Chapter Text
“Fuck,” Yuuji's breathy groan was barely audible in the half-empty gym, yet it echoed like a detonating bomb to Nobara's ears. The barbell that was balanced on his strong thighs rubbed against the sweaty skin that his basketball shorts left bare while he continued to thrust his hips upwards. The weights he was lifting with just his legs were almost double her own weight and Nobara wondered just how easily Yuuji could lift her if she nestled on his lap.
Nobara picked up her pace, running faster on the treadmill.
It was all Yuuji's fault really. He was the one who had casually announced that he was hitting the gym, throwing his thumb behind his back and asking if she would like to join him.
Nobara had every intention of staying exactly where she was, curled up on the sofa of their shared off-campus apartment with a blanket wrapped around her body, some show that didn't require much thinking playing in the background. Megumi and Tsumiki were out and when Yuuji left, she would be home alone.
Nobara checked the time on her phone. It was after nine, an unreasonably late hour to hit the gym.
“Isn't it a little late for that?”
“Yeah, but I can use whatever equipment I want without having to wait for someone to finish with it,” Yuuji reasoned. “Plus it's quieter. You can focus a lot better when there aren't a dozen gym bros doing fitness videos.”
“You are one to talk. You're the definition of a gym bro.”
Yuuji rolled his eyes but the playful smile on his lips was unmistakable. It wasn't a secret that Yuuji spent more time in the gym than in any of the lecture halls attending his classes. He was always messing up their kitchen with those protein infused monstrosities he liked to call food and now that Nobara thought about it, she had never seen him in anything other than sweatpants or shorts.
“Maybe I am, but I don't post videos of me when I’m working out. Now, are you coming or what?”
“Why does it have to be me? Can't you go with your brother or something?”
“Choso is taking Yuki out today. It's a date night.”
“Then go on your own.”
“I don't wanna go all alone!”
Yuuji pouted, like a spoiled child that was denied something he desired. “Come on, Kugisaki. I will feel super awkward if I am entirely on my own. Pleaseee?”
Nobara threw her head back with a deep sigh. Despite his imposing frame, Yuuji was really childish.
Nobara considered it. Her period had just ended and she had avoided any form or exercise during the painful week because of cramps. Maybe it would be nice to get her body moving again. And the prospect of an empty gym without any creeps lurking at her to ask for her number while she was doing her usual workout was very tempting.
She threw the blanket away from her body. “Give me a minute to get ready."
By the time they reached the university's gym, Nobara's motivation had long disappeared.
“Why is it so fucking cold?” She muttered, clutching her coat tighter against her body. The leggings and sports bra she wore underneath were doing hardly anything to shield her body from the piercing December cold.
“Shit,” Yuuji smiled with all his teeth despite the harshness of the weather, as he stepped into the lobby. “Felt like I was freezing my balls off for a minute there, not gonna lie.”
Nobara let out an annoyed huff at his bluntness. “I did not need that mental image.”
“Not my fault your brain decided to picture it.”
A punch to his upper arm was Nobara's answer.
“Hey!” Yuuji exclaimed, even if he had barely felt any pain from Nobara's blow. “What's wrong with ya? Quit hitting me!”
This banter was considered normal between them by now. Even after knowing Yuuji for nearly five years and living with him under the same roof for the past three, they still fought over the pettiest reasons. Megumi often complained that they acted like toddlers instead of grown adults that on top of everything were supposed to be friends.
The thing was that they were friends, really good in fact. It was just that Yuuji's carefree attitude simply made Nobara's blood boil. Those innocent toothy grins he flashed her way, the ones that made his dimples show and that annoying eagerness to help everyone around him, that always meant carrying Nobara's grocery bags even when she yelled at him that she was strong enough to lift them herself, always irritated Nobara beyond words. It was just so easy to rile him up for no reason at all, just so she could mess with him.
Maybe that was just the Leo in her but Nobara enjoyed getting on Yuuji's nerves.
With a turn of his head, Yuuji gestured to the men's locker room, putting an end to their play-fight.
“I'll see you out in a few.”
