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She's not the same.
Of course she's not, no one could be the same after what happened in Shibuya. There were so many casualties… so much unnecessary blood was spilt… so much trauma.
Gojo was still sealed in the prison realm, Inumaki was missing an arm, and nobody has seen Itadori in nearly three and a half months. He and Okkotsu went underground, hiding until it would be safe for Yuuji to return to the school without the higher-ups noticing.
So many things went wrong that day, October 31st, Halloween. Megumi could vividly remember the horrors that took place that day. He could have been thinking back on them– those gruesome scenes could have been plaguing his dreams during the night and his thoughts during the day. That probably would have been a reasonable thing to be thinking about, considering the amount of trauma the incident caused for the citizens of Tokyo, but for the past two months, Megumi has only really been thinking about one thing…
How much she's changed.
Her eating habits are different.
She doesn't trim her hair as often.
She lingers longer in front of mirrors.
Her smile isn't the same.
Her laugh isn't the same.
She was sitting across from him, showing something on her phone to Maki. They were laughing and smiling as if everything was fine.
She couldn't fool him though.
The corners of her eye didn't scrunch the same way it did when she was genuinely smiling, and the small dimples that usually appeared on her cheeks never showed up. She was smiling, yes— but it wasn't her smile. It was almost as if there was a tint, or a mask hovering over her... something holding her back from unleashing her signature smile that could light up a room… or intimidate the shit out of you… either way, it's the smile he grew to love in just a few months of knowing her.
The same smile he'd give anything just to see on her again.
~~~~~
Megumi was heading to the kitchen in search of a late-night snack. He usually didn't like to eat past midnight, but he had been making exceptions ever since she was cleared and released from that cold and dreary infirmary room. Every couple of days, she would go to the kitchen at around 1:30 in the morning in search of a late-night comfort snack. One day, he happened to run into her after coming back from a midnight walk around school grounds. The exchange was awkward, but that didn't stop him from going back nearly every night at the same time, hoping to meet up with her again. When he does see her, they usually just sit in silence and enjoy each other’s presence while she munches on a few granola bars, or even slurps a bowl of instant noodles with him sitting across from her.
That was another thing. Megumi never sat beside her during those late-night meet-ups. He feared that he might accidentally reach over and wrap an arm around her. He wanted to comfort her, and somewhere deep deep down he felt that her touch would do just as well to comfort him. But he wouldn’t let his selfish desires get the best of him, and cause him to overstep his boundaries. Megumi knew his place, and he also knew how much ‘touch’ between the two of them had practically become foreign over the past few months. Just being near her and having those small moments to themselves was enough for him.
He wouldn’t ever risk ruining any of it.
At least, that was what he thought…
She was in her dorm. The door was cracked open and he could just barely see her figure standing on the other side of the room. He stepped closer to the door and peeked through. Megumi knew this was an invasion of privacy, but something pulled him towards the door… towards her. With a better point of view, Megumi could see that she was standing in front of a mirror, her hands moving to peel off the eyepatch sitting atop the empty space where her left eye used to be. He pushed the door open further, just enough for him to slip into her room soundlessly.
He would never do this on a regular occasion; never enter another student’s room unannounced, especially not one of his female classmates, but some sort of overwhelming feeling had already engulfed him, it was too late, she hadn’t done anything, but she still managed to put him into a trance.
He stood in the doorway, transfixed as he silently watched as she stared herself over in the mirror, continuously pulling off and putting back on her eyepatch, fixing her hair in different ways to cover her eye, delicate fingers running over and tracing her scars over and over again.
He felt like a creep watching her like that. But he was honestly feeling way too many things at once to actually form proper words and make his presence known.
A minute had gone by and she was still too busy mulling over her appearance to notice him...
Megumi had had enough. She was insecure. Nobara Kugisaki was insecure and it made his stomach knot in a terrible gut-wrenching way.
