Chapter Text
Yuji was still texting him. Everyday in fact, but something was different this time. This time, Megumi didn’t ignore him or reply with one word answers. It wasn’t any longer just Yuji texting Megumi, but they were actually texting each other.
That party had had a large impact on their relationship, luckily for the better. Megumi was not the caring kind, much preferring to worry about himself than others- not in a purposeful, selfish way, but in his own twisted way of caring. He was the type to believe that trouble was usually the consequences of one’s own actions, and it was not his responsibility to mend that.
But seeing Yuji in that state, drunk and helpless, he felt something different. He felt a need to care for him, to hold him and night and kiss him in the rain after an argument that meant nothing-
Gross. No matter how much Megumi was starting to care for him, no matter how hard he was starting to fall, Megumi couldn’t let himself become some sappy loser over a frat guy. But it was also getting harder and harder to lie to himself. He loved texting Yuji, loved the daily selfies he would send of the man in the most random scenarios: petting a cat, brushing his teeth, flexing in the gym (Megumi’s favourite).
While thinking about all of that, he had been standing over the stove in his dorm room cooking a packet of instant noodles in a saucepan. He had been so enamoured with his thoughts while engaging in the mundane task that he practically jumped to life when his phone dinged.
He picked it up instantly, seeing another message from Yuji. He forced down the smile that tugged his lips and unlocked his phone.
Yuji
Hey
U eaten?
Megumi
I was just about to.
Why do you ask?
Yuji
Ohhh nooo reason…
Eating alone is just kinda boring :(
Megumi
Is it now?
Yuji
yeahhhhh
man i just wish i had some company right now!!
Megumi
I’m making some instant noodles.
I’m getting the idea you’d like to join me?
Yuji
Leaving rn ;)
Megumi chucked silently to himself and switched off his phone, leaning down to dig through his cupboards and get another packet of instant noodles.
The entire time, Nobara had been round, lazing on his bed like she always did. It was one of those usual hangouts where they were just happy in each other's presence, not needing to speak or interact with each other.
However, looking up from her phone for the first time in about 20 minutes, she noticed the small smile he was struggling to suppress as he looked down at his turned off phone.
“What’s got you smiling huh? You don't smile.”
“Oh it’s nothing uh…Yuji is coming over”.
She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically, sitting up and swinging her feet over the edge of the bed.
“God, you two make me sick…” she started reaching for her bag.
“What does that mean? And where are you going?”
“You’re so obsessed with each other, it's adorable. And I'm leaving. There's no way I'm gonna be a third wheel!”
“You can’t be a third wheel, we aren’t together.”
“Yeah yeah whatever, enjoy your little date…”
She stood up and stretched, grabbing her bag and heading over the entrance to slip her shoes on.
“It’s not a date! We’re just friends hanging out.”
She laughed and rolled her eyes, “jeez megs, y’know, you can lie to yourself but you really can’t lie to me”
“I’m not lying! We kissed when we were drunk, how does that mean that everything we do together is romantic?”
“It doesn’t, but that statement proves you can’t lie to me Megumi, you think I’m going to believe that someone who you’ve ‘only kissed when you were drunk’ has got you smiling at your phone?”
She chuckled again, leaving him dumbfounded as she shrugged her coat on and left the dorm room.
He shook his surprise off and continued cooking the noodles, now cooking another pack in a separate saucepan for Yuji. Only a few moments later, his phone chimed and glancing down at it, he saw a message from Nobara.
Nobara
Just seen your man coming up the stairs
Have fun
Use protection??? If you need to???
He rolled his eyes at the message, leaving it on opened and noting that Yuji would likely be there in a few moments. Oh crap. Yuji would be there in a few moments.
He rushed to the bathroom and checked he looked okay- he wasn’t quite sure when he started caring so intensely about that kind of thing, but it wasn’t a crime to not want to look a mess. He quickly fixed his hair, and even considered changing out of his comfortable clothes before he heard a knock at the door.
Oh well, his old joggers that had cigarette burns and a black t-shirt would have to do.
Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the door and opened it up, his eyes blessed with the sight before him.
