Chapter Text
“Akita, 7:37”
Megumi swiftly dodged the swipe of the curse that had almost struck him, it resembled a twisted tree with several gray arms as branches, its upper part, where the limbs separated, was a mouth that repeatedly shouted: ‘Akita, 7:37’ over and over again, in a dry and hesitant tone.
The dark-haired boy barely landed a few meters from the creature before summoning his shikigami. “Kuro, Shiro!” He yelled, and instantly, from his shadow, the two wolves appeared, their colors matching their names-
Yuuji snorted before bursting into laughter the next second, his cheeks flushed, giving him a rather endearing appearance. “Ha, ha, sorry, Gumi, but…” The pink-haired boy paused for a moment, vaguely waving his hand around the space in front of him until Shiro reached out and pressed his forehead against the boy’s palm, who began petting him with affection. “I don’t think you’re the most creative when it comes to naming.”
The dark-haired boy jumped, dodging another swipe in his direction, while his dog took the attack as their cue to charge at the creature.
«Focus, Fushiguro.» The boy thought to himself as he landed again, it wasn't the most powerful curse he'd ever faced, but in other jobs, he'd learned that lowering his defense even a little could make all the difference, no matter how powerful the creature. «Focus and don't think about Yuuji or his cute smile-»
"Akita, 7:3- AAAAAAGH!" The curse let out a shriek as Kuro sank his fangs into one of the tree-like creature's many hands. He tried to break free, but his dog held his position, and when the creature tried to use another arm to pull it away, Shiro decided to join in, biting it too. "Akita, 7:37, Ugh!"
Megumi let out a tired sigh, but quickly tried to focus, searching for a good opportunity to deliver a final, powerful blow and exorcise the twisted-armed monster in one fell swoop, he didn't have much desire to prolong the battle and wanted to collapse in the comfort of his bed.
The curse subsided as his shikigami began to stretch its arms, letting out whimpers along with its usual catchphrase, and that's when he saw his chance. The dark-haired boy took a deep breath, coiling his energy in his hand, and after aiming his finger, he fired.
At the base of the cursed trunk, a large hole appeared, from which a blue fire quickly began to consume the cursed figure, his two dogs swiftly tore off each one of its hands.
"Akita, 7:37." The spirit repeated one last time before vanishing.
Shiro howled as the curse disappeared before joining Kuro in eating the severed parts, both looking quite satisfied. Megumi gasped for breath, feeling his energy completely drained, he still wasn't very good at exorcising, and all the small jobs he'd had that day hadn't helped.
Once he was a little more relaxed and his shikigami had finished, he unsummoned them and started to leave the apartment building's basement. He hadn't had much information about here beyond the fact that the owner had been having problems with animal carcasses appearing there, having already conducted several searches, she began to believe it was something supernatural, but no one believed her, and she didn't know how to contact sorcerers.
As soon as he stepped out of the building, he pulled out his cell phone and started calling one of the only four contacts he had saved.
Bip… bip… “I suppose you’re done with the job.”
Fushiguro almost nodded, but quickly reminded himself that he should answer out loud. “Yes, there’s no more curse down there.”
“Very well, very well.” Shiu said from the other end of the line, his throat a little hoarse, he knew the man used to smoke more cigarettes than he did now. “I’ll call the client to let her know.”
Megumi, who had been impatiently tapping his foot for the other person on the line to finish, spoke again. “Is there another job for me this month?”
…
After a few seconds of silence on the phone, a tired sigh could be heard from the other end. “I’ve been called about another curse, but it’s farther from your city, and you’ll need to gather information on your own.”
Fushiguro grimaced, knowing he was going to have to miss school again…
“I’ll take it.” He replied instantly, even with today’s jobs, he still needed a little extra money to make ends meet.
The dark-haired boy could sense the man's grimace on the other end but said nothing as he listened to Kong taking a drag of whatever cigarette he'd been smoking before the call. "I'll send you the details they sent me." The boy nodded to himself, and as he was about to hang up, his employer spoke again. "Fushiguro."
“What’s wrong?” The dark-haired boy asked automatically.
“There’s a special-grade sorcerer in your residential area.” The boy’s breath caught in his throat for a second, Sendai was so calm that often the worst curse was only a second-grade one, but sending someone of such a high rank meant they were looking for something more, maybe a curse user like him- “I’m just letting you know so you keep a low profile these days.”
“…Thank you, Kong-san.” He finished, knowing he’d have to start work early tomorrow, luckily, the sorcerer would only be in town for a day or two, so he wouldn’t have to stay hidden for long. Shiu hummed a little in recognition before hanging up, and this time it was Megumi’s turn to sigh.
…
It was time for him to go home.
