Work Text:
“I hate to break it to you, but someone’s already borrowed that one.”
Megumi stopped frantically reshuffling books to stare daggers into the eyes that peered at him from the opposite side of the bookshelf.
“Kugisaki, you put it on the shelves yesterday,” he turned to face his friend, who had now rounded the shelf to stand beside him. “How is that even possible?”
She raised her hands in defense. “Trust me, I have no idea. How does anyone even read crap like that?”
“You literally work here.”
“Only ‘cause you spend almost every day here! It’s hard to hang out with you when you’re a nerd.” She sighed.
Megumi felt inclined to disagree, but didn’t attempt to due to the overwhelming evidence (his library hours, grades, hobbies, etc) against him.
“Don’t you ever think I spend every day here so I can’t hang out with you?” He said, but it lacked any bite.
She pretended to ponder for a second, raising her finger to her bottom lip. “Nah, you love me too much.”
Although her comment had been true, Megumi would never dare to claim it as such. He could only imagine how much that would boost her already sky-high ego.
He forced himself to face the vacant space on the shelf once again, a deeper scowl forming as he did. He had been waiting months–nearly years–to borrow this particular novel. No other book shop or library had owned it, no matter how many places he went to. He figured it was due to the fact it had limited copies and was overall hard to find. It's such a hard find that he had to specifically ask–and humiliatingly beg–Nobara to order it in. And now it's gone. Lost to some quick bastard who certainly didn't want the damn thing as much as Megumi did. No one wanted that book more than Megumi.
"Dude, are you seriously sulking over your lost literature?" she scoffed.
"Shut up."
"Since you're so gloomy, we better check out the fashion mags over there!" Her eyes lit up as she pointed towards a disorganized rack of flimsy magazines. "They always help me whenever I need to cheer up or find new inspiration!"
"I don't need inspiration, I need that book." He rolled his eyes as he felt his wrist get grabbed and dragged over to her 'holy grail'.
"Be patient, grouch!" She said, as if she were speaking to a little kid. "I'm sure it'll be back before you know it."
~
After spending almost every day at the library, Megumi eventually became familiar with the return policy. It was surprisingly flexible compared to other businesses in the area as the return date was decided by whoever worked checkout that day. However, the staff were only allowed give a maximum borrowing period of three weeks.
And three weeks later, the book still hasn't been returned to its rightful place on the shelf.
Megumi had checked the shelves every day to see if the novel had been returned. Not once had he found the answer he so desperately longed for.
Nobara had even tried suggesting other texts that she thought he genuinely might like in an attempt to get over his missing novel. Normally, he would appreciate it, but because of his determination to borrow that specific work, he had always just grumbled and said he's not interested.
Before his first class of the day, Megumi found himself storming into the library for the fourth time this week and was once again let down by the sight of the now commonly empty bookshelf.
He figured he could ask someone at the desk about the person who borrowed said book, but it would be unlikely that they would share that information. Especially with some crazed collage boy desperate to get his hands on a late return.
Taking his chances, he calmly approached the front desk, aware of the very high possibility that he won't achieve what he's hoping to.
From where Megumi was now standing, he couldn't actually see the employee sitting behind the way-too-big monitors. Seriously, where does this place even get screens that big?
Unsure on how to approach the conversation, he cautiously knocked on the back of one of the monitors. Thankfully, it didn't go unnoticed as a familiar ginger head of hair popped out with a startled expression.
"Oh thank god it's just you!" she sighed in relief. "Why the hell were you knocking on my monitor!?"
Megumi didn't really have a good answer for that, so he simply shrugged.
Nobara rolled her eyes and blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Are you here to ask about the owner of the book? Honestly, I'm shocked you didn't ask the front desk sooner."
"How would you know if I tried the front desk or not?" he said, unable to keep the curiosity out of his tone.
"I have my ways. I work here after all."
Megumi said nothing, only a knowing 'ah' left his mouth.
"Okay so you want to know who borrowed your oh-so-precious novel, right?" she pondered.
Megumi seemed slightly taken aback by how easily she figured him out. "Uhm, yeah, but are you allowed to give those details out?"
She paused for second. "No. But since I'm so nice, I'm gonna give them to you anyway!"
"Wait, Kugisaki!" he lowered his voice, "Couldn't you get fired by doing this?"
"Well, yeah," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't really want to keep working here anyways! It sticks of ink and paper and I would much rather work at the hair salon down the street."
"Wouldn't it be better if you just quit instead of getting fired?" he asked.
"Probably, but I don't want to talk to my supervisor. He's such a prick!" she groaned.
