"Guys?" Yuji turns his head to the side but pain shoots through his shoulder. Something was definitely dislocated. "Can you come here?"
Nobara blinks at him.
Her hair is kissing the floor as she hangs upside down, suspended by Megumi's toad. Lucky thing too. If he hadn't caught her in time she definitely would have been sent flying and done more than twisted her ankle.
He supposed that was the good thing about teamwork.
Sometimes you can handle a threat yourself but then other times you've gotta throw your all into one final attack, hoping and trusting that one of your friends is quick enough to catch you.
That's partially the reason he's laid out on his ass, shoulder almost certainly dislocated. The reason that Megumi is limping as he walks towards them, blood soaking the bottom of his left trouser leg. And while Nobara definitely would have preferred to not have had a toad's tongue wrapped around her waist, he's sure she appreciates it.
They were quick enough.
They survived.
They were a team.
They could count on each other to pick up the slack even when winning meant they had to give 10% more than they had. And this time, on this too warm Sunday afternoon, that trust had saved all of their asses.
"Yuji?" Nobara frowns. Her face was slowly turning redder the longer she hung there. "Do you need...?"
"Can't you wait until we get back to the dorms?" Megumi winces as he steps in a pile of what could only be described as goo. It was their second year and, yes, the curses were getting more and more dangerous but they were also getting more and more disgusting too. "Or preferably after I take a shower?"
"I'd prefer now." Yuji bites his lip. He feels his eyes get misty and something feels like it's stuck in his throat."I think so. If that's cool?"
A year ago he may have felt weird about getting so emotional post-battle but now he's not even a little ashamed to admit that he just wants them close.
The rational part of him knows they're okay— they're alive, they all survived — but he needs to prove it to his heart.
He needs to smell Nobara's expensive perfume with the name he can never pronounce. He needs to feel the scratchy collar of Megumi's uniform against his cheek. He needs them closer, so close he can feel their hearts beating and the rise and fall of their chests.
He knows they're okay.
He does.
Nobara has a few cuts and is missing both of her sleeves as well as her left shoe but she's breathing. Megumi has a gash across his chest, his shirt is hanging on by the shoulders alone, and his hair is a mess but he's breathing.
Yugi — in, out —is still breathing.
He knows they're all okay.
But he needs to feel that they're okay.
"We all almost died, Megumi." Nobara has been getting better at handling him when he's like this. She's still a bit of a douche— he thinks one day she'll be sixty-five sitting on her porch yelling at kids to stay away from her lawn because she will always be a bit of a douche— but she never denies him. Even if she doesn't quite understand this, she indulges him. "Don't be an asshole. You know how Yuji gets."
"Yeah, fine," Megumi says, magnanimously. His toad spins Nobara around and sets her on her feet, disappearing just as Megumi makes his way to her. She offers him her hand and he takes it, shifting his weight and leaning on her as they make their way to where Yuji is laying. He drops down to lay at Yuji's right. Nobara takes the left. "Just remember — we have to report back to Gojo in twenty minutes."
They'd keep it short. Having Gojo teleport here and finding them like this would just lead to more ridicule from their already annoying Sensei.
Yuji nods.
"Okay."
"Oh, please." Nobara narrows her eyes. She slips her hand in his hand then slides her arm across Yuji's torso and holds her other hand out expectedly. "You just wanna skip the skinship.
"We are in public." He takes her and Yuji's hand anyway. His hands are cold. They always are. But it's okay — Nobara and Yuji run warm. "We just demolished a block."
"Exactly. We demolished the block." Nobara shuffles closer to Yuji, an inch closer than she would have before they had all started living on borrowed time together. "We're the only ones here. It's no different than being in my room or Yuji's."
They'd never done this in Megumi's room.
(Not yet.)
"We're laying on busted asphalt." They would. Megumi was tough, stoic, and powerful but he was still only human — it was really only a matter of time before he let them pile up on his bed and hold him. "It's hurting my back."
