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Nobara is infuriating most of the time but Megumi can’t help but feel especially annoyed when after the battle she just stands there next to him grinning.
Her left hand is balanced on her hip and she’s still holding her hammer in her right. There’s grim on the weapon — some gross combination of blood, dust, and whatever shit the curse had been slinging at the two of them — and there is dirt in her hair but as she turns to look at him she is still just grinning.
She is beaten, bruised, and bleeding but there she is grinning at Megumi like a damn maniac.
Rationally, he knows he shouldn’t be annoyed with her.
It isn’t her fault that Gojo had taken Yuji and left them to deal with the residual curses left over from their last group battle. And it isn’t her fault that a slime curse had been waiting for them in the auditorium. It’s not even her fault that his shinigami were more or less useless against the viscous body.
It really isn’t.
If anything he should be thanking her.
Nobara was a good sorcerer.
The control of she had of her cursed weapon was virtually unmatched by anyone other than Maki, and after losing her eye she had learned to depend more on her other senses when fighting making her alert and attentive. Her progress was honestly astounding. Inspiring even. Considering everything she — everything they’d — been through in just a couple of years.
So he had no qualms about letting her take the lead against the curse while he offered support.
And if she hadn't shoved him when the curse slung that special purple goop at him, the stuff that had melted through the concrete wall behind them, he would definitely be dead.
But as he looked at her — grinning — he couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
Megumi frowned.
"You almost died.”
"Yeah, well, I didn’t.”
“Not the point.” They’ve had this conversation before. Usually with all three of them present — Megumi, Nobara, and Yuji — so he could tell both of them off at once but the problem remained even when those two were separated. They were too damn reckless. “You almost died.”
Yuji has been reckless and careless from the moment that Megumi met him. It irks him to no end and he’s pretty sure he’s doomed to spend the rest of his life trying to beat the art of thought before action into that idiot's thick skull but Nobara… Nobara is reckless in a whole other way.
She is usually rational. She fights smart, moves quickly, and makes thoughtful, intelligent choices in battle. Usually. But somethings… sometimes Megumi actually thought she was worse than Yuji.
Yuji was an idiot who had an execution order hanging above his head at all times but he wasn’t crazy. He didn’t run to fights he couldn’t win, he knew when to give up and regroup. He knew when he was outmatched.
But Nobara… When Nobara was faced with a real challenge — the kind that fought dirty, shoved her and kicked her around, pushed her against a wall with a knife poised at her neck — she would get this crazed, deranged look in her eye.
The kind of look he’d seen in Gojo.
The kind of look Gojo had seen in him.
The look that meant she wouldn’t stop, couldn’t stop, fighting until she won. Until her opponent was laying down at her feet even if that meant she destroyed herself in the process.
It pissed him off.
“You’re too reckless.” Megumi moved towards her, extending his arm out to help her move. She was leaning towards her left foot and her grin faltered occasionally as she staggered onto her right. “That curse was super strong. Almost too strong.” She took his arm, leaning against him and hobbling as they walked through the wreckage of the building. “ It almost killed you because you don’t know when to give up.”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
“ Scaredy .” Close to her like this, he could see the specks of rubble in her hair and something reddish-brown matted in her hair. Blood. “We won, didn't we? Why do you have to spoil my victory high with your whining?” She was still grinning. A big, toothy grin filled up her face and made her eyes sparkle even in the destruction and chaos around them. As if they weren’t walking through the remains of a leveled University. As if they were taking a leisurely stroll arm-in-arm rather than limping away from another bloody battle and into the next. “Enjoy the win, babe.”
And that was weird too.
Babe.
She’d started calling him babe recently and he didn’t know why.
It wasn’t the name itself that was strange. Nobara actually called most people by weird little nicknames — babe, sweetie, honey — especially when she wanted something. And she always wanted something. Whether it was from Gojo or Yuji or one of the second years — Nobara always wanted something.
But she’d never really needed anything from Megumi before. Which made sense — he had very little to give her anyways and even less that she couldn’t just get for herself. But even when he did have things — when the Zenin name had money and power and prestige — she had never called him babe before.
And now, suddenly, he was babe.
All the time. Whenever the thought floated into her head. Even when she didn’t want anything.
Babe.
It was weird.
So he looked away from her and huffed, holding her arm tighter to his body to steady her.
"Stop grinning at me.”
It sounded like an order. It sort of was.
But Nobara just giggle and turned up the dial on her smile to fucking beam at him. “ Megumi! Babe! Were you really worried 'bout lil' ol' me?"
"No one in their right mind worries about you, Nobara."
