Chapter Text
Mornings at home followed rules. Not official rules, it was more like patterns. The coffee machine started first, which could be heard all the way to Meguni’s room. Then music from somewhere in the house, probably Suguru. Then Satoru talks to himself, as if there is an audience and not just empty space.
Megumi liked patterns. Patterns meant that he could move through the kitchen, half-awake without thinking about it. Nothing blocked the hall and nothing had mysteriously moved overnight.
The turn into the kitchen was wide enough that he didn’t have to angle around chairs or bags or forgotten shoes. His backpack sat by the table where he’d left it, lunch container beside it. His water bottle was already clipped on which was one less thing to think about later.
Outside, rain tapped softly against the windows. Megumi usually likes rain, actually, he loves the rain. How calm he feels when he can sit and look at the rain for hours, how calming the noise is and how it never fails to lull him to sleep. But the only thing he can think about is how hard it will be to push himself through mud and leaves clumped together.
Satoru stood at the counter wearing mismatched socks and an expression that suggested that he had already been awake long enough to become annoying. Which meant that he woke up, like, twenty minutes ago. He spotted Megumi right away. “Lunch?”
“Packed.”
“Homework?”
“Done.”
“Emergency snacks?”
Megumi looked up. “Why emergency snacks?”
Across the kitchen, Satoru looked as if their son had said something absolutely diabolical. “Because there might be a situation where you need emergency snacks. Every situation improves with snacks.”
Megumi smiled a little, because home was easy. Home had wide hallways. Free paths. No steps. Lower counters. Space to turn around without bumping into things. Nothing surprised him here. School always did.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
At ten years old Megumi knew exactly where every bump in the school was. The crack near the library door that made his wheelchair rattle. The uneven tile outside classroom three. The place near the cafeteria where backpacks somehow always ended up in the middle of the path.
He knew where the ramps were. Where they weren’t. Which doors were too heavy and which teachers remembered to hold them. He was nine years old, and he had gotten very good at planning routes. He was less good at making friends.
Recess started. Kids ran. Always running. Never waiting.
Megumi rolled towards his usual place beside the fence, where there was a great tree that provided shade, the only place on the schoolyard where it was calm and cool.
He didn’t sit there because he liked being alone, that was only a small reason, but because playgrounds moved too fast. Because people forgot to ask. Because eventually, Megumi stopped expecting them to.
“Hey!” Megumi looked up and willed his eyes to focus on who was yelling for him. Pink hair, right, the new kid, Yuji. He jogged towards Megumi until he stopped directly in front of him. “You disappeared.”
“I went outside.”
“Yeah, but you were like, fast!”
Megumi looked down at his wheelchair. “Are you sure?”
Yuji laughed, then gestured wildly at the space around them. “Why are you sitting here?”
Megumi shrugged and said, “It’s calm and not as noisy.” He didn't give him any more, he shyly added, “You can sit,” and pointed to the side.
Yuji looked around and then immediately sat beside him on the bench Megumi had parked himself by. “Cool. I think I like it here, it's a bit chilly. I prefer the sun when there is shade nearby.” A confused look from Megumi made Yuji declare, “I run hot, like all the time.”
Megumi blinked, stunned. "That's it?”
“What?”
“Youre not gonna ask any questions. Like why I'm alone or why I don’t play with everyone else?”
Yuji was quiet for a moment. Then ignored Megumi's questions and pointed at the wheelchair. “Does it have speed?”
Megumi stared. “...what?”
“Is it fast? Does it, like, have a fast mode?”
Megumi accidentally let a laugh slip. It was tiny, but there, enough. Yuji grinned like he won first place during tag. Megumi said through giggles, “No it doesn’t. Not what you're thinking of anyway. I decide how fast I go depending on how fast I push myself.”
“Oh, I bet you push super fast,” Yuji answers by standing up.
Megumi's gaze follows Yuji, looking up at him with a confused look. “Not that fast but I’m not as slow as people usually think I am,” he affirms with a pointed chin, looking proud of himself.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, let's see!” Yuji ends with a shout before he takes off in a sprint. Well not exactly, it’s slower than kids usually run, Megumi knows but that doesn't stop him from feeling something funny or stop him from following Yuji. Pushing himself as fast as he can through small quiet laughs. That was apparently what it took for the two of them to become friends.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
The next day, Yuji decided to make an announcement during recess. Megumi sat in his chair beside where Yuji stood, shrinking into himself even more than usual, trying to take up as little space as possible, not wanting to be seen or recognized. “We’re changing the rules in tag.”
