Should ¥XX,000,000 Make Fushiguro's Shit Worth It? - ch. 1
༄ synopsis - Being Toji Fushiguro's in-house private solicitor may pay well, but recently you're reconsidering if the pay makes all the stress (read: Toji himself) worth it. At this point, with all the less-than-legal actions Toji commits on the regular, you're practically a certified mob lawyer. [ full synopsis ]
༄ series tags - toji fushiguro x reader; lawyer! reader; no curses; yakuza/organised crime; violence; explicit content; dilf! toji; tags to be added
༄ wc - 5.8k
<< teaser || ch. 2 >>
( う-´)づ︻╦̵̵̿╤── \(˚☐˚”)/
“You know, you really shouldn’t smoke.”
High-heeled shoes clicked against the floor of the rundown bar, a sagging tote filled to the brim with court documents unceremoniously plopping onto the barstool next to Toji Fushiguro’s lone frame. The bartender didn’t even greet you, knowing you weren’t here to drink but just to fetch Toji.
A hand intercepted the fresh cigarette in Toji’s hand. So fresh, he hadn’t even had the chance to set down the lighter.
He turned to you, raising a brow. The incredulous look on his face increased by two more points at the sight of the cigarette now in between your lips. You inhaled the nicotine, tugging the cigarette from your parted lips to blow the haze out with a tilted head. The tenseness in your face relaxed as the sensation of the drug entered your system.
You rarely, if ever, smoked, but the recent events really did call for it.
“You’re smoking my cigarette.” You had been working with Fushiguro long enough to know when he was actually annoyed, and this was nowhere close.
You rolled your eyes, snuffing the cigarette out on the ashtray next to Toji. “With all the stress you give me, I need it more than you.” A pause. Maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say. “And you shouldn’t smoke anyway, you’re the one with the kid.”
“I could put a kid in you, easy enough.” Toji smirked.
Externally, you looked as unperturbed as ever, ignoring his quip to rifle for his document in your tote. That was what you were here for, afterall. Externally, you were the image of a perfectly professional lawyer.
Internally, you had just creamed your underwear.
--
The first time you met Toji Fushiguro, it was through the second encounter with his son: Megumi. You say second, well, because you’d met Megumi before when his bike had crashed into the side of your parked and stationary car on Sugisawa Lane.
Given that the meetings were only a week apart, it wasn’t too difficult for you to recall how the events had unfolded.
“Motherfucker-!” Someone cursed, almost in tandem with a jostling abrupt impact at the side of your car. It was moments like these where you were reminded that in times when most people deliberated between flight and fright, you were an outlier and chose to freeze.
You tear your eyes away from where they had been fixed onto the mirror, carefully focused on navigating yourself into this tight parking spot, and slowly turn your attention out the window. Just nestled underneath was a teen sprawled disgracefully over the road, legs all sprayed.
He was dressed in the uniform of the local middle school nearby: a white buttoned shirt, a jacket, black pants. With hair that spikes out in every direction, he has an uncanny resemblance to the sea urchins your grandmother used to bring from the wet market. The urchins that you would watch split orange-tinged liquid all over the sink. Hmm…
As the student rubs said spiky hair, wincing all the while, your vision slowly pans towards the banged up bike next to him. No doubt the culprit behind a fresh dent in your car.
Wait- middle school uniform? Your mind catches up to the observation you made.
The stream of expletives from his mouth finally clarify into real words in your mind, now morphing into a variety of legible curses ranging from ‘motherfucker’ to ‘dogshit piece of shit’. Privately, you thought, the last one lacked creativity. Really? Dogshit piece of shit? But you had more pressing issues.
“Watch your mouth, kid,” you frown, unclipping your seatbelt. If he’s in middle school, that puts him at thirteen, at the very oldest.
Almost instinctively, he retorts a petulant, “make me.” Then, realisation that he’s the one in the wrong here dawns on him and he flushes. “I mean- sorry, miss.”
You sigh. From the sound (and the feeling) of the crash, you would have to inspect the damage on the side of your car yourself.
Your new car!
There’s an all-too familiar little wail in your heart. You’d heard it when you paid your law school tuition, you heard it when you found out that your tuition hadn’t covered your graduation gown or other expenses, and you heard it when you had put the down payment on this brand! New! Car!
