Chapter Text
Megumi looked at the clock beside his bed.
The green light read 3:18 as he squinted through his blurry vision. He sighed and swung his legs off the side of his dorm room bed, ignoring the chill that ran through his body and the muscle aches that hit him as soon as he moved.
He hadn’t been feeling the greatest during training earlier, but blamed it on the lack of sleep the previous night and brushed off the slight headache as he pushed through sparring with Maki.
Now though, his headache was back in full force along with aches and a sore throat. Right now, his only priority was getting an Advil and changing out of his sweat soaked t-shirt and shorts. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he gathered the strength to stand up out of his warm bed. As soon as he was on his feet and started making his way to his dresser, his vision started greying, forcing him to his knees as he grabbed the corner of his desk.
He took a deep breath, steadying himself as he got back up, slower this time and shakily walked over to get some clean clothes when he felt the nausea hit him. Fuck.
He clamped a hand over his mouth as he ran to the bathroom across the hall. He dropped to his knees as he breathed heavily. If there was one thing Megumi hated more than the feeling of being sick, it was the feeling of throwing up, and even worse was the anticipation of throwing up. He didn’t know why he had such an aversion to it, he knew it was unpleasant for everyone, but every time it happened it felt ten times worse for him. Even when he was a kid, he would cry and hyperventilate every time his stomach hurt, terrified at the prospect of throwing up.
He sat in front of the toilet and let a few tears slip out as he obsessively swallowed the saliva constantly filling his mouth. Why was he like this. He wished for all the times where Tsumiki or Gojo would sit with him and rub his back while telling him it would be okay.
Finally, his body overruled his mind as he retched over the toilet and everything he had eaten for dinner came back up. He stayed in that position for a few minutes, breathing heavily and waiting for his stomach to settle.
When he stopped gagging, he flushed the toilet and wiped his mouth. He lifted his head and took a shaky inhale. When he finally composed himself, he made his way slowly back to his room.
Once he made it, he slowly pulled out and sat on his desk chair and began digging through his drawer for something, anything to make him feel better. All he wanted to do was crawl back into his warm bed, medicine be damned, but as much as he wanted that, he wanted more to not feel so shitty.
Finally locating and grabbing the Advil bottle from under his books, relief flooded through him, but there was a distinct lack of rattling as he shook the bottle. Unscrewing the cap, the bottle proved to be empty. Megumi stifled a sob as he remembered taking the last one after getting a little too bruised up sparring with Itadori. All he wanted to do was feel better, but after his puking incident, he felt a million times worse. He hated being sick and the feelings of weakness that came with it.
He weighed his options, he could go back to bed and hope and pray that he could fall asleep (the answer was probably not). He could go to Shoko and ask her for some medication (Shoko was most definitely asleep and Megumi would feel far too guilty if he woke her up), or he could go to Gojo.
He felt bad at the prospect of waking Gojo up when he knew he had been on mission the day prior, but he also knew that, as much as Gojo annoyed him sometimes, he could be relied on, and was a comforting presence when Megumi was hurting or needed someone.
Megumi’s childhood memories of being sick after Gojo started looking after them were pleasant. In an ironic way. Not that it was pleasant to be sick. However, every time he had been as a kid, Gojo had always taken care of him, brushing his sweaty hair back, making sure he drank water, and staying by his side the whole time. Megumi had never had anyone that cared that much about him before other than Tsumiki, who despite being an angel of a human being and a constant comfort to Megumi, was still just a child herself. Megumi knew he didn’t show Gojo his appreciation as much as he should, yet Gojo never held that, or anything for that matter, against him.
Megumi made up his mind, despite the guilt still gnawing at him. He figured he could get some advil from Gojo and be out of his hair just as quickly. He grabbed his blanket, wrapped it around his shoulders, and began trudging down the hall, still shivering, and head pounding more and more with every second.
He arrived at Gojo’s door after what felt like an eternity. He raised his fist to knock and before he could second-guess himself, rapped softly on the door three times. He immediately heard rustling from inside Gojo’s office and living area and shortly after, the door creaked open, revealing the blue-eyed man with a serious case of bed head.
“Megs? You alright?” Gojo questioned as he looked down at the pale shaking boy in front of him.
“I just- I don’t feel good” he responded, voice breaking unintentionally as he took a shaky breath and tried to stop the pressure building behind his eyes.
Megumi hated crying, he hated appearing weak and vulnerable in front of others, but being sick made him feel all of these things, and it was Gojo standing in front of him with a concerned look on his face. Gojo, who despite presenting himself as constantly energetic and annoying, knew when to tone it down and be serious, and knew Megumi better than anyone. And despite all the insults Megumi threw at him, he knew deep down that Gojo wouldn’t make fun of him or view him any differently because of his own problems, which at the moment included standing in front of his door at 3 in the morning trying not to let himself break into full on sobs.
Gojo furrowed his eyebrows. “Hey, hey, kid it’s ok. Come here” He put his arm over Megumi's shoulders and led him into his office, dimming the lights as he closed the door behind them.
Megumi’s tears were coming faster now, despite his best attempts to quell them.
“Oh Megs” said Gojo as he wiped them away and then put a blessedly cool hand on Megumi’s forehead. Megumi’s breath came in gasps as Gojo wrapped one arm around his shoulders and guided Megumi’s face to rest in the crook of his neck with his other hand. Megumi’s sobs came in full force as he brought his arms up to wrap around Gojo and grabbed fistfulls of the back of his shirt in an attempt to ground himself.
