Chapter Text
“Come on ‘Gumi! I swear it'll be fun!”
“Fun for you Nobara…you are literally in a sorority” with no force behind it,he playfully punched her in the shoulder as a warning, “and I told you not to call me ‘gumi!”
“Hey! You two! Quiet!” the librarian hushed them angrily, mastering the skill of shouting while whispering as she did so.
Megumi then glared at Nobara, he was on excellent terms with that librarian, (or he had been) but, the same could be said about every damn librarian that worked there. In Megumi’s first year of veterinary science at his university, the librarians were his only friends. Then he met Nobara, and every time she visited him in the library, she wouldn’t understand the rules of his quiet sanctuary and she would be her normal loud self. This would lead to a telling off, and one-by-one, each librarian began to hate him (or hate Nobara more so, but after just a few months they were attached at the hip).
Megumi sighed, and began packing away his laptop. He was an idiot for trying to study when Nobara wanted to talk at him, so clearly they had to go somewhere else before the librarian started throwing books at them.
As he packed up his stuff and left, Nobara followed along, not even questioning it and continuing to talk, most of her words were going in one ear and straight out of the other. Megumi probably loved Nobara as much as platonically possible for an introvert like him, but boy was she irritating when she wanted something from him.
The cool Autumn air hit their skin as they left the library, but the main thing that Megumi noticed was purely that being outside meant that Nobara could raise the volume of her voice. They stopped and sat on a bench, where Megumi groaned and slapped a hand over her mouth.
“Nobara…why on earth would I even want to go to a frat party?”
She instantly pushed his hand away, seeing his rhetorical question as an opportunity to advertise the party rather than a signal to give up.
“Becuase Megumi! I know you like to drink from time to time…there will be music…stupid frat games-” Megumi rolled his eyes. “Aaand! Really hot guys…”
“Literally none of those options interest me…and so what if there are hot guys? You know I’m not the type for hookups.”
“Ugh! You can be so boring, you know that?”
“I’m not going to this stupid frat party…”
She groaned in frustration and began shaking his shoulders, “Megumi, I swear on all things holy…this is the first party of the semester, it's gonna be huge. I cannot go alone.”
“So get one of your other sorority freaks to go? Why do I have to do it!”
“Becauseeeee I want you to and you love me so much and you’re my best friend and I bet 50 bucks with my friend that you would come and he takes gambling realll seriously so there's no way I'm getting out of it…and Megumi…I do not have 50 bucks.” Megumi found her ability to speak without taking a breath impressive, until what she said actually clocked in his brain.
“Wait- you what? You bet money on the possibility of me going to a party? Are you stupid? Why would you bet that I would?!”
“Agh! I was high, okay? I think I was thinking in opposites again…” Megumi raised an eyebrow, " I meant to bet on you not going…”
He rolled his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time, “Fine. I’ll go.
Nobara sulked, already starting to mourn her 50 bucks until he spoke. “Wait- really? You will?”
“Yes. I will…but I’m staying far away from everyone…I'm bringing my headphones…and you’re splitting the money with me.”
Nobara tried to coerce him into doing more, but realising she had pushed her luck already, she put her hands up in defeat, then thanked him for agreeing to go.
xxxxx
Megumi’s car pulled up to the curb on a street a couple blocks from the frat house, he had his usual bored expression on his face as he put the car in park and sighed.
Nobara sat beside him, brimming with excitement. The sorority events didn’t start for another week, so she had been deprived of partying since the summer.
“Can you please calm down?” Megumi said, his tone brimming with annoyance as he turned his head to Nobara, “You’re shaking, you look like you’ll burst into flames if you don’t,” Megumi makes jazz hands and raises the pitch of his voice, “party!”
“That's because I will Megumi! Come on! Let's go!”
Megumi groaned and got out of the car, grabbing his bag and the bottle of alcohol he brought before locking it. He then immediately felt a manicured hand wrap around his wrist and begin to drag him in the direction of booming music.
After a short walk, the frat house comes into view. Multi-coloured lights spilling from the windows, the foundation of the building rumbling from the heavy bass pounding out of the speakers. It was only 11pm, and the front yard was already littered with young people dancing and drinking -and much to Megumi’s utter disgust- making out.
They stood at the border of the property, feeling like the border between heaven and hell.
“Do we really have to do this Nobara?” Megumi groaned, tugging gently at the collar of the ‘sexy’ black shirt she had forced him to wear, starting to get uncomfortable.
