Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Yuuji was seven when his father had died. After seven gruelling months, Jin Itadori left the world. Following him to the afterlife was Kaori Itadori, Yuuji’s mother. Kaori had gotten into a car accident, while Yuuji was mostly unscathed, Kaori herself spent a week in the hospital before she passed. Without a choice, Yuuji found himself in the care of his intimidating uncle, Sukuna.

“Brat,” the word rolled off Sukuna's tongue as if it was second nature, Yuuji looked up from the grass. That’s right, he was Sukuna’s kid now. Yuuji wiped his tears away, Mum had told him to be a good boy for uncle Sukuna so Yuuji would do his best! The young boy faced his uncle, his towering form was intimidating, like a pillar of sorts. But Yuuji knows his uncle well enough to not be afraid. “Come, let’s go.” Sukuna gestured for Yuuji to leave and so Yuuji did.

Leaving the apartment he called home, the pink haired boy stepped into Sukuna’s car. A car where he’d usually be subjected to his uncle’s teasing, where his mum would gently stroke his hair while his dad playfully bickered with Sukuna to not bully him too much. Sukuna lowered his head, sympathising with the boy as he let Yuuji mourn quietly.

Yuuji learned that day, even the scary Uncle Sukuna was kind deep down.

“Oi, brat,” Sukuna’s deep baritone voice reverberated through the house, Yuuji jumped as he quickly pulled away from the ink painting.

The pink haired boy fidgeted with his fingers nervously, he had never been over at Sukuna’s house for longer than a few hours. Sukuna didn’t like it, he would complain to Dad about a little kid running around and damaging his art. “Sorry Unc…” Yuuji bit his lips nervously, expecting a scolding. The red eyed man rubbed his chin in thought, he picked up the canvas and examined it.

“Do you like it?”

“What?”

Yuuji looked up at Sukuna, golden brown orbs meeting with red ones. Sukuna groaned, telling Yuuji not to look at him. The man complained about how gross it was that Yuuji looked like the spitting image of Jin when he was younger.

The little boy preened, he looked like Dad?! Sukuna burst into laughter at the sight of Yuuji’s face, the golden-eyed boy self consciously touched his face, was it weird? Why was Uncle laughing at him? Sukuna squatted in front of Yuuji, he passed the small canvas to Yuuji and roughly ruffled Yuuji’s hair and pinched the boy's cheeks.

“Ow, ow, ow!!” Yuuji whined, struggling in Sukuna’s grasp to get away. The red-eyed man stopped and chuckled. Come to think of it, it was Yuuji’s first time seeing Uncle laugh. Wordlessly, Sukuna picked Yuuji up and pointed at the words of the painting.

“Heavy wintertime,” Sukuna’s finger grazes over the first line of the haiku. “The young, determined bird flies.” He reads the poem with a hint of pride, the fondness in Sukuna’s eyes betrays the cold and cruel demeanour Yuuji expects of his uncle.

“In spite of the fox.” The young boy eyed his uncle curiously, he looked at the painting. A single orange stroke with black detailing was the fox, more thick black strokes depicted the winter mountainscape and a blue-grey splatter of ink was the bird.

The work was simple, undeniably so. And yet each stroke was purposeful, the dark black ink did not overpower the fox and the bird. How? Yuuji didn’t understand. Not the art nor the poem. But it was beautiful.

That was the first time Sukuna had gifted Yuuji his art, it was the first time Yuuji admired art. After that day, Yuuji didn’t find Sukuna as intimidating anymore. The unreachable character that didn’t do more than scowl or glare had a softness that was awfully human. Something Yuuji didn’t know Sukuna could be. Yuuji looked at the art, Sukuna helped him hang it up in his room. The boy smiled, maybe living with Uncle Sukuna wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Dinnertime was rather silent, Sukuna had a private chef who cooked only traditional dishes. Unc’s house is like a movie, Yuuji thinks as dinner is served. The dishes, the food, the house itself. It was all old and traditional. Sukuna also always wore a dark blue cotton yukata, if it wasn’t a yukata then it was a dark blue samue. Did Yuuji even remember Sukuna wearing other clothes? The boy can’t help but wonder how Sukuna would look in a T-shirt and shorts.

Uncle’s chef, Uraume, looked funny. He- she?- had white hair with a red mark. Yuuji couldn’t tell if Uraume was a boy or girl.

“Brat,” Sukuna’s voice brought Yuuji out of his thoughts. The boy’s eyes locked onto Sukuna’s before he tilted his head in confusion. “Why aren’t you eating?”

Oh. Yuuji looked down at his bowl, aside from the grilled mackerel and miso soup, Yuuji hadn’t really touched anything else. The tempura went untouched, the green tea was left alone and the rice went mostly untouched.

“Is it not to your tastes?” Sukuna frowned, to which Yuuji frantically shook his head. Sukuna called for Uraume, the chef leaned down and nodded their head as the pink haired man whispered something. Sukuna’s attention returned to Yuuji.

“If you can’t finish it, don’t. Tell Uraume what you like to eat.” Once he said that, Sukuna put his chopsticks down and left the low table. Uraume cleared Sukuna’s dishes and waited for Yuuji to put his chopsticks down for a good minute before clearing Yuuji’s portion as well.

Once the table was cleared, Uraume poured a glass of apple juice for Yuuji. The boy looked up at Uraume in confusion, he drank the juice as if it was his first sip of water in weeks. Yuuji wiped his lips and let out a satisfied sigh, “thank you Ura..Urame- no, uh… Uraume!” Yuuji messed up a little, and laughed awkwardly.

“Master Sukuna wants to know what you like to eat, Master Yuuji.” Uraume stated coldly, they pulled out a notepad- where were they even hiding a notepad?- and looked at Yuuji expecting an answer.

Yuuji gulped and started fidgeting with his fingers. He didn’t want to sound ungrateful… Uraume’s cooking was good but Yuuji just didn’t like it.. but Uncle said it was okay, right? After a bout of silence, Yuuji eventually spoke.

“Um… I like omurice, katsudon, pasta..” he began to list the foods Mum used to make for him. Mum’s pasta was the best!

The list Yuuji provided was rather childish, it was mostly western food, fried foods, stuff like karaage, tamagoyaki, ramen. Uraume expected most of this and noted all of it down. After Uraume was satisfied with the list, Yuuji was allowed back to his room.

Uncle’s weird, Yuuji concludes after his first day in the estate. But he doesn’t hate it as much as he assumed he would.

Chapter Text

Since moving into Sukuna’s estate, Yuuji has had little to nothing to do. All his friends were back in Sendai, no where near Hida-Takayama. With no friends to interact with, Yuuji finds himself exploring the estate curiously. The curious boy has discovered a few things about his new caregivers. For one, his uncle liked to keep bonsai trees! Everyday, at specifically 3:30pm, Sukuna would tend to his bonsai trees. The man allowed Yuuji to watch him tend to the trees but refused to let the boy touch the bonsais, to which Yuuji pouted but did as he was told. Yuuji didn’t know what was so interesting about keeping bonsai trees, they were just small trees… what was so interesting about that?

Other than bonsai trees, Yuuji also found out that Uraume feeds stray cats everyday. Yuuji spent most of his time playing with the cats. When the boy asked Uraume- whom he called Ura-chan after deciding Uraume was too difficult to say- if they had named the cats at all, Uraume said no. Well Yuuji had to change that!

The boy smiled fondly as he spent his afternoons saying different names to see if any of the cats like the sound of it. That’s how Yuuji ended up befriending the five strays now dubbed Kuriko, Kuro, Kaede, Madoka and Yui.

A few weeks after naming the five strays, Yuuji receives a box of cat toys from Uraume.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you Ura-chan!!!” Yuuji exclaimed, hugging Uraume’s leg tightly. Uraume pat Yuuji on the head with an unreadable expression before they told Yuuji to put those toys to use instead of wasting time hugging them.

Yuuji did exactly as Uraume suggested and spent the rest of the afternoon trying out the new toys with the strays, playtime got just a little bit more fun. Maybe Uraume wasn’t so weird after all!

One particular afternoon, all of the strays were nowhere at the estate. Yuuji searched high and low, calling each stray’s name but there was not a response. Dejected, the boy stared out at the dark sky. He couldn’t blame the cats for not coming over when it would rain soon but Yuuji was definitely sad his feline friends weren’t here with him…

Thus, Yuuji turned his attention somewhere else! The pink haired boy wandered around the estate until he walked past an open sliding door. It was Uncle! Yuuji stood at the doorway and gazed at his uncle. Sukuna was staring at a canvas. The canvas was empty, a blank slate.

What’s Unc gonna make? Yuuji waits with bated breath as he stares at Sukuna. The man still stared at the empty canvas with unbroken concentration. Then he picked up the brush, Yuuji’s interest piqued. Sukuna dipped his brush in a vibrant blue ink, the same colour as the summer sky. Eight strokes, they were grouped in fours and Yuji didn’t quite understand what Sukuna was painting yet but he was entranced by the concentration of his uncle. Sukuna swaped from the large brush to a thinner brush. The man dipped the ink into a pale, cream coloured ink and then a pale yellow ink. Yuji didn’t quite understand until Sukuna had somehow created a flower from a mere five strokes.

“Brat.” Sukuna grumbled as he put the brush away and turned to Yuuji. The boy blushed as he realised he’d unconsciously wandered closer and closer to his uncle in his fascination. Oops…

Yuuji stepped away hurriedly, and muttered apologies to Sukuna as he looked down guiltily. Yuuji didn’t mean to disturb Sukuna at work… His uncle grumbled and Yuuji tensed, expecting a reprimand.

“Well?” Sukuna huffed, his hands were crossed and he raised a brow at Yuuji. “Why did you come here, brat?”

The boy didn’t have a good answer. Yuuji gulped, he clutched the hem of his shirt and sniffled. It didn’t take long for his eyes to turn glassy as he struggled to give his uncle an appropriate reason. Sukuna groaned and placed a hesitant hand on Yuuji’s shoulder.

“I’m not mad…” Sukuna spoke with uncertainty, he scratched his cheek and reached into his yukata to pull out a handkerchief. “Were you curious?”

The boy nodded, working hard to keep his tears contained. With a sigh, Sukuna wiped Yuuji’s face and instead of telling the boy to go away, he brought Yuuji to sit on his lap.

“It’s not a bad thing to be curious, brat.” Sukuna picked up the thinnest brush so far and dipped it into black ink. “You can watch.” Yuuji sniffled as he continued watching, he wasn’t going to get scolded? The boy watched with renewed interest as Sukuna continued.

The blue strokes were connected by thin black strokes and they turned into butterflies! Yuuji thought the flowers were finished but then Sukuna added stems and leaves. Once again, Sukuna swapped brushes. He dipped the brush into black ink again before taking a deep breath. He wrote, with steady strokes.

Laughter of the past
Autumn years; you were barred
Mourning you again

Yuuji let out a surprised gasp and Sukuna preened with pride. The man put the canvas aside and brought out his practice pad. Sukuna shot Yuuji a challenging grin, “would you like to try?”

Chapter Text

The soft beeps of the heart monitor echoed through the hospital room. Sukuna sits beside his twin, Jin. The red-eyed twin sketches his next work, planning and working on his upcoming collection. The collection was meant to be on overcoming the struggles in life, Sukuna was confident Jin would live. He was his twin, after all. Strong, confident and reliable. That was Itadori Jin.

But the universe thought differently, it seemed.

It was June 20th when Jin’s health turned grim. The chemotherapy didn’t seem to be working and the lung cancer had progressed to stage four. The doctors had given them a prediction that Jin would have another year or so left to live.

Sukuna could only clench his fists at the news. For the first time since his youth, Sukuna felt truly helpless. His lifelong best friend, his other half, was being sentenced to death. And Sukuna had no say in the matter.

Sometime in early August, Jin became more lively. Kaori was elated, Jin was going to get better. That video call with Jin was the most relieved Sukuna had felt in his entire life, Jin was going to get better. Surely he would, he was always going to be with Sukuna. They were soulmates, nothing could separate them. Not cancer, not anything.

But things never go according to plan, do they? Sukuna could still remember that day as if it was yesterday. It was a bright summer day. A day that was unsuitable for mourning, August 15th. For some unknown reason, Sukuna felt as though he had to be by Jin’s side. There was a sickening sense of dread in the back of his mind.

The artist did not know if it was divine intervention or some sick joke but as he booked a rushed flight to Sendai, the moment he landed in the airport of his destination, Sukuna received a message from Kaori, 4:26 PM. Four minutes before he arrived in Sendai, Sukuna received news that Jin, his other half, was gone.

Sukuna had never felt like this before. The walls were closing in, the subtle chatter of people in the airport was suddenly too loud and yet Sukuna couldn’t hear anything. His chest tightened, the blood pounded into his ears and Sukuna’s vision distorted, as if through a fish-eye lense. Was he breathing? The man tightened his grip on his grey luggage, exhaling a shaky breath, he had to go.

Four hours later, Sukuna was in Sendai City Hospital. Kaori was holding Yuuji’s tiny hands, patiently explaining to the little boy that his father was not going to wake up while she herself was holding back tears.

The confused wails of Yuuji were something Sukuna would never be able to forget.

CREMATION SCENE BEGINS HERE

The red-eyed artist found himself staying in Sendai for two more days. Kaori appreciated the extra help and Sukuna was already in the city, he might as well stay until Jin’s cremation.

Picking up his twin’s bones felt surreal to Sukuna, he had always thought the two of them would be together. The man had never imagined a future where Jin was gone. Where Jin would pass before him. Where Jin would not get to grow old with his wife.

Sukuna let his eyes wander from the bones of his brother, and oh how he wished he’d never done so. Yuuji, his bright eyed nephew, on the brink of tears. His small hands trembling as he struggled to pick up his father’s bones with the long chopsticks, Sukuna could not even begin to imagine how the young boy must have felt. Losing his father at seven.

CREMATION SCENE ENDS HERE

And he did not want to know, did not even want to imagine the amount of pain and confusion that little boy must be feeling. So Sukuna left, back to Hida-Takayama. Back to his estate and his art studio.

Picking up his brush, Sukuna blocked out the world as he immersed himself in haikus and brushstrokes.

Our Intertwined Fates
One will never see Winter
Unfortunately…

Sukuna ordered Uraume to get a hold of cherry blossom seeds while he commissioned an artisan for a new bonsai pot in red clay.

How much could one person suffer? Sukuna wonders as he receives news that Kaori had been in a car accident. The universe seemed to have fun toying with his nephew’s heart. The boy survived the accident unscathed, suffering a mere scratch while his mother had one foot in death’s door. According to the hospital staff, the woman had wrapped herself around Sukuna’s nephew before the crash. It left his nephew relatively unharmed but it was a different story for Kaori.

Sukuna decided to drive to Sendai instead, something told him that Kaori was a lost cause. The same disturbing feeling in the back of his mind as when Jin had passed.

And Sukuna cursed his instincts. Two days after he’d arrived, Kaori was pronounced dead. Unlike with Jin, Yuuji was silent. His eyes were as wide as saucers as he stared at the ground. The boy was still, refusing to move an inch, before he finally cracked.

“…why…?” Yuuji croaked, clenching his fists. Sukuna sat beside Yuuji, he brought the boy’s head to his side as Yuuji sobbed. Yuuji clung to Sukuna, his voice was raw as he choked out the words, “…why’d Mum have to go…?” The brat’s grip around Sukuna tightened, he let out a pained cry before croaking again, “Did I do something wrong…? I don’t understand…!”

I don’t know, brat. I don’t know. Sukuna sat there for what felt like ages until the brat had finally calmed down enough to let go. Sukuna carried Yuuji in his arms as he brought the boy back to his parents’ apartment. There were no more words exchanged that night between the two of them, Sukuna knew the boy needed his space.

Sukuna packed both bags of ashes securely. He would have to order an artisan to make a custom urn for them. The artist regretted not indulging in pottery as well, he did not want someone else’s art to be the vessel of Jin and his beloved’s ashes. It felt wrong. Jin was his. No one else’s. No one else should get to make Jin’s final resting place but him.

But anything less than perfect would be a disgrace for his brother. It was not Sukuna’s place to make an amateur urn for his brother and sister-in-law. He would not have been able to do them justice.

Sukuna looked over at his nephew. Yuuji stared listlessly at the ground, tear lines and puffy eyes were something that Sukuna had gotten accustomed to seeing on his nephew. And it was wrong, oh so wrong. Brats like Yuuji should not be crying and mourning like this, should not even know the pain of losing a parent. But that was the unfortunate reality, wasn’t it?

“Brat,” Sukuna called out to his nephew. Crap, he’s always called Yuuji ‘brat’. It was pure instinct, he hadn’t intended on being so rough. Yuuji snapped his attention on Sukuna almost instantaneously. The boy wiped his tears away and bit his lips, his tiny fists were clenched with determination. That’s a better look for a brat. Sukuna’s lips curled slightly as he saw the determined look on Yuuji’s face.

“Come, let’s go,” Sukuna cocked his head to the side and opened the door to his red honda civic. The car felt empty without Jin and Kaori inside.

”Suku, don’t tease the boy too much! He’ll hate you at this rate, ahahaha!” Jin’s playful laughter filled the car. Sukuna retorted, he didn’t need some brat’s approval. Who cares if the brat didn’t like him? It’s not like he’ll visit them anyway. The annual family vacation did not count. “Yuuji, your unc’s a big meanie, huh?”

Sukuna tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he recalled the lighthearted chatter he used to have with Jin, Kaori would always chide Jin for distracting Sukuna while the man was driving and then Jin would finally shut up for a few moments before continuing his chatter.

Sukuna looked into his rear view mirror and saw his nephew. Right, he was not the only one missing their presence. The brat was their kid, he must have missed them even more than Sukuna. For the rest of the eight hour drive, Sukuna did not tease Yuuji or indulge in unnecessary chatter with the boy. Giving him his peace.

The brat had fallen fast asleep in Sukuna’s car by the time they arrived back home. Uraume had helped the man prepare a room for the brat so Sukuna carried the boy to his room and let him sleep.

Sukuna didn’t bother changing or showering before heading into bed, there were too many things happening. Too many changes and too much loss. The last worry the man had was a dirty futon.

Unsurprisingly, sleep eluded him. Sukuna awoke early, far too early. It was four in the morning, the man could not bring himself to continue slumbering so he brewed a cup of tea. Three tea bags, 500ml of water and two spoonfuls of sugar. Sukuna sat on the patio as he looked at his bonsai garden.

“I can’t believe you died to lung cancer of all things,” Sukuna grumbled, running a hand through his messy hair. “You didn’t even smoke and yet you got lung cancer. Always so full of surprises, aren’t you, Jin?” Sukuna took a sip of his tea, the strong bitterness was soothing. He remembered video calling Jin at around the same time, approximately four to five AM, when his twin studied abroad. Of course Jin had to go to some inconvenient place to study and of course his stupid brother insisted they called everyday.

“Remember what Mother used to tell us?” Sukuna leaned back and let his eyes drift close. “They thought I had absorbed you in the second trimester because they couldn’t find you in the ultrasound, heh.” The pink haired man pinched his nose bridge as his eyes began to sting. “And then you… you were born anyway… surprising the entire room be-because you were… you had disappeared for months… no one saw you in the ultrasound and…”

“Fuck…” Sukuna took a deep breath, opening his eyes, the man wiped the tears away and raised his metal cup of tea. “You were strong and brave until the very end, Jin.” Sukuna quavered, he chugged half the cup of tea in one sitting and sighed. Hope you’re proud that it’s finally you that made me cry instead of the other way round, stupid Jin.

Sukuna turned his attention to two flowerpots, each with a sapling sprouting. In time, they would flourish into grand cherry blossom trees. One, untouched and allowed to stand tall while the other would be carefully pruned and turned into a bonsai.

The brat woke up around the afternoon, Sukuna ordered Uraume to make something simple for the brat. ‘Simple’ turned out to be pancakes, the brat seemed quite satisfied with the meal so Sukuna had no comments on having something sweet instead of savoury for his first meal of the day.

Later on, Sukuna found Yuuji looking through the artworks for his upcoming collection. They were the drafts and the rejected pieces. They each had something Sukuna found displeasing, either there was a brushstroke too thick or maybe he’d messed up a little towards the end of the piece.

“Oi, brat.” Yuuji jumped at the sudden call. Sukuna held back his laughter, seeing the brat all jumpy was somewhat amusing. He was like a curious cat, so focused on something that Yuuji had not noticed Sukuna approaching.

As Yuuji apologised for no reason, Sukuna was deep in thought. The brat was admiring his work. Maybe the little punk did have some artistic flair after all? He wasn’t a lost cause like Jin? Hmm…

“Do you like it?” Sukuna asked, the rejected piece was part of this pile since Sukuna thought it didn’t fit the collection. He had no qualms about giving it to the brat.

“What?” The brat stared back at Sukuna owlishly, as if his pea-sized brain didn’t even understand simple questions. It was that same stupid expression Jin would give Sukuna when he did not understand the rant Sukuna would go on about some artwork.

“Don’t look up at me with his face, brat. It’s gross,” Sukuna grumbled, furrowing his brows. The brat, instead of getting upset, suddenly beamed. Yuuji’s golden eyes sparkled and he had a stupidly broad smile on his face.

“Pfft-” Sukuna pursed his lips to hold his amused laughter back. The brat’s face was priceless, he began to touch his face with a bewildered look on his face. Sukuna squatted before the small brat, he held up the piece that Yuuji was staring at and carried up his nephew.

Sukuna ran a hand through Yuuji’s hair, ruffling it roughly like he used to do for Jin. Then he pinched those round cheeks that were still full of baby fat. The brat whined and fought to be free from Sukuna’s grasp until he finally stopped. The artist traced his fingers over the words of his haiku, of his once hopeful wishes that Jin would persevere and defeat cancer.

“Heavy wintertime
The young, determined bird flies
In spite of the fox.”

The brat seemed entranced by the poem and Sukuna found it amusing. He helped the brat hang the canvas in his room.

Dinner that day was less than satisfactory, Sukuna hadn’t considered that the brat might have been a picky eater. Sukuna called Uraume over.

“Make sure you find out the brat’s tastes, I can’t have him starving on me.”

Uraume gave Sukuna an interesting tidbit of news. The brat was befriending the strays that frequented the estate.

What did Sukuna do with that information? Naturally, he went to the pet store and cleared out the entire toy aisle for cats. Sukuna bought everything he could, aside from cat beds and scratching poles. Perhaps he’d consider getting them if the brat requested it.

Sukuna ordered Uraume to place the toys in one of the spare storage boxes and placed it where the brat would play with the strays. Knowing that the brat had returned to being a smiling idiot at least for a moment was satisfactory for the man.

Sukuna was working on the last few pieces of his Autumn collection, the expected timeline for the release would be after the brat started elementary school after Summer Break, so approximately mid-September to October. Speaking of school, Sukuna would have to find a good one for the brat, hm? Oh well, he’ll focus on that tomorrow. Sukuna began to paint, he already had a clear idea of the piece, he’s planned it out for a while now.

While the man was painting, he felt a pair of eyes on him. Shrugging it off, Sukuna worked on his piece for a while longer before he sighed, the man was perfectly content with ignoring the brat until Yuuji had wandered into the room, “brat.”

Yuuji stiffened. Whoops, was that a little harsh? Sukuna grumbled, this is why he hates kids. He never knows how to interact with them.

“Well?” The artist raised a curious brow, Jin’s kid couldn’t possibly be interested in art, could he? Sukuna’s brother had zero artistic sense so the man found himself rather intrigued. “Why did you come here, brat?”

“Eh..?” Sukuna stared in shock as the brat started to tear up. Wait, what did I do?! Sukuna furrowed his brows and panicked. There’s a reason Sukuna never considered becoming a parent, he has no idea how to treat kids!

Seeing Yuuji’s tears threatening to spill, Sukuna hesitantly placed a hand on Yuuji’s shoulder. This is okay, right?

“I’m not mad…” The man cleared his throat and pulled out a handkerchief, he looked at Yuuji with uncertainty. “Were you curious?”

When the brat nodded, Sukuna sighed. All of that because the brat wanted to watch him work? Sukuna will never understand kids…

Sukuna pulled Yuuji onto his lap. “It’s not a bad thing to be curious, brat.” He changed to the detail brush. “You can watch.” Sukuna added the final details to the Morpho butterflies and the lilies before swapping to his preferred calligraphy brush. As he finished writing the haiku, the brat gasped in awe.

So the brat does have artistic taste. Sukuna smirked proudly. Art was the only thing he did that interested the brat, this is what they call a ‘bonding opportunity’ right?

Sukuna reached over to grab his practice pad, flipping the pad to a blank page, Sukuna shot the brat a challenging grin.

“Would you like to try?”

Chapter Text

“Would you like to try?”

Yuuji nodded fervently, to which Sukuna took the boy’s hands into his own, picking up a calligraphy brush. “Alright then, I’ll teach you.”

Sukuna began guiding the boy on how to hold a calligraphy brush. He held the Yuuji’s hand and began writing his name. The letters were shaky, the ink was smudged and the words were mostly unintelligible but Yuuji beamed as he looked at the final work. There, in messy and clumsy strokes, was his name, Itadori Yuuji.

“Not bad for the first try. You can come back tomorrow if you want to do more, brat.”

Those words changed Yuuji’s life in a way he’d never expected. The feeling of the brush in his hands, the way his hands shakily wrote his name. The boy was enraptured. From that day onwards, he found himself in Sukuna’s studio.

His uncle was not a pleasant teacher, Sukuna’s temper was short and Yuuji spent most of his time pouting while his stern-faced uncle oversaw him practicing his letters.

“Brat, your handwriting is abysmal,” Sukuna scowled, picking up the practice pad. The man used a red pen to circle the errors Yuuji made, forcing Yuuji to fix the mistakes and practice his corrections five times. Only after the corrections were deemed satisfactory would Sukuna let Yuuji move on from writing the same phrase over and over again.

Yuuji furrowed his brows as he carefully wrote a short poem Sukuna provided.

Soaring through Summer
Birds singing, Cicadas buzz—
Silence… the wind blows

The boy made sure he wrote the words neatly, they were aligned and Yuuji did his best to keep the words from drifting downwards or sideways. Keeping words aligned was harder than he thought, without the lines of a notebook it was easy for them to drift. The golden-eyed boy looked at his Uncle’s works with a newfound admiration.

Presenting his work to Sukuna, the boy watched with bated breath as his uncle scanned the words on the page. Sukuna smirked before writing something on the pad.

“Well done, brat.” Sukuna passed the pad back to Yuuji and the boy smiled. It was the first time he received a ‘well done’ on his work. The young boy ran his thumb over the flower doodle beside the praise. If he did well then Sukuna would praise him. Yuuji would do anything to get more flowers on his work!

And so he did, Yuuji practiced his letters and dutifully completed the homework assigned by Sukuna. Steadily, his handwriting improved. His uncle stopped commenting on the boy’s handwriting and instead focused on the spelling errors or the drifting letters.

Today, they would not be focusing on spelling, letter practice or aesthetics. No, Sukuna was going to teach Yuuji about haikus! The pink-haired boy was excited, Uncle always had haikus in his work and he wanted to learn how to make his own as well!

“Wipe that dumb grin off your face and focus,” Sukuna frowned, Yuuji giggled in reply before rubbing his cheeks. The man rolled his eyes and proceeded with his lesson.

“The first thing you’ll need to know about haikus is that they always have three lines,” Sukuna pointed to Yuuji’s practice pad. “See? It’s always three lines.”

Yuuji nodded, he listened intently as Sukuna proceeded to explain the other components of a haiku. The most basic rule was that haikus follow a 5/7/5 rule. The first verse had five syllables, the second verse had seven and the last verse had five again. A poem is not a haiku if it does not comply with that rule.

Knowing that, Yuuji began to count syllables on his fingers as he thought of a haiku. The boy furrowed his brows in thought before his eyes lit up, I think I got it! “Then is this a haiku? I like to eat eggs, very yummy and filling. Tamagoyaki!”

Sukuna buried his face in his hands and burst into laughter. Why was his uncle laughing at him? Had he done something wrong? Yuuji pondered as he clenched his fists. The haiku followed the rule, so why was the man laughing at him? Yuuji pouted, the boy furrowed his brows as he suffered the humiliation of his uncle laughing at what he assumed was a mistake. Once Sukuna finally calmed, he had an amused grin as he looked at Yuuji.

“Of course that’s the first haiku you think of. Does that brain of yours think of anything other than food?” Sukuna teased, the man chuckled before clearing his throat. “Yes, brat. That is a haiku. A very simple and childish one.”

Yuuji huffed. “‘M not childish…”

“Oh really now?” Sukuna ignored Yuuji’s pouting and continued his explanation. While Yuuji’s haiku on eggs was not wrong, a traditional haiku contained one word that was about a season, otherwise known as kigo. Words like warm, cold, or just the season itself. It is not considered necessary for crafting a haiku but it gave the haiku a level of class and sophistication. Or as Sukuna had explained to the boy, “the flowery language makes it look cool.”

Aside from words evoking a seasonal feeling, haikus also traditionally had a kireji. Kireji, otherwise known as a cutting word, served as a sort of ‘break’ in the middle or end of a haiku. The kireji’s purpose is to break the reader’s stream of thought or cements the end of a point.

“For example, brown leaf dry quivers, a sudden gust; branches snap, beauty in dying.” Sukuna wrote out the haiku for Yuuji. “See that? This is called a semicolon. You’ve seen it before. That is a kireji.” According to Sukuna, a kireji is just punctuation. A dash or an ellipsis were the most common forms of kireji.

Yuuji nodded, his brows were knit together as he tried to process all the information. Sukuna pat Yuuji on the head two times before ending the lesson for the day.

“Process the information yourself, brat. Don’t come back until you understand.” Sukuna had told Yuuji before he left.

Practice pad and pencil in hand, Yuuji sat on the walkway facing the garden. Most of the strays frequented this area and Yuuji hummed in thought as he idly played with the cats.

The boy scratched a white cat with blue eyes, Kuro. Kuro, contrary to his appearance, was named as such because the cat liked that name. Yuuji grumbled, “Kuro~” he whined, “haikus are hard~!” He sighed as his hands idly stroked the stray’s fur. Kuro meowed in response, its white tail swaying in content as it sat on Yuuji’s lap.

Frustrated, Yuuji sighed. He pulled out the practice pad and started doodling inside. His muse for today? Kuro. The boy sketched Kuro’s peaceful sleeping expression as he thought about Sukuna’s lesson today.

The summer heat was killing Yuuji, the boy wonders how Uraume and Sukuna are able to survive in their yukatas in this weather.

Mindlessly, Yuuji keeps sketching. Kuro, ever the lazy cat, stays stone still on the boy’s lap. A distant voice then called for Yuuji inside for dinner, breaking the boy’s concentration.

“Coming Ura-chan!” Yuuji closes the practice pad and nudged Kuro off his lap. “See you tomorrow, Kuro~” the boy stroked the cat for a final time before heading into the dining room where Uraume had prepared omurice for him and Sukuna.

Yuuji gobbles the omelette rice down and chases it with a special peach-jasmine tea Uraume makes. “Ura-chan your cooking’s the best!”

“Don’t yell, brat,” Sukuna reprimands, finishing his meal as well. Yuuji lowered his head and laughed sheepishly before apologising.

Yuuji furrowed his brows. It’s been a day since Sukuna tasked him with processing the requirements of a haiku, his homework was to craft his own haiku and Sukuna refused to teach him anything more if the boy failed to come up with a suitable one.

Mm… Unc you meanie! The boy huffed, he laid down on the patio and a cat’s paw pressed on his cheek. It didn’t take long for the owner of the paw to smack Yuuji’s face affectionately.

“Kuriko, ow!!” Yuuji sat up to look at the calico cat which had just hit him in the face meowed at him as if it had done no wrong. The boy sighed, it was difficult to stay mad at the emerald eyed calico when it stared at Yuuji with such an innocent expression.

“Hmm, how does Unc come up with so many haikus…?” Yuuji pondered for a while as he watched Kuriko swat at a mouse toy the boy was dangling.

Summer Break will be ending soon, in one day, actually. Yuuji leaned on his left hand as he thought about the kind of school he might attend. The boy was giddy with anticipation, he had left his friends back in Sendai so Yuuji was more than happy to start school again just to make some new friends!

The stray calico cat meowed for attention, Yuuji chuckled. The other strays were rather quiet but Kuriko was always verbal about its wants. The boy reached down and gave Kuriko chin scratches while the cat trilled in delight.

I still need to think about a haiku… hehe Kuriko’s so cute when it meows~ Yuuji brought his free hand to Kuriko’s ears and gave the kitty some ear scratches as well. I can’t wait to make some new friends!! I wonder what everyone else is doing in summer break? Yuuji’s expression faltered as he recalled his friends back in Sendai. He would miss them. But that’s okay! He’ll just make more friends! Ehehehe, but you kitties will always be my best friends, the boy picked Kuriko up and cradled the confused creature as he grinned, inspiration finally struck!

Sun shines down on me
Furry friend curls on my lap
Nya~ they call for me

Sukuna scanned the haiku Yuuji presented during dinner, the boy fidgeted anxiously. Neither of them touched the sumptuous meal before them and Yuuji bounced in his seat. Is the haiku good? Is Unc gonna praise me?

“Brat,” the boy shot his head up, gazing at Sukuna expectantly. The man reached out and roughly ruffled Yuuji’s hair, the boy’s lips curled into a smile.

“Well done,” Sukuna praised before letting go.

With that, dinner began. Uraume learned a new recipe for baked rice and asked Yuuji and Sukuna to review it. The boy had no feedback, it was delicious! So delicious that Yuuji wished he could eat it everyday!

Mm… if I had it everyday then it wouldn’t be as special, Yuuji thought as he shovelled another spoonful into his mouth. I guess I won’t eat it everyday then, he thought, a grin on his face.

While Yuuji had no complaints, Sukuna began his list as he finished the meal. “It’s rather bland, consider more seasoning. The scallops… they’re rather tough, likely overcooked. Substitute it for prawns, perhaps. Other than that, it was satisfactory.”

“Thank you for the feedback, Master Sukuna,” Uraume bowed, a slight smile on their face.

Sukuna then turned to Yuuji. “Brat, make sure you fall asleep early today. Tomorrow we’re touring the school before your first day there. If you wake up late, I’m not allowing you to enter my studio.”

Yuuji’s face fell at the notion of being barred from the art room. Unbelievable! Especially not after he had finally given his uncle a suitable haiku that gave him back his Art Room privileges! Yuuji made sure to sleep early that night, he refused to be locked out from that room!!

Chapter Text

People are the worst. Megumi concludes that as he finds him and his sister alone in their apartment. Dad- no, that man had left them to rot. Tsumiki protested, she kicked up a fuss and grabbed onto Toji’s shirt.

“Stop being a bum and take care of us!!” Tsumiki hissed, her futile effort to keep Toji from leaving was met with a slap on the wrist as the man left anyway. Megumi’s stomach growled, it had been like this ever since Mum died. The boy hugs his pillow closer to his chest, a soft grumble escapes.

Toji forgot to give him and Tsumiki food last night. Of course, the very next day, he left the house to ‘work’ without making anything for the two children.

“It’s okay Megumi, I’ll take money from his wallet when he gets back! Then we can eat,” Tsumiki extended her pinky to the boy, smiling sweetly. Megumi hooked their pinkies together with a nod, something told him Toji would not be coming back.

And the man did not.

Tsumiki chewed her lips anxiously, she paced around the apartment searching for anything she could offer to Megumi. The black-haired boy kept the pillow hugged closely to his chest, watching his sister scavenge the kitchen for a snack or anything edible.

But Toji never stocked the pantry, he never stocked the fridge. Why would he? The man only ever ate takeout and after the passing of their mother, there was no one else in the house to cook.

Tsumiki felt the tears of frustration fall, in a fit of rage the eight-year-old smashed one of Toji’s beer bottles on the ground. The glass scattered across the kitchen floor and Tsumiki dropped the bottleneck, her hands trembling as she looked at the shattered glass.

Megumi shuddered, the boy hesitantly stood up, inching closer to his enraged sister. “Ts-Tsumiki…?”

Tsumiki grabbed Megumi’s hands, “screw this place!!” The older girl dragged him out of the apartment, she stormed off into the streets with Megumi in tow. That was the last time they saw the apartment.

Seeing two unkempt and malnourished kids was an odd sight for sure. For that same reason, it did not take long for an onlooker to call the police on the odd pair.

And that was how Megumi found himself sitting in a car with Tsumiki. Approximately two weeks have passed since she had dragged Megumi out of the house. After the police were called on the two kids, it was discovered that Toji went missing and it left the siblings with no legal guardian. As such, the pair entered the foster system.

“The family you’re heading to is really nice, I’m sure the two of you will get settled right in,” their caseworker smiled at them warmly. Megumi paid the woman no mind as he kept a tight grip on Tsumiki’s hand.

The boy looked out the window, they were in a rich part of Tokyo, definitely. For one, they were not near any apartments. Second, the houses were large and modern. The polar opposite of the small and cramped apartments Megumi was used to seeing in Tokyo.

Tsumiki was mumbling something under her breath, Megumi could vaguely guess what she was on about. Foster parents were given some allowance per child, both of them had a good idea on what kind of foster home they were going to.

People are cruel, after all. The two half-siblings knew that ever since their mother passed. The car finally stopped in front of a large, white, house with some grey accents and dark brown wood veneer on the second floor. It was modern in design, appearing around three stories tall and there was a large garden as well.

A very tall young man with white hair stepped out of the house excitedly, they donned a pair of black and circular sunglasses as well as a sleek white blouse. A young couple, then, Megumi assumes.

Probably only took us in to exploit the allowance… Megumi chewed the insides of his mouth as he and Tsumiki stepped out of the car.

“Satoru, you’re going to overwhelm them,” shortly after the white-haired man came a slightly shorter, though nonetheless tall, man with long waist-length black hair and purple eyes. A roommate? Where’s the wife? Megumi creased his brows in thought.

Tsumiki bows, Megumi follows. The two men scanned the siblings for a while before they engaged in chatter with the caseworker. After the short conversation, they wave the woman goodbye as she drives away. The boy stares at the ground, kicking his feet while Tsumiki took the lead.

“Thank you for taking care of us,” she states, bowing once more. Megumi copies his sister and they wait for the two men’s reaction.

The white-haired one, Satoru, squats down to be eye level with the kids. “Hey there,” Satoru says as he lifts his sunglasses to wink at them. His eyes were mesmerising, a blue even brighter than a clear summer sky and looking like crystals the boy would see in jewellery shops.

Megumi gasps at the sight. The man was, for lack of a better word, beautiful. Megumi was enraptured by Satoru, the man was otherworldly handsome! And one would think such a cool and handsome face would be paired with an equally handsome personality but Megumi was quickly proven wrong.

“Are you sure you’re a boy? You’re as cute as the other girls~” Satoru cooed, lips curling into a mischievous grin as he held out his hands as if he were going to tickle someone. “You don’t look like a boy~”

Megumi glares at Satoru, he puffed his cheeks and tightened his grip on Tsumiki’s hand. “Creep,” the spiky-haired boy says, which elicited a dejected look on the white-haired man.

“Suguru, did you hear that?! He called me a creep!! No way, someone as handsome as me~?!” Satoru whined, he was quickly hit on the head by the black-haired man he called ‘Suguru’.

Suguru sighed, shaking his head. “I told you being overbearing would be a bad first impression,” the man rolled his eyes before he knelt down.

“I’m sorry about my friend over there. I’m Geto Suguru, feel free to call me whatever you’re comfortable with,” Geto spoke softly, he refrained from coming too close and gave the siblings plenty of personal space. Megumi liked that about him. Geto was nicer than Satoru, the man was more gentle and respectful of their space than that white-haired man-child. Megumi liked Geto.

Thus the Fushiguro siblings got settled into the eccentricities of their new temporary home. Gojo, as Megumi learned was the white-haired buffoon’s name, was as annoying as he was the first time they met. Even after a week of being in the Gojo household, Megumi still struggled to fit in with his housemates.

For one, aside from their guardians, Megumi was the only boy in the house. Geto and Gojo had two other foster kids, Mimiko Hasaba and Nanako Hasaba, both nine years old. It was interesting to the boy that the pair had taken in two sets of siblings into their house under foster care. It’s almost as if everything in the house came in twos, Megumi thought.

Mimiko is the younger twin, she has a head of dark brown hair styled in a bob with equally dark eyes. She liked to play with dolls and play dress up, Tsumiki and her got along swimmingly. The boy always saw Mimiko with her odd-looking plush pink doll. He could not tell what the plush was meant to be, he assumed it was supposed to be a humanoid alien but the work was so sloppy it was difficult to tell.

Any questions directed at Mimiko were met with the same response, “Mii-chan is Mii-chan! Nothing else!” While the girl smiled and hugged the cursed-looking doll tightly. The first time Megumi saw Mii-chan, he had nightmares of that doll chasing him. Safe to say, Megumi avoided that doll.

Then there was Nanako, the older twin. Nanako was less intimidating than Mimiko- and her creepy doll- or Megumi had thought. The first day they had interacted, Nanako was observant and silent. By the third day, however? Nanako began inviting Megumi to play dress-up, when the boy adamantly refused, he was dragged into playing anyway because Tsumiki pleaded with him.

Nanako looked similar to Mimiko in terms of her facial features but Nanako had light chestnut-coloured hair that was bordering blonde in colour. Aside from that they looked identical, from their hair to their height, especially since they had the same eye colour.

It was one such day when Megumi was forced into playing tea party with the girls- forced not willingly because he would never like doing this- that Gojo had walked in on them.

Unlike Geto, who worked as a teacher in a high school nearby, Gojo worked from home. The annoying man usually stayed in his office though so it was rare to see him out.

Speaking of Geto and Gojo, Megumi wondered when his wife would return. They were fostered under Gojo’s name so Geto was just a roommate. Maybe the man had a busy wife? Gojo definitely did not seem like the type to foster children as a single father. If it were that case, they would have been fostered under Geto’s name, who seemed much more tolerant and mindful of the children.

Regardless, Megumi scowled the moment he saw the white haired man enter. As expected, Gojo’s eyes scanned the room and immediately locked eyes with a mortified Megumi.

“Ah! What’s this~? Are you girls having a tea party?” Gojo smirked, he squatted down beside Tsumiki. Megumi clicked his tongue, girl, of course he would tease him like this.

“Sato-nii! Play with us,” Mimiko pulled one of the wooden stools in the living room to her side. “You can be a prince!” The man in question smiles as he nods in agreement, Nanako rushes to rummage through the toy box to find a crown.

“Why does he get to be a prince but I’m a princess??” Megumi furrowed his brows, glaring at Mimiko. The boy crosses his arms, why does Gojo get a crown but he gets forced to wear a tiara? The older girl giggled before she turned to Tsumiki, the two girls shared a mischievous look.

“Because you’re the cutest one!” Tsumiki and Mimiko say in unison, Megumi puffs his cheeks. He is not cute! Boys are not cute, they are strong and dependable, not cute!!

Nanako rushes back and stands before Gojo. “Your majesty,” she presents the crown to the man excitedly, a bright smile on her face as he takes the crown.

“Why thank you very much princess Nanako,” Gojo takes the crown gratefully and places it atop his head. Tsumiki pours him a cup of tea and the man bows thankfully, taking a small sip from the cup. The man settled into the tea party as if he was there from the start.

As if being forced to dress in one of Tsumiki’s smaller dresses wasn’t humiliating enough, now Gojo had to join in on the teasing. The man smiled gleefully as he teased, the words rolling off his tongue smoothly. Princess Megumi.

Megumi stormed off from that tea party that day.

Someone knocked on Megumi’s door, the boy remained silent, hugging his pillow as he pouted. Everyone in this house called him cute. He is not. He is a big boy, a dependable and cool boy. Not a little girl. Not cute. The person outside the door waited for a while before knocking again.

“Megumi? Can I come in?” The voice was Geto. He waited patiently before he turned the door handle, “I’m coming in, okay?” No response. Geto pushed the door open and set a tray of food down on Megumi’s desk.

Geto sat down beside Megumi’s bed, where the boy was curled up and sulking. The man kept his distance, respectful of Megumi’s space. “You didn’t come down for dinner today, something bothering you?” Geto asked, his eyes were closed. Megumi wonders why, was he tired? He probably was, the man had a full-time job as a teacher. The boy felt a twinge of guilt, Geto was a busy man but he was wasting the man’s time.

“…m’not hungry…” Megumi answered with a lie, he tightened his grip around the pillow. There was a comforting blanket of silence between the two, Geto just sat there while the boy sulked.

“Is it because Satoru won’t stop teasing you?” There it was. Geto had hit the nail right on the head. Megumi winced, it was a very silly thing to be upset over, he knew. But Megumi was still upset.

The boy shook his head, lies. Geto could tell, the man chuckled and stood up. “Do you want to talk about it while you eat or do you want me to leave while you eat? We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”

Megumi appreciates the choice, he mulls it over before coming out from under his blanket. “…what’s for dinner?”

Geto smiled, he brought the tray to the low table, dinner was cabbage-pork soup with an egg. Megumi picks up the spoon and begins to eat after thanking Geto for the meal.

The man doesn’t prod Megumi for answers, he waits until the boy is willing to talk, which Megumi is quite thankful for.

Megumi brings a piece of meat to his mouth, chewing thoroughly as he thinks about what to say. The boy decides to spill everything he dislikes, Mimiko’s creepy doll, Nanako and all the other girls forcing him to be a princess, Tsumiki joining in on the teasing and of course, Gojo constantly calling him a girl or at least teasing about how cute he was.

“Satoru is a handful, I know,” Geto chuckled, he pushes the cold lemon-chamomile tea towards Megumi for the boy to drink. “I’ll talk to him about it. My Satoru’s always like this, he’s a little insensitive but I promise he doesn’t hate you.”

Megumi frowned, he sipped the tea and grumbled. “But he’s so mean!”

“He is, isn’t he?” Geto giggles, the man watches Megumi affectionately. “Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into when I agreed to be his boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Megumi asks incredulously. But the two of them are boys! Boys like girls, don’t they?

Sensing Megumi’s confusion, Geto laughed. “Are you surprised? It’s weird for two boys to be together, isn’t it?”

“But why?”

“Hmm,” Geto hums in thought, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. Megumi is too shocked by this tidbit of news to continue eating, he wants answers and he wants them now! “Well, I guess it’s because I love him and he loves me. Simple as that.”

Megumi’s face pinched, “but… but he’s so…”

“Annoying?”

“Yeah,” the boy spooned more soup into his mouth. He hates Gojo. That man would not stop teasing him no matter how hard he told him to stop! Megumi couldn’t understand how anyone could like him.

Geto bursts into laughter at Megumi’s answer, the man slapped his thighs as he laughed. Geto took a deep breath to centre himself, “yeah. I can see why you don’t like him, Megumi. But give him a chance, alright?”

The man looked at Megumi, his amethyst eyes crinkled into half moons. The boy made no promises but said he wouldn’t hate Gojo. For now.

~Omake~
Tsumiki: I like my new home!!
Mimiko: New friend? :D
Nanako: Cute younger brother! What a cutie~
Satoru: Are you sure you’re a boy?
Suguru: I hope the new kids will get long with the others.

Megumi: …’m not cute… I’m a big boy… :(

Chapter Text

Four weeks after moving into the Gojo household, the Fushiguro siblings started attending the same Elementary School as the Hasaba twins. Megumi was thankful for the change, school meant homework and homework meant the girls in the house had less time to tease him about being cute. The boy grimaced at the thought; he was not cute.

Regardless, his personal preferences did not stop anyone in the house from teasing him. Especially not Gojo. The man had bought school supplies for the siblings and…

“Why is there a pink bag…?” Megumi furrowed his brow, he knew Tsumiki disliked pink. If Gojo was going to buy her a bag he should at least do it right! The man in question looked up from the grocery bags, and he grinned.

“Why, it’s for you of course, ‘gumi~!”

Megumi was going to kill that man one day. Tsumiki put a hand on Megumi’s shoulder, “It’s okay, I’ll take the pink bag. You can take the black one.” She smiled at him kindly.

But you hate pink… Megumi bit his lip. He did not want his sister to take a bag that she disliked just because he didn't like it too. With a defeated sigh, Megumi accepted the pink bag to use for however long his school days would be.

Tsumiki’s brows creased, “Are you sure?” The boy nodded, he would hate for Tsumiki to get a bag she disliked. Plus, the bag was a gift from Gojo. It would be rude to reject it, and Megumi did not want to be seen as selfish or ungrateful.

To Megumi's horror, Gojo then pulled out a pink notebook, pencil case, and matching pink stationery. Megumi tightened his grip on the bag straps, gritting his teeth while trying to keep calm. Geto told him to ‘try’ and get along with the idiot but in the boy’s opinion, they will never get along at this rate.