Admittedly, ‘brand new’ might have been a stretch. The car was comfortably second hand. But you had just acquired it! It had barely been two weeks and a kid scrapes it up with his bike? It was brand new to you!
“You alright?” You have the dedency to ask. The car door clicks as it opens, prompting the pre-teen to shuffle out the way. He’s grimacing. “Crash sounded bad.”
At this point, you’ve tuned out his minor hisses. You assess him as you step out of the car and, aside from a couple scrapes and a smudge mark of… something on his cheek, the kid looks fine. Your focus of attention pivoted onto the state of your car.
He mutters darkly to himself, something about a shitty bicycle ripoff seller, before answering you. “I’m sorry about this, miss.”
You finally gauge the damage, pinching the bridge of your nose to ward off the incoming pressure in your sinuses at the sight of the accident. A comical sound effect of coins clinking plays in your head as you imagine the damage your bank account could take.
There’s a rippling crater in the side of your new, albeit, second-hand car, and a long gouge. A part of the bike had caught onto the metal as it used your car as a veritable crash cushion. The damage either said something about the strength and tenacity of this kid’s bike or the fragility of your car.
You close your eyes.
This was as clear cut as a case as it gets. You were peacefully and calmly exiting your parking spot, checking both mirrors and making sure there were no obstructions. You had done your duty. It was this kid who came out of nowhere and slammed into your car with his bike.
Good thing you had car insurance. Though you had nearly bit through your lip when you paid it, words couldn’t describe how relieved you were now.
“Where are your parents, kid?” You turned to him fully, crossing your arms.
He takes in your whole one hundred seventy centimetre self. Your tight pencil skirt, flats, and buttoned blouse. You look every bit like the office slave you are.
He’s also trying to estimate how amenable you would be towards eating his bullshit, and judging by your unimpressed pursing of the lips, you don’t look like you’d take it with a spoonful of sugar.
You stare down at him, waiting.
But still, he gives it a try.
The teen pulls out a phone, punching in some numbers. It’s the newest model. The phone rings for a bit and a cheerful voice picks up.
You hear a cheery “Megumi~!” through the tinny speaker before the kid starts speaking, still sprawled on the road floor.
“I need some help. My bike accidentally bumped into someone’s car and now she’s asking to speak to my parents. Probably about the damage. It looks pretty bad. Can you sort this out with her?” For someone who had caused such hefty damage, he seems relatively nonplussed by the whole situation.
A beat goes by, clearly the person on the other side asking a question. The kid - Megumi - makes a ‘mhm’ in response. Then he hands the phone over.
You don’t even reach out to receive it.
“That’s not your parent.”
He blinks up at you. “It’s my dad. He’ll handle this.”
You look away. “Call your actual dad.”
The likelihood of someone manually hand-dialing their dad’s number when asked to instead of selecting from contacts on your phone was way too unlikely for you to believe that Megumi had just called his dad.
Your eyes had caught that little action. Coupled with the fact that he hadn’t called the person on the other side ‘dad’ once, only added to your suspicion.
Megumi scowls. Without even saying bye to the person on the other side, he hangs up.
This time, he taps the phone app and selects someone from speed-dial. Satisfied, you lean back on your car and wait.
In no time, someone - a deeper voice - picks up.
“Megumi?”
A sharp contrast from the first person. Megumi stays silent for a bit, and then speaks.
“Hey dad,” he says in a resigned manner. “I hit someone’s car with my bike by accident-”
His dad says something. Megumi pauses. He shakes his head and then seems to remember that his dad can’t see him. “No, I’m fine.”
Another question.
“Yeah. Yeah. She’s asked to talk to my parents-, I called him but…” Megumi rolls his eyes now, “he’s a bit unreliable. So in the end I still called you.”
His dad says something and then Megumi hands the phone over to you. His eyes dart to you, almost nervously, and he bites his lip.
Finally, you receive the phone, flicking your hair out the way.
“Hello?” His voice is deep, the kind of deep that must reverberate in his chest, and stern against your ear. At such close quarters… meeeeoww!
You perish the thought.
“Hello, it’s as your kid said. I was parked when his bike slammed into my car.” There’s a thin veneer of professionality that you’re gripping with the edges of your fingers, but you’ve played the game long enough to know others can’t tell that.
Megumi’s father is rather cooperative, providing his insurance details and his number for any further inconveniences. You expected there to be some resistance, maybe some blame from him onto you, but there was nothing.
