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If you asked Yuuji what he wanted to be when he grew up, a pirate wouldn’t be anywhere on the list. Pirates were bad people, usually, but Captain Gojo and his crew were far from that. They only stole from the rich, like a Robin Hood type deal, and they actually spent more of their time hunting sea monsters than anything else.
So yeah, Yuuji was a pirate, but he wasn’t ashamed of it. It was unconventional, but he was helping a lot of people this way. He wouldn’t want it any other way.
…He couldn’t have it any other way, anyway. After coming into contact with a cursed object and becoming the vessel of the King of the Sea, Yuuji really couldn’t be on land for long without Sukuna causing problems, so a seafaring life was what he’d have to stick to. Plus, the government totally wanted to kill him, so it’s not like being a pirate could make things any worse.
Really, it wasn’t a bad gig though. He’s actually helped tons of people out by fighting off magical creatures and liberating towns, all that good stuff. And he’s made a lot of friends! Despite all having some curse of their own, the crew is really friendly.
They went to all sorts of cool places too! In fact, they were currently heading for a port in Southern waters. He’d been traveling with the crew for a few months now, but they’d never ventured south before, so Yuuji was especially excited about this trip. Plus, he heard their destination had an interesting culture, a vibrant marketplace, and very tasty food. It was going to be so much fun!
“Listen up everybody, I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news!” Captain Gojo announces, snapping Yuuji out of his thoughts.
He practically bounces up to the top of the deck as he continues to call for everyone’s attention, not stopping until everybody is present. The crew gathers round, though not without a lot of sighing and eye rolling. Everyone (probably) liked Gojo, he was just a lot sometimes.
“Who’s steering the ship right now?” Fushiguro asks warily.
“You worry too much, this will only take a moment. Alright, good news: We’re almost at the nearest port! We’ll be there in less than an hour! Pretty speedy, huh? All thanks to your awesome captain.”
There’s an awkward silence, so Yuuji gives a small cheer. Next to him, Okkotsu claps lightly.
“Now the bad news: In order to get there so quickly I’m going to be taking a shortcut through some dangerous waters. Also, there’s a storm in that direction so we’re going to get caught in that soon.” Gojo does a dramatic pout.
Of course their captain would go for a route like that. Yuuji can’t think of a single time they sailed smoothly. His working theory is that Gojo takes the craziest routes for fun.
“It’s no problem for me, I just figured I’d tell you all so you can brace yourselves. Y’know, like try not to slip, or drown, or die in general. That’s it, byeee!” With that, he scurries back to the whipstaff.
Okkotsu follows after him, as he usually helps out their captain. Ieiri retreats back to her quarters. Being the ship’s medic means she’s usually below deck, anyway.
The rest of them linger for a moment, though, rather than dispersing. It was probably about time they switched tasks and, with the storm, they especially wanted to make sure whoever was manning the deck was in top condition.
“Ugh, I hate storms. I don’t like getting wet,” Kugisaki complains.
“You’re at sea and you don’t like getting wet?” Panda asks.
“Why would I?” She replies simply.
“Well, I guess we don’t need everyone on deck at once. It’s probably fine for you to head below once we lower the sails.” Maki remarks, much to Kugisaki’s delight.
“It’d be better to have more people on deck than less in a storm.” Fushiguro protests.
“You can do that if you want to, but I’m staying under the deck. I’ve been working with the foremast so much that my hands are blistering, and no way I’m gonna be up here in a storm.” The brunette huffs.
“Oh, I can stay on the deck!” Yuuji volunteers. He doesn’t mind getting rained on and Fushiguro would probably appreciate his willingness to help, too.
“I guess I’ll help Itadori out,” Fushiguro says passively.
“Figure out who stays on the deck later, we need to lower the sails. I’ll take the main mast, so you two take the foremast.” Maki orders.
“Got it!” Yuuji gives her a thumbs-up. By now, he’s learned to just do whatever Maki says without complaint.
“Kelp,” Inumaki speaks up.
In the months that Yuuji has been a part of the crew, he’s gotten pretty good at understanding Inumaki. He’s pretty sure that means the older boy is going to help Maki with the main mast.
“Two people are enough, you can go under the deck, Panda.” The green-haired girl adds.
“Yeah, that’s fine with me.” Panda shrugs, resigning himself to head underneath the deck like Kugisaki.
“Thank Neptune. Panda stinks after he gets caught in the rain.” Maki sighs in relief, striding off to the main mast.
“Salmon,” Inunmaki agrees and follows after her.
“What’re you doing?” Fushiguro asks, gesturing for Yuuji to come help him with the foremast.
“Coming!” The pink-haired boy bolts over and grabs a rope.
“Honestly, we should probably have a third person with us.” Fushiguro remarks as he begins to lower the sail.
“What, you don’t trust me?” Yuuji asks playfully, pulling at the ropes to lower the sail all the way.
“I do,” The spiky-haired boy answers, “It’d just be better if there was someone who had a little more experience.” Yuuji can tell he isn’t trying to be mean, just honest.
“Hey, I’ve been on deck during a storm before.”
“Have you been on deck during a storm while the ship is also going through some shortcut?”
“What even is Captain Gojo’s shortcut?”
“Hell if I know, but if that guy said it’s dangerous, then it can’t be anything good.”
“I bet I can handle it. I’m like a pro sailor now.”
Fushiguro sighs, though he sounds a little amused, and shakes his head.
“Just tell me if you need help with anything.”
