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“What are you reading?”
“Just look at the cover.”
“I’m trying to make conversation.”
“Why? I’m reading.”
“You’re always reading.”
“And you’re always interrupting me.”
Megumi lifted his headphones from around his neck and slipped them over his ears, hoping to continue reading peacefully without any distractions from the orange-haired female standing in front of him. Nobara huffed and leaned forward, tilting the book upwards with one freshly manicured finger, making the cover fully visible to her as she read the title.
Fushiguro didn’t react. He simply continued reading, acting as if she wasn’t even there— effectively ticking her off.
“Are you just going to ignore me!?” she shouted, making sure he could hear her over whatever angsty song he might have been listening to.
Megumi looked up at her, slightly tilting his head and quirking an eyebrow upwards. He kept his headphones on but lowered the volume so he could hear her.
“Can’t you go bother somebody else?” he said, giving her a blank stare.
The last time Nobara was ‘just trying to make conversation’ ended up with him having on a full face of makeup and fluorescent pink nails; she and Itadori tried using the pictures to catfish people on the internet. Megumi swore to never hang out with those two past 12 am from there on— he kept it up for a whole week before they literally busted through his door and dragged him into Itadori’s room to rewatch the Hunger Games— why is it always the Hunger Games…
“Like I said before, dumb ass, I’m just trying to make conversation,” said Nobara, starting to get annoyed with the all-too-laid back male sitting before her.
“Go talk to Maki-senpai,”
Nobara snatched his headphones from atop his head and tossed them onto the couch adjacent to the one he was on before plopping down beside him. She let out a long exasperated sigh and flicked him on the forehead just before he could say ‘What the hell?’
“If I wanted to talk to Maki I obviously wouldn’t be here,”
Megumi opened his mouth to speak but closed it soon after, averting his eyes towards the plush white carpet underneath his socked feet, avoiding Nobara’s gaze. She looked determined for some reason. What was she planning?
Nobara rolled her eyes at his silence. Would he finally stop trying to send her away now? She really didn’t have the patience so she planned to use one of the pillows and resort to violence if he told her to leave him alone one more time.
“What do you want?” he asked, marking his current page and closing the book as he turned to look at her.
Why did she randomly seek him out and why was she smiling at him like that? (What happened to her earlier look of determination?)— she was almost beaming at him and Megumi had no idea why. Was she happy that she disturbed his peace once again or did she have something else up her sleeve?— No. That can’t be it… well, it could, she was as unpredictable as they come but the expression she wore resembled the type of look you get when you’re excited to see someone open a present you gifted them. It looked like she was happily anticipating something, he just didn't know what. Nobara didn’t have that signature mischievous glint in her eyes or the satisfied smirk she got when she knew something was about to go her way.
This was different.
Something he hasn’t seen before.
It made him feel uneasy… at least that’s what he labelled the weird ‘butterfly in stomach’ feeling. It didn’t help when she scooted closer and reached into his lap to grab his recently closed book.
“Nothing,”
“Nothing?”
Nobara simply hummed in response.
They sat shoulder to shoulder as she read the back-cover-blurb out loud, handing the book back to him when she was finished.
"Sounds interesting. I wanna read it,”
Megumi raised a brow and looked at her bewilderedly. He has literally never seen her read something other than a magazine before, why would she now ant to read his sci-fi adventure novel? Things weren’t adding up.
“Huh?” was all he managed to say, earning him another flick and a bored stare from the girl next to him.
“I said I wanna read it, so let’s read,” Nobara opened the book for him and settled herself into a comfortable position; head on his shoulder and legs tucked underneath her. She felt Megumi stiffen in response to her actions “Relax Fushiguro, I won’t bite.”
Megumi felt his face heat up, her breath tickled the side of his neck, sending a weird tingling sensation throughout his body. She only ever comes this close to him when the three of them are all sprawled out on one of their beds for a late-night movie marathon.
All three of them.
It was only the two of them and they were in the common room.
What was she doing?
And why did that feel so weird?
“What are you doing?” he said, immediately wishing he hadn’t because now she had to respond, which meant she had to speak, which also meant that he’d have to feel that weird sensation again.
“I swear I’m going to throw something at you if you make me repeat myself one more time,”
Sure, reading wasn’t one of Nobara’s hobbies, but it was one of his and she wanted to participate in it. She didn’t necessarily know why, but she’s felt a constant need to get closer to him over these past few weeks. He was so distant and closed off, rarely ever willing to share himself with any of them. It annoyed the hell out of her. She got along with Itadori so easily, it was almost as if they were meant to be soulmates… platonic of course, she could never see herself entering a relationship with that idiot… he was more of a brother to her than anything else if she was being honest.
