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It’s pretty late on a school night when Yuji is in the middle of his usual routine: ignoring his homework and watching Netflix. After seeing Battle Royale was added to Netflix, he couldn’t help but play his third favorite movie of all time. He had just gotten to the scene where Takoko was gouging out her classmate’s eyes, and he couldn’t help but think of how sexy the actress was. The jet-black hair, dark brown eyes, and mischievous smirk sent a familiar wave of arousal down his spine.
Boom
Yuuji turns away from the television to see who slammed the front door. Sukana, stormed into the living room, eyes blazing red and practically foaming at the mouth.
“Stupid…tree hugging…pieces of-,” he mutters angrily.
Despite his furious exterior, Yuuji couldn’t help but note how silly his older brother looked as he attempted to shrug off what appeared to be stray fur from his jacket. He tried and unsuccessfully failed to hold a chuckle at the scene.
“So, how was the animal lovers club?”
Sakuna couldn’t hide his disgust as he spat out, “Terrible,”
This time he couldn’t hold it in. Yuuji spluttered before letting out a gut-wrenching laugh. He continued laughing despite feeling the heated glare radiating from the other’s direction.
“Oh, come on,” Yuuji huffs trying to catch his breath. “You got to admit it’s funny.”
Eventually, Sakuna gave up, taking off the offending piece of clothing. “Three weeks with those mutt lovers and all I have to show for it is a ruined jacket,”
Yuuji couldn’t help but roll his eyes, “You know, if you had joined the club for the right reasons, a little bit of fur wouldn’t upset you,”
But he didn’t. That was clear to almost everyone in the club, including its leader: Megumi Fushiguro. He only joined this stupid club to get closer to him. Sukana couldn’t give a single damn about the stray kitties and puppies.
“Still isn’t giving you the time of day?”
“Not a bit,”
“Told ya,” Yuuji commented as fiddled with his hoodie’s straps spread out on the couch. “Joining his club isn’t somehow going to magically make him like you,”
“I thought it’d at least help a little,” Sukana responded exasperatedly. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Isn’t that what you told me to do? Show my caring side and shit?”
“Yeah, but you don’t care about animals.”
“So? What’s your point?”
Yuuji sighs and moves to get up from the couch. “To be honest, I’m not liking your odds. Megumi barely likes normal people much less abnormalities like yourself,”
“Maybe you’re right,” Sukana sighed. “Alas, my dear enchantress have always had trouble communicating,”
By the time he had made it to his junior year, Sukana had built up a reputation. It implied a lot of things that may or may not have been true about him, but most importantly, it encouraged others to stay away. Ever since his first fight, not one student dares to even look at him the wrong way. He took pride in terrorizing a variety of students from the uppity seniors who acted like they were so high and mighty to the shy lowerclassmen who barely fought back .
During the first week of school, the freshmen were always the funniest to pick on. Like the one currently standing in front of his locker with a quizzical expression. Sukana cracks an evil grin and begins walking up to his unlucky new victim.
As he approached him from behind, his gaze was caught by a more than note-worthy ass. His eyes couldn’t help but zero in on the view as he grew closer. He felt a stirring in his pants as watched the sexy thang stand on his tippy toes to gaze between his locker’s vents.
Sensing an opportunity, Sukana walked up and grabbed the underclassman’s firm rear end, making sure to get a squeeze in before saying, “This year’s meat’s looking juicy,”
Swiftly, a loud slap can be heard reverberating throughout the now silent hall. Sukana hadn’t even realized his cheek was red until he felt the heated stinging pain.
The young man in front of him was now cussing up a storm. Two of the homeroom teachers were holding him back as he attempted to lunge for Sukana’s neck. Through the flurry of curses and threats, he could quite clearly hear him shout, “Screw you, asshole. I’ll screw your whole family. I’ll kill you,”
The student, who he later learned was freshman Megumi Fushiguro, kicked and screamed in the teacher’s hold as he was dragged away. Sukana watched on, unable to stop the warm feeling that was now spreading throughout his chest.