He didn't pose it as a question so Nobara didn't respond as she turned around and entered the women's locker room. She slipped the coat off her shoulders, already missing its warmth but finding comfort in the thought that she would soon get warm by getting her body moving.
Grabbing her water bottle and phone, she exited the locker room where Yuuji was already waiting for her. He was wearing his usual ensemble, dark red hoodie and dark grey sweats. Nothing surprising there.
When he felt her presence, Yuuji raised his eyes from his phone before he visibly froze.
Light brown eyes trailed down her form, following the curves of Nobara's body that were usually hidden from view. The tight leggings hugged her thighs and ass in a way that had Yuuji's palms balling into fists. His brain didn't have anything innocent to offer at the sight of skin that peaked from her sports bra.
Nobara would have paid it more attention if she wasn't so damn eager to get her body temperature up again.
“Are you ready to go? Come on man, I'm freezing over here!”
“Uh,” Yuuji cleared his throat, averting his eyes from Nobara's body. “I was just uh, selecting a song.”
“Get moving already, idiot!”
As Yuuji promised, the gym was almost empty. Only a handful of students used the equipment and the obnoxiously loud music that always echoed through the speakers was turned down to a considerate volume. Nobara couldn't contain her enthusiasm as she placed an exercise mat on the floor, getting ready for her usual workout.
She could feel Yuuji standing behind her, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, unsure of what to do.
“Just go do your usual workout. No need to stick beside me,” Nobara said, glancing at him behind her shoulder.
Yuuji was already looking down at her and for just a moment their gazes intertwined, light brown meeting her own darker shade.
“You should wear leggings more often,” Yuuji's tone was rough, as if the words that spilled from his mouth were being forced out of him despite his better judgment.
“You look good in them. Just sayin’.”
Quickly, Yuuji darted his eyes away, putting his headphones on and muttering something about doing bench presses.
Now that Nobara had noticed. She fluttered her eyelashes in confusion as Yuuji walked away. Nobara looked at her leggins. They were a nice pair, plain black, nothing really worth complimenting. She never thought Yuuji paid attention to what she wore. Maybe he was just messing with her.
Deciding to not pay any more attention to the idiot's unusual behavior, Nobara laid on the mat and began her first set of crunches.
When she was through with her warm up exercises, Nobara felt pleasantly warmer, albeit a little sweaty. She got on her feet, energy flowing through her. After all, it was a good call to accept Yuuji's offer to hit the gym.
At the thought of Yuuji, her eyes searched for him around the gym. He was laying on a bench a little further, lifting a barbell with more weights at each end of it than Nobara would have thought Yuuji capable of lifting with such ease. It was a little impressive to be honest. The way he brought the barbell close to his heaving chest and then back up again, extending his arms as far as they could go was oddly satisfying.
Yuuji hadn't noticed Nobara's gaze on him, too focused on his task to pay attention to anything else. Carefully, he secured the barbell, sitting up on the bench. With a tug, he grabbed the back of his hoodie and slipped it off his body, revealing the white tank top he wore underneath. The fabric was soaked from his intense exercising, glued to his abs like second skin and leaving his tanned arms bare, showing off the taut muscles that were evidence of the hard work Yuuji had put into getting them.
Nobara's head was spinning. She couldn't tear her eyes off him even when Yuuji took his headphones off to pass a hand through his messy hair, wet strands sticking to his forehead, before putting them back on and laying down on the bench, resuming his workout. His biceps flexed when he grabbed the barbell and Nobara's heart skipped a beat.
The sharp sound of the heavy equipment as Yuuji began lifting again made Nobara snap out of her trance.
Immediately, she whiplashed her head around, fluttering her eyelashes in utter confusion.
What the fuck? Did her heart just skip a goddamn beat there? Just from seeing that idiot's muscles? No, it couldn't be.
Nobara had seen Yuuji's arms before. Hell, she had even seen him shirtless since he was barely paying any mind to the fact that he shared the same space as three other people. But those times Nobara had only caught a glimpse of tanned skin before she turned away, yelling at him to put on a shirt in mock disgust. So what was this feeling?
“No, no, no,” she muttered to herself as she made her way to the elliptical machine.