A familiar shrill voice broke Megumi’s frustrated trance. The boy turned away from Gojo to see Mimiko running down the stairs. The young girl looked at the bag in Megumi's hands and gleamed, “Sato-nii! You bought the bag I wanted!! Thank you so much,” Mimiko ran up to the white-haired man and hugged his leg.

Gojo ruffled the girl’s hair, “Anything for you!” He grinned, pulling out a third bag from under the table.

It was black, as Megumi had requested. Oh...

The boy exhaled slowly, closing his eyes as he let his frustration exit his system. It took everything in the boy from exploding when the moron before him mouthed ‘got you’, and stuck his tongue out at Megumi mockingly. His patience grows thinner for Gojo every single day.

It was the third week of September, around two months of living with the Gojo household, when the man began to gush about some art exhibit. Turns out, the man was an artist, a really popular artist. Mimiko and Nanako joined Gojo in gushing about the event, talking about all the fun and pretty things to look forward there.

In Megumi's opinion, writing a parent's letter to excuse your children to visit an art exhibit was irresponsible. Education is important, at least, that was what his mother would say to Tsumiki all the time, according to her. Regardless, if attending his guardian's art exhibit meant skipping class, Megumi did not mind at all. Maths was a bore and the boy gladly joined the rest of the family, sans Gojo, in the car ride to the location. The insufferable man had to leave early to do some final checks on the works.

"Papa, are we there yet?" Nanako chirped, brimming with excitement, swinging her feet as she peered out the window. All the children in the house called Geto some form of 'Dad' while they called Gojo 'Satoru' or 'nii-san'. Megumi still called the two by their names but he would occasionally call Geto 'Dad'. The same could not be said for Gojo for the boy could not respect that idiot.

Geto chuckled, he made a left turn and soon a large building with a bold sign was in sight. The girls began to chatter excitedly, though Megumi did not join in on the conversation, he was feeling the excitement as well. The twins had shown them each of the artists from last year's information cards and the boy certainly found them appealing. Specifically the artist 'Ryoumen'.

Megumi liked his art, whereas the other artists had drawn illustrations, painted or had pictures of their sculptures, Ryoumen had a haiku with a simple painting of a vibrant blue hydrangea to represent the summer collection. 'Blue sky and warm day, abloom are the hydrangeas, fleeting summer day...' the haiku read. The work was simple but it made Megumi feel. Something about the haiku evokes the fun days of summer break until its last week when he would rush to finish homework with Tsumiki after having fun.

The children unbuckled their seatbelts as soon as Geto parked the car, rushing out to the building as soon as the doors opened.

"Remember to hold hands, alright? It's a big place," the man led the way to the exhibit, showing the security guard their entrance tickets. Gojo received them for free since they were tickets for his relatives, Megumi wondered what the price for one ticket would cost.

The thought was soon forgotten once he saw the artwork being displayed. There were paintings larger than Gojo being shown, odd-looking works that changed depending on the perspective, and individual canvases that made up a larger work when put together, like a big puzzle coming together.

Before Megumi even realised, he was no longer holding onto Tsumiki's hand.

Suguru liked to pride himself on being responsible. He had two younger sisters and one older brother, he was used to the rowdiness of many children in a small house. After handling two little girls well, Suguru was keen on fostering the Fushiguro siblings when he found out they needed a home.

The man thought he could handle four children. Just two more kids and this time he even had Mimiko and Nanako on deck to keep an eye on the new additions to their family. What could go wrong?

But as Suguru finally spotted the entrance to his boyfriend's section of the exhibit, he began the headcount. Right, Nanako's right there, and so is Tsumiki and Mimiko... The tall male looked around for his shortest, and youngest, child. Nothing.

The man gulped, palms sweating as he started the headcount again. Nothing.

Nanako turned to her father, sensing something was wrong, gathered the others. Realisation dawned upon her as she tugged at Suguru's pant leg.

"Papa, I can't find Megumi!" Nanako shouted, eyes wide with panic and brows creased. The black-haired male exhaled a shaky breath.

Get your shit together, Suguru. You just lost one of your kids!

As the man weaved through the crowd over to his spouse, he held Tsumiki and Nanako's hands. Mimiko held onto her older sister as the quartet met up with Satoru.

Tsumiki's eyes were glassy, her only task was to keep track of her brother and she had failed. The girl muttered apologies and words of worry for her brother. Mimiko offered her doll to her, to which Tsumiki accepted it graciously.

Satoru, blissfully unaware, was signing autographs on the information cards. Most people in the line were just fangirls who thought he was attractive, though Satoru didn't mind. All publicity is good publicity! Besides, who could resist someone as devilishly handsome as him? Being that beautiful must be a sin.

"Sugu," the man turned to Suguru, a bright smile on his face. The blue-eyed man furrowed his brows, "What's wrong?"

Seeing his spouse struggle to get the words out, Satoru grinned playfully, "Aww, does Sugu have a stomachache? You can leave the kids here with me while you-"

Suguru shook his head. "Satoru, I lost Megumi," the man finally managed to squeeze out the words. Satoru's smile dropped, his crystal-blue eyes widened and his brows knit together tightly. The white-haired man stammered, grabbing Suguru's shoulders.

"YOU WHAT?"

The spiky-haired boy wandered around the exhibit he wound up in. Geto taught them all that if they ever got lost, they should stay put. While Megumi wasn't exactly staying put, the boy stuck to the area where he realised he was lost.

He tried to stay put, he truly did. It all went well until the boy looked around and realised where he was. Wooden partitions had scrolls of art hung up, each displaying a haiku and magnificent art.

How could Megumi resist wandering when he finally reached the section of the artist he was most interested in?!

Megumi stood in front of a particular painting. It depicted a pair of cranes among dead leaves blown by the wind. 'Hand in hand, they walk. Sweet summer and blissful spring. Abrupt end; silence...' the haiku read.

The work evoked an air of sadness, telling the tale of two people who could no longer be together. Or at least that was what Megumi could tell from the work. The boy turned to his left and flinched as he noticed a boy around his age studying the work as well.

Kimono? Megumi observed the boy curiously. He was dressed in a warm orange nagagi with a complimentary brown obi. To complete the look, the strange boy also had a light orange-yellow haori, the silk looked expensive and the dye job was magnificent. Weirdest of all though was the boy's hair. Bright cherry blossom pink. It looked too good to be dyed and yet pink was such an odd natural hair colour.

The boy had heard of strawberry blondes before but Megumi was pretty sure even their hair was not such a vibrant shade of pink. The odd boy reached into his kimono and pulled out a small notebook and a pen from his chest. His brows were creased in thought and his nose scrunched up as he began writing. Cute, Megumi found himself thinking as he watched the pink-haired boy.

After writing something down, the pink-haired boy turned to Megumi. Warm honey-coloured eyes met with cold bright green eyes. The boy's eyes crinkled into half-moons as he smiled, it was as bright as the sun. He reached into his kimono to store the book and pen away once more, the pink-haired boy waved to Megumi.

"Hello! I'm Yuuji, what's your name?" Yuuji extended a hand to Megumi. The spiky-haired boy took the hand sheepishly, responding with his name. The odd boy wandered around the exhibit with Megumi in tow.

Yuuji turned out to be rather insightful of Ryoumen's works, Megumi was elated knowing that the other boy was a fan of the artist as well. He gave Megumi interesting bits of information on each painting. According to Yuuji, Ryoumen had recently lost a loved one and this collection contained his thoughts and feelings on the ordeal. No wonder the entire collection had an air of sadness to it.

Just a little longer, Megumi thought, tightening his grip on the sunshine boy. I want to stay a little longer. The boy muttered apologies to his guardians as he let Yuuji drag him away from the immediate area where he found himself alone. They were still in the Ryoumen section, so it should be fine.

~Omake~

Megumi: You’re weird(and cute).
Yuuji: New friend? :D

Geto: I JUST LOST MY KID AAAAAA
Gojo: Awww, does Sugu need to take a shit?

Chapter Text

Uraume pinched the bridge of their nose. They could sense a headache brewing, the young master, no doubt. The chef sighed, hired as a chef and yet they were treated like a personal butler and nanny.

Not that Uraume complained, they would willingly follow their master to the end of the earth or to hell and back. Having practically been raised in a monastery, Master Sukuna taught Uraume things that Abbott Kenjaku could not offer.

Nevertheless, ever since Master Sukuna took in his nephew- something the ex-monk never thought would happen, considering their master’s wish to remain childless- Uraume has had more headaches than ever.

Such as food, Master Yuuji was not a fan of the traditional meals being served. Cooking European and Western dishes was a new thing for Uraume. For example, the chef had not expected a roux to be difficult to make- they were ashamed that their first attempt at a roux was burnt due to the heat being high.

The first attempt is never counted, of course. It was merely a practice. Every other attempt at cooking the recipes Master Yuuji enjoyed was successful.

Nowadays, Uraume was confident enough to experiment with the recipes. The sparkling eyes of their young master made all the trial and error worth it.

The chef would never complain about Master Sukuna but they had to admit their master was not one to provide praise. Hearing the young master praise their work and gush about how delicious the food was, why, it made Uraume’s heart flutter. Master Yuuji had wormed his way into Uraume’s heart before they even realised.

So as the servant stood beside their master at the exhibition, Uraume could feel a building headache. They had an aching suspicion that their young master was about to do something.

At that very moment, Yuuji stumbled into view. The boy was dressed in a kimono for the occasion. Sukuna insisted on it and Uraume had sewn and embroidered the cloth into a splendid kimono for the bright boy. With time, Yuuji eventually ceased his futile protests on how kimonos are 'uncomfortable and stuffy’.

With the young master, however, was a spiky-haired boy. Uni-chan, Uraume’s brain supplied as they stared at the spiky black tresses. The chef covered their mouth, turning away as their shoulders shook slightly.

Megumi followed behind the pink-haired boy. The sound of Yuuji's geta hitting the ground echoed through the room, the loud 'click-clack' noises earning disapproving looks from some of the guests.

Megumi furrowed his brows as his companion dragged him through the exhibit. Just where the hell was Yuuji bringing him? They had run past many artworks Megumi wanted to observe, and he was still upset at the boy for not stopping at those pieces.

"Ura-chan!" Yuuji exclaimed, his brisk walk turning into a jog. Of course, geta were not the best shoes to run in, as the pink-haired boy stumbled forward and fell into the arms of a strange white-and-red-haired monk. The man- woman?- shot Megumi a cursory glance before turning their attention back to Yuuji.

The boy felt irritation bubbling within him, something about the monk reminded him of Gojo. It was the way their lip curved upwards slightly, no doubt with a mocking remark in their head.

Ura-chan, the monk, knelt down and began assessing Yuuji’s leg for a sprain. They sighed and chided the pink-haired boy for his carelessness.

Megumi flinched as he heard a deep voice call out for Yuuji, the boy turned to the source of the sound with an excited grin, calling him ‘Unc’.

"Brat, what did I tell you about running in geta?" The man grumbles, glaring disapprovingly at Yuuji. Megumi gasps as he realises those broad features and odd tattoos were familiar.

Ryoumen! Megumi's heart thuds in his chest, he had been enamoured by the man's works, seeing the artist in real life made the boy’s stomach flutter.

The man looked intimidating, he was scowling at Yuuji and his tall, muscular, frame did not help. Neither did his tattoos. Megumi gulped, was Ryoumen really an artist or some sort of yakuza member...? No, now you're just being rude! Ah, should I ask how he does it? Wait, should I even be asking anything?

A cheerful voice breaks Megumi's train of thought, the voice in question pulled on Megumi's arm as he introduced the boy to Ryoumen and the monk.

"Unc, Ura-chan, look! I made a friend!!" Yuuji beams, he weaves their hands together again. Megumi bowed to Ryoumen and the monk, he could see the connection between Yuuji and the artist. Their hair was the same bright pink colour.

"I-It's a pleasure to meet you, Ryoumen-san! I'm Fushiguro Megumi," he stuttered, heart pounding in his ears. The boy looked up and saw the artist glowering at him, making him tighten his grip on Yuuji's hand.

Ryoumen huffed, "Drop the honourifics. If you insist on using them, call me Itadori-san."

The boy gulped, the gaze of Ryoumen felt heavy, like stone. Megumi’s instincts told him to run away from the man, from his terrifyingly tall physique and frightening tattoos.

"Hmph. Well, Fushiguro, what do you think of that piece?" Ryoumen pointed to a nearby artwork. 'Dried leaf quivers; Susuki and Tsukimi. The beautiful moon,' the haiku read. On the canvas, there were rabbits pounding mochi in a field of pampas grass.

The work was cute, making Megumi think of the recent Tsukimi Matsuri. He had a great deal of fun watching Gojo choke on dango after trying to consume the whole stick of it at once.

He had turned to Suguru confidently declaring how the measly stick of dango was nothing compared to his size. Megumi didn’t really understand but that phrase made Suguru blush before he angrily hit Gojo's back.

Fun times, all things considered.

Megumi gave his thoughts, the dried leaf shows how depressing autumn is. A season where all the leaves fall, the temperatures drop and everything is barren. Yet, although the season is depressing, there is the joy in the Tsukimi Matsuri and the lovely moon.

When he finished giving his answer, the boy looked up at Ryoumen, gulping as the man hummed in thought.

Then Ryoumen gave an approving nod. He tilted his head to the left, the monk followed him as he walked away, Yuuji took Megumi's hand and suddenly the boy found himself discussing the art along with Ryoumen.

The last thing Megumi expected that day was getting a personal tour by the artist himself and conversing with Ryoumen about his art.

Satoru paced around in circles, sweet little Megumi was missing!! One of his kids was missing! The man groaned as he turned to face his equally distressed spouse. Suguru was a mess, he was asking Satoru of all people what to do.

Hell if he knew! Satoru knew less about what to do when a kid goes missing than Suguru, what with being the heir of his family's company and being an only child. He never had the experience of getting lost in a mall if his bodyguards always found and followed him immediately! Oh, dear lord, what the hell do they do in this situation?!

Suguru chewed his upper lips as he racked his brain over the situation. Then he brought his fist and palm together.

"Take care of the kids! I'm going to report Megumi as lost at the help desk!"

And that's exactly how Satoru found himself comforting a sobbing Tsumiki. After they calmed down from the whole ‘holy shit our kid is missing’ fiasco, Satoru could turn his attention to the children again. The white-haired man made a mental note to bring the kids out to one of their favourite restaurants as an apology later. Forgetting about them to panic was a mistake.

Speaking of mistake, Satoru did not know where he went wrong in comforting the poor girl. Reassurances that she was a good big sister was met with rebukes on how she had lost her brother, telling her that it wasn't her fault made her cry even louder, and when Satoru would bring up that Megumi would be fine, mature as he is, Tsumiki protested that she wanted Megumi to rely on her more.

On a brighter note, they recently announced there was a lost child with spiky black hair and green eyes sporting a white T-shirt and blue shorts. Did that announcement soothe Tsumiki at all? Nope!

Bloody hell, Satoru was glad his hair was naturally white because this little girl would have given him so many grey hairs if it wasn't already white.

Thankfully, people around them understood and Satoru stopped receiving requests for autographs or for his number. Satoru sighed, he pat Tsumiki's head as she seemed to finally run out of tears. That, or her lungs were giving out and she physically could not cry anymore. Either way, Satoru was grateful the little girl had stopped wailing.

Sheesh, eight-year-olds, huh? Satoru rubbed her on the back as he made another pitiful attempt at consoling the girl.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, okay? Suguru's already reported ‘gumi as lost. You remember hearing the announcement, right?" Tsumiki sniffled and nodded while Satoru pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her tears away. "I promise Megumi will be just fine. And if you're really sorry about losing track of him, you can coddle him all you want when he comes back, alright?"

That seemed to do the trick since the girl had not burst into a third bout of tears from Satoru mentioning her brother.

Suguru waited at the help desk for Megumi. The boy's spiky hair and rare eyes would be hard to miss for any bystander, he was sure Megumi would return to them soon. Still, that did not change the fact that Suguru had gotten careless.

He was the entire reason that kid got lost in the first place. If only he had been more careful, this would not have happened. Suguru grumbled, running a hand through his hair as he berated his stupidity and complacency.

The receptionist offered Suguru a reassuring smile, "It happens to the best of us. Don't be too hard on yourself, sir."

Suguru smiled weakly, giving the receptionist a soft 'thanks' as he kept a lookout for anyone with his child.

There he saw it, two little boys walking hand in hand with a monk chaperoning them. Suguru let out a shaky breath as he saw those black tresses.

Megumi spoke to the pink-haired boy and the bright-eyed child picked up the pace, brisk walking towards Suguru. The monk frowned, seemingly scolding the boy since he slowed his pace.

“Dad,” Megumi mumbled as he approached. Suguru knelt down and hugged the boy tightly, exhaling a breath he didn’t even realise he was holding. The black-haired man grit his teeth and pulled away from Megumi, brows furrowed and face taut.

"Don't you ever do something like that ever again, you hear? We were worried sick because of you," Suguru reprimanded, hands firmly on the boy’s shoulders as he gazed into his emerald eyes. Megumi lowered his head, clenching his teeth as Suguru chided his actions.

The lecture lasted longer than the man would have liked, worry turned into anger and from that anger bloomed words of warning to Megumi. 'Don’t follow strangers', 'always listen to Tsumiki', 'make sure to be with his big sisters or with one of them'.

Suguru let the words spill out of his mouth, at some point he lost track of what exactly he wanted to say to the spiky-haired boy. The man sighed, running a hand through his hair in exhaustion.

His purple eyes met with Megumi’s once more, the boy fidgeting with his fingers anxiously, expecting even more warnings. Suguru grumbled, pulling his foster-son in for another hug.

The boy was stiff in the hug, unused to physical contact and uneasy at the fact that his usually calm Father was furious with him. As Suguru pulled away, his lips quivered involuntarily into a frown.

“…Don’t you ever let go of your sister’s hand again, you hear?” Suguru stilled his expression and crossed his arms. “Now come on, let’s thank the people who brought you back and then we apologise to Tsumiki, understand?”

Megumi’s face contorted in worry at the mention of Tsumiki, his head lowered in shame and guilt. That’s right, he must have worried Tsumiki sick. The boy bit his lower lip and held onto Suguru’s hand as he turned to the pink-haired boy and the monk.

“Thank you for bringing him,” Suguru began, bowing deeply to the duo.

Uraume nodded in acknowledgment. “The young master found him.”

The pink-haired boy took Megumi’s right hand into his, “Isn’t this great, Megumi? You’re back with your dad!” Yuuji beamed, smiling cheerfully at Megumi.

Though Suguru couldn’t tell why, there was an air of sadness around the boy. Even the words he spoke were filled with uncertainty, even a hint of jealousy. What an odd boy Megumi found, Suguru thought.

Seeing the boy in a kimono reminded Suguru of his spouse. Satoru always had to wear one when he was younger and Suguru was no stranger to the family dynamics of his beloved. He wonders if that boy was feeling jealousy at the affection Suguru had for Megumi.

What was his home-life like? Did his parents express worry whenever he was out of sight and mind? Did the boy even talk to his parents outside of necessity?

Regardless, Suguru was grateful. Megumi seemed to soften up as he spoke with the boy. His son was making a friend, someone that was not a friend of Tsumiki or the Hasaba twins. Someone that Megumi himself found to be enjoyable company.

Suguru grinned. If Megumi was going to make a friend, he sure as hell was not letting this boy out of his watch! His mind began to wander, would getting Yuuji’s parents’ address to exchange letters be better or would exchanging numbers be better? Oh well, he’ll do both!

~Omake~

Satoru: Tsumiki… stop crying…
Tsumiki: I’m a horrible big sister!!! (TT~TT)

Suguru: Megumi’s first friend!!! Huzzah!!

Yuuji: It’s great that you’re back with your family, Megumi! ……

Chapter Text

Watching Megumi hug his father made him cold, though Yuuji did not understand why. On a surface level, he was happy for his new friend. His dad seemed to really care about him.

So, other than happiness, what was this feeling in Yuuji’s chest? The smile on his face felt forced, his body too warm, and the world seemed to quiet down as he fidgeted with his fingers.

The pink-haired boy bit his lip, the shameful lava flow of guilt ate away at him. Why was he being so weird today?

Megumi was fine, more than fine since he was with his parents again. Yuuji was fine, he made a friend after all. Nothing happened on the way here to make Yuuji feel this way.

So why was he feeling… sad? Angry? Jealous?

Why was he feeling so down, feeling these negative emotions? Shouldn’t he just be happy for Megumi? 

Megumi’s dad began to scold and warn Megumi about how dangerous it was for him to disappear as he did. Meanwhile, Yuuji dug his fingernails into his forearm, scratching at the phantom itch there.

He had felt this way before. After school and on the way to school; other children walked with their mum or dad. But Yuuji? He walked with Uraume.

But I love Ura-chan, Yuuji reasoned. There was no explanation as to why he was feeling this way. It made no sense. He had Uncle Sukuna and Uraume.

Worse yet, Yuuji wasn’t feeling happy for his friend.

”Yuu, what’s wrong? C’mon, smile for mummy!” Mum’s hand caressed Yuuji’s softly, her warm smile cloaked a sense of security around him. She rubbed his cheeks until the boy gave in and tittered after being upset. “There we go! Doesn’t that feel better? Smiling makes a lot of things better, you know?” She would say after Yuuji gave into her prodding.

Yuuji’s arm burned under his sleeve, the boy had scratched the skin until it was raw and red. The phantom itch remained, torturing the boy despite all of his scratching.

Be happy for him. Yuuji narrowed his eyes as Megumi stood awkwardly while being pulled into another hug by his father. The boy wanted to scream at his friend, hug him back! Yuuji’s forearm stung with each drag of his fingernails, the irritated surface even more sensitive compared to earlier.

A thought popped into Yuuji’s mind. Your papa’s right there, hug him back! Do you even know how much I want that?!

The boy felt all the air in his lungs escape his body suddenly. Did he really just think that? What’s wrong with him?

He was a monster. He was horrible.

The scratching finally stopped and Yuuji felt as though ice cold water had been poured onto him. The boy rubbed his sensitive arm, a futile attempt to soothe the phantom itch and soreness.

Megumi’s dad thanked the pair for bringing Megumi back to him. At once, Yuuji mustered a smile, “Isn’t this great, Megumi? You’re back with your dad!”

The spiky-haired boy nodded coyly in response, cheeks slightly flushed after being hugged and scolded in public.

“We should head back now, Yuuji,” Uraume extended their hand for the boy to hold on their way back. Yuuji exhaled slowly, calming down from the ‘episode’ just now.

Yuuji took the hand gratefully, mind ridden with guilt for the mental outburst he had. He leaned on Uraume slightly, enjoying the way they gently stroke his hair with hands that are too-large to be the ones he wanted. The boy’s heart sank slightly, knowing he was thinking negatively again. Ura-chan isn’t Mama… but I still like Ura-chan.

The pink-haired boy sighed as Uraume stopped stroking his head, tugging at Yuuji’s hand and notifying him that it was time to go. Yuuji shook his head, not yet. He hadn’t made it up to Megumi yet, even if he never wanted to tell the boy of his dark thoughts.

I want to have more fun with him, Yuuji thought. I don’t want us to end with a sour note. The boy looked up with determination. Not yet! Just a little more! 

The boy whined, pulling at Uraume’s hand, “Please Ura-chan? We’re so far from Uncle’s section! Please?” He dragged the ‘please’, emphasising it. Yes, Yuuji loved his uncle’s work, but come on! Stuck in one section for the entire art exhibit?! No way! Yuuji wanted to see everything! He heard some of the art can even move. How cool is that?!

Hearing that, Megumi’s dad smiled, inserting himself into the conversation. “Ah, if you’re interested in looking around, my partner’s section is actually just around the corner.”

Nice save! Yuuji gleamed at his friend’s father. The boy looked up at his guardian, giving Uraume a pleading look. “Please?” He added once more when he saw that the monk needed one more push.

Uraume’s resolve melted like sugar in water at last. They sighed and pulled out their phone, quickly typing something out before they turned back to Yuuji. “…Alright. I’ve informed Master Sukuna,” Uraume caved, keeping their phone in their sleeve.

Yuuji hugged Uraume’s leg, “Ura-chan you’re the best!!!”

There was an information board just outside the section, the board read “Rokugan” which meant six-eyes. What a weird name.

Though it’s not like Yuuji could comment much on weird names, Uncle Sukuna had a weird name too. “Ryoumen” which meant two-faced. What was that about? Such weird names!

Weird name or not, Yuuji bounced around the area excitedly. Entering the Rokugan section, Yuuji was met with what he could only describe as a ‘Wonderland’.

Colours, robot bits, lights.

What the heck?! If he waved his hand, the field of wheat would shift, as if wind had been blown.

On one piece, touching certain parts of the work would make the trees turn different colours! What kind of magic was this?!

There was also a thing called  ‘Infinite Drawing’ which Rokugan was famous for. 

Gods, Yuuji couldn’t take his eyes off the piece. Zoomed out fully, it was a Tsukimi Matsuri. A big, beautiful moon was the centre of the work with people celebrating the festival. Zooming in, however, showed that Rokugan had drawn rabbits actually pounding mochi on the moon. After zooming in, a black rabbit turned into cheesecake and the strawberry of the cheesecake became a field of flowers, the only dark blue flower brought Yuuji back to the beginning, back to the festival and the big moon.

The crowd had people with actual faces and differences, some of them eating food, even small details like a cat on the sidewalk or flowers and blades of grass on the ground!

How could someone have such attention to detail?!

The boy felt a presence walk up to him, it was small, not an adult. “It’s magic! Magic!” Yuuji turned around, exclaiming to Megumi who let out a silent ‘woah’ when the rabbit’s eyes brought them back to the start. The boy’s guess was right, it was Megumi!

Megumi huffed in defeat, “Maybe he’s not just good for being annoying after all…” he mumbled as Yuuji excitedly began expanding the only orange yukata to see the secrets it held, the boy shifted to the side for his friend to look at the screen as well. Megumi left earlier to be with his family while Yuuji and Uraume explored the exhibit.

“Rokugan-sensei is amazing!” Yuuji’s eyes practically sparkled when the birds on the digital canvas made way for a cityscape where everyone was a rabbit. Megumi gazed at his friend, who had a faint blush on his cheeks.

Then a deep voice, not as deep as Uncle’s, called out to Yuuji and Megumi. The pink-haired boy’s head turned to the source of the voice while the other boy ducked his head.

“Hey~!” A white-haired man sang, waving with one hand while the other held hands with a brown-haired girl.

The girl examined Yuuji and Megumi, her gaze shifting between the two boys as a playful smirk appeared on her face. Megumi’s father was not far behind the pair with two girls.

“Hello Yuuji-kun,” Geto waved, the girls beside him looked at the boy curiously before waving as well. The three girls gathered and huddled together, whispering something to each other as they looked at Megumi and him.

“Hi Megumi’s dad!!” Yuuji beamed before turning to the white-haired man with round sunglasses.

The man removed his sunglasses and smirked, “Why, I heard a cute little tiger was praising my work so I had to come and see~!” Gojo shot Yuuji a toothy grin as he clipped his sunglasses to the left breast pocket of his white blouse.

Tiger? Yuuji tilted his head in confusion for a moment before the lights went off in his head. “Rokugan-sensei?!” The boy gasped, grabbing Megumi’s shoulder and shaking him against his will. The boy squealed before bombarding Gojo with a myriad of questions, how did he manage to create such a seamless loop? Was he magic? How did he think of all the random little details in the Infinite Drawing?

Gojo squat down to be at eye-level with Yuuji, “What a keen eye! Not a lot of people notice the small details I have inside!” The man smirked, indulging in all of Yuuji’s questions.

The loop was done with a bit of coding, it was why every loop was dark blue before returning to the Tsukimi Matsuri. Did Yuuji understand the technical jargon? Nope! But that certainly does not deter the boy from listening to Gojo’s explanation with keen interest.

They explored the rest of the Rokugan section like that, Yuuji asking Gojo a myriad of questions and the artist responding with his answers.

Gojo explained there was a motion sensor on the field of wheat artwork. The movement of the ‘wheat stalks’ would correspond to the speed of the object, or in this case a hand. Fast movement represented fast and strong wind and thus the false wheat would respond by shaking and rustling together roughly.

Yuuji asked about the shifting trees piece, “how did you get it to change colours?” Gojo grinned before pulling out a key to unlock a transparent box with a blue button. He pushed the button, nothing happened.

“The trees themselves don’t have any colour,” he explained while walking to the centre of the piece, Gojo pressed the red and green buttons at the same time, shutting off the lights to reveal that the trees were transparent. The leaves of the trees were stuffed with a thin translucent paper, and behind them were LEDs responsible for the colour change.

Gojo grinned proudly as he pressed the green button, which made the leaves a crisp green. “It’s simple but it looks cool, and it’s pretty fun to watch the colours change, right?” He asked, eyes shut with a broad grin on his face.

“But how do the trees change colour one by one?” Yuuji pressed the purple button, making the trees turn purple. Gojo snapped his fingers and his eyes practically sparkled as he theatrically pointed finger guns at Yuuji.

“That, my dear, is called coding!”

Silently in the back, Geto, Uraume, and the rest of the children, sans Yuuji, looked at Gojo with an unimpressed deadpan at his lame actions. Megumi almost wanted to dig a hole, jump in, and never come out as he saw the man point finger guns at Yuuji while looking all too proud of himself. What was he? A child?

Yuuji, meanwhile, looked at Gojo as if the man had hung the sun and stars in the sky by hand. The more Rokugan explained the mechanisms for his work, the more Yuuji’s eyes sparkled with unbridled enthusiasm.

By the end of the short impromptu tour, Gojo squatted down and rubbed his cheeks against Yuuji’s. “Aaah~! You understand! No one appreciates my work in my house!! I should bring you back home with me, Yuuji-kun!!” Gojo squealed, hugging the little boy tightly.

The idea of Yuuji coming to live with him made Megumi’s lips quirk upwards- it was certainly a nice thought. Plus there’d be another boy in the house.

Geto grumbled and ground his fist into Gojo’s head. “Hey, don’t go and casually talk about kidnapping someone else’s kid,” the dark-haired man warned, pulling Gojo away from Yuuji.

“I apologise for his actions, Uraume-san,” the man bowed sheepishly towards Yuuji’s chaperone. The white-haired monk glared daggers at Gojo as they approached Yuuji to take his hand in theirs.

The man-child artist whined at being hit, asking Geto to kiss his injuries better to which the man denied. The purple-eyed man instead turned to Uraume, “I was wondering if we could exchange contact info and addresses to keep in touch?”

Geto pulled Megumi close and smiled warmly. “This is the first time my foster son has made a friend on his own, you see,” the man chuckled softly as the boy pouted with a blush. Megumi crossed his arms and looked away, glaring at the ground.

“No one needed to know that…”

“Anyway, would that be possible, Uraume-san?” Geto asked with a determined gaze, eagerly awaiting Uraume’s response. Yuuji tugged on Uraume’s sleeve.

Yuuji lit up at the mention of keeping in touch, “Can we do that, Ura-chan? I wanna keep being friends with Megumi too!”

“That can be arranged,” Uraume instantly replied when Yuuji added his plea. The boy beamed and hugged the chef’s leg before he turned to Megumi.

Extending his pinky, Yuuji shot Megumi a toothy grin, “let’s keep in touch okay?” Megumi nodded, it escaped none of his family members the way his cheeks flushed a slight pink when the two boys hooked pinkies.

The monk felt the soft giddiness in their stomach as Master Yuuji beamed at them and excitedly hugged their leg. How they would explain this to their Master later was a different matter.

Though Uraume doubted Master Sukuna would have many objections. The man had brought up his concerns that the young master had not made any friends in school that he was attached enough to invite home.

It was that concern and the fact that Master Sukuna had caved into Master Yuuji’s request every single time without fail.

Earlier today, for example.

”Uraume, bring Fushiguro back to his parents,” Master Sukuna ordered, he was adamant on Yuuji remaining in his portion of the art exhibit for the entire event. Uraume agreed with that, the young master was a rambunctious one and the monk knew trying to ensure the boy would not wander off into a random direction without informing them would be a challenge.

They were only proven right when Fushiguro, a rather calm child compared to Master Yuuji, got lost for the very same reason.

Master Yuuji pouted when his uncle commanded Uraume to escort Fushiguro back to his parents. The boy pleaded and begged his uncle to let him follow Uraume out to escort Fushiguro. Young Master then gave their Master the fearsome ‘puppy eyes’ that both Master and Servant were weak to.

With a sigh, Lord Sukuna grumbled and waved his hand dismissively. He told the young master to do as he saw fit and Master Yuuji’s expression was so bright Uraume had to recover from it on their walk to the receptionist.

Indeed, Master Yuuji’s cuteness and ‘puppy eyes’ were fearsome tools. Thank goodness the boy was too well behaved to attempt to use his charms against them maliciously, Uraume wondered if they would even be able to reject the young master’s request if he did…

~Omake~

Yuuji: please~? (ÓwÒ)
Ura&Suku: yes.

Chapter Text

A few weeks have passed since the art exhibit in Tokyo. Yuuji sits on the engawa of the inner courtyard watching a small tuxedo kitten swat at the plants of the garden. The cat, Madoka, sported emerald green eyes that reminded Yuuji of his new friend.

Madoka, much like Megumi, was small and did not interact with the other cats much. The kitten was tiny compared to the other cats that frequented the Itadori estate. The most striking resemblance to Megumi, though, was how Madoka was the grumpiest kitty Yuuji had ever met!

While Megumi sported a passive glare, Madoka showed its anger by clawing and biting at anyone who dares to look in its direction. Anyone except Yuuji though, the boy learned that when Madoka left bloody scratches all over Uraume’s arm but then curled up at the boy’s feet as if it hadn’t just drawn blood.

Giggling softly, the boy stood up and retreated to his room. Many things have changed in the approximately three months since becoming Uncle Sukuna’s kid. For one, Yuuji’s gotten used to the smell of cigarette smoke. Dad was not a fan of smoking but the boy would occasionally catch his uncle in the garden smoking cigarettes next to a Japanese willow tree.

Speaking of trees! Recently, the red-eyed man planted a new tree in the middle of the garden.

It was a cherry tree, the sapling was small, not that much taller than Yuuji. It would take a few more years for the plant to start blooming flowers.

When they planted the tree, Yuuji sprinkled his parents’ ashes into the dirt before completely covering the roots. The boy wonders if his parents are in heaven and watching him or if they’re sticking at the tree and still around spiritually.

Regardless, the boy has been regularly leaving fruits at the cherry sapling in case his parents want to eat something! Uraume mentioned the importance of leaving offerings for the dead. It shows how people still care and when they wander around as a ghost they still have food to eat!

Back in his room, Yuuji checked his school bag for homework. He knew he didn’t have any due but it was a good habit to check. Now that he knew he was free, the boy pulled out a tin cookie box.

Inside the box were letters! After the art exhibition, Yuuji’s been exchanging letters with Megumi every week. The highlight of the boy’s week was Sunday when he would receive the letters and pen his reply.

Megumi’s letters were always filled with the same complaints that his sisters would tease him and make him do silly things he hated. The pink-haired boy re-read the letters, all four of them he had so far. The fifth one would arrive in four days.

But something always felt missing. It was incomplete.

No it wasn’t. He was feeling weird, he’s been feeling weird a lot lately. Maybe he was tired. Yuuji neatly placed the letters back in their envelopes and laid on the ground as he stared at the ceiling.

Uncle Sukuna had no air conditioning in his house, only standing fans and oil heaters. It was very different from Yuuji’s old home. There was a electric heater, the floor was heated and the air conditioning was the hero of the year during summer.

Hence, that machine is something Yuuji missed from his old home but it was bearable to sleep without it during autumn. The boy doubts the same would be doable in summer when the heat was blazing… well, that’s future Yuuji’s problem! Current Yuuji was perfectly content with wondering what he wanted for dinner instead of worrying about next year’s summer heat wave.

The boy hugged his plush tiger. He doesn’t remember when he got it but it was his best friend. Even if things had changed so much since August, there were still some similarities in Yuuji’s life.

Before the boy even realised, his room turned dark with the setting sun. Uraume called for him, Master Yuuji, the two words echoed bitterly in his head.

”Yuu!! Dinner’s ready, come out and eat!”

Yuuji shook his head, pushing the memory away. It was not fair to Uraume to constantly compare them to his mum. They were their own person. Even if Uraume and Mum shared many similarities.

Their bob, too bright and white for Yuuji’s liking, was the same length as Mum’s. Their food was yummy even if it tasted different, not the way Yuuji was used to. The boy misses the way his mum would make macaroni and cheese as a special treat. It was thick, gooey, and had a cheese pull! Not to mention yummy. Uraume and Mum were almost the same height, if Yuuji closed his eyes, he could almost imagine his mum in the place of the chef.

Arriving at the kitchen, the boy was hit with the delightful scene of a hotpot! There were a bunch of dishes with ingredients on them, mushrooms, meats, tofu. A classic but delicious hotpot. The boy took his seat in front of his uncle, slightly surprised when the chef joined their meal.

“Thank you for the food.” The three say in unison before digging in. Uncle helps Yuuji cook the ingredients the boy wanted, mostly spam and bacon, and Uraume mans the mushroom grill. They had Maitake, Shiitake, and Matsutake on the grill. The smell was heavenly, earthy mixed with the familiar smell of melted butter, and the food even more so.

And just for a moment, Yuuji sees his mum being the person grilling mushrooms. His dad being a clumsy man and scalding himself with the soup because he dropped the tofu.

The man would wince dramatically and then turn to Yuuji, ”Ow… Yuuji, kiss daddy’s boo-boo better?” And then he would whine, complaining that the boy was being mean for not kissing his injury better. Then Yuuji would give in and chuckle at his father’s silly routine. Of course, he kissed those ‘boo-boos’ better. Maybe at one point Yuuji found them annoying. The boy was trying to eat, for goodness sake!

But now, all the boy wished for, was his parents. He no longer cared if Mum would nag at him to sleep early or if Dad always annoyed him with his theatrics. Yuuji would give anything for them to be sitting at a table with him again, wiping his face because he got food all over, chiding him for not eating enough vegetables, and playfully chattering at the table.

He wants them, the boy realises. Yuuji wants his parents.

The game is over now, he can’t pretend it’s a trip to his Uncle’s house for a few months anymore.

And now Yuuji is faced with the cold reality he’s been ignoring for months. Mum and Dad are gone. The flames of the hotpot bring Yuuji back to the funeral they held.

The flames burned high, along with all the paper offerings. It was hot, overwhelmingly so, as the boy knelt on the concrete and banged wooden sticks on the ground and called out to his parents. They needed to do this so they would not get lost on their way to heaven. The funeral was small, just him and Uncle. Uraume stood at the side respectfully.

Mum and Dad didn’t really make any friends, they were friendly but they never made friends.

The boy’s appetite is gone. Yuuji finds himself pushing the meat around in his bowl. The smell of boiled meat was suddenly sickening, it was a stench Yuuji could not explain. Worse was the meat itself. Chewy, tough, and the same disgusting stench of boiled meat as the aftertaste.

Everything tastes wrong. The boy couldn’t stomach it anymore, he pushed the meat aside and stuck to the grilled mushrooms.

Rubbery, too smoky, oily. But it was better than the disgusting smell of meat.

A pair of chopsticks come to Yuuji’s rescue, removing the cursed ribbons from his bowl. “If you’re not hungry speak up, don’t waste food,” Sukuna chides, wrapping some rice with the pork ribbons and eating the lukewarm bacon. The man watched Yuuji silently push his meat around for a while longer before sighing.

“Are you full?” His uncle asked, perplexed. Yuuji had a ravenous appetite, the boy could consume four bowls of rice and still ask for more. Perhaps his nephew was sick? Hm…

The boy nodded slowly, he wasn’t exactly full but he also wasn’t in the mood to eat anymore. The two adults share a look of doubt, in the past months, Yuuji had shown nothing but an endless appetite. What changed? What was wrong with their boy?

Regardless, the red-eyed man took Yuuji’s bowl. “Wash your face and go to bed, brat.” The boy nodded, dutifully washing up before laying out his futon and falling asleep.

It was lonely.

Sukuna sat at his desk facing the window, he had a lit scentless candle and some sandalwood incense burning beside him. The man pushed his reading glasses up, many would think a traditionalist like him would be reading scriptures or some classic literature. No, he was reading a light novel.

The title was stupid, ‘I Was Kicked Out of My Party for Being Worthless, Now I’m An S-Rank Adventurer!’. Sukuna would rather die than have anyone witness him reading such garbage. In his defence, life sucked and sometimes a stupid and generic fantasy light novel is what you need.

The man was embarrassed by his hobby; he was above such idiotic books! But the simple and nonsensical comedy was a breath of fresh air.

”What’s so fun about reading beside candlelight??? I swear, after you entered that monastery, you’ve changed so much!”

Sukuna huffed, speaking to himself, “It’s fun, you just don’t get it.” The artist continued flipping through the pages, reminiscing about his twin as he did. Jin used to tease Sukuna for his odd hobbies, he knew that at the very base of those hobbies was merely Sukuna’s fascination with the past.

Sure, reading in the candlelight was inconvenient and far worse compared to a lamp, but something about reading beside the flickering lights of a candle was entertaining in it itself.

The man’s focus on the light novel was broken when he heard the sliding door open. Sukuna hurriedly closed his book and put it in a drawer before turning to the door.

Yuuji? What was the brat doing here at nine PM? His bedtime is eight PM. Sukuna raised a brow and removed his reading glasses.

“Brat, what are you doing awake?” The man narrowed his eyes, perhaps his guess from dinner was right. The brat was sick, per chance?

What was the right thing to do if the brat got sick…? Should he head to a clinic immediately? Maybe an ice-pack would be sufficient? But what if it wasn’t a fever but nausea? Wait, where even is the nearest clinic?! Are clinics even open at this hour? Do they need to go to the hospital?!

The brat stood outside Sukuna’s room, hugging his tiger plush tightly. “…I couldn’t sleep…” Yuuji mumbled, looking at the ground with a saddened expression.

Sukuna’s heart wrenched, not that expression. The man thought he had done a good job, why did the brat look like he was going to cry? How do you comfort a little kid anyway?

Nevermind his inner panic, Sukuna cleared his throat and stood up. “Can’t sleep, hm? What do you want to help you fall asleep?” The man raised his hand hesitantly, was this an appropriate situation for a head pat?

Ah screw it, Sukuna pat Yuuji’s head, running his fingers through the soft and fluffy strands of pink hair. His nephew was still young so his hair was pale and not as dark as he or Jin’s, the man wondered if his nephew would have a darker shade of pink like Jin or perhaps a brighter shade like him.

The brat’s hair was really soft, it was like petting a fluffy dog. Sukuna keeps patting the boy’s hair, his lips unconsciously quirking upwards.

Yuuji let his uncle ruffle his hair, the boy closed his eyes as he felt Sukuna’s large hands roughly pat him. They were about the same size as Dad’s, Yuuji realises, enjoying the pats even more. Dad preferred hugging over head pats but this was nice too.

The boy brings his hands up to stop Sukuna’s hand, “Um… can I sleep with you? A-and can I get a bedtime story…?”

Sukuna froze, on one hand, he didn’t sign up for this! His nephew is so small and tiny meanwhile he’s a muscular ex-delinquent, if he rolled onto Yuuji in his sleep isn’t that a death sentence for the boy?!

Wait, why did the boy want to sleep with him anyway? In terms of comfort, wouldn’t the softer and more motherly Uraume be a better fit?? Why Sukuna?!

The other side of Sukuna’s heart, however, preened with pride. His sweet nephew was getting more comfortable with him and finally asking for something~ Sukuna couldn’t deny his cute nephew that request!

Sukuna cleared his throat, clearing his mind of panic and foolish thoughts. First things first: checking on his nephew. Sukuna remembered this on the article he read, yes, if a child comes up to you for comfort they are likely emotionally or mentally distressed! Okay, keep calm! You’re a role model, you’re a good uncle! You’re raising your Nephew! You can do this!

“What’s wrong with you?” Sukuna grumbled, feeling his heart race at those words. Shit, too harsh! The man felt cold sweat run down his face at the hurt expression of the boy. Who let him be a parent anyway?!

Please don’t cry… please don’t cry! Sukuna knelt down and froze before he pulled the boy into a hug.

Would this be too contradictory? He had just been hurtful and now he wants to comfort the boy, if he suddenly comforts him wouldn’t it be too fast? Think, you fool! There’s that stupid article right?? The one about contradicting behaviours of parents being a shitty thing for a kids mental health… Wait, was the contradiction thing only for couples or teaching children discipline??

Whatever! The man awkwardly wrapped his arms around the small frame of his nephew, it was a very awkward hug. Sukuna was tall, muscular, and broad. Even while kneeling, Yuuji- scrawny, a little shorter than his peers, thin as a twig- was absolutely tiny in his arms.

The man is reminded of the first time he ever met his nephew.

”Don’t you want to hold him?” Jin asked, chuckling as he held out the baby to his twin. Yuuji reached out with his chubby fingers, curiously trying to touch Sukuna.

“I… I shouldn’t. He’s so small, what if I hurt him..?” Sukuna grumbled, stiff as a board and fearing that if he so much as breathed too hard around the infant, he would die.

Kaori giggled, she moved from the seat to Sukuna’s side, positioning his arms. “There, just stay like that and you’ll be fine,” she smiled at the man warmly and brought Yuuji into her arms. The infant reached out for Sukuna again, babbling incoherently, not afraid of him like children usually were. Sukuna wondered if that little bean had survival instincts at all.

Not being scared of an obvious red flag is a bad thing, right? What if the brat made bad friends, or worse, became a delinquent like Sukuna in his youth?!

”See? Look at him~ So eager to meet his uncle~” Kaori cooed, poking her son’s cheek. Her tone was childish, speaking to the baby and asking if he was excited to meet his uncle. Yuuji giggled as his mother passed him to Sukuna, babbling nonsensically.

The man kept his arms stiff, terrified of accidentally dropping the baby or crushing him. Yuuji’s pale yellow eyes gazed into Sukuna’s own reddish-brown, almost maroon, coloured eyes.

Yuuji reached up and smiled, giggling joyfully when Sukuna lowered his head and he managed to touch his chin. The soft and chubby hands were warm, like a hot water pouch. And as the boy smiled, Sukuna knew the boy was the most precious child in the world.

A smile as bright as the sun, expressive golden brown eyes, and so innocent. So perfect, like a little angel.

Sukuna pressed an awkward kiss onto Yuuji’s head, he recalls Jin doing something similar to the boy when his nephew fell in the park and scraped his knee.

“That came out wrong, I’m sorry,” Sukuna steeled himself and let go, patting his futon. “Yes, you may sleep with me. I don’t have a lot of books but I’ll try to find a good bedtime story for you.”

Yuuji beamed, shuffling to Sukuna’s side and lying on the futon with his plush. The man sighed, digging through his cupboard of forbidden books.

Also known as his cupboard of embarrassing light novels. Sukuna hummed thoughtfully, trying to find a simple but entertaining story to read. This’ll do. He picked out a light novel titled ‘Campfire Cooking in Another World’. It was one of his favourites, lighthearted and funny. There were also some rather decent recipes in the book.

As he read aloud, his nephew began to nod off to sleep. The little boy held Sukuna’s arm close, as if he was afraid the man would disappear one day.

Sukuna smiled softly, turning off his bedside lamp- yes, he had one. Candles were fun but they were also very impractical!

The man vowed in his heart, he wouldn’t leave his nephew alone. Not if he could help it.

Maybe it was time to quit smoking.

~Omake~

Jin: Don’t be a silly sausage! Hold your nephew!! Comfort my son!!
Kaori: You can do it Suku! You won’t crush him in your sleep, I promise! Our little Yuu’s stronger than you think!

Chapter Text

Recess, the blissful twenty minutes wherein elementary schoolers- such as Yuuji- had fun and played together after having their meals. The boy could not bring himself to join the games today, while the others gathered in their cliques and began to talk about their interests or woes, Yuuji found himself wandering around the school.

The boy has been in the new school for about two and a half months now. He’s decided that he hates his classmates.

”I hate my mother! She took away my comics last night!”

“Ugh, Papa forced me to sleep early last night again.”

They whined a lot. Too much for the boy’s liking. Yuuji could not stand sitting in the same room as them anymore, listening to their complaints and irritation with their parents.

He would grit his teeth so hard they ached. Before Yuuji knew it, his new classmates avoided him.

“Don’t interact with him, he’ll just glare at you,” they would advise one another whenever someone tried to include him in their group.

Fine with him. Yuuji didn’t want to be their friends anyway. Hmph.

Times like this, the boy was even more grateful for Uraume making boxed lunches for him. The elementary school provided lunches but Uncle got special permission for Uraume to make Yuuji’s instead.

