AN: This is a short chapter, because if I paired it with the next chapter it might be too long. Sorry if its not that interesting. Next chapter will definitely make up for it.


CHAPTER TWO

Fusion

Yuuji, being the thoughtful person that he was, liked to think of people as fruits. In his opinion, most people were apples. What you see was generally what you got, and you could immediately bite into them to discover their flavor; often sweet, unless they were one of those odd sour or flavorless apples, in which cases you could easily predict from the appearance of their skin (Yuuji was NOT an apple racist, just so you know!).

Other people were like bananas. Some were completely golden on the outside, while others were covered in black spots and looked rotten. But then you took the time to peel the outer layer off and find that the prettiest bananas tasted bland and dry while the bruised ones were rich and sweet. Spotted bananas were the best.

The last category of people…were pineapples. If you've never seen a pineapple before, they can look pretty daunting at first sight. All covered in spikes with a thick outer shell. Touch a pineapple without thinking and you were likely to require bandages after. But then, you put in the careful effort of peeling and undressing the pineapple, working around the razor-sharp barbs while slicing off the coat, strip by strip, piece by piece. When the task is finally done you savor that sweet yellow flesh and realize that it was all worth it.

Megumi Fushiguru…was a pineapple. Probably the spikiest pineapple he had ever seen.

"Fushiguru, where are you from?"

"Kichijoji."

"Ok…how old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"What's your star sign? I'm a scorpio."

"Virgo."

"Uh…do you play sports? I used to play soccer till-"

"No. I know some martial arts though."

That greatly piqued Yuuji's interest and he practically begged to know more, but Megumi seemed to freeze over the topic of his past or his family, and the conversation lapsed into awkward silence. As usual.

Yuuji learned quickly that Megumi did not often speak unless spoken to. Megumi didn't initiate conversations either.

They walked out into campus side by side, Megumi's expression placid and guarded with his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, while Yuuji stole furtive glances at him, praying that he would volunteer something, anything. He had thought that he was practiced in dealing with pineapples on account of his grandpa. But he had more than half his life experience managing the crotchety old man. He hoped it wouldn't take near that long to pierce through Megumi's hard, thorny shell.

Now that Yuuji considered it, Megumi even resembled a pineapple, the way his hair fanned out like thick spiky leaves. The mental image of Megumi's yellow face with green hair sprouting on top made him chuckle.

"What are you snickering about?" Megumi said from across the table, eyes narrowed. They were seated in a restaurant a five-minute walk from their dorm, called "Fusion Foods". It seemed to aim for a science-y motif, with waitresses dressed in lab coats, goggles and surgical gloves, and tables that were metallic white and bolted to the ground, like you'd expect on a spaceship. The place was bustling with students, a distinct number of them carrying protractors and rulers in their chest pockets, which made sense as today was Trigonometry Tuesdays, so math majors received a 20% discount.

It took a few seconds for Yuuji to register that Megumi had spoken, so long had it been since the raven said anything. "Uh…nothing. Just had a funny thought. I doubt you'd find it all that amusing though…"

Megumi "hmmed", a sound that, to Yuuji, likely killed more conversations than the crusades did witches. Megumi engaged the waitress. "Remind me again what kind of cuisine you serve?" He asked skeptically as he fiddled with the iPad-slash-menu.

"We serve fusion food," said the waitress, as if that answered anything. "If you'd like to try our most popular dishes, our Sloppyniku, which is an American sloppy joe fused with Korean yakinuku under the intense heat of a grade five supernova, ranks very highly with 89% of our customers. But if you want to go straight to dessert, our dino pops are to die for. So much so that the dinosaurs went extinct and we had to substitute with chicken legs frozen in a block of matcha ice cream and covered in melting chocolate. Which are just as good, promise!"

She could have said that they only served goat cheese in wine glasses and Yuuji's mouth would still have watered and stomach undulated, such was his starvation. "I want…that. Just…everything you just said."

"Fantastic! Simply input your orders in the console," she gestured to the iPad menus, "and we'll process them right away. If you'd like some assistance, just press the call button on the console and say, 'Houston we've got a problem', and a server will be right with you!" She tottered off to attend to other customers, or "passengers" as they were called.

This place is fun. Yuuji was enjoying himself and hoped Megumi was too. But one glance at the raven's face as he scrolled through the strange menu items told him that was unlikely. Oh well. He started on the tablet-menu. "This curry parfait looks good too…" his stomach quaked.