During your conversation, Megumi busies himself with straightening out his bike. The front wheel is busted. The spokes? Busted. You have no idea how the crash had actually happened, having only caught the aftermath of it, and not enough knowledge on bikes to know how the wheel spokes can protrude and bend like htat.
He’s still inspecting it when you conclude the conversation, thanking Megumi’s father - Fushiguro, going by his minimal introduction - and hanging up.
“It’ll be sorted now,” you hand the phone back over to Megumi.
The teen tucked it into his pocket. His spiky hair looks less energetic, noticeably drooping and reflecting his dejected demeanour.
“I just got this bike too. I got ripped off.”
Judging by the state of his bike, it’s unusable.
Maybe there’s some sympathy in you for that. You too had also just gotten your car when this had happened.
Looking away awkwardly, you run a hand through your hair. I better not regret this.
“Kid… you want a ride?” You ask hesitantly.
-
You’d actually just meant a drive to the nearest train station, but somehow Megumi seamlessly manipulates you into driving him pretty much all the way home. Which is annoying, because after a long day of work, there’s nothing more you want than to be at home, showered and in bed.
But instead, you have to deal with your itchy pantyhose for thirty more minutes.
Whoever made your piece of shit workplace dress code was a demon. Who makes heels mandatory? A small curse goes out to your ageing, withering male-dominated management who care little for female comfort and more for female eye candy.
If you keep thinking about it actually, you’ll get too worked up.
You distract yourself by driving through the unfamiliar suburbs.
“A lawyer, huh?” He says, impressed. “What kind?”
You hmm for a bit. “I’m early enough in my career where I’m kind of still figuring out what I want to settle in. Ideally, something that uses a mix of everything, but I’m not sure.”
“What about criminal law? Locking up murderers or whatever,” Megumi stares out the window. “Left.”
You shrug, turning left. “Could.”
The area around you slowly transitions towards some expensive looking apartment complex. It’s gated for goodness sake. There’s little decorative glass lanterns for goodness sake.
The black gates stay closed as you approach, but when Megumi rolls open the window and sticks his head out, the gates open.
He doesn’t even speak.
A deep seated envy in your heart!
Wasn’t being a lawyer supposed to rake in the big bucks?
And here you were, ferrying a kid in a busted second-hand car.
Another reason to hate your current boss. He’s definitely underpaying you.
Despite the gate being open, you don’t drive in. Honestly, you’re too embarrassed to have the people who live in this apartment complex possibly seeing the state of your car. But you don’t tell Megumi that.
“This is as far as I’ll take you,” you insist stubbornly. “And it’s more than what you deserve, running into me like that.”
He nods at that. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks for the ride though.”
You watch the kid struggle with getting his banged-up bike out of the trunk of your car through your rearview mirror, and then you drive off to your mechanic. At least you can invoice it to Megumi’s father.
But taking the metro to work tomorrow! Another wail in your heart goes off at the thought of that. You can already imagine how packed it’ll be during peak morning time.
--
The second time you encounter Megumi Fushiguro, it’s on the train, and you’re on the way home. Having had to stay behind for an hour or so to catch up on last minute added work, the usual intense numbers brought on by rush hour has ebbed a significant portion.
Originally engrossed in responding to an email on your phone (can your piece-of-dog-shit boss really not see that you’ve attached the relevant document sixteen hundred times for him in the previous emails?), your thumbs tapping a mile a minute, a shout by the end of the car draws everyone’s attention - including yours.
As a rather low-presence member of society, you’re quite surprised that you recognise one of the participants in the altercation. Still, you feel no desire to intervene, content with maintaining your bystander status.
A middle-aged man, puffy and red-faced, appears to be the main instigator. Shouting abrasively, he’s manhandling the collar of a familiar looking spiky-headed student.
Though there’s an easy two meter gap between you adnd them, you can make out the white knuckled hold he’s got on the student’s uniform, speaking volumes about how much strength he’s putting in.
He’s so angry, you can hardly understand what he’s saying, an undercurrent of a gai-jin accent protruding too much from his words.
Interestingly enough, despite the numerous gaze concentrated on them and spittle flying in his face, the student looked almost bored by the whole situation.
You’ve already identified him via the unique hair he sports, but the expression locks it in.
Megumi?
