Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“The seasons change, addictions strange 

I love back then what I hate today 

I wish I went a different way 

But if I went back, I would do the same” Snow Angel by Renee Rapp 

One year later 

Nineteen year old Megumi sits on his bed, on his phone, ignoring how his dad has been calling his name for the last five minutes. 

To: Suguru Geto 

I still have to pack my bags and stuff, plane tickets are expensive too 

From: Suguru Geto 

Satoru and I don’t mind paying for the tickets, you know. Staying here for the summer is supposed to be fun for you, not worrying about money

To: Suguru Geto 

No, I saved up the money. It's fine. 

From: Suguru Geto 

When does your plane leave? 

To: Suguru Geto 

Tomorrow morning at four, you’re picking me up from the airport, right? 

From: Suguru Geto 

No I’m totally leaving you stranded at the airport 

Yes I’m picking you up 😂 

To: Suguru Geto 

🖕🏻 okay 

From: Suguru Geto 

🫵🏻💩

“Megs answer me so I know you ain’t dead up there!” 

He puts his phone down and sighs, “I’m awake! What do you want?” 

“Breakfast is ready.” 

“I’ll be right down.” 

He stretches his arms above his head and rubs his eyes. Megumi has been awake for a few minutes now, texting Suguru about his flight to the east coast amongst other things. 

Well, it’s mainly Suguru, Yuji, and Nobora that Megumi texts anyway, since he really doesn’t have many friends here. 

Megumi is just… a bit shy, that’s all. 

He gets out of bed and walks down the stairs. His mother already left for work, having said goodbye to him earlier before she left so it’s only him and Toji here this morning. Toji doesn’t work today, so that means it’s just the two of them hanging out for the day before Megumi leaves to live with his god-parents for the summer, and then start his freshman year of college after a year of waiting and saving money. 

“Want syrup with your pancakes?” Toji asks.

“Yeah.” 

The two of them sit at the dinner table and begin eating their breakfast. They moved into a house a few years ago after his mom finished school and his dad got promoted at his job. They still live in Utah, but they moved farther from where the camp his dad told him about used to be, and Megumi observed a happier change in his father after that. 

Toji told Megumi the basics of the camp once he turned eighteen, when Toji deemed him old enough to handle the sort of thing his father went through. With Suguru’s permission, Toji also explained that’s how he met Suguru. The both of them went to the court date that was set, and with a few other victims of the camp, they shut down the place together. 

Megumi was shocked to find out about it all, and he couldn’t fathom the idea of someone doing that to kids. Kids, who are harmless beings, just trying to make friends and be happy like every kid is supposed to be. 

Knowing his dad and god-parent came from a place like that and they turned out to be huge positive influences on Megumi’s life, both of them raising Megumi and teaching him how important it is to live life the way he wants it as safe as he can - he understands a bit more why sometimes Suguru and Toji watch him like a hawk.

He used to hate it - but now he understands. 

“You excited for your flight tomorrow?” Toji asks, “you’ve never been on a plane before.”

“I am. Since they have a spare bedroom I don’t have to worry about paying for the dorms at school, which is also nice.” 

Megumi is going to the same school that Satoru and Suguru went too because it has the top rated science department, and Megumi wants to get out of the small town. 

He needs to venture out. 

Toji nods, “how many spare bedrooms they got?”

Megumi shrugs, “they moved into this huge house, big yard, kind of secluded. It’s really nice, from the pictures Suguru sent me.”

“Show me.” 

He shows Toji the pictures Suguru sent him of the house they bought a few months back, and the two of them talk for awhile until Megumi has to double check all his things he packed. 

Megumi spends most of his time in his room. He makes sure everything is packed, and in the middle of playing some video games, his phone dings. 

From: Yuji 

Hypothetically, if I adopted a pet duck, would you think I was insane? 

 

To: Yuji 

… did you actually adopt a pet duck? 

 

From: Yuji

*image attached* his name is quakers :) 

 

To: Yuji

How are you gonna take care of that when you go to school? 

 

From: Yuji 

He’s a neighborhood duck! He won’t be coming with me, but I’m making sure to leave food out for him 

 

To: Yuji 

Unbelievable, but not shocking 

He and Yuji have been friends since they met last year at Satoru and Suguru’s graduation party. Nobora started college already, at the same college that Yuji and Megumi will be attending later this fall. She completed her freshman year, and because she was so busy she didn’t have her phone on most times, but she tries her best to always respond when she has free time. Balancing school and work is hard, but she’s determined. 

Yuji was the one who constantly texted Megumi so they kept in contact, and Megumi had a hard time believing that Yuji actually wanted to be his friend. They haven’t seen each other in the year since they met at the party, but they’ve texted, called, and FaceTimed at least a few times a week. 

He’s updated on the situation with Yuji’s grandpa, how he’s hanging on by a thread. Whenever Megumi asks about him, Yuji is closed off and chooses not to talk about it. He only tells Megumi the important stuff, so to speak. Megumi knows there’s more to Yuji than what he lets on - but he won’t speak about it, no matter how hard Megumi tries. 

Even though Yuji has a hard time opening up, Megumi blooms when he’s around Yuji. He tells Yuji about his future dreams and aspirations, he tells Yuji about the camp Toji told him about, and he tells Yuji about how he wants to move to a big city. It took a year of them talking for Megumi to figure out what he wants to go to college for, and it’s animal sciences. Yuji wants to go for sports and fitness, or something. Megumi can’t remember. 

While Megumi is staying with Satoru and Suguru for the summer in their spare bedroom, which, in their house looks like a hotel within itself, Yuji will be living in the school dorms. Megumi was about to room with Yuji when he and Yuji applied to the college together over a very long FaceTime call, but when Megumi was offered free-housing at Suguru and Satoru’s house, he couldn’t refuse it. 

It took a letter from both Suguru and Satoru in order for Megumi to not have to live at the dorms during his freshman year since it was required, and Megumi can’t thank them enough. He doesn’t want a roommate. He wants his own bedroom. 

Yuji, on the other hand, is happy with having a roommate even though it’s a complete stranger. 

Megumi doesn’t know how he does it. 

He wastes his day away playing video games until it’s dinner time, his mother comes home and they talk for a bit. They all go to bed early since his parents are driving him to the airport early in the morning. 

Sending one more text to Yuji, Megumi falls asleep early. 

_

The drive to the airport sucks since it’s raining. Megumi’s umbrella turns inside out when he gets out of the car, and is rightfully pissed when his clothes get wet from the rain. Toji laughs at him, telling Megumi and his mother to get inside while he gets Megumi’s bags from the car since he doesn’t mind the rain. 

Saying goodbye to his parents makes Megumi a lot more emotional than he thought it would make him. He hugs his mother close, telling her that he will text her right when he makes it to the east coast. He hugs Toji as well, who is a little reluctant to let him go, but he knows Megumi wants to go and find himself. 

Megumi will never admit that he cried while hugging his dad, that’s for their eyes only. 

He boards the plane, excited for his new life.

_ 

“Hey, I’m on my lunch. How’s cleaning the house for Megs going?” 

“It’s going.” Suguru picks up their white cat from the counter, setting her on the ground with an annoyed sigh. “Your cat lives on the counter, he’s such an asshole.” 

“And yours isn’t? That little shit woke me up this morning by almost sitting on my face.” 

Suguru pets Angels head as he sets her down on the ground, and then goes back to cleaning the counter. He has the phone on speaker a few feet away so he can get more cleaning done. “Well you deserved it, I’m sure.”

“And you’re siding with your cat and not your fiance because…?”

“The cats cuter.” 

“Asshole.” 

Suguru laughs and then proceeds to load the dishwasher. “When are you coming home? I miss you, you’ve been at work all day.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I was gonna come home earlier, but they had a blind client at the school clinic and called me to help break some news about surgery. Oh, and this pot pie you made? Fucking delicious, I really do have a trophy husband.”

“Mhm, I do believe I deserve a thank you.” 

“In the form of a kiss, hug, or blowjob?”

“Whatever you feel like.”

“Done and done.” There’s beeps in the background where Satoru’s at, and Suguru imagines he’s sitting right outside of the ER at one of the desks eating. “I do feel bad I’m not there to help you clean though, so don’t worry about dinner, I’ll bring some home for you and Megs. What do you want?” 

Suguru starts the dishwasher and braces both his hands on the counter, and twists so he cracks his spine, sighing in relief. “You think Ijichi wants to drive your annoying ass to get food?” 

He can hear Satoru smile over the line. “Well, I am the one who pays him. So, technically, it’s his job. Come on, princess. Don’t bother cooking tonight, I got it.” 

“Fine, Chinese sounds amazing. Remember to get vegetarian because -”

“Because of megs, I know.” 

“And don’t forget that one fruity drink they have at the Chinese place, the one I like a lot.” 

“How could I forget?”

Satoru’s lunches never last long when he’s working in the ER. He’s off the phone within the next ten minutes after scarfing down the food Suguru packed for him that morning, and makes sure to tell Suguru he loves him before darting away to whatever he’s gotta do for the day. 

This leaves Suguru at their already clean, large home. With the money Satoru’s dad had as governor and the money both he and Suguru make with their high-income jobs, buying a house came sooner rather than later. The house has four bedrooms, three levels including a basement, a large backyard, and a sunroom that Suguru had quickly turned into an indoor gym. Satoru even hired a driver to help him get to places without Suguru’s help so he doesn’t have to be as dependent on Suguru as he used to be.

Having a home to call their own has certainly tested their relationship over the past year as fiances. Even though they’ve been together for a little over ten years, they still have their little arguments like they’re eighteen again sharing the same small dorm with beds only six feet apart. 

Beds six feet apart turned into one king-sized bed in their master bedroom, though. So the fighting and aggravation has been worth it, Suguru thinks. 

Satoru works in a few different locations. He works in the lab at the hospital, and also the university and is occasionally called into government offices to assist in research opportunities. 

