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By the time Megumi makes it home, dazed and unsure of what is happening in his life and also unsure how it was possible Yuuji lives in the same city as him and that they met, it’s nighttime. His phone feels heavier in his pocket, just knowing that now he has Yuuji’s phone number. 

He could talk to Yuuji. Not just watch him through a screen on his laptop. 

He talked with Yuuji. Face to face. 

He opens the door to his house, still confused about how any of this is possible. It doesn’t even make sense that they live in the same city, that Megumi has been the mystery crush this whole time. 

He has barely touched the door before it flings open all the way and Gojo is in the doorway, wide-eyed and frantic. 

“Megumi!” Gojo shouts, grabbing his shoulders. “Megumi! Megumi! What happened! You haven’t been answering my texts! Did it go well? Did you meet your crush? Did you go on a date? Are you going to go on a date? Are you going to get married?”

Megumi lets himself be shaken by his godfather. “What? Who said anything about getting married?”

“Nobody’s getting married!” His dad’s voice echoes from inside the house. “Megumi’s too young for that!”

He pushes past Gojo into the house, crossing his arms. His dad looks at him from where he’s standing in the living room. “You okay, kid?”

“Yeah, of course I’m fine.”

Gojo appears in front of him again. “Megumi! You gotta tell me what happened! You didn’t tell me anything about your crush!”

He pretends to cry, falling onto the floor. “Megumi! Do you not love me? Your favorite godfather?”

Megumi looks at him, tiredly. “I didn’t tell you because I knew that you’d react like this.”

“Well, you have to tell me everything. What happened?”

He shifts his weight, not looking at his dad or Gojo. His entire face feels warm as he picks at the sleeve of his shirt. “Well, I guess we sort of went on a date?”

Gojo screams. 

Not for the first time, he has to wonder why Gojo is like this. 

While Gojo is laughing and giggling like a teenager with a crush, he starts jumping like this is actually some kind of TV show or something. Toji slowly sits down on the couch, staring off into the distance like he’s contemplating his entire life. 

“Dad?” He asks after Toji still doesn’t move for a long moment. 

“Sorry,” his dad says, rubbing a hand across his face. “I’m just trying to process this.”

Now Megumi actually rolls his eyes. “I’ve been on a date before. That blind date?”

“But you didn’t like that random person. Oh my god,” his dad covers his face with his hands. “I’m getting old. And you’re growing up.”

He watches his dad start to fall into a crisis. Growing up? As if Megumi is not already in college and already twenty-one years old. “Okay, Dad, whatever you say.”

Gojo laughs, one hand on his hip. “Ha! Get wrecked! You should be cool like me! I don’t go into a crisis because Megumi has a crush–I just feel left out that he didn’t tell me but that’s besides the point–You’re aging yourself.”

Toji slowly raises his head, glaring. “You are in my house.”

“So?” Gojo waves a hand, “It’s true. Someone needs to let you know. When you act like that you age yourself by at least ten years. Maybe it’s time to try an anti-aging skin routine? It looks like you might need it.”

Toji stares at him for a long, long moment. 

Megumi crosses his arms and turns towards Gojo. “Also, you .”

“Yes, my most favorite godson?” Gojo says with too much fake innocence and a falsely innocent smile. 

“How long did you know all of this and why didn’t you tell me?”

Gojo pushes back his sunglasses and grins. Actually grins, like he wasn’t the cause of Megumi’s problems for the past seven months. “What? I tried setting you up on a date. You declined. Sorry, but that’s on you.”

“Because I didn’t know it was Yuuji!” Megumi throws his arms up in the air. “If you had just said that-”

“Well,” Gojo pouts, shaking his head. “How was I supposed to know you had a crush on him when you never told me? Huh? Maybe you should have thought of keeping your godfather in the loop, Megs.”

“You–”

Gojo holds up his hands. “But wait, wait! You didn’t tell me what happened! I’ve been in suspense all day since you literally ran out the door like you were in a rom com!”

His face gets hot again. And he sighs in defeat. “Fine, I’ll tell you.”

Gojo screams and runs to the kitchen. “Okay, okay! I’ll get snacks! You gotta tell me everything!” He starts grabbing random snacks from the kitchen and tossing them into the living room. “This is adorable! Watching my godson fall in love!”

“He’s not in love!” Toji shouts, twisting in his chair to glare. 

Gojo sings the words. “But he could be!” And then he laughs in a way that almost makes him sound like a cartoon villain. 

Why does he tell them anything?

“Stop messing with my kitchen!” Toji says over his shoulder. And Gojo comes running back into the living room, arms full of snacks. He jumps onto the couch, looking at Megumi intently. 

“Give me all the deets.”

Megumi waits for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should actually tell them anything. Finally, he just sighs and sits down on the couch beside Gojo. 

Gojo immediately shifts so he’s sitting crossed legged and facing Megumi. He opens a container of chocolate chip cookies. “Okay, now tell me everything. And don’t leave out the details.”

Toji sighs, a hand covering his face. “Why do I let you in my house?”

“Because I’m Megumi’s godfather and you would have to literally physically force me out to prevent me from hearing this,” Gojo says around a mouthful of cookie. “Plus, someone needs to make sure Megs has a love life since you’re so against it apparently.”

Toji makes a face. 

Megumi takes a cookie. “Do you want to hear about this or not?”

“Yes!” Gojo now completely ignores Toji. “Give me a play by play of what happened after you ran outside like you were in a rom com.”

He can’t even look at Gojo or his dad as he talks. “Well, I got to his dorm. And I realized I didn’t have a way to actually contact him, so I sat there.”

“And you probably thought about giving up, didn’t you?” Gojo sighs, shaking his head. “You can’t give up like that-”

“Do you want to hear or not?”

“Okay, okay,” Gojo eats another two cookies. 

“And his brother showed up and recognized me.” Megumi says. 

It’s quiet for a moment then Gojo throws his head back laughing. “Seriously? That’s hilarious!”

Megumi sighs. Gojo is still laughing. “I’m trying to imagine that! Imagine that your brother’s online crush shows up randomly.”

“Okay, okay, stop laughing,” Megumi takes another cookie. “And then he told me that Yuuji was on a date-”

Gojo gasps and he sees his dad’s head whip around at that. Gojo shoves his sunglasses up, eyes wide. “For real?”

“Yeah,” he shrugs. “So I was going to leave, but then his brother decided we were going to crash the date.”

The house is quiet for a long moment after he says this. 

“You crashed a date?” Gojo’s voice goes up by several octaves.

“It wasn’t my idea!”

Gojo stares at him and then his dad starts cackling. Megumi crosses his arms. “Stop it.”

“Wow, Megumi’s really growing up. I remember when I used to be able to hold him and now he’s growing up and crashing dates.” Gojo pretends to wipe away a tear. “Where does the time go?”

“Now who’s having a crisis?” Toji mutters. 

“Do you want to know what happened or not?” Megumi finally says. “We ended up walking around the park-”

Gojo makes an awing sound. “This is so cute. Megumi is really growing up and having a crush and having the beginnings of a rom com style romance.”

Toji stares off into space again. 

And Megumi wants to protest but he can’t even find it untrue.

Yuuji is fairly sure he might have died and gone to heaven. 

There wasn’t really any other possibility considering what happened in the past couple hours. This all had to be a dream. Because there was no way Fushiguro–his crush since high school–actually lived only five minutes away and also had a crush on him.

It was impossible. 

But somehow it was real. 

He actually saw Fushiguro with his two eyes–in real life. Not through a screen.

He still thinks his brain melted partly the moment he saw Fushiguro. 

Yuuji throws open the doors to his dorm room. And the moment he sees his brother, he starts shouting nonsense because it’s the only thought his brain is capable of forming right now. The whole thing melted trying to process the fact Fushiguro had been standing in front of him.

Because right now, everything amazing that just happened to him is because of his brother. His slightly evil twin who usually bullies him.

Sukuna is sitting at his desk, laptop open, and probably working on homework. Which isn’t as important as anything that has to do with Fushiguro Megumi.  

“Sukuna!”

His head slowly looks up. “You had better be here to thank me for being the best brother to ever live.”

He falls to his knees in front of Sukuna and throws his arms around Sukuna. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Sukuna tries shoving him off. “Get off! Why are you so weird? You’re welcome or whatever.”

Yuuji continues to hug him. 

“Stop it! I regret this now! We’re never talking about this again. I need to be free-”

“We went on a date!” Yuuji shouts at the top of his lungs, latching onto Sukuna’s arm. “Do you understand? A date!”

He starts shaking Sukuna and shouting everything. “A date! We exchanged phone numbers, Sukuna! I have his number and it’s all thanks to you!”

Sukuna tries kicking him away, making a disgusted face. “Stop it or else I’m going to end you, Brat.”

It wasn’t even a lie. Right now, for real, his phone possesses the very important, crucial information that is Fushiguro Megumi’s phone number. A number he could text or call at any time and get a real, actual response from the love of his life. 

And somehow it was thanks to his brother. 

Yuuji is fairly sure there’s actual tears in his eyes right now.

“Bro, you have no idea. That was so nice of you. I thought you disapproved of it and because you kept saying it was a parasocial relationship and all.”

