Archive of Our Own

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It Was the "Sorry."

The last thing Megumi wanted to do after spending three hours crouched beside a soccer field was walk across the busiest part of campus.

Unfortunately, Yuji was hungry.

Which, in Yuji's defense, wasn't exactly unusual.

"I think if I don't eat in the next ten minutes," he declared with complete seriousness as they crossed the stone path cutting through the center quad, "I'll actually collapse."

Megumi adjusted the strap of the camera hanging against his hip without looking up from the settings menu displayed on the small screen.

"You've said that four times today."

"Because it's been true four times today."

"You had breakfast."

"I had a breeakfast."

"You had two breakfasts."

"I burned them off."

Megumi hummed absently. There wasn't much point arguing.

Yuji possessed the metabolism of an industrial furnace and somehow remained convinced starvation was always just around the corner.

The late afternoon sun washed the campus in warm amber light, stretching long shadows across the brick walkways. Students had drifted between buildings in loose groups, some heading home, others lingering on the lawn with textbooks they had no intention of opening.

It was peaceful.

Comfortably so.

Yuji walked half a step ahead, spinning his car keys around one finger while talking about something one of the freshmen on the soccer team had done during practice.

Megumi wasn't really listening.

Not because he didn't care.

Because he'd heard Yuji tell stories enough times to know the important parts always came back around eventually.

Instead, his attention wandered elsewhere.

The way the sunlight caught against the back of Yuji's neck.

The breeze lifting the hem of his hoodie.

The lazy rhythm of his footsteps.

Without thinking, Megumi reached for his camera.

Click.

Yuji glanced over his shoulder immediately.

"... Did you just take a picture of me?"

"No."

"You literally made the camera noise."

"I photographed the lighting."

"... The lighting that happened to look exactly like me?"

"It was cooperative."

Yuji laughed.

"You are so weird."

Megumi didn't bother defending himself. He lost that battle years ago.

–––––

They were almost at the student center when someone called out behind them.

"Excuse me?"

Yuji turned around automatically.

Megumi stopped a second later, lowering the camera from his eye.

A girl hurried across the pathway toward them, clutching a notebook against her chest. She looked vaguely familiar–maybe someone from the literature department–but Megumi couldn't quite place her.

She slowed as she reached them, visibly catching her breath.

"Sorry," she said with a nervous laugh. "I know this is kind of random."

Yuji smiled immediately.

Not the grin he reserved for goals or teasing Megumi.

Just... the polite one.

Warm.

Open.

The one he gave cashiers and professors and strangers asking for directions.

"It's okay."

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"I've seen you around campus a couple of times.

Yuji rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh?"

"I just..." She laughed again, clearly embarrassed. "I think you're really cute."

There was the tiniest pause. Barely noticeable.

Long enough for Yuji's eyebrows to lift in surprise.

Then he smiled again.

Gentle.

Kind.

The same way he always did when he was trying not to make someone uncomfortable.

"...That's really flattering."

Megumi stayed where he was.

Hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket.

Expression unreadable.

He had no reason to interfere.

Yuji had never once given him a reason to doubt him.

Not once,

The girl gathered a little more courage.

"I was wondering if maybe I could get your Instagram? Or your number?"

Yuji's smile softened.

There was genuine regret in it.

The kind that appeared whenever he had to disappoint someone.

"Oh..."

He scratched lightly at the back of his neck.

"I'm really sorry..."

Megumi looked up.

"...but I have a boyfriend."

The girl's eyes widened.

"Oh my god."

She immediately looked between them before landing awkwardly on Megumi.

"I'm so sorry– I didn't realize."

"No, don't apologize," Yuji said quickly, waving both hands. "Seriously, you didn't know."

She laughed, still a little flustered.

"Well... he's lucky."

Yuji's ears turned pink.

"I think I'm the lucky one."

Something inside Megumi eased.

Just a little.

The girl wished them a nice day before disappearing into the crowd, leaving the two of them standing in the middle of the walkway as though nothing unusual had happened.

Yuji watched her go for a moment before turning back.

"So..."

He started walking again.

"...where were we?"

Megumi fell into step beside him.

"The freshman."

"Huh?"

"You were telling me about the freshman."

"Oh!"

Just like that, Yuji launched back into his story, animatedly describing how one of the new players accidentally kicked the ball onto the roof of the athletics building.

Megumi listened.

He even answered a couple of questions.

But somewhere in the back of his mind...

One word refused to leave.