When that was done they set aside the menus and proceeded to sit awkwardly in silence. Yuuji stared at his lap while Megumi considered the light fixture hanging above every table, dioramas of the Bohr atom, with the protons and electrons glowing blue and green, respectively. Each table got a different element. Megumi probably knew which one they had.

What did the dark-haired boy enjoy talking about? Probably really heady topics, like politics or religion or "the impact hotdog consumption on penguin mating habits in the South Pole" or something like that. Maybe he should mention that BBC article he read (the title of) once-

"What's your major anyway?"

Yuuji instantly looked up from twiddling his thumbs to find Megumi scrutinizing him, chin plopped on his palm, like he had been undressing Yuuji with his cold blue eyes while he sat there unaware. He shrunk a little from that analytical stare. He's so damn intimidating… But he was talking, and that was good. "Oh, uh, you're gonna laugh if I tell you…"

Megumi blinked. "Does it look like I'd just…laugh?"

Now that he mentioned it, probably not. Reassured, Yuuji scooted forward, placing his arms on the table. "Yeah, this may be a little surprising, but I'm a biology major. And the reason I'm taking up biology is so I can get into med school. So I can be a doctor." Yuuji tensed, bracing himself for…probably not laughter, but some kind of unpleasant reaction.

He needed not worry, as Megumi neither laughed or reacted, simply placing his palm on the table and met Yuuji's eyes. He's so damn intense. "I don't see why anyone would laugh," he said softly. "That's a very admirable goal to have, and I hope it works out for you. Why do you want to be a doctor, if I may ask?"

Finally! The ice has been broken! He held himself from smiling too broadly as that would have been weird. "I live with my grandpa, and he's not…healthy, to put it mildly." Unless grandpa heard him say that, then he'd be reminded just how healthy he still was. With his belt. Yuuji internally winced. "So I've had to learn some tricks growing up in order to take care of him. One day I got to wondering, what if I learned this stuff for real, instead of from youtube videos? And here I am. I just hope the old man would still be around when I graduate. He'd save so much in medical bills."

He was afraid that Megumi would be bored with all this "serious" talk, like most people, but his normally bland expression softened like in no other time during their short acquaintance. Megumi nodded slightly, as if he understood. Maybe he did? "I see. I'm actually taking up psychology, so I can be a clinical psychologist. It's not for any personal reason like you, I'm just really fascinated with minds and what makes them tick."

"Oh, so you wanna be a shrink?" Yuuji blurted out. Ugh, dammit Yuuji! Too forward and mocking!

If Megumi was offended he didn't show it, instead chuckling a little, almost smiling. His pale skin and soulful blue eyes looked really good paired with a smile. "Uh, something like that."

Yuuji leaned back, finally feeling himself unwind, and Megumi's shell peel away if only just a strip. "Actually, you'd be surprised to hear this, but I actually have a shr…I have a shr…" Something caught in his throat. Do I really wanna talk about this? Really?

Megumi noticed his struggle and looked concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just…um…" He reached for a glass of water and downed it in one long gulp. He set the glass down too forcefully with a bang on the table, causing Megumi and customers on neighboring tables to jump in their seats in alarm. "Sorry! Sorry! Don't know my own strength!" he assured them before twisting back to face Megumi. "Sorry about that. Guess my throat was a little parched. On account of the hunger."

As if the heavens heard his prayers, a waitress glided over with their orders, complete with soda served on cups shaped like rocket ships. As Yuuji calmed himself and focused solely on tucking into his bizarre meal, from time to time he caught Megumi glancing at him with that prying gaze of his. The quiet boy was taking up psychology; he had to be good at reading people. Did he really wanna be friends with someone whose eyes saw so much?

They lapsed into silence again, though it wasn't near as uncomfortable as they had meat sundaes and veggie pastries to get through. Unexpectedly, it was Megumi who was first to break the lull in conversation, fork waving in hand. "Sorry to ask this out of the blue but, what kind of music do you like?"

That was out of the blue. What had prompted that random burst of curiosity? Was it the mechanical techno track the restaurant was playing? Yuuji pretended to put some serious thought into the question, drawing his reply out. "If I had to think… I don't really have a favorite genre of music. I like them all equally. Except banjo music. How do Americans stand them?"

To his surprise, that didn't seem to be what Megumi wanted to hear, as he frowned and returned to stabbing his food darkly. Was that question supposed to be a test and he failed? In a panic he attempted to backpedal, speaking rapidly. "Uh, I do like hard rock though! Metal in particular."

Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner! Megumi's face and interest resurfaced at that, and he set down the utensils, his attention solely on Yuuji now. "What kind of metal do you-"

"Megumi. I thought you would be sleeping the day away."