It’s everything he loves wrapped up in one job, like a present. He’s alone in a lab most times other than his few assistants that he’s become fond of, so it’s a perfect mix for him to have, because he’s Satoru.

On the other hand, Suguru has dipped his toes into the art of teaching. He teaches an intro to psychology course at the university, along with an intro to research methods to class for upperclassmen. Suguru also works at various schools around the city, providing students in the special education programs there the help they need to continue being successful in schools. 

He’s a professional at what he does, conducting research at the university while also attending one more court case for another camp that was shut down. 

But this time, instead of being the one to give a statement as a victim, Suguru is there to recite the after-affects of the trauma kids endure at the camp.

He becomes a part-time therapist on the side of children and adolescents. 

He’s really found his calling, and he’s good at it. Suguru never thought he was good at anything for so long, but he figured it out.

Life threw him so many curveballs, but now he’s here. 

It’s another two hours until it’s time to pick Megumi up from the airport. Suguru pulls up to the airport and heads inside, and as soon as he sees his god-son get off the plane, he waves him over. 

Megumi hugs him as soon as he sees him, and after talking for a little while, Suguru helps Megumi load his bags into his SUV before driving back to his house. 

“You know, the first time Satoru took me to his parents house, he didn’t tell me that his dad was the mayor and his mom was the best surgeon in the state.” Suguru explains, making a right turn. 

“How did you react when you saw that place? When I saw it I almost shit my pants at the party last year.” 

“About the same.” 

“Ah.”

They pull into the garage and head inside after grabbing Megumi’s bags, and Suguru watches Megumi pet the Angel, Satoru’s white cat, and Ollie, Suguru’s black cat. He shows Megumi their furnished basement, which is where Megumi is going to stay. 

“Holy shit,” Megumi breathes out when he looks around at the basement. It’s like an apartment below their house, fully furnished with a separate bedroom, living room area, and a study area. “Did you guys do this for me?”

Suguru nods with a proud smile, “yeah. Well, I did, and Nanami was a big help. He’s the one who knows how to build and design stuff. Oh, and your dad helped a little by showing us what you liked, so.”

He adjusts the circular glasses that sit on his head, the same pair he’s had since he was a kid that match Satoru’s. “Wow, thank you. I wasn’t expecting to have the whole lower level to myself.”

“Satoru and I talked about it, and we figured you would want the lower level to yourself since you’re nineteen.” He takes something out from his pocket, a key, and hands it to Megumi. “The passcode isn’t written down anywhere since it’s a high-security place, courtesy of Satoru, so I’ll tell you before you leave. In case the power ever goes out though, you can use this to get inside.”

Megumi takes it and puts it with the rest of his keys on his keychain. “Thanks.”

“There’s no rules or anything about being out too late. The only thing we care about is if you clean up after yourself, which you do. But nothing can be left on the ground or moved around without letting Satoru know since he can’t see. We don’t want him slipping and falling.”

Megumi nods, “right, you don’t have to worry about that with me. I’ll probably spend most of my time down here, anyways. I like peace and quiet.”

Suguru smiles, “that’s where you and I agree. I’ll let you get settled in, and I’ll text you when Satoru gets home. He’s working a shift at the ER today, so it’ll be another two hours or so until he’s back. Oh, and he’s bringing chinese home.”

“Sweet. Thank you.” 

_

Two hours later on the dot, Satoru walks through the front door carrying boxes of chinese food in one hand, his own packed lunch in another along with his keys around his neck, still in his white lab coat that, after his long day, now has a few stains on the cuffs. His usually messy hair is a bit more messy and skewed across his forehead, and his cheeks are flushed with the bug thats currently going around (or maybe allergies is what he keeps telling himself). His circualr sunglasses are perched on his forehead, and those are also askew. 

All in all, Satoru looks like a mess, but he’s so delighted to be home he can’t help but shout. 

“Honey, I’m home!” 

Before he can trip and fall, Suguru helps him carry everything inside. “Jesus, you could’ve had Ijichi text me and let me know you needed help carrying things. I don’t want you tripping like last time, s’why we got the ramp to the front door.” 

“I’m an independent blind person.” Satoru protests with a pout, “I can do it!” 

“I know, sweetheart, but I don’t want you tripping and falling and ruining that pretty face of yours.”

“Aw, you think I’m pretty?!”

“Shut up and get in here.” 

Satoru smiles when he feels two fingers pressed on his lips, and accepts the kiss that Suguru presses there. “I missed you today, working twelve hours isn’t for the weak. Is Megumi here already?” 

“Over here.” Megumi comes out from the basement when he hears the sound of Satoru screaming that he’s home, dressed down in sweats since he’s remaining inside for the rest of the day. 

Satoru opens his arms wide, radiating happiness as he shouts once more, “give me a hug, megs!” 

Megumi doesn’t ever deny Satoru a hug, letting the man hug him for a few seconds before pulling away. “Did you get vegetarian?”

“Ugh, of course I did, what is it with you two?”

Suguru and Megumi look at each other, and then Suguru looks back at Satoru. “Go get changed, bug, I laid out your pajamas. We can eat dinner in the living room.” 

“Oh hell yes. Megs, I’ll ask you how you are in a bit, but I gotta go change and take some pain meds. My head is killing me.”

“S’fine.”

While Satoru goes upstairs, Megumi and Suguru head to the kitchen and plate the food that Satoru bought for them. They set up the TV trays in front of the large flatscreen TV, meaning that Suguru and Megumi both have to agree on something to watch. It takes a few minutes for them to decide on something, but it’s fine because by the time Satoru makes it downstairs, they’re already watching a movie that, after working twelve hours, Satoru will fall asleep too after putting himself into a food coma with chinese food. 

Satoru asks Megumi about how his flight went, and Megumi is reminded to shoot his mom and dad a text saying he made it home safe. He explains to Satoru about how much he despises flying and he’s not looking forward to doing it again, making Satoru laugh because he also doesn’t like flying since he’s not able to see by feeling the ground by his walking stick or his hands and feet. 

“Do you guys see Nobora around?” Megumi asks after finishing his meal, stretching his arms above his head. 

Suguru nods, “sometimes she swings by my office on campus, but nothing more than that. I heard that Yuji and her will be staying in the same dorms, but not the same room since girls and boys can’t stay on the same floor.” 

“Yeah, that’s what they told me, too. We have a group chat together since we met at the party. I talk to Yuji a bit more, though, since Nobora is busy. But she still checks in when she can.” 

“Well, that’s sweet.” Suguru nudges Satoru’s foot with his hand, “isn’t it, bug?” 

No response, and Suguru looks to his other side to see that Satoru has curled up by the arm of the couch, asleep like the dead under a comforter that they keep in the living room for when this happens. Satoru can still sleep anywhere after all these years, and for a long period of time.

“Well, that was faster than I thought.” Suguru comments, and he leans back against the couch, looking back at Megumi. 

Megumi glances at Satoru’s sleeping form, frowning. “He doesn’t overwork himself, does he?”

Suguru shakes his head, fondly. “You don’t have to worry about him, megs. He knows his limits. Being a doctor is hard work and he signed up for this a long time ago. Tomorrow he has the day off and I have to supervise a final at eight in the morning, then I’ll be back to spend the day with the both of you. How does that sound?”

“What are we doing?”

“I have no idea yet.” Suguru shrugs his shoulders. “But, since campus is a far walk from here, Satoru and I talked about letting you use our parking passes to get good parking.”

He breathes out a sigh of relief, “really?”

“Yeah. I remember how hard it was to find parking when I went here. We put you as a member of our car insurance so you won’t get in trouble driving one of our cars.” Suguru sips at his drink, eyes glued on the TV. He’s become a master at ignoring the sound of Satoru snoring. “Satoru and I can show you around the city, if you want.”

Megumi leans back into his seat, nodding his head. “That… sounds good to me. Thanks again for letting me stay here, and all. I didn’t want to be in a lot of student debt.”

“Satoru and I are still paying our debt and we graduated a year ago, so we don’t mind helping you out. You want to be a vet, right?”

“Mhm.”

“You’ll go through the same amount of schooling that we did.”

“And that was…”

“Uh… twelve years.”

Megumi sighs, “that’s if I’m smart enough to complete all of that.”

Suguru sits up, beckoning him over. Megumi glances at him, confused, before scooting closer. He’s about to ask Suguru what he’s doing, but is shocked when Suguru flicks his forehead. 

What the fuck?

“What the hell?” Megumi covers his forehead, “there’s gonna be a mark there.” 

“S’what you deserve.” Suguru leans back onto the couch. “You’re smart, megs, you just need to believe in yourself.” 

Megumi grumbles for a moment, rubbing his sore forehead. “You’re hanging around Satoru too much. Is this how you treat your clients?” 

Suguru grins, “no, but you’re not my client. You’re the closest thing I have to a kid.”

That perks Megumi’s interest, and he can’t help but ask. “Do you want any?”

Pausing, Suguru counters, “what, kids?”

“Yeah. If I wasn’t here, would you adopt some of your own?”

Suguru shrugs. He looks over at Satoru’s sleeping face, there’s bags under his eyes. He is indeed overworking himself at the moment to keep himself busy like Megumi suspected, but Suguru will have a talk with him about that later. 

Choosing not to bring Megumi into their own relationship drama because it isn’t Megumi’s business, Suguru simply replies with, “one day, yes. We want to adopt some at some point - but we haven’t decided on it all. We’re focused on paying off a few more things. I’ve always wanted to foster, so even if it’s fostering older kids because they don’t get adopted as often - I think that would be nice, too.”

Instead of prodding, Megumi takes that as a sufficient answer. “I think that’s really respectable of you. You and him will be good parents, you’ve done good taking care of me.” 

Suguru flashes a brief smile, before resting his hand on Satoru’s ankle, and going back to watching their show.