Yuji stood there in a white tank top and a pair of black joggers. He looked like he’d been running, his hair slightly tousled and breathing ever so slightly heavy as if he was recovering. His cheeks and the tips of ears were flushed pink, either from the cold or seeing Megumi- he sure hoped it was the cold, or Megumi’d be mortified.
“Megumi, hey” he said with a warm smile, stepping into the dorm room and dropping the backpack that had previously been slung over one shoulder.
Megumi cleared his throat and stepped back to let him inside properly, closing the door behind him.
“Hey, it’s…it’s good to see you.”
Yuji removed an airpod that Megumi hadn’t seen prior, and thank fuck he did, becuase if Yuji had heard the words that slipped out of his mouth then he would never be able to live it down.
“Sorry ‘gumi, what was that?”
“Ahem, nothing…just saying hi”
With that, Megumi returned to the kitchen area with the intention of continuing to cook, Yuji following behind him like a lost puppy.
He walked back over to the stove, while Yuji propped himself up on the counter beside Megumi.
“So, how’s your day been?” Yuji asked with a smile, clearly very happy to be seeing Megumi.
“I told you earlier, it was good.”
“Is that all I get huh? Tell me what you did today ‘Gumi”
Megumi looked up from the pot and glared at Yuji at the nickname, but didn’t comment on it.
“I didn’t do much to be honest, kinda just…did some homework and then hung with Nobara.”
“Nobara, yeah, I saw her on my way up. How are she and Maki?”
The two men continued in pleasant conversation naturally, until disaster struck.
When Megumi finally finished preparing the noodles, they were topped with half a soft-boiled egg and some seaweed. He was very proud of his creation, it likely being the most effort he had ever put into a meal. To be honest, he definitely would not have put so much effort in if Yuji wasn’t there.
He let Yuji carry the bowls to Megumi’s couch while Megumi went to put on a movie. When, in classic Yuji fashion, he tripped on the corner of a rug, causing him to stumble and the bowls to fly out of his hands. Luckily, they didn’t smash, but Megumi felt the same pain as if they had when he saw his masterful creations splattered all over the floor.
They both froze in shock, before Yuji pouted and looked towards Megumi. The pout curled into a smirk.
“Well, there is this diner I like…”
“Yuji.”
“Yeah, sorry. I’ll clean it up.”
— — — — — — — — — —
About half an hour later, they sat opposite each other in a cheesy American diner. Yuji had apologised about dropping the bowls the entire drive over, but it eventually turned out in Megumi’s favour when Yuji would only accept the other’s forgiveness if he let him pay for their food.
The place was down some remote road, just a few hundred yards from a run-down gas station and another couple hundred before any other signs of life.
It was 50s themed, which is why it was deadly silent at 8pm on a Saturday, as there wasn’t really a huge market for 50s themed restaurants anymore.
Somehow, they must be making enough money to stay open and pay a decent amount of staff, as three teenagers were huddled around a host desk gossiping while standing in old-timey uniforms and rollerskates.
The two men sat there comfortably, and Megumi was desperately trying to figure out why on earth Yuji liked this place.
After a few minutes, one of the girls, a shorter one with curly brown hair skated over to their table. She pulled out a notebook and flashed a cheesy grin.
“Hey y’all, welcome to Malevolant kitchen, what can I get for you tonight?”
Megumi looked up from the menu and cleared his throat before speaking, “I’ll just get a…cheeseburger?” he said, not quite believing the name of the item on the menu.
“One mega sloppy cheesy burger?” the waitress repeated, confirming his disbelief of the item names. “And for you sir?” she said, turning her head to Yuji and making her ponytail swing.
“I’ll have the ultimate bacon disaster, thank you” Yuji said his order with what Megumi now realised, not even looking at the menu once. Meaning that firstly, he had been here many times to know his order off by heart, and secondly, he had no problem with stating the ridiculous item names, which likely meant that he enjoyed the cheesy theme of this place.
The waitress nodded and jotted that down, also taking their drink orders before skating off towards the kitchen. Having glanced at the prices, at the very least this place was cheap. He could see why it was the kind of place that Yuji would like, specifically, it's the perfect kind of place to pile up on greasy food while being absolutely hammered.
