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Yuuji was having a hard time concentrating in class, fidgeting his pen between his fingers.
For some odd reason, Jujutsu Tech’s hottest and most sought after resident bad boy — Ryoumen Sukuna — had decided to sit right next to him. Hell, it was weird to even see him in class since he usually played hooky, going days without ever attending a single lesson. Maybe it was the perks of being the grandson of the school’s chairman, letting him freely do whatever he pleased as long as he did the bare minimum.
Still, this made Yuuji wonder why the guy decided to sit right next to him instead of his usual gaggle of squealing girls or the few friends he did hang out with.
“Hey.” A quiet low voice called, startling Yuuji out of his thoughts.
Whipping his head to the side to see Ryoumen with that usual smirk he’s always seen with, Yuuji stuttered, “U-Uhm, yes? Did you need anything?”
His deskmate nodded his head towards Yuuji’s side of the desk, “What chapter are we on? I’m lost and I didn’t bring my textbook.”
Blinking rapidly, Yuuji stared dumbly at him before realizing he was asking to share his textbook, shuffling about some stuff before placing the opened book between them.
“W-We’re on chapter seven, R-Ryoumen…” Yuuji said meekly.
This earned him a hard stare from the guy, almost as if he was observing very closely before scooting his chair closer.
“Sukuna.” He finally responded.
“Huh?” Yuuji was puzzled.
“Ryoumen is what they call my dad and grandfather.” He explained, smirking wider, “Just call me Sukuna.”
Finally understanding what he meant, Yuuji only hesitantly nodded, though he wondered in what situation would he ever call Sukuna by name out loud. As if he was even brave enough to talk to the guy out on the school campus.
Either way, he couldn’t believe Sukuna actually talked to him, considering himself in the lower end of the social pyramid. It wasn’t like he didn’t have friends or anything, he had plenty of them even, spanning across different grades. They were all incredibly nice, maybe not the warmest people out there but they were great friends.
No, Yuuji simply just didn’t think too highly of himself, being what most people called a nerd.
Megumi and Nobara often told him to stop hanging out with the occult freaks before he gets cursed by some random spirit, though maybe he should consider himself cursed right now because Sukuna had talked to him.
Sighing, he should stop himself from spiralling down some dark thoughts, knowing they won’t do him any good. Unbeknownst to him, this caught his deskmate’s attention, still quietly observing him from the corners of his eyes.
When the school bell rang an hour later, Yuuji gathered his stuff to quickly leave, not wanting to stick around before people started crowding around Sukuna. A usual occurrence, benefits of being the most popular kid in school. Right as he was getting up, the teacher suddenly stopped everyone from leaving.
“Almost forgot. Before you leave, I’m assigning a group project to all of you.” The teacher began passing out sheets of paper as he paced down each desk, “Split into groups of two, the person you’re sitting with will be your partner. Assignment due in two weeks.”
Yeah, Yuuji is definitely cursed now.
“Wait, wait, wait! That Ryoumen Sukuna?” Nobara looked at him incredulously, putting down her spoon back to her tray, “Your project partner is Ryoumen Sukuna? Resident heartbreaker and delinquent?”
Megumi snorted, swallowing his sandwich, “Surprised he even came to class.”
Yuuji had his face buried into his hands, nodding.
The three of them gathered at the usual table for lunch when their pink-haired friend dropped the news to them, trying his best not to sink into the floor and hope it swallowed him whole to escape having to work an assignment with Sukuna.
If the guy even decided to do it with him anyway.
Nobara, ever the helpful friend, whistled, “Damn, you’re fucked then.”
Yuuji placed his arms down on the table, glaring at her, “Gee, thanks.”
He threw his peas at her, the girl quick to grab her pudding and aim it at him. The two glared at each other before Megumi chimed in.
“Put the food down, you heathens.” The dark-haired boy scolded them, eyes narrowing before turning his side where Yuuji was, “Just talk to the guy, and if he doesn’t wanna do it, then you can do the assignment yourself and tell the teacher you did all the work.”
Yuuji sank his head down into his arms with a whine, “But I don’t wanna be a teacher’s pet! And let’s not forget who owns this school in the first place!”
