Chapter Text
"Your partner for the project will be Yuuji Itadori."
Megumi's brain short-circuited.
It was nine in the morning. He was running off three hours of sleep, a coffee and a Red Bull he'd chugged on his way to class because he could barely stand on his feet. His usual dose of caffeine just hadn't been enough, and now his heart was close to exploding right out of his chest.
He had to walk to class as a result of him waking up late and missing his train. Barely made it on time after running for ten minutes straight, bumping into ten different people in the process of crossing the building. He was sweating, his shoes were ruined and his IPad was dead. Thankfully, he was able to record the entire thing on his phone, since he couldn't focus at all.
It had been a very bad day for Megumi, and it had only just started.
But apparently, it still wasn't enough. The universe wanted to screw him over more, and what better way to do it than pairing him with Yuuji Itadori for the project worth fifty percent of his grade?
His professor said it casually, as if he was stating the weather. It was not a casual fact for Megumi. If he weren't frozen in place, he would've jumped out the window thirty seconds ago.
He knew Yuuji Itadori. Everyone on campus did. The star of the soccer team. Kind, single, and ridiculously hot. Although Megumi had some objections on the matter (or so he tried to convince himself). The King of Curses and The Tiger of West Junior High were some of his nicknames. Everyone wanted to sleep with him, be his friend or both. But above all his characteristics, there was something that stood out.
Yuuji Itadori fucking sucked at literature. Heck, the course wasn't even on his degree to begin with. He messed up his registration and chose it by accident.
Megumi chalked it up to him being too much of a muscle-head to know how a computer works, but he gave him the benefit of the doubt. It was true that the university website was so old that it had probably witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
All in all, the idea of being stuck with Itadori for possibly months doing a project of a subject the aforementioned had failed last year didn't excite Megumi. He'd rather sit through one of Gojo's quantum physics lectures, even though he didn't understand anything.
"Hey, Fushiguro," his teacher's voice snapped him of whatever trance he was in. "Please lend him a hand. Someone like you will do him good."
And why that someone had to be him? Sure, he got good grades, but there were more people aside from him in the class. What had he done to deserve this? Maybe his punishment for copying in his seventh grade math test had finally arrived.
Sue him, he and equations had a rocky relationship, it was completely justified.
Megumi sighed and nodded at the man in front of him, without bothering to ask anymore questions.
Whatever. He could do this. Just a few weeks and then he'd be free.
Wait, when was the project due? November. And they were in June. Fuck.
Well, he will worry about that later.
He managed to survive the rest of his day through sheer willpower. His Monday schedule sucked. The unbearable heat wasn't helping either, he was on the verge of melting into a puddle on the floor. Global warming was no joke.
The first thing he did when he made it back to his apartment was plopping down on the couch and groaning into the cushions.
"Rough day?" Nobara simply asked, without looking up from her laptop.
"You have no idea," his voice came out muffled.
He proceeded to go on an angry rant about every little misfortune that had haunted him throughout the day. He was pissed, and he needed to complain about it. Nobara listened to him intently, her laptop abandoned long ago. It seemed that Megumi's recent chain of bad luck was much more interesting than whatever paper she was working on.
"And, to make matters worse, I got paired with fucking Yuuji Itadori for my literature project."
Nobara snorted, and she covered her mouth in an attempt to stop herself from laughing, which failed completely. "No way."
Megumi shot her a glare so intense that it probably could've disintegrated Nobara right then and there. Too bad he wasn't an orphaned alien from a faraway planet and didn't have laser eyes, he was really noticing their absence now.
"This isn't funny at all."
"Oh, but it is," his protest just fueled her amusement, since she was full-on cackling now, the sound reverberating through the living room walls.
The universe clearly must be speaking to him through Nobara since they seemed to share the same opinion. He didn't know when he had signed up to act as a jester, —his suffering being his jokes, and whatever deity that existed out there being his spectator— but he did not enjoy it. He wanted his metaphorical money back.
"I hate you."
Nobara wiped a tear from her eye, "No you don't."
