Archive of Our Own

His gaze lingered on her for a second as his mouth twitched up slightly. Despite his incessant protests earlier today, Megumi finally gave in and agreed to join her and the other members of their small friend group to go dancing at a local bar close to campus.

Bars and parties in general were definitely not his scene. He knows that whenever given the choice, Megumi would much rather spend the night in, eating takeout with a few friends and chatting somewhere where you don't have to loudly yell so your voice can be even remotely heard over the loud bass. Nobara knew this. Knew his preferences. But he thinks this is exactly why they work so well together; why they're best friends- she has no problem occasionally nudging him outside of his comfort zone. He knew he had a cold demeanor, one that was hard to read, and appreciated that she was not afraid to push past it. He also knew this occasional push to go out to places like this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because if he weren't pushed, he'd never come out on his own.

Despite this admittance that being dragged out probably wasn't the worst thing, his opinion on these kinds of venues still didn't change. He's never been one for crowds or loud music. he finds it overstimulating, which is why, quite quickly after entering, he excused himself away from his friends under the guise of buying a drink so he could have a moment to himself and regroup.

He had been sitting at the bar, babysitting his beer and absentmindedly watching Nobara for about 10 minutes now. Still, the alcohol only seemed to make his headache stronger and the music louder. He definitely needed a breather away from all this stimuli soon if he was going to make it through the rest of the night. Nobara's eyes eventually caught his from where she was standing on the dance floor. She squinted at him while tilting her head slightly and mouthed a silent "you good?"

He gave her a small smile and quick nod in response, then nodded his head once toward the main entrance to indicate he was going to step outside of the bar. Nobara just gave him a thumbs up in return before focusing her attention back to the previous conversation she had been having. She knew it was pretty routine that Megumi needed to take a few short outdoor breaks away from the loud music, bright lights, and swarms of people to make it through nights like this.

Megumi slowly rose from the barstool and maneuvered his way through the crowd until he finally reached the front entrance. He stepped outside onto the sidewalk; a gust of cool wind hit his face that deeply contrasted with the hot, sticky air inside the bar. he let out an exhale at the feeling- his heartbeat already beginning to slow as the door behind him shut, muffling the loud music and voices from inside.

He ran his fingers through his messy black hair as he walked a few paces further down the side of the building. He wasn't alone out here- a few couples were chatting and people smoking cigarettes or scrolling on their phones. But this crowd was much smaller and more tolerable than the tightly packed, loud one that was inside.

He sighed, leaning against an open spot on the wall of the building while he simultaneously felt the familiar ping of his phone from his back pocket. He pulled it out and was met with a text from Nobara lighting up his screen.

"just making sure ur all good gumi. we're about to buy another round, and we'll be back on the dance floor after. come find us when ur done with ur weird meditation break! ;)"

He smirked down at the text, a soft snort of laughter coming from his throat while sending a "will do" in response before locking his phone and putting it back into his pants pocket. He then reached around to his coat pocket, grabbing the pack of cigarettes he always carried with him during these types of social outings. He doesn't consider himself a big smoker, but he's found that cigarettes have become a delicious vice that keeps him sane when feeling this overstimulated and anxious. The burn of smoke something physical he can focus his brain on. He lazily fumbled with the box, pulling out a cigarette and resting it in between his teeth. He then reached back down into the same pocket to grab his lighter, before quickly realizing it wasn't in its usual spot. He patted his other pockets, twisting around to check all potential spots where it could be hiding in his clothing, before quietly groaning to himself when he still didn't feel the familiar shape of the lighter in any of them. He must have forgotten it back at his apartment. shit.

At this realization, he then flickered his gaze back up to examine his surroundings. he remembered other people were smoking when he came out here- maybe he could ask one of them if he could borrow a light.

As he took in the people around him, examining to see who he could potentially ask, his gaze quickly locked on a figure a few feet in front of him. he was facing away from Megumi, his back toward him, so he couldn't see his face, but the sight of his frame just from the back alone made Megumi's breath hitch. He was tall, a few inches taller than Megumi, with broad shoulders and a muscular back that was still visable through the thick material of his sweatshirt. He wore baggy jeans and an oversized maroon hoodie that landed just slightly above his waist, showing a sliver of the tanned skin on his lower back; the sight sending a slight shiver down Megumi's spine. His fluffy pink hair stuck up a bit in places where it looked like he had been running his hands through it, and his head was bent down, seemingly looking at a phone in his hand. His other hand loosely held a lit cigarette near his thigh, lifting it to take a slow drag every few seconds while he lightly bounced on the balls of his feet. bingo.

Megumi soaked up the sight before him, his eyes slowly raking down the boy's body. Who knew someone's back could be this attractive. And what a blessing it was that he just so happened to have a perfectly normal excuse to approach this statue-like figure. Megumi rocked back and forth on his heels for a few seconds, lightly chewing on his bottom lip in contemplation, before finally thinking to himself fuck it.

His feet began moving before his brain could fully catch up to them, and before he knew it, he was standing directly behind the pink-haired boy. Megumi cautiously reached his hand out, hesitating momentarily before lightly tapping on the top of the boy’s shoulder while at the same time, in as neutral a tone as possible, blurting out a quick "excuse me."

He felt the boy's shoulder quickly tense under his touch, and his previous restless movements pause before spinning around to meet Megumi face to face. And my god.

He was absolutely beautiful. Megumi could've assumed he would be attractive based on the back of his body alone, but Jesus. His cute features, big eyes, and full cheeks had a bit of a boyish charm that contrasted heavily with a chiseled jawline and faint scar that ran through the corner of his lips. His eyes quickly met Megumi's, flashing him a sweet smile that was all teeth and no bite.