Sukuna crosses his arms, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, sure. I did say that. But that was also when there was no possible way for you to ever meet him and I happened to find him standing outside of our dorm. What was I supposed to do? Leave him there?”

“Thank you! Thank you!” 

Yuuji holds up his phone like someone would hold a precious jewel, his hands shaking. “This holds some of the most important information in the world.”

Sukuna’s face falls entirely and he looks disgusted as he leans away. “End me. I’m begging you.”

Yuuji holds the phone with care. This holds the most important sequence of numbers known to mankind. “But this is so important! It has his phone number!” Yuuji gasps, sucking in air. “I even know his first name now.”

“Oh, jesus-”

“His name is Megumi,” Yuuji says the name carefully. It’s a good name. It suits him. Fushiguro is also a good name. But Megumi was better. It matches him.

Sukuna pretends to vomit. 

“Megumi,” Yuuji says thoughtfully, tilting his head to the side. “It really does suit him.”

Sukuna grabs a pillow and begins repeatedly slamming his face into it. “I hate my life.” Slam . “I hate this shit.” Slam . “I hate everything.” Slam . “Why do I still have to listen to this?” Slam .

Normally, Yuuji wouldn’t really care about Sukuna’s suffering. But his dream came true because of Sukuna. Yuuji pats his shoulder. “It’s okay, bro. I know you love me. You wouldn’t have helped me otherwise. Grandpa would be proud.”

“You brat!”

Yuuji looks back to his phone. “Oh my god, I need to text Megumi–wait, do you think it’s okay if I call him Megumi? Obviously, I can’t call him by his channel name anymore. But maybe he thinks calling him Megumi is too soon. Or maybe not?”

Sukuna screams into a pillow. 

Yuuji looks at his phone. “We did kinda go on a date. And he agreed to another date so–”

“Please stop.”

He unlocks his phone, opening the blank chat with Fushiguro Megumi. But it’s real. It’s real and not some random scenario he dreamed of randomly when he’s zoning out in class or walking to class or cooking breakfast. This was reality. 

But somehow, none of his daydreams involved whatever happened today. Because that sort of thing is hard to imagine. 

Most of his daydreams involved the normal things–they randomly ran into each other in a coffee shop and fell in love or happened to go on a blind date where they also fell in love (which almost did happen) or in a more dramatic twist, forbidden romance where they also fell in love. 

His daydreams followed a particular pattern obviously.

They always ended with them falling in love. 

With determination, he says. “I need to text him.”

But how does he text the love of his life in a cool way without seeming crazy but also make sure it’s obviously noticeable that he really wanted to text? Is there even a way to do that?

Hi? No, too casual probably. 

Hello? Way too formal.

Hey? Maybe, it’s usually a good mix. Maybe he’ll start with that. He starts pacing as he types the singular word. Great. A perfect start to this super important and crucial text. His entire future with Megumi hinges on this text. No pressure or anything.

Yuuji gets up, pacing around the room and staring down at his phone. “Okay, strong intro. But how should I approach this? Like should I try to seem cool?”

“He’s watched your streams,” Sukuna says, tonelessly. “He knows you’re not cool.”

“Rude-”

And his phone buzzes and a text appears in the chat. 

Fushiguro Megumi: hi this is Fushiguro Megumi

Yuuji runs into a wall.

He barely notices, just staring at that text. And he ignores Sukuna cackling at him in the background. Because Fushiguro Megumi texted him.  

In this moment, he swears he will actually do everything in life right. Study. Eat healthy. Work out. Be kind. Never complain about bad food again. Never complain about cold showers. Never complain about Sukuna again. Never complain again. Do all the good things in thanks for today.

Yuuji slides to the floor and continues to lay there, his phone screen still open to the chat with Fushiguro Megumi. “Oh my god, Sukuna, we’re texting. I’m actually texting him-”

“You haven’t texted shit back.”

“We could text all the time. Sukuna do you understand? Could my life get any better? Have I gone to heaven?”

He stares up at the dorm ceiling. “I think I’m dead. Did I die?”

After Megumi finally manages to escape Gojo’s well-meaning but endless questions and his dad’s crisis about aging, he climbs into his bed and wraps himself up in his blankets. For a long, long, long time he stares up at the ceiling. 

Today seemed like something out of a movie–one of the older, small budget ones he likes to watch on occasion–not something that ever happens to him. What was even the likelihood of them meeting like they did?   

It still seems improbable that he was the mystery crush this whole time. 

Slowly, he picks up his phone and stares at it. Should he text Yuuji? Weren’t there rules or something to texting someone after a date? Not that he knew what these apparent rules of texting were in the first place. 

Or should he wait until Yuuji texts?

Would it be weird if he texted even though they just saw each other?

Hesitantly, he starts typing a message but freezes. 

Would that be weird? Would Yuuji be weirded out if he texted so soon? He doesn’t know. He’s far from an expert on this topic. 

There’s a soft knock on his door and he lowers his phone in time to see Gojo poke his head into the room. 

“Hey, you good?” Gojo walks into his room, not bothering to ask if he can come in like usual. “It just occurred to me that maybe I was overreacting earlier.”

Megumi snorts. “Only maybe?”

“I said maybe. I still think it’s fair to be excited for you,” Gojo says, and then adds, “You good though?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Oh? So you’re not panicking over your crush?”

His entire face gets warm and he can’t look Gojo in the eyes. “What? No, I’m not panicking.”

Gojo sits down at the edge of his bed, crossing his legs. “I still can’t believe you told Toji before me. I thought I was your favorite.”

Megumi rolls his eyes. “I just knew you were going to be obnoxious about it.”

He grins, smugly. “I could’ve gotten you both together sooner if you had told me.”

“How was I supposed to know you knew Yuuji?”

“Oh my,” Gojo says, in a fake scandalized voice. “On a first name basis already? This is getting serious. Ah, young love.”

Megumi smacks him with a pillow. “Shut up! It feels wrong not to call him Yuuji and-”

“It’s cute,” Gojo laughs, completely unbothered by the pillow and being smacked. “It’s like watching you have your first crush. But honestly, I’m glad you found someone you like, you deserve it.”

Megumi raises an eyebrow. “Nothing about how nobody is ever going to be good enough for me?”

Gojo waves his hands, “No no, that's up for you to decide, I mean, I did try to set you and Yuuji up. I just want to support you in the people you choose, unless he's a horrible person or something, but I don't foresee that happening. I’m an excellent judge of character.”

Gojo pauses and adds. “Most of the time.”

It was a strangely mature point of view for Gojo to have, but a bit unexpected. Part of him wonders if Gojo planned this or was following a script since Megumi had expected some kind of shovel talk knowing him.

But then again, sometimes Gojo can be a bit unexpected. 

“Well,” Megumi fiddles with his phone, turning it over in his hands. “I’m glad you feel that way.”

“Of course,” Gojo smiles. “I’m always here to support you, Megs. You’re my godson and I take that very seriously even if I joke a lot. I just want you to be happy. Plus, it’s not a very good family when your family doesn’t approve of your significant other.”

Gojo pauses for a second and then adds, “Unless they’re weird or creepy or something else. But a good family just wants you to find someone who makes you happy and isn’t creepy.”

Gojo pulls him into a hug. “I know that from experience. So I’m just letting you know!”

“Okay, okay,” Megumi leans back as Gojo pats the top of his head. “You’re being weirdly sappy.”

Gojo shrugs, clearly acting more casual than he feels like he usually does. “I guess watching you experience a real first crush reminds me of when I first met Suguru.”

Just the mention of Geto is enough for Megumi’s stomach to sink slightly. Neither of them have talked about Geto since the incident where Gojo was crying in the car and admitted he probably won’t ever be able to move on from Geto.

Megumi rubs his arm. “Have you heard from him at all?”

Gojo looks off, observing Megumi’s bookshelves. “Nah, not yet. But who knows? I don’t know, maybe…” He trails off like he’s thinking about something. The sadness in his voice feels wrong. 

And then Gojo stands up suddenly, grinning, and pats Megumi’s head. “Don’t worry about it! I’m going to figure it out. You worry about living out your rom-com dream life and snagging your soon-to-be-boyfriend off the dating market.”

Gojo shoves his hands in his pockets. “Well, I’m gonna head home! Love you, my grumpy adorable godson!”

Megumi rolls his eyes, but like always, it’s said with affection. “You’re embarrassing.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you say that, but I know that’s Megumi-language and I know you’re saying you love me too!” Gojo walks back to the door, glancing over his shoulder. “But you’re stuck with me as your favorite godfather forever!”

“Oh, I know,” Megumi says, blandly. “I’ve literally known you my entire life. It’d be kind of hard to get rid of you now.”

“I’m so glad you understand! I’ll see you tomorrow!” 

And Gojo heads downstairs. He can vaguely hear him say something to Toji, then hears the front door close.

And with that, Megumi opens his phone to Yuuji’s contact and finishes the text. And sends it before he can think too much and talk himself out of it.

Megumi: hi this is Fushiguro Megumi

The urge to throw his phone across the room is strong, but instead he sets it down on the bed facedown. So he focuses on anything else but his phone. 

His desk, covered in books, all waiting for him to make an overly long video with too many citations in the description. Bookshelves overstuffed with books from the thrift store, birthday gifts, holiday gifts, estate sales for rare volumes of old books. The limited edition box set of his favorite book series that Geto bought him for his sixteenth birthday.

