Archive of Our Own

The first sign that something was definitely off was the serious expression that Yuji had when Megumi walked into the café that afternoon. It was so somber and uncharacteristic that for a second Megumi assumed that one of the dogs Yuji walked on the weekends had died under his care. 

A faint smile appeared on his lips upon seeing him, but it was the ghost of the one Megumi had been used to since they met. 

“Is everything okay?” was the first thing out of Megumi’s mouth as he sat down. “Why haven’t you ordered already?”

That was the second sign. Normally Yuji was the one who was late to their dates, and ordered hot chocolate with a fluffy cloud of marshmallows on top at this same café each time they were there. They had a habit of sipping out of each other’s drinks even though Megumi often drank his coffee black, which Yuji couldn’t tolerate, and Megumi found Yuji’s drinks too sweet. 

Yuji looked up at him with his soft brown eyes that had the ability to disarm the toughest customer. Megumi was living proof of that. “I was waiting for you,” he answered simply. 

That smile, forced and unnatural, was beginning to unnerve Megumi. “What’s the matter?” 

Yuji lowered his eyes and linked his fingers over the table. “Megumi, I know you’ve been really busy lately…”

Megumi had been working on his thesis nonstop that month, so he hadn’t had much time for anything else. Granted, since he was in his last year of university, he never had much time for anything as of late; all he did was work, research, write his thesis, rinse and repeat. But it still had come as a surprise that Yuji texted him that Friday morning that they needed to talk in an uncharacteristically serious tone that immediately raised alarm bells in his mind. 

“Yeah, but I’m fine,” Megumi said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I do worry,” Yuji said, looking down at his hands. “Because we’ve barely seen each other in weeks.”

“Is that what’s bothering you?” Megumi asked. Perhaps a little too bluntly, he noticed a tad too late as he caught a wince across the table. Obviously he shouldn’t be so dismissive, but going on dates was the last thing on his mind most days, as he came home so exhausted after classes and work that he needed another energy drink to stay awake to make himself a quick meal and do more reading until he couldn’t keep his eyes open. 

“Yes, that’s what’s bothering me,” Yuji said defensively, “because I’ve seen my neighbor more times than I’ve seen my boyfriend this month.”

Megumi was taken aback at the sudden shift in Yuji’s tone. Those thin eyebrows were furrowed, and his fingers were curled into a fist on the table. 

“I’m busy, you said so yourself,” Megumi rebutted. “It’s not like I want to be. What do you want me to do about it?”

“You could start by trying harder to spend more time with me,” Yuji said, “because we’re in a relationship?”

“Yuji, you know I’ve been busy with my thesis,” Megumi said. “And I have to work to pay rent!”

“I’ve already told you,” Yuji said. “We can move in together.”

An uncomfortable pause followed those words. This topic had been a frequent point of contention in their discussions lately, which ended up in arguments more often than not. They had been dating for a year, Yuji insisted they should move in together, with a blind enthusiasm that suggested he believed it would solve every little difference between them. It was Megumi of course who resisted this transition in their relationship, but he’d never been quite truthful about his reasons, the chief one being that he believed, perhaps with the same steadfastness as Yuji, that it would reveal they were less compatible than both originally thought. 

“We’ve already talked about this,” Megumi said calmly. “And you know I’m not ready.”

“You just said you can barely pay rent!” Yuji said. “If we split the rent, you’d have to work less hours, you’d have more time to work on your thesis—”

“Yuji, it’s not that simple,” Megumi said. “Remember when we went camping and you wouldn’t put your shoes away and we all kept tripping on them—”

“Megumi, that was a year ago!” 

“Or the pizza box you never threw away every time I told you—”

“I forgot, alright?”

“Or that time you dyed all of my white shirts pink because you washed them with your red boxers—”

“C’mon, Megumi, that was funny!” Yuji barked a laugh, but stopped once he realized Megumi wasn’t laughing along. “Wait, are you saying I’m a bad roommate? Is that it?”

Megumi bit his bottom lip. Truthfully the matter went deeper than that, but he wasn’t about to discuss all of their issues in a crowded café. “I just don’t think we’re at that stage yet.”

Yuji gawked for a second, his eyes becoming round, before dejection descended upon his features like a curtain closing over a window. For the first time during the entire conversation an acute twinge of regret pierced Megumi’s heart. What a terrible boyfriend he was.

“What are you saying, Megumi? You don’t think we’ll ever be at that stage?”

Megumi sucked on his bottom lip, torn by the urge to pacify Yuji and the impulse to be honest. In the end he said, “I’m not sure.”

Yuji stared at him for a long moment. “Alright,” he said at length, rising to his feet. “That says it all.”

“I’m sorry,” Megumi said, leaning forward. “I just don’t think—”

“It’s fine, I heard you loud and clear,” Yuji said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “I think we should take a break.” 

“What? Yuji, wait—”

“That’s what I came here to tell you anyway,” Yuji said. “Now you’ll have all the time in the world for yourself and your thesis.”

And with that, he stormed out of the café, leaving a dejected Megumi alone at their table. 

That same night Megumi turned up at Yuji’s house to sort things out between them. He’d had to bribe Nobara, his friend, to switch shifts at the convenience store they both worked at with tickets to Dua Lipa that he didn’t know how he was going to afford. At least he’d have all the time in the world to speak to his stubborn boyfriend, and maybe, with some luck, be able fuck some sense into him. Instead he found his uncle Sukuna at the door. 

“Hey,” Megumi said. “Is Yuji home?”

Sukuna had a way of staring at Megumi blankly as though he spoke a different language. Which never failed to be a little unnerving given he was two heads taller than him—and broader than any man Megumi had ever met—and looked like a beefer, older version of Yuji. 

“No,” Sukuna answered at length, in that flat voice of his. “Haven’t seen him today.”

Figured that Yuji hadn’t come home after their argument, or perhaps had only stopped by to change clothes before going out with his friends. Sukuna was in his suit pants, tugging at the knot of his navy blue tie, the top buttons of his shirt collar undone, so he must’ve come home recently. Megumi would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t find the man handsome despite his age, especially in his tailored suits that fit him like a glove, though he always attributed this to his resemblance to Yuji. 

They stood there awkwardly staring at each other for a beat. It occurred to Megumi that he should say something, perhaps apologize and leave, but then Sukuna stepped aside and opened the door wider. 

“Want to wait for him inside?” he offered. “I was about to make myself a drink.”

Something told Megumi he should say no, go back home to do his reading and take advantage of a rare Friday night off work—but a drink sounded far too tempting, given Sukuna’s expensive whiskey and wine bottles he had glimpsed at his house a few times. And Megumi definitely needed to get his mind off his boyfriend for a bit. 

“Sure,” he said. “Thank you.”

“What did he do this time?” Sukuna said, leading the way towards the living room. Megumi trailed behind after taking off his shoes at the foyer, his white socks looking dirty over the slick wooden boards. Sukuna’s house was ridiculously big; tall windows, mahogany staircase, ceilings that made Megumi dizzy from looking up at them.  

“What do you mean?” Megumi asked. The last thing he wanted was to relive the whole fight, and at any rate he imagined a man of Sukuna’s age wouldn’t be interested in the least about their relationship troubles. Not to mention Sukuna wasn’t very fond of his nephew, or at least that was what it seemed like: most of the time he regarded Yuji with indifference, sometimes outright contempt. Megumi had never asked, since it wasn’t his business, but he had attributed it to some old family beef and the fact that Sukuna generally didn’t seem like a cheery person in the first place. At any rate Sukuna must’ve felt some sympathy for Yuji if he let him live with him while Yuji was in university since his parents couldn’t afford to rent a place for him.

“Well, I haven’t seen you around in a while,” Sukuna replied in a conversational tone, heading towards the glass cabinet. “And the brat’s been brooding lately. I thought you two had broken up actually.”

“Didn’t think you paid that much attention to Yuji’s dating life,” Megumi said, sitting on the couch. It was black leather, smooth and expensive as hell. The kind that was on everyone’s Pinterest boards for their dream apartments, including Megumi’s. The whole space was huge: there was a large tv mounted on the wall and a bookcase opposite the liquor cabinet. There were also photographs and modern-looking paintings that Megumi found tasteful and intriguing, as he’d never imagined Sukuna to like art at all. 

Sukuna turned to glance at him over his shoulder by the liquor cabinet. A chilly glance that would’ve made a lesser person pee in his pants. “Fuck me if I give a damn about that brat at all,” he muttered. “I just thought you’d finally come to your senses and broke up with him.”

Sukuna padded over to him with two tumblers of whiskey on rocks in each hand. Receiving his drink, Megumi frowned at Sukuna’s words. “Why would I break up with him?” 

Sukuna threw him an indecipherable glance and plopped down on the couch. There was a considerable amount of space between them, but Megumi still felt like they were too close. 

“That brat isn’t exactly a catch,” Sukuna answered offhandedly and sipped his drink. “Came home today and found an empty KFC bucket on the counter and the fridge’s door open. Dirty clothes all over the bathroom floor.” Sukuna heaved a weary sigh and glanced at him. “Does he do that at your place?”

More than once Megumi had had to leave before Yuji in the mornings for his first class, and came home later on to find the butter out of the fridge, half-eaten toasts and cereal all over the kitchen table, unwashed mugs in the sink and the floor littered with bread crumbs. And he did have a habit of leaving his socks and underwear on the bathroom floor instead of the hamper, but it didn’t feel right to agree with Sukuna out loud. 

