Chapter Text
The first thing Yuuji did every morning was reach for a hoodie that wasn't his.
It hung on the back of a chair close to his bead, neatly folded every night despite how worn out it had become. The black fabric faded to grey after countless washes, the cuffs frayed and tiny tears along the pocket that Yuuji swore he'd fix but newer could because of his inexperience in sewing and his dismay in handing it to someone else to fix.
He slipped it over his head anyway, it was too big.
Megumi always complained about the size, claiming he'd gotten the wrong size and that it always swallowed him but being too kazy to get it exchanged.
Yuuji always laughed, "Isn't that the point of hoodies? To swallow you up?"
"It looks wierd." Megumi used to grumble.
"Looks fine to me."
The memory cane and went so quickly he wondered if it was ever there.
Yuuji stood there for a minute, hands tightening on the sleeves.
"..good morning." He said, no reply came.
-----
Megumi hated mornings. Or he used to, now they were all he had.
Every day started the same. Yuuji woke, reached for the hoodie and whispered good morning to an empty room.
Megumi stood three feet away yet utterly helpless, he couldn't say or do anything.
"Hey!"
"I'm here!"
"Yuji!"
No matter how loud he yelled, his voice faded into the air as if it was never there.
At first, he wondered where he was, he thought it was a curse, thought someone would save him. But now he knew, no one was going to find him, he was dead, or gone somehow at the very least.
----
The apartment didn't look like a place they all hanged out together anymore.
It looked like a shrine disguised as a home.
Megumi's books were neatly stacked on the bookshelves.
His mug sat in the sink because Yuji refused to wash the faint stain lingering on the inside of the cup.
A pair of sneakers rested by the front door exactly where Megumi had kicked them off.
Everything either collected dust because Yuji refused to move tgem, or was in profusely taken care of because Yuji used it everyday.
Kt was one or the other.
-----
Yuji left his apartment with Megumi's hoodie pulled over him, ignoring the stares that came from him wearing an oversized hoodie in the middle of summer.
His coworkers had stopped asking questions months ago.
Kugisaki just scoffed and told him to get his act together.
He didn't care.
He smiled when expected to. Finished assignments. Ate lunch, he existed.
Existing wasn't the same as living, he knew that. But he couldn't make himself live. He couldn't. He tried.
-----
That evening there was a knock on the door.
Yuji blinked in surprise then moved to open it. Nobara stood there with grocery bags hanging from both arms. She let herself in without asking.
Megumi almost laughed at that, some things never changed.
Nobara took one look at the room, Megumi's books, his cups, his shoes.
She set the bags down and looked at him again.
"I'm fine." Yuji said, already knowing what was coming.
"Liar." She accused.
"I've gotten better."
"You've gotten quieter."
She looked at the hoodie.
"You're wearing it again."
Yuji didn't answer.
Nobara sighed.
"Does it make you feel closer to him?" She ssked.
Yuji's hands began to shake.
"A little."
Megumi almost missed the words from how quietly they were spoken.
"If I wake up and it's cold... for a second I forget that he's not here and that he's not coming back. For a second, I don't feel empty and broken."
Megumi's heart broke as he listened, unable to turn away.
Yuji laughed, "It's stupid right?"
Nobara's expression faltered, "No it's not."
"I know, I miss him too. Alot. But, t's just.." she began, "you can't keep living in that second forver."
Yuji's smile disappeared.
"I know."
He did know, that was the cruel part.
----