Today, Yuuji chose to head to the staircases to eat his lunch. The boy liked the area below the stairs, those places were often quiet during lunchtime and even if people passed by, Yuuji was a little shorter than his peers so when he sat down it was hard to spot him.

The pink-haired boy quickly made his way towards the spot, he only had fifteen more minutes of recess.

“Man, Yoshino, you should be happy you don’t have parents to nag at you everyday~” Yuuji heard someone say, the boy stopped in his tracks. There were four older boys surrounding something- someone. There was a black-haired boy with a bowl cut sneering, his voice was the same as the one from earlier.

He tightened his fists, gritting his teeth as his mouth went dry. The boy held onto his lunchbox tightly, ignore. Ignore it. Calm down. Stay calm.

“I’ll be taking that!” Another boy said, laughing as he thanked the long-haired boy on the ground. Help… I need to tell a teacher.

Stay calm, don’t get angry.

“Che… I wish my parents would just die, then they’d stop asking me to study harder. It’s like getting As isn’t good enough,” bowl-cut boy said again.

Oh.

The lunchbox fell to the ground with a loud thud, the rice and side dishes packed inside scattered on the ground upon impact. Yuuji inhaled shakily, kneeling as he began top pick up his lunchbox and the spilled contents.

”I wish my parents would just die,” the words echoed in Yuuji’s head, the boy clutched his chest feeling the fast beating of his heart. He needed to breathe, he needed to stay calm.

”I wish my parents would just die.”
He needed to go find a teacher to get help for the other boy, he needed to-

“What’re you crying for? Your Mummy? Hahahaha!”
”I wish my parents would just die.”

Yuuji paused in his cleaning, and suddenly it felt like the world was quiet. A dreadful silence that left the boy alone with his thoughts and the awful sentence that echoed endlessly in his head.
”I wish my parents would just die.”.

The boy knew he had to help the other kid, he wanted to. The other part of Yuuji, however, wanted to punch the living hell out of bowl-cut boy.
”I wish my parents would just die.”

Wish his parents were dead? That boy doesn’t even know anything! He does not understand the numbness Yuuji felt when he had to pick up the bones of Dad, does not understand the pain he had to go through when Mum stopped breathing on the white hospital bed.
“I wish my parents would just die.”

He did not understand the sickening smell of cleanliness that stung the boy’s nose when he sat there for hours just waiting and praying to whatever God was up there to save his Mum and Dad.
”I wish my parents would just die.”

Yuuji left his lunchbox on the floor.
“I wish my parents would just die.”

”I wish my parents would just die.”
Leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone…

”I wish my parents would just die.”
Shut up, shut up, shut up!

”I wish my parents would just die.”

He saw red.

Yoshino Junpei liked go consider himself a happy child. He had his mummy and his daddy. Even after Daddy left, Mummy still took care of him. Sure, they had to go to the movies less and Junpei got less toys but he was happy with his mother.

He didn’t need anyone aside from his mummy, so why did the mean people take him away from her? Junpei hated that. The ‘social workers’, they called themselves, said she was not being good enough for Junpei.

That was a lie! Mummy was good, she gave him everything! Even if Junpei was just eight, he could see his Mummy was getting thinner and looked tired everyday, the dark circles on her eyes grew bigger and bigger with each day. She worked hard for him, made him happy and kept the bullies awy, why did they take him away from her?!

Everything was good in his life until the stupid social workers showed up. They took Junpei and brought him to his Daddy, the man did not even try to glance at Junpei before making his decision.

No Mummy, no Daddy. He went to an orphanage, they called it a children’s home but Junpei wasn’t stupid. He’s seen movies, those places are called orphanages! Granted, the orphanage looked nicer in real life than in the movies. The boy thought he would live the rest of his life eating slimy muck and sleeping in filth but the real place is actually quite clean, all thing’s considered.

The other kids there didn’t want to include Junpei in their playtime, the boy spent most of his time alone. He was fine with that, he didn’t need anyone else. Just him and Mummy.

On the third day, the social workers returned and told him he could go back to Mummy one day, if she managed to earn enough money and get a stable job. Junpei looked forward to that, he trusted his mother.

Without Mummy, school became even more of a chore. His bullies realised they could bully him without consequences now, there was no one at home who could see Junpei act differently and realise he was being picked on, there was no one who could call Junpei’s school.

And so the bullying escalated. Name-calling turned into vandalism, vandalism turned into hair pulling, and then they started to hit him and throw things at him.

Today was no different. Daichi, the tallest and fastest boy in the class, grabbed Junpei’s hand to ‘play’ again. The brown-haired child’s lackeys joined in, they brought him under the staircase again and took his stuff.

“Oh, I’ll be taking this,” Daichi hummed as he picked up Junpei’s maths homework. His goons rummaged the bag further, mostly taking his homework and notes away to see him getting scolded in class later. Junpei was kicked down whenever he attempted to protest the pillaging of his belongings.

Once they were done, Daichi grinned smugly as he tossed the bag at Junpei. The insides were a mess, they didn’t even have the decency to put the remaining books and worksheets in neatly… the boy grit his teeth and frowned, his eyes watering as he began to painstakingly arrange his books again.

Daichi and his goons laughed at him, finding his tears hilarious. One of the boys kicked Junpei’s bag out of his hands, giggling when the boy looked up and sniffled, barely containing his tears. Daichi stepped on Junpei’s hand when he tried to pick his bag up.

“Daichi-kun, stop it…!” Junpei pleaded weakly, warm tears streaming down his cheeks. The droplets hit the ground as the boys gathered around him.

They kicked him like one of those sick or weak animals they saw in public, smiling as they hurled insults at him, at how he would flinch with each kick and how weak he was. Junpei sobbed helplessly as they kept it up, the crying didn’t seem to do him any favours.

Daichi snickered, grinding his foot on Junpei’s hand. “Stop being such a crybaby, Yoshino. What’re you crying for? Your Mummy? Hahahaha!” The boy stomped his foot on Junpei’s hand, causing the boy to yelp.

Then he came, hair as pink as the cherry blossoms and eyes a frightening golden hue. A monster. The boy tackled Daichi and punched him right in the face.

Junpei had never seen this boy before, he was small for an eight-year-old. The pink-haired boy glared at Daichi and relentlessly hit him, for every punch or kick Daichi gave, the new kid would retaliate with two more.

Daichi tried to punch the shorter kid again, this time the tot grabbed his arm and swung Daichi over his shoulder before mercilessly slamming the boy’s head into the ground.

Junpei gulped, too frightened to move, he had pushed himself against the wall sometime during the debacle. When, he didn’t know. Daichi’s lackeys were all frozen as well, their legs quivering slightly.

The trio had watched Daichi getting beat to a pulp by a small pink-haired kid. They knew that if their leader was beat by him, they stood no chance. So the remaining three attempted to bolt away once their senses finally came back.

The pink-haired boy seemed to disagree with that, though. Junpei thought Daichi was fast but the pink-haired monstrosity in front of him swiftly dropped Daichi’s head- there was a gross and wet thud from the drop- and chased after the other bullies.

The boy grabbed Sugawara’s arm and yanked him backwards, the boy yelped as he was pushed onto the ground with a pink-haired tot punching him with reckless abandon.

Said tot’s eyes were almost a fluorescent yellow. Locking on to Sugawara coldly with an almost predator-like gaze. The boy grabbed Sugawara’s collar, “Say it again.” He demanded coldly, shaking the taller boy beneath him.

Sugawara let out a soft shriek, panicked eyes darting around for anything to save him. The taller boy punched the pink-haired monster of a child and desperately ran for his life.

The small boy remained on the ground, as still as stone once Sugawara ran off. Junpei gulped at the scene, was it over? He had to tell a teacher… Daichi looked really hurt earlier, the boy had to tell someone else.

Move, Junpei inhaled shakily, ears ringing as blood pounded in them. He had to get out of here, move!

Junpei squeaked when he willed himself to move, the first thing he saw upon standing up was red. The floor to hid left, below Daichi’s head, was red. The colour was orange-ish and reddish-brown, it was spread thinly, having been smeared from the pink-haired boy slamming the bully’s head in the ground repeatedly. The boy fell backwards, his chest heaved with effort as it took in the sight.

It was red, so much red. The white and blue uniform defiled by all the red and reddish-brown.

Junpei’s been bullied, yes, but he’s never bled or seen others bleed in real life from a fight. His throat closed up, cold sweat gathering in his palms as he grabbed his uniform tightly.

He froze again, feeling those dead hazel eyes focus on him. Something seemed to snap within the boy since he began to wail, the high-pitched sounds reverberating through the hallway. Junpei remained still, he shakily shuffled away from Daichi’s bloodied form, holding back the bile that threatened to rise.

A teacher arrived at the scene, “What’s all the ruckus- Yoshino-kun, Daichi-kun?!”

The man, Junpei’s homeroom teacher, recognised Junpei instantly and examined the scene in shock. The pink-haired boy covered his mouth and hiccuped, the agonised sound of his wailing muffled by his hand.

“Yoshino-kun, go to the nurse’s office and bring someone here immediately!”

“Y-yes, Sensei!”

“This is Itadori, how may I help you?” Sukuna picked up the house phone, frowning at the disturbance. Can’t a man clean his house in peace? Ugh.

The man reluctantly stays on the call when he hears the person on the other end is Yuuji’s teacher. What did Brat do this time? Sukuna wonders with a scowl.

“Yuuji-kun got into a fight with some of his schoolmates, could you come down to the school?”

~Omake~

Yuuji: shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up-

Chapter Text

“Do you have any idea what your son has done to my Aoi?!” The woman with a classic short bob exclaimed, she pointed her finger accusingly at Brat and scowled. “You’ve disfigured his face! You’ve ruined his future!”

“Yes, exactly! Kenzo’s face is bruised and swollen because of your unruly boy!” Another woman, this one with garish bright electric blue eyeshadow and matching blue lipstick whined.

Disfigured, my ass. He just has a small scar on his forehead and right temple, Sukuna scoffed internally, fighting the eye roll that would undoubtedly escalate the situation further. The man kept his expression purposefully blank, lest he glare at the woman accidentally.

Daichi continued ranting about the negative consequences a facial scar like that could cause her son. The pink-haired man clenched his fists tightly, breathing slowly as a reminder to calm himself down.

“I demand compensation! Pay for my son’s injuries!”

Sukuna huffed internally once more, of course he would pay for the other brats’ injuries. That was given considering the state Brat left them in.

Daichi Aoi’s face was bloody, it genuinely looked worse than it actually was. What happened, at least based on what Sukuna could tell, Aoi’s head was being bashed repeatedly against a surface. Likely a floor, considering that there were no blood streaks going down his face.

Because of that repeated head trauma, his nose began to bleed and his head was cut open from the friction. The chances of any lasting brain injury were slim, Brat was strong but he was still just a brat. A small tot that didn’t have the strength to do that.

The same could be said for Sugawara Kenzo. Aside from bruising, a busted lip, and a painfully wounded ego, the kid would be fine. Brat did not have the strength to break his nose or cause a nosebleed.

Psychological damage was a different question, though if it taught Aoi and Kenzo a lesson to stop being a bully then Sukuna was all for it.

Hospital bills for Aoi would likely cover the basic maintenance, cleaning him up and treating his most likely broken nose. Nothing that would break Sukuna’s bank. He had enough money to burn, this much was nothing. Kenzo had no injuries of note that would require a hospital visit.

With his own thoughts settled, the man’s attention drifted to his nephew. The brat looked shaken, silent as a mime and fidgeting with his hands.

The boy scratched his arm until it was red, Sukuna softly placed his hand on top of Yuuji’s before placing another on the boy’s head.

With that, he promptly pushed the brat’s head down and joined him in an apologetic bow. “My apologies, Daichi-san, Sugawara-san. Of course I will cover the expenses for your sons’ recovery. I’ll have a talk with Yuuji about this,” he spoke politely, head low to represent himself as lower than her.

The woman with garish blue makeup huffed, “that boy should be expelled.”

Oh, okay, so we’re playing like that?

Sukuna suddenly smiled darkly, as he lifted his head. The man’s smile was bright, showing his utter displeasure. He interlaced his fingers, resting his chin atop them. “Is that all madam?” Sukuna asked, sending shivers down Sugawara’s spine. The woman’s complaints were swiftly shut down and the ordeal was over.

With a sigh, Sukuna held his nephew and carried the unusually listless boy to the car.

“T-thank you!” A shrill and shaky voice called out, the man turned around and saw a boy with half of his face covered by fringe. Emo hair, his mind supplied. Brat looked up, locking eyes with emo hair for a second before his eyes turned glassy.

Sukuna pressed his nephew’s head into his shoulder, letting the brat’s tears wet the red haori. He opened the door, placing Yuuji down and buckling his seatbelt before moving to the driver’s seat.

Once again, for the first time in two months, they shared a silent car ride.

As he drove, Sukuna pondered. Why had Yuuji done that? The simple answer would be that he wanted to defend emo hair from the bullies, from basic inference.

That reasoning did not explain the brutality Brat showed, nor did it explain his listless expression, so woefully reminiscent of the day he officially became Sukuna’s legal son.

It was odd, really, being the legal father of a child that was your nephew. Not that Sukuna would make Yuuji call him ‘Father’ or ‘Dad’. It wasn’t his place, if the brat wanted to then he would go at his own pace.

Looking into the rearview mirror, he could see Yuuji scratching himself again. Sukuna sighed, at least he made sure to cut the brat’s nails as short as he could without any pain. The relentless scratching wasn’t enough to break skin. That was, perhaps, the only saving grace of the situation.

Uraume took a day off today, so the man stopped in front of the supermarket to purchase some tofu knowing his cook would be absent.

Walking past the toy aisle, the man raised a brow at how the brat didn’t even bat an eye at the toy’s. Oh shit, it’s THAT bad, the man pulled his nephew closer, patting his head.

It was a new habit Sukuna picked up. The brat’s hair was incredibly soft and extremely fun to touch, Brat seems to enjoy it so no harm no foul.

Yuuji clung to Sukuna, pulling the man’s haori over his head, hiding him. The man scoffed at the motion but he didn’t reprimand the boy for doing so today. He got the brat a cola flavoured sweet before leaving the store.

Yuuji remembers his mother’s last wishes for him as clear as day.

“Live a long and happy life, Yuuji,” she spoke slowly, her weak and shaky hands cupping Yuuji’s face as the boy watched in silent horror. He didn’t like where this conversation was going. He hated it. Mum was saying goodbye, she couldn’t leave him. Not now, not yet. He wasn’t ready!

“Mummy knows you’re a good boy, baby,” Mum added, pausing to take a few laboured breaths. Her eyes slowly drifted close, “You’re a strong kid, so help others. Be like the heroes you admire, it’s okay if people don’t thank you and it’s okay if they do. Use your strength to protect people, don’t use it to hurt people. Promise?”

At that point in time, Yuuji held on to his mother desperately, he quaked, “What do you mean? Why are you saying this, Mum? I- I don’t understand.” He refused to accept it, he hated the way Mum acted as though she was going to die. She wasn’t! She’s going to get better! She couldn’t just give up! It was not okay! Nothing will be okay, not without her! He needed her!

She chuckled one last time, a final laboured breath escaped her, “…I love you.” He wished he had promised to do as she had asked of him.

Now, as Yuuji sat in the backseat of his uncle’s car, his mind wandered to the events of today.
”I wish my parents would just die.”

The boy dug his fingernails into his skin, the surface turned white from the pressure. Yuuji barely remembered what he’d done, he only knew two things after he heard that sentence.

Hatred and envy.

He hated that bowl-cut boy, he wished instead of bashing the brown-haired boy’s head into the ground it was the bowl cut boy. That boy was a fool, wishing his parents would die. Yuuji would give anything to have his parents back.

Uncle remained silent for the duration of the car ride, Yuuji fidgeted anxiously in his seat. The itch in his arms would not subside, even when his arms were red-hot and throbbing. Unexpectedly, they arrived at the supermarket. Yuuji stuck by close to his uncle.

Wish it was him and not Dad, Yuuji thinks as he held onto Sukuna’s hand. The boy grit his teeth as he realised exactly what he’d just wished for.

”I wish my parents would just die.”
“Wish it was him and not Dad.”

His grip on Sukuna’s hand tightened, fear and confusion. Why was he thinking this? What was happening to him? Why was he being so bad? His uncle pat his head roughly, grinding against the boy’s head in an off show of affection. Uncle’s head pats were unlike Dad’s head pats. Where Dad’s hands were smaller, softer, and gentler, Uncle’s hands were large and rough.

It took a little getting used to, like needing to brace his neck for the incoming impact, but Yuuji enjoyed these head pats just as much as he enjoyed Dad’s head pats.

The boy pulled his uncle’s red haori over himself, he was so horrible. What’s wrong with him? Uncle was doing his best, yet here he was wishing he was sick instead of Dad.

In a surprising turn of events, Uncle didn’t push him away or scold him for doing so. Yuuji smiled slightly, hiding under the red cloth as they shopped. It wasn’t a long trip, Uncle only needed to pick up one item. Checking out, he bought a cola flavoured sweet for him.

What had Yuuji done to deserve that? He had been bad. He’d been violent and caused trouble for his uncle. The boy tucked the sweet in his pocket, Sukuna’s concerned gaze not registering in his mind.

Arriving back at the house, Sukuna headed into the kitchen, washing his hands and putting on an apron before he got to work. Yuuji sat at the dining table, watching his uncle curiously.

The man prepared some enoki mushrooms and tofu before he threw it all in a clay pot along with various seasonings of which Yuuji only recognised three. Salt, mushroom seasoning, and white pepper. The rest were a mystery to him. Uncle then chopped up some cabbage, diced a tomato, sliced a carrot, and then threw in a whole onion he quartered.

Essentially, ABC soup with extra steps, Yuuji realised. Not that he was complaining, ABC soup was yummy. Like eggs. Eggs were yummy.

As he let the soup boil, Sukuna sat directly across Yuuji on the dining table. The boy gulped, he was going to get scolded. Now that he thought of it, this might be his first time getting scolded by his uncle. Not the light nagging or chiding the man usually gave, but a true scolding.

Though, nothing much was happening. Honey coloured eyes met with dark maroon, staring at each other in silence. The boy looked away, fidgeting with his hands. Right, he had almost forgotten after the shopping trip and watching Uncle cook. The man was mad at him.

Yuuji grabbed his forearms, pinching them and dragging his fingers across the slightly tan surface. Sukuna placed his hand on Yuuji’s arm, the warmth only accentuated the phantom itch in his arm.

“I am… upset with you,” the man began, finally breaking the silence. He chose his words carefully, holding Yuuji’s arm to make sure he wouldn’t scratch again.

The boy’s heart sank, he was being a bad boy. He made Uncle upset, and it was all because he had been stupid and got mad instead of running to a teacher when he saw the other boy getting bullied! He was so stupid. Of course Uncle would get mad at him after he beat people up!

Sukuna’s free hand reached out to smooth out Yuuji’s frown, at which the boy looked up at his uncle in confusion. The man tentatively let go of Yuuji’s hand before he hummed in thought.

He rubbed his chin, looking up for a few seconds before facing his nephew once more. “If you think it’s about you getting into a fight, it’s not why I’m upset,” Sukuna began, the passive scowl on his face somehow turning more intense than usual.

The boy tilted his head in confusion, if not the fight, then what? What was Uncle mad at? That he injured them too much? What??

Fear and trepidation turned into pure, utter, confusion.

Sukuna huffed, “I don’t care if you beat up other brats if you’re trying to protect someone.” The boy’s bewildered expression must have been obvious as he swiftly received a flick to the forehead. Yuuji pouted, rubbing the spot with his hands to nurse it.

“Just because you hurt someone doesn’t necessarily make it wrong,” his uncle added, now resting his head on his palm. The man tapped the table in thought, continuing from his previous statement, “It’s also not the best way to go about it but I can’t lecture you on that…” He added the last part silently.

Uncle looked slightly embarrassed, his cheeks slightly pinkish and his finger was tapping the table aggressively. The man sighed, waving his hand dismissively as if fanning away a bad memory. Yuuji knows this action, it’s the thing Dad always did when he complained about work before being lovey dovey- gross- with Mum!

“Anyway, did you beat them up to protect the depressed looking kid or did you do it because of the stupid shit they said?” Sukuna asked bluntly, arms crossed with another intense scowl. Yuuji wonders if it was meant to be intimidating, his uncle scowled so much the intensity of this one seemed slightly silly. The man covered his mouth after two seconds, realising he’d used a bad word.

“We don’t tell Uraume of this. Also, don’t use that word in school or when Uraume’s home. Uh, you can use it in private, I guess…”

Yuuji nodded, tittering with his hand over his mouth. His uncle huffed and flicked his head again. Yuuji shot his uncle a look of mock offence and pouted again.

“So? Why did you beat them up?”

The boy lowered his hands from his forehead, mind drifting to the situation today.
”I wish my parents would just die.”

Yuuji exhaled shakily, biting his upper lip as he thought of a reply. “One of the kids said something mean. And… and I didn’t like it. I was going to go tell a teacher but when he said it, I got really mad.”

Sukuna nodded, “I see. So you beat them up because you were angry?”

The boy gulped, he wanted to say no. Say it was because he wanted to save the other kid. But no, that’s not the truth. He was so angered by bowl-cut boy’s words. Yuuji just wanted to hit him and hurt him. Reluctantly, he nodded and braced himself for harsh words.

…

…

…

Harsh words did not come. Instead, his uncle seemed deep in thought once more. Yuuji gulped in trepidation. What now? He thought, looking at Sukuna rub his chin and massage his temples.

“…You need to make sure you’re never violent because of your own hatred,” he eventually stated, the man opened the lid to the clay pot and the enticing aroma of ABC soup flooded Yuuji’s senses immediately. His stomach growled at the scent. Sukuna stirred the contents of the pot as he continued, “That’s what makes you a bad person, understand?”

Sukuna lifted his eyes up from the clay pot to finally look at Yuuji again. His eyes were gentle. They weren’t focused, like when he was doing art, nor did they show frustration, like when the man’s concentration was broken by Yuuji. No, they were calm. Relaxed, almost. As if it were just another conversation about how the boy’s day at school went.

His uncle ladled a portion of soup for him, “If you’re going to fight, make sure you’re doing it for the right cause.” He placed the bowl in front of the boy. “You’re a good kid, Yuuji. I know, whatever the boy said, it must have been quite something to make you upset enough to hurt them so much.”

That big, rough, hand touched his head gently, patting it with a gentleness that was uncharacteristic of Sukuna. The boy decided that this was his favourite kind of head pat.

“You’re too young to understand but know that everyone has their own problems, even the boys that bullied the emo kid,” Sukuna stood up, heading to the fridge to take out a container of day-old rice. He placed it in the microwave to heat up. “So, when you see those boys again, I want you to apologise for hurting them.”

Yuuji frowned, he didn’t want to do that. They were bullies! Even if he didn’t mean to hurt them too bad, they still did bad things! They don’t deserve an apology!

“Brat, stop glaring at me, let me finish,” Sukuna huffed, spooning out two portions of rice into bowls. “Tell them you’re sorry for hurting them but also make it clear that you will do it again if you catch them bullying others again.” He smirked with an evil grin on his face.

“Make sure you have a witness too, like some friends or that emo kid. That way, the next time you beat them up for bullying, it won’t be unjustified,” Sukuna hummed satisfactorily, holding out a bowl of rice. Yuuji tilted his head in confusion.

“Apologise, but also threaten?” He asked, taking the bowl Sukuna handed him. His uncle nodded.

“Beat their asses, without mercy.”

Now THAT, Yuuji can agree with! He nodded eagerly, before digging in.

“Oh and because you did something wrong, you’re not allowed to come to the art room for a week.”

“Noo!!!”

~Omake~

Suku: Beating up kids is A-okay!
Yuu: *nodding enthusiastically*

Meanwhile…
Jin&Kaori: SUKUNA NO??? BAD ADVICE??? DON’T TEACH HIM TO BE VIOLENT LIKE YOU! YUUJI NO, NO! ∑(ﾟДﾟ)

Chapter Text

Correspondence

To Megumi,

Hi Megumi! The notes you sent me for math really helped! I’m pretty good at my eight, five, and three timetables now! Because of that, Uncle got me a set of watercolours!! How did your tests go? I think they must have been really good since you’re so smart!

Remember Yoshino-senpai? I became friends with him after I beat up his mean bullies again! Uncle was really proud of me so we went to the pet store to get a cat tower for the kitties that come to our house.

You said Rokugan-sensei promised to get you a present if you did well for the second semester tests, what are you thinking of asking for?! Oh, maybe you can ask for a dog! You like animals, right?! Especially doggies! Can you send another doggy sticker sheet? I’m running out!

Uraume said they were going to try roasting a turkey for Christmas this year! I’m really excited for Christmas! Your birthday is on December 22 right? Happy early birthday! I wrote a haiku for you!

Waiting for your next letter!!

Best wishes,
Yuuji
19/12/2010

Megumi lifted the letter to see what kind of artwork Yuuji made this time. For the first time, it wasn’t in black and white. The boy smiles, knowing his friend must have enjoyed using the watercolours to paint.

There was a single cornflower on the centre of the card, surrounded by snow. The haiku read, “Celebrating you, Wishing you warmth and comfort; It is really cold.” The boy snickered, the first half of the haiku was sweet and in classic Yuuji fashion, the end of the haiku was silly.

Megumi tucked the letter away in a wooden box, he remembered it used to belong to a pack of premium mochi Gojo got for the Tsukimi Matsuri. They were cute, shaped like rabbits and tasted pretty yummy. There was a knock on the door, followed by a few seconds of silence.

“Oh my, did Yuuji’s letter arrive already?” Suguru asked, smile brightening as he realised that. Megumi nodded, swiftly moving to add the artwork to his wall. “Quite the collection you’ve got there, hmmm?” His foster father hums, eyeing the postcard-sized artwork on the wall.

The boy moved to grab some art he made this week and began to meticulously pick which one he’d like to give Yuuji. It was important to him that his friend received his best works! He settled on a yellow rose drawing with a haiku.

The world comes alive
There, you can see the flowers
Bright, cheerful; like you.

Artwork picked out, it was time to pen his reply! The boy smiled giddily as he wrote, carefully making sure all of his words were neatly written. He only ever wrote this carefully when writing his letters to Yuuji, it was important to him.

Megumi was happy for the boy, Ryoumen-sensei- Yuuji taught him that artists should be referred to with the -sensei suffix- must have been really happy with his friend’s results to get him stuff. The boy preened with pride knowing that he helped Yuuji with schoolwork.

At first, Megumi found it odd that Yuuji needed to exchange letters with him. Why couldn’t he just get a phone? Gojo bought Megumi, his sister, and the Hasaba twins phones so surely Ryoumen-sensei could get one phone for Yuuji?

Regardless of how odd he found it though, Megumi was growing fond of the weekly correspondence between them. Their schedule was precise, Megumi sends his letters on Friday and Yuuji sends his letters on Monday. Tuesday was beginning to become one Megumi’s favourite days of the week.

The boy pouted slightly as he wrote about being happy for his friend. It’s not that Megumi disliked this Yoshino-senpai but he didn’t like knowing that someone else got to be close with Yuuji when he was stuck in Tokyo, super far away from his friend! Not fair! He wanted to be with Yuuji too!

His father chuckled softly before leaving Megumi’s room.

-

Flirting

Satoru grumbled, this client was insufferable!!! At this point, he swears the damn client was only complaining for the sake of it! Gah, if murder was legal, why….!

“I give up, this is too hard. Honey, I need you…” the man whined, leaning back on his chair. The seat creaked as it bent backwards to let Satoru lay back. Ah, buying this beautiful little ergonomic thing was his best decision. Satoru spends so many hours of his day in it that the price was entirely justified.

Suguru quirked a brow, not looking up from the homework he was grading. “These monkeys…”

The artist bit back a snort, his lover always had the habit of referring to his problem students as monkeys. Satoru smirked playfully as he kicked the wall, launching himself at Suguru before their chairs collided in the shared office.

“Hey, hey, let’s take a break!” Satoru beamed, ramming his head against Suguru’s shoulder. His lover groaned and sipped his coffee in exasperation.

Suguru finished writing his remarks on the homework and turned to the pest beside him, “Shouldn’t you be focusing on your deadline?”

He let out a whine, pouting as he pulled Suguru closer, “But it’s soooo hard!!” The pout swiftly faded into a mischievous grin, “But you know what’s harder-“

Suguru pushed the man away with a harsh glare. If Satoru wanted to play this game, he would get his game. The black-haired male sighed in defeat, why did his lover have to be such a child sometimes?

“Get away from me, you monkey,” Suguru hissed, throwing one of his spare red pens at Satoru for good measure. The latter squirmed in his seat.

“Yes! Yes! That stare! Scold me, Sugu!!”

The man received another pen thrown right at his groin.

-

Gossip

“Hey, Nana-nee, don’t you think Megumi gets waaaay happier after he gets letters?” Tsumiki asked, splayed on top of a yoga ball Sato-nii blew up for them. The girl rolled too far forward and fell into the cushion barrier around the ball. Papa was really smart for making the girls put up the barrier of pillows! The fall barely hurt!

Nanako looked up from her nails, which Mimiko was painting, “I think so too! What about you, Mimiko?”

The girl looked up, pausing to ponder her answer. “Well, isn’t he getting letters from the sunshine boy?” Mimiko tilted her head.

‘Sunshine boy’, the moniker in which the Gojo house girls use to refer to a certain pink-haired, golden-eyed, smiling boy in a colourful kimono that a certain black-haired boy has gotten attached to.

The trio all hum in thought.

“““Megumi has a crush!!!””” They gasp in unison.

“Hey- Mimiko! You got the polish on my skin!!” Nanako yelled, feeling a cold sensation on her fingertip. There it was, hot pink nail polish on her skin.

“Ah- sorry, sorry!!” Mimiko rushed to wipe the polish, cleaning it up with a brush. In a few minutes, Nanako’s nails were painted beautifully hot pink and it was Tsumiki’s turn. She chose a light bluish-green colour like her little brother’s eyes!

Now sitting in a circle, the girls continue discussing Megumi’s crush on sunshine boy.

The boy in question felt a chill run down his spine. Suguru looked up on the english homework they were working on, “is something wrong?”

Megumi shook his head.

-

Eccentric

Mimiko sat by the kitchen counter as Satoru made lunch. Daddy was still at work during lunch so it was usually Sato-nii that cooked lunch for the kids.

The white-haired male looked over as he waited for the spaghetti to boil. He eyed Mimiko’s hands as she worked on crocheting a… pig? Cat? Dog??

The girl was working with pastel pink yarn, she had drawn whiskers on the plush’s face with a black marker and she made two vaguely triangular ears she embroidered onto the creation sloppily.

Satoru was proud that the only kid who was interested in crochet diligently listened to his crochet lessons but at the same time he was utterly confused as to what his little girl was making.

Mimiko, noticing the man’s stare, showed off her mostly finished work with a bright smile. “It’s a cat!”

Satoru looked at the creature again. Dog ears, a curly pig tail, a cat’s face…? He pat her on the head and smiled, barely hiding his confusion.

“It looks great, sweetie. You got better at controlling your tension. It doesn’t have too many holes,” he laughs awkwardly, shooting the plush another glance.

May her aesthetic sense improve as she grows. Satoru prayed internally.

-

Flirting pt.2

Suguru looked over the cars in thought, the kids were getting bigger so the four seater was soon being outgrown by the six-person household. Satoru, ever excited to spend his seemingly endless generational wealth, was more than glad to shop for a new car!!

Perusing the options however, they were struggling to decide between a van or a six-seater car.

“You know, a van would be fun! We could have a small couch in the back, set up like a play mat or a carpet for the kids and stuff~!” Satoru chimed, moving to sit in the passenger seat. They agreed to only get the car if both of them were comfortable in the driver’s seat since the pair took turns driving.

Suguru sat in the driver’s seat of the van and looked around, eyeing the dimensions of everything.

“Oh and road-trips would be amazing! I mean, the kids could fall asleep in the back on the play mat or something! We can have bean bags too! Oh but the lack of seatbelts is slightly concerning.” Satoru continued ranting, giving his opinions on everything cheerfully. “Oh but since we’re fostering them, would we look like pedophiles kidnapping kids?!”

Suguru raised a brow and shot his partner a deadpan expression, “Satoru, if you prettify the van with some of your art projects it won’t look that bad. Plus, we can get a model that has windows.” The purple-eyed man chuckled, the image of two men with a bunch of kids in a white van does seem like some kind of pedophile scheme. But why was that Satoru’s first thought?

His lover was such an odd case, sometimes.

“Never mind that, sit on my lap,” Suguru instructed, patting the area. Satoru raised a brow but did as Suguru instructed. Moving over and placing himself comfortably on his lap. “Okay, now stand up just a little, like you’re squatting.”

“Okay…?” Satoru squats, his hair was squished but his head was safe from the ceiling. That’s good! Having a long torso is a pain to deal with, the high ceiling of this van was fantastic!

Wait but why was he on Suguru’s lap anyway- OH!

Satoru smirked playfully and sat back down, pushing himself deeper against his partner’s lap. Suguru let out a pleasant hum, hands resting comfortably on the former’s thighs. “So what colour van do you want?” He purred, moving one hand under Satoru’s shirt to feel his abs.

Being an artist must be so nice, since Satoru is home all the time he has enough free time to work out and get such a fantastic body. Suguru does his best with the time he has but it’s not enough to get a six-pack as well defined as Satoru’s.

“Let’s get a white one, I’ll do some research on painting vehicles,” Satoru practically whispered into Suguru’s ear, the latter removing his hands from the white-haired male’s body which caused Satoru to pout. The man reluctantly got off of Suguru’s lap and moved back into the passenger seat.

Suguru chuckled, “we can continue at home.” He said reassuringly, a hand placed atop Satoru’s. The man in question pulls Suguru and roughly places him on his lap.

“Hey, you fit too~” he sang cheekily, groping Suguru’s chest with a giggle. The black-haired male covered his mouth and hunched forward, back shaking as he fought- and failed- to hold back his laughter.

“W-what?! Why are you laughing!!” Satoru’s eyes widened in shock, the blue-eyed man shook his lover’s shoulders as he demanded an answer.

Suguru gasped between bouts of laughter, “Toru… you… you have a longer torso and you’re taller…! Of course… of course I fit! Bwahahahahah!!!”

The man blushed, he slapped Suguru’s back as he pouted. “Fuck you!!”

Suguru wiggled his brows and held Satoru’s chin, “mmh, not right now, love.”

They left, purchasing a brand new white van in one payment and Satoru blushing madly as his partner guffawed.

~Omake~

Nanako: Where’s my pov…?

Chapter Text

Technology

When did Sukuna gain his ‘obsession’ with traditional Japanese culture? He could no longer remember. Perhaps it started as young as when he visited the museum in elementary school or as recent as when he entered the monastery for a few months.

Who could blame him, really? Traditional clothes were beautiful, the craft of dying and painting the fabric and the mastery it took to sew a nagagi or a furisode while lining up the pattern of the fabric, such things made traditional clothes truly beautiful.

Even sachiko embroidery, a technique used once to make cleaning rags more durable with thread, was turned into an artform. Truly, traditional aesthetics were beautiful. At least among the nobility.

As much as the man loved to romanticise the previous eras of Japan, he was definitely glad to be born in this day and age. God forbid the things people would do to him if he was as violent and eccentric as he was in his youth years.

The man began browsing beginner fountain and dip pens for his nephew, fighting a giddy smile from rising. Maybe it would still be a little too early for the young boy but Sukuna was sure of the decision! Yuuji’s handwriting had improved so much, the lad would often come home and beam about his teachers or classmates praising his handwriting.

Sukuna could not be more proud. HE taught the boy that! Parenting was daunting but he liked to think he was doing a rather good job!!

As he made his way towards the next stationary store however, Sukuna was met with the unpleasant sight of some teenagers absorbed on their mobile device. Texting, or worse, gaming.

Children nowadays, so absorbed in their phones. They don’t even realise they’re blocking the way.

Guilty as charged, the man held a deep hatred for mobile devices. Sukuna absolutely refused to interact with them unless it was necessary. The man frowned, he needed to protect Brat from the horrors of brain rot. Ensure that his precious nephew isn’t exposed to idiocies online.

The poor child was already a less than bright individual, God forbid Yuuji experiences brain rot online and get even more stupid!

Absolutely not! Not on my watch!!

.
.
.

On a certain day…

Yuuji walked alongside his uncle gleefully, they were going to the aquarium!! He can’t wait to see the penguins! Ooh and the big fishies!

A lot of big kids were looking at their flip phones, the boy eyed them curiously. Dad had a flip phone, it was for work! Oh but there were some people with rectangles that didn’t look like flip phones too!!

Big kids sure are busy to always be on their phone! They must really like working to be smiling at their phones.

Uncle covered his eyes and ushered Yuuji towards the ticket booth. Right, the aquarium!!

-

Playdate Planner

A child should socialise and they should also protect their bonds. Children tend to enjoy spending time at a friend’s house, right? And they usually ask for toys instead of just silently eyeing it in an aisle…

So why isn’t Brat doing any of that?! Sukuna cradles his head in his hands as the year approached its end. It was December! December!

Now, Sukuna wasn’t going to say he and Jin were the most social of kids but they still pestered Wasuke all the time to head to a friend’s home- of which most of the time they were shot down since they needed to accompany each other but Jin and Sukuna rarely had overlapping friend groups.

If they kept going at this rate, what if Yuuji became a shut-in?! The boy already spent almost all of his time at home, if it weren’t for the martial arts classes Sukuna signed the boy up for then… Brat would only be going out for school and nothing else.

That’s bad for a child, right? Sukuna ruffled his hair and whined, parenting is hard! Parenting is so hard!

His mind drifts to the slip of paper taped to his wall.

”Master Sukuna, this is the address, phone number, and house number of Geto Suguru. He’s the guardian of the black-haired boy Master Yuuji befriended in Tokyo.”

Now that it was December 24, only two days away from the short winter vacation, it was the perfect time to plan a playdate… but calling someone randomly is weird, isn’t it? Ugh…

Social interaction is the worst. Whatever, anything for his nephew! Resolve steeled, Sukuna marched towards the house phone. His heart pounded in his chest loudly as his shaky hand reached out for the telephone.

It’s just a phone call… and you know the other person- kinds, not really. Argh, just make the damn call!! Sukuna firmly gripped the phone and-

“Riiiiiing!!! Riiiiiiiiiing!!!! Riiiiiing!!!!”

The man’s breath hitched, leaping backwards and slumping himself against the wall, taking this moment to breathe. The blood rushed to his ears and the man felt his face heat up.

At least no one was home. No one saw that embarrassing moment. Still though, what the hell was that timing?! He was just about to make a phone call and the damn phone rings! Way to get a heart attack!

With a sigh, he answers the phone.

“This is Itadori speaking,” Sukuna spoke smoothly, ignoring his embarrassing actions earlier.

“Hello Itadori-san, I’m Geto Suguru. With the upcoming winter vacation, I was hoping we could plan a playdate for our children?” A smooth, high-pitched, and pleasant voice said. Megumi-kun’s father. Perfect timing, Geto Suguru!

Sukuna relaxed, lips curling upwards at the convenient timing of the situation. “Ah, of course. I was actually hoping to contact you on that as well.”

“Wonderful! So when would be a good time for you?”

“I was thinking…”

-

Correspondence

To Yuuji,

Hello Yuuji, I'm glad my notes helped you get better grades. The cornflower you painted was pretty, Gojo said cornflowers meant 'blessing' which is the same as my name. I think what you did was really creative and smart.

I did do well for my tests. Gojo held his promise and we went to the rescue centre and there was a pair of husky dogs. At first Gojo told me to only get one dog but when the white dog became friends with me, the worker said that they were best friends.

In the end, Gojo got me both of the dogs. He said separating the best friends was sad.

I felt happy about it all until we got home and Gojo wanted to name the two dogs Sato and Sugu. Dad, and all my sisters agreed the names were stupid. In the end we settles on Kuro and Shiro.

I hope the turkey tasted good. Thanks for wishing me a happy birthday :). Good for you and Yoshino-senpai.

I added some tiger stickers I thought you would like too. I wrote a haiku for you too.

Best wishes,
Megumi
23/12/2010

Yuuji pulled the letter back and gleefully packed the sticker sheets away in his art box. The first that greeted him when he had opened the letter was a watercolour painting of a yellow rose by Megumi.

The boy grinned giddily, now he and Megumi matched! They both could do watercolour paintings~ Winter vacation was coming soon so hopefully Yuuji could convince his uncle to go back to Tokyo so the boy could play with Megumi again.

Oh, and play with the doggies!! The strays come over sometimes but they don’t always come to the estate, the boy was a little jealous of his friend. It must be nice to always have a pet there…

It was just a little bit lonely.

-

Drinking

“…Am I a bad parent…?” Master Sukuna was splayed across the dining room table. It was Christmas so the pair decided to hold a drinking party. It was a little unfortunate that Kashimo was too busy with his Dojo to come and Higuruma had other plans.

Thus it was just Uraume and Sukuna. The chef cleared the table of empty snack bowls and chuckled, Sukuna had gone on a drunk tangent for a while now.

“Uraaauumeeeeeeeee……!” Sukuna sniffled, sobbing as he grabbed the sake cup. “Like… hic… kiid’sa s’posed ta ask’n allat… n’ like… hic… Brat’s moooopeeyyy and snnduu…” The man couldn’t even bring the sake cup to his mouth.

Uraume smiled fondly, maybe he was overindulging his employer and friend a little too much. Still though, drunk Sukuna being extremely emotional and crying was far too entertaining to pass up.

Like during Jin’s wedding. Uraume swears the man purposely included Sukuna’s favourite sake in the drink bar to get his twin to get emotional.

Sukuna was sniffling, one hand holding a tissue to his nose to catch any dripping mucus and the other was holding Kaori’s hand. The man rarely visited and thus the woman had never had the sheer pleasure of getting to witness Sukuna bawling his eyes out over the smallest of things.

”Maaakee suuuure he’s happy ‘kay?? Hic- and if he’s everr beeinggg stooop-“ Sukuna blew his nose before continuing. “S-stu-stuuuupidd… hic… yyeer can calll meeeee annnn- hic- I’ll come riiiiightt overrr…..”

Kaori smiled awkwardly as her brother-in-law practically sobbed on her shoulder. She never imagined she would see the stoic and cold Sukuna openly weep with a bright smile. Jin swiftly strode through the crowd towards his wife and brother.

The man turned to Uraume, “Heh, I see someone got their hands on the sake!” He said cheekily, poking Sukuna’s cheek as the other man continued babbling his wishes for their marriage.

”Jiiinniiieeeeeee… yerr bettterrrr treeeaatt herrrrr rriiiiight yaaaa heearrrrrr?????” Sukuna turned his attention to Jin and shook the man’s shoulders aggressively. The latter struggled a futile resistance to hold his laughter back as his twin continued shaking him. “Hhaaaaaahh???? Yaa thinnk ‘s ffuuunnyyyy??? I’mmma beeat yerrupp…”

Ahh, good times. Good times. Uraume still remembered the way Sukuna clung to them on the way back to the hotel. The man was like a baby, he got all sulky when he wasn’t hugging someone or something. The morning after was certainly entertaining when Jin showed Sukuna all of the embarrassing photos he had saved on his flip phone.

The sound of snoring soon filled the kitchen, Uraume let out a silent ‘oops’ as they realised that maybe they had given their Master a little bit too much to drink.

Now Uraume wouldn’t consider themselves weak, far from it. Being a chef usually meant hours of working with their hands. Not to mention they also preferred to hand make noodles and bread which built up quite a bit of muscle, especially since they began to bake more sweet goods at Master Yuuji’s request.

Still though, Sukuna was always working out. The man liked to exercise and that resulted in his burly and muscular physique.

And no way in hell was Uraume going to risk injuring themselves trying to carry Sukuna upstairs. They sighed, heading to the storeroom to get a spare futon to lay in the kitchen. Compromises, compromises.

“Heave ho…!” The chef lifted Sukuna from the chair and got him to lay down on the futon. They even made sure to bring an extra pillow for the emotional drunk to hug.

The embarrassed blush across Sukuna’s face the next day was a sight to take in, Uraume wished they could have teased his friend with Jin at the incident. If only such a thing was possible.

~Omake~

Sukuna: Where am I going wrong?! I’m pretty sure kids aren’t like this, right?!

Uraume, Jin, Kaori: No, seriously, it’s not as bad you think it is. He’s just grieving.

Chapter Text

Sukuna drove to the address Uraume gave him. Tokyo, a city where tourists flock to and light pollution plagues. Who the hell needed these huge, giant even, LED signs to advertise their work? If their work was quality they would not need such flattery. The man scoffed as he turned into the neighbourhood.

Alright, a house. This seemed to be a high-end neighbourhood, hm? Sukuna continued driving, moving deeper into the neighbourhood. The houses grew bigger and the nonexistent backyard began to grow in size.

Sukuna furrowed his brows, a rich person, living in Tokyo, has a large house, happens to be at the art exhibit at the Rokugan section. Something gives him a bad feeling. Hm…

There he saw it, messy white hair with atrocious rectangular black sunglasses. A man he hated with a seething passion. Guanyin give me strength. Sukuna furrowed his brows as he realised that menace was standing at the address he was given.

Oh look, there’s urchin-hair. Wait no, not good! Megumi lives with that annoying man?!

Sukuna grimaced as he turned to look at the rearview mirror. Brat was bouncing in his seat excitedly. In fact, Sukuna could say that this was the happiest he had seen his nephew since the incident.

This is for the good of your nephew, this is for your nephew. You can do this. You can do this, Sukuna. Ugh… Guanyin give me strength… He drove into the parking area where one car and one van sat. His red honda civic fit perfectly in the remaining space.

Sukuna’s eyes met with Rokugan. The latter froze and his smile stiffened, then it fell and turned into a full on grimace. The man child had the audacity stick his tongue out in a display of his displeasure.

The door to his car slammed shut with too much ferocity.

The boy paced around the living room restlessly. He wants to draw with Yuuji, play with the dogs together, maybe even write poetry together!

Which, under normal circumstances, would have probably been what they were doing. Two boys and three older sisters, maybe they would have been forced into playing house or dress-up against their will.

But of course, when has Gojo ever been considered ‘of normal circumstance’? Megumi could not blame his friend for being enraptured by all the eccentric and seemingly random decorations strewn across the house or the fact that Gojo just had a small pool in the backyard like it was normal.

Ryoumen doesn’t seem to like Gojo either, heh.

Anyway, Megumi found himself pouting as Yuuji was exploring the house with awe. A part of him wanted to whine and tell Yuuji to look at him, not the house.

Oh well, time spent with Yuuji was better than no time at all… still though, Megumi huffed internally, look at me, Yuuji!!

After thoroughly exploring the first floor, they headed towards the second floor where the bedrooms and Gojo’s workspace were.

Gojo locked the door because sometimes he had ‘dangerous’ parts being printed inside and kids weren’t trustable with or around them. Megumi was just a little bit curious as to what the man had in mind for the next exhibition he would hold. For now though, he knows Gojo is partnering with someone to make robot bits for something. Megumi didn’t really understand.

Enough about Gojo though- even if Megumi really wanted to go into his workspace- it was time to actually play!

“Your room’s huge!!!” His friend exclaimed, climbing up the stairs to his study-space. Tsumiki and the other sisters prefer to use the space as a bedroom and the lower area to play and study in but the partitions around the raised platform helped Megumi focus.

Yuuji turned to look at all the neatly stacked books and worksheets, “uwahh… your room’s so tidy!”

The boy blushed and nodded with pride. Yes, today it was. He definitely did not clean up two days before and made sure to organise it spectacularly.

The pink-haired boy then decided to attempt one piece of homework assigned by Suguru, Dad would ask around his colleagues and search online for suitable assignments for each kid. A teacher at heart, Megumi supposed.

Of course, Yuuji was never good at his studies and it prompted the boy to turn to Megumi with his honey-gold eyes.

The boy stood there, conflicted. To help, or not to help? That is the question. On one hand, it was Yuuji! Pleading at him with big puppy eyes and a determined look, how could Megumi say no?! But on the other, wasn’t this a playdate?! Why were they doing a worksheet?!

Yuuji pressed harder, hoping Megumi would help him. The boy sat there, blissfully unaware of the internal battle between Megumi’s desire and weakness to him.

Megumi sighed, shoulders deflated as he shared the chair with Yuuji. On second thought, this was good. Heh, shoulder to shoulder with his friend. The boy picked up his pencil, “it’s easier if you count with your fingers. Dad says practice makes perfect.”

He began drawing out the equation, it was just some simple addition. Dad also put in three-digit equations in as some tricky but optional equations.

