Chapter Text
“Hey, Anikii!” Yuuji wrapped his arms around Choso in a hug. “It’s been too long, I missed you so much!”
“You should just come live out here. Yuki and I get lonely when you two aren't around.” Choso squeezed him so tight his ribs began to ache, only dropping him to grab Sukuna and hug him just as tightly.
Sukuna tried shoving him off, failing sadly. “You aren't convincing me by trying to kill me, you know? Ow ow fuck I’m sorry Jesus–”
“Yeah, yeah. You say that like you two don't love the alone time.” Yuuji wiggled his eyebrows as Choso turned red, releasing Sukuna to smack his shoulder.
“Shut. Up.”
“No, he’s right. I don't wanna move in if we're just going to be sexiled every night.”
“Go grab your stuff, I don't know why I missed you.” Choso turned, heading back to the kitchen where he had been baking something (cookies? Probably).
They both left the house, walking down the steps to grab their luggage from the car. Their suitcases sat in the back of Yuuji’s red Volkswagen EOS, stacked on top of each other. He grabbed his off the top, the blue suitcase thudding on the ground. He was so excited to be back.
Sukuna and Yuuji had been coming to his grandfather’s lake house every summer since they were six. The large house sat on just under an acre of waterfront property, on a relatively empty offshoot of the main lake. The top story had a large wraparound porch, connected to the driveway with stairs. It was interrupted by a room connected to the kitchen, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The room had all white furniture, the rug stained with juice from 6 summers ago where Sukuna had dropped a (Yuuji’s, that he had stolen) popsicle. The lower story was where they slept, the four bedrooms relics of their past. No one other than them slept there, so each of their rooms were designed by them (Well, not Choso’s. He had moved into the master bedroom with Yuki after the house was left to him. His room had become storage for floaties and stuff).
The front porch had a path that led down to a two story dock, where their grandpa’s old boat and newer jetskis were kept. The upper portion of the dock’s white fencing had a gap in it, where Sukuna had pushed Yuuji in the second summer (he had been too scared, and Sukuna had gotten sick of waiting). The back porch’s path led down to a little beach area, with lounge chairs, a fireplace, and a hammock Choso had set up during their seventh summer.
Yuuji reminisced in the bittersweet memories as he walked inside and took his bag to his room. Summer wouldn't be the same without Gramps.
His room was almost as he had left it, the sheets changed and bed made. Choso –luckily– had left his room alone. He began to unpack his clothes, setting up for the next three months. He could hear Sukuna lugging his suitcase into his room, ever careless about the noise.
“Yuuji! Getou and the Hasabas are leaving and they want you to feed Koryu!” Choso called the top of the stairs, his voice echoing through the vaulted ceilings.
“How long will they be gone?”
“Three days. They're helping Getou’s boyfriend and his kids move in.” Choso walked into his room, dusting his hands off.
“Wait, Getou-san has a boyfriend?! Since when?! You need to tell us these things!”
“It’s been 8 months, I think? He’s visited before, you’ll know him when you see him. Now, come quality check the cookies. I tried a new recipe and I need an unbiased opinion.”
•••
Koryu was the Getou-san’s and Hansaba twins’ outdoor cat. She had white, sleek fur and scarily yellow eyes. She had been there for as long as Yuuji could remember, growing with him.
The Getou-Hasaba family went on trips often, especially during the summers. So, during those periods, they asked Choso (or Yuuji, when he was there) to care for Koryu.
“Koryu! Come on, I gotta feed you dude!” Yuuji called for her, seeing she wasn't waiting on the porch. Soon, she came trotting up from the back of the house and began meowing at the door. “Okay, okay. Let’s go.”
He grabbed the key from under the mat and unlocked the door as Koryu rubbed her head on his legs. He had missed her, her white fur sticking to his jeans. Yuuji walked through the house to the laundry room, and grabbed a tin of cat food from the cabinet. She followed him, and jumped on the counter as soon as he pulled the cabinet door open.
“Dude, get out of my way. I can't feed you if your face is in my business.” The tin opened with a crack and Koryu shoved her face further into his business. He used his elbow to barricade her out of his way as he portioned off the wet food into the bowl and opened the dry food, scooping that into the second. He released her as he jumped onto the counter, scrolling on his phone as he waited for her to finish.
He looked up as she began to lick the empty bowls when he noticed the dog leash sitting under the counter. That was definitely not for Koryu. But, if not, what was it for? Did Getou-san get a dog? No, wouldn't there be fur all over the house? Maybe–
Koryu interrupted his thoughts with a meow. He’d find out later, right? He walked to the door, letting her out and locking it behind him.