“Yes! For many, many reasons Megumi”
“Ugh, like what exactly?”
“First of all” she grabbed his wrist again “you need to get out of the dorm more often.” she began walking towards the house, dragging him along with her. “Second of all, I had no one else to go with and you love me, so obviously you want to come with me!” he rolled his eyes. “And third of all! You not going means I lose 50 bucks…”
“The 50 bucks thing? You’re still on that?” They slipped past a couple tonguing each other and through the large double doors, into the frat house’s foyer.
“Of course I’m still on that! I’m broke Megs! Now let’s go get a drink!”
“Yes please…i need one to get through tonight.”
They head into the kitchen, where there is a huge drinks table with endless bottles and cans of all kinds of alcohol. Megumi adds the bottle he brought to the mix, and takes a can of beer from an open crate, while Nobara starts creating a mysterious concoction of a drink in a classic red solo cup.
“We should’ve at least pre-gamed megumiiii…parties are so boring when you’re sober…especially when you are sober” she muttered under her breath.
“It was either pre-gaming or having a ride here…you expect me to drive while tipsy?”
“Ugh! You are soooo boring…come on, lets do shots. I wanna get drunk fast!”
He begrudgingly agreed, watching as Nobara grabbed two bright-coloured, disposable shot glasses (more like plastic cups) and poured the highest percentage alcohol she could find into them. They both downed them back, and cheersed the shot glasses, a little tradition they’d had since the first party Nobara dragged him to.
“Okay…you go and dance or whatever, I’m gonna find a quiet corner and wait until I need to carry you home okay?”
“Hah! Yeah right…I think you mean we are going to go and dance!”
He tried to protest, but once again was being dragged by his wrist until he found himself crowded in by a bunch of drunk, sweaty, hormonal bodies. Nobara stood in front of him, grabbing his hands and shaking them around while she jumped and sang to the music. He tried his best to join in, not wanting to upset her, but it pretty soon became too overwhelming, and he pulled away to find a quiet corner as promised.
He pushed his way through the crowds of people, stepping over all sorts of things as he made his way back to the kitchen. While in there, he grabbed another can of beer, having completely forgotten where he put the first can. From there, he made his way into the back garden, needing some fresh air and ironically a place to smoke.
He leaned against a brick wall and burrowed in his bag for the half-finished blunt from the previous night, already feeling too buzzed to risk the mess that came with rolling a fresh one. He lit it up and took a deep inhale, already feeling the weight lifting off of his shoulders.
He watched the cloud of smoke appear in front of him, his eyelids drooping as he simultaneously sipped his beer. This was his real happy place, alone, a little high and a little drunk and no Nobara in his ear telling him to dance. He loved her, of course he did, but she was just so much sometimes. Well, not sometimes, realistically it was all of the time, but they do say that opposites attract.
It must have been about 30 minutes of his peace when people stumbling outside caught his attention. He glanced over and saw a large group of frat boys jeering, one holding a football as they ran off of the porch and into the grass. Drunken football games. Just what Megumi needed while he was trying to relax. Knowing his luck, he would probably end up getting absolutely pummeled in the face by a stray ball. Thinking about it, he better not risk that possibility, and go and find Nobara to check she was still breathing.
He dropped the blunt on the ground and stomped on it to put it out, knowing he definitely wouldn’t get another use out of it. Then he headed inside and luckily managed to spot her pretty quickly. She wasn’t dead, but she also wasn’t dancing, instead she had been pinned to the wall by a fellow sorority girl- but not in the angry way, they absolutely had each other's tongues down their throats. But maybe it was angrily? Eh, Megumi didn’t care, who was he to ruin their fun?
Looking closer, he definitely recognised the other girl, what was her name? Maki? Mardy? Megan? Ugh, he couldn’t quite remember, but he stopped staring when the dark-haired girl’s hand went up to grope Nobara’s chest. He shook himself out of it, and turned around to find something else to do. Coincidentally, at the same moment, someone bumped into him, making him stumble forward and spill his can of beer all over some frat guy’s shirt.
“Shit! Sorry man…uhh” he stammered, as the frat guy in question, a built jock with a dark coloured undercut and fluffy pink top- an interesting haircut for a frat guy, probably the result of a dare- turned around to face him. He had been flirting with some clone of every other girl at the party, and didn’t look happy to be interrupted.
“What the fuck bro? You got a problem?”
“No! It was an accident, someone bumped into me…uhh, let me find
something to clean you up- shit…sorry”
The frat guy, who was only a couple inches shorter than Megumi, and built like a brick wall stared down at him, bubbling with anger and seeming to be processing something in his likely neanderthal brain.