She laughed, then. It was loud, brilliant, and filled the space around him until all he could hear was her.
"Under all that angst you’re just a big softy aren’t you, Megumi? Just the sweetest little thing, ain't ya.” In her excitement, the country twang slipped back into her voice and Megumi did his best to ignore how his heart fluttered at the sound. Weird. “You were worried 'bout me!"
Nobara paused to look at him, her face light and bright even through the grim. Nobara had always been very beautiful. Pretty in a way that was as light and carefree as her laughter and stunning in a way that was as disarming and dangerous as her cursed technique. Megumi hadn’t grown up around many girls. His sister had always been there but she was his sister — pretty in a way that was familiar. Then Maki came into his life… but she was Maki. Strong, terrifying, and quietly, obviously infatuated with that Yuta boy who was never really around.
Nobara was different. Nobara was fire and nails and demands.
Nobara made him feel things.
“What?” He asks. They’ve stopped moving and Nobara has been staring at him for a while now. He can feel her gaze on his skin like a caress and he’s doing his best to forget that holding her up like this has her breast pressed against his side. “Stop looking at me like that.”
She tugs at his arm, suddenly pulling him down until they are looking at each other straight on — face to face, nose to nose, eye to eye.
"It'll take a whole lot more than that curse to kill me, Megumi."
Her smirk is sharp — all teeth and self-confidence — but her voice is almost gentle as she speaks and she is still looking at him. There is something glittering just under the surface of her bravado and as he catches a glimpse of it he finds himself looking away, suddenly embarrassed.
God, he hoped he wasn’t red. She’d never let him hear the end of it.
And she’d probably tell Yuji. Those two made beating a dead horse into a competitive sport which would mean he’d be forced to relive this moment at random intervals until they finally got bored or he was finally dead.
Nobara squeezed his arm, pressing a little closer to him as she smiled. “But thanks for worrying about me, Fushiguro. You sure do know how to make a girl feel special, huh, Romeo?”
Megumi was bright red.
He did not know how to deal with this.
But he didn't push her away — didn’t think he could even if he wanted to, not with the sudden grip she had on his heart with a few words and a simple touch — and when she slipped her hand down into his, lacing their fingers together, Megumi just sighed. Choosing instead to focus on navigating them out of the wreckage and into the car that was hopefully waiting for them at what was once the entrance of the building.
He gripped her hand.
There was no use in fighting it.
Unlike Yuji and Nobara, Megumi knew when he was beaten.
This was one of those times.
“D’you think Ijichi would stop by a bar?” Nobara asked. It wasn’t a ridiculous request. In fact, Megumi knew that Ijichi, Nanami, and Gojo would often stop at a local dive bar near the school that cared more about money than the legality of serving high schoolers whiskey after, particularly difficult jobs. But while they were no longer high schoolers, Megumi still didn’t make it a habit of following in Gojo’s footsteps. “You know...since we did such a good job?”
An hour later, Megumi was sipping on a glass that has more coke in it than whiskey and Nobara was drunk.
He wasn’t surprised. Nobara had a handful of coping methods — taking up random habits, locking herself away in her room, locking herself away in his or Yuji’s rooms, challenging anyone who looked at her to a fight — that she cycled through during times like this and drinking was just another one of those. If it was her only coping method he may have been concerned. Alcohol was numbing, sure, but eventually, your senses came back and you still had to deal with all the bullshit that drove you to drink anyway so he never really drank on days like this.
But he still understood the short-term appeal and apparently so did Nobara.
Nobara swayed slightly on the barstool, drifting back and forth and giggling softly to herself. Megumi had his foot pressed against its bottom, and his right hand poised to catch her should she sway a little too far as he watched her. The rough fluorescence lighting did nothing to hide the subtle flush of her skin and the alcohol had that droopy, dopey smile back on her face. It was still doing weird things to his heart but he liked hearing her laughing even if he had no idea what it was that she found so amusing.
"Megumi," Nobara hiccupped. Her head was resting in the bartop as she looked up at him through hooded eyes. For a second he’s struck by just how beautiful she looks in the moment — loose, happy, free — but then he remembers how sticky the bar is and suddenly he’s just kind of disgusted. "You’re freakin’ pretty, ya know that?"
Megumi blinked at her before taking a gulp of his drink.
That was another thing she liked to call him recently. Pretty.
It shouldn’t make his face flush and his pulse race like it does, right? That was weird, right?
Megumi sighed.
It was really unfair that she was drunk for this conversation, and he was not.
