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It isn’t until Yuji settles in next to him on the damp ground, their other two companions sleeping around the fire, that Megumi finally allows the muscles in his shoulders to relax. He trusts Okkotsu enough to know that they’re physically safe, even with a curse hanging around. But still, feeling the warmth of Yuji’s shoulder brush against his own is the final straw that his body needed to catch up with his mind’s knowledge that he found him. Finally, after searching and fighting and panicking and fighting again, Yuji is here, within arm’s reach, and physically unharmed. Given everything that’s happened, it’s all Megumi could bring himself to hope for.
“You okay?” He whispers softly, bumping Yuji’s shoulder again with his own.
The other boy goes rigid, enough so that it causes Megumi to pull away, a wave of alarm washing through him until he answers. “No,” Yuji scoffs. “Not at all.”
And that’s fair, really. What happened in Shibuya was horrifying for an outsider to witness. Megumi couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Yuji, having to watch it through his own eyes, his own body that was out of his control. He winces, and wishes he had something better to say. “I just meant — ”
“So many people died, Fushiguro.” Yuji interrupts him, which Megumi appreciates, because he didn’t know how he was going to finish that sentence. “All because of me.”
“Yuji.” He replies firmly, and he didn’t really mean to say that, they don’t call each other by their first names, but it got the boy’s attention, at least. Megumi puts a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly as brown eyes meet his own. He tries not to notice the new scars that litter Yuji’s face, and instead focuses on what he set out to say. Megumi forces his voice to soften, both for the boy in front of him and the two people sleeping. “It wasn’t your fault.”
The quiver of Yuji’s bottom lip is so slight that it almost goes unnoticed. Almost.
“You know that, right?”
Yuji just stares at him for that, and Megumi makes sure to keep his gaze firm, as unbreakable as his opinion on the matter. Yuji wouldn’t hurt a soul, he wouldn’t have even been wrapped up in all of this in the first place if it wasn’t for his inherent desire to save people. No one who knows him could possibly blame him for not being able to hold back Sukuna, least of all Megumi.
The eyes he’s staring into start to water, and just as Megumi thinks the boy is going to simply burst into tears, Yuji pulls away, breaking eye contact and wiping his face clear with shaking hands.
“It doesn’t matter.” Yuji answers after a moment, though his voice cracks through it. “It doesn’t matter if it’s my fault. I’m alive. I’m alive and — ”
He pauses, taking a quick second to compose himself like Megumi wouldn’t give him all the time in the world just to get a small glimpse into where his head’s at. Yuji’s hands shake in his lap, and Megumi fights the urge to reach out and hold them, to give him a physical reassurance that he’s here, in a way that he can never quite achieve with words alone. Megumi aches for the other boy to know.
“And so many people aren’t. Because I am. I need to make up for it.” He sighs, sounding more defeated than someone as optimistic as Yuji ever should sound. It squeezes Megumi’s chest, deep in there in the space around his heart. “Somehow.”
“Yuji.” He says again, this time more confident in the use of his name. It works again at getting the boy to look back at him, with eyes significantly redder than they were a few moments ago. “You’re not the villain in this story.”
His face falls, head turning down to look at the ever-shrinking sliver of concrete between them.
“Then what am I?”
Megumi gives himself one sharp breath, though still quiet enough not to startle, before allowing himself to mentally jump off the deep end. He moves the hand that was previously resting on Yuji’s shoulder and uses it to cup the boy’s face, a move infinitely more intimate than before, and significantly harder to explain if he needed to. It’s worth the risk, though, to meet the boy’s eyes once again. And make sure Yuji can see how serious he is, how sure he is, about his next words.
“You’re a survivor.” A breath passes between them, Megumi exhaling softly and Yuji taking the air back in. Megumi leans forward, enough so there’s only a few inches of space between their faces, enough so his own hair mixes with pink fluff. “And I am so happy that you’re alive.”
His voice cracks on the word, and Megumi lets it. Let Yuji hear it, how affected he is by the boy’s very presence. Let him see how desperate he was to find him, to get to exactly this point in time, with Yuji safe in his grasp, exactly as he is. Let Yuji see every broken corner of Megumi’s soul that absolutely adores him, just so he might take a small step towards seeing himself as Megumi sees him.
Before he knows it, a forehead rests against his own, and Megumi can’t help but light up with the realization that he wasn’t the one to lean into it.
Yuji whispers, so quietly that Megumi has to strain to hear him, despite how close they are, “I’m really happy you’re alive too.”
He allows his eyes to flutter shut, relaxing into the casual intimacy that Yuji has granted him. He rubs a thumb back and forth across his cheek, cataloging the new sensation of roughness as he travels his featherlight touch along the scar by his mouth.
“Thank you.” Yuji tells him, causing Megumi to crack an eye open in confusion.
“For what?”
The other’s eyes are still closed, but Megumi gets to watch as Yuji's face forms into a small smile. It’s not nearly as big as the ones he’s used to seeing from his friend, but it’s a start.
“For finding me.”
Megumi closes his eyes again, letting his face match the other boy’s, smile and all. “Always.”
He’s not sure who moves first, if it was just him, or just Yuji, or both of them. But in an instant, soft lips are touching his, and Megumi is trying his best to pour all the love coursing through his veins into a gentle kiss.
Megumi wraps his hand around to the back of Yuji’s neck as they pull away, keeping a firm grasp to make sure he doesn’t go too far. Not that it’s necessary, Yuji hardly moves an inch. He opens his eyes to find Yuji already staring at him, smile even brighter than before.
“Megumi.” He simply states, and a rush goes through him at the sound of his given name, sounding lovely for the first time in his life as it comes out of his best friend’s mouth.
“Yeah?”
“After —” He pauses, voice straining a twinge. “All of this is over,” Yuji grabs Megumi’s free hand with his own and gives it a squeeze, like he’s looking for reassurance. Megumi is more than happy to provide. “Can I take you to dinner?”
Megumi can’t help it, and laughs a bit too loudly at the question. Not at Yuji’s expense, or at the sentiment at all, but at how absurd something as mundane as a dinner date sounds to him right now. Though, Megumi reflects, anything sounds perfect if it’s with his best friend.
“Yeah,” He chuckles, glad to see Yuji laughing along with him. “You can take me to dinner.”
He drops the hand around his neck, finally, and both boys just continue to look at each other for a moment, relishing in the brief respite they’ve found in the other.
“Can you two go to bed, now?” A kind but clearly tired-sounding voice comes from their right.
“Uhh —” Megumi starts dumbly, but before he can embarrassingly stutter his way through an apology to Okkotsu, another voice chimes in.
“Let my brother have his moment.” Choso cuts in, sounding unfortunately wide-awake. God, did they both hear that whole thing?
“Thank you, Choso.” Yuji replies, apparently unphased by their audience. He moves to lay down on the ground, tugging Megumi gently with him. “We can be quiet now, though. Sorry, guys.”
He only gets twin grunts in response, and Megumi supposes that is that. He lets himself be pulled down, and finds that he’s quite content to lay pressed up against Yuji after so many nights of solitude.
Megumi closes his eyes, ready for sleep to overtake him and prepare him for what’s sure to be a long day tomorrow when his eyes shoot back open.
“Wait. Brother?” He asks Yuji, startled and concerned about what the curse referred to him as.
Yuji just chuckles, pulling Megumi back down and keeping his arms around him this time.
“I’ll tell you all about it at dinner.”