"Do you want to rest your head on my bosom?" Nobara teases. It was always a pleasant surprise when something either of them said actually managed to make Megumi blush. "No? How about Yuji's bosom?"
Nobara let go of his hand and patted Yuji's pec for good measure.
"Hmm?" His heart was beating strong under her palm and she might not need to feel it to know like he did but it was nice all the same. "'S warm. Himbo pillow."
Megumi scoffs.
Yuji would have laughed, but he was too exhausted, so he just smiled dumbly at his two favorite people.
"I'm good," Megumi says, taking her hand back in his. If they were back at the dormitory it would be inevitable that they would end up all tangled together, bandaged and bruised, but they had to be quick right now. Forced cuddles — at least as far as Megumi was concerned — could be had later. "Yuji?"
Yuji inhales deeply, feeling their still clasped hand rise and fall with his chest.
"I mean," Yuji closes his eyes, taking a moment and letting the gravity of the situation settle completely on his chest. "We almost fucking died."
Nobara chuckles, humorlessly.
"Yeah. We almost fucking did."
"So?" Megumi says, nonchalantly. Not for the first time, Yugi wondered what kind of life the abandoned child of a notorious Jujutsu house and son of the Sorcerer Killer must have lived. It always makes him sad when he remembers his life with his grandfather and thinks about a little black-haired boy with sad eyes. "We almost die at least twice a month."
"This is Yuji's time." Nobara rolls her eyes, scooting closer into Yuji's side to rest her chin on his clavicle. Her throat was pressed against his shoulder and he could feel the vibrations as she spoke. He could feel her breathe. "If you didn't wanna bitch and moan with us you should have called for a cuddle session first."
Nobara smiles and Megumi is once again rolling his eyes.
"Be honest about your feelings, Megumi." Yuji parroted, in a horrifyingly good imitation of Gojo. So good that Megumi actually cringed away from it. "If you want to cuddle just say so."
"Fuck you." There was no venom behind his words. He was too tired to muster up his usual righteous indignation. "Yuji, what the fuck? Why are you so good at that?!"
"Because Gojo is the man of my dreams." Yuji scoffs. "Why else?"
"Maybe because Gojo is the man of Megumi's dreams?" Nobara tries, looking up at the dark-haired sorcerer through thick eyelashes. "Why do you think I bought that blindfold? We're trying to seduce you, Megumi."
"You bought a blindfold to seduce me?"
Nobara shrugs.
"Maybe you'd wanna roleplay? You're so fucking tightlipped about everything how am I supposed to know what you're into?!"
"Why would you want to know what I'm into?"
"Because we're friends?" Nobara says it like it was obvious. It probably was. To someone like Nobara. "We all know what Yuji's into."
And someone like Yuji too.
"Cuddles?"
"Yes. Cuddles." Yuji could feel himself blushing as Nobara grins lecherously. "After indulging his praise kink he loves a good cuddle."
"And what does that have to do with me?" Megumi asks. "I don't have a praise kink."
"Well, duh. I would have thought a Daddy kink would be more fitting for you, Megumi. To go with those daddy issues. You know, considering the whole slasher absentee father thing it kinda makes sense."
"Oh, shu-'' Megumi starts to say, and it definitely would have turned their trauma cuddling into a scuffle if it wasn't for the fact that Yuji started laughing. Nobara's head bobs as his chest jumps with each chuckle and he brings Megumi's other hand up to cover his mouth.
Yuji laughs for a moment more before the sob he'd been holding erupts from his throat and suddenly his cheeks are wet and he's crying.
Nobara and Megumi both remember then that they aren't in one of their bedrooms having this impromptu cuddling session. Master Tengen's barrier isn't here to protect them. Gojo isn't here. Nanami is still dead. Nobara has a claw-shaped scar across her right eye. And they're still laid out on what was just a few minutes ago a battlefield and they had all been very close to dying again. No matter how good they've gotten at hiding it, they're all shaken.