“Why do you hate him so much?”

“I don’t hate him,” Sukuna replied in a neutral tone. He tipped his head back against the back of the couch. “That would imply I harbor some type of emotion towards another person. And I don’t.”

If Megumi had once believed he was the most pretentious person alive, it was because he had never spoken to Sukuna alone. Every time he came over he went straight to Yuji’s room before leaving together. In all those times he’d never exchanged more than a few words with Sukuna, usually at the door or in passing. 

“Okay,” Megumi said slowly. “None of my business anyway.”

“You’re right,” Sukuna said, not unkindly. “And anyway,” he sipped his drink, “you didn’t answer my question.”

Megumi copied him, sipping his whiskey sheepishly. It was rich and sweet, a hint of honey lingering on the roof of his mouth. “What?”

“What did he do this time?” Sukuna repeated. “You clearly fought if you came here looking for him and he wasn’t waiting for you.”

“You sure care a lot about our relationship.”

“This is just what I’ve observed.”

“You seem to observe us a lot,” Megumi remarked sarcastically. “What else have you observed?”

“Just that you and the brat aren’t a good match.”

It wasn’t something Megumi was unused to hearing. They’d become fast friends in their first year of university, and even then there had been comments about how different they were: Yuji, so cheerful and outgoing, seemed so incompatible with Megumi’s boring, aloof personality. But it was Sukuna’s flippant tone, totally indifferent, before taking a swig of his drink, that bothered Megumi this time. 

“You don’t know me,” Megumi said bluntly. “Or my relationship.”

Sukuna watched him for a moment, a thoughtful look over his face, unfazed by his biting tone. Then he trained his gaze back on the ceiling. 

“You’re right,” he repeated in that same uninterested voice. “But I do know you’re too pretty and smart for that brat. Or anyone, for that matter.”

Megumi should’ve left. This was starting to feel like a mistake, a big one at that. He should’ve left the moment Sukuna began to freely insult his boyfriend and call him pretty. But Megumi remained there, trapped by his curiosity, and incredibly conflicted about the warmth that the praise brought to his cheeks. 

“What is it to you who I choose to date?” Megumi snapped. “Just because you don’t like Yuji doesn’t mean I have to share your opinion.”

“Why are you still here then?” Sukuna asked. “You haven’t refuted anything I’ve said either.”

Megumi wasn’t going to reply. Sukuna obviously wanted to provoke him, and Megumi wasn’t going to fall for it. But he also wasn’t in any hurry to get up from the couch to leave and Sukuna could tell. 

“And I think you like it when I call you pretty,” Sukuna said lowly, the rumble of his voice almost a caress. “Don’t you?”

The thought that Sukuna might be drunk already flitted across this mind. Unfortunately he was also on his way to inebriation; he could feel it in the buzz numbing his limbs, the weight in his belly, the warmth in his cheeks, all of it acting as a pleasant sedative to his earlier anxiety. The tantalizing smell of Sukuna’s cologne, which seemed to fill the room, also worked to keep Megumi under a spell. 

“I think you’re a creep actually,” Megumi blurted out. “You shouldn’t be flirting with your nephew’s boyfriend.”

“We’re flirting?” 

Finally Megumi was unsettled enough to try to move. “I should go,” he said and rose from the couch. The whole room swayed with this motion, and Megumi stood still, trying to regain his sense of balance. Sukuna seemed to notice because he jumped to his feet and startled him.

“Hold on,” he said, clasping his arm. “Let me drive you home. You shouldn’t go home like this at this hour.”

That huge hand seared his skin through his clothes. Megumi had to tear his eyes from it to focus on those strange red-colored eyes trained on him. “You were drinking too.”

“Let me call you a taxi then.”

The concern in the wrinkle between his brows both bewildered and fascinated Megumi. Heat emanated from his palm around his arm in concentric circles to the rest of him, veins popping under the tanned skin of that strong arm uncovered by his rolled-up sleeves. Muscles straining against the fabric on his biceps and chest, the slightest hint of dark hair peeking over his open collar. Megumi slowly dragged his eyes back up and recognized in Sukuna’s gaze the same curiosity and lust that invaded him. Because the truth was that he was horny, unbelievably so—he got like that every time he drank, which was why he only did it around Yuji. It’d been a while since he’d gotten any action, and it’d be a lie if he said he’d never wondered how Sukuna was in bed, given he’d never known him to be in a relationship in all the time he’d known Yuji, and his curiosity was particularly piqued now with the way those eyes dragged down his body like they meant to undress him. 

“Cat got your tongue?” Sukuna raised an eyebrow. “Look, you can sleep it off in the guest room if you want.”

One of his hands moved to his hip, large and warm, and perhaps it was this and his inebriation that softened him to Sukuna’s display of concern. Whatever, he thought. Yuji was the one who asked for a break; he might be at some party making out with someone right this second since they were free to do anything. 

It was a split-second decision that turned everything on its head. Standing on his tiptoes, he clasped Sukuna’s shoulders for leverage and kissed him straight on the mouth. To his surprise, there was no hesitation from Sukuna, no second-guessing—he grabbed his hips, drawing him close, and tipped his head to deepen the kiss.

From there it was a whirlwind of tongues and bruising hands. Somehow Megumi ended up on his back on the couch, Sukuna pulling down his joggers with ease and tossing them on the floor. Megumi had worn pink lace panties with the hopes of getting into Yuji’s pants, but it was his uncle who seemed mesmerized by them, tugging at the band with a single digit. 

“Are these for me?” Sukuna rasped, a teasing lilt in his voice. The rumble of his voice in his chest resonated within Megumi like the roar of thunder. 

Megumi retained some of his senses to frown. “Don’t be an idiot.”

“And you shaved too,” Sukuna said, pushing his panties aside. With his eyes glued to his crotch, his voice had lowered even more, deepened with lust. Megumi bit his lower lip. “You’re such a fucking treat.”

Sukuna scooted back on the couch, slipping his panties off, and dove right in between his thighs, prying them open with one hand. Megumi tried to bite back his noises, but Sukuna made it incredibly hard for him; he ate him like a man on death row. After two fingers joined his tongue, Megumi was truly gone, jerking his hips to grind his clit into the pad of his tongue or his nose, whatever worked. He was so close, dangerously close, and Sukuna must’ve noticed by the way his back arched, his thighs quivered and tried to close around his head. 

“Don’t come yet,” he said, kneeling in front of him and reaching for his pants. “I’ll do that myself.” 

Megumi’s brain was smush at this point, for he couldn’t come up with a coherent response. Whatever synapses that were still working in his brain were long dead once Sukuna unbuckled his belt, unzipped his pants and pulled out his monster of a cock. It was thick, large, trimmed hair at the base and crowned with pearly drops of precum at the tip. Megumi’s mouth went dry as a desert, at the same time he considered whether that thing would even fit.

“I don’t have any—” he began to say, but Megumi interrupted him by dragging him close by his forearm.

“Just make sure to pull out,” he muttered. “Or I’ll kill you.”

Sukuna smirked, but said no more before kissing him. Guiding himself, he pushed in slowly, then gave one sharp thrust and he was inside. Megumi gasped loudly, clawing at Sukuna’s shoulders, but the sting was so good, the stretch and weight of him so right, that he could’ve come just from the sensation of being split open by his cock.

“Fuck, you’re so tight,” Sukuna grunted, hanging his head. “So fucking hot.”

“Just fucking move already.”

“The mouth of young people these days.” 

“Shut up.” 

Sukuna chuckled and did as told. At first it was slow, deep thrusts, but he quickly picked up a faster pace that had Megumi crying out, unable to control himself, all he could do was hold onto the sides of the couch with a white-knuckled grip as he got railed within an inch of his life. 

“You scream like this for the brat?”

Megumi clapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up. Sukuna came up with something better, and rode his shirt up to lean down and suck on his nipple, which once again had Megumi groaning loudly. And when he sat back to maneuver one of his legs over his shoulder, Megumi was truly a goner. 

Megumi came first, shouting with his head thrown back over the arm of the couch. Sukuna pulled out and came over his stomach, which should’ve been disgusting, but in his inebriated state the warm strings of come falling on him were so hot and mesmerizing, as well as the expression on Sukuna’s face, the furrowed brow, the labored breaths and guttural grunts that spilled out of him from deep within his wide chest, that he could do nothing but stare. 

“I’ll go grab a towel,” Sukuna said after he was done. Megumi almost asked him to stay until he realized how silly he was being. Stay and do what? Cuddle for a bit? Sukuna would’ve laughed in his face. 

On his return, Megumi yanked the towel out of his grip and cleaned himself up. Then stood on shaky legs to put his clothes back on before their eyes met and shame fully had a chance to sink its claws into him. 

Sukuna insisted on his suggestion to drive him home. Megumi seemed to be in a self-destructive mood because he agreed, knowing it would be the most awkward car ride of his life. But Megumi knew fully well that it was just a ploy from both parties; outside his building Sukuna broke the stifling silence to say he should walk him to his door, and of course Megumi kissed him before he even found his keys because he was an idiot, and post-sex Sukuna looked too fucking hot to be real. 

