Zigreth

The mission had been long and exhausting. The demons just kept crawling out of absolutely nowhere and even though it hadn't been difficult to behead them, the sheer number of them had tired you out regardless. That, and keeping up with Sanemi.

You two had been assigned a joined mission for once and in a way you had looked forward to it. Sanemi had been a Hashira for a lot longer than you had, which was incredibly impressive. It had also never bothered you before, but as it turned out you hadn't quite matched up to him in speed or endurance just yet.

It didn't help that throughout the whole fight he kept throwing insults at you. Not just one or two "you're too slow" or "keep up"s, no, a constant stream of angry snarls. Mostly different variations of him jumping in front of you to kill some demon you were perfectly capable of handling yourself, followed by a shouted "do you want to die?" which left your blood boiling.

You wanted to fight side-by-side with him, like proper colleagues. Instead, you felt belittled and like he thought of you as nothing but a burden. It wasn't a surprise that he was mean or angry, especially while fighting demons. But, Sanemi had never been rude to you before, not like that anyway.

It was especially frustrating because seeing him fight was so breathtaking, which… yes, is pretty counterproductive for your line of work. But it's not like you were actually standing around ogling him! Not with Demons in front of you, anyway. Not that it mattered now - The spell was broken. The way he acted today had cured you of your little crush on him once and for all.

You didn't even have enough energy left to be outwardly annoyed as you both silently followed your crows. They had said something about leading you both to an Inn where you could get some rest. Too bad that the sun was already rising, though. You always struggled to sleep during the day.

Sanemi next to you looked exactly the same as he always did. His eyes bloodshot, his posture straight and tense and his breath just barely calm enough to not sound like he was actively fuming. If it weren't for the bandage you had halfheartedly wrapped around his right forearm you wouldn't be able to tell that he'd just spent the entire night fighting off a horde of demons.

Then again, you were also actively not looking at him. If you were, you might have noticed the way his eyes always darted over your frame when your steps became just the slightest bit irregular or you sighed a little too loudly. He wasn't angry. Far from it actually. Sanemi was worried.

He knew you were new to being a Hashira and he hated it. Not that you had made it to the rang - he was actually proud of you for that - but rather, because it meant that you had to go on more missions like this one. Dangerous missions. And he knew he wouldn't be with you for most of them.

It had taken a bit of convincing before Ubuyashiki had agreed to let Sanemi take this mission with you. Originally it was supposed to be you and Uzui. Ridiculous! That flamboyant idiot didn't care for anyone who wasn't one of his wives. That's what Sanemi had said back then anyway. He had overstepped then and every other Hashira and the Master knew it the second the words had left his mouth.

After some teasing from Uzui and Iguro, some annoyingly supportive words from Kanroji and a hearty laugh from Rengoku everyone had quieted down again. Ubuyashiki then explained to Sanemi, in his usual calming but authoritative voice, that he would allow him to take this mission with you, just this once. He also reminded Sanemi that he had to get used to you being on missions like this, even on your own, and that he should use this as an opportunity to gain some confidence in your abilities.

Except that's not the problem. Sanemi has confidence in you. He knows you can fight, hell, he's seen you fight tonight. And it's not like it's easy to become a Hashira in the first place. The problem is that he cares for you. For you and your well-being and the fact that you're alive. Which is such a nuisance in this line of work.

Sanemi audibly gasped when you suddenly stopped in your tracks, although it was too silent for you to notice. While he thought you were tripping over your own feet, you actually stopped because you wanted to kick a rock along with you but you couldn't get your leg to do it. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath before stepping over the rock you were staring at and continuing on your way.

"What the hell was that for?" Sanemi's words sounded as harsh to you as they had all night. You didn't hear the pang of worry in them. You pressed your eyes shut and shook your head which didn't help easing Sanemi's worries that you would fall. "Don't… scold me. I've had enough of that."

Something in Sanemi's chest tightened. You sounded so exhausted, not just physically. He took a breath and even opened his mouth to counter something, probably another snarky remark, when he saw your face again. You didn't just look tired, there was something else. Something he couldn't put his finger on.

Instead, he just breathed the air back out and stayed silent. Luckily, it didn't take the crows long to bring you to the village they wanted you to stay at. At the Inn neither of you had to say much, everything had already been taken care of.

The person leading you to your room even assured you that it had great window covers that kept out all daylight, perfect for people who work at night. You thanked them as Sanemi opened the door and stepped inside. A few steps in he froze in place. Oblivious to this you walked past him, immediately going for the windows and covering them.

When you turned around you were relieved to find the room incredibly dark, only illuminated by the corridor through the door you had left open as you had walked in. If you weren't dealing with demons on the regular the sight of Sanemi's silhouette, standing there utterly unmoving, would have unnerved you. Instead, it barely registered as anything out of the ordinary. You were about to walk across the room again when Sanemi finally spoke up.

