Archive of Our Own

Yuji feels that he is a major pervert sometimes.

This week has seen them with unprecedented temperatures, like a drop into ice cold water except the water is actually boiling and the steam of it is threatening to make the container of Yuji's carefully bottled feelings explode right in his face.

An hour ago, he briefly considered diving head first into the shallow water of a nearby river, cracking his skull open on the friction-smoothed rocks.

An hour ago, he passed Megumi on his way outside. And he wished that was all. But no.

Megumi was wearing a tank top. And shorts.

And at its basis, that is all. That's all that's needed for Yuji to be turned into sputtering mess, as he's asking Megumi if he needed anything from the nearest kombimi, no, actually the nonkimi, the konbini.

The nearest konbini. Which was in the same direction as Yuji was headed, but it might as well have been 180 degrees from where he faced because his head felt askew like he just finished a triple axle. And he fell down, busted his ass on the ice and bit his tongue in half. With how he was talking that would even check out.

"Uh, no, I'm good", Megumi responded casually, glancing at his phone due to previously typing something on it. "Make sure you don't get a heatstroke." He tells Yuji before walking past him, Yuji unable to respond with the lighthearted laughter he would usually use.

Collarbones. Were they always there? He kind of forgot people had those. They never stuck out to him this much. They looked gorgeous, drawing contoured lines across Megumi's collar. Yuji wants to run his fingers over them.

Maybe his tongue, too.

Yuji presses his sweaty palms to his face, stepping out of the dormitory. He has to check twice to make sure his shoes are on the right foot.

The ice cream he buys is sure to be marshmallow-soft by the time he gets back. His skin is slick with sweat and feels like it's braising in the scorching sun. His eyes sting from the brightness of it all and he can't catch his breath as easily with the intense humidity. His ears are occupied by the chirps of the busy cicadas. But he'll be damned if this will keep him from getting his friends a little taste of heaven in this purgatory of heat.

"Maki! Yuta!" He catches them outside conversing, the two of them also in short clothes. Yuta is fanning his face as he leans against a wall in the shade.

"Ice cream?" Yuji lifts one of the two plastic bags he carries. The handle is slippery in his hold, condensation clinging to it. The indents the bags leave are red in the palm of his hand.

Maki holds up a hand with a neutral expression. Offer decline. "No thanks. Did you seriously walk around in this heat?"

"We didn't have any left in the freezer." Yuji pouts. In fact, they barely had anything at all in there. Some ice cube trays, sure, but nothing of sustenance.

"I'll take one, thank you." Yuta smiles warmly in contrast and Yuji opens the bag for him to take one. He picks a chocolate-flavored one, wasting no time getting it out of the wrapping. The chocolate coating still holds on but the core is liquid at the outer edges, causing Yuta to stress his pace a bit to not drop anything. He doesn't let it affect the relief of cold though, simply licking off what drops onto his fingers. Maki gives him a look of mild annoyance.

"I'll put the rest in the freezer, before they melt completely." Yuji excuses himself, leaving Maki to criticize Yuta's choice of flavor.

"That kind is way too sweet."

"I like it."

Yuji sets down his treasure into the freezer located in the kitchen fridge. He suppresses the urge to squeeze his skull into the confined space with the newly purchased sweet treats. Alas, the circumference of his skull would not let him past the small door of it anyways.

"Kelp", a voice behind him nearly scares him out of his glistening skin. He whips around to see Inumaki, lifting a hand to him in greeting. He closes the freezer door blindly.

"Oh. Hi Inumaki." Yuji lifts his hand in mirror. "There's ice cream, if you want some. Though I also..." He opens the other plastic bag with one hand on each handle, scanning the contents. Yep, those are still there. "I got you the fruit sandwiches you wanted." He had written a text to the people he couldn't ask in person before leaving and Inumaki was one of the few that responded.

He lifts the box carefully, handing it to Inumaki. He picks it up with his right hand, a soft smile on his lips. Speaking of, it's a bit odd to see his markings, since they're normally hidden by his uniform collar.

So really, Yuji is not off for thinking about Megumi's décolleté for the better half of the last hour. Mhm. Not a pervert. Just someone with a staring problem.

"Salmon." Inumaki nods his head as a nonverbal show of gratitude, then his face twists when he takes a closer look at Yuji. "Mustard leaf." The hand that holds his sandwiches lifts to point an index finger at Inumaki's cheekbones, passing the bridge of his nose.

"Hm?" Yuji touches the high of his cheek. The skin is as hot as a stove top. "Oh. Guess I didn't put enough sunscreen on."

Inumaki rolls his eyes, doesn't say anything and doesn't need to. His face is even more expressive when fully uncovered and Yuji witnesses a small curve at the corner of his lips. Inumaki pats his shoulder with the back of his hand as he leaves the kitchen. It stings quite a bit, which is definitely not a good sign.

"Nobara? Megumi?" Yuji peeks into Nobara's room, the door already open. No one inside.

