Archive of Our Own

“You don’t make the same mistake twice” is a very unforgiving phrase. Sometimes, mistakes happen more than just twice. Yuuji has made a ton of mistakes in his life, and, as of today, he has made the exact same mistake four different times now.

What exactly did he do? Well, he may or may not have made a scene after mistakenly assuming a girl was trying to flirt with Fushiguro. A scene where he dramatically pretended to be in love with Fushiguro to scare said girl off. On four different occasions. How? Well…

The first time, he had been certain this girl was hitting on Fushiguro. She had only talked to him when he got separated from the others and she seemed nervous. In the moment, it one million percent looked like a setup to a confession scene in a shoujo manga. In his panic, Yuuji did what he thought was the best course of action: notifying Kugisaki and Gojo-sensei so all three of them could pretend to be in love with Fushiguro to scare her away.

Gojo had told him and Kugisaki a little while ago that Fushiguro was nervous around people he didn’t know, so that if they ever saw him getting hit on, they should follow a few simple steps to help him out. Yuuji was just trying to be a good student and a good friend. Plus, he swore he had a gut feeling that that girl was hitting on his friend.

How could he have possibly guessed she was just asking Fushiguro for directions? And, who knows, maybe she could have been asking Fushiguro for directions because she thought he was attractive. Come on, why else would she have singled out Fushiguro when there were tons of other people she could’ve asked? Whether or not she found him attractive, though, she was still just trying to ask for directions, not hit on Fushiguro.

The second time, Yuuji had, once again, been sure Fushiguro was in danger of being seduced. This time though, he was even more sure. The girl had only approached Fushiguro (Yuuji had been right next to him!) and she was trying to give him a piece of paper, which Yuuji thought must have been her number. It was just the two of them here, no Kugisaki or Gojo for backup, so Yuuji really had to step things up.

After Yuuji had slung an arm around his shoulder and called him some ridiculous pet names, Fushiguro quickly corrected him. By corrected, he meant that Fushiguro had shoved the paper in his face in annoyance, probably to get him off his shoulders. Up close, Yuuji then saw it was a business card informing people about a new café that had opened up.

There had been a phone number on the paper though (even if it was for the business and not the girl’s personal number), so he hadn’t been too far off. And so what if Fushiguro’s theory, which was that the girl singled him out because he had a cup of coffee in his hands so she thought he would be more of a potential customer at a café than Yuuji, was really solid? Even if she wasn’t trying to give out her personal number, there was no way to rule out the possibility she was influenced by Fushiguro’s good looks.

The third time, the woman had been undeniably flirtatious and undeniably way too old for Fushiguro. Yuuji had made mistakes before, but this time he was sure. So, when Yuuji had cupped Fushiguro’s face in his hands and, once again, pretended he was in love with him, spouting corny lines he heard from a movie, he had just been trying to scare the weird woman off. He had really been trying his hardest to help.

But, in an absolutely mortifying turn of events, the woman ran right past them and kissed some man behind them. She had been flirting with some man behind Fushiguro the entire time. Could Yuuji really be blamed though? Truly, the real culprit was the angle he was standing at that made it look like she was flirting with Fushiguro.

Then, just a few minutes ago, it had happened for the fourth time. They were free of missions for the day, so they decided to enjoy themselves at the mall. Fushiguro was not someone who liked to go to big shopping centers like this, but it turns out there was a bookstore inside that caught his interest. Getting to spend time with Fushiguro like that was wonderful…that is, until Yuuji had gone to the bathroom, making the horrible mistake of leaving Fushiguro alone.

When he had returned and saw the scene in front of him, his heart sank to his stomach. A girl had approached Fushiguro, smiling, giggling, and squealing; the picture-perfect image of a girl in love. Yuuji just had to do something about it.

That something had been sprinting across the mall in under three seconds and loudly proclaimed his fake love for Fushiguro a short distance away from the pair, not touching him this time because Fushiguro had been particularly pissed off the last time. His goal was to be dramatic enough to make the girls feel uncomfortable so they’d leave Fushiguro alone, not upset Fushiguro. The last thing Yuuji wanted was to do something so insane it’d make Fushiguro uncomfortable.

Then, because of course he was mistaken again, the girl asked if he was the friend who bought the dog charms. All she had wanted was to know where Fushiguro had gotten the “so so cute eek oh my god!” dog phone charms. Fushiguro had apparently told her that Yuuji had bought them for him (Yuuji had in fact bought them for him because they looked just like Fushiguro’s Demon Dog Shikigami…before Shiro was destroyed), so Yuuji was put on the spot and ended up awkwardly telling her the name of the store he found them in. She had zero feelings for Fushiguro and left with absolutely no problems after being told where to get the charms.