The two of them finish watching the movie and Megumi tells him goodnight and departing to his bedroom downstairs, leaving Suguru and Satoru alone. He has to sleep since the time difference is so drastic from traveling from Utah to their house in the east coast, he could barely keep his eyes open once he got food in his system.

Suguru turns off the TV and scoots closer to Satoru, gently shaking his shoulder. “Bug, come on, time to wake up.”

“Mph, five more minutes, please.” 

A few more coaxing words and Satoru’s sitting up, swaying back and forth from how tired he is. He blinks slowly, and accepts the hug Suguru gives him. He wraps his arms around Suguru’s neck, tucking his face there where it’s warm, and Suguru’s arms settle around his lower back. 

“How are you feeling?” Suguru questions, rubbing his back.

Satoru rests his chin on Suguru’s shoulder, sighing. “Honestly? Really, really tired.. And I already know what you’re gonna say.”

Suguru kisses his head. “You can’t keep doing these twelves, and when they turn into over twelve hours a day I get worried for you. You need to remember that your value isn’t dependable on how much you work.” 

“But I have too -” 

“I know, but give yourself a break.” He interrupts before Satoru can plead his case. “You can’t keep yourself busy all the time and work yourself to death, the last thing you or I need.” Suguru pulls away from the hug and kisses Satoru’s forehead. His skin is warm from his forehead resting on the couch while he slept, and is slightly warm. “Okay?”

Satoru gives a lopsided smile, nodding his head. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I’ll tone it down a bit more, especially now that we have megs, okay? And I’ll… work on it more.. For when we adopt our own kids.”

Suguru cups Satoru’s cheek, “whether we adopt kids later on or not, you need to focus on not overworking yourself. You’re gonna get yourself sick from exhaustion. 

Caught, Satoru deflates like a balloon, shoulders sagging like he's being scolded for not taking care of himself. “I.. “ he sighs, defeated. “Are you mad at me? I can’t tell.” 

“No, baby, just concerned.” Suguru strokes his cheek, comfortingly. “You were so excited to see megs, and you fell asleep not even an hour after being home. I told him we could go out tomorrow, by the way.”

Satoru nods, “cool. And I know you’re concerned. And I… am really, really tired. Not just of work but other things, too. I got a lot going on.” 

Suguru understands. “You need to stop working ER shifts and get back to your lab, that’ll make things easier on you. Once you and I are both less overworked, then we can plan the wedding.”

At the mention of their wedding, Satoru grins sleepily. “I cannot wait for that.”

“I know.” Suguru kisses his forehead, then stands up. “We’ll continue this conversation later, alright? For now, it’s time to go to bed for both you and I.”

“I can clean up -”

“We’ll clean up tomorrow.” 

“Okay.” 

They walk upstairs to their bedroom and without doing their skincare routines before bed, the two of them plop down on their bed. Satoru buries his face in the pillow, laying on his stomach, letting out a long sigh as he finally relaxes.

Suguru turns off their bedroom light and rolls over to his fiance, moving his hair from his neck and pressing a soft kiss there. “How’s your head?”

“Deadweight,” Satoru responds, voice muffled by the pillow. “Oh.. Yuji called me, today.” 

Humming, Suguru presses a few more kisses to Satoru’s pale neck. “About?”

“His grandpa. The guys doing worse, in hospice now. Yuji’s with him planning funeral stuff.”

Suguru frowns against Satoru’s skin. “He’s doing that alone?”

“Mhm. I offered to help, but he told me no.” 

“I’ll call him tomorrow.” 

Satoru nods, growing more tired by the minute. He realizes something though, and he groans. “I forgot your celebratory blowjob for the awesome food you made me.”

At that, Suguru just laughs and shakes his head. He lays down so his front is against Satoru’s back, pulling him in close by wrapping an arm around his stomach. “I’m alright, we can take a raincheck on it, right?”

He nods his head, eyes remaining closed as he pulls the blankets over them. “Good, because I can’t stay awake any longer, I love you and your cock, but I have to go to sleep.”

Suguru rolls his eyes, cheeks tinted red as he kisses Satoru’s head. “Go to sleep, idiot. We’ll venture out to campus tomorrow, go out for lunch, and we can show Megs where we work. Alright?”

Satoru nods his head, scooting back so he’s as close to Suguru as possible. “Goodnight, princess.” 

While Satoru sleeps, Suguru goes back on his phone to send a few texts to Yuji to make sure the kid is alright. Losing a family member is hard, and Suguru needs him to know he can reach out if he really needs help.

From : Yuji Itadori

I’m in the room with him rn, and the heart monitor is really slow. I gotta figure out if I wanna pull the plug, since I’m the only family member, you know? It sucks, but I’ll be okay. I called Gojo today and told him a little bit about it, and I’m also texting Megumi about it rn. Thanks for checking up on me though, I appreciate it.

To: Yuji Itadori 

Of course, kiddo. If you want, you can take a little vacation and stay here if you need to. 

From: Yuji Itadori 

That means a lot, thank you. 

Suguru plugs his phone into the charger and pulls Satoru in close.

_

Down in the basement, Megumi is texting Yuji instead of sleeping like his body is begging him too. 

From: Yuji 

It sucks that I’m losing him. He’s been my only guardian since my parents died when I was a kid, saved me from the foster system and now I gotta be the one to pull the plug. I don’t think I can do this. 

To: Yuji 

I can borrow a car and drive up to see you since we’re in the same state if you want? I don’t have a job or anything, yet. But if you don’t want to be alone, I can be there this weekend?

From: Yuji 

You would do that?

To: Yuji 

That’s what friends are for, yeah.

He then brings up Nobora’s contact, fully aware that she’s probably busy studying for finals and he won’t get a response until way later. He tries anyway, though. 

To: Nobora 

I’m in town now. Yuji’s about to pull the plug on his grandpa. Do you want to take a trip to go see him this weekend?

He then switches back to his and Yuji’s messages to see that Yuji read the message, and just hasn’t responded. Megumi doesn’t take offense, he can’t imagine how hard it is to let go of a family member who’s been your only rock since your own parents died when you were a kid. Megumi always had the luxury of having his parents, he couldn’t imagine… 

It’s one of the reasons why he talks to Yuji besides wanting to have a best friend, but because Yuji is a walking ball of sunshine even though he has so much going on in his personal life. He holds the weight of a thousand soldiers, yet he’s still so happy-go-lucky, trying to make everyone laugh and smile around him anywhere that he goes. 

Megumi could envy him for that, but he chooses not to, since Megumi doesn’t have the personality to do that. 

When he realizes that maybe Yuji is busy with something in hospice, he puts his phone on the charger after texting his parents a goodnight text. 

He rolls over and pulls the covers over him, and falls asleep after a few minutes of daydreaming in his new home. 

Chapter Text

“It hurts to see you hurt 

The ones who love you at your worst 

I’m sorry you don’t trust yourself 

Enough to trust somebody else 

It hurts to see you hurt 

The only ones who love you at your worst.”

At Your Worst - Madison Beer 

It’s been about two weeks since Megumi has been staying with Satoru and Suguru in their home, and it’s slowly becoming their new normal. Megumi helps keep the house clean, he’s currently searching for jobs so he can have a source of his own money. Suguru is teaching him how to open up a new bank account amongst other things such as cooking meals together, how to take care of cats (even though Megumi prefers dogs), playing songs on guitar, and Suguru helps teach him things he’ll need to know for his first semester of college. 

The longer Megumi stays here with them, the faster he comes to notice how busy his god-parents are. Satoru’s gone all day long but always makes sure to say good morning to them both, give Suguru a kiss, and makes sure to give Megumi a bone-crushing hug. Suguru’s gone for almost the same amount of time, so it leaves Megumi to be alone a lot. 

Well, not entirely a lot, since the semester is over. It’s now summer vacation, meaning that Suguru doesn’t have classes to teach since he doesn’t teach summer classes. Megumi asks him why he doesn’t like to teach them, and Suguru’s only reply is that he wants to spend more time with their cats. 

Megumi doesn’t feel like a stranger in somebody’s home anymore. This home feels like his home, and he’s taken their car out for drives around the area. He likes to walk around campus and map out his classes because if he doesn’t know where it is on the first day he’ll likely never show up because of how anxious that makes him. 

What Megumi also observes is the little things between his god-parents that truly make them one of the best functioning and communicative relationships he’s ever seen, and they give him high standards for a partner one day, along with his parents. 

It’s no wonder Satoru and Satoru have been dating for over ten years and are now planning their wedding. 

They’re like… the most ideal, healthy couples Megumi has ever seen. 

For example, every morning before Satoru leaves he tells Suguru the times of his breaks in case he wants to call, and when he should be arriving home, and little nit-pick things about his day that could be considered trouble-some. He navigates his way through the kitchen, since everything is labeled in braille, and makes Suguru and Megumi something to eat before he grabs something small for himself and leaves. He also brings dinner home a lot whenever Suguru and/or Megumi asks. 

In return, Suguru helps with small things. He assists Satoru with his hearing aids when he asks him too in the mornings, he makes sure nothing is on the floor so Satoru doesn’t slip and fall and get hurt, and is calm when Satoru is stressed about something, even moving things out of the way so Satoru has free reign to pace back and forth. Suguru has become more calm over the years, but he does have his moments where he needs to isolate himself from both Megumi and Satoru because he was too overstimulated. 

When those days happen, Suguru lets the both of them know, and that leads Megumi to spending time with Satoru. He’s quite a busy guy, and apologizes to Megumi when he has to take a phone call, and it makes Megumi remember the days when he was a kid and Satoru was a student, and they could goof around and do whatever. It was fun, back then. 

Don’t get Megumi wrong. It’s fun now, of course, but now they’re both older. Satoru is still his goofy self, exaggerating the second syllable of Megumi’s name whenever he greets him, and always demands a hug before he leaves for the day, squeezing him so tight he almost can’t breathe, making Megumi push him away while laughing because he can’t help it. 

At any given time - Satoru makes both Megumi and Suguru smile, he lights up whatever room he walks in. 