Sukuna fucked him into his mattress, the bed creaking and banging against the wall, causing such a ruckus there would surely be complaints from the neighbors in the morning. But he had never been fucked so hard he passed out as soon as they were over because he couldn’t move any longer. Somehow he was still a little surprised to find Sukuna gone upon waking hours later, despite knowing that he’d saved him from an unbearably awkward and guilt-ridden morning after.

Thankfully days passed without seeing Sukuna again. Not like there would be any logical reason for that to happen; their only connection was Yuji, who had maintained his radio silence without wavering since their last meeting at the café. 

Megumi decided that the best course of action was to go on with his life as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t fucked his boyfriend’s uncle not once but twice. For the past week he had told himself it wasn’t cheating since they were on a break… Or did it still count? He was surely a bad person for fucking the one guy who seemed to hold an unilateral dislike for his boyfriend and enjoying it at the very least. 

The worst part was that he couldn’t tell people about it. All of his friends were friends with Yuji as well, and knew about Yuji’s weird relationship with his uncle, of course no one would feel any sympathy for him. Not like Megumi deserved any really—he was the worst person in the world without question for what he’d done.

“What’s the matter with you?” Nobara asked one day during their break at work. Megumi raised his eyebrows, snapping out of his reverie. “You’ve been so out of it lately.”

“Didn’t sleep well last night,” he replied. This was another lie, for he’d slept like a baby for eight hours straight, a record for him that he’d maintained for the past week. Perhaps all he’d needed was earth-shattering sex to get rid of his stress; the previous night he had masturbated and konked out shortly after coming. The shameful thing was that he had imagined it was Sukuna inside him, though his vibrator didn’t hold a candle to his size. 

“Really? Your skin looks so nice,” Nobara said, eyeing him closely. “Have you been using that jelly mask I told you about?”

“Yeah,” Megumi said absently. They were in the break room at work, Nobara was watching a show on her phone and Megumi was drinking an apple-flavored juicebox, his tuna mayo onigiri still wrapped in front of him. Megumi was the one who was supposed to be on break, Nobara had arrived a half-hour ago to take over the evening shift from him, but their manager had left early, so there was no one to reprimand her. 

The bell announcing a new customer rang from the front of the store. Megumi glanced at Nobara pointedly, who didn’t move an inch. Eventually he sighed and stood, tossing the juicebox in the trash bin on his way out. 

“I’ll take this, but I’m clocking out after.”

“You’re the best, Megumi!”

“Hello, how can I help—”

Megumi stopped on his tracks upon seeing who was at the cashier. Nothing could’ve prepared him for the sight of Sukuna clad in a black suit, looming over the cash register, those serious eyes fixed on him. 

“What’re you doing here?!” Megumi exclaimed, dismayed, hurrying over to him. “Nobara can’t see you!”

“I just came to return this,” Sukuna said, holding up a plastic bag. “Your panties.”

Megumi turned beet-red, glancing around and the back door to the break room as though Nobara could be eavesdropping. “What?”

“You left them at the house,” he said, a hint of humor in his voice that vexed Megumi. “You were truly drunk that night if you don’t even remember.”

“Give me that!” Megumi yanked the bag out of his hand. “You shouldn’t be here! No one can see us together!”

“Calm down,” Sukuna said, smiling slightly. “I just thought we should talk. About the other night.”

There was interest in that deep voice, as well as in the way his gaze fixed on his mouth before drooping to his neck and his clavicles exposed by the open collar of his work shirt. All of a sudden he felt strangely self-conscious because he knew he looked hideous in his work uniform; the shirt was a bright orange with white stripes along the sleeves, and paired with the black pants Nobara liked to say they looked like clownfish. 

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Megumi hissed, leaning across the counter. “It won’t happen again. End of the story.”

“I think there are some things we need to discuss,” Sukuna said. “Like two adults. Come on, I’ll buy you dinner.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you,” he said firmly. But the idea of a delicious dinner, cost free, was very tempting, especially because he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch almost ten hours ago. 

“When was the last time you had a proper meal?” Sukuna asked, as though he could read his mind. “I remember being in college. You kids barely eat.”

“You kids?” Megumi repeated in a mocking tone. Sukuna rolled his eyes lazily. It was that gesture that ultimately disarmed his resolve; it was cute, the annoyed sigh he released, his slightly puckered lips, despite looking hot as fuck in that dark suit. Megumi chuckled, ducking his head to hide his smile. “Alright, wait for me outside. I’ll go tell Nobara I’m leaving.”

Sukuna was waiting in his car in the parking lot outside the store. Megumi glanced around before getting in, feeling a little like a character in those dramas that Nobara liked to watch during her shifts who cheat on their spouses with their friends or something like that. Not much different from what he was currently doing, picking up food with his boyfriend’s uncle, and going back to his place because he was too paranoid to be seen in public with him. 

At his apartment he tried to act as normal and calm as possible, despite the presence of a very hot older man in his kitchen, unpacking food containers he bought to eat together. He put on his pajama pants and a comfy old t-shirt and went out to join Sukuna on the couch, where he was already slurping on noodles. 

“Sorry,” he said, wiping his chin with a napkin. “I haven’t had anything to eat since lunch, and it was just a caesar salad.”

“Why?” Megumi asked, taking a bowl of noodles. “Are you on a diet?”

“My partner is,” he said, “and it felt wrong eating a plate of lamb ribs next to her.”

Megumi stopped with the chopsticks close to his mouth to look at Sukuna. “Your partner?”

“I mean my partner in the firm,” he corrected, a bit amused. “I’m not dating anyone. If you’re so interested.”

Right, Sukuna was a corporate lawyer and was a partner in a firm. He was successful at his job, or that was what Megumi had gathered from stalking him online. Catching the sidelong glance Sukuna tossed his way, Megumi scoffed into his bowl.

“I’m not interested at all,” he hurried to clarify with practiced indifference. “But I wouldn’t put it past you to have cheated on somebody.”

“No, you’re the only cheater here,” Sukuna remarked with a hint of sarcasm. Megumi glared at him and went back to his noodles. 

“We’re on a break,” Megumi corrected him. “So technically it wasn’t cheating.”

“‘Technically’ is the key word,” Sukuna said. “But you might be right. The brat was the one who let you go, so he can’t complain if you fuck someone else.”

“I already told you my relationship is none of your business,” Megumi said. “And I’d like to eat in peace, if you don’t mind.”

“Well, that’s what I came to talk to you about,” Sukuna said, placing his bowl on the coffee table. “I’d like for it to happen again.”

Megumi nearly choked on his noodles. He had to take a sip of his soda before he was able to speak. “Did you hear what I said earlier?”

“I did.” Sukuna calmly reclined back on the couch and laced his fingers over his abdomen as though they were discussing the news. “The thing is I can’t stop thinking about fucking you or eating that world-class pussy of yours again.”

Blood rushed to his face. No one had ever referred to him in such a way, but then again he had never slept with a middle-aged man before. 

“We can’t,” Megumi said. “You’re Yuji’s uncle!”

“You know, I masturbated to your panties,” he said. “Before washing them. I jerked off while sniffing them because I wanted to taste you so badly again.”

“You’re such a creep,” Megumi muttered. Now his cheeks were on fire because he had also masturbated countless times thinking about Sukuna since that night. In his bed, in the shower, on the couch they were sitting on at that very moment. 

Sukuna shrugged nonchalantly, as though admitting guilt to the accusation. “I do not care as long as you let me fuck you again.”

There was a long impregnated pause. The most logical step was for Megumi to ask him to leave and never speak about what happened at all, but if there was one thing Megumi had learned from this whole ordeal was that he was far from a logical person, at least not when it came to Sukuna apparently. The chopsticks clinked on the edge of his bowl as he placed it on the coffee table, then took a swig of his soda, the whole time feeling Sukuna’s eyes on him. In this same calm manner, he leaned across the couch to cup Sukuna’s evident erection straining the front of his pants and kissed him. On his lips he tasted the tangy flavor of the beer he’d taken from his fridge.

“Alright,” he said, taking on Sukuna’s bewildered look, “but this will be the last time.”

And that was how he ended up bouncing on Sukuna’s cock on his couch, mewling like a cat in heat. Using his shoulders as leverage, he jumped with abandon, relishing in the feeling of being so full and stretched, Sukuna’s cock hitting a perfect spot so deep inside that obliterated any coherent thought in his mind. Sukuna used the angle to suck on his nipple, toying with the other one, and messing up Megumi’s rhythm before changing to a back and forth pace that quickly gained speed due to his growing desperation. 

Not one to stay behind, Sukuna gripped Megumi by the back of his thighs, and hauled him in his arms. Without ever pulling out, he placed him on his back over the couch, and placing his legs over his shoulders, he fucked him relentlessly until they both came with strangled groans. Sukuna placed his tired legs back down and fell on top of him, curling his body to nestle his head under his chin, though Megumi didn’t mind his weight, for he enjoyed his heat enveloping him, his damp hair tickling his face, and the musky scent of his skin permeating his senses. And most importantly, the way his heart thumped vigorously against his breast, in tandem with his own. 

Eventually Megumi touched the side of Sukuna’s face with shaky fingers, and he kissed the curve of his shoulder in response. “I thought you had died of a heart attack or something for a moment there.”

“I’m not that old,” Sukuna muttered. Megumi shivered at his lips moving over his cooling skin. 

“You weren’t moving,” Megumi said. “How would I know?”

“Dying while fucking you wouldn’t be so bad I suppose,” Sukuna said thoughtfully. “A heavenly way to die, as the song goes.”