Her hormones were all over the place because of her period. That was the only reasonable conclusion Nobara could come up with. Because Itadori was… Itadori. Stupid, loud, brash, cocky but also surprisingly sweet and caring–
Nobara grabbed the handles of the machine tighter, her legs working faster to rid her mind of her confusing thoughts.
Okay, Yuuji was attractive. Objectively speaking. Nobara knew that. She had eyes, thank you very much. It was the first thought that had come to her mind when she first met him all those years ago. It was the first thought on everybody's mind as long as they were sexually attracted to men and sane. But then Nobara had actually gotten to know Yuuji and realized that his loud mouth was the least attractive thing in the world.
Maybe his sporty ensemble and stupid optimism worked for some people. Nobara wasn't one of them.
She wasn't.
The Christmas song that played through the gym's speakers brought her back to reality.
Nobara hit the stop button with more force than was needed, getting off the treadmill. Her legs felt like jelly as she collapsed to a nearby bench, catching her breath.
This had been going on for a week straight. Nobara had tagged along with Yuuji each time he hit the gym, even having to tolerate Choso's presence a few times. Not that Nobara had anything against Yuuji's older brother. Choso was a really nice guy but he was the complete opposite of his half-brother. Too pale where Nobara searched for warm tanned skin, too held together where she searched for chaotic enthusiasm.
“Kugisaki.”
Nobara nearly jumped in place at the sound of Yuuji's voice. She shouldn't be getting this worked up over that idiot.
Yuuji walked up to her, wiping the sweat that had gathered in his brow with the sweatband on his left wrist. Nobara tried her best to keep her eyes at Yuuji's eye level and not catch a glimpse of the outline of his dick through his shorts.
When had she become so shameless, just openly ogling her best friend like that? Honestly, Nobara just blamed it all on ovulation at this point.
“I'm ready to go when you are,” he said with a wolfish grin, dimples on full display.
It wasn't fair. It really wasn't fair because Nobara knew better than to develop a crush on her best friend who was also her flatmate.
With renewed strength, Nobara shot up from the bench.
“Home. Now.”
Yuuji looked at her as if she had gone mad. “Hey, what gives?”
“Itadori!”
“Fine. I’m taking you home, okay.”
Nobody spoke a word as they got into Yuuji's car. It used to belong to Choso once upon a time ago and it was Yuuji's pride and joy.
When Yuuji got on the driver's seat, Nobara turned her head away, looking outside the window. Yuuji observed her as she continued to ignore him. With a sigh, he turned the key, waking the engine up. Looking behind them, he placed his hand on the back of the passenger seat, right behind Nobara's head while keeping his left hand on the wheel and maneuvering the car out of the parking lot.
From that angle she could smell the mix of cologne, cheap fabric softener and sweat that still clung to his hoodie. Nobara rubbed her thighs together. There was an unmistakable wetness between them now, tainting the fabric of her panties. She was so turned on it physically hurt. And it was because of Yuuji.
Yuuji was the one who shattered the fine silence.
“Are you mad at me or something?”
Nobara shivered. He was so close to her that he might as well have whispered that right into Nobara's ear.
“Look, I'm sorry. For whatever I did to make you mad. ‘M sorry.”
“I'm not mad,” Nobara practically growled through gritted teeth, eyes glued to Yuuji's long fingers as they curled around the steering wheel. How would those fingers feel wrapped around her wrists as he held her down and fucked her? Nobara blushed at how crude her own thoughts were, blushed at how badly she wished they were real.
“Just… take me home. Please.”
Yuuji bit his lower lip, silently considering her before he turned his attention back on the road.
“I know something's wrong. It's written all over your face, Kugisaki.”
Nobara closed her eyes, leaning her head back. Damn him and his caring nature.
“Just talk to me, man. I promise I will do whatever I can to help. And if I did something then tell me what it is so I can apologize, already.”
Nobara didn't respond. What was she supposed to say, anyway? None of this was Yuuji's fault and yet he was the one apologizing to her.
Yuuji's eyes narrowed in disappointment at her silence. He turned his head, staring straight ahead as he drove them back home in mutual silence, giving Nobara's heart the time to calm down.