Chapter Text
A young girl sits in the back of her classroom while the teacher is talking about the use of fractions, and how many go into each other. The math lesson is boring to listen to, as would any subject be. The girl rests her hand on her chin, then scans around the classroom with her eyes, trying to see if she could focus on something more interesting
The girl's eyes wandered from the chalkboard, the teacher's droning voice becoming white noise as she scanned the classroom. Her gaze drifted past the windows, past the clock that seemed to be moving backwards, and finally landed on the empty seat three rows ahead. There sat a boy with pink hair, hunched over a sketchbook, drawing furiously.
His shoulders were tense, with the exception of his right side moving in an up and down motion as he was scribbling all over his page. Looks like he too wasn’t paying attention. Undiagnosed adhd? Maybe. Or the teacher was just boring to listen to. The fake enthusiastic voice that elementary school teachers have doesn't really sell it sometimes. Besides, once high school hits, they don’t keep up the act, and instead don’t hide the fact that they’re drained and underpaid. Everything is just being melancholy.
She focuses back onto him though, her thoughts drifting from the lesson, to completely being on him. Something about the way he is during the lesson makes her actually smile.
When the recess bell rang, it felt like that feeling when you get off a terrifying rollercoaster, and they lift up the safety belt to let you out. It’s terrifying to be on, but so relieving once the ride hits the brakes.
The girl didn't waste any time. Her chair scraped against the floor as she grabbed her jacket from her cubby, and made a beeline, not for the monkey Bars outside where most kids ran, but directly for the boy.
He sat right at a bench that was in front of the playground, kicking rocks and woodchips with his foot. It didn’t look like he had anybody to play with. Or, nobody wanted to play with him
The girl walks nervously behind him, then with a trembling hand, she tapped his shoulder quickly
“Hi”
He turned around to look to see what disturbed him, but he didn’t look angry at all. Instead, he had a natural instinct to smile, his brown eyes disappearing as his eyes squinted with the expression. He was one of those people who used their entire face to smile. Her hand was still beside his shoulder, but she pulled it back after he turned around to look at her
“Uh…hi.” She repeated again, scared to even talk. Social anxiety is rough at this age, especially when trying to make friends
“Wanna… play on the playground?”
The boy blinked at her, seemingly caught off guard by the invitation. His smile faltered for just a second, not because he was uninterested, but because he looked genuinely surprised someone was actually talking to him. His sketchbook sat on the bench beside him, filled with messy doodles and unfinished characters.
He glanced back at his sketchbook, then back at her.
“I’m Itadori Yuji.” He introduced, his legs swinging as he sat in the bench “But, I’ll let you call me Yuji”
She moved out from behind the bench, her feet following each other with each step so carefully. Her fingers were slightly fidgeting with each other in front of her jacket. She looked down at the ground as she was still to skittish to make eye contact, but felt better at the fact he didn’t immediately reject her invitation
“Hi Yuji.”
She responded with full bashfulness. Her eyes lingered at the sketchbook beside him, where she could see sketches of cartoon characters and movie scenes that she recognized. Her eyes scanned over the pages that were in her view point, then she looked back over to him
“I like your drawings”
Yuji's face lit up at the compliment, his cheeks flushing slightly with happiness. He hadn't expected anyone to appreciate his art, especially not someone he just met. He opened his sketchbook wider, showing her more of his drawings with an almost shy excitement.
She had a smile crawl onto her face too as she felt the wave of insecurity and anxiety rush over her. She’s making a new friend currently. The quick conversation already had the two of them intrigued by each other. Her hand reached out towards him, palm opened as her invitation
“Do you wanna play now?”
Yuji hesitated for only a moment, glancing at his sketchbook, then back at her outstretched hand. His fingers brushed against hers lightly as he took it, sliding off the bench with a soft thud of his shoes against the ground.
"Yeah. I wanna play."