Megumi shrugged, “So? Your grades are on the line and if he doesn’t wanna do any of the work, then that’s his problem.”
“You’ll be fine.” His friend assured him.
Sometimes he hated how reasonable his friend could be, always the voice of reason between the three of them. Sighing, he peeked his eyes out from his arms to his food tray, not even hungry anymore.
The sound of a message notification jolted him upright, checking his phone to see it was a message from Sukuna asking where he was.
“Who is it?” Nobara asked, swallowing her food.
Yuuji nervously read and re-read the message, never expecting a message from him so soon. Or at all.
“Sukuna.” He answered.
Megumi and Nobara gave him a slightly surprised look, glancing at each other before the brown-haired girl snickered.
“Already on a first name basis? You move fast for a nerd, Yuuji.”
Rolling his eyes at her, Yuuji tapped on his phone, letting him know he was at the school cafeteria. It didn’t even take a minute for Sukuna to send him another message, asking if he’s good to work on their assignment now.
He sighed, “Looks like he wants to work on our project.” Yuuji paused for a second, “Or he wants to beat me up.”
Megumi scoffed, “Please, as if you’re that helpless.”
Yuuji got up from his seat, letting Sukuna know he’s heading to his locker first to put some of his stuff away once they decided to meet up at the school library, “Yeah, yeah. I’m leaving.”
Gathering his stuff into his bag, adjusting the glasses on his face, Yuuji was about to leave only to feel his face heat up when Nobara screamed, “Maybe he wants to get some ass! Better watch out, loser!”
Nobara died in laughter as Yuuji gave her the middle finger, much to Megumi’s embarrassment.
Yeah, no. Yuuji can’t do this.
He watched Sukuna laugh and joke around, surrounded by what he assumed were his friends and a bunch of girls thirsting for his attention. At the very least, he paid them no mind, sitting on the top of the bench instead of the actual seats where his feet were.
Because of course he’d sit like an asshole.
Even though they made some kind of a plan to work on their assignment, there was no way in hell Yuuji was going to approach a group of popular kids. He’d get eaten alive, already knowing he must have some target on his back now as Sukuna’s project partner, a coveted position by many of the students.
With a resigned sigh, Yuuji turned back, hoping his best friends were still at the cafeteria.
Right as he was beginning to walk away, someone tugged him back into something hard, looking up to see Sukuna staring down at him with those sharp red eyes of his.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He grumbled so close to Yuuji’s ear.
“Uhm…” Yuuji started dumbly, trying to gather his thoughts, “Y-You looked busy, so I was gonna… head somewhere else.”
And he was also questioning how the guy got here so fast when they were like a few feet away from each other.
How Sukuna even saw him was a whole mystery.
It was also making Yuuji go red in the face being in such close proximity with the man, his strong arm wrapped around his shoulders and pressing Yuuji’s back flushed against his chest. People must be watching them right now, Sukuna having the kind of presence that attracted eyes on him after all.
“We have a project to do, right? So let’s get started.” He said, dragging Yuuji with him just like that.
He couldn’t even protest from how he was being somewhat manhandled, not even walking as his feet dragged against the ground and leaving a makeshift trail along the way.
Before he knew it, the both of them were at the library, placing him down by the entrance. There weren’t any other students inside other than the school librarian, most others preferring to do other things during their free time. Now that he was free though, Yuuji started going through their paper to see what they needed, already heading towards certain shelves with how familiar he was with the library.
Sukuna quirked an eyebrow but followed closely behind him, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket.
Yuuji was already gathering up the books they needed, stacking them in his arms without much care. He could carry them perfectly fine, the weight hardly a problem but it was seeing where he was going that was getting to be an issue. Trying to peek around his growing stack, it was about to fall over and hit him on the head before a hand popped up above him, taking half of the stack of books.
“Let’s just put these down first before you end up hurting yourself again.” Sukuna shot him a smirk, turning around to find a good place to put their books down. Yuuji felt his face heat up, nodding mutely.
They ended up settling down on one of the couch areas hidden at the very back of the library. No one normally went into this space, preferring the private study rooms or the longer tables at the very center. Settling down his stuff on the couch, Yuuji could probably get his part of the assignment done quickly, never having a problem with any of the material he’s given.
