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When it started, Megumi wasn't paying attention.
He'd been preoccupied with Yuji’s new scent which coated the halls of the dorm and everywhere else. He'd just presented alpha a week ago. A little later than usual for a teenager, but the stress from his recent traumatic life events most likely prolonged any significant hormonal changes.
Nobara had presented alpha a few years ago, but her smell was much more controlled and modest. On top of that, she'd usually use scent blockers. She thought it was classy.
Megumi didn't care much for blockers. His own scent was comforting to him and he didn't care if it bothered anyone else. He'd hole up in his room for his heats and that was it.
It was winter break, and Megumi spent his early mornings curled in his nest, enjoying the warmth. The dorms were old and poorly insulated, so they got pretty cold during the winter months.
This morning, there was a knock at his door.
Megumi raises his head. “Yeah?” He said, a little confused.
Gojo sticks his head in. “Are you hungry?”
Megumi lays his head back down and closes his eyes. “No.”
He could eat, but Gojo seems like he's up to something and Megumi doesn't want to be a part of it.
Gojo lets himself in. “But it's already nine. I think you should eat.”
He's got a bag of something, and he sets it down on the bed. He pulls out a styrofoam container, hot to the touch.
Megumi sits up to look. “Takeout? At nine in the morning?”
“It's warm.” Gojo replied, as if that explained something. He opens the container and stabs a plastic fork into whatever's inside. He sets it on Megumi’s lap, and sits on the edge of the bed.
Gojo does get him food often, but not if he doesn't ask for it and it's definitely not delivered to his bedside. He side-eyes the man, but he's wearing his blindfold. Megumi expects some stupid joke, or something to be wrong with the food.
“What're you up to.” It's not a question, really.
Gojo frowns. “Nothing. Just thought you might be hungry.”
Megumi’s side-eye intensifies. He's taking this too seriously. Normally Gojo would've said something sarcastic.
The food does smell delicious though. It's two omelettes and a big pile of steamed vegetables on the side. The container warms his lap.
Slowly, he grabs the fork and takes a bite, waiting for a punchline.
Gojo doesn't say anything, but he does stare at him while he eats.
Megumi swallows. “Do you mind?”
“Sorry.” Gojo says, standing up abruptly. He seems restless as he heads to the door. “If you need something else, let me know.” He lingers in the doorway a moment, like he wants to say something else, but ultimately decides not to. He shuts the door after himself.
Okay?
Maybe the punchline is later. He'll probably ask Megumi for some ridiculous favor under the excuse of “but I brought you food this morning!”
He does notice later on when the food is gone, Gojo's lingering scent in his room is a bit sweeter than usual, more flowery. At the moment, it doesn't really stand out to him.
-
Gojo takes them all to dinner that night. He gets them dessert on the walk back to the dorms, and gets them lunch again the next day. Yuji's all too happy about it, the vacuum he is, and Nobara takes Gojo's sudden forthcoming charity and runs with it, asking if he can take her shopping, which he does happily.
He thinks Gojo still smells abnormally sweet, but he can't tell all that well with Yuji's unrestrained alpha smell flooding his nose all the time.
Gun to his head, he wouldn't admit that he doesn't mind it at all, despite his aversion to inconsiderate people who don't control their scent. Especially if that person is an alpha.
Megumi's pretty sure they spend all day together, because Gojo peeks in his room late that night with another bag of stuff. His blindfold is off this time.
He comes all the way in once he realizes Megumi's awake. “I brought you snacks.”
He's already coming over and sitting on the bed. On Megumi's nest.
It peeves him a little because it's the second time in a row he's done this, but he's known Gojo for so long his scent is like home anyway. He doesn't mind that much if his nest smells like him.
Speaking of it, Gojo's scent is louder now. It's not quite obnoxious, but you can't miss it. It rolls off him in waves, a sweet, blooming citrus smell that tells everyone around that this omega is happy and content.
Really happy, actually. From the smell alone, Megumi thinks he's almost excited.
Honestly, he's still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Megumi eyes Gojo and the bag wearily.
“I got you sweets from the city. And vitamin water.” Gojo's talking like this is just something he does all the time. He takes out a box and opens it to reveal sorted pastries. He sets one water on Megumi’s nightstand and opens the other, handing it to the boy.
“Drink.” He says nicely.
“Excuse me?” Megumi grows more baffled with each minute. Gojo's acting like he's bedridden with illness.
Gojo looks briefly confused. “You were always difficult. Water’s good for you. And it's got vitamins in it.”
Okay. That is not the issue.
“What are you doing?” Megumi asks, exasperated.
Gojo ignores the question, and takes a pastry out of the box, holding it to Megumi's mouth. “Eat.”