The faint blue walls he and Tsumiki painted one day while his dad had been on a business trip. And of course, Gojo had been the one to make it happen. 

The plants in his windows. Really, he looks at anything to distract himself. He probably needs to work on the script for his video essay.

The phone buzzes. 

Megumi launches forward, grabbing the phone. The chat shows the symbol for someone typing. And he holds his breath, waiting for words to appear. The symbol disappears. Then it reappears. And disappears. 

It appears. 

It disappears again. 

Megumi furrows his brows. Is Yuuji okay?

And then. 

Yuuji: HEY!

Yuuji: oh my god i can’t believe this i’m actually texting you wow wow this is crazy

Megumi’s face warms up. He could practically hear Yuuji’s voice, excited and bubbly. Just the thought was enough to make him grab his pillow and squish it in his arms.  

Yuuji: nevermind that sounded not cool sorry pretend i didn’t text tha pls 

Yuuji: but you don’t really have to introduce yourself. I saved your contact :)

He smacks a hand across his face. Of course he did. Why wouldn’t Yuuji save his name with his contact? 

Megumi: oh yeah that makes sense

Yuuju: I know we haven’t like known each other for very long 

Yuuji: well at least not known each other in person 

Yuuji; but I’m really really glad we met, which is a major understatement like majorly :D

Yuuji: well obviously you know that

Yuuji: because you’ve seen my streams so you really know that’s a major understatement

Yuuju: But you have no idea how glad I am that we met!!!!

Megumi: me too

Yuuji: Please go on a date with me!

He stares at the message for a long, long time. Then he drops his phone and grabs his pillow. His entire face feels like it’s on fire, his heart racing. He needs to calm down. Be normal. Be chill. 

How does he even answer that? Should he try to sound cool? He was not cool. It takes him a long, long moment to calm himself enough to reach for his phone again and type. 

Megumi: didn’t you already ask me out?

He freezes. Did that come across as rude? But he doesn’t have too much time to think before another text comes through.

Yuuji: OH YEAH I DID :D 

Yuuji: I actually think this is the best day of my life

Yuuji: this is actually the best possible day of my life you have no idea oh my god i’m dying 

Yuuji: sijjfjfdkjfdkfd 

Yuuji: so like do you want to go out then?

Yuuji: I mean if you still want to and everything 

Megumi: Of course. Didn’t I agree earlier?

Yuuji; oh my god i’m so happy right now i could cry dkfkfjkfdkdf

Yuuji screams out loud, holding his phone tightly with both hands. Flailing on his bed, he jumps up and holds his phone with both hands. Waiting for a response.

“Holy shit!” Sukuna says, hands over his ears. “What is wrong with you?”

“I asked Megumi out!” 

Sukuna lowers his hands in a way that is somehow aggressive. “Oh my god. I swear-”

“Oh my god,” Yuuji kicks his legs, flailing around on his bed. Flopping onto one side then rolling onto the next. How was he supposed to act normal when he just typed those words? 

Megumi: Of course. Didn’t I agree earlier?

Yuuji shoves his face into his pillows and screams. He wants to fawn over Megumi’s adorable response, scream how much he is in love with Megumi to the world and the internet, run to Megumi’s house and declare his feelings right there.

He wants to do all of it at once. Like he also wants to live out all of his dreams and daydreams of his perfect love life with Megumi. 

“And he agreed!” It comes out as a wheeze, barely able to speak around his excitement. “Twice!”

A date. A real life date with Fushiguro Megumi. Not like it’s something Yuuji’s dreamed of for years now or anything. Not like he hasn’t thought about it during class. Trying to do homework. Daydreaming on vacation with his family. 

No big deal.

“Idiot,” Sukuna’s voice cuts through his nice, pleasant, daydreamy thoughts. “Do you even have a date planned?”

And Yuuji freezes and so does his brain. 

Wait, does he? What would even be the first date?

“Oh my god,” Yuuji’s voice is filled with horror. He spins around on his bed to face his slightly evil twin. “I don’t have a date planned. Sukuna! How do I plan a date? It has to be perfect! He deserves only the best in the world.”   

Sukuna’s face shows only disgust. Then he sighs deeply, closing his eyes. “Okay, listen to me-”

“Perfect I said! Why am I asking you?” Yuuji grabs onto his hair, looking around the messy dorm room like it has the answers to this dilemma. Should he consult the internet? 

Sukuna crosses his arms, scowling. “Do you want my advice or are you going to plan this ‘perfect’ date yourself?”

Yuuji falls onto his bed, screaming. “I don't know! How do you plan a date with the love of your life?”

Sukuna laughs, because he’s evil and a mean brother. “Yeah, my suggestion? Somewhere super loud and crowded. Like a club or a big concert-”

Yuuji sits upright. “That’s the worst place for a date! You’ve heard his videos! He hates loud, crowded places! You’re terrible at this! Grandpa would have better suggestions than you!”

Megumi even explicitly said it in a video from two years ago, off-handedly, that he hated loud, crowded places. Which Yuuji obviously remembers because it was really rare for Megumi to ever mention anything personal on his YouTube channel, so when anything was mentioned, he latched onto that information. 

“Sorry,” Sukuna shrugs, his arms crossed. “That’s the best answer I’ve got for you since you’ve decided to continue to annoy me about this and also I’m clearly more knowledgeable.”

“You’re terrible at planning dates!” Yuuji throws a pillow at him. Why is his brother so stupid?

“No, I’m not!” Sukuna punches the pillow out of the way. “I’m amazing at planning dates. I can’t believe you’d say that about me, brat.”

“Well, you suggested a terrible date.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Fine,” Sukuna leans forward, speaking like he was somehow saying a comeback. “Here’s what you do brat. You suggest going on a book and a coffee date–I remember from that one video you played like ten times where he talked about how much he liked coffee–so you can show that you’re thinking about his interests and not yours. You can spend the whole time fanboying or whatever.”

It is the perfect plan. A perfect first (second?) date.

His brother is a genius. 

Yuuji blinks. “Wow, that's actually a good idea.”

“Obviously,” Sukuna points at him, making a face. “You owe me double now. First for making sure you met him and now for essentially planning your first date. Whenever I ask, you have to stop streaming.”

Yuuji pauses and shuts his mouth and makes a face. “Wait. That doesn’t seem like a fair deal–”

Sukuna holds up a hand. “No. I brought you the ‘love of your life’ and planned your first perfect date with said ‘love of your life.’ If anything, you’re getting the better end of the deal.”

“Still.”

Sukuna raises both eyebrows. “The. Love. Of. Your. Life.”

“Fine, fine. Whatever. Thanks.”

“That doesn’t sound very appreciative considering it has to do with the love of your life ,” Sukuna maintains eye contact the whole time, somehow managing to look like he’s looking down at Yuuji with a judgemental look. 

Yuuji clears his throat and stands up straight then bows deeply. “Why thank you, good sir Sukuna, for doing me this favor. I am deeply indebted to you for allowing me to meet the love of my life and go on a date with him-”

And Sukuna starts laughing at him, looking away. “Okay, okay. Please stop. You look ridiculous.”

Yuuji continues on. “Thank you, oh great brother, for allowing my dream to come true-”

“Okay, okay. Stop!” Sukuna tosses a pillow at him. “Also text said love of your life before he thinks you left him hanging.”

Yuuji screeches and dives towards his phone. Opening the chat with Megumi, where he still hadn’t responded yet. “Oh my god, Sukuna, he’s gonna think I’m ignoring him.”

“I wish you were ignoring me.”

Yuuji falls onto his bed, frantically typing. “I have to let him know we’re going to go on the most perfect date of all time. We’ll fall in love and it’ll be beautiful and perfect and-”

A pillow hits the side of his head, but he keeps typing. “Sukuna, I’m serious. This is important! The future of my love life with Megumi is at stake here! Stop throwing pillows! Why do you have so many pillows?”

Sukuna is sitting on his bed. There has to be at least fifteen more pillows around him and Sukuna is sitting on them all like they’re a throne. He picks another one up. “Bulk bought them. So please, brat, continue to rant.”

Yuuji opens his mouth and Sukuna lifts the red pillow, eyes narrowed with deadly intent. Yuuji closes his mouth and Sukuna lowers the pillow. 

“You can continue to text, brat.” Sukuna opens his laptop, “And I am going to finish my paper. Peacefully.”

Yuuji turns back to his phone, making a face. “You’re taking away my joy-”

A pillow hits him. 

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Yuuji goes back to texting. He finishes and sends the text. 

Yuuji: So if you’re interested I was thinking that maybe we could go to a coffee shop and a bookstore?

Yuuji rereads the text once. Then twice. Then three times.  Yeah. That sounds great. Exactly like he imagined. Or would that sound too forced? Wait, has he made a mistake? Maybe that didn’t sound as cool as he thought. 

But it’s too late. It shows as read now. 

Megumi: That sounds amazing

There’s a long pause. And then another text appears. 

Megumi: But you don’t have to just because i like books and coffee

Yuuji: I want to! I might not read a lot but I do sometimes!

Megumi: If you’re sure

Megumi: I’d love to go then

Yuuji jumps off his bed and starts dancing, yelling and shouting. “I’m going on a date!”

