𝖲𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝗇

chapter four

I'd give anything to hear you say it one more time

That the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes

Sneaking past Ijichi isn't usually an easy task - he's like a guard dog, waiting by the door for their arrival so he can scold them before offering to brew some tea and prepare a midnight snack to make sure they don't go to bed on their empty stomachs after having partied all night.

He's probably the closest thing they've all had to a dad (because there's no way Megumi can see Gojou as anything other than an eccentric godfather or a particularly annoying older brother).

Today, however, Ijichi is nowhere to be seen when they make it back to Jujutsu Tech.

They haven't actually been partying, though - they spent all day back at the city, tasting every single street delicacy they found on their way, going to the cinema to see the last blockbuster then having some greasy pizza over the world's most chaotic bowling competition.

Nobara won, of course, and made sure the whole arcade heard about it.

Then they lost the subway back home, so they decided to walk all the way back - or rather Yuuji and him walked and Nobara enjoyed a nice piggyback ride under the moonlight courtesy of the younger boy.

Megumi is certainly wrecked when they finally reach the hallway where Yuuji and his and Nobara's paths part ways.

She yawns and stretches when Yuuji lets go of Megumi's hand for a second to drop her to her feet again, making sure she doesn't stumble and falls onto her ass like that one time coming back from Inumaki-senpai birthday party.

That was kinda funny, Megumi must admit.

"Well boys, I'd love to join you but if I'm lucky enough my sheets may still smell like my girlfriend from last night so..." She blushes slightly, probably thinking Mai would tease her to no end if she heard her being such a sap. Yuuji seems tempted to do it, actually, so Megumi gives him a pointed look to make sure he doesn't. "Good night!"

Megumi bends a bit so he can get pecked on the cheek, mumbling a soft good night as Yuuji stamps a loud mwah to Nobara's forehead before she can even get the chance of catch him off guard. When they make sure she's back inside her room, they walk back to their own ones too.

Megumi feels fidgety all the way back, hand sweating in Yuuji's as a sudden urge like last night's blooms inside his chest: He doesn't want to sleep alone tonight.

"Did you have fun today?" Yuuji's low, whispered voice drags him back to the present, making him smile softly as he thinks about the unusually ordinary day they've shared.

He could live in it forever, relive it over and over again and never get tired, never need anything else.

"Yeah." Megumi answers, eloquently as ever. Yuuji squeezes his hand as they come to a stop in front of his own door, and he can't help but panic a bit as their time together comes to an end. "I had fun."

The air is oddly charged, not like when they're about to kiss but rather like when you're about to miss an opportunity if you don't move fast enough - if you don't use some courage.

But Yuuji seems quite normal as he holds both of Megumi's hands now, lacing their fingers together and making their clasped hands swift gently in the air.

"Well, that makes getting kicked out of the arcade worth it, then. I'll miss Space Invaders and Mario Kart, though."

Megumi blinks, realizing as Yuuji looks sheepishly to the side and scratches his nape he's being serious - about both things.