Satoru takes time out of his supposed relaxation time to teach Megumi how to read things in braille since he asked about it one day when Satoru arrived home. So, the both of them sit down at a table, and Satoru teaches Megumi the exact same way he learned how to read…

..blindly. 

It was hilarious when Satoru put a blindfold around Megumi’s eyes so he couldn’t see, but it ended up being really fun. It took him a few hours, but eventually Megumi learned how to read the alphabet and a few things in braille. He practices every day because he thinks it's interesting, and now he sometimes closes his eyes to read the braille that’s labeled on each cabinet just to see if he can do it.

Megumi hangs out with Nobora after she finishes her finals, and she takes him to a few of her favorite places on campus like some coffee shops, a few nature trails, and the arcade. He’s never been to an arcade, but when he goes with her - it’s really fun. He laughs, and smiles - both real and full. 

Nobora goes home since it’s summer break since she isn’t taking summer classes, leaving Megumi alone all over again at his god-parents. He’s still on FaceTime with Yuji, who’s at the hospital with his grandpa, for however long Yuji needs.

“I just don’t know what I’m gonna do, you know? Without him.” Yuji has his phone propped up so Megumi can’t see his grandpa, so it’s just Yuji sitting in front of his phone, playing with one of his fidget toys that Nobora bought for him awhile back. “I’ve never been without him.” 

Megumi is sitting at the dinner table. Satoru is washing the dishes while Suguru is upstairs taking a shower. He takes a sip of the drink Satoru made for him. “Is it… okay for you to keep him on life support for so long?”

“I was supposed to take him off like.. A week ago, but I just can’t do it.” Yuji’s usually bright eyes are dull, sad. “He’s the only family I got. Once he’s gone… I have nobody.” 

From the kitchen, Satoru frowns at that. He willingly left his family, he can’t imagine loving a family member so much and then having to watch them die. He continues washing the dishes, but keeps his hearing aids on just to listen in on their conversation. 

“When it does happen… you should come here.” Megumi suggests, already knowing Satoru will be on board with it, same with Suguru. “For a little break, you know? Away from all of that. It could be peaceful. It’s nice here.” 

Yuji smiles at that, and Megumi’s stomach does a little flip. He made Yuji smile. “Are they alright with that? Or did you just declare that and they’ll have to deal with it?” 

A ghost of a smile appears on Megumi’s face. “A little bit of both.”

“I just have a lot of things to figure out. I mean - I only have a few months until college starts, and it’s not like my grandpa’s apartment is good anymore. His lease was up last month, anyway. I have to see about paying some of the rent somehow.”

Megumi frowns, “where have you been staying?”

“Not here, don’t worry. I’ve been staying with Nobora’s parents for the last month while they’re helping me with the apartment.” Yuji quickly reassures. “I’m not like - homeless…. Or anything. I guess. I dunno. Maybe that would make me homeless? I’m already an orphan, just add that to the list.”

He looks above his phone to Satoru, who’s stopped washing the dishes and has a frown on his face. Megumi can see the steam coming from Satoru’s ears, his eagerness to help Yuji, but he stays silent. 

Megumi hides his smile. He’s such a dad. 

“Her parents are nice and I’ve known them all my life but it’s.. I just have no plan, I guess. I’m going to be an orphan.” Yuji frowns down at his fidget toy. Megumi should get him another one. “Everybody keeps getting taken away from me, and it sucks.” 

“Well, I won’t leave. Nobora is here, same with Suguru and Satoru.” Megumi reassures. “If you need help, we’re offering it.”

“I know.” Yuji looks into the camera, “thanks, Megs. I appreciate it.” 

Megumi smiles softly. “You’re welcome.” 

The phone call lasts until Yuji’s phone is about to die, and he ends it so he can charge his phone while watching TV. Megumi puts his phone back in his pocket after answering text messages from his mom, dad, and Nobora and peers over the counter to see what Satoru’s cooking since the kitchen smells really good. 

“What are you making?” Megumi asks. “Can I taste it?”

“You don’t even know what it is, and you’re asking to taste it?” Satoru chuckles, and Megumi just grins a boy-ish grin. “It’s vegan, don’t worry. Come here.” Satoru plucks something with a fork, and holds it out. “Take a bite, let me know what you think.”

Megumi stands from the table and comes into the kitchen, taking the fork from Satoru’s hand and eating it. “Oh, this is good. Add a little more seasoning, though.”

Satoru nods, tracing the braille on the cabinets until he finds the seasoning. “Which one?”

“Move your hand to the left - one more, yeah, that one.”

“Sweet. Thanks megs.” 

Megumi sits on the opposite counter, swinging his legs, backs of his ankles hitting the cabinet. “So, about Yuji..”

“I already offered him last summer that he could stay here, Suguru already knows.” 

He cocks his head to the side, “you did?”

“I thought I told you this?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Huh, well, I meant to. Hey - what temp is the oven at?”

Megumi leans down and squints. “Uh, 475. Why?”

Satoru hums, “making two different things for you, Suguru and I. Trying to keep track of it all.”

That reminds him, “I thought Suguru was taking a shower, where is he at?”

“He had a long day with one of his clients, he’s taking a nap. Speaking of,” Satoru looks over his shoulder, “foods about ready, mind waking him up for me, kiddo?”

“Will do.” Megumi jumps down from the counter and makes his way upstairs to the master bedroom. Satoru’s white cat follows him right on his heels, and he almost trips over the cat a few times. He pushes open the master bedroom door to see that yes, Suguru is indeed fast asleep in the bed, black cat curled up on the pillow that belongs to Satoru. 

He walks closer to the bed and stands next to Suguru, reaching a hand down and shaking him gently. “Suguru, dinner is ready.”

Suguru slowly blinks, regaining consciousness, and sighing as he rolls over on his back. “I forgot bug is making dinner. Did he burn the kitchen down?”

“Maybe he will in the next five minutes if you don’t get down there.”

“Give me, like, five minutes then I’ll be down.”

“Okay.” 

The three of them eat dinner together, and Megumi asks Satoru if he can show him how to cook the vegan meal Satoru made for him. Satoru tells him he will of course, he can show him tomorrow, and Megumi now has something else to look forward to. 

He likes when Satoru and Suguru have the same days off of work, it’s usually the weekends. Today is Sunday, so the both of them have the day off and both will return to work tomorrow. 

Megumi falls asleep early in the living room, and both Satoru and Suguru go up to their bedroom. 

“Are you alright?” Satoru asks, sitting down on the bed and caressing Suguru’s face with his fingertips. 

Laying on his back, Suguru looks up at Satoru’s concerned face with a smile. “Yeah, I am. Just really tired. I didn’t expect to have clients today but.. They needed help, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. I was just making sure.” Satoru lays down too, and giggles as Suguru pulls him to his chest and holds him tightly. Satoru pushes back for a moment to take out his hearing aids, turning them off and setting them on the nightstand. “Wake me when our alarms go off.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Suguru pulls him back down and kisses his forehead as Satoru rests his head on Suguru’s chest. “How long is your shift tomorrow?”

“... twelve hours.”

Suguru gives a disapproving sigh, “bug…”

Satoru whines, “can we not?”

“What? Not be concerned about how much you overwork yourself?” Suguru raises a brow, and rubs Satoru’s back to give some reassurance that no, he’s not angry, just concerned. “Not sorry to say, but it’s my job as your fiance to worry about you.”

With a huff, Satoru pulls the blanket over his head to try and signal that the conversation is over, but Suguru isn’t having it.”

“Satoru.”

“Ew don’t say my name, that’s not my name.”

Suguru can’t help but laugh, “bug.”

With that, Satoru pulls the blanket back down to show his face. 

“At least try and bump it down to ten hours, okay? I don’t need you to die before our wedding.”

Satoru beams up at him, “I promise. When are we gonna plan that, anyway?”

Suguru shrugs, “when we have time. We don’t have to rush it, alright?”

“Would you want a summer wedding?” Satoru asks. 

“I mean, I think I’d like a winter wedding, if I’m being honest.” Suguru rubs Satoru’s back, enjoying how Satoru arches into the touch. “I love the snow.”

Satoru cringes, “wait - outside? In the cold? We’ll freeze to death.”

“No,” Suguru chuckles, pressing a kiss to Satoru’s head. “I mean inside, but maybe a place with a lot of windows, where we can see outside.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be able to see.” 

“True, but everyone else will. So… what do you think?”

“Sounds good to me.” Satoru lifts his head, resting his chin on Suguru’s chest, blinking up at him. “I have a genuine question, and don’t laugh.”

“Shoot.” 

“Who’s walking down the aisle?”

Oh, Suguru hasn’t thought about that if he’s being honest. “Uh… I have no idea. I kind of forgot about that part.”

“Is it.. Stupid, if I want to, even if I’m blind?”

Oh.

“Sweetheart.” Suguru’s voice dips so it’s as sweet as honey, comforting, warm. He cups Satoru’s cheek, watching Satoru lean into the touch. “It’s not stupid.”

Satoru looks away, one of his eyes don’t follow, creating a lazy eye.

Suguru tries again. “Bug, do you think it’s dumb? If you want to walk, you can walk.”

His cheeks flush a deep red, same with his ears. Instead of responding, Satoru rests his cheek against Suguru’s chest once more. 

“Okay,” Suguru understands loud and clear, conversation over. “We can talk about it later, then. That’s okay. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” 

_

Megumi drives himself to the same cafe that Nobora took him to while she was here, and he’s enjoying his time alone when his phone rings and Yuhi’s name flashes across the screen. He answers the call despite it being quite busy in the cafe for a Tuesday. “Hey.”

“He’s dead.” 

Immediately, Megumi sits up in his seat, alarmed at the sound of Yuji crying. “Did you..?”

“I went to Nobora’s to shower and - and I came back and for like.. Five minutes it was fine, you know? And now it’s not, his heart just stopped. He’s gone, Megumi. My grandpas gone. He’s dead.” 