Soon Megumi found that Yuuji merely had difficulty understanding two-digit additions since he forgot to bring over the ten if the latter portion added up to more than nine.

“It makes no sense…” the pink-haired boy pouted as he grabbed a spare pencil. Their cheeks briefly pressed together as Yuuji attempted a question on the left-hand side of the worksheet. Megumi felt his heart race, fighting the giddy smile he knew would come if he hadn’t held it back.

Megumi could have pulled away and given his friend more space to work but he subtly leaned into the other, their cheeks once more pressed together. Yuuji was warm, like everything else about him. Warm and welcoming. The boy wished he could have stayed like that forever, he almost didn’t notice Yuuji’s question. “There, did I get it right?”

He checked the working, “nope.”

“Ugh!” Yuuji groaned before deflating on the table. Megumi chuckled, patting his friend on the back. The boy wasn’t that far off, actually. All Yuuji did was mess up with his calculations. 1+3+5 was nine, not eight. Yuuji must have miscounted with his fingers.

Upon realising his mistake, Yuuji seemed to spring back alive and cheer at his small victory of remembering to bring over the ten.

“Okay, this time, for sure!” The boy pumped his fist in the air in determination, Megumi let out a wry laugh.

I wanted to play with you…

~Omake~

Nana+Mimi+Tsu: *silently stalking Yuu+Meg for the entire play date* You can do it ‘gumi!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

Go: Why is the fossil here (๑•ૅㅁ•๑)
Suku: Why the hell is that moron here (๑•ૅㅁ•๑)

Chapter Text

Megumi scrolled on his phone, reading some science-fiction novel that caught his attention. He thought it was interesting at first and forgot to do his research on the author, now he was stuck reading a story that apparently focused more on romance than the actual science-fiction aspect. Of course, he was in too deep by that point to drop the damn thing and now Megumi couldn’t be more bored.

Lately, Satoru and Dad have been invested in the news lately, the pre-teen did not really understand why but he figured Satoru could have used the extra knowledge in his head.

Currently, it was the end of spring break. Soon it would be April and the boy would have to enter junior high. He wasn’t worried per se about entering a new school since his sisters would be there but at the same time he can’t help the way he dreads the first day of school.

Spending time with strangers was never really Megumi’s forte, to say the least.

Regardless, he sighed before closing his phone. It was getting late, around 16:40. Satoru booked the entire family for a meal at some fancy restaurant with an extremely long wait-list. Usually such a last-minute request to dine there would be rejected but Megumi had learned ever since living with his guardian that being a famous artist gets you a lot of favours.

Whatever favour Satoru gave them, Megumi didn’t know. It was probably a mural or a sculpture.

Dad was furious at Satoru for forcing his way into a registration at the restaurant but the man just shrugged with a giddy smile. Megumi still does not understand what Dad saw in Satoru.

Back to the time though, the boy wanted to take a shower. Since they were going to a high-end restaurant he decided to pick some of the more formal attire he had.

Clothes picked out, he stepped into the shower. Megumi’s mind drifted to the formal wear, remembering why he had gotten them in the first place.

It was around 2011, early on in the new year. Somehow, someway, that utter manchild of an adult had been invited to a meeting. Not just any meeting though, a family meeting.

Which was exactly when Megumi’s jaw dropped. Satoru was apparently the heir to a huge engineering firm, how the heck was someone like that supposed to take over a company?

Well, short answer, he doesn’t. Despite his family’s insistence, Satoru chose to pursue his own interests instead of take over the family business. Megumi could respect that.

Regardless, it was time to get washed and put together.

Satoru beamed giddily as he paced through the house, he was dressed in a nice designer suit of his own design. It was a collaboration some years back, he drew the fabric patterns and the designer did the rest. The garment fit him perfectly, from the odd eclectic and maximalist design to the very tailoring itself.

Today was his big day, he wanted to look as good as possible. His eyes flickered on his sunglasses, it would certainly make dinner more manageable with his sensitive eyes but it would be better not to wear them for his plans today.

The man left them on the coffee table, he could cope just for today. It’s fine. He needed to look his best, he needed to make everything perfect.

19:30, time to go. Satoru steeled his giddy smile, okay, game time!

The man makes a quick phone call, “…ah yes… mhm. Yup. At the pop-up carnival, yes. Fantastic!”

All right, the plans were set in motion and now it was time to get things started. Box in hand- well, pocket- and appearance dapper, it’s time to woo his boyfriend!

Operation ‘Woo My Boyfriend’ commences!

“Suguuuuuuu?” Satoru peaks his head into their bedroom where his spouse was unfortunately missing. The man sulked slightly, that meant Suguru was likely with one of the kids, if not all of them. Hah… guess he won’t get a few minutes of non-filtered flirty fun.

Since the man was absent from their room, he checked both the twins’ rooms, Tsumiki’s room, then Megumi’s room. Wait… where is he? Hmm, something’s off-

“What’s taking you so long?”

“GAH!”

Satoru spun around frantically, eyes locked with the very man he was looking for. The man sagged in relief, sometimes he hated how silent Suguru’s footsteps were. Or maybe his hearing was just impaired after a few times of not using ear protection when dealing with loud equipment.

It was only for a few minutes though…

The blue-eyed man looked out the window, their beautiful white van with a fun colourful paint-job done on it was parked in the driveway. Oh.

He was the late one, not them… whoops?

Suguru raised a brow at his boyfriend’s state, “I thought we’re going to the carnival after? Are you sure you don’t want your sunglasses?” He reached out to touch Satoru’s suit jacket and blouse, both colourfully eccentric yet not too jarring to look at. “It’s nice and all, but wouldn’t it get stuffy at the carnival?”

Satoru waved his hand dismissively, in his opinion a kimono in summer was way worse than a full tuxedo in early spring at a carnival.

“It’s fine, besides the restaurant has a strict dress code,” he lets his eyes roam across Suguru’s body. The black blouse and dark violet tie matched the man’s amethyst eyes perfectly and the more casual grey vest kept Suguru looking sharp.

The usual half up hairdo was swapped for his High-school choice of a full bun. Satoru hummed at the hairpin in Suguru’s hair, it was an old gift. Around the time their relationship started being ‘official’.

Raised in a formal family, Satoru was taught to give the girl he liked a hairpin. Something pretty with his colours, a sign of courtship. He figured that dating a boy wouldn’t be much different and gave Suguru a well-crafted silver hair stick with two dangling chains that had star-shaped zircons swaying freely.

“That looks nostalgic,” Satoru smiled, reached over to touch the dangling gems.

Suguru nodded in agreement, “certainly does.”

A loud voice beckoned the two adults from outside, there stood Nanako screaming her lungs out with an annoyed expression, “Papa! Toru-nii! Hurry up, it’s 7:40 already! We’re gonna be late!!”

At that, the pair chuckled, rushing down the stairs out to the driveway. Suguru took the driver’s seat that day, not willing to risk a road accident since Satoru adamantly refused to put on his sunglasses. The man kept a pair on his person just in case his stubborn partner changed his mind.

The restaurant was just as the reviews said, elegant interior and exterior with excellent service and described to have a very ‘unique’ dining experience, whatever that meant. Satoru stood at the front of the group as they were led to the table.

The kids were all dressed in their best clothes, Megumi in a nice blazer, white blouse, and a bow- his sisters insisted on the teal string bow tie. Tsumiki was in a sunflower print dress and beige knit jacket to cope with the cool early-spring air. Mimiko and Nanako wore matching dresses with a full circle skirt. Nanako even put on some light make-up for the occasion, under Suguru’s guidance though.

However, Satoru realised one thing as the meals progressed. The food was… lacklustre, to say the very least. Suguru leaned over and chuckled, “this is definitely a specially graded dish.”

Yes it was. Because why the hell were there bubbles on the plate with a weird looking cracker thing? How is this part of the meal?!

The kids, though definitely intrigued by the dishes, were not at all satisfied with the food. At one point Megumi, the most well-behaved of the four children, even began sighing as he picked at the odd food. Satoru had to fight the pout that threatened to show, this was not what he had in mind.

Well, jokes on him for not reading up on the damn place better… ugh. He hated reading. Oh the next course was being served. Ooh, an orange! Finally, something that wasn’t turned into puree or was some kind of foam/bubble mixture. Satoru’s expression brightened slightly until he reached out and realised the orange was a steak tartare deceptively formed to look like an orange, completed with a traitorous cheese ‘orange peel’ on top.

Suguru had to lean to his side and fight a chuckle, he reached out to give his partner a pat on the shoulder.

At least the steak tartare was good and the bread was decent…

“At least the dessert should be good,” Satoru sighed, seeing the disappointed looks of his four kids. The restaurant had some, quote, ‘Interesting and innovative desserts.’ Boy oh boy was Satoru looking forward to it!

The waiter wheeled in some sort of bubble concoction again and Satoru swore he felt a vein bulge on his head. The four children all stare at the bubbles with a blank expression that said ‘are you serious?’ All over.

Operation ‘Woo My Boyfriend’: Part 1, Failure.

Alright, maybe dinner was a no-go for wooing his partner but surely the carnival will go well? Satoru had secretly planned the whole day with the carnival team, everything had to he perfect for this after all! Once Satoru gives them the signal, which was a peace sign, the fireworks would start and that would be when Satoru would strike! The man rubbed the box in his pocket.

This plan was supposed to be flawless, after a day of carnival fun and watching the kids enjoy themselves as the pair watched on from outside the rides, they could reminisce on their younger days and then it would lead up to the finale.

Yes, it would be perfect! At the fireworks would seal the deal!

However, Satoru had failed to factor in something very important to his plan. The sheer chaos caused by three teenage girls and one preteen boy.

With Mimiko and Nanako determined to ride every single carnival ride, even the pop-up rollercoaster Suguru deemed entirely unsafe and should not the riddden under any circumstances, Tsumiki and Megumi determined to win at least one grand prize from the scam games, Satoru found his plans swiftly and utterly derailed.

Okay, things went a little off-track. So what Satoru? You’re gonna let a few mishaps ruin THE day? No way! I’m The Strongest, I’m the best at everything I do! I can get the plans back on track, yeah! He pumped his fist with a look of determination as they approached the totally-not-a-scam-carnival games.

This one was easy, use the cork gun to shoot down the target. Usually these stalls have tricks on them but Satoru offered a real hefty tip for them to get rid of the boards or nails holding the targets up just for that day. He’s sure many people who have been to the carnival experienced many spoils because of that. So yes, today at least, the carnival games were not a scam.

Tsumiki and Megumi attempted the game first, though they hit the target the places they hit didn’t allow enough force for the object to fall. Now it’s time for Satoru to shine!

A quick five minutes later, a Cinnamoroll plush was in his arms. The man presented the prize to his boyfriend proudly, “for you.”

Suguru took the large plushie and hugged it to his chest as he smirked, “how charming.”

“Toru-nii get one for me too!” Nanako chimed in, tugging at Satoru’s sleeve as she pointed at a hilariously fat grey cat plush. Mimiko similarly was staring intently at a long and fat purple penguin plush.

“Yeah Daddy! Can you try to get the hello kitty?!” Tsumiki chimed in, practically pulling Satoru towards her desired prize.

“Whaaat?? I asked first ‘miki! Not fair!” Nanko huffed, dragging Satoru away towards her desired prize.

“But mine’s closer! C’mon, it’ll be more convenient Nanako!!” Tsumiki puffed her cheeks, adamant in her decision to go by the nearest stall. Suguru chuckled and swiftly diffused the situation, Tsumiki was right in that her stall of choice was closer but going by that rule it would be Mimiko to get a plush first. The plush penguin was right next to the current stall, after all.

At that, the girls settled down and agreed to wait their turns. At the end of the day, they would each get one so it didn’t matter. Megumi was content with the food, not too focused on the prizes.

Satoru had assumed that, at first. Then he saw the boy looking at a tiger plushie with big eyes. He smirked and quickly won the game for his son, “you like it?” Satoru smiled as he passed the plush to Megumi, the boy blushed a little at having been caught staring.

“No. But it’s a gift so I’ll take it,” Megumi grumbled, hugging the plush tightly.

“Whatever you say, kid,” Satoru hummed in amusement, well aware of what his boy was thinking about. Ah to be young, he was like that once.

As they progressed through the carnival though, Satoru couldn’t keep up with his cheery manner anymore. The lights were blinding, there was too many smells, the children’s chatter were being covered by the surrounding sounds.

Queuing up for some waffles, Suguru nudged his side with a concerned expression. “You okay?” He stroked Satoru’s hand in concern. “I have your glasses,” the man reached into his pocket, pulling out Satoru’s round sunglasses. They were bigger than his rectangular ones, which allowed him to block more light.

Satoru shook his head dejectedly. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t gotten to reminisce with Suguru at all. He was too busy earning prizes with the kids and competing with the Hasaba twins on some of the carnival games like bumper cars. When had his plans been derailed so much? How was he going to set the mood like this?

His spouse frowned at Satoru’s adamant refusal. With a sigh, Suguru pressed his head to his shoulder. “At least rest your eyes,” he muttered loud enough for Satoru to hear. His hands stroked Satoru’s hair, coaxing his partner to relax and lean into the touch.

“…Thanks…” Satoru mumbled, sighing loudly as the queue slowly winded its way to the cashier.

Operation ‘Woo My Boyfriend’: Part 2, Failure.

Alright, maybe things derailed a little and Satoru failed to A. Reminisce and B. Look cool in front of his boyfriend but everything will be fine! After all, the pair love every part of each other, flaws and all!

Satoru gulped, now they were on the ferris wheel. They only allowed four people per carriage and it was the perfect time for him and Suguru to get some alone time.

The man looked at a staff member dead in the eyes, giving them a peace sign. They nodded firmly before excusing themselves to talk to the firework technicians.

Operation ‘Woo My Boyfriend’: Final Part, commence!

As they settled into the carriages though, Suguru sat with the Hasaba twins and Satoru with the Fushiguro siblings. The man was too dumbfounded by his partner’s decision to argue.

Satoru sulked, the kids were all 12 and above! Surely they could have handled themselves?! Why did Suguru do that?!

And so, the fireworks began. Too loud, too many lights, and all this only for the love of his life to be sitting in a whole other carriage because he wanted each of them to chaperone two kids.

“Daddy, you okay?” Tsumiki placed a hand on Satoru’s arm, noting his pouting face. Even Megumi bit back his usual snarky remarks, Satoru was sure he would have been called stupid for pouting about not being able to sit with Suguru by now.

The man sighed, “yeah… things just aren’t going how I planned.”

Tsumiki offered a wry smile, “let’s just enjoy the fireworks. I hope things get better, Daddy.” Satoru sure hoped so too.

Thus the night concluded and Satoru had not only failed to offer his family a good dinner, spend time reminiscing with his spouse, nor did he get to propose in the way he had wanted to. He clutched the box in his pocket tightly, things may not have gone according to plan but all that mattered was the answer his boyfriend gave.

They drove home, the photographers Satoru hired for the moment were dismissed home as he shook his head and waved to them with a dejected look.

“Alright, come on now, get to bed,” Suguru chuckled, waking up the children who had fallen asleep. Megumi yawned, sleepily getting up from the soft cushion he was sleeping on in the back of the van.

Nanako whined but swiftly got up from the couch, waking Mimiko who was sleeping with her head on the former’s shoulders. Lastly Tsumiki made a disgruntled noise and required a little more coaxing before getting up from the soft carpet in the van.

With the kids in their rooms and tucked into bed, the pair stepped into the shower before going to bed. Satoru sighed, feeling the warm water rain down on him. Today was a complete and utter failure.

“May I join?” Suguru smiled as he stepped into the shower, well aware it would be a million years before Satoru rejected a shared shower. The latter sulked and heaved another sigh.

“What’s wrong?” The shorter male reached for the shampoo, working it gently on his scalp. “You’ve been off since dinner. Was the food that disappointing?” Suguru rinsed the shampoo off and began conditioning his tresses.

Satoru shook his head, scrubbing his head clean. White hair looked cool but it came with the unfortunate downfall of easily being dirtied. He had to clean it thoroughly lest it begin to look yellow or some other dirty grey colour.

“Then? Are you okay?” Suguru changed the water temperature to cold, rinsing off the conditioner. Supposedly it was supposed to be better for the hair since the hair cells could shrink and absorb the oils better. The same logic applied to shampooing, which should be done with warm water to allow a deeper clean.

Satoru didn’t believe any of that fancy hair science but Suguru did have silky smooth hair so maybe all of that weird hair science did work.

“Yeah. Just disappointed I guess but it’s not about dinner,” Satoru shrugged, moving onto lathering himself clean. His partner raised a brow but stopped questioning him.

Suguru helped him blow-dry his hair before they swapped and it was Satoru drying the former’s hair. By the time they had everything settled it was 1 am.

Satoru sighed, it was now or never, he supposed. The man cleared his throat, “Hey, Sugu?”

”Yes?” Suguru looked up from his book, his reading glasses perched on his nose. Sometimes Satoru wondered if he had a glasses fetish since his partner looked absolutely stunning with his black-rimmed reading glasses.

The man gulped, “You know how I was down today?” Satoru rubbed his neck, reaching over to his nightstand for the box. “It’s because I wanted things to go perfectly today,” he rubbed the top of the box anxiously, turning to face Suguru again.

His spouse folded his glasses and placed the book away, attention solely on Satoru as he sported a worried frown. “Why? We still had fun, the kids loved it. Sure the restaurant food was bad but it was funny to see what they served,” he said, stroking Satoru’s hand in concern.

Satoru steeled his nerves, holding the box out to Suguru. “I wanted to impress you.” The man opened the box, revealing a pair of silver rings. They were identical in design the only difference being the gemstone set in the middle. One was set with a blue moissanite and the other a purple moissanite. The gems sparkled under the soft glow of the lamps, eliciting a surprised gasp from Suguru.

“I was hoping to have done this in a different way,” Satoru confessed, he took out the ring with a blue gemstone and held it to Suguru. The man cleared his throat, looking his partner in the eyes.

“We’ve been together since High school,” he began, watching Suguru’s expression closely. He noted the wetness welling in his partner’s eyes, the anxiety creeping within him. “Despite all the stupid and irresponsible shit I did, you always stuck with me.”

Satoru took a steadying breath, looking away from Suguru, this allowed his partner to take a moment to breathe as well. “With the same-sex partnership certificate and since you’ve already stuck with me through all of this…” he looked at Suguru again, the man’s lips were quivered as tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Will you marry me?”

Suguru inhaled shakily, wiping his face before more fresh tears coated them. He let out a shaky laugh and nodded, “Yes… yes. I will.” Suguru held out his left hand for Satoru, the latter smiled as he placed the ring on Suguru’s ring finger where it belonged.

The gesture was returned and the pair held their hands side by side, staring at the matching rings in awe. Suguru leaned over and pressed a tender kiss on Satoru’s lips.

The latter smirked and pinned Suguru to the bed, a playful smirk on his face. In his eyes, the night was still young.

Operation ‘Woo My Boyfriend’: Final Part, complete.

~Omake~

Sato: *makes fourteen new emails to make leave bad reviews on the food at the restaurant.* Thanks for nothing!!! ◡ ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ ┻━┻

Chapter Text

Yuuji packed his bag, he had his wallet, a beeping keychain to alert adults nearby if anyone tried to do weird things to him, and a flip phone. His first ever flip phone!!

“Don’t talk to strangers,” Uncle warned once more, arms crossed in disapproval as he watched his nephew excitedly pack. “Stick with Megumi and his sisters. Also that Yoshino kid,” he added, glaring balefully towards Yuuji.

Uraume sighed, they couldn’t fathom why Sukuna won’t trust Yuuji with such a minor thing but one can never be too safe, they supposed.

The trio went through the functions of a phone once more to ensure Yuuji knew how to call them when he needed to.

With that, to Kyoto he goes!!

His uncle drove towards Yoshino’s house- well, children’s home- and picked the teen up before dropping them both off at the train station. Sukuna went through his list of warnings once more, ‘do not wander off on your own’, ‘stay with someone at all times’, ‘do not get distracted by something and stop the whole group if you want to stop’, and so on.

“I get it, I get it! C’mon Unc, have a little more faith in me!!” Yuuji huffed, grinning with a mix of amusement and exasperation at his guardian who was still sporting a nasty frown.

“I have as much faith in you as I do to a walnut protecting the house,” Sukuna grumbled, still unwilling to let his nephew leave. Unfortunately, the train would be leaving soon and he had no choice but to let the brat go.

“Call me if anything goes wrong at all. Yoshino gave you his number right? Call him too if you get lost. Make sure you get the numbers of that Gojo brat’s kids too,” Sukuna added again, fixing Yuuji with a stern look to drill in the point. Brat chuckled and offered the man a salute.

“Will do,” he replied, turning to rush towards his train.

Now all Sukuna could do was pray nothing stupid happens…

Yoshino kept a tight grip on Yuuji’s hand, carefully guiding his friend through the station. The crowds were large, as per usual on the weekend, but not unmanageable.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you but something really good happened to me, Yuuji,” Yoshino smiled brightly, a rare sight for the usually mopey looking teen. As they waited for Megumi and his sisters, they had little to do but wait and chatter.

“What is it?” The boy queried, interest piqued. It wasn’t everyday Yoshino beamed this brightly.

“My mother got a promotion at her job. My caseworkers say if nothing else happens then by next week I should be back with her,” Yoshino leaned back on the wall, looking up at the clear blue sky. He looked calm, relieved almost.

Yuuji offered his senior a smile, he was ecstatic for the teen. Ever since they became friends when he beat up Yoshino’s bullies, he knew that Yoshino was waiting for the day he could finally go back to living with his mum. Good for him, Yuuji thought. He can be together with her again, his smile faltering slightly as the unpleasant thoughts came. Unlike me.

The boy sighed, these thoughts were becoming a real hassle. Honestly, he had to come to terms with it soon. It’s been… what, five years already? Truthfully, Yuuji couldn’t even remember his parents’ faces from memory. He wishes he did but he could barely remember what they were like aside from snippets of memories.

Mum telling him to be a good boy, Dad being a silly guy who always brought laughter to the house. He thinks his parents were nice but he would never know them more than that.

Yuuji hummed in thought, how would his uncle react if he suddenly started calling him ‘Papa’ or ‘Father’? Actually no, Yuuji could picture it very well.

*A figment of his mind

”Hey papa, can I get money to buy something?” Yuuji asks absentmindedly, looking over at Sukuna. The man’s face twists into a disgusted expression, head pulled back and face pinched as if Yuuji had just committed some felony.

The boy snickered softly at the thought. Maybe he should try that. Probably on Father’s day. Hmmm…

“I think I see them,” Yoshino nudged Yuuji to grab his attention. The boy looked up and saw group of girls chattering excitedly while a bored looking Megumi held shopping bags. Seems they had been shopping while waiting for them!

The moment the pair exchanged eye contact, Megumi’s bored expression lightened into a relieved smile. The boy waved, catching his sisters’ attention and the trio of girls rushed to their side.

By the look of it, this was going to be an exciting and fun day! What could go wrong?

A surprising number of things, actually. The bowling spot they intended to go to was closed, a cool cafe the Hasaba twins were excited to visit had a queue that was far too long to justify the food, Tsumiki had a emergency suddenly and because of that Mimiko rushed to buy new pants while Nanako went to the convenience store to buy something. Thus it was just the boys as they sat on a bench in the mall.

“You know, since we’re here,” Yuuji said, breaking the silence. “What kinda girls do you like?” He grinned, turning left to face Megumi and Yoshino.

Yoshino shrugged, “I think the cute ones are nice…” he laughed awkwardly and scratched his cheek. “I don’t really know though.”

Yuuji nodded sagely, “I think cute is nice but tall girls with big butts look really good!” The older teen chuckled awkwardly to fill the silence that followed Yuuji’s statement. The two boys turned to Megumi, waiting for his turn to answer.

“Well…” the boy paused, he never really thought about it. Girls… “hm… well, I think I want them to be kind and genuine. Nanako and Mimiko are really scary when they hide things from different groups of friends. And… I guess someone who’s gentle too.”

Megumi paused for a moment before adding with wry laughter, “Unlike Tsumiki. She keeps throwing things at me when she gets mad.” The pair nodded in agreement, those traits certainly were understandable.

Oh, the girls were back. The trio got up and joined their group, moving to a nearby cinema to watch a movie since all their other plans were foiled.

The movie was alright, while Yoshino and Yuuji were greatly disappointed by the poor visual effects and acting, most of the group thought it was good.

About two months had passed since that outing with his friends. Yes, friends. Megumi exchanged contacts with Yoshino and even if he disliked the fact that the older boy had Yuuji all to himself, the two of them got along quite well. Yoshino had some pretty good movie recommendations and as their senior he actually provided a lot of helpful feedback and advice for Megumi.

And that is exactly what Megumi needed right now, desperately. No way in hell was he going to his sisters for this, they would tease him to no end!

Fushiguro: Yoshino I need your help
Yoshino: What do you need, Fushiguro?
Fushiguro: I got a love letter
Yoshino is typing…

The boy sat at his desk, anxiously awaiting a response. Letters, he has dealt with. Love letters, what the heck was he supposed to do?! That meant a girl had a crush on him, right? Should he feel happy?

He kind of felt happy, there was a weird fluffy feeling in Megumi’s chest as his heart pounded. Seriously? A love letter? Like a real one? The boy placed the letter down and breathed deeply, realising that he had panicked so much he had yet to open the letter itself.

Bracing himself, Megumi opened the pink envelope with a heart shape sticker.

Dear Fushiguro,

Ever since we met at the art club, I have had feelings for you. You were gentle and taught me patiently, even when I messed up or got paint on you on accident. No matter how dirty or messy I made you or how much I messed up, you were still very kind to me.

Please meet me at the school rooftop to give me your answer.

Sincerely,
Kurusu

The letter was written neatly, with beautiful handwriting that reminded Megumi of the well-trained handwriting of Yuuji. It was from Kurusu, the girl who sat beside him in art club.

She had green eyes like Megumi, which was rare in Japan, and platinum blonde hair like Satoru. From what he could remember, Kurusu was a nice girl. She had an angelic presence to her and Megumi recalled hearing many boys talking about how they’d love to be with a girl like her.

So… was he lucky? He was, right? A nice and pretty girl like Kurusu liked him, that essentially made him the subject of envy for many boys in school. What should he do?!

His phone buzzed, snapping him out of the spiral of questions.

Yoshino: good for you!!
Yoshino: do you like them? Are they kind?
Yoshino: you should tell them what you think. If you don’t want to be with them then be honest and tell them no. If not, then go for it!

Megumi looked between his phone and the letter. He likes Kurusu, he supposed. She is very kind, friendly, and she doesn’t press into his personal life like everyone else. But did he like her enough to date her?

He’s never dated anyone before, how was he supposed to know? But Kurusu is a nice girl, the boys always say the guy she has a crush on is lucky. So… what should he do?

Fushiguro: thanks, I’ll think about it.
Yoshino: that’s good! Good luck ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ!!

He shut his phone and sighed. A relationship, huh? Well, it was late now. He should hurry and head to bed unless he wanted to be groggy for school tomorrow. Plus he was going to give Kurusu his answer. He should do his best to look good tomorrow.

The school day passed quickly, soon it was the end of the day and it was time for Megumi’s response.

Kurusu stood there with a nervous expression, fidgeting with her fingers as she bounced on her feet. Her gaze flickered between Megumi and the ground, a bright pink blush covering her face as she waited in anticipation.

‘Pretty’ would be the word the boy used to describe her. With a charming doll-like face that had a sense of handsomeness to it as well. Objectively, Kurusu was definitely a pretty girl.

The girl in question played with her fingers more before clearing her throat, “Y-your answer?”

~Omake~

Jun: *panicking because he has never been asked to provide romantic advice.*

Chapter Text

It was just the average evening in the Gojo household, Satoru binged on too many sweets for his fiancé’s liking and the kids were left to do their own thing. Megumi, as per usual, was off in his room studying. Either that, or he was painting.

Suguru moved to sit beside the taller male, sinking into the soft couch to change the channel. “Did you know Megumi got a girlfriend?” Suguru asked as he navigated through the channels, finally finding the news network. It would rain tomorrow, good to know.

Satoru froze, turning to face his fiancé, “WHAT??”

“Yeah, apparently they’ve been together for about a month,” Suguru shrugged, he let out a relaxed sigh and leaned onto Satoru, using the man’s shoulder as a pillow. “I saw them at a cafe while cycling back, she seemed nice.”

What? A girlfriend? No, no, no, no! No way! Nuh uh! Satoru widened his eyes and stared at Suguru as if the latter had just casually told him the sky was red. How was this possible? No, it’s wrong! All wrong!

“I can tell exactly what you’re thinking,” Suguru looked up, slapping Satoru’s cheeks gently to bring his lover back to reality. “I know we both thought he had a crush on Yuuji, but don’t you think you’re just projecting because we liked each other in high school?” He nonchalantly went back to focusing on the news, seems like many others have been happy with the same-sex marriage law and some have even already had a wedding.

Satoru, meanwhile, could not comprehend the news he had so nonchalantly received. Megumi? A girlfriend? No way! He’s supposed to be in love with that fossil’s kid!

He recognised the look in the boy’s eyes every time he was texting Yuuji, so filled with love and affection. The way Megumi’s smile softens and his eyes so glued to the screen, those things only happened when he was interacting with Yuuji!

But… what if he really was projecting? Maybe Megumi didn’t like Yuuji romantically. But the signs…

No. Satoru was going to get to the bottom of this.

Get to the bottom of it he shall. School should be ending in about half an hour and if Satoru knew anything about teenage romance, after-school dates were a daily occurrence.

The man stood in the distance, observing the school gate as students slowly begin trickling out due to the staggered dismissal times. It didn’t take long before he spotted a spiky-haired boy walking next to a blonde with a bob.

Any other time, maybe Satoru would have told Megumi he got a good catch but he had to prove his point! His boy loves Itadori Yuuji, damn it!

He followed the pair as they made their way towards a mall, pretty average date procedure. Hana shows Megumi some stuff on her phone while the latter watches with a blank expression.

You see?! He doesn’t like you! Shoo! Get away!! Satoru hissed internally, following them into a cafe. Luckily, Megumi’s attention was focused on what appeared to be a limited-time menu on his, ugh, girlfriend’s phone. The man got a seat right behind the couple he was tailing, perfect!

“It’s a collaboration with Sanrio, isn’t it cute?” Satoru hears Hana speak, her voice is cheery and not all that dissimilar to a mix of Tsumiki’s tenderness and Yuuji’s energetic tone.

The man took a look at the limited-time menu as well, it was a collection of different desserts all with a Sanrio theme. A thought crossed his mind, I have to try every single dessert.

A thought he quickly brushed away considering the nature of his task today. The man kept a sharp ear out, he wanted- no, needed- as much information as possible to prove this is a false romance! His Megumi is not in love! Nay!

Ordering a Cinnamorol parfait was fine, right? Yeah, if he didn’t order anything then he’d be kicked out anyway!

About ten-minutes pass since they have put in their orders, a waiter arrives with their dishes and the first thing he hears is Hana’s squealing.

“Aren’t they adorable?” Hana snapped a quick photo before staring at her dessert. “It’s so cute I can’t bear to eat it…”

Megumi shared the sentiment, “It is a little upsetting. I don’t know which part to eat first, I guess.”

Satoru raised a brow, he never knew Megumi thought like that. Well, he supposed cute desserts were hard to tackle for some. Should you put the dessert out of its misery or would it be better to slowly pick away at it and save its face for last?

“Aaaah~”

Okay, pause on the cute desserts discussion, what did he just hear? Satoru fought the instinct to turn around and glare daggers at the girl.

Right, calm down. Megumi hasn’t said anything, which means he probably doesn’t reciprocate this. Satoru nodded, yes that must be it!

“Aaaah…” Megumi’s monotone voice followed shortly after. “It’s not too sweet. It’s good.”

Is the world falling apart? This can’t be happening! Satoru deflated onto the table, his Megumi would never do something like let himself be spoon-fed by anyone… not even his sisters or Suguru… So what did that mean for this Hana girl?!

Could it be… he really, actually, likes her?! No, he had to have faith! In his own beliefs and his son’s love!

“Aaah…”
“Aaah~”

No! Don’t feed her! Megumi, nooooo!

About forty minutes pass after entering the cafe, the pair finally leave. Of course, in those gruelling forty minutes, Satoru was subjected to his son’s horrible attempts at small talk and compliments. Why was his son working so hard to be with Hana? Megumi isn’t the type to force himself so… maybe…

No. Not yet! There’s not enough proof! Satoru quickly followed them into a book store. Why are you bringing a girl into a book store, son?! Wait, no, if that makes her less interested then attaboy!!

“Oh are you interested in that book? I actually have the first three volumes. If you want, I can lend them to you?” Hana asked, looking over Megumi’s shoulder. They seemed to be looking at a historical fiction, either that or it was a science fiction one. The categories were side by side.

“…Thanks,” Megumi responded with a pause, almost like he was shy. Wait, shy? Why would Megumi be shy over a girl borrowing him a book?

As soon as the pair move away from the shelf, Satoru takes a look at the novels they were looking at. On the cover was a heroine and she was surrounded by attractive men. Why would Megumi pick up a book like this…? As far as Satoru was aware, Megumi was not a fan of romances whatsoever, fantasy or not.

Wait, he was being side-tracked. Where are they now? Oh- they left the store already. Satoru rushed out and and paused went back to trailing after them, shocked at the sight before him.

Hana blushes before she extends her pinky to touch Megumi’s, her eyes looking away while the boy hesitates before slowly interlacing their fingers.

Satoru stopped in his steps. Maybe he was wrong… maybe Suguru was right and he was just projecting onto his son. What else could explain today’s events?

Megumi feeding and being fed by his girlfriend, acting all coy around her. The awkward pause of courage it took for him to lace fingers with Hana.

Satoru walked away, what the hell was he doing? So obsessed over his son’s love life he would stalk him on a date. The man returned home, taking a well-needed break before heading back to work.

Suguru arrived home later than usual, his sleeves were soaked by the sudden downpour in the evening but the rest of his clothes remained dry under his raincoat. The man slicked his hair back before entering the room, releasing a long sigh.

“You were right, honey…” Satoru whined, his body was lazily splayed across the bed like a starfish. Suguru raised a brow before removing his coat.

“I’m always right, what do you mean?” He responded with a chuckle, making sure to pat his fiancé’s hair as he walked towards the bathroom. “So? What did you do?”

The shorter man left the door ajar to allow the conversation between them. He moved quickly to strip his clothes, feeling gross and sticky with sweat after a full day at work and the heavy rain earlier.

“Ugh… Ignoring the finer details, essentially I wanted to find out what Megumi felt about his girlfriend…” Satoru groaned, he tossed and turned in bed to move his head closer to the bathroom door. “And I guess you were right… maybe I was projecting on our son a little…”

Suguru raised a brow, what did that mean? No, considering his spouse, he knew exactly what that meant. Leave it to his fiancé to be such a manchild he would obsess over their children’s love life…

“Well, glad to know you’ll stop projecting on our son,” Suguru hummed, finally stepping into the shower. The warm water felt like a blessing as it cascaded down his skin, causing him go sigh in relief.

After a quick shower, he dried himself and stepped out and sat next to his sulking fiancé.

“…I really thought he liked Yuuji…” Satoru mumbled, hugging a pillow tightly. Suguru tittered at the sight, his lovable and dramatic partner.

The raven haired male leaned over and pressed a peck on Satoru’s shoulder, “Come on, stop sulking over our son’s love life~!” He chuckled, leaving a trail a kisses over his partner to brighten him up. Satoru grumbled and turned around to grab Suguru’s face in his hands a little rougher than he preferred.

“If you’re gonna give me kisses, give ‘em here,” The white-haired man grumbled before pressing a kiss on Suguru’s lips. The moment was short-lived since Satoru pulled away and sulked, “Tease.”

Suguru smirked, “you’re just so fun to tease~”

~Omake~

Meg: *hesitates to hold Hana’s hand*
Sato: MY SHIP IS SINKING?! Σ（ﾟдﾟlll）

Chapter Text

Word spread across campus like wildfire, after holding a preliminary competition between students across the school, only a handful were chosen to participate and create a piece of their own to represent the school for the Inter-School Art Competition. Such a large event, everyone only wanted to know one thing: who got in?

Up to 10 students could represent their school and only five of those students would make it past the first round of judging. After that, the students would be tested on their ability to cooperate together and work in groups based on the theme and genre of their piece. Out of 25 schools across Japan, only a chosen few would get to the final round of judging where they will select three finalists for each genre of art: Modern, Traditional, Abstract, Pop.

Yuuji frowned at the pamphlet, he entered the competition for fun and decided to do modern art since he had recently acquired a drawing tablet from Uraume as a birthday present. He hadn’t realised that it was such a major event… nor did he understand the rules.

Luckily for him, his dear best friend of six years, Yoshino, is more than glad to explain the judging process to him in simpler terms.

25 schools in Japan select 10 students, meaning 250 students participate in the competition. After the first round of selection, half of the participants are selected to move forward.

Now there are 125 participants, they break up into groups of preferably 5 but pairs and trios were allowed as well. They choose two groups for each genre to move forward and then the people within the group compete against each other. Of course if the genre chosen is not popular and there is only one winning group which happens to have three people then that group is considered the winner.

At this point, Yuuji could feel his head spin. Complicated. Very, very, complicated. Too big for his brain to understand. The boy sighed looked up, begging for the headache from overthinking to leave.

“On the brighter side, we both entered for the Modern category so I can help you while I’m still in!” Yoshino chuckled, pointing a finger upwards as he pointed out the brighter picture. That’s right, the pair entered their school’s preliminary picking process together and both were selected to represent their school.

“Wahhh… I feel like my head is going to explode, what? I don’t really get it but let’s do our best!! Oh, let’s tell Megumi about it!” Yuuji excitedly whipped out his phone, it was still just a basic and old-model flip phone but considering Sukuna himself did not own a ‘modern’ phone, Yuuji doubts he could convince the man to get him a better model when his current one worked perfectly.

Itadori: Megumi, guess what? Yoshino and I joined this art competition and we got in (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

While awaiting his friend’s reply, the boy turned to his senior excitedly. “So, what did you enter with? I tried using Uncle’s technique with simple shapes and then I tried adding in a lot of small details and colours. I think the tiger came out pretty cool!”

“Oh, well I wanted to do something with jellyfish so I used all the small plastic bags in my house to make a smack of jellyfish,” Yoshino scratched his cheek as he recounted the artwork. It was a rare day where their lunch times matched up perfectly so he spared no time in digging in to his lunchbox so they could spend more time together.

The teen’s smile widened slightly at the thought that he was actually consuming a homemade lunch. It had been years since he had been able to eat homemade food, let alone a lunchbox.

Yuuji swiftly dug into his own lunch as well, as he remembered that lunch would end soon.

Megumi strolled through the mall with Hana, his girlfriend of two months by now. The boy followed her as she led him through aisles of cute colourful keychains and phone straps. Life with Hana as his partner was nice, all things considered.

Instead of being seen as broody and hard to talk to, his classmates have begun seeing him as a more approachable figure now that Hana began to show up in his classroom. Some even envy him for being the object of Hana’s affection, though that attention was less than favourable.

He even made some new friends, fellow light novel enthusiasts who he got along with decently well. All around, his girlfriend has helped him open up and socialise more. It is both a pleasant and unpleasant feeling, Megumi can’t decide which he thinks it is more of.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, the boy swiftly pulled it out to see what was the cause. A soft smile crept up on his face as he saw it was a message from Yuuji.

Itadori: Megumi, guess what? Yoshino and I joined this art competition and we got in (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)
Fushiguro is typing…

Congrats? No that sounds too dismissive. I got in too, let’s compete in the finals- no way, too embarrassing to say, Megumi let out a pondering hum. He typed and deleted sentences all the while Hana continued shopping for a new keychain.

The boy pondered for a while longer, eventually deciding on a reply that felt genuine but not embarrassing.

Fushiguro: The Inter-School one, right? I saw your school as one of the participants. I got in too, best of luck.

Not even a minute passed before Megumi’s phone buzzed with messages once more. He chuckled softly at how his best friend always seemed to reply immediately.

Itadori: ∑(ﾟДﾟ)
Itadori: Fushiguro you joined too?!
Itadori: let’s do our best! ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪

Just as he was about to type his response, his girlfriend tugged on his sleeve. Hana held out two keychains, a black cat and a white cat. “Don’t they look cute? Which do you think fits me better?” She asked, bringing the keychains up to her bag to demonstrate how it would look.

Megumi hummed, he really didn’t care about aesthetics and the like. Mimiko and Nanako always chided his lack of fashion sense, the boy simply didn’t see why clothes and such accessories mattered. If you liked it then it’s fine, right?

But he shouldn’t just leave his partner with a vague answer… the boy pondered a little more. Ah whatever, he reached for the black cat, “I think this one fits.”

“Then black one it is!” Hana exclaimed before she left his side to purchase the keychain. Megumi turned his attention back to his phone, typing a quick reply to the message.

Fushiguro: Of course.

Hana returned to his side and the pair strode out of the store, continuing their date elsewhere.

~Omake~

Mimi: I feel bad for Hana, Megumi’s sense of aesthetics is horrible…
Nana: riiiight?
Tsu: then let’s do our best and drill some fashion sense into him!

Somewhere…
Meg: *sneeze*
Hana: oh no, are you sick?
Meg: I think it’s just cold..
Hana: take my shawl :(

Chapter Text

“Have a good day at school!” Mum’s voice rang from the kitchen, calling out to Junpei. The boy poked his head out from the corridor and waved the woman goodbye before rushing to get to the train.

Things have been, for lack of a better term, busy for Junpei currently. There was the art competition which he had yet to think of a theme for, then there was also the need to tutor his best friend for the upcoming exams so that Yuuji had a fair chance at promoting to a second-year.

Honestly, some days it almost seems like a miracle that boy even graduated elementary school. Junpei nodded grimly at the memory, him and Fushiguro staring at some of Yuuji’s work and thinking, “Did we take the same class?” Luckily their work was paying off since Yuuji’s grades looked decent enough that teachers no longer felt the need to pester him to study harder.

The boy pumped his fist subtly on the train ride to school, celebrating that small victory. Next would be hopefully fixing Yuuji’s common sense that running 50 metres in six seconds is NOT and never will be normal!

”What? How else do you get to school on time when you wake up late?” Yuuji had asked with a confused frown when the topic was brought up.

”Wait you were serious? He can actually do that?” Fushiguro followed up, equally dumbfounded as Yuuji but for drastically different reasons. The boy turned to the pink-haired menace and just stared at him with sheer utter confusion.

His fond reminiscing is cut short as the train’s swaying and occasional shake comes to a stop, signalling it was his station. The boy pushes through the ocean of humans surrounding him and just barely manages to squeeze himself out before it was too late.

Through the sea of black and brown hair, he catches a glimpse of bright pink. Ugh, he’s so far- WAIT DON’T START RUNNING! Junpei pushes his way through the crowd, feeling the air push out of his lungs as he forces himself through the unyielding mass of humans before him.

The boy doesn’t even know how he managed to pull his transport card out of his pocket, it seems he’s more dextrous than he assumed. But back to his pink-haired companion, where the hell did he run off to?! School wasn’t going to start for another 20 minutes, why the rush?!

Finally making it out of the station, Junpei stops and hunches over in front of a convenience store, panting and gasping for air due to his pathetic attempt at chasing after his junior.

Seriously, why the hell was Yuuji doing art instead of sports? He could be earning insane amounts of money as a pro…

“Hah… Hah… hah…” Junpei huffed, he tried to take slow and deep breaths but his lungs did not agree with him, demanding fast huffs that were beginning to make his airways sting from how cold they were getting. He stumbles backwards and leans against the convenience store walls, “Why… hah… must he… hah… be so… fast…”

“Why must who be so fast?” Junpei heard a familiar voice beside him, swiftly followed by something cold pressing against his cheek.

“OH MY GOD,” The boy scrambles to get away from the source, rubbing his cheek where the cold surface was touching. As if his heart wasn’t pumping enough, it was practically racing now.

Said source was a certain pink-haired menace he had just been attempting to chase. Yuuji opened the bottle of strawberry milk he had pressed against Junpei’s cheek, chugging the pink liquid down until one third of the bottle was gone. In his free hand was a bag of meat buns, still steaming hot and fresh.

“What?” Yuuji asked nonchalantly, staring at Junpei with his usual air-headed blank expression. He noticed the boy’s gaze on the meat buns and held it out to him, “Want one?”

Sighing, Junpei graciously accepted the offer and grabbed one of the steaming meat buns. It’s good… he notes begrudgingly while Yuuji continues chowing down on the buns as if nothing was off.

“You ran to the convenience store for buns right before school…?” Junpei asked incredulously, the bun was filled with delicious char siew and it was perfectly soft and fluffy too.

Yuuji shrugged, practically inhaling his third bun, “What? They’re good!”

“Couldn’t you have waited until after school?” Junpei stretched a little before finishing his bun, he walked over to the bin and tossed the paper they placed beneath buns to prevent them from sticking on other surfaces.

The pink-haired boy shook his head adamantly, “No way! They always run out after school. If I want a shot then I have to get it before school.”

“I’m not going to question how many times you couldn’t get your hands on these buns to figure that out…” Junpei let out an exasperated sigh before making his way towards the school, that whole situation left them with about 10 more minutes to get to school. Yuuji followed suit, walking at a steady pace slightly ahead of Junpei.

They separate to head to their respective classes, wherein Junpei continues his boring routine at school. Droning out the boring sounds and diligently completing schoolwork. Of course, he heads up to the rooftop for lunch as per usual.

It was a habit Junpei developed ever since 3rd grade. Even if Yuuji chased the bullies away, on the days their schedules did not meet up sometimes Junpei would still find himself the butt of the joke. In fact, he could argue the bullying escalated slightly ever since he met Yuuji. On a sense that now, instead of just a select few, it would be his whole class and sometimes the other classes that would call him names.

Things like calling him a homo had just become part of the routine. Not that he cared particularly, they made for unpleasant company anyway. Still though, he had to wonder why 'homo' of all things to call him? Actually no, he could think of why someone would call him gay, now that he thought about it.

Junpei spent most, if not all, of his time around Yuuji as long as their schedules met up. The reason was simple, 1. he could stay with his best friend, 2. he had protection from any bullies who saw him as easy prey. So with him being spotted in the library with Yuuji on more than one occasion, always tutoring the boy for at least an hour or two, and then sharing lunch with him- Yuuji, overly friendly as he is, always wants to feed Junpei some of Uraume's amazing food- and cheering for Yuuji during sports day...

What do people do with their partners again?

1. Hang out after school together, check.
2. Share food, maybe even feed each other, check.
3. Supporting each other, check.

Is he accidentally dating his best friend? Well, no... he doesn't like Yuuji in that way. But yeah, he could see why his classmates are calling him names now- not that it made things better.

Now, Junpei is very aware he has a liking for the same sex. He could not deny it after meeting Fushiguro for the first time. Intelligent, hot, not too wild but also not boring at all. Boy has Junpei ever been attracted to someone. But call it his 'gaydar' or whatever, he knows something is up with Fushiguro and Yuuji. Sorry for accidentally dating(?) Yuuji and stealing your thunder, Junpei silently apologised to Fushiguro in his mind.

Is Fushiguro dating someone? Yes... but honestly, it's junior high! Most romantic relationships are unlikely to last. And yeah, Yuuji has proclaimed on multiple occasions that he A. likes women with big butts and are tall, and B. really, really likes girls.

But gosh dang it, the hopeless romantic in Junpei can see the vision. just look at them! Fushiguro is so feisty to everyone, even around Junpei he doesn't really smile much. But Yuuji? That boy has Fushiguro smiling like a toddler on Christmas!

Junpei is sure the two of them have a spark, while Yuuji may be a little dense about it, he is sure Fushiguro is aware! At least subconsciously. And that's more than enough for Junpei to root for his best friends' romance, he will be the perfect wingman for the two of them!

Hehehe, it will be perfect. Once Fushiguro and his girlfriend break up he will swoop in and begin helping Fushiguro see how great Yuuji is, then he'll begin showing Yuuji how wonderful Fushiguro is... hehehehe...

Aaaaand there goes the bell. Junpei scrambled to scarf down the remaining bits of his lunch, having spent most of the period daydreaming about the romance between his two friends. He has to stop doing that, lest he choke on his food.

As much as he hopes for it, the school day doesn't get any shorter no matter how long Junpei wills it to. Finally, the last period comes and with his active imagination- and some zoning out- it's time for arguably the hardest part of Junpei's day: tutoring Yuuji.

Unlike sitting in class, this is the one event Junpei cannot zone out for. The boy sits in the library, somewhere relatively secluded so they don't disturb anyone when Junpei inevitably gives Yuuji an exasperated and confused 'WHAT?' at some of the boy's logic for solving questions.