He finds them in one of the empty rooms further down the hall. Both of them are spread out over the tatami mats, seemingly asleep. There's a fan working overtime in the corner of the room. Yuji quickly swallows his words before he calls their names again. Neither of them take well to being woken up.

"You're way too loud." Nobara complains, a forearm across her face. "What's up?" She lifts the limb, glaring at Yuji. Then looks at the bag. "Did you seriously go to the convenience store? Idiot, do you not feel like you're dying?" Her tone is harsh with both ridicule and concern.

Yuji is sweating and feels sticky from the sunscreen — he did apply enough, but at some point he would've needed to reapply or get into some shade — but he's not doing so bad now that he's back in the dorms. "Am I still an idiot even if I got you melonpan and ice cream?" He holds up an example of the former, watches as Nobara's expression softens and she holds up two hands for him to throw her one. He does, making sure it's easy to catch with her lack of depth perception. She snatches it up mid-air, grinning as she tears through the plastic packaging. "You're redeemed. But if you caught a sunburn don't expect me to not say anything about it." Yuji remembers the last time, how she slapped his back with no mercy and left him yelping in pain. He shivers at the memory. Maybe he should cover up just in case and hide his vulnerability.

He sits down, stretching out his legs in front of him and opening a water bottle he brought with him as well. Several, actually, but this one is for him. He glances over at Megumi and suddenly needs the hydration more than anything, as his mouth goes bone dry.

Megumi is still sleeping, or dozing. Or pretending to, to have an excuse not to join their conversation. He's on his back, one arm resting over his ribs, the leg on the same side propped up. His hand is just at the edge of his tank top, meaning it's pushed upwards to the height of the bottom of his sternum. His lean stomach lifts and falls slowly, soft breaths through his nose. Megumi's head is turned away from Yuji, the line of his neck stretched, the pulse visible. Thump, thump, thump. A lot slower than Yuji's.

Yuji's eyes track down once more, settle on the collarbones again. They protrude less now, but their contours are still visible.

Lower they go again, and find abundance in detail. Megumi's midsection lifts with his breaths still. His hand obscures the naked skin, but Yuji can see the lines of his currently faint abs through the gaps in his fingers. What he can see, past Megumi's wiry wrist, is the top of his hipbone. Because of course the tank top isn't the only problem here.

The shorts are loose. Airy, because the added ventilation is a must in this weather. But the controversy lies within the fact that Megumi's right leg is lifted up and the inseam of the shorts pool not mid-thigh where they're cropped to be, but way down at the upper edge of it. Megumi's thigh is exposed pretty much fully, Yuji can almost see the edge of his boxers if he-

No. He can't look there.

And still he does. Megumi's thighs look so soft, despite the scarring. A multitude of them scattered about. Right now they look simply slim, but Yuji knows the strength that lies within them. Muscles that, as soon as they're challenged, carve lines into Megumi's skin like a pick to marble, a pretty statue that Yuji's eyes are forced to cast to.

It takes real effort to look away. He nearly yelps when he looks at Nobara, who levels him with a glare. One that yells about how obvious he just was and how annoyed she is with it.

"Yo Megumi, you still with us?" Nobara then asks, her eyes flitting to said person.

"Mhm." Megumi hums, his head still turned away from them both.

"I'm gonna grab the ice cream. What do you want?" Yuji asks the room, though Nobara is the one who answers. "Do you have mango or something?"

"Yeah." Yuji nods, then looks to Megumi.

"I'm good." Megumi slurs, clearly not fully awake. He makes a noise behind his closed mouth, stretching his arms above his head before he turns onto his side and folds one under his head.

"Are you sure?"

Megumi nods. "Can't stomach it in this heat." He explains, head flopping over to face him but his eyes are still shut. His lashes paint small shadows over his cheeks.

Yuji gets up and leaves the room, hears Nobara speak up through the wall but can't make out what she says to Megumi.

He takes a mango ice cream as requested, strawberry for himself. And, because he isn't convinced Megumi could use at least something, he reaches for the tray of ice cubes as well as a glass.

He has his lips wrapped around his own treat already when he returns, holding Nobara's in one hand and a glass full of ice cubes in the other. His lips are freezing, sticking to the ice.

He comes to find the other two still in the same spot, walks over to Nobara first. She sits up and takes what he brought her with a soft "thank you", looking pleased once the cold hits her tongue.

Megumi is breathing slow still, eyes closed as Yuji stands by his head. Yuji lowers the glass until it touches Megumi's cheek. The other's head twitches to turn towards him, his eyes fluttering open. "Mm?"

Yuji swallows when those eyes land on him. He can't speak due to the ice cream firmly between his lips, kissing his teeth unpleasantly. He moves the glass so the ice clinks around inside it. Megumi goes a little cross-eyed as he focuses on it, before moving to sit up, fingers wrapping around the cold cylinder. Yuji sits down next to him, taking the sweet treat out of his mouth. His lips and tongue feel numb from the cold as he speaks. "Thought this could help you cool down."

"Thanks." Megumi mumbles, his hands wrapping around the glass and wiping at the condensation on it.