"What's up?" the pink-haired boy responded in an upbeat tone that made Megumi's head spin.

Megumi wouldn't consider himself a necessarily shy person. He wasn't particularly fond of social situations, sure, but he carried himself with an aura of confidence and had a natural assurance in himself that rarely faltered. It took a lot for something or someone to throw his usual nonchalant facade off its course. But in this moment, Megumi found himself a stuttering, staring mess; any prior confidence he had when approaching the boy seemingly thrown out the window. After a few seconds of probably looking like a complete idiot, just staring at the beautiful boy in front of him, his brain was practically begging him to form even the remote semblance of a coherent thought. The pink-haired boy's smile slowly faltered as a look of concern flashed over his face.

"Hey, are you okay?" Megumi finally heard the boy question after the few moments of awkward silence.

You have to say something, literally anything, he pleaded to himself.

"O-oh, yeah, sorry. I was just wondering if, um, I could maybe bum a light off of you," Megumi finally stuttered out, his words sounding a little rushed and frantic. He then vaguely gestured to the cigarette still sitting between his teeth.

The pink-haired boy seemingly took in Megumi at that moment, taking a small step back while his gaze flicked up and down the boy in front of him, the smile never leaving his face as his eyes came back up to meet Megumi's. Their gazes locked for what felt like hours, but was in reality probably a few seconds, before the taller boy finally spoke a reply.

"What's your name?"

"Oh, um. It's Fushiguro," Megumi responded, a bit taken aback by the question.

The taller boy continued to hold his gaze while he slowly brought his own cigarette to his lips, taking a deep drag. Megumi felt his face heat under the intensity of it, desperately maintaining eye contact to avoid allowing his eyes to wander down to the other boy's lips as they formed around the cigarette. fuck, he was pretty.

The pink-haired boy then gave him a toothy grin before lightly blowing the smoke out of the side of his mouth.

"It's nice to meet you, Fushiguro," he said with that same light tone. "I'm Itadori."

Megumi simply nodded in response, giving him a small smile in return, his voice seemingly still not coming back to him yet.

"Um," Itadori followed, finally forcing himself to break their steady gaze as he looked down at his jeans, patting the pockets. "I'm not sure that I have a lighter with me. I'm sorry," he said in an apologetic tone. He looked back up to catch Megumi’s gaze with what he could only describe as big puppy-dog eyes.

Before Megumi could even find it in him to muster out a "no worries, it's totally fine," Itadori slowly began walking toward him, closing the already small distance between the two. Megumi felt like his brain might short-circuit as he watched the taller boy come closer to him, unsure of what was happening.

Before he knew it, Itadori's face was mere inches away from his own. Megumi could feel the heat from Itadori’s cigarette as he slowly brought it back up to his mouth, eye contact never faltering.

"But..." Itadori spoke in a quiet, lower tone, one only Megumi could hear, as his mouth practically grazed his ear as he spoke. "I think I could still help you out."

Megumi could feel his pulse in his throat now. What was that supposed to mean? And why did he feel so eager to find out?

Before Megumi could respond, Itadori slowly leaned down until their faces were level with each other. Megumi remained glued in place, not daring to move a muscle, as he watched the other boy with wide eyes. Seriously, what the fuck is happening?

Itadori just stared back at the boy with a slight smirk, his gaze searching Megumi's face to seemingly take in all of his features, as if he was putting them to memory, before lightly cupping the boy’s face with his hand right where Megumi’s jaw met his neck. He gently began to pull Megumi’s face toward his own, using his hand to steady the boy’s face. He turned his head a bit- agonizingly slowly leaning in closer, until the tip of his cigarette was lightly touching Megumi’s unlit one.

“Pull."

The command seemingly snapped Megumi out of whatever trance Itadori had put him in. He formed his lips around the cigarette, taking in a shaky inhale until it was properly lit and the smoke slowly began to sting his throat and fill his lungs. Itadori’s eyes were still transfixed on Megumi’s, watching him intensely as he took in the tobacco.

Itadori let out a satisfied hum once he realized his makeshift lighter had worked, dropping the hand that was on Megumi’s face back to his side and straightening his posture back up to his normal height, while turning his head to the side to blow his own smoke away and not directly into the other’s face.

Megumi suddenly felt dizzy as he continued to stare up at Itadori’s face, still trying to register what the fuck just happened. He didn't know if it was the buzz from the nicotine, or the way he could still feel Itadori’s static touch on his jaw even after it was gone, but he felt high.

“I- um, thank you," Megumi muttered, his voice sounding more shaky than he would have liked it to be.

He had no idea who this stranger was, but he found himself absolutely infatuated with his actions. The way his hand slowly grazed his jaw before cupping it entirely, the way his eyes seemed to be glued to his own, like he wasn't able to look at anything else, felt almost holy. There was an unspoken air of eroticism in everything Itadori did. The way he moved, the way he carried himself, was all-consuming to Megumi. He practically had to choke back a whine at the loss of contact when Itadori’s hand dropped from his face. Seriously, who was this guy? And why did he feel slightly disappointed when this total stranger wasn't leaning in to kiss him, but light his cigarette with his own, like it was the most casual thing in the world?

Despite Megumi’s cigarette now being lit, neither boy moved to put the distance back between them that was there before.

“Don’t mention it," Itadori said with a shrug, and Megumi couldn't help but notice the way his gaze continued to linger on his lips momentarily before he took another pull from his cigarette.

Holy shit, Megumi thought to himself as he flashed a small smile back to the taller boy. I am so fucked.