synopsis: yuji overhears your conversation with nobara and descends into a sulk over a misunderstanding
You hadn't even meant it as a bad thing.
The remark had slipped off your tongue without a second thought when you'd been with Nobara in your apartment, wrapped up together on the couch in every fluffy blanket you could gather like two caterpillars cocooned on the couch. You two had been deep in conversation about this cute boy who'd asked for her number at a café, and amidst the swooning and delusional fantasising, you'd known the topic of your own relationship had been bound to come up.
"Soo, tell me about youu," Nobara teased, poking your shoulder teasingly. "How's our resident birdbrain doing at his boyfriend duties?”
You’d beamed before answering, the thought of the pink haired boy automatically drawing a smile to your face.
“Yuji’s amazinggg," you gushed happily. "He buys me flowers every week, he gets me mochi whenever I ask, he lets me steal his hoodies, he even matches outfit colours with me when we go on dates and I- I don't even know he's so perfectt, Nobara, like, I don't know what I did to deserve him, he's just so - so -so ughghgh I just wanna kiss his stupid face all the time and-,"
"Okay, okay we get it [Name], you're down BAD ," Nobara cut you off with a laugh, squeezing your face between her hands to get you to quiet down, at which you let out little embarrassed groans. "That sounds great for you and all," she continued, "but Yuji reminds me of a literal puppy. I think I need my man to be kinda... mean."
Your conversation had drifted, and amidst your girl talk, you'd both conveniently forgotten that you were, in fact, in the same company of the boy you'd just been gushing over
And it also seemed awfully convenient that the only muffled words he'd heard after taking off his gaming headset was your response to Nobara:
"Okay Miss Masochist," you both chuckled as she elbowed you in the ribs. "But I see what you mean, Yuji's superr clingy - a total softie; I don't think there's a single hard bone in his body."
Yuji, who'd been making his way to your room to check in on you, had stopped in his tracks, heart fluttering rapidly as he pressed his ear to the door, quiet insecurity starting to seep through his body.
Your tone hadn't held any malice, or even the remotest traces of a complaint - but the comment had planted a seed of doubt regardless.
Yuji quietly retraced his steps back to his room, slightly numb, letting the words play over in his head like a broken record. He collapsed backwards on the bed, the sounds of the video game still open on his screen fading into the backgrounds as the volume of his thoughts took over.
Was he too soft? Too clingy?
He'd never really held back openly displaying his affection for you. Peppering kisses over your face, squeezing your hand when you were walking in public, wrapping his arms around your waist whenever he saw you - it had all been a part of your relationship from the start.
You'd never seemed uncomfortable with him before this; he'd always thought you'd always reciprocated with equal enthusiasm - but maybe he'd misread the situation.
Maybe you wanted someone more reserved, more tough?
He imagined how he'd have to change to seem colder, and the thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. It simply wasn't in his nature to be anything but gentle and tender towards those he adored - and you were at the top of that list.
He groaned, dragging his hands down his face - he really shouldn't let a single comment get to him this much. He was sure if there was an issue that was serious enough, you would come talk to him about it - so there really wasn't anything for him to worry about. He sighed, shaking his head to clear it and forced himself into his gaming chair.
But his focus still drifted even as he played, your words still nagging at the back of his mind even a couple hours after, when Nobara had left, and three quiet knocks sounded on his door.
A soft voice followed, calling out "Yuji? You there?"
He paused for a moment before answering in an intentionally flat monotone.
He turned half heartedly to face the door as you pushed it open. You stood there, hair a mess with strands falling loose from your scruffy bun, a blanket wrapped around your shoulders, trailing on the floor, and a half eaten packet of chocolate cereal clutched in your left hand. His heart softened instantly, momentarily forgetting his hurt as he took in your soft appearance.
There was a slight smile on your face.
"Nobara just left, so I thought I'd come find you," you said, waddling over to him, dragging the blanket with you and plopping yourself down on his bed. "Wanna eat Coco Pops with me?"
The mention of Nobara soured Yuji's mood, reminding him of your conversation, and he turned back to face his monitor screen.
Your brows furrowed slightly at his curt response, but you didn't push, setting the cereal down beside you, leaning forward slightly to observe his screen.
Fifteen minutes passed in silence, save for the quiet clicking of his mouse. Everything about the situation was so unlike Yuji, so you tried making conversation again to bring back a semblance of normalcy.
"Soo," you started in a bright voice, attempting to ease the tension in the room, "what've you been up to?"
There was a short pause, before he answered in a dry tone.
"The one Fushiguro's always beating you at?"
You were frowning openly now.
You'd suspected that something was wrong when you'd first entered the room, but with your conjecture now confirmed, you began running through all your recent interactions with Yuji, wondering if you'd somehow completely missed this change in behaviour.