Yuji smiles at his response and then feels hot all around his torso and up when he really takes the other in visually. Megumi's tank top is askew and one of the straps slides off his shoulder. The other presses the glass to the side of his pulsing neck, the condensation gathering into droplets that form a tiny puddle in the dent above his clavicle. Yuji is sure drinking from such a well would cure all his illness.

Megumi then digs his fingers into the clear vessel, grabbing one of the ice cubes. Yuji stares, once again. The water that runs down the item in Megumi's hands is not unlike the sweat that travels down his collar, down his temple. The silent race between them never gets its ending call, as Yuji's eyes then flit to Megumi's face, who presses the ice cube to his lips. Their pink color is visible in distortion through the transparency, slightly magnified. He looks away when Megumi pushes it past his teeth. Because this is just way too much.

He focuses on his dessert instead, which has been dripping onto his fingers for a little bit now. Not that he noticed in the very eventful last minute. He laps up the drippings, wishing the sweetness was bitter and salty instead.

Both his and Nobara's head snap back to Megumi when they hear a muffled but still loud crunch. Megumi frowns at them, his jaw moving, masseter flexing as he chews the ice. Crushing it. With ease. Yuji would offer his his arm to be done the same to if he had no shame.

"Weirdo." Nobara huffs, already having finished her ice cream. Yuji isn't sure he knows who the name calling is referring too.

The room dissolves into silence, which gives Nobara a good opportunity to leave for a shower. Yuji and Megumi wave their goodbyes in varying states of enthusiasm — lacking of and practically none —, still stuck firmly to the floor themselves.

The sugar doesn't help Yuji feel any more energized. Only a few minutes are needed for Yuji to lie on his back on the mat, eyes drooping heavily. K.O. In all fairness, he did walk a pretty reckless pace to the convenience store. It makes sense or him to feel fatigued.

Yuji chews absentmindedly on the wooden popsicle stick left in his mouth, hearing a soft crunch as he buries the softened material between his molars. He then flicks it up and down between his incisors, eyes shut. Without his vision, the constant rhythm of cicadas gets louder, the heat on his skin hotter. He opens his eyes again, tilting his head to the side to get a different field of vision.

His eyes land on Megumi, who's reading. Some kind of novel, lying on his side with one elbow propping him up. The other arm is draped atop his waist. The wood between Yuji's lips nearly falls to clog his throat.

Yuji feels the sea of lava lapping at his legs again. The lines of muscles that trace Megumi's form, how slim his waist is when posed like this. His eyes downcast in focus as he reads, hands light and effortlessly elegant as they hold the thick book.

Yuji's sweating through his shirt. He's sure there is an outline of a new country staining the center of his back. He feels sticky and gross and he would get into a shower if it didn't mean missing this wonderful sight.

Yet again, one of the straps from Megumi's top has fallen from his shoulder. Yuji wishes it wouldn't drive him up the wall so easily. He's a mere pining mortal in the face of unintentional but earth-shattering seduction.

"How can you read in this heat?" Yuji asks then, voice audibly rough. Dammit, he needs to get it together. "I wouldn't retain a damn thing." The wooden stick flops up and down as he talks.

"I'm struggling." Megumi admits, closes the book on his right index finger.

"I regret going to the store earlier. Pretty sure that's where I left the last of my perfectly good brains. And energy."

"I figured you did. You slept for a good while." Megumi places a bookmark into the novel and changes positions, seated with his legs sideways and one hand propping him up. "The ice cubes helped." He nods to his now empty glass. "I'm getting more. Do you want some too?"

"Yes please." Yuji croaks, pressing his palms together above his face in mock-prayer.

The angel by his side gets up and sets his book on the nearby table, taking his glass with him. He rolls out his neck and shoulders, readjusting the strap of his tank top and Yuji's taped-together sanity.

Yuji feels as if ten minutes pass before Megumi returns with a new glass full, his own filled with water alone. "Didn't have enough for two." He explains and lets Yuji take the hopeful miracle cure.

"Take mine then." Yuji insists but Megumi's shakes his head, pressing Yuji's hand back as it tries to switch their glasses. "Just try it."

"Fine."

Yuji appreciates the cold dissolving on his tongue, but when it comes to biting into them he can't commit. The icy sensation sends shivers down his spine and makes his teeth hurt. "How do you do that? Eat them?" He curls his tongue around the frozen blandness.

Megumi shrugs, busy drinking the water from his glass.

Yuji falls asleep somewhere soon after that. And he comes to somewhere else feeling lighter than ever, unblinking as he seems to float.

Yuji's eyes are cast high as they settle on familiar greens. Megumi is seated in his lap, Yuji's arms around him. It feels normal, casual. But the eyes they are giving one another are charged with tension.

Yuji's eyes glance down at Megumi's lips, which part to show him an ice cube settled snug between Megumi's teeth.

Yuji swallows heavily, his mouth watering at the though of something cold. He looks up at Megumi's eyes again, which are chilling in their darkened state.

'Ask nicely for it' Yuji can hear him say even if he doesn't speak. He starts begging in accordance, nuzzling closer and pressing kisses to Megumi's jaw, to his now closed again mouth. He can feel the cold liquid of melted ice on him. "Please. Can I have it?" He whines like a dog.