He walked on the path back, the wood chips stabbing into his feet. The humidity was suffocating, but he never felt more at home than when he was here. His house back in California was great, but nothing was quite the same as the North Carolina heat, no matter how much it pressed down on him. Maybe he would take Choso up on his offer. The lake house had always felt more like home to him, despite that it was different after their grandpa's death. He had passed the house onto Choso, under the condition he kept the house in perfect condition, and that he still hosted their family every summer.
The water glistened between the trees, the sun shining down. Maybe he and Sukuna would take out the jetskis to one of the many rope swings hanging from trees lining the lake. He opened the door, taking his shoes off and heading to his twin’s room.
“Sukuna! Dude, it's literally 2 pm. Wake up!”
“Mm mm.”
“Come on, I wanna head to the rope swings! It's such a perfect day.”
He groaned, rolling over before sitting up. “You are way too loud for this early.”
“Yet again, it’s two pm.”
“Get out.”
“Get ready or I’m dumping ice on you again,” he turned, leaving to go get ready to head onto the lake.
“Do that and I’ll crash your fucking car, I swear to God.”
“You’d need to be able to drive to do that!”
“FUCK YOU!”
Yuuji laughed as he walked up the stairs, grabbing the keys for the jetskis and their life jackets from the rack. He was already ready, so he just needed to wait for his twin until they could head down to the dock. He didn't know who let Sukuna get his boating license, but they should have revoked it immediately. They had to ride separately because the last time Yuuji had ridden with him, he had almost gotten flung off. How he had survived this long no one knew.
Sukuna’s footsteps sounded on the stairs. When he emerged from downstairs, Yuuji threw him one of the keys and walked to the front door, shoving his feet into his sandals. Sukuna followed him, snatching his life jacket from under Yuuji’s arm.
“So, which swing do you wanna go to?”
Sukuna rolled his eyes. “The close one, genius. Didn't you hear Choso when he said the far one got cut down?”
“Ohhhhh, that's what he was saying? I totally blanked out.” He cuffed him over the head. “Ow!”
“It's not like you use your head anyways, shut it.” He began walking down the steps to the dock, Yuuji following.
“Hey, only one of us failed our permit tes– OW!”
Sukuna laughed evilly as they crossed the bridge to the dock, retracting his hand to get ready to start the jetskis. Yuuji opened the glovebox of his to keep his phone inside and started it, shoving off the dock. God, he had missed this, the freedom that came when the wind hit his face. Nothing could ever compare. The salty air in Malibu was nothing compared to the lake. Gramps really knew what he was doing, moving here. This place was more of a home to him than ‘home’ ever was.
•••
Yuuji was sitting in the hammock at the beach, fully engrossed in his manga. He had finally got his hands on the first volume of that new shonen people were raving about online, and it was good. The characters, artstyle, worldbuilding, plot, everything was perfect. It had only taken Yuuji ten minutes to be completely sucked in. He was a sucker for good character design, and–
SPLASH!
A white blur raced across the yard, heading straight into the lake.
Yuuji threw the manga down because what the fuck. No he did not yelp. He would never. It was AI. He jumped up, running down to the shore to figure out what the hell just happened.
A white wolf dog looked up at him as he came down the stairs, panting as it stood in the water. What the fuck. Where did it come from? It looked well taken care of, so it obviously had an owner, but no one around here had a wolf dog–
“SHIRO! Where the fuck are you?!,” A pissed voice shouted from the other side of his yard. Huh.
Yuuji turned to the dog. The dog stared at him innocently. He blinked. It blinked back.
“Shiro! Oh my God, you fucking idiot.”
Yuuji turned around towards the sound of the voice, and– ohgod.
The king of tall, dark, and handsome stood behind him, his seaglass green eyes squinted as he glared at the white dog. His eyelashes were stunningly long, and his face was all sharp, straight lines. His pale skin accentuated his beauty, his light pink lips standing out against it. His lip ring shined in the summer sun, along with all of his other piercings. His black hair was fashionably messy, fitting his vibe perfectly. Holy fuck, this guy was hot. Like, fallen-angel type of perfect. But wait, aren't fallen angels supposed to be imperfect? Maybe he's more of a–
“Hey, can you help me grab her? She tends to run off.” Man of the year slanted a glare at Shiro. She glanced further down the shoreline.
“S-sure! How are we gonna do this?”
“Uh… good question.”
Splash!
After 45 minutes of wrangling Shiro, Yuuji and Hot Stuff were soaked. However, Tall Dark and Handsome had a huge, wet, stinky dog in his arms, so mission success.
