Morning Bright Goodnight Shadow Machine — Itafushi fic
AU — College/University, Modern Setting.
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Chapter 1: You're a bad idea (but a real good time)
Maki had heard about the party two days earlier. She was leaning back in the chair with that sharp, satisfied look she got whenever she knew something the others did not.
“Miwa told me,” she said, tapping her phone against the table. “Big one. Everyone’s going.”
Megumi did not even look up from his notes. “Pass.”
Panda groaned immediately. “You didn’t even hear the details.”
“I heard enough,” Megumi replied, tone flat, pen still moving. “I don’t like half the people hosting it. I’m not interested.”
Maki rolled her eyes. “You’re acting like they’re personally inviting you to fight.”
“They usually do.”
“That’s because you have a face people want to fight.”
Megumi finally looked up, flat. “I have work to do. I’m already behind.”
Yuta glanced up from across the table, soft but firm. “You’ve been studying for how many days straight? When’s the last time you even left your room?”
“That reminds me, why are you all in my room? Please leave,” Megumi said.
“Because we love our dearest kohai,” Maki shot back, resting her chin on her hand as she watched him. “You’re coming.”
“No.”
Panda leaned in, grinning. “There will be free food.”
“No.”
“Free drinks,” Maki added.
“Still no.”
Yuta smiled faintly. “You look exhausted, Fushiguro.”
That made Megumi pause for a second.
Toge, sitting beside Panda, lifted his hands and signed: “You need a break.”
Megumi exhaled through his nose.
Maki didn’t let up. “If you hate it, we leave early. Simple.”
Silence stretched for a moment. Then Megumi set his pen down.
“…Fine.”
Panda immediately whooped. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
“Wear something decent,” Maki added, pointing at him. “Casual, but nice.”
Megumi frowned slightly. “I’m always dressed nicely.”
Toge tilted his head and signed with a small, unimpressed shrug: “Debatable.”
Maki snorted.
The house is exactly what you would expect from a campus party that everyone somehow knows about. Too loud before you even stepped inside. The place was large, and still clearly not meant to hold this many people. And yet it did anyway.
Inside, music pulsed through the walls, bass heavy enough to feel in their ribs. Lights flickered in warm tones, mismatched lamps and cheap LEDs casting uneven color across crowded rooms. Students spilled through every doorway, voices overlapping, laughter sharp and constant. Someone had dragged speakers into the living room. The kitchen was packed shoulder to shoulder, counters lined with bottles and red cups, sticky floors already indicating that something had been spilled more than once.
Megumi stopped just inside the doorway, taking it in with a faint crease between his brows. It looked exactly like the kind of party Megumi avoided. Like the kind of place Megumi avoided, in general.
“Let’s go,” Maki said, already moving forward. “Let’s get a drink.”
Todo’s voice carried over the music somewhere deeper in the house, loud and unmistakable. Miwa waved excitedly when she spotted them.
“Maki! You made it!” she said, bright, a little flushed. She was wearing a soft blue dress, simple but neat, like she tried to look nice without overthinking it. “I didn’t think you’d actually come.”
“I said I would.”
Miwa’s gaze flicks to the rest of them. “Fushiguro, you came too?”
“Unfortunately,” Megumi mutters.
From somewhere behind Miwa, Todo’s voice cuts through everything.
“IS HE NOT HERE YET?”
Several people groaned.
Mai snorted. “He’s already insufferable.”
Todo appeared a second later anyway, towering, loud, wearing a tight shirt that showed off entirely too much muscle, and a grin that was somehow both welcoming and aggressive.
“Okkotsu,” he said, turning towards him, then looking at Megumi. “You.”
“Todo.”
“Your taste in women—” Todo started immediately.
“Nope. Not doing this,” Megumi cut him off, already turning away.
Panda started laughing.
Near the kitchen, Kamo stood straighter than everyone else, dressed neatly, composed even in a party setting. He nodded politely as they passed.
“Fushiguro,” he said. “Good to see you.”
“Kamo,” Megumi replied, forcing himself to be equally polite.
Mai was leaning against the counter nearby, drink in hand, sharp eyes taking them in. “You brought Fushiguro,” she said to her sister. “Didn’t expect that.”
“Neither did he,” Maki answered.
Muta was half-hidden near the speakers, adjusting something with the music, hoodie up, barely acknowledging anyone. Nishimiya passed with a drink, waving quickly at them.
The whole house felt alive in a way that was almost overwhelming. Megumi already looked like he regretted coming.
They settled near the edge of the kitchen, claiming a bit of space against the counter. Megumi poured himself a tonic, careful not to touch anything on the already sticky surface.
Maki glanced at him. “Not even a drop of alcohol?” she said, watching him over the rim of her cup.
“I just got here.”
Yuta smiled faintly. “It’s fine if he doesn’t want to drink.”
“You never drink anything,” she went on, tone light but pointed. “What, are you afraid you’ll do something you regret?”
Megumi glanced at her, unimpressed. “I don’t need alcohol to make bad decisions.”