Megumi leans away. “Gojo.”
“Fine, I’ll eat it then.” And he promptly shoves the whole thing in his own mouth, licking his fingers.
Megumi sets the water down. By chance, the neck of Gojo's shirt had ridden down, and the light caught just right to see how wet his glands were.
It all clicks then. The unusual smell, the odd behavior.
“You're in heat. Or about to be.”
Gojo gasps and acts accosted, deflecting. “How rude of you! It's impolite to accuse people of such things.”
But he's not really looking at Megumi anymore, and his left hand had taken a chunk of Megumi’s comforter and started kneading it. Gojo rubs his wrist on it absently, scenting the fabric. A moment passes.
“I may be close to a heat.”
“You don't say. Did you really go out like this?” He wants to know what Nobara was thinking during all this. If Gojo tried to scent her in public, he doesn't know what she'd do. The only reason he's tolerating Gojo sitting here in his carefully made nest and scenting it is because they're familiar with each other. They've never acknowledged it, but they've considered each other pack for years.
“It got worse just now, I think,” Gojo hums. “Smells nice in here.”
“So go lay down or something. You have your own nest.” A big one. Before he presented, Megumi would sneak in there when Gojo wasn’t around and sleep in it. You couldn't strangle that information out of him, but Gojo probably found out about it pretty quickly. Puppy smell and all.
Gojo nods, standing. Then he sidetracked immediately, moving to the closet. “Are you warm enough? Do you need more blankets?”
“I'm fine. Get out.”
He's not listening. He's rifling through the spare bedding and pulls out a throw blanket and sheets.
“Here.” He says, bringing them over. Gojo spreads the blanket over Megumi, tucking it into the nest.
“Stop.” More blankets would just make him hot. Megumi peels it away and Gojo's already rubbing the new sheets on his neck and putting them in the nest too, fluffing them up. He's purring.
Megumi almost says something abrasive, but Gojo isn't really himself right now and he might end up taking it to heart.
He settles for something else. “Go lay down, Gojo.”
“I'm going, I'm going,” He finally makes it to the door, halfway out it. “Please drink that.”
With a sigh of annoyance, Megumi takes the water off the nightstand and makes a show of drinking it.
Gojo smiles, visibly pleased. He leaves, finally.
Megumi caps the water and puts it down.
Gojo has never been this bad before. During previous heats, he'd scent Megumi occasionally and get a touch protective until he realized what he was doing, then he'd keep to himself and stay in his room until it was over. This time Gojo doesn't even seem to realize how cosseted he's acting.
It's worse the next day.
Gojo will not stay in his room. He's fully in heat now, and the smell of it is all over the dorm.
Megumi finds him pacing the halls, distressed. His blindfold is pushed up to his forehead and he's still in his sleep clothes. His sour distress scent causes a chain effect, putting Megumi on edge. His inner omega, quiet as it is, wants to soothe.
When Gojo sees him, he rushes over, pulling him into his chest. His pheromones are pungent and thick this close, and Gojo intentionally smothers him with them, rubbing his cheek on his head and wrists on his clothes.
Megumi is not used to this at all. He pulls away, stiff.
“Why are you out here freaking out? You're stinking up the place.”
Gojo exhales loudly, and turns on his heel, walking towards Yuji's room.
The door is open and Gojo paces in.
It's empty, and Gojo whines. He walks to the unmade bed, walks to the window, walks back to the door to look into the hallway. Megumi can tell he's already been in here from the smell.
“Itadori's not here. And he probably doesn't want your heat smell all over his stuff.” Yuji probably wouldn't care at all, but it's rude to leave your scent all over someone else’s bedroom. Especially scent from a mating cycle.
Gojo paces out suddenly, to Nobara’s room, which is also empty.
“They're fine. It's the middle of the day, they're just out somewhere.” Megumi says, finally understanding.
Unconsciously, Gojo must've started accepting the other students as pack. With them all being so young, it wouldn't take much for an unmated, childless omega to see them as his own in the midst of a heat. He's just worried about them.
Gojo huffs. He hasn't said a word yet. This heat must be bad, if he's not speaking on top of only thinking with his hindbrain. Megumi himself got close to this state once, so he has an idea how Gojo's feeling.
He tries to be reassuring. “They're okay. Just go lay down. They'll be back.”
The oil from Gojo's scent glands has soaked through the collar of his shirt. He's flushed and nearly out of breath. The sour distress scent has lessened, but it's clear he's still unhappy.
Megumi isn't very good at it, but he tries to soothe, pushing his own pheromones to be calmer and sweeter.
“Don't you want to lay in your nest?” He asks.
Gojo grabs a sweater Nobara had folded on her desk, and brings it to his face.