“Yessir,” Yuuji replies teasingly.
“Cut that out.” Fushiguro looks away, embarrassed. “And make sure you’re watching the ropes closely.”
“I’ll watch these no matter what.” The younger swears dramatically.
The rain begins to fall in a sudden onslaught of what must be thousands of raindrops. The sound of thunder drowns out any reply Fushiguro might’ve had. Yuuji gets ready to face the worst.
-
The storm and shortcut combo was actually not bad at all. Yuuji has faced his fair share of storms, but that one was rather rough, he’ll admit. It’s just not as bad as he was expecting.
He grips onto the railings for support as the ship harshly bobs around in the waves. The storm has actually died down some, but the sea seems to be getting livelier. He looks over to Fushiguro, whose eyes widen as he stares out at the sea.
“I’m seriously gonna punch that guy.” The dark-haired boy groans.
“What?” Yuuji asks.
“The shortcut-it’ll take too long explain. Stay here and keep watching the foremast.” Fushiguro says hastily, trying to get over to the door to go under deck. “I’ll be back. Cover your ears. Don’t move. Or go see Maki. Just don’t-“ He continues to shout back as he gets further away, voice getting overshadowed by the whistle of the wind.
“What? Am I supposed to move or not? Where are we? Where are you going? Fushiguro? Fushiguro?” Yuuji calls out but to no avail. He’s lost sight of Fushiguo now and the other boy must not be able to hear him. Seriously, what’s going on?
“Itadori,” The voice is hushed, but unmistakably familiar. Fushiguro must still be pretty far away, then, thought that was pretty quick. Yuuji squints, but he still can’t see him.
“Over here,” Fushiguro calls. It sounds like he’s near the right side of the ship.
The waves seem a bit calmer now, so Yuuji carefully wanders from the railings, looking around frantically.
“Down.”
Yuuji looks over the ship’s railings and at the water below. Somehow, Fushiguro had managed to fall into the sea. It was honestly a little funny. Fushiguro was probably the last person Yuuji would’ve expected to have ended up falling into the sea, he was far too careful to make a mistake like that.
“Fushiguro? You fell overboard?” He can’t help but laugh a little as he says it, mostly in disbelief.
“Oh, shut up, the waves are rough here,” He huffs. “Can you just help me back up?”
“Alrighty,” Yuuji singsongs, inching his way over to the small boat that’s tied to the side of the ship. He carefully handles the ropes and lowers the boat down to sea level, a short distance away from where Fushiguro is floating. “Hop on and I’ll pull you up.” He instructs.
Fushiguro reaches for the boat, but his hand slips off the side. Yuuji hears him swear as he fails to get a solid grip on it again. The pink-haired boy’s face scrunches up in concern.
“Uhm, Fushiguro, do you-“
All of a sudden, a particular violent wave hits the ship. Yuuji grips onto the railing as he’s jostled, then steadies himself as he looks down at the ocean again. Shit, Fushiguro is gone.
Yuuji doesn’t think twice before jumping over the railings and into the sea himself. The water is freezing, but Yuuji resists the urge to surface immediately. He quickly spots Fushiguro and tries to pull him to the surface, but it’s incredibly difficult for whatever reason.
Yuuji is a strong swimmer and Fushiguro isn’t that heavy, so it’s gotta be the currents or something. They’re probably all messed up because of the storm and maybe it’s the weird location Gojo chose, too. Whatever the reason, it’s got him seriously worried.
For a moment, he wonders if they’re both going to drown like this. But he can’t start thinking like that. He has to save Fushiguro no matter what.
Yuuji kicks and kicks, fighting against the rough currents, and, finally, he breaks the surface. He coughs like mad and his lungs feel like they’re going to be soggy for hours after. Fushiguro is still in his arms. He’s safe. It’s ok.
The boat. He’s gotta get to the boat. Thankfully, the storm has calmed a lot by now and the ship hasn’t gotten too far away.
Yuuji swims over to the rowboat still attached to the side of the ship, fighting the currents once more. He manages to grab onto the side and hoist both of them on. Yuuji lies there for a moment, spitting up water and breathing heavily. He can’t think of anything else except that he really hopes Fushiguro is alright and, oh man, he’s winded.
“Are you ok?” Yuuji asks eventually, sitting up and facing Fushiguro. His heart is already racing from the adrenaline, but it manages to beat even faster, somehow. Fushiguro, despite almost drowning, looks gorgeous.
In the storm’s darkness, his green eyes are almost unnaturally vibrant. His eyelashes are speckled with water droplets, making them look almost glittery. His gaze is just very alluring and Yuuji almost doesn’t want to look away.
When he does break eye contact, there’s really not much else to look at besides water and Fushiguro, so his eyes happen to wander back on accident. Ok, wow, Fushiguro’s clothes are totally soaked and hugging his very nice body. Yuuji averts his gaze again, opting to look at the ocean instead.
Yuuji has never been attracted to anybody more in his life than Fushiguro, he’s been well aware, but right now he is like insanely hot. His eyes, almost against his will, dart back to steal another look. Even his dripping wet hair is sexy.
“I’m fine,” Fushiguro says breathily after however long. Maybe it’s been minutes, maybe it’s been seconds, Yuuji has no clue. All he knows is that hearing Fushiguro talk like that makes him feel funny. “Itadori?”
“Y-yeah?” Yuuji banishes his thoughts of Fushiguro’s disheveled yet handsome appearance and husky voice so that he can focus on what the other boy is saying.