Fushiguro was different though. They got along well but she still craved for more, craved to know what troubled him, craved to know what made him happy, and craved to know why he felt like he couldn’t share his thoughts and feelings with them… with her. It was excruciatingly annoying knowing that he always has a million unnecessary things running through his head at once; she’s been around him enough to recognize that look he gets when he’s overthinking… the look that he wears way too often in her opinion. Nobara wished she had a key. A key to free him from his thoughts so he could live in the moment rather than the past or future and cease his constant worrying and doubts.
She would obtain it… eventually.
There was no way in hell that Nobara Kugisaki would let that ‘wish’ simply remain as a wish. She was determined and she would make sure she gets what she wanted, even if she had to go through a difficult process to get it.
“Kugisaki-”
“Shhh, I’m trying to read,” Nobara cut him off and leaned in closer to him so she could get a better look at the page. Megumi looked down at her with furrowed brows, What’s happening? he thought. He didn’t understand Kugisaki’s sudden strange behaviour. Seeing it as being almost out of character for her. He would dwell on it now as he stared down at her and silently admired her features and the way her cheek squished against his shoulder— but also for the rest of the day, adding it to the list of things he would constantly think about and go back to before finally shutting his eyes and resting his brain for the day.
“Oi, I know I’m pretty but you’re supposed to be reading the book, not staring at me,” Nobara’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. Heat rose through his body once again, colouring his pale cheeks and the tips of his ears, making him hope that she doesn’t look up at him.
“I wasn’t- I-” he started, desperately trying to come up with the words to save himself from his embarrassment.
“Shut up,” She cut him off again. Sneaking a glance and smirking at the reaction she pulled from him “Just read the book…”
“Okay...”
---
An hour and a half of relative silence went by with the only words spoken being ‘Turn the page’, ‘Are you done?’, and a couple of ‘Wow’s’ here in there as the two teens leaned on one another and read. Megumi had gotten used to her breath dusting over his neck every once in a while, it was still weird, but it was also surprisingly comforting. What he hadn’t been expecting was her lips brushing against his neck after she mumbled a ‘that’s cool,’ while reading an action scene.
Nope. He was definitely not ready for that.
Her lips were so soft and delicate as they just barely grazed his skin. The tingling sensation came back and he started blushing profusely.
It was an accident. Stop blushing. You’re making it weird. Those thoughts repeated over and over again in Megumi’s head as he tried hard to focus on the book instead of the part of his neck she had brushed against.
Nobara’s heart was racing. That wasn’t a part of her plan. This was all Fushiguro’s fault.
Curse him for having perfect skin, beautiful green eyes, and eyelashes so long that he didn't even know what to do with them.
Right before it happened, Nobara couldn't help but think about how soft his skin looked. She felt her eyes constantly fluttering between the book and the slightly reddened skin on his neck. She had to will herself to look away from him so she could at least finish reading the last couple of words on the page. Her eyes eventually found themselves back on him after she made a comment about the book, hoping to at least seem like she was paying attention to the story instead of his very kissable skin.
C'mon Nobara, don't think like that… you can't—
—Her mouth moved before she had time to finish reasoning with herself.
She tilted her head upwards and brushed her lips against him.
The contact was brief. She wished it was longer.
His skin was soft and the urge to place a real kiss on it was almost overwhelming…
But Nobara Kugisaki didn’t succumb so easily, even if it was Fushiguro Megumi tempting her.
---
Thirty minutes went by without much chatter, just the same few words being repeated. He didn’t mention Nobara’s actions; she was glad, but also somewhat annoyed that he had just brushed it aside.
Had he even noticed? Nobara didn’t get to see the furious blush colouring his features because she was too busy burying her face into his shoulder, hoping he wouldn’t realize just how much her own growing blush rivalled the deep red of her t-shirt.
None of this was a part of her plan.
She initially wanted to have a conversation with him, get him to tell her a few things about himself she didn’t already know, maybe she could even learn a bit more about his sister(she doubted that), but she screwed that plan up… well, in her eyes Fushiguro screwed it up by being too damn pretty.
Now she had to wait and come up with a new plan before trying this all over again.
---
Itadori entered the common room half an hour later. The scene before him was surprising, but it brought a smile to his face.
“You guys are cute and all but make some room for me,” he said to no one in particular, seeing as both Nobara and Megumi were fast asleep; her head resting on his lap while Megumi’s lolled on the couch’s backrest. Itadori internally cringed, knowing that his friend was due to wake up with a sore neck.
So the pink-haired boy grabbed a pillow and placed it under Fushiguro’s head, doing what any good friend would before heading into the kitchen, leaving his two friends alone as they slept.
He could only expect an interesting interaction waiting for them when they wake.