All of a sudden, the man’s angry expression softened, once he realised there was clearly no threat, and he smiled. “Hey, no problem dude!” he began pulling his shirt off “sorry for getting angry, i was just a little shocked”
Megumi was dumbfounded, this at least 6 foot tall (Megumi was still taller), ignorant looking football player was a surprisingly a massive ray of sunshine, and apologised profusely to Megumi despite the fact that his chest was currently covered in beer. The man had a body that looked like it had been carved by the gods. Having taken his shirt off, he began using it to wipe himself down, his beautifully defined muscles tensing slightly under his own touch.
You could tell that the frat guy must’ve spent at least half of his week in the gym, with those large biceps, perfectly chiselled jaw and six pack. As well as that, he had a bubblegum-pink happy trail leading down to where his naked upper-half met his trousers, the waist band of his boxers peeking out from under his belt. Megumi pondered whether the pink hair both atop his head and dusting his lower abdomen was natural or dyed. If it was dyed, then did he seem like a man who had the vanity to spend time dying his happy trail? And if it was natural, how? Either way, the colour popped against his tanned skin, and overall he looked delicious.
Megumi didn’t notice that he was staring until the man spoke again, and he snapped his head up to make eye contact rather than ogling at his body.
“Sorry? What did you say?”
“I said my name is Yuji Itadori, what’s yours? I haven’t seen you at one of these before…”
"Oh, uh…my name is Megumi, Megumi Fushiguro.”
“Nice to meet you Megumi, what do you major in?”
When he realised that this guy- yuji, was trying to start a conversation with him, he needed to find an excuse to leave, as he was absolutely drunk enough to make a mistake.
“Uh, I study Veterinary Science…sorry, I think I hear my friend calling me, I'll see you around.”
“Oh- alright…yeah, no problem, see ya’ megumi”
With that, he quickly fled, and found Nobara, glad to see she was no longer having her face eaten but rather pouring a drink in the kitchen, she spotted Megumi and her face lit up before she ran over to him. Her lipstick was smudged and she was holding another red solo cup, filled with another sugary, vodka-based, bright coloured drink.
“Megumiiiii! Awh! I missed you so much!” she put her cup down and flung her arms around him. “Where's your drink…come on Megumi, let's get you a drink!”
“Last one okay? Then we’re leaving once I sober up a little.”
“Ugh! Megumi, you can be really boring sometimes…”
“I need to be able to drive, remember?” he said, picking up another beer can as she dragged him back into the main room.
“Ugh, I guess you’re right…hey! Wanna dance?”
“Absoulutely not.” He stayed put as she attempted to drag him towards the dance circle that was coincidentally forming at that moment, until he saw Yuji again. “Nobara, tell me something about the guy with the pink hair and i will dance”
“Wait really?! Okay bet! The guy with pink hair…oh Yuji? Let me see…he studies…the one about running and stuff…”
“I’m gonna assume you mean sports studies.”
“Yeahhh! That one…uhh, he’s cool…too nice, if you ask me, really athletic! There's a running bet in his frat whether his hair is dyed or not…he won’t tell anyone…”
“I was thinking that when I spoke to him…”
“You’d probably get along with him if you tried Megumii! I mean, look at us! We couldn’t be more different!”
“Yeah right…i could never find myself being a frat guy, maybe he’s nice to you, but i highly doubt he’d act the same to me…” she frowned at his words, but quickly forgot about them as her mind wandered back to the rowdy dance circle occurring.
“Okayy! I told you about Yuji! Let's go dance!” she was too drunk to realise he said he spoke to Yuji, as speaking to people was very out of character for him.
He tried to protest, but suddenly found himself surrounded by people, two frat guys executing hip-hop moves badly in the middle of the circle that had formed.
He spent the next 20 minutes avoiding ending up in the middle to his best ability, and he luckily succeeded, everyone but him having a turn. Nobara danced, as did the girl she had been kissing earlier that night, as well as Yuji with his frat bros. Eventually, he had sobered up enough and checked the time. 3:27 AM. His eyes widened. How on earth did it get so late? He grabbed Nobara’s arms and was forced to physically pull her out of the circle.
“Aww! Megss~ do we have to leave?”
“You don’t, but I’m leaving now, and if I don’t take you home, then how will you get back to the sorority house?”
“I’ll walk…orrr…i might stay here…” her eyes were locked on the girl from earlier, who Megumi now remembered for a fact was named Maki.
