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Nobara Kugisaki rolls over on Yuuji’s bed, socked feet in the air as she texts Maki about getting lunch later. It’s a calm day, with no classes and no missions looming over the third years’ heads. Nobara’s found herself in Yuuji’s room as often as she finds herself in Megumi’s, or the boys find themselves in her room. The boys are still idiots, but they’re her idiots, and she treasures their time together even if she’ll never say it out loud.
She has to be cool, after all. Cool girls don’t give boys the time of day.
Maki responds, saying she’s training with Inumaki until noon, but that she’d love to check out a new place that popped up not too far from the school. Nobara responds with a sticker and bites the inside of her cheek, locking her phone and turning her attention back to Yuuji.
“Ohh, you’re smiling~” Yuuji sing-songs to her. He places his chin in his hands, sticking his tongue out. “Either you found out some kind of gossip, or Maki messaged you.”
“Ugh, you think I’m so simple,” Nobara whaps him over the head with a pillow. “Where’s Fushiguro, anyway? Wasn’t he going to hang out with us so we can all watch your silly movie together anyway?”
“Birds of Prey is not a silly movie!”
“It’s got your Jennifer Lawrence in it, so therefore it’s silly.” Nobara pokes Yuuji in the cheek, careful to avoid the slitted scar where Sakuna used to poke his freaky face out.
Yuuji snatches his pillow back and clutches it close to his chest. “It doesn’t, actually. It does have Margot Robbie, who’s just as beautiful.”
Nobara rolls her eyes. “You and your American actresses. See, this is why you don’t have a girlfriend--or boyfriend--in real life. You’re too busy making up scenarios where women pay attention to you.”
“Women pay attention to me,” Yuuji says, breaking into a grin as though he’s had some kind of epiphany. “Unless you’re not a woman?”
Nobara gasps in offense and goes for the pillow, ready to start slapping Yuuji on principle. A knock on his door startles them both, and Yuuji scuttles to his feet to grab the door. He pumps his fist in the air as he opens it and Megumi steps in, looking as reserved as ever. The dark-haired boy doesn’t react to Yuuji’s mannerisms. He just gives Nobara a small wave and ducks under Yuuji’s arm to come into the room.
“Did I miss anything?” Megumi asks.
Yuuji shakes his head. “Nope, we were waiting for you. I already queued up the movie, so we can--”
Yuuji trails off as Megumi shrugs off his high-collared uniform jacket, revealing a plain white t-shirt that makes the pair of hickeys on his neck stand out even more against his pale skin. Yuuji and Nobara exchange a quick glance, their eyes wide in surprise.
Nobara realized sometime near the end of her first year of Jujutsu High that she didn’t actually want a boyfriend. She was more interested in girls (specifically Maki), but she’s not blind. Megumi is a very pretty boy, with long eyelashes and blue-black hair that should be messy but comes off as adorable. He’s got a raspy voice that seems to make everyone else swoon, and sad eyes that draw people in.
He’s pretty, but he is not sociable, and Nobara cannot believe he got some before the other two.
Unless…
Nobara grins. “Oh, Itadori, you sly little fox. Congrats, you two!”
“I didn’t do that!” Yuuji exclaims.
Megumi frowns. “Do what?”
Yuuji and Nobara both blink at him as though he’s grown a second head. Or announced that he’s been allergic to dogs this whole time, and he really hates animals. Something unbelievable. Nobara’s too dumbfounded to think of a good parallel.
Yuuji pokes Megumi’s neck twice, one over each hickey. “That. And that. I mean, I’m happy for you, man, but…”
“If not Itadori, then who?” Nobara finishes for him.
Megumi shrugs. He steps forward, heading towards the bed with a clear intention to not continue the conversation. Nobara narrows her eyes, tucking her hair back behind her ear as she tries to figure out who Megumi could have been with. Maybe a second year? Except that Maki’s made it clear she doesn’t think of Megumi as anything but an annoying brother, Panda’s a panda, and Inumaki isn’t talkative either.
“Oh my God, did you leave campus to get some?” She blurts out.
Megumi arches an eyebrow. “Why do you care?”
“I don’t,” she says, too quickly. “I just think it’s unfair that you get someone before either of us. You are way too grumpy to make up for how pretty you are, Fushiguro.”
“Is it a guy or a girl?” Yuuji asks. Nobara holds back an eye roll. Itadori doesn’t have to say it out loud, but his crush on Megumi is kind of embarrassing. For a while, she’d assumed that the crush was mutual, but the hickey’s on Megumi’s neck imply otherwise.
Megumi stares straight ahead at the TV. “It’s not important. Didn’t you want to show us a movie?”
