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Yuuji sat across the booth from Megumi, nervousness plastered across his sweat-beaded face. His hands were clasped tightly in front of him, thumbs twiddling almost anxiously as he watched them move back and forth with rapt attention. He couldn’t find it in himself to make eye contact with Megumi, much less talk to him – and so he sat, suspiciously quiet and reserved, and, frankly, making a total ass out of himself.
“Uhh, Itadori?” Megumi questioned and Yuuji’s head shot upwards, nearly startled by the sudden sound. Megumi looked back at him with an arched brow and something like concern on his features, twisted up with annoyance. “Are you okay?”
Oh, how Yuuji envied him at this moment. Megumi was slouched back, arms crossed over his chest, loose and casual and calm and everything Yuuji wished he was right now.
“I’m fine!” Yuuji squeaked, clearing his throat abruptly and entirely unattractively. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”
He wasn’t sure if he was telling Megumi or himself.
Earlier that week, Yuuji had finally broken down and confided in Nobara about his seemingly secret feelings for Megumi. Unsurprisingly, she was already painfully aware.
“Yeah? Obviously?” Was her only response, and Yuuji’s jaw had dropped open.
“What do you mean obviously?!” Yuuji gawked in reply, suddenly shaken by the reveal of his lack of stealth.
“I mean, it’s obvious you two are pining over each other.” She rolled her eyes then, grimacing as she turned to look at Yuuji. “Hopelessly pining.”
“Wait, you think Fushiguro likes me, too?” Yuuji’s eyes went wide and he leaned forward in excitement, needing to be absolutely sure he heard Nobara’s next words correctly.
She pushed at his shoulder, moving him back away from her as she spoke. “Itadori, are you really that dense?” He nodded slowly, and Nobara sighed irritatedly. “Why don’t you just ask him on a date? Find out for yourself.”
Nobara lifted herself from where she was sitting, her patience with Yuuji’s feelings quickly running thin as she stood and prepared to walk away.
“Wait! Kugisaki!” Yuuji grabbed at her arm, pleading. “Help me, please! How do I ask him on a date?”
Pulling her hand away with feigned disgust, she sputtered out the words that Yuuji might have taken to literally: “Just ask him to go out to eat or something! Don’t ask me, I don’t know what he likes!”
And with that, she turned and left.
Simultaneously, a switch flicked in Yuuji’s mind.
“Hey, Fushiguro.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he stood in the doorway of Megumi’s room.
“What’s up?” Megumi hadn’t even looked up from the book he was holding, but Yuuji still felt suffocated by receiving his attention at all.
“I, uh…” He trailed off, eyes darting around for something else to look at. “Wanted to ask you something.”
Megumi closed his book, thumb held between the pages to mark his spot. He turned his gaze to Yuuji, eyeing him almost suspiciously as he waited for a question to come.
Stammering incoherently in an attempt to form a sentence, Yuuji finally managed to sputter out: “Do you remember that diner we went to? With Kugisaki?” He sounded way too out of breath and way too unsure of his own words.
“Uh, yeah? The one where we met your middle school girlfriend, right?” Megumi almost smirked, but Yuuji was too caught up in trying to deny the allegations to notice.
“ Not my girlfriend. At all.” Yuuji waved his hands in front of him unconvincingly, but Megumi just rolled his eyes, clearly already fed up with his putzing.
“So, is that what you came in here to ask me? If I remembered a diner?” Flipping his book back open, Yuuji could see his eyes resume scanning the pages. His stomach dropped, fearing he had lost his chance to get to the point.
“No! I wanted to ask you if, maybe, I mean – if you’re interested – you could go?” Yuuji talked with his hands, mapping out his words with ridiculous gestures as if it would somehow make them spill from his tongue faster.
“If I could go? What does that even mean?” Megumi looked back at him, a questioning look of confusion twisting up his features.
“Like, with me. Go with me. Like, we go together. Just us.” Yuuji rushed the fragmented statements from his chest in one large exhale, each syllable linking with the next in one blurred mess.
Miraculously, Megumi managed to make sense of it.
“Sure?” He answered inquisitively, pulling back his blanket and swinging his legs off the bed.