Megumi huffs, leans over Yuji more until his head is fully tilted back. He opens his mouth again, letting the ice touch Yuji's parted lips. But his teeth hold on, keeping Yuji from the sweet relief of heat melting on his tongue.

Then he kisses him fully and slots the cube between them.

There's nothing new about it here. It's familiar, so practiced that it almost feels rehearsed, like Megumi can read him as well as an open book. He knows how to meet him to makes the kiss soft and intense at the same time, knows how to make Yuji's lips tingle.

The cube slips past Yuji's lips with ease, coated in saliva and water. He nearly whimpers, Megumi pressing kisses to his lips as he laps up the melting item in his mouth.

Megumi then makes a show of clacking his teeth together, telling Yuji to bite, to crunch the ice. It takes some more force but he manages, feeling the sound reverberating in his jaw bones. The water seeps down his throat, cooling his roaring body heat - at least where the fluid passes directly.

The cold from Megumi's lips is only so brief as he keeps kissing him. Yuji is still burning, tainting Megumi's chilling comfort with it. The ice cube seems to have evaporated long before it hits the lining of his stomach.

"You'll need some more." Megumi mutters.

Yuji fazes out and then in, now on his back. Not lying, but soaring, no fabric or material sticking to his skin there. Only softly blowing air, drying his sweat.

That same cup is cradled in Megumi's hands, his fingertips around the rim of it. There's another ice cube hidden between his fingers, melting within his palm and dribbling down his veiny wrist.

The back of Megumi's hands brushes over his chest, knuckles rubbing against his nipples. "So warm here. We really do need to cool you down."

His hand hovers, the outer edge of his palm down. Barely melted water gathers in the folds of his skin, until a droplet forms. Yuji's body is tense in anticipation before it falls onto his skin. Right onto such a sensitive part of him.

Before he can adjust, Megumi opens his palm just so the cube slides between his fingertips.

It is extremely cold on his nipple as Megumi presses the ice right onto the bud. Yuji gasps loudly and arches his back, watching as pale thin fingers pass the frozen piece over his chest. It racks shivers through his whole body. Goosebumps enrage where the trail of water stays. His other nipple is circled then passed over, but yet again no time is given for Yuji to adjust. As Megumi's left is still occupied thumbing over the hard bud, his right one leaves the glass next to them. There's a hand print on it where the condensation connected to his palm.

Megumi slides his right hand into Yuji's underwear, wrapping around his dick. The shock of it travels all the way up Yuji's spine, an extreme change of temperatures. Megumi's hands are so, so cold. And that feels undeniably good.

Yuji wakes in heat, wakes in frozen shock. The realization of having had such a dream would've usually slipped his mind immediately, but now it lingers hauntingly.

Megumi's sleeping form rests by his side, breathing slowly. He's shirtless too now, arms folded beneath his head. Yuji can watch his pale stomach rise and fall. He's twisted on his side, legs angled slightly. He looks divine. A mirage-esque icon he wishes to worship.

Yuji's back sticks to the tatami with sweat as he rolls onto his side slowly. He nearly knocks over the glass beside him, now melted into lukewarm water. He feels dizzy from the heat, moisture coating his limbs irritably.

And he's hard. Achingly so.

He is feverish, turning onto his stomach in pure instinct and hiding his head in his arms. His hips roll into the ground beneath him in pure instinct, impulse control unestablished in his half-asleep state. He's deprived of pleasure in this reality of too-hot, too-humid, too-bright dazes. The friction is heavenly, almost too good to be left uncommented. He barely manages to bite his tongue, letting out a long sigh through his nose instead. A noise that is able to be excused as him stretching or relaxing. He is doing neither.

Risking his barely held-together sense, he tilts his head until his left eye is above his left bicep. He lays sights on Megumi, his need pulsing into the mat beneath him as fire stokes in his growing pupils. His eyelids are still heavy with sleep, are stained with the imaginations that run rampant in his mind.

In waves, awareness spoils the relief and shame envelops the already red-hot pit in his gut. He lifts himself up to sit with heavy arms, the whole movement sluggish with exhaustion.

As he leans back on his hands and lets a quiet breath past his lips, images flash his mind once more. Hipbones carve themselves into his scarred palms, warmth enveloping the pulse that rages in his abdomen. Not as hot as him, almost cooling despite being far from cold. But Yuji is burning alive, while Megumi is only a glowering ember.

His name, cried out into sweat-slick skin behind sticking strands of midnight. Over and over. Tension surrounding him, fighting back beneath his hands, in his jaw. His first name spoken beautifully, spoken with growing desperation and melodic, held carefully in a loving tongue.

Yuji's thighs tremble and he gets up, blinking away the remains of a long-forged fantasy. He has a brief moment where he readjusts himself, his heart pounding in his chest now too. There's a second or two of lightheadedness before his feet are planted firmly beneath him.

A shower. He needs an ice cold shower.