"There's only one bed." The bad lighting hid his nervous swallowing from your view. Even though this was probably the first thing he had said to you without that harsh, angry tone in his voice, you instantly felt irritation bubbling up in you. The prospect of actually getting to sleep after that horrendous night had lifted your spirits for just a second and now he had the nerve to complain?

You weren't even aware of the awkwardness he radiated. Too caught up in your own issues to even register how this situation could possibly be weird for two people like you two. Two people who had always been friendly with each other, up until tonight. Two people who both desperately tried to hide the crush they had on the other. Although, you didn't think of him like that anymore, not after tonight.

With your hands on your hips and an attitude you didn't think you had the energy for you spat back at him. "Well, darlin', I'm not sleeping on the floor, so I guess we'll have to share. Now close the door." Sanemi blinked into the darkness, utterly dumbfounded. "What?"

You scoffed as you moved around the room to put your sword away and take off your haori and uniform jacket, leaving you in the undershirt and pants of your uniform. "What 'what'? Is the great Wind Hashira too good to close a door?" Sanemi just stared at you as you got down on the bed, turning away from him.

After a few seconds of nothing happening you took a deep, audible breath, which was enough to jolt Sanemi into action. He swallowed before turning and closing the door. The room was almost entirely pitch-black. Only the faintest light got through the crack underneath the door and at the edges of the windows.

The relieved sigh Sanemi heard from you helped him a little. He had never heard you talk to him like that and he hated it. Only now he realised that this is what he saw on your face on your way here - you were angry with him. You had never been angry with him before. Had he done something? He hadn't behaved any differently than he usually did, did he?

With too many questions running through his mind, Sanemi misjudged the size of the room. He wanted to put his sword on the little table next to yours but instead he walked into it. The table and the sword on it rattled as he hissed at the sudden contact. You didn't make any sound but it was like he could feel the anger radiating off of you. "Sorry."

"Just lay. down." Another beat of silence passed as he stared wide-eyed into the darkness where you were laying, for a moment too scared to make another sound. "Right." His voice was small, smaller than you had ever heard it. If you hadn't been so angry you probably would have thought that he sounded cute.

You heard him carefully placing the sword on the table, followed by deliberately quiet footsteps. Another beat of dead air before he finally sat down on the bed. Yet another moment before he carefully, deliberately, consciously moved to lay down behind you. It irritated you even more how much he tried to be mindful. Like there was any point to it now. At least he had finally laid down, you could finally sleep.

"Can I ask you something?" You felt like a vein on your forehead just became more prominent. "No." Would your breathing technique help with this anger? He breathed a tiny 'oh', barely audible. You closed your eyes, forcing your breath to even out, forcing your muscles to relax and just as you were on the brink of falling asleep Sanemi spoke again.

"Thank you." Sanemi let his hand wander over the bandage you had wrapped around his arm. "For bandaging my arm." You scoffed at that. "Don't thank me. I did it badly on purpose." He pressed his eyes shut for a moment as he held his breath, deciding whether to say his next words or not.

"Because you're mad at me." "Obviously." Sanemi swallowed, still holding his bandaged arm. "Why?" Now it was your turn to blink into the darkness. He wasn't serious, right? You moved around so you could look over your shoulder at his outline in the low light. Sanemi stiffened, feeling you move on the bed and now your gaze on him. He forced his breath to stay calm.

"What do you mean 'why'? Why do you think?" Your voice had turned into a snarl, which unnerved Sanemi. A moment of silence passed but you didn't want to let him have it. "Well?" You pressed, wanting to hear it from him, wanting to hear him acknowledge how much of an ass he had been.

"I… I don't know. You've never been mad at me before. I didn't do anything differently than I usually do. I don't know why you're angry." You took in a sharp breath and Sanemi braced for whatever was about to happen but instead you held the breath for a moment, before letting it back out slowly.

You wanted nothing more than to shout at him like he had all night but hearing him say it like that... He sounded like a confused kid and as angry as you were, it broke your heart. But, he was still an adult man and you were rightfully angry with him! You pressed your eyes shut and clenched your fists as you took another deep breath.

After you had finally gathered yourself again, you responded. "So you're saying you seriously don't remember you shouting at me and insulting me ALL NIGHT?" You didn't mean to raise your voice at the end so you took another deep breath.

His voice was still tiny, but less so and instead more confused when he answered. "I'm always insulting and shouting at everyone." In a quick movement you raised yourself on your elbow, slightly towering over him. "Never at me!" Your voice broke on the last word and with a pained noise you quickly turned to lay on your side again, facing away from Sanemi.

His eyes widened as he realized that you were right. Somehow, he hadn't even noticed that he treated you differently before. Or that, in a way, he had treated you normally for the first time tonight. Now it was his turn to move around on the bed to look at your silhouette.

It was quiet between you both as Sanemi just stared at you while you tried your best to control your breathing enough not to cry. Okay, maybe you weren't as done with your crush on him as you thought. "I didn't know. That I had never shouted at you like that." He paused, trying to think of what else to say.