“Thanks. I’m… gonna head home now. Bye.” He turned and began to walk away, and Yuuji could almost hear his heart shatter on the stone stairs.
“Wait! Can I walk you back?”
“I… guess?”
“Great! My name's Itadori Yuuji, yours?”
“Fushiguro.”
“Cool! So, you live around here? I haven't seen you out here before.”
“Uh… I just moved in next door.”
“Oh! Are you Gojo–san’s kid?”
“You know Gojo?”
“Not yet! My brother does. I know Geto-san though?”
“Ugh, even better. And no, not really.”
“Oh, cool! Hey, maybe we should have you guys over for dinner sometime?”
“Sure. I’ll check with them, but we should be good for tonight.”
“Sick! Here, wait, when you put her down I can give you m–” Yuuji choked as he looked over and saw Fushiguro standing right next to him. Fuck. And things were going so well, too. He was all smooth, but then he just had to throw it. Great.
They crossed the path over to Geto’s house, the silence left from Yuuji’s… failure… stretching long. “Huh?”
“I-I can give you my number? So you know when to come over!”
“Uh. Yea. Can you get the door real quick? I… kinda have my hands full.”
“Oh! Uh, yeah! Of course!” Yuuji grabbed the door handle, opening it. And out darted another wolf dog, this one black.
“Oh my God. Kuro! Get inside.” He dropped Shiro in the house, barring her inside with his leg as he tried shoving Kuro in as well. Yuuji tried silencing his giggles with his hands. “What are you laughing at, Itadori?”
“Nothing, nothing!”
“...Right. Well, here’s my phone. Put your number in, or whatever.” He handed it to Yuuji (the newest iPhone, how rich is he?!) and Yuuji sent himself a text.
“See you later, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Shiro shook his coat out on Fushiguro as he walked away. Yuuji laughed as his cursing faded out with the distance.
•••
“Heyyyyy Anikiii! You know how I love you so much and you're my favorite brother?” Yuuji smiled innocently at Choso, the sounds of him messing with the boat’s engine filling the air.
“What did you do now?”
“Hey! Maybe I just wanted to express my love for you, ever thought of that?”
“Yuuji.”
“I miiiiiight have invited the neighbors over for dinner…?”
“Wait, did I not tell you? They were coming over anyway.” Choso laughed at him, continuing… whatever he was doing.
“Dude! You're supposed to tell me these things!”
“Wait, did you talk to them?”
“Gojo's son’s dog ran over to the beach and I had to help wrangle her, then we talked for a little as we walked back.”
“Are you sure that's all you did?” Yuuji smacked his shoulder, walking off the dock.
“This is why I don't wanna move here!”
“Right. Oh, can you start preparing dinner?”
“Sure! See you later.” Yuuji made his way up the steps into the house, heading into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, grabbing some of the vegetables and beginning to slice them.
Tonight would be fine, right?
•••
yuuji
hey! i checked with my older bro and were still good for tn if you guys are
fushiguro!!! 🐺🐺
We are.
yuuji
great! its just you, ur sister, the hasabas, gojo san and geto san right??
fushiguro!!! 🐺🐺
Yeah. Is 7:30 okay?
yuuji
yes absolutelyyy
i gotta keep working on dinner tho so see u later 🙂↕️🙂↕️
fushiguro!!! 🐺🐺
See you later
:)
Yuuji kept a completely straight face as slowly put his phone on the counter. He would never smile at his phone.
Okay, maybe he had cracked a little smile. But whatever.
•••
“Hey, Choso, what time is it?” Yuuji put down the spoon he was holding and turned around.
“7:25. The neighbors should be here soon. Why do you ask?”
“Shit!” Yuuji slid on the wooden floor, his socks almost making him fall as he rushed down the stairs. He couldn't look like a bum in front of Fushiguro again. He already embarrassed himself once, he did not need a rerun.
When he got to his room, he immediately threw on his best casual-ish t-shirt (he had gotten multiple compliments on how buff he looked last time he wore it and it had quickly become his favorite) and his favorite pair of jorts. The Mountain Dew socks could stay, right? They were cozy.
He dashed back out of his room. He needed to be upstairs when they got there, right? Wait, did he forget deodorant? “Shit,” He muttered, turning back around. It’d be better to reapply it anyways. He should just throw on cologne while he was at it, right? He grabbed his phone, peeking at the screen as it flicked on. Fuck! It was already 7:30! He ran out of his room, knocking on Sukuna’s bedroom door as he went.
Knock knock
Fuuuuuuuuck.