“I’m going to throw up,” Sukuna throws a pillow and then a second one as well. “Why did I do this to myself? I should’ve just walked by him when I saw him.”

Yuuji giggles and flops on his bed to text back. Opening his laptop, he begins searching for bookstores and coffee shops in the city. By the time he’s ten pages deep into a web search about coffee shops in the area, he pauses. 

“Wow, I think I’m doing more research for this date than I’ve ever done in any of my classes.” Yuuji exits out of another review page of a coffee shop. “I gotta find a really good coffee shop. Megumi really likes coffee so he’s probably super smart about it. Cause he’s super smart-”

A pillow hits him. 

“Hey, I’m just trying to get a second opinion.”

Sukuna threateningly holds up a pillow, eyes narrowed. 

“Fine, if you won’t help me, I’ll ask someone else.” Yuuji turns away from him and turns on his phone.

“Good,” is all Sukuna says. 

He frantically starts texting. 

Yuuji: I desperately need your help 

It only takes milliseconds before he gets a response. 

Todo: YES BROTHER I AM HERE 

Todo: WHAT DO YOU NEED HELP WITH. YOUR BROTHER WILL HELP YOU IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE. DO YOU NEED MORAL SUPPORT IN THE GYM?

Yuuji: thank you

Yuuji: actually i need your help with something else

Todo: THE MYSTERY CRUSH

Yuuji: wait yeah how did you know?

Todo: I SAW YOUR STREAM, BROTHER

Todo: I CONGRATULATE YOU ON BEGINNING THE NEXT PHASES OF YOUR LOVE LIFE

Todo: UNLOCK YOUR DOOR I AM HERE TO HELP YOU

Only seconds later, there’s a loud knocking at the door to their dorm. Yuuji hops up and runs to open it. Behind him, Sukuna shouts. “Who is that? I swear if that’s Todo again-”

Yuuji throws open the door. “Todo!”

“Brother!” Todo bursts through the doors and immediately crushes Yuuji in a huge hug. Then he sets him down. “I am here to help with your love life!”

“Oh my god,” Sukuna’s voice carries from the room.

Todo puts his hands on Yuuji’s shoulders and very seriously says. “Ignore him, brother. Ignore the haters in your life.”

“I am a hater!” Sukuna shouts. “I’m tired of this!”

Yuuji sighs. “He keeps throwing pillows at me whenever I talk about my crush. I have to make sure this date goes perfectly!”

Todo’s face is deathly serious as he nods. “It’s true. Everything hinges on a perfect first date, my brother. I will help to ensure everything goes well.”

“Thank you for understanding the importance of this,” Yuuji says.

Sukuna steps into the common room, even more annoyed than before. “Todo. Stop encouraging him. You’re making it worse.”

Todo points at him, enthusiastically. “Sukuna! How dare you attempt to prevent our brother from reaching his ultimate happiness! Normally, I honor our unspoken truce of mutual understanding and shared brotherhood, but I cannot allow this to stand!”

Yuuji gives Sukuna a superior look. Not that he thinks Sukuna would really be bothered by Todo very much, but it still made him feel better. Sukuna’s face is entirely blank now and he looks seconds from hurling a pillow at Todo’s head. 

“Bold of you to think I won’t also fight you, Todo.” Sukuna says, cracking his knuckles. “If anything I have more reasons to fight you than the brat.”

Todo now just looks confused. “Why?”

“One, you still haven’t given me back my records. Those things were expensive. Two, you got Yuuji into streaming. Three, you’ve encouraged this crush since the beginning. Four, you assumed we have a friendship.”

Todo stands up straight, looking fully ready to fight. “It is not a friendship.”

“I’m glad you agree-”

“We are both Yuuji’s brothers. Therefore, we are brothers.”

Sukuna now looks even more disgusted. “Bold of you to assume I would ever agree.”

Yuuji sighs and slumps over. “Guys, can you not?”

Sometimes he forgets that Sukuna and Todo get weird around each other. Todo always calls Yuuji brother and so by extension, he sees Sukuna as a brother somewhat. Only somewhat because Sukuna has fought him tooth and nail on it for years now. 

Normally, they can coexist with each other. But apparently that was not the case today. 

Yuuji sighs again. “Guys, I still gotta text Megumi back. Can you fight later?”

Todo spins around to face him, an intense look on his face. “Sorry, brother! I almost forgot! Come, we shall craft the most perfect first date to ensure your ultimate happiness!”

Todo marches into the dorm room and Yuuji follows him, making a face at Sukuna as he walks past. Sukuna gives him the finger. “I’m gonna throw more stuff at you, brat!”

Yuuji just laughs and hops onto his bed, unlocking his phone. Todo sits down on top of his desk, cross-legged and looking like he is sitting down to discuss the most important thing he will ever talk about in his life. 

“So,” Yuuji starts, “I was thinking a date-”

“I would sure hope so,” Sukuna says, coming in to grab his noise blocking headphones and leaving again. 

“Okay, rude,” Yuuji turns back to Todo, who still looks just as intense. “Anyway, like I was saying. The date starts at a coffee shop and then we go to a bookstore.”

Todo nods slowly, expression still serious. “It sounds like a good foundation for the perfect first date. Now, we must ensure that the foundation is turned into a masterpiece of a building. Do you understand, brother?”

“Yes!” 

Todo nods again. “I am glad you understand.”

Yuuji listens intently.  

Todo looks thoughtful. “I have a suggestion. On the other side of the city, there is a shop that combines a coffee shop and a bookstore. Suggest that as the location for the first date. It will show that you put time and thought into planning this date.”

Todo is so smart. What would Yuuji do without him?

“Bro, you’re so smart.” Yuuji opens his phone and quickly types the text. 

“Of course I am! I have a genius level intellect!”

Yuuji really does believe it. And Yuuji can also perfectly imagine how this date goes. Yuuji arrives early, flowers in hand because he was raised with manners, wants to make a good impression, and because Todo wouldn’t let him otherwise. It’s sunset so it’s pretty out. 

Megumi arrives. He loves the flowers. They get coffee, even though Yuuji doesn’t really drink it very much–anything for Megumi of course. Then they go look at books. Yuuji gets to see how excited Megumi gets about books in person. They get to know each other better. And of course, he gets to listen to Megumi rant about literature.

It’s perfect. 

Maybe they hold hands after they leave. They fall in love and–

“Brother!”

Yuuji’s head snaps up. “What?”

Todo stares at him. “I know you are dreaming of the love of your life–I do the same thing with Takada–but you must stay focused. You received a text.”

Yuuji screeches and turns his phone back on. It’s true. He has a text from Megumi waiting for him. 

Megumi: oh

Wait. What does that mean? Did he mess up somehow? Is that possible?   

Yuuji: is that okay??

Megumi: Yeah. Of course. 

Megumi: That’s actually one of my favorite places to go actually

Yuuji sighs in relief. “Oh thank god.”

Yuuji: Really?? That’s so cool!! 

Yuuji looks at Todo. “You’re so smart, bro.” 

Todo looks incredibly smug. “Never doubt your brother, Yuuji! I will always have your back! I will ensure your eternal happiness!”

Todo nods again. “Now we must discuss the proper behavior for this date. This cannot be a usual date, brother. This is your first date with the love of your life. Such an occasion requires impeccable manners and thoughtfulness.”

Yuuji nods urgently, hanging onto every word.

“Of course, you must arrive early.”

Yuuji nods. 

“You must also walk him home. You cannot only offer.”

Yuuji nods again.

Like always, Yuuji can rely on Todo. 

Now he just has to start counting down the days until the actual date.

“Nobara, you might have to accept that it’s a lost cause.” Megumi says, from where he’s sitting on his bed. Watching her tear through his closet like a person possessed, piles of dark colored clothing strewn all over his floor, desk, bookshelf, bed, and chair. 

Nobara yanks another dark gray sweater off a hanger and tosses it haphazardly over her shoulder, landing in another pile. “Where did you learn how to shop? Where’s your sense of personal style?”

He sighs. “Seriously, it’s okay–”

Nobara whips around, clutching a plain black t-shirt and looking overly intense. “It’s a first date! You gotta look cute! And I can’t do that with–”

She holds up the shirt with a look of disgust. “The most boring, generic clothes I’ve ever seen! At least buy an interesting black shirt! This date has to be perfect! Megumi, I’ve been shipping this for months! Months!”

He has been trying not to think about the impending date. Trying being the key word. Because it’s all he has been able to think about for the past week. In class, at dinner, when he’s reading, when he’s taking the dogs on a walk. 

Constantly.

He has double checked the date and time of the date at least three times every day. Maybe it’s because he’s anxious and nervous, maybe it’s because this feels more like his first ever date than the one (terrible) attempted blind date. 

“But all you have is black or gray sweatshirts! Where is your personal sense of style? Don't you want to impress him?”

Megumi tries not to seem as nervous as he actually feels. Which is closer to feeling like he’s going to throw up or something. “I mean, if he's watched my videos, he knows how I dress and that is my personal sense of style. Thank you very much.”

Nobara lowers the shirt, sighing. “Okay, okay, yeah, that might be true. If he did develop such a huge crush on you, he must like it.” 