“Are you always this embarrassing?” Megumi asked. Sukuna chuckled, lifting his head to kiss his cheek. “Dying of a heart attack while fucking a much younger guy would be very cliché, don’t you think?”

“You’re right,” Sukuna conceded. “But I’d sure like to see my brother and that brat’s face if it happened.”

“Don’t bring him up after just coming inside me,” Megumi reprimanded him and flicked Sukuna on the forehead for good measure. Sukuna blinked, disconcerted at first, then furrowed his brow, rubbing over the spot. 

“I can’t remember the last time someone did that to me.” 

Megumi snorted, rubbing over the spot himself with the pads of his fingers. “I bet your coworkers are dying to.”

“I’ll allow it because you’re so gorgeous,” Sukuna said, dropping a trail of kisses over his throat. Megumi closed his eyes, expelling a soft sigh, and burying his fingers in Sukuna’s hair. One of Sukuna’s hands slid down his navel, and Megumi let out a little gasp once he found his spot. “You get me hard so fast.”

Opening his eyes, Megumi discovered with a mix of shock and amusement that Sukuna was indeed hard again, that flushed, fat cock filling up quickly against his thigh. Megumi licked his lips, throbbing at his core. 

“I said this would be the last time,” he murmured over Sukuna’s mouth. Sukuna kissed him chastely, rubbing more insistently over his clit until his breathing grew labored. 

“It still counts as one time if it’s the same night,” he said, just as his fingers slid down his folds to press at his entrance. Any resistance left in Megumi completely depleted him in an instant. 

Megumi had truly been determined for that to be the very last time. Only, his determination didn’t seem to be too solid and reliable these days, for he met Sukuna again at his apartment that weekend. 

Truth be told, Megumi had been in need of some company, even if he would never admit to that as plainly. Yuji had yet to answer any of his messages, and ran in the opposite direction if they happened to see each other anywhere on campus. But he finally found him alone in the hallway leading to the library one afternoon, reading the bulletin on the wall. Megumi hurried over before he could get away. 

“Yuji,” he said. “Hey.”

“Megumi,” Yuji said, blinking wide eyes at him. He was wearing the Fuji Kaze t-shirt from the last concert they attended together; Megumi ached at the memory, and the fact that now Yuji seemed eager to get away, looking around as though trying to find the nearest exit. 

“Wait, Yuji,” Megumi said, grasping his arm. “Let’s talk, please.” He let go of him since Yuji looked down at his arm pointedly. “Listen, about the other day—”

“It’s fine, Megumi,” Yuji said. “I was angry. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

Megumi was both surprised and relieved over this moment of sincerity. “You’re right. I know I’ve been so busy lately, and I’ll try harder to—”

“But that’s not the only problem,” Yuji interrupted him. “And you know it, Megumi.”

Megumi was at a loss for words for a brief second. “What’s it then?”

“You said we had no future, Megumi!” Yuji said. “How am I supposed to feel about that? Living together is what any normal couple does after a time, and if you don’t think we should then what’s the point of us dating?”

“It’s not that simple, Yuji,” Megumi said calmly. “Why can’t we just go back to the way things were?”

“You mean when we were friends?” 

“Yuji, that’s not what I meant—”

“You know what, maybe you’re right,” Yuji plowed on. “Maybe things were better when we were just friends. If there’s no future for us, then what’s the point of us staying together?”

“It’s not my fault you just want to move out of your uncle’s house,” Megumi blurted out. Yuji gawked for several seconds, long enough for Megumi to understand the gravity of what he’d said. “I’m sorry, I—”

“Whatever,” Yuji muttered, wheeling around. “It was nice seeing you, Megumi.”

Dejection hounded Megumi the rest of the day like a dark cloud; he spent his entire shift brooding behind the cash register and barely paid attention to what he was doing. So when Sukuna texted him near the end of his shift, tentatively suggesting to drop by his place with takeout, Megumi didn’t think twice before replying back with the time he’d be off work. 

Sukuna, being the old man he was, had already been waiting in the parking lot when Megumi clocked out of his shift that evening. It was late, the area was deserted, so there’d be no witnesses to see him climbing into the car of his boyfriend’s uncle. 

“Hey,” Sukuna said. Something in his expression must’ve revealed a hint of his current mood because that little smile slipped from Sukuna’s lips and concern formed a thin line over his forehead. “Hey, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Megumi said, hugging his backpack to his front. “I just had a long day.”

“Really?” Sukuna said, driving out of the parking lot. “Or does it have to do with my dumbass of a nephew?”

“Could you not call him that?”

“So I’m right?”

Megumi sighed and nodded. It was better he told him because he had a hunch Sukuna wouldn’t let the matter go until he did. By the time they reached his apartment, Megumi had finished retelling the entire argument, plus some frustrated comments on his part about the topic. 

“Sounds like you don’t want to move in with him,” Sukuna said after leaving the takeout in the kitchen counter. It was Thai food tonight. “That’s what I’m gathering.”

Megumi raised his eyebrows. “I’m shocked you’re taking his side.”

“I’m not taking sides,” Sukuna explained, “but it’s clear as day to anyone with ears that the main issue here is that you don’t want to move in with him.”

His first instinct was to refute him, but Sukuna seemed apathetic as he placed the food on two plates. Megumi sighed and stood against the counter.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “I don’t want to move in with him. But not because I don’t love him or anything, I just don’t think we’re compatible in that sense.”

“In what sense?”

“Living together,” Megumi said. “He’s always leaving his dirty socks everywhere whenever he comes over, he never washes the dishes or mugs he uses, he clogs the toilet sometimes—”

“You don’t need to tell me,” Sukuna cut him off, holding his palm up. “I live with him.”

“And I can’t  focus on my thesis if he’s around.”

“What’s your thesis on?”

“Japanese poetry from the Edo period,” Megumi answered. Instantly he expected Sukuna to give him a weird look or make some kind of mocking comment, but he didn’t, he simply hummed in acknowledgment while chewing his food. Megumi was used to thinly veiled comments on how boring his thesis topic was, or the condescending looks every time he mentioned his major—and some of them came from none other than Nobara and Yuji themselves, who loved to joke about his unemployable degree, even though Yuji was literally a film major.

“Sounds interesting,” Sukuna said sincerely. Megumi flushed with gratification so he stuffed his mouth full of rice. “And I get you. Sometimes I have to ask him to lower the music or the tv when I’m working at home.”

Megumi exhaled ruefully again. “Does that make me a bad person?”

“No,” Sukuna said, gathering a spoonful of rice, “that just makes you a tidy person and a good neighbor.”

“And what about this?” Megumi glanced up at him. “Does it make me a bad person?”

“What? Sleeping with me?” Sukuna asked. Megumi nodded. “You know I’ll say no.”

Megumi pouted. “You’re no help.”

“Will you cheer up if I eat you out?”

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, Megumi pretended to be considering the question, even though his mind had been made up the moment he got his text earlier that evening. “Maybe,” he answered. 

It took very little convincing to get Megumi bent over the kitchen table while Sukuna tugged his pants down from behind. There wasn’t enough time to feel self-conscious about his ass exposed in the middle of his tiny kitchen because Sukuna pried his cheeks apart and licked generously over his hole. Two of his fingers dragged over his folds, rubbing over his clit before going back up and prodding his entrance for a bit. Megumi panted over the surface of the table, leaving a damp spot, trying his hardest not to moan like Sukuna wanted him to. But after those fingers probed his hole, one first, then another, Megumi caved and moaned keenly against the hard surface. 

“Has anyone ever fucked you here?” Sukuna asked. The gravel in his voice was impossibly hot. Megumi shook his head for an answer. “Can I?”

Nerves tied up his stomach in knots. He had never done something like that—not like he had never wondered what it would feel like, but he’d never dared to ask Yuji to try it with him. At least he was sure that someone like Sukuna would be gentle enough with him. 

Megumi nodded. And that was all it took before Sukuna removed his fingers, then helped him stand upright by his shoulder. A confused Megumi had no time to question what he was doing as Sukuna turned him around and hauled him into his arms, one arm under his knees and the other around his back. 

“If we’re going to do this, we’ll do it right,” he said, padding over to the bedroom. Megumi smiled, circled his arms around his neck and kissed his chin, where a five o’clock shadow dusted his skin. 

Sukuna deposited him on the bed with a gentleness unknown to him. Megumi, horny and excited as he was, wasted no time in removing his clothes; for a self-proclaimed clean freak, he tossed them everywhere, uncaring of where they landed. Sukuna had looked on bemusingly, stopping midway through unbuttoning his shirt, and gawked a little once Megumi stood fully naked by the bed. Those strange eyes darkened, roaming over him with evident hunger, which only increased his own desire and anticipation simmering in his belly. 

“Get on the bed,” Sukuna ordered. “On your knees.”

Megumi didn’t have to be told twice. He climbed onto the bed, trying not to be embarrassed about being so exposed. Footsteps, and the mattress shifting underneath him, exacerbated his anxiety. But he didn’t have to wait long, for those strong hands spread his cheeks apart again, and Megumi had to bite his bottom lip to stop himself from moaning upon the first swath of his tongue over his crack. Sukuna licked, slurped, spit onto his pussy until Megumi was a writhing, sobbing mess underneath him, barely keeping his hips up with his trembling legs. 