With his hands folded neatly in his lap, Megumi looked up to observe Yuji, who was looking away from Megumi, but in an intentional way that said he didn’t want to be a creep by staring at him. His leg was bouncing and he was tapping his fingers lightly on the table. He was nervous- it was actually kind of cute.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, likely Nobara trying to get in his business again, but he ignored it, having too much fun making Yuji nervous.
“You alright over there?” Megumi said with a hint of amusement, breaking the silence (which is not something he would usually do).
“Huh? Oh! Yeah sorry, I was just thinking.”
“Thinking about what?”
“Just uhm…life”
“Oh come on, you’ve taken me all the way out here and that’s all you’re going to tell me?”
“Says Mister ‘my day was fine’!” Yuji exclaimed, clearly falling for Megumi’s teasing, which he realised when Megumi started chuckling.
Yuji’s face softened a little at the rare sight of Megumi’s smile, and it actually made him blush. “You have a really nice smile”, he admitted, shyly.
“Now that you’ve said that, I’m never going to smile ever again.”
“Aw hey! Come on, let me see it again!”
He stared at him blank faced, but couldn’t hold the facade for very long, and within 20 seconds they both burst out laughing.
Their food came quickly, considering that they were the only people in there, and Megumi stared at the sheer size of his portion while Yuji immediately dug in.
The table was surrounded by the casual sounds of their eating for the next 20 or so minutes, not much conversation between them, but there didn’t need to be.
Once they finished, Megumi was relatively eager to leave, getting irritated at the way the waitresses were staring at them and clearly gossiping. Yuji paid the bill and they returned to his truck, both letting out deep sighs as they sat down.
“That place was…” Megumi began, before Yuji interjected
“Awesome right? I love it there!”
“Not quite what I would've said but…it wasn’t bad.”
“It was better with you” Yuji said with a cheeky smile, earning him a light punch to the arm and a ‘you are so corny’
Yuji started the car and began driving back to Megumi’s dorm building. A comfortable silence filled the vehicle for most of the journey, only being broken when Yuji stopped the car in the parking lot.
“Hey, Megumi?”
Megumi gave a small ‘hm?’ in response and turned his head to look at the pink-haired man.
“Do you think I could uh…could I sleepover maybe?”
Megumi raised an eyebrow, “why do you want to do that?”
“Todo is throwing a huge party and…I just don’t really have the energy for it tonight”
“Uhm, yeah I…I don't see why not.”
Yuji flashed that bright smile and thanked him, before darting out of the car to open Megumi’s door for him. Megumi rolled his eyes playfully at the unnecessary gesture and they then began walking up to Megumi’s dorm.
As they ascended the stairs, Megumi noticed the most subtle of changes in Yuji’s demeanor, in the way he was carrying himself. He almost seemed nervous.
They had slept over together twice now, and yet he was nervous. It was actually kind of cute.
Cute. cute and Yuji Itadori, those were two things Megumi would’ve liked to think he would never associate with each other. But he could no longer deny it. Yuji Itadori was cute, and Megumi liked him. and they were currently walking into Megumi’s space together, just the two of them, after an evening spent together.
They walked through the threshold of Megumi’s dorm and kicked off their shoes, the air between them growing somewhat more tense.
Standing facing each other in the cramped entryway, Megumi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
“So, maybe a movie or something?”
“Uh yeah, we could…we could do that” Yuji replied, and Megumi finally forced his eyes up to meet Yuji’s, who was staring at him very intensely.
“You’re staring again,” he said with a low chuckle.
“Sorry, you’re nice to stare at” The shorter man said with a smirk.
Megumi gulped and felt a faint blush creep up the back of his neck. He excused himself and went to go and calm himself down in the bathroom.
Closing the door and locking it, he splashed his face with water. Yuji stared at him quite frequently, but he had never looked at him like that before. Never looked at him with that level of hunger in his eyes.
The situation began to dawn on him. He had invited Yuji into his dorm to stay the night. His couch was too small to sleep on, and he wasn’t going to make the man sleep on the floor, so they would have to share Megumi’s bed.