He’s never heard someone sound so… heartbroken. Megumi cleans up his spot at the table and tosses his wraps in the recycle bin, grabbing his keys and leaving the cafe all in a span of a few seconds. “Can you send me the location of Nobora’s house?” 

“What?” Yuji’s in the middle of breaking down, trying his best to even out his breaths to attempt to answer Megumi’s question. “I - yeah, I can. S’already in my phone.”

“I can come and see you. I can drive Suguru’s SUV since they added me to the insurance.” Megumi clicks the unlock button on his fob, gets inside the car, buckles, and starts it. “I just - gotta pack, I can come stay for a little while. Is that okay?”

“You will?” Yuji’s voice breaks, “thank you, Megumi. Thank you. I don’t want to be alone. I have Nobora too, can.. Can you bring your Nintendo Switch?” 

Megumi smiles softly, balancing his phone between his cheek and shoulder as he makes a bee-line for Satoru and Suguru’s home. “Yeah, I can. I’ll bring all my games and we can play your favorites, okay? If you need help paying for funeral expenses, Suguru wanted me to relay on the message that the two of them can help.” 

Yuji seems to be calming down a bit, “he wanted to be cremated.” 

“Then that’s something we can do.” Megumi reassures. “It will be alright, Yuji. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.”

He sniffles. “Thanks for being my friend, megs.”

“Of course. Call Nobora, okay? I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.”

They hang up so Megumi can drive, he tries not to be on the phone while he’s driving. The last thing he needs is a car accident. 

He makes it to his new-home in a fraction of a second, seeing that Yuji sent Nobora’s address. Megumi parks in a very disastrous way in the driveway that he’s glad nobody is home to see it. He types in the passcode to get inside, and then after greeting the cats, he goes downstairs to pack his bags. 

While packing, he shoots a text to Suguru. 

To: Suguru Geto 

Yuji’s grandpa died. I’m gonna go visit him, and I’ll keep you updated on the details. I’m packing now and leaving soon, and I might bring Yuji back with me. I’m not sure yet. I’m gonna call ‘toru and update him. 

Since Suguru is at work, Megumi knows he won’t get a response right away. He dials the number to Satoru’s personal phone, it goes to voicemail, so he calls the Epidemiology office. 

“Dr. Gojo’s office, this is Miwa speaking. How can I assist you today?” 

“Hi. I’m Gojo’s god-son. If he’s not busy, can you put him on for me? It’s a family emergency.” 

“Of course. I’ll transfer you over. It’ll be a moment.”

Megumi waits for what feels like forever until Satoru comes onto the line. “Megs I got a patient right now, this better be good. What’s up?” 

“Hey - uh, Yuji’s grandpa died.” 

“Well that clarifies as one.”

Megumi zips up his bag and puts the phone on speaker. “I’m going to go see him. I already texted Suguru, but I wanted to let you know I’m not going to be home for a couple of days.”

Satoru’s voice softens, “okay. Take Suguru’s SUV. You be careful driving there, it’s an hour away and I don’t want your name broadcasted because some idiot can’t drive.” 

“I thought Yuji’s grandpa was in a hospital closer to here.” Megumi frowns, “didn’t they go to elementary school here?”

“Well, yeah. But they didn’t go to high-school here. When Yuji finished elementary school, he moved an hour away with his grandpa. Nobora’s parents moved upstate when they realized Grandpa Itadori wasn’t doing too good. It’ll be good for Yuji to come home, you know.” 

Megumi packs another bag. “I.. want to bring him back here, if he wants.” 

“I think that will be good, Megs. I’ll talk to Suguru later. You just take care of that kid, alright?” 

“I will. Bye ‘toru.”

“Bye, kiddo.” 

Megumi drives faster than he’s ever driven before. 

_ 

Nobora answers the door when he arrives a little under an hour later, and tells Megumi that Yuji is in her bedroom in bed. He hugs her when he says hi, very briefly, because he’s making a bee-line to the bedroom. He doesn’t bother knocking on the door, opening it.

“Yuji?” 

Pulling the blankets down from his face, Yuji sits up and looks up at Megumi, tears bubbled up on his waterline and bottom lip wobbling. “H… hi…”

Seeing someone as the equivalent to the sun now broken down makes his heart churn, because it’s not right. Megumi strides forward and sits down on the bed, opens his arms and Yuji doesn’t waste a moment, falling into his arms and sobbing. 

Nobora sits on the bed too, and even though she’s the smallest out of the three of them, she attempts to wrap both Yuji and Megumi in her arms. Megumi rests his head against hers, all while keeping Yuji enveloped in his arms, not letting him go. He does the same thing his mom and dad did when he was a kid, rubbing his back with one hand and carding his fingers through Yuji’s pink hair in the other. 

Yuji is a loud cryer, unashamed of how loud he is. His sobs are heart-wrenching, and his face is covered in tears and snot that are no doubt getting on Megumi’s shirt, but he doesn’t care. Nobora gives Megumi’s shoulder an extra squeeze as a thank you for being here, and he knocks his head against hers gently in response. She doesn’t need to thank him - he would’ve come regardless. 

It’s the first time he’s seen Yuji since the graduation party last year, and they’ve both gotten a little taller, a little under six feet now. Yuji easily slots himself into Megumi’s arms, it feels natural, and Megumi doesn’t know how to feel about holding Yuji feels so right. 

When Yuji’s sobs quiet down, the three of them stay in the same group hug until they realize that Yuji cried himself to sleep on Megumi’s shoulder. Nobora pulls away first, wipes Yuji’s face with a tissue, and then tosses it in the trash. 

“You can lay him down, Yuji sleeps like the dead.” 

“Okay.”

He does as he’s told, laying Yuji down in the bed. Yuji rolls onto his side, buries his face in the pillow, and lets out a sleepy sigh. Megumi pulls the blanket over him. 

“Has the funeral been planned?” Megumi asks, keeping one hand on Yuji’s shoulder because he can’t draw his hand away just yet. 

“He’s being cremated, but there’s going to be a memorial service. It was the cheapest option, and Yuji wanted to get it done and over with.” Nobora also sits down on the bed. “Are you staying?”

Megumi nods. “If you don’t mind… I forgot to ask you, since this is your house and all.”

Nobora smiles, “I don’t mind, my parents don’t either. Did you bring your switch by chance?” 

“I did.”

“... Wanna play?”

“I’ll go grab it.” 

_

They play for a few hours until Yuji wakes up. He joins them in playing some games after changing clothes into pajamas, and after only a few minutes of playing, he’s laughing and smiling and enjoying himself again. 

It’s nice if the three of them ignore that grandpa Itadori didn’t just pass away earlier today, but Megumi and Nobora both think that he needs time to distract himself for a moment instead of rotting away in bed. 

Nobora’s parents make them a few snacks to last them for the night, and the five of them end up sitting in the living room watching a movie to fall asleep too. The parents sit on the couch while Megumi, Nobora, and Yuji are on the floor on a make-shift bed that consists of a few comforters below them, and the three of them sharing one large blanket. 

Yuji is in between the two of them, and he falls asleep first towards the middle of the movie. Nobora is the second to fall asleep, and Megumi, being the night-owl that he is, falls asleep last. 

_

While Megumi is staying at the Kugisaki house with Yuji, Satoru and Suguru have their own little set of problems. 

Ijichi drives Satoru home after a long day of work, and looks in the rear-view mirror at his employer. “Sir, are you feeling alright?”

Satoru has his face in his hands, nodding his head. “Yeah. I’m good. How far away are we from my house?” 

“About five minutes.”

“Great.” 

Once Satoru is dropped off, he knows Suguru isn’t home because Satoru never leaves work early. He was only at work for a span of five hours today until he was confronted with a problem, and needed to leave so he called Ijichi and told Miwa to cancel his patients today, that he has to go home because he’s feeling ill. 

The first thing he does is take off his shoes, tossing them randomly to the side because he doesn’t care. He tosses his walking stick down to the floor, just to let out some sort of anger. He can’t help but be a little destructive, at least he’s not breaking anything. He takes off his glasses and throws those too, cursing all the way up the stairs to the bedroom. 

Satoru’s not in pain and he isn’t tired, but he takes his medication anyway because he needs to sleep. He doesn’t handle emotions well, never has and probably never will because he’s not as emotionally aware as Suguru is. The only way he knows how to handle his problems is to just make them disappear. 

He falls into a deep sleep, hoping his shitty day was just a dream. 

_ 

Suguru comes home after a long day, pulling into the driveway and texting back and forth with Megumi. 

From: Megumi 

Memorial service is on Saturday at 1. I’ll send you the address. I’m gonna stay here until then, is that okay?

To: Megumi

Yes that’s fine, just keep your mom and dad updated on where you are. If you kids need anything then let us know. 

From: Megumi

Thank you 

He puts his phone away and grabs his bag, getting out of the car and walking into their home after typing in the passcode. Suguru walks inside, and frowns when he’s not greeted by their cats. 

Also - there’s a mess.

Satoru’s shoes, walking stick, and glasses are all tossed haphazardly on the floor. Suguru pauses for a moment, brain taking a few seconds to click with the fact that Satoru is home before him for once. He closes the door behind him, picking up Satoru’s items and setting them where they’re usually put on the side table, ready for him to use tomorrow. 

Then, he takes off his own shoes, walking up the stairs and quickly making his way to their bedroom. Suguru pushes the door open, almost slams it because he’s so worried, and is confronted by two cats curled against a sleeping Satoru’s back. 

Suguru kneels down on the side of the bed so he’s facing Satoru, and then shakes him awake as gently as he can. “Baby,” he says when Satoru’s nose wrinkles. He despises pulling Satoru out of a deep sleep. Suguru feels his forehead, his skin isn’t warm, so he’s not sick. “Bug, wake up, come on.”