Now she looks deep in thought, eyes narrowed at him. “Maybe I'm approaching this wrong.”

She turns back to the closet. “Okay so. You know what? We need to embrace the book loving, academic, nerd type that Yuuji seems to like.”

He stares at her. “What?”

“Yes!” Nobara turns back around, smiling widely and tosses the shirt behind her. “I’m a genius! A fashion genius!”

Megumi is fairly sure that Yuuji is not having the same problem that he is. Part of him slightly hopes Yuuji just wears the yellow hoodie. Not that he was going to say that outloud any time soon. 

“Sukuna!” Yuuji screeches. “What do I wear?”

Sukuna doesn’t even look up from his laptop, he picks up a pillow threateningly. “I don’t know! Clothes preferably!”

Yuuji falls onto his bed and shouts into the pillow. “But I don’t know! I have to impress him! Oh my god! Help me!”

“I don’t know!” Sukuna throws a pillow. It bounces off the back of Yuuji’s head. “Dress however you want! He has a crush on you so he doesn’t care that you normally dress like a twelve year old boy!”

Yuuji hugs his pillow and rolls onto his side. “Really? You think so?”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

“It totally was, bro.”

“Just wear whatever. I don’t think he’d care.”

Megumi walks downstairs to the living room, Nobara proudly following behind him. He isn’t even sure where Nobara found these clothes in his closet, but she did somehow. He didn’t even know he had a green sweater or a white button up shirt. Nobara had him wear it underneath the sweater. 

“Behold!” Nobara says loudly and proudly, “I’ve turned a fashion disaster into a masterpiece.”

So he stands awkwardly in the middle of the living room, as Gojo comes around the corner and his dad tiredly steps into the room. And he hates how everyone is looking at him. It’s embarrassing enough that Nobara insisted he take photos for his instagram to post later.  

Gojo makes some weird looking poses. “Go off, Megumi!”

Toji looks around and then looks back to Megumi, tired. “Why are you all dressed up?” He heads back towards the kitchen. 

Nobara jumps up, excited and says in a sing-song voice. “Megumi’s got a date!”

Toji whips his head back around, holding onto a spatula with a frankly unnecessarily tight grip. “What–since when–”

Gojo gasps, slapping hands against his face. “Aw! Look at my godson! All grown up and going on dates! Is this the date with a certain twitch streamer?”

Nobara looks even more proud. “Exactly. And this time he actually used my impeccable fashion advice. I’m telling you, Megumi, if you actually listened to my advice earlier you would’ve had the whole campus obsessed with you.”

“I don’t want that,” Megumi shifts around a couple times. “I hate it when people are all looking at me. You know this.”

Noabra sighs and looks to Gojo. “Don’t worry, I’ll convince him one day.”

“I’ll help!”

“Why are you two like this?” Megumi rolls his eyes and grabs his shoes. “Okay, I have to go-”

“When was this decided?” Toji says, crossing his arms. “And you’re going out with this boy right now?”

“Yeah?”

“And he doesn’t even have the courtesy of introducing himself to your family?” Toji makes a face of distaste. “Negative points.”

Megumi stares at his dad. “What? Negative points in what?”

Gojo jumps in, “Your old man and I were talking earlier and he made a rating system to see if your soon-to-be boyfriend is respectful and good enough for you!”

And all Megumi could do was stare wordlessly at his dad. Who also looks back at him with a blank look, undeterred. Toji doesn’t even bother trying to look apologetic at all. 

Finally he sighs, smacking a hand against his face. “Why?”

“Don’t worry!” Gojo adds, “I’ve been advocating for Yuuji! I think you two would be a great match.”

“And why would I listen to you?” Toji cuts in, shooting Gojo a look. “I don’t respect your opinions on a normal day. And last time you tried to set Megumi up with someone, they were rude and ditched him at the restaurant.”

Gojo falls silent, holding up a finger and looking like he’s trying to think of a response. 

“Wait, wait,” Nobara says, curiously. “What is this rating system exactly?”

Gojo dashes into the kitchen and comes back with what looks like a large folding poster board. He holds it up and gestures to it like he’s in an infomercial. “Behold! The MDPMBRS!”

Megumi stares. “The what?”

“The Megumi’s Dads’ Potential Megumi-Boyfriend Rating System!” Gojo says gesturing at the board. “Or MDPMBRS!”

“Ooh! I want to see this,” Nobara says, sitting down to look at the board.

And not for the first time in his life, Megumi has to question why his family is so weird, why couldn’t they just be normal? Even though this is most definitely the normal for his family.

He turns to his dad. “You made a poster board?”

“No. Your clown of a godfather did.”

“Hey!” Gojo says, opening up the poster board. “You helped with the rating system.”

“Okay, that makes more sense.” Megumi puts his shoes on, standing up again. “Okay, I’m leaving-”

“You don’t want to hear the rating system?” Gojo asks, pausing where he was setting up the poster board on the coffee table. There is a list of at least twenty different categories. Are those citations? 

“I do!” Nobara says, looking intently at the weirdly well-put together board. 

“Well,” Gojo says, gesturing to the board like he was giving a lecture. “First there are twenty different categories, each one given a score out of ten. Ten being the highest possible score. The highest possible final score is two-hundred.”

Nobara nods, listening like this is serious. “Okay, that makes sense. What are the categories?”

“The categories include; politeness to Megumi, politeness to Megumi’s friends and family, life skills, financial stability and career prospects, intelligence, academic achievement, humor, responsibility level, how much they like Megumi, their willingness to put up with Toji’s rude behavior-”

Toji’s face falls. 

Gojo continues, “How much they like animals, how much Megumi’s godfather vibes with them, communication skills, courtesy, cooking skills, Nobara’s approval-”

Nobara nods approvingly at that.  

“Not a business major, kindness, overall vibes as a person, and most importantly, how happy they make Megumi.”

Megumi stares. 

How does he even react to that? 

Finally, he just says. “Financial stability and career prospects?” 

“Yeah,” his dad crosses his arms. He doesn’t even look sorry. “You’re not dating some broke kid.”

Megumi furrows his brows as he looks at the board again. “How much Megumi’s godfather vibes with them?”

“And you should be happy to know that your twitch streamer has a full ten out of ten in that category!” Gojo says, grinning.

Toji rolls his eyes. “And where’s the category for how much I vibe with them?”

“You’re right!” Gojo says, pointing at Toji. He immediately turns to start writing something on the board. “Category number twenty-one; how much Toji vibes with them.”

“Never say vibes again,” Megumi says to his dad. “Please.”

“He gets full approval from me!” Nobara says, grabbing the marker from Gojo to write out ten points beside the category. 

“Excellent! He’s already getting a high score!”

Megumi takes a deep breath. “Okay, I’m leaving. I don’t want to be late.”

“Ooh, right,” Gojo starts grinning in a way that he just knows Gojo is going to say something obnoxious. “Your date.”

“Okay,” he starts heading towards the door. “I’m leaving before you start saying something embarrassing.”

He hears his dad sigh. “Just be safe. And please tell me you’re meeting up somewhere public?”

“Yeah,” he opens the door, “We’re meeting at the bookstore cafe downtown. In about ten minutes. So I need to go.”

“Go Megumi!” Gojo shouts as he’s closing the door. “Go get your man!”

“Be safe!” His dad shouts. “And stop encouraging this, clown!”

“Have a good date!” Nobara shouts after him, cackling. 

And Megumi hurries down the front stairs of his house, his entire face hot. A couple of his neighbors who are out on their porches glance towards their house because of the noise. He walks faster. 

And then the front door bursts open and Gojo runs over to him. “Megumi, before you go!” He grabs Megumi’s hand and drops a bunch of money into his hand. 

“For your date! Now go get your man!”

“I’m not taking this-”

“You’re going to be late!” Gojo cackles and runs back inside, closing the door and Megumi’s chance of returning the money.

Luckily, it’s only a five minute walk from his house. 

It’s still light outside, sunset in about two hours. And with every step, Megumi panics a little bit more. It’s real. He’s not in some weird, hyper specific dream of some sort. He’s actually about to go on a real, planned date with Yuuji.

Who is real and not some fake twitch streamer.

And they’re about to go on a date.

He’s perfectly fine. Absolutely not freaking out inside his mind right now. 

It’s fine. It’s fine. He keeps trying to tell himself that as he makes it downtown, the bridge connecting the two sides of the city is visible between the buildings.

He’s really about to go on a date. And Megumi stops on the sidewalk, right before the corner beside the bookstore cafe. He can’t be freaking out. He’s going on a date. 

With Yuuji. 

A real date. 

Megumi makes a face at himself. Just go on the date and everything will be fine.

He turns the corner. 

And Yuuji is there. 

He’s leaning up against the side of the brick bookstore cafe, surrounded by the ivy clinging to the wall and looking at his phone. And Yuuji’s wearing the yellow hoodie.

And Megumi trips over his own feet. Distracted. 

And Megumi promptly wishes he could smack himself for being stupid. Did he seriously just trip over his own feet because he saw Yuuji?

He quickly stands up normally, brushing himself off even though he didn’t fall over. And takes a deep breath. Everything is fine. He’s fine. 

He walks towards Yuuji. 