Sanemi pressed his eyes shut as he came to the conclusion that there was no other way but through. "I-" He shook his head, so unfamiliar with talking about his feelings that something in him fought it off with everything it had. "I don't want you to die."

That earned him something between a scoff and a laugh, wet with the tears you hid in the darkness of the room. "No matter what mission you go on, I always want you to come back. To me." He said those last two words so very quietly but you heard them loud and clear. You felt your heartbeat speed up at this, a weird hope bubbling up in your chest.

Sanemi grunted in frustration. "Being a Hashira means going on endless insanely dangerous missions and if I'm not there with you-" He trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought. You quickly wiped the tears from your eyes before turning around to face him. Even though your eyes had adjusted to the darkness as much as they could, you could still barely make out his face.

His expression softened when you turned to face him, feeling the anger fade from you with every second. Even through the darkness he locked eyes with you. "I'm sorry." Another scoff left your mouth, quieter and playful this time, as you deliberately placed your hand in the empty space between the two of you.

"Careful. You're going to make me think that you like me." Sanemi raised his hand above yours, hovering there for a second before ultimately shying away, too scared of misreading you. Still, as he placed his hand next to yours, almost touching but not quite, he breathed out only one word. "Good."

You took another deep breath and both of you felt all the remaining anger leave your body with it. After a few seconds of just staring into each others eyes Sanemi spoke up, nervously shaking his head again. "You wanted to sleep. Sorry for keeping you awake."

A smile crept onto your lips as you watched him. "At least I'm no longer angry." Sanemi's eyes locked with yours once more, big and hopeful. "But you know, you could have just told me from the start that you worry about me." Sanemi grimaced at that, the idea of just openly speaking about his feelings a foreign concept to him.

"If you had I would have appreciated you looking out for me. Maybe you wouldn't have needed to shout at me." He cringed at having his mistakes pointed out to him like this. "But that's the past now. Let's just get some rest and deal with everything else when we wake up, okay?"

Sanemi nodded as he breathed a silent "okay". "Just promise me one thing, Sanemi." He felt a shiver run up his spine at that. You two had been friendly with each other before, polite even. He had never heard you use his first name, but he enjoyed the way it sounded in your voice.

"You said you don't want to lose me, right? So promise me you'll be here when I wake up." Sanemi stared at you for a second, the gears visibly turning in his head. This was you returning his feelings, right? He wasn't misreading this, right? Before the courage left him again, he raised his hand once more, this time letting it gently rest on top of yours. "I promise."

It had been a long day at The Last Drop. Silco had been wrecking his head over the recent attacks on his shimmer shipments. He knew he needed to do something so nobody would question his authority and capability.

There was also going to be a meeting with the other Chembarons in two days and he already dreaded the event. They were always trying to undermine or overthrow him. So now he had to once again plan what to do about that.

Meanwhile his partner had taken on the role of barkeeper. Just something to keep you busy while he sorted things out in his office. Also, the bar had to keep running either way so you decided you might as well make yourself useful.

To be honest, the role of barkeeper was kind of fun. Sure, there were some awful drunks now and then but in most cases Sevika would just throw them out. Other than that you had a lot of fun mixing drinks and chatting with people.

It also led to you hearing a lot of gossip. And earn some surprisingly large tips. People just loved talking to a dashing barkeeper that kept their intense but friendly gaze on only them while polishing glasses.

But, just like every other night, the last customers were being firmly reminded that the bar was closing by Sevika. It always struck you as funny how scared everyone was of her. Then again, you couldn't really blame them - not everyone had the luck of knowing her.

After she locked the door behind the last guy stumbling out, she gave you a silent nod. It had become a nightly routine. You just thanked her and wished her a good night as you made your way upstairs.

To get to your and Silcos shared bedroom you had to walk through his office. Usually you'd just quietly walk by him, maybe loop around his desk to press a soft kiss to his temple. But not today.

Today you needed him to come to bed as well. Mostly for his own health. He was always staying up late but he always came to bed eventually. Silco was a bit of a night owl and you were used to falling asleep without him.

However, you always woke up next to him. He would always come to bed long after you'd fallen asleep and then he would stay asleep for a while after you got up. But not this morning. You had woken up shivering, missing the warmth of his arm draped around your waist.

So he hadn't slept at all last night. It worried you. When you stepped into his office he didn’t look up from his papers, probably hadn't even noticed you.

With one look at him you could tell how spent he was. He was more tense than usual and his face was even greyer. His good eye was bloodshot and he wore an irritated expression as he blinked a couple of times to focus on the paper he was holding.

You were still holding the door as you took him in, so you swung it closed with enough force to make Silco jump slightly. It wasn't a particularly loud noise, he was just sleep deprived. His eyes landed on you as you made an effort not to look at him.

You raised your arms above your head and yawned loudly, wearing your best tired expression. Not that you had to play that part too much, you were legitimately tired. Without saying a word to your partner you slowly wandered straight to your bedroom, rubbing your eyes along the way.