He cums with his teeth buried into the meat of his palm and Megumi's name choked back in his throat. Syllable after syllable his name still leaves him, chopped up by heaving breaths as hot then cold rushes all throughout Yuji's body. It sizzles down from his head into his fingertips and feet. His forehead touches the cold tile, harsh icy water raining down into the crevices of his tensely muscled back.

"Fuck." He curses breathlessly — a rare vocabulary for him —, letting the tension melt off him like the salty sweat minutes ago and watching dazedly in the afterglow as the mess of him flows down the drain.

His face stays against the wall, lips mouthing words before he mumbles them. Disbelief of what he's done, and a singular question that won't leave him.

"What is wrong with me?"

Yuji leaves the communal showers and transfers into the adjacent changing rooms with his eyes downcast. His body is thrumming with the last bits of adrenaline coursing through his body. The afterglow is a mere flicker of flame, drowned by shame.

He sees something move in the corner of his eyes and freezes when he sees Megumi, currently ridding himself of his shorts.

And Yuji feels the need for earth to swallow him whole. Because he doesn't know how long Megumi has been here, how much he might've just heard. Communal showers are infamous for their lack of noise insulation, their echoing chambers perfect for reverberating the rushing noise of water. And Yuji's moaning.

"Worth it?" Megumi asks him and Yuji nods way too exasperatedly, humming in answer. He prays Megumi is referring to the cold shower.

"I'm all cool now. Cho- Chill." He coughs out, does a fantastic job at controlling his eyes and a miserable one at controlling his tongue. Vowels fail him now.

Megumi says nothing, but there's an ever so slight raise of his eyebrow. "Are you sure you didn't get a heatstroke?"

Yuji needs to get out of here. Right now. He shakes his head, yet again way too much and woah he shouldn't be feeling so lightheaded should he? Fuck he's very dizzy. He's gonna vomit.

"Sit down." Megumi tells him right as Yuji begins to stagger. He catches him right then, his hands under Yuji's armpits. His hands feel cold in comparison to Yuji's roaring core temperature. Wait, he's still feeling hot?

"Fuck." Yuji groans, his legs jittery.

"You're okay." Megumi reassures him, helping him sit down on the bench. "Are you dizzy?" He asks, a hand on Yuji's neck. His pulse, being checked. "You're way too hot. You just took a cold shower, right?" Observations and questions, rapid. Yuji can't even throw in a word.

"Really do-dizzy," Yuji slurs, "so tired." There's this thing, right? Heat exhaustion? Maybe it's that. His eyes stay down in thought and Megumi enters his field of vision looking irritated. Or maybe that's his worried face.

"Your pulse is really high." Megumi tells him, and Yuji doesn't know what to feel embarrassed of the most. Having Megumi possibly overhear him masturbating, seeing him nearly faint at the sight of him, or having him kneel between his legs while he's still very much naked while Megumi is in only boxers.

"Mhm. True." Yuji mumbles, unsure of what to respond with otherwise.

"Can you stay here for me?" Megumi asks him and Yuji nods, mild now. "Sure." 'Anything for you', he wants to say. Luckily he doesn't.

Megumi places a hand on his knee, getting up. His navel is right there by Yuji's face. "I'll shower," he starts. "And then we're getting you ice packs and you're not moving another muscle. Don't be stupid and stay there."

"I got it, I got it." Yuji huffs, suddenly irritated. He'll vomit if he stands up again he's pretty sure. He doesn't need things spelled out for him.

Megumi takes off his boxers and Yuji averts his eyes, though he does not succeed in fully keeping his eyes to himself as he walks away. Because he is merely a man, and Megumi has beautifully sculpted muscles atop his broad shoulder blades and cute dimples on his lower back. And so, so many moles.

Yuji got himself into new boxers and a shirt — he forgot a change of pants — by the time Megumi returns, tracking water on the ground with each footstep. He's running a towel through his hair, ruffling it until it isn't dripping wet anymore. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." Yuji answers, no more slurring in his words. "Still warm though. And exhausted."

"Figures. You've been running around like an idiot all day." He presses his fingers to the pulse point on Yuji's neck again, eyes on the nearby clock mounted on the wall to count and calculate the beats per minute.

Yuji's eyes can't help themselves at the promise of a feast. Above the belt they stay regardless, because Yuji is a pervert, but one that respects boundaries.

He feels a little dazed as he observes the little brown dots scattered about Megumi's waistline, most notably his right hip bone and above his belly button. His heart also grows heavier in his chest at the scar that cuts through there and the sides of Megumi's ribs, faded reminders of Sukuna. Yuji wishes to whisper apologies into their pale material. He sees Megumi's stomach rise and fall with his breaths and matches his own rhythm to it.

Megumi's hips shift as he lets go with a small tilt to his lips. He doesn't look pleased. "You should lay down. Does your room have shade?" Yuji shakes his head, as it does not. Megumi's does.

"Mine it is, then. You go while I grab you some ice." Megumi gets redressed next to him and Yuji huffs.

"I can grab it myself." He protests and Megumi scoffs at him.