“Thanks.” Fushiguro smiles at him, like actually smiles at him.
Yuuji can think of only one other time he’s seen Fushiguro smile. Just like that time, his mouth is upturned a little bit at the corners and he has a soft look in his eyes. Holy shit, a smile looks phenomenal on him. Yuuji wants to dedicate his entire life to making Fushiguro smile.
“Hahaha, no problem,” Yuuji tells him quickly, very aware of how close they are right now. He swears they weren’t this close before. Did he do that? Did Fushiguro? Maybe the waves’ jostled them closer and Yuuji just didn’t notice because he was distracted thinking about how hot his friend is?
Fushiguro doesn’t say anything else or make any attempt to move away. He just gazes at him, a look in his eyes that drives Yuuji crazy. He needs to get away from Fushiguro before he accidentally does something stupid like choke on air and tell Fushiguro that he’s more beautiful than anyone or anything—sunsets, crystal clear waters, land after days on the ocean…he could go on and on—else in the seven seas.
“Uhm, we should, uh, probably get back to the, uh, main ship. Yeah.” Yuuji manages to say. Despite his words, his eyes don’t leave Fushiguro and he makes no move to get them back up.
“Maybe,” Fushiguro replies vaguely, his tone sounding almost sultry. Yuuji thinks he might die. Maybe he’s already dead.
“Uh, what are-what are we doing right now?” Yuuji asks, sweating profusely despite the biting cold.
“What do you want to do?” Fushiguro asks with that same tone.
“What?”
“We don’t have to go back yet. We could stay here for a little while.” Fushiguro gives him this half-lidded look, though not in a sleepy way, it looks borderline flirtatious. No way.
Fushiguro licks his lips. Yuuji thinks he might have a heart attack. That’s-holy shit, is he doing this on purpose? He has to be.
“Are you hitting on me? Is that what this is?” Yuuji dares to ask out loud. Immediately, he regrets it. “Uh, or, sorry, I shouldn’t have-“
“No, I’m talking to the guy behind you,” Fushiguro says sarcastically. “Obviously, I’m hitting on you.”
Yuuji is dying to know why. Why him? Why now? What even changed between them?
The questions never leave his tongue, though. He’s afraid that, if he asks, Fushiguro won’t know either. Yuuji just wouldn’t be able to stomach it if this was some spur of the moment one off thing when, selfishly, he wanted so much more.
“Cool.” Yuuji squeaks out, the fact that they’re still in the little boat in the rough waves entirely forgotten. “Uhm, I mean, Fushiguro I like you. I’ve liked you for a while and I like really admire you like when Captain Gojo lets you take over the ship and you know all that stuff about navigating you know all like “that’s East” when it’s the night time like you read the stars and that’s incredible and also you’re smart like you know all the names of fish and you have all those laws like memorized even though like we don’t even need to know those ha get it because we’re pirates and you’re like really sweet and-“
Fushiguro places a hand on Yuuji’s cheek and suddenly Yuuji forgets every word he’s ever known. All that comes out after that are a few choked noises. He looks Fushiguro in the eyes, but Fushiguro’s eyes are on his lips. Oh, sweet Neptune.
“I’ve actually never kissed anyone before,” Yuuji confesses meekly, feeling a squeamishness akin to a fish out of water that had time to flail only once before being thrust upon a cutting board. Nobody had ever flirted with him in his life, and it’s even more overwhelming coming from Fushiguro. Especially now, when he had his hands on Yuuji and eyes brimming with desire.
“That’s ok. I’ll show you.” Fushiguro tells him, his low voice echoing in Yuuji’s ears and making his stomach do flips. Fushiguro is so smart, he probably knows exactly what he’s doing. Yuuji’s throat clamps up at the thought, so all he can do is nod. Fushiguro places his other hand on Yuuji’s other cheek, cupping his face with both hands, and leans in slowly.
The kiss is like something out of a fantasy. Despite being out at sea, Fushiguro smells like home instead of salt. He’s not quite sure what exactly that smells like, but home is the first word that comes to mind. Their lips slot together like the gods had sculpted them with the other in mind, like this was fated to happen. Oh wow.
Yuuji melts into the kiss and then thinks to do something with his hands, running his fingers through Fushiguro’s soggy yet somehow still silky hair. Seriously, how is that possible? How could someone be so perfect?
When he pulls away, Yuuji feels dizzy and he even starts to see stars. That’s probably not supposed to happen, he thinks offhandedly. He feels like his brain has been replaced with a jellyfish and Fushiguro looks as smudgy as a painting.
“Am I dreaming?” Yuuji asks, words coming out slurred like he’s drunk, though he has no clue why that’s the case. He can hear Sukuna’s laughter echoing throughout his head. That guy is still an asshole, what’s new?
“Does this feel like a dream?” Fushiguro asks.
Fushiguro proceeds to gently caress his face. The sensation makes his skin tingle like he’s been electrocuted. Ok, that’s new, Yuuji thinks, blinking at Fushiguro in awe.
“Am I dead then? Did we both drown?” Yuuji asks, words still slurred. His head is buzzing, like he’s been whacked over the head particularly hard, and he’s like eighty percent sure Fushiguro is glowing angelically. Maybe he’s been an angel the entire time.