This irritated Silco immensely. You always gave him a tired smile and a kiss when he was visibly stressed. It helped relax him. So now, when he was more stressed than he had been in a long time, you ignored him completely?

He grumbled to himself angrily as he tried to focus on the paper in his hand again. It was of no use though, the letters were a blur and he couldn't hold his eye open long enough anyway. On top of that, he now also started yawning.

With a scoff Silco put the paper down and stood up to walk to his bedroom. You were already in bed, reading a book that he had given you. Still irritated, he got ready for bed to then join you under the covers.

As he was changing out of his day clothes you had to concentrate on fighting a smug smile creeping onto your face. You knew how much Silco loved and craved your affection, so not giving it to him was a surefire way to get him to come to you.

You quickly forced your eyes back to your book as he turned towards the bed again. With some grumbling over almost walking into the bedpost he finally reached the mattress.

You ignored him as he laid down next to you, deliberately turning away from you. He was trying to play your game, but you knew that he would cave sooner than later. And sure enough, you had barely reached the end of the page when he stirred again.

But - Silco was a proud man after all - he refused to turn around just yet. "You're doing this on purpose." You instantly, and badly, fought back the smug grin that was trying to settle on your face. "I have no idea what you mean."

Silco turned halfway, squinting at you disapprovingly. You couldn't keep it together any longer. With a chuckle you put the book on your nightstand. "Of course I am, silly." You settled down in the bed properly and opened your arms for him. "Come over here."

It took a little bit of manoeuvring before you had both settled comfortably but in the end, Silco's head rested on your shoulder with your arm curled around him, gently stroking his hair. His arms had snaked their way around your waist, holding you as close as he could.

Sometimes you wondered how some of the people of Zaun would react if they knew what the great, big, scary Silco was like when the two of you were alone.

You hummed contently before speaking again. "Sorry about that. Needed to make sure you actually go to bed tonight." Silco sighed. "Am I really that predictable?" You chuckled lightly. "Only to me." With that you pressed a kiss to his forehead and felt him lean into the kiss, enjoying what he had been craving.

"The only problem is, I'm not convinced I can even fall asleep with all the planning that I still need to do." He sighed again, so you stroked his hair some more for comfort. "Even so, just laying down and resting will do your mind some good." Silco still wasn't convinced but he was now also so drained of energy that he didn't even consider getting up again. "Let's hope you're right."

The two of you laid like that for a while and you realized he was right, he really wasn't falling asleep that easily. He certainly was resting, but his thoughts still ran so wild that he was nowhere near falling asleep. So, you remembered a little trick that you hadn't had to use in a long while.

You moved a little so you could get a better look at his face, specifically his nose. Then, you moved the hand that was still threading through his hair to his face, gently touching his nose with your fingertips. Silco crinkled his nose a little before opening his eyes to look up at you questioningly.

"You have such a pretty nose, do you know that?" You almost whispered the words. Silco breathed out through his nose, not quite a scoff, maybe almost a laugh. Then he settled back down on your shoulder, closing his eyes once more.

"You said that to me a couple of times back when we first met." His words brought fond memories back into your mind that made you smile. Memories of simpler times. "It's still true." Silco sighed, almost contently, as you let your fingertips gently trace down the curve of his nose.

You continued the movement, calm and gentle, slowly soothing his racing mind by allowing him to focus only on the sensation of your fingers moving along his nose. Soon enough, not even five minutes later, his breathing was evening out, soft and steady.

Megumis friends knew him as the king of nonchalance. Or, at least as someone who pretended to be that. Whenever they would go out as a trio Nobara and Yuji would get really excited or upset at whatever was happening. Say, Yuji was being silly, making Nobara angry. They'd run around Megumi, Nobara trying to hit Yuji, while he'd try to flee from her.

Meanwhile Megumi would stand in the middle of them, wondering what he'd done to deserve to be around so much noise and excess energy all the time. Like it wasn't enough that he had to grow up with Gojo as his guardian.

So it didn't come as a big surprise when Megumi fell for you. Not to anyone who knew him and everyone around him at least. Gojo saw it straight away, the very first time he'd introduced Megumi to the older students. Back when Megumi was the only first year, before Nobara and Yuji came along, Gojo had decided to put him with the second-years.

Megumi fit in well with the mostly quiet class of yours. Toge, who barely spoke at all due to his cursed speech. Panda, who was the most normal out of the group, despite being a literal panda. Maki, who was loud and often times quite angry.

And then there was you. Quiet, but not shy or delicate. Not nonchalant like Megumi either. Quiet like the sea. Calm and comforting, soothing even, at least to Megumi. He saw the alertness in your eyes, always scanning for danger, always aware. But never loud about it. Always only doing what was necessary, never wasting energy on anything, never losing control.