What had happened was, there had been a mix-up in the administration office. Megumi had gotten assigned Sukana’s locker by accident. The entire incident ended with both of them getting served detention, and the two have avoided each other ever since. They probably would have never even talked again if it wasn’t for Yuuji.
Suddenly, a metaphorical lightbulb flickers on above Sukana’s head.
“You and Fushiguro are close right?”
Yuuji had just been about to make his way up the stairs. He turned, cheeks red as he struggled to find the answer. “I mean, I wouldn’t say…”
“You’re close enough that you call him Megumi,”
The implication made him turn even more red. He spluttered for a bit before grabbing the drawstrings on his hoodie and tugging it tight over his face. Sukana rolled his eyes at the theatrics.
“Whatever your relationship is,” he said pulling Yuuji’s hood back open, “he probably values your opinion more than others,”
He resisted the urge to chuckle. Megumi never seemed like the type to consider anyone’s opinion. “So, what’s this got to do with me?
“You can talk me up! Let him know I’m not that bad of a guy,”
“You literally groped him the second you met him,”
“I’m not that good of a guy either,”
Yuuji crosses his arms defiantly. “Forget it!”
As he went to talk away “tut” of disappointment. He turns to Sukana at the bottom of the stairs giving him an evil smile.
“Oh, dear Imouto-san. You’re always so eager to force my hand,” he lightly chucked. “If you don’t help me, I’m telling Gojo you’ve been skipping therapy,”
His boxing coach, Gojo Sataru, had been on him about going to therapy, saying he was never going to get better if he didn’t get serious. And, It’s not that he didn’t take this stuff seriously; he just didn’t think any of it was actually helping. But, his Sensei wouldn’t see it that way.
Knowing he had been bested, Yuuji sighed in defeat.
“You always have something you’re holding over me,” he said annoyed. “It gets pretty old. One of these days, I’m gonna get you back,”
“I welcome the challenge,”
School the next day went by uneventfully. He usually didn’t see Megumi until gym period, so he had to wait until then. His nerves were eating him up in the meantime. How do you even bring something like this up? Megumi wasn’t exactly fond of Sukana.
There might have been more tactful ways to do it, but he couldn’t see any other way around it other than coming forward and asking: 'Hey, Fushiguro want to date my psychopath twin brother?'
During gym, he already knew to slow down a bit to keep pace and talk with Megumi. He tended to lag behind to have a lower record to beat at the end of the year. But, Yuuji’s seen his real speed.
During the summers, they had joint training sessions with Gojo and Sukana. Yuuji was desperate to move up a weight class, so he looked for all the help he could find. Gojo created a series of physical tests meant to measure how Yuuji compared to Megumi. One of those tests was the 5-mile relay.
Nobody except Gojo, had ever been able to come close to beating his time. Nobody except Megumi Fushiguro. Their times for the relay race came within seconds of each other.
Yuuji scratched his head as he watched him run, completely focused and tensed to win. He had never seen that fire in him before. It’s new.
He turned to his brother as they watched his race, “Guess there’s more to Fushiguro than meets the eyes, eh?”
All Sukana said in response was, “That’s one speedy slut,”
The sound of a whistle blaring threw Yuuji out of his daydream.
“2 more laps!” the coach called.
He shook his head and took a deep breath, desperately searching for the right words to ask.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“You just did,” Megumi responded in a bored tone. He hardly looked over as he kept jogging. He had his usual look of disinterest and aloofness painted over his face. Knowing his best friend, that was as good of a go-ahead as he was going to get.
“So, you remember my brother right?”
Megumi’s face scrunched up as he asked, “Sukana?”
“Yeah, that… lovable goofball,”
“Why do you want to ask me about him?”
“Well, I don’t want to ask so much as-”
“I really don’t want to talk about him,” Megumi said resolutely cutting off the conversation altogether.
‘Oh,”
“Like at all,”
“Right,”
Suddenly, the coach blew his whistle causing everyone to jog towards the center of the gym. As they made their way, Megumi leaned over and put his mouth next to his ear. Yuuji could feel his breath tickle the side of his face as he whispered, “You know Toge and Yuuta Senpai started hooking up?”