Maybe four times was just too many because Yuuji couldn’t think of an excuse for this one. That girl genuinely seemed to only care about the dog charms, not flirtatious advances. Fushiguro didn’t even hit him over the head this time either, he just sighed really loudly.

So now, after that whole debacle, they were walking around in an attempt to meet up with Ijichi. Then, they could meet up with Kugisaki, who had somehow ended up in a different shopping center, and finally head back to Jujutsu High. They had been walking around in an uncomfortable and awkward silence the entire time, which is extra weird because they usually talk a little bit (Typically Yuuji does the talking while Fushiguro occasionally says “Mhm” as he follows along. He usually adds his own thoughts at the end, but if it’s a topic he’s interested in or if Yuuji has said something stupid he’ll cut in earlier).

Five whole minutes of silence is far too many, so Yuuji thinks of saying something to ease the tension. Maybe something like “are you mad at me” or “sorry” or “hey do you want to forget that happened and just hang out”. He rolls the words around in his mouth, trying to say literally anything before the silence drives him crazy, but Fushiguro beats him to it.

“Why do you always do that?” Thankfully, he doesn’t sound that angry, only mildly annoyed, and mildly annoyed is how he usually sounds.

Fushiguro is no doubt talking about the whole fake confession thing every time a girl talks to him, and Yuuji honestly isn’t quite sure why the hell he does that. He just feels sort of panicked whenever he sees a girl flirting with Fushiguro—er, when he thinks he sees a girl flirting with Fushiguro—and he just feels like he has to do something about it. He really doesn’t think much before doing it, it’s just like some sort of instinct.

“Well, Gojo-sensei told me to, so I just kind of do it,” He tries.

It wasn’t technically a lie. Gojo did tell him and Kugisaki to do that if necessary, though Kugisaki had quickly given up on it. When asked, she only answered that it wasn’t that funny anymore, which Yuuji didn’t get at all. Looking out for Fushiguro was always serious to him.

“Why? He’s not even here.”

It’s true, Gojo is currently off on some mission, so he’d have no idea if Yuuji failed to stop Fushiguro from getting hit on. Plus, it wasn’t a priority or anything, so Gojo probably wouldn’t even be that bothered by it. There really wasn’t any reason to keep it up.

“I just wanted to.” Yuuji shrugs and pretends the sidewalk is very interesting.

“You still haven’t answered why,” Fushiguro huffs in annoyance.

“I was just trying to look out for you. Y’know, like bros do.” He attempts to deliver those lines with the most casual tone he can muster.

Yuuji’s most casual tone, however, ends up sounding more like he got called on to share a presentation to the class that he hadn’t done. In other words, it’s painfully obvious that he’s bullshitting and someone as smart as Fushiguro would no doubt pick up on it immediately. He doubts Fushiguro will believe him, but it was worth a shot.

“What?” The other boy asks flatly. Yeah, he is not convinced at all. He looks expectantly at Yuuji, clearly still wanting a proper explanation.

The problem is that Yuuji vehemently does not want to tell him the truth. He hardly understands why he does it, but all that he knows sounds really weird. If he tells Fushiguro he likes to pretend he’s in love with him and that he hates the thought of him having a girlfriend, Fushiguro would totally take that the wrong way and think Yuuji has a crush on him or something silly.

Yuuji decides to refine his strategy. He’s going to just make something up on the spot again, but then he’ll continue to ramble until Fushiguro gets tired of him talking and drops it. He already seems pretty close to going “forget it” and staying silent the rest of the way, so Yuuji only needs to think of a few more (preferably lengthy) excuses.

“I mean, girls probably ask you out all the time, but, like I’m just thinking, when I see a girl talking to you, which happens like all the time because you’re like really popular with girls, I’m just kind of thinking like that’s weird, you know? Like we’re just trying to hang out and then a girl just shows up like that to flirt with you? Like I swear wherever we go there are girls like all over you. I mean, I don’t know, that’s just kind of like-“

“Itadori,” Fushiguro cuts him off, “are you jealous?”

Yuuji forgets everything he was going to say and stares into space blankly for a few moments, leaving his mouth hanging open with the ghosts of bullshit excuses on his tongue. Huh? That’s not what he was expecting to happen at all. Why was Fushiguro even asking him that? Yeah, Fushiguro was a nice-looking guy, but that’s still kind of a cocky thing to ask.

Fushiguro is still waiting for him to say something, so Yuuji frantically collects himself and wills himself to say something.

“Whatttt? No way! Why would I be?” He fake laughs because what Fushiguro said was ridiculous but he’s far too nervous to laugh naturally.