It was only for about one month but still, the glances Megumi threw at you always seemed to linger a little longer than they should have. Gojo noticed immediately, of course. Unfortunately for Megumi, nothing gets past the blindfolded dumbass.

So he pushed you two together. Made you partner up for sparring sessions or missions. Left you two alone whenever possible. Gojo knew he couldn't be too obvious about it, or else Megumi would notice and stop talking to you altogether, denying the fact that he ever had any emotions of any kind, ever.

It was delicate work and when the single first-year student suddenly turned into three, Gojo knew he'd have to give up on this mission. Unbeknownst to him, you two had already started dating. It just wasn't as loud or outgoing as Gojo would have expected, or… hoped. It was quiet, calm. Like everything about Megumi. Almost everything anyway.

What Gojo never saw was what happened when he left you two alone. The sparring session, that always became so intense either one of you would have to make up an excuse to leave the room to cool down. At least before you started dating. After that it became worse.

The missions that would be handled in basically no time at all, leading to you both being assigned harder ones. Which then turned to private dates for you two. It was perfect, really.

The veil being placed over a building, that all people had been evacuated from, leaving you and Megumi all alone, with no-one around to see. Except for the cursed spirit maybe, but it was usually very easy to pin it to a wall somewhere and deal with it when you two felt like the date had gone on long enough.

No-one ever questioned you about it and luckily for you, you were still assigned the joined missions, even after Megumi got his own class. Fewer missions, but it just made them all the more special. Megumi hated the idea of Gojo finding out about your relationship and you respected that, not that keen on that boisterous lunatic meddling with it either.

So the joined missions became really the only times when you two would be alone. The only times you could openly express any sort of affection for your boyfriend. The only times he would kiss you, like a man starved. Like the restraint of not doing so was physically gnawing at him. And in a way, it was.

"What are you doing tonight?" Megumi asked suddenly, not even looking at you, but rather watching his dogs chase around the two grade 3 curses you two were sent here to deal with. You two barely payed any attention to them, instead resting under the shade of a tree, your head on Megumis lap while he played with your hair. Not that any sunlight ever got through the veil.

When you had received the mission details you had almost burst out laughing. It was ridiculous to assign a mission like this to the both of you, but you would never complain out loud if it gave you a chance to spent time with Megumi.

"Nothing much. Maki and Nobara wanted to go out for Ramen tonight and I think Panda and Toge wanted to prank Yuji, which is not really something i want to be involved in." You opened your eyes to look up at Megumi who visibly struggled not to look at you. "Why do you ask?"

You watched as his cheeks turned a soft shade of red. You also watched him cringe when he glanced down at you for less than a second, seeing your amused expression. "Nevermind." At this point you knew him long enough not to push him. If he brought the topic up once, he'll bring it up again.

Instead, you closed your eyes again, a soft smile still lingering on your lips, and hummed in acknowledgement. After a few seconds Megumi looked down at you again, seeing you so content this close to him, it made his heart ache for more. He hated being reduced to these few hours a month where you two could be truly yourselves around each other.

He also knew that, realistically, the only one standing in the way of that was himself. Megumi took a deep breath, steadying himself and going back to enjoying this moment with you for as long as it lasted.

Eventually, you two decided you had been on this mission long enough. While you two got up from the grass, the demon dogs got rid of the cursed spirits and you met them at the edge of the veil as it slowly lifted, revealing Ijichi, waiting in his car as always.

The dogs sat on either side of you, patiently waiting, when the black one lightly nudged its head against your leg. Megumi felt his heart start to race and was about to release them but paused as he saw you crouch down. He wasn't quite sure how much you knew about shikigami but he had a hard time thinking much about it when you started petting the dog.

"Who's a good boy?" You cooed as you held the black dogs head between both of your hands. It made a little sound and tried to lick your face, earning a giggle from you. Megumi on the other hand sank into himself behind his collar, trying desperately to hide his embarrassment.

What neither of you saw was Ijichi taking a photo of the scene. Only later when he tried showing it to Gojo he remembered that shikigami don't appear in pictures. Gojo understood anyways, and almost burst Ijichis eardrums with the cheer he let out.

That same evening you were laying in bed when you heard a soft knock at your door. You weren't expecting anybody, and yet, when you opened the door to find Megumi you didn't feel all that surprised. He wordlessly held up a book and notebook and you let him in. The second the door was closed and locked you heard the books being tossed on your desk.

You barely had time to turn around before you felt Megumis arms snake around you and his head finding its spot on your shoulder. "I'm sorry." He sighed, holding you a little tighter and shaking his head slightly. "I can't do this anymore." You froze, eyes widening and a cold shiver running up your spine. Was he breaking up with you?

You grabbed him by the shoulders not-so-gently and pried him off of you. "Explain yourself." Megumi furrowed his brows in confusion before his expression fell, realising what it had sounded like. Even now you were like the sea: controlled, quiet, devastating.

