Work Text:
Today was the day. After weeks of waiting, it was finally happening. And Megumi couldn't wait.
The recent days dragged by, littered with missions, exorcising curses and Gojo's unorthodox teaching methods. Then by the time the day was over, Megumi was too exhausted to do anything else, and usually just ended up going to sleep. This pattern repeated for weeks with no end. But not today. Today was different. It was the first break they’d gotten in a while, and the day that Megumi had been waiting for. The day that he had been looking forward to since he met the boy. A day for just him and Yuji.
On the surface, it was just two friends hanging out, but to Megumi, it was anything but that. It was his one chance to get some alone time with the boy he’d been secretly pining after for ages.
So, there he was—standing on the bullet train going into central Tokyo, where Yuji would be waiting for him. The place where they’d spend the whole day together. Just the two of them.
Megumi stumbled as the train halted to a stop, clinging to the handrails as if his life depended on it. A voice came over the speaker.
“This is Shinigawa Station. Transfer here for Shinigawa bus services.”
People piled off the train in waves, as even more people got on. Megumi took a deep breath.
There was only one more station to go. Tokyo station.
The shrill sound of wheels against tracks filled the train as it took off, Megumi struggling to catch his balance yet again. That was the one thing he’s never get used to about trains, alongside the people breathing down your neck every second of the ride. And it was even worse when there weren’t any seats available. Which, so far, had been every day Megumi decided to catch the bullet train.
The train swayed again.
“This is Tokyo Station.”
Megumi’s heart skipped a beat. This was it.
He followed the herd of people off the train, being careful to not bump into their shoulders. Then, amongst the collection of heads, Megumi saw him. He couldn’t miss him—not with that bright pink hair. But he didn’t get a chance to move, Yuji was already rushing over to him.
“Hey, Fushiguro! You’re finally here.” He said, a wide grin on his face that made Megumi’s already quick heart beat even faster.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” He replied, simply.
“No, that’s fine. I only got bumped into...” He raised his hand, counting on each finger like a primary schooler. Though Megumi was sure a primary schooler could count faster than that. “Four times! That’s not... too bad.” His grin wavered.
Megumi clenched his jaw. And sure enough, Yuji was right. The place was crawling with people. Wherever there was an inch of space, there was a person in it. With a straight face:
“Let’s go.”
So, Megumi took off through the crowd, Yuji following closely behind. It took skill to weave through the people without falling, or losing each other.
Something that would’ve been much easier if they just... held hands, Megumi thought to himself.
But he couldn’t do that. No matter how long the thoughts pestered him for. And no matter how tempting it was.
But soon enough, they were out of the train station and into the city, where it was equally as packed. Hundreds of smells combined together. There was the aroma of mouth watering foods, mixed with other, less pleasant smells—harsh odours from cleaning products, the smell of birds, but worst of all, sweat. And the noise was something else entirely. But there was something about the look in Yuji’s eyes made up for it. They were wide, and sparkling, as if this was the best thing he’d ever seen.
“Tokyo!” He drew out the word, saying it loud enough to sway the attention of some people passing by—even over the noise of all their chatter. He turned to Megumi. “You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to wander around Tokyo! I mean... we did come here the first day, but Gojo sensei didn’t exactly give us time to look around.”
Megumi’s mind flashed back to that day. The way Nobara and Yuji fed off of each other’s energy like they’d had ten cups of coffee beforehand. “That was probably for the best.”
“Whatever,” Yuji said. And without giving Megumi time to process—
“Come on, Fushiguro!” He grabbed his wrist, tugging him towards a shop. Megumi’s breath hitched. Yuji’s hand was warm. So warm.
But it wasn’t long until he let go. And as soon as Megumi looked up, they were already in a shop, filled with superfluous souvenirs and cheap trinkets. That didn’t matter to Yuji though, because he was already wandering around the shelves without giving Megumi the time to even render it all.
And that’s how the rest of the day progressed. It was an endless cycle of going into a shop, chatting to Yuji as he brought everything he could fit in his hands and then leaving to go to the next one. Occasionally, Megumi would find something he liked too, though that wasn’t very often, and all the things he bought could either fit in his pockets, or his hands.
There was a keychain, that he thought Nobara might like; some hair gel, because he was running low and a boba, that both him and Yuji got. Meanwhile, Yuji was already lugging around two bags filled with random things. Where Yuji even got all that money from perplexed Megumi.
As they continued down the street, Megumi wondered what random shop he’d be dragged into next. Another souvenir shop? A clothes store? Maybe a restaurant, where they could stop to get something to eat? The cycle would just repeat, he thought. But little did he know, that was all about to end when Yuji caught sight of a tiny, plain white building at the corner of the street.
“Fushiguro, look!” He pointed at the shop.
Megumi followed where Yuji was pointing. But, it couldn’t possibly be that tiny excuse of a shop, right? He didn’t even think it was a shop, maybe a convenience store at best, but definitely somewhere they’d ever visit.