Fushiguro opens his mouth to say something else, and Yuuji thinks he’s fucked, but then a familiar car pulls up next to them, saving him. He was really lucky that Ijichi found them before anything else could have happened. He’s also immensely relieved that they don’t say anything about it on the car ride back either thanks to Kugisaki, who had found Ijichi long before the two of them and had changed the subject. It’s not even a big deal though, what happened today. They’ll both probably forget it within the next hour or so too.

-

Roughly six hours later, Yuuji lies awake in his bed, unable to sleep because he’s too preoccupied with thinking over what Fushiguro said.

Yuuji? Jealous? Of what? Yuuji wouldn’t say he’s a jealous guy. Besides, there really wasn’t anything to be jealous of. Fushiguro was one of his closest friends and he hung out with him all the time, so it’s not like some random girls would steal him away. It would be silly to be jealous of some random girls, so obviously he wasn’t.

He’s also super not jealous or anything about the fact that Fushiguro is always talking with random girls because, between the two of them, Fushiguro is clearly more attractive, so it makes sense that girls would flock to him. Not that Yuuji is attracted to him or anything, he’s just saying that as someone who has eyes and a brain and can tell that Fushiguro is handsome. It’s just an objective fact. Like, Yuuji totally understands why girls would hit on him. If he were some random girl he’d probably hit on Fushiguro too.

…Wait, that sounded really weird.

Ahem, what he means is if, in a hypothetical situation where Yuuji were a random girl, he were to see Fushiguro on the street, he wouldn’t hit on him per se, he would just recognize he’s a very good-looking guy because he is. Yuuji can say that in a comfortably heterosexual manner. Like Yuuji wouldn’t be surprised if a mangaka saw his face and was knocked dead with overwhelming inspiration to design a love interest. Fushiguro just has one of those incredibly charming faces.

He’s got one of those personalities too. He’s totally someone who could enamor a girl after having one conversation with her. Like, still hypothetically of course, if Yuuji were a random girl who saw Fushiguro on the street and got to know him on the basis that he was attractive, he’d actually fall in love with him because Fushiguro is a great guy.

He seemed rather aloof and mysterious at first, but he’s just super sweet and sort of shy. He was so smart and he was actually always rather soft, in his own Fushiguro way, as well as super considerate, and well he was just a ton of great stuff. And, on top of that, he’s incredibly dreamy, like a model.

In fact, he could be a model. Imagine that. Fushiguro was easily embarrassed, he wasn’t the type to want to have his face on billboards or anything, but he would look really good on a billboard. People always say his hair is messy, but it’s so cute actually, and he has these striking eyes and god his jawline. Honestly, it made him feel fluttery thinking of Fushiguro’s face plastered across a giant billboard like that.

It would certainly be a sight, but Fushiguro would hate it. Maybe he could do something more anonymous, like he could model clothes with his head cropped out of the pictures or he could be like a hand model or something. He’s certainly—

Wait, what was Yuuji thinking about again? Before the model thing? Fushiguro having a lovable personality? Uh…no, it was…girls? Girls hitting on Fushiguro because his character is as good as his looks. Right.

So, yeah, basically that’s why he’s so worried when girls talk to Fushiguro. Fushiguro is incredibly attractive and lovable, so maybe those girls would start out by hitting on him but then end up really seriously liking him and maybe they’d want to go out with him, which would be awful. And Yuuji’s sure of this because he can really easily picture himself in some lover girl’s shoes…or, well, not that easily. He just understands to an extent.

Obviously, he doesn’t actually picture himself in the random girl’s shoes. He just thinks he probably would do the same if he were them. It has nothing at all to do with Yuuji’s own feelings.

Even the thought of that is ridiculous. The thought of Yuuji, in a hypothetical scenario where he is himself and not a random girl, being the one to hit on Fushiguro is laughable, actually. What, Yuuji would waltz on over and tell him awful pickup lines? Would he gaze into his eyes and tell him sweet things, like when he was pretending to be in love with him, but for real?

And then what? Maybe Fushiguro would scoff at how corny he was being, but maybe he secretly enjoyed it. And then maybe Yuuji would ask him on a date somewhere nice. Maybe like a cat café but with dogs, there had to be one of those somewhere. And then maybe Fushiguro would smile and say yes to him over all those girls and then they’d have a lovely time together and Fushiguro would look so cute with all the dogs and he’d get black coffee like he always does and maybe Yuuji would stare at him for so long his own drink would get cold and then in the car ride back they could sit close to each other even though there’s plenty of space and he’d ask Fushiguro where he wanted to go next time and then Fushiguro would say something sappy like “I’d be happy to go anywhere as long as it’s with you” and Yuuji would kiss him and-

HOLY SHIT.