Megumi pressed his eyes shut, unable to form words under your hard glare. "Hiding." The grip on his shoulder loosened ever so slightly. "I don't want to hide us anymore." He opened his eyes again to meet yours, seeing the tumultuous emotions behind them.

You let go of his shoulders and closed your eyes as you took a deep breath. When you looked at him again your eyes had lost barely any of the hardness. "Never. Do that again." You walked past him, glancing at the stuff he had dropped on your desk, deciding he brought it for the sake of plausible deniability.

"Sorry, this isn't how I wanted this to go." He said as he watched you walk over to your bed, stopping in front of it with your arms crossed in front of your chest. "You know I'm shit at expressing-" He cut himself for, not even able to say the word 'feelings'. You scoffed at that, turning around to look at him. "Yeah, you are."

When your eyes met his though, you realized how much he was trying. The fact that he was here in the first place was in itself astounding. He'd never done that before. You took another deep breath, letting your arms fall back down to your sides. With a little head-shake you decided to change the topic.

"Can I ask you something? Is it true what they say about shikigami? That they're not individuals but rather an extension of the sorcerer?" So you did know, great. Megumi felt his cheeks heat up again. He choked out a 'yes' which caused a giggle to escape you before you could stop yourself, causing his cheeks to heat up even more.

You stepped towards him, cupping one of his cheeks with your hand and watching him fight himself over fleeing from your touch or basking in it. A warm smile formed on your face as he settled on nestling his face in your hand, eyes pressed shut as if he was angry at himself for it. "You're cute when you're flustered."

He stilled, not daring to open his eyes, but clearly effected by your words. You gave him a kiss to the cheek you weren't holding before stepping back, not missing the moment of him chasing your touch for just a second before opening his eyes.

Megumi followed you with his eyes as you settled back into your bed before you invited him into it. "Let's just rest for now and talk about how to go about this tomorrow, yeah?" Megumi just hummed in agreement, already cuddling up to you, like you were the only thing that could keep him from freezing to death. For a guy who was so hellbent on appearing nonchalant he was ridiculously clingy.

When you woke up the next morning, still curled up in Megumis arms, you felt like the world was just right for once. You looked at his face with those beautiful lashes, for once peaceful, and whispered: "So, how do you plan to do this?" Megumi groaned, scrunching his nose up slightly. "I was hoping you'd forget about that." You blushed slightly at his morning voice and were grateful that he hadn't opened his eyes yet.

As you got ready for the day, Megumi sneaked out of your room, out of sight from everybody else. You chuckled slightly to yourself, wondering how this would play out. Today truly was the perfect day for something big. Some grant gesture to show everyone that you were a couple. It was Saturday and both classes, as well as Gojo, had agreed to go for a picnic.

You met the others outside the campus gate, ready to hike up the mountain for the picnic. On the way up there you strolled behind the others. Not for any particular reason, more out of habit of always keeping everyone in your line of sight.

After a little while Megumi fell back to match your pace. He didn't say a word but he walked just a tad bit closer to you than he normally would. What you didn't see was the courage Megumi was working up to do even just that. It went against every bit of his persona that he had build for himself. Against everything he wanted to be perceived as.

A few minutes before you reached the top of the mountain you felt Megumis hand brush against yours. Once, twice. Deliberately. Then once more, slower this time, catching your pinky finger with his own. It was a very sweet gesture. When you glanced over at him you saw him swallowing hard, holding onto his composure with all his might and seemingly forcing back the blush that was creeping up his neck through sheer willpower. You held onto his pinky a little tighter.

When the group finally made it up to the top and Panda and Toge began setting up the picnic blanket, Nobara turned around, starting to complain about something but stopping mid-word when she saw it. She made a sound of surprise, loud and unmistakable. Everybody turned to look at you and Megumi and you could feel him tense up next to you. This was his personal hell.

Maki looked between Nobara and you two. "What's the big deal, they're not even holding hands properly." Nobara turned to her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her slightly. "Are you kidding? For Megumi this is like… fully making out in front of us!" It took quite a bit of your own willpower not to laugh at that, because in a way, she was right.

It upset Megumi, though. Out of sheer spite, he huffed and grabbed your hand fully, looking more disgruntled than ever. Gojo didn't waste any time. You heard the click of his camera before you even fully realized what was going on. Yuji just stared at you two and your hands in deep thought. "How long has this been going on?"

Megumi didn't look at him when he answered. "Since before I met you." Nobara made another noise of disapproval. "Why didn't you tell us earlier? We wouldn't have tried to set you up with somebody else!" The look in his eyes was sharp. "I told you plenty of times not to do that."

Two weeks had passed since you had brought Toge the flavoured medicine. Every time he took some of it he heard your voice again, quietly whispering that you thought he was pretty. That single moment had burned itself into his mind and he was determined to chase that same high again.

You on the other hand had spent the first two days after locked in your room in embarrassment. It had taken a very confused Yuji and a very annoyed Nobara to drag you back out again. They took you to the city for some ramen where you met with Megumi and Nobara eventually tried to make you tell her everything that happened. Telling her was one thing, but with Yuji and Megumi there as well you wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and not look at anybody.

