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It was early enough in the morning that the windows were covered in condensation still. A storm had hammered over homes all throughout the night. Streets were still slick and droplets fell off of tree leaves when you walked underneath heir overhanging branches. Despite the dreadfully cold weather, it had begun to warm up with the welcomed sunlight of morning.
Megumi had thrown on a jacket before leaving. He knew he'd have about five people chewing him out if he didn't. After developing his independence and becoming more secure in his own personhood, those who cared for him felt the need to be more overbearing than ever. Oddly enough though, Megumi had found himself appreciating it a little more than he used to.
As he spends less time with everyone know, he still appreciates the thought that everyone is still thinking of him. Worrying over his condition, and wanting to make sure that he's well taken care of. It's things like this that he truly treasures, now more than ever before. Megumi's thoughts were filled as he rubbed his cold hands together, hoping for some warmth to fill into them.
He'd picked up into a light job as he approached the hospital. Being his first stop of the day, Megumi was eager to enter into the warmth of the building. The bustle of a busy hospital in the morning was the sight Megumi was met with. There were people talking on all sides of him, some calm and others more frantic. Knowing how to navigate the hospital well enough, Megumi went through with minimal issue.
Speaking with who he needed to speak with. Only a short time passed until he was finally at a particular door. The room behind it was quiet, but he could hear the low hum of the television even through the closed door. Pushing the door openly gently, unsure if the person inside was still asleep. Megumi walked in to see his sister's eyes were open, and they flickered to the door as he entered.
This was something he was still getting used to. Having his sister look over at him when he enters. No long motionless, unresponsive and cold on the hospital bed. He'd found it hard to visit her at first. Seeing her in that state, when she'd once been so lively and warm. With time, Megumi was able to visit more and more often. Then a mess of things had happened.
Honestly, Megumi hadn't quite been considering his life all that much, all that time ago. He'd found others care to be quite oppressive, even if he accepted it. Never wanting to be weak enough to let someone like his sister slip through his fingers again. It haunted him terribly. Now though, with his sister healing and getting all but better by the day, something had eased in Megumi's chest.
"I told you not to worry about coming by so early." Her voice was still soft, she hadn't quite gotten back to the energy in which she used to talk with.
Shaking his head, Megumi waved away her worries, "I have to go by and see Gojo later. Didn't want to run out of time, so I made you my first stop today."
Her eyes seemed to be watching him for a moment. When she seemed to see that he was being genuine, she relaxed into the pillows on the bed. Something mindless was on in the background, creating the noise playing through the television. The volume had been brought right down. Instead, Tsumiki had a photo album propped open on her lap, and her hand was poised to flip the page.
When she'd first woken up, she'd wanted a change. They'd allowed her to cut her hair short. She'd grinned and asked Megumi how she looked, and he hadn't had the words to tell her just how beautifully radiant she looked. As if to tell the passage of time, her hair had already begun to grow. She helped herself so brilliantly, that it complimented her whether she had short or long hair.
"Oh, I forgot to ask. What happened to that other doctor that had been coming around?"
"Him? He got reassigned somewhere. Nothing to worry about, you know how hospitals are in need of staff everywhere."
Blinking her eyes a few times, she seemed to smile very lightly. He'd been a doctor whose care had been appropriate enough throughout Tsumiki's stay. When she'd woken up, he'd seemed to take her vulnerable state as an invitation. Pressing for more and more from her. Tsumiki hadn't asked for help, but her discomfort had been obvious as was the man's horrendous behaviour.
Gojo had dealt with him the second Megumi brought up his concerns with him. As Gojo was entirely responsible for her stay here, he wanted to make sure it was the best they had to offer. With all the comforts, and all the safeties a hospital should provide. The hospital hadn't wanted to offend and also hadn't wanted to risk a scandal at this moment in time, so they conceded easily.
"How's everything progressing?"
Though Megumi gets literal updates from the staff, it's different to hear it from his sister directly. While a doctor can say she's healing well, Tsumiki could have concerns or complaints that don't fit into the way her body is progressing. Thankfully, Tsumiki had nothing but warm smiles as she talked about the receding pain and overall aches in her body.
She was gaining a healthy amount of weight, and the lively flush had returned to her skin. Her condition had improved so much, that when Megumi had first stepped back and taken it in, he'd cried for the best half of thirty minutes. Tsumiki hadn't known what to do, flustered as she comforted her brother. Pulling his body basically, entirely onto the bed to hold him close to her.
Now though, Megumi had spent time getting used to her. How far she'd gotten and how things had turned out for her. They spent close to two hours chatting like this, the early morning sun shining its light through the haphazardly drawn together curtains. Streams of light still managing to spill through. When Megumi finally left her side, the day felt marginally warmer.