"Sure you can, and I'll scrape your unconscious body off the hall later." He glares at Yuji. "Let me do this favor. You helped us earlier."

"Fine."

Megumi throws two bags of frozen vegetables his way when Yuji is back in Megumi's room. He's sitting in front of a freshly dusted fan and making noises to hear them blow back at him. A great way to pass time if you ask him. After he grabbed some shorts from his room to wear he's been waiting on Megumi's return.

"Put these under your armpits," Megumi advises, sitting down next to him. His hair is still slightly wet and he pushes some bangs that hang low out of his face.

Yuji does so, sighing at the pleasant cold. "Thanks." He smiles at Megumi.

"It's nothing." Megumi averts his eyes. "Next time just skip the konbini trip."

"Of course. Wouldn't want to worry you."

"I'm not-" Megumi cuts himself off, scrunching up his nose. "Stop that." He answers in soft ridicule and leans back on his hands.

He's not wearing a tank top anymore, but still in a shirt. Yuji calls it a win, air rhythmically hitting the side of his face as he watches the curves of hard muscle in Megumi's forearms. A few moles there too, one inside the hollow of his right elbow.

"What are you staring at?"

Yuji perks up, eyes and head directed back at Megumi's face. "Huh? Oh. You just have a mole right there." He explains, because coming up with excuses is not his strength and he figures it's an innocent enough thing to say. After all he's not confessing the need to kiss them. "I didn't notice it before. Usually you wear long sleeves. Or long-ish ones."

Megumi does wear shirts. But usually the sleeves reach his elbows or come close. These ones are cropped shorter, just ending where the upper swell of his bicep starts. It's a flattering length, but Yuji is biased.

"You were definitely in the sun too long." Megumi nudges his foot against Yuji's thigh.

Yeah. Maybe he was.

The heat doesn't break in the evening. Yuji is infuriatingly sweaty by the time the temperatures should've long dropped, left feeling dizzy still. He ended up falling asleep in Megumi's room.

The dream that just woke him has his heart hammering.

A pale stretch of skin, contours of muscles writhing beneath his hands as scars ripple and blood vessels rupture into bruises. Moles, tiny landmarks forming the map of stars in inverted colors. Yuji swore he could hear Megumi's voice in his ear as each of his exhales sound like a new way to call his name, quiet whines.

Yuji's feet curve in attempts to quiet his steps on the creaky flooring. He moves in on the kitchen, hoping a cold glass of ice water will clear his mind and cool his core. Even if it doesn't, it's something to distract Yuji.

He stares at his broad palms after setting down the chugged-empty glass, doused in the blues of the moon. It's close to a full one, extra-bright and giving the impression of a never ending day. Just a few minutes ago, this hand was free to roam and feel the touch of Megumi's skin on his, clammy wrinkles meeting velvet cold. Once again, Megumi was cold in his dreams. A safe haven.

"Can't sleep?" Yuji almost doesn't recognize the person by their voice, hadn't heard them by their silent footsteps. The timbre of Megumi's voice has gained a rumbling quality, so different from the high keens Yuji has imagined in his fantasies of naked bodies and bruising bites.

"I don't get how it's still so hot." Yuji sighs, aiming for casual as he rests his hands on the counter behind him. The sweat in his palms nearly makes him slip. He feels unsteady.

Megumi hums, also grabbing a cup and filling it with water. He's still wearing the same shirt and shorts, though there's a noticeable change in color towards the collar and in his armpits. He's sweating a lot too. Yuji feels decidedly less gross now, being in that same boat.

"Me neither," Megumi's lips curl around the rim of his glass, which unfortunately reminds Yuji of just how plush he imagined those lips in his dreams as they passed an ice cube to him. Kissing him. Megumi's chest pressed to his, now with the new addition of moles he has memorized the placements of. The dimples that Yuji can thumb, palms covering the breadth of his hips.

Yuji suddenly feels very, very sick.

He's such a creep, thinking this way with Megumi right next to him.

"I'm sorry, I'm-" The bile goes back down the first time, but the second time Yuji twists his body towards the sink so fast he gets vertigo. The water is still cold as he chucks it up, together with what little he did eat today. The heat did a number on his appetite.

Megumi, to his credit, doesn't react at first. Which makes Yuji almost feel worse.

"I'm taking you to Shoko," Megumi then says decisively, when Yuji stops. The latter's mouth burns bitterly and his ego is at a new low. Yuji covers his tearful eyes behind his palm. Crying not because of the embarrassment but the choking.

"I'm good," he shakily speaks, pinching the tears out of his eyes. He sniffles.

"Shut up." Megumi touches the back of his fingers to Yuji's burning temple. "You need medical attention from someone. Heat strokes are serious." He turns on the tap, washing the last of Yuji's self-confidence down the drain. Hey, at least this has made him forget all about the earlier dream. Somewhat.

"I'll go to her. You should sleep." Yuji huffs. He's still irritable, even though he doesn't want to be. He never wishes to be mean to Megumi when he's simply trying to help. He doesn't deserve him so.