Sorry.

–––––

The journalism office was almost empty by the time they arrived.

The evening staff hadn't come in yet, leaving only the quiet hum of computers and the occasional whir of the ancient air conditioner struggling against the lingering heat outside.

Yuji dropped into the chair beside Megumi's desk with a relieved sigh.

"I am never doing conditioning drills again."

"You will tomorrow."

"I know."

"You'll complain again."

"I know."

Megumi set the memory card into the computer.

The familiar import window appeared.

Hundreds of photographs began filling the screen.

Practice.

Portraits.

Action shots.

Candid moments.

Yuji rolled his chair closer almost immediately, bumping their shoulders together without thinking.

"Ooh."

"No touching."

"I wasn't touching."

"You were about to."

"I was emotionally touching."

Megumi ignored him.

Or tried to.

His cursor hovered over one of the strongest portraits from earlier that afternoon.

The lighting was perfect.

Yuji looked...

Happy.

Comfortable.

Like himself.

He should have loved it.

Instead—

His mind wandered back.

I'm really sorry...

The cursor stopped moving.

"...Baby?"

"Hm."

"Everything okay?"

"Mhm."

Yuji frowned.

There it was again.

That answer.

The one-word response that only appeared when something was bothering Megumi enough that he didn't trust himself to say more.

Yuji had learned to recognize it frighteningly quickly.

He waited.

Megumi adjusted the exposure slider.

Then the contrast.

Then, with almost surgical precision...

He nudged the distortion settings.

Just enough.

Not enough that anyone else would notice immediately.

Enough that Yuji's face looked...

Slightly wider.

His ears...

Maybe a touch larger.

His forehead...

Questionably prominent.

Megumi stared at it.

"..."

"..."

"...That feels unfair."

Yuji blinked.

"What does?"

Megumi sighed quietly.

Not because of the photo.

Because he'd already lost the argument with himself.

He clicked Undo.

The portrait snapped back to normal.

Perfect again.

"...Nothing."

Yuji looked unconvinced.

He reached over slowly, resting his chin on Megumi's shoulder so he could peer at the screen.

"So..."

"Hm?"

"...You've been weird since that girl."

Megumi didn't answer.

Yuji watched him for another second before smiling to himself.

Not teasing.

Not smug.

Just... understanding.

"...Was it the 'sorry'?"

Megumi's mouse stopped moving.

"..."

"...Baby?"

Another few seconds passed.

Finally, Megumi admitted, so quietly it was almost lost beneath the hum of the computer,

"...A little."

Yuji's heart melted on the spot.

"Oh."

He turned his chair completely toward Megumi.

"You thought I was apologizing for dating you?"

"I know you weren't."

"But..."

"...I still didn't like hearing it."

Yuji stared at him for a long moment.

God.

How was this man simultaneously the most emotionally intelligent person he'd ever met...

...and capable of overthinking one completely harmless word into an existential crisis?

He couldn't help smiling.

Not because it was funny.

Because it was Megumi.

Complicated, quiet, endlessly thoughtful Megumi, who loved him enough that a single misplaced "sorry" could stick in his mind for hours.

Without another word, Yuji reached over, gently lacing their fingers together beneath the desk, hidden from anyone who might walk into the newsroom.

Megumi's hand tightened around his almost immediately.

Instinct.

Like it belonged there.

It did.

"I'm never sorry about you," Yuji said softly.

Megumi finally looked at him.

The last traces of irritation quietly unraveled.

"...I know."

"And next time..."

Yuji grinned.

"I'll just say, 'No thanks. My boyfriend's waiting for me.'"

Megumi tried—he genuinely tried—to stay composed.

He lasted all of three seconds before the smallest, most reluctant smile appeared.

"...That's better."

Yuji laughed.

"I knew it."

"You knew what?"

"You're impossible."

"...Probably."

"And I still like you anyway."

"...Good."

It was such a tiny answer.

But the way Megumi said it—barely above a whisper, thumb brushing once across Yuji's knuckles—made it sound suspiciously like relief.

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"Five More Minutes."

The journalism office had emptied out almost an hour ago.

Most of the overhead lights had shut off automatically, leaving only the warm glow of desk lamps scattered throughout the room. Rain drummed steadily against the tall windows overlooking campus, blurring the streetlights into soft streaks of gold.

Megumi saved the final edit with a quiet click.

His shoulders ached.