Megumi didn't take long to get to the station since the building where he worked was quite close.
(When he paid for his ticket, he saw on the timetable that the Akita train, which took him on the journey to Tokyo, arrived at the station at 7:37 a.m., and he wondered for a second if the spirit had wanted to catch the train at some point, perhaps hoping to meet someone, or go to some dream destination.
He stopped thinking about that and boarded his train, which arrived shortly after.)
The dark-haired boy leaned his head against the window, feeling the weariness in his bones, he hated his job, but he didn't really have many options, he was literally at his wit's end when Shiu Kong approached him, telling him that he used to work with his father and could offer him jobs he could handle with his… skills.
He sighed before rubbing his face with his hand, he couldn't fall asleep on the train, especially since his station was the next one after Morioka.
All he wanted was to collapse in his bed-
"Aren't you coming to class tomorrow?" Yuuji asked with a grimace, but then shrugged, offering a slight smile. "Well, I'll ask Mr. Mori if he can give me your science homework, but I don't think he'll be in a good mood. You know, he gets really annoyed by your absences."
Fushiguro grimaced to himself, knowing he'd have to do that homework as soon as he arrived if he didn't want to be overwhelmed over the weekend.
"Emi... I have to see Emi..." The dark-haired boy kept his gaze fixed on the ceiling as he listened to the voice approaching, accompanied by the sound of something crawling. "Emi... I have to see Emi."
«Just ignore it and it’ll go away.» Megumi thought to himself, maintaining his neutral expression. «It’s none of your business, and it’s not like it’s hurting anyone right now.»
“Emi… I have to see Emi…” The curse, which felt barely stronger than a few of those flies buzzing around the biggest cities, finally left the train car where Megumi was sitting, leaving him alone.
Or rather, left him alone with the light-haired guy in the opposite corner, who was humming with headphones, grinning like a madman, and wearing sunglasses despite the late hour, for God's sake-
When he arrived home, it was already past 11 p.m., so the entire neighborhood was eerily silent, and not a single light was on in any of the surrounding houses, except their own, of course…
Fushiguro opened the door after unlocking it with his key, trying to keep his actions as quiet as possible.
«How could I love a man who's part worm?!»
The dark-haired boy grimaced at the cheesy line from that awful movie Yuuji loved so much, but took a moment to compose himself before entering the house, he tiptoed to the living room, noticing the television was on and strands of pink hair sticking out from the back of the sofa.
Megumi slowly approached the sofa, noticing with considerable relief that the pink-haired boy was snoring against the cushion, the dark-haired boy inwardly let out an amused snort at the sight of Itadori, his mouth agape, a thin trail of saliva dripping from it, gross.
His gaze was quickly drawn to some papers and books on the small table next to the armchair, he immediately noticed one of those future aspirations documents with Yuuji's name on it; he'd probably forgotten to hand it in again.
‘How do you see yourself in the future?’ was the question, and the scribbled answer was: ‘Firefighter’.
Megumi could only shake his head at this; it sounded so Yuuji.
The dark-haired boy approached the blanket draped over the back of the sofa, the one they kept there for movie nights, but as he grabbed the fabric to place it over the pink-haired boy, his foot accidentally stepped on a creaking board-
And Itadori jumped up in the sofa.
“What?! How-?” Yuuji stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Fushiguro standing in front of him, he offered a sleepy smile. “Hey, you’re back.”
Itadori had a trail of dried saliva along his chin, a tangled mess of hair on one side, a mark on his cheek from where he'd been lying, and his eyes could barely stay open, Megumi swallowed at the sight. "Yes, I did." He replied after a while, his answer, though brief, only made the boy in front of him smile wider, and the dark-haired boy felt increasingly helpless.
The pink-haired boy slowly approached Megumi, who could hear his own heartbeat quicken as Yuuji took his hand and pulled him to his side on the sofa. "How was work?" He asked, leaning against Fushiguro's shoulder, he smelled of generic soap, but the dark-haired boy still buried his face deeper in his hair. "Did you eat the bento I gave you? Did you exorcise many curses?"
The cursed user hummed, not wanting to tell the pink-haired boy how at one point he had to scour sewers to chase what were virtually cursed rats. “The unadon you made was delicious, thank you.” Yuuji only made a sound that seemed happy; despite appearances, the pink-haired boy knew he shouldn't be so nosy and shouldn't meddle in other people's affairs when they didn't want him to.
“Sasaki-senpai wants to do a special activity for the Occult Club.” Itadori explained easily. “This time it’s not about going to a haunted place, don’t worry.” Fushiguro let out a lazy ‘Mmm’. “Iguchi-senpai brought something he swears is completely ‘haunted’ that he bought from a supposed priestess. I’m pretty sure he got scammed, but they plan to open it at midnight as a club activity.”