He had started noticing signs of her insecurity for a while, but now it was all too blatant, seeing her lip quiver before she slightly lowered her head… in an almost-- dare he say... defeated way.
Megumi had definitely had enough.
“You’re really beautiful,”
She whipped her head around at the sound of his voice, and Megumi cringed at his own words. Of course she was beautiful– stunning in her own way, Megumi had thought so from the first time they met, but he never took any time to truly acknowledge her beauty, not until recently. And even now, he had never truly voiced those thoughts, neither to himself nor out loud. So hearing those words come out of his mouth before he even had time to think them over was just as shocking to him as it was to her.
Great. Now he feels bad. She’s staring at him open-mouthed with a mixed look of surprise and fury written all over her face. He invaded her privacy and said something totally stupid and insensitive when he shouldn’t have even been in her room-- or anywhere near it in the first place. Gosh, he was an idiot.
Megumi felt the tips of his ears start to heat as she continued to stare at him without uttering a word. He couldn't help but shift awkwardly in the spot, and nervously start pulling at the bottom of his hoodie when she indiscreetly wiped her eye and stifled a sniffle.
“I-- Sorry, I’m gonna go no--”
“Shut the fuck up,” Nobara said through clenched teeth, effectively shutting him up.
She slowly made her way towards him, and Megumi braced himself for impact. It was well deserved so he couldn’t even complain.
Nobara was now standing in front of him, glaring up at Megumi through a teary eye as he anxiously waited for her next move.
Now… What came next was definitely unexpected.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” she said before wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her face into his chest.
Megumi was still as a board, not daring to move an inch even after she had pressed herself against him. His whole body felt like it was just set ablaze, a new feeling of warmth spreading throughout his entire figure like a wildfire. Megumi was sure that his face had definitely started to tint an embarrassing shade.
"K–Kugisaki…" Megumi said her name tentatively, not knowing what else to do or say.
"Fushiguro— please… just— just shut up and hold me for a sec," she said between shaky breaths.
Megumi was caught off guard once again, definitely not expecting her to say something like that… and not expecting to feel sudden dampness on his chest as her tears seeped into the soft fabric of his t-shirt.
Shit. She was crying.
Megumi felt his heart break right then and there. Having her tears soak his chest hurt him more than any curse ever could.
He slowly wrapped his arms around Nobara's smaller frame and pulled her into a hug. Soft at first, not daring to risk going past her comfort zone and holding her too tightly… Well, just until Nobata hugged his waist tighter, wordlessly asking and giving permission for him to hug her tightly and bring her into a warm, and comforting embrace.
They stayed like that for a while. Silently enjoying each other's company, and basking in each other's warmth.
They only broke apart when Nobara lifted her head off his chest and led him toward her bed. She could have stayed like that forever if she was being honest, but it was getting late and she was starting to lose feeling in her legs(lies… sort of.) She also saw an opportunity and decided to take it. Strictly for comfort though.
Megumi hesitated, but ended up following her anyway, slowly slipping underneath the covers and laying down beside her. Nobara didn't even give him a second before she scooched closer and snuggled into his chest. Megumi tossed an arm over her back in response and closed his eyes, glad she was no longer crying, and very content with the current position they were in. It was surprisingly comforting.
Ten minutes went by, and Megumi felt himself begin slipping into unconsciousness…
"I'll kill you if you ever tell anyone about this," Nobara mumbled into his shirt, effectively startling the shit out of Megumi. He nearly jumped, surprised to hear her voice, thinking she had already been asleep.
"Ahh–mhm, okay"
"Thank you," she said after a minute.
Megumi simply leaned in closer to her and hummed a response onto the crown of her head, subconsciously taking in her scent.
"G'night Kugisaki,''
"Night, Megumi,"
She's changed. But maybe not as much as he thought. She's the same Nobara, just with a few more cracks in her shield. She'll build back up. That's for certain. And Megumi will do whatever he can to support her during that process.