Fushiguro snorts at that, abruptly pressing up even closer to him. The motion would have caused Yuuji to fall back into the sea if not for the fact that he was quick—even in his disoriented state—enough to catch himself. The boat rocks with the movement and it dawns on Yuuji that he had somehow forgotten they were still in the little boat. The waves seem to have gotten calmer by now, but it’s probably better if they go back up to avoid another dip in the sea.
“Oh yeah. We’re still here.” Yuuji says stupidly, gesturing to the little boat.
“I don’t mind.” It almost sounds like a purr.
Something about the words and the way he says them reminds Yuuji of another thing that keeps bothering him. Truthfully, it’s been nagging at him the whole time. Yuuji really needs to just go on and say it.
“Fushiguro,” He swallows nervously before speaking again, “I honestly don’t really know what’s going on with you right now. Uh, probably the adrenaline, I guess, but what do you actually want?”
Fushiguro is quiet, as if waiting for him to say something more. Actually, yeah, there is more Yuuji wants to say.
“I really meant it when I said I liked you. I want to go out with you.” Maybe it’s too forward. Well, it can’t be more forward than anything Fushiguro has been doing while they were out here. “And I just want to know if you-“
Suddenly, a net is tossed over Fushiguro’s head. Yuuji looks up, in the direction of where the net came from, and what he sees only shocks him further. There’s a good chunk of the crew looking down at the two of them, including Captain Gojo, whose arms are stretched out, so he must have been the one who threw the net.
“Don’t move!” Captain Gojo calls out sternly.
Yuuji flushes crimson and looks back down at the sea. Ok, they were being stupid, but was the net really necessary? Gojo was dramatic, but a net felt like too much, even for him.
Maki, who’s the strongest out of the crew
(albeit her strength is tied with that of Yuuji’s), starts pulling the little boat back up to the side. Yuuji, out of overwhelming shame, refuses to look at anyone, including Fushiguro. They’re never going to hear the end of this, are they?
When he gets back up to the deck of the ship, Yuuji is about to explain himself, but a ton of things happen all at once. Panda picks Yuuji up and holds him tight in his arms, Kugisaki starts yelling at Yuuji, Inumaki hands Captain Gojo a spear, and Fushiguro-Wait, Fushiguro?
Yuuji blinks slowly at Fushiguro, who is standing on the deck completely dry and giving him the meanest glare he’s ever seen in his life. Yuuji turns back to Captain Gojo, who is spearing what seems to be a large fish in the net. The white-haired man gives a thumbs up and everyone takes what looks to be earplugs out of their ears.
“And that, kids, is how you handle a succubus of the sea. You can clap now,” Captain Gojo announces showmanly. Nobody claps. Under other circumstances, Yuuji would, but he’s being restrained by Panda and is far too stunned to clap.
“Huh?” Yuuji says aloud, getting a horrible sinking feeling in his chest as the pieces start falling into place.
Panda seems to have just remembered he’s still restraining him because he lets Yuuji go after he speaks.
“Itadori, you’re a dumbass!” Kugisaki hisses, punching him in the arm. She’s not very physically strong compared to the rest of the crew, her speciality is weapons, but she gets a solid hit on him and it stings a little. “You saw some hot babe in the water and you were like: “Oh boy, time to drown myself,” huh!? What’s wrong with you!?”
Kugisaki punches him in the other arm this time and starts swearing at him so fervently that it would give even a sailor a heartattack.
“What!? No-I-That’s not what I was doing!” Yuuji defends himself.
“That’s exactly what you were doing.” Fushiguro—oh fuck, it’s Fushiguro—speaks up. Yuuji feels mortified. “It was a siren. They seduce you into drowning yourself.”
“But they’re supposed to sing, aren’t they?” The pink-haired boy asks in a pathetic attempt at defending himself.
“That’s the Northern variant, Southern sirens are more intelligent. If you’d just listened to what I said while I got you these, however,” Fushiguro grumbles as he holds out an extra set of ear plugs, “you’d have been fine.”
Fushiguro is so incredibly smart, who knew there were different types of sirens? Yuuji’s heart squeezes in his chest. He wants to beg Fushiguro to keep talking and to kiss him again.
…Wait, they never even kissed. It was just the siren, so it was all fake. Oh man. That certainly makes a lot more sense though, like the fact that “Fushiguro” liked him back or that Yuuji started hallucinating after the kiss.
“Did the siren politely ask you to drown yourself?” Panda asks, teasing. “Oh, I’m so sexy, please come drown!”
“No! That’s not what happened!”
“What happened then?” Maki asks.
“I thought-“ Yuuji stops suddenly, realizing that under no circumstances can he tell the truth because Fushiguro, whom he thought he was kissing, is right there. Plus, the fact that sirens are meant to be attractive is damning enough. He just wouldn’t tell the complete truth. “I thought it was someone who needed help, so I was trying to save them.”
“Tuna mayo?” Inumaki jests. Yuuji’s pretty sure that translates to: Oh, so was that CPR you were giving them?
“…You guys saw that?” Yuuji asks, mortified.
Suddenly, a horrible thought crosses his mind: Did it look like Fushiguro to them too? Did they know? Did Fushiguro know?
“If you mean when you were passionately smooching a fish, yeah we did. That’s gross. You’re gross.” Kugisaki hits him again.
Yuuji didn’t think he’d ever be so relieved to hear that strange string of words. So nobody knew then? That’s good, he’s not sure what he’d do if Fushiguro found out he liked him, especially in an embarrassing way like this.
“Alright, crew, that was fun but let’s get back to work! We’re still a little ways away from port,” Gojo says loudly to stop them. Then he adds, “Oh, Yuuji, how about you go check in with Shoko?”