So far, the best ones Junpei has heard are, "it looks twice as big so isn't it twice as big???", "it looks like a right-angle, if I measure it with a protractor it's a right-angle, why is it not a right-angle?", and "It told me to explain so I just said they made it bigger because they needed to."

Honestly, he couldn't blame Yuuji for asking these questions the first time but he keeps making the same careless mistakes and forgetting what Junpei teaches him and right now it's getting a little exasperating. Oh well, anything to keep his best friend's academics up. Even if it gives him one hell of a headache.

On cue, Yuuji bolts into the library. He moves so fast you can almost feel a slight breeze when he runs past, once again Junpei questions his best friend's athletic ability. Speaking of running...

"Yuuji, just asking, how fast can you run 50 metres now?" Junpei digs the exercise sheets he copied from his teacher last year out of his bag and hands them to Yuuji. Since he already did them, he knew the answers and it would be easier to tutor Yuuji with material he already learnt and understood. Yuuji slides into the seat beside him, placing his bag down with a thud which startles Junpei. When he said 'thud' he meant thud. The sound was so loud Junpei had to question if there were actually stones in Yuuji's bag, which wouldn't surprise Junpei all that much considering his best friend's strength.

The pink-haired boy ponders the question for a moment before answering, "I broke my record! Now it's three seconds!" Yuuji raised his thumb, as if that news was normal and something to be proud of- wait no, it was something to be proud of, just not stated as if Yuuji had just said there's oxygen in the air or something!

50 metres in three seconds huh...? Junpei offered his friend a strained smile, the corners of his lip twitching ever so slightly at the insane news he had just received.

If Yuuji was born with more than three braincells, he could have been an unstoppable force. Oh how cruel the world was to nerf him in such a way, Junpei pats the boy on the shoulder, a defeated smile on his face. No way in hell was Yuuji ever getting any smarter, with those three braincells already working overtime when he tried to comprehend using X and Y to substitute numbers while doing math.

"I feel like you just insulted me really bad..." Yuuji frowned, not quite sure as to why Junpei was looking at him with such pity but still upset about his gut instincts just knowing the older boy was thinking something rude about him.

Junpei shrugs it off, choosing to instead bring Yuuji's attention back to the worksheets. A few seconds pass, Junpei can see the gears in Yuuji's mind shifting, trying to solve the equation, then just as quickly he can see the metaphorical smoke exiting Yuuji's brain due to malfunctioning.

As per usual, this would be a long, long, tutoring session.

~Omake~

Jun: never change, Yuuji, never change.
Yuu: why are you saying that?? (@_@)？

Chapter Text

Dear readers,

Don’t worry, nothing bad is happening. I just need to inform you that unfortunately, there will be no chapter this coming Tuesday. Omitting specific details, I will be A. Too busy and B. Too depressed to write.

I apologise for not being able to post a chapter this week but I would rather you all receive well-written chapters than some slop I hastily put together because I know I need to post a chapter but am not in the mental state for. In my opinion, after re-reading earlier chapters of this fic, it’s quite clear there are quality drops in certain chapters due to my hastily writing them for a deadline.

Thank you kindly for your understanding, I will try to make it up to you all next week.

Sincerely,
Soraine

＿|￣|○ <(I’m so sorry!)

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Okay… now the serious part is over! Yay!

Anyway, although I haven’t written anything for the next chapter I can you all a vague idea of the events that will happen since it’s going to be delayed by a week.

1. It’s Megumi-centric
2. The chapter will involve Kurusu Hana
3. To the best of my ability, I want to try and make the chapter art-focused(key word: try, hahaha)

Right, so since this is just a short information post, I want to once again thank all of you for reading my very first fic! Yay~! ヾ(*´ ∇ `)ﾉ

I’m sure it must be pretty scary wondering if I’ll be able to persevere through the end of this fic and not drop it halfway~ worry not though because reading(and re-reading) your comments motivates me to keep going!

I always avoid any author’s first fic because I’m scared it will be abandoned, ahahahah… so seriously, thank you to the first few people who read my fic!

So with that, I want to give a special thanks to Heemina, KazuCinnamon, I’mNotCreativeEnough4AName, Nahnahbro, and EvelynIsHungry for being either the first few to comment/give this fic a kudos as well as being repeat commenters. You are my Specialz(I think my beta readers are sick of hearing this joke lol) and you motivate me to keep going <3.

But yeah, that’s it! If any of you have any questions or feedback, do drop in the comments to let me know!! For questions, I’ll either answer them in the comments or save them and leave the answers in the notes of the next chapter. Idk, I just want to do something fun since this fic is almost at 5k hits and it breached 200 kudos?!

Literally over the moon ❤️╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

Oh and just a friendly reminder that no matter what happens, the end-game is FushiIta so don’t you worry your pretty little heads about it! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Lastly, thank you ImHoseokTrash(Beta reader) and mayakara(Alpha reader) for beta reading my chapters. You’re truly my Specialz. (*ˊᗜˋ*)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*

See you next week! ★>d(,,･ε´-,,)⌒☆

Chapter Text

Megumi grimaced as he stared at the romance novel in his hand. Okay, granted, it was mostly a historical fantasy with the B plot happening to be a romance that took up half the plot but he still really doesn’t want to read it.

Now, how did Megumi get his hands on such a novel? Well it all began on a certain date he went on…

After school dates are a normal occurrence for teenagers, or at least Megumi thinks. What to do on those dates, he doesn’t really have a clue. Google told him to indulge in his hobbies and not to be afraid to show his true self to his partner so after they share a meal at a cafe, Megumi wanted to bring Hana to a book store.

Hana had chosen a trendy but not too busy location for them to dine at. Though Megumi was not the biggest fan of sweets, he supposed the pink-dog looking cake and the custard pudding with a chocolate beret was appetising. Still a little too sweet for his liking, something like matcha or black coffee would pair amazingly with it.

The sweets were shaped into cute cartoon characters from Sanrio, Megumi can never remember the names of the characters but he knows Nanako is a huge fan of Hello Kitty. The meal ended up being less-than satisfactory for him but at least Hana seemed to enjoy it.

The girl’s eyes sparkled like diamonds as she took a bite, blissfully tasting the sweet richness of cake and pudding. She had the same look in her eyes as Satoru when he tasted delicious desserts.

I should bring them here, Megumi thought as he watched his partner moan in delight at the taste. These definitely weren’t the best sweets Megumi has had but considering how they were prioritising aesthetics over taste, it still tasted pretty good. Unlike whatever abomination of bubbles and puree was being served when Satoru took them to a fancy restaurant.

They would probably get along, The boy thinks as he watched Hana savour every bite of her dessert. Blissfully unaware of his foster father in the seat behind him, eyes practically bulging out of his head as he heard Megumi feeding his girlfriend some dessert.

I don’t see what’s so fun about this, isn’t it more troublesome for someone else to feed you than eating yourself? Despite pondering the use of people feeding one another in a relationship, Megumi continues giving Hana spoonfuls of his pudding mainly because it was just too sweet for him to enjoy.

After the cafe, they proceeded towards the bookstore where Megumi began browsing through interesting novels and light novels for himself. It was about time he searched for something new to read since all of his current books were waiting for a new volume to be published.

It was exactly then that Megumi’s eyes landed on a peculiar book. It wasn’t the rosy pink petals on the cover art or the beautiful heroine that caught his attention though. It was one of the numerous male leads that caught his eye, sporting a boyish smile that looked a little out of place among the other elegant expressions.

The lead had pink and white hair and vibrant orange eyes. The top half of his hair was pink and the medium length tresses were tied back in a small but charming half-updo while the lower half of his hair was white.

Something about the character made Megumi pick up the book. He wanted to know more about them, he supposed. Though, the book did seem to revolve around romance and probably a harem so he would never-

“Oh are you interested in that book? I actually have the first three volumes. If you want, I can lend them to you?” Hana chimed as she peeked over Megumi’s shoulder. The girl had an amused smile, as if surprised her boyfriend would be interested in these kinds of books.

’Interested’ he was not! One of the male leads just looked interesting to him, how was he supposed to explain that?! No, no, no, let’s get back to the advice on how to act around your girlfriend.

”…Thanks,” The boy ended up blurting out before he could think much about it. Standing there awkwardly while waiting for a response was much, much, worse than explaining he was extremely interested in one of the characters.

Which brought us back to present-day, Megumi grimaced at the book in front of him. Hana, seeing how he had read all three volumes relatively quickly, decided to purchase the rest of the series and read them before lending them to Megumi.

After his partner did all of that, waste so much money and spend so much time reading the story so they had a common interest, how could Megumi say no?

Still though, the protagonist of this novel is such a jerk. She collects the male leads like Digimon and it’s always by force. For example, the first male lead they meet is called Xavier and she blackmails him into becoming a team with her!

Unless Megumi has some screws loose, he is pretty sure that was NOT a healthy romance?? It wasn’t any better with male lead no.2 who is a slave she ‘liberated’(read: bought) and starts developing feelings for her. If it was one-sided Megumi really wouldn’t have cared but the fact that she keeps having these ‘romance’ scenes with him infuriates the boy. Dad taught him about a power imbalance and how a healthy relationship shouldn’t have a power gap, this was some time ago when they were watching an anime with a couple that Megumi was curious about and why it was so bad for them to be together in the story.

There were more men in this weird and overly complicated love-life situation but the blackmail and slavery ones proved his point the most. Actually no, the guy she almost killed and then put a collar around then made into her ‘loyal follower’(read: pet) was also really bad.

Oh Gods, what the hell is Hana reading? Okay, to be fair she only had 3 volumes and called it quits. The collar-guy and slave-guy only became part of the story in volume 3. So, technically, she was buying more volumes because she thought Megumi liked the series…

He needed to defend his honour as a reader, damn it! This is not the kind of garbage he wants to be known for!! Oh Gods, what if his sisters- or worse, Satoru- found out? That he’s reading this horribly written fantasy-romance?

One of two things, either tease him about it or they bring back the whole ‘cute and girly’ jokes when he was a kid.

Megumi needs to find a way to kindly inform Hana he actually dislikes this series greatly and only read them quickly to end his suffering. But what if she hates him for wasting her money???

The boy ruffled his hair as he let out a whine, thank goodness it was just him in his room. Girls are complicated! He didn’t sign up for this!! He signed up for school and math and art!

Sigh, okay, short tantrum over. Megumi had something else to admit aside from not actually liking the story.

He was deeply, incredibly, invested in one of the male leads. It was the same guy who caught his attention on the cover. Turns out his name is Gideon and he was born from an orc and elven marriage, inheriting his father’s lithe and soft elven features made the orcs and other half-orcs see him as inferior.

Being called girly was not fun business, alright? Megumi couldn’t help but sympathise with the lead when he brought up being dismissed when people just saw him as a pretty face and nothing less.

A lot of the non-romance related adventure aspect of the story involved him, making the man feel more like the protagonist than the harem-collecting female lead.

It’s not even like harem stories are necessarily bad! Some of them are okay, aside from when the author’s own kinks and fetishes get in the way or characterisation and plot but it comes with the territory of reading a man collecting cute girls or vice versa.

At one point, Megumi started skimming the female lead’s POVs since most of the actual lore came from Gideon. Seriously, was the female lead only here to advertise the damn book? Is this what they call a ‘power fantasy’ or something?

And don’t even get Megumi started on how the female lead would take all the credit for completing a difficult quest when Xavier had done the planning, Gideon did most of the frontline battle to weaken the foe, and the occasional side-character who joined in for the fight. Lady you did nothing! I don’t care if you’re the party leader for the Rose Thorns!!!

However much he desires to drop the book, Megumi wanted to read more on Gideon’s side of the story. What an unfortunate reality to live in. At least the illustrations draw Gideon a lot, though Megumi would never outwardly admit it, Gideon looked really good.

Back to actual business though, since it was approaching Summer, Megumi decided an appropriate theme for his piece in the art competition would be about the beach.

Some key things he wanted to include would be the feeling of fun in summer break and the feeling of a reminisced memory. He got the idea from Dad, who mentioned he was quite lucky to be a teacher because he still gets regular breaks since he follows school schedule.

It made him wonder if other adults reminisced on their youth. Of days were their largest worries were the thick stacks of homework for the summer break and trying to cram is as many fun activities with their friends as possible.

How to achieve that reminiscing feeling, he’ll have to think about it later. For now, it was almost two pm and about time he headed to the library. Truth was, he only joined the competition because of Hana. She thought it’d be fun.

In Megumi’s opinion, they should have spent this time studying instead of working on art projects. But in the end it all worked out, he expected Yuuji to join since- according to Satoru, who wanted to sponsor the competition- the prize for the modern art category was a drawing tablet. Not just any drawing tablet, one on par with the one he used professionally.

There was nothing much to gain from winning the traditional category aside from a nice set of inks and brushes. So for Megumi, this was a relaxed competition. Since it was relaxed, he wanted to have fun and do it with his partner. Just some suggestions here and there, nothing bad.

“You’re going out like that?” Nanako raised a brow as Megumi stepped into the living room. The boy looked down at his attire, his favourite white T-shirt with two dogs on the breast pocket that looked like Kuro and Shiro. His shorts were a pale mint green with a very subtle paw-print pattern in dark green.

He furrowed his brows, “What’s so wrong with it??”

The blonde shot him a look which said ‘are you serious?’ Before snapping her fingers to bring Mimiko’s attention to Megumi. “Mimiko, he’s wearing that to go see his girlfriend.”

Mimiko scrunched up her face, “I feel bad for Hana-chan…”

What’s that reaction supposed to mean?! The boy narrowed his eyes, he looked fine! What were his sisters complaining about now?

“Alright, come on now. We’re not letting you disappoint your girlfriend,” Nanako chuckled, moving up from the colourful sofa while Mimiko paused the movie they were watching. The girl grabbed Megumi’s wrist leaving no room for disagreement as she dragged him back to his room.

Once they were in his room, Mimiko dutifully dumped out all the jackets and button-up shirts the boy had on the bed while her twin brought each outer layer up to Megumi.

“It’s summer,” the boy huffed as he pushed the black wool cardigan away. It was hot enough as is and no way in hell was he wearing another damn layer.

Nanako ignored his words and pulled a pastel green button-up to the boy. “A little too green?” She pondered, still bringing up the shirt to her little brother’s chest as the clothes hanger poked him in the chin.

“Mimiko, give me… blues and browns. Grey as well, something loose and not tight, just like his shorts,” Nanako ordered, waiting for the next clothes hanger to be placed into her hands. In a few shorts seconds, Mimiko rummaged through the pile on the bed and offered them to Mimiko.

Megumi felt a vein pop on his head, yeah, take all the time you need! It’s totally not as if I’m late to seeing my partner! The boy stared at his sisters with a deadpan expression, entirely not impressed as Nanako began changing her request from brown, grey, and blue to specifically muted blue or greyish blue.

Blue is blue, it isn’t that complicated! Well, it did matter a little when shading and stuff. Light blue is a surprisingly good substitute for white a lot of times. Still though, did his appearance really matter that much?

In the end, the twins decided on the green shirt Nanako thought was a good pair. Something about blue looking alright but green felt on-theme for Megumi to wear. Whatever that meant.

In Megumi’s opinion, he thinks they’re only saying that because his eyes are green. It’s not like his closet has a bunch of green clothes, at least he thinks.

Satoru goes on too many shopping sprees and the Hasaba twins could not be more eager to encourage him and go on even more shopping sprees.

With that, Mimiko and Nanako walked Megumi out to the door with a toothy grin. Nanako slapped his back, “Go get ‘er!” She beamed while waving goodbye.

“Don’t stay out too late, ‘kay?” Mimiko waved as well, though she was waving her plush doll’s hand. Megumi liked to think Mimiko would be an amazing doll maker one day, while her crocheted toys were… aesthetically questionable. The hand stitched plushes were cute(in a weird monstrous way).

And ever since Satoru taught her how to use the 3D printer, she’s been trying to make an actual doll. Her first attempt was with clay, it turned out decent and she used a rubber band to keep it together. Apparently, Mimiko had seen a video online about someone doing that and wanted to do so as well. It was called a ball-jointed doll, he thinks?

Well, that first attempt didn’t really exist anymore. Shiro accidentally bumped into the shelf it was displayed at while playing-fighting with Kuro, the poor thing was fragile and broke when it tipped over on the shelf.

Mimiko surprisingly wasn’t upset, instead she was even more determined to make another doll. A sturdier, bigger, more impressive doll.

A much better reaction than Tsumiki would have had, Megumi assumed. The boy loves his sister but he thinks she’s a little too good at pinpointing his location and throwing things where it hurts the most.

Like that one time they got into an argument after Megumi gained a little reputation for beating people up. Dad signed them all up for martial arts classes and only Megumi stayed, if only for another common topic to talk about with Yuuji, and when one too many punks in class decided to call him feminine and girly…

The rest was history. Tsumiki then threw a whole carton of strawberry milk at him when they met later in the hallways. She held the carton in her hands, ready to snipe Megumi at the first opportunity.

What in the literal heck. Anyway, from that event onwards Megumi decided unless he wanted a head full of strawberry milk as well as a uniform that reeked of it for the rest of the school day, he was better of ignoring their comments and glaring at the punks.

He did still have the occasional tousle to teach new bullies who set their eyes on him that he wasn’t just a sitting duck. Of course, Tsumiki didn’t need to know that. Nor did Megumi want her to know that.

Anyway, moral of the story, don’t mess with Tsumiki. Megumi’s sister was an angel 80% of the time but anytime she was mad, she was mad.

Coming back to the present though, Megumi stepped off of the train and started moving to the library. It was near his school, which was why he and Hana chose to head there.

The girl’s look of disappointment at not visiting his house escaped Megumi entirely.

“Megumi, over here!” Hana waved, she was near the exit of the station. The girl was dressed in a charming pink-knit sweater and a pair of plain black tights. “Wow, you look… good today,” the girl said with a blush as Megumi approached. He felt hot just staring at her outfit, a sweater in the middle of summer? That must have been hell inside.

“Thanks,” Megumi offered a polite smile as he made his way toward the library with Hana at his side. “Isn’t it hot, wearing a sweater in summer…?”

Hana laughed it off, claiming she felt perfectly fine. As they walked, the girl attempted to bring their pinkies together and hold hands. Megumi pulled his hand back each time, uncomfortable with hand holding.

The boy had tried, really tried to hold hands. But every time he held hands with Hana just felt weird. It felt wrong to say this, but he almost felt disgusted when he held hands with her.

She’s a sweet girl, nothing about her should have elicited this feeling and yet Megumi still felt this way. This sheer disgust in his skin and the way his hairs stood on end.

After the first three rejections, Hana took the hint and stopped trying to hold hands. Even though Megumi felt relief at not needing to hold hands with her, the guilt gnawed at him for being unable to do such a simple thing.

It didn’t take long for the pair to settle down in the library and begin working on the project. Megumi reached into his bag and pulled out some pencils and a sketchbook. He already had a vague idea for what he wanted to paint.

Ryomen’s simple floral designs were attractive and Megumi wanted to borrow an aspect from that. The only question was whether he should paint a beach ball or just the beach itself was the main question.

“I wash thinking we could do something with a beach theme,” Megumi said, he flipped to the page with some of his inspiration and placed it between him and Hana. The girl nodded.

“Ooh, that’s so romantic!” Hana smiled brightly, her hands already scribbling on a notepad. “For the haiku, maybe something like: Salty summer breeze, hearts ablaze with young fervour. Love blooms in summer!”

“Uh…” Megumi scratched the back of his head. Not exactly what he had in mind for the haiku but it wasn’t half bad. “How about ‘love blooms in the sun’ instead of summer? Repeating the word ‘summer’ will make it sound monotonous.”

The blonde gave an impressed ‘ah’ and made the corrections to the haiku. “Ooh, and then the painting can be a beach sunset! That’d be adorable,” Hana beamed, making a quick sketch of her idea on the sketchbook.

“Maybe we could have flowers with the meaning of ‘love’ too! Roses are so romantic~” Hana added, doodling some flowers in the foreground. Just enough to fill in the empty space but not crowd the sunset which was the main attraction.

“Yeah, I can do the flowers and you do the sky?” Megumi asked, ideas for which species of rose already coming into his mind. What harm could come from working together? It was just a competition he joined for fun, he should just enjoy it with his partner.

~Omake~

Meg: *tries going out*
Mimi+Nana: Not like that you aren’t!

Extra~
Gid: Bright, cheerful, strong, hardworking, pink hair
Yuu: Bright, cheerful, strong, hardworking, pink hair

Meg: …yes.

Chapter Text

Nanako’s hand worked deftly as she attempted to sew a doll dress for one of Mimiko’s clay dolls. The blonde sewed ruffles onto victorian-esque lolita design dress, narrowing her eyes as she worked on the small scale.

“Ouch!” Nanako yelped as she pricked herself, the girl shook her left hand before sucking on her finger. Tsumiki raised a brow and looked up from her note taking.

“I told you to use the thimble,” Tsumiki rolled her eyes. Once upon a time, she would have been concerned and fussed over the injury. Now, however, Nanako regularly pricked herself and it was barely a cause for concern.

Mimiko carefully walked towards the coffee table with a cup of coffee full to the brim. Her steps were slow as she stared at the rim of the cup, attempting the transfer from kitchen island to coffee table with minimal spillage.

“Nanako, stop being so stubborn and just use the thimble,” Mimiko chided her twin as she kept a glare on her cup, full of concentration.

The blonde ignored their collective advice as she immediately picked up the doll dress after the bleeding stopped.

“This girl-“ Mimiko rolled her eyes, finally turning her gaze towards Nanako as she set her cup down. “I better not hear you whining about how ugly your fingers look when they’re all pruny in the shower later!”

“I won’t, I won’t!” Nanako huffed, her needle pricks were always highlighted when they got wet. The blonde knows it’s natural for injuries to go white or pinkish when they’re wet and sometimes they puff up a little but it’s still annoying to look at. It ruins her entire manicure, you know? The aesthetic is off.

Tsumiki watched her older sisters bicker with a fond smile, after writing one last sentence in her chemistry notes, she closed her notebook and stretched her arms with a loud sigh. “Hey, Mimiko, Nanako,” The girl called out. “You know Megumi’s girlfriend?”

“Yeah, what about her?” Nanako answered first, she kept sewing even while looking up from her work.

“Hana? She’s cute! Like a doll!” Mimiko added as she bent down to sip her coffee. Once there was enough room in the cup, she picked it up and held it in her hands.

Tsumiki frowned in thought, “Hana-chan’s a very nice girl and Megumi treats her well, but…” The brunette’s words trailed off as she went back into thought, wondering how she should word it.

Without needing to finish her sentence, the Hasaba twins understood exactly what Tsumiki was saying.

“$4 on them breaking up in his second year,” Mimiko tittered mischievously while her twin gasped in disbelief.

“No way! They’re cute together!” Nanako finally put her project down, attention solely on the topic of Megumi’s relationship.

Mimiko scoffed, “C’mon, he’s clearly not into her. Also, weren’t we all in agreement ‘gumi has a thing for sunshine incarnate?”

Tsumiki shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe you’re reading too many of those boy-love stories Mimi-nee.” The brunette leaned forward and laid her head down on the table. “Megumi cares about Hana-chan a lot, he’s just a little awkward and introverted you know? Still, I feel like something’s off between them.”

Nanako eagerly agreed with Tsumiki’s assessment, “Yeah! I reckon we should just edge him in the right direction! Teach him how to show he cares about her!”

“I dunno…” Mimiko kept her frown up. “Just think about it, with Yuu-kun he’s always super interested you know?”

““What do you mean?”” Nanako and Tsumiki both asked in unison, sharing a short moment to giggle about their synchrony.

“Like…” Mimiko shut her eyes as she thought of an example. “Remember their first playdate? Megumi was so excited, he was literally bouncing on his feet while waiting.”

Tsumiki nodded sagely, “Ah, I get it. Kinda like that time he brought us to the middle of nowhere just to buy a niche figurine so Dad could mail it to him right?”

“Ohh, and when he tried to get into Ultraman or Kamen Rider because Yuuji said he liked them,” Nanako added, chuckling fondly at the memory. Megumi was practically frowning at the screen as he struggled to get interested in the show. He was invested in the plot but the boy never understood how Yuuji could rant about the characters for ages.

Megumi was always more of a fan of books instead of shows, it was only natural.

“C’mon Mimiko, he was what? Eight? Nine?” Nanako rolled her eyes playfully. “He’s 12 now, 13 this year, ‘gumi is growing up. I think those examples were just because he was childish.”

Nanako added, “Plus Megumi’s never been the typee to show his interests, you know? I don’t think I’ve ever seen the boy blush!”

“You’re just not paying attention! He literally lights up with Yuu-kun!” Mimiko rebuked, voice getting louder as the conversation grew heated.

“You’re just a weeb who’s projecting your fantasies on our little brother!”

“I do not!”

“Yeah you do! Not every boy with friends has to like them!”

“You just don’t get it!”

““Oh my God, why are you so dense?!”” The Hasaba twins yelled at each other before both of them took a break from the shouting match to breathe.

Tension in the room grew thick, so thick Tsumiki reckoned she could probably cut it with a knife. The brunette sighed and held out her arms, making a placating gesture to her older sisters. “Guys, guys. Calm down. Maybe you’re both wrong. He could be disintered in neither of them, see them only as friends, y’know?”

““Huh?! You clearly don’t get it! He clearly has a thing for-””

“Yuu-kun!”
“Hana!”

Nanako glared at her sister, “Don’t you see it? He’s all shy and awkward around her! Like he’s not sure if he’s allowed to touch her arm or hold her hand!”

The blonde huffed before adding, “That’s clearly a sign he’s being a respectful young man who isn’t sure what he can and can’t do! We taught him well!”

Mimiko face-palmed at her sister’s claim. “How do you not see it? Megumi’s clearly not interested in her. You know how he is, always thinking if he’s supposed to do something or not. I bet this whole time he’s just thinking about how a good boyfriend should act like instead of actually being interested in Hana.”

“GUYS!” Tsumiki snapped, slamming her hands on the table. The Hasaba twins immediately ceased their bickering in fear of Tsumiki’s wrath. She may be their younger sister but that girl had a talent for ensuring she got her way.

“Sorry Tsumiki…”
“My bad…”

Hearing their fearful apologies, the brunette sighed. “Let’s not argue over something like Megumi’s partner okay? It’s his choice. Anyway, I’m with Mimiko, I think they’ll break up.”

Nanako raised a brow, “You too?”

“Hah! See, even ‘miki gets it!” Mimiko raised her fist in hurrah of her victory.

“Ugh… Whatever. $5 on them sticking together,” Nanako huffed, adamant in her gut feeling.

Mimiko turned to Tsumiki, “Okay, then I raise my bet to $5 too. I think they’ll break up in a year. What about you, ‘miki?”

Tsumiki hummed in thought. “Then… $5 on Megumi breaking up in two years. I feel like he’s going to start having doubts after one year but confirm them in his second.”

With that, the bets were set between the Gojo household girls on Megumi’s fate with Hana.

~Omake~

Go: *returned from buying sweets* I’m home!-
Mimi+Nana: *arguing at the top of their lungs*
Go: *eaves drop on their conversation, fully invested* When they’ll break up, hm~? $10 on two years, heheheheh.

Chapter Text

Hana presented the sunset of rich orange and yellow tones to Megumi, gently placing the canvas on his table. It was a free period for them currently so it was the perfect time to do some planning. "Look, isn't this great?" The girl beamed, she used the blending technique Megumi had taught her.

Start with a few small globs of paint on the canvas and spread the paint out from lightest to darkest. It was the easiest way to paint a gradient of the sky. For the clouds, she used some pale- almost white- orange paint on a fan brush.

“Yeah, it looks fantastic,” Megumi praised. He brought out the practice roses he painted. Acrylic was never his strong suit. Working from mid tones first then darker tones and lightest tones last was weird for him.

With watercolour it was easier, more logical for him. Lightest shades first, then build up the shadows into deeper colours with multiple layers. Because of that, he struggled to make the roses as beautiful as he desired.

Hana, ever the supportive partner, squealed in delight as she saw Megumi’s practice. “Uwah!! Megumi, it looks amazing!” She exclaimed, earning her some harsh glares from their classmates studying for midterms.

“Oops…” Hana laughed sheepishly before bowing in apology to her peers.

For the rest of free period, the pair continue working and discussing the work before the bell rang, signalling it was time for class.

At least that’s what it meant for Hana. Megumi’s schedule today was mostly empty, with two whole hours of free period to burn.

Luckily for him, Hana’s social personality earned the boy some friends. Two nerdy book enthusiasts, Kenzaburo and Haiba.

“Yo, Megumin!” Haiba dragged a nearby chair over to Megumi once most of the students vacated the classroom. The brunette boy adjusted his glasses while smiling at Megumi goofily.

Kenzaburo moved to sit in the seat in front of Megumi, hugging the backrest and resting his chin on it. “Hey man, the art thing going good? You and Hana have been working on it for a while.”

Megumi neatly packed the canvas and sketchbook away from the table as he rolled his eyes at Kenzaburo, “It’s not an ‘art thing’. It’s an art competition, and yeah. It’s going fine.”

“Whatever you say, cap’n!” Kenzaburo snickered, he pushed some of his stray hairs back. The slick-backed hairstyle backfiring since he ran out of gel that day.

“Ignore the art competition for a bit, how’s it going with Kurusu-chan?” Haiba asked with interest, eyes gleaming as he waited for an answer.

“Ew, no way. I don’t wanna be reminded of how single and lonely I am,” Kenzaburo grimaced jokingly, gagging a little to make his point.

Megumi shrugged, “We went out to eat at a cafe, and sometimes we study in the library.”

““…”” The boy’s friends shared a collective look of disbelief. Kenzaburo acted first, nudging Haiba on the side.

“You hearing this?” The chestnut-haired boy whispered, still in shock at Megumi’s answer.

“Maybe there’s something we’re missing,” Haiba furrowed his brows before turning back to Megumi. The boy leaned forward, elbows on the table as he laced his fingers together in an interrogation stance. “Anything else?”

Megumi raised a brow in confusion, what, was his love life that interesting? His sisters sure as hell seemed invested, now his friends too? Well, he kind of knew they were both interested in what it was like to have a girlfriend, so the boy guessed he couldn’t be too mad about it.

“I mean… we held hands a few times and she wanted us to feed each other so we did,” Megumi answered dryly, spinning a pencil in his hand absentmindedly. He stared at his friend’s shocked and confused expressions with amusement, chin resting on his palm while Kenzaburo and Haiba had their whispered back-and-forth on Megumi’s relationship.

“Dude, seriously?” Kenzaburo questioned, eyes narrowed as he side eyed Megumi.

“Seriously.”

“Like, you’ve only held hands?” Haiba clarified, staring at Megumi as if he’s just said the sky was red. Once Megumi confirmed with a nod, the pair huddled together and faced away from Megumi.

“Dude, are you hearing this?” Haiba whispered.

“I don’t know who to feel worse for, him or Kurusu,” Kenzaburo heaved a sigh.

“Right? No kissing, no nothing? Not even a little peck on the cheek?” Haiba added in disbelief. The two turned around to stare at Megumi again. They don’t think Hana would be against any kind of physical displays of affection, especially not from Megumi.

Just look at him, pretty face, good manners, rich, talented, writes poetry- which a lot of the girls in class find attractive, for some reason. Kenzaburo and Haiba didn’t get it. Nor do most of the males in class.

Anyway, someone like Megumi should be a catch. At least according to the limited knowledge the two boys knew about what girls liked. So far the list looked something like this:

1. Pretty/Hot(need to figure out the difference*)
2. Boring, doesn’t get excited for sports or competitions
3. ‘Gentleman’ (whatever that means)

Should Kenzaburo and Haiba give their friend any advice on romance when neither of them have been in relationships nor do they know anything about men? Uh, probably not. But they should help a bro out!

Just look at everything their friend is missing out on, like his first kiss, being able to flex on others for having a girlfriend, stuff like that! And don’t forget about the more explicit things you can do in a relationship.

If not now, then when? Megumi, introvert special, never talks to anyone unless approached, sticks to himself all the time. The two boys knew that if Megumi didn’t get the chance now, he would never get the chance until at least a long while.

Strike while the iron’s hot, right?! Right!

“Megumin, don’t you want to do more with Kurusu-chan?” Haiba began first. To help their bro, they should first figure out what he wants! No point trying to get him in bed with Hana if he doesn’t want it.

Megumi furrowed his brow in confusion, “Like what?”

“Dude, c’mon! She’s hot! You sure you don’t get any fantasies or anything?” Kenzaburo whined, talking to Megumi felt like talking to a child sometimes. Like the boy had zero clue on anything besides school and art. Especially when they were on the topic of girls, it’s almost like Megumi’s not interested in them or something.

“Fantasies?”

“Yeah! Fantasies! We’re all boys here, bros before hoes, or something like that-“

“Do not call Hana a ‘hoe’ that is insulting,” Megumi grimaced in distaste.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s a figure of speech,” Kenzaburo rolled his eyes playfully as he smirked. The boy leaned forward, the front legs of his chair lifting up as all the weight rested on the back two.

“Tell ya what, tomorrow let’s all hang at my place! Haiba and I can share some things with you, get that romance and passion building!”

“Nice idea, Ken!” Haiba clicked his tongue, giving Kenzaburo nods of approval while the other smirked at the genius of his plan. The pair turned to Megumi, waiting for his answer.

“Uh… sure.”

Little did he know, that day would change everything.

Tomorrow, which happened to be a Friday, came about as quickly as any other day. Dad’s eyes seem to gleam with excitement at the mention of going to a friend’s house so it took little to no convincing for the man to let him head over to Kenzaburo’s house.

“Call me when you need to come home, if not I’ll be back at 6!” Suguru chimed, waving to Megumi with a wide grin.

“Right… bye Dad,” the boy waved his father goodbye before turning around to see his two friends standing at the door with devious smiles as if they had planned something.

Plan something they did, as they immediately grabbed Megumi’s arms as if they were performing a kidnapping. The boy barely even got to get his greetings in with Kenzaburo’s parents before he was ungracefully dragged up the staircase, his friends caring little for his protests to at least lift him higher so his back wouldn’t slam against the staircase.

“Phew, what a workout! I thought you’d be light as a feather, Fushiguro!” Kenzaburo laughed once they were in the holy sanctity of his room. Megumi looked around, seeing posters of popular actresses and models in either bikini’s or scanty clothing.

“Geez, I didn’t think you’d be that heavy, Megumin!” Haiba snickered, moving to sit on the ground while Kenzaburo gestured for Megumi to do the same as he rummaged through his closet for something.

The boy unceremoniously plopped the box full of what seemed to be magazines on the floor before joining their circle on the floor. Without a word, Haiba pulled out similar magazines from his bag, which is when Megumi saw the contents of the magazine.

All of the covers were models sporting bikini wear or revealing fashion, their poses suggestive and the little bits of fabric one could call a bikini left little to the imagination.

“…What is this supposed to do?” Megumi asked with a deadpan, his friends collectively sighed before patting his back.

“I see, you’re not a man yet… I guess it was too early.”
“You poor thing, you haven’t seen the wonders.”

What the fudge are they on about? Megumi frowned once more, he should really stop before he gets a lecture from Nanako about getting permanent creases. Having a spa day once in a while was fun but being dragged with her for her weekly ‘spa relaxation time’ was a living hell.

It was at this point that Fushiguro Megumi wished his friends knew this thing called ‘restraint’ and ‘shame’.

Everything began with the magazines, once Megumi’s innocence was discovered his friends became determined to strangle it by the neck and kill it once and for all. Kenzaburo pulled out his personal laptop and began showing Megumi pictures and videos of people- real people- ‘naked wrestling’ or ‘self pleasuring’.

A part of him knew he had to look away, and yet there was the morbidly curious part of him that kept looking while his face was red with shame.

“Dude, I didn’t know you were into the gay stuff,” Haiba snickered with a jokingly grossed out tone as the next few photos and videos Kenzaburo Had in the hidden folder were of men doing it together.

You can put things inside there?! Megumi was flushed with embarrassment, is this the stuff Satoru and Dad do? Oh Gods, get that image out of his head. Megumi had to cover his face, no longer able to look at the screen.

Images of his foster parents as the men in that scenario flooded his mind, and Megumi did not like it. What’s wrong with him? Imagining his literal guardians doing it? I’m scum. Oh my God. I can’t believe it, why can’t I stop?

Haiba looked at Fushiguro in concern while Kenzaburo understood all of this might have been a bit too much stimulation for the boy’s first exposure to explicit content and closed the folders to give Fushiguro a moment to breathe.

“Dude, I think we broke him…” Kenzaburo whispered, eyes ridden with guilt as he watched Megumi curl up with his head in his hands. It was all fun and games when Megumi was blushing at the images but now that his friend was so stunned to the point he couldn’t even speak, Kenzaburo was deeply worried for the usually stoic and calm boy.

“I think we should stop for today. Megumin, hey? Can you hear us?” Haiba stroked Fushiguro’s back gently, like he would do for his younger siblings when they were overwhelmed or crying. He spoke in soft whispers trying to gauge if Fushiguro was even present with them mentally or still stuck processing all of the information.

“We’re not gonna show you more stuff, ‘kay? We’re sorry,” Haiba added, waiting for Fushiguro to respond.

“Yeah, we can do something else, like video games,” Kenzaburo chimed in with his usual cheery tone that calmed Fushguro down just a little. When the spiky-haired boy nodded, Haiba clapped his hands together with a smile. 

“That’s great!” Haiba gleamed then he turned to Kenzaburo, “Let’s play an obby on Roblox or something.”

Kenzaburo nodded eagerly, “Yeah, how ‘bout Speedrun 4?”

Haiba ‘ooh’ed in agreement and turned his attention back to Fushiguro. The boy had significantly calmed down since he was actually responding now and stopped covering his face. Fushiguro was still bright red with embarrassment, choosing to remain silent while he went to grab his phone from his bag.

It took a while before Fushiguro was back to normal again, bickering playfully with Haiba and Kenzaburo over their inability to parkour. Before the three knew it, Geto had already arrived to pick up his son.

“Bye Megumin! See ya Monday!”
“Bye Fushiguro!”

Fushiguro waved his friends goodbye before he stepped into their black Lexus car. The boy clutched his bag to his chest as he looked into the rearview mirror to see his father driving, eyes focused on the road.

His imagination went wild with images of his father and Gojo together, doing the same thing as the men in the videos were doing. A pink blush crept over his cheek as he hid his face in his bag.

Get your head straight! Stop bloody thinking about it! Megumi mentally berated himself.

“Did you have fun at your friend’s house?” Geto asked as they stopped at a red light, blissfully unaware of the inner turmoil his son was facing.

“Yeah, it was fun…” Megumi answered, voice muffled by his bag. I need to find a way to stop thinking about it.

~Omake~

Sugu: *advising Megumi to make good friends who are good influences on him*
Ken+Hai: *pulling up the explicit content they found and showing it to Megumi*

Sugu: I think my son has very good friends (´∀｀)
Meg: *silently suffering in the backseat*

Extra:

Sugu: My back hurts… (fell asleep grading papers)
Sato: *smug look* (playing a game on his phone)
Meg: ?! Did they…?

Chapter Text

Hair

Sukuna hummed an old tune as he leisurely tended to his bonsai. The cherry blossom bonsai were growing steadily and beautifully, the pink-haired man nodded in satisfaction at his work.

He mentally reviewed the list of chores for the day, put out the cat food in the garden for the strays, rake the gravel for his stone garden, tend to the bonsai… that should be it.

The man snipped the last few stray leaves before brushing them off of the table so he could sweep it up with the dead leaves later.

In the past, at this time of day, Brat would have been on the engawa painting, thinking of haikus, or perhaps in the art room to examine Sukuna’s work. However, now the brat just stayed in his room with that cursed tablet of his.

Sukuna should never have bought it for him, all it did was take away the only common interest he and Brat shared.

It wasn’t because he was upset that his nephew was spending more and more time away from him and instead doing his own thing. It definitely wasn’t. Brat was allowed to do his own thing.

The man still glared at the window to Yuuji’s room. The pre-teen seemed to occupied with that damn tablet. Sukuna would love nothing more than take it away, but he had to control himself.

It’s Brat’s possession, he should let the kid indulge in his hobbies. Even if those hobbies were doing art on a screen instead of on paper, where it was tangible and meaningful.

You can undo a mistake on a screen but not in reality. That’s what makes tangible art superior to that digital crap.

If only his nephew could learn that, sigh.

Regardless, Sukuna looked down to check the time. 5 pm, still too early to leave the house for a drink with Kashimo.

He’ll leave at 8, plenty of time to relax and probably get a nap in.

.
.
.

“Haaaaaaaahnnnnnnngh,” Sukuna yawned into a groan as he got up from the futon. The man rubbed his eyes before letting out another yawn. That was an incredibly pleasant nap. He checked the time, 7:10, a 2 hours 10 minutes spent napping.

That left him with about 50 minutes to get ready before drinking with Kashimo. The pink-haired man stretched languidly, taking his sweet time to neatly fold the blanket of his futon before moving to the mattress itself.

Then, among the fallen hair on the pillow, there were dreaded white hairs.

Oh God. He’s greying.

Well, rephrase, he’s been greying for a while now. Sukuna felt his eye twitch at the sight, Wasuke didn’t pass on the best hair genes to Sukuna- who took after Wasuke much more than Jin- and the man definitely knew greying early and maybe a higher hairline was in the near future for him.

But the man can’t help but notice a pattern here. The occasional white strands in his hair seemed more and more prevalent ever since he took in someone 5 years ago.

…It’s okay, surely no one will notice. Pink hair, white hair, they look about the same! …Probably.

Later…

“Is it just me, or is your hair paler?” Kashimo asked as he took another sip of the sake. Sukuna’s bottle was a mix of tea and just a tiny bit of sake, considering his… less than impressive alcohol tolerance.

The man in question tightened his grip on the small sake cup. “You’re imagining it.”

Kashimo’s grin widened and he stared at Sukuna with half-moon eyes and a devious smile. “You’re going g-“

“I am never giving you commission discounts ever again.”

-

Albinism Woes

Suguru pushed his sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose while he was driving. The kids in the back were chattering away and playing some games, the perfect picture of a loud but loving family.

Satoru, meanwhile, was busy lathering himself up in sun screen, lots of it. The man’s lips were pursed in a thin line as he squirted out more of the sun protection over his unfortunately pale and melanin-lacking skin.

“Make sure you don’t miss a spot,” Suguru snickers as his fiance groaned in annoyance.

Satoru huffed, “I’m going to pick a bone with fate for this, why is the sky so bloody clear today? And why is it so hot?!”

Suguru raised a brow in amusement, “It’s summer Satoru. Now lather up because we don’t want you turning red on us.”

Satoru rolled his eyes before grunting in agreement. After applying the sunscreen he made sure to roll his loose sleeves down, yes a tighter sleeve would mean he wouldn’t have to cover his entire arm in sun screen but fashion over function!

Hell shall freeze over before Satoru walks out in anything less than fashionable, he has a reputation to uphold!

When they approached the beach, Satoru made sure to hide under the shade of an umbrella, lest the sun burn him.

But as the day progressed, and he watched all the fun his children and spouse were having, jealousy and the fear of missing out got the better of him. Satoru stepped out of the shade to join his family as they played in the water, showing off his engineering skills by building an impressive sandcastle as well.

.
.
.

“OW!”

“I did tell you to get back in the shade,” Suguru rolled his eyes, getting more of the aloe vera lotion on his hands before massaging it into Satoru’s skin.

“Ow- OW! GIVE ME A BREAK OVER HERE, I’M IN PAINNN!!!” Satoru thrashed, slapping the mattress in agony as his spouse’s hands pressed onto his sensitive and unfortunately sunburnt skin.

“Come on now, this is what you get for telling me ‘nah I’d win’ when I said you were going to get burnt,” Suguru sighed, now moving onto Satoru’s shoulders were the burn was the worst.

“YEOWCH! In my defence, I only took my shirt off for a few minutes to cool off!”

“And look what happened in those few minutes,” Suguru chuckled, knowing it was definitely not just ‘a few minutes’ since Satoru immediately got distracted and wanted to show off his building skills in front of the girls.

“GO EASY ON ME!” Satoru yelped in pain.

~Omake~

Sato: …
Suku: …
Having white hair: 🤝

Chapter Text

Hi guys, it’s me again (о´∀`о)

I have some unexpected business(gonna be doing some fun stuff! …at the cost of my internet _:(´ཀ`」 ∠):) this week so next week’s chapter may be slightly delayed or entirely postponed!

I know writing about changes to the usual update schedule isn’t necessary but as an avid fan of fanfics I always think it’s a bummer when a chapter is a few days late or the week/month was skipped. Sometimes the little bit of fluff is the thing that keeps someone from teetering into depression(been there done that lol).

Anyway, hope you have a nice week!

And to anyone keeping up with Tempered Flames, next chapter should be out either next week or in the week after! We’re keeping the bi-monthly update schedule for that fic apparently, hahahahahah!!

Chapter Text

“Ooh, yikes. Bye Junpei, gotta go- I think Unc’s home-” Yuuji whispered into his phone as the sliding door to his room abruptly opened. The boy immediately shut the flip phone and hurriedly shoved it into his pocket hoping Sukuna saw nothing.

Sukuna narrowed his eyes when he entered the room, “Brat, were you on that phone of yours again?”

“No…?” Yuuji answered with uncertainty, glancing down to his pocket to see if the bulge of having his phone in his pocket was noticeable- thankfully it wasn’t.

“Don’t lie when I just heard you on the phone,” Sukuna frowned, the man looked around Yuuji’s room and sighed. There were dirty clothes on the ground despite the boy having a clothes basket for them, scattered around the floor were colour pencils and miscellaneous brushes as well crumpled paper.

The man shot his nephew an unimpressed look. He pointed to the mess on the floor, “Clean this room up, it’s a pigsty.” Sukuna demanded, then he tossed a popsicle in Yuuji’s direction.

“Eat and don’t make a mess or you’re cleaning the tatami mat yourself,” Sukuna stated as he left without giving his nephew a chance go say goodbye.

Yuuji sighed, all things considered, that was one of the better interactions he’s had with his uncle since… well, about three months now? It’s been a while since the start of the art competition, now that he thought about it.

The boy unrapped the popsicle, it was red bean flavoured. He snickered, of course his traditionalist uncle chose red bean ice cream. What did Yuuji expect? Oh well, he’s not about to waste a good popsicle anytime soon.

Truthfully, things at home have been… hostile? No, too harsh. Complicated. Yeah, that was a better word.

Ever since Yuuji got past the first stage of the competition, he put all his time into perfecting and planning his next piece. It was a landscape painting and he wanted to play with the use of shapes.

Instead of triangles or vague ovals, he thought of using rectangular shapes for the mountains and hills, then triangles made up the clouds and the sun was a triangle. It was quite fun to play with different shapes, especially since he used a circle brush to do the grass.

The creativity definitely worked though, considering how Yuuji had advanced into the group stage of the competition. They were allowed to pick who they wanted to partner with at the convention hall in Tokyo so Yuuji stuck with Junpei.

A part of the boy wished he could have done so with Megumi but his friend entered in traditional art and he also failed to advance to the next round.

Yuuji expected the boy to be upset but Megumi simply shrugged. ”It’s just a competition” Megumi told Yuuji when they went to a restaurant nearby, Megumi’s treat of course.

The boy could see where his friend was coming from, though he was surprised at the artwork Megumi presented him when he asked what piece he made. It wasn’t Megumi’s style, at all.

Firstly, Yuuji knew Megumi would rather die than have to deal with acrylic. It’s too much of a mess to clean up and he hates how they’re basically impossible to reuse if you accidentally squeeze too much paint out. Unlike watercolour or water soluble inks because with those, just add water and they’re usable again.

Secondly, Megumi always chooses simplistic designs. A haiku about hard work and he would paint a suitcase or something of that sort. When Yuuji was told his friend was planning on something beach themed, the boy expected maybe a simple painting of the beach with a light blue sky that blended in with the paper and pale yellow sand. Maybe a colourful beach umbrella on the side for contrast or something.

But the painting was so… not Megumi. The sunset was saturated with bright colours, which sunsets are supposed to be but if Megumi really painted the sunset then Yuuji knew he would not have used red! At most, the spiky-haired boy would likely dilute the colours until they’re basically translucent then do a gradient from blue to orange. Knowing Megumi, he would likely use purple for the shadows and leave it at that.

When Yuuji brought up the inconsistencies with the art style, Megumi responded simply.

”Oh, yeah, that’s because I did it with my girlfriend.”

A girlfriend? Yuuji’s never heard of him having a ‘girlfriend’ and what the hell?! They’ve been dating for months before the competition even started and Megumi never told Yuuji anything?