"When are you going to stop this and let me help you?" Megumi counters, one hand buried in the back of Yuji's collar as he tries to leave by himself. "I'm taking you. Quit trying to push me away." Green eyes are filled with determination as they meet him. He sighs, letting go of Yuji and rubbing his nape. "You said we'll watch out for each other now, right?"

Those words were spoken in distress. In anger, so seldom his fury was before that. Yuji worried sick for Megumi, witnessing an episode of his and helping him out of his shaken, crying state where he barely let anything or anyone touch him. The words were spoken after Megumi had indirectly admitted to having them frequently, depending on the season, the month or week, sometimes the day alone. And he had never told Yuji about his suffering.

And Megumi has him there. Has caught him in his double standards.

So Yuji, unwilling to argue further and escalate this, lacking both want and energy, lets himself be dragged to the infirmary at a truly unheard of hour.

Fortunately, Shoko is just as them, unable to sleep. The still smoking ashes of her mountain of cigarette buds is enough proof of such.

"Heatstroke?" She asks, without a word of either of them.

"He threw up earlier. His pulse has been really high too." Megumi explains, blunt and unaware of the humiliation Yuji still feels rattling in his bones.

"Grab a cooling blanket and ice packs from over there." Shoko points to a freezer with a practiced, relaxed tone. She motions with a nod of her head for Yuji to sit down on one of the beds, ignorant to Yuji's whispered grumblings that insist on his well-being.

She takes his temperature, which accompanied with his other symptoms confirms the diagnosis of heat exhaustion. He got lucky it didn't escalate into a heatstroke, though Shoko makes a comment about his body being more resistant than the average one generally. Yuji is enveloped in icy cold in no time, and as much as he dislikes this turn of events he can't find himself mad at the caring hands touching him, nor the cold relief to the fever hanging in the air.

"That should be fine." Shoko mutters. She's not worried about organ damage, as she has RCT in her possession if that were to be the case. She hooks Yuji onto IV fluids as well, so he's well taken care of. "Think you can monitor him for a bit?" She asks, and it stands as a question. Megumi could very well refuse, leaving Yuji with the medical professional and get some well-needed rest.

Yet he doesn't. "Sure," he says.

"Wake me if he gets worse or something. I'll be in the next room." Shoko points to a nearby door just outside the hall. Well within reach in case of an emergency, but equipped with an actual bed she can rest in. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight. Thank you!" Yuji calls after her, turning his head to Megumi who pulls up a chair to sit by the bed. "You didn't have to stay."

Megumi raises an eyebrow. "I'm aware. But she needs sleep more than I do. I got a few hours earlier." He settles into the chair, arms crossed. "You should get some too."

"Mm, but it's very fun to annoy you." Yuji grins, pressing his cheek against the soft pillow beneath his face. "I might have to stay up a little longer. Make sure you don't get bored."

Megumi frowns briefly, though seems to be covering up a soft smile. "I guess that's true." He teases back, offering Yuji eyes that give away his hidden fondness. "You even annoy me in my dreams." He speaks, face twisting in regret afterwards.

"Oh, do I?" Yuji is intrigued, leaning his head further to the edge of the bed. Megumi pushes at his chest so he's lying back down.

"Nothing. Just a weird dream."

"Hey, I get them too." Yuji pushes out air between his lips, his ears hot once more at just the mention. Now to keep a tight seal, as to not spill any more. Or he's headed for purgatory.

"You do?" Megumi seems surprised. "So I'm annoying you too, then?" It's a weak joke, not even intended to be bait for correction. Yet Yuji falls, as his knees are weak for the other and keep him head-over heels.

"Kind of the opposite, actually." Yuji bites down on his jaw until his teeth creak, his eyes flitting away. He coughs, his pulse riding high on the slip of tongue. "Just uhm… You know. I like your company. Nothing weird."

"Now I'm curious." Megumi counters with intrigue, definitely aware of the lines he's tiptoe-ing around.

"Okay maybe a little weird." Yuji then frowns, huffing. "Hey, way to dodge the question! I asked you first."

Megumi laughs in a way that is truly an exception to the current conditions. Heat-laden minds, deprived of sleep and ravenous. His laughter is soft, squeaks sneaking beneath the low vibrato. Cute, and endearing in such a violent strength Yuji is grateful for it's rarity. It's no good for his heart. "You should learn to hold your tongue, Yuji. You already started. Might as well finish." Megumi coos at him. Somewhere along the lines, the energy in the room has shifted.

"Because your dignity is still intact and mine's not?"

Megumi chuckles, bites back his smile. "A big word for someone suffering from very avoidable heat exhaustion."

"You're not going to like what happened." Yuji mumbles. "In the dream I mean." He's buying himself time, thinking of how to frame it. As innocent as possible.

"That's fine. It's not like it actually happened." Megumi settles back in his chair, propping up one leg and planting his wrists atop his knee.

Oh, how true that is. And how unfortunate Yuji feels that is.