He’s so carefree from the situation that his wandering eyes make contact with you, flickering with recognition.
You mean to raise a hand up in greeting, but a sudden jolt of the train over a rough patch of track forces you to grab a nearby pole for stability.
You flail, stumbling, causing the person next to you to look at you with alarm. By the time you’re balanced and looking up, the situation’s reversed.
Instead of Megumi being gripped by the man, you manage to catch the tail end of a new student - his friend, you presume - socking the man squarely in the jaw. Gasps fly up in the crowd, and even you can’t help but blink in shock. Dumbfounded.
“Get your hands off him, you creep!”
Compared to Megumi, his friend appears foreign, sporting lighter tawny coloured hair and strange birthmarks on his face that make him stand out from the homogenous crowd.
He’s not even breathing heavily, frowning as he stands defensively in front of Megumi. The latter of which has placed his hands in his pockets and settles into a near-mocking slouch. He’s clearly not even taking this seriously.
“Why you-!” The middle-aged man bulges like a frog. You have no idea what caused the conflict, but when the man starts rolling up your sleeves, that’s when you start looking around. No one’s intervening.
You feel your conscience twinge.
It’s true that in between three guys, you really shouldn’t get in the middle of things, but you know Megumi’s only in middle school. He’s just a kid! And as a law abiding member of society, you feel it’s kind of your moral duty to at least try and dissuade the conflict from escalating any further.
Suppressing the urge to cast a powerful stink eye at the cowards remaining silent, you step forward and approach the man cautiously.
Differentiating from the crowd makes you nervous, but who cursed you with a bleeding heart?
“Sir, if this goes any further, I’m going to have to call the police.” You say calmly, brandishing your phone. The numbers 110 are stark against your screen’s light-mode.
The man turns to you, and you suddenly feel like a matador standing in front of a bull in an enclosed area. Sweat starts to prickle down the nape of your neck, though your expression remains as stony as ever.
“He punched me and started it! Go ahead, call the police, see what they say!”
Megumi’s friend looks faintly surprised to see someone intervening on their behalf. Megumi doesn’t.
“Please step aside, sir. You need to calm down.” In the corner of your perception, you can see the announcement that the train is approaching the next station roll by on the panel. Perfect, there’ll be staff there. You can just hand it o-
???
Stars flash by your vision from the abrupt pain shocking your system. The man lunged at you, shocking everyone and sending you crumpling towards the floor.
“Don’t tell me to calm down!”
He probably meant to get your face, but he tripped over someone’s briefcase on the floor and the fist swung lower.
You have mixed feelings. On one hand, he’s punched you. On the other hand… at least it wasn’t your face?
Apparently watching an older man beating up two middle-schoolers isn’t anything to fuss about, and people are generally content to let it all play out. But when an older man tries to pummel a defenceless, beautiful woman who’s just trying to be a good citizen? That’s what gets people to fly up in a frenzy.
“Hey, that’s too much!”
“Back off her!”
A whole bunch of white knights.
You’re still dizzy with the force when you’re pulled out of the flurry. With the posture of pulling a drowning man ashore, arms under your shoulders, you look up to see Megumi’s friend holding you.
A (this is estimated) thirteen year old easily lifting you?
You feel a little flattered by the internal thought that you’re so light (though, of course, Megumi’s friend could just be really strong, but you dismiss that consideration). Just a dust mote, you are. People should be careful not to brush you off their clothing next time you go out.
He’s looking all concerned, staring down at you. The birthmarks along his cheekbones catch your attention, but you have the sense not to gawk.
“Are you ‘kay, miss? Sorry you had to get all mixed up in this.”
Using his solid, stalwart stance as a support, you stand on shaky legs. The dull pain across your collar compounds with the ache in your heeled-feet, and you just wish you were home again.
Really, who gave you such a bleeding heart?
That was less of a rhetorical question, and now an annoyed query to the divine up ahead.
“I couldn’t just watch things get worse for you and Fushiguro without doing anything. You’re just middle schoolers,” you sigh. Your imposing manner against the man is nowhere to be seen now. “And who would’ve expected he would be so crazy that he would just lunge at me?”
Megumi finally speaks, arms crossed over his chest. “I could’ve handled it without your help.”
You shoot him a glare. “This the thanks I get?
He looks away but the tips of his ears pink. “Thanks.”
You’re reminded a little bit of your first meeting, when Megumi had been similarly embarrassed but repentful all the same.