The real trouble is the person sitting beside him, watching his every move like a hawk.
His gaze flickered back and forth between Sukuna and the paper in his hands, gulping, “I-Is there anything you need help with?”
Again, those red eyes seem to bore holes into his head from the way he kept staring so hard at Yuuji, trying to figure out what exactly he wanted and it meant trouble. Sure, Sukuna was an amicable enough guy when talked to, but the nasty rumours surrounding him about wild parties and other kinds of illicit activities on top of cutting school he didn’t even have to pay to attend made this a lot more nerve-wracking than it should be.
Noticing a hand reaching out to him, Yuuji closed his eyes shut tight, thinking he’s going to get hit. Instead, he felt fingers gently ruffling his hair, opening his eyes back up to see Sukuna take a leaf out of his pink strands.
“It’s been bothering me.” He explained, flicking the leaf away, “What did you do? Run through the trees or something?”
Realizing he was unharmed, Yuuji let out a sigh of relief, much to his partner’s amusement as he lifted his hands up in mock-surrender.
“Relax, I’m not gonna do anything to ya.” Jokingly, he leaned in close to Yuuji’s ear with a teasing smirk, “Yet.”
Yuuji felt himself shudder, casting his gaze away as his cheeks flushed red and covering his ear.
“P-Please don’t do that again.”
Sukuna laughed, uncaring if the librarian or anybody else heard him. Oddly enough, it was a pretty lighthearted kind of laugh, not the mocking kind he’d expected from someone like him.
Afterwards, they spent the rest of their time working on their assignment, between Sukuna messing around and Yuuji trying to get him to focus.
Yuuji laid slump on his chair, exhausted.
The past week has been a whirlwind of events, all because of his group project assignment with the school’s one and only troublemaker. Calling him that was putting it lightly, with Sukuna for some reason now attached to him. The dark pink-haired man started sitting beside him in every class they shared, which was surprisingly a lot to which Yuuji pondered on how he hadn’t noticed this before.
Not only that, he was also following Yuuji around wherever he went, making some kind of small talk or asking Yuuji what he was doing. The most embarrassing moment was when he was at his locker, shuffling through his homework when the guy popped out of nowhere and almost caged him against his own locker. Yuuji hardly paid any attention to what he said, too focused on how close they were at the time.
If he didn’t know any better, Yuuji would’ve assumed Sukuna was hitting on him which would be a ridiculous notion.
Having Sukuna constantly around him also meant everyone started paying attention to him, noticing the whispers amongst the students whenever he walked past them with the most popular kid in school trailing behind him. It was even getting to the point he’d sit down to eat lunch with him and his best friends, the two once asking him later that day if they were a thing now.
Safe to say, he was going to have a heart attack one of these days.
Sasaki was cleaning up their clubroom for the day with the help of Iguchi and Junpei, done with their usual activities which involved messing around with whatever occult ritual they found. They were all obviously bogus but the club was more for them to have fun and hang out. Of course, they do actually research and discuss supernatural occurrences but nothing dangerous.
Megumi and Nobara may call them occult freaks but Yuuji considered himself one of them too.
“You’ve been the talk of the school lately, Itadori.” Said Sasaki with a mischievous smile.
Yuuji groaned, wanting to head home, “Don’t remind me.”
Junpei piped up beside him with a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, “Can’t say I understand but good luck.”
All of a sudden, the clubroom door slid open with a hard clang, revealing Sukuna with his bag hanging on one shoulder and looking as fine as ever. His eyes landed on the hand laying on Yuuji’s shoulder, the first-year quickly letting go but hardly threatened, sending a knowing glance at their seniors who snickered behind their hands.
Approaching Yuuji, who was still seated on his chair, Sukuna was suddenly all smiles, “Done?”
“Yeah?” Yuuji finally got off his chair, head tilted slightly, “Did you need anything from me? I don’t think we made any plans to meet up today.”
Sukuna shrugged, “I need a reason to come find you?”
Dumbfounded and confused, Yuuji slowly shook his head, “I… guess not.”