Like before, Sukuna made sure to wet his fingers with his slick before inserting them. But unlike before, he fucked him longer, pushing them in and out, scissoring him, to stretch him further. At the same time Megumi needed to be touched at his core, needed to be filled completely—so he sneaked a hand between his legs and began to rub his unattended clit. Sukuna promptly stopped him by clasping his wrist. 

“Don’t touch yourself yet,” he said. “I want to make you come.”

“I need—”

“What? Want me to fuck you there?” Sukuna hummed with interest. “You can fuck yourself then.”

He directed his hand to his pussy again, and a desperate Megumi immediately dug three fingers right into his leaking hole. Megumi keened into the bedspread, hips jerking in tandem with the movement of his own fingers, and Sukuna returned to his task of fingering his other hole, making sure to follow his pace as well. If he kept that up any longer, he would come soon enough, and Sukuna foresaw it by the way the quaking in his thighs increased, so he removed Megumi’s fingers by tugging at his wrist, and replaced them with his tongue, pumping it as far as it could go inside him. 

He alternated this with licking and slurping his pussy, but his fingers never stopped working into him. Once they were gone, Megumi whimpered over the sudden emptiness, his hole fluttering as though asking to be filled again. 

“I think you’re ready now,” Sukuna said. The mattress sunk again, and he could hear him positioning himself behind him. First Sukuna dragged his cock over Megumi’s pussy, sliding it up and down until it was fully coated in his slick. Megumi had a handful of seconds to catch his breath before he felt the tip of his cock breaching his entrance. Sukuna went slow at first, but once the stretch gave in, he pushed the rest of the way with one sharp thrust that knocked the air out of Megumi’s lungs. A strangled noise came out of his gaping mouth, tears welling in his eyes, and all he could do was fist the bedsheets as Sukuna clutched his hip with a white-knuckled grip.

“Fuck, you’re so tight,” he murmured. There was a breathy quality to his voice, as though the effort had taken all of him. “And I’m not even all the way in.”

At this he pushed in just a bit more and another embarrassing, broken noise escaped from Megumi’s mouth. There was a burn, a sting that paled in comparison with the sensation of being speared cleanly, filled to the brim, the way his cunt throbbed with the need to be fucked. Large hands massaged his ass, sliding down his thighs in possessive caresses. 

“How are you feeling?” Sukuna asked quietly. An intimate note to his voice that made Megumi ache. “Does it hurt?” 

Megumi shook his head. “Move,” he commanded. Sukuna didn’t have to be told twice. The drag of that fat cock was enough to draw a gasp out of him, his arms shaking, but it was the push back in, a swift thrust, that had him truly keening, fisting the sheets. Sukuna built up a pace quickly, fucking into Megumi with zeal, holding him up with a bruising grip on his hips. Megumi could do nothing but blabber and sob into the sheets; he’d never thought it’d feel this good, like his body was made of liquid fire, like he was so full yet not enough—he wanted to be stuffed until he was bursting at the seams. But he craved to be touched at his core, needed to be filled there as well, and Sukuna, the asshole he was, purposefully avoided giving him what he wanted. 

Sukuna bent over him to kiss his neck, turning his head with a hand to capture his mouth. It was a messy kiss, for Megumi couldn’t do much more than sob pathetically. 

“Fuck, you feel so good,” Sukuna said into his ear. “So tight… I wish I could fuck you everywhere at the same time.”

Megumi groaned in response. The thought of Sukuna stuffing him full made him lightheaded. “I need—”

“What, baby?” Sukuna asked. “Want me to touch you there?”

Megumi nodded eagerly. Sukuna rounded his waist to fondle his pussy, fingers gliding over his wetness, and pressing firmly into his clit. Megumi whimpered, thighs quaking, and at last he collapsed onto the bed face first, Sukuna following atop of him. Setting one palm on the bed, Sukuna pulled out so he could thrust into his pussy now, and Megumi cried out, jerking his hips on autopilot to feel him deeper. 

Sukuna bent one of his legs over the bed, the angle driving him even deeper. Dropping kisses over his nape, fondling his breasts as he drove his cock without mercy into him. 

“You’re so perfect,” Sukuna whispered, dropping kisses on his face. He licked a tear streaking his cheek. “So beautiful… so tight… just for me.”

Megumi was truly out of his mind because he nodded. Sukuna’s cock was made for him as well; he was so perfect inside of him, stretched him so wide and perfect and right, hit that spot that drove him insane over and over until his mind was a blank slate, all of his senses overridden by maddening white-hot pleasure. He didn’t want anything else at that moment. Nothing else existed but that body on top of his, molding him into every shape at his will. 

Sneaking his hand under his body, Sukuna rubbed over his clit with the pad of his fingers; it was so sensitive that Megumi jumped with a loud cry, tears gathering at his eyes, as he finally came. An orgasm had never felt like this: a drawn-out shout muffled into the sheets, his body convulsing violently under Sukuna. Sukuna held him down with a single hand, thick fingers digging into his flesh, so hard there’d surely be bruises in the morning, and without barely a break he continued fucking him, though soon his breaths grew louder, his thrusts more erratic. Megumi knew he was close, and as he was about to lift himself up to pull out, Megumi stopped him by grabbing his thigh. 

“Come inside me,” he murmured. Sukuna exhaled through his mouth, then grabbed his head and leaned down to kiss him hard. Megumi was still reeling from the kiss when he went back to pistoning his hips into him—a few hard thrusts and he was coming, pumping Megumi full of his come. One last push buried Sukuna so impossibly deep that the bed bumped against the wall and Megumi shook from head to toe over the sparks of pleasure and pain that shot through him, and with that Sukuna at last collapsed on top of him.

“Fuck,” he groaned near his ear after a moment. “That was fucking amazing.” 

“Can you get off of me?” Megumi asked. “You’re like an elephant.”

Sukuna snorted and rolled over onto his side. Megumi felt suddenly cold, the sweat starting to dry and cool on his skin, but before he could complain he was dragged by strong arms into an embrace. Sukuna tipped his chin up to kiss him, a soft, gentle kiss that had Megumi’s heart thumping. A hand stroked his outline carefully, almost protectively, and set it at his backside. 

“Does it hurt?” 

Megumi shook his head, even though he was sore and achy all over. It was nothing he couldn’t handle, and besides he liked it, enjoyed it even. It was evidence that he’d been fucked good and hard, like he’d never been fucked before in his life. Sukuna’s concern was intriguing though; he had never imagined he’d be the type to care for the people he slept with in such a way.

“I’ll survive,” he answered, trying to sound casual. “I need to take a shower though.”

“I’ll run you a bath,” Sukuna said, touching the tip of his nose with his fingertip. “Wait here.”

Megumi’s initial disappointment over the loss of his body was replaced by perplexity as he watched him pad to the ensuite bathroom. Even after hearing the sound of the water running, he couldn’t quite believe that Sukuna, his boyfriend’s grumpy and aloof uncle, was running a bath for him. 

“Do you have some bath salts or something like that?”

Megumi was so befuddled by the question it took him a second to answer. “Yeah, in the cabinet!”

Seconds later the floral scent of a bath bomb reached his nostrils. Megumi propped himself up on his elbows, trying to peek at what was going on in the bathroom, until Sukuna emerged from it. Without a word, he picked Megumi up in his arms again, and carried him bridal style into the bathroom. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Getting you in the bath,” Sukuna said like it was obvious. Slowly, as though Megumi was made of crystal, he lowered him into the bath. The water was just the right temperature, tinted a pale pink by the bath bomb; Megumi sighed as his body sank into the warm water and settled back against the tub, the floral scent permeating the tiny bathroom. 

“You know, I can get into a bath by myself,” Megumi said, unconvincing. He rested his head against the tiled wall, closing his eyes. The toilet lid creaked from a considerable weight. He opened his eyes to find Sukuna sitting there, watching him with the tiniest smile. 

“You looked like you couldn’t walk,” Sukuna said. “Do you have to complain about everything?”

“Yes,” Megumi replied. He swept his hand over the surface of the water, gathering the suds in his palm. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Sukuna said, rising to his feet. Instead of leaving he did something that was as perplexing as the bath, perhaps more: he stroked his head. Megumi peered at him curiously, eyebrows raised, but Sukuna turned on his heels and went back to the bedroom. “I’ll be in bed.”

Megumi took his time soaking in the bath until the warmth started to make him sleepy. Reluctantly he stepped out and went about his usual routine of lathering himself up in lotion, adding a bit of scented oils he’d received as a birthday gift from Nobara to the mix since he had company. Part of Megumi had expected Sukuna to change back into his clothes while he was in the bathroom, perhaps find him gone upon his return, but there he was, sitting in bed with his glasses on and what seemed to be a magazine in front of him. 

“What’s that?” Megumi asked on his way to his dresser, where he untied his robe. The silence made him glance over at Sukuna, who was ogling his naked body over the rim of his glasses. “You’ve never seen me naked or something?”

“Don’t tell me you’re feeling modest now.” Sukuna fixed his glasses back on his nose and went back to his task. “It’s sudoku.”

“Sudoku?” Megumi asked in an amused tone. He took his pajamas out of the drawer and closed it again. “Are you perhaps eighty years old?”

Slipping out of his robe, he put on his old t-shirt and plaid cotton pants. Sukuna’s eyes were back on him upon spinning around towards the bed.

“And you’re a tease,” Sukuna muttered. “I can’t fuck you again because you’ve already had your bath.”