Parting with his sister was difficult but her condition was improving. In the blink of an eye, he was standing in front of Gojo's office door. At this time, he'd come and started his own day. There were noises behind the closed office doors that Megumi couldn't make out as well as he'd been able to, through the closed, thin hospital door earlier.
Standing there, Megumi thought back to the sight of his sister. With that album opened up across her lap. Tsumiki had taken to flipping through it quite often, as she tried to catch up on the things she missed out on. Although Megumi hadn't quite clued in on the fact that Gojo had been doing it for this sake, but he'd always noticed Gojo liked to document things and take photos.
"I'm coming in." Megumi said loud enough to be heard from the inside, pushing the door open as he said it.
Unlike others, there wasn't any need for Megumi to wait to be invited in. Though sometimes he wished he did have to wait for Gojo's express permission. It would've saved him the sight he walked in on. Geto pulled away the second he heard the door, but Gojo hadn't had half a mind to split between Geto and anything else. He'd completely blocked out the second of someone entering.
Probably considering anyone too stupid to enter without knocking. Only when Geto hadn't seemed eager to come back to him, did Gojo finally snap his attention away and lock eyes with Megumi who'd come into the room. It wasn't a stupid underling, whose desire for death brought them uninvited through his doors. Standing before him was one of the only people he trusted enough to let in whenever they wanted to come in.
As if nothing had happened. Gojo's demeanour entirely changed and he cheerily greeted Megumi, telling him to come on over. Geto fixed himself up and stood off to the side, as if he could blend in with their surroundings. Though it was nothing new and truly not that big of a deal, Megumi couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he moved it all to the back of his mind.
"I need help."
The words were innocent enough but suddenly Gojo was on high alert. Every muscle in his body tensed at the sound of those words. Megumi wasn't one to approach him so easily for anything, if he was coming to him for help then it meant something serious had happened. Gojo pulled him over and around his desk to stand in front of him as he asked what was wrong.
"What's happened? Who do I need to kill?"
"Nothing like that. Though I wish it was something as easy as that." The second part came out more mumbled as Megumi looked away.
Gojo took in his embarrassed expression and eased up just a little, "Has something happened with Yuji? Are things not going well?"
"You can't just assume he's coming to you because things aren't going well."
"Why would he come to me, looking for help, if things were going okay? Baby, let's use our brains here."
An unimpressed look fell over Geto's features but he laughed at Gojo's theatrics, "I can think of one thing. A good thing, actually."
"It's not like Megumi's going to propose-,"
As soon as those words left Gojo's lips, before he'd even thought them through. Geto had already seemingly pieced it together, and Megumi's body seemed to be alternating between being filled with cold dread and flushing a warm red. The second Gojo said those words and finally locked into what he was realizing himself, he cut himself off and looked up at Megumi with wide eyes.
"Oh my god, you're proposing?" Before Megumi could even confirm or deny, Gojo seemed to realize it as a fact, "Oh my god, you're proposing!"
"Don't be so loud." Geto warned, but it wasn't like people could listen in all that well.
Ignored By Gojo who was experiencing an unimaginable amount of joy and pride. Geto let him have his moment, even if it meant leaving Megumi to be dragged around by Gojo as he bundled him up into a hug. Though Gojo kept saying things, it was barely intelligible. He found that he didn't quite know what to say in this moment. Sure, he'd known it may happen, but to experience it happening is something else.
"Have you asked Sukuna?"
"Not yet. I want to have a plan first."
With a laugh, Gojo asked, "What if he tells you no?"
"Then I'll have to run away with Yuji." He said it with a sigh, like he was begrudgingly accepting the possibility, even as a small smile appeared on his face.
Despite Sukuna's gruffness and protectiveness. He'd never willingly deny Yuji any joy or happiness. Had already made an incredible amount of allowances in Megumi's favour. Getting his express permission to marry Yuji felt like a done deal. What worried Megumi more, shockingly far more than approaching Sukuna to ask, if setting up the actual opportunity to do so.
What Megumi explained to Gojo, and Geto by extension, was that he didn't know what would make for a good memory. Over the time they'd been together, Megumi had been bringing Yuji out to do things he hadn't done before. Wanting Yuji to be able to experience parts of life that he hadn't felt the security to do or had the ability to do earlier in life.
Sukuna had done all that he could. However, the man had still been quite cautious as he kept Yuji close. On top of that, with his pain and mental health, doing too much also hadn't been in their capabilities. Yuji had made strides, even though there were still plenty of bad days, he felt a weight had been lifted off of him and many good days had flooded in too.
Even for things that Megumi hadn't been the first to let him experience. Things like going to an ice cream store to go buy ice cream. Megumi didn't know what would make sense to bring him to do, before proposing to him. They'd never done anything too grand, like travelling elsewhere or climbing a mountain. Things that Megumi had seemed to see lots of when looking up ideas online.