Nobody asked him to, especially not Megumi. Nobody really knew why, Megumi could guess. One kid groaned. “Why?”
Yuji pointed at Megumi. “Because Megumi’s playing too.” Yuji puffs out his chest with fists on his hips, silently asking someone to disagree. Megumi looked up at Yuji. He didn’t look back, as if changing the rules like this was totally normal and not an effort at all.
“Nobody asked you to.” They looked to the side, at Megumi and asked, “Did you tell him to do this?” Megumi just shook his head and tried shrinking even more.
Yuji stepped in front of Megumi. “He shouldn't have to ask, you should already be including him. Now let's play!” He says with a smile, showing the gap in between his two front teeth, as if there aren’t fifteen kids standing right there looking annoyed with Yuji.
The new rules were ridiculous, but even then, the funny feeling inside Megumi continued to grow. Safe zones existed. Walking sections. Tag sticks from pool noodles or sticks from the nearby forest. Way too much arguing. But for the first time in months, maybe longer, Megumi played with others and actually felt included.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Yuji treated their friendship like a mission. A self-assigned job. A job Yuji took very seriously. If teachers said: “Pair up.” Yuji was already dragging his chair towards Megumi’s.
If the class went somewhere with stairs, Yuji immediately asked: “Where’s the ramp?”
If the kids ran ahead, Yuji came back. He always did. Not dramatically. Not in a way that asked for attention. He just noticed when someone wasn’t beside him. And then he fixed it. All without complaints.
One afternoon, after class, the sidewalks were crowded with students flooding toward the pickup area – Yuji slowed his pace automatically – when Megumi finally said, “You don't have to wait.”
Yuji just looked at Megumi, confused, as if he had said the weirdest thing ever. “Yeah, I do.”
“Why?”
Yuji shrugged and nudged Megumi with his elbow with an eyeroll, “Because we’re together, duh.” Simple. Like that explained everything. Maybe it did.
Megumi double checked that his bag sat securely on the back of his customized wheelchair. It had a matte black frame with reinforced wheels. Sideguards covered in tiny dog and wolf stickers Satoru insisted were “cool,” and handles that folded down because Megumi hated when strangers grabbed them and assumed that he needed help.
“That doesn’t mean that you have to stop every five seconds.”
“I’m not stopping.”
“You have literally turned around three times during the time we’ve walked from the classroom to here.”
Yuji just frowned like this was a serious accusation. “I was just checking.”
“For what?”
”That you were here silly.”
Megumi just stared at him. People kept brushing past them. Yuji is completely oblivious to their surroundings. “You know that I can move by myself right?”
“What? Yes, obviously.”
“But you ask about ramps before I can even think about them.”
“Yeah.”
“You wait when everyone else keeps walking.” Megumi rolls his wheelchair to the side after someone bumped into the rail. “You came back because I was, what, ten feet behind?”
Yuji, sweet Yuji, looked genuinely puzzled. “You were behind.”
Megumi slowly exhaled and tried to sort his thoughts, thinking about how he should tell Yuji what he has been thinking for a while. “Thats not your responsibility.”
Yuji went quiet, but not because he was upset. It looked like he was thinking, then, “Maybe not.” Megumi blinked, and Yuji shrugged before shoving his hands into his pockets. “But if we’re going somewhere, then I’d rather we get there together.”
"That's dumb.” Megumi mumbled.
“Mm, I don’t think so.”
“You make everything sound so simple.”
Yuji looked down, his shoe kicking at a crumpled paper ball, something Megumi wished he could do. “Isn’t it?”
Megumi looked ahead. Students moved around them in streams, fast, busy. Beside him, Yuji stayed exactly at his pace without seeming to think about it. Megumi looked away. “You really treat this like some personal mission.”
Yuji grinned, “I’m extremely dedicated.” Despite himself, Megumi snorted. Yuji immediately pointed a finger at him, “There! You laughed!”
“I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“Keep moving.” Megumi’s hands slid from the armrests down to the metal ring around the wheels to start pushing himself forward.
“We are moving.”
Simple. Like that explained everything. Maybe it did. Because Yuji said things like that a lot. Not deep things. Not complicated things. Just things that somehow ended conversations because there wasn’t much left to argue with.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Some kids still stare. Some whisper. Some ask rude questions, Yuji handles those.
One day during lunch, two boys blocked part of the hallway. Megumi rolled to a stop, because there wasn’t enough space for him to pass by without bumping into things. One boy noticed, and instead of moving, he laughed. “Maybe back up and try again.”