Megumi rolled his eyes, throwing the covers back to get in bed. “You’ll get laid tomorrow, you geezer. Stop grumbling.”

Sukuna chuckled and Megumi smiled at the sound. Resting his head on Sukuna’s shoulder, he checked his progress, and even helped him with some of the missing numbers. After a while, he became sleepy, so he burrowed under the covers with his phone. Sukuna noticed and placed his sudoku book on the nightstand before switching off the lamp. Sliding down the covers, he immediately hugged his hips, bringing him closer against his body, and Megumi slipped his phone under the pillow so he could circle Sukuna’s torso with his arms. Sukuna stroked his cheek, and Megumi hoped that the darkness could hide his blush, though he was sure his heartbeat was loud enough to give him away.

“You’re so beautiful,” Sukuna said softly. “And so small. Sometimes I’m afraid I’ll break you.”

“I can handle it,” Megumi said. Besides he liked it a ridiculous amount; their size difference was one of the things that excited him most. 

“You sure can,” Sukuna said. In the dark Megumi could see the outline of his smirk, that smirk that was stupidly attractive. “It’s like some deity created you just for me.”

Something he’d noticed was how poetic Sukuna could get at times; it was both amusing and embarrassing at the same time, and, like in this moment, never failed to send his heart into a frenzy. “Don’t say stuff like that.”

Sukuna snorted. “Did I embarrass you?”

“Let’s just sleep,” Megumi said, burrowing against Sukuna’s chest. It was enormously comforting to have the steady throb of his heart, the musky scent of his skin so close, and the soft tickle of his chest hair against his face. 

“Night,” Sukuna said quietly. His hands dragged over his back comfortingly, and Megumi’s lids already felt heavy.

Megumi lifted his head to peck his chin. “Goodnight.”

The last time he had shared a bed with someone was with Yuji. His boyfriend. But somehow this didn’t feel weird at all, and as the rhythm of Sukuna’s breathing slowed gradually, he succumbed to a peaceful sleep. 

In the morning it was Megumi who pounced on Sukuna first. Surprisingly he woke up before him, despite imagining Sukuna as those older guys who awoke at the crack of dawn, and he lay there watching Sukuna sleep for a bit, until he got impatient and dropped kisses over his face to wake him up. Sukuna released an exhale through his nose, and clasped his hips, blinking blearily down at him. Those pink-colored brows were furrowed, lips set in a pout which accented the wrinkles around his mouth, and Megumi was aware that he shouldn’t find a middle-aged man this cute, but he did, a ludicrous amount. 

“Good morning,” Sukuna said, voice roughened with sleep. “I see you’re already up.”

Megumi smiled, pecked his lips, and rose on his elbows to tug his pants down. “Yeah, and I’m horny.”

Sukuna laughed quietly as he let Megumi push him onto his back, and clasped his thighs while Megumi climbed on top of him. “I’m about to have my first meal of the day.”

Megumi couldn’t help a scornful little laugh. “You’re so corny,” he said. Grasping a handful of his hair, he scooted over on his knees to hover over his face and lowered his hips until he shivered with the first drag of Sukuna’s tongue over his folds. 

It didn’t take long for him to come, a statement to how skilled Sukuna was with his tongue; he yanked at Sukuna’s hair, grinding fervently on his face, his thighs quaking on either side of him. But Megumi was far from done. As soon as he recovered, he freed Sukuna’s cock, hard as a rock, out of his boxers to ride him; his ass was a bit sore from the previous night, so he moved slowly and languidly at first, but promptly built up speed as his orgasm approached. Sukuna made him bend over him so he could suck on his nipples, dedicating enough attention to both until there were rosy patches blooming on his skin that would surely bruise later.

“Don’t do that,” Megumi complained, twisting Sukuna’s nipple between his thumb and forefinger in reprimand. Sukuna gasped, his hips twitching upward, and smirked over Megumi gulping in a breath. 

“Can’t help it,” he said. “I love your breasts so much.”

It’d be a lie if Megumi said he didn’t find it impossibly hot that his tits could disappear under Sukuna’s large hands. And those same large hands grasped his waist to flip him onto his back, so swiftly that he lay there blinking dazedly for half a second until Sukuna started driving his hips into him with barely a break in between. Megumi locked his arms around Sukuna’s neck while he lifted his legs by the underside of his knees, and let him fuck him into his second orgasm. 

Afterward they lay there for a bit, kissing lazily until Sukuna slipped under the covers to eat him out with the excuse of cleaning him up after coming inside. The third orgasm ripped a cry out of him, spasming and tugging at Sukuna’s hair roughly, while Sukuna didn’t budge an inch and neither did his bruising grip on his hips. Megumi crumbled on the bed limply, his bones filled with lead, and after his breathing became more or less regular, Sukuna scooted over on his knees, his heavy cock on his palm, and asked Megumi to open his mouth so he could come on his tongue. Megumi swallowed him down greedily, blinking languidly up at him, drinking every drop of him like the beautiful image of his face during orgasm; he was obsessed with it, for it was one of the few times he let his guard down. 

Once he was done, he let Megumi lie back down and promised to make breakfast for him. That had Megumi’s head snapping up, watching with confusion as Sukuna put on his boxers and headed to the kitchen of his own accord. 

Why is he making breakfast for me? Megumi wondered with no small degree of bewilderment. He had expected Sukuna to leave as soon as they were over, but after putting on his pajamas back on, he found Sukuna at the stove and the coffee machine sputtering to life on the counter. 

“You don’t have to do this,” Megumi said. Sukuna wheeled around with the spatula in hand. “Really, I can make breakfast myself.”

“Did the brat never make you breakfast?” Sukuna wondered aloud, going back to the stove. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”

And that seemed to settle the matter. Sukuna went about taking stuff out of the fridge and asking Megumi where some things were until he ushered him back to bed, and brought a tray with the breakfast to him. With a cup of coffee in his hands, watching Sukuna lather butter on his toast, Megumi sat there truly mystified. Did fuck buddies do this often? Stay the night and make breakfast for each other? Because that seemed like something only couples did, like he and Yuji used to do on weekends. Perhaps it was different between older people, and this was a perfectly normal thing for Sukuna that Megumi was simply overthinking their arrangement. 

The first thing he did the next time he saw Nobara was tell her about his recent fight with Yuji. Of course he couldn’t tell her he was sleeping with his uncle on the side, but at least he could gauge her reaction about the current state of his relationship to assuage some of his worries about what a terrible person he was. 

“Did you really tell him that?” Nobara asked once Megumi had finished telling her every detail. He had left out the part about Yuji using him as an excuse to move out of Sukuna’s house when he told him about the argument, but he had no reason to skip that now with Nobara. 

“Yeah,” Megumi muttered, looking down at his coffee can. “It was bad, I know.”

“You’re right, though,” Nobara said. “I’m just surprised that you were that honest with him.”

Megumi snapped his head up in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“Well, he does want to move out of his uncle’s house,” Nobara said. “I’m not saying he doesn’t want to move in with you, but that he’s obviously pressing you about that to get out of there as soon as possible.”

“He could just get a part-time job,” Megumi said, “and rent a room or something.”

“But he wants to live with you,” Nobara said, her chin in her cupped hand. “I don’t think it’s fair that he’s giving you an ultimatum, though. He’s forcing you to say yes just so you don’t have to break up.”

“So what do I do?”

“How would I know?”

Megumi groaned and held his head in his hands. “You’re not helping!”

“Why don’t you want to move in with him anyway?”

“Because he’s so untidy and messy,” Megumi said. “And I can’t focus on my schoolwork if he’s hanging around me all the time. I don’t think we should just live together because we’re dating.”

“Maybe he’ll change if you talk to him,” Nobara said. “See?! You’re never honest with him!”

Megumi released a deep sigh. The plain and honest truth was that he liked being alone. Not like he didn’t like spending time with Yuji and his friends, but his social battery ran out pretty fast, and he liked the thought of going home at the end of the day where no one could bother him. And even though he loved Yuji, the prospect of having him around wasn’t as exciting as he thought it should be… because he should be thrilled to live with his boyfriend, right? But the thought elicited no excitement or any emotion whatsoever other than anxiety. 

Sleeping with Sukuna, on the other hand, was different. Up until then he had never considered the benefits of an arrangement like this; he only saw Sukuna two or three times a week at most, whenever Sukuna was available and in the mood, which gave him plenty of time to do his own stuff without someone constantly demanding his time. And most importantly, he got mind-blowing sex on the side, free of any strings. 

But there were other benefits that Megumi had only discovered recently. He liked the mind-blowing sex, of course, but there were also those quiet moments afterward where Sukuna would bring him close and pepper kisses over his face, dragging his lips over the rest of his body, like he was something to be worshipped. On Monday, a few nights ago, Sukuna had shown up at his apartment with takeout like usual; since he’d brought his briefcase with him, he’d let Megumi finish the book he was reading so he could catch up on work. It’d been hard to focus on anything with Sukuna on the couch, wearing his glasses and frowning slightly at the paperwork, his sleeves rolled up and collar unbuttoned, without wanting to fling his book away and climb into his lap, damn his schoolwork and Sukuna’s work at that. Another night they’d spent a good hour discussing music in bed, and after Sukuna mentioned a few older singers—Buck-Tick, David Bowie, Ringo Shiina—Megumi just had to make fun of him, which Sukuna took in stride, and he wondered why it was so easy with him if this was supposed to be a casual, temporary thing.