"I think you’ve had enough." They should probably go. Nobara had had her drinks. And Megumi had never been quite as drunk as she was now but he’d heard that drunk people often said things they’d regret sober so this was probably as good a time as any to leave. Like the time that Gojo admitted to fantasizing about a threeway with Shoko and Geto when he was fifteen after getting wasted at their graduation party. If the way Gojo couldn’t meet Shoko’s eyes for three weeks was an indication of where drunk words led then he should probably spare Nobara and himself that embarrassment. “We should go.”
Nobara pouted.
"But I want another!"
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Megumi frowned, catching the wandering bartender’s eye and shaking his head. “We still have a bit of a drive till we get back to base.”
“I don’t care, Megumi.” She slurred. “‘S not like we’re working tomorrow. I can sleep in all day.”
That was true but… “Not the point.”
“I want another!”
Nobara was small, Megumi could just pick her up and throw her over his shoulder. She definitely wouldn't appreciate that, and would probably shout and kick as he dragged her out. He didn’t want to deal with the scene it would cause.
“Mr. Drinks?” The bartender who definitely wasn’t keen on being referred to as Mr. Drinks turned towards them, watching as she held up three fingers, two missing the pink acrylic the other had. “Two more shots, please!”
Megumi rolled his eyes.
“Nobara, get up."
"Whatever ya say, babe ."
Nobara tried.
She really did.
Megumi caught her before she could break her face, pulling her flush against his chest. She looked up at him and she was so close that he could count her eyelashes if he wanted to but his eyes instead wandered from her eyes to the flush on her cheeks, to her lips in rapid succession.
He gulped.
God, this was fucking weird.
"Careful," He muttered, still holding her."Can you stand?"
Her gaze wandered lazily down to his lips as she gave him a tipsy giggle. "Nah. Probably not, babe."
This day just wouldn’t end, would it?
Megumi sat her back down, flagging down the bartender for two tall glasses of water. He’d have to let her sober up some before he carried her out. The last thing he needed was for her to faint before they even got to the door.
He pushed the glass towards her. "Drink."
Nobara turned her nose up at the glass that was clearly not filled with whatever cocktail had her world spinning but one look at Megumi’s stern face was all it took for her to relent.
“ Fine… ” She gulped down the water, thirstier than she even realized and Megumi pushed the second towards her. “Thanks, Megumi. I knew you cared.”
Megumi watched her wordlessly.
Of course, I cared, he thought watching her sip slower at the second glass. I care a lot.
Tsumiki. Gojo. Maki, Toge, Panda, Yuta.
He cared about all of them.
And Yuji. And Nobara.
Yuji and Nobara.
He cared so much.
"Pretty boy." She leaned forward to presumably pat his head, but she was still unstable and ended up lightly slapping his cheek. But Megumi didn’t mind. Her hands were cold from the glass and the bar was hot. It felt nice. Plus, there was a smile on her face and another in her voice. “My boy.”
Megumi blushed.
Nobara laughed. “Shy?”
"You’re so weird ."
"Hah.” She leaned back, gripping her glass and pausing for a moment like she was considering what he’d said for once. A moment later she shrugged, turning back towards him with her usual smirk. "Yeah, maybe." And suddenly she was standing, upright in a way that a few moments ago seemed impossible, with her hands cupping around his face. The skin of her palm was slightly callused from years spent wielding her hammer and nails but they still felt nice on his face. Weird but nice. “You know what, Megumi?” She looked down at him. Her eyes searched his face for something. She tipped his face up. “I like you.”
"Nobara..."
No one was watching them — this was hardly the most interesting thing happening in this dinky bar — but he still felt weird about doing whatever it was she was doing around other people. But then again he felt weird about wanting to be alone with her, too.
"You’re really special and you know it, don’t you?" She grinned and leaned an inch closer. “Don’t deny it.”
Megumi didn’t know if he wanted to pull her close or just walk her to the car and toss her into the backseat. Maybe both? "Nobara..."
"Yes?" Another inch. “Hmmm?”
“What are you doing?” He asked. “Let’s go home.”
“So special…” She pressed an inch closed and she paid his suggestion no mind, preoccupied with staring at his lips. "But you’re so boring, babe. Live a little."
She was so close.
Megumi swallows and suddenly Nobara’s lips are pressed to his for the briefest of seconds in a kiss. A warm kiss. One that was simple, chaste, and somewhat bitter, tasting of booze.
It was weird, Megumi thought dazedly, but...
She pulled back and grinned. "Let’s go home?"
She didn’t wait for his answer, walking away and pushing the doors of the bar open with a swish.
Megumi sat there for a moment, chugged the rest of his drink, and followed after her.