Yuuji sits up straight, eyes widening. That is the gayest thing he has ever thought in his life, and it’s not just something platonic that comes off as gay, that’s like actually a capital g capital f Gay Fantasy. Yuuji is alarmed for only a few more moments before thinking that this actually makes so much sense.

He doesn’t just think Fushiguro is lovable or hot like in a general sense, he totally thinks that in the sense that Yuuji himself thinks those things. This explains why his heart starts hammering like that, why he feels tingly when they’re close, why he thinks things like he wants to run his hands through Fushiguro’s hair…it really explains a lot.

And ohhhhh, this is also totally the reason it upsets him so much when (he thinks) girls take an interest in Fushiguro and flirt with him. The whole time, Yuuji has been interested in him. Yuuji wishes he was the one flirting with him and going on to being in a serious relationship with him, so he hates the idea that Fushiguro might go out with someone else. Wow. So Fushiguro was right, Yuuji is jealous.

Suddenly, Yuuji comes to his third damning realization of the night. Fushiguro knows. He’s the one who brought it up after all. He totally knows Yuuji is into him, and jealous, too. Yuuji is actually even more fucked than he thought he was six hours ago. Everything is going as badly as it possibly can.

Wait, no, wait, it’s fine. Yuuji denied it (although he hesitated for a suspiciously long time) when he was asked and Fushiguro didn’t seem upset when he was asking. Thinking back on it, he just seemed kind of suspicious, and if it irked him he probably would’ve had a stronger reaction, right? Like maybe he would’ve been angry or he would’ve ignored Yuuji, but he didn’t do that, so things can’t be that bad, right? If he plays it cool when he sees Fushiguro tomorrow, maybe Fushiguro will think he was mistaken and he’ll forget all about it.

-

“You were right, I am jealous. I’m sorry,” Yuuji admits guiltily within two minutes of seeing Fushiguro the next morning.

He had been going to say good morning like usual, but he couldn’t stop thinking about his realizations from last night. Upon waking up, he thought maybe he was just tired and he didn’t actually have feelings like that, but when he saw Fushiguro in the kitchen he quickly realized that wasn’t the case. Like he originally thought, there’s a distinction between an attractive person versus someone he was attracted to is correct, but which part of it Fushiguro fell under wasn’t. Yeah, he knew Fushiguro was hot, but Yuuji found him hot in a sense where he was into him. Like homosexually into him.

Yuuji was simply too shell-shocked to just move past this and say good morning, but he didn’t want Fushiguro to think he was ignoring him either. Plus, Fushiguro had already caught onto him yesterday and he was looking at Yuuji like he was guilty right now. Yuuji could’ve tried harder to avoid it, but there really wasn’t any hiding it now, so he ended up just admitting what was on his mind.

“Oh,” Fushiguro says in response. Oh? That’s what he has to say? “Well, no girls are going to like you either if you keep acting like that. You really don’t have to worry about me getting a girlfriend before you, so just cut that out and focus on yourself.”

What? Wait…Yuuji takes a moment to connect the dots. Ohhhhh. Fushiguro must have it backwards. He must think Yuuji was jealous of him because girls liked him, instead of the truth which is that he was jealous of the girls who hit on him (not actually) because Yuuji likes him.

Wait, but this is good! …sort of. Fushiguro has no idea about Yuuji’s crush or the fact that he is embarrassingly slightly (overly) jealous, so he still has a chance to play it cool and maybe possibly have a normal proper conversation about this with him another day.

“Uhm. Yeah. I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

And with that, things should be back to normal.

Things should be back to normal, but they really aren’t. Everything seems the same, they don’t do or say anything different, but just because Fushiguro doesn’t know about it doesn’t change the fact that Yuuji likes him, really likes him. Everything feels weird and Yuuji really doesn’t know what the hell to do about it.

Like today, Fushiguro has been looking at him like he wants to say something and it’s been driving him insane. If Yuuji didn’t see him the way he does, it wouldn’t be a problem, but not only is he dying to know what his…friend? Crush? What should he even call him?

Thankfully, Fushiguro spares him from distressing any longer and approaches him of his own volition.

“Don’t tell her I said this but I think Kugisaki has been sabotaging you,” Fushiguro admits.

“Huh?”

“I’m pretty she’s been telling girls you’re her gay best friend, so that’s probably why they’re not talking to you.”

“I mean, that sounds like something she’d do, but why?”

“She wants to date someone before you do.”

That checks out. Something about this bothers Yuuji, though.