Never had he imagined—certainly not at the start of this affair—that he’d wind up liking Sukuna’s company, perhaps a little more than he should. Because a major downside was that Sukuna was his boyfriend’s uncle, and to top it off, they couldn’t stand each other. This was definitely something he could not be honest about with other people, let alone Yuji. 

“You’re right,” he said. “I should speak to him, try to solve things, but… I just don’t know how.”

“If you want your relationship to work,” she said, looking at her reflection in the hand mirror, “then you need to compromise sometimes.”

Megumi pursed his lips, thinking about what Yuji had said about going back to being just friends. The awful thing was that Megumi agreed; things were simpler when they were just friends, and he wished terribly they could go back to that time. 

“Who picked you up the other day if it wasn’t Yuji by the way?”

That question caught Megumi off guard. “What?”

“I swear I saw his uncle’s car pull out of the parking lot after you left,” she said. “I thought he had picked you up.”

“Probably a coincidence,” he answered, trying to sound as calm as possible, though his palms were sweating and his pulse had quickened to an alarming rate. In a brief moment of agonizing anxiety, he had the urge to confess it all to Nobara, just so he could relieve some of the weight in his chest. She might even tell him he wasn’t the worst person in the world for fucking his boyfriend’s uncle, but since he knew her so well, he doubted she could keep the secret for long. 

“Probably,” she repeated in a vague tone. “Anyway,” she said, standing, “I’m going home.”

There were still some fifteen minutes for her shift to end, but Megumi said nothing. At least he could read in peace until his shift ended since there were barely any customers this late at night. 

Nobara stole a pack of gummy bears before leaving, waving her manicured hand at the entrance doors. “Let me know if you talk to Yuji! I want all the details!”

Megumi waved back unenthusiastically, and went back to the front to sit behind the cash register and buried his nose in his book. Not five minutes later the bells announcing a new customer broke the silence, and he lifted his head expecting Nobara to have forgotten something, but instead found Sukuna striding into the store. 

“What’re you doing here?!”

“Came to see you,” he answered casually. “What else?”

“You really need to stop coming here,” Megumi hissed. “Someone might see you!”

“I saw your friend leaving,” he said, “so I waited before coming out of the car.”

Megumi felt dread over the thought of Nobara noticing Sukuna’s car in the parking lot again. “She knows what your car looks like! You let Yuji drive it, remember?!”

Sukuna appeared to contemplate this for a second then he shrugged like he didn’t care either way. “Just tell her the brat dropped by to see you or something.”

Megumi wanted to yell at him over how difficult he was making his life, but that would be a lie, really; ever since they had started sleeping together he’d felt more content than ever. “Anyway, you can’t stay. What if she comes back?”

“You don’t have a break room or something?” Sukuna asked, looking around. “Let’s talk somewhere private.”

“The bathroom is in the back,” he said. “Just five minutes.”

Five minutes turned into more, of course. It couldn’t be any other way when his knees went weak the second Sukuna kissed him, at the same time he managed to unbutton his work shirt with a deftness that suggested a practiced skill. One of his hands slipped under the shirt to fondle his tits, the other made quick work of undoing his pants. Megumi still retained a bit of his presence of mind to stop him. 

“We can’t take long,” Megumi said as Sukuna kissed his neck. “Someone might come into the store and—”

“They’re going to see the sign that you’re on break and come back later,” Sukuna assured him. “Stop worrying and let me eat you.”

“I don’t know if—”

But Sukuna promptly shut him up by ducking his head and taking his tit into his mouth. Megumi moaned, head bumping against the wall, grasping Sukuna’s hair for something to cling to. Fingers snuck under the band of his panties and Megumi grinded his hips unconsciously against them. 

“You’re so wet already,” Sukuna said. “Are you wet for me, baby?”

“Are you drunk?” Megumi asked. “Don’t call me baby.”

Sukuna got on his knees, dragging Megumi’s pants along with his panties down his legs. Megumi shimmied out of them, and they pooled in one of his ankles, while Sukuna lifted his other leg and placed it on his shoulder. 

“I’m pussy drunk,” he said, using three fingers to drag over his wetness. Megumi bit his lip, gripping Sukuna’s hair. “Cuntstruck, if you will.”

And without another word, he buried his face between his thighs. Megumi covered his mouth with his hand to avoid making any noise, because anyone who stood outside the bathroom would hear him. 

Suddenly the bells from the entrance rang and Megumi tugged at Sukuna’s hair to stop him. But before he could say anything, a voice came from within the store. 

“Megumi? Where are you?”

The voice was none other than Yuji. Megumi froze in terror, and even Sukuna tipped his head back to shoot him a bewildered look. 

“Fuck, it’s Yuji!” Megumi hissed, panicking. “Get off of me!”

Shoving at Sukuna’s shoulder, he managed to pry himself out of his grip, and stumbled away from him to hastily pull on his pants and fix his shirt in front of the dirty mirror. Sukuna stood with a sigh, and leaned against the wall. 

“I’m in the bathroom!” he called, praying his panic wasn’t clear in his voice. “Wait a second!”

Once he had deemed himself somewhat acceptable, he flushed the toilet, hoping it was loud enough for Yuji to hear. Sukuna watched him in silence, an evidently displeased look on his face that Megumi did his best to ignore as he left the stall. 

Yuji thankfully was waiting for him at the front of the store. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

“Came to see you,” Yuji said, cheerful. Megumi’s smile froze because it was exactly what his uncle had said. “Can we talk for a minute?”

“Uh, right now? I don’t know if it’s the best time.”

“There’s no one here, Nobara told me she just left,” Yuji said with a little laugh. Then the tiniest of wrinkles appeared between his brows. “Well, I did see a car that looked like my uncle’s in the parking lot. I kinda expected him to be here, but of course that would’ve been too much of a coincidence, right?”

Trepidation clogged his throat like sand. “Your uncle?”

“Yeah, it’s weird,” Yuji said, chuckling. “Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for the other day. I don’t want to feel like I’m pressuring you to make a choice.”

Megumi sucked on his bottom lip for half a second. “It does kind of feel like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Yuji said, casting his gaze down. “I’m just confused about why you wouldn’t want to. I thought that was the kind of future for the relationship we had.”

Megumi didn’t know what to say to that. A future for them had never looked more nebulous than as of late. “Yuji—”

“But the thing is, I miss you,” Yuji barreled on, “and these weeks apart have only assured me that I don’t want to be without you. We watched the first Human Earthworm at the film club the other day and I couldn’t stop thinking about that time we watched it together.”

Megumi had hated that stupid movie, but it’d been fun watching with Yuji and Nobara. It was the same stuff they used to do before they started dating, and he missed those times everything was so simple between them more than words could describe.

“I’ve missed you too.”

Yuji smiled brightly. “Come here.”

Perhaps it was part relief and part surprise that let Megumi put no resistance when Yuji stepped forward, clasped his hips and pressed their lips together. Megumi melted into the kiss, realizing just how much he had missed Yuji and his hands, perfectly sized, on his body. 

They were interrupted by the sound of a throat being cleared. Megumi sprang apart, startled, and found Sukuna standing by the end of an aisle, staring at them expressionlessly and holding a bottle of rosé. 

“Am I interrupting?”

“Uncle Sukuna!” Yuji exclaimed. “What—”

“I was in the back,” Sukuna said. “Didn’t you see me?”

Yuji shook his head and glanced at Megumi with confusion. “I thought there was no one else here.”

“He must’ve come in while I was in the bathroom,” Megumi lied in a surprisingly steady voice. “Is there anything else you need?”

He had addressed this to Sukuna, who merely spared him a cool glance. “No, just this.”

Megumi scurried to the cash register. Sukuna paid for the bottle without ever meeting Megumi’s gaze, as though he was a mere store clerk, and Megumi knew that he must’ve listened to their whole conversation. Nothing in his expression hinted at some kind of emotion that could help Megumi glean his mood. All he said was thanks after receiving his receipt from him, and on his way to the entrance, he only addressed Yuji. 

“See you at home, brat,” he said. “Don’t stay out late.”

After the doors closed behind him, Megumi couldn’t explain the disappointment burning in his chest. Yuji stepped back into his view, reminding him of his presence which he had momentarily forgotten. 

“So, what are you doing after your shift?”

“I need to work on my thesis,” Megumi said. The usual lie. “I have a meeting with my supervisor soon so…”

Yuji’s lips tugged down at the corners in a frown. He was evidently unhappy, but didn’t want to express his disappointment. “Right, so I’ll see you tomorrow maybe?”

“I’ll text you,” Megumi promised. For some reason he couldn’t really focus because he was still thinking about Sukuna’s cold treatment of him. Yuji nodded, a forced smile on his face, and leaned across the counter to kiss his cheek. 

“See you,” he said before leaving. Megumi plopped down on a stool and sighed heavily. How did his life become this complicated? 

A beep from his phone snapped him out of his self-deprecating thoughts. As soon as he saw Sukuna’s name on the screen, he rushed to open the message. I’m waiting outside, he said. The brat’s gone. 

Megumi sucked on his bottom lip, reading the text. The best course of action would be to tell him to leave, that he never wanted to see him again, that sneaking around behind his boyfriend’s back was wrong—but rationality wasn’t his forté lately. So he typed quickly, my shift ends in an hour, and pocketed his phone before he could regret it. 