Megumi looked away as he felt his cheeks start to turn red, from anger or embarrassment, he doesn’t know. Before Megumi turned around completely, Yuji appeared. “How about you move?” The boys shrugged. Yuji crossed his arms, “You’re standing in the path, blocking the way for literally no reason.”
“We were just joking.”
Yuji pointed at Megumi. "He's trying to get through.” Silence. Then slowly, awkwardly, they moved. Yuji quickly turned back. “You good?”
Megumi nodded, then, “Thanks.”
Yuji grinned, “Of course!” He started walking again, looking for a place to sit. There was no space, it was fully packed. He threw a look towards Megumi. “I think I can get us a table, wait here.” Before Megumi could protest or say anything Yuji had already left.
While leaving Yuji to do what he wants, Megumi rolls to the side to not be in the way. He tries to find Yuji, which takes some time, but when he does, he frowns. He’s talking to some people with his usual smile. Megumi doesn’t think any of it until everyone at the table rises only to leave. Megumi’s gaze follows them and they sit outside.
Yuji finds Megumi looking at him and instantly starts waving at him to come sit. With an eyeroll, accompanied by a sigh, Megumi does just that. “You didn’t have to do that,” leaves Megumi's mouth as soon as he locks the wheels. “I could’ve eaten somewhere else.”
“Nonsense, the people that sat here were just talking anyway. They can do that outside.”
Deciding not to argue, Megumi reaches around the back of his wheelchair to find his backpack. He reaches into it to find the familiar bento Suguru always packs for him, he unpacks it and bites into it with a smile.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Eventually, Yuji came after school to hang out. Satoru had been thrilled at the news, but then panicked. To deal with the panic he decided to get snacks, which he overdid, like always. He prepared snacks to supply an entire sports team. Suguru prepared food because someone responsible had to.
Yuji stopped inside the doorway, then looked around. The first reaction was just blinking, then, “Whoaaa.”
Megumi had just transferred to his inside wheelchair, forgetting Yuji for a moment, before he got nervous, usually because Yuji was easy to read, pretty similar to his papa, but right now, Megumi doesn’t know what Yuji is thinking or feeling. “What?”
“This house is so cool!” He pointed, excited. “The counters are lower! And the hallways are huuuge. It looks like you can turn everywhere!” Yuji looked genuinely happy, all for Megumi. He rolled back and forth in Megumi’s spare chair he had found by the wall, the one that had collected a small amount of dust on itself, because Satoru had insisted on getting Megumi to have wheelchairs rather than just having one wheelchair. Though his argument was “You need at least two outside chairs and two inside chairs Megs, and then you might as well get a walker. What if you want to change! Or you like, get bored of one of them, then you have variations…” before he trailed off.
Megumi stared at Yuji, stunned at what he had just said. That was not what he had expected, at all. But considering that it is Yuji it’s really not that surprising. Their house had ramps, wide spaces, bathroom rails and rounded furniture edges. To Megumi, all this was normal. To visitors, it sometimes looked different. But Yuji, he just looked impressed.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
After snacks, they built blanket forts. Modified blanket forts, because regular forts trapped wheelchairs or the openings too narrow to fit through. The first version collapsed almost immediately when Yuji tried to run around inside it, earning a dramatic groan from him and an unimpressed look from Megumi.
So, they rebuilt it.
This time, they used the chairs differently. Instead of pushing them against the couch like support beams, they spaced them farther apart to make wider entrances. Couch cushions became ramps leading into the fort, and extra blankets were draped over the backs of the dining chairs to create hallways that were easier to navigate. Satoru had to help drape the blankets over the parts they couldn’t reach, he didn't complain, it actually looked like he was having fun too. They even tested every path before declaring a section complete. If someone got stuck, that part was redesigned. Yuji called it “Engineering,” Megumi just said it was, “blankets.” Both were correct
By the time they finished, wheelchairs could move through every entrance, the ramps held together surprisingly well and there was enough space for everyone to sit without bumping into each other.
As evening came, Suguru watched from the kitchen while cutting up vegetables for dinner. Megumi was laughing, actually laughing. Not a polite smile, not a tiny smile, laughter. Satoru noticed too. “Our son has a friend.”
Suguru nodded. “A good one.”
Across the room, Yuji shouted, “Megumi Look! I made a fort garage!”
Megumi rolled over to inspect it. “It’s too small.”
Yuji instantly adjusted the blankets “There.” No hesitation, he’s not making it weird, he just changed it, because that was what they did now.