Gojo's Princess ♔ | Gofushi | Itafushi

9 - call

It was evening. Gojo and Megumi were in a park, standing at the payphone. They were illuminated by the lights of the lamp posts situated along the walkways, otherwise it would've been completely dark. The air was lukewarm, which Megumi found a bit unpleasant.

"Aren't you excited Megumi-chan?" Gojo asked as he looked at the slip of paper with Itadori's number on it and dialed it on the keypad. "You can finally talk to your dear Yuuji-kun."

"I don't want to talk to him," Megumi responded, looking solemnly at the ground. 

"Sure you do," Gojo said as the phone rang. The volume was all the way up, so if Gojo stood close enough he could listen in. "You remember what we talked about right?"

"Yeah," Megumi replied. Gojo's words echoed in his mind. Talk to him as if I'm not here. And don't let him know I'm here with you. 

Megumi remembered the conversation they had prior to coming here. Gojo had told him that he wanted Megumi to see Itadori again. For no particular reason, he said at the time. But Megumi knew otherwise. It was probably some sort of trap to lure Itadori out or get some kind of information from him. But even then, Megumi didn't have the power to object. All he could do was watch. Because as much as he didn't want anything to happen to Itadori, it was Tsumiki's life on the line. And he had already made his decision. 

That didn't stop him from feeling an immense amount of guilt and sorrow however. I'm sorry, he thought. I'm sorry for being so weak. 

Gojo took the trouble of bringing Megumi all the way out to a payphone to call Itadori so their number couldn't be traced. We wouldn't want him showing up at our house now would we?

Gojo passed the phone to Megumi. The line went through. "Hello?" Itadori said through the phone. "This is Itadori Yuuji speaking. Who is this?"

Megumi took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was going to say.

"It's me," Megumi answered. "We met in the alleyway, at the shopping district. I was almost passed out and you saved me."

"Oh Megumi, it's you!" Itadori cried out cheerfully. "Are you okay? Are you healthy? Are you eating enough? Are you sleeping enough? Do you need-"

"I'm fine, don't worry," Megumi assured him. "Are you also doing okay?" Megumi asked.

"Yeah," Itadori responded. "Um, listen Megumi, I need to talk to you about something. Are you alone? Is that guy with you?"

Megumi remembered Gojo's words. Talk to him as if I'm not here. "Yeah it's just me," he confirmed. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well I couldn't stop thinking about you," Itadori said, sounding a little embarrassed. "But the more I thought about you, the more I couldn't help but worry. I mean you looked like you haven't eaten or slept properly in weeks. You looked completely out of it. And when I asked about it you wouldn't tell me why."

Itadori continued, "So I wondered," he gulped, "If maybe you were in trouble. If maybe, uh, you were being abused."

"Uhh...." Megumi didn't know what to say. Itadori was very observant. But in this case, it was a bad thing. A very bad thing. For him. 

"And, I don't know it might be far-fetched," Itadori ventured, "But the way he treated you and looked at you when you were in his arms. It.." He faltered, Megumi heard the hesitation in his voice, "..made me doubt that you were brothers."

Megumi was silent on his end of the line.

Itadori went on. "He just seemed, uh, suspicious when I met him. I thought to myself 'maybe it was stupid of me for giving him my number.' Well at least I never told him where I really lived haha. But even if it was stupid, I'm glad I got to talk to you."

Megumi still stayed silent. Gojo was leaning against the phone booth, expressionless. 

"Now that I'm saying it out loud it sounds super weird right?" He said, a little too cheerfully, obvious he was trying to cover up his embarrassment about brining up the topic. "Yeah it sounds really weird right? That's probably not the case at all." Itadori started laughing. It sounded fake as hell. 

"Yeah, that's strange," Megumi agreed. "I've just, uhh," He looked at Gojo. Gojo urged him on.

"I've just got an eating disorder." Megumi said, thinking of that excuse on the spot. "I'm trying to lose weight." He stated. "Nobody did this to me but myself." 

On the other end of the line, Itadori's heart sunk. "I'm sorry to hear that Megumi." He apologized. "I don't know if this is appropriate to say or not but I think you look perfect the way you are. In fact I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."

Megumi's heart skipped a beat. He was in love with me? Really? Megumi looked over and saw that Gojo's knuckles were white from gripping the lamp post too hard. 

"You're....in love with me?" Megumi asked, incredulously.

"Yeah," Itadori affirmed. "Well, at least I think I am. I couldn't stop thinking about you and I really wanted to see you again." He paused, his next works spoken with a bit of hesitation. "Do you think, maybe, we could go on a date?" He asked.

"Where would go?" Megumi responded. 

Itadori thought about it for a bit and then answered. "I know this café near the shopping district that we met at. Or we can meet at the park in the afternoon where I dropped you off and go from there. I'm free tomorrow afternoon, around 3:00 pm (15:00)." He paused again. "Is that okay with you?"

Megumi looked at Gojo for approval. Gojo nodded.

"Mm." Megumi answered. "The café works. Then it's a date."

"That's great!" Itadori beamed. "I can't wait. See you soon then. And stay safe!" He hung up. The phone line went dead. 

Megumi and Gojo kept standing there in silence for a few minutes after the call. Then Megumi broke the silence.

"Are you going to kill him when we meet up?" He blurted out. 

"Of course not, there's too many people around~" Gojo ruffled a hand through Megumi's hair. "Just think of it as a regular old date. I'm rewarding you Megumi. You can spend sometime with your beloved Yuuji-kun." He smiled.

"Don't you think I'm a nice person?" Gojo asked him, in a cheerful tone but with underlying malice in his voice.

It would be better if I just agreed, Megumi thought. But instead Megumi replied with, "You're a shitty person Gojo. The shittiest person who ever existed."

Despite being traumatized and 'broken' as he called himself, Megumi's rebellious streak came out. It came out rarely, but it still came out. Unfortunately it came out at the worst of times.

Gojo forcefully grabbed both sides of Megumi's face with one hand and pinched him hard, so that Megumi was unable to speak. "You better watch your mouth Megumi. Or else I'll make Yuuji suffer even more than he has to." He threatened and he let go of Megumi, leaving finger nail markings on Megumi's face.

"Okay." Megumi responded obediently. Because that was all he could say in a situation like that. Anymore rude remarks would result in more pain for both Megumi and Itadori. 

"Now let's make sure you get your beauty sleep so we can dress you up all pretty for tomorrow." Gojo scanned Megumi up and down. He eyed Megumi like he was doll. Which he was.

"Okay." Megumi repeated.

And then Megumi and Gojo got into their car and Gojo drove them back home.