Therefore, not only had he invited Yuji into his dorm, but he had basically invited him straight into his bed. What would he do if something happened between them? What would he do then? If they went any further than they previously had, then there was no way he could get away with his act of nonchalance anymore.
He would likely have to actually talk to Yuji about whatever it was between them, and that just sounded like his absolute worst nightmare. Because talking to Yuji meant having to admit his confusing feelings, and likely hearing whatever the other man did or didn’t feel back.
What if Yuji didn’t actually like him? He was ultimately still a frat guy, and they were unpredictable. What if he was only being so nice purely just to get into Megumi’s pants and then would ditch him?
No, that was ridiculous, if anything, Yuji definitely wasn’t like that. He wasn’t like Sukuna.
He took a deep breath and then heard a gentle knock on the bathroom door, he had been in there way longer than he thought.
“Megumi? Are you alright?”
“Uh, yeah sorry, I’ll be out in a sec”
“Okay, I found a really good film if you wanna…”
“Yeah, yeah, sounds fun”
He then heard Yuji’s footsteps retreat away from the bathroom, and he took a few more moments to calm down before joining him again.
Yuji was laying lazily on the couch, one arm at rest, holding his phone as he scrolled through messages, the other thrown across the back of the couch. He heard Megumi come back and made room for him, putting his arm down and scooting up a little.
Megumi plopped down still relatively close to him and looked at the description of the film Yuji had chosen that was currently displayed on the TV.
It was some cheesy action film, the exact kind of film that Yuji would watch.
“This looks…interesting”
“I promise its good, you just have to trust me”
“With the last film I watched with you, I don’t know if that's a good idea”
But then Yuji gave him puppy eyes, and Megumi caved and hit play.
— — — — — — — — — —
About halfway into the film, they had moved a lot closer to each other subconsciously, so much so that their thighs were touching, yet neither of them made any effort to move.
It felt surprisingly natural, and Megumi was actually really enjoying sitting with Yuji, watching a cheesy film.
However, just a few minutes later, Yuji’s phone began to ring, his ringtone being some meme that Megumi hadn’t heard.
“Ah sorry…it’s Todo, I’ll be right back”
Yuji stood up and went to the kitchen area of the room, making Megumi kind of miss his warmth. He didn’t bother trying to listen in to the conversation, he wasn’t nosy like that. Instead he just paused the movie and scrolled on his phone.
A couple minutes later, he heard a dramatic sigh and looked over to Yuji returning.
“Sorry ‘Gumi, but I need to go…”
“You need to go? Why?”
“Todo said there's some random people trying to hook up in my room, I need to go kick them out.”
“Why can’t Todo do it?”
“In his words, ‘not my problem, just thought i’d let you know brother’”
“Oh, I see…well, we can finish this movie another time then.”
Yuji nodded solemnly and shoved his phone into his pocket before walking over to the door to put his shoes on. Megumi watched him do so, feeling like something was missing. He waited until Yuji was just about to leave before finally managing to gather the courage, and called his name.
“Yuji, wait.” he gulped and walked over to him by the door, stopping right in front of him.
“What is it?”
Megumi didn’t know how to express what he was feeling into words, stammering over random syllables for a few moments before giving up. He took a deep breath and observed the somewhat confused look on Yuji’s face.
And then he kissed him. He leant in, hands cupping Yuji’s soft face and pressed their lips together in a moment of panic. Yuji let out a surprised sound, before quickly reciprocating, likely meaning he had been thinking about doing the same thing.
It was gentle, their lips moving together in tandem as they pulled one another closer. Megumi’s hands made their way from Yuji’s face to loosely grasp the short tufts of his dark undercut. He liked touching Yuji’s hair, it was soft and the undercut was somewhat spikey, sending a pleasant tingle through his palms.
It lasted around a minute, not meant to be lustful but a pure expression of longing. When they pulled away, Yuji’s hands had made their way to Megumi’s waist while they both blushed.
Megumi cleared his throat and stepped back, his blush quickly turning into one of embarrassment.
“Ahem…well, thanks for the food and uh, I guess I’ll see you soon?”
“You think I’m leaving after that?”