What the hell? Even worse, it seemed Junpei knew about this because his senior was not at all surprised by that news.

Weren’t he and Megumi best friends? They should be able to share everything with each other right? Why didn’t Megumi tell him about the existence of his girlfriend?

Yuuji knows he isn’t entitled to every little detail about Megumi’s life but the boy couldn’t help this aching sense of hurt when he found out his best friend couldn’t even be bothered to tell him that they were dating someone! He felt betrayed, which shouldn’t happen.

Megumi isn’t his and it’s not fair to get upset over something as trivial as a girlfriend. It’s not like having one would change their friendship.

Whatever, he should stop thinking about it. Junpei always told him his mind does the worst things when he actually uses it, whatever that meant.

Junpei: u good?
Junpei: btw I was thinking we could do smth ocean related since I kinda only do jellyfish and siphonophores.
Junpei: maybe we could branch out and stuff?

Yuuji hummed in thought. He never really did oceans, mostly because he couldn’t figure out how he wanted to paint it. At the same time, it was always a good habit to branch out into new skills.

Yuuji: sure
Yuuji: maybe we can do something geometric. Use sharp corners and triangles, that’d be fun! ( ・∇・)
Junpei: oooh, nice idea. Assuming we’re doing this digitally?
Yuuji: hmmm, or we could use plastic bottles and cut them into the right shape like a mosaic.
Junpei is typing…

The pink-haired boy put his phone to the side and sighed, right time to clean his room. It wasn’t like his room was that messy, Uncle had a tendency to exaggerate, but it was getting to the point where Yuuji found it difficult to move around his room without stepping on something.

After tossing his shirts in the clothes basket, putting his sketchbook and coloured pencils back in the drawer, and tossing the finished red-bean popsicle, Yuuji turned his attention back to his phone.

Junpei: that works too! Now just gotta think what kind of fish to do.
Yuuji: I dunno much abt fish, it’s all up to you! O7
Junpei: won’t disappoint! O7

It’s surprising how much can be done when two people put their mind to it and work on the same thing diligently. In about a week, excluding the gathering of resources, Yuuji and Junpei just about finish their piece.

Just in the nick of time as well since their exams were starting. The submission of their pieces would be in two weeks but by that time they would still be taking their last papers which left no time to work on the piece. Thankfully they finished the artwork before exams so now it was time for curricular hell.

In the end they chose to do a piece on sea turtles since they ate jellyfish. Man, everything Junpei did revolved around jellyfish, huh? Yuuji thought with a snicker.

Oh well, more importantly, Uncle Sukuna. Yuuji can’t proclaim that he knows his uncle well, especially when the man is what Junpei called a ‘hardcore tsundere’, but he thinks the man is sulking. He thinks.

The man just seemed gloomy, even worse was that he kept glaring at Yuuji! What did he do?! And the boy thought Sukuna’s passive expression was intimidating.

Uncle has been giving Yuuji such a harsh expression, the boy has begun to think he committed some grave offence.

Was it that one time he accidentally stepped on the engawa with his shoes on? Or that time he ate dinner in his room to focus on the art project? Uncle always wanted everyone in the house to be present during dinner…

Whatever it was, Yuuji’s sorry! Please give him back the grumpy uncle who gives head pats that are just a little too rough!

Why are you giving me that look? What did I do??? Did I forget something??? Yuuji narrowed his eyes as he cautiously ate breakfast, these past few days(weeks) he’s been racking his head over what could possibly be upsetting his uncle.

At first he thought it was studying, what with all the “You ought to be more like Fushiguro Megumi” but somehow Uncle seemed to get even more upset? Then Yuuji thought, it could be something like forgetting his chores.

Yet, after triple and quadruple checking his list of chores every day, the boy simply can’t find a single thing he’s missing. Honestly? It’s starting to piss him off.

Seriously? Why’s his old man just suddenly getting annoyed and upset? It’s not like Yuuji did anything! Genuinely, what the hell?!

“Brat,” Sukuna said, barely lifting his eyes from the newspaper. The man languidly lifted his cup of green tea, taking a slow sip that fogged up his reading glasses- of which Yuuji was forbidden from telling Megumi or his sisters lest Gojo find out- before taking them off to wipe the lenses clear again.

“This stage of the competition, you have not said anything on Fushiguro Megumi’s work in the past few weeks despite endlessly ranting about how excited you were to see his creations before you entered the semifinals,” his uncle spoke in a relaxed tone, he flipped the newspaper and kept his eyes on it still not looking at Yuuji. As if the newspaper was more important.

It left a bitterness in Yuuji’s mouth.

“Oh, yeah. He didn’t advance,” the boy explained simply, picking at the floating bits of tofu in his soup. Sukuna, meanwhile, lowered his newspaper and finally looked at Yuuji with an incredulous look.

“Didn’t advance? What do you mean? Fushiguro Megumi’s talent far surpasses many youths in this day,” Sukuna growled, eyebrows knit tightly and scanning over his nephew to sense even a hint of a lie.

Of course he only cares about Megumi, the boy thought bitterly before quickly finishing his soup. He needed to head for the train soon unless he wanted to be late. “He just didn’t advance, you can go look at it yourself, all the art is on the website for the event.”

His chair dragged against the floor creating an unpleasant squeaking noise, “Bye Unc’. I’m heading to school now.”

“Right. Pay attention in class and don’t mess up your exams. Not even I can get you out of summer school,” Sukuna warned before getting up to see Yuuji off.

The boy exhaled a heavy sigh as he walked away from the impressive traditional home, Fushiguro this, Fushiguro that… couldn’t he at least just stick to ‘Fushiguro’ or ‘Megumi’? If he’s gonna constantly compare me to someone else he could at least be normal about it.

’You ought to be more like Fushiguro Megumi’ he says. Ugh! What the hell? I know I suck at school and stuff but would it kill him to be a little nicer about it? Yuuji sulked while he slowly trudged his way to the train, Junpei was already waiting for him at the entrance.

The train station is packed, full of everyone trying to get to work or school. Among this sea of humans, Junpei and Yuuji keep a tight grasp on each other so as not to get separated among the rushing crowd. People push and pull at one another to get pass the gates.

“You ready for everything?” Junpei asked as the two fought for their place in the train, his back was pressed tightly against the walls due to the confined space. Yuuji grimaced, the boy sighed and let out a groan.

He grumbled, already predicting the headache caused by the damn exams. “Can we go through the rules of algebra again, one more time…?” The boy asked with a squeak.

Junpei smiled softly, as if he had expected Yuuji to make the request. “Sure,” the boy chuckled. “So when you see (a+b)^2…”

Now to pray he wouldn’t be sent to summer school.

~Omake~

Yuu: *spending more time with junpei and drawing on the tablet*
Suku: (≖_≖ )

Yuu: *studying hard*
Suku: (≖_≖ )

Yuu: I’m gonna go out to see Rokugan-sensei’s gallery during summer vacation with Megumi and his sisters! Rokugan-sensei even said he’d personally show us around!! ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )
Suku: …(≖_≖ )

Ura: I think you should let him be, he’s just being a normal boy.
Suku: *being stubborn* …he should spend more time at home…( •̀ - •́ )

Chapter Text

Yuuji stares at his reflection, fixing his hair and making sure it was messy but not unruly. His heart pounded with anxiety, the papers were being graded and he had no clue if he would have to attend summer school, but more importantly he was meeting up with Megumi.

It’s been forever! Just the two of them! When was the last time? Literal years since at least one of his sisters chaperoned them when they went out and whenever Yuuji went to his house, they usually ended up playing with Megumi’s sisters.

He wanted to look presentable. Megumi always looked good, maybe it was the branded clothes Rokugan-sensei loved to spoil his children with or maybe it was his scarily beautiful eyelashes. Regardless, Yuuji always found himself looking worse in comparison.

Usually he wouldn’t care but it’s been a while and he felt like putting in some effort! And so, the pink-haired boy ditched his usual hoodie in favour of a more nostalgic look- and definitely not because he didn’t have a nice looking T-shirt- with his kimono.

Yuuji sported a navy blue haori with a kikkoumon pattern and a sky blue naggagi beneath. He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled fondly, kimonos were fun to wear once in a while but he doesn’t get how Uncle can wear one everyday. Even if it was sometimes a samue instead.

“Young master- oh,” Uraume walked in, the private chef(more like housemaid) looked Yuuji up and down before raising a brow. “What’s the occasion?” They asked before moving towards the boy to adjust his obi and nagagi.

Yuuji smiled sheepishly, “I thought I could change things up a bit once in a while. Unc’ does say I look like a hobo because I always wear a hoodie.”

The chef snickered, nose wrinkled as their lips raised into a smile. “Well, you look like a dashing young man, Yuuji,” Uraume patted his shoulders as they looked in the mirror, they ruffled Yuuji’s hair affectionately with a fond smile.

“I’ll go fetch you a nice pair of tabi socks and geta,” they said while nodding to themself, clearly pleased with Yuuji’s choice to wear traditional garb.

“Hold on, wait- aaaand they’re gone,” Yuuji pulled his lips to one side. He had intended on wearing his usual sneakers but Uraume was just so excited, the boy couldn’t bear to say no. What harm could there be anyway? He’ll just be looking a little more formal than usual. Well, not that wearing his kimono wasn’t already formal but wearing sneakers would have definitely made his appearance significantly less formal.

Actually no, the haori made him look more formal, considering the most informal thing was just his under yukata and then his nagagi on top. But c’mon, he rarely ever wore the large kimono collection Unc’ insisted on purchasing, Yuuji couldn’t be blamed for wanting to wear something fun.

Uraume returned with a kinchaku pouch along with the tabi socks. “I bought this summer themed navy-blue one for the summer festival but it matched with your haori perfectly,” they gushed, gleefully thinking of more things they could add to complete Yuuji’s outfit.

“I think this should be fine, Ura-chan…” Yuuji laughed awkwardly, gratefully taking the pouch despite having planned to just stuff his belongings inside his nagagi. From personal experience(staring at Sukuna), Yuuji could attest that you can fit a surprising amount of stuff in between the nagagi and under yukata.

After some more of denying Uraume’s ideas to ‘complete the look’, Yuuji was ready to step out of the house. He had to reject bringing a traditional umbrella- why did Uraume even suggest that? A fan- again, why? Then a kasa hat to protect him from the sun- seriously, why??? Simply denying Uraume took roughly 10 gruelling minutes that made the boy feel slightly guilty, considering he knew why Uraume would be so excited to doll him up.

It was rare for him to dress in a kimono so the chef always had the most fun helping Yuuji dress when he chose to wear one.

“Have fun, please be back for dinner. Oh, but if you wish to stay the night at Geto-san’s then please call us, I’ll convince Master Sukuna,” Uraume said as they walked Yuuji towards the front door. They dusted off his shoulders and adjusted his hair a little. “He’ll allow it, I promise.”

Yuuji nodded with a smile, “Thanks Ura-chan.” He looked behind the chef to see if his uncle was anywhere nearby. Usually Uncle would see him off too…

“Master Sukuna is in the art room,” Uraume spoke, noticing the boy’s wandering gaze. Yuuji nodded, pushing the disappointment to the back of his mind.

Yuuji bit his lip for a moment, staring at the empty hallway behind Uraume. It was decorated with works of art and simple poems, not by Sukuna but fellow artists he respected, along with the occasional bonsai or vase of flowers. It felt empty, devoid of something special. Someone who should have been there, as he usually was. Yuuji offered Uraume a wry smile, “Bye, Uraume.”

“Have a pleasant day, Master Yuuji,” Uraume gave the boy an encouraging nod, sporting their usual serene smile. Yuuji returned the nod before he turned around and headed off.

In his head, the boy thought it was a good idea. It was some fun, referencing how Uncle loved to buy him yukatas and kimonos when he was younger instead of the normal T-shirt. But then he stepped onto the train.

At first it was the usual bit of staring from judgemental teens his age, then old grannies and grandpas walked up to him to talk because it was odd to see a minor wearing a kimono- at least a minor who wasn’t a foreigner- and that spiralled into more attention being on him.

He doesn’t even want to think about getting off at Tokyo station. For 3 hours and 40+ minutes he just kept getting the odd stare here and there from everyone, young or old.

“Cosplay?”
“What a nice young man, embracing culture.”
“Isn’t it too early for the summer festival?”
“Mama, papa, why’s he wearing that?”

Ugh, he’s really starting to regret being all ‘nostalgic’ about his clothes now. Oh well, too late to regret it. Literally. He’s sat on the train and gotten his butt from Hida to Tokyo. No refunds applicable.

Itadori: At Tokyo! Where are you? ∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?
Fushiguro: Oh, I’ll head over. Same exit as last time?
Itadori: Yup! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ )
Itadori: gonna head to 7/11, I’m gonna get some chicken (๑⃙⃘´༥`๑⃙⃘)

Now that Megumi knew his vague location, Yuuji put his phone away and began making his way towards 7/11. He grabs a pack of fried chicken along with a can of cola, ignoring the odd stare from the cashier as he paid. Eating within railway premises was slightly frowned upon for hygiene reasons so the boy stood in the corner of the convenience store as to eat his snack.

The chicken was dry, not as good as Family Mart or Lawson’s but it was the second best choice since the nearest Lawson or Family Mart was outside of the station or just far from the exit he was at.

Shortly after Yuuji tossed the empty bag of chicken and cola into the bin at the 7/11, he caught a glimpse of spiky hair that could only mean one person because who else in the world had cowlicks all over their head looking like a sea-urchin?

Yuuji moved towards the door and eagerly waved at his best friend, “Yo, Megumi!” The boy came closer in hopes to get a hug but then a voice halted his movements.

“Hi, you’re Itadori right? Megumi talks about you all the time!” A feminine voice greets. Yuuji looked down to his left and saw a girl with platinum blonde hair in a bob and pleasant sea-green eyes. She was wearing a grey knit sweater with black leggings, causing Yuuji to grimace. That looked… suffocating. A sweater smack dab in the middle of summer, huh…?

Well, it’s not like Yuuji could say much. He was wearing a kimono, not the most cooling outfit but it also wasn’t the worst. The fabric is surprisingly breathable, or maybe that was just the expensive part of his kimono since Uncle would rather do digital art then buy a cheap low-quality kimono.

“Oh… and you are…?” Yuuji smiled awkwardly, he looked at Megumi who sported his usual blank expression. He gave the black-haired teen a look, brow raised and looking over at the girl. Who?

Megumi’s brow furrowed. Not my fault, he communicated with the responding glare. The teen sighed and turned to his girlfriend, “Hana, this is Yu- Itadori. Itadori, this is Kurusu.”

Itadori, the name echoed in Yuuji’s mind. He chewed on his bottom lip, his chest feeling heavier. The boy pushed those thoughts aside, “Nice to meet you, Kurusu.” The boy extended a hand to shake.

Kurusu took his hand and beamed, “Itadori-kun, do you wear kimonos a lot because you live with your uncle? Megumi tells me so much about you! I saw your piece at the competition and it looked amazing! It was really creative.”

Yuuji chuckled awkwardly, he returned Megumi’s glare for not telling him about the sudden addition to their lunch. The boy scratched his forearm in irritation, trying to keep calm.

“Not really but I think Uncle would have loved it if I wore kimonos more around the house since he always does,” he relaxed his smile, still perturbed by the sudden addition to the lunch he was supposed to have with Megumi- alone- but he shouldn’t be hostile towards Kurusu for that.

“Me- Fushiguro,” Yuuji caught himself before referring to Fushiguro too casually. The word sat bitterly on his tongue, too long. Too distant. He shouldn’t have said that- it’s too late to take it back. “Still heading out for lunch?”

Fushiguro nodded, “Satoru brought the family to a sushi restaurant I thought you’d like. I guess you arrived on-theme.”

Yuuji chuckled awkwardly, once again feeling embarrassed about his odd attire. Hida, as a more traditional province(especially Takayama), had many people walking around in traditional clothes and the boy had failed to consider that before choosing to wear his kimono. In the modern city of Tokyo, he looked severely out of place.

“Well, I look forward to it!” Yuuji beamed, offering his best friend a thumbs up. Out of habit, he reached out to grab Fushiguro’s hand. The action came as simply to him as breathing, after years of continuously being told to hold onto someone if he left the house, Yuuji found himself always holding onto someone he knew.

He caught himself before he did, letting his hand fall to his side limply. Fushiguro didn’t even want to call him by his first name, Yuuji chewed on his lip as he tried to fight the instinct to grab onto someone.

The trio- even though it was meant to be just the two of us- made their way out of Tokyo station towards the sushi restaurant. The moment they stepped out of the train station and onto the streets of Tokyo, Fushiguro began leading the way.

Crowds of people, all rushing to God knows where, surrounded the trio. The push and pull of foot traffic made it difficult to walk, Yuuji prayed his poor kimono wasn’t dirtied. The boy expected lunch rush to be busy but holy cow, it was like trying to swim against a constantly changing current. He found himself being pushed backwards one second and the next he was being pulled forward so fast he almost tripped.

Tokyo is terrifying, Yuuji concluded in awe. How in the world did Fushiguro and his sisters live here? The boy could barely even get a grip trying to follow the flow of people. Though at the same time, it was just amazing how many people were here, how big the large LEDs and screens were. No matter how terrifying the foot traffic in Tokyo was, the city was truly a work of art.

The boy failed to notice the moment Fushiguro grabbed his hand, leading him safely away from the concentrated path of people and onto the side walk. Considerably less people but still more than Yuuji was used to.

“Me~gumi! Why don’t we get crepes after lunch?” Hana sang, her eyes drifting to the way her boyfriend clasped hands with his friend. Her eyes narrowed slightly, that’s her boyfriend. Who did this boy think he is? Best friend or not, was he a child who needed someone to guide him?

“If you want to. There’s actually a new Korean shaved ice spot beside the sushi spot, Satoru says it’s good,” Megumi answered absentmindedly, he turned back and noticed Itadori falling behind slightly while the other bog was looking around in awe of how tall some of the buildings got. He tugged on Itadori’s hand to lead him forward, only then did the other boy notice he was holding hands with Megumi again.

“What do you think, Yuuji?” Megumi asked, looking into his eyes. There was a warmth behind them, a look that did not avoid Hana. It was entirely different to the indifference Megumi had for her, even if the boy was attentive and caring as a partner he was undeniably cold towards everyone.

“Oh, shaved ice? Sounds great! The heat is killing me!” Itadori smiles brightly at Megumi.
“Yeah, it’s great in the summer.” Megumi’s lips quirk into a soft smile.
“Y’know, Ura-chan makes the best shaved ice. Uncle even bought a special machine for them to make perfect fluffy ice every single time! I think you should come over sometime.” Itadori began gesturing with his hands enthusiastically.
“Ryoumen-sensei is a perfectionist.” Megumi’s nods in fond agreement. “I’ll think about it, Yuuji,” he added after a pause.

There he goes again. ‘Yuuji’. They’re so close to each other, Hana pouted as the pink-haired boy began exclaiming about dessert. Something about their Uncle and presumably a housemaid of sorts?

Why was Megumi being so warm with this boy? Hana’s seen Megumi interacting with his other friends. Like that Yoshino boy she’s heard him constantly interacting with for advice or homework. Or Kenzaburo and Haiba, the two otaku in class that were a little weird but since they were Megumi’s friends Hana treated them nicely.

Megumi always referred to them via their surname, but only with ’Yuuji’ does Megumi ever call via first name.

She could be forgiven for wanting to show off, right?

~Omake~

Meg: *mental calculations on how to be a good boyfriend*
Yuu: *misinterpreting Meg’s mental calculations*
Hana: *one-sided competition with Yuu on who Meg likes more*

Chapter Text

14:30, Megumi noted with a hum, the teen shoved his phone into his pocket and turned to Hana. She clung tightly to his arm, the swell of her breasts pressed against his skin. It sent a shiver down his spine, something almost akin to disgust. This felt utterly wrong in a way Megumi couldn’t convey. It was like dragging his nails on paper, the way it made his fingertips tingle and felt like he needed to pull off his nails to fix the wrongness that was in his fingertips.

“Megumi, Megumi! Look, doesn’t that look adorable?” Hana squealed, dragging Megumi to another store. This time, instead of allowing her to drag him along, Megumi stopped in his steps and waited for his partner to look at him.

Hana turned around, shooting him a confused look. Their eyes didn’t meet, the boy averted his gaze and looked away. Ever since the ’revelation’ from Kenzaburo and Haiba, Megumi’s had difficulty looking at Hana.

The way she pressed herself against him, her voluptuous chest, and the swell of her hips. Those things… people like those things, right? They don’t feel their hairs stand on edge and they don’t feel almost disgusted by it. It’s wrong, Megumi’s wrong for feeling this way. Why couldn’t he just bring himself to look at her again? To avoid the way his gaze would travel to her hips and chest, then feel revolted by them. Or at least, the idea of potentially having to do ‘things’ with her.

A high sex drive is normal for teenagers, he knows that. Fantasising about intercourse is normal too, Megumi knows all of that. But he can’t even bring himself to imagine a woman in those kinds of situations. It’s concerning, was there something wrong with him? Is this some kind of erectile dysfunction? Oh God, he’s going to be impotent.

“What’s wrong?” Hana spoke up, she tried to grab onto Megumi’s arm again but the teen pulled back, searching his pockets instead.

“It’s 2:30, I have to meet up with my friend. See you at school, alright?” Megumi brought out his phone again as proof, showing the time to his girlfriend. Hana furrowed her brows, she fidgeted with the hem of her grey sweater. Megumi chose it for her on their last shopping trip. In his opinion, the grey looked perfectly fine but his sisters would beg to differ.

The girl thought for a moment before grabbing Megumi’s hand, “It’s your childhood best friend right? Can I meet him? I’d love to know more about him!”

Right then and there, Megumi’s phone buzzed. The boy took this excuse to remove himself from Hana’s grasp, he wiped his hands on his shirt before checking the message.

Itadori: At Tokyo! Where are you? ∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?

Megumi looked up at his girlfriend, then back at his phone. “…You can tag along but if he tells you to leave, you leave. Got it?”

“Okay!”

Navigating through the Tokyo subways is kind of like a maze, but it’s a maze Megumi knows like the back of his hand. Hana walks behind him, steadily following behind him like a lost duckling. The boy weaves around the crowd and eventually makes it to the 7/11.

He sees a tuft of bright pink hair in the corner of the convenience store and that only meant one person. Megumi picked up the pace and walked in, greeted by the sight of his best friend. Not in a hoodie or his usual plain graphic T-shirt but in a kimono.

Yuuji’s doe-like brown eyes lit up the moment they saw him, dazzling like honey under the lights. The boy gulped as he saw his friend, Yuuji looked… good to say the least. He was handsome, toned muscles showing slightly every time he lifted his arm and his kimono sleeve fell.

His hair was fluffed up, clearly styled this time since the fluffy tresses were somewhat tamed and not just brushed and shrugged off as Yuuji usually did. The kimono exposed his neck, usually hidden by his hoodie but now it was free. Megumi’s face heat up, he wants to tangle his fingers in Yuuji’s hair, he wants to touch Yuuji’s skin and feel the warmth beneath, the muscles built with effort, and the way Yuuji would react-

No, get your shit together, Megumi. This is not the time for your stupid little fantasies. Megumi scolded, his first reunion with his friend in months should not be ruined by these annoying horny thoughts.

Yuuji shot Megumi a glare, the latter bit his lip and side-eyed his partner. He didn’t really invite her, she kind of just tagged along to meet Yuuji. Her sticking around wasn’t really part of the plan.

He furrowed his brow, not my fault, he subtly gestured to his partner with eyes again. Megumi began introducing Yuuji to Hana when a thought occurred, should he really be referring to Yuuji so casually in front of Hana?

Well that, and the guilt he felt as he looked at his friend. This shouldn’t be a problem, he doesn’t deal with this at all with any of his other friends. It’s only ever with Yuuji that this has happened.

Does he even deserve to call Yuuji by his first name when he’s defiling his friend’s image in his mind? God, he’s such a pervert for thinking like this. He doesn’t deserve Yuuji, he’s too pure for this.

With a sigh, Megumi pushes the perverted thoughts to the back of his mind. “Hana, this is Yu- Itadori. Itadori, this is Kurusu,” he introduced, turning to Yuuji. The boy was gripping his forearm again, no doubt scratching himself. Why? Why did Yuuji feel that upset? What did he say? How can he take it back?

“Me- Fushiguro,” Yuuji called out, causing a bitter pang to course through Megumi’s chest. “Still heading out for lunch?”

With a nod, Megumi gave Yuuji’s outfit a second look. “Satoru brought the family to a sushi restaurant I thought you’d like. I guess you arrived on-theme,” he tried to offer a compliment though he wasn’t sure if it was conveyed properly.

The message seemed to be conveyed quite well, considering Yuuji smiled and offered him a thumbs up. Yuuji started reaching out to hold hands but stopped before they could. Why?

Megumi didn’t question the decision and respected Yuuj’s wishes. His hands itched, feeling the wrongness of this situation. He should- no, he wants to hold hands with Yuuji but forcing his desires onto his friend was wrong too.

As they stepped out onto the streets of Tokyo, Yuuji began falling behind. Not used to the high-paced foot traffic of the city, Megumi unconsciously reached out to grab his friend’s hand, soothing the itch inside.

Along the way, the group fell into discussion for the type of dessert they should have after lunch. They decided to go for shaved ice since it was beside the sushi spot and was a needed reprieve from the scorching summer sun.

The three arrived at the sushi restaurant, it was a nice dainty little shop with an old man running the storefront. He smiled at the three and brought them to a table before passing them a menu. He seemed to recognise Megumi from the last time he came.

Hana took a seat beside Megumi and Itadori sat in front of them. They looked over the menu and began ordering. Hana ordered a salmon sashimi rice bowl with roe on top, Megumi got himself a similar bowl but with a mix of tuna belly along with salmon belly. Hana didn’t concern herself with whatever Itadori got.

For the actual main course of coming to a sushi restaurant, the three got several different kinds of sashimi, mostly different cuts of salmon and tuna along with some sea urchin. As the food slowly arrived, all the dishes were cold aside from the beef bowl Itadori got.

Hana couldn’t help but feel a little smug. So childish, a beef bowl? Those things were only on the menu for little kids who still can’t appreciate sashimi.

After saying their appreciations to the chef, they dug into their food. The salmon rice bowl was delicious, fatty and soft meat that melted on Hana’s tongue and the salty umami of ikura on top, don’t even get her started on the way the fish roe popped in her mouth. True bliss.

Her time in food heaven was cut short when Megumi layered rice and sashimi on a spoon for Itadori, “I think you’ll like it.” He said simply, bringing the spoon towards his friend’s mouth.

What the hell? Megumi rarely, if ever, fed Hana! And it was all prompted by her! Why was Itadori getting special treatment? Why is he being pampered by her boyfriend?

“Oh, you’re right! The tuna and salmon mix really well!” Itadori beamed, crudely speaking even while he was still chewing. The boy then piled some of his food onto a spoon for Megumi. “Ahm!”

Megumi listened without hesitation, taking the spoon into his mouth and chewing silently. “Oh, they cooked it perfectly. It’s not too tough. It has a good sweetness to it that works well, kind of like teriyaki,” Megumi nodded in appreciation.

Hana seethed with envy, why the hell was her boyfriend acting more close to his friend than her? If Itadori thinks he can just waltz up here and ruin her date with Megumi then that boy is sorely mistaken.

“Megumi, try this too~” Hana sang as she rests her head on her palm, lifting a spoonful of her food toward Megumi. The boy stared at her spoon for a second, as if contemplating- which was unfair, why did he contemplate eating her food but not Itadori’s?- before he took a bite.

The boy then offered a spoonful of his own meal to Hana. Now that all of Megumi’s attention was back onto her, Hana glanced at Itadori with smug satisfaction. He’s mine, she thought while looking over Itadori. The boy’s smile faltered just a little and Hana’s smile deepened.

She’s not blind, she knows what’s going on. Itadori clearly has a ‘more than friends’ relationship with Megumi, one-sided though it may be. Well, too bad for him, Megumi is already taken. By her.

Know your place, Hana hummed in satisfaction as she continued monopolising Megumi’s attention. By the time lunch concluded, Itadori looked crestfallen. His gaze pointed downward and there was a slight drag to his steps.

Don’t you see? He’s taken. Back off, She smiled brighter at the way Itadori averted his gaze. This childish country-boy learnt his lesson, Megumi isn’t his anymore. Megumi is Hana’s now and she would make it clear as day to Itadori.

Fushiguro looks… happy. Yuuji gripped his forearm tightly, he’s just wasting Fushiguro’s time. The older teen barely even bat an eye at Yuuji as he took care of his girlfriend.

Carefully feeding her food, wiping her face when she had something on it, and sharing about his life. Even when the conversation drifted to a topic that involved Yuuji, Fushiguro answered for him.

He knows everything isn’t about him, the conversation can’t always be about him and he can’t always have Me- Fushiguro’s attention. Ugh, he really needs to stop calling Fushiguro that. Clearly, he doesn’t want to be called Megumi anymore…

Them walking down the street was a slip-up, what else could explain Fushiguro not calling Yuuji by his name anymore after they sat down?

They’re not kids anymore. Not seven and back in the art gallery. They’re twelve- thirteen for Fushiguro- and it’s not appropriate for them to childishly call each other by their first names anymore. It’s not even like they’re that close.

Hell, they barely even meet up and even if they do it’s always in a group. They’re not close, not close enough to be on a first name basis anyway.

Yuuji’s just leeching his resources at this point. Lunch was paid by Fushiguro, so was the shaved ice they got after finishing the food.

“Thanks for the meal, Fushiguro,” Yuuji got up from his seat. He had planned on chatting for a while longer, actually staying the night and catch up with Fushiguro’s sisters, but clearly Fushiguro didn’t need him here.

Fushiguro looked up, “You’re leaving already?”

Yuuji chuckled, shrugging it off. “Yeah. It’s almost a four hour ride. I should head home now. It’s already four, by the time I get home it’ll almost be eight.”

“You could stay over,” Fushiguro suggested, polite as he is. But Yuuji knows he doesn’t mean it. After all, Yuuji’s just a bother. He wouldn’t want to intrude on Fushiguro’s schedule later or his time with his partner.

“Nah, you know how Unc’ is. He’s a worrywart, if I stayed over he would probably make a fuss for Ura-chan,” the boy chuckled and made his way out of the store. “Seriously, thanks for the meal! Come over next time, my treat!”

“Itadori wait-“

He didn’t stay long enough to hear the rest of Fushiguro’s sentence. The boy simply rushed back to the station- which was pretty fast considering Yuuji’s sprint could out-pace most cyclists- and got onto the earliest train back to Hida.

Just his luck, the train was arriving in mere minutes before he purchased the return ticket and there were still a few seats available. Yuuji got onto the train hastily and sat down, chewing his lip in frustration.

Why are you so selfish? Yuuji berated, clawing at his forearm as he fought tears back. Why are you getting so upset because he’s paying more attention to someone else? What’s wrong with you?

Yuuji knows it’s alright to be upset, why wouldn’t he? Kurusu just came and waltzed in on he and Fushiguro’s reunion! They had this outing planned a full week beforehand. He was rightfully upset about it. But he was also upset Fushiguro wasn’t looking at him.

That reasoning was so stupid, so irrational and idiotic! He knows this, he’s not entitled to Fushiguro’s attention and the older teen had all the right to do as he wished without Yuuji butting in and demanding attention like some attention seeking toddler.

Why can’t he just stop being a bother? First to Uncle and now to his childhood friend. When will Yuuji be able to stop being such a loser and be able to accept the fact that people have their own lives and can’t always spend time with him?

The boy sniffled. He’s so fucking stupid. All of this is stupid. Yuuji let out a shaky breath, he grabbed a pack of tissues Uraume put in the bag and smiled fondly. Uraume’s always so secure and prepared for anything.

Yuuji wiped his face and looked around to ensure no one was around before he blew his nose. Uncle would throw hands if he found out Yuuji was being inconsiderate in public.

His nose would be scrunched up in disapproval as he jokingly looked at Yuuji in disgust. Uncle would never mean it maliciously, this was just his way of getting his point across, Yuuji supposed.

Yuuji leaned against the window, eyelids growing heavy as he submitted to a dreamless slumber, spent by his earlier outburst.

The constant hum and movement of the train came to an abrupt halt, waking Yuuji from his nap. The boy looked out the window to see the familiar station of Hida cloaked in darkness. It was 7:42 according to the clock at the station. Yuuji yawned, that was a disgustingly long trip. His neck was sore from sleeping upright and his back was in utter agony when the boy stood up.

Stepping out of the train, Yuuji was greeted by the familiar smell of home. Hida smelled different from Tokyo, it was different in a way Yuuji couldn’t quite explain. Like you could smell how old it was, not in a bad way but in a nostalgic way.

Like a pair of leather shoes that have been broken in and worn. That was probably the best analogy Yuuji had for the smell of Hida.

While Tokyo was busy and abuzz with people rushing to who-knows-where, Hida offered a more relaxed and slow pace of life that Yuuji was more comfortable with. Sure it was often a little boring but this comfort was a more welcome thing than being overwhelmed in Tokyo.

Being back home also made Yuuji feel more comfortable in his kimono, what with the monks and old people also choosing to dress in traditional wear. The boy leisurely makes his way back home and greets his neighbours who seemed oh-so interested as to why he was all dressed up and heading home at such a late hour.

Finally, Yuuji stepped into his house. The nameplate read ‘Itadori’ proudly and there were two small tiger statues at each end of the main entrance, a pun since their surname had the word ‘tiger’ inside.

Uraume was at the front courtyard, sweeping fallen leaves aside. The white-haired monk looked up and noticed Yuuji, “Master Yuuji, welcome back.” They greeted with a smile. Uraume puts the broom away and walks Yuuji into the main house with a smile, glad to see him safe and sound.

“You didn’t stay the night and Geto’s?” Uraume asked curiously, pulling out ingredients from the fridge. Yuuji got to work, washing his hands thoroughly before he started peeling the onions and carrots. Uraume meanwhile focused on finely chopping the vegetables and mixing them with the ground beef.

“Hamburg steak?” Yuuji asked, watching Uraume effortlessly blend the beef, veggies, bread crumbs, and egg together. The chef nodded and began forming the shape of the patties, making sure to put some cheese in the centre.

Uraume continued churning out hamburger steaks like some sort of machine while they spoke, “You still haven’t answered my question.” They prodded, bringing the topic back to the less-than-stellar outing Yuuji has with Megumi. He still didn’t really want to talk about it.

“Did things go awry?” Uraume prodded once more, now moving onto making the sauce for the steak. The kitchen soon erupted into wonderful aromas as the chef put the aromatic blend of spices into the steak sauce.

Yuuji huffed, “You can say that.”

The chef left the topic at that, no longer trying to pry into Yuuji’s reasoning. Soon, a piping hot and delicious hamburg steak was presented on the table with a side of potato wedges and carrot sticks. Yuuji practically drooled at the sight, hurriedly saying his thanks for the meal before cutting into the steak to reveal a perfectly gooey and delicious centre of melty cheese.

He took a bite of the steak and flavours exploded into his mouth, the ground meat provided a satisfying bite but it wasn’t tough to chew. A perfectly cooked and juicy hamburger steaks with a perfect cheesy centre. This is the true love of Yuuji’s life, this beautiful and magnificent tasting food.

Number one on his list of priorities in his future wife is definitely if she can cook. Yuuji doesn’t even know how he can live without Uraume’s delicious meals anymore. The chef ruined his taste buds now, expecting wonderful gourmet meals on the daily.

But as he came closer to finishing his meals, yuuji couldn’t help but notice the absence of someone. He looked up, hoping maybe Uraume’s cooking was so amazing he failed to notice Sukuna’s giant frame enter the room but no, he was still absent from the kitchen.

“He’s sleeping now,” Uraume said, noticing Yuuji’s wandering gaze. The boy looked down at his food.

“Oh,” he said softly before continuing with his meal.

Suddenly the food was less appetising. Something was missing, though perhaps it was more accurate to say someone was missing. Regardless, the food was still delicious and Yuuji didn’t hesitate to scarf it down and greedily ask for seconds as Uraume joked about his ravenous stomach.

Still, it would be nice if he was here. Dinner tasted better with everyone around, wasn’t Uncle the one who said that? Why did he skip dinner if he knew that already?

He’s probably just tired. Yuuji shouldn’t think too hard about it.

~Omake~

Meg: oh no, I’ve defiled him! He’s too innocent!
Yuu on google: “tall women with big butts” hehehehe…

Extra:
Meg: Why don’t I like my girlfriend and fantasise about men?
Go+Mimi: *top of their lungs* you’re gay!
Meg: oh I wonder why….

Chapter Text

Yuuji’s body twitched, hips bucking forward as a breathy moan escaped his lips. His lean body, still growing and slowly developing muscle mass, glistened under the dim light of the room.

“M-Megumi…” He gasped as the boy touched his sensitive penis. Megumi’s hand rubs Yuuji’s member, thumb playing with the tip. The boy pumps his fist up and down the length of Yuuji’s cock, causing the latter to shudder.

“—“ Megumi whispers into the boy’s ear, free hand playing with the rim of Yuuji’s ass. He pokes a finger in, wiggling it inside. Yuuji gasps, he tightens his grip on the sheets.

His toes are curled, tightly bound as Megumi touches him.

The boy keeps pumping his fist, he looks up trying to see Yuuji’s face. How did he look while drowning in the depths of ecstasy? How loud could Megumi get Yuuji to moan? He wants to touch the boy’s prostate, where is the illustrious sensitive spot?

But he can’t see it. Yuuji’s face is a blur, it’s blank.

“—?” Megumi speaks again, he realises he doesn’t have a voice. Yuuji’s face is missing and he doesn’t have a voice.

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake—

His eyes dart open. Megumi shoots upright, his heart races, thumping in his chest in an erratic rhythm. He brings a shaky hand to his chest, a slow shaky breath escaping him.

Just a dream. That was… it was a dream. Megumi slumps forward, his back was uncomfortably drenched in sweat making the fabric of his pyjamas cling to it like saran wrap.

The boy can feel a dampness at his crotch, did he really just wet his bed? At 13? Megumi tightened his grip on the blanket, he needed to get rid of the evidence.

He stumbles out of bed, feet touching the stone cold floor of his room. Megumi frantically began looking around, what should he do first? Change the sheets? No, Dad kept the sheets somewhere else and Megumi didn’t know where.

Cleaning, cleaning… cleaning… Megumi searches around his room. Wet tissue? Dry tissue? What the hell should he use?

The boy’s hairs stood on end as he heard the familiar creak of his door. “…Megumi?” Dad’s groggy voice called out, the man rubbed his eyes before letting out a long yawn.

“…’s somethin’ wrong, baby?” Suguru asked with a hum, he walked over to Megumi and pressed a kiss on his forehead before ruffling his hair. “We could hear you making a ruckus from our room,” Dad yawned, he was still in the process of waking up.

Megumi’s blush deepened, he didn’t want Suguru to know he wet the bed. Now his Dad is going to think he’s still a little kid for wetting the bed. His life is going to be ruined, Mimiko and Nanako will know and Tsumiki will tease him.

They’re going to baby him even more, the boy would never be able to see the light of day again. Even if he could, Megumi couldn’t show his face to the world anymore. Not after this. After he wet the bed as a teenager.

“Is it a fever?” Suguru pressed his forehead against Megumi’s. “You’re a little warm, let’s get you back to bed okay?” The man suggested, his eyes were still half-closed as he affectionately cupped his cheek. “Daddy’s cooking today,” Suguru added. “I’ll ask ‘im to cook some soup or porridge maybe.”

Megumi shook his head adamantly. Not the bed. Anything but the bed, really. His shameful stain was still there. Suguru, tired as he was, didn’t notice Megumi’s adamant refusal and began dragging the boy back to his bed.

“N-no please…” Megumi stuttered, his voice a tiny squeak. Suguru stops in his steps, he turns to face Megumi again. Now he was more awake, the man’s eyes opened just a tad bit larger.

“Why not?” Dad asks, he keeps a comforting grip on Megumi’s hand. His thumb rubs small circles on the back of Megumi’s hand, tethering Megumi to realitg and keeing the boy calm.

The boy gulped, the words stuck in his throat. He leaned on his father’s chest, yet to have reached his growth spurt. The boy was still a way’s off from Suguru’s towering height. “…bed,” Megumi managed to squeak out. “…Iwetthebed,” the boy added in a hushed whisper.

“What was that, sweetie?” Dad strokes Megumi’s back, trying to soothe his distressed boy. Suguru runs his hand slowly across Megumi’s back, the slow movements soothed the boy slightly.

“…wet the bed…” Megumi eventually mumbled through gritted teeth. How utterly embarrassing. A 13 year old, wetting the bed.

Suguru nodded, he didn’t shout or react harshly. The man simply let out a thoughtful hum. “That’s okay, why don’t you head to the bathroom and wash up? Just leave your clothes on the floor, your sisters are still sleeping. It’s 7 am.”

Megumi nods, pursing his lips in shame. He grabs a towel and heads off to the bathroom.

He recalls his dream, remembers how he had imagined Yuuji’s voice calling him for him desperately. The boy feels shame course through him, imagining his friend in such a manner. Like some sort of AV actress.

If someone told Suguru he’d be waking up at 7 due to one of his kids panicking and storming around their room because they wet the bed at 13, Suguru probably would have laughed it off as an implausible scenario.

That was, of course, until he came into Megumi’s room to see the boy flushed bright red. His brows knit together and looking absolutely frantic. In his half-dazed state, Suguru barely even noticed the wet spot in Megumi’s pyjamas and merely mistook the situation for a fever.

Little did he know, it was so much worse than wetting the bed or having a fever. Once Suguru ushered his son away to the shared bathroom between all the kids- horrendous sounding, he knows, but the bathroom was so large he thought it was some sort of sauna room when he first moved into the house.

Speaking of sauna, it was a function in that very same bathroom so Suguru wasn’t too far from the mark. Come to think of it, it’s a Sunday. The girls have a weekly spa day and Suguru needed to restock their face masks.

Mimiko wanted to try the cucumber ones and Nanako wanted the rose ones meant for pores, Suguru thinks. Why his little girls are so concerned about pores and wrinkles at 15 is a wonder to Suguru but he doesn’t question it. He used to be fashion conscious too as a boy and would often willingly play dress-up with his little sisters, even chose to prompt those sessions to the confused amusement of his older brother.

Wait, his mind is drifting again. Sauna? No, not sauna. Megumi’s room. Once Suguru had gotten Megumi in the shower, he began work on removing the sheets and bedding for Megumi’s bed. Satoru’s… decisions for an egregious number of padded linings for the bed seemed to finally be useful since nothing leaked past the first layer.

Why was it necessary to have a silk lining beneath the cotton sheets? Sometimes Suguru wonders if he would ever understand his fiance.

Fiance, Suguru really liked the sound of that. Never in his life did he ever think he and Satoru could get married, be recognised as a couple and not just two weird roommates who had eyes for one another. They wanted to hold their wedding next spring, mostly due to Nanako’s insistence, and had chosen a nice venue surrounded by sakura trees that would be in full bloom.

Now that he thought about it, shouldn’t he be looking at the clothes he wanted to wear? Honestly, it’d be fun if he could convince Satoru to wear a gown and be the ‘bride’ during the wedding. Oh and he definitely needed to enforce rules on the bridesmaid dresses because of Nanako’s enthusiasm. She better not go overboard, sure Satoru has enough money to burn and then some, but Suguru always wanted to make sure his children had an idea on what a normal life was like.

He thinks that is probably lost on all his children now, though. Almost all of his children think it’s normal for a winter coat to cost around 100,000 yen, don’t even get Suguru started on their everyday wear. Even he’s guilty of it, considering the neatly pressed office blouses he wears to work are 150,000 yen… and that was because he declined Satoru’s insistence on getting a 250,000 yen Dior one.

Wait, why was he talking about shirts? Suguru rubbed the bridge of his nose, his tired mind struggled to stick to one topic without assistance from caffeine.

The man looked down at his surroundings, the stained sheets were to his right on the floor and the silk mattress topper was in the middle of being removed. Right, he was changing Megumi’s sheets because he wet the bed.

He’ll have to bring this to Shoko and find out if he should be concerned or not for Megumi’s health. Perhaps it was psychological more than physical. Suguru made a mental note to keep an eye on his son.

Suguru dumped the slightly soiled blanket into a basket along with the sheets and mattress topper, he moved towards the bathroom to pick up Megumi’s pyjamas.

As he picked up the boy’s pyjamas though, Suguru noticed something other than urine on the pants. It was white and stuck to the ceramic tile with strings of the viscous liquid.

Now, Suguru can’t be quite sure when it comes to his girls but for his boy? That’s definitely not urine or some kind of weird infection. That was cum.

Oh dear, Megumi’s reached puberty. That’s a little early for boys… another thing to bring to Shoko. Wait, he has a girlfriend.

Megumi can now ejaculate, which mean the could potentially get into a less-than-satisfactory situation with his girlfriend.

Ohhh… Think. Think, Suguru! The man paced around the bathroom. Year 1 of junior high… do they have sex ed yet? Uh… he’s not sure.

Considering he had to go through sex education for his homeroom classes, Suguru assumes there isn’t any form of sex education. Okay… he’ll have to have The Talk™ with Megumi.

The real question is how he should go about it… pull up a video? Use live examples? Uh, probably not live examples…

Suguru’s been taught the gist sex-ed from videos in ‘his own research’ and he recalls Satoru speaking about his own experiences…

”Growing up traditional sucks. When I turned 14 my father pulled me into a room and showed me how to jerk it,” Satoru frowned, sticking his tongue out in disgust, still recoiling at the memory. “And can you believe he hired a prostitute to do the rest???- Thank goodness the woman had some sense and decided to show some AVs on the TV once she saw I was literally a minor- Anyway, diabolical! And they wonder why I don’t visit them ever or show up to their boring meetings.”

Which, funnily enough, led to Satoru being the least educated on sex in their class. The boy had adamantly refused to look up anything related to sex and masturbating had brought up the scarring memory of his father demonstrating how it was done. It was only after their second year of dating did Satoru feel confident enough to do anything in bed without thinking of his family.

Still, going through the entire safe sex spiel was simple enough for his girls… It mostly began and ended with them telling him “we know” then being grossed out about his condom demonstration with a banana. Plus none of his girls have expressed interest in romance aside from Megumi’s.

Well, once his girls got their own partners he’ll be sure to explain the importance of safe sex and such. However, with Megumi it was going to be a little different.

Different because his little boy had gotten himself a girlfriend. Suguru knew first hand how horny teenage boys could get, trust him, the High school dorms were filled with noises.

Megumi’s a smart kid, right? Maybe Suguru could get away with just a stern warning. Something like, “Don’t have unprotected sex, better yet, don’t even have sex. You wouldn’t want a teenage pregnancy, right?”

…But what if Megumi goes into a rebellious phase? But he would never! Suguru reasons, though the anxiety within still creeps to the surface.

Oh… what the hell should be do?

~Omake~

Sugu: what if Megumi gets his girlfriend pregnant? What if he gets an STD? What if I don’t educate him properly and he starts doing something stupid? What if I teach him about it but he gets his rebellious phase and starts doing it out of spite?!

Meg in the shower: this is horrible, I’m defiling the image of my best friend. I can’t believe this. Why did I dream about doing ‘the doing’ with Yuuji?

Chapter Text

Uraume julienned some carrots, preparing Yuuji’s lunch for the next day. They already prepared the cabbage and the bell peppers, now all there was left was to put it all aside to stir fry for tomorrow’s lunch. The chef turned to face their dear friend and employer.

It wasn’t unusual for them to be worried about Sukuna. The man often closed himself off, even though he’s the most irrationally emotional person Uraume had ever met. Jin was quick to express his feelings which made him appear the more emotional Itadori but under the surface, Uraume knew their friend was the more emotional one.

From the death of his family to Yuuji’s social life, Sukuna’s always had rather… intense reactions even when it’s most of the time unwarranted. Still, even if he reacts like pure sodium in water and explodes internally with emotion, Sukuna always kept his stubbornly proud and unbothered image.

It’s never easy with Sukuna. Was he sick? No, definitely not. Just a light cold. It didn’t matter if he was so lethargic he could barely stay awake for more than a few hours or was so warm a cold towel turned warm in mere minutes, Sukuna was always ‘fine’ even when he clearly wasn’t.

Right now is definitely one of those times. Uraume can feel it, this sense of wrongness as they work on preparing the ingredients for some side dishes, they’ve felt it many times around Sukuna.

They think it’s some sixth sense made purely out of Sukuna’s terminal inability to take care of themselves. Like that one time Sukuna fractured their shin and insisted it was a sprained ankle. Something is clearly very wrong and this idiotic buffoon of a human can’t seem to put in his pea-sized brain that maybe asking for help is the thing to do.

