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“You did so well! I'm so proud of you, Megumi.” Gojo said, ruffling his hands through the raveonettes' spiky hair. Megumi used all his effort to try to push himself out of Gojo's hands, but it proved to be ineffective; instead, the white-haired man had wrapped him even closer.
Just 20 minutes ago, Megumi had been on stage performing a popular musical piece called Heathers. Due to his prior years of acting in the drama department, he had managed to score the role of JD, the protagonist's partner, and the character revealed as the villain. Unfortunately for him, the girl who had been acting as Veronica was one he was not particularly fond of.
He wouldn't complain, of course; she was a good actress, but he just didn't think he would get along with her, and thus he distanced himself from her during out-of-practice hours. He couldn't recall her name, but what he did remember was that she was an overly kind girl, athletic and put all of herself into her art. She was extroverted, outgoing and seemed to radiate light brighter than the sun. All the things Megumi hadn't been. More like couldn't be.
But that was irrelevant now since this was the last performance he would do in his life. Next year, he would be a university student and would soon enter his social work program. If being in the system has taught him anything, it's that the kids aren't “unmanageable” or “aggressive”. They're hurt and don't know how to express it, and most likely, they came from old families that taught them nothing but to be mean and hurt others. Megumi simply wanted to help these misguided kids and hopefully find them a good home. Just like how his social worker did for him, finding Gojo and Geto to take him and his elder sister in and away from a previously unstable household filled with lotto tickets and em
The play had ended deep into the night. White specs in the dark, clouded sky above. Only the light from the school entry and road lights was on. All other families had left and gone back home to rest for the upcoming graduation. Gojo dragged his adopted son over to the car park, opening his black Chevrolet Corvette. Megumi mimicked his actions. Just as he was about to step into his seat, he heard a soft voice call out to him.
“Good play,” The feminine voice said, seemingly out of nowhere. There stood the girl who performed Veronica, still in her ashy and partially blown-up costume. She took a good look at Megumi one last time before walking away from the car with her hands deep in her jacket's pockets.
‘That was weird.’ Megumi thought to himself. Stepping into the car and closing the door.
“Wasn't that girl Veronica? I'm surprised they let her play with her hair.” Gojo mentioned. Pointing to the girl walking off into the distance. She had slowly dissipated into the darkness of the car parking lot.
“It's just a high school play, not that important. Plus, she's a good actor, always trying to make people laugh on set, even if it was a serious scene, but she knew when to get serious. Gotta hand it to her for that" Gojo nodded, a finger covering his mouth as if in thought.
“So, do you like her?” he asked with a joking tone in his voice
“What? No. I'm gay, you know this.” Megumi pushed. His dad simply looked back at him, pouting.
“You're never gonna give me grandkids if you stay single, y'know,” he whined. Elbowing the other in the seat next to him.
“Well, you weren't getting any in the first place.” Megumi barked back. “Let's just go home, I'm tired.”
That was years ago. I wonder what she's doing right now?
He didn't forget that night, or that interaction. He could still remember the sound of her voice, so clearly saying those few words. Didn't know why, but it just stuck out to him. Such an upbeat girl sounds so low and solemn. Megumi was brought out of his daze when his coworker, Nobara, kicked him from behind.
“Get your ass to the register right now, the college kids are coming in,” She said before storming off to work on other orders. Megumi approached the bench and looked up at the customer with his personalised fake customer-service face.
“Welcome to Jujutsu Drinks, what can I get you?” he asked in a monotone voice. The script in his head playing over and over.
“Uhh, I'll take a -” it didn't matter what this guy ordered. Megumi would fetch it for him like a dog following orders that his owner barked. A medium latte, bacon and cheese roll later, he was back at the register awaiting his next buyer. It was a simple process he followed daily.
“Welcome to Jujutsu Drinks, what would you like?”
“Just a strawberry frappe, please.” The man looked over to the side at the pastry bench. “And a raspberry and white chocolate muffin too,” he finished.
“Can I get a name for that?”
“Itadori.”
“Thanks. Your total is $9.54. I'll call your name,” And thus the tall man disappeared into the crowd of unenergetic college students and exhausted business workers. Yet his pink hair stuck out like a sore thumb. Its light tones stand out amongst the crowd of black and brunette hair. The occasional blonde walked in, but it wasn't common. Megumi quickly got to starting the man's order. Mixing the flavouring, espresso, milk and sugar into one concoction that would send him into a sweetness-overdose coma.
When he finished, he went over to the dark oak and glass cabinet that held all the sweet and savoury pastries that shielded them from prying hands. Megumi grabbed the silver tongs, their cold metal sucking the warmth from his palm. The barista flicked open the door and reached for the muffin. After putting the red and white muffin into a hand-sized white paper bag, he rang the bell and called out the name of the man to pick up his order.