“Oh! You want to go now?” Yuuji asked, and immediately regretted it.
“Did you not want to go now?” Megumi asked halfway through standing up.
“No, no! I mean – yes! We can go now.” It wasn’t his initial plan, but he would make it work.
Or so he thought.
“Itadori?” There was a snap of fingers accompanying his name being spoken in his favorite voice. The tone was sharp, though, questioning and slightly raised, which was enough to roll Yuuji out of his unintentional daze.
“Huh? What?” Reality suddenly hit him like a brick wall – cold and unforgiving. He was sitting, lost in his thoughts and silent like an idiot on his date with Megumi. His shoulders slumped, and he groaned apologetically. “Sorry, Fushiguro, I’m just nervous.”
The waitress who was tending to their table cleared her throat, obviously having been waiting to set their food down – though Yuuji no longer had much of an appetite.
Upon her exit, Megumi took a quick bite of his food, swallowing it down and immediately posing his next question: “Nervous about what?”
“You know, just… being on a date with you and all.” It felt weird to speak the words out loud, like some sort of taboo, so he said them in a hushed and mumbled tone. Putting his elbow up on the table, Yuuji propped his cheek against his palm, sighing lightly as he looked across the table.
Unexpectedly, surprise and bewilderment stared back at him.
“ What did you just say?” Megumi asked him, flatly without a trace of emotion, but his features gave away everything he was feeling. He was frozen, hand hovering over his plate, eyes wide and pupils dilated, mouth still slightly agape even after he finished speaking.
“That.. being on a date with you is making me nervous…?” Yuuji pulled his hands back to himself, sitting up straighter as he attempted to analyze Megumi’s words and body language.
Megumi stilled, impossible more so, as if his lungs had stopped expanding and collapsing for a moment, too. His features remained unmoved, eyes boring directly into Yuuji’s as seconds ticked by that felt like an eternity.
And then, slowly, his mouth formed words.
“A what?” The emphasis on the last word clued Yuuji in that Megumi was looking for him to repeat himself again.
So he did.
“A… date…?” Yuuji felt stifled, pulling at the collar of his hoodie nervously as he swallowed down a dry gulp.
“A date? ” Megumi echoed, though his tone came out much harsher than it had previously. “Itadori, you didn’t tell me this was a date. ”
“Was I… supposed to?” Yuuji squeaked, and he felt like crying all of a sudden.
“Itadori, you can’t just ask someone on a date without telling them it's a date.” Megumi’s eyebrows furrowed, his mouth scrunched into a scolding frown.
“I thought it was like, implied!” Yuuji defended, putting his hands out in front of him as if they would produce the answer to his stupidity.
“No, it’s not implied!” Megumi reasoned, clearly having the stronger argument. “All you did was ask me to go out to eat, how is that implying it’s a date?!”
“I don’t know! I asked Kugisaki and –” Yuuji was cut off with an immediate groan by Megumi, who had placed both hands over his face and tilted his head back over the booth’s seat.
“Oh my god. ” Was all he uttered, followed by a deep sigh in an attempt to keep himself calm.
Yuuji was a fix-it kind of guy, but this? He had absolutely no clue how to fix this.
So he stayed silent for a moment, letting the intense wave of emotions pass through Megumi as his breathing began to level itself again. His shoulders dropped back down from where they had been drawn-up tight, and his hands fell to the table from his face, though he refused to look at Yuuji.
“I’m sorry, Fushiguro.” Yuuji whispered, unsure of what else to say.
Megumi turned his head back toward the table, eyes still avoiding Yuuji, as he began to stab aimlessly at his long-forgotten food with his fork.
He sighed, then mumbled: “Just make sure you actually ask me next time.”
It took a moment for the words to settle into Yuuji’s ears, making their way through the channels of his brain and finally clicking. “Does that mean you’d say yes anyway?” He smiled, suddenly rejuvenated and ecstatic at the idea of Megumi still, truly wanting to go on a date with him.
“I don’t know, you’d have to ask me.” Megumi pouted, his cheeks turning a soft, rosy shade.
“Fushiguro!” Yuuji beamed. “Do you want to go on a date with me? Like right now?”
The smirk that appeared beneath long, dark lashes gave Yuuji his answer.