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It was late. Well, 'late' as in it was dark and Megumi was tired and they still had to drive back to school. Megumi had called shotgun, so at least he didn't have to sit through Kugisaki and Itadori's bickering, but the noise was still there. It might have been about doughnuts, this time - iced vs with jam, he thought, but he couldn't properly tell because they kept changing track.
"Well at least iced doughnuts look nice!" Kugisaki was saying. She had her hand out between them, palm facing Itadori like she wanted him to talk to the hand.
"What's the point of looks if it's not nice inside?" Itadori argued. Megumi got the feeling this had gone beyond doughnuts.
He didn't like doughnuts himself, so he decided it was probably better to stay quiet and let them get on with it. Somehow he'd ended up with total idiots for classmates..and for a teacher, to be honest. Life is pain.
"Fushiguro, back me up here!" Itadori whined. "Jam is better than icing, right?"
"..You could have both?" Megumi's feeble attempt at logic didn't seem to sit right with Idiot #2.
"No, you can't!" Kugisaki yelled.
"Why can't you?"
"Because that's cheating!"
Itadori considered it. "It could be good, actually. The Ultimate Doughnut."
"But you can't have the Ultimate Doughnut, it's against the rules. Plus it isn't the Ultimate Doughnut because it has jam in it."
"What's wrong with jam?!"
"I've spent the last hour explaining what's wrong with jam! It's sticky, it falls out the doughnut, it tastes weird-"
Megumi tuned them out. Ten years with Gojo gives you skills.
He dropped his head against the window, eyes closing against his will. The car hit a pothole, causing him to crack his forehead against the glass. "Ow."
"Sorry," the driver apologised. Megumi closed his eyes again. Who knew being a student was this tiring?
The hum of the car coupled with the gentle vibrations was relaxing, maybe a bit too much - Megumi didn't want to be seen asleep in case he did something embarrassing like drool, or snore, or worst of all, talk. Kugisaki was far too fast with her camera to risk being even slightly vulnerable.
"Oi, Fushiguro, we're here," Itadori yelled. Right in Megumi's ear.
"I noticed," Megumi grumbled, even though he hadn't.
"Do you think Gojo's gonna want to hear about the mission?" Itadori mused, wrestling with the door handle. Megumi reached back to do it for him, while Kugisaki smoothly opened her door and slammed it behind her.
"Probably," she called through the window. Itadori gave her the middle finger as Megumi clicked the door open. "Thanks."
"No problem," Megumi muttered, not bothering to reach for his own door. The driver clicked his tongue sympathetically, before leaning across to surreptitiously do it for him. Megumi sighed. Outside, he could hear Itadori’s hyper screeching echoing around the courtyard, probably soon to be joined by Gojo.
The driver nodded as if to say good luck as Megumi exited the car. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kugisaki swing as if to slap Itadori, only to stop at the last second when Itadori raised a hand to block.
“You can’t hit a girl, dude!” she complained.
“I wasn’t gonna! I was trying not to die!”
“Who said you would die?”
“There’s no way I wouldn’t die.”
“How would you die?!”
“I just would, I know it. I can feel it in the vibes.”
“I can’t feel it in the vibes,” Megumi pointed out. Itadori was literally impossible to kill, it had been proved.
“Everyone knows you’re vibeless,” another voice argued. Megumi spun around.
“Gojo?! You get more creepy every day.”
“Yeah, yeah. How’d the mission go?” Gojo dismissed, waving a hand as if to waft away the last of Megumi’s statement.
“It was okay. No-one died,” Kugisaki sniffed, obviously wanting to go into more detail but not wanting to seem too eager.
“Uh-huh. Yuji?”
“It was pretty cool,” Itadori nodded, flexing his fingers. “I got to try out the new thingy.”
Gojo grinned. “Was it awesome?”
“You know it! It was like boom and then-“
“Then he fainted,” Megumi interjected. Gojo raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t faint! Stop being a wet blanket, Fushiguro!”
“Yeah, Fushiguro,” Gojo teased. “Stop being a wet blanket.” He reached out to pet Itadori’s hair. “I know you didn’t faint, because someone would have called the school if you had. Megumi?”
“It was meh,” Megumi shrugged. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”
“Not so fast,” Gojo called, grabbing his arm as Megumi tried to walk past him. “It’s movie night.”
“Ooh! Movie night!” Itadori celebrated, punching the air with far too much enthusiasm for someone who was about to sit in a dark room with the strongest sorcerer of all time, and two classmates who would punch him before telling him to shut up. Excitement is a strong drug.
“I don’t like movies,” Megumi lied. Both him and Gojo knew full well he was on his way to becoming a movie critic.
“Aw, that’s a shame,” Gojo sighed. He didn’t loosen his grip on Megumi’s arm. “Guess you’ll be miserable then.”
“Already am,” Megumi informed him. Gojo snickered and dragged Megumi along as they began to make their way to his apartment.
“You don’t get a choice here, ‘Gumi. It’s movie or nothing.”
“And I can’t have nothing?”
“Hey, you catch on quick. Only took you ten years!”
“God, what a ten years it’s been. Misery. Horror. Movie nights-”
“And yet, just last Father’s Day I found a ‘mystery’ card on my desk.”
“And you’ve checked all your girlfriends for stray children?”