“What exactly am I looking at?”
Yuji grasped, shooting a hand up to clutch his chest. “You’ve seriously never seen this place before? Not even heard of it?”
Megumi scanned his brain, but no matter how long he thought about it, nothing came to mind. He shook his head. “Never heard of it.”
“Wow, umm, okay then.” Yuji blinked a few times, as if Megumi had just said he didn’t know what the Eiffel tower was. “Well, it’s a photo booth. I’ve seen a lot about it on social media.”
“Okay...” Megumi narrowed his eyes. He already knew where this was going.
“We should go get some photos! This is perfect, because I’ve been meaning to decorate my walls more.”
There it was.
“If you want to, then sure.” Megumi sighed, his expression still blank. But on the inside, he was feeling anything but apathetic.
And that was all that Yuji needed. He smiled, already rushing off to the photo booth without another word.
Megumi’s eyes widened as the glass doors swung open. It was large. Much larger than the outside, and decorated with all sorts of things, alongside the actual photo booth. There were photo strips of friends and a table with corny accessories sprawled across it, which, of course, Yuji went to first.
“Fushiguro, come look at these!” He picked up a hat, admiring it for a second before looking back to Megumi, and placing it on his head. “I should totally model in this.” He posed. “Isn’t it cool?”
Megumi sighed. No, they were not cool in the slightest—he thought. But he couldn’t just say that. So, instead of joining him, Megumi drifted to the wall of photos. There were people pulling funny faces, large groups of friends, couple photos, a pink feathery scarf—
Wait a minute, a pink feathery scarf?
Megumi turned. Next to him stood Yuji, wrapped in bright pink feathers alongside a pair of pineapple sunglasses resting on his face. And to top it off, he was holding two stick props.
“What are you wearing, Itadori? That’s embarrassing.”
“It’s fashion.”
Megumi rolled his eyes, keeping a straight face. But his heart squeezed. The corner of his mouth almost twitched into a smile. “Right.”
Yuji chuckled. “You’ll be jealous when you see how stylish I look in the photos.”
They continued looking at the photo strips in uninterrupted silence for a moment. Or, at least, Yuji was looking at the photos. Megumi, however, let his eyes wander. He couldn’t help but stare. At Yuji.
A wide grin was still plastered to his face, curving the corners of his eyes along with it. Megumi could tell, even under the sunglasses. And even under the sunglasses and layers of absurd feathers, there was still something about him. Something about that smile. Every time Megumi looked at it, his heart skipped a beat.
“Ooh, how about this pose?”
Megumi blinked, Yuji’s voice barely registering in his brain, like his ears had suddenly decided to jump to a different plane of reality in what Megumi thought was a short amount of time.
“Hmm?”
“To do in our photo!” Yuji said, still pointing to one of the photos on the wall. Megumi glanced at it. In the photo there were two people, one being carried bridal style by the other—somehow whilst both sitting down, and managing to stay in frame.
They were not doing that in their photos. No way in hell.
Megumi just narrowed his eyes. “You can’t come up with your own poses?”
“Well...” Yuji rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not the most creative person.”
That was certainly an understatement—Megumi didn’t think Yuji had a single creative bone in his body. He almost laughed, yet settled for just turning back to the wall of photos, actually looking at them this time. But again, it wasn’t long before Yuji had something to say.
“No, surely we do this one.”
Megumi didn’t even want to look up. It was probably just another weird pose—one that he certainly wouldn't be doing with Yuji. But Megumi looked up anyway.
His breath hitched. His heart skipped a beat.
It was a couples photo. A couple with their lips pressed together. It was a kissing photo.
“No, were not doing that.” Megumi said, almost instantly. But his voice shook. It was barely noticeable, but it shook.
“Aww, it could be fun though.”
Megumi couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but he wasn’t about to take his chances. He was joking. He had to be joking.
“No.” Megumi replied, shutting down the idea completely.
“Okay, okay, I get it.” Yuji started. “But can you at least smile in the photos?”
Megumi stared at him for a moment, before replying: “no promises.”
Seemingly accepting defeat, Yuji just went back to the props table with a simple “fine” as Megumi went back to looking at photos. But no matter where he tried to look, he couldn't peel his eyes off that one photo. The one that they surely should’ve done. But it was all just a joke, Megumi reassured himself.
“Fushiguro, fashion delivery for you!” Yuji said, prancing back over to Megumi with hands full of accessories. They were the corniest accessories Megumi had ever seen—something that Gojo would relentlessly tease him for if he ever saw the photos.
“I’m not wearing that.”
“Oh come on! Not even these?” Yuji dug through the pile, pulling out a pair of sunglasses shaped like hearts.
“Especially not those.”
Yuji paused for a second, glancing down at the glasses, before back up at Megumi. “Oh come on, Fushiguro, please?” He said, looking into Megumi’s eyes. And he smiled. That same smile from earlier. The one that made Megumi’s heart skip a beat.