Megumi wasn't too bothered by the other boy's words, his club had never really come close to encountering a curse; the closest he knew was in the building where Yuuji had been sent as some kind of hazing ritual. "Are you going?"
"No, if I did, I wouldn't be able to visit Grandpa." The pink-haired boy said sleepily, as if even the idea of not going were impossible. They should move, at least to his room, Megumi still had to start his homework, and he didn't even know what it was yet. "How's Tsumiki?"
"Same."
“Aaaah?” Yuuji asked, barely able to being understand through his mouth full of rice. “What do you mean you’re not coming today either?”
Megumi swallowed his food like a normal, decent person before speaking. “I still need some money, and the job Kong-san gave me is going to take a little longer to sort out, so I won’t be around for the rest of the day.”
Itadori winced as he swallowed before standing up. “I guess that’s fine. I’ll pack some curry in a bento box so you have something to eat if things take longer than expected.”
“Thanks…” He whispered softly as he watched his boyfriend bustle about the kitchen preparing his lunch. He seemed a little tense, which he found completely wrong, so he added: “I’ll visit you both before I leave.”
That made the pink-haired boy’s shoulders visibly relax before he turned around, a bento box in hand and a bright smile on his face. “That would be great. You know Grandpa likes when you visit, I think even more than I do.”
Yuuji's presence is like the sun, warm and so easy to be around, you always want to be in his presence a little longer, making everything around him seem to light up no matter where he goes. But his smile is the most captivating thing about him, bringing out adorable dimples in his cheeks and making his eyes sparkle so brightly they seem to shift from brown to almost gold.
“He threw a paper cup at me once when I visited him.” Fushiguro said emotionlessly.
“Even so, you’re the favorite of the two of us.” The pink-haired boy replied playfully, sitting down next to him.
The table was quite small, so their legs bumped against each other and their fingers brushed across the surface, each touch sent a rush of heat through the dark-haired boy, but he didn’t react much, he had no intention of interrupting; he wanted to enjoy this moment of relative normalcy.
Itadori leans forward, resting his head on his shoulder, he still smells of that generic soap they have in the bathroom; Megumi never tires of having that fragrance around him. “Do you think it will always be like this?” He asks with a calmness that's almost unnatural for him, but the relaxed, homey atmosphere makes it feel good. “Would you like it?”
Fushiguro wants to say yes, he likes spending his days with Yuuji, eating home-cooked meals, reading the books he brings from the library while one of the pink-haired boy's silly movies plays in the background, both of them drinking cheap green tea while watching the sunset, or just waiting for the freshly laundered clothes to dry while having pointless conversations, mostly led by his boyfriend.
But then he thinks about his sister who's in a coma, about Itadori's grandfather who's still in the hospital and doesn't seem likely to make it, or about his job that he hates.
"I don't know."
“What are you doing here?”
“Good morning too, Itadori-san.” Megumi greeted, entering the room, he had a bouquet of sunflowers, but it wasn't for the old man. “I brought another small book about myths from the Heian period. You finished the last one I left for you, right?”
“You two brats should stop hanging around here.” The older man said, and the dark-haired boy took that as permission to enter, since it was the only thing he was going to get. “You shouldn't waste your time with an old man like me.”
“Yuuji is going to all his classes.” He said, placing the small book from the secondhand shop on the dresser beside the old man’s bed, he then stood a few feet away from the cot, choosing not to sit in the chair. “The house is complete, and it’s mostly clean.”
The old man snorted in annoyance at the boy ignoring his words, and crossed his arms, looking away.
The first time the elder Itadori and Fushiguro met, he had already been living with his grandson for several days, and remembering some scoldings from his older sister, he had gone to introduce himself as a sign of respect.
When they announced they were a couple, the man looked so unsurprised that it made Megumi feel so embarrassed.
“How has your treatment been?” He asked, the nurses weren't telling him anything because he wasn't a relative, and he didn't want to upset Yuuji, but he got no answer. “Have the nurses treated you well?” And again, nothing.
He tried asking the old man more questions, but he wasn't getting any more answers, and he had to hurry to work, so he excused himself and started to leave.
“You really love Yuuji, don’t you?” The question froze Megumi in the doorway.
A smile as warm as the sun appeared in his mind for less than a second, and without thinking, he blurted out: “Yes.” Confident and simple, as if it were an undeniable truth.
He didn't hear the man move or anything. "...Promise you'll be there for him." The dark-haired boy turned to look at the older man, but he was still staring straight ahead. "It doesn't matter if you break up or anything, promise you'll be there for him when he's going through a rough patch."