“Ack- huc ough ough,” Sukuna coughed, rubbing his throat with his hand. The man took another sip of herbal tea as if the liquid was some sort of miracle water that could cure the coughing fits that plagued him.

Uraume packed the last of the ingredients into a tupperware for tomorrow, they fight a sigh as they watch Sukuna continue coughing yet all he does is refill his cup of herbal tea and drink.

“Have you seen a doctor?” The chef questioned while washing their hands in the sink. They take off their headband and apron, hanging it in the kitchen, before joining Sukuna at the dining table where the man remained at his seat, leisurely reading through the newspaper and ignoring his cough.

“Ough ack ack- don’t need one,” Sukuna frowned, reaching for the tea again. Uraume pushed the cup away, forcing their friend to look up from their newspaper begrudgingly. The man sighed, he pulls down his reading glasses, letting them hang from his neck as he slowly looked up, “Yes?”

“See. A. Doctor,” they insisted, emphasising every syllable. Sukuna merely furrowed his brows before attempting to reach for the cup of tea. Uraume swiftly pulled both teacup and teapot off the table and gently placing them in the sink. The tea set clanked in the sink softly before the soft sound of running water filled the kitchen.

They return to the table and cross their arms over their chest, glaring down at Sukuna. Uraume points their finger at Sukuna, “You stupid little shit, tea is not helping your cough so go see a damn doctor!”

At that, Sukuna pulled back his head in a frown, “I am not little or stupid…” he mumbled in a whisper. Then he grinned, “I really rubbed off on you, didn’t I? I could not imagine High school Uraume saying ‘stupid little shit’.”

He pulls his reading glasses back on, the newspaper crinkled in his hands as he straightened it out again to get a better look and find where he last left off.

The chef shrugs, “Abbott Kenjaku said we should say no evil, see no evil, hear no evil, think no evil, do no evil.”

“How do you guys live?” Sukuna chuckled, bringing the conversation away from his cough.

“By not punching everyone in sight, it’s actually quite simple,” Uraume stopped folding their arms and merely pulled out a phone from their pocket. Various charms dangled off the side of the phone, all limited edition keychains from the rare times Sukuna agreed to sell his art as a keychain. Some were special freebies from the summer festival. Those little trinkets filled Uraume with joy, little pins and keychains with their best friend’s art.

They encouraged him to pursue art, look at the proud artist they influenced! And since Sukuna doesn’t care for these trinkets, who else but Uraume to collect them all and display them as cherished memories? Of course, they even got some for Yuuji though the boy would have to be a little more careful with his belongings before Uraume would give those highly prized pieces to him.

Sukuna grimaced, “Why do you have one of those?” He asked, not quite sure whether he’s asking about the phone or the copious number of keychains dangling from Uraume’s cell phone. “I swear phones will cause the death of us all one day. Kashimo said one of his friends was scammed of almost 300,000 yen.”

“Convenience, mostly. And to do this,” the chef presses something on their phone and just as they did that, the printer turned on and began printing. Sukuna leapt from his seat and gazed at the printer quizzicaly.

“What the fuck,” he stares at the printer for a few seconds before turning back to Uraume. The chef reckons if he had pearls he’d probably be clutching them. “How’d you do that without a computer?”

Uraume sighed. The man was too paranoid for his own good. They walked over to the printer to check on the print, a sloppy print wouldn’t do for this kind of document. “A phone is technically a small computer.”

The man stared in confusion at the phone, their last experience with a computer being one of those old and thick computers at the school. “It can do that?”

“Yes, and it can do this,” Uraume took the completed print and slammed it in front of their friend. It was a doctor’s appointment at the nearest hospital 3 days from now.

Sukuna frowned, “No way this is legitimate. You printed it!” He raises his arms in protest.

“Ugh,” the chef pinched the bridge of their nose. “I filled out a form for you on the website and this is the appointment slip printed out. It has the hospital watermark and everything.” Then they slid the paper towards Sukuna.

“So now you have no choice but to go. See. The. Doctor. Because I already filed the paperwork and paid. Wouldn’t want to waste money now, would we?” Uraume slides the paper closer towards Sukuna, forcing the man to take a good look at it.

He stares at the piece of paper with a frown, neither party chose to speak further on the topic merely choosing to stare at one another. Water drips from the faucet, the sound of water droplets hitting the metal basin along with the ticking of an old grandfather clock could be heard.

The seconds pass silently, Uraume’s fixed gaze is relentless as they look at Sukuna as if he was some sort of toddler in need of discipline.

Sukuna’s cough breaks the silence, the man hunched forward, back shaking from the force of these coughs. He pressed a palm to his throat, applying pressure trying to soothe the almost ticklish sensation in the back of his throat. Uraume’s frown softens and they rush to get Sukuna a cup of room temperature water to which the man drinks gratefully.

They rub Sukuna’s back, not quite sure what to do. They’re a chef for heaven’s sake, not a doctor. Uraume keeps rubbing their friend’s back awkwardly as Sukuna’s whole body shook from his cough.

The cough feels much longer than it was, the cursed few minutes of pure coughing sounds instilled discomfort in Uraume. What were they supposed to do? It’s not like honey worked, herbal tea for all sorts of cough and sore throat related ailments weren’t working either. Time certainly wasn’t doing anything.

If anything, it was only getting worse. They find themselves gripping Sukuna’s samue with pursed lips. This wouldn’t have happened if only they had forced Sukuna to visit the doctor sooner. No mystery illness and no violent coughing episodes where all Uraume could do was watch their best friend cough until his throat was raw and rough.

You can’t control his actions, they reason with themselves as Sukuna wheezed with laboured breath. The man rubbed his throat with tired eyes, awfully silent.

You could have done more to help, Uraume retorted themselves as they watch Sukuna slump in his seat. His chest rising and falling with great effort and half-lidded eyes that showed his exhaustion.

They can’t bring themselves to continue the argument anymore, Uraume can’t decide what to do with their hands anymore. Keep holding on? Let go? Prepare tea?

Nothing is helping. Nothing they do is helping. This sense of helplessness on par to their time in the temple, before they knew how to protect themselves or fight, before they met Sukuna and his direct and violent solution to life.

It makes Uraume scared. Once again, they’re a helpless monk praying for salvation of any kind even though it never works. What’s the point of faith if it couldn’t help them when they needed it most? When they wanted to help their friend?

Sukuna stands up, hand still rubbing his throat as he glared at the ground. “B-Bed? I’ll help set it up. Just walk slowly and rest…” Uraume stuttered, they rush towards the bedroom and quickly prepare Sukuna’s futon. The man coughs again, it makes Uraume anxious.

”Jin’s cough is getting worse, we don’t know what’s wrong…” Kaori cupped her cheek in concern. Yuuji was sprawled on her lap playing with two pens clipped together, mimicking the sound of planes as he manoeuvred the ‘plane’ in the air.

Uraume gulps as they set the blanket on the futon. The lovely crimson tortoise shell embroidery on the futon blanket almost felt like a taunt to the chef.

”I don’t know what to do… he’s getting worse and then suddenly the doctor says he’s not making it and… Oh Yuuji… he- he’s not even going to remember his Papa,” Kaori sobs through the phone, Uraume leaned against the wall, twisting the cord in their hands anxiously.

Longevity. It feels almost like a damn joke.

“Mrrow,” a mangy black cat rubbed its head against Sukuna’s leg as the man sat on the engawa, enjoying the pleasant summer breeze. Sukuna rubs the feline’s head, running his thumb between its ears.

Yuuji called it ‘Madoka’, Sukuna thinks. The violent cat now older, larger, calmer.

Not a lot of cats visit the estate anymore, maybe it was population control, maybe they found a better home. Most certainly though, some cats had likely died from old age. Like the calico that started Yuuji’s obsession with naming cats- well, and the fact that Yuuji had no friends when he was seven- Kurika or whatever its name was, last Sukuna saw of it the cat was worse for wear.

From the first batch of felines that Yuuji chose to name, only this mangy black cat still visited. It probably wouldn’t be long before this cat would stop visiting too.

Black cats are considered a bad omen, though Sukuna’s not quite sure of what to make with a black and white cat. He coughs, the noise scaring the cat and causing it to flee from him. The man rests his chin on his palm, staring at the wary figure.

Madoka hid behind the large Japanese willow in the middle of the inner garden. Green eyes peering at Sukuna and checking for danger.

A smart one, it would do well in the wild, though Sukuna supposed that the only reason Madoka was alive was because it had a good survival sense.

He’s been coughing an awful lot, Sukuna knows that. It’s uncontrollable and sometimes it hurt to breathe with how raw his throat felt. Each breath incited another cough, each cough made his throat even more raw. A virtuous cycle that left him lethargic and in pain.

He couldn’t draw anymore, not in this state. The ideas wouldn’t come, he couldn’t do anything. And Sukuna wonders if this is how Jin and his father felt.

The man has had a lot of time to ponder on this. At first he thought it was just his paranoia. It’s just a cough, he reasoned with himself.

That’s what they all thought, didn’t they? From Wasuke to Jin, now it was his turn. Had they committed some grave offence to heaven? Was this why the Itadori lineage seemed to be falling like flies?

Or maybe he was being paranoid again. He’s older now, in his late thirties and with greying hair. Sickness would affect him worse, it could all be a passing flu. Regardless of what it was, he wouldn’t know if he never got it diagnosed.

That left him with a sense of ease, he was comfortable with not knowing what he had. Knowing would only hurt him more.

If he were to be honest, he was scared. Really scared. He’d lost his mother at the tender age of 12 then his father at the precipice of his adolescence. At that time, he had felt so lost. The world was cruel, why did it take both of his parents?

He was rightfully angered, furious and filled with hatred. If the world was determined to screw him over, he’ll just make everyone else’s life hell. Why don’t they try living with this numbing void within? This sense of being incomplete and constantly being reminded of what you should have had. Of what you could have had.

Then he realised it wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was just the way life had gone. No one controlled life and death.

If Sukuna had what he thought he had, the man was content with it. Living or dying, it was all the same anyway. The world goes on. Some may cry, Uraume would pray, Abbott Kenjaku would be given a portion of his fortune as a donation to the monastery, Yuuji would receive the rights to his home and his assets.

But he couldn’t- shouldn’t- be content with such an outcome. What would his nephew think? Bright-eyed and bushy tailed Yuuji. His last living relative, the only reason he even cares about what happens of him.

He lost his parents when he was 12 and 18. Yuuji lost his when he was only seven. And Sukuna knows, deep down, his nephew was still hurting. There are no words, no actions, no reasoning that could help ease the pain in his nephew’s chest.

And Sukuna can’t bring himself to add to that pain. He doesn’t want to know, he doesn’t want to hear. He wishes it would all go away. That he would wake up and suddenly the cough would be gone, and hell maybe that crazy fangirl named Yorozu would be gone along with it. Wishful thinking.

But reality and fantasies don’t mix. Sukuna knows that more than anyone, he can’t even begin to count the number of times he’d dreamt of a happier time. Of a reality where no one was gone. Where Wasuke would have been in Yuuji’s life as a grumpy grandfather and Jin would be there to add cheer and humour to every situation.

Such a reality doesn’t exist for him, it never would.

The man stood up, dusting off his kimono before heading into the house. He grabbed the file with all the necessary documents Uraume had left for him.

It’s time to face reality.

~Omake~

Sukuna: *has covid*
Also Sukuna: This is fine
Uraume with the positive covid test in hand: This is NOT fine

Extra:

Sukuna: *checks fan mail*
Yorozu: PLEASE MARRY ME I LOVE YOU I BUY ALL OF YOUR ARTWORKS I LOVE YOU I’M RICH AND I CAN PROVIDE YOU A COMFORTABLE LIFE I LOVE YOU I’LL KILL ANY WOMAN WHO LOOKS AT YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I-
Sukuna: *crumples the letter* Well, that’s a crazy one.

Chapter Text

I want… I really want to see him in a jock strap. Satoru concludes as he watched his soon-to-be husband run around playing baseball with the other staff members. It was an annual teacher’s event during summer break and Utahime chose to plan a baseball match between all the teachers, which was mostly her excuse to invite the Kyoto school over since she was transferred over to the Tokyo side because of a shortage or staff.

Well, technically the empty slot could be filled if Satoru just decided to go back into teaching art with that teaching degree he got for fun(read: to annoy Suguru at work). Then Nanami could focus on teaching maths instead of multitasking with art and math.

Still, Satoru found himself glaring at the baseball field. Suguru put on some leggings for this event, meaning no baggy pants, meaning Satoru could ogle all he wanted because there was little left to the imagination.

Everything about Suguru is perfect, his soft muscles that were trained with effort despite his schedule, his luscious thighs and his beautiful ass-ets.

For Satoru, clothing was a way to greatly enhance sex appeal. There’s just something about seeing his fiance in a tight polo shirt that showed when his nipples were slightly hard or, as stated earlier, seeing his fiance in a jock strap.

The sex appeal. He doesn’t even need Suguru to touch him, just seeing his angelic form was a blessing. Why the hell was fitness wear so hot? Who the hell designed the jock strap anyway? Why does it expose the ass?

He knows it’s to protect the sword and jewels for contact sports like rugby or football, no one wants to have a accident with their crown jewels.

But that doesn’t change just how bloody sexy it looked. It’s free access to Suguru’s chrysanthemum gate, almost like a thong but somehow even easier. And speaking of sex appeal, that bunny costume Satoru bought for valentines day in hopes Suguru would give in to his pleas and put it on.

Suguru in a bunny costume. Suguru with a fluffy cotton tail sticking out from him. Suguru with fishnet tights and heels. Suguru with a handcrafted black corset, all laced up and ready.

Satoru gulped, pulling the large sunhat down to cover more of his face. He hopes the blush creeping onto his face could be blamed on the summer heat. Suddenly, him becoming a strawberry under the damn sun felt like a blessing.

Keeping with the train of thought, domme Suguru. Satoru can’t claim to be the biggest fan of pain but…

*a figment of his mind

Satoru’s arms and legs were bound to the bedposts with some of Suguru’s neckties. The white-haired man feels warmth pooling at his core as he watched his fiance smirk lasciviously at him, a paddle in his hand and a whip at his hip.

”S-Suguru… it’s a little tight- oh!” His breath hitched as his lover gently slapped his inner thighs, hard enough to leave a stinging sensation but not leave anything other than a light red mark.

”Monkeys don’t deserve to speak,” Suguru sneers, using the tone of disappointment and disdain for students who constantly cause him trouble. Satoru Jr. sprang up in a lively manner, no longer lying limp or half-soft but rigid and standing tall.

”Getting off on being insulted? You’re such a disgusting monkey,” his lover used the paddle to raise Satoru’s chin to face him. Suguru’s eyes were narrowed in false disdain, lips quirked upwards in undeniable enjoyment. “A disgusting monkey that needs to be…” Suguru squeezes his sword-of-excalibur™, rubbing circles around the tip, playing with the glands and the urethral opening. “Punished,” Suguru purred, he moved lower to rest between Satoru’s thighs.

His warm tongue makes contact with Satoru’s tip, it wraps around him and envelopes him deeper and deeper. Suguru took the entire length slowly, pushing the phallus past his mouth and to the back of his throat. Satoru’s breath hitched as he watched Suguru bob his head along his length, burying himself deep into the former’s pubic hair and pulled out to the very tip. Back and forth, Suguru expertly takes Satoru inside his mouth as if he was a mere popsicle to be used for escaping the summer heat.

So this is a tongue that can knot a cherry stem in his mouth, Satoru buckled his hips to the furthest extent his leg restraints allowed. It doesn’t matter how many times he received this life-changing head, he was always equally as impressed and aroused as he first was.

The love of his life looked so beautiful. So incredibly handsome. Like a demon, it shouldn’t be possible to be so seductive, so appealing. Like the apple that tempted Adam and Eve, Satoru wants to fall into depravity and-

“If you’re going to be disgusting, please go home,” a familiar voice sounded beside Satoru. The man turned to his right to find Shoko, one of his close friends and one of two nurses in the school staff. Shoko lit a cigarette, the scent of smoke immediately filled the surrounding area.

“You always think I’m disgusting no matter what I do!” Satoru huffed, he fixed his bag and hid his unfortunately raging erection.

Shoko raised a brow, she took another breath and let out a puff of smoke. “Yes. And I think a perv like you should be at home instead of ogling Suguru with a hard on.”

The man clicked his tongue, no retort for that statement. He couldn’t help himself, alright? How could he control himself around someone so handsome?

O~kay little man, let’s settle down. Not right now buddy, Satoru pulled his lips to one side, embarrassed at having been caught. At least it was just Shoko and not anyone else.

The woman looked at the ongoing game, Suguru currently a catcher for the red team and Nanami the batter for the blue team.

“I don’t care what’s going on in your sex life but I swear, if I see you two going to some hidden area to do it I will actually circumcise you two. Keep that activity in the house, thank you very much,” she made a snipping gesture with her hands, blankly staring at Satoru with an all-too-serious expression. Despite knowing her threats were a joke- since it would literally get her medical license revoked- the man can’t help the shiver that went down his spine.

His precious crown jewels wouldn’t be damaged! Not if he could help it!

Well, guess he’ll just have to have their R-rated fun in their bedroom. Though, outdoor play was certainly exciting… maybe he could convince Suguru to have some fun when they go to his beach vacation home…

~Omake~

Sato: Please! *holding up all kinds of sexy cosplays, made by him of course*
Sugu: No. Stop asking.

Chapter Text

Rain poured down from the sky uncharacteristically for summer, where one would expect a light sprinkle or a mere shower, the sky was instead dark and gloomy. Grey clouds hover overhead with raindrops falling to the ground, the loud pitter-patter of rain echoing through the streets of Shibuya.

Junpei and Yuuji huddle under a singular umbrella, too small for the likes of the two but they made it work anyway by clinging to each other like koalas to a tree. The pair hug their prize and certificate of participation between them, desperate to keep the bag dry.

They had just received the results for the group piece, though the pair failed to advance into the final round they managed to get an honourable mention along with a 6,000 yen voucher at a large chain art store each.

However, just their luck, the sky began to rain heavily as soon as they left the centre. However, Uraume, prepared as they were, left a foldable umbrella in Yuuji’s bag. Said umbrella now being tortured by the harsh wind that made the rain move practically sideways.

Some umbrellas on the street fail to hold against such weather, flipping inside out and becoming a cup for the rain, no longer sheltering their owners beneath them. Luckily for the two boys, their umbrella holds true until they reach the nearest fully enclosed store they could find to wait out the rain.

“Thank you, Uraume! I promise I’ll eat all my green bell peppers and plums now!” Yuuji thanks his housemaid/chef wholeheartedly once they arrive at the store. He puts his hands together in gratitude for the foresight his caretaker had shown.

Junpei chuckles at the other boy’s gesture, wrapping the umbrella in a plastic bag Uraume also packed in Yuuji’s bag to prevent the now wet umbrella from spreading its wetness. “You can say that again,” the older boy sighs before looking around. It’s a book cafe, he thinks. The warm and invitingly toasty scent of roasted coffee is a welcome respite in this sudden torrential downpour.

“Let’s get a drink! My treat,” Yuuji chirped, rushing to grab a seat near some bookshelves in a corner. The lights around the area created a warm atmosphere and the lights themselves made the secluded zone comfortable and homely, almost like that sensation of being wrapped in a blanket in the morning, when all your body heat is trapped inside making it just the perfect temperature.

Needless to say, such a cozy place was certainly welcome for the weary pair after what felt like a ticking clock to see how long the dinky and small foldable umbrella could hold in such wild weather.

Yuuji approaches the counter, ordering himself a mocha and Junpei a latte. He heard mochas tasted like chocolate and hoped the information was right. Coffee had a soothing bitterness to it that complimented the sweetness in the additives and flavourings. Just a little milk and honey could make a bitter black roast delicious. Chocolate is also naturally bitter but milk chocolate should provide a nice, almost nutty, sweetness when added to coffee.

With that, the pair sit at their table and sip on their drinks slowly to pass the time. Both drinks were in large takeaway cups in case the rain subsided sooner than they thought.

“Since it’s a book cafe, why don’t we read something together to pass the time?” Junpei suggested as he stood up to grab a random manga off the shelves. He didn’t check the title but made sure it was at least the first volume.

“The Words I Could Never Say,” he read the title of the manga. The teen checks the summary for the book on the back. “Ooh, a tragedy I think? And it’s a one-shot, sweet.”

Yuuji inches his seat closer to his companion, pressing their shoulders together for the best view of the manga’s summary and giving it a quick glance. The story follows a girl named Kimura and her regrets with her best friend, Kiyoko, when the two of them graduate from their final year of high school. Intrigued, he gives the older boy a thumbs up of confirmation to begin reading.

The pair flips through the manga at a leisurely pace, enjoying the line work and art style of the manga artist. As they progress through the pages, Yuuji tilts his head to the side while trying to make sense of the feelings Kimura describes to the audience.

When I look at her, my chest flutters. I feel light, my cheeks feel warm and then she smiles back at me. I feel like cotton has erupted from my chest, it’s so fluffy and soft. Kimura monologues while staring at Kiyoko. The pair was working on farewell cards to give their classmates before graduation. None of them know if they’ll ever meet again, and they want to give everyone a final goodbye they could cherish.

But something feels off to Yuuji. Feeling fluffy is normal around your friends. Especially around your best friends, right? And feeling light and warm because you’re so happy to be with them. It’s different from loving family, it’s just a little more intense because you’re best friends. The analogy is weird but the boy doesn’t question it for long as the story continues.

Kiyoko and Kimura sit at the foot of the school’s large oak tree, its leaves and branches covered in snow due to the weather. They had snuck into the school, wanting to make the most of their last few days together before they set off on their own paths to different colleges and universities.

The brunette girl stares at her friend as she snaps pictures of the school grounds with her camera. They walk around the nostalgic campus, taking pictures of the music room and the canteen. They proceed to take more photos outside until Kiyoko throws a snowball at Kimura. It splatters all over her clothes messily but she isn’t bothered at all.

“Oh now you’re in trouble!” Kimura giggled as she crouched down, hurriedly packing snow into a ball to throw. Snowballs haphazardly arch in the air as the girls hide behind obstacles to avoid being hit while their laughter echoes into the sky. As the pair play in the snow, Kimura ends the story with one final monologue.

Saying goodbye hurts, though I hope we’ll stay in touch even if we no longer see each other everyday. I’ll miss you but just seeing you happy is enough for me.

The last panel overviews the photos taken at the school. They’re aged, visible in the wear and tear on the sides of the photographs and its grainy appearance next to newer photos. One of which had grown up Kimura and Kiyoko smiling at the camera, seemingly sightseeing, and many of them were weathered photos of Kimura in high school, taken by Kiyoko when she wasn’t looking.

The photos are scattered across a table haphazardly but a gust of wind causes the photos to scatter, allowing the readers to focus on the only photo that didn’t scatter, of Kimura’s cheerful smile.

Junpei closed the book with a satisfied sigh, “I thought it’d be a tragedy but I’m glad things worked out for them.” The brunette closes the book and slides it back into the shelf, he takes a quick look out the window to see the heavy rain continue pouring outside.

“I like the ambiguous ending. Maybe they stayed friends but I like to think Kimura and Kiyoko got together,” the older teen commented, eager to spill his analysis of the manga. He rambles for a moment about the artist’s use of blank space and panel composition.

As he rambled on, Junpei noticed how silent Yuuji was. The younger boy currently staring off into the distance as if he was lost in thought, he knit his brows tightly before tilting his head to let out a hum of consideration.

“Something wrong?” He asks, snapping Yuuji out of his train of thought. The latter shakes his head, waving both hands dismissively.

“No, no! I just thought that the way she described love was weird," the boy chuckled, scratching his cheek awkwardly.

He pat his chest before flailing his arms out, gesturing as he spoke, “I mean, when I hang out with you and Fushiguro I feel like… fuwa fuwa in my chest. Like I’m so happy and it’s all so fluffy?” Yuuji laughs in uncertainty.

He does a squeezing motion with his hands. “She also said that being in love felt soft, which is weird because that’s normal, right? Like when I go out with Fushiguro and again, everything just feels so… fuwa fuwa and mofu mofu,” Yuuji explained to the best of his ability, unable to find the words to describe his emotions.

Junpei raises a brow as he listened to the younger boy’s awkward and confused explanation, a knowing smile on his face. He allows Yuuji the space to process his thoughts, waiting for him to continue.

“Oh! Or when she describes feeling jealous and how it felt. I thought it was similar to how I feel when Fushiguro spent the whole time talking about Hana. It felt-“ The boy pauses in his sentence, a sudden heaviness in his chest as he feels his face warm up. “…Like my chest really… hurt… and…”

Yuuji lowered his hands, his smile faltered slightly as the boy slowly moved his hands to his face in a futile attempt to hide his sudden embarrassment. He slouched forward, burying his head in his hands and drowned out the world around him.

Junpei smiled fondly at the scene before patting the boy’s back with an amused chuckle, “…And?”

“…” the flustered boy looks up at his friend, an unimpressed pout adorning his face as he scowled at the teen. Said teen merely shrugged with an even wider smirk at the sight. “I…”

“You…?” He prompts Yuuji, nudging him on the shoulder playfully much to the latter’s chagrin. The pink-haired boy slapped Junpei’s side in irritation, letting out a long groan as he deflated onto the table, caging his head in his arms.

I like Fushiguro, Yuuji concluded, glaring at the warm toned wooden table. He groaned once again, cursing his absolute perfect choice for some kind of… gay(?) awakening.

He’s not even sure he is gay, ‘cause he still likes girls. Do guys who like other guys even like girls? Ugh, too much thinking for one day.

“There there, it’s okay, take your time. The first time is always the hardest,” Junpei sang as he strokes his back, amused and entirely guilt-free as he watched Yuuji deflate and melt into the table as the realisation hit.

The boy waved his hand dismissively, “Literally, fuck you…” Yuuji grumbled in embarrassment. The teen snickered, he stopped stroking his back now to allow the boy some silence and peace to let his thoughts settle.

At least his friend had the decency to let him process these feelings without being an ass about it. Now all he had to do was… he didn’t really know.

Way to go Yuuji, go have a crush on the straight guy! Fantastic choice! He slammed his head against the table in defeat before another realisation followed. Worse, go for the one guy in your friend group who’s taken! He let out a long groan again, this was… not great.

~Omake~

Jun: heh, you like him~ *poke poke*
Yuu: I hate you so much right now

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry to say this, the results have returned and you have a tumour in your left lung.”

Sukuna left the hospital, staring blankly at the street before him. He tucked the pamphlet for different choices of removing the tumour into the file containing his documents.

The man moved on autopilot as he slowly wandered towards his car. The sounds around him were muted, as if a cloud was muffling the noise around him.

What’s happening? He wonders as he stares up at the roof of his car. Sukuna brings a slow hand to his chest, he can’t tell if his heart was thumping. Everything felt too fast yet at the same time it also felt slow, such contradictory feelings confused him.

Is his heart beating? Of course it was, he wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t. What are you doing? Sukuna questioned. He didn’t know who the question was directed at. Random thoughts bubble into his mind and disappear just as suddenly as they arrive.

Where are we? The man felt lightheaded, tightening his grip on his samue. He gasped for air, letting out the air he hadn’t realised he was holding. Breathe, he reminded himself.

He let his eyes wander, flickering every which way they desired. The colourful and vibrant yellow sundress a young lady wore, it was the perfect shade to paint chrysanthemums. A crow on the street, using the cars driving by to break open an object in its beak. The trees, swaying with each gust of wind.

Breathe, Sukuna reminded himself once more as he felt tightness in his chest. What’s happening? The man asked again, he inhaled a slow and shaky breath before letting it out as slow as he could.

Oh, he fixed his samue, the man gripped his steering wheel and made his way out of the hospital. I’m dying.

Rhythmic sounds of chopping resonated within the kitchen as Uraume steadily sliced and diced vegetables for dinner. Their plans for laundry were unceremoniously ruined when wild rain decided to descend upon them from the skies. Absolutely disastrous, the young master's clothes were beginning to pile and now they would have to sit for another day.

A car pulls in from the driveway, the sound of the engine seemingly out of place in such a historically designed house. Uraume stops everything they’re doing, carefully wiping the knife free of shallots, before heading out to greet their master.

“Welcome back, Master Sukuna,” the white-haired chef approached their employer in the walkway. They take the file from Sukuna’s hands, noting the extra pieces of paper inside. At least he didn’t just skip the entire sessions, they think wryly.

Sukuna moves slowly, at a languid pace. He is calm, almost eerily so, Uraume notes. His movements are stiff, almost as if the man has to remind himself of how to perform such acts.

“…tell… better not…” the man mumbles to himself as he places his setta sandals on the shoe rack. He spends some time staring at the cobbled floor standing up. Uraume nods as Sukuna wordlessly travels towards the kitchen, acknowledging the silence between them.

The kitchen is enveloped in silence, the only noise being Uraume’s return to preparing ingredients for dinner; stir fried mushrooms with broiled cod, cabbage soup, and short grain rice. Sukuna busies himself with preparing tea, genmaicha this time, and boils himself a small pot of water.

He brews enough for multiple refills in the teapot and pours the rest into a thermos while letting the tea steep. Such a step is more similar to the way the Chinese prefer drinking tea. Small, almost comically so, teapots with some tea leaves chiseled off a tea brick and up to four teacups.

The small teapot makes it so that after filling four cups it would need to be refilled, quite an inconvenient way to drink tea, but the constant refilling process allows for long conversations without the tea growing bitter. Quite ingenious if you asked Sukuna.

Uraume finds their friend’s obsession with tradition and tea rather entertaining. The man couldn’t care less about the newest advances in technology or what was currently happening in the art scene but he would go on the longest tangents after purchasing a new tea set or leaves.

It does get in the way sometimes, what with the absurd amount of tea bricks imported from China, the occasional tins of European tea, and the tins of locally produced tea, organising and storing them has become quite a headache for the chef. Though it would probably be more accurate to say finding enough storage was the main struggle, Sukuna would handle most of the tea organisation himself.

The man pours the now finished pot of tea into his cup. He brings it to his nose, enjoying the scent of toasted rice. Genmaicha had a nice nutty flavour due to the toasted brown rice inside. It’s almost savoury on the tongue, pairing perfectly with salty dishes.

His eyes soften, relaxing as he takes in the scent. His shoulders relax, releasing the tension within them as he takes a slow sip. The first taste that hits his tongue is the strong flavour of toasted brown rice, then it’s followed swiftly by weaker but complimentary notes of green tea.

“Haaaah…” Sukuna sighs into the cup, the wisps of steam bend with the sudden wind before falling back in place, rising upwards. Sizzling sounds envelop the kitchen shortly after, as Uraume slowly renders the water out from the mushrooms before adding any other ingredients.

Sukuna sniffs the air, the pleasant umami of mushrooms and rich butter wafting through the air. He leans back into his seat, muffling a cough into his sleeve.

He turns to look over at Uraume, their focus entirely on the meal preparation. “Is Yuuji home?”

They shake their head, the small ponytail they tie their hair into while cooking bouncing with each shake. Sukuna sighs, he takes another sip of tea before refilling his cup. The man interlocked his fingers, resting on the table as he stared into space.

Uraume’s hairs stood on end, a creeping sense of dread rising within. They hasten the movement of their chopsticks, stirring the mix of mushrooms, shallots, and butter around in an attempt to soothe themselves.

The chef glanced up at Sukuna, the man seemingly lost in thought as he kept staring at the blank wall. He begins speaking, finally breaking the silence between them. He complains about the hospital the dreadful wait and how annoying the whole process was. Uraume chuckles, relaxing once they realise their worry was for naught as their friend begins his usual grumbling routine.

They begin to wonder why they even worried, everything turned out fine. It was probably just something like minor throat irritation causing all the coughing. He can get it treated with some antibiotics and soon they can go back to their usual-

“They found a cancerous tumour in my left lung.”

Chopsticks clattered on the ground. Uraume stares in wide-eyed shock at the man as he stared at the table with a grim expression. They bring a shaky hand to their mouth, their vision waters.

You could have stopped the smoking -
It’s genetics, we couldn’t predict this -
If only I brought him to the hospital earlier.

“It’s not confirmed to be cancerous but they suspect it is because of my family history.”

It all started with stage one. They all began with stage one. Who’s to say it isn’t going to get worse? Uraume shakily bent down to pick up the fallen chopsticks, they dab their eyes with their apron. Negative energy would invite negative outcomes, they have to believe in the best outcome.

It’s what the Abbott would have done, Uraume should follow their lead. The chef takes a slow breath, before they wash their hands and grab a new pair of chopsticks as Sukuna continued explaining his current condition.

“I can choose to have it surgically removed or go through chemotherapy. I believe the former should be the action taken.”

They heave a sigh of relief, the immediate sense of dread lifting from their shoulders. “We’ll have to tell the young master when he gets home, then,” Uraume returns to the stir fried mushrooms. Luckily, due to the high water content of mushrooms, they were relatively difficult to burn and they didn’t need to restart the dish because of it. The shallots were… a slightly concerning hue, but it should be fine.

“No, I don’t want Yuuji to know about this,” Sukuna replied, tapping their finger on the table. The artist shook his head, “He doesn’t need to worry about losing someone else.”

“But-“ they interjected, such news should be explained to Yuuji! The boy had every right to know, especially if things took the wrong turn. He should be allowed to cherish their time together and make peace with the worst outcome!

“He doesn’t need to worry,” the man repeated, emphasising each word. He takes another sip of tea and muffled another cough into his sleeve. Sukuna fixes Uraume with a hard stare, “Don’t tell Yuuji anything.”

The chef bit their lip, eyes narrowed in dissatisfaction at that outcome. The plate the stir fried mushrooms and nod solemnly, “Yes…”

Yuuji arrived home, Junpei’s mum offered to give him a ride with her bicycle back to his house but the boy denied the kind gesture. He banged his head against the main door before entering. The boy couldn’t believe himself, of all people to ‘love’ love he had chosen the only one who was taken.

Maybe if it was Junpei he could have had a chance, maybe he likes men too! And heck, maybe he happens to not mind dating Yuuji! But noooo, he just had to crush on the one who’s definitely straight and, again, taken.

Now he can’t even stop thinking about it, hell, Yuuji barely even remembered Kurusu existed outside of Megu- Fushiguro bringing it up in conversation. Now he can’t stop thinking about how they’ve probably done all sorts of lovey-dovey things together that Fushiguro is just too shy to talk about.

What with his pretty green eyes that look like beautiful twin jades and his stupidly glossy and oddly silky hair despite all the ridiculous cowlicks, and his stupidly long eyelashes that flutter whenever he blinks and, his pretty pink lips that looked so soft-

Get your head straight! Literally, just… Yuuji grumbled, slapping his cheeks roughly and trying to turn his mind to celebrities.

Pretty girls, big butts, Jennifer Lawrence, pretty hair, pretty eyes… pretty green eyes…

Ugh, now it’s just gone back to Fushiguro! the boy ruffled his hair as he let out a whine. He squats down and keeps his head low, staring at the ground. The sky was pretty dark, which was expected considering the train ride back and forth took literally forever.

A line of ants were crossing the street from one side of the pavement to the other. Some of the ants were carrying crumbs, probably having enjoyed a good harvest from some poor family’s cupboard.

Curse you Fushiguro! Why do you have to be so… pretty! Yuuji huffed, he stood up, careful not to disrupt the line of ants who were determined to transport the crumbs back to their nest. He opened the door and approached the main house, the mansion dwarfing Sukuna’s art room and garden shed next to it, looking more grand at a second glance. He hadn’t realised it, but after seeing Junpei’s apartment, Yuuji began to realise just how big his house was. What with their backyard Uncle liked to go to when he wanted to smoke, the art shed towards the left of the main house, then the large front yard that took Yuuji a full 30 minutes to sweep. It was kind of weird to see how Junpei’s whole apartment was only the size of Uncle’s art shed…

The doors to the main house were unlocked, to which Yuuji let out a surprised hum. Well, Uraume probably expected him to be home by now. The teen steps into the house, “I’m home!”

“…Welcome back, Master Yuuji!” Uraume’s voice echoed from somewhere, the boy could hear something loud clank in the background, like the chef had clumsily dropped a tool while rushing to greet Yuuji. They didn’t need to do that but they always did. Well, at least they did when Yuuji remembered to say he was home.

The boy entered the kitchen and washed his hands before sitting down for dinner, “Where’s Unc’?” He asks with a frown, glaring at the empty seat in front of him.

“Master Sukuna wanted to eat dinner earlier, he’s asleep now,” Uraume answered as they moved to sit beside Yuuji. Usually they sat beside Uncle but now that he spent less time at the dining table, the pair had a new routine for eating dinner.

The teen frowned, his uncle always prioritised eating together. Something about having more connection in the house if they shared at least one meal a day together. What a hypocrite! Was that the right word? Or was it something like hippokit? Uhh, Yuuji would revisit that with Junpei later.

Saying one thing and doing another. Way to be a good example, the boy huffed, shoving a clump of rice into his mouth discontentedly. At least the food tasted as good as always- aww…! The mushrooms are a little burnt!

Today was not Yuuji’s day…

~Omake~

Ura: THIS IS NOT FINE, I AM NOT FINE, WE ARE NOT FINE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
Suku: *processing error*
Yuu: Literally WHAT is even happening anymore?!

Chapter Text

No Chapter this week, sorry.

I just started my tertiary education, it’s going good so far. I actually enjoyed the classes a lot.

Happy Birthday to me. As of this Tuesday, I am now officially one year older(yay).

Personal life leaves much to be desired(as it usually does but maybe it just hits more during the birth month hahahaha), I am not emotionally capable to write a good chapter without rotting for a few hours right now so I’m sorry to say there’s no chapter this week.

I think I’m more bummed than some of you reading this that I failed to write another chapter, haha. I kind of wanted to at least celebrate my own birthday by writing a fantastic chapter and patting myself on the back but I can’t control this.

I’m going to let the less serious sounding(definitely a little delirious from being tired) me from the morning continue the rest hahaha.

Here’s my prediction for what I’m going to say:

This shit too serious for me, where’s all the flair?? Where’s all the ✨✨❤️✨🔥✨✨❤️ and the ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡(*´∇｀*)

We’ll see if that’s an accurate prediction in the next segment when I wake up and don’t feel disappointed, hahahahhaah.

Man who wrote this shit, it’s so heavy <\3.

Let’s move onto something more lighthearted, like reaching 8k hits!!!

Thank you for reading, I’m very grateful. ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

Just curious, was anyone expecting Sukuna’s diagnosis last chapter? Me and Mayakara thought it was a little funny to go from “on god, I’m GAY” to “Sorry mate, there’s a tumour in your lung”.

I imagine it must have been super jarring to read especially when you haven’t been waiting for each upload and are just a new reader lol~

Anyway, a great thanks to Nahnahbro and Fartifies for always commenting <3. Your comments are the greatest motivation for any author (*´꒳`*)

I can’t believe we’re past 8k hits now and are slowly creeping towards 300 kudos. It genuinely feels so insane to me that something I wrote is being enjoyed by someone. I don’t know what made you guys stay, I still think my first few chapters were flunked horribly. Thanks for giving this fic a chance, especially since it’s my first.

Since we’re delaying the next chapter, I thought I’d give you all a timeline of events to expect for the upcoming chapters.

Currently, we’re trying to hit these goals:
-meet Nobara
-get Megumi to realise he gay as heck

So currently, the draft timeline looks something like this!

The rest of summer vacation > ????????(yet to be determined) > Back to school > ???? > Denial > Even more denial(Megumi’s trying to swim laps across this river, I swear) > Christmas > Actual realisation

That’s generally how it’s supposed to go! If this was a human body, that would be the spine. I still need to think of the rest of the skeleton and the flesh, ahahaahaha……

So I’m thinking we call this arc the Hopelessly In Denial arc or the Dumbass arc. They both encapsulate Megumi when it comes to his feelings ꉂ (≧ヮ≦)

Right, so look forward to meeting our best girl! There’s really not much canon content for her so I’m worried she will feel out of character but I think it should be fine…? Keeping with the theme(main premise, really… even though I suck and keeping it about art…) she is pursuing a form of art.

Well this drabbled on for a long time! My goodness, I cannot stop talking(typing in this case?) hahahahahahah.

See ya next week ❤️❤️❤️

Chapter Text

The Merry-Go-Round Incident

There are many places Nobara would much rather be than the beach- the mall, for one. But she can’t complain about this sudden beach vacation.

It was her loser of a Father’s turn with her this summer break. So the man, rich as he was, took her out to one of his vacation homes. Great deal, you know? She gets to lounge at the beach, maybe get a little tan since that’s been getting popular- oh but definitely not tan enough to start looking gyaru. That’s just not her aesthetic.

But as great of a deal as it sounded, that wimp of a man can’t seem to realise that Nobara’s mum is a… less than spectacular specimen of a woman. So, woe is she as the girl gets dragged to some summer vacation against her will with her ‘wonderful’ mother and a, frankly, clingy father.

“Nobara, do you want to go see Cappy-chan?” Her father, Yuuto, asked while wiping his sweat with a handkerchief. The girl turns to the man and shot him a disgusted look.

Cappy-chan is an old theme-park mascot based off a capybara. Nobara’s first memory of a theme park was at said place and she felt her skin twist and discomfort settle into her chest at the memory. An incredibly embarrassing memory, she almost wanted to bury her face in her hands.

“What’s wrong? You used to love Cappy-chan! I still have the photo,” Dad said as he opened his wallet, revealing a safely kept photo of Nobara and the mascot from the last time she visited the park in a plastic seal. The embarrassing photo even had permanent marker on it, the marks written by her, said “Cappy and Bara-chan (๑>◡<๑)”.

She wants to crawl in a hole and die, or better yet sucker punch her dad in the face.

Hell-fucking-no! She’s not reliving that torment, never again! Let the past remain the past!

.
.
.

She ended up going anyway. Nobara’s mother, Sumire, chose to lounge back at the vacation home which left the girl with only two options.

Go with her father and relive her embarrassing childhood or stay back at the beach to be tormented by her mother? Sign her the hell up for some embarrassment.

The park is almost exactly as she remembers, down to the mascots walking around the park to entertain kids and the rides themselves. It’s relatively well maintained with little wear and tear on the buildings, it’s almost comforting how the whole park is the same as it always was.

Nobara’s father kept his usual warm and comforting smile as they wandered around the park, most of the rides were boring to her but it was fun to finally go on the ‘big kid’ rides she always wanted to go on but never could.

The man’s eyes sparkled as they walked away from an ice-cream vendor. Nobara focused her attention on the steadily melting cone, determined to finish it before the bottom of the cone filled up with melted ice-cream. That and it would be a shame to get all dressed up only for ice-cream to spill all over her.

“Bara, let’s go to the merry-go-round! We can go sit on the carriage seat you always loved!” Her father beamed as he gently led her towards the children’s ride, joining the line of parents and children under the age of ten.

Maybe it’d be more merciful for the man to just kill her right then and there…

“Dad, I’m too old for this kind of ride,” Nobara grumbled beneath her breath, blush creeping up her cheeks as they walked past the young children via their fast-pass. Stop looking at me, snot nosed brats!!

Her father laughed softly, “Nonesense darling. You’re never too old to enjoy things.” They reach the front of the queue, others have already blocked their exit leaving Nobara with no choice but to continue on forwards.

Yuuto pulled a brown stripe-patterned handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the sides of her mouth. The girl remained still, lips pulled into an unimpressed pout.

I’m not a child, you know? She wanted to say, though the joyful expression on her father’s face stopped the words from ever coming out.

Nobara rarely got to meet with her father but every time they meet he always treasured her in an almost overwhelming way.

Does this make her a daddy’s girl? Uh… hopefully not.

With a resigned sigh, Nobara obediently waits in the queue while doing her best to ignore the constant stares from jealous kids who didn’t have a fast pass.

Finally, they get to the ride itself and Yuuto makes a mad dash to capture Nobara’s favourite seat from her childhood. The girl clenched her fists, punching her way through life is not an appropriate solution.

As she sat down though, a couple of teens around her age caught her eye. Specifically a spiky-haired boy and blonde girl, they sat together on one of the unicorns and the girl could immediately tell they were a couple from the way the blonde girl was clinging onto the spiky-haired boy.

The pair were just in front of Nobara, giving her a front-row seat to their lovey-dovey assault on her eyes. Or at least that was what she had assumed… until the spiky-haired boy, now dubbed Urchin head, was practically avoiding every advance the girl was making.

The poor girl was pulling practically every trick in the book, trying to bring their pinkies together, wrapping her arms around his body, leaning on his back, putting her head on his shoulder.

Honestly, Nobara doesn’t really know whether she should feel bad for or find the girl pathetic… He clearly doesn’t feel the same way, it’s a lost cause, Nobara winced at the sight. This was certainly not the kind of embarrassment she was expecting.

-

The Staring Incident

Fate has a weird way of working, either that or there wasn’t much to do in a theme park targeted at young kids for teenagers. Either way, Nobara found herself within line of sight for Urchin head and his girlfriend(?) again.

Now, call Nobara crazy, but after staring at Urchin-head for a hot thirty-or-so minutes, she’s about 90% sure he’s 100% gay. Why does she think so? Well, the candy-themed area of the park had their workers donning candy-coloured wigs and serving the crowd.

Some were handing out balloons to children, others were manning stalls to sell overpriced merchandise to poor parents who knew that rejection would likely result in a wailing child.

And Urchin head? He’s sitting down at the only ‘restaurant’ in the candy-themed area just one table diagonally below Nobara. She swears every time their server, a decent-looking young man with obnoxiously pink hair, walks by Urchin head will shut down and stare at the server as he walks off.

When the server asks for his order, he seems almost shy and Nobara can safely assume that it’s not because Urchin head is shy because he was perfectly fine with interacting with the other servers. All of them, except for some of the particularly beautiful men.

The main server for their table isn’t even feminine looking so the argument that Urchin head thinks their server is good looking because they look like a girl isn’t even applicable. He was muscular, pretty well built. ‘You could see his chest muscles through the uniform’ levels of muscle.

Gay, Nobara snickers with amusement.

“Bara, do you want to eat anything else? Desserts, anything?” Dad spoke, bringing Nobara’s attention back onto the man. The girl shook her head, more keen on observing Urchin head’s table.

-

The Beach Incident

A few days have passed since visiting the theme park. Nobara had shamefully purchased a souvenir keychain of Cappy-chan at the exit.

No, she doesn’t still find that dumb mascot adorable. Just ignore the Cappy-chan keychain on her phone case.

“Nobara, be a dear and get me another cocktail from the bar,” Sumire hummed, holding out a slip of paper and a credit card from Dad. The girl scoffed and snatched the slip as well as the card from her mother’s hand.

On her way to the beach bar, she notes the presence of Urchin head and Blonde Girl- she’s decided that’s what she would call the girl- again.

If Nobara thought the theme park was bad, this… this was just pathetic. Blonde Girl was clinging onto Urchin head, pressing herself onto the plain-looking boy. Any other teenage boy would probably be blushing or embarrassed being this intimate with a decently good-looking girl, if a little fashion backwards, was clinging onto them.

But Urchin head? He was too busy looking at the group of men playing beach volleyball. Which was honestly the biggest ‘he is gay’ moment Nobara had witnessed amongst the three observations she’s had with the pair.

It wasn’t that hard to notice the group of athletic beaus literally right beside them, also playing volleyball.

“Do you wanna play? We can play with your sisters!” Blonde Girl chirped while she leaned on Urchin head, the latter visibly struggling to handle the full weight of another person leaning on them.

Urchin Head shook his head, wherein he joins two extremely attractive men beneath a large beach umbrella. Probably big brothers or something, Urchin Head and the man with weird bangs look kind of related.

Whatever, she should ignore that weird boy. She has a cocktail to bring to her mother before the woman threw a hissy fit and made the vacation a nightmare.

~Omake~

Hana: Megumi~!!! <333 ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡
Meg: That server is so… his smile is beautiful…<3
Bara, Go, Mimi, Tsu: GAY!

Hana: Megumi, look at me! not the other girls!
Meg: *looking at the other guys* Holy shit, they’re so hot. Look at their broad chest muscles.
Mimi, Tsu, Go: GAY!
Bara: YEAH!

Mimi, Go, Tsu: wait... who are you and why are you here?!
Bara: idk

Mimi, Go, Tsu, Bara, Jun: *Megumi is gay agenda* 🤝

Chapter Text

Please?

The man flipped through a book leisurely, reading glasses perched on his nose as he leaned back against the headrest. His children were busy running around the beach and Satoru had been unfortunately quite sunburnt yesterday despite his best efforts to remain shaded.

“My love, might I suggest something to make me feel better~?” Satoru purred, sliding himself across to couch towards Suguru. The latter already knows the suggestion that will follow up, he merely sighs and lets his fiancé continue suggesting his desires.