He'd spent the better part of six hours switching between photography assignments, magazine layouts, and a professor's increasingly unreasonable revision requests. The coffee beside his keyboard had long since gone cold, forgotten somewhere around revision number four.

With a small sigh, he reached for his phone.

One unread message.

From Yuji.

Megumi checked the time.

9:47 PM.

"..."

He wasn't worried.

Not really.

Yuji was incapable of being on time if another human being needed literally anything from him.

Someone probably needed help carrying equipment.

Coach probably kept them late.

One of the freshmen probably forgot something.

Yuji would've volunteered before anyone else even noticed.

Megumi knew exactly how his boyfriend worked.

That didn't stop him from checking his phone again.

Still nothing.

He slipped it back into his pocket.

Five more minutes.

–––––

Exactly fourteen minutes later, the office door slammed open.

"MEGUMI—"

Yuji stumbled inside looking like he'd personally lost a fight with the weather.

His hoodie clung to him from the rain, pink hair dripping into his eyes as he bent over with both hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"I..."

Another breath.

"...am..."

Another.

"...so sorry."

Megumi looked up from his laptop.

Then at the puddle rapidly spreading beneath Yuji's shoes.

"...You're dripping."

"I know."

"You ran."

"I know."

"In the rain."

"I know."

"..."

Yuji finally straightened, still breathing hard.

"I left my phone in my locker after practice."

Megumi blinked.

"I didn't notice until I got back to the dorm."

"..."

"I swear I almost died when I saw the time."

He pulled his phone from his pocket, holding it up like evidence.

"I sprinted back."

Megumi looked at him for another second before quietly closing his laptop.

Not because he was done.

Because if Yuji had really run all the way across campus in the rain...

...there wasn't much left to be angry about.

"You'll catch a cold."

Yuji laughed weakly.

"Probably."

"You forgot your umbrella."

"...Yeah."

"You forgot your phone."

"...Yeah."

"You forgot I was waiting."

Yuji's smile disappeared.

"No."

The answer came so quickly that Megumi looked up.

"I forgot my phone."

He swallowed.

"I didn't forget you."

For just a moment, neither of them spoke.

The rain filled the silence.

Megumi looked away first.

"...Idiot."

"I know."

"You scared me."

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

"...I know."

It wasn't dramatic.

Megumi simply stood, walked over, and brushed the wet bangs away from Yuji's forehead with practiced fingers.

His hand lingered for barely a second.

"Come here."

Yuji stepped forward without hesitation.

Megumi rested his forehead briefly against Yuji's shoulder, the damp fabric of the hoodie cool against his skin.

Just long enough to reassure himself that Yuji was here.

Safe.

Then he stepped back.

"Dry off."

Yuji smiled.

"So..."

"Hm?"

"...We're okay?"

Megumi rolled his eyes.

"We were always okay."

–––––

Twenty minutes later, Yuji sat bundled in one of Megumi's oversized hoodies while raiding the emergency snacks hidden in the bottom drawer of the journalism office.

"You have gummy bears?"

"They're mine."

"You had gummy bears and never told me?"

"I was hoping to keep them."

"You've been gatekeeping gummy bears from your own boyfriend?"

Megumi ignored him.

He'd reopened Lightroom.

The sports magazine deadline wasn't going to move itself.

Yuji wandered over with a packet of gummy bears in one hand, chewing happily as he leaned against the edge of Megumi's desk.

"Ooh."

"No."

"I didn't even say anything."

"You were going to ask."

"I was going to admire your artistic process."

"You were going to breathe on my monitor."

"I would've breathed respectfully."

Megumi hummed noncommittally and continued importing the files from that afternoon's practice.

Dozens of thumbnails filled the screen.

Yuji sprinting.

Yuji laughing.

Yuji celebrating a goal.

Yuji looking toward the sidelines...

Looking at Megumi.

Megumi paused on that one.

It was objectively beautiful.

The lighting.

The composition.

The expression.

Perfect.

...

His cursor drifted.

Almost absentmindedly.

Toward the transform panel.

Horizontal scale.

One percent.

He leaned back.

"..."

No.

Two.

Yuji's forehead became ever so slightly more prominent.

Not enough for anyone else to notice.

Enough for Megumi.

A tiny, satisfied smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

–––––

"...Baby."

"Mhm."

"...Why are you smiling like that?"

"I'm editing."

"You only smile like that when you're planning something."

"I'm correcting perspective."

Yuji narrowed his eyes.

"...Lemme see."

"No."

"You definitely did something."