He followed her toward the playground equipment, the screams and thrills over other kids their age surrounded the place, but the two of them blocked out the feelings of other people.
And immediately, they became inseparable.
Just a regular day, she sits on the couch with Yuji as the two of them are playing smash bros. So far, he’s won 4 games, while she has won 2. Currently, she has two lives while he only has one.
Choso, on the other hand, is in his room, studying for an exam he has to take later this week. Maybe the other two should be studying, but they prefer playing smash bros.
“Stop jumping so much. It’s annoying” Yuji said, trying to attack her, but again, she kept moving out of the way before he could. Her character jumped over his head again, her thumbs smashing against the Nintendo controller, attempting to dodge every hit that he was trying to put on her. The slight noise of the battle music, the character voice lines, and the continuous button mashing was the only thing that was filling the room. Her thumb hovered over her jump button, that it could barely see the light of day. Her character landed a hit, taking out Yuji's last stock. He groaned dramatically and threw his controller onto the couch cushion beside him.
"Damn it! I was so close this time!"
The match was declared over, as the announcer shouted ‘GAME’ once he was hit off of the map. Then the TV showed a victory screen of her character celebrating the win, while he clapped in the background. She put her controller down beside her, hands lifted up by her head as she accepted the win. She shrugged her shoulders, nodding in agreement with the game.
“Yeah. Easy game. I’m John Smash Bros”
She turned her head to look at him, and he looked upset. Not actually upset, but more dramatically upset. His eyes were narrowed as he looked at her, lips formed a completely straight line as he had no lick of humor in his face. Yuji stared at her for a long moment, his expression frozen in that exaggerated seriousness. Then his eyebrow twitched, and the corner of his mouth quivered before he finally broke character.
"John Smash Bros? That's not even funny."
He reached over and shoved her shoulder lightly, a grin breaking through his facade. Her body moved with the shove, like a wave rippling, then she came back to sitting up straight beside him, a smile plastered all over her face as she released a small chuckle towards him.
“I saw you smile so you obviously thought it was funny.”
She turned her head to look forward again towards the TV, slouching into the couch until she was completely warped around the cushion, like syrup flowing off of a pancake at ihop.
“I think we can do one more round before I leave, right?”
Yuji stretched his arms above his head, his back arching forward before he settled back into the couch beside her. He cracked his knuckles dramatically.
"One more? You say that like I'm not about to destroy you this time."
He grabbed his controller again, clicking it a few times to get back to the character select screen. His thumb scrolled through the roster quickly.
"Rematch. Same characters?"
Her thumbs moved over the thumb stick on the character selection screen, eyes scanning all of the options she could get. Previously, she played as Jigglypuff so she could use her sleep special, but her eyes shopped around until she clicked someone else.
“Nah. I’m gonna do Corrin this time. She’s easy to use” She clicked the section option for Corrin, then waited for Yuji to pick his character.
Yuji's tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on the character select screen. His thumb hovered over a few options before landing on one.
"Little Mac. Straight hands. No tricks."
He selected the character and leaned back into the couch, bouncing his leg with anticipation as the stage select screen loaded.
"You know what they say about Little Mac players?"
The stage was set to random, of course, and it loaded out to be Battlefield. Perfect stage to end on. Their characters were loaded in small cutscenes of their idle animations as the game match was about to start.
“Do they say Little Mac players have a little Mac themselves?” She said as she immediately jumped over him and struck his character from behind.
Yuji's jaw dropped as his character went flying sideways from the hit. He fumbled with his controller, trying to recover but already taking percent damage early.
"Wow. Okay."
He mashed the attack button, throwing out a quick jab combo that caught her Corrin mid-air.
"First of all, uncalled for. Second of all, that's not even what they say."
She tried to hit him from above, but he moved out of her way at the last second, her teeth gritting from the wasted opportunity to get more damage, then he attacked, increasing her percentage little by little.
“Fahhhhh” She said, trying to back onto the platform so she could try to attack him again.