And even though it's been months since Shibuya, Yuji has been carrying all of that with him this whole time too.
He needs them. He needs this.
And bitching about Gojo and Megumi's kinks kind of defeats the purpose of this whole thing.
So they both settle.
"Okay, Yuji," Megumi says. "What do you need?"
"The rundown." Yuji takes a long, slow breath. "I need the rundown."
"Onagawa. An unusual number of students had been dying at the local university of unknown causes. Local police suspected a serial killer but based on the sudden increase in cursed energy in the surrounding area, we presumed it to be a Grade 2 Curse." Nobara says promptly. She rubs her thumb against the palm of Yuji's hand. "Our mission was to locate and exorcise the curse. Call Gojo in the event that either of those two seemed impossible."
"We found it," Yuji says, very softly. They had. But it wasn't a Grade 2 Curse —it had turned out to be a Vengeful Cursed Spirit. Similar to Yuuta's Rika curse but much weaker — probably just below the difficulty of a true Grade 1 Curse. They should have called Gojo immediately. "And it attacked. There was no time to call for reinforcements."
"There wasn't." Megumi agrees. "We had to engage. There was nothing else we could have done."
"Okay," Yuji nods. This was helping. "Then…"
"Then…" Megumi sighs. "We were unprepared. The Curse duplicated itself and attacked each of us. One of the curse clones sent me crashing through the second floor."
"And the other sent me through the window." Nobara winces. "Remind me to thank Maki for the extracurricular training."
"The training you constantly complain about?" Yuji let go of both of their hands, instead bringing his hands to their faces. "That one?"
"The very same." He traces over the curved of Nobara's lips and the old scar just under Megumi's hairline."If it weren't for her, I probably would have been screwed." Yuji took a sharp inhale. Nobara locked eyes with him. "But I wasn't. I landed on my feet just fine."
Yuji lets that digest for a moment, and under cover of the silence, carefully slides an arm around Nobara's shoulders to tuck her a little closer into his side. He's more discreet about it, but Megumi's hold on her hand tightens too.
"Okay." Yuji settles."And then?"
"And then I fought. It was honestly pretty fucking awesome." Nobara grins. She hugs herself closer to Yuji, lifting her left hand over Yuji's. The toe of her remaining boot just touches Megumi's thigh. "I managed to get a few good hits on the bastard before you guys brought more trouble with you."
"Nobara," Megumi scolds, gently.
He eyes Yuji warily.
"He wants to hear how it all went down." Nobara retorts. His hand is back on her face, tracing the shape of her jaw. "He doesn't want us to baby him when it comes to the truth."
"I do. I need to hear it." Yuji says, looking at Megumi, melancholy momentarily forgotten as he stared into his dark blue eyes. Things always felt better when he was looking in one of his friends' eyes. "All of it. Even the hard stuff. Even the stuff I did wrong."
"See," Nobara says, breaking the spell they were under and casting another as they both looked at her. "He's traumatized and emotionally raw but he isn't a child. He can handle it."
"Yeah, well. Don't be an asshole." Megumi throws her own words back at her, and Nobara doesn't try to murder him in front of Yuji so that's something at least. "I ended up back down in reception. The curse got a couple good hits in — this gash on my neck included — but Divine Dogs and Nue managed to keep the curse at bay. Then he ran out towards the courtyard and I followed."
Yuji tucks his face into Megumi's shoulder, and he stiffens slightly. He's getting better at this — learning to like this, even learning that it may even be okay for him to need this —but the feeling of someone other than his sister touching him and caring for him is still foreign.
Not unwanted, not unneeded —just foreign.
But he wants to get used to it because he wants to get used to having the two of them around so he can take the moments of awkward adjustment if it means the glass beneath Yuji and Nobara's skin — the only thing keeping any of them together anymore — doesn't shatter into a million shining pieces.