“Shhh, it’s ok, it’s ok, I’m here, I’ll take care of you”. Gojo carded his fingers through Megumi’s hair, ignoring the growing wet spot on his shirt. They stayed like that for a few more moments, Gojo holding him tight and rubbing circles on his back to calm him down. As Megumi’s sobs subsided in favor of sniffles, he slowly lifted his head off Gojo’s shoulder, eyes turned downward.
“Sorry” he mumbled, bringing his hands up to scrub away the last few tears.
“Hey, don’t apologize, what do you think I’m here for. Hang tight, let me go get you some fresh clothes.” Gojo responded, ruffling Megumi's hair
Gojo guided Megumi to sit on his couch before running to his room and grabbing one of his t-shirts and a pair of his pajama pants and setting them on the bed. He walked back into his office and over to where Megumi was sitting.
“Hey, uh Megs?” Megumi squinted his eyes open to acknowledge the white haired man. “I left some clothes on my bed in there” continued Gojo. “I’m gonna go get some stuff, you change and I’ll be right back, okay? Feel free to use my bathroom to wash up a bit if you want."
Megumi grunted his acknowledgement and slowly stood up so as not to pass out. With Gojo’s steadying hand on his back, he made his way into Gojo’s bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. Gojo ran a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs back, and left with a tired but genuine smile directed at Megumi.
Megumi managed to go into the bathroom, wash the sweat off of himself, and get into Gojo’s pajamas all without major incident. With his fever induced emotional breakdown out of the way, he could now yet again focus on how utterly shitty he felt physically. More refreshed than before, but definitely still the same amount of sick. Yippie.
Gojo made his way back from the kitchen carrying a small tray stacked with sick kid essentials. He walked through his office and stopped at the door to his bedroom. He knocked a few times.
“Megs, can I come in?” he called, and when he heard an affirmative mhm from inside the room, balanced the tray on one arm and opened the door with the other.
Megumi was sitting in the same spot as when Gojo had left, only now looking slightly less sweaty and in different clothes, his old ones neatly folded and set on the ottoman at the end of the bed. Gojo closed the door behind him and set the tray on the nightstand closest to Megumi.
“Come on kiddo” Gojo said as he pulled back the sheets and comforter for Megumi to get under. “Sit up for just a second and you can sleep soon I promise” Gojo added, adjusting the pillows so Megumi could sit comfortably.
Megumi made his way to sit, back resting against the pillows as Gojo brought the blankets up to cover his legs.
“Alright, want to tell me when all this started and what hurts?” Gojo asked as he put a spoon in Megumi's hands and the tray in his lap, which contained a small bowl of soup. Gojo sat on the very edge of the bed, facing Megumi as he took a deep breath.
“I sorta felt a little off during training today, but I figured it was nothing”, he began. “I woke up about thirty minutes ago and felt like shit. I threw up and then I came here, that's all.”
“I’m sorry kiddo”
“Don’t be. ‘S not your fault”
Gojo gave him a sad smile “Can you at least try to eat a few bites of that, I know you’re not feeling the greatest, but we can at least get a little nutrients in you.”
After a little more coercing on Gojo’s part, Megumi carefully took a few bites of the soup, despite his anxiety about throwing up again, but he trusted Gojo and knew he was just trying to help. He eventually resigned himself to just sipping on the broth. Once he was done, Gojo placed the tray back onto the nightstand and took off the glass of water and handed it to Megumi along with a few pills, which Megumi took gratefully. He put the water back onto the nightstand and Gojo put his hand behind Megumi’s shoulders, pushing him slightly forward so he could rearrange the pillows.
Megumi laid back, and relaxed into the mattress, closing his eyes. Gojo brushed his hair back and quickly took his temperature. He then took the last item off the tray, a cool wet washcloth and draped it over Megumi’s forehead, who sighed in relief.
“Thanks”, Megumi mumbled, “s’rry for waking you”
“Hey don’t worry about it. You know you can always come to me. For anything.” Gojo smiled and pushed Megumi’s hair back again, pressing a kiss to his hairline before placing a trash can by the side of the bed and starting to walk back to his office.
As soon as Gojo turned off the lights and opened the door he heard a sharp inhale coming from behind him.
“Wait”, Megumi’s weak voice broke the silence and Gojo turned to see him pushing himself up on his elbows. “Please, can you stay”, he got out, voice quivering, on the verge of tears again.
Gojo hurried back to his side, “Take it easy kid, I’m right here I won’t leave if you don’t want me to okay.” Gojo gently took his shoulder and led him back to a laying down position, taking note of how pale he looked, even in the darkness of the room.
Gojo made his way to the other side of the bed, Megumi watching him the whole way as he made his way under the covers and sat in the middle of the bed, close to Megumi. He reached over and began running his fingers through his hair, like he usd to do when Megumi was little and had a headache.
Megumi shifted closer, laying his head in Gojo’s lap in lieu of his pillow, letting out a deep breath as he settled in.
Gojo smiled down at the kid. “Get some sleep Megs” he whispered, readjusting the cloth on Megumi’s forehead and closing his own eyes. Still running his fingers through Megumi’s hair and rubbing his back with his other hand, Gojo leaned his head back and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
“I’ll be right here. I promise.”