Yuuji and Nobara make eye contact above Megumi’s head. For once, they decide to let it go, but that won’t last. The three of them settle in for the movie, slowly encroaching into each other’s personal space, and the hickeys are all but forgotten. Nobara even manages to tune into the movie, to stop thinking about what Megumi does in his personal time and instead squeal with excitement as Harley Quinn and her gang of girls kick ass together.
She doesn’t forget the hickeys. She lets Megumi think she’s forgotten, and then heads out after the movie to grab lunch with Maki.
The restaurant is a cute little ramen pop up. The girls get a table, and Maki pulls her hair back up into a ponytail before they dig into their lunch. She’s so pretty. Nobara doesn’t know what to do with herself sometimes, when she’s looking at Maki across the table.
“How was training?”
Maki shrugs. “The same as it always is. How was the movie with the boys?”
“Really good, actually,” Nobara says. She picks up some noodles and blows onto them to let them cool off a little bit. “Maybe… we should watch it?”
Maki hums.
Nobara worries her teeth over her lip. Instead of saying something interesting, or even something to remind Maki that she’s way cooler than any of the boys, she blurts out, “I think Fushiguro’s seeing someone.”
“Fushiguro? No way.” Maki shakes her head and puts her chopsticks down. “Who?”
“I have no idea.”
Maki leans forward, the tiniest smirk on her face. “Do you want to find out?”
Nobara leans forward as well, matching the other girl’s energy. “Of course I do. What do you suggest?”
“We go running on Saturdays.” Maki offers. “If you come with me, then we can surround him and get a confession out of him. Between your brashness and my subtlety, one of us should be able to get through to him.”
Nobara grins. She can’t even be mad that Maki is her brash, or that she is going to have to wake up early to go running, because she’ll also get to do two of her favorite things on Saturday. She’ll get to spend time with Maki, and she’ll get to squeeze gossip out of Megumi. She can’t think of a better way to get through the weekend.
Saturday gets stormed out. Well, moreso that Maki and Megumi still go running even though its pouring rain, and Nobara whines and stays wrapped up in her warm, dry blankets until Maki comes back as a drenched mess. Maki silently strips from her running attire into some of Nobara’s leisure ware, before toweling her hair off, shivering, and tucking herself up under Nobara’s blankets next to the light-haired girl.
Nobara rubs Maki’s shoulders. “Any luck?”
Maki rolls her eyes. “I didn’t drown, in case you were worried. And, no, not exactly. Though Fushiguro did confirm it was another guy. Did you know he was gay?”
Nobara hums. “I had a feeling.”
“Well, apparently he’s not into girls at all,” Maki laughs. “Because I asked him what he thought about you and he sighed and told me that he’d be more likely to kiss Tsumiki before kissed you.”
“Well that’s just rude!” Nobara pouts.
Maki laughs again, burrowing her face against Nobara’s neck. Her hair is cold, and Nobara shivers when a droplet sneaks down her collarbone. Still, she doesn’t push Maki away, relishing in the girl’s closeness even if it comes at the cost of chilly droplets of water on her skin. “…did he say anything about Itadori?”
“I didn’t ask.”
Nobara gasps. “Maki! What do you mean you didn’t ask?! What was the point of running in this weather if you weren’t going to bother Fushiguro about the boys he likes?!”
“Training, obviously,” Maki lifts her head, and Nobara pouts at the loss of contact. The dark haired girl pushes her glasses up her nose and stares Nobara down, a hint of warmth in her eyes. “We can’t all be as naturally gifted as you.”
Nobara feels herself blushing. For as much as she teases Yuuji about his crush, it’s not like she’s much better around hers. “Well… maybe the four of us should go do something together. Something that isn’t running.”
“The four of us?” Maki asks.
“You, me, Fushiguro, and Itadori,” Nobara clarifies. “A-and whatever we do, maybe you and I can go off and do something that forces the boys to be near each other. Maybe we get a confession out of them!”
Maki arches a perfectly trimmed eyebrow. “Like a double date?”
Somehow, Nobara’s face gets even warmer. “We could call it that.”
“There’s a festival in a few days,” Maki suggests. “Let’s do that. Hopefully we can convince Fushiguro to come with us, and not have to deal with a chaperone.”
Nobara laughs at that. Too often, they end up with a third or fifth wheel whenever they go off campus. The school is small, and not heavily attended, so anyone’s absence is noted, and many of the teachers are paranoid about the students getting into trouble unless they’re the ones putting the students into situations. It’s easier to make up a mission than it is to get an afternoon off to shop around in Harajuku, Nobara’s found.
But she’s willing to try.
On the day of the festival, Megumi is nowhere to be found. Despite this, Yuuji’s still enthusiastic about the festival (there will be carnival rides, and he’s a thrill seeker through and through), and Nobara and Maki decide they don’t have a better way to spend the day anyway.