Satisfied with his answer, Sukuna then picked up Yuuji’s bag and tossed it over his shoulder, the bag resting against his back now.
“Come on, you’re hanging out with me now.” He declared without giving Yuuji a choice in the matter.
He was already out the door, towing Yuuji’s bag with him while he scrambled to catch up to the tall man, asking for his stuff back. The other members of the occult club simply shook their heads at their friend and clubmate, dense beyond relief.
“Itadori is gonna get eaten alive.” Junpei stated, the second-years nodding in agreement.
When Sukuna mentioned he wanted to hang out together, Yuuji didn’t think he meant he wanted to see his house.
His parents were often away due to the nature of their work, although they did call him just as often to ask how he was and if he needed anything at all. They were still great parents and Yuuji understood they loved him dearly, so he could still say he was raised right since they do try their best.
But now he sincerely wished they were home, if it meant things were less awkward since now he was alone with Sukuna in his bedroom while the guy snooped around every nook and cranny he could find.
“Man, I know you like reading books and all, but I didn’t think to this extent.” Said Sukuna as he picked up a random book off his extensively filled bookshelf.
Yuuji shrugged as he stood beside him, “Most of these I bought myself, some others are something my parents sent from wherever they are.” He trailed his finger down each spine of the books, “Some of these are in different languages too, but it’s a little hard to read when I have to run through the sentences using an online translator.”
Chuckling to himself, his parents seriously needed to give him books he could actually understand, but he did love the challenge of learning a new language this way.
Sukuna appeared somewhat impressed, “No wonder you’re so smart then, I wouldn’t even bother to put in half the effort you do.”
The sudden compliment went straight to his head, cheeks blushing red again and fanning himself to cool it back down.
“I just like reading books a lot. I used to get sick a lot as a kid and books were all I had that time.” Yuuji explained, taking a random book off the shelf, a nostalgic smile slowly forming, “I’m a lot better and stronger now though.”
While he was busy flipping through the pages of the book, something about flowers and their meaning, he hadn’t noticed the thoughts passing through Sukuna’s mind. His red obs basking in the sight before him until Yuuji glanced to his side, amber eyes widening.
Again, Sukuna was looking at him with that unreadable expression on his face again.
This was becoming a frequent occurrence whenever things started getting quiet between them, always finding Sukuna staring hard at him. Yuuji was never sure what he was thinking when he did this, always shrugging it off as if it was nothing and went back to smirking at him, teasing and joking around. It was both uncomfortable and intriguing.
“Is there… something on my face?” Asked Yuuji unsurely, breaking the silence, “You keep staring at me and it’s a bit uncomfortable…”
All of a sudden, Sukuna took his glasses off his face, placing it down on the narrow leftover space on the bookshelf beside them before he leaned down to peck his lips, hands on both sides of his head. Seeing no resistance on Yuuji’s end, this time he leaned down and smashed their lips together much more forcefully with a yelp from the smaller of the two.
Too surprised by the kiss, Yuuji clung to his shirt almost helplessly, inexperienced. The only thing running through his mind at that moment was that he was being kissed by Ryoumen Sukuna.
Ryoumen Sukuna.
Is kissing him.
On the lips.
It sent his mind whirling, unsure of how to react other than meekly reciprocating. He swore he heard the older teen chuckle against his lips before tugging him closer by the waist, deepening their kiss. They stay liplocked, Sukuna taking the lead in every step of the way. When they finally pulled away for air, Yuuji found himself laying back on his bed, hardly noticing they’d even move.
Trying to catch his breath, Yuuji was processing in his mind what just happened. The fact he had shared a kiss with the hottest guy in school and it wasn’t even him who started it but Sukuna.
“You kissed me.” Yuuji stated matter-of-factly.
“Yeah.” Answered Sukuna.
“You just kissed me.” He stated a second time, letting it sink in more.
“That I did.” He chuckled.
Seeing the dumbstruck expression on Yuuji’s face, Sukuna leaned down again to kiss him again, as if telling him that this was happening for real. Tugging at his shirt, breathless, Yuuji was lost in the heat of the moment. His hands find their way to dark short hair mixed with a shade of pink darker than his own, pulling Sukuna down further.