Yuuji glances up quickly then back down at his phone, then immediately looks back up at Megumi. His eyes huge. And drops his phone and then panics to catch it. Yuuji almost trips over his legs to catch his phone. 

He stands back up, already smiling widely. “Hi! You’re here!” And he glances down at his phone then back. “Early!”

Megumi moves to stand in front of him. “You’re here earlier?”

“Yeah!” Yuuji shoves his phone into his pocket, smiling. “I didn’t want to be late or anything and I was really excited to see you again!”

It’s enough to make his entire face hot again and he has to look away. 

Yuuji isn’t sure how his life can get much better than it is right now. He’s actually on a date with Megumi. His crush. Who, he was fairly sure he’d never actually meet just a few weeks ago, and now they’re on a date. 

Why did he look extra nice today? The green sweater is nice. Was Megumi always this pretty? 

Yuuji needs to be cool. He’s on a date. He’s gotta stay cool. Normal. And not like his brain is slowly dying and turning to mush because he’s actually standing beside his crush. 

Oh!” Yuuji says, making Megumi turn to look at him. “Do you want to go in?”

“Oh, yeah,” Megumi looks surprised, like he forgot that was a thing. And why does Yuuji find that cute? Is that a normal thing to find cute?

Normal. Right. Sukuna said he needs to be normal. 

“Whoa!” Yuuji says, looking around once they’re inside. “This place is super cool!”

On the left is a cafe, with a bunch of tables and chairs. A couple people sitting and reading with coffee. And the right leads to a bookstore. It smells like coffee and like baked pastries or something. 

“It is,” Megumi says, immediately heading towards the bookstore section. “It’s even better because everything is five dollars or less.”

Yuuji hurries beside him, “Really? Is this where you get all your books from?”

Wow. He can actually ask Megumi about himself instead of through a Q&A on youtube. This is better than any of his dreams.

He needs to pace himself. 

“Mostly,” Megumi says, stopping by a small display of non-fiction books that all look like autobiographies. “People I know also like giving them to me because they know I like to read.”

“I don’t really read a whole lot, I’m not super smart.” Yuuji laughs, rubbing the back of his head. “During one of your Q&As you even told me to read more.”

Megumi looks up, blinking rapidly. “Wait, that was you?”

And Yuuji pauses for a moment. “You remember that?”

Now Megumi looks slightly embarrassed. “Well, yeah. You were the first person on the live stream I did and you were the first person in the chat. Of course I remember.”

And Megumi’s face starts turning red and he quickly looks away. And it takes all of Yuuji’s strength not to tell him how cute he looks. Because he’s trying to be normal. 

Yuuji laughs, smiling. “And I tried to read more! But reading textbooks isn’t that fun.”

Now Megumi looks curiously at him. “Then what do you like to read?”

“Oh,” he shrugs, “I don’t really read that much. Not like biographies or anything. I’m not super smart like you-”

“You are smart.” Megumi says and he says it firmly enough that it stops Yuuji. Megumi picks up a huge book off the display. “Reading books doesn’t automatically make someone smart. Someone could read all the books in the world, but not understand them. And not all books are well-written or good books either.”

Yuuji looks at him for a moment. Then he smiles. “You know what, you’re right. I guess I don’t really know what kind of books I like to read.” 

He shrugs. “People at my school always told me I was dumb and all.”

Megumi frowns at that. “Well. You’re not.”

Yuuji laughs, “You should see my grades.”

“Grades don’t mean everything. You can still be smart and not have perfect grades. I’m sure there’s books you would like, or audiobooks even. Sometimes sitting and staring at books can be hard for people so audiobooks can be easier.”

Then Megumi looks towards the books. “Come on, let’s figure out what types of books you like.” And he heads towards the shelves, like he’s determined now. 

Yuuji stands there for a moment, staring. And he mutters under his breath. “Oh my god, hand picked books from Megumi. This is the best day of my life.”

“Yeah!” Yuuji runs up beside him, trying to keep his cool. Stay calm. “That would be amazing.”

And it really is a cool store. It smells like coffee and there’s so many books. Shelves and shelves of books. And it really looks like Megumi has it memorized with how easily he moves around.

“Well,” Megumi says, glancing over at him. And Yuuji almost trips when he makes eye contact, but he stops himself. “What do you like to read? Or what kind of movies do you like?”

“Oh, well,” Yuuji says, thinking. “I read manga? Sometimes. And I love movies! Sometimes I think I should’ve been a movie reaction streamer or something like that. But I like all kinds of movies!”

As Megumi is looking at the shelves and the sides of the books, he thoughtfully says, “You should do a movie reaction on your twitch. I think you would be good at it.”

“Really?” Yuuji doesn’t even try to stop himself from smiling like an idiot. Because Megumi just suggested a stream idea to him and now he definitely has to do it. “That’d be super fun! I’m sure Sukuna would get super annoyed but he’s always annoyed.”

Megumi just nods, “What are your favorite genres then?”

“Adventure, action, heist, dramas, supernatural,” Yuuji pauses for a moment, thinking. “Oh and paranormal! That’s my favorite.”

Megumi nods, his entire face is extremely serious. Like this is super important to find a book that Yuuji will like. So Yuuji happily walks beside him as he wanders through the different shelves and sections. And honestly, it’s adorable how determined he is. And also, Yuuji is just happy that Megumi even wants to even find him a book. 

He’s just trying to stay normal about the whole thing. And it’s very hard. 

But Yuuji, personally, thinks he’s doing a great job at not freaking out or doing anything too embarrassing. So far.

And he’s very proud of this fact. 

Yuuji leans forward, looking at the bookshelf. “Wow! This one has cats on it.” He points at the books and looks at Megumi. “Have you read these?”

Megumi glances at the books, blinking. “You mean the Warriors series?”

“Yeah!”

“Of course, I mean, I read it in middle school. It’s about wild cats living in a forest.”

“That sounds super cool!” Yuuji takes the first book off the shelf. The cover is also super cool. There’s a group of three cats on the front. It’s really good artwork. “I didn’t even know there were books about animals.”

“That’s the first book of the third series,” Megumi says, moving to stand beside him and he hands Yuuji a blue book with an orange cat on the front. “This is the first one.”

Yuuji stares. “Three series? That’s a lot of books.”

Megumi huffs and Yuuji feels a weird sense of pride that he somehow managed to make Megumi laugh, even a little bit. “That’s not even all of them.”

“Seriously?” He looks down at the books. So many cats. “Wait, have you read them all?”

Megumi looks at him and he looks a little embarrassed. “Ah, yeah…But that was a long time ago and I haven’t read it in a long time-”

“I’m getting this one!” Yuuji says, holding the first book. “If you liked it so much, it must be good.”

Megumi makes a face, like he’s surprised. “It’s a kids book and-”

“But you like it!” Yuuji says, smiling. “And it’s about cats! So I’m sure it’ll be super cute! I love cats.”

Megumi looks at him for a very long moment then nods. “Yes, very cute.”

He ends up with three different books. The first book of the Warriors series about the cats which he is super excited to read about cute cats having adventures. He loves cats. 

A horror novel that Megumi had gone on a rant about the deeper meanings and analogies that Yuuji didn’t quite follow but he liked hearing Megumi rant about books in person. And he’s not sure how a horror novel can be an analogy for capitalism and deforestation. But he’s going to trust that Megumi knows what he’s talking about.

And then a book about real life paranormal investigations that happened. And one of them even took place in their city. Which is super cool! Apparently, it has something to do with a vengeful ghost of someone or something. Which is right up his alley. 

Megumi also has an entire bagful of books. There’s like ten different books in the bag.

“Do you want to stop in the cafe?” Yuuji asks, mostly because he really, really doesn’t want this date to end and it barely feels like it’s started. But he’d also be happy to spend every second with Megumi. But that’s another thing.  

“Yeah,” Megumi says, quickly. “They have great coffee.”

“I’m not the biggest coffee person,” Yuuji says as they step into line. 

“Really?” Megumi raises an eyebrow. “You’re always drinking caffeinated drinks on your streams?”

Megumi remembers that?

He can’t stop himself from smiling.

“Yeah, I like energy drinks. But coffee is nasty.” He makes a face. And Megumi laughs. And Yuuji counts that as another point for him. 

Yuuji looks up at the menu written out on a chalkboard. There’s like ten different types of coffee and teas and lattes. And he doesn’t even like coffee. He didn’t even know there were that many types of coffee. “Uh, what do you normally get?”

“Coffee, sometimes tea. But it’s nighttime so I’m getting tea.”

While Megumi is ordering, Yuuji stares at the menu, making a face. Should he also get a tea or should he try to get a coffee? Maybe? This is why he hates ordering stuff. There’s always too many choices. And he wants to try everything. 

He sees Megumi glance at him out of the corner of his eyes and then Megumi says, “They have really good hot chocolate.”

Does that mean Megumi noticed he was struggling to decide?

Could this day get any better?

Yuuji smiles, “Okay! Hot chocolate please!”

They sit down at a small, two person table by the large windows. And Yuuji is fairly sure he’s imagined this exact scenario in his daydreams. At least five separate times. Where he and Megumi go out on a coffee date and they fall in love. Obviously.

Yuuji forces himself to pay attention to the real life Megumi in front of him instead of the imaginary one inside his brain. Right. Real life Megumi. Sitting in front of him. On a date. 

