wanted to see. And by disagreement, Yuuji of course meant there had been one vote for Human Earthworm and three votes for literally anything else.
He definitely wakes up with a residual grumpiness hangover, but his favorite coffee and a good meal and a 100% Todo-free day work wonders, and by the time they're getting ready to go meet Nobara and Maki, all is well.
Just as Yuuji is weighing the pros and cons of bringing a jacket to the theater, he's stopped in his tracks as his phone starts ringing.
“Hang on, it’s probably Nobara.” Yuuji pulls his phone out of his pocket and looks at the Caller ID. “Oh, that’s weird.”
“What is?” Megumi comes to look over his shoulder.
Yuuji turns his phone toward him. “It’s not her, it’s the clinic.”
“Well, answer it," Megumi urges. "It’s probably important.”
He hits the button to accept the call and immediately puts it on speaker. Megumi has always been better at understanding medical stuff than him, so it's nice to have a second set of ears when he has to talk to the clinic staff.
“Hi, this is Itadori Yuuji."
“Heyyyyy!"
"What?" Yuuji scrunches his nose in disbelief. He'd been prepared to talk to one of the receptionists or maybe even Ieiri. Instead, he was greeted by someone who sounded suspiciously like —
"Gojo?" Megumi interrupted, confirming Yuuji's suspicions. “Why are you calling from the clinic’s number?”
Gojo sighs heavily on the other side of the call. “Relax, Megumi, I have the results right here. You and your boyfriend are both clean —"
Megumi grits his teeth. "We both know it’s not that kind of clinic, asshat. They don’t even do STI testing there. Now what do you want?”
Megumi's directness leaves no room for argument. Gojo clearly knows his son well enough to be able to sense how serious he is through the phone.
“Well, funny story."
Yuuji has a feeling this will not be a funny story.
"You remember last week when Yuuji got back the results of his DNA test?”
"Yeah…?" Yuuji responds slowly.
Finding out he had a brother was one of the biggest, most life altering moments of his whole existence. How could he possibly forget?
“Oooh. Wrong answer. Those actually weren’t Yuuji’s results.”
Yuuji feels his stomach drop. He's surprised by how shaky his voice is when it comes out. "But Ieiri said …”
“Riiiiight," Gojo interrupts. "Well, I may have offered to help Shoko sort the test results into the right folders so that she could get off work faster.”
Megumi is fuming beside him. "Isn’t that breaching a lot of patient privacy laws?"
“Only if you tell people. Anyways, Shoko may or may not have gone to the bathroom and left me alone with all the papers, and I may or may not have lost my grip on them —“
“You dropped them?" Megumi is a lawyer with a grudge, and Gojo is a hostile witness — every question is getting more agitated as Gojo continues to not actually tell them what the fuck is going on.
“Momentarily. But more importantly, I picked them back up… ish."
"What do you mean ‘ish’?" Megumi takes the phone out of Yuuji's hand and just starts laying into his dad. "This isn’t an ‘ish’ situation, Gojo. You either did pick them up or you didn’t. So which is it?”
“Well if you’re gonna be such a stickler for word choice, Megumi, it was more of a scooting. Or a zhuzhing. Yeah, let’s go with that.”
"Gojo," Yuuji pleads.
Normally he really doesn't mind Gojo's antics — more often than not he's right there next to him if it means getting to tease his boyfriend. But Yuuji is not in the mood for jokes right now. Every second that Gojo doesn't spell out exactly what happened with his test results is another second Yuuji gets closer to bursting into tears.
“Ok, fine." Gojo sighs heavily. "I didn’t feel like re-alphabetizing everything after I set them down against my will, so I just sort of pushed the results into whatever folder was closest to where it fell and called it a day.”
They both shout “Gojo!” in perfect unison.
"Oh, come on, it’s so boring in there!" Gojo laments. "You would’ve done the same thing if it meant you could leave. Plus, the lights are horrible on my eyes.”
The whole room kind of feels like it's spinning. The tips of his fingers feel tingly. It's hard to get his brain to focus on just one thing — everything changing and collapsing and reordering faster than Yuuji can keep up with.
“So then, Todo is … not actually my brother?”
Yuuji looks to Megumi for any sort of clarity, but, of course, he doesn't know either. All he can do is pull Yuuji in close and hold him as he braces for the worst.
There's hesitation on the other line, Gojo shifting and fidgeting as he brings himself to keep talking. “Yeah, I'm sorry, Yuuji. But on the bright side, that guy isn’t going anywhere. He’s kind of obsessed with you. I’d tell Megumi to worry about it, but Todo’s so straight it physically hurts to be around. And on the other bright side, you do have a biological brother, it’s just not Todo —"
“Wait, really?” Yuuji blusters.
“— So actually the more I think about it there is no dark side and I didn’t do anything wrong since you got your real brother and an honorary one after all this.”
“Except for the part where you mishandled a bunch of people’s private medical information and made us spend the week hanging out with a crazy person,” Megumi retorts.
“Eh, semantics. Anyways, I just sent Yuuji the actual contact info for his brother on his patient portal, his name is Tsukumo Choso. Man, they should really password protect these computers better — remind me to talk to Shoko about this later.”
“Gojo, does Shoko know that you’re in her office right now?” Megumi accuses.
“Well, I should probably go, I have a bunch more of these calls to make. Later!”
Without warning, Gojo hangs up. Their apartment feels too quiet now — the emotional whiplash of that call stunning Yuuji into silence.
"Are you … ok?" Megumi asks hesitantly. He still has an arm wrapped around Yuuji's waist. The contact is really grounding in the midst of … of, well, all that.
"I think so?"
Yuuji tries to check in with his emotions the way Yuuta explained to him from all his psychology classes. But it's hard. There's, like, a lot happening right now.
"I mean, I do still have a brother. So I'm not …" alone again like I was after my grandpa died, Yuuji thinks, but does not say. "It's just … different, ya know?"
"I get it," Megumi comforts. "Change is hard. But no matter who this Tsukumo guy actually turns out to be, I'm sure he'll be proud to be your big brother. He'd be an idiot not to."
"You always know just what to say." Megumi kisses him on the forehead and Yuuji smiles.
"Well, I guess this means we have to tell Todo he’s not your brother."
"Nah, let’s wait for Gojo to call him."
This was Gojo's mistake after all, he's the one that should have to answer for it. Besides, Yuuji can only imagine the emotional rollercoaster Todo finding out they aren't actually brothers will be. There'll probably be at least four new stages of grief discovered in addition to the five everybody already knows about by the time Todo reaches acceptance.
Megumi smiles at him. "You’re smarter than you look, you know that?"
"Are you saying I look dumb?"
"I like how you look."
"Well, that says more about you than it does about me, so." Yuuji teases. Megumi shoves his shoulder.
"Shut up."
"Ma—"
"Make me." Megumi already knows what Yuuji is gonna say, beating him too it — interrupting with his best Yuuji impression (which he's not very good at) and a quick kiss (which he's very good at).
Yuuji smiles and grabs his keys to head out the door. They're already running so late — they'll be lucky to make it to the theater before the previews are over.
Normally, Yuuji would fill the walk there with anecdotes he wanted to catch Megumi up on or by asking him silly questions like "Is salt an ingredient?". But today he's content to just hold Megumi's hand and stay lost in his own head. A million versions of the same question filling every wrinkle and fold of his brain.
What is his big brother like?
/////
Hello Itadori Yuuji. I am Tsukumo Choso, your older brother. If you are not too busy, would you like to have lunch together on Wednesday?