"You clearly don't understand the predicament I'm in," he took a moment to massage his temple. Maybe venting to Nobara wasn't a good idea in the first place, but it was too late now. "I'm stuck with Itadori for a whopping five months. Five months of uncomfortable meetings at the library. Hell is kinder than this."
"You're being a bit harsh on the guy, he's not that bad," she said, to which he replied with a deadpan.
Nobara stared right back at him. "I mean, have you ever talked to him?"
Megumi didn't have a response to that.
His best friend took it as a sign to continue. "Give him a chance. He's a pretty good guy." Then, a devilish smirk appeared in her face, "And totally your type."
"He's not my type," he snapped, probably a bit too harsh. Nobara snickered.
"Yeah, right, and the Earth is flat, pigs can fly and I'm straight"
"Fuck you," and, to prove his point and show how 'upset' he was, he got up from the couch and snatched his bag, which laid abandoned on the floor.
"No thanks, I already have Maki to do that for me."
Megumi's grimace sent Nobara into her second fit of laughter of the afternoon. Gross.
He successfully made it out of the living room unscathed, although with his ego slightly bruised.
When he opened the door to his room, he found the mess he had left behind that morning. Which now he had to take care of.
It took all the strength he could conjure up from his body not to throw himself through the window at that exact moment.
He decided to lay on his bed because, in his humble opinion, he deserved to rest a little bit. He didn't have the strength to deal with that right now.
He was looking at the ceiling when his mind slipped back to Itadori against his will.
I guess we'll have to get in contact. I should probably text him.
But he'd do that tomorrow. Today he had a very exciting study session ahead of him. Emphasis on exciting. And he still had to organize his room.
Megumi Fushiguro being paired with Yuuji Itadori. What a bad idea.
And he's not even my type, Nobara's just crazy.
Yuuji had, for once in his life, arrived early to class. The stars had aligned, making way for this miracle that he was totally undeserving of. He considered it a blessing, until his professor uttered the words "project" and "oral presentation" and Yuuji had to contain himself from banging his head on the table. He zoned off after that, the upcoming Human Earthworm movie a much more interesting topic on his mind than what was being discussed.
When he went up to the desk to ask about his partner he was hit with the name 'Megumi Fushiguro', and his entire world shifted beneath his feet.
No. It had to be a mistake. It couldn't be.
Megumi Fushiguro, top student of his major. As serious as a stone. He didn't attend parties or sport matches or any events on campus. His routine consisted of going to class, studying, then going to class again, in a constant cycle. Apparently he only went out when his friends managed to drag him out of their shared apartment.
Yuuji was intrigued. Fushiguro had this mysterious aura around him that followed him everywhere. He looked at everyone as if they had personally insulted him. And he was always, without fail, wearing black. Yuuji didn't know how he could survive during these warmer months.
But the truth of the matter, and what had Yuuji quite so fixated on him, was that Megumi Fushiguro was handsome as hell. Even if he had only looked at him from a distance. Which made his situation so much worse.
Sure, he was paired with a pretty boy, but it was the type of boy who'd rather take the longest route to class just to avoid running into a guy like Yuuji. He didn't think that Fushiguro would be too thrilled at the idea of doing a project with him, which was definitely going to make things much more uncomfortable.
"Itadori, you better apply yourself with this. You still need to pass my course," Yuuji nodded at that, choosing to stay silent.
A course that he wasn't even supposed to be taking, by the way. But the university refused to let him drop it last year since the registration period had already closed, so he'd been attending class begrudgingly. And if it wasn't enough, he had failed. So now he had to retake the entire course. Amazing. His luck was working overtime. Thanks, Hakari.
It's not that the class was difficult per se, it's just that Yuuji wasn't really interested in it, which made focusing hard. He couldn't last five minutes studying without getting distracted by something else. But Yuuji was determined to pass, and if he had to assign a movie character to each section of his notes to accomplish that then so be it. That way he was at least mildly engaged.
He will (hopefully) be the first physical therapist to graduate having taken an unnecessary literature course.
When Yuuji opened the door of his apartment he found Kirara laying lazily on the couch, scrolling on her phone. He assumed she was alone, since Hakari was nowhere to be seen, and Todo had class until the afternoon.