Panda let out a laugh.
Maki’s smile sharpened. “Please. It’s not like you’d have the courage to approach anyone anyway.”
That earned her a pause.
Megumi’s fingers tightened slightly around his cup. “So that’s what this is about?”
Yuta shifted, sensing the turn. “Maki—”
“What?” she said, not looking away from Megumi. “Am I wrong?”
Toge leaned forward just enough to catch Megumi’s eye and signed quickly: “She’s provoking you.”
Megumi knew that. He could ignore it. He definitely should ignore it. Instead, he set his cup down, then added a little too much of the first spirit he could grab.
“…What’s the bet?”
Panda perked up instantly. “Oh, here we go.”
Maki didn’t hesitate. “Make out with someone before the night ends.”
Yuta covered his face briefly. “That’s—”
“That’s easy,” Panda said, delighted.
“Wait,” Megumi added. “What do I get?”
“If you do that, I owe you one. Anything. No backing out.”
Panda let out a low whistle. “Oh wow.”
Megumi pondered for a second. “Alright.”
Megumi’s gaze flicked across the room, scanning without really meaning to.
Maki followed it, then pointed, casual but precise. “Like… that guy. Pink hair, in the yellow hoodie.”
Across the room, the man was easy to spot, bright even in a crowded space. He was laughing openly at something the girl next to him was saying, shoulders relaxed, completely at ease.
The girl, wearing a fitted top and a leather skirt—a ‘stylish without even trying’ look—was gesturing animatedly, drink in hand.
“How do you know that’s not his girlfriend?”
“I just do,” she answered curtly. “He seems like your type,” Maki added.
Megumi looked at him for a second longer than necessary.
“I don’t have a—” he let out a sigh. “You know what? Fine.”
Panda nearly dropped his drink. “Oh God.”
Maki raised a brow. “You’re serious?”
Megumi picked up his cup again and took a longer drink this time. “You said before the night ends.”
Toge signed, quick and sharp: “Respect.”
He set the now-empty cup down.
“I need a cigarette.”
Maki immediately pushed off the counter. “You’re stalling.”
“I’m not.”
“You are,” she insisted, following him toward the door.
Outside, the air was cooler, quieter. The noise from inside dulled to a distant thrum. Megumi lit the cigarette, inhaled, and exhaled slowly.
Maki leaned against the railing, watching him. “You can still back out.”
“I won’t.”
She studied him for a moment, then huffed a quiet laugh. “Watever. ‘S up to you.”
He finished the cigarette faster than usual, flicked it away, and headed back inside.
“Come on,” Maki said, pushing off the railing, clearly entertained now. “I want to see this.”
Yuji was mid-sentence, gesturing animatedly. “There’s no way I’ll do that. I’m perfectly fine—”
He stopped. Nobara’s eyes had gone wide, fixed on something behind him.
“What?” Yuji asked, turning slightly.
He turned at Nobara’s sudden silence, still half-smiling from whatever he had been saying.
Someone was standing closer than expected, enough to cut into his space without bumping into him.
He registered the black hair first, a little messy but not careless. Then the sharp green eyes, steady and unreadable.
The guy didn’t look drunk. That was the first thing Yuji noticed, oddly enough. He looked present and calm. Not like the relaxed, easy kind Yuji was used to seeing at parties, but something quieter, more contained. Like everything about him was deliberate, from the way he stood to the way he held Yuji’s gaze without wavering.
Yuji became suddenly aware that Nobara had gone very still beside him.
Behind the guy, a group hovered at a distance, watching. One girl with glasses and a sharp posture, a tall guy barely holding back laughter, another covering his face, and someone else signing something, eyes locked on the scene.
Yuji blinked once, trying to catch up.
The guy in front of him didn’t look away.
“Hey,” he said, voice steady.
Yuji blinked, surprised but not alarmed. “Oh, uh… hey?”
Megumi met his eyes. “You into men?”
Yuji processed, then nodded, a little uncertain but honest. “Uhm, yeah?”
“Wanna make out?”
A beat.
Yuji shrugged, easy as anything. “Okay.”
Nobara’s expression shifted, in a mix of shocked and sharply interested. Her gaze flicked past Megumi for a second, spotting Maki across the room. Recognition sparked immediately. She stepped aside without a word, already moving toward the girl, curiosity winning out. “You set this up?” she asked as she joined them.
Maki smirked. “Obviously.”
“Nice,” Nobara said, satisfied, turning back to watch.
Megumi didn’t waste time.
He reached out, hand coming up to Yuji’s jaw, firm but not rough, giving him just enough time to pull back if he wanted to.
Yuji didn’t.
So Megumi leaned in and kissed him.
He didn’t rush. Yuji made a soft sound of surprise at first, then settled into it, one hand coming up instinctively to Megumi’s waist. The noise of the party blurred around them, voices fading under the steady rhythm of the music.
Megumi adjusted slightly, closer now.
Yuji leaned into it without overthinking, open and responsive, like he did everything else.
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