Very slowly, and Suguru realizes now it’s because of the opened bottle of medication on the nightstand, Satoru’s eyes open. He blinks, and when he feels Suguru’s hand card through his hair, he smiles. “Hi.” He greets, voice deep and gravely, laced with sleep.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Suguru’s worried, and he tries not to show it in his voice. “You’re home before me today, did something happen at work?” 

As quickly as it came, Satoru’s smile turns into a frown. “I.. have to refer a patient to my mom.”

There hasn’t been a mention of Satoru’s mother in years, and Suguru furrows his eyebrows. “Why?”

“Whether I like it or not, mom is the best surgeon on the state, and more affordable if I refer someone to her. Family connections, you know?” Satoru rolls over on his back and when their cats meow, he curses, rolling over and pulling both of their cats to his chest, kissing their heads. “Oh I’m so sorry! Daddy is so, so, so sorry. I’m blind, give me a break!” He whines, holding his fur babies close.

Suguru laughs at him, “I’m sure they forgive you.”

“You think so? Do they look like they forgive me?”

“They do, bug.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” 

Satoru puts their cats back down on the bed, and sighs because he knows what’s coming. “I have to call my mom tomorrow, and ask if she can fit in an emergency surgery that needs to be done within a week.” 

“Is there another surgeon that can perform the surgery?”

He sighs, “the thing is.. I know my mom is the best. She’s done the impossible like, a million times. Personal feelings aside… with the job I have… this isn’t going to be the last time I refer somebody.” 

“Satoru…” 

“I’m gonna call her office.” He looks at Suguru, “can you look up her office number for me? And dial it, too?”

Suguru shakes his head, resting his hand on Satoru’s thigh. “Baby… shouldn't we talk about this more?”

Satoru’s voice wavers, “if I uh, if I do, I’m gonna lose courage and not call her at all.”

“Promise me we will talk about it later, then.”

“I promise.” 

Reluctantly, Suguru finds the number of Satoru’s mother’s office on the internet. He dials the number and hands the phone to Satoru. “Do you want me to leave the room?”

He shakes his head again, “no, uh.. Stay with me?”

Suguru sits down on the bed and wraps his arm around Satoru’s lower back, and rests his chin on Satoru’s shoulder. “I’m here, bug.” 

With shaky hands, Satoru presses the call button, and Suguru presses the speaker button when Satoru asks him too. 

The office secretary answers first. “Dr.Moore’s office, how can I help you?”

“My name is Dr. Gojo and I work down at Jujutsu-University’s United Health Care Center in the Epidemiology department. Dr.Moore is my mother, and if she has a moment at some point today, I was wondering if you could transfer me to her?” 

“Oh! We’ve heard great things about you, Dr.Gojo. I saw you speak at a panel a few years ago.”

“Oh,” Satoru blinks, “uh, thanks.” 

“Anyways, sorry. Yes, I can transfer you to her now, she doesn’t have a patient at the moment.”

“Thank you.” 

The line goes silent for a moment, and Suguru tries to ease Satoru’s anxiety by rubbing his back and giving soft kisses to his bare shoulder since he sleeps shirtless now. Suguru is very aware that Satoru switched from emotional to logic, something he does whenever anything remotely triggering happens to him. He thinks of logic, the steps to take, without sitting down and understanding what is happening. 

His own form of a trauma-response. 

Good thing Suguru is a certified therapist trained to analyze these things, and after this phone call, he will have a big talk with Satoru. 

The line picks up, and they both hear a familiar voice that they haven’t heard in years. “Hello?” 

“Uh,” Satoru clears his throat, trying his best to sound professional. “Hi… mom.”

“Satoru?” 

Chapter Text

“If this is the last time, please come close 

I love you with all my heart, you know 

I don’t wanna cry, I’m bad at goodbye 

If this is the last time…” If This is the Last Time, LANY

The topic about Satoru’s mother comes up again and again. Suguru wants to know if he’s feeling okay, how he’s doing, if he can function throughout the day. 

Of course Satoru can function. What is Suguru even on about? Satoru has gone about getting his doctorate degree while he’s blind and hard of hearing. He can handle one stupid phone call to his mom about a patient. 

And what was his mom on about? Telling her co-workers that she’s proud of him and his accomplishments, she wasn’t any part of that. Satoru did that without her. She was literally no help for the entirety of his school career except for the very beginning helping with his finances. That was it. 

The little respect he had for his mother dwindled the moment she hit him in the face that day in the kitchen. Satoru would never forgive her, and he knows for damn sure that Suguru won’t ever forgive her either. Satoru can’t see, he’ll never be able to see, but he can only imagine the anger depicted on Suguru’s face that day that his mom hit him. 

The thing is, Satoru will talk about it, and it will be fine. They have more pressing matters to deal with, like supporting Yuji at his grandpa’s memorial that’s coming up. That should be their main priority in the home, but Suguru makes him sit down and talk about his feelings all the time.

Satoru loves that Suguru went and became what he always wanted to become, an advocate, a therapist, a professor, educator, but Satoru doesn’t like the idea of feeling like a client of Suguru’s. Of course he’s proud at how good Suguru is at talking about feelings, extracting information from Satoru in ways that Satoru doesn’t feel like he’s babbling nonsense, but Satoru isn’t a client. He’s his fiance. 

However…. Satoru does understand how hard it is to get himself to explain how he’s doing. Satoru was always so careful and attentive with Suguru, he still is, but… he doesn’t know. There’s a lot of things going on in his mind right now, the last thing he needs is to think about his psyche. 

“Satoru.” 

Oh, and that. Suguru’s pestering him again. Not pestering, per say, but asking him if he’s okay, again. 

Satoru continues to walk away from Suguru, arms crossed over his chest, nose turned up in the air. 

“La, la, la, la—”

“Satoru, come on. We need to talk about this. This was big. You called your mom. You can’t just—just act like nothing happened.” 

“Oh?” Satoru pokes at his hearing aids, “huh, wait, something’s wrong with these.” 

Suguru stops, concerned. “Wait, what? Can you hear me?” 

Satoru fully turns around. “I don’t wanna talk about my mom. If you wanna talk about her—“ Suguru watches him take both of his hearing aids out. “—then you can talk to yourself.” 

“Don’t be like that,” Suguru rolls his eyes. 

“Sorry, what?” 

“Don’t be like that, I know you can hear me without them, bug.” 

“Nu uh.” Satoru starts to walk away again. 

Suguru groans, “Satoru come on, I’m a therapist, I’m literally the perfect person to talk too about this thing.” 

Satoru turns a corner, “nope!” 

“See! I told you that you can still hear me!” 

“Nu uh!” 

Suguru’s shoulders sag as he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose because no, there’s not a chance Satoru is getting away from him right now. It’s been proven time and time again how he shouldn’t keep things to himself, because he’ll get overwhelmed and it’ll just be worse for not only Suguru, but for everyone else in the home. 

He follows Satoru into the kitchen where he’s got the fridge open, traveling his delicate fingertips over the labs so he can grab himself a soda. “Satoru,” Suguru says, “we’re talking about this.”

Closing the fridge door, Satoru narrows his eyes at him, annoyed that he’s being pestered. He put his hearing aids back in. “It was to refer a client, Suguru. That’s it. My client needs help immediately and my mom is the best. She was an awful mom, but a surgeon… She's the best in the state. It all comes down to that.”

“Right, but how did it make you feel?”

“Do not therapize me about this.” Satoru points his finger at him, accusingly. Suguru does have a habit of doing that nowadays, more than he used to when they were undergrads. Suguru rolls his eyes. “I know I can’t see you, but I know you, don’t roll your eyes at me.”

Suguru groans in annoyance, “if I can’t go all therapist on you, then you can’t be pointing out whenever I roll my eyes at you, which is completely deserved. Do you hear yourself? You sound insane. Imagine if I got into contact with my parents, bug. You would eat me alive if I didn’t tell you how I was feeling.”

Satoru stops at that. He traces his finger around the rim of his soda. He hasn’t opened it yet. He’s staring down at his feet, what little he can see of his black sock covered feet. “I’m not upset about referring my client to her. I am upset that my mom tells people how proud she is of me, even if she’s the reason the family is broken apart. Dad took my side, and that’s that, and he and I don’t even talk anymore. Sometimes I think, though, that maybe they would still be together if I wasn’t in the picture, you know?” He asks more to himself, but Suguru nods anyway, because he gets it… somewhat. “Like, I basically destroyed a marriage just by being born. Dad used to tell me stories about the trips they would take, how happy mom was, and I didn’t get it when I was a kid but… it was really all my fault.” 

There it is. That’s what Suguru wanted to draw out of him. He comes forward, and makes sure Satoru can hear him walk towards him by scuffing his feet across the floor. “That’s all I wanted, you know, for you to talk to me. Shouldn’t have to beg my husband to do that after over a decade of being together.”

He falters. Satoru’s face drops. “Right… I’m sorry. That’s not—that’s not what I meant to do. Fuck,” he rubs a hand over his face, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Suguru pulls him into his arms, and lets Satoru rest his weight on him like he weighs nothing, when in reality Satoru weighs a ton. They go to the gym when they can between their hours and pack in protein, so both of them are unable to carry each other nowadays after building up muscle. “I used to be the same way. At first you were more open with me, remember? You had to beg me to talk to you.”

“I remember.” Satoru presses a quick kiss to Suguru’s neck, then rests his cheek against Suguru’s shoulder. “I hate her. I really do. I don’t hate my dad, but I don’t like him either.”

“That’s okay. It’s completely reasonable.” Suguru rubs his back. “After what she did… do you really think your dad didn’t know about it?”

Satoru shakes his head, “she made me not say a word about it to anybody, including Shoko. I always listened to her.”

Suguru furrows his eyebrows, “I mean, yeah, but… do you think he ever suspected it?”

“If he knew, if he even had an inkling about it… then that makes him just as bad.” Satoru closes his eyes. “I don’t like talking about them.”