“She doesn’t care if you date someone before her?”

“She’s not worried about me.”

Sure, Kugisaki often seemed to have it out for Yuuji specifically, but wouldn’t it be good to say Fushiguro was her gay best friend too? If anything, Fushiguro is the one who should have girls scared away from him. Did she think Fushiguro couldn’t get a girlfriend?

Yuuji suddenly remembers Fushiguro saying that whole “You don’t have to be worried about me getting a girlfriend before you” thing. Did Fushiguro resign himself to not getting with anybody until after Yuuji and Kugisaki? Or maybe he believed that he couldn’t get a girlfriend.

Fushiguro could totally get a girlfriend. He could even get a boyfriend, like Yuuji. If he wanted that.

“Why are you thinking so hard?” Fushiguro asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Why do you keep saying stuff like that? Like nobody has to be worried about you getting a girlfriend. Do you think that girls don’t like you or something? Because-“

“The girls are all over me, you’ve told me.” Fushiguro finishes for him flatly.

“Soooo…why not then?”

“Well, you do a pretty good job at scaring them away.”

“Sorry.” Yuuji apologizes.

“Quit making that face, I don’t really care,” Fushiguro tells him off. “Even if they were flirting with me, I wouldn’t be interested anyway.”

“Were none of them your type?”

Fushiguro sighs.

“C’mon man, you never talk about your type or anything.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m a Jujutsu Sorcerer. It wouldn’t do much good to be in a relationship.”

“Plenty of sorcerers are in relationships.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to be.”

“I guess.” Yuuji pouts, not getting any information he’s satisfied with.

Sure, Fushiguro is a private person, but Yuuji doesn’t know anything about the kind of person Fushiguro likes. Not even something like “tall” or whatever. It drives Yuuji a little crazy, to have no idea if Fushiguro would even like him at all.

“Nooooooo!” Kugisaki cries loudly from the kitchen. The tone of voice is the same one she uses when anything minor happens that she insists is major, such as one of her fingernails chipping.

Yuuji and Fushiguro share a glance. They wordlessly ask each other if they think it’s worth getting involved. They don’t even get to make the decision themselves because Kugisaki is stomping over to the couch.

“Itadori Yuuji.” Kugisaki hisses. “You ate all of the Pocky.”

“So? That was for everybody!”

“Yeah, for everybody, not just your fatass. I didn’t even get to eat any! Ugh!” Kugisaki glares at him.

“Just buy more.” Fushiguro pipes up, always the mediator.

“Yeah, Itadori, go buy me more since you ate it all.”

“What? You didn’t even buy it!”

“Just go.” Kugisaki sounds like she’s three seconds away from beating his ass.

“Fine.” Yuuji concedes. She’s stubborn, so she’ll get her way no matter what. “Fushiguro, wanna come with me?” He asks without really thinking.

“You can go to the store by yourself,” Fushiguro tells him simply.

“Yeah, but I want you to go with me.”

Fushiguro goes quiet. Kugisaki laughs at him.

“Whatever.” Fushiguro sighs, getting up to join Yuuji. Yuuji can’t help but beam.

As soon as they’re up, Kugisaki quickly claims the entire couch for herself, sprawling out like a cat. Yuuji wonders if she even cared about the Pocky or if she had ulterior motives to steal the couch the whole time. Knowing Kugisaki actually, it’s probably both. He isn’t that mad at her though, since Fushiguro is still going to hang out with him.

While they’re at the convenience store, Fushiguro suggests they should stock up on all sorts of snacks. It’s smart thinking. Plus, Fushiguro got his hands on Gojo’s credit card, so they don’t have to worry about covering the costs.

When they get to the checkout, their shopping basket is stocked to the brim. There’s no line either, which is sweet. What’s not sweet though is Yuuji is pretty sure the guy who’s supposed to be checking out their chips and sodas is checking Fushiguro out.

Yuuji’s mostly been looking out for girls, he still is, but the guy keeps glancing at Fushiguro with a weird look in his eyes. Yuuji’s said this four times before, but there’s no way it’s just jealousy talking this time. The cashier is practically making heart eyes at Fushiguro for crying out loud.

“Itadori, did you forget to get Pocky?” Fushiguro asks after the guy at the cash register finishes checking out their snacks (and Fushiguro). Actually, scratch that, the dude is not done checking Fushiguro out.

“Itadori,” Fushiguro repeats.

“Huh? I thought you did.” Yuuji blinks.

“Kugisaki told you to.”

“Ok, I’ll go get some. I’ll be back in two seconds.”

Yuuji rushes off, grabs a handful of Pocky, and rushes right back.