The one thing Yuuji could never resist was gossip. He gasped dramatically, “What? But, I thought he was dating Maki Senpai,”
“Apparently, he still is,” he said with a shrug. “Nobara knows more about it than me. She said she’d tell us about it at lunch today,”
Lunch? That was the next period, right? Should he wait until then? No, if Nobara heard about him trying to hook Megumi up with Sukana, she’d be pissed. And, she’s in class with Megumi until the end of the day. Which means, he has to do it now.
As the gym teacher dismissed them, Yuuji made sure to trail closely behind Megumi as he headed toward the locker room. A growing sense of pressure building in his chest the closer they got. It honestly surprised him. If he knew hooking his brother up would be such a pain, he would have just told Gojo about skipping therapy himself.
They were at the lockers, getting redressed when Yuuji brought back up the courage to try and broach the topic again.
“So, about what I was saying earlier…”
“Earlier?”
“Yeah, about the-” Suddenly, Yuuji felt his throat tighten up. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Look, Valentine’s Day is coming up, right? I know you hate being single on that day,”
Megumi paused putting on his deodorant and gave Yuuji a curious look. “I guess, yeah,”
“So, why don’t you make the most of it? I mean, come on, there are worse options in this school,”
“You make it so convincing,” The brunette's tone dropped with sarcasm. “You’d be the world’s worst salesman if it came down to it,”
“Well, I’d have a better pitch if I was working with a better product,” Yuuji joked with a grimace. , Sukana’s demonic and dastardly face flashing in his mind. Seriously. He’d have an easier time asking his best friend to wrestle a bear.
Megumi chuckled at that, blushing creeping up his neck. “Product can’t be that bad. I mean. you talked me into it,”
There was a slight pause as the two of them locked gazes with each other. Neither of them could tear their eyes away from each other. Megumi looked like he wanted to say something. He hesitated, opening and closing his mouth before saying, “What if this makes things weird?”
“Why would it?” Yuuji said with a shrug. The question seemed to break him out of his daze causing him to uncomfortably take a step back “I think I’ve known where you’re heart’s truly lain for a while now,”
Another pause. “Are you okay with it? With me, I mean?”
Yuuji thought about the question. Was he okay with Megumi and Sukana being dating? He’s not sure. It is awkward. It’s like seeing a guy marry a bird; it can happen, but it completely goes against the laws of nature. But, he couldn’t let Megumi know that he hated the idea. Then, he’d never give Sukana a chance.
“Of course I am,” Yuuji turned his head before continuing, unable to meet the intensity of his gaze. “And, you’re a catch, ‘Gumi. You deserve to be with the person you love,”
Megumi gasped. It didn’t seem possible for him to get any more red, yet his flush deepened in hue.
His voice was quiet when he asked. “H-How long have you known? About my feelings?”
Yuuji gave him a strange look out the corner of his eyes. Why would he care about me knowing? He would have eventually found out.
“Since freshman year, honestly,” the pink-haired teen smiled, playfully slugging the angsty teen following it up with an arm lock and noogie. Megumi lightly pushed him away trying to hide his smile. Yuuji couldn’t help but fondly hum at the sight of it.
“You’re pretty easy to read,” he said ruefully. Under his breath, he muttered “And, even easier to love,”
“What was that?”
“I said ‘I know what it looks like when you have a crush’,”
Now, it was Megumi’s turn to look away, “I wanted to tell you.”
With an annoyed groan, Yuuji waved off his fears. Part of him can’t stand to hear about how Megumi came to terms with his feelings, but there’s another part of him that’s just wanting to get this over with, so he can go home and cry. “There’s no point in apologizing now. It won’t do any good anyway,”
He expected to see the other teen jumping for joy or at least showing some signs of happiness, but what he saw was even weirder.
Megumi seemed to be staring straight at him, his gaze glazed over. Before Yuuji could stop him, he reached over to grab Yuuji’s arm catching him off guard. He ran his fingers over the scars on his fingers, lightly dragging his finger up his forearm to his face where he traced the scars there as well. Yuuji was frozen, not sure what was happening, but not opposed to it either.