“Yes, captain,” Yuuji responds shamefully, quickly making his way below the deck, which he is undoubtedly being sent to in order to avoid getting himself into any other situations, and to see Ieiri.
“Hey, Yuuji. How are you doing?” Ieiri asks.
Yuuji tries to tell her what happened, but then everything goes black.
-
“There was a siren.” Yuuji blurts out, sitting up suddenly. A headache starts blooming, like it’s stinging his very skull. On the bright side, his head feels a lot clearer, though.
“Oh, you’re awake? That was fast. I half-expected you to be dead too.” Ieiri hums. “Can you wiggle your fingers and toes?”
“Yeah, why?” Yuuji asks, doing as Ieiri requested.
“There was magic in your brain, meant to paralyze you. It was enough to give a sea serpent brain damage. The caster being killed shortly after helped and I removed the little sparks before anything could get too bad, but in a situation like this, there’d usually be some lasting side effects. You’re lucky, there doesn’t seem to be a single thing wrong with you long-term. Though, short term you might have a headache and other alterations to your senses—like spots in your vision.“
Yuuji gets a sneaking suspicion that this has something to do with Sukuna. Maybe he’s immune to magic like he is with poison or Sukuna stopped him from dying again. Whatever the case, he’d better look out in case Sukuna starts trying to strike up some evil deal with him or something.
Ieiri fusses over him some more before she lets him go, but her conclusion is the same. There’s absolutely nothing wrong, though the headache might hang around for a few hours. The only order he gets from her is to take it easy and tell her if anything comes up later, but other than that he is allowed to go on like normal.
Everything’s not entirely normal, though. He’s pretty sure Fushiguro is downright pissed at him and the others keep making jokes about Yuuji being a lover boy. They’re not entirely wrong, Yuuji thinks, mind wandering off to Fushiguro, who is so lovely that it’s impossible not to be a lover boy, but he still hopes they drop it soon.
Yuuji hoped they’d drop the whole siren thing by the time they got to port, but they did not. They checked out the local market, pawning off the siren for a decent price and cheekily crediting Yuuji for catching it. By the time they had stopped at a tavern for dinner, the crew was completely done worrying about it, but they weren’t done teasing him over it. In fact, they had started to tease him relentlessly over it, Gojo even thanking him for being gullible since “the siren money bought us dinner.”
The others (mainly Captain Gojo) had even taken the liberty of telling the whole story to Okkotsu, who had been busy with the whipstaff while the siren situation was unfolding. The crew was completely overdramatizing the situation and also laughing the whole time.
“And then Megumi comes up and he leads us over to the edge of the boat and we all rush over because we’re super worried, right?” Captain Gojo continues rambling. “But Yuuji hadn’t fallen overboard, he was in the rowboat, lips locked with a siren!”
“Really?” Okkotsu asks with wide eyes.
“I couldn’t believe it either! Yuuji’s usually such a good kid, so to see him going all muah muah muah with a siren was nuts!” Their captain hits a hand on the table as he laughs.
“I can believe it. He’s always dumb.” Kugisaki adds.
“How’d you even survive that?” Okkotsu asks Yuuji directly.
“Everyone helped me,” Yuuji says, not meeting anybody’s eyes.
“Yeah, so get this, I threw a net over the siren, we pull both of them up-“
“I pulled them back up.” Maki corrects.
“Maki pulled them up. And then I grab my spear and-“
“Seaweed.”
“Toge so kindly handed me my spear and I stabbed the thing right in the gills.” Captain Gojo mimes a stabbing motion and makes a stabbing noise. “And he was all saved!”
“Wait, there’s something weird about this,” Panda speaks up. “Itadori was completely drenched, like he’d taken a swim.”
“No way. You didn’t get in the water with the siren, did you?” Kugisaki asks, turning to Yuuji with an appalled look on her face.
“How would I save someone from drowning if I didn’t get in the water?” He gives her a flat look and she kicks him under the table.
“What, and it just didn’t drown you?” Maki raises a brow.
“Well…I think it tried to,” Yuuji replies halfheartedly, thinking back to how much of a struggle it was to get “Fushiguro” to the surface.
There’s a chorus of laughter from everyone at the table, except for Fushiguro, who has been uninterested in the conversation the whole time.
“You’re not secretly part fish, are you, Yuuji?” Captain Gojo snickers.
Inumaki says some rice ball ingredients that Yuuji’s fairly certain translate to: “Seriously? That thing was heavy! It was like a hundred kilos when we weighed it at the market!”
“Don’t those things have magic too?” Okkotsu asks, brows creased. “Like other than illusions, can’t they cast offensive spells too? Are you really ok?”
“Ieiri said I was totally fine, so it’s all good.”
That’s all there is to the story—other than the fact that the siren looked like Fushiguro, of course—so they should leave it now. The others only seem to get more riled up, however.
“Why was anybody even worried? This guy is crazy.” Panda laughs.
“Tuna mayo.” Inumaki jokes.
“Good idea. We’ll catch a ton of sirens with Itadori as bait.” Maki plays off of him.
“Yeah, yeah, make us rich. Just do whatever you did again.” Kugisaki adds, a shit-eating grin on her face. “Like: “Oh, gorgeous lady, let’s go to the rowboat so we can kiss better. Who cares about getting to safety, let’s just makeout.” Huh? Huh?” She teases, elbowing him playfully after doing her horrible impression of him.