“I know.” Suguru kisses his head, “I hate talking about the camp, but I do because I know it helps. I couldn’t imagine calling either of my parents. I’m proud of you for keeping it as professional as you did. You yelled at my mom and dad, but with your mom… you were calm. It’s almost like you were more enraged at my parents than you are at yours.”

Satoru pulls away and looks Suguru in the eyes, raising a singular white brow. “Dude, your parents sent you to a wilderness camp where bad shit happened and treated you like shit at home. All my mom did was lock me in a room a few times and slap me in the face.”

“That’s not all she did.”

“That’s all I acknowledge for my sake.” Satoru says, “and it’s easier being mad at your parents because I love you, and I hate what they did to you.”

Suguru hums, “does it ever occur to you that I hate both of your parents for what they did to you?”

“But it’s not as bad as—”

“Bug, stop comparing your trauma to mine. This isn’t a competition.” Suguru states. 

Satoru deflates. “I’m sorry… I don’t see my stuff as serious as yours. It actually seems so minor.”

Suguru cups his cheek, stroking the soft skin there. “Like I said, it’s not a competition. Okay?” 

“Okay…” Satoru leans into the touch, “I won’t see her. My client will. I’ll block her number on my phone so she can only call me at my office, and Miwa can answer the calls and relay messages if they’re important. Hell, I’ll give her a raise if she wants to deal with my mom.”

He chuckles, “that’d be something. Do you want to talk about your mom anymore?”

“Not really, no.”

“Let me end this with one thing, then. It’s not your fault they divorced. Adults' problems shouldn’t involve their children, and that’s all you were.” Suguru concludes their talk once Satoru’s cheeks flush, because he knows Suguru is right, and he’s got no rebuttal. “Let’s call Megumi to see how Yuji is doing, and make sure we got the funeral arrangements right. Sound good?”

“Sounds good! Oh, and we need to call Shoko back. I missed her call earlier. She wants to come visit since she and ‘hime will be in town.”

“Wait, what are they doing in town?”

“Visiting Shoko’s parents.” Satoru informs, “I tried to answer the call earlier, but I think I kept pushing decline instead of answering. She might think I’m ignoring her.”

Suguru chuckles, “doubt that, let’s call her back after we talk to Megumi about the funeral. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen her, I miss her.”

“I miss her too. Call her back on your phone, though. I don’t know where mine is.” 

“I don’t know how you function with how you lose everything. Where would you be without me?”

Satoru rolls his eyes. One of them, his left one, doesn’t follow. Satoru can feel it though, he puts his hand over it. Suguru asks him if he’s alright, and Satoru nods. “Yeah, feels a little weird.”

Suguru nods, “I’ll grab your pain meds and call Megumi. Get comfortable on the couch and get some rest.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too, bug. But I’m serious, get some rest.” 

“Fine.” 

_ 

Saturday rolls around, it’s time for the funeral. 

Yuji stands in front of the full-body mirror in Nobora’s room, fixing his black bow-tie that compliments his black suit. He doesn’t like ties, his grandpa didn’t like them either. 

They’re not having an open body funeral because his grandpa wanted to be cremated, so they’re just having a quick one hour memorial service. 

“Hey. You alright?” 

He’s startled by the sudden voice, but he doesn’t have to turn around to know who it is. “Yeah, I guess. I mean…” he looks over his shoulder at Megumi with a small pout. “I don’t.. Know how to feel, exactly. If that makes sense.”

Megumi is leaning against the door frame, his hands in his pockets. He barely got sleep last night, on the phone with his dad for most of the night because he doesn’t know how to handle the concept of death. 

He asked his dad because - his dad has told him he’s seen dead people, and how he grieved at that camp. Megumi asked his dad if he could talk to Suguru about it, but Toji tells him it may not be a good idea. 

“Not unless he brings it up, kid. I’m only open about it with you because you’re my kid. But not everyone is willing to talk about what happened there.”

Megumi sort of understands, kind of. He’ll never understand how one person can harm another, he thinks it could all be a fever dream. But he knows that’s not reality. Just because Megumi was raised in a good and stable home with loving parents doesn’t mean everyone else was. 

His eyes trace over Yuji, his clumsily put together tux, the nervous look on his face, and the heavy bags under his eyes. His pink hair isn’t as fluffy as it used to always be. 

He looks.. So sad, and Megumi wants nothing more than to help. 

“Here.” Megumi strides forward, and soon he’s standing in front of Yuji. He reaches out, making sure the bowtie is nice and straight. “Any reason for the bowtie and not a regular tie?” 

Yuji watches Megumi intently as he fixes the bowtie. “Uh.. grandpa liked them, and I don’t know how to tie and tie. So..”

“I can teach you sometime.”

“You know how?”

Megumi shrugs, “Suguru taught me how too a few years ago when my friend forced me to go to my semi-formal my freshman year of college. She didn’t want to go alone and we both had dates, so…”

“Well, it was nice of you to go with her.”

“Yeah.” 

“Satoru’s coming, right?”

Megumi has a soft smile on his face. He knows Yuji and Satoru have an unbreakable bond since Yuji was young, with him not knowing anyone who had a disability, and Satoru having said something similar. “Yeah, Satoru’s coming, of course.”

Yuji’s about to say something when his phone alarm goes off. He jumps, eyes widening as he reaches down for his phone. He stops the annoying alarm and checks the time, eyes not leaving the screen. “The memorial starts in forty-five minutes…”

“I’ll drive.” Megumi says.

“But—”

“Don’t worry about it. Come on.” 

Yuji follows Megumi out of the house they’ve slowly been packing over the last few days since Megumi has been there. He keeps his head bowed, letting Megumi lock the front door because can’t mentally fathom doing anything functioning at the moment. 

Usually he’s so carefree, so joyous and full of laughter but he can’t even find the motivation to do so. His grandpa is dead. The one person who’s ever looked after him. His one and only guardian after his parents passed away when he was too young to remember them. He was just a baby, Yuji doesn’t even remember what they look like if it wasn’t for the pictures his grandpa kept. 

Megumi drives both of them in his car to the funeral home. A text from Suguru’s phone pings his own, saying that they’ve arrived and are already inside, and talking with a few of Yuji’s distant relatives on his grandpa’s side. Megumi doesn’t text back since he’s driving, and turns his phone on Do Not Disturb so his music shuffle won’t be interrupted by the car reading messages back to him. 

The funeral home isn’t far away, which is nice. Yuji is in tears the moment they get there. The car is parked, the engine turns off, and the doors open. Robotically, Yuji and Megumi step out of the car. Suddenly, Yuji feels so small. 

He’s quiet as he looks around at the parking lot. He recognizes a few cars as people his grandpa worked with, some distant family members that Yuji barely knows. When he sees a familiar blue car show up and park in the handicap spot, Yuji visibly relaxes because he knows exactly who that is. 

When Yuji hugs somebody, he hugs with his entire heart and soul. Megumi watches as Yuji darts to one of the very few trusted adults in his life—Satoru and Suguru. Since Satoru can’t see, Yuji knows better than to jump into his arms, so he rounds the car to the drivers side and as soon as Suguru steps out, Yuji hugs him as tight as he would his father if he had one. 

Suguru engulfs Yuji in his arms, just holding him. One hand on the back of Yuji’s head, and the other wrapped around his back, holding him safe and sound. A place where he can cry if he needs, or if he really does need to be held, which he probably does. “I got you,” he whispers as Yuji clutches onto his suit jacket, “we can go in whenever you’re ready.”

Megumi catches up to them in a few strides, and when he sees Satoru squinting and looking around aimlessly, Megumi walks up to him instead so Suguru and Yuji can have their moment. “How was the drive?”

“It was fine.” Satoru answers. He puts his sunglasses on since his eyes are starting to throb, and as he extends his walking stick to feel around, there’s a hand on his arm. Satoru looks over, and squints. “That you, megs?”

“It’s me.” Megumi confirms. “I’ll help lead you in. I think Yuji and Suguru are having a moment, so.”

“Ah, okay. Lead the way, then. Are there stairs?”

“Like… five or six.” 

“Cool. Let me know at the first step.”

“Sure.”

While Megumi leads Satoru inside, Yuji is still wrapped in Suguru’s arms. He’s crying. Yuji’s been trying to hold his tears in since this morning when he was trying to get ready, and had to pause a few times because he had to keep his tears at bay. 

All he has now is pictures to remember his grandpa by, that’s all. A few voicemails that make Yuji laugh whenever he listens to them, their photos on the walls, random selfies they would take on Yuji’s phone, and the random videos Yuji has on his phone. 

“I don’t want to go in there.” Yuji sniffles. Tears well in his eyes, and as he blinks, they fall over his cheeks again and again. They don’t stop, it feels endless. His throat feels raw from holding back his sobs, his chest feels tight, he wants to crawl into a hole and never come out. It’s like his heart is empty, his chest feels caved in, and his body doesn’t feel real. This can’t be real. This can’t be happening. Grandpa isn’t dead, he’s alive and at home in his red recliner chair. That’s all. This must be a nightmare of some sorts that Yuji just can’t wake up from—

“Easy, Yuji. Breathe with me, okay? In for four, hold for four, and out for four. I’ll do it once, then you do it with me.” Suguru instructs, one hand on Yuji’s lower back, he can feel his erratic heartbeat. Suguru had a client once that forgot to breathe when they were stressed, and it seems like Yuji is having the same thing happen. 

Yuji’s clouded mind is able to follow Suguru’s gentle instructions, he reminds Yuji of his mom he knew for a short time. He listens to Suguru breathe, feels his chest expand, and after the first round Yuji follows. He does this a few times until he’s able to do it on his own without Suguru’s help. The fogginess starts to clear up a bit, and Yuji relaxes against him. 

“There you go,” Suguru rubs his back. He doesn’t pull away from the hug, he lets Yuji do that part first. “Bug and megs have already gone inside, it starts in a few minutes. Do you need more time?” 