"It's not like we don't know you're into him." Megumi was as deadpan as ever, the statement draining all colour from your face. "The only thing I don't get is why you would lock yourself in your room. Did he reject you?" Yuji was asking genuinely but Nobara was quick to hit him for it anyways. You felt sick.

"I-," all of them brought their attention to you, "I'm not sure." Nobara nearly jumped on the table, the force of her hands making the decoration clink together. "WHAT??" Megumi just sighed while Yuji rubbed his chin in thought. "I don't get it." Nobara stood up straight and crossed her arms in front of her. "Yeah, me neither. There is no way he'd reject you. Hell, he'd be lucky to have you!"

You took a deep breath and started from the beginning, telling them everything that happened that day, only pausing to order food, ending with you running out on him before he could react. "It was so embarrassing! I've barely ever spoken to him and then I just drop something like that? He must think I'm so weird." With a thump your head landed on the table, the decoration clinking together once more.

"If anything, he's the weirdo, making you feed him the medicine like that." Megumi had pretended not to listen to your story but clearly that was just for show. He'd never admit to it but Megumi loved listening to other people's drama and judging everyone involved.

Yuji was deep in thought again. "Yeah, maybe. But it's also kind of… intimate, don't you think?" All three of you turned to look at him, silently asking him to elaborate. "Well, if we assume he also likes you, then wouldn't he…? I know I would do anything I could to be close to you, especially if I couldn't say it."

You felt your cheeks heat up again. "Do you really think so?" It took some effort not to sound too hopeful. Nobara nodded. "That actually makes a lot of sense. Let's assume that's why he did that and plan our next move." She grinned mischievously and you started to feel sick again when Megumi chimed in.

"Wouldn't it be on him to make the next move?" Nobara shook her head. "Absolutely not. You cannot trust a guy to have the balls for this sort of thing." If this hadn't been about you you would have laughed at that. The idea that you had the courage to do something like that again was ridiculous.

Thankfully, your conversation was abruptly ended when your ramen arrived and the four of you began eating. During the meal the three of them goofed around like they usually did, which actually made you feel a lot better.

To your surprise, Nobara barely brought the topic up again the following almost two weeks. You knew she was planning something, but it was easy to ignore the thought.

Especially on days like today. Since the day they had dragged you out of your room, the four of you had made an unsaid rule to go out to eat together every three days. You had been out for ramen again. As you were just finishing up your bowl you heard the familiar sound of Nobara receiving a text.

It wasn't unusual so you didn't pay it any mind. Although, if you had, you would have been a lot more suspicious over her trying to get you back to campus so quickly. The text she got was from Panda, asking if she knew where you were because Inumaki was looking for you. Nobara immediately put two and two together and told him that she'd have you back in 15 minutes.

When you got back you finally did notice how Nobara was steering you four towards the second-years, who were gathered under a tree near the dorms. You turned to her with pleading eyes but she just smirked at you, not stopping for a second. The boys behind you suddenly felt like a massive wall pushing you forward.

Once you were within earshot Nobara called out to them. "Hey guys!" There was no turning back now, as Maki, Panda and Inumaki turned towards the four of you. Inumaki quickly got up from the grass, followed by Panda, who you saw saying something to him that was too quiet to hear.

"We haven't seen you guys in days, where have you been?" Maki greeted your group, although she sounded as uninterested as ever. "Good to see you too, Zenin." Megumi replied sarcastically. "I told you to stop calling me that!" You didn't hear how their conversation continued because you caught Inumaki's eyes focused on you.

"Kelp." His voice sounded healthy again, which made you smile. "Hey, you sound good!" A pause that felt a lot longer than it was spread. Inumaki just blinked at you while Panda tried to hide his grin by joining the others, who had conveniently also gone quiet. They didn't want to miss anything, unlike you two, who didn't even notice their staring.

"I-I mean. You sound well. Better. Than last time." You felt your cheeks heat up again and you hated it. "Salmon." A small sigh of relief left you, the smile back on your face. Inumaki's mind was running wild. Seeing you in front of him was enough to throw him off but hearing you say that and seeing you smile at him like that? He was entranced.

Next to you two the others were just about ready to shake you both the longer you just stared at each other. Panda mouthed the words "Come on. Just like we practised." and Nobara next to him looked like she was about to explode trying not to just push you into him.

Toge found his voice again just as your smile started to turn a little uncertain. "Tuna." With that he held his hand out to you. Your eyebrows moved together slightly as you tried to understand him. "Tuna, as in, 'look'?" He turned his head to the side and moved his hand more towards you for emphasis. "Tuna." So that wasn't quite it.

You looked down at his hand and saw it trembling slightly. Without really thinking about it you raised your own hand, but you stopped yourself right before taking his. "Tuna, as in… 'take my hand'?"