“Okay, but what do they say?”
Yuji’s Little Mac dashed forward, landing a clean tilt attack that pushed her Corrin back across the platform. He was grinning now, confidence flooding back.
"They say Little Mac players are built differently."
He side-stepped her recovery attempt and punished with a forward smash that sent Corrin straight off the match. now reducing her to two stocks.
"See? Straight hands. No tricks."
She groaned as she lost that first round, button mashing all over again to try and get him to launch off too. Her thumbs were beating the controller up as she tried to hit him with many combos and other attacks, and she did land some of them, his percentage rising up to 101%.
“Okay bro, you are not the main character. I will put my controller far in your butt”
The threat was weird, but for how long they’ve been friends, it’s an average conversation with them. Usually they threaten each other in the oddest way possible. It would make someone who doesn’t even know them or what they’re like uncomfortable listening to it.
Yuji snorted, eyes still locked on the screen as he weaved around another attack. "Bold talk for someone who just lost a stock."
“Wait that rhymed that’s kind of tough”
He tried to go for a KO punch but whiffed completely, leaving his character wide open, and she took that advantage, charging up quickly and sending his character straight off the platform. Now he was down to two stocks as well.
“I spoke too soon.”
“Yeah. Bold talk for someone who just lost a stock”
She laughed right in his face as she said that, exaggerating the loudness and the laugh itself. She’s laughing like how a guy would on the first date when the girl had said the most unfunniest joke, but he just wants a piece of that cookie later. He is not getting a bite, just let it go. Back to the game however, they keep trying to throw combos, grabbing each other, blocking attacks, running away.
She leans forward on the couch as her complete focus is getting him to lose another stock. Both of their percentages are in the 40%, hers being slightly higher.
“If I lose this I’m skinning myself.”
Yuji's eyes widened at her statement, his grip tightening on the controller as he desperately tried to guard her Corrin's incoming combo. She missed the attack, his thumb hovering over his own attack button.
“Okay, dramatic much”
He landed another hit on her, but she managed to get a combo on him, throwing him backwards slightly.
She jumped back onto the platform, then leaped off while pressing ‘B’ to get a good attack on him, and it landed which made a grin appear on her face, then she leaned slightly over to him.
“Okay. We just gonna act like you weren’t threatening to shoot yourself last week because your DoorDash order took too long?”
She got his percentage up high, then focused her only goal on getting a good hit on him to remove another stock, charging up every time he would get close to her. Yuji's face scrunched up, his eyes darting from the screen to her and back to the screen real quick.
"First of all, that was a completely justified reaction. I waited an hour for pad thai. An hour! it said originally it was gonna take 30 minutes, but then they decided to all fuck around and take forever."
She got a good hit on his character, sending him flying off the map again and he was distraught.
“Damn it! Fuck! You’re hacking!”
She chuckled, curses flying out of him at the same tone someone would have after losing all their money betting on a sports game.
“How do you even hack smash bros? I’m not smart enough for that”
While her percentage was high, she still had a small advantage. She still had a whole stock more than him, and that could secure her a victory.
“I genuinely might win this.”
Choso walked down the hallway, his dark hair loose and messy around his face like he had just woken up from a nap. He wore a plain black long sleeve that hugged his frame and gray sweatpants that hung low on his hips.
He stopped behind the couch, looking between the two of them hunched over their controllers like their lives depended on it.
"What are you two doing?"
She wanted to look behind her so badly, but her mind was only focused on beating Yuji. “Smash bros. I’m kicking his ass right now.”
She jumped over him to avoid getting more percentage added on, then she grabbed him and started hitting him with a couple attacks, getting his percentage up to 12%.
Choso watched the chaos unfold from behind them. He observed the intense concentration on her face as she played, then glanced at Yuji who was visibly sweating, his brows furrowed in a mix of anger and frustration. His expression remained unreadable, but he noticed the slight competitive fire in the way she was attacking the other.