"...Okay then."
Clacking the keys of her keyboard, she hastily began searching for the culprit of the overdue novel.
"Bingo!" she grinned widely as she waved Megumi over to peek at her screen.
He silently walked over and focused on her computer. As soon as he did, his eyes widened at the information being displayed.
The person's name was Yuuji Itadori. He was 20 years old and had never borrowed anything from this library, except for the text he still had possession of. By looking at his photo, he had a peachy pink undercut and honey-brown eyes.
It was good that the offender's features weren't easy to miss, but did he have to be so damn attractive at the same time?
Megumi could almost swear that he'd seen that face before or at least heard that name recently. Maybe his mind's playing tricks on him since he's been scrambling for the same novel for months.
That's probably it. He thought.
"Ohhh yeah, I remember this guy." she said as realization coated her face. "He's kinda hard to forget. He was super loud last time he was here."
The more Megumi found out about Itadori, the more he dreaded confronting him. This guy must have some gull to waltz into a library, make a fuss, and burrow the exact thing he'd been waiting on for months.
"Interesting." he said, still eyeballing the details displayed on the monitor.
Nobara spun in her chair to face her friend. "So are you gonna track him down and kill him?"
"Jeez, calm down. I'm not gonna hurt him, I just need him to return my book."
"Since when did it become your book?" she giggled.
"Since I was the one who told you to order it in."
As he made his way out the door, he managed a quick 'thanks' as she yelled a loud 'good luck', almost immediately followed by overlapping voices telling her to shush.
While he made a route to his college campus, he realized that it would probably take a week or two to find Itadori. If it was going to take that long, Megumi was somewhat debating whether or not to go through with lecturing that guy. Would it even have any impact?
At least it would keep his mind off school stress for a bit. That was really the only factor forcing him to complete his newfound mission of finding Yuuji Itadori.
Megumi was grateful that his school was only a five minute walk from the library. He had accidentally spent too much time with Nobara and urgently needed to get to his first class.
Nobara always suggested that he attend the college's library instead to avoid the worry of being late, but Megumi always found it to be too crowded and under stocked. Plus, it was only barely useful when he needed a textbook fast.
Just as Megumi stepped into the appropriate building, he took a quick glance at his slightly broken-down watch.
Shit. He only had three minutes before Mrs. Iori humiliated him for being tardy.
Megumi elevated his brisk walk into a low-effort jog as he turned past one of the brick corners he had quickly been familiarized with.
Almost as promptly as his pace accelerated, it was halted to a stop as he ungainly butt heads with someone who unfortunately decided to rush around the same turn as him. The person's physique could only be described as stubbornly alike to a stone wall since Megumi was sent flying on his ass while the stranger slightly stumbled before forming a mildly dumbfounded expression.
"Crap, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"
As much as Megumi wanted to see who crashed into him, his teary eyes wouldn't allow him to. The collision automatically compelled his eyes to water. Damn his sensory nerve stimulation.
Megumi smoothed out the front of his jeans as he began to stand upright. "Don't worry, it's—"
His previous sentiment of annoyance formed into one of recognition and frank shock as pink tuffs of hair invaded his vision.
The boy spoke up again with a sheepish tone, "Are you sure? No offense, but you're looking at me a bit… strangely."
Megumi was sure that his manhunt would've taken at least a few days, but it seemed like it was cut short as the one and only Yuuji Itadori stood before him.
He admitted that this being their first meeting was unfortunate considering the circumstances, but at least Megumi met the guy ridiculously quick.
Itadori continued to eye him cautiously and it was then when Megumi realized he hasn't said anything since he rose from the tiled floor.
Yes, it would seem ludicrous to almost everybody to tackle the book issue with Itadori now. However, Megumi's determination happened to be a lot stronger than his propriety.
"I don't mean to pry, but do you happen to be in possession of this book?" Megumi said, raising his phone and swiping to reveal a screenshot of the novel online.
Itadori didn't seem to register the odd switch in conversation or at least nicely pretended not to as he leaned forward to squint at Megumi's dimly lit screen.
"Oh, yeah I am!" he smiled and Megumi swore it annoyingly radiated pure sunshine. "I actually have it in my bag."
Before Megumi could ask him to pull it out, he swung the bag around to his front and unzipped it.
Itadori revealed the text and held it up in front of him. "This one, right?"
Megumi put aside the essence surprise of how willing this guy was to proclaim his ownership of an overdue book and nodded.
"Make sure you return that today," he stated. "Other people want to read that, you know."