Sometimes it sticks in his throat and chokes him —how much he likes them.
Sometimes, he doesn't think it's just like.
It can't be with how often he finds himself reaching for them, on and off the battlefield. Not with how often he catches himself staring at Yuji's lips whenever he's talking excitedly or traces the delicate line of Nobara's neck. It can't be. But it's not the greatest thing to think about when they're all wrapped up this close, and tucked so neatly into one another.
"Sukuna was contained," Yuji says, carefully. He's always careful where Sukuna is concerned. Shibuya is still fresh. "I stayed on the second floor with the third curse. We exchanged blows. I hit him with black flash and got in a couple of solid kicks." Yuji frowns. His hands stopped to toy with hairs at the nape of Megumi's neck. "I could have exercised him right then. I could have stopped him escaping, from merging… but he slipped away."
"And I should have driven my nail through his little black heart. But I didn't. He got away from me too." Nobara reprimands him, gently. "We all made mistakes. We all could have done more —but we didn't. Don't dwell on your mistakes. No one else is."
Yuji shuffles a little closer, bends to knock his chin against the top of her head.
It's not quite a kiss, but the sentiment is there.
They can all pretend it isn't for now. Because it's not a kiss. Not really. But if Nobara tilts her head up, or Yuji tilts his head down, it might be.
Megumi watches them with dark eyes, haunted and hungry all the way through, but this isn't the time for that.
"I couldn't move. Both of you almost died." Yuji holds the silence for a minute, and all he can do is hold them. Hold her, hold him, hold them both and thank whatever was running their cruel, cold, wonderful universe that he's got two hands. "Sukuna was contained and I couldn't do anything ." Yuji's palm flexes on Megumi's shoulder. "You could have died."
"We didn't." Megumi reiterates because that's all he can do. That and keep breathing. "We're alive."
"All of us are alive, Yuji. No one died." Nobara assures him. "Not today."
"Not today," Yuji whispers. His voice was soft and fragile like one wrong word would shatter him. "We're okay."
"We are," Megumi says. His hand slid up Nobara's arm, gripping her shoulder as he looked at them both. "We're okay."
"Speak for yourself." Nobara pouts. "I'm sore all over. And not in the good way. "
Megumi rolls his eyes rolling over to lay flat on his back again.
"Must you be vulgar?"
"Trust me — you'd know if I was being vulgar." Nobara winks, completely aware that she was being a dick. Yuji didn't mind and Megumi… he wished he minded more. "I'm not being vulgar. I'm a fucking lady ."
There is goo stuck in her hair.
"Some lady…"
Nobara smiles and just like that the day doesn't seem so dark.
"Your mom was some lady…"
"Dead mom jokes?" Megumi deadpans. "I guess cuddle time is over."
"You didn't call cuddle time, asshole." She's completely serious - she even reaches over to poke him on the cheek. "Only Yuji can adjourn cuddle time."
"Bullshit."
"Nope. Them's the rules."
He knows that. Doesn't make it any less bullshit though.
Megumi gave Yuji a look.
"I mean, she's not wrong."
"Okay, if we're all gushing our feelings then —I hate it when you two team up against me," Megumi mutters. He doesn't mind. Not really. As long as Yuji smiles like he's doing now and Nobara laughs so hard that she snorts he'd let them tease him for as long as they like. "Could you maybe not ?"
Yuji's mouth crooks against his temple. Megumi lifts his gaze to Nobara's and doesn't expect to find so much understanding there.
His heart is racing so loud he wonders if they can hear it.
He's still getting used to this.
"Sure, Megs," Nobara says, her lips brushed against Yuji's cheek as she spoke. Megumi wasn't sure who exactly he was jealous of more but that was less of a problem than it should have been.
Maybe he was already used to this…
Huh.
Yuji sighs.
"Whatever makes you happy."