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The first time Megumi holds him, Yuuji is too tired to really dwell on it.
They’re trudging back to the dorms after playing a copious amount of baseball, all looking and feeling like shit, but Yuuji manages to find the strength in him to visit the vending machine. He hardly notices Megumi following him— Yuuji even considers telling him to go fuck off to bed because he’d arguably gotten the worst out of all three of them, but as he’s staring at the drinks through the glass wall of the machine and thinking of what to say, warmth envelops his back.
It doesn’t register, at first. Megumi’s arms around his shoulders, his face bent downwards and pressed into the material on Yuuji’s shoulder. It’s done so casually— thoughtlessly, and Yuuji is too busy counting the change in his hand to really reflect on the way he instinctively leans back into the comfort.
“You…” Megumi says, his voice hoarse, and Yuuji casually watches the can of soda he clicked be shoved from its place and into the collection area. “Fuck, I’m exhausted.”
“Why’d you come out here with me?” Yuuji asks instead of responding, not moving to pick up his can in fear of ruining the moment. “You want a drink or something? Not that I don’t appreciate the company, I guess, but—”
“Shut up,” Megumi groans, lifting his head and pressing his face into Yuuji’s hair. “Shut up for once, will you? I thought you had fucking— I thought you were dead, asshole.”
“…Sorry,” Yuuji says for what feels like the hundredth time, hands coming up to rest on Megumi’s arms as he forgets about his soda entirely. “Um, Gojou sensei thought it’d be best since I was a target, I guess? But I should have asked to tell you— but I also didn’t want to— I wanted to be stronger. Before I got back to you guys.”
“You made Nobara cry,” Megumi hisses, tightening his grip on Yuuji, and god— is this weird? Should Yuuji be considering whatever’s going on here? He’s tired and he’s hurting (physically and emotionally) and Megumi’s touch feels so fucking safe, but is this— is this okay?
“I just—” Yuuji sighs, and then realises that he can’t have this conversation facing a vending machine, so he tries to turn around. Megumi acquiesces easily enough, arms unwrapping around Yuuji’s shoulders as he turns to face him and hanging awkwardly from his sides, and suddenly Yuuji is a whole lot colder than he was a couple seconds ago. “I didn’t want you to regret it. Saving me, I mean. I wanted— I wanted to make it worth something.”
“Idiot, you don’t owe me for that,” Megumi heatedly counters, his face mere inches from Yuuji’s. “We save people all the time— do we regret it? Even if they’re weak, do we regret it? No. I saved you because I wanted to. Because it didn’t feel right to let an innocent person die for no reason. I was selfish, okay? You don’t— you got that mission done when me and Nobara couldn’t. Why the hell would you think you’re not strong enough to see us? To see me?”
“Whatever! What’s done is done, okay? I’m already plenty embarrassed from this morning, so cut it out,” Yuuji tuts, face an embarrassing shade of red from his humiliation, but Megumi just seems more exasperated. “Don’t look at me like that! You’ve said some pretty stupid things, too. ‘If you die I’ll kill you’? Come on.”
Megumi opens his mouth to retort but comes up short, blinking bewildered eyes at him under the fluorescent lights of the vending machine. Yuuji’s about to tease him for freezing up when his features suddenly soften, mouth tilting upwards at the corners to form a small smile, and now Yuuji is the one who’s frozen.
Is this the first time he’s seen Megumi smile?
“What’s with that look?” Megumi asks him, still smiling, and Yuuji finds himself having trouble breathing. Is he teasing him? The inches between them suddenly feel like millimetres, and maybe they are— maybe they’ve become millimetres, because Megumi’s hands have found their way to Yuuji’s waist and Yuuji is still standing there like a brick wall just staring at him. “You can’t fault me for saying one thing out of worry when everything that comes out your mouth is twice as bad.”
“Hey!” Yuuji yells, affronted, because it’s the only thing distracting him from how red his face has gotten. Stupid. Stupid. “You can’t just admit you’re worried and then insult me! I did all this training for you, and everything!”
Well, not exactly for Megumi only, but the thought is still there and it most definitely counts.
“For me?” Megumi asks, and suddenly Yuuji feels as though he couldn’t have picked anything worse to say. Shit, were they this close the entire time? He sort of wishes the exhaustion would come back full swing— maybe he wouldn’t think as much about the way their chests are pressed together then. “You trained for me?”
“Not— not just for you. Only like— partly, and—” Yuuji’s rambling, he knows this, but the stupid smirk Megumi is giving him isn’t helping in the slightest. Was he always this smug? “You’re making fun of me, aren’t you? This is totally teasing, yeah? Well— you can fuck right off. At least I know when to— to…”
He can’t really finish that sentence, because Megumi is leaning in and suddenly Yuuji is aware that there is a very high chance he’s doing so with the intention to kiss him, and there’s an even higher chance that Yuuji’s not really going to mind. Fuck, he’s never kissed anyone before. Wait, does this mean Megumi likes him?! Does this mean he was considering kissing him back?!
Yuuji’s brain feels like it’s sizzled up and died, but Megumi’s lips are a centimetre away from his own and maybe this isn’t so confusing anymore, because he’s closing his eyes and leaning in too, and—
“Wait, are you guys fucking gay?”
Sukuna. Fuck, he’d forgotten about him.
“Tell him to fuck off,” Megumi mumbles, his breath ghosting Yuuji’s lips as he gazes down at him with an undeterred look in his eyes, and Yuuji thinks that his face has never been more red.
“I can hear you,” Sukuna tuts, in the exact same moment Yuuji croaks out, “please just fucking leave.”
“What? No,” Sukuna is huffing, but Yuuji cannot fucking deal with the way Megumi’s arms have wrapped around his middle, so he expands what little curse energy he needs to get this dude to fuck off and away for the time being. He only needs a few minutes, and Yuuji seriously doubts Sukuna’s gonna expend any of his energy just to comment on two teenagers kissing.
Megumi seems to realise he’s gone for now, too, because his lips are suddenly slotting against Yuuji’s and holy shit, Gojou’s gonna have a field day when he finds out about this. Yuuji’s having a field day right now, actually, and he’s happy to say he can add being pressed against a fucking vending machine to his list of things he’s done. That, and being kissed. Holy shit, he’s kissing someone. He’s kissing Megumi.
“Holy shit,” he exhales as soon as Megumi parts from him, and he brings his hands up from the uncomfortable way they were pressed between them to rest loosely around Megumi’s shoulders. “Okay, we just kissed right?”
“Yeah,” Megumi chuckles, leaning in and once again pressing his lips against Yuuji’s for a brief moment. “You kissed me back?”
“Yeah,” Yuuji confirms, and they just look at each other for a second. “Okay, now what?”
“I want to kiss you again,” Megumi says, ever a man of many words, and Yuuji coughs awkwardly. “What?”
“Do you… like, this means you like me?” Yuuji asks and then, at Megumi’s dead expression, adds “okay, stupid question— of course you do. Right. Whatever, just kiss me again.”
“Your one good idea,” Megumi chuckles, and before Yuuji can even complain he’s silenced by the feel of Megumi’s mouth on his again.