The latter's ears perked as his name got called from a familiar voice. Stepping through the crowd of people, he approached the corner bench where his drink and pastry rested.
“Thank you!” he said as he took his ‘meal’ and walked out the glass swinging door. Megumi simply watched as the door fell behind him with an unsatisfied glare in his eyes.
“What's got your panties in a twist?” Nobara interrogated, popping up beside him. Just leave it to her to jumpscare the daylights out of the server unprovoked.
“Jesus- how do you do that?” he asked back.
“You're the one who's so out of it today! Don't blame me,” She sassed. Her arms crossed in front of her as her face fell into an accusing pout.
“Sorry, I guess I'm just tired today. That's all,” maybe it was just a dumb excuse, or maybe it was the truth. University students were known for their lack of sleep after all.
“Was it that guy who just left? Didn't peg him for your type, but hey, what do I know about pegging?” Smirked Nobara. Shifting her hand to his hips,
“Why does everyone think I'm into people with pink hair? First Gojo, now you." Megumi complained. Rolling his eyes backwards as he spoke. “Trust me, I'm just tired; he probably won't even come back here again.”
Little did Megumi know he would be so wrong. And no, it wasn't Nobara snickering the next time the pinkette walked in and took excess change from Megumi's hand. The boy started just coming down once a week, then it slowly changed to twice, thrice, and now it was four out of the seven days. Whenever he came in, the brunette would rush Megumi over to the counter, taking her claim over anything he was doing.
Whether it was making a cup of coffee, wiping down a table, or even taking out the trash, which she never did. Claimed it would break her nails or something. At this point, they started to create a rhythm. On Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday, the mysterious boy would ring the doorbell's automatic bell, Megumi would drop whatever he was doing and go over to prepare the man's frappe and muffin.
Maybe it was the comfort of routine that he felt with him that led Megumi to write his number down on the cup this time. Maybe it was the fact that Itadori was always nice and exchanged pleasantries with Megumi over the countertop. As Itadori sat by the window on his chair, he took a glance at his cup, then came back for a deeper look and saw the numbers written on it. His eyes swept over the brewing area where the barista was most commonly found, but he couldn't spot the mess of black hair he had become familiar with through the exchange of short words. In the back room, Megumi had sat down on the shitty office chair they got a few years back from a sale. It eerily creaked when he leaned backward and pushed his hands through his hair.
‘Fuck, maybe he is as straight as he looks,’ He thought to himself. Hoping he would get a text from an unsaved number.
The sound of footsteps quietly inching their way over to him pulled Megumi out of his train of thought. In the doorway stood his auburn-haired co-worker.
“Did you do it?” she asked. Her eyebrows were scrunched together, a look of seriousness covering her face. She was not playing about this stereotypical romance. Nobara walked closer and closer until she was directly in front of the seat Megumi sat on. Her hands were resting on each half-broken arm. He ignored her question, which only served to piss her off.
“I'm asking you if you finally gave him your number!” she exclaimed with a sharp slap on the back of his head. Megumi quickly resorted to himself and glared at her from below. A scowl etched onto his face.
He pushed himself, along with the chair, backwards and escaped her clutches. “Yes! I did. Are you happy? He probably wasn't even into me in that way. I mean, we do have good muffins; it was probably just those.”
The girl only tsked in response, looking away with a disappointed face. She couldn't believe Megumi was this oblivious! Anytime the pink-haired customer had come by, he had always only gone up to the counter when Megumi came to serve. Even if that meant nothing or was a sheer coincidence, it would be one she firmly denied.
“Megumi, you're an idiot if you truly think that guy isn't into you. You should see the way he looks over the counter searching for you. God, it's so obvious he's in love.”
“You're over exaggerating. Hell, it'd be called a hyperbole, I just make good frappes,” he murmured under his breath. It was obvious he had given up any hope of reaching out to this cute guy. Nobara was about to lose it with her co-worker.
“That's it! If I don't find you outside in the next 10 minutes, I'm dragging your ass outside and putting your phone number into his myself,” she exclaimed before storming out of the small room.
After several minutes, he finally managed to get himself together and leave the hiding hole that was his manager's cluttered office. Granted, he was avoiding Nobara's scornful looks from the other side of the shop.
When he got to the marble-top bench, he filled his hand with a rag, trying to distract himself from the boy sitting by the stained windows they had. The warm light from the sun shone gently on him, reflecting just the tiniest bit of light within his green eyes. The sound of footsteps came closer as he rushed and sped up the circular motion of his hand.
“Hey, just wanted to ask, is this your number?” The amber-eyed boy asked, holding the empty cup in his hands.
“Yeah, you don't have to take it if you're not into guys, just thought I'd shoot my shot, y’know?” he coughed while making eye contact with the bench, trying to cover up his halfassed attempt at flirting.
“I'm into guys- sorry, I, uh, if you want, we could go out sometime? Maybe for some coffee?” Itadori offered.