“I have never had a girlfriend in my life.”
“I can tell.”
“This is beginning to sound like homophobia.”
“More like Gojophobia.”
“Oh, haha. Hilarious. You should be a comedian,” Gojo snarked, refusing to let go of Megumi’s arm as he reached into his pocket for his key. “You are a walking hate crime.”
“Is this…panphobia?” Megumi enquired, giving up on ever getting feeling back in his arm.
“Don’t you try to pull that one on me, I baked you cupcakes!”
That was true; after Megumi came out at 13, Gojo had obnoxiously presented him with a collection of blue, pink, and yellow cupcakes. Somewhere in Gojo’s apartment there was a photo of Megumi’s horrified face as the cupcakes were brought closer, which says a lot about how Megumi felt about them.
“The cupcakes were disgusting,” was the retort he settled on. Gojo gasped dramatically, and stood back to let Kugisaki and Itadori in.
“I poured my blood, sweat and tears into those!”
“Tasted like it,” Megumi muttered, eyes beginning to close against his will as they entered the dark apartment. He leaned against the wall as Gojo closed the door, waiting until it finally clicked before bothering to stand up again..
“Tired?” Gojo observed, tapping little patterns into Megumi’s cheek.
“As I said.”
“Well, if you can stay awake through the movie I’ll let you stay over.”
This was a good deal; Megumi’s bed in Gojo’s apartment was way comfier, plus most of his books were here and his DS. However, it wasn’t worth staying awake an extra hour when he was already almost dropping just trying to walk to the sitting room.
“Not gonna make it.”
“Aww,” Gojo cooed. “Baby Megumi, can’t stay awake past 9pm. Bless him~”
And that was that. Megumi had to stay awake through the movie.
“Ssssh!” Itadori hissed. “He’s moving.”
“Aw, look at him,” Kugisaki giggled. “He looks so…not-emo when he’s asleep.”
“Do you have your camera?” Gojo whispered. “I want this on the wall.”
“You already have pictures of him on the wall. Why aren’t I on the wall?” Kugisaki objected. Her complaints brought Megumi finally back down to earth, opening his eyes to see all three idiots looking at him with almost-identical expressions.
“Welcome back, Gumi,” Gojo offered, stretching out a hand to pull Megumi upright.
“What’s going on?” Megumi asked warily, a dawning sense of horror telling him exactly what happened despite the fuzz of his brain.
“You fell asleep!” Kugisaki cackled, clearly revelling in catching Megumi off guard.
“What?” Megumi repeated, his brain still half-asleep.
“Okay, okay, let’s give him some space,” Gojo intervened, obviously spotting that Megumi’s brain hadn’t booted up yet. “He always has been a slow waker.”
“Literally how would you know that, you weirdo?!”
“Just ‘cause. I know these things.”
Itadori gasped. “Look! Megumi has really cute sleepy eyes!”
All three of them immediately snapped their heads towards Megumi, who was simply trying to compute what was going on.
“Aw, he does!” Gojo smiled, leaning forward to ruffle Megumi’s hair. “You should sleep more often.”
“Why?”
“Cause you need it,” Gojo answered, which wasn’t wrong. “Okay, kids, you’d all better sleep now.”
“Hey,” Megumi waved a hand at Gojo, who leaned closer. “Can I stay over?”
“Sure,” Gojo whispered. “Just don’t tell the others.”
The others, meanwhile, had filed obediently to the front door and were watching Megumi expectantly.
“Uh, Megumi’s gonna stay here a little longer,” Gojo began. “He has…um…he hasn’t woken up properly yet.”
“Oh, okay,” Itadori shrugged. “It’s not like he’ll get mugged across campus or anything. We’ll leave him in your hands!”
“Thanks guys!” Gojo beamed. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams!”
“Bye Gojo!” Itadori waved manically. Behind him, Megumi could just see Kugisaki raised a hand to cuff the back of his head before the door swung shut.
“Peace at last,” Gojo breathed, as if he didn’t cause half the chaos in the literal world.
“Hmmm,” Megumi hummed, eyes closed again now he didn’t have to think about being caught on camera.
“Come on, Gumi, bedtime.”
“Ugh. I’m comfy here, ‘Toru.”
“Wow, you really must be tired. You haven’t called me that for years.”
“’M tired.”
“That’s why you have to go to bed, though. So you can sleep.”
“Make me.”
“I am doing.”
Megumi didn’t need to open his eyes to know what expression Gojo was making; bemused, with a hint of stubbornness. When he was younger, Megumi and Gojo would have standoffs at every mealtime, both too stubborn to give in: Megumi wanted turkey dinosaurs, Gojo wanted chicken nuggets. They got a combo every time.
This type of situation called for the Secret Weapon. It’s a weapon only known to Megumi and Gojo, since it is never ever used in public, and never ever used in front of either of their friends. Its rarity is its power, in a way.
“I want to sleep here, though,” Megumi argued. A pause for effect, and then the final hit: “Dad.”
It was almost audible, the effect the Secret Weapon had on Gojo. A sharp intake of breath, and then an almost soggy-sounding “Uh. Sure.”
Then he walked away. Probably to cry, or reminisce, or take selfies.
Megumi sank further into the cushions, satisfied. Another day, another win. Megumi: 1629294, Gojo: 2.
Life is good.