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“Do you really have to watch those videos with the volume all the way up?” Megumi grumbled at Nobara as the former looked up from his book. Nobara, who had strolled in and plopped her ass on the armchair, squinted as she looked up.
“What?”
Megumi rolled his eyes as he got up to walk over to her, plucked her phone out of her hands and lowered the volume. The screen had been flashing with scenes of a handsome actor from his latest movie and his co-star in slow motion, with the caption: “Do not make me choose; God said Adam and Eve for a reason.”
(“Hey! I was watching that!”)
“Are you really watching thirst traps?” he asked, an eyebrow raised as he handed the phone back. Megumi should know better though – although Yuuji was the cinephile of the trio, his constant chatter about new (and classic) films had rubbed off on the other two, and weekly movie nights had become an intermission in their lives between the constant jump cuts of classes and missions. While Megumi had picked up the habit of reading about the behind-the-scenes and bloopers of the movies they had watched, Nobara had started watching fan edits – mostly thirst traps – of her favourite actors/characters.
The fan edit Nobara had been watching was from a movie the three had watched last Wednesday night, after a rather arduous mission had concluded in the dawn of Wednesday morning with Megumi and Yuuji both nursing cold packs. Megumi’s had been on the head (causing one half of his hair to flatten and be sopping wet), while Yuuji had one on his shoulder with no shirt on, as he explained, “The ice would’ve dripped down and made my shirt wet anyway!”
Megumi could barely even remember the movie’s name.
“As opposed to you, who makes real life thirst traps in his head?” Nobara snarked back, looking smug as she unlocked her phone and watched the fan edit for the fourth time (he had been counting the audio loop again and again and again). Megumi opened up his mouth to retort but was interrupted by the last missing member of the trio.
“Ooh! A thirst trap? Let me see!” Yuuji walked in, making grabby hands as he leaned down to the armchair and rested his chin on the top back rail to watch the video on Nobara’s phone. Although the pink haired cinephile was across Megumi, the scent of grass was unmistakable as he had been taking laps around the grounds after he had annoyed Nobara a tad too much. Aside from the grassy patches around his pants, Megumi could still smell his next-door neighbour’s faint laundry detergent (fresh and citrusy – now mixed with sweat and grass), as well as the wrinkle remover Nanami had forced him to buy since Yuuji refused to iron after he burnt a hole in his school uniform.
“I see it!” Yuuji exclaimed approvingly as he grinned at Nobara, his eyes still on her phone before he looked up at Megumi. In the warm afternoon glow, Yuuji’s brown eyes looked almost like molten caramel – impersonating an inviting warmth but being absolutely hot to touch yet sickeningly sweet.
Was Megumi even making any sense?
“- do you think, Fushiguro?”
“Huh?”
Nobara smirked as she shoved the repeating thirst trap in his face. She had increased the volume again, and the audio blasted in Megumi’s ears as he took a slight step back to adjust his vision to the screen.
While the actor (and occasional actress) slowly moved across the screen in different scenes from the movie, the audio was a looping soundbite from a different media (that Yuuji had not yet forced Megumi to see) of a woman as she purred, “Blah, blah, blah…Proper name, place name, backstory stuff…”
Megumi frowned. “I don’t get it.”
“How are you a teenager?” Nobara tutted at him, sitting up two inches straighter. “It’s easy. If person hot, then brain off.”
Megumi tilted his head, frowning even more. “What?”
Nobara simply shrugged.
“Fushiguro!” Yuuji jumped up from the back of the armchair and rushed to him. “Do you not think that they’re hot?” he asked, gesturing to the video before he grabbed Megumi by his shoulders and shook him. If this had been an anime, Megumi’s eyes would’ve been replaced by two swirly icons (in his head, most of his interactions with Yuuji were drawn in chibi).
Itadori Yuuji, who had already been pretty athletic prior to realizing his cursed energy, often forgot how strong he was. Despite Megumi’s training, which had begun long before Yuuji had joined Jujutsu Tech, the pink haired boy (guy? man?) had already surpassed him in pure physical strength. Yuuji’s shakes felt more like earthquakes, and Megumi was imagining all his internal organs being tossed around as Yuuji grabbed his shoulders for support and jumped.