Something Megumi could only describe as incredulousness coated Itadori's face as he attempted to form anything coherent.
"Well, that's a bit arrogant," Itadori scoffed. "What if I'm not finished with it yet? I still have plenty of time!"
Megumi stared at him as if he had grown three heads. What was this guy on about? There's no way he didn't know about the return date.
He's probably just fucking with me. Megumi thought.
"No you don't. They've been waiting on that book for a week."
"Dude, no they haven't. I still have a month left!"
Megumi was really started to get ticked off. Why was Itadori acting like a know-it-all? What would this guy know about borrowing policies?
"How do you figure?" He said, rapidly tapping one of his feet against the tile.
"I literally have until the fifth of May! And if I'm not mistaken, that's a month away." Itadori laughed. He fucking laughed.
Did Itadori not take anything seriously? Megumi had approached the boy, basically accused him of stealing from the library, and he had acted as though the entire thing was a set-up.
Megumi snatched the paperback from his grasp in search for the return date. If Itadori wasn't going to help, he would just have to figure it out himself.
"Hey! That's my—"
"Itadori. Do you know how to read dates properly?" Megumi cut him off and before the pink-haired boy could speak again, he clarified, "I'm not being rude. It's a genuine question."
Itadori rubbed his undercut. "…Not exactly. I've got the gist of it, but sometimes I make mistakes."
"And you didn't think that you were making a mistake this time!?" Megumi unintentionally raised his tone.
"Wait, did I get the date wrong?" he wondered.
Flipping the novel to face Itadori, Megumi pointed at the stamped numbers. "It says '26/04/05', not '26/05/04'. So yes, you did read the date wrong."
"Oh shit!" Itadori's eyes widened and he hastily retrieved the book back from Megumi. "I'm so sorry, really. I'll return it by this afternoon, I swear!"
Megumi felt somewhat bad for his rather irritated approach after hearing the poor guy scramble out an apology. "You better. How do you think they feel after ordering a book in, just for it to go missing a day after they got it?"
"Wait, do you work there or something?" Itadori's head perked up as he asked.
Megumi thought it would be more embarrassing if he admitted the truth. That he was really just a guy who desperately wanted to read a book. So, he opted for brushing him off. "It's none of your business."
"Alright then, stranger." One of the corners of his mouth pulled upwards, creating a slight smirk and Megumi thought that it was the most condescending, ridiculous, alluring thing he'd ever seen.
The silence that now stood between the two allowed Megumi to hear the ticking of his watch, reminding him that he happened to be on a time crunch. With a slight panic, Megumi raised his wrist to observe the moving hands.
"Great." Megumi let out an exasperated sigh. "Four minutes late. Fantastic, thanks Itadori."
Megumi knew that he was being an ass for no reason since it was his idea to talk to Itadori in the first place. It just annoyed him that he had to go to class late and be ridiculed for it when he could've avoided it all together if he had ignored Itadori and his soft eyes.
"I'm sorry, man. I know that my empty apologies probably mean nothing to you so," he paused, "maybe I could take you out sometime? It's on me."
It was indeed one surprise after the other. Megumi could almost guarantee that he stopped breathing and became paralyzed. To anyone passing by, he would've looked like an upright corpse, if not for his crimson red face.
He could see that Itadori's brows began to furrow as he opened his mouth. "Hey, are you okay? Look, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I just think you're cool and—frankly—I think you're pretty attractive—"
"It's fine!" Megumi practically shrieked.
"…So can I take you out?"
"Yes!" Megumi cleared his throat. He nearly forgot he could stop yelling. "Yes, uhm, you can."
"Okay." Itadori smiled at him with the stupidest grin Megumi thought he'd ever seen. "I'll organize the details later, sound good?"
Megumi could barely process what was happening. Five minutes ago, he bumped into Itadori and accused him of purposely holding on to an overdue item, and now he had a date with the guy.
Of course, he wasn't completely disappointed with the chain of events. He had first thought Itadori was a loud, obnoxious asshole who took whatever he wanted, but now…
Well, Megumi can't exactly judge his character yet since he'd spoken to him once, but he predicted that Itadori will eventually prove him wrong. Megumi didn't have any evidence to back up that claim, but he had a hunch. A strong hunch.
"Yeah okay." Megumi stood like an idiot before regaining his consciousness. "I need to go to class now."
He stormed off, brushing past Itadori before heading for the staircase that led to his lecture.
"Hey! Er—stranger!" Itadori hollered as Megumi placed his foot on the first step. "I kinda need your number… and your name."
Megumi turned back to see him waving his phone in the air.
"Oh, right."