“So,” Yuuji starts before he can stop himself because he’s been thinking about this nonstop since they first actually met. “I’ve been wondering. How did you start watching my streams? I mean, twitch streaming doesn’t really seem like something you’d like. No offense or anything!”

But Megumi doesn’t even look offended. “None taken. I didn’t know what twitch was until my best friend told me about her favorite twitch streamer’s mystery crush.”

Yuuji laughs. “Seriously?”

It sounds so fake. How is that even possible? Like it sounds like something out of one of those cheesy romance movies that Todo is obsessed with watching and of course, by extension, so is Yuuji.  

He thinks about it for a moment. “How long ago was that?”

Megumi looks away, fiddling with the steaming mug of a latte in front of him. “Ah, well, about seven months ago?”

Seven months?

Yuuji knows he’s staring. But how else is he supposed to react to that information? “Wait, like a whole seven months? For real?”

Megumi nods, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Yuuji thinks for a moment, trying to think through that information. “Okay, but like, how did you not realize that I was talking about you? I was literally describing you!”

He’s fairly sure he went on several rants about very noticeable features of Megumi’s. Like his height, his eye color, his eyelashes, his interests. 

Megumi still doesn’t look at him, nervously moving around his mug. “It seemed very unlikely to me that you would be talking about me. My channel is small, when I first saw your streams I barely had a hundred subscribers. There was no reason to assume you were talking about me.”

“I legit said you had pretty eyes! And long eyelashes!”

Megumi’s face starts turning red. “I–even still. It still seemed arrogant to assume that.”

Yuuji doesn’t agree. He literally was constantly perfectly describing Megumi, all the time in fact. Some of the things he said were really specific–like the long eyelashes, some of the books Megumi mentioned that he’s fairly sure Megumi might be the only person in the world who’s read them. 

“But it’s true,” Yuuji says, because it’s true. “You do have pretty eyes.”

Both of them freeze. 

And Yuuji’s brain takes a long moment to process what he just said. Megumi looks at him, his eyes wide, and surprised. And his face starts to turn red. 

Yuuji waves his hands around, “Sorry! Sorry-I mean, it’s true!”

And that just makes Megumi’s face even redder and he quickly looks away, a hand covering part of his face. And Yuuji has to physically stop himself from hugging him and telling Megumi he’s cute and pretty and that Yuuji thinks he really does have the prettiest eyes.

Megumi takes a panicked sip of his tea, still not looking directly at Yuuji. His entire face is red.

Megumi takes a too-big drink of his tea, anything so that he doesn’t have to look at Yuuji. Because if he looks at Yuuji in the eyes again, he’s going to…

Something. He doesn’t even know. Pass out. Die from the sudden embarrassment and flusterness of having Yuuji say his eyes are pretty. Something.

Yuuji actually just said he has pretty eyes.

Stay calm. He’s calm. Everything is fine . 

Megumi glances at his phone and his eyes get wide. “Oh, I’m sorry, we ended up being here much later than I thought.”

“That’s fine!” Yuuji immediately says, smiling. And Megumi is incredibly grateful he doesn’t have to think more about the fact Yuuji just said his eyes are pretty. “Like seriously, it’s not a problem.”

Megumi glances back at him, and then back at his phone. It is later than he thought it was. Out of the corner of his eye, he glances at Yuuji. And he tries to imagine them leaving right now, even though it’s been two hours already it doesn’t feel nearly that long.

And if he’s honest with himself. He doesn’t really want this date to end right now.

He picks up his cup of tea, not looking at Yuuji. Anxiously, he fiddles with the mug handle as he asks, “Um, well, do you want to get dinner while we’re out?”

When Yuuji is quiet for a moment too long, he glances back up. Yuuji is staring and Megumi can practically see his brain shutting down and rebooting in the span of a few seconds. And Megumi almost has to smile at that. 

And then Yuuji snaps out of it. “Yes! I would love to!”

He says it so enthusiastically that Megumi almost laughs. People in the cafe turn to look at them because of how loud Yuuji was. And Yuuji quickly lowers his voice. “Yes, I would love to get dinner with you.”

He says it so enthusiastically and earnestly, like the idea of getting dinner with Megumi is the greatest thing that’s ever happened even though they are quite literally on a date, that Megumi has to smile.

After they finish their drinks, they walk out of the bookstore cafe. It’s nighttime outside now.

“So what restaurants are over here?” Yuuji asks, as they walk down the sidewalk towards the main area of downtown. He’s looking around with wide eyes as they pass by all the shops. “I’ve never really spent much time here.”

“Well,” Megumi says, thinking about all the restaurants that are within walking distance from where they are now. “There’s about every type of cuisine you could think of. There’s some really good fusion places as well.”

Yuuji seems to think about it. “I don’t know, I’m not not the food person in my family. Sukuna’s obsessed with trying new foods. What places do you like?”

He takes a moment to think about it as they pass by the tiny nook of a store that sells Christmas decorations and ornaments year round, always playing Christmas carols softly no matter the time of year. 

Yuuji looks at the store with wide eyes, his eyes practically sparkling. And Megumi has to force himself to actually think about what Yuuji asked him instead of staring.

“Well, there’s the steakhouse, sushi, a place that only makes home comfort foods,” Megumi says the first couple places that come to mind.

“Do you like to try new places?” 

“Oh, I mean, sure,” he shrugs, “But my godfather and his partner would always take me with them to try new places since I was a kid. So I’ve tried a lot of different places.”

Yuuji’s eyes still look like they’re sparkling so Megumi keeps talking about restaurants so he doesn’t embarrass himself somehow by staring for too long. 

“Oh, and there’s also a place that only makes soups-” And he cuts himself off because his hand just brushed up against Yuuji’s for a half a second. His entire face starts to get warm. And he quickly glances sideways at Yuuji. 

Yuuji is also looking at him.

He is not going to panic. 

He is not going to panic. 

He immediately looks away, his entire face feels like it’s on fire. Is this a normal reaction? 

“There’s a really good noodle place around the corner we could go to,” Megumi quickly suggests, hoping he sounds normal and trying hard not to focus on the fact that Yuuji’s hand is so close to his hand that they’re almost touching, pointing ahead with his hand that’s not carrying his books. 

“I’m down to try it!”  

He does not think about holding Yuuji’s hand. No, he is not going to think about it. 

They turn the corner to where the restaurant is. And there’s a line leading out of the door and onto the sidewalk. They walk a spot in line. And Megumi tries with every bit of willpower to not think about how close their hands are. 

And the line just does not move anywhere. 

Megumi glances over his shoulder, there’s already people behind them. He isn’t usually out for dinner this time of night. Usually, he’s already in his room reading or eating at home with his dad or with Gojo.

Yuuji stands up on his tiptoes to look over the line. “I don’t think this is moving, like, at all.”

He really does not want to waste this time with Yuuji in a line. 

“I have a better idea,” he says, stepping out of the line. Yuuji immediately follows after him, handing in the front pocket of his yellow hoodie. 

“Okay! I like pretty much all foods!”

They turn a corner of main street. There’s quite a few people out tonight, but that’s probably normal considering it’s a friday night and it’s downtown. But he’s not usually out at this time. 

“Actually, how do you feel about shawarma?” Megumi asks, as he leads them down a large alleyway. And there is the local shawarma stand, the man who runs it quickly shaving the lamb into a pita. 

“I’ve never actually had it,” Yuuji says, looking curiously at it. “But it looks amazing!”

Megumi orders two for them, waiting on the food now. 

“My best friend and I have been coming here since high school,” Megumi says as an explanation. “They open at ten and stay open until three in the morning.”

“Oh,” Yuuji nods, still watching the food being made. “That’s cool!”

Megumi’s phone buzzes several times in his pocket. He glances quickly at it while Yuuji talks about how the food is made with the shawarma stand owner. 

The Godfather: how’s that date going? 👀

Nobara: YOU BETTER TELL ME EVERYTHING WHEN YOU GET BACK HERE

Nobara: OR ELSE

Nobara: DID HE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE OUTFIT

Dad: are you ok

Dad: it’s late

Dad: are you okay

Yuuji is still talking to the stand owner, so he quickly texts his dad back. 

Megumi: I’m okay. We’re getting dinner. And yes, we are in public

His dad immediately texts back

Dad: ok 

Dad: call me if anything happens or if you need picked up

Megumi: okay i will

He quickly puts his phone away as Yuuji turns to hand him the shawarma that is wrapped in tin foil, still hot. Yuuji grabs a couple napkins as well. 

“I know somewhere where we can sit down,” Megumi says, heading out of the alleyway. 

As they’re walking, Yuuji looks so excited at seeing everything, like it’s his first time being in a city. Even though he lives in a city, the same city across the bridge. It’s endearing, how excited he gets about seeing everything.

As they’re walking, Megumi tries not to think about how close their hands are. Instead, he tries to focus on answering Yuuji’s questions about the places they pass by. Listing all the random facts he remembers from books about the city and its history or that he learned in his local history class from last semester.

Yes, he is absolutely thinking about the earthquake that happened here one hundred years ago and not that their hands are almost so close that they’re touching. He does not care about the old buildings that have cracks in them from the earthquake that he points out. 