The three of them get off of campus without any issues, and make it to the festival without anyone calling them or demanding they turn back around to head back to campus. Yuuji talks Maki’s ear off about training techniques, and Nobara spends most of the train ride scrolling Instagram and trying to stalk Megumi’s profile to figure out where he is.
She gasps. “Oh my God, he’s actually at the festival!”
Yuuji and Maki turn and look down at her. Nobara shoves her phone up into their faces. “Look at his story. He’s winning plushies… what if they’re for his boyfriend?”
Maki narrows her eyes. “He said he didn’t have a boyfriend when I asked him.”
Yuuji chews at his lower lip. “Maybe that changed?”
“It hasn’t been that long, and I haven’t seen any more marks on his neck,” Nobara says, shaking her head. She’s been paying more attention to Megumi over the past week than she has the whole time she’s known the guy, and it’s starting to get under her skin. Megumi is her friend, sure, and he’s great at combat and might as well be one of the girls when it comes time to bitch about things, but he is also so, so boring outside of the things they have in common.
Really, Nobara has no idea what Yuuji still sees in him. If she was the one with a crush on Megumi, she’d be over it by now.
As it is, the three of them are at a festival, and Nobara will be damned if she doesn’t get Yuuji and Megumi shoved into a photo booth and sharing snacks by the end of it.
“Should we text him?” Maki asks, once all three of them have their tickets and are inside of the festival.
“I need to win a plushie first,” Yuuji says. He looks around, big brown eyes taking in all of his options, before he narrows in on a shooting game. “Hold on, I got this.”
Maki and Nobara look at each other, and Nobara takes her phone out to film Yuuji as he sits down and locks in at the game. He’s actually really good, narrowing his eyes and holding the water gun steady to hit the target and knock down the censor. Nobara gets a clip of Yuuji winning, shooting his fist up in the air, and posts it to her story.
She doesn’t know if Megumi will watch it, but it’ll establish that they came to the festival organically. Nobara’s good at making her cover stories seem realistic.
Yuuji comes back with a giant stuffed dalmatian, grinning with victory. “Okay, let’s go find him. I’ll give him this, and then there’s no way he won’t be impressed.”
“I think the double negatives might get to him,” Maki says, more to Nobara than Yuuji.
Nobara laughs, covering her mouth with her hand as the three of them head further into the festival. Yuuji gets distracted again, pulling the two girls over to a drop ride and insisting they get on it. The line isn’t too long, and there’s a place for them to leave the dalmatian and their purses, so they agree to the derailing.
While they’re in line, Nobara pulls her phone out.
Maki leans over, hooking her chin on the brunette’s shoulder. “Did you want to take a selfie? Since you’ve got an online presence to keep up?”
Nobara had originally pulled out her phone to see if Megumi had seen her story, but Maki makes her rethink that. She’s always looking to get more pictures with Maki, more excuses to be close to the girl. Nobara turns around, heart beating when she realizes how close Maki is to her, and barely remembers to breathe before getting her wits about her again. “Definitely! Actually, since we have him—YUUJI!”
“I’m right here,” Yuuji laughs. “What’s up?”
“Take our picture.” Nobara presses her phone into Yuuji’s chest. “And make sure we look cute. And that you get the ride in the back.”
“Is it for Instagram?” Yuuji asks.
Maki nods, and puts her arm around Nobara’s shoulders. “It’s for her Instagram.”
Nobara frowns, ignoring the blush on her cheeks. “And what’s wrong with that?!”
“Nothing, now pose for the camera.” Maki nods her chin towards Yuuji, who is already stancing himself to get a good shot. As much as Nobara makes fun of the guy, Yuuji’s actually pretty good behind a camera.
She leans in, taking a risk and putting her own hand around Maki’s waist. Maki leans into the touch, and Nobara finds herself grinning, her peace sign shaky even as Maki’s is solid and sure. Yuuji takes a few photos, the line moves forward, and then he instructs them to pose again so he can get a few more. Nobara takes her phone back and looks over the photos, and is surprised that Yuuji’s actually good at taking pictures.
“Are they okay?” Yuuji asks, leaning over her and Maki.
Nobara glares up at him. “Personal space, gay boy. And they’re great, actually. You’re my photographer now.”
Maki quirks a smile at that, and Nobara mentally does a backflip before posting the best photo and tagging both Maki and Yuuji. Now there’s proof that not only is Yuuji at the festival, but that he’s with two friends that Megumi also likes. She’s hoping that, assuming Megumi sees it, he’ll bring his mystery friend along and they’ll be able to put this investigation to rest. As long as he’s not too wrapped up in catching plushies, Nobara figures that Megumi will check his phone at least once before he leaves the event.
The ride is a two seater, and Yuuji winks at Nobara before suggesting that the girls sit together so that he can spin himself stupid. Maki agrees to it, and puts her arm around Nobara again before directing them towards a cart near the back of the ride.