This was hell, Toge wanted to scream. That's not what he meant, but it is what he wanted you to do. He was still debating what to say when he felt your hand in his, ripping him out of his thoughts. Your hand felt warm against his and he already never wanted to let go.

With the way his hand was shaking you were curious if it would be cold. It was. But it was nice, a calming sensation against your own rising temperature. You watched how your own hand fit into his before looking up at him again, only to find him already staring at you, eyes wide.

You were starting to wonder if he was more nervous about this than you were and the thought made you chuckle slightly. "Now what?" The words came out between the soft laughter, that damn smile on your lips again. It took everything in Toge to stay half composed. He tugged at your hand ever so gently, barely noticeable. "Tuna."

"Ah, I get it. Tuna, as in, 'I want to show you something', right?" Toge nodded his head, the smile he hid behind his collar evident in his voice. "Salmon, Salmon." You gripped his hand a little firmer and Toge felt his knees turn to pudding. "Lead the way."

As the two of you walked away the rest of your classmates collectively breathed out the breath they had been holding in. Nobara was the first to speak up. "Those two are insufferable! I have never seen anyone more obviously in love than them."

"But they're so cute together." Panda cooed, earning an annoyed growl from Maki. "If I ever end up all lovey-dovey like that just shoot me." Megumi didn't even turn to her. "Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen." This had Maki steaming, shouting "What's that supposed to mean?" and trying to hit him, which Megumi dodged.

Inumaki and you didn't notice any of that, the heartbeats in your ears drowning out most other noises. Neither of you said anything as you turned another corner revealing the flowers where you two had first met. You gasped at the sight, taking a couple of steps forward and letting go of Inumaki's hand in the process.

He thought about catching up and grabbing your hand again, unwilling to let that moment end, but dropped the thought when you turned around to him, beaming from ear to ear. "They're even more impressive than I remember! You make such a good gardener."

Toge felt his cheeks turn pink which made him sink deeper into his collar. He averted his eyes, knowing he couldn't handle your amused reaction to him. "Tuna." He said quietly, pointing at the petunias. You followed where he was pointing but only saw the flowers you had already seen. Yes, you would look at them some more, but you felt like that's not what he meant.

You turned back to him, a confused expression on your face. "Tuna Tuna." He seemed adamant about you looking at the flowers some more, so you stepped closer. Then you saw it, tucked between some gorgeous pink flowers you found a sheet of paper, neatly folded. You picked it up and turned back to him.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" By now Inumaki had sunken so deep into his collar you could barely see his eyes looking anywhere but at yours. He nodded, not trusting his voice. God, he felt pathetic. He didn't even have to say it, you would just read it. Why was he so nervous? Why was his heart pounding so loudly in his chest he could barely hear your question? He shut his eyes as you started to unfold the paper.

You're prettier.

The message was short but clear. You immediately felt your cheeks heat up again as you looked up to find him still pressing his eyes shut, clearly scared of your reaction.

With a soft smile on your lips you stepped closer to him until you stood right in front of him. You carefully took both of his hands into yours, holding them between the two of you. You could feel him trembling slightly under your touch as he slowly opened his eyes to look at you.

A sudden surge of boldness overcame you and you raised both of your hands higher, bringing his to your lips to plant a little kiss on each one. He stilled completely, only breathing out a soft "Caviar." You laughed at how cute he was. It was all you could do to stop yourself from crushing him in a big hug.

You both jumped slightly as you heard a loud but soft thud, followed by Nobara's voice. "Panda, you idiot, we were supposed to stay silent." Panda got up and brushed some loose grass from his fur. "It's not my fault they're so adorable, I lost my balance."

Inumaki furrowed his brows as he turned to his friend, taking his hands from yours in the process. "Fish Flakes! Caviar! Tuna mayo!" He was clearly very upset and yet you couldn't help but chuckle as you watched him try to push Panda away, who turned to you like this was the most normal thing in the world.

"We were thinking about all getting some milkshakes if you guys want to come with." You looked at Inumaki, who was slumped to the ground, clearly giving up. "I'd be up for that. What about you, Toge?" He froze. This was the first time you had called him by his first name and he never wanted to hear you call him anything else. "Salmon."

Later, you sat between Toge and Panda as everyone sipped their drinks. Panda slapped his forehead as he remembered something. "Oh, right. I meant to ask you something." You took the straw from your mouth. "Sure, what is it?"

"Toge mentioned that, back then when you visited him, there was a moment where you… for a lack of a better word… stared at his markings." Toge next to you stopped breathing for a moment, debating with himself whether he wanted to hear this or run away. "What were you thinking back then?" He stayed seated.

"Oh, it's, haha, a little, um… how do I even say this, you know those youtube clickbait arrows?" All your other classmates turned to look at you with expressions somewhere between confusion and disgust. "I was kind of thinking they were pointing to his mouth, as if to say," your voice turned quieter with every word you said, more and more embarrassed by your own thoughts, "kiss here."