Heh.
“Eh? You know Fushiguro, miss? That makes more sense.” His friend scratches the back of his head, looking friendlier. You’re reminded of the dumb looking golden retriever your childhood neighbours used to raise. The round one that would press between the bars of the gate, fat fur spilling out through the gaps, and whimper for pets as anyone walked by. “I was wondering why someone like you intervened.”
The words ‘like you’ shoot into your heart like two arrows.
What does that mean?!
“Like… me?” You say slowly, despair leaking into your voice.
“!!!!” He waves two hands, shaking his head concurrently. “No! I meant, why an office worker like you stuck your head out!”
“Like… me?” Your eyes look empty.
Am I getting old?
“!!!!!!!!! Because you’re dressed so neatly, I didn’t take you for someone who was so righteous! It would be one thing if it had been a big, tall guy, but you know, you’re just a frail miss!”
Frail!
A third arrow pierces into your heart. At least he didn’t call you aged or withered or decrepit or-
“Alright, enough, Itadori,” Megumi claps a hand onto his panicking friend’s shoulder. “You’re making things worse.”
The friend deflates.
You don’t look much different.
The train doors slide open, finally arriving at the station, and you’re taken off guard by the two policemen standing in front of the incoming passengers.
Clearly someone during the whole ordeal called the police, and during the conversation with Megumi and Itadori, the crowd has long subdued the rampaging man.
Disgruntled, he’s thrust over to the authorities to be taken away. Megumi and Itadori get singled out, and follow after the arrested man to have their statements taken.
You watch them leave with mixed feelings, but shake your head in the end and head towards your exit.
At least, you would’ve been heading towards your exit if it hadn’t been for the policeman stepping into your path.
With a serious face, he blocks the path - undoubtedly preventing you from leaving. Passengers waiting for the next train watch unabashedly.
Your eye twitches.
“Yes?
“Miss, the other passengers said you were involved in the altercation. Unfortunately, you’ll have to come with us.”
Then the thought occurs to you.
If Megumi hadn’t crashed into your car, forcing you to bring it to the mechanic, you wouldn’t be on the metro in this situation in the first place! Did you owe the Fushiguro family in your past life?
Oh, how the chips fall.
Regretting that you had intervened after all, you ended up following the policeman with undisguised annoyance.
You hate cops.
--
It’s at the Kanekaburo police station where you finally meet Megumi’s father - the man financing your car repairs and cosmetic tune-ups - Toji Fushiguro.
He arrives when you’re in a stare-down against the middle-aged man’s lawyer, crossing your arms, Itadori and Megumi behind you. The policemen sweat nervously.
“He might be a minor, but he still punched my client. Everyone saw it!” The other lawyer sneers, his client - of which you had learnt was called Mr. Nakamura - stands with a puffed chest.
“It’s self defence,” your lip curling. “With your client as the aggressor. Honestly, they’re just middle schoolers. It’s unnecessary for him to have been laying hands on them in the first place!”
Mr. Nakamura puffs even more. “That’s only because they had been so rude with me!”
You don’t know what happened before so you ignore that. “And what do you think you’re doing, punching me? That’s battery, and if you really want to escalate this, section 47 assault.”
The lawyer glances at Mr. Nakamura but then looks like he’s made up his mind. “Do you really want to bring this to court?”
You hesitate. To be honest, you’re not really sure if this is really worth the trouble, and you’re not too clear on the situation of why Megumi had been in the altercation with the man in the first place. Settling might be better.
Opening your mouth, you’re cut off from answering by a third party entering the scene.
“Megumi,” a familiar voice drawls. “Get over here.”
The tone, though dulcet and lazy, sends your back straightening and hair prickling. You furrow your brow, turning to see the new entry that even the police couldn’t stop from waltzing into this area.
Dressed in a tight black shirt that does nothing to conceal hard muscle lines and loose grey sweatpants that hang off his hips, you can’t help but let your eyes wander appreciatively down his broad frame. The contrast between his tight upper clothing and baggy lower clothing only draws more attention to his taut waist.
He thumbs at a pale scar at the edge of his lips, like a subconscious, absent-minded habit, and his other hand runs through his ink-black hair with a troubled sigh.
“You’re such a troublemaker, Megumi. I only just get home, when I get called in for this?”
It’s only then his voice registers.
