KNOW YOUR PLACE.

his thoughts snap back to the textbook — one of three — currently in his lap, all five senses snapping back to the sound of yuji's pencil jotting things down over index cards even if he's grumbling to himself about it; whether griping or about the subject matter, megumi can't quite make out. there's a sense of what he certainly can't call pride, but a something that whispers in the back of his mind, the spark of recognition behind green eyes. usually he's half fighting with yuji to focus damn it, but today seems easier.

he reaches for the can of sparkling water that advertises lemon & lime and leaves only the faint trace of the hint of the idea on the tongue. "sukuna's not huge on junk," was the simple explanation offered to him before they settled in, and it was more than enough for megumi. he's happy just to feel the way the bubbles pop and tickle his tongue, fizzing all the way down as he swallows. at least it's not flavorless and flat.

time ticks ever onward, but he's pretty sure only about thirty minutes pass before he hears the deep rasp of a now-familiar voice filling the hall with what, to megumi — who is admittedly quiet by nature — sounds like he's more than used to doing. he blinks, turning his head to address yuji on the bed. "i take it this is typical," he observes, no judgment in his voice but rather a quiet curiosity. even when he could've claimed a better home life, his sister never—

thank god for vending machines.

he agonises and grumbles his way through studying; not even bothering to try to distract or coerce megumi, knowing sukuna could come check on them or something adult like that, and give him grief for not taking his studies seriously. so instead he bides his time, letting megumi have his study time, until the familiar sound of sukuna's voice comes from the hallway, allowing yuji to drop his pencil aside carelessly as he lifts his head immediately.

"COMING!" he bellows in return, unhurried and casual in the normality of their way of communication.

his gaze moves to his friend's dark head as he speaks and yuji smiles, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, his voice now a normal speaking level once again. "yeah. i mean, he cooks, so it's only fair right? doesn't mean i don't give him a hard time about it though." he grins, rising to his feet and stretching his arms upward -- something in his lower back pops satisfyingly. "c'mon. you'll like sukuna's food. he's a damn good cook; but don't tell him i said that."

he motions for megumi to follow and makes his way back down the hall to the kitchen, his gaze on the food from the moment he walks in. "god, i thought we'd never get to eat." he whines pathetically, as if he wasn't perfectly fine two seconds beforehand. "first no snacks, then we had to wait forever to eat." he collects the cutlery with a grumble, chopsticks, spoons, and the like, shuffling over to the table to place it all down in a setting for three. once that's accomplished, he sneaks to his brother's side, eyeing the food and trying his luck at stealing some from under sukuna's nose.

He’s in the midst of removing his apron when Yuiji slides over and he only sees his hand move in a blur. Like slapping a mosquito out of the air, Sukuna’s hand shoots forward. If he simply smacked him away, Yuji would endure the pain if it meant he could snatch a slice of crispy pork, so Sukuna grabs his wrist mid-air and grips it tightly. He stares at his brother, unimpressed, as he gradually increases the strength of his grip. Sukuna doesn’t have to say anything, Yuji knows he only has seconds to apologize and back off. 

As these seconds pass, Yuji’s friend catches Sukuna’s attention, and maybe it’s because he’s annoyed with Yuji that he ends up speaking harshly to him as well. 

“Hey,” Sukuna’s tone demands attention—more than attention, it demands obedience. “Take this to the table before this idiot gets his disgusting fingers all over it.” 

With that, he turns his attention back to his brother. His face is set in mild disgust. 

the hand gripping the strap of his schoolbag tightens.

green eyes glance between the two of them, nails scratching lightly at the fabric of the strap, the inside of his bottom lip finding itself caught between two teeth. it's sore already, from his nasty habit of gnawing at it. at least the attitude's helped to calm his nerves. with a quiet breath, he turns to face yuji more directly, stepping slowly in an effort to abide by his brother's... request. "we have a lot to get done," he states what he knows with little character behind the words; thinks he'd make something up for them to get done if he had to in order to escape the present situation. "you can pine for potato chips while we go over our notes," he offers, words a little sharper between his teeth to emphasize let's leave.

he'd have continued to comment too, and whined; 'wasn't it enough that he had to suffer through an assignment, did he really have to lack such a simple joy in life? snacks were his one vice, sukuna!' if megumi hadn't interrupted him with a very pointed look and tone.

yuji huffed, his lips downturned in a dramatic frown. "you can't mention chips when we can't have any! that's like, torture!" still, he wasn't going to get on megumi's nerves over this particular subject. his next words were grumbled, even as he shot his brother a somewhat pathetic expression. "my room's this way." he shuffled down the hall, his hand wrapped around megumi's wrist once again, as if pulling him along was his own idea and not a demand from both his brother and his friend.

he'd like to think the state of his room was expected. was it tidy? nope. was it a trash heap? nah. but were there random items distributed here and there haphazardly, seemingly placed without a second thought for where they ought to go? yeah. it worked for yuji though. he knew vaguely where stuff was, and he hadn't managed to lose anything too important yet, so why change what wasn't broken, right?

he gestured vaguely to the room at large; bed, wardrobe, desk, bookshelves, a side table, and a small collection of anime characters that he had collected over the years here and there. some were in worse shape than others. "make yourself at home. d'you want me to get you a drink of anything?"