“That’s so neat,” Yuuji says, as he looks up at an old building with cracks that have been repaired in the plaster. “I didn’t even know we had an earthquake here.”

“Yeah, it was one of the biggest ones in our region,” he repeats the information mindlessly as he looks at how excited Yuuji is and his bright smile as he listens. “The city was built on an old fault line.”

Yuuji turns to look at him, eyes wide. “Really? Does that mean we could have another earthquake?”

Megumi blinks, pulling himself out of his haze like he wasn’t staring at Yuuji. “Oh, um, yeah. Technically. But it’s highly unlikely at this point.” 

Yuuji smiles, laughing a little bit. “I hope not. When I was little, I was terrified of earthquakes. I watched some movie with an earthquake and then I refused to go inside because I was scared it was going to collapse.”

He tries to imagine that.

“My grandpa said he’d even make me a fancy dinner,” Yuuji says, peeling back the tin foil on his wrap. “I still wouldn’t go inside though. I made Sukuna bring me stuff so I could camp outside.”

Megumi can’t stop himself from laughing a little bit imagining a much younger Yuuji refusing to go inside and making a make-shift tent to sleep in. “What made you finally go inside then?”

Yuuji smiles. “Sukuna came outside and camped out with me. So I figured I would be safe if I was with him.”

Megumi blinks. “That’s surprisingly really nice of him.”

“Yeah,” Yuuji laughs, “Don’t let him fool you, he’s actually a lot nicer than he acts. Most of the time.”

They make it to the public park that doubles as a huge garden in the city center. It’s huge and it’s one of Megumi’s favorite places to go. 

“Wow,” Yuuji says as they walk through the gates, looking around. “This is super pretty.”

“Yeah, the city planners made it so there’s always at least three different kinds of flowers blooming no matter the time of year,” 

They sit down at one of the wooden park benches, willow trees leaning over it and the purple flowers are blooming in the garden beds. The trees are taller than some of the buildings in the city, ivy hanging down from them. The path is made from bricks, winding around the gardens.

Yuuji keeps looking around at all the plants. “I can’t believe I’ve never been here.”

“How long have you lived in this city?” Megumi asks, taking a bite of the food. It’s still burning hot. 

“My whole life!”

“And you’ve never been on this side of the bridge?”

“No, not really. Me and Sukuna would just walk everywhere as kids. So we usually just hung out on the other side.” Yuuji looks over at him. “How long have you lived here?”

“I moved around a lot when I was little,” he shrugs, “But we ended up here when I was about ten.”

“Oh, I was curious,” Yuuji says, taking a bite of his shawarma. “How’s Professor Gojo your godfather?”

Megumi huffs. “It’s a long story.”

Yuuji just continues to look at him curiously. Waiting. 

He looks away, “Well, Gojo knew my parents before I was born, and my mom wanted him to be my godfather. And my dad didn’t–they don’t get along all the time. But my mom wanted him to be, so of course my dad agreed.” 

He shrugs, “And so I grew up with Gojo practically as my second dad.”

He doesn’t mention Geto and how Geto was practically like his third dad his whole life. That was still a bit too complicated to explain right now. Maybe in the future though. 

Yuuji nods, “That must be nice. Professor Gojo is super fun. I love his class–even though I don’t know what he’s talking about most of the time. But physics is confusing.”

 Megumi huffs. “Sorry, but that’s not the class. It’s Gojo. I’ve known him my entire life and I still feel like I don’t know what he’s talking about half of the time.”

His phone buzzes again. He ignores it. And then it buzzes again and again. 

Yuuji looks at him. “You should answer that.”

“Sorry,” He opens his phone, “It’s just Gojo.”

He does not mention what the spam of texts Gojo sent is about. 

The Godfather: megumi

The Godfather: my godson

The Godfather: why do you ignore your favorite godfather and your biological father?

The Godfather: I need a date update! 

The Godfather: how is it going? Are you getting married? I can help plan the wedding!

The Godfather: do I need to make any changes to the scores in any categories? 

No. He absolutely is not mentioning what Gojo is spam texting him about.

“I think it’s cool that Professor Gojo is like your dad,” Yuuji says, leaning back against the park bench. “You get a bonus dad.”

Megumi distinctly remembers Gojo crying in his car, wearing sunglasses, after eating a whole carton of ice cream himself while listening to music far too loudly. 

“Yeah, very cool.”

It’s very different from the only other date he’s been on. Where his blind date didn’t really listen to him and it felt like he didn’t actually want to hear anything about Megumi.

He was right. A date with Yuuji is much better. 

Yuuji can’t stop his mind from drifting off, staring at Megumi. 

Imagining them, dating of course, going on dates after their college classes. Yuuji introducing Megumi to his family, and of course they absolutely love him. Yuuji getting to know Megumi’s family and being invited to the holidays at his family’s house as well.

“Yuuji?” The real life Megumi says, looking at him. “Are you okay?”

Yuuji jerks out of his daydreams. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good. Just thinking about…life.”

Megumi raises an eyebrow. And Yuuji laughs a little awkwardly. “Yeah, yup, life is crazy and how you know–we’re somehow living in the same city.”

Yuuji turns to look at him. “How did you realize I lived here? Now that I think about it?”

“Oh,” Megumi looks off into the garden. “I sort of figured it out when I was at a restaurant with my dad and he saw you.”

Yuuji’s eyes get huge and he leans forward. “Wait, seriously? We were that close?”

“Yeah. That’s how I realized you live here.”

Yuuji slides down the park bench, feeling like crying might be the right response to this information. “I don’t even remember. I think the fates were messing with us. Like for real, we were in the same place at the same time?”

Megumi nods. “Yeah, I was here with my dad, but my back was facing the entrance.”

“Wow, like what are the chances of that?” Yuuji sits up. This is horribly sad. How is that possible that they were so close and didn’t even know it? “We could’ve met so much sooner.”

Megumi huffs, taking a bite of his shawarma wrap. “I’m starting to think it’s a theme.”

“Well, I want a different theme. Like one where we met way sooner.”

Megumi laughs. “I’m not going to question how it happened, but I’m glad it did.”

And that makes him feel some kind of flustered, happy emotions that Sukuna would most definitely throw a pillow at him for saying out loud.

“Me too,” Yuuji says, trying to very nonchalantly look at Megumi out of the corner of his eye. The lighting is very pretty and it makes Megumi even prettier than usual. He’s been dreaming of a first date for years now, so sue him.

When they start to walk back to the bookstore cafe, he really, really wishes he had some magical way to extend this date even longer. And as they’re walking, he tries to resist the urge to ask if he can hold Megumi’s hand. 

He’s been trying very hard the whole night not to ask. 

No. This is a first date. 

He needs to use proper manners, like Todo said.  

When they’re outside of the bookstore cafe again, he suddenly remembers what Todo told him.

Yuuji suddenly blurts out. “Let me walk you home!”

Megumi looks at him for a long moment, surprised looking. Yuuji didn’t know how it was possible for someone to be so cute? 

Normal. And polite. And manners. Right.

Yuuji smiles. “It’d be rude if I didn’t.”

Megumi quickly looks away in a way that Yuuji is starting to figure out that means he’s embarrassed or flustered. Which Yuuji has decided is another cute thing Megumi does. 

“Okay.”

They stand outside of his house for a long time, neither of them quite being the one to say they need to go. And he knows it’s pretty late now. They’ve had to be talking for at least an hour now. And normally, he finds it hard to talk to people he hasn't known for a long time. 

And Megumi isn’t even sure what makes him say it, but he’s asking before he can even stop himself or process what made him say it. “Would you like to go on another date?” He pauses for a moment, his whole stomach filled with anxiety. “This week?”

Yuuji stares at him, eyes huge and mouth open. Like he can’t believe what he just heard. As if he can’t process or properly understand the words that Megumi just said to him. And Megumi waits, nervously, for an answer.

And Yuuji’s voice is squeaky when he finally speaks. “Wait, wait, really?”

“Well yeah? Why wouldn’t we?” Megumi raises an eyebrow. 

Somehow, Yuuji smiles even more. “Yes, of course! It’d be my honor!”

Megumi can’t stop himself from laughing. “Your honor?”

And Megumi laughing seems to make Yuuji smile even more. “Yes!”

“It’s a date,” Megumi says, still smiling. “Not something you have to feel honored about-”

“But it’s a date with you,” Yuuji says, sincerely.

It’s suddenly very quiet and it takes him a long moment to think through the words. Megumi isn’t sure how to respond to that so he looks at Yuuji. How would it be an honor to go on a date? With Megumi?

Yuuji smiles at him and it’s enough to make it feel hard to breathe and his face warm. He said it so simply like it was simply true for him, like there wasn’t a doubt in his mind.

Megumi smiles, not looking away this time. “Next week then?”

“Yeah,” Yuuji’s voice comes out high pitched and squeaky. 

Megumi smiles. 

He has a perfect second date to plan. 

Yuuji hits Sukuna’s contact. It’s almost midnight now. He quickly types out his text. 

Yuuji: hey bro

Sukuna: what

Yuuji: can you pick me up?

Sukuna: what

Sukuna: why

Yuuji: i may or may not be on the other side of the city and the bus isn’t running anymore? :D 

Sukuna: why do you do these things to me