Suddenly, Megumi put his hand on Yuuji’s neck, bending him down to his height. The sudden change in height had both of them looking deep into each other’s eyes. The distance between them began to close even more as Megumi whispered, “I agree,”
After saying those two words, he lunged forward, capturing Yuuji’s lips in a chaste kiss.
It takes a while for his brain to catch up. The ghostly feeling of Megumi’s lips on his is still fresh. He barely registers Megumi’s whispers in his state of shock.
“I love you, Yuuji san,”
“You kissed him?”
“Not a real kiss,” Yuuji said with his hands up trying to defend himself. “It wasn’t like there was any tongue,”
His older brother scoffed, “Yeah, like that makes it any better,”
“Look, Megumi’s coming over soon,” Yuji maneuvers around him making his way to the stairs. “I can break it off with him then,”
Sukuna thought about it for a second then shook his head, waving him off. “Nah, there’s no point. He said he loves you,”
“Yeah?” He thought back to earlier. As he reminisced, he felt the soft and delicate hand that made its way up his arm. The feeling of his small waist completely being encompassed in his hands. A whisper in his ear revealed a coveted and previous secret.
Yuuji still hadn’t been able to take it in.
Megumi loves him.
“But, I don’t love him,” he said to Sukana. “At least not like that. I don’t think,”
With a roll of his eyes, his older brother flopped down on the couch, flipping on the TV. “Whatever. He wasn’t that hot anyways,”
Despite the harshness of his words, Yujii could see he was hurt. Sukana would never admit it though. Instead, he played it off, leaning back, arms behind his head, relaxed. But, the tightened grip on the remote and tense jaw gave it away.
Yuuji sighed deciding to leave it be for now. “Whatever, I’m going up to my room,”
Once he’s in his room, he begins to contemplate the situation. Can Sukana be mad that Megumi asked him out? It wasn’t like he was seriously interested. He just wanted a taste of hard-to-get hottie. At least, Yuuji had actual feelings for him.
He remembers the first time he saw him. He had been sprinting around the track at practice when he accidentally hit Megumi, causing his books and papers to fly everywhere. He stuttered out an apology as he helped pick everything up, but when he glanced at him, he didn’t appear to be angry. If anything, he appeared to be amused more than anything.
“You must be Yuuji,”
“How’d you know my name?”
“I was at your match last night.,” Megumi chuckled. “And, you sure as hell weren’t Sukana,”
Yuuji frowned. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
He blew a few strands of hair out his face explaining, “Your hits and form are incredibly precise. They more than likely result from studying under a discipline with an actual teacher. Sukana may have the form of a brawler, but he has a habit of staying on the offensive that makes him more predictable,”
“Huh,” Yuuji noticed with a raised brow. “You didn’t strike me as an MMA fan,”
At this, Megumi returned his look of suspicion, “Why not?”
“Ummm,” he spluttered, trying to find the words to get him out of trouble. Sweat begins to pour down his face the longer they stand in silence. Finally, he decides, “So, you’re friends with Noboara, right?
He’s in his room flipping through his photo albums when he hears the doorbell. Certain that it’s Megumi, Yuuji gives the photo he was looking at one last knowing glance before he heads out. It was a picture of Megumi and Yuuji, sitting outside at the school assembly where they first met during freshman year.
When he thinks back on that day, he can’t help but remember how beautiful Megumi was. His hair rippled in the breeze that Yuuji had always wanted to run his fingers through; His bright beautiful smile that could melt Yuuji’s heart; The fresh scent of vanilla and pine that compels Yuuji to secretly sniff him more than usual when he was not looking.
And he was going to give all that up?
He walked out of the room and went down the stairs, now set on his plan. No way was he breaking up with Megumi. Sukana would just have to deal with it. Maybe Yuuji can help set him up with Maki. He heard she was single.
The resoluteness in his decision takes a weight off of Yuuji’s shoulders. The beaming smile he wears quickly fades as he turns the corner to see Sukana and Megumi embracing while making out in the doorway.