"You have a lot of freckles or uh… Moles, on your back." Yuji starts, staring up at the ceiling. The shades of monochrome gray truly are far more interesting than the captivating pull of emerald that lies in Megumi's curious irises. "So I was thinking they were kind of like star constellations. I don't know. I was making up names, connecting them." Not entirely untrue. Though the only names he spoke of were 'angel', 'baby' and 'Megumi', spoken with none of the academic impartiality he would have if he were talking of stars. Those were spoken in lust-addled devotion alone.

"I see." Megumi hums, head tilting not in means of confusion, but slowly, tenderly. Akin to seeing a particularly endearing animal, being cute. "That's not that bad."

Yuji's face flushes. "Well, I'm taking the liberty to leave out some uncomfortable parts." He can't bring himself to care about honor, or dignity. In Megumi's presence there is only honesty, unbridled vulnerability. Megumi's kindness leaves him no impulse control. Spilling secrets to him is an addiction.

Something in Megumi's eyes changes. "Because?"

"They're weird." Yuji wishes Megumi would stop asking. At the same time, he hopes Megumi uncovers him tonight, so he can leave these burning feelings barren, to cool in the winds of changes in chemistry.

"Do you think that? Or do you think I'd think that?"

Yuji takes a moment. "The second one."

"I have 'weird' dreams too, Yuji." Megumi's eyes grow smaller, but not due to squinting. His eyelids look heavy, darkening their color to a shade that has Yuji feeling unsettled and bothered, yet not in an entirely negative way. "Mostly ones where I," he pauses briefly, seemingly to gather himself. Yet he looks at Yuji. "Kiss you."

Wait, what?

"Do you think that's weird?" Megumi then asks, eyes still dark and unreadable. He leans his head on one of his arms. Something about it feels predatory. Megumi looks hungry for answers.

Yuji, like a fleeing rabbit caught in fawn, has his heart in his throat and his legs nervously twitching.

"N-no." Yuji stutters out, flashes of hot and cold riding his body. "That's what uhm…" He clears his throat. "You have dreams of kissing me?"

"I do." Megumi admits, spoken quietly. "I guess I'm not as obvious as I thought." He drops the eye contact, looking at his hands as he intertwines them. "I have those dreams because I like you. I've liked you for a while." He rubs his thumbs against one another.

Yuji, out of a sense of obligation, pinches his own arm. The pain is real, this is real. "W… Why are you telling me this?"

Megumi shakes his head vaguely. "I don't know." He crosses his arms over his knee, turning his face away. He's upset, which tugs at a very hidden part of Yuji's heart. "What's weird about your dreams?" He aims to changes the winds. But Yuji's sails have been set, and he seeks to see it through.

Yuji moves his arm to gently brush the back of his fingers over Megumi's forearms. "The same thing, I'd say. But I guess it's not so weird then." He feels oddly calm as he speaks, despite all the emotions running rampant in his mind. In the quiet of this hall, the smell of sweat against the sobering sharpness of disinfectant. Cold weighing Yuji down, as the air is hot and thick with tension. It still somehow remains harmonious, and is all too easy to live in comfortably. Complementary, as they have grown to be themselves.

Megumi doesn't seem to hear him. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I just couldn't keep it a secret anymore." He mutters and Yuji can see his hands clench around his biceps nervously.

"I kissed you too," Yuji's voice is as close to a whisper as Megumi's and he projects as much love as he can muster into it. The fondness drips from each syllable as he entrusts the words onto Megumi in quiet confession. "In my dreams."

"I like you too." Megumi looks up as Yuji continues. "Please don't be upset?"

"I'm not," Megumi says in words that waver. His eyes find Yuji's and are glassy, reflecting fractions of Yuji as the latter's heart clenches painfully. "I'm glad." His hands clench again, before he unwinds one arm to put his palm atop Yuji's. A breath seems to be punched out of him as he chuckles. "I'm really happy."

Yuji smiles, blinks away a sting of his own. He then laughs sheepishly. "Me too. I… I'm uhm I'm sorry for… Being weird today. This was kind of the reason." Yuji intertwines their hands, pulls Megumi's close to his chest.

Megumi rolls his eyes, smiles. His thumb curves around the edge of Yuji's palm. Now, he's the warmth to Yuji's cooled skin. "It's not a big deal." He then stands, his face painted over in contemplation. Yuji's eyes widen when he leans down, his other hand cupping the crown of Yuji's head. His lips are warm as they press against Yuji's forehead. "Try to sleep now, okay?"

Yuji's face is drowned with heat, flushing all the way down to his chest. "Will you leave?" He asks, clutching Megumi's hand close to his neck, tracking higher so his lips trace over the small scars that trace Megumi's knuckles, his wrist.

"I can stay." Megumi's cheeks take on a pretty warmth. "Wouldn't want you to get lonely." His hand pets Yuji's hair, softly combing through the orange-y pinks.

The warmth that this incites in Yuji's chest radiates from his chest all the way down to his feet. This time, he welcomes the heat. The shade he sought holds his calloused hand as it sits beside him until they both fall asleep.

"Tell me tomorrow, if you still feel the same way." Megumi mumbles into his bedside.

He will.