“I remember when me and Yuji would play Smash on the Wii”
She messed up on her controls, accidentally pressing her attack button instead of jump to dodge, and she was sent off the map. Now they both had one stock, but he was at a higher percentage than her, so still an advantage.
“You guys had a Wii? You still have it?”
She immediately tried to attack from behind, and it worked for a minute, then he got some hits on her too. It’s a completely competitive game now. Just one stock away from either a victory or defeat.
Choso leaned against the back of the couch, his arms crossing over his chest as he watched the screen. His dark eyes followed the characters bouncing around Battlefield.
"Yeah. It's somewhere in storage back home."
He paused, watching Yuji barely survive another attack.
"Yuji used to cry when I would beat him”
Yuji's face furrowed as he focused on the game, but was upset at his brother’s comment.
"I was seven!"
She smiled slightly, the curl in her lips was spotlighted by the glow of the TV.
“It’s okay Yuji. I broke a TV because I thundercutted the remote while playing baseball because I forgot the to put on the safety strap”
She landed a good hit on him, which made her smile grow even bigger.
“Oh shit”
Choso raised an eyebrow at her comment about the TV, storing that information away for later teasing. His gaze flickered to the screen where Yuji's character was taking damage, then back to her.
"You thundercutted the remote?" He repeated slowly, sounding mildly impressed despite himself. Yuji groaned as his percentage climbed higher.
“Bro I’m gonna lose this shit” He groaned, but still attempted to button mash his way up.
Her fingers dragged across the controller, hands sweaty from how tight she was holding it, and also because they’ve been on this game for over an hour. A completely friendly competition. With just a little bit of harassment and threats.
“Yeah. I was trying to throw a really fast ball. But then the TV broke. And then I got yelled at. Fun times!”
She got his percentage up to 79% now and she grinned as she was still in the 20s. She was close enough to where if she charged up for a short time, he’d shoot straight off the map and she’d secure the victory. Choso watched as her character charged up, his eyes tracing the movements on screen. He could see the determination in her posture, the way she leaned forward slightly. There was something oddly captivating about seeing her so focused on something so trivial. Yuji was sweating bullets, his fingers mashing buttons frantically.
"Damn it, no no no…”
With a quick hold on her thumb stick, he made the critical mistake of walking by her character, and as soon as she let go, the small cutscene of her character hitting him appeared, and soon he was launched off the map, the narrator ending the match with a loud “Game”.
Then the victory screen appeared, with her character celebrating while he clapped with the second place label.
“Owned.”
Yuji stared at the screen in disbelief, his controller dropping onto his lap. His mouth hung open slightly as he processed what just happened. He let out a long, dramatic groan, throwing his head back against the couch cushion.
"Are you kidding me?!"
He shot a glare at the screen, then at her, his expression a mix of frustration and reluctant respect. She looked over at him after grinning at the screen, then she stuck her tongue out in the corner of her mouth slightly, a teasing banter.
“John Smash Bros” She repeated, setting her control to the side, then standing up off the couch, stretching out her body after being seated on the cushion for too long.
“Good games though.”
Yuji threw his head back dramatically, groaning like he’d just suffered a devastating loss. He flipped her off playfully, grabbing a throw pillow and aggressively hitting it.
"Suck my dick. That was rigged." He complained, rubbing his thumbs because they were genuinely sore.
“Ew.” She mumbled, looking back at him, then she laughed as she caught his expression, and he couldn’t help but smile at her laughter. She picked the pillow back up and chucked it at his face before moving to go to the table in the corner of the living room, where she lazily put all of her stuff when she arrived.
“I’m gonna go here pretty soon though. Unfortunately I have a class at 9 in the morning” She said, scooping her keys and her phone up. She flipped the device over in her hands to check for notifications. Just a few from her email and Canvas, but nothing else really important. The time read 1:06 AM.
“I could probably survive off of 6 hours of sleep.”