Megumi sighed deeply and rolled his eyes, as much as he wanted to stop her, Nobara was a very strong-willed person and would do what she wanted, no matter would Megumi said.
“Fine…just text me in the morning, I need to know that you’re safe…and I want that girl’s number just in case.”
She chuckled softly and reached for her phone, “okay dad…if i must.” She sent him Maki’s number and pulled him into a death grip of a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow, bye Megumi” she smiled and waved before walking back over to Maki.
Megumi sighed again and left the frat house, stepping over multiple passed-out college students on his way out. He made his way over to where he had parked his car, glad to see it was still there and drove back to the dorm room. Heading inside, he ascended the achingly long stairs up to his floor, fumbling with his keys inside his bag, when he heard a noise behind him.
He turned around and saw a now-familiar head of fluffy pink hair, and it took him a second to realise what he was seeing. Yuji’s back was turned to him, and it took him a few moments to realise that he was crowding the girl he had been talking to earlier up against the wall, and was drunkenly making out with her. Just Megumi’s luck, he was absolutely exhausted, and just wanted to go home and sleep, but now he was going to have to listen to this guy drunkenly hooking up with his neighbour.
“Get a room…” he mumbled very quietly under his breath, not loud enough for them to hear, despite the fact he was absolutely staring. Yet again. So far, there didn't seem to be anything that Yuji was bad at. He was funny, handsome, well-built, clearly a good kisser, and by very briefly glancing at his crotch in pure curiosity, most likely quite well-endowed. Megumi hoped that at the very least this guy was stupid or something, because it wouldn’t really be fair if he really was just good at everything.
Megumi shook himself out of the trance he had fallen into (he really needed to get a hold of his staring habit) and unlocked the door to his dorm. The building he lived in was on the pricier side, thanks to his benefactor, Gojo. He had a small kitchen, space enough for a double bed and a couch, as well as a fully-equipped bathroom. But the only feature of his nice (sparsely decorated) room that interested him right now was the bed. He pulled his clothes that had been irritating him all night off, and immediately climbed into bed. Falling asleep in what felt like no longer than a minute.
He was physically drained, emotionally drained, and socially drained. Even if all he had done during the party was smoke in the garden, then be a jackass by spilling a drink on someone and refusing to dance. Regardless of how much of the party he had participated in, there was no way in hell that Nobara would ever convince him to attend another one.
xxxxx
At around 7am, his phone buzzed in his pocket, waking him up and making him realise he had fallen asleep fully dressed, shoes on and teeth unbrushed. His head pounded in his skull, starting to regret drinking so many beers and smoking alongside them.
Pulling his phone out, he saw multiple missed calls and unread messages from Nobara, and he groaned, opening the messages.
6:48AM
Nobara: Megumiiiiiiii!! Are you awake???
Nobara: wake up now, i need a ride later.
Nobara: We have work later lil bro, don’t tell me you forgot!
6:54AM
Nobara: i got home safe btw
Nobara: got lucky too ;) i think me and her might be a thing soon
7:03AM
Nobara: OKAY SERIOUSLY NOW
Nobara: wake up bud, work in an hour.
Megumi: Yeah yeah, I’m awake now. Don’t worry, I’ll come pick you up.
Nobara: YAY! Love you Megs xx
Megumi sighed and pulled himself out of bed, his legs weak as he ambled to the bathroom. Standing in front of a mirror, his naturally spiky hair was flattened on one side from the way he had slept, but that could wait. He brushed his teeth and then showered quickly, his hair falling below his eyes when it was wet.
After his shower, he got dressed and did his hair, making a quick breakfast and eating it as he got ready to leave the house. The coffee shop was only a short walk on campus from his dorm, but Nobara always begged him to pick her up for their shared shift, so he often had to leave half an hour earlier than needed.
Leaving his room with a piece of toast still in his mouth and backpack slung over one shoulder, he was met face to face with one of the people he would prefer to not keep running into. Yuji Itadori. The pink-haired boy was leaving the room opposite his at the same time, standing shirtless (again) with dirty clothes and random belongings bundled in his arms. Was he allergic to shirts?
They awkwardly nodded at each other, and when Yuji tried to speak, he hurriedly began heading down the stairs. He knew it was rude. But he didn’t care, that guy made him feel weird, and that meant to him that the best possible option to avoid conflict and focus on his studies was to just avoid him wholly.
However, he didn’t know how long that would last.
xxxxx