“It’s alright-Oh wow, you really were back in two seconds.” The guy with swoopy hair remarks, taking the Pocky to scan.

It’s a little stupid, but Yuuji really didn’t want to leave Fushiguro alone with the cashier. He didn’t want them to talk at all. He just…Ok, yeah, maybe that was jealousy talking. But it was perfectly reasonable this time!

The guy announces their total or something like that. Yuuji doesn’t know, he isn’t really listening. He’s thinking more about how relieved he is that Fushiguro is paying with a credit card. That way, the guy couldn’t pull any stunts like brushing their hands together when he gave Fushiguro his change back.

“Oh, that’s strange. When I was running the numbers, it seems like an extra one came up,” The guy remarks. “I hope you don’t mind taking this number.” He winks, handing Fushiguro a paper that clearly has his phone number scrawled on it. “Sorry if that was a little forward of me,” he smiles, “I just think you’re cute and I’d love to hang out sometime.”

Yuuji doesn’t even know how to react at first. For the very first time, somebody he thought was flirting with Fushiguro was actually flirting with him, but he had never felt more miserable about being right. Also, what the hell, that guy had some confidence, confessing smoothly out of the blue like that (he has to admit that was a pretty good pickup line), and when Yuuji was within earshot too!

His heart sinks when he realizes Fushiguro is thinking about it, hesitating for a very long time. When he said “You don’t have to worry about me getting a girlfriend before you” was that because he wanted a boyfriend? Someone like this guy?

It’s true that as a Jujutsu Sorcerer, something will probably go wrong with a relationship, even more so with two. Their lives, especially Yuuji’s, aren’t guaranteed, but that doesn’t have to mean they can’t be happy. It’s selfish, but…

“I-“

“Wait!” Yuuji shouts suddenly, being set off at the mere sound of Fushiguro’s voice. By shouting, he stopped him from answering, sort of like they’re in a dramatic movie.

Both Fushiguro and the cashier look over at him and his weird outburst. Yuuji looks between them nervously, but then his gaze settles on the number, which is way too close to Fushiguro’s hands for comfort, and he finds it in him to say something that’ll put an end to this.

“Fushiguro, I’m in love with you!”

The dark-haired boy fully turns to face him rather than just looking over at him. They lock eyes, neither of them doing or saying anything for a few moments. Yuuji’s eyes dart over to the phone-number-offering dude. He thinks about what would happen if he left it at that. What if Fushiguro brushed it off as some sort of joke? What if he thought Yuuji was trying to sabotage his chances at a relationship for the same reasons as Kugisaki? What if he ignored him and decided to date the cash register guy anyway?

…What if that’s what he wanted? Yuuji feels overwhelmingly bitter at the thought, but it’s not like Yuuji would be around forever. Maybe-

Fushiguro hits him over the head.

“Don’t say shit you don’t mean.” Fushiguro glares at him.

“I do mean that!”

Yuuji takes Fushiguro’s hands in his, interlacing their fingers, and once again gazes into Fushiguro’s eyes. Then everything on his mind just comes spilling out.

“I’ve liked you for a while, but I didn’t realize it until a little while ago and then I just never told you, but I should have! So, I’m telling you now. Fushiguro, I like you. I like how caring you are, you’re always looking out for me even when nobody else is, you had my back from the beginning! You’re so forgiving, even when I annoy you, you still put up with me! I like that you’re a good listener, even if you act like you don’t care you’ll remember what movies I like and my favorite soda and stuff like that! I like that you let me pet your Shikigamis! I like how smart you are, like you have a book in your pocket almost all the time and it’s kind of nerdy, but in a good way! I like that you’re really dependable, I trust you with my life, ‘cause you have saved me, so many times!”

“And-and you’re really handsome too! You’re tall, you have a nice jawline, your eyes are mesmerizing, and everyone always says your hair looks dumb but I think it’s cute! You’re cute! I sort of thought so too even when I first saw you, but now I’ve really been thinking it! Like, you’re super hot and you’re really nice to be around, how could anybody not fall in love with you? I mean, I think I might actually seriously be in love with you.”

Fushiguro stares blankly at him, too stunned to say anything.

“You mean so much to me and I want to be the one by your side! I can’t stand the thought of you with someone else! Fushiguro, will you go out with me, instead of him?” Yuuji exhales loudly after he finishes talking, feeling almost out of breath at how fast he rambled.

They stand there without saying anything for a few minutes, with only the buzzing of the cheap overhead lights filling in the silence.

“Uhm, you guys can just pay and leave if you want.” The guy at the cash register speaks up awkwardly, causing them both to startle and jump apart. It almost seemed like both of them had forgotten they were in the middle of a convenience store with other people around.