There was no teasing tone to Gojo's words, "Have you considered asking Yuji what he might like?"
While many partners like to keep it entirely secret. Many had actually spoken about enjoying the collaboration in both knowing what an ideal proposal looks like for them. The partner might not know the date or the exact circumstances, advising on the location and things like that, make it less stressful. Even as Gojo explained this, Megumi shook his head.
"I really want this to be a surprise for Yuji. If I ask, he'll probably just tell me to hand over a ring in that moment. I know that he would be happy with anything, but he deserves so much more than that. This is important to me, I want to be able to make this special for him."
Seeing how deeply Megumi had thought about and considered this, Geto piped up, "You're not in a rush I hope. How about you take Yuji on a few dates, and see which he seems to respond the best to. You can make a whole day of it or even a few days, and at the end of it you get to propose."
"What if I only think he likes something, and then getting proposed to there is a let down for Yuji?"
"Yuji would adore it if you walked back home, crawled into bed with him and slipped the ring across the sheets towards him." Gojo said all of this with a roll of his eyes, like he couldn't handle these lovebirds. "What he values most is your feelings. Yes, he'll appreciate that you put the thought into figuring out what will be the most memorable proposal. As long as he feels that you want this, it'll be the best moment for him."
"So don't stress yourself out too much. If you start resenting having to propose, Yuji will pick up on it, and he'll be upset."
Having sat himself up on Gojo's desk, Megumi considered what they'd said. The sun was still rising higher and higher still in the sky outside. Remnants of last night's rain still lingered, but it almost looked like a warm summers day before long. The lingering chill was being chased out of the air. Trees swayed in the cool breeze that blew through the streets.
Calming himself down and thinking it over. He could understand where the two of them were coming from. Yuji's eyes were always on Megumi, and his feelings were also entwined with Megumi's own. Their pain, happiness, anger, sadness, all of that is shared between them. The last thing Megumi wants to do, is make Yuji feel bad on such a special occasion.
Not allowing himself to get overwhelmed, and therefore resentful. Megumi took a deep breath and considered his options. Truly, he wasn't in any sort of rush. Of course Megumi wanted to make Yuji his fiancé, he also desperately wanted to marry him. But he wasn't in any rush to get there. He could take his time, get to know Yuji even better and make this perfect for them.
After a while, Gojo had drinks prepared and brought in for them. Geto came back over and sat with them as they talked. First about Yuji and then about other things as well. It felt nice to be sitting with them again, as he hadn't been able to see them as frequently anymore. Surprisingly, Geto did most of the talking between himself and Gojo.
It seemed like Gojo spent most of the time just staring at Megumi. He had an incredibly soft look on his face, it was fond and perhaps a little mournful. In this life, he'd watched Megumi grow up and make a man of himself. He'd been given the grace and the opportunity, to have a hand in supporting such a person. Gojo was grateful but he also felt a little sad.
His immense pride was overflowing though. To think that Megumi would be this thoughtful, and this caring of a partner. It's like Gojo could let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't handed down his messy inability to handle his own relationships. With a look at his side, Gojo considered Geto for a moment before looking back over at where Megumi was sitting and chatting away.
Perhaps, if Megumi could figure things out, then Gojo could finally allow himself to take things slow and approach things with a clearer mind. With these thoughts, Gojo knocked his knee into Geto's but didn't look over at him. Geto was momentarily derailed from what he was saying, but then picked his line of thought back up without even a moment of hesitation.
"Thank you." Megumi was back to talking shyly, a little embarrassed that he'd had to ask for advice.
"You're always welcome to come back and talk to us, about anything."
Nodding his head along to Geto's words, Gojo added in, "Whenever you need us. We're even a phone call away. Never hesitate, okay?"
Feeling like he was seconds away from turning into a balling, crying mess. Megumi agreed and promising to check in more frequently. Only a moment later and Megumi was finally heading back out through the office doors. His back turned to the two over at the desk. Heading on towards his uncertain feature, hopeful of what he can do with it, with his own hands.
They waited until he was well and truly gone before Gojo said, softer than ever, "He's grown up now, hasn't he?"
"You're getting soft with age."
Though Geto teased him, he could feel it as well. In their life, keeping people around you was always risky and they'd seen death more than a hundred times over. Again and again, they'd faced birth and loss. Life and death, with their friends as well as their enemies. Things like marriage didn't come around often, not everyone made it to this stage in their life.
For Megumi to have been protected long enough to get to this point. Where he felt safe, secure and comfortable approaching the idea of marriage with the person he loves in this world. Neither Gojo nor Geto could help but feel a little emotional over it. Megumi brought about a sense of hope in the two of them. They wanted to hold onto it and continue to treasure it.