Chapter Text
After working a long day, Megumi Fushiguro, waiter at Prism Nippon—which is the most famous restaurant in Tokyo (no, seriously. They’re at two Michelin stars, and they’re on their way to the third one), calls his best friend Nobara Kugisaki to go out somewhere. He doesn’t know where yet, but Kugisaki has plans. And when I say plans, I mean plans.
“Nobara,” Megumi complains, “be for real. I don’t go out drinking.”
He can practically hear Nobara roll her eyes through the speakers on his phone. “So what?” She asks. “There’s a first time for everything.”
Megumi groans. “I’m already tired, why have a hangover tomorrow?”
“C’mon, Meg!” Nobara exclaims. “It’ll be fun, I swear. I’ll bring my girlfriend and maybe Okkotsu and Inumaki. Maybe a hot person will be there!”
“But I don’t need someone to love me. I already have my family. And my stupid-ass friends.”
“How rude, Megumi. But whatever. At least I don’t cower when I get invited out.” And before Megumi can make a rebuttal, Nobara says, “Plus, I know you like hanging out with us! It’s pretty obvious that you actually care. Anyways, give the bar a chance! Hey, I met Maki at the bar. Maybe you’ll meet someone cute, too!”
“Nobara, we are not going to the bar!”
. ♬ ݁˖
Megumi goes to the bar anyway.
Nobara walks him from his work place instead of driving him home since he’s already dressed fairly decent, with dark khaki slacks and a black turtleneck. ‘Fancy,’ Nobara had said earlier.
When they arrive at the bar, Liquid Blossom, Megumi sees Inumaki, Okkotsu, and Maki—his cousin—there. They wave to him and he raises his eyebrows, his nonchalant way of saying hello. He sees Maki roll her eyes as Nobara pulls him towards them.
“Hey, stranger,” Maki says.
“Don’t be weird,” Megumi scowls.
As the group giggles and walks inside, Megumi grabs a table and tells Nobara to order him a Whiskey. “No ice,” he says.
Nobara cringes visibly at what he said. “No ice? What kind of moron does that?”
“Me,” Megumi deadpans. “It waters it down.”
Nobara scoffs as she walks with their group to the bar counter. Megumi doomscrolls on his phone and occasionally checks the time with his watch. Finally, the group walks to the table and they all take their seats. Nobara, sitting next to Megumi, hands him his drink and whispers in his ear, “Bartender was asking why the cute guy wasn’t ordering for himself.”
Megumi rolls his eyes as he takes a sip of his whiskey. It burns his throat, but not as harsh as it usually does. It’s… smoother. “Weird,” Megumi grumbles. “Was she hot?”
“He,” Nobara corrects, “and yes.”
Megumi’s eyes widen as he looks over at the bartender. He was fairly cute—that’s a lie. He was undeniably hot. Megumi feels his face get hot, and he knows it’s noticeable since Nobara pokes his cheek “Aww, you blushin’?”
“Shut up,” Megumi sneers. “And aren’t you lesbian?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t change that bartender’s hot.”
Megumi frowns as he turns to Inumaki. The usually quiet and reserved man is chugging his fifth cup of Awamori. Megumi chuckles to himself as Inumaki stands up and immediately falls over. Luckily, Okkotsu—Inumaki’s boyfriend—catches him and Inumaki falls asleep.
. ♬ ݁˖
As the group leaves, Nobara drags Megumi to the bar counter to see said hot bartender. He has pink hair and four scars. One on the corner of his mouth, one starting on a part of his forehead that’s right above the bridge of his nose and ending right at the bottom of his eye, and two crescent scars---one under each eye. Megumi looks away once he sees that man’s build, because the bartender is JACKED. Like, arms and chest of the century.
Once the bartender looks up, his smile blinds Megumi. “Hey!” He exclaims, and Megumi lets his gaze linger—to the bartender’s eyes and maybe other places.
“Hello,” Megumi mutters.
“Hi, bartender!” Nobara grins as she elbows Megumi in the arm. Megumi swats her on the arm.
“I have a name, you know,” the bartender teases playfully.
Megumi looks at the nametag printed in gold: Itadori Yuuji. It’s pinned on the black vest, which is on top of his white dress shirt, which is stretched on the arms and chest. “Pretty jacked,” Megumi thinks.
As if she’s reading Megumi’s mind, Nobara gushes, “Itadori, you’re so buff! Not in the flirty way, though. It’s just an observation. Hey, Megumi, don’t you like buff guys?”
Megumi scoffs and hopes that his blush isn’t visible. Itadori just smiles, turns to Megumi, and says, “Cool! Guess I’ll have to show you a good time.”
“Excuse me?” Megumi asks, shocked.
“Huh?” Itadori smiles back. “Did you hear me say something?” He goes back to serving customers.
As Megumi drags Nobara out of the bar, she keeps teasing him. “Ooohhh, you were so into him. And he was totally into you, it’s a girl’s instinct. Also my gaydar.”
“I’M NOT GAY.” Megumi calls her out.
“Yeah, you’re, like, pan or whatever. But I’m gay!” Nobara puffs out her chest in pride and Megumi rolls his eyes. As they cross the road back towards Prism Nippon, Nobara asks, “Can you drive me home? I forgot to ask Maki.”
“Yeah, cause you were too busy teasing me,” Megumi complains.
“Pleaseee!!!” Nobara whines, pulling on Megumi’s turtleneck.
“Fine,” Megumi grumbles.
. ♬ ݁˖
As Megumi waves goodbye to Nobara and puts the car in reverse, he wonders: “Do I really like that guy?” He drives his way towards his dorm, which is only five minutes away from the girl dorms. He could walk, but it is, like, 10:30 at night. Plus, Megumi’s tired.
Once he makes it back to his dorm, he flops onto his couch and closes his eyes.
“No, I don’t like him,” Megumi decides as he falls asleep. “I don’t know how old he is or anything.”
“I don’t even know how his hands look gripping the table or why his smile is ingrained in my brain.”