“Or – or! Haven’t you ever seen a movie, where a character caught your eye because they are so hot that you couldn’t pay attention to the plot because all your focus was on them? Or maybe you thought they were cool, or mesmerizing or just…so amazing?”
Yuuji stared at Megumi with stars practically shining in his eyes, grinning lopsidedly. The smell of grass and laundry and wrinkle remover (and Axe?) was hitting Megumi in the face all at once. As Yuuji kept speaking, Megumi swore he could also detect the faint sweet smell of watermelon emanating from Yuuji’s mouth.
“Like… you already know! Jennifer Lawrence is up there for me of course –” Could a person’s eyes get more sparkly? Megumi wondered “–but he has been creeping up on me. I think the whole ‘Dark-Knight-but-now-with-even-more-shadows!’ thing really got to me. Plus, he wore makeup! I always wondered how could the mask be completely black, you know? And his hair…”
Yuuji was gesturing wildly, having dropped his hands from Megumi’s shoulders – the spot where they had touched felt oddly vacant. The pink haired boy (boy.) created peace signs with his fingers before placing them on the side of his eyes, trying to recreate a crudely shaped mask. His hands – tanned, warm and sturdy, as Megumi had come to known them from their frequent sparring sessions, especially after an intense match when they would be offered to Megumi to help stand up before they began their dance once again – were moving around, now waving in front of Megumi’s eyes.
“-iguro? Fushi?” Yuuji called out. “Hey Nobara, do you think he got a concussion from the training yesterday? I did tell him beforehand that I was going to try that new position on him. I swear!”
Nobara shook her head. “Maybe you should call him Megumi,” she suggested, making no attempts to hide her smirk. “You know how much he hates it when Gojo-sensei calls him that. That should wake him up.”
Yuuji pouted. “I know he hates it, but it’s either he flips me over for calling him Megumi, or we take him to Ieiri-san.” Nobara nodded her head encouragingly – though she knew the trip to the medical ward would only be taken by the duo (not that Megumi would ever flip Yuuji over…maybe).
“Megumi?”
Apart from calling Megumi ‘Megumi,’ Yuuji was (again) staring at his face, his forehead wrinkled in worry as his eyes roamed over the black-haired boy’s (boy…) features (with no reason to wonder if Yuuji’s brown eyes lingered on Megumi’s bottom half for a second more). When given no response, Yuuji slowly raised his hand to gingerly touch Megumi’s chin.
Megumi was right – Yuuji had been chewing watermelon flavoured gum. He wondered if it would taste any sweeter if he tried it.
“Nobara, I think the explanation of the thirst trap broke him,” Yuuji said as he concluded his investigation, removing his gentle touch from Megumi’s chin. Somehow, Megumi felt as if he had put on an Icy-Hot patch on the area where Yuuji had touched him.
“I don’t think it was the thirst trap my dude,” Nobara replied, barking out a laugh as she unlocked her phone to access the camera. At that movement, Megumi moved at lightening speed and pressed the lock button of her phone.
“He’s alive!” Yuuji screamed, again taking Megumi by his shoulders and shaking them wild. “Man, I really thought I was going to have to take you down for a checkup. But hey, Fushiguro – seems like you didn’t really mind me calling you Megumi.”
Yuuji had the gall to look down on the floor before his eyes flitted up to Megumi’s face – all brown and warm and baby cow-like. “So, is it cool if I keep calling you that? Not ‘that,’ but Megumi, I mean.”
Nobara in the back – still sitting on the armchair, not having moved an inch – silently shook with laughter. She looked like she was going to choke from all the laughing – Megumi hoped that she did. His eyes widened and a tiny breath of air escaped his slightly ajar mouth. Megumi drew a (long awaited) breath and licked his lips to answer (Yuuji was for sure looking at his eyes) but before he could, a sound played in the background.
“Blah, blah, blah…Proper name, place name, backstory stuff…”