A deep feminine voice came from beside the table, which belonged to a tall green haired woman with red glasses. She placed a hand on Megumi's shoulder, clearly familiar with him. Yuuji doubted he let anyone touch him unless they were close.

Megumi looked up at her. "Oh, hi Maki."

When he made no move to say more, he yelped in pain as Maki squeezed his shoulder. "Introduce me to your friend you idiot! That's what normal people with normal social skills would do in this situation."

"Alright, alright, let go of my shoulder you gorilla!" Megumi swatted her hand away and addressed Yuuji lethargically. "Itadori, this is my cousin Maki Zenin. Maki, this is my newest roommate, Yuuji Itadori. We're all in the same biology class, if you recall," he added to Maki.

Maki squinted at Yuuji, in that probing manner that was similar to Megumi's, and had nothing to do with visual acuity. It was just a brief scan however and she quickly broke into a warm smile. "Hello there Yuuji! Can I call you Yuuji? Thank you so much for keeping my cousin company. He doesn't make friends easily, poor thing."

"It's my pleasure, Maki…senpai?" When she didn't correct him, he continued. "Would you like to join us for lunch?"

"Oh no, I'm done. I came for the atom cakes and the spinach and cinnamon did not pair well this time. You two finish your lunch." She flipped her hair back and gripped Megumi's shoulder again, who flinched reflexively. "You know what, why don't you invite Yuuji to our get-together tomorrow? The more the merrier."

A pained look crossed Megumi's face. "I don't think he'd be interested in-"

"Nonsense. Don't speak for other people, Megumi. You never know till you ask him."

"Ask me what?" Yuuji interjected. "What kind of get-together?"

"Just a little club activity," Maki said quickly, being strangely evasive to Yuuji. "You'll both just be probationary members, not actual club members, yet. It's just a fun gathering to get to know each other before college really starts."

That sounded like a good time to Yuuji, but Megumi was making a statement with his eyes like someone being held at gunpoint. "I'll…I'll think about it, Maki-senpai."

"Great. I'll stop bothering you guys now. Ciao." She gave Megumi's shoulder one last squeeze and strode away, her gait confident and energetic like an athlete's.

"She's cool," Yuuji admitted, beaming after her as she left. "Is the rest of your family like her? Pretty awesome if so."

"You have no idea…" grumbled Megumi as he went back to half-heartedly picking at his food.

Whatever power level Megumi started with had since tapped out after that. Yuuji tried and failed to jumpstart conversation; the other boy just wasn't in the mood anymore. He felt sad and responsible for his change in mood, though he couldn't remember what it was he did. He still wanted to get to know Megumi, though one aborted lunch wasn't the end of the world. They were roommates after all and shared a bunk bed. There'd be more time to become close.

Still, he suspected that Megumi was the type who judged people prematurely and permanently deleted the ones who didn't meet his standards.

It was with a heavy heart that Yuuji paid for their meal (as promised) and they exited the restaurant. They stood at the sidewalk for some time, before Megumi turned to him and said, "That was fun. Thanks for taking me out. We should do that again sometime."

And Yuuji's heart soared. He hadn't messed up somehow, at least not too badly. "Same! And we should, definitely!"

"Not this place again though. I just discovered I'm not that adventurous when it comes to food." Megumi shook his head in disgust. He took out his phone, initially scowling at the screen before looking to Yuuji again. "Can I have your number? I have to invite you to this…thing we're doing tomorrow, or else Maki will yank my throat out. And since we're roommates and all."

They exchanged numbers – with Yuuji burning up all his willpower not to show how pleased he was about that – and Megumi bid him goodbye as he returned to the dorm for a nap. Yuuji had a class coming, and he didn't wanna push his luck by skipping. He wanted college to be different, for him to be a different person than he had been. To be responsible, like his grandpa always wanted and expected of him. So with a hopeful smile, he stepped off the sidewalk and-

-stood atop a building, peering down the five-story drop below.


AN: Dun Dun Dun. And so the central "mystery" and plot begins to manifest itself. Eagle eyed readers may already have figured what I mean by the chapter title. Its not about food. :P

Has anyone here taken the Myers Briggs Personality test? I'm an INFJ, and I feel that Megumi is the same, at least that's how I'm portraying him here. To me Megumi in the anime is clearly analytical but doesn't get bogged down in facts and logic and instead trusts his strong moral compass. I might be completely off-base, but that's the great thing about art I guess.

Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you. ^_^