The girl raised her head the moment she heard Yuuji come in. "You're back early today," she simply commented.
"I only have like, two classes on Mondays," he answered, while taking off his shoes.
After a second of hesitation, he decided to speak of the topic that had been invading his mind the entire morning. He walked and sat right next to her on the sofa, taking one of the cushions and hugging it close to his chest.
"Hey, on a scale of one to ten, how many chances do I have of surviving a group project with Megumi Fushiguro?"
She took a moment to consider her answer. "I'd say two."
Yuuji snorted. "You're being very optimistic."
She giggled a little, putting down her phone and getting up until she was also sitting. "Depends on how much time you're going to be spending with him."
"The project's due in five months, so I'm assuming that a lot," he sighed, feeling a bit defeated. "I'm so fucked."
"Maybe," her lips curved into a grin.
"You're not helping me here," he whined, burying his face on the cushion that he was still holding.
"Okay, why are you assuming that it'll go wrong?" Kirara crossed her legs, and placed her chin on her palms. She was studying Yuuji's hunched frame.
"I don't know. I just don't think that we're gonna get along well."
"I don't share the same opinion."
That prompted Yuuji to lift his head, frowning in confusion.
"Fushiguro acts nonchalant, but it's really just a façade. Everything will go alright, trust me."
He thanked Kirara for her reassurance, and tried really hard to believe it, even if a part of him was still a little afraid.
After a small gossip session with his friend, Yuuji decided to go back to his room. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about Fushiguro.
Kirara's words echoed in his head, igniting a quiet determination within him.
I wonder how long will it take me to bring down his walls. How long will it take me to become his friend.
Deep down, he knew it was a bad idea. But it was so alluring too.
Nothing is going to happen if I mess up with him just a little bit, right?
Who knows, maybe we end up being more than fr— No. Yuuji. Stop, don't go there.
Megumi had been staring at his phone for the last twenty minutes. An Instagram profile stared right back at him.
@itaadoriyuu_10
It was simple. He just had to send him a message to discuss where and when to meet so they could start working on the project. A very straightforward plan.
There was just a tiny, minuscule problem.
He couldn't bring himself to press that damn follow button.
Megumi sighed for what felt like the thousandth time —it probably was— and resigned himself to stalk his page. As if he hadn't done that three separate times already.
But who is keeping score? Not him.
(He is).
Itadori's account mostly had photos about the soccer team, and a few ones with his friends. His highlights were more of the same. The only thing that sparked his interest was a story he had posted a few months ago with a guy that seemed older than him. He was tall, had brown hair and was extremely pale. What caught his attention was the My Chemical Romance t-shirt he was wearing. Specifically one of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. At least somebody in Itadori's circle had good taste.
You know, for such a popular guy, he was surprisingly private.
Or maybe he had a second account where he posted all his bullshit. Megumi barely used social media, so he didn't understand the hype around it.
After losing too much time, he finally gathered the courage he needed to follow him. Then, immediately after doing said action, he threw his phone in his bed and started pacing around his room.
He was truly and utterly hopeless.
When he picked up his phone he found three notifications.
@itaadoriyuu_10 has requested to follow you
@itaadoriyuu_10: hey there ;)
@itaadoriyuu_10: we're doing that literature project together
Not even two minutes after he followed him and Itadori was already texting him. Maybe it was a coincidence, but something told him that this guy spent more time on his phone than he should.
He didn't want to leave him waiting, and the sooner they got this over with, the better. With that in mind, he opened the message.
[itaadoriyuu_10]
hey there ;)
we're doing that literature project together
12:33
[m.fushigur0_]
Yes.
When would you like to meet up?
12:34
[itaadoriyuu_10]
hmm
we can meet tomorrow if u want
at 7 or smth
i have practice tho
so i might be a little late
12:34
[m.fushigur0_]
It's alright.
Tomorrow at the library at 7.
12:35
[itaadoriyuu_10]
ok!! 😝
12:35
That was surprisingly easy.
Megumi didn't let his guard down, though. Tomorrow they will talk to each other. Properly, without guarding themselves behind a screen.
He doesn't know if it's going to go well.
What he does know is the rapid pounding of his heart ringing in his ears.