“Okay, not that. Put that down.” Her clothes are important to her and usually expensive; she might throw a fit if it reeks of heat smell.
Megumi grabs a pillow from the bed, offering it. Alphas don't care nearly as much about their bedding as omegas do. “Take this.”
Gojo grabs it easily and thankfully puts the sweater down. He brings the pillow to his face, sniffing.
“Great. Now come on.”
Gojo finally comes, and they walk to the floor above to Gojo's room. They’d stopped by Yuji’s room again to grab one of his pillows, and Gojo adds both to his giant nest, arranging everything carefully. He’d started quietly purring again.
Megumi stands in the doorway, waiting for him to lay down and stay there, but that’s not what happens. Once he’s satisfied with his nest, he struts over to Megumi and picks him up by the armpits.
Megumi’s appalled, struggling. “What- put me down-”
Gojo pays no mind to his frustration and sets him in the nest. Then he crawls in himself, trilling as he arranges the blankets around his new companion.
Megumi considers just getting up, but Gojo is so far out of his higher brain right now he thinks he should call Shoko about it. It’s worrying; the man is nearly feral. Could some underlying condition cause this?
For Megumi, it’s bizarre. Seeing someone he’s known for being composed and put together acting like… this.
Megumi stills, a realization taking hold.
If something were to happen, or if the wrong people knew about this, things could go wrong in the jujutsu world very quickly. The resident god amongst men completely out of commission for an unknown amount of time.
They’ve all fought powerful curses before, and he’s confident in his abilities and the abilities of the other students. But knowing it’s only up to them if something were to go wrong, or Sukuna found a way to wake himself, puts an uneasy feeling in his gut.
He’s brought out of his thoughts when the trilling and purring stops. His own scent had taken on an unpleasant tone, and Gojo had obviously noticed.
“I’m fine, don’t-” He’s cut off as Gojo pulls him close, cradling him. It’s an awkward mess of limbs.
Megumi’s done fighting it. He'll just deal with it until Gojo gets better and they can go back to their normal give and take. He decides if Gojo gets any worse, he'll call Shoko.
The older omega strokes his hand through Megumi's hair. He leans back into the bed, pulling the boy with him, making himself comfortable. Gojo pulls the blankets up around them while Megumi tries to situate himself in the mess he's gotten himself into. He stays against Gojo's chest, squirming until he finds a position comfortable enough to lay in. Gojo's purring starts back up loudly next to his ear.
An afternoon nap sounds alright. His body relaxes quickly, recognizing the safe place he's in. Right now Gojo is as warm as a heater, and the nest traps it all nicely. They haven’t really cuddled like this since Megumi wasn’t tall enough to reach the sink, and he’d forgotten how nice it was to experience such closeness.
He thought the intimacy would have the opposite effect simply because of how not used to it he is, but he's honestly more comfortable and content than he's been in a while, even with Gojo's sickly sweet citrus smell clogging his nose.
Gojo continues petting him and scratching his scalp, and Megumi has to stop his own purr from climbing up his throat. If Gojo remembers all of this when his heat is over, Megumi would never live it down.
He’s just edging off to sleep when Gojo nuzzles into his hair and starts grooming him. He gets one single lick in before Megumi jerks his head away.
“No- no. I’m not five, we’re not doing that.”
Thankfully Gojo listens. He huffs about it but finally lays his head down. Megumi gets comfortable again and drifts off against Gojo’s chest.
-
When he wakes hours later, evening light is streaming through the curtains and Gojo is grooming him again. His hairline on the right side is completely wet, as well as half of his forehead.
Megumi groans, struggling to open his eyes. “That’s gross.”
He leans away again but Gojo is insistent, moving with him. Megumi pushes at him, and then Gojo nips at his offending hands, the same thing you'd do to discipline a young pup.
Megumi finally stops resisting. It’ll all be over soon anyway, and he can bully Gojo about it later when he’s back to normal. He lays there and tolerates Gojo “cleaning” him until the older omega is satisfied.
It is nice, actually. Not being wet from saliva, but being taken care of. This heat has exposed Gojo's true colors; no amount of jokes or deflecting would ever bring him back from this. He's always known Gojo cared about him and the others, but having it clearly bared to him like this is… odd, but nice.
In the back of his mind, he'd considered that Gojo might think of him as his own pup, but the other two as well?
A door slams downstairs, followed by loud voices. Gojo jerks up, listening.
Yuji and Nobara are back, bickering about something probably stupid.
Gojo gets up and bolts out the door.
Here we go.
Megumi rubs his face into a blanket, wiping off all the spit and trying to get his hair to lay somewhat normal again. Then he follows, trudging down the stairs.