Again.
And that’s how Megumi ended up wearing a sparkly rainbow cowboy hat, a pair of heart sunglasses and holding a cartoonish donut stick prop.
“You better now show anyone this.” He reminded Yuji, for probably the third time in the past minute. But Yuji was already snickering as he pressed his credit card against the card reader. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Right, right. I got it. Don’t show anyone except Kugisaki.” He muttered.
“Don’t you dare show Kugisaki.”
Yuji turned around, a slightly sly smile on his face as he made his way into the photo booth with Megumi. “No promises.”
But Megumi didn’t have time to argue. Soon enough, the screen lit up with a live view of both of their faces and ridiculous costumes.
The five second countdown began, the numbers popping up on screen whilst a quiet voice read them out too. The first photo.
“Smile, Fushiguro!” Yuji raised his props, wearing a grin that was somehow wider than before. Megumi sighed, reluctantly raising his stick prop too.
And he smiled. It was small—a tiny curve of at the corner of his lips that didn’t quite reach his eyes. But still, it was a smile.
A bright, white light invaded their eyes as the camera flashed. The first photo popped up on the screen.
“Hey, you actually smiled, Fushiguro!”
Megumi’s jaw tightened. “Yes, now can I take these ridiculous accessories off?”
“Do you have to? It looks so good on you!”
The countdown began again. Megumi shot him another glare—there was no way he was going to wear this for more than one photo.
“Okay, fine! Just be quick.”
So, Megumi threw the accessories to the floor, somewhere in the corner of the tiny booth, as the countdown resumed. Only three seconds left until the second photo.
Only when he popped back up did Megumi notice how tiny the booth was, and just how close Yuji was. Their legs were almost touching. Their shoulders were almost touching. And he could hear Yuji’s breath so clearly.
“Two...one...”
The voice said. And then Megumi felt it. There was a warm weight on his left shoulder—Yuji’s hand. Yuji had put his arm around Megumi.
The camera flashed before he had time to change his expression. The photo appeared on the screen.
“You look... shocked.” Yuji laughed. And sure enough, Megumi did look shocked. His lips were pressed together, eyes wide and glued to Yuji, who was grinning as usual. Like this pose was natural to him. To Megumi, however, it was anything but that. His stomach knotted.
“So, are we going to kiss for the next photo?” Yuji stuck his lips out.
Megumi's heart jumped. His stomach knotted again. Was this another one of Yuji’s jokes? Megumi couldn’t tell. Either way, this was not something Yuji should’ve been mentioning so casually.
“No way.”
Yuji sighed. “Again? Why not?”
Megumi shouldn’t have even needed to explain to Yuji why it was a bad idea. A terrible idea. Because once friends kissed, there was no going back.
“Because friends don’t kiss.” He stated. “Why do you care so much anyway?”
The countdown was starting again.
“Well, I just think it would be funny to look back on.”
The countdown was down to two now. Megumi’s stomach was still swirling, his head muddled with thoughts. Why was Yuji being so persistent?
“Nothing about that would be funny to look back on.” He said, too quickly.
“Wow. You seem pretty opposed to it.” Yuji’s smile dropped. He almost looked... sad. “Bad experience or something?”
Megumi could feel his heart beating now. The camera flashed, but neither of them took notice.
“No, I just don’t think it’s a good idea. That’s all.”
Yuji frowned. As if he was actually sad. As if he actually wanted to kiss Megumi. And, again, he preserved. “Please, Fushiguro?”
A joke. It sounded like a joke. But there was a hint of something else. Almost genuine. Or maybe Megumi’s ears were just playing tricks on him.
“I’m not kissing you just for a funny memory.”
Yuji sighed, looking off to the side. “Megumi,”
Megumi froze. He’d never heard Yuji say his first name. Not like that.
Five.
The countdown started.
“If I can be honest right now...”
Four.
He looked back up at Megumi. “I just want to kiss you.”
Megumi’s breath caught in his throat. He couldn’t breath.
Three
Was Yuji really being genuine?
Two.
Fuck it, he thought. There was no more time to waste. He reached forward, placing a hand on Yuji’s cheek. Then, he leaned in.
And their lips met.
Yuji’s lips were soft. His cheek was warm against Megumi’s hand. It wasn’t just his own heartbeat he could feel now. It was Yuji’s too.
In the distance, he could still hear the countdown. But it was fuzzy—drowned out by the sheer weight of this moment.
When the camera flashed, neither of them pulled away. Megumi didn’t want to. Not just yet. Until a few moments passed.
Yuji was the first to pull away, smiling, somehow wider than before. His face was flushed.
“Wow.” Was all Yuji had to say, his voice light, like it was caught somewhere in his throat.
And Megumi smiled too.
There was no going back now. Once friends kissed, they could never just stay friends. But maybe, Megumi thought, that wasn’t a bad thing.