"I corrected perspective."

"On my face?"

"No."

"...That wasn't convincing."

Yuji rounded the desk before Megumi could stop him.

Without even looking, Megumi reached back and gently planted a hand against Yuji's stomach.

"Sit."

"I just wanna look."

"No."

"What are you hiding?"

"Work."

"My work?"

"Our work."

"...You're suspicious."

"I'm busy."

Yuji tried leaning around the monitor.

Megumi calmly rotated the screen away.

"You ROTATED IT."

"You leaned."

"I have rights."

"You have boundaries."

"I'm your boyfriend."

"You're distracting my workflow."

"I am your workflow."

–––––

Five minutes later, Yuji made another attempt.

This time, he managed to catch the edge of the monitor before Megumi could move it.

The image froze on screen.

Silence.

"..."

"..."

"...Baby."

"Hm?"

"...Why do I look like I know the secrets of the universe?"

Megumi looked at the monitor.

Then at Yuji.

Then back again.

"I adjusted perspective."

"My forehead is the perspective."

"It was subtle."

"My forehead got accepted into graduate school before I did."

"It isn't that noticeable."

"My eyebrows are in different postcodes."

"I hadn't finished."

Yuji clicked to the next photograph.

"..."

"...My neck?"

"What about it?"

"It's gone."

"I cropped."

"You cropped my neck?"

"It was unnecessary."

Yuji clicked again.

"...Why is my hair glowing?"

"Saturation."

"I look radioactive."

"It brings out the color."

"I look like a highlighter."

Megumi finally sighed.

"...You left me waiting for two hours."

Yuji slowly looked away from the monitor.

"...So this is revenge."

"I wouldn't call it revenge."

"What would you call it?"

"...Creative expression."

Yuji stared at him for exactly three seconds before laughing so hard he nearly dropped the gummy bears.

"You are unbelievable."

"Mhm."

"You already forgave me."

"I did."

"And you're still making me look like an alien."

"I am."

"You know these can't go in the magazine."

"They won't."

Yuji paused.

"...They won't?"

Megumi reached into his camera bag and pulled out an external hard drive, setting it on the desk with a soft clack.

"The originals are here."

"..."

"I always make copies first."

"..."

"I wasn't going to submit these."

Yuji looked from the hard drive...

...to the edited photographs...

...then back to his boyfriend.

"You spent twenty minutes making my forehead bigger..."

"Mhm."

"...Knowing full well you'd throw them away."

"Mhm."

"...Just because I forgot my phone."

"You also forgot your umbrella."

"..."

"...Fair."

Yuji couldn't stop smiling.

He stepped around the desk, wrapped both arms loosely around Megumi from behind, and rested his chin on top of his head.

"I think you have the weirdest apology process I've ever seen."

Megumi continued clicking through photographs as though nothing unusual was happening.

"I already accepted your apology."

"I know."

"This is separate."

Yuji laughed into his hair.

"So every time I annoy you..."

"Mhm."

"...my facial proportions are in danger."

"Mhm."

"...That's terrifying."

Megumi finally looked up at him.

For just a second.

The tiniest smile appeared.

"I know."

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"Archive"

Yuji's soccer practice gets canceled after heavy rain floods the field. Megumi, meanwhile, is stuck in a three-hour photography lecture, leaving Yuji alone in their shared dorm with absolutely nothing to do.

He cleans.

He scrolls through social media.

He finishes an assignment.

He even does the laundry.

By one o'clock, he's sprawled dramatically across the couch, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm dying."

Silence.

"...Baby?"

Still nothing.

He sighs loudly enough that, if Megumi were home, he'd probably tell him to "stop being dramatic."

Unfortunately...

Megumi isn't home.

Which means no one is there to entertain him.

Or stop him from making questionable decisions.

Yuji's eyes slowly drift toward Megumi's desk.

Everything is exactly where it always is.

Camera lenses arranged by size.

Memory cards tucked neatly into labeled cases.

Photography books stacked with military precision.

A sticky note stuck to the monitor catches his attention.

Don't let Yuji "help."

Yuji squints.

"...Rude."

Another note peeks out from underneath.

He'll say that. Ignore him.

"...Okay, that's just profiling."

Laughing to himself, he wanders over to the desk, idly poking through notebooks and old contact sheets.

Then his hand lands on a small black external hard drive.

A neat white label reads:

ARCHIVE

"..."

"Hm."

He turns it over in his hands.

"Wonder what's on here..."