He watches them walk off unceremoniously, Yuji tugging the other along. As they trail off, Sukuna’s eyes linger on Fushiguro. Impressive. He managed to stifle his brother’s resistance by barely speaking a full sentence. Maybe he’ll like this kid. 

          Sukuna gets to work on three side dishes to make up for the smaller servings of pork. Marinated cucumbers, spinach ohitashi, and a quick zucchini corn stir fry. It only takes him thirty minutes as he moves from pan to cutting board to cupboard seasonings, mumbling through barely comprehensible death metal lyrics shouted in shrill screams that fill the kitchen along with the hiss of oil and clinking cutlery.  

He turns the music off when he’s done, walking to the edge of the kitchen while stirring sesame oil into the bowl of thinly sliced cucumbers. 

as he slips from his shoes to slip into the slippers placed at his feet with a quiet acknowledgment of thanks, he freezes;  the rumbling rasp of a deep voice floating out from the kitchen. the momentary pause is only a stutter, and he finishes slipping into the house slippers quickly and quietly with a sudden pang in his nerves, suddenly missing and wishing yuji was snapped onto his arm once more. silly as it may be, it was ultimately far more grounding than...

"curry's—"  following the voice — following yuji toward it — went against every instinct presently burning at the tips of his raucous nerves, which had seemingly caught fire for no understandable, nor fortuitous reason. the heels of his feet felt like dragging lead. perhaps, he thought, it was simply in understanding how highly yuji held his older brother that he found himself divest of any sense;  wishing to make a good impression first and foremost without any idea as to how. or, maybe it was that in jade eyes flickering up to finally greet the man, he hears his name teetering on the tip of a tongue as if it weren't quite sure of what to make of it. and in looking up, said eyes are met with something he wasn't quite expecting: yuji, certainly — he could see the resemblance almost as if they were twins — but older, taller, and with tattoos that clearly sink beneath the collar of his t-shirt.

a bright smile plants itself on yuji's face, reminiscent of the younger childish excitement that had made way for teenage years and hormones, innocent enough to keep him from getting into trouble yet bursting with an unfiltered amount of energy. the latter was usually reserved for whenever he got to talk about or introduce people to his big brother, who he had revered all of his life and had been adamant he would grow up like. because -- and no he wouldn't be accepting any comments or questions on the matter either -- his big brother was the best and everyone should be jealous that they didn't have an awesome big brother like yuji did.

"megumi, sukuna. sukuna, megumi." yuji introduced with a wave of his hand. "we have an assignment we need to work on together and i thought it would be a good idea to have megumi here for a change." no, he would not be apologising for the lack of warning.

As far as introductions go, this can’t be his worst one. Still, unlike with Yuji, he can’t decipher the look on Megumi’s face– if he’s openly staring because of the silly picture Sukuna paints in bubblegum pink strokes (the apron wasn’t his purchase, it was left behind by the last cook in the house, their father) or because of the shocking resemblance to Yuji sans the tattoos. Or maybe it’s something else altogether, but Sukuna’s concern about this matter only goes as far as how fast he can make Yuji eat his self-satisfied grin. After all, the occasion to embarrass the brat in front of his friends is so rare.

"no feud." yuji assures quickly. "i mean, no more than any other siblings i guess? but sukuna pretty much raised me so he's like my brother and my parent in one, y'know?" yuji flapped his free hand. it wasn't important.

soon enough he was pulling megumi into a short apartment block and dragging him along a open corridor, up a flight of stairs and along a second corridor. all the doors and walls were a dull shade of grey-blue that seemed a little too depressing for yuji's tastes but it was what they could afford and he didn't think that maintenance gave a fuck about residents opinions as long as the place was tidy and looked well kept.

"plus, do you think i haven't mentioned you to him either? sukuna loves that i have an actual friend and not just people i know vaguely in school. parental figures are weird." he scrunched his nose as he glanced over to megumi, digging around in his pocket for his key, then jammed it into the lock without care and unceremoniously shoved the door open. He grabbed two pairs of house slippers from behind the door and put a pair at megumi's feet before kicking off his own shoes and stuffing his feet into the slippers to step further into the apartment.

his voice raised for his brother's benefit, though really it was unnecessary, he just liked to do it because it seemed like the annoying little brotherly thing to do. "i'm back. i bought my friend megumi over!"

--- @soulfragmnts

“In here,” Sukuna shouts back and fishes his phone from his apron to turn the volume down. At least he recognizes the name of Yuji’s friend, he’s been talking about her since the new semester started. He even tried to convince Sukuna to get a dog on account of Fushiguro having two of the “Largest, fluffiest, sweetest dogs ever. Seriously, Sukuna, they're this big–” Sukuna shut that shit down real fast. This apartment was just big enough for two of them, the most he’d tolerate was a goldfish. Still, it’s been a long time since Yuji brought any friends up, so Sukuna couldn’t help being curious about the girl who held his little brother’s esteem, especially because he was afraid that Yuji was starting to become like him; fortunate in all but friends.