“Right, sorry,” Fushiguro says, turning away from Yuuji and handing the guy some bills. He hands him more yen than necessary and declines getting change. He continues to stand there awkwardly.

“I, uh…appreciate your offer,” for a moment, Yuuji fears he’s just going to ignore everything he said and go out with him anyway, “but I’m not interested.”

“It’s alright. If I had known it was like that I wouldn’t have said that,” he laughs awkwardly. “Anyway, have a good day! And congratulations you two.”

He waves them off. Yuuji waves back, not minding him now that he’s backed off. He’s pretty nice actually, he took that rejection really well. Fushiguro doesn’t wave back and instead walks out of the store as quickly as he can.

“Hey, Fushiguro, wait up!” Yuuji calls out, having to grab all the bags himself and rush after him. Fushiguro ignores him and does not wait up, which is ironic given how, just a few minutes ago, Yuuji said that one of the things he liked about him was that he was a good listener.

“Fushiguro! Hey! Fushi!” He calls after him.

He catches up to Fushiguro eventually, but things don’t seem good at all. His eyebrows are furrowed and he’s glaring at him. He looks even more upset than that time when Yuuji had cupped his face in his hands like he was gonna kiss him, (but he wouldn’t have if Fushiguro wasn’t ok with it!), and called him the love of his life.

“What the fuck is your problem?” He asks, seething.

Yuuji blinks at him in shock, at both the animosity in his tone and at the question.

Now that the heat of the moment has worn off, he feels rather sorry. No matter what Fushiguro’s feelings were, he was probably mortified hearing Yuuji confess like that in public. If he didn’t like him though, that might have been pretty irritating to hear. He might even be mad at him for ruining his chances with that guy, Yuuji thinks, chest tightening.

“I’m really sorry,” Yuuji apologizes.

“Are you?” Fushiguro shoots back at him.

“I am!”

Fushiguro sighs really loudly and really angrily.

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to do,” Fushiguro admits to him, sounding less angry now.

“I wanted to apologize for springing that on you. You were probably embarrassed-“

“It was mortifying.”

“Sorry.”

“That’s not what I was asking, anyway. Why did you do that?”

“Well…that guy was hitting on you and I panicked!”

“We already talked about this. If someone’s interested in me, you don’t have to scare them off. You don’t have to worry about me getting a girlfriend or boyfriend or anything before you, seriously, just worry about yourself.”

“Would you have turned him down if I didn’t say all that stuff in the store?”

“Yes. If you didn’t even tell me your weird jealousy thing either, I still would’ve. I’m not going to go out with some random person I just met. You didn’t need to humiliate us both.”

“Sorry.”

“Weren’t you embarrassed too saying all that nonsense? That guy really thought we were together.”

“Is that why you’re upset?”

“Yes.”

“How come you don’t want that guy to think we’re together if you don’t like him?”

“Because we’re not. Do you want people to think you’re dating me?”

“I don’t care what people think.”

“You sure seem to care when people think about talking to me.”

“Well, that’s different! Why’s it even such a big deal if people think we’re dating?”

“It would be bad if people got the wrong idea. You’d never going to get a girlfriend if everyone thought we were together, anyway. Isn’t that what you were upset about in the first place?”

“I’m not jealous of you because girls are interested in you! I’m not even jealous of you at all!” Yuuji admits. “I’m jealous of the girls for flirting with you because I wish it was me flirting with you! I wish it was me you were paying attention to! I meant all of that stuff I said in the convenience store. I do want to go out with you, if you want to.”

“…can we talk about this later?”

Yuuji is just about to ask why later when a familiar car pulls up next to them.

“You guys are slow as hell. It took you like twenty minutes to get snacks. Ijichi thought you guys like died,” Kugisaki says from the back of the car.

“Sorry!” Yuuji says for what must be the millionth time today, then climbs into the back of the car, Fushiguro following after him. They (only including him and Fushiguro, Kugisaki was preoccupied with digging through the snack bags and making sure they got everything) sit in an awkward silence on the way back.

What did Fushiguro mean talk later? Sure, Ijichi did show up and disrupt the moment, but really, what was there to talk about? Couldn’t he have just been like “Yes, I’ll go out with you,” and then they could hold hands on the car ride back? Oh shit, he was probably going to turn him down, wasn’t he? The car ride back feels akin to heading off to his execution.

When they get out of the car, Fushiguro is looking at him expectantly. Fuckkkkkkk. Yuuji accepts his horrible fate and follows Fushiguro to his room.