Curiosity wins.

It always does.

He plugs it into Megumi's laptop.

The drive opens almost immediately.

Year One.

Year Two.

Year Three.

Year Four.

"...You're such a nerd."

Without thinking much of it, Yuji clicks on Year One.

–––––

Folders fill the screen.

Campus.

Library.

Rain.

Assignments.

Soccer.

Sleep.

Favorites.

Then—

One folder simply reads:

Yuji

His smile falters.

"...Why do I have a folder?"

Maybe...

Maybe it's just sports photography.

Megumi has photographed almost every soccer match since freshman year.

That has to be it.

Yuji opens it.

Rows upon rows of thumbnails fill the screen.

Hundreds.

Then hundreds more as he scrolls.

No...

Thousands.

Every single photograph is of him.

Not scoring goals.

Not posing.

Just...

Living.

Eating lunch outside the cafeteria.

Sleeping in the library.

Laughing with Nobara.

Reading on the dorm floor.

Waiting outside Megumi's lecture hall.

Carrying groceries.

Watching the first snowfall.

Standing in line for coffee.

None of them look posed.

Half of them don't even look like he knew a camera was pointed at him.

"...Baby..."

His voice is barely above a whisper.

–––––

The folder labeled Sleep makes him laugh.

Until he opens it.

Every photograph.

Every single one.

Yuji asleep.

Curled up on the couch with a blanket someone had draped over him.

Head resting on a pile of textbooks in the library.

Slumped against the bus window after an away game.

Face buried in Megumi's shoulder during a movie.

The lighting is soft in every single picture.

Intentional.

Patient.

Like Megumi had waited for the sunlight to hit just right before quietly pressing the shutter.

Yuji smiles despite himself.

"...You photographed me drooling."

He clicks another.

This one is from sophomore year.

He'd been sick for nearly a week.

He doesn't remember Megumi taking the picture.

He does remember waking up to fresh soup on the bedside table.

The note attached to the file is only four words long.

Yuji's smile disappears.

–––––

He opens Favorites next.

Oddly enough...

The photographs aren't Megumi's best work.

One is slightly blurry.

Another has a crooked horizon.

One is so poorly framed that half of Panda is missing.

Yuji frowns.

"...These?"

He opens the first one.

A tiny note appears beside the image.

Another.

Another.

Yuji stops scrolling.

His chest feels strangely tight.

These aren't favorite photographs.

They're favorite memories.

–––––

One folder remains.

Us.

Yuji opens it.

Thirty-two pictures.

That's all.

A blurry selfie Nobara forced them into.

A timer photo from the beach.

A birthday picture Gojo somehow managed to tilt.

A Polaroid taped inside a café menu.

Every single one taken by someone else.

Yuji quietly looks back through the drive.

Thousands of pictures.

Almost none of Megumi.

He'd spent years preserving everyone else's memories...

Without ever becoming part of them.

–––––

The apartment door unlocks.

Yuji startles.

He glances at the clock.

Nearly five.

"...Crap."

Megumi steps inside, messenger bag over one shoulder.

He immediately notices the open laptop.

The hard drive.

The folder on the screen.

His steps slow for the briefest moment.

"...Found something?"

There's no accusation.

Just quiet understanding.

Yuji looks up.

"...How long?"

Megumi blinks.

"...Hm?"

"How long have you been taking pictures of me?"

A beat passes.

"...Since first year."

"...Before we were together?"

"Mhm."

"...Why?"

Megumi's answer comes after a long pause.

"...You never noticed the camera."

Yuji laughs softly.

"That's your reason?"

"You were just... yourself."

Megumi glances at the screen.

"I liked that."

Yuji looks back at the photographs.

Thousands of ordinary moments.

Moments he would've forgotten.

Moments Megumi never did.

"...There's barely any pictures of you."

"I'm usually behind the camera."

It's such a simple answer.

So matter-of-fact.

Like it never occurred to Megumi that anyone might want photographs of him, too.

Yuji closes the laptop.

Walks over to the shelf.

Picks up Megumi's camera.

When he turns around again, he's smiling.

Not teasing.

Not laughing.

Just...

Warm.

"I think it's your turn."

Megumi looks at the camera.

Then at Yuji.

"...Yuji."

"Nope."

Yuji slips the camera strap over his own neck.

"From now on..."

He lifts the camera with a grin.

"...I'm making a folder called Megumi."

For the first time all afternoon...

Megumi has absolutely no idea what to say.

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