The second time they pulled away, a trail of saliva left between their lips, Yuuji still couldn’t believe what was happening inside his own bedroom. He gasped for air, slowly sitting up on the bed and back to the wall, both of them moving till he was inadvertently straddling Sukuna’s lap while caged completely between him and the wall.
“Uhm…” Yuuji started, still trying to catch his breath, “… why did you kiss me?”
The look in Sukuna’s eyes sent shivers down his spine, staring back at him hungrily until he laid his head down on his shoulder, face hidden.
“You really are so fucking dense.” He grumbled, arms wrapped around Yuuji’s waist.
Now Yuuji was thoroughly confused, puzzled by the insult. Was it even an insult? He wasn’t sure.
“I really don’t understand what’s going on right now.”
Sukuna finally lifted up his head again and oh, how red he was right then and there. Cheeks flushed in a red almost as deep as his eyes, eyebrows furrowed and the refreshingly embarrassed expression on his face. Never had Yuuji seen him like this at all, having always held an air of arrogance and confidence. Everyone wanted a piece of him, a chance for his attention. The heartthrob of their school.
And here he was, blushing mad like a schoolgirl.
“You honest to fucking god don’t know what you do to me, do you?” Sukuna started heatedly, though it came out more awkward and adorable than anything, “Literally everyone we know noticed except for you!”
“N-Noticed what?” Yuuji questioned, still lost.
Sukuna groaned in exasperation, “That I have a damn crush on you, you dense asshole!”
Processing everything in his brain, the second it sunk in, Yuuji finally reacted and stuttered horribly, now just as completely red as Sukuna.
“M-Me?! What?! How and why?!” He shouted loudly in shock.
“Have you seen yourself? I’ve been crushing hard on you since earlier this year to the point my friends took bets on when I’d finally make a move on you.” Clicking his tongue, Sukuna growled, “Fuckers gonna get it one of these days, I tell ya.”
Yuuji continued to be shocked, “Your friends know?!”
Facepalming, the next part didn’t make it any better, “Yuuji, the whole school knows.”
By that point, his brain had malfunctioned and Yuuji fainted, much to Sukuna’s own shock as he fretted over the pink-haired teen the whole evening.
“You guys fucking suck.” Yuuji hissed at his friends.
They were all gathered at the usual lunch table together, Junpei also joining them this time. Megumi and Junpei at least tried to hold in their laughter, while Nobara was full blown laughing her ass off at him.
Turns out, Sukuna was telling the truth. The whole school knew he had a crush on Yuuji; all the whispering he’d been seeing were them talking to each other if Sukuna had finally made his move and asked him out. In fact, even the group of girls he was always surrounded with were there because they were interested in how his progress was so far in regards to asking Yuuji out.
Yuuji had no idea how he never noticed anything at all.
“That’s because you’ve always had your head in the books.” Answered Megumi truthfully, coughing from trying to hold in his laughter, “Yuuji, if you’d pay even a bit of attention to your surroundings, you’d have noticed he was always looking in your direction.”
Nobara snorted, wiping away her tears, “Please, it wasn’t even a secret! I’ve heard him say several times how much he had the hots for you!”
Junpei, a bit nicer than the other two, patted Yuuji on the back, taking pity on him.
“There, there. Now you know the hottest guy in school has had a thing for you this entire time.”
Speak of the devil in a leather jacket and ripped jeans, the man of the hour chose that time to pop up and settle down on the empty seat right beside Yuuji, arm quick to wrap around his shoulder to tug him close.
“Hey, hey, you talkin’ bout me?” He chimed in with a knowing smirk.
Yuuji glared daggers at him, only receiving a mirthful laughter in return.
“I’m not talking to you. This whole thing is your fault.” Yuuji spat in hostility, not that he was being taken seriously by Sukuna who simply kissed him on the side of his head, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll take all your punishments later.”
“I’m serious!” Cried out Yuuji.
“Mhmm, I hear you.” Sukuna laughed, showering him with more kisses.
His friends all laughed, much to Yuuji’s ire as he shouted.
“I hate all you guys so much right now!”