There's yelling everywhere, paint along with concrete splattered with blood that is both fresh and yet also dried. Pain finds itself radiating through Itadori's body, and he isn't sure how he's moving. Isn't sure that nothing is broken because something feels broken, but he can't place where. He's struggling enough to separate voices by the owner, trying to listen for voices that he knows.
The sky is dark and gray, clouds filling almost every inch of it to cover any sight of the moon, weather turning colder just like some of the motionless bodies lying on the ground. Some have been mangled to be borderline unidentifiable, and some are ones he knows too well. But when he hears a voice that he was looking for, but in a way that he didn't want to hear it, his blood runs cold.
And before he knows it, he's forcing himself to sprint to where he can hear Megumi's voice. And he freezes because Megumi looks worse for wear and it's so clear injuries are beyond saving. But it wasn't fair. Megumi always deserved so much more. He never deserved to have this life, to be so close to losing everything in this kind of way. The way blood stains his skin over his face and any visible skin through tears and rips of missing fabric of the uniform.
The next thing he remembers, Megumi's talking to him. Going on about not forgetting him, but that's it. Then everything goes quiet. Or rather, he isn't hearing it over the ringing growing louder in his ears now. Even as he can feel Megumi's body weaken more and more in his arms.
And he's jolting up in a cold sweat in his bed, the only light of his room coming in through blinds blocking out a clear moonlit sky. His heart feels like it's going to beat out of his chest. His breathing feels like he can't get enough air in his lungs. There's tear lines running over his cheeks, his eyes wettened with tears. It's minutes later before he can find any energy to quietly get up, quietly sneak over to Megumi's room to peek open the door, and quietly shut it before dragging a blanket and pillow with him to get comfortable on the floor beside Megumi's bed.
At least this way, he can hear him if he should wake up again. Hopefully, Yuuji can be up before Megumi notices. But there's something peaceful about being able to know Megumi is right there. He's still alive and breathing, and he's okay. Eventually, he does fall asleep again, peacefully for the moment.
Until the nightmares start up again, plaguing his mind once more for the night.
Fidgeting with his clothes would only give away that something was amiss, so Megumi merely stretched out the elastic sleeves of his hoodie repeatedly ... a totally casual and normal action. ❛ Itadori... Do you ever have dreams that keep you up? You know ... weird dreams? ❜
Itadori glances up at Fushiguro from where he's sprawled out on the couch, tilting his head with a hum as he thinks the question over. "Weird dreams?.. Uh.. Depends what ya define as 'weird', I guess." With someone like Itadori, that was vague, after all. Considering he was the type that had eaten a cursed finger and only had to comment on how it tasted gross. And the fact he had even accepted the death punishment in line for him once the fingers were all retrieved. "I mean.. sometimes, though. Like once, I was being chased by this huuuuge worm! I tried crawling into a vent but I couldn't fit, and apparently the thing could change size-"
Pausing, Itadori thinks it over. "Oh wait, or do you mean the other kind of weird? Like you wake up with your stomach feeling like it's in knots and you're sort of sweaty and your mind is racing and your heart's beating like, really, really fast! And even yet, you realize you had someone in the dream that you realize could totally be awkward if they ever knew!.. Those kind of dreams?"
[text] Already tried.
[text] Can't fall asleep.
[text] And I know you don't sleep all that much either.
[text] Come on, you're telling me there's no questions in your head about the world that make you really wonder?
❛ We can do anything you want for your birthday, Itadori. It's not right that everyone was so busy. It'll even be my treat. ❜ A once in a lifetime offer, and honestly, Yuuji deserved it and more.
Yuuji blinked, glancing at Megumi after he spoke. There was silence for a few moments, Yuuji having to remind himself when his birthday even was since it felt like just another day. Especially given he didn't know day by day if he would be granted the next. But.. what did Fushiguro mean it wasn't right? They were sorcerers, it wasn't like they could choose when to have a mission or something come up. "Oh, it's fine, really Fushiguro. I get it. Plus I just ended up staying up late and watching movies, I don't think I really made any plans." 'Because I can't say I expected to see this birthday.'
"I appreciate the offer though, since I know you don't really offer that kind of thing too often. But you don't have to make up for it or anything. Or we can give something you wanna do a shot, instead. Like I said, I hadn't really thought about anything to do.." He partially feels bad. Fushiguro had made the offer, would it seem like Yuuji wasn't interested? But he doubted anything he wanted to do would really even interest Megumi. Though, bonding time would be nice in a way since they all had been so busy for a bit. Almost felt like they were strangers sometimes.
Megumi sits down beside Yuuji and releases a sigh, subtly asking for attention.
Yuuji turns from scrolling mindlessly on his phone, watching as Megumi takes a spot beside him for once. Locking the screen, he gives the onyx haired male his attention instead with a smile. "Yo, Megumi. I'm surprised you're not busy with something. You bored? We can go find somethin' to do if you want. Or we can chill here if you don't wanna deal with others."
❛ Itadori . . I received this free piece of strawberry cake by accident. You can have it if you want. Christmas and all . . ❜
Itadori blinked as Megumi handed over the piece of cake in the container. "Seriously? Sweet! That's awesome, Fushiguro! I really appreciate it." Taking the container, Itadori smiled widely in appreciation at the gesture. Sure, it was simple, but little things mattered and in this case, it was Fushiguro showing he had thought about Itadori out of nowhere. But, even as naive as he may seem majority of the time, some of the words clicked in his mind.
Free.
Accident.
"Tell you what, how about we share it? I dunno if you like strawberry, but sharing never hurts! Plus christmas is all about sharing and all, right? So let's share it! There's a cafe nearby down at the end of the road on the way back to the school so I'm sure we could pop in and grab an extra fork. Plus some drinks if we need one or anything."
The human body was a fickle thing. It was almost amusing how easily someone could be put out of commission by something major as a disease or serious injury, or as something minor as just staying outside in the cold on a rainy day a little too long. An illness or disease wearing down on your body made sense, but staying outside was a bit ridiculous.
Yuuji was horrible about not heeding warnings, and that was something everyone who knew him was pretty sure about. But, as much as they went out on missions at times, it wasn't as if he could always seek shelter during a heavy thunderstorm, or if the nights got cold unexpectedly, of course, the hoodie of his uniform would only work so well for protection against the elements. Though he had dealt with worse, such as eating a cursed finger that would only serve to change the rest of his life.. however long that ended up being, so surely it wouldn't be that easy to take him down, right?.. Right?
Except that wasn't the case. The plan for the day was to get some training in and make sure they were all still on their toes and not getting rusty in between missions and all. However, it was short-lived when everything in his vision turned black and his body met with the ground beneath him. Yuuji thought nothing of waking up with chills, thinking he had just uncovered himself from the blankets in his sleep, and assuming the soreness beginning in his throat was from the yelling he had a tendency to do.
Through the day, he had begun to feel worse but kept quiet, simply thinking of it as unimportant. The next time that he opened his eyes, he could feel himself lying in his bed, a cold washcloth over his forehead helping to cool him down. He never did understand how it made sense to sweat during a fever despite being cold from it at the same time. As much as he wanted to sit up and insist he was fine, his head was starting to pound and his body felt like he hadn't moved in weeks.
"How long was I out?…" “Sleep, I’ll be right here.” Sleep sounded amazing, actually. "Mhm.. Thanks, Fushiguro.. I actually really appreciate that… Sorry for being a bother like this.."