Nobara narrows her eyes at Yuuji. Is he in on something? Have he and Maki been planning their own things without her knowledge? What’s his angle, here?
Yuuji, to his credit, does spin his cart at a ridiculous speed.
Nobara and Maki are much more normal, spinning while grinning at each other and trying to get the other girl to squeal first. Nobara’s heart is racing by the end of the ride, but she’s not sure if it’s from the adrenaline or from how many times she and Maki touched hands while they were spinning.
Maki’s being much more touchy. Nobara realizes this after they stop to grab onigiri and check to see if there are any Megumi updates. Yuuji’s made a friend, though he hasn’t forgotten about Megumi and the friend is also interested in seeing how things go. They’re not a sorcerer, nor are they someone from Yuuji’s past like that one girl (Nobara would root for her if Yuuji hadn’t admitted later that he was more interested in Megumi and that he felt sooooo awful about his purely platonic feelings for the girl). They’re a local high schooler, they’re an adrenaline junkie, and they’re the one to suggest going on the drop ride that overlooks the whole park.
“We might be able to spot him from the top of the ride?” The student suggests.
Yuuji shrugs. “Sounds like a good plan. Do you guys wanna come with?”
Maki, who has her shoulder pressed up against Nobara, looks down at Nobara. “Up to you.”
Nobara huffs. “I’m not scared of a little drop.”
Yuuji grins. “Awesome! Let’s go!”
It is not a little drop.
Nobara grips her handle bars. “No way. No fucking way. This is not a little drop.”
Beside her, Maki laughs.
Nobara considers reaching out to kick her, but then decides she doesn’t want to risk her shoe flying off or her leg somehow getting chopped off in a freak accident. She can deal with curses just find. A rickety fair ride that towers above everything and creaks when it moves? NOPE.
“You know, it’s okay if you want to hold my hand or anything,” Maki suggests as the ride goes farther and farther up into the sky. “I wouldn’t mind.”
“What?” Nobara squeaks out. If this is Maki trying to flirt, this is probably the worst time for it. They could all die up here. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t be dense!” Maki leans forward, and Nobara sees her glasses slide down her nose. Not all the way off, but dangerously close to the end. They reflect the warm sunlight, and Nobara swallows thickly before letting go with one hand to reach over and push them back up. Maki grabs her by the hand before she can grab back onto her seat, and intertwines their fingers together. Her hazel eyes are sharp behind her glasses, not looking away from Nobara for a moment. “I’ll spell it out if I need to, Kugisaki, but I don’t think I need to.”
Nobara’s eyes widened. “No way, are you seriously—”
Of course, this is when the ride releases, and everyone around them erupts into screams as they’re all dropped from the climax. Nobara’s own words turn into a screech as well, and her hair whips around her as she holds Maki’s hand in a death grip and they all plummet to the ground.
They don’t die. Nobara also doesn’t let go of Maki’s hand even as they stumble off the ride and back to the carnival. Yuuji and his new friend give the girls a thumbs-up and make themselves scarce, and Nobara makes a mental note to kick Yuuji’s ass later for embarrassing her in front of a stranger and her crush.
Her crush, who she’s holding hands with. Who started flirting with her while they were meters and meters up in the air. Who seemed to be in the middle of a confession… Nobara narrows her eyes at Maki. “Were you about to confess to me on a fair ride?!”
“Itadori mentioned you liking cheesy romantic things,” Maki shrugs. “I figured it was worth a shot.”
“Oh, you are so—” Nobara cuts herself off and goes for it, taking Maki by the face and pulling the taller girl down for a kiss. They’re in public, so it isn’t much, but it’s enough for her foot to pop off the ground and Maki to press her hand to the small of Nobara’s back. Maki’s cheeks are flushed when she pulls back, and Nobara can’t help the manic grin that spreads across her face.
She lets out a laugh. “I can’t believe this.”
“You didn’t even let me ask you out properly.”
“Aw, are you whining?” Nobara laughs. She loops her arms around Maki’s and tugs her back towards the carnival games. “You still can, you know~! We’re here all day!”
Maki rolls her eyes, but her cheeks are still flushed and her mouth is up in a smile. “Fine, fine—I’d love to be your girlfriend, and take you out on a date without any boys or… or other side missions.”
“Let’s do it, then,” Nobara grins. “I want a giant bear, first.”
Maki grins. “I’ll get you one.”
Megumi’s mystery boyfriend is long forgotten by the time the sun sets and Nobara and Maki make their way back to the school. And, even though Megumi’s outside, alone and unguarded, Nobara can’t find it in herself to care. He can keep his secrets, damn him, because Nobara has a girlfriend, and she’s not even a secret.