He's able to hear the students’ conversation stop abruptly, and then Yuji says, surprised: “Oh, Gojo-sensei, you're…”
Nobara says it plainly. “Wow, you're loud. You stink bad.”
When he sees them, Nobara’s scrunching her nose and Yuji has an awkward look on his face. Gojo gets close to Yuji, checking him over and then scenting him.
“...Sensei?” He says, confused. But he lets Gojo do his thing.
Nobara has an incredulous look on her face as Gojo moves over to her. “What’s wrong with you?” She said.
Megumi speaks up. “He’s really bad off. Just let him.”
She stiffens as he scents her, but surprisingly doesn’t say anything else.
Yuji shares a look with Megumi, asking for some explanation.
Megumi shrugs. “I don't know. This cycle is just really bad for him, I’m not sure what caused it. He's been really out of it.”
Gojo starts ushering them all toward the stairs. He rubs his cheek against Yuji's head as the boy passes.
“He won't talk?” Nobara asks.
“I'm not sure he can.”
“I did think he'd been acting strange lately. I just thought he was doing it on purpose.” She continued, climbing the stairs.
Yuji makes it to the next floor first, looking around. “Why are we going up here?”
He looks at Gojo when he asks, but Gojo just keeps them moving past empty rooms to his own.
Megumi sighs. “He wants us to lay in his bed. It's up to you if you want to humor him.”
Gojo’s door is still wide open. He beckons them in, a trill leaving his mouth. He rushes over to pat his nest, smiling wide.
Nobara speaks up in a more serious tone than usual. “He must think we're his.”
“Oh.” Yuji utters, emotional.
Nobara shrugs and takes off her coat, laying it over the back of a chair. “Well, it does look comfy.”
She crawls in like it was made for her. The bed is huge, it would be able to fit the four of them just fine.
“You need to get laid. Make your own pups and stop stealing other people's.” Nobara says to Gojo, stretching out. “You’re good at making nests, though.”
Gojo purrs at the praise. He starts arranging blankets around her, tucking her in.
“I think it's nice,” Yuji says, moving closer. “That he sees us like that.”
Yuji seems hesitant. He might have never been in an omega's nest before, parental or otherwise. He puts one knee on the bed and Gojo's still purring, pulling him over.
“It smells very nice, Gojo-sensei.” The boy says as he sits down next to Nobara.
Nobara takes a deep breath through her nose, and sits up suddenly. “Wait a minute, Fushiguro, you've already been laying here!”
Yuji raises his gaze, a grin on his face. “You're so sweet, Fushiguro.”
A harsh “I'm not!” is right on his tongue, but that sounds petulant and even worse, sounds like they're right. He grumbles his next words.
“He was freaking out earlier and no one was around. Was I supposed to just let him have a meltdown?”
Yuji makes himself comfortable, laying down. “Of course not. I just think it's sweet of you.”
Megumi rolls his eyes and finally gets in the nest. Gojo's purring sounds like a motor now, loud and unbearably happy. He tugs Megumi until he’s next to Yuji.
Yuji’s looking at him with really big eyes, all of a sudden. He scoots closer to Nobara, scent turning anxious.
Megumi hasn’t even laid down yet and Gojo’s trying to cover him in blankets.
“You smell, Itadori.” Nobara jeered from her spot.
Yuji elbows her, flustered. “I don’t!” Then, looking at Megumi, “Do I?”
Megumi decides to mess with him. “Mm-hmm.”
Yuji pulls a blanket up to his nose, mumbling. “You guys are lying. I literally showered this morning.”
Gojo lays half his body over Megumi to rub his wrist on Yuji’s neck glands, trading scents. Yuji gets really still.
“Oh. Um, thank you.”
Gojo then rubs his wrist on his own neck, and finally lays down, squishing himself against Megumi, which in turn squishes him against Yuji.
This is new. For all of them.
But Gojo doesn’t mind at all. His purrs continue, and he nuzzles into Megumi’s hair as he settles, wrapping an arm around him. A rare chirp leaves his mouth, demonstrating how delighted he is.
“Well, we know who the favorite is.” Nobara quips from Yuji’s other side. “Actually we always knew. Gojo sucks at hiding it.”
Megumi wants to protest, but right now, he has no room to talk.
Nobara continues. “Where’s his remote? I wanna watch my show.” She finds it in the bedside table, and Megumi half-listens to her complicated summary of the plot when Yuji asks for it.
Megumi couldn’t care less and closes his eyes, feeling content. Yuji actually does smell nice, and he’s really comfortable.
He feels safe and warm, laying here with his pack. It’s something his inner omega always wanted, it seems.
With the other two still prattling, Megumi begins to drift off. Barely conscious, a quiet purr escapes his throat.