Yuji shakes his head, sniffling. “No, I wanna get it over with. Is Nobara already here?”

“Her car is here. I think I saw her walk inside.”

He pulls away and wipes at his eyes. “I have Megumi and Nobara but… can you and Satoru sit up from with me?”

Suguru rubs the back of his neck, “uh, I’m not sure. That’s reserved for the people closest to him.”

Yuji’s eyes water again, and he clears his throat. “Uh—not a lot of people were close to gramps. I don’t think anyone else is up front… and nobody really liked me enough in my family to invite me to live with them like you and Satoru… just… please? I don’t know a lot of these people.”

He feels for him. Suguru doesn’t know his family either. “Okay,” he puts a hand on his shoulder, and gives a reassuring squeeze. “Come on now, let’s go in and sit.”

“Thank you, Suguru.” 

_

The funeral kills Yuji a little bit more as each minute passes by. He’s able to see his distant half-brother, Choso, but they don’t talk much. Yuji remembers his mom not wanting them to meet because Yuji’s dad had an affair with another woman, and that’s how Choso was born, and she wanted nothing to do with him. He sees his uncle Sukuna, but they also never talked much. Yuji doesn’t really talk to most of his family because his family was distant to begin with. Sukuna and Yuji’s father never got along, Sukuna going no-contact with the family decades ago. Yuji never knew what happened, and now he thinks he will never know. But he does say hello to them before sitting down with the few people he considers family. 

On either side of him sits Nobara and Megumi. Megumi is very bad at comforting people, so Yuji has his head resting on Nobara’s shoulder and he’s holding Megumi’s hand in his lap. On the other side of Megumi is Satoru and Suguru next to the wall. Satoru’s never been to a funeral, barely understands the concept of death, so he’s emotionless through it all. 

Suguru on the other hand, oh, Suguru is a very empathetic man. As soon as the priest starts the speeches, Suguru is in tears as much as Yuji is (almost.) He can’t help it. He’s always been on the emotional side of things, he cries at the movies he and Satoru watch sometimes, don’t even get him started on Marley and Me or The Fox and the Hound. He’s just an emotional guy, alright?

Tears fall and Satoru’s hand is on Suguru’s thigh, comfortingly rubbing there because he knows how Suguru gets. He also made sure to ask Megumi to get him a box of tissues, and Suguru has to hold back his chuckle when Satoru hands him the entire box of tissues. 

Yuji doesn’t make a speech because he can’t handle doing so. He’s afraid of public speaking, so he didn’t want to do one anyway, gramps would understand because he hated public speaking too. 

Megumi gets to see first-hand what grief is like. After the funeral and the burial of the casket, Yuji says hello to a few people he knows (not very much) and thanks everybody for coming. He does it the best he can, but once they’re all outside again, Yuji is in Megumi’s arms with Nobara rubbing his back as his breath hitches and tears wet Megumi’s button down shirt. 

“Do you three want to stay at our place tonight?” Satoru offers the three young adults, “I mean, it’s a drive, but you’d have the entire basement area to yourselves. It’s decently nice down there, although I haven’t seen it. Megs stays down there like it’s his own apartment.”

“Well I’ve seen it.” Suguru says, one arm hooked around Satoru’s since they’re standing close to the stairs. He doesn’t want him to trip on them. “It’s not too bad. But we do understand if you guys wanna stay here. The offer is on the table. Satoru and I leave for work in the morning, so you’d have the home for yourselves until the evening. You could visit the campus if you’d like.” 

Megumi does as he watched Suguru do when he hugged Yuji before the funeral started. One of Megumi’s hands is on the back of Yuji’s head. Yuji’s head rests on Megumi’s chest, but he looks over at Suguru and Satoru, eyes red. He nods, “okay.”

“We will meet you there.” Suguru nods, looking down at Yuji. “Take your time here, we’re gonna start heading back. Megumi knows the password to get into the home. We’ll see you soon.”

“Thank you,” Yuji’s voice is small, throat raw from all the crying. 

Suguru pats him on the shoulder and after Satoru says a quick goodbye, he leads him to their car and begins their hour drive home.

Nobara drives her own car directly back to campus, following Satoru and Suguru, and that leaves Megumi to drive Yuji back to his grandpa’s house so he can pack his clothes. 

The drive back to Yuji’s grandpa’s house is silent. Megumi thinks that Yuji has tired himself out from crying. The radio softly plays so there’s some noise besides Yuji’s sniffling, and Megumi still has a hard time with comforting people. Instead of embarrassing himself, he doesn’t do anything besides drive like he’s supposed to. 

Getting clothes from Yuji’s grandpa’s house doesn’t take long because Yuji says he doesn’t want to be there. He’s oddly close to Megumi, holding onto his sleeve as they leave the home. Megumi’s never been very physically affectionate with the exception of a few hugs, that’s the most he can handle. However, Yuji is very physically affectionate. Holding onto Megumi’s arm, his sleeve, hugging, sitting close to him, he does it all. 

And Megumi… well, Megumi doesn’t really mind it. If anything, he likes being needed by somebody. 

“Can we listen to a podcast on the way to Satoru and Suguru’s house?” Yuji asks, loading his bags into the back seat.

Megumi nods, “that’s fine. Here,” he plugs his phone in as Yuji closes the door, and then sits in the passenger's seat. He switches the car over to the aux cord, puts his phone on Do Not Disturb, and allows Yuji to pick whichever podcast he wants to listen to.

Yuji chooses a crime podcast because it’s Megumi’s most recent search. He just plays where Megumi left off, and then sets Megumi’s phone back in the middle console. 

“You should get some sleep.” Megumi offers as he leaves the neighborhood, making a right turn. 

“I’m already planning on it.” Yuji’s already got a blanket in his hands. His eyes feel heavy, and his whole face is itchy. He really wants to take a warm shower and sleep the entire night. “Thanks for driving me… I can give you gas money—”

“Don’t worry about the gas money,” Megumi tells him, cutting him off. He doesn’t want Yuji to worry about anything after losing his grandpa, the most important person in his life. Megumi couldn’t imagine losing someone close like his mom or dad, or Satoru and Suguru. 

“But—”

“Yuji,” Megumi glances over at him. Yuji looks like a sad, kicked puppy. Megumi wants to make it all better again. 

He doesn’t have to say anything anymore, because Yuji must understand. He nods his head and covers himself with a blanket even though it’s summer, it’s just more comfortable to take a nap while he’s under a blanket. Yuji lays his seat back, puts the blanket over himself, and closes his eyes. 

Yuji falls asleep to the details of a crime. 

_

Yuji wakes up to a hand shaking his shoulder, and Megumi’s voice.

“Yuji, wake up, we’re here.” 

“Already?”

“We’ve been here for a little bit, Nobara wanted you to sleep longer.”

Yuji rubs his eyes before opening them. He still feels like he needs to sleep more, but he supposes that’s the reason why he’s here mostly. Satoru and Suguru didn’t want him to be alone, and this is where Megumi lives, and close to Nobara being at school so she can spend the night here instead of at her dorm. 

He gets out of the car, holding onto his blanket. “My bags?”

“I already got them inside,” Megumi says, “Nobara is out getting snacks so we can have a movie night. Satoru and Suguru are upstairs in their room, so we got the house to ourselves for a little bit.”

Yuji nods, still not fully awake. He just holds his blanket. “Okay. What movies do they have?”

“Suguru has a really big movie collection.” Megumi leads him inside, closing the door behind the both of them. “I have a TV downstairs, so we can pretty much be down there for the night if you don’t want to do anything else.”

“I feel like all I’ve been doing is sleeping and crying.” Yuji pouts. “Does it bother you?”

“No, it doesn’t bother me.” Megumi opens the door that leads to the basement. “You shouldn’t be thinking that it bothers me either.” 

“My bad.”

Megumi walks downstairs first, and lets Yuji follow him, reminding him to close the door behind him. “It’s fine. Don’t feel bad.” 

Yuji takes a look around, and he smiles a bit. The basement is so Megumi. It’s not very light. He has the windows covered, there’s very minimal decoration because Megumi is very minimalistic. He doesn’t need much. 

However, one thing Yuji does notice, is how many blankets Megumi has on his bed. It looks so inviting. He must have gotten more because he saw Yuji’s own bed at his grandpa's house—full of blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals—and now it’s come to this. To be comfy and soft and a bed that Yuji wouldn’t mind crawling into after everything that’s happened today. 

“Pick a movie,” Megumi grabs the remote to turn on the TV, and then hands it to Yuji. “Satoru and Suguru have all the streaming services. We can’t start it until Nobara gets here, she was very adamant on not starting without her.”

Yuji takes the remote, “okay. Something scary?”

Megumi looks over at him. The one person who reminds him so much of the epitome of happy, like sunshine, who is always smiling now looks so small as he holds the blanket he’s been holding since he got out of the car. Yuji’s hair is a little messed up on the right side from how he was positioned when he was sleeping, eyes and cheeks swollen, and his clothes are a bit ruffled. 

Within a short time, he went from so happy to as sad as he looks now. How hurt he looks for losing his grandpa, yet how relieved he looks to not be at that home by himself, but surrounded by friends. 

Dark, blue eyes soften. Megumi sits down on the bed, and pats the space next to him. “Anything you want.” 

For the first time today, Yuji smiles, and joins him. 

Nobara shows up around twenty minutes later with so many snacks she bullied Megumi into helping her carry them down the stairs. She joins the two boys on the bed, Yuji in between the both of them, scarfing down snack after snack, sated and happy, all three of them laughing at the ridiculously directed scary movie that Yuji picked out.

And when Yuji sleeps, his dreams are peaceful, because he’s surrounded by who he loves. 

His head rests on Megumi’s shoulder, and Megumi doesn’t dare move him. 

Nobara has a knowing look in her eye. 

They don’t see it yet. 

She says nothing, keeps it to herself, because it’s not the time.