I Don't Like Him! (SUKUNA X MEGUMI)

5

'Damn it, Fushigoro Megumi!' One of the team players cursed loudly as he bumped into Megumi on his way to the goalposts a fifth time. 'Look, if you don't know how to play, quit standing around and making us lose, idiot!'

'I'm sorry!' Megumi shouted back, even as the other guy rushed off in the other direction without even looking back. 'I'm sorry- I haven't played for a long while before!'

'Don't fucking make excuses, Fushigoro Megumi,' another large player came up to him, scowling hard. Megumi blinked. He knew this guy. He was Mahito, Ryoumen Sukuna's best friend. And someone to be generally avoided. 'You've been making us lose every single fucking match since you got here this morning. Do you even know how to play?'

Megumi stared at him, his heart thundering in his chest. He felt both like screaming and crying at the same time. He hadn't asked to get dragged into this! He didn't want to do this, damn it! Why were they all acting like he was deliberately screwing them up?

'Answer the question, pretty boy,' Megumi put a finger under his chin and roughly lifted his face up. Megumi flinched, and Mahito smirked. 'You get scared very easily, I must say. Too bad we can't have a runt like you on the team- you'd make a good punching bag.'

Megumi was boiling by now, but there was nothing he could do- not when he was surrounded by hefty, muscular basketball players nearly twice his size, all of them echoing Mahito's opinion. He almost felt violated by how huge they were- why did they all have to be so big? Megumi was tall himself, but he was, in a way, scrawny, fragile, delicate-looking, and these people could probably have him whole for breakfast if they wanted to.

Not that he was intimidated, no. If he wanted to he could just damn well give them all a thorough talking-to and then refuse to come to practice anymore. But it was Gojo-sensei he was scared of. Gojo-sensei had insisted he come here everyday, and even if that meant him being bullied every singe morning by a bunch of people twice his length and thrice his breadth, Gojo-sensei had to be obeyed.

'I'm sorry.' He bit his lip and tried apologizing again. 'I'm sorry, I....I'm sure I could get better with some practice-'

'Oh, I don't think you will,' Geto Suguru, the vice-captain, came dribbling past them, giving Megumi a rough shove as he passed. 'You're hopeless.'

The tears suddenly came to Megumi's eyes- and then vanished, a glint taking their place. Fine. If they were all so determined to kick him off the team, they didn't need to. He'd just go himself. He didn't care if that meant his homeroom teacher would be disappointed in him for like forever, or if Mr Ijichi would shake his head and put on that dreadful pitying expression of his whenever he saw him in class, or if his friends wouldn't secretly call him a coward-

 He turned away and began walking back to the bleachers. His duffel bag lay lopsided at the edge of one, several metres away from the others. They had all made it a point to stay as far away from him since he showed up- their bags, even. He smiled bitterly as he picked his own up and took a long swig of water from his water-bottle. He had been running around since morning, getting bruises and scratches from right and left, and now he was sweating and panting like crazy- all for what?

He was only just about to turn around and leave when a large hand was placed on his shoulder and he was whisked around of his own accord.

'W-what?' Megumi's words died in his throat as he saw who he was facing. The scowl on his face was replaced by an even bigger one, one of deep resentment.

'Where do you think you're going, huh?' Sukuna towered above him, his voice stern and demanding. His eyes briefly flickered down to Megumi's grazed knees and then back to his face once more, unfathomable.

'Back to school,' Megumi said. He felt like a stubborn child, saying it, almost. 'I'm of no use here. I have homework to do, and I'll-'

'Homework? On the second day of school?' Sukuna tilted his head and frowned down at him with piercing brown eyes. 'I don't think so. And who said you're of no use here?'

'If by use,' Megumi scowled, 'you mean being shoved back and forth and being bullied to no end by the wonderfully kind-hearted players on your little team, yeah, I guess I am of use, then.'

'Megumi.' Sukuna bent down to his level, and Megumi was slightly taken aback as the brown eyes met his own. They were blazing, and they frightened him. 'Who told you you're useless?'

'Isn't that obvious?' The tears returned to Megumi's eyes. He blinked them away at once- he'd be damned if he cried like a baby in front of Ryoumen Sukuna. 'I haven't played in years, and I've forgotten everything- I'm nowhere near even the worst of your players when it comes to basketball, I'm- I'm a burden, I'm a burden on you and the others, I'm the one holding you guys down. I can never make it in the team, Sukuna....I'm sorry.'

'Why the fuck....' Sukuna sounded almost incredulous as he continued to look at him, 'are you apologizing?'

'Because I want to, damn it!' Megumi moved and tried to push him out the way, but Sukuna was just too large and immovable. 'Fuck, just let me go, Sukuna. I need to get to class.'

'I don't think you're useless, Megumi.'

The breath caught in Megumi's throat. Why did those words affect him so much? Why did his name sound so good when it fell from Sukuna's lips? Why was he so crazy?

'I've been observing you play,' Sukuna says. His voice is still rough, but at the same time low and curiously gentle. 'I have, and trust me, you've got potential. It's going to take you a while to unlock it- quite a long while, I must say- but you'll get there, with time and practice. You have a good eye and you run fast. You have the ability to move around quickly, maneuver- it's just that you don't realize your skills well enough, or use them while you play.'

Megumi stared at him. That could have possibly been the longest Sukuna had ever spoken to him in his entire life. And even if everything he was saying was probably just a huge lie, probably something to make Megumi feel better about his crappy playing- why did he want to believe that Sukuna was being honest, that he sounded sincere? That he was telling the truth? 

'I am telling you the truth, Megumi,' Sukuna said, and Megumi was startled out of his thoughts. Did Sukuna actually read his mind? 'You've got to stop doubting yourself so much, you know. I thought you were going to be hopeless, too, before you showed up this morning- but now I you aren't. You're a great many things, but you aren't hopeless. Get that?'

It took Megumi a while to find his words. When he did, his voice was short and curt, almost irritable. 'Yeah, whatever.'

'You need to work hard, yes,' Sukuna rose, clapping his shoulder hard, and Megumi winced. Why did he always have to be so heavy-handed? Quite literally.

'And I know you can, and you will. I expect to see you here again tomorrow morning, Fushigoro Megumi. And one more thing-'

He bent down to Megumi's level once more, and his dark eyes bore intensely into Megumi's green ones.

'Don't you dare,' he breathed, and there was more than a hint of command in his deep voice, almost like an order, 'don't you dare think of giving up.'

Megumi was quite speechless for a few moments, and then, with an effort, found his tongue once more. 

'Fine, fine!' He didn't realize how hard he was blushing as he pushed past Sukuna, the colour in his cheeks exacerbating as he realized Sukuna probably knew the reason why he was so hot and bothered. God, he needed to get back to school and immerse himself in work as soon as possible. He shouldered his bag, ran down the bleacher steps two at a time and rushed off towards the building, his black hair flying in the wind and shoelaces undone.

Sukuna watched him go with an amused grin on his face. Of course he knew why Megumi had been blushing. And now, come to think of it, he realized another very important thing.

Megumi's ass looked pretty damn fine in those shorty-shorts.

I'M SORRY LMAO