“I was seriously just trying to help and then things got weird,” Yuuji defends. It’s the truth, after all. “And we didn’t even makeout.”
“That’s what they all say.” Captain Gojo speaks up, causing another chorus of laughter to ring out.
“It’s not even that funny,” Yuuji mumbles pathetically. He really hopes they cut it out soon.
“Nothing about this is funny,” Fushiguro speaks up for the first time tonight. The first thing he says is in defense of Yuuji, too! He’s seriously the best! Everyone looks over at Fushiguro, who’s gravely serious. “Itadori’s carelessness could’ve gotten him killed today.”
Yuuji looks guiltily at the floor. Dammnit, Fushiguro thinks so poorly of him now. He really wants to apologize and make it up to him somehow.
“Well, he’s ok now, so lighten up a little, ‘gumi.” Captain Gojo tells him playfully, completely disregarding his serious tone.
Fushiguro responds by just getting up from the table and leaving.
“Mustard leaf.” Inumaki states, or, in other words, “I guess he didn’t want to lighten up.”
Yuuji sighs loudly. Before he left, Fushiguro told him to cover his ears and stay put. If he had just listened...
“He’s just upset because he cares. We were all worried about you, you know.” Okkotsu reassures him softly.
“I bet he’s jealous.” Kugisaki smirks, then looks at her nails innocently, as if she didn’t say anything at all.
Yuuji agrees (with Okkotsu, he has no idea what Kugisaki is talking about), he probably gave Fushiguro a scare. So Fushiguro thinks he’s an idiot and he’s worried about him, that’s…Yuuji really needs to talk to him.
“I’m gonna go after him.” Yuuji declares. The legs of his chair loudly scrape against the floor as he stands up.
“Good luck with that,” Maki says flatly, like she doesn’t think anything good will come out of their talk. It makes Yuuji a little nervous, but what does Maki know? Everything’s going to be fine.
Yuuji bolts out of the tavern and looks around for Fushiguro like mad. Thankfully, the other boy didn’t wander off too far. He’s standing just outside the restaurant, leaning against a wall with a miserable expression plastered on his face.
“Fushiguro, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be stupid or put myself in danger, and I wasn’t doing anything crazy like the others said. Like I wasn’t trying to drown myself because some “gorgeous lady” told me to or whatever, I really thought someone was drowning and I was just trying to help, and I was being careful, like I got the rowboat out first and everything, but then things just ended up happening, and like,” Yuuji stops talking to breathe, but then loses his train of thought. “Uhm, sorry.”
“That sounds like something you’d do,” Fushiguro answers neutrally. The tension leaves Yuuji’s shoulders.
“I knew you’d get it! I can always count on you, Fushiguro!” He smiles. “And, uh, sorry again for worrying you.”
Fushiguro goes quiet for a moment, giving him one of those looks that Yuuji can’t for the life of him figure out what they mean.
“It’s fine.”
“Cool.”
They stand there, awkward tension between them still. Or maybe it’s just on Yuuji’s end? Maybe he should say something else, just to make sure it’s all sorted out.
“And just so we’re clear, the others were totally off the mark. I wasn’t chasing after hot babes or anything. Like, I’m stupid, but I’m not that stupid. Attraction wasn’t on my mind at all when I jumped in.” Yuuji says, hoping that settles things.
“Sirens assume an attractive appearance to seduce people. That’s quite literally what they’ve evolved to do.” Fushiguro adds unhelpfully.
“Er, ok, maybe I was thinking about attraction like unconsciously.”
“Subconsciously.”
“Yeah, that. But like I wasn’t even thinking about doing anything, not even subconsciously. Like the…” Yuuji can’t look Fushiguro in the eyes while recalling what happened at the same time, so he opts to look at the floor instead. He coughs awkwardly and his face flushes as he continues. “The flirting. And, uh, the kiss…that just kind of happened! I really didn’t mean to!”
“It sure looked like you meant it,” Fushiguro tells him, giving him a judgmental look.
“C’mon, what do you want me to say? I’m sorry for being stupid and falling for something when it was so obvious that it wasn’t real?”
Fushiguro sighs deeply.
“You’re not stupid. It would’ve happened to anyone. They manipulate your perception of reality, so you couldn’t have known.” He pauses for a moment. “I could’ve given you a better warning and I shouldn’t have left you alone either.”
“Fushiguro…” He really didn’t want the other boy to blame himself.
“But I wish you had just waited for me, too. I was almost back.”
It would never have occurred to him to do that because he was under the impression that Fushiguro had fallen into the water. It’s not like he could wait to ask Fushiguro for help saving Fushiguro. There’s no way he can say that, though.
“And you could’ve told Gojo to stop the ship, or told Maki and Inumaki what you were doing—you just disappeared. I mean, seriously, what were you thinking?”
“I didn’t want anyone to drown. It doesn’t even matter who I thought it was, I can’t stand the thought of anybody dying when I could do something about it.” It’s not a lie, it just conveniently leaves out the part where the person he saw was Fushiguro.
Fushiguro is quiet for a little bit. Maybe he accepts that explanation and he’s not mad at him anymore.
“Who you thought it was?” Fushiguro parrots back, not meeting his eyes. “Thats weird.” That is not what Yuuji was hoping he’d say at all. Actually, that’s one of the last things he’d want him to say.
“Hey, you didn’t see who it looked like, right?”
“No, why?”
“I just don’t really get what’s so weird, then.”