Choso glanced at the time on the microwave. 1:06 AM. His brows furrowed slightly.
"You have a 9 AM and you're leaving at 1 AM." He stated it more as a fact than a question, his tone flat but there was a hint of disapproval underneath.
Yuji was still slumped on the couch, rubbing his eyes. "Just crash here bro."
She shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand as she looked at him, then out the window.
“I’m literally just across the street. Besides, all my shits at my apartment anyways. I’d have to wake up slightly earlier to go back there and get it in time.”
She stuffed her phone in her pocket, then headed to the front door, unlocking it, but not twisting the handle quite yet. Choso straightened up from leaning against the couch, his eyes still on her. He walked over slowly, stopping beside her at the door.
"It's cold outside." He glanced out the window, noting the late hour and the dim streetlights. His hand reached past her, resting on the doorframe like he was blocking the entrance slightly.
"At least take a jacket."
She looked at him, blunt faced. He was serious about all this. So over protective, like he really is an older brother to her too. She threw her head back and groaned, dragging her feet as she walked over to Yuji’s room to raid his closet.
“Gonna steal one of yours. You’ll get it back next time I see you.”
Yuji didn't even look up from the couch, waving his hand dismissively. "Take the black one. It’s clean."
Choso stayed by the door, watching her disappear into Yuji’s room. She eventually came back, slipping her arms through the black hoodie as she walked. When she got to the door again, she was completely swallowed by the hoodie, the soft cotton surrounded her body and made her feel like she was wrapped in a cloud. The hoodie was faint of Yuji’s own scent, but she basically smells like him almost every day because of how often they hang out.
“Good god this thing is huge.” She replied as she slipped the sleeves up and over her hands. The hood was over her head still, as she was too lazy to pull it off. She had her keys in her hand, phone in her pocket, and she had some warmth around her. Now she should be able to go home.
“Alright well, I’m leaving now. I actually am this time.”
Choso reached past her and opened the door for her, the cool night air immediately drifting in. He stood in the doorway, watching as she stepped outside onto the front porch. The streetlight casted a warm orange glow over the sidewalk.
"Text one of us when you get in." His voice was low, but there was something firm behind it that made it sound more like an instruction than a suggestion.
She stepped outside into the cold air and felt a relief, it’s a good thing she listened when he said to grab a jacket because it was indeed cold. She could feel the wind on her face. She turned back to look at the inside of the home and waved.
“Alright I will. Bye now. Love you guys”
She moved away from the door and stepped off of the porch, careful with her surroundings as she moved across the front yard, then she crossed the road when it was safe. Choso had already shut the door. He locked the door behind her, clicking the deadbolt into place. He stood there for a moment, listening to her footsteps fade on the pavement outside. Through the small window beside the door, he watched her cross the street, the oversized hoodie swallowing her silhouette under the streetlight.
Yuji had already sprawled out on the couch, his eyes half-closed.
“So sleepy…” He mumbled, throwing his arm over his eyes as he rested for a minute there on the couch. The game was still playing in the background, the music just repeating over and again, Yuji just being reminded of his defeat on the screen.
Choso walked back into the living room, stepping over Yuji’s legs to reach the console. He hit the power button on the TV and Switch, cutting off the repetitive victory music and plunging the room into a sudden, peaceful quiet.
"Go sleep in your bed, not on the couch." He kicked Yuji’s foot gently, gesturing toward the hallway.
He groaned as he didn’t want to get up, but Choso grabbed him anyway. He forced him to stand up, then Yuji’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He knew it was her, she was quite literally instructed to tell someone when she got home, and she picked the easy choice of choosing Yuji
Y/N: I home.
Y/N: Goodnight.
Yuji glanced at his phone, a small smile on his face. He typed back quickly.
Yuji: goodnight idiot sleep well
He tossed his phone onto the couch and groaned, his face scrunching up as he tried to keep standing. Choso grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, practically dragging him toward his room.
"Bed."