“Thanks, but I think I've been around coffee for too much of my life already,” Megumi jokes, putting the towel to the side and leaning over the counter on his elbows.
“True, maybe a picnic? Or a movie next weekend?”
“Sounds good.”
Needless to say, that was one of the best conversations Megumi had in his entire life. A week after the initial incident, they both met up at the park on the other side of town. It was a nice one, one where Megumi often took his dogs out for walks. While they strolled along the concrete path, hands deep in warm pockets, they chatted about all sorts of things. Their favourite colour, their birthday, their interests, if they had pets, if they wanted pets. The conversation somehow managed to flow between them so smoothly as if it were linen bed sheets moving around a freshly shaved leg.
Even if it was the way that Itadori smiled, or the boisterous laugh he gave every time he was trying to tell a joke, unable to do so because he couldn't speak through the haughty laugh already coming out. Megumi couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he had finally gotten lucky.
Evening soon fell upon them. The dim light of the moon softly shone above them, lighting up the streets just the tiniest bit. Megumi turned to the boy next to him, a gentle smile on his face as he said
“I enjoyed that.”
“Me too, we should do it again sometime.”
~+~
Usually, Megumi was working during the weekdays, at least five days a week, which wasn't bad by any means. The pay was good too, but it was just the long hours of standing up that caused the pains in his legs. Unfortunately, during his last shift, he had taken some food that the worker the night prior seemed to have forgotten to throw in the bin, and with his wise mind, decided to eat it. Needless to say, Megumi was going through the battle of a lifetime. He could feel every inch of intestine working away in his body, the stomach acid bubbling in the lining of his tummy. He even looked more pale than usual, and that was saying something.
Nobara attempted to help Megumi with his struggle, but he just pushed her away and tried to carry on like his lower body hadn't been shaking like a skeleton in the winter. Eventually, she managed to convince her stubborn co-worker to go home early, claiming she would cover his shift and not to sweat over it.
Thankfully, and somehow, he was at his apartment now, sitting down on the couch, stuffed between blankets and pillows alike and his boyfriend walking over to him from the kitchen. Megumi was just surprised he managed the walk back to his humble abode and didn't collapse on the side of the road.
“Are you feeling okay?” Yuuji asked, bringing the heat pack over to the barista before slotting himself onto the navy couch.
“Mhm, I've felt better, this is actually killing me right now though,'' Megumi whined, throwing his head back against the arm of the sofa.
“I'm glad you went and came to me for this. I'm an expert at these sorts of pains,” Yuuji said as he laid the heat pack onto Megumi's pelvis. He made himself comfortable by sitting next to him, holding him close with his arms.
“Really? Do you get food poisoning that often? That's pretty unlucky." Megumi joked through the wave of pain. His head was leaning towards Yuuji. Yuuji just looked at him with a confused look.
“I used to get killer period cramps, I'm talking like I had to stay home some days because I couldn't take the pain, me, that's saying something.”
“But… you're a guy, why would you get cramps?”
“Megumi, I'm trans. How did you not know?” he says like it was common knowledge. he backed away from the sick man. Back going rigid as he did so,
“I– you never told me? How was I supposed to know? There's no guide, and even if I found out, I would have waited for you to tell me.”
“Thanks, it's good to know you're not like my ex, fuck his ass by the way, but we went to the same high school, it's not like pink hair is very natural in Japan.'' Yuuji tries to break the slight tension between them, lightening the mood.
“Wait, you were Veronica?”
“Yes?”
“I just— I can't believe I didn't realise you were her earlier.” Megumi silently berated himself for not connecting the dots earlier.
“I mean, I have changed a lot, and it's been years. The last time I saw you was after the performance when you were about to leave. I wanted to ask for your number, but when I got there, I got cold feet at the last second. I guess I just said something about the act and ran,” Yuuji continued.
“That's what you were gonna say? It seemed odd the way you just came up and disappeared so quickly. I wouldn't have guessed that, though.” Megumi couldn't help but ask; the interaction had been on his mind for the past several years. He just had to know now.
“Yeah… after the night I ranted about it to a friend of mine, and they told me that you were actually gay and that kinda just tore me apart inside. Life back then was just kinda falling apart. The man who raised me was terminally ill, I found out I had a brother from another family my dad started, and everything was just really shitty timing.”
“Hey, listen, I'm still gonna love you no matter what. It doesn't matter to me what your body used to be like or what it still is,” Megumi said. “Besides, it doesn't change the fact I still have the best boyfriend ever,” he whispered as his arms slid over Yuuji's and pulled the latter closer. Yuuji slumped against Megumi once again, letting himself go completely lax within his toned arms.
He lifted his head and gazed at the ceiling with hooded eyes and a soft smile.
“Thank you, Megumi, I couldn't ask for anything else.”