Megumi felt that the best thing for Yuuji was for him to leave, to walk away from him, but he'd never been able to imagine a life without the pink-haired boy. "I promise."
The old man nodded and turned his back on him, Fushiguro left the room and went to another in a different wing.
“Hello, Tsumiki.” He whispered to the sleeping figure in front of him, approaching the vase and arranging the flowers as his boyfriend had taught him. He looked at the sister he hadn't appreciated until it was too late and he found himself alone in an orphanage. “I missed you.”
Megumi cracked his neck as he stepped off the train.
The mission had been grueling, taking him from one place to another, with people disappearing that didn't seem connected until he discovered they all frequented a warehouse that apparently carried a curse that haunted people.
On top of that, both the outbound and return journeys had taken an hour each way.
At least the pay had been extremely good, like, too good to be true, he hadn't had a job that paid so well since moving in with Yuuji, and moving in with the pink-haired boy had been an unexpected blessing, since suddenly he didn't have just one job to help him make ends meet with the hospital debts, but had to take on multiple jobs to manage. At least he was still out of the orphanage without having to worry too much about rent or food, only paying a portion.
As he massaged the back of his neck, his flip phone buzzed, and he opened it to check his message.
>I was with gramps
>I'm still here
>Could u pls come?
>I need u-
As soon as he finished reading the last message, Fushiguro stuffed his phone into his jacket pocket and started running through the station at full speed, though his run was almost cut short when he accidentally bumped into someone.
“Wow, we’re in a pretty hurry, aren’t we?” Said the guy he bumped into, but Megumi tried to ignore him by moving aside to continue running. “Hey, hey, could you at least stop to see if I’m okay?”
“If you are still talking, then you must be more than fine, isn’t it?”Said the dark-haired boy, turning around as the other guy grabbed his sleeve, but he bit his tongue when he noticed the bandage on the smiling face of the man.
Damn, he bumped into a blind person.
Double damn, judging by his hair, he was older than he looked, so he was rude to an elderly person.
Damn, damn, damn.
Tsumiki and Yuuji would be so disappointed with him.
The white-haired man smiled more broadly, possibly amused by his tension. “Well, I also think you should be more respectful to this poor Oji-san.” Damn, did he say ‘old man’ out loud? “And actually, I really wanted to ask for your help finding something.”
Megumi grimaced at this, but decided to be polite even though he just wanted to end the conversation. “If you’re looking for your nursing home, I can't tell you where it is.” Well, maybe not that polite.
The blindfolded man, instead of getting angry at his attitude like most adults, just burst into laughter. “You’re quite cheeky, haven’t you been told?” Before he could react, the man placed his hand on his hair and began to ruffle it. “Although I suppose you’ve been told before, haven’t you? I can see it on your face.”
Fushiguro quickly pulled away from the white-haired man's grip. "What do you want?"
"Oh, come on, don't be rude." The other said with a smile. "I was sent on an errand that, unfortunately, I couldn't delegate to my former students, and even though I searched everywhere, I couldn't find him." The dark-haired boy noticed for the first time the immense number of shopping bags the man was carrying. "And well, as soon as I saw you again, I knew you might be the only one who could give me a clue-"
“And why would I-?”
“After all, a curse user like you should have noticed it.”
Megumi tensed, not only from the words, but from the pressure of cursed energy that appeared as if someone had broken a dam, he felt a chill run through him when he noticed that blue eye staring at him after the sorcerer lifted his bandage slightly, now without a smile.
Fushiguro swallowed, now that he wasn't in such a rush and his gaze was completely focused on the man's he could see that despite initially mistaking him for an old man because of his hair, he looked quite young, like he was in his early twenties; also, despite the darkness, he could tell that his clothing resembled a school uniform, but with buttons that identified him as a sorcerer, and if the power pressing around him, though still dormant, was any indication, it was that he was a very powerful one.
“There’s a special-grade sorcerer in your residential area.”
Shiu had warned him, and yet Megumi had let his guard down.
…
Suddenly, Fushiguro's cell phone buzzes insistently.
"Maybe you should check it." The sorcerer said, smiling again. "It sounds urgent, and I'd be sorry if you missed it."
The dark-haired boy, somewhat hesitant, picked up his phone to check his messages and-
He ran (despite having a special-grade with his gaze fixed at him) as he barely finished reading the messages.
>senpais started calling me, I think they got scared, lol
>sent me a lot of messages as if they get nuts
>I can't understand them
>they talking abt monsters????
>Damn, I think they r talking abt curses.
>Didn't u say only normal people could see curses when they were about to die?
>I need to get to them quickly.
>Please come as fast as you can.
>ILY
A surge of cursed energy was felt at Sugisawa School in the distance.