You had heard his voice before, albeit filtered, so it doesn’t take long for you to put the two and two together and realise this is Megumi’s father.
Your eyes dart to his huge hands, where two observations promptly wrap around your thoughts. One, he hasn’t got a ring. (You don’t know what that says about you, noticing that.) And two, his fingers are huge and, almost as importantly, long.
Something indescribable paws at the edge of your thoughts but you don’t even think twice before punting it decisively to the recesses of your mind.
Your travelling gaze makes eye contact, and a spark travels up your spine.
!!!
His arms cross over his chest.
Holy mother of biceps, you think, almost in pious prayer.
“Who’s this?” He smirks.
As his stare connects, you squash the quivering in your knees at his full undivided attention crashing onto you. The image of a lost tree trunk in the ocean, buffeted by tempestuous stormy waves, fizzes into your mind.
There’s just something about the air he exudes.
Like a black panther lounging on a branch, one wouldn’t dare relax from the feline’s lazy flicking tail or careless posture. You just know instinctively that every single muscle is coiled tight and ready to pounce at the scent of weakness.
Megumi saves you, stepping forward and taking the heat. There’s a furrow that manifests in his brow that you haven’t seen at all today.
“Stop that. This is Y/N, she got roped in because of us.”
Peeping from behind Megumi, Itadori beams and flaps a hand. Out of all three of you, he seems to be the most unbothered by the appearance of Megumi’s father.
“Heyyy~ Mr. Fushiguro.”
“Yo, Itadori,” Megumi’s father raises a palm. Tilting his head, he thinks to himself for a bit. “Y/N? You wouldn’t happen to be the reason why that invoice from Chezai Mechanics of-“ he spits a series of numbers that, for your mental health, you immediately filter out, “-is sitting on my desk, would you?”
You raise a brow.
“I think we both know that the reason for that invoice, Mr. Fushiguro, is really because of your son.”
An indescribable sense of pressure leverages onto you, but you just scoff and turn to the side. Your thin nonchalance barely conceals the tenseness in your posture.
Then he snickers, and the feeling is gone.
“You’re right. It is because of Megumi.”
Megumi grumbles.
Everyone relaxes.
It’s at this moment that the huffy middle-aged man seems to have had enough of the spotlight taken off him, making another fuss.
“Now that the father of the one responsible is here, you should know to educate your son! I’ll- I could take this to court, you know!” He swells, tinting pink in the face. His lawyer looks mildly panicked. Clearly they hadn’t discussed this.
Megumi’s father narrows his eyes and the power in the room shifts invisibly. The airflow almost stagnates. As if subconsciously aware, everyone seems to hold their breath. No one seems to take heed of the fact that the police have literal guns strapped to them, least of all the policemen, who stay silent with wide eyes.
Then, just as quick as it happened, the moment passes, and Megumi’s father is chuckling.
The colour leeches from Mr. Nakamura’s face, the red fading to reveal a fear-conjured white that only serves to highlight his greasy skin texture.
“Oh, really? For what?”
In hindsight, this should’ve been your first sign that Megumi’s father wasn’t just anyone. How could a regular person hone that kind of presence without spilling some blood?
“F-for- for-“
You cut in. “For the two counts of assault and battery you’ve committed against Fushiguro’s son and me, you mean.”
The bluster flies out of Mr. Nakamura just as fast as it had accumulated.
In the end, all that heat that Mr. Nakamura had mustered faded once Mr. Fushiguro smiled a bit more at him. Even the hotshot lawyer who you had been butting heads with felt like he had tamped down.
You had received Mr. Nakamura’s number and details for any injury-related bills incurred, and were rather satisfied.
As you leave the police station, dreaming again of your shower but knowing you’ll have to get on the metro and jostle again, both the Fushiguro’s and Itadori are right behind you.
“I’m so~rry, Megumi,” Itadori sheepishly says behind you. Megumi harrumphs in response. From this snippet, you can tell that whatever the reason is for Mr. Nakamura’s anger, Itadori was most likely the primary member behind it.
Though you can’t see it, you can almost hear Megumi rolling his eyes.
Heading towards the bus stop - because you really can’t stomach incurring more transport costs - you’re a little taken back by the extra set of footsteps behind you. In the reflection of the shiny bus stop advertisement, you can see Fushiguro looking at you.
“Y/N, right?”