Satoru weaved their fingers together, it would be sweet if it weren’t for the request he was about to make. “Can I please see you in a nurse outfit?” He fluttered his lashes, running his free hand over Suguru’s arm. The albino man shot his lover a wide-eyed plea, pouting ever so slightly to heighten his appeal.

“You know that doesn’t work on me,” Suguru sighed and pushed the man away, he’s careful not to touch his partner’s shoulders that are still as red as a cooked lobster.

Satoru deflated, “Not even role play?” He sulks pushing past Suguru’s half-hearted push and laid across the latter’s lap like an incessant toddler pleading for attention.

“Why did I say yes again?” Suguru grumbled, choosing to ignore the menace on his lap and focus on his book.

The blue-eyed man smirks, resting his cheek on the former’s thigh. He hummed playfully, rubbing himself against Suguru. “Because you love me~”

Without a retort, Suguru sighs and lets the nuisance do as he pleased.

-

Wager

Sometimes Suguru thinks he ought to consider Satoru’s intentions more when they go on a trip. He knows the man like the back of his hand yet still, he forgot to check the luggage.

Yes, the luggage he packed, had been infiltrated. Infiltrated by none other than his own soon-to-be husband…

The man holds up the skimpy nurse outfit and bunny suit, wondering exactly when and how Satoru had snuck it in. Was it in his personal duffel bag…? Suguru would have to check those in the future. The man continues searching through the luggage for any more scandalous clothing or objects, God forbid his children or Megumi’s girlfriend search the wrong suitcase for clothes and end up finding this.

As he searched the luggage, he felt something fluffy beneath the clothing. Odd, he didn’t remember packing anything fluffy… Suguru grabs the object tightly and begins to pull, noting the metallic clanking noise it had made, like it was connected to some kind of chain. Whatever it was connected to was stuck beneath the clothes.

Suguru moved the clothing aside, taking the neatly folded stacks to place them on the floor. Then his gaze falls upon a set of pink fluffy rings connected by a metal chain.

Is that a handcuff- IS THAT A BALLGAG???

Sigh, what was Suguru expecting? He continued rummaging through the luggage for anything else that would be problematic for the children to find.

.
.
.

“Explain to me why you packed that shit inside!”

Satoru cowered behind a beach towel, hiding from Suguru’s fury. “I’m sorry! You can’t blame me for trying right?! Right?!”

“In what world would I ever wear this?!” Suguru holds up the succubus cosplay Satoru had bought without him knowing. The set came with velvety soft black leather wings and a similar material jacket with the front cut out to reveal the chest. It was sleeveless and had a strap below for whatever reason, maybe to frame it better? Suguru doesn’t understand his partner’s brain at all.

“And this!” He held the succubus tail with his index and thumb, repulsed at the thought of it. “What the fuck??”

“C’mon, you can’t deny you would look sexy as hell in it!” Satoru retorted stubbornly, dodging by a hair’s breadth as Suguru tossed the tail in his direction. The high quality metal plug made a loud ‘thunk’ sound as it impacted the ground.

“This underwear is more string than cloth!” The black-haired male tosses said underwear in Satoru’s direction.

“Yes, and you’d look so good in it!” The man insisted, yelping as Suguru tossed the box of several different lewd temporary tramp stamps in his direction.

“This is not a matter about whether I look good in it or not! Get back here! If you want to act like a horny highschooler then we can settle this like we did in highschool!”

“So you do agree!” Satoru poked his head through the beach towel as Suguru mentioned his appearance, “Oh so we can have stakes right?!”

“No I don’t agree!” The shorter man lets out a grumble and tossed the horned headband at Satoru. “yeah, stakes like toss out the fucking cosplay!”

Satoru perks up, he drops the beach towel and cracks his knuckles with a toothy grin, “If I win, you wear that and let me hit!”

“Hell no!”

He ended up agreeing to the bet anyway.

~Omake~

Sato: I’m the happiest man alive right now
Sugu: *in the cosplay* I hate this

Extra:
Meg: *walks in on the two of them fighting*
Meg: yeah, not today *walks away*

Chapter Text

Right, so maybe Yuuji spent the entire summer vacation tossing and turning in bed being a little too embarrassed to text or write to Fushiguro… But! This has been nothing if not excellent for his strides towards artistic greatness!

Or at least that’s what Yuuji tells himself when his sketchbook gets filled with anatomical sketches, which then evolved into him drawing Fushiguro… Aaaaand he may or may not have used the sketchbook for… less than appropriate things.

The boy slumped against the wall, is this what he’s been reduced to doing? Drawing fictional scenes of his best friend and then getting off to it? Oh god, the shame.

“You know, if you keep slamming your forehead against the wall it’s gonna break,” Junpei commented with a wry chuckle. The senior offered the boy a bottle of juice, “Drink up, it’s expiring today.”

Yuuji chugged the overly sweet beverage and sulked, “So I’m just your trash disposal?” He rambled mindlessly, mind going back to his carnal drawings.

God, he needs to make sure no one found that boy-love doujinshi he ‘bought’(read: grabbed from the store and left extra money for at the counter without asking while the store clerk took a toilet break).

Like seriously? It can go up there??? And does it really feel good? What if Fushiguro wants to be the seme and then he’s the uke?

“Seme and uke, huh?” Junpei stood over Yuuji, who was still hitting his head against the concrete pillar holding up their school. The former looked at the steadily forming hairline crack where Yuuji was repeatedly hitting his head, anxious as to whether his joke would turn out to be reality.

“WHO- WHA- WHO SAID THAT- HUH??” Yuuji caged his head between his arms, shielding his flushed face the best he could he could. He glared up at Junpei, who smiled awkwardly before snapping a picture of the pillar. If it cracks any further he’ll bring it up to one of the teachers…

Sure, the teen hated school, but he also doesn’t want the school’s indoor sports hall to collapse because of his friend’s forehead.

Junpei shook his head, “Come on, let’s get to class. First day back from summer, wouldn’t wanna be late.” He pat the younger’s shoulders, prompting the pink-haired boy to follow.

Right, first day back in school after the break. The boy slapped his cheeks, sorry Mum, sorry Dad, I’m dirty minded… Yuuji thought with furrowed brows while steadily following behind his senior. First-year classrooms were at the top while second-years were at the second floor, leaving the boy alone for the last flight of stairs.

On the topic of summer break, Yuuji’s had plenty of time to ponder why his uncle was so… dead? Not-lively? Tired, he supposed, for the entire break. He was coughing a little more than usual but it didn’t feel like something that would ring any alarm bells.

So the boy came up with another conclusion, Uncle was mourning. It’s hard for Yuuji to remember, but around early August he’d lost his parents.

Aside from the loneliness and betrayal he felt at being left as the last one standing, the boy doesn’t actually recall that much about his parents or his time with them. He can still think about snippets of memories with them, like that time he injured his knee while running and Dad carefully patched up the injury.

Or the times Mum would hug him, he only remembered how safe those hugs felt. Just him and one giant human who could encompass his whole body without much struggle.

For Yuuji, the loneliness and betrayal from being alone was his only hurdle after his parents were gone. He wonders then, for a moment.

Uncle knew his father since they were children- since they were born, actually. He can’t even imagine what kind of pain his uncle is in, especially since he’s old enough to remember those little details.

I shouldn’t have called you a hypocite- crite- hypo-whatever-it’s-called… The boy apologised internally to his guardian.

The classroom looked like a wasteland when Yuuji arrived, with only a few students in their seats. The boy let out a wry chuckle, this was pretty much expected for the return from summer break. Most students struggle to adjust to their old schedule and end up waking up later than usual for school.

Thankfully for Yuuji, Uraume is a gift from heaven and they always made sure Yuuji slept at a reasonable hour for the last two weeks of holiday. The boy is once again reminded of how much Uraume improved his life merely by existing.

He will try to eat more green bell peppers next time… maybe. Thank the gods for Uraume.

Class is, as per usual, boring. The boy looks around the classroom, noting in amusement at how everyone was basically half-dead and slumped against their table.

Bored as he was, Yuuji’s eyes drifted off to the blank spaces in his notebook- which really was more like a glorified sketchbook with the occasional academic notes- and began to drift. His mind began to wander, pen moving with ease and swiftness capturing his thoughts.

He doodled flowers, they reminded him of uncle. Nothing too fancy, just stylised simply like a cartoon would look like. the area above the flowers was a massive blank space to fill, the boy wondered for a moment before writing down a haiku.

Hot air cooled to breeze,
Colours become muted; dull.
Death and rebirth start.

He shaded in some parts of the sparse field and added a lone tree at the side without leaves.

Hmmm… The boy rests his head in his palm, he draws a box around the previous doodle to frame it. Without much thought, he doodled something else.

Uncle had been painting marigolds for his next project, the boy liked how those flowers looked. Bright orange with yellow at the tips.

He couldn’t capture their radiant colours but at least he could doodle them slightly. Maybe he could buy an orange pen and doodle… ooh, this unlocked a whole new realm of doodles.

Mmmh, what if he got a whole set of coloured pens with that art store voucher? But bringing a bulky set to school sounded so inconvenient and attention bringing. If his teacher saw him whip out a whole set of coloured pens, his doodling would undoubtedly be found out before he could even begin. Hmmm, he could store them in a pouch instead of the original box-

“Itadori!” His teacher’s voice boomed, startling Yuuji into dropping his pen. The object clattered on the ground unceremoniously while the boy felt his heart leap into his throat. He hurriedly covered up the doodles with his right arm and nervously looked up to face his teacher, who had some kind of mathematical equation on the blackboard. What in the world is a cos???

“You better buck up and stop daydreaming in my class! Unless you want to repeat a year, be my guest!” The elderly man huffed, glaring daggers at the boy. Yuuji groaned internally, it’s not like he needed math…

Without much choice though, Yuuji reluctantly paid a sliver of attention to the boring class. Thankfully there was only 15 minutes left for math and soon it was time for classic literature.

Classic literature was a hit or miss for the artistic boy. The class oftentimes ended up painfully boring when they discussed topics like thick books and their deeper meanings. However, for the few times they would drift to poetry, Yuuji was more than ready to listen.

He struggled to comprehend how anything could become a poem as long as it wasn’t too long like a novel, how would someone even differentiate normal text from poem?

That’s why haikus are the best poems, easy to tell apart from others and you don’t have to force a rhyme to make it feel more poem-like. Though, Yuuji guessed, someone could argue that rhymes don’t really matter in Japan. But still, getting in wordplay that served multiple meanings was incredibly satisfying when writing poems.

Yuuji paid his full attention to his teacher as she began going through different examples of old poems before letting the class have a go at writing some poetry. The theme was rather simple, just write about 'something that you feel strongly about'.

So simple yet so vague, the boy could see his classmates groaning at the extremely lacklustre prompt. He similarly slumped in his seat, not exactly sure about what to write. Well, he’s pretty sure most of the class would just write about something generic.

Once again, Yuuji is nothing but reminded of how much he hates school. Teachers always gave the most vague topics and as students, they just have to make something up on the spot. Seriously? That’s such a hassle… what if his creative juices weren’t flowing that day?

Anyway, long story short, Yuuji despised school.

But as Uncle always loved to chide, sitting around moping would achieve nothing. With that, Yuuji picked up his pen and started writing randomly.

It’s cold.
Follow the ebb and flow,
Break out of the mould.
When you see a dust of snow,
Curious.

Wonder and glee and-

“Nngh,” Yuuji grumbled, crossing the previous lines off. Ebb and flow?? Mould?? Where was he going with it? He doesn’t know, which was pretty much the worst thing for a poem. The boy looked out the window, glimpsing at the drying leaves, getting ready to fall off with the rapidly approaching season of autumn.

He thinks about spooky things, like halloween. Uncle thinks it’s a stupid idea but Yuuji always fantasised about going trick-or-treating like western children, dressing up in silly costumes and visiting houses to earn candy. Oh and he would definitely dress up as one of the Ultramen or a Kamen rider! Well, maybe a spooky vampire or werewolf would be more on theme?

Megumi should totally dress up as a werewolf and go walk his dogs during halloween, Kuro and Shiro would be the stars of the show! Plus, Megumi would look so cute in a werewolf costume, big paw gloves and wolf eared headbands adorning his head.

If they were all suddenly moved into another world with magic, Yuuji totally thinks he’d be an orc or something since he’s so strong. Then Megumi would be one of those mysterious and cool archer or mage characters with their OP pets who perform crazy tricks and magic spells!

Ooh, and Junpei would be a siren! And he would have a jellyfish farm and finally keep all the jellyfish he could ever want, observing them and swimming among them. Oh, but his singing wouldn’t be very siren-like… then a kappa? But kappas don’t really get featured in fantasy worlds, hmmmm…

Oh wait, he feels like he’s forgetting something. Yuuji blinked blankly, suddenly out of his trance and reorienting himself. Right, he’s in his classroom. Uhhh, oh he had to write a poem and submit it to the teacher. Shit, class was almost over! Oh whatever gods above existed out there, let his idiot rambling not sound awkward on paper.

A thousand words condensed?
Blood, sweat, and tears?
Years of practice?
One’s own thoughts?
What is Art?

The grace of a swan,
The beauty of a clear sky,
The song of birds as they take flight.
What is Art?

It’s a passion,
Something only the beholder knows.
It’s different for everyone.
It is beauty and it is imagination.

Right, half of that didn’t make sense in Yuuji’s head. Uhhh, something something, art is complex! Okay, there! That’s his explanation behind the poem! Great, fantastic! Submitted.

Now to pray his teacher didn’t use the piece as an example of what not to do and have the whole class give suggestions on how to improve it. He always hated how Shinobu-sensei insisted on doing that…

The rest of the school day passed like a blur, mostly consisting of zoning out and daydreaming while his teachers droned on and on about science, social studies, or history.

The boy laid his head on the desk, it was homeroom and their teacher was letting them have free time to mingle. Pretty lazy if you asked anyone in the class but no one cared.

Things wouldn’t be so boring if he was in the same school as Megumi or the same year as Junpei, Yuuji thinks.

Meanwhile Kurusu gets his best friend all to herself, that’s so unfair. Ugh, but who even cares about fair or unfair when there’s the giant elephant in the room.

Me- Fushiguro likes girls. Painfully obvious considering he’s literally got himself a girlfriend, whom Yuuji absolutely hated! Kurusu’s just so… so… Smug! She always gives Yuuji these stupid smirks and triumphant huffs as if she won! And she clearly won because Fushiguro doesn’t even care that he stopped texting out of nowhere!

He can’t win the fight for his attention, how can Yuuji win the fight for his love? Ughhhhh…

Not even being a girl would help, Fushiguro prefers soft girls who are gentle with a good personality. And Yuuji? He’d probably just be a tomboy or something. He bets Fushiguro would be incredibly put off by that kind if behaviour…

Ugh, can anything go Yuuji’s way?

-

Did I… do something wrong? Megumi wonders as he looked through his messages. He still regularly corresponds with Yoshino and of course, Hana texts him on a daily basis.

The lack of any mail between him and Yuuji was understandable, after all writing letters was old-fashioned and dreadfully slow, but a full on stop to texting…

Is he doing something wrong? Did he anger his best friend? This distance between them, it made Megumi’s chest ache and he knows exactly why.

For some reason or another, he’s developed a weird… obsession? …Let’s go with ‘forbidden feeling’ for his best friend.

He is ashamed to admit this, especially since his mind only thought about his best friend when it came to sexual matters and scenarios.

Megumi cannot stop thinking about his best friend. And not in an innocent way, in a sinful, disgusting, utterly repulsive way.

He doesn’t even know what’s wrong with him, ever since Kenzaburo and Haiba showed him those… those… degenerate videos and magazines. Megumi can’t bring his mind off of them! He can’t, but he must!

It’s horrible. And the worst part is that it only happens to Yuuji, not anyone else. The teen tried to ignore these feelings, tried to focus on his life and partner but no.

Everything felt like some kind of cruel reminder, especially that stupid, absolutely idiotic fantasy romance light novel! Why is it suddenly popular?! Why is there an anime to be released in November because of it!? Why is the merchandise everywhere?!

Most importantly of all, why is Gideon’s face plastered on every single one of the merchandise?!

Yeah, maybe Megumi did not get over how attractive he found the half-elf half-orc warrior. Maybe he delved into the shameful depths of Gideon fanart and also read his fair share of Gideon fan mangas and fanfiction. But that doesn’t mean he wants to see that orc’s face anywhere! Especially not when, take away the green-hue skin and the half-white hair, all Megumi sees is Yuuji.

He can’t stop denying it anymore. Gideon looks scarily like Yuuji, just with a more lithe frame and more feminine and traditional ikemen looks. If Yuuji was a cute Pomeranian, Gideon would be like a beautifully groomed poodle with luxuriously pampered fur and weekly maintenance done to his coat. Gideon wasn’t cute, Gideon was painfully and unapologetically attractive. Precisely why he earned his spot as the top fan-favourite love interest in the story.

Even his boyish smile was charming, showing off his small orc tusks at the bottom row of his teeth. It was almost like Yuuji’s smile, bright and cheerful. As if the sun was shining in your eyes.

Yuuji’s smile would reach up to his eyes and they would curve into little half-moons. His cheeky grin would be wide open, showing off his sharp canines and white teeth. The sides of his lip wrinkle and a little dimple forms at his left cheek and only his left cheek.

Oh how he wished he didn’t have eyes. Megumi laid in bed, his hair still slightly damp from not fully drying while he ate dinner. The teen turned to his side, fighting the inner degenerate within that already began thinking of scenarios.

Scenarios that he tried to control, Megumi doesn’t like sexualising his friend, okay? He thought maybe it was just a pink-hair fetish. Or a muscle fetish.

Which brought him to visiting the very same degenerate websites Kenzaburo and Haiba recommended. At first it worked a little, he’d think about women with a fit built and pink hair. But then the muscles would grow more defined and the hair shorter, then he just spirals back into thinking about Yuuji.

What is wrong with his mind. Megumi groaned, opting to stare blankly at the ceiling.

Well… if girls aren’t working… Megumi plugged in his earphones and faced away from the door. The teen searched through the tags anxiously, eventually finding the male on male videos.

He avoids any of them that involve blue-eyed men or long black hair, seeing too much of Gojo and Dad in them. He finally settled on a video that didn’t look like anyone he knew, not Junpei, not Yuuji, not his parents, not anyone.

The video plays, the man receiving laid down, reciting practiced lines of his nervousness at how this was his ‘first time’. The man on top caresses him gently, repeating lines from his script. The acting, painfully executed, does just enough for Megumi to stay but not get too much second hand embarrassment.

It starts slow, the top prepared the receiver by first pressing a single finger inside, he asked if they felt alright and the receiver nods. His expression making Megumi’s excitement rise. They slowly work their way into the second finger, at which point Megumi already finishes in his, now semen soaked, underwear.

He was pathetically humping his bolster, already overtaken by pleasure before anything significant happened.

The sneaky walk to his bathroom was the most shameful moment of Megumi’s life. He just… he just ejaculated into his underwear. And- and he was looking at pornography. What’s wrong with him?

Megumi hurriedly washed his underwear, washing away the viscous translucent-white liquid and repenting his sinfulness. He shouldn’t know about this sort of stuff! He’s not even in Highschool, what kind of person was he?!

The memory of humping his bolster like a dog in heat flashed in his mind once more. Megumi cringes, squatting down on the bathroom floor while he wrings his underwear dry.

He is better than this! He’s so much better than watching porn to stop thinking about his best friend in such a degenerate manner! And he’s loyal, he needs to stop this tomfoolery.

Keep it together! Megumi grumbled, wringing his underwear extra tight before leaving it to hang with the other laundry.

Just be a normal middle school boy, that’s all he needed to do. And maybe he could bring Hana out on more dates, try and distract himself from Yuuji.

Would Yuuji make the same noises as him? His mind wandered back to depravity as he put on a fresh set of underwear. Megumi could only groan in dismay.

He needs to get his mind fixed. His brain is clearly broken. Why else would he be having all of these weird horny thoughts?

…
…
…

Why are all of his thoughts about Yuuji? His girlfriend is Hana, he thinks he likes her. She’s kind, gentle, and her hardworking personality is incredibly admirable.

Megumi does like Hana, right?

He-

It doesn’t… make any sense.

Megumi huffed, he didn't need to be thinking about this stuff right now. There's school tomorrow and he hates mornings enough, being drowsy for them would not be helpful. He stormed towards his bed and hugged a dog plush that looked almost identical to Shiro.

The teen’s eyes drift close, exhausted from his earlier act of depravity. His mind grew hazy and the throbbing ache of sleep cut his thoughts short, already feeling the pull of sleep dragging him into slumber.

When he finds himself awake, Megumi is grateful to have had a dreamless slumber without anything hard between his legs or feeling sweaty like he just had a nightmare. That was probably some of the most satisfying sleep he’s ever gotten.

However, the feeling of calm satisfaction is quickly replaced by embarrassment as the teen hung his head in shame, remembering the events of last night.

Right, not his proudest moment. Megumi covered his bolster with his blanket. However, he could live with this. He has a new… fetish? He’ll call it that.

Alright Fushiguro Megumi, you have a fetish. A really weird one. But that’s okay, because we have school in 30 minutes and Dad will absolutely be pissed if we’re late to the van. He reminds himself before swiftly getting up. Mimiko and Nanako were also in the children’s toilet, sharing the left sink. The drowsy pair offer him a yawn and a wave while their toothbrushes move in tandem, brushing the same spot for heaven knows how long.

Mimiko moved the brush to the back of her teeth, nudging the half-asleep Nanako to do the same. Megumi let out an amused huff and swiftly brushed his teeth as well.

He dipped his toothbrush into a mug of water before applying a fat stripe of toothpaste across the top. The mint-flavoured charcoal toothpaste left his mouth feeling cool after he rinsed his mouth.

Tsumiki entered the bathroom then, already dressed in her uniform. “Mimi-nee, Nana-nee, you need to brush faster. There’s only 10 more minutes, you know how annoyed Dad gets when we’re late,” the girl chided, watching like a hawk for the twins to move faster.

Hearing their time limit seemed to make them move faster but their eyes were still closed and drowsy. The boy moved to his room quickly too, lest he end up the late one.

Megumi’s concerns were unfounded though as he had enough time to grab a 7/11 rice ball from the fridge, eat it, and still got to watch Mimiko and Nanako rush out the house with Tsumiki chasing them out from behind.

“Good work,” Dad snickered, watching the two disgruntled twins get into the backseat of the car with Megumi. He pat Tsumiki’s shoulders as he praised her for getting the Hasaba twins out the house on time before letting the girl move to the passenger seat.

Tsumiki absolutely preened with pride at the praise, contentedly smiling in her seat while Megumi sat squashed in the backseat, Hasaba twins fully knocked out the moment they sat down.

“They need to fix their sleep schedule,” Geto sighed, he made a left turn and mumbled a curse as another driver turned without turning on their indicator.

It doesn’t take long for them to reach the school, since they all enrolled in the same school it’s a one-stop drop off for their father. Tsumiki holds up Mimiko who a half-dead Nanako was clinging to, Megumi stood at the side, not willing to be included in that embarrassing display.

“Bye Dad!”
“Bye.”
“Bye……” Mimiko mumbled, followed by a yawn.
“…” Nanako doesn’t even being herself to say anything.

Geto waves at them from the car, “Right, study well!” He drove off to his school.

The boy felt something bump into him from the back, turning his head revealed it was Hana tackling him in the morning with a bright smile. Bright… he thought, feeling eased just by existing around such a positive presence. Anyone this bright was like a healing bandaid for his eyes, seriously how do they even do that. Wake up and act so happy, what a wonder.

Still clingy as hell though. Megumi added internally as his girlfriend dragged him away from his sisters. Tsumiki waved him a curt goodbye before lecturing their older sisters about sleeping on time and not relying on her to get to class on time.

“Y’know I heard we’re getting a transfer student!” Hana chattered, bringing her clique of friends to Megumi’s table. It was bearable in the afternoon but in the morning the boy felt ever-so-slightly overwhelmed by all the noise surrounding him.

One of Hana’s more delinquent friends even had their uniform buttons open, revealing his chest to the point you wondered why he didn’t bother just taking the entire blouse off. Megumi’s eyes kept creeping towards the boy’s chest though, slight blush working its way up to his cheeks once he realised he’d been staring.

Hana seemed pleased, though the teen doubts she knew he was embarrassed because of staring at her friend behind her and not because of anything she had done.

Not wanting to repeat the event, Megumi keeps his gaze low, choosing to review his notes. The final exam would be happening in a matter of months so it was best to get ready sooner rather than later. Thankfully, as obnoxious as her friend group was, Hana’s clique knew better than to disturb the teen while he was in the midst of studying.

He manages to finish reviewing the first 5 chapters of the science workbook before their homeroom teacher arrived. The class quickly shuffles to their seats while the man set his belongings down and wrote the words “Welcome to our School” on the blackboard.

“Right… as some of you may know, we’re getting a new classmate this semester. I know it’s the middle of the year and you all have your cliques and friend groups but do try to include her…” Sato-sensei drawled as if he couldn’t be bothered, which he probably was. The man looked ready to retire, not physically but mentally. Sato-sensei’s eyes had large black circles beneath and he could always be seen drinking coffee so black it might as well be tar. “…With that, let’s greet our new friend…”

In walked a girl with ginger hair, her stride showed her confidence and the rosy tint of her cheeks showed subtle signs of makeup. Though banned by school rules, many girls still used minimal makeup and got away with it.

The new girl slung her suitcase-like book bag over her shoulder and grinned, almost like an evil witch. “I’m Kugisaki Nobara! Be grateful you have a girl as beautiful as me in your class!” She proudly proclaimed, moving quickly to write down her name on the blackboard for everyone to see.

Megumi groaned internally, this type of overconfident girl… He couldn’t help but feel she would cause him trouble. She would probably call him ugly and plain for not doing more than the bare minimum for his appearance. Ugh… he’ll just have to avoid her.

His plans were, unceremoniously, rendered useless as the girl immediately shot him a look that said “It’s you!” As if he had been some kind of J-drama actor she never expected to meet in her lifetime.

Megumi had just the tiniest hint of a bad feeling in his gut.

~Omake~

Bara: IT'S YOU!!! IT'S THE GAY BOY FROM SUMMER VACATION!!!
Meg: ...I sense a disturbance in the force.

Jin: ahahaha, to be young and in love~
Kao: How cute our son is~

Yuu: *drawing Megumi in a mage costume in science class because he got bored* ( ・∇・)✒️

Chapter Text

There are some things that people remember from their early childhood, like visiting a theme park and seeing fireworks for the first time or staring at a family photo before realising the two big people around you are your parents.

For Nobara, she remembers playing with blocks. She stacked them into a tower, then the blocks fell over. Frustrated, the young girl clumsily stood up and climbed onto the chair to grab a roll of double sided tape her parents left on the desk. She taped the blocks together, feeling pride for the first time in her life as her blocks didn’t fall over.

Then she remembered yelling, a lot of yelling. Mama, as her mind had supplied back then, stormed in and screamed at her for destroying the blocks.

”Stop crying. Stop crying!” The woman would add onto her scolding. Nobara didn’t understand back then, her Mama stood far too close to her while screeching at the top of her lungs.

When she continued wailing, Mama forced her mouth open and dabbed medicated oil on her tongue. The taste was bitter and it burned her tongue.

It hurts, she thought, struggling in her mother’s grip as she continued dabbing the liquid onto her tongue.

It hurts. Get her out of here. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts- it hurts-ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsit-

She jolts awake in bed, her heart raced painfully in her chest. The girl brings a shaking hand to her chest and breathes slowly, a breath too deep made a sharp pang of pain course through her. Nobara deflates back down onto her bed.

…I need a bath, she quickly sat up and moved to brush her teeth. She has to keep up her pearly whites, how else is she going to be scouted as a model? Just imagine it, famous athlete and model, Kugisaki Nobara, with posters of her own face all over the world advertising for Japan’s beauty products while representing her country for global competitions.

What a dream. Nobara got out her face wash and morning skincare out from the cabinet, placing them on the sink as she finished gargling some mouthwash. After some quick splashing on her face, she deftly rubs her oil-control face wash onto her hands and lathers her face with it.

After washing that off, she uses a gentle cleanser on her face, making sure to rub it in for a good minute before rinsing it off with water. Next, she cleans her face with a soft cloth before applying some moisturiser and then sunscreen.

Beautiful acne-free skin, that’s a sight she loves to see every morning. Of course, a beautiful face wouldn’t do with ugly hair, so the girl takes great care to ensure her hair is equally as flawless as her skin.

First, she turned on the tap. The lukewarm water flowed fluidly from the shower head, coating her in a pleasant temperature as she let out a sigh. She lathered shampoo between her hands before gently massaging it into her scalp, working slow and careful swirls around her follicles. Gentleness was key, or she might accidentally snap strands of her hair.

Nobara made sure to rinse her hair thoroughly. Once all the suds of shampoo were washed off, she worked a small amount of conditioner into the ends of her hair. Nothing too much because she was prone to an oily scalp. Then the girl adjusted the temperature slightly to cold water.

Hot water was rather bad for your skin, leaving it dry and prone to irritation, even if it was extremely relaxing to soak in it. Hot springs had minerals that outweighed the cons but a normal hot bath was anything but good for your skin.

Cold water, meanwhile, helped to promote good skin and was also good for the natural oils in hair. …Or something along those lines. Nobara doesn’t know the exact science behind it but she does know her hair is absolutely flawless when she does this so who is she to look a gift horse in the mouth?

Of course, she can’t forget to wash her body thoroughly with fragrant body soap before exfoliating with a scrubbing glove from Korea. This was a shower after all, not just her haircare routine.

With that, Kugisaki Nobara is ready to start her day.

“Bara-chan do you want me to drive you on my way to work?” Dad asked when she stepped out of her room, dressed in her new, ugh… brown uniform. It was so drab, and the brown made her colour palette look dull. Why couldn’t she wear a cute blouse with a fashionable ribbon or something? But no, the uniform just had to include a brown blazer.

Nobara frowned at her father’s offer but she quickly schooled her expression to prevent frown lines from forming. “No, Dad. My school is the opposite direction of your office. And-“ the girl scoffed as she took over her father’s appearance. A plain but wrinkled grey suit jacket, plain white blouse with a yellowed collar showing its years of use, an equally drab black tie…

This was so not fashionable. Nobara held out her hand, “Give.”

“Oh no, it’s fine Bara. You have to get to school,” her father shook his head submissively. The man’s similarly ginger hair fell flat on his head and it didn’t compliment the soft cowardly look of her father’s face.

It might not be her type, but Nobara knows soft-men have their appeal to some women out there. “Give,” the girl pressed further, scowling at the mess of her father. “I can iron the worst wrinkles out in a minute. I’d also be half an hour early to school if I left now. So, give.”

“O-okay…” Yuuto relented to his daughter’s insistence, unable to resist her demands. Nobara quickly worked on ironing the suit jacket while her father sat there and awkwardly twiddled his thumbs. As she ironed the clothes, the girl’s mind wandered back to the events of her life for this year.

In what was perhaps a most unexpected move for her father, Kugisaki Yuuto had actually gone and fought in court for custody over Nobara. The end result? Predominate ownership transferred from Sumire- who seemed relieved to have a burden off her chest- to her father. However, the man still had to pay child support to that woman for some reason.

The custody battle between Sumire and Yuuto had been ongoing ever since Nobara was born, really. Her paternal grandparents thought it was shameful to have their only grandchild be taken away by some common whore and Sumire…

Well, she was Sumire. Nobara wanted to gag at the memory of her mother spending all of the child-support on useless luxuries while she was being raised by her maternal grandmother. The old woman was equally as old-fashioned, always disapproving of Nobara’s dreams to become an athlete or even an olympian if she could achieve that.

Girls don’t run around on the track, don’t risk injuring their pretty selves for something as masculine as sports. God forbid Nobara even dare to look at a volleyball or try to leap over a hurdle. No, no, no! She had to he prim and poised, quiet and be a pretty little doll. Wear the prettiest dresses and clothes, wait for her prince charming to pick her up.

The old woman even used Sumire as a prime example of a woman’s strength in her beauty.

What was so powerful about selling your body to get money? What was so powerful about being a sugar-baby to someone who would do nothing but ogle her body and not herself?

“There,” Nobara grumbled, now irritated due to the sudden reminder of her maternal grandmother. Yuuto noticed the change in her emotional state and handed her a steaming cup of what smelled like chrysanthemum tea.

Her father caressed the freshly ironed jacket with a fond smile, no doubt never having the pleasure of having someone else care for him like this when he left his parents’ home. “Thank you for your hard work.”

Nobara sighed and folded the ironing board neatly before she checked the time. I’ll be 20 minutes early if I go now, she noted before moving to sit at the table. The warm tea calmed her down and was a welcome treat in the cold morning.

Soon, her and her father part ways. The girl checked herself in the mirror one last time. Her hair was perfectly styled, straight but curling slightly inwards at the tips, then her uniform, which was crease-free and utterly pristine.

Well, if she didn’t look like a long brown object, Nobara might say she looks divine. If only the uniform had a black blazer or something… she had to settle for merely looking perfect.

She walks to her school at a leisure pace, pretty girls aren’t pressed for time. They take their elegant waltz to school and show the whole world how beautiful and elegant they are. Some people stop and stare at her perfect glory.

Yes, look at my beauty that is a once-in-a-lifetime treasure, she thought as her lips quirked into a smile. (She was not aware the source of people staring at her was because of her uncommon hair colour in the area)

What an absolute perfect day to be alive. Nobara kept her elegant stride as she walked into school grounds. Of course, more people look at her beauty. Ah, she’s probably captured the hearts of so many poor boys now. But she would settle for nothing but the best, of course.

The girl explored the school block for her classroom. 2C was her assigned class, but it was still too early to be there. She would surprise them all by shrouding herself in mystery before appearing as the new girl from nowhere.

Oh, she can already imagine it, silly boys admiring her perfect form and girls who only wished they could be half as beautiful as her. She’ll try her best to advise them but there’s only so much you can do without looking as perfect as her.

The girl made her way around her classroom block, noting how the vending machines were luckily quite close to the stairs near her classroom and all the locations of all the nearest toilets. Soon, it was time for class to start and Nobara made her steady way down to her new class.

She stood outside the classroom, listening to her homeroom teacher speak. His voice was dreadful, extremely dull and incredibly boring to listen to. How were people even awake in his class?

“…With that, let’s greet our new friend…”

That was her cue! Nobara steeled her expression and puffed out her chest, making sure her head was held high and that she walked with a perfect gait. The girl subtly tucked her hair behind her ear.

Moving beside the teacher, she slung her bag behind her. Just because she's the most gorgeus girl in the world doesn’t mean she's the dainty porcelain doll type. Nobara shot the class her most confident smile, imagining she had utterly destroyed someone in an 1v1 on a game.

Letting the smug satisfaction carry her, she kept her smile up as she spoke, "I'm Kugisaki Nobara! Be grateful you have a girl as beautiful as me in your class!" She declared before writing down her name on the board.

Her name was as unique as her, five characters in total with a three character given name and two character surname. She admired her own handwriting for a moment, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone with prettier handwriting than her. Maybe professional calligraphers, but that would be where it ended.

Now it was her time to familiarise herself with the class. Nobara looked around, plain boys, plain girls... oh wait the blonde girl looks okay, her colour palette's a little dull though.

She looks a little familiar, hm? Wait-

Nobara squinted slightly, staring at the pair of sea-green eyes that pulled away from her gaze as soon as their eyes met. The boy's spiky hair unforgettable in the girl's memory.

The girl fought the urge to step back and point accusingly at him and yelp,"It's you! The unaware homosexual of Cappyland!”

This would be one interesting year.

Alright, two days into her new school and Nobara came to some pretty depressing conclusions.

One, blonde girl(aka Kurusu) seemed hopelessly in denial or unaware of her boyfriend’s... lack of interest in her. Hell, Urchin-head(Fushiguro) had more reaction to the plain looking guys than to her. It was honestly a sad sight.

Second, Urchin-head most definitely doesn't know about his own homosexual urges. At least Nobara thinks so, because he clearly isn't interested in any form of romance between himself and Kurusu.

A friendship, sure, but a relationship? Yikes.

Kurusu is such a nice girl too. Nobara wouldn't let such latent potential rot to an insecurity about being dumped by a half-decent boy with pretty, nice-looking eyelashes.

~Omake~

Yto: no, it’s okay...

Bara: *holding up new shirts and ties* I will literally choke you if you leave this house looking anything less than fashionable, do you understand me?

Chapter Text

Hi guys, I'm back before I officially disappear for a full month since the last chapter...

Okay, sorry but no chapter this week too! My bad, really really sorry!!!

Life is going craaaaazy, like seriously crazy. Like, holy shit my life is about to change(for the worst financially but better emotionally, hopefully????) SOOOO much.

I have crazy anxiety that I'm just gonna forget about this fic if I actually disappear for a month so this is kind of like a precaution. Hold me to it, my readers!

I will finish this fic!!! I will!!! With my iron will!!!!

The rest of this arc has been planned, yay! I just need to actually write the chapters now.

Actually I take my statement earlier back, my financial state would be better because my pay would like triple. But uhhh, still not enough for this economy, LOL

If you're wondering where I've been, I have been mostly sulking and dying internally because, guess what, school was starting soon! Guess what I hate?! School!!

Primary, secondary, or tertiary. Some things really don't change. ANYWAY! I hope to continue writing chapters soon.

Phew, that's like a weight off my chest. You guys have to hold me to my promise, okay? Let's say it together!

WE ARE FINISHING THIS FIC!!! WE WILL NOT LEAVE IT INCOMPLETE!!! AAAAAAAAAA-

Hm, I feel like I'm crazy. Crazy? I was crazy once. They locked me in a room, a rubber room, a rubber room with rats... the rats? The rats made me CRAZY! ...Crazy? I was-

I'll stop it there... mayakara is sick of my jokes 💔💔💔💔💔 guys boo my beta reader for me 💔💔💔(just kidding, we love and appreciate our betas here ❤️❤️)

To be honest, I said I would try to stop posting these notices because it feels like I'm cheating you guys of a chapter when you think I've updated. I didn't uphold my word but hey, at least my anxiety is soothed. Bad memory woes 💔.

So, bye! See you all(hopefully) sometime within this month!

Chapter Text

Happy Birthday!

Brat seems to be preoccupied these days, Sukuna thought as he eyed his nephew curiously. The boy recently came home from school boasting about the upcoming culture festival. Their class seemed keen on holding a quick-portrait booth since they had plenty of art students in the group.

The man is reminded of his own culture festival experience. His class had chosen to hold an art exhibit for the same reason, though the event didn't seem to garner much business.

He's so self-reliant now. It feels like it was just yesterday when Yuuji was sitting and staring at the grass with tears in his eyes before Sukuna had brought him home. He used to be so small, like a little baby.

Now look at him, growing steadily like a bamboo shoot. He's already up to Sukuna's neck, by the time he's in highschool the boy should be equal in height with him or a few centimeters taller.

He feels almost relaxed as he watched the brat struggle with homework. His boy, dare he say, was growing up. There are still signs of his youth, the soft baby fat around his cheeks still pliant enough for the man to yank without issue, undefined and round features of a child, and a high-pitched voice. But still, to think Yuuji used to be a little runt compared to his classmates and now his head reaches Sukuna's chin.

Even if I up and died, he would be fine, The man thought morbidly as he oversaw the math homework. "You did that wrong. Check your working again."

Brat sulked, he let out a exhausted "yes sir" before erasing the working. The boy was snacking on some grapes Uraume bought earlier, it was September so they were in season and most delicious around this time of year.

A few hours pass of this back and forth of Yuuji making a mistake and Sukuna correcting him. Sometimes the boy requires a little nudge here and there and other times Sukuna ponders the solution along with Yuuji.

Hm. He never was the academic type like Jin. All he ever did was do things he found interesting. Speaking of interesting, he really ought to visit the amazing young man who's making art with Tatami mats. Might he even be so bold as to commission a custom design from him for his art room. Hm...

Uraume returns home at a rather late hour. They had an off day and spent it shopping with their friends from their cooking class. Oddly enough though, the chef was holding onto two boxes of cakes.

"Wah!! It's the Yamanashi Shine Muscat Fleur from Ch*teraise!" Yuuji exclaimed when their chef opened the first box of cake. They left the house bright and early just to get those cakes, for some reason.

[*A popular Japanese patisserie known for having affordable and delicious cakes for the price]

"What? I can't buy a cake or something?" Uraume rolled their eyes at Sukuna's perplexed gaze.

It's not like you can't but... why buy one when you could make one... He kept the thoughts to himself and continued watching Uraume unbox the cakes. The next cake was a tart still with grapes on top.

"Rokugan-sensei said they're delicious, I'm excited!!" Brat wiped some drool from his face as he gazed at the beautifully decorated desserts. Sukuna, meanwhile, felt a wave of irritation at the mention of that insufferable manchild.

Ugh. Seriously. He deigned himself to attend one of those 'Y*utube' things, they said they wanted to interview him. He was told that he would get to converse with other artists so he thought, naively, that nothing could go wrong.

Lo and behold, there that manchild was. Rokugan, or Gojo, was standing there with his garish rectangular sunglasses and a light grey sweater with a dark blue cardigan. His pants were a pleasant greyish blue and he waved at Sukuna with a disgusting smile.

"Oh my god, I didn't know you could leave your tomb!!"

Sukuna felt a vein pop when the younger man spoke. I'll kill him.

Aside from that, the interview was quite pleasant. They had three 'traditional' artists(anything not digital, really) and three modern artists(3D printed art, digital art, avant-garde art) discuss what they each liked about their niche and their thoughts on the opposing side.

At one point he began ranting about the beauty in the minimalist strokes of ink due to its nature. It couldn't be undone so artists of the past were careful to use very few strokes. Since Japanese art was very inspired by Chinese art, a lot of these elements could be seen in old chinese paintings.

Then the pleasant atmosphere was broken when that Gojo brat joked about a fossil enjoying ancient things.

The worst part was probably the fact that they were only a few years apart.

"Uwah... that's a scary expression," Yuuji pointed out with a grimace. Uraume merely sighed and placed 4 large and 2 small candles on the fleur cake.

"What are the candles for?" Sukuna questioned, before he covered his mouth to let out a long chain of wet coughs. He is given a moment to breathe before Uraume brought a firm but relatively painless fist down on his head.

They shoot him a deadpan, even Brat looks at him like he just stated food is unnecessary for human survival. What? What are you looking at? I have done nothing to warrant such a reaction.

Seeing his clueless gaze, the chef sighed slowly as they massage their nosebridge. Brat pats Uraume's side sympathetically and the man squints in confusion.

"I have to remind you of your own birthday?" Uraume grumbled as they reach for the lighter on the counter. They sigh and light each candle.

Oh. It was his birthday?? The man put on his reading glasses, which were now conveniently attached to a thin and well-made spectacle cord. They were bronze in colour with rectangular pinky-sized orange glass beads along the metal chain. He saw them on sale in the market, hand-made by a small business.

His eyes take a moment to adjust as he squints at the calender. September 10th. Well would you look at that, it was his birthday.

Uraume heaved another sigh, "You definitely forgot."

"It's not an important event," he shrugged. It wasn't usually his job to remember when his birthday was. He used to do his own thing until Jin barged into his house with a birthday cake loudly declaring, 'A YEAR HAST PAST, DOTH ART OLDER AND WISER!'

He would always say nonsense like that before bowing for his 'amazing performance'. Then he would glare at Sukuna until the man offered his twin some very, very, reluctant applause.

Then they would drink some beer, Jin's choice usually since Sukuna hated the taste of beer. Uraume usually joined in and they played a game with inari sushi, one was laced with an egregious amount of wasabi and soy sauce to make a culinary abomination while the rest were safe.

Whoever got the 'poisoned' piece was the loser and they got to enjoy the pain of finishing that abomination.

Brat seemed to have run off from the table in the time he was daydreaming about the past. Uraume grinned smugly and reached into the fridge, "I present, Kid Friendly Edition: Poison Inari!"

...huh?

"I don't know whether I should ask what it is or feel like I should wipe that memory from my brain to preserve your dignity."

Uraume slaps his back with the rage of a thousand suns. Sukuna winced and rubbed his back with a frown. He doesn't care what anyone says, Uraume is a scam! They are not this calm and serene person everyone thinks they are! A devil in disguise I say!

"This is not the behavior of a monk!" Sukuna yelped in protest, while his old friend pulled out three plates and three forks.

"Abbott Kenjaku always said, 'if all else fails, punishment is permissible'." They shrug, the tableware clanking together in their arms.

He pointed an accusatory finger at the chef, protesting loudly despite the upward curve of his lips. "YOU DIDN'T TRY SHIT!"

"I sense another punishment needs to be dealt out..." Uraume mumbled, they were now wiping down the bread knife with a cloth.

"I apologise for forgetting my own birthday and for my rudeness, please forgive me," He apologised with his head bowed, fighting for his life to hold in a snicker. This dumb back and forth had no right to make him laugh so.

Brat's loud stomping grew louder as the boy ran from the second floor. He had a gift-wrapped box in his hands and presented it in front of Sukuna. "Happy Birthday, Unc'!"

Uraume nodded, a fond smile on their face. The chef took the box from Yuuji's hands and placed it on the cupboard so they could turn their attention to the main character: the cakes.

They sing a short rendition of Happy Birthday before Sukuna gets to blow out the candles.

May everything be fine and nothing worry the brat. He wished with his eyes closed. The man stared at the 6 candles on the cake, the orange flames flickering from the breeze. It's not like wishes come true anyway.

He blew them out.

Operation Cupid: Commence!

Junpei was browsing through his Tw*tter feed when he received a sudden notification.

You've been added into a groupchat!

Hm. What? A groupchat? Must have been a scam group. The teen exits the chat without looking at the members or the name, not willing to be subjected to 100+ people, most of which were probably bots, in a chat talking about a scam.

You've been added into a groupchat!

Sad Kitty: wait wait wait!
Sad Kitty: Don't go!
Sad Kitty: It's me, Mimiko!!!
Sad Kitty: YOSHINO COME BACK ヽ(´Ａ`)ﾉ

Junpei squinted at the message, why was Fushiguro's sister texting him?

Sato: Wah, little old me in a groupchat with my kid and her friend?
Sato: I'm so honoured (*/∀＼*)
Sad Kitty: Yuh Toru-nii, who else is more invested than you, me, and Yoshino-kun?!

The teen let out an audible sound of confusion as he backread the messages. Mimiko and Gojo-san seemed to want something with him??? Um???

Yoshino: Sorry, why am I here?
Sad Kitty: geez, read the groupchat name!!!

He sighs and glanced up at the name. 'Operation Cupid'? Interesting name...

Sad Kitty: ur nicknames are all so dryyyy
Sad Kitty: (。-ω-)zzz
Sato: but it's sweet, just like me! ( ^-^)ノ∠※。.:*:・'°☆
Sad Kitty: ew Toru-nii, never again.
Sato: Σ(｀Д´　)
Yoshino: again, why am I here? 'Operation Cupid' isn't telling me much
Sad Kitty: Okay, time to brief all of you...

Mimiko proceeded to go on a long tangent about Fushiguro being painfully unaware of his romantic feelings for Itadori, then an even longer tangent about her pity for Kurusu. She brought up specific instances of Fushiguro's 'stupid gay ass' crushing on guys as her evidence.

Junpei grimaced, yikes.... Ugh, he can kind of see it too. Imagining Fushiguro staring at other people while walking with Kurusu-san, his black pupils dilated in joy. They got embarrassingly large when the boy got excited. That, and his pale irises did not help conceal that fact.

Sato: so...?
Sad Kitty: ughhh, are all men this dense? Booo!!!! Booo I say! (ノ｀Д´)ノ彡┻━┻
Sato: you hurt my feelings <\3
Sad Kitty: Anyway, here's the plan! We all agree Megumi is in love with Yuu-chan and Yuuji definitely loves him back!
Yoshino: Yeah, I can confirm that
Sato: (◎-◎;)
Sad Kitty: soooooo, Toru-nii is going out with Megumi next week!
Sad Kitty: just ask him some questions and prod him in the right direction... ( • ̀ω•́ )✧
Sato: (≖_≖ )
Sato: It's because of the $5 bet isn't it?
Sad Kitty: Σ(ﾟﾛﾟ;)
Sad Kitty: no... (‘ε ’)
Sato: Don't worry, I gotchu ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
Sad Kitty: ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
Yoshino: was I even needed in that conversation...
Sad Kitty: in due time, my fellow third wheel!! (。･`з･)ﾉ

~Omake~

Ura to everyone: (*＾▽＾*)
Ura to Suku: (*^▽^)/彡┻━┻

Jun: *having a peaceful day*
Mimi: (*^-^)ヘ＿/
Jun: Why do I hear boss music?