“Sirens don’t usually look like existing people, more like a fictitious embodiment of everything the victim sees as attractive. If you saw someone familiar…”
“Actually, I don’t think it looked like a real person. I thought it was someone I knew, but maybe actually it wasn’t.” Yuuji lies quickly in a panic. “But what would it mean if I did see someone familiar? Would that mean I’m like super in love or something? Hah, not that I’m in love with anybody. Uh, actually, can we not talk about this?”
“Mhm,” Fushiguro replies simply. Shit, he sounds pissed off.
“…Are you mad at me?” Yuuji asks, though he doesn’t know what he could’ve done this time.
Fushiguro doesn’t care about romance, so why does it matter to him that Yuuji thought he was kissing somebody he knows who he was also maybe in love with? Did he just think Yuuji was rambling so much that it was annoying? Or maybe it has nothing to do with romance and it’s more of a trust thing, like he’s just upset that Yuuji didn’t confide in him that he felt that way for somebody?
Shit, what if he figured out that Yuuji thought the siren was him? What if he’s really uncomfortable now? Yuuji really hopes that isn’t the case.
“I’m not mad at you,” Fushiguro says, tearing Yuuji away from his thoughts.
“Phew. Also, sorry again. For everything.” He smiles apologetically.
“I told you it’s fine,” Fushiguro tells him and that’s that.
-
Over the past three days, Yuuji has started to get the sneaking suspicion that, despite Fushiguro telling him they were totally fine, Fushiguro doesn’t actually feel that way. Yuuji hasn’t been seeing him very much lately, and it’s not just because they’ve somehow not had a single overlapping mission, chore, or moment of free time—which is really disappointing because he wanted to explore the country with Fushiguro—the other boy seems to be actively avoiding him.
Maybe he’s just imagining stuff, Yuuji hasn’t been sleeping well (he keeps having weird dreams where the real Fushiguro does all the same stuff as the siren, so he’s been trying not to sleep long enough to dream), but seriously, Fushiguro has hardly been around. He’s never in any of his usual places. Hell, he hasn’t even been in his room.
Hey, now that he thinks of it, he’s been distant like that ever since the so-called siren incident. Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Or maybe it’s Yuuji’s fault. Yuuji’s honestly been really weird whenever he faced the other boy, but he didn’t scare him away or anything, did he?
“Am I crazy or is Fushiguro avoiding me?” He ends up asking Kugisaki when they’re both busy swabbing the deck.
This has been eating away at him, and the person he usually goes to for a second opinion is notably absent. In fact, he swears Fushiguro was supposed to swab the deck too. He’s nowhere to be seen, however.
“Definitely both.” She answers without a moment of hesitation. “I’d just leave him alone if I were you.”
“But I want to talk to him again. And I don’t even know what I did.” Yuuji laments as he halfheartedly mops.
“Eh, Fushiguro’s just being Fushiguro.”
“No, I definitely did something. Did he tell you what it was?”
“Hm.” Kugisaki muses, in a tone that means she does know but she won’t tell him.
“Kugisaki, please. I really want to make it up to him.”
“You’ve got to figure it out yourself.”
“But that’s the thing! I’ve been trying, but I just can’t think of anything! I know he was mad at me because I put myself in danger the other day, but then we talked about it and I thought it was fine!”
“You’re almost there,” The brunette says unhelpfully, mopping lazily.
But what could cause Fushiguro to be acting like this? Maybe he was still mad even though they talked things out and he just needed time? Or maybe there was something else that Yuuji didn’t properly address? The only thing he can really think of that he didn’t talk about was…
“Uh, he didn’t figure out who the siren looked like, did he?” Yuuji asks quietly, glancing around furtively as if Fushiguro will ironically appear just to overhear this part of their conversation.
“I don’t know, who did it look like?” Kugisaki questions teasingly.
“Shit, that’s what’s wrong, isn’t it?” Yuuji groans, burying his face in his hands.
“Maybe.” Kugisaki hums, like that’s exactly what’s wrong. “But seriously, who did it look like? Some of the others were betting, so I wanna know.”
“You guys were betting?” Yuuji asks dryly, taking his head out of his hands just to give her an exasperated look.
“Yeah, it’s fun and easy money. The siren looked like Jennifer Lawrence, right?”
“No, it…” He wonders if he should tell Kugisaki this, but it’s nice to be able to open up to somebody. Besides, what’s the worst that’ll happen? Again, Yuuji looks around to double-check that Fushiguro absolutely does not hear this. “Ok, swear you won’t tell anybody.”
“Sure.”
“It looked like Fushiguro.” He confesses quickly.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” Kugisaki gapes.
“Do you know if he knows?”
“No, he absolutely doesn’t know.”
“Phew, that’s a-“ He was going to say relief, but Kugisaki hits him over the head with a mop.
“What are you doing!? You need to go tell him that right now!”
“No way! I can’t!”
“Quit being a wuss. You two really need to talk about that.”
“We have talked.”
“About the fact that the siren you kissed looked like Fushiguro?”
“Don’t say that so loud!”
“Oh Neptune, you’re hopeless.“ Kugisaki sighs. “Itadori, if you don’t tell him how you feel, then he’s going to keep ignoring you. If you’re honest, though, he might stop.”
“He might?”
“Do you want to fix things between you two or not?”
Yuuji looks at her hopefully. Could admitting the truth about the siren and his feelings really fix things? If it could, does that mean Fushiguro-
Kugisaki whacks him in the head with the mop again.