You pause. “Yes.”
He doesn’t say more than that, just looking at you thoughtfully.
A premonition…
“It was nice meeting you and your son, Mr. Fushiguro. Itadori.” You nod at the trio.
Mr. Fushiguro opens his mouth but you’re already skating off. Who said your heels hurt!
--
You think it’s all behind you, casting the series of events from your mind. The injury on your collarbone has deepened into a gross yellowish-green bruise that pangs every time your blouse even brushes against the skin, but you’re actually regretful it wasn’t worse.
With little else but a bruise ointment from your nearby convenience store to bill Mr. Nakamura with, you can’t help but feel you’ve lost out.
It’s not like you advocate hurting yourself to hurt your opponent, and a pyrric victory isn’t a true victory… but… some part of you is miffed that you hadn’t been able to take a bigger chunk out of the man who punched you.
You should’ve fought harder.
Still, you’ve got bigger fish to fry.
Your boss has just ripped into you for about thirty minutes- well, you and the rest of your team - for work that he definitely had just lost by himself and not because none of you guys had emailed it to him, so you’re slumped over your office chair in a defeated manner.
Uncaring of your image, you cover the back of your eyes with your forearm. Your skirt crumples against the chair and you kick off your heels under your desk.
At least in your private cubicle, no one can see you like this.
That’s when you get two identical notifications to both your private email and your message inbox. The alerting vibration against the plastic table buzzes.
You don’t recognise the string of numbers and most of the message is cut off by a line break, but you don’t open it - pressing onto the notification to enlarge the whole thing.
Y/N,
What do you think about working for me?
You’re a bit curious as to why this number had reached out to you in this manner rather then just through your L**kedIn, but that curiosity is outweighed by the fact that someone has your personal email (it’s not really hard to guess that one), your phone number, and your name.
Your thumb moves over to the block button when a second message rolls in, again pinging into your email inbox and your phone messages.
Of course, annual salary negotiations start at ¥XX,000,000.
HOLY SHIT- Before your mind can catch up to your actions, you’ve opened the message, read it, typed, and sent a response.
Sorry, who is this?
The mysterious person doesn’t respond for a couple minutes. You’re just about to turn off your phone, dismissing this as a cruel prank on an office slave when another message pings - just in your messages, this time.
…Fushiguro. Megumi’s father.
I did give you the correct contact, no?
Ahhh…. a searing sound akin to steak on a grill rings in your head.
You’re embarrassed that he’s caught you in the act.
In truth, he had indeed given you his comprehensive details but it wasn’t like you actually saved it into your contacts. You had just written it down onto your notes app and handed it to your mechanic to be processed.
You weren’t good with numbers.
You don’t respond, but he doesn’t push the topic, continuing.
What do you think about being my own private solicitor?
There’ll be an exclusivity fee, of course. To ensure you’re not busied by other potential clients.
More?!
The calendar app opens on your phone in a heartbeat, and you strike out the upcoming ‘private’ meeting with your boss mercilessly. You might get an annoyed shout for that, but you’ll probably just gaslight him into thinking he scratched it out himself. He wasn’t the best with tech, afterall.
I’m free at 16:30 today to discuss.
You refrain from adding an exclamation mark at the end. It would be bad to come off as too eager, would it?
Fushiguro stops responding and your momentary passion ebbs, leaving you overthinking. Was it too much? Maybe he wasn’t even free today. Maybe he was just probing your interest.
You turn off your phone, feigning disinterest - only to pounce when the screen lights with another notification.
This time, there’s no words, just a location pin for a nearby cafe.
You check the time.
If you rush the scrapped document, you can make it!
Your fingers fly over the keyboard immediately. With this motivation, even the tedious work that you had agonised over is nothing.
Unknown to you, you’re biting at your lip, filled with anticipation.
¥XX,000,000.
In a couple months time though, you would be lamenting your decision.
---
next chapter link here
(Years later…) Megumi: actually this was all masterminded by me when I was twelve years old- Reader: !!!! You were twelve?! Itadori: ...you're ignoring the mastermind portion?
༄ A/N - whewwww! chapter one of this series out! i hope everyone likes my tumblr jjk writing debut (シ_ _)シ and my writing style !
(♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈) please feel free to interact w me in any way shape or form, I'm always excited for new friends new mutuals~~~ shoot me an ask or a like or anything hehe