"Yuji?" you asked, your voice tentative. You really had no idea what to say, you'd never seen him so closed off before. “Is everything - is everything ok?”
“I’m fine.” Yuji turned to you almost exasperated, his voice cold and closed off at which you shrunk back physically at the unfamiliar tone.
His eyes softened with guilt, and his lips parted slightly, as if he was considering saying something, but then he pressed them together into a flat line and turned away.
You sighed, disappointed at your boyfriends’s sudden aversion to communication and you waited, sitting quietly in the hopes he would change his mind. Ten minutes passed in silence, as you watched the animated character on screen repeatedly get shot down, before you decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.
You slinked up from your place on the bed, quietly making your way behind Yuji's gaming chair. If he noticed your movement, he didn't display any acknowledgement, keeping his eyes trained on the screen in front of him.
You paused behind his chair for a second, unable to help grinning as you purposely created suspense, before throwing your arms around his neck in an exaggerated movement, and pressing your cheek against his.
He stiffened under your touch, but you didn't loosen your hold, instead squishing your face further into his cheek.
"Yujiii," you hummed sweetly, "Tell me what's wrongg."
He didn't answer, but he didn't try to push you off either, which you took as a good sign. You frowned slightly, amping up your efforts by turning your face and pressing a long kiss to his cheeks.
"Yuu, talk to mee." Another kiss on the cheek. "Don't be sulkyy." Kiss on the forehead. "Did I do something?" Kiss on the nose.
He didn't say anything for a second, before gently grabbing on to your wrists, loosening your hold around his neck. He turned to look at you, and his honey brown eyes were filled with doubt, a small pout on his face.
"Do you think I'm too soft? Too clingy?"
You stared at him in shock, mouth agape as you attempted to process his words, stumbling over your own as you try to gage what prompted this.
"I- Yuji- of course not, why would you, did I- did I make you feel that way?"
He didn't answer, his eyes searching your face, and you only hoped he could see the sincere alarm in your words. You racked your brain for what you could've done, could've said - when the realisation finally dawned on you.
"Oh Yuji," you whispered gently, as if approaching a startled animal. "Did you hear me talking to Nobara?"
He nodded almost imperceptibly, his eyes impossibly dulled and you cupped his face gently to face him towards you.
"And is that all you heard?"
He looked at you sceptically, and you rushed to correct yourself and assure him.
"I mean - did you hear the rest of the conversation. The part where I said you were amazing."
A faint blush rose to his cheeks, but you were nowhere near finished.
"Where I said how much I love the flowers you get me. Eating mochi with you. Wearing your clothes. Matching outfits on dates. Hmm, you didn't hear all that?"
He shook his head no, now embarrassed about not clearing this confusion up sooner. You weren't done yet though.
"I bet you didn't hear the part where I said you were perfect. That I didn't know what I did to deserve you." You dropped your voice. "That I wanna kiss you silly all the time."
You began making good on your words, peppering kitten kisses all over his face which kept getting redder and redder, until he finally grasped your jaw and met your lips with his own. You smiled, against his lips, before pulling away to regard him with tender eyes.
You made your way around the chair to seat yourself on his lap, the blanket wrapping over the both of you, the game long forgotten on the computer screen.
You tangled a hand in his hair, angling his face so he was looking down at you.
"And yes I said you were soft, and clingy. But that's not a bad thing, and I like- no I love that about you. I wouldn't want you any other way."
You pinched his pink cheeks.
"Yuji Itadori, you are the perfect boyfriend," you declared grandly, as if at an awards ceremony. "My perfect boyfriend."
His hands came around your waist to hold you tight and he nuzzled closer, placing his chin on your shoulder.
"Besides, it's not like I'm any less sensitive. If you were any meaner to me I'd probably burst into tears every time you looked at me."
He hummed in agreement, and you were glad he'd finally decided to break his silent treatment.
"Good," he muttered eventually. "I don't think I could be mean to you even if I tried."
You laughed, wrapping the blanket tighter around you both.
"And anyways," you said, letting your fingers trace down from his shoulders, feeling the defined muscles under the tight compression shirt, before trailing much, much lower. "You're much harder where you need to be."
His voice took on a much higher pitch, and his face heated up even more than before, making you burst out laughing.
You steadied yourself on his biceps, catching your breath as you wiped the tears forming at your eyes at his reaction.
"You're so cute Yuji I can't- I was talking about these arms obviously," you managed, giving the biceps an experimental squeeze, still giggling at his horrified face.
"Don't act all that innocent - you knew exactly what you were doing," he returned, pressing his nose against yours.
He looked at you lovingly, your hand still on his biceps, and then tensed them slightly so that the muscles bulged against your fingers. He smiled as you giggle, lightly running your nails over them before suddenly turning to him in utmost seriousness.
Yuji braced himself - you had the expression you get when the most unhinged statements were about to leave your prettily shaped lips.