“I do! I want to fix things really badly!”
“Then go talk to him right now!”
“Right! Thanks! Not for hitting me with a mop, but the other stuff.” Yuuji tells her gratefully, running off to find Fushiguro.
“Those boys are dumbasses.” He hears her sigh before he disappears under the deck.
-
Yuuji is entirely certain he looks insane. For one, he thinks he still has soap bubbles in his hair from where Kugisaki whacked him in the head with a mop several times. Plus, he looks somewhat disheveled after sprinting across the whole ship to look for Fushiguro. It pays off though, as he successfully finds him.
It turns out Fushiguro had been hiding in the storage deck this entire time. When Yuuji finds him, he’s sitting on the floor leaning against a crate. He didn’t look very comfortable at all. He’s got some book with him too, but by the look of it, he hasn’t read any of it.
“Fushiguro, I need to talk to you!” Yuuji exclaims frantically, doing nothing to dispel the notion that he’s crazy.
“Do you really have to?” Fushiguro asks. It’s all he’s said to Yuuji today and the sun is going to set in less than an hour. That sad fact paired with the look on Fushiguro’s face, like he’d rather die than talk to Yuuji, honestly really stings.
“There’s something I have to tell you.” He manages, remembering what Kugisaki told him. “Uhm, it’s about the siren thing.”
“Itadori, I don’t care,” The dark-haired boy tells him harshly, standing up off the ground as if he’s going to leave. Fuck, he is actually leaving.
“Wait, please listen. When we were talking outside the tavern, you were right the first time. The siren didn’t look like some attractive stranger, it was somebody I knew.“
“I don’t want to talk about this. This doesn’t concern me.” Fushiguro tries to walk away again.
“Hang on, this does concern you! Like it really concerns you!” Yuuji follows after him. “Ok, this is kind of weird, but Kugisaki told me to tell you this so-“
Fushiguro stops quickly and spins around, causing Yuuji to nearly crash into him.
“I don’t know what Kugisaki told you, but I don’t want to hear this. I don’t want to talk to you at all.” Maybe Yuuji is imagining it, but Fushiguro sounds more hurt than angry.
Or maybe he’s just pissed off, because Fushiguro starts storming away. Shit. Yuuji really hopes Kugisaki is right and decides to do something really stupid once again.
“I don’t want to talk about this either, but I miss you, Fushiguro. I miss you so much and it’s driving me crazy.” Fushiguro pauses, but doesn’t turn around to face him. “I don’t know if being honest is really going to fix things, but I want to try. Can you just wait to run away until I’ve told you the truth?”
“The truth about what?” Fushiguro asks hesitantly.
Yuuji takes a deep breath.
“The siren looked like you.”
Fushiguro promptly spins around to face him, eyes widening.
“Actually, that’s not right.” Yuuji continues. “It didn’t just look like you, it sounded like you and acted like you. Well, there were some things that were off about it, but when I saw the siren, I thought you must’ve fallen in the water when I lost sight of you. Not that I think you’re clumsy or anything, it was just really bad waters so I was thinking like even Fushiguro could fall overboard like this. Like you’re really capable, it was just a crazy storm and a weird shortcut all at once.”
“Basically, what I’m trying to say,” he cuts himself off, “is I didn’t want to tell you or anybody the truth because the siren was totally mimicking you.”
“The whole time, you thought it was me? Even when…?” Fushiguro trails off, staring at him in disbelief.
Yuuji nods. Fushiguro’s face flushes.
“I sort of lied to you about something else, too. I am actually in love with somebody and, uh, it’s you, Fushiguro.”
“You’re can’t be serious,” Fushiguro says, not seeming very excited about this at all. Shit, why did Yuuji say all of that???
“I am being serious.”
“I have feelings for you too,” Fushiguro replies, but he sounds angry about it for some reason.
“Huh? Then why are you mad at me?”
“You could’ve just told me this whole time.”
“So could you!”
“I thought you were in love with someone else.” He confesses quietly.
“Hey, I didn’t think you felt the same as me either.”
“Well, I do.” He still sounds a little pissed.
“Cool. Me too.” Yuuji says, just to say something. They stand there in an awkward silence for a few moments, not quite sure what to do. “Do you wanna kiss?”
Fushiguro answers by leaning in to kiss him, but they only end up bumping their noses together. Yuuji can’t help but laugh.
“I’ve never done this before.” Fushiguro huffs, looked away shamefully.
They’re figuring things out together, then, Yuuji thinks with a grin.
“Me neither. Unless you count the siren.”
“That does not count,” Fushiguro says, sounding more determined now.
This time, Yuuji leans in at the same time Fushiguro does, and, careful of each other’s noses, they manage to actually do it right. Their lips press together clumsily, nothing at all like the suave, picture-perfect fantasy kiss from before. Something about it feels so right, though, that Yuuji finds himself enjoying it much more.
They pull apart after a few moments, looking each other in the eyes.
“You’re not some kind of land siren, are you?” Yuuji asks in awe.
“Can you shut up about sirens?” Fushiguro flicks him in the head.
“Make me,” Yuuji says pridefully, as if he didn’t just take that line from a play he liked but rather came up with it himself. He puckers his lips for emphasis.
“You look like a fish.” Fushiguro rolls his eyes, but still kisses Yuuji again.
Yuuji doesn’t even bother making a snide comment back, too occupied with kissing the most attractive person in all of the seven seas.