#takaba

“You’re kinda cute, you know,” a high-pitched, female voice coos in the dark. “You could’ve been such a pretty knight for me.”

In reality, it’s not really dark. Megumi’s eyes are just closed, and he’s too out of it to keep fighting. His head turns when two fingers nudge it to the side. He doesn’t resist, although every instinct is telling him to do so. He’s probably in big trouble now.

“Should’ve killed me. You know…” Remi trails off with a playful lilt in her voice. It’s surprising how fast she can go from helpless damsel in distress to an opportunistic Culling Game player. “No good deed goes unpunished.”

She speaks as if lecturing Megumi about his foolishness. Megumi would be annoyed at the audacity if not for the nausea and pain that threaten to pull him into unconsciousness.

“I would still feel better if you fought a little and gave me a reason to kill you as self-defense,” Remi continues and pokes Megumi’s cheek, hoping to elicit a response. Then she pinches the skin where his windpipe is. It makes Megumi jerk slightly on the ground, and a tiny whimper escapes his lips, but that’s all the pain response Megumi has left.

He’s tired, hurt, breathing shallowly, and certainly not in the mood for whatever Remi is doing.

“Ugh, okay, you’re too weak. I’ll do it now. Stay still—“

A guttural screech interrupts her words, and it might be more painful for Megumi’s ears than the pinch was to his skin. The exhaustion is trying to pull him under, despite the sudden scream, but he knows something is happening now and can’t pass out.

His eyelids don’t open. Everything is pitch black, which makes him all the more on edge. It’s like being paralyzed. He must look pathetic like that, lying helplessly on his back in a dirty alley.

Remi has stopped speaking. The grunts, the signature swish of sneakers sliding against concrete, and the occasional thud of a body hitting the wall sound like there’s something happening just meters away from Megumi.

Is Takaba saving Megumi again? No, that man has proven himself incapable of shutting up, it has to be someone else.

Remi must be overwhelmed because she isn’t talking either, not even commenting on her opponent’s physical appearance.

Megumi is starting to feel a bit cold, and his limbs are growing numb. Hopefully it’s just some kind of aftereffect of his domain expansion and not shock from blood loss.

“That’s so unfair! Girls are so mean!” Remi cries out before the sound of something smashing into a hard surface bounces off the walls. Oh, right. Female sorcerers exist. Nobara would kick Megumi’s ass for assuming the girl being attacked by a guy.

It’s probably the reason Remi isn’t trying to flirt her way out of the situation.

“Wait, wait! I’ll give you my points if you let me go, please,” the woman pleads now. She must be losing.

Megumi shakes as he feels the blood seep into his Jujutsu High uniform. It’s bad. Like Detention Center incident bad.

Her opponent still hasn’t spoken, but judging from Remi’s little sniffles and then footsteps hurrying away, she was let go. This leaves Megumi alone with the unknown person. Kogane doesn’t appear, so there was no point transfer.

Megumi doesn’t even tense up anymore when he hears them approaching. He can’t think about the implications anymore. He’s just going to take whatever comes next.

Polyester rustles as they kneel down.

“Idiot.”

Oh, thank God. Thank God, thank God, thank God.

Megumi has never been so relieved and happy to hear your voice.

In the next moment, his own jacket and white shirt are unbuttoned, and a strict kind of pressure is placed on his shoulder. The cold of the wind on his exposed skin makes the sorcerer want to curl up into himself. You’re bandaging his shoulder with something rough-textured that has the same penetrant, unorganically sweet scent of Remi. You probably took that thing from around her neck and chest while fighting her.

Megumi can’t suppress a groan as you tie the knot after wrapping it securely multiple times. It doesn’t earn him the tutting it usually would.

“Stay awake,” you say gruffly as you hoist him up by his waist. The world tilts around Megumi. Even with his eyes closed, he can feel the change in position, how gravity pulls at him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he mumbles as he’s hauled over your shoulder, his head tipping just over the edge of the delicate bone. How you managed to find him is a mystery Megumi doesn’t care about in the moment, and he also doesn’t think about how pathetic he must be right now. About fifteen minutes ago, he did complete a Domain Expansion and was almost crushed under tons of weight, and a whole damn knife had gone through his forearms. He’s allowed to be ungraceful now.

His eyes flutter open, and he instantly regrets it. The lights aren’t bright, blocked out by the many buildings, but still they’re blinding to his overworked senses, and he instantly knows what’s coming.

“Gonna—“

Megumi doesn’t get to finish the sentence. The contents of his stomach, which is mostly just a foggy fluid, come up and run down the fabric of your jacket. Megumi has half a mind to reach around your neck to pull your hair to the other side. He retches a few times, his body convulsing in your arms, and each violent flutter of his stomach makes his eyes water more.

“Nh… sorry…”

To Megumi’s surprise, you don’t say it’s fine in that usual flat voice. You pat his back instead before rubbing it with your knuckles. Your hand doesn’t stop moving even after he’s done, slow circles pressed between his shoulder blades like you’re trying to coax his body back into itself.

“Get it out,” you murmur, quieter now.

Megumi coughs weakly, throat raw, breath hitching as the last of it leaves him. His fingers twitch against your back, barely managing to grip the fabric of your uniform before going slack again.

“…gross,” he mutters with a hoarse voice.

“Yeah. You are.”

Your wet footsteps fill the silence. Your shoes must be soaked with water for some reason but Megumi is too tired to make assumptions. Each squelch is just a reminder that despite your own battles in the arena, you’re still capable of taking care of him. Good thing someone has their shit together. The air is too peaceful now for a Culling Game colony, or maybe it’s just what the world feels like when you’re around.

“…I have earned ten points of my own,” Megumi says suddenly. You both know what that means. You’re not the type to lecture him about morals and it’s not like Megumi regrets it, but still… he feels better with someone knowing.

“Would’ve killed the girl too, but…”

“That would defeat the purpose of loving Tsumiki, right?”

“I suppose,” Megumi mumbles and hides his face in the crook of your neck. You’re right, of course. One doesn’t truly love someone if they completely disregard that someone’s philosophy. In Tsumiki’s case, that’s kindness and compassion.

Megumi can’t really care about Tsumiki if he doesn’t care about what she would want.

“But you miscalculated,” you state firmly.

“Mhm…”

“I’ll take a wild guess and say you haven’t found Angel yet.”

“Mh-mh…”

Megumi is starting to sound more and more sleepy, only humming to reply. He fists your hair with one hand and clings to your shoulder with the other to keep himself upright.

“No passing out yet.”

“Yes, ma… mh…”

“Hey,” you jostle him slightly, trying to shake him back into his usual stoic, focused state. But Megumi seems to be getting uncharacteristically cuddly, which is actually a bad sign.

“…m’tired…” he mumbles softly and lets out a soft sigh against you.

“My apartment is close. We’ll fix you up there. You’ll take a nice bath and have some soup, and then you can sleep, yeah?”

“Mhm…”

MY STUDENTS ARE ALL MOROOOOOOOOOONSSSSSSS

wifi...

manga panel redraw from takaba vs kenjaku!!