Chapter Text
Megumi
The classroom was loud. Not the kind where Megumi could hear everyone's voices but the kind where he couldn't make out what they were saying. Everything blurred together into something indistinct and overwhelming. Words overlapped, laughter bled into conversation, chairs scraped against the floor, and it all became one constant, shapeless noise.
Megumi kept his eyes on his desk. It was easier that way. Looking up didn’t help. It never had.
Megumi had always struggled with things like that, especially with faces because the truth was... he couldn't make out anyone's faces. Every face he saw was just a blur, nothing more nothing less.
Megumi's deadbeat dad, Toji always got mad when he couldn't quite look him in the eye, but that wasn't his fault. He couldn't help the fact that he couldn't even see his eyes.
So eventually, he stopped trying, and got hurt badly for it. Eventually his homeroom teacher, Gojo noticed how he wore long sleeves even in the dead of summer. One day he found him bloodied and bruised and decided to call cps.
Megumi immediately got snapped back to reality when Gojo, who had treated him like a son up until he actually adopted him, exclaimed, "say hello to your new student!" he gestured towards an unnaturally chipper person.
He almost didn't look up. He never did. There wasn’t a point. But something made him do it anyways. Like his head was being pulled against his will.
Just as Megumi expected a blurry face, his eyes widened. Standing there, oblivious of what was going on... was a face. one that Megumi could see.
He had tired and kind eyes that were soft and wide, there was a spark there that had looked bright and alive. He had marks underneath his eyes that looked like crescent moons. His hair was a light pink that gave Megumi the impression that he was a fun person who was most likely loud and popular.
But all that dulled in comparison to his smile. He smiled like a kid on christmas, bright and unwavering. His smile rivaled even the sun. He was the person who could light up an entire room as he walked in.
and that's exactly what he did. Everyone seemed to have gotten happier somehow. even Megumi felt something. He normally hid his feelings, and was aware of every emotion he had. But in that moment He couldn't hide the shock that was laid plainly out on his face. He couldn't quite name what else he was feeling.
It was something he had never felt before. His chest warm, heart tight, and his breath taken away.
Just then Megumi's thoughts were interrupted by an annoyingly cheerful voice.
"Hi!"
There he was.
Sitting right next to him in the once unoccupied chair. Megumi couldn't speak. after years of not being able to see anyone's face he could finally make one out.
"I'm Yuji!"
"I-I'm Megumi" Megumi stuttered, trying not to sound weird, and failing.
Miserably.
The words were stuck right on the tip of his tongue, they were there yet he was unable to say them.
"Heyyy Megumi!" Nobara said from the seat beside him, dragging out the hey. "Wow i'm surprised you're actually socializing for once."
Nobara and Megumi had always been attached by the hip since they were kids. Nobara was Megumi's neighbor and ever since she first met him she hadn't left his side. She was like his older sister. So of course that invited the excessive teasing.
She was also the only one who knew about Megumi’s condition. He hadn't told her but she had somehow known and asked him about it. And Megumi didn't have any reason to lie so he told her about it. Although after that she never really brought it up because she knew it was a sore subject.
Yuji laughed in response to Nobara’s statement.
But Megumi didn't. It wasn't that he didn't find it funny. He just wasn't listening. All he could think about was Yuji's face. He couldn't stop staring, he drank in Yuji’s features like a man in a desert desperate for water. Like he might not ever see them again.
He traced every detail without meaning to. The shape of his eyes, the way his expression shifted, the slight curve of his mouth when he smiled again.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Yuji’s voice, closer now. Megumi’s eyes snapped back to him. Too fast. Too obvious.
“…Yeah,” he said, but it came out quieter than he meant it to.
Yuji tilted his head. Megumi saw it.
Actually saw it, the movement, the expression, the slight shift in his eyes. And it made something in his chest tighten. Because it wasn’t just that Yuji had a face.
It was that Megumi could understand it.
“You sure?” Yuji asked.
Megumi nodded quickly. Too quickly. He forced himself to look away. Just for a second. Everyone oelse was the same. Blurry. Unreadable. Distant.
His fingers curled slightly against his desk. And then He looked back. Yuji was still there. Clear. Real.
“…Fushiguro.”
Gojo’s voice cut through the moment.
Megumi stiffened.
“…Yes?”
“Try not to stare so hard. You’re gonna scare the new kid.”
A few people laughed. Megumi’s ears burned. He looked away again, jaw tightening.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
Yuji waved it off immediately.
“It’s fine! I don’t mind.”
Of course he didn’t. Megumi almost scoffed. He didn’t understand. No one ever did.
Megumi didn’t hear half of what was said. He didn’t take notes. He didn’t respond when he was supposed to. Because every time he looked up… Yuji was still there.
Megumi checked. Like he was expecting it to stop. Like he was waiting for the moment Yuji’s face would blur like everyone else’s.
But it never did.
When the bell rang, the room erupted into noise again. Chairs scraping. Conversations starting. Movement everywhere. Megumi stayed seated. He didn’t trust himself to stand yet.
“Hey!”
Yuji’s voice again. Megumi looked up. There he was. Still clear.
“Do you know where the cafeteria is?” Yuji asked, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “I kinda got lost earlier.”
Megumi stared at him for a second too long.
“…Yeah,” he said finally.
He stood. Slowly.
“Come on.”
Yuji grinned.
“Thanks, Megumi.”
They walked into the hallway. It was worse out there. Too many people. Too much movement. Too many blurred faces passing by, brushing too close, too fast.
Megumi kept his gaze forward. Except…
he kept glancing sideways. At Yuji. Just to make sure. Still there. Still clear.
“…Hey,” Yuji said suddenly. Megumi hummed in response.
“…Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
Megumi froze. Just for a second.
“…Like what?”
Yuji shrugged.
“I don’t know. Like…really focused?”
Megumi looked away.
“…I’m not.”
Yuji didn’t look convinced. But he didn’t push.
“Okay,” he said easily.
And that was it. No pressure. No confusion. No frustration. Just… acceptance. Megumi felt something in his chest shift again. That same unfamiliar feeling from earlier. Warm. Unsteady. Too much. He didn’t like it. He didn’t understand it.
But he knew one thing. As he walked through a hallway full of people he couldn’t see, there was only one face that mattered.
And somehow…
that scared him more than anything else.