Chapter Text
yuji noticed immediately.
it wasn’t dramatic. megumi wasn’t slamming doors or snapping at him. he wasn’t even colder, really.
he was just… quieter.
megumi had always been quiet — that wasn’t new. but this was different. this was the kind of quiet that felt like a door closing softly in another room. not loud enough to call attention to it. just enough to leave yuji standing there, wondering when it happened.
it started small.
megumi stopped sitting quite as close on the couch.
stopped brushing their hands together on purpose.
stopped lingering.
yuji told himself he was overthinking it.
they still trained together. still walked back from the convenience store together. still exchanged dry comments and small smiles. but something in megumi’s eyes had changed — like he was pulling back before he could be pushed.
yuji had fallen first.
it had been gradual. a realization that hit him one day mid-laugh when megumi’s rare smile had softened just for him. that was it. that was the moment. megumi hadn’t said it back at first. yuji told himself staying was enough — and megumi never let him go.
he’d just stared at Yuji, quiet and stunned, like he was trying to solve a problem that didn’t have numbers.
“i don’t… know what I feel,” he’d admitted.
and yuji, being yuji, had smiled. “that’s okay. i’ve got enough feelings for both of us.”
megumi had huffed at that. but he hadn’t walked away.
that was months ago.
now yuji watched as megumi stood from the couch early.
“i’m tired,” megumi muttered.
it was barely past ten.
yuji blinked. “oh. uh. yeah. okay.”
megumi hesitated for half a second — like he almost reached out — then turned and disappeared down the hall.
the door shut.
soft. final.
yuji stared at the space he’d left behind.
his chest felt weird.
not heartbreak. not yet.
just something tight and twisting.
he waited ten minutes.
then twenty.
he stood up.
megumi’s door was slightly open. the light was off.
yuji knocked softly. “megumi?”
no answer.
he pushed the door open a little more. megumi was sitting on his bed, back against the wall, staring at nothing.
“you okay?” yuji asked gently.
“yeah.”
too fast.
yuji stepped inside anyway. he didn’t ask for permission — he never did. he just sat on the edge of the bed.
megumi’s shoulders were tense. like he was bracing for something.
yuji’s voice softened. “did I do something?”
megumi looked over sharply. “no.”
“then why are you acting like I did?”
that landed.
megumi looked away again.
silence filled the room. thick. uncomfortable.
yuji hated this.
“i know you,” he said quietly. “you do this thing when you’re trying to disappear.”
megumi’s jaw tightened. “i’m not disappearing.”
“you are,” yuji whispered. “from me.”
that broke something.
megumi’s composure cracked so subtly most people wouldn’t see it.
yuji did.
“i don’t—” megumi’s voice faltered. he swallowed. “i don’t want you getting too attached.”
yuji blinked. “too attached?”
megumi finally looked at him fully.
and there it was.
fear.
“you fall hard,” megumi said, almost frustrated. “you always do. and i don’t want to be another thing you lose.”
the words hit like a punch.
yuji’s chest tightened.
“you think I haven’t thought about that?” yuji asked softly.
megumi’s fingers curled in the bedsheets.
“i just—” megumi’s voice broke slightly. he looked down, embarrassed. “i don’t know how to do this without it hurting.”
yuji’s heart ached.
he moved closer, slow and careful, like approaching a scared animal.
“it’s going to hurt,” yuji admitted. “that’s how caring works.”
megumi’s eyes shimmered — just barely.
“but pushing me away hurts more,” yuji added quietly.
megumi’s breathing got uneven.
for someone so composed, he looked dangerously close to falling apart.
yuji reached out and cupped the back of his neck gently.
“i fell first,” yuji said with a small, shaky smile. “but I’m not scared of it.”
megumi’s lips trembled — just once.
“i am,” he whispered.
and then, finally, his eyes filled.
not dramatic sobbing. not loud.
just quiet tears slipping down his face.
yuji’s heart shattered.
he pulled megumi forward without hesitation.
megumi went.
he folded into yuji like he’d been holding himself together for too long.
yuji wrapped his arms around him tightly, pressing his cheek against megumi’s hair.
“you’re not losing me,” yuji murmured. “okay? i’m right here.”
megumi’s fingers clutched the back of yuji’s shirt.
like he was afraid if he loosened his grip, yuji would disappear.
and maybe that was the real problem.
megumi had fallen.
he’d just fallen harder.