They slide their shoes off and close the door behind them. Fushiguro gestures to his desk for Yuuji to sit down and resigns himself to sitting on his bed. Yuuji sits down at the desk, turns the chair to face the bed (and, with it, Fushiguro), and braces himself.

“Did you mean what you said in the convenience store? You like me?”

Straight to the point! Yuuji looks at Fushiguro’s face. He doesn’t look happy at all, he looks more like he’s holding an interrogation or maybe even a trial in which he determines whether or not he’s going to detain Yuuji. The pink-haired boy looks to the floor guiltily and answers.

“Yeah.”

Fushiguro is quiet for several moments before he speaks again.

“When you said you were jealous, it was because you liked me? Every time you made a scene like that in public, it was because you liked me?” This time, disbelief makes a clear distinction in Fushiguro’s tone.

Yuuji continues to avoid eye contact and just nods. He wishes Fushiguro would just tell him he doesn’t like him and that he should leave already. He dares to glance at Fushiguro, who is, thankfully, not looking at him, but rather staring blankly up at the ceiling.

“The first time…that was like four months ago. You’ve liked me since back then?”

“I’m sorry, ok?!” Yuuji says much louder than he needs to. “I like you and I was being stupid about it. I wasn’t trying to embarrass you, I just wanted those girls to stop talking to you.”

“Holy shit,” Fushiguro says breathily. Maybe what Yuuji said was finally clicking now.

“Yeah, I know it was dumb and petty and rash. I can just leave.” Yuuji stands up to leave, but he’s quickly stopped by Fushiguro.

“Do you know how crazy it made me when you would pretend to flirt with me?” The other boy asks, standing in the way of the exit.

“…no? Sorry?”

“It drove me insane.”

“I’m s-“

“I wanted it to be real so badly.”

What.

“I kept thinking what if I just went along with it one day? I thought about it so many times, but I felt like it would be taking advantage of you because I liked you. I thought you were just doing that because you didn’t want me to get a girlfriend first, or something. I don’t know.”

“Huh?! You liked me too?! Why didn’t you say something earlier?!”

“It’s a dumb reason. Besides, I didn’t think you liked me anyway.”

“It can’t be that dumb. You’re super smart.”

“I was worried you’d regret it. If you could have anyone, why would you pick me? I’m really not as interesting as you seem to think I am.”

“I wouldn’t! I like you, Fushiguro. I’m not going to be disappointed or anything. I want you and only you.”

“Can I kiss you?”

Yuuji finds himself only able to nod again.

All of a sudden, Fushiguro is kissing him. Yuuji stands there dumbfounded for a few moments, but then returns the gesture. Eventually, they pull apart.

“Wait, I wasn’t really paying attention for like the first half of it. Can we do that again?” Yuuji asks. Fushiguro quickly answers by kissing him again.

“You know, I think I missed it that time,” Yuuji says after they pull away, even though he had immediately matched him this time, “Maybe we can do it another-“

Fushiguro seems to pick up on the game very quickly, kissing him before he can even finish speaking. Fushiguro also pulls him down so that they’re both seated on the bed instead of standing.

“Wow,” Yuuji says after they pull away that time.

“I just had to be greedier this whole time,” Fushiguro mumbles to himself.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Yuuji tells him.

That seems to be all the convincing he needs, as he surges forward and kisses him another time, but this time it’s longer and hungrier.

“Can I call you Yuuji?” Fushiguro asks breathlessly as soon as they pull apart, looking him in the eyes with his pretty green ones. Yuuji’s brain short-circuits and he thinks his heart stops momentarily too.

“Yeah. Wait, no. Only if I can call you Megumi.”

Fushi-Megumi seems to agree to the deal, as he kisses him again.

“Yuuji,” Megumi murmurs and, holy fuck, Yuuji is going to lose his mind.

Yuuji takes the chance to kiss him first this time. They’re squished up together so closely that Yuuji’s practically in his lap. Yuuji runs his fingers through Megumi’s hair as he kisses him, not pulling away until he’s out of breath.

“Does this mean you’re going to stop embarrassing me in public?” Megumi asks playfully.

“Yeah. No. I’m not gonna embarrass you, I mean.” Lips feeling restless, he presses a kiss to Megumi’s forehead. “But if somebody’s flirting with you I gotta tell them to back off.”

“I can tell them off myself.” Megumi huffs.

Yuuji smiles giddily.

“What’re you smiling about?”

“You.” He answers immediately. Then, becuase he’s itching for a chance to say the other’s name, he adds, “I’m really happy you like me, Megumi.”

Megumi freezes up and flushes for a moment, then he snaps out of it and presses their lips together. It’s a long, slow kiss.

“Me too.”

That night, their lips meet many more times.