An hour later he was shocked to find Sukuna’s car still there in the parking lot. He kind of expected Sukuna to be dozing behind the wheel or something, but he found him reading with his glasses on. It was almost kind of a shame to knock on the window to let him know he was there, and saw with some amusement Sukuna starting, whipping his head around towards Megumi. Once he saw it was him he immediately unlocked the doors to let him in. 

“I can’t believe you’re still here.”

“I said I’d wait outside,” he said. “We need to talk.”

“What about?”

“You and the brat,” he replied flatly, almost petulantly. It pricked Megumi’s skin. “It’s none of my business if you get back together,” he rushed to say before Megumi intervened, “but I’d like to know whether this arrangement will go on between us.”

“Of course not,” Megumi said vehemently. “That’d be cheating!”

“You’re technically cheating on him already,” Sukuna remarked, “because you’re still together.”

“We’re on a break,” Megumi said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And either way, my relationship is none of your business.”

“Okay,” Sukuna said. “We’ll stop fucking then.”

Megumi whipped his head around towards him. “We won’t fuck again?”

“You just said we shouldn’t,” Sukuna answered matter-of-factly. “If you’re back together with the brat, that counts as cheating according to you.”

“But we’re not back together yet!”

“So what do you want, Megumi?” Sukuna said in a mix of amusement and impatience. “Do you want to fuck or not?”

“If I’m trying to make things work with Yuji I can’t be sneaking around with his uncle behind his back.”

“So?”

“So…” Megumi said, meeting his gaze. “We can fuck now, but it’ll be the last time.”

“Alright,” Sukuna said simply. “The thing is, I’ve been thinking about eating you out since I left the store and…”

Removing his book from his lap revealed a very evident bulge straining against the front of his pants. Megumi’s mouth watered almost instantly at the sight.

“You want me to suck you off? Here?”

“There’s no one around,” he said, “and the store’s closed already.”

Megumi was too horny to complain, so he tossed his backpack into the backseat. Sukuna smirked, settling in his seat, unzipping his pants as Megumi kneeled on his seat to bend over the console. Pulling down the band of Sukuna’s underwear, his cock sprang up, resting curved and heavy over his abdomen. Megumi licked his lips over the white smear of precum pooled at the tip. 

“You want this, baby?” Sukuna asked, low and raspy, grasping his cock at the base. 

Megumi shot him a stern glare. “Don’t call me that.”

“You didn’t mind last time.”

Megumi ignored him in favor of dipping his head to finally lick the tip of his cock. Closing his lips around it, he lowered his head, enjoying the way it stretched his mouth, its salty flavor inundating it, perhaps more than he should. 

“That’s it,” Sukuna murmured, burying fingers in his hair. “You love it, don’t you?”

The last thing Megumi wanted to admit was how much he did love it—he couldn’t get enough of his taste, his weight and girth, how much he thought of doing exactly this at least ten times a day. But all he did was moan in response, hoping that was enough, paired with the way he bobbed his head even faster now, lower, trying to get even more of him down his throat. 

“Let me touch you,” Sukuna said in an exhale, sneaking his fingers past the band of his pants. Megumi made quick work of unbuttoning his pants on the front, hasty and sloppy, since he was desperate for Sukuna to touch him in any capacity. And Sukuna wasted no time, pushing his pants down as his hand slipped inside his underwear to slide over his pussy lips. Megumi moaned around his dick, growing louder as he pushed his fingers in, three at once because he was already so slick and needy. 

It didn’t take long for it to become too much; Sukuna was dragging his fingers in and out with a steady, fast pace that made it hard for Megumi to focus on his task—and frankly he was dying to be fucked already. So he lifted his head and trained on Sukuna a pout. “Please fuck me.”

Sukuna didn’t protest; in no time he had him sitting on his lap, his back to him, and lining himself up, helping to guide Megumi down by a hand on his waist. But Megumi was too impatient for precautions, so he pushed down until he sat on him. There was no sting or pain of any kind, his body gave in readily for him, as though he was made to take his cock, and the groan that Sukuna uttered into his ear, his fingers squeezing his waist, was enough confirmation. Megumi didn’t wait to move, bouncing on Sukuna until their thighs slapped on each other, gripping the steering wheel and the dash for support. 

“Fuck yourself on me,” Sukuna said, slapping his ass for emphasis. Megumi moaned wantonly, grinding on his cock, while Sukuna pressed kisses over his nape. Large hands yanked at his shirt until it popped open, buttons flying everywhere, but Megumi was too far gone to care, for he barely registered it as Sukuna covered his breasts to fondle them and pinch his nipples. “Fuck, you’re so hot.”

Megumi moaned again, increasing the speed of his movements, noises growing needier, clutching Sukuna’s thighs for leverage. Dragging his lips over the shell of his ear, Sukuna sucked on his earlobe, before whispering into his ear, “You’re mine. Only mine.”

A shiver ran down his spine. Somehow those words stoked the fire in his belly like nothing else, cranking up the levels of his desperation to an impossible degree. Biting his lower lip, Megumi picked up his earlier rhythm and began bouncing on Sukuna again, clutching his thighs, needing him so far inside to be able to scratch that itch in the shape of him. But Sukuna relented his movements by gripping his waist, his other hand around his neck, and Megumi uttered a whine in protest that would’ve embarrassed him any other time. 

“Tell me you’re mine,” Sukuna said. Megumi frowned, though he did not stop moving, returning to a slow grind. The pause indicated Sukuna was waiting for an answer, and those fingers tightened around his throat, with enough pressure to draw a little gasp from him. 

“What are you talking about,” Megumi muttered, impatient. “Let me fucking—”

Sukuna snapped his hips upwards, sending Megumi against the steering wheel with the force of it, though Sukuna’s grip around his throat kept him in place. Since Megumi resisted giving an answer, he did it again, thrusting upwards, holding Megumi down with an arm around his waist. Megumi keened, crying out, and breathing hard in the subsequent pause to recover before Sukuna did it again.

“Say it,” Sukuna demanded. Another thrust, harder this time, and Megumi clutched the dashboard and the wheel, mouth set in a silent scream. Once he recovered, Megumi shook his head, though he knew that the longer Sukuna kept this up, the more he fucked him like this, the likelier it was that he gave him what he wanted. 

Luckily he kept fucking him like this, letting go of his neck to grasp his hips and fuck him with abandon. Megumi gripped the steering wheel, slumping over it as Sukuna’s thrusts shot him forward, so hard he feared his head would go through the windshield. Megumi cried out loudly with every thrust, and once Sukuna snuck around him to rub his fingers over his clit, his body collapsed with his climax; he came hard, crying out at the top of his lungs as his body shook and spasmed and clamped around Sukuna. Gripping his waist, Sukuna came hard inside him, snapping his hips a couple more times, leaving Megumi slumped over the steering wheel as Sukuna used him to pump him full of his come. 

“Fuck,” Sukuna groaned, grinding some more into Megumi before fully stopping once he’d stuffed him with every drop of his come. Megumi lay there slumped over the wheel, breathing hard, feeling like no air would be enough to fill his lungs. 

After a while, Sukuna drew him gently into his lap, and Megumi went limply, falling back against his chest like a rag doll. It was a pleasant knowledge to have that his head fitted perfectly in the crook of his neck, as it was the combination of sweat and traces of his cologne on his shirt. One hand rested comfortably on his lower back, and to his surprise Sukuna kissed his hair before nudging his chin with his fist to tip his head up. 

“Are you okay?” he asked once Megumi looked at him. Something in his gaze, soft as velvet, and the gentleness in his voice quickened his pulse, but Megumi decided it was better to ignore that for now. 

“You owe me a shirt,” he croaked with a hoarse, tired voice. Sukuna’s breath tickled his face with the laugh he wheezed through his nose, and then he dropped a small kiss on his lips that was so chaste and sweet that Megumi’s heart stirred with an emotion he didn’t dare to name. 

Half an hour later Sukuna parked outside his building. Since his shirt was useless, he had given Megumi his own navy blue blazer to wear, which probably cost more than his rent, and retained traces of his cologne. The silence was thick, and Sukuna sat quietly after turning off the engine, as though waiting for Megumi to speak. 

“So, I don’t think we should see each other anymore,” Megumi started. “And I mean it this time.”

“You said the same thing last time,” Sukuna said. “And the first time we fucked too.”

“But this time it’s for real!” Megumi said, growing frustrated. “I’m not joking. We have to stop now that Yuji and I are getting back together.”

Sukuna looked at him for a moment and scoffed. “Are you seriously considering getting back together with the brat? Knowing he wants things you don’t?”

It became obvious then that since Sukuna had heard their entire conversation he knew that things were still up in the air with them; they hadn’t solved any of their issues, and there was no point in pretending otherwise.

“I might grow to want them too,” Megumi said, averting his eyes, in a tone that was less than convincing. “That’s what relationships are. It’s all about compromise.”

Megumi glanced at Sukuna just in time to catch him rolling his eyes. “Whatever you say, Megumi,” he said drily. “I just hope you don’t regret it once you realize the brat isn’t going to change.”

“How do you know he won’t?”

“Because I’ve known him all his life,” Sukuna answered plainly. “Longer than you’ve known him.”

That much was true. Megumi knew how stubborn Yuji could be, but maybe that was something Megumi should want too; something safe and reliable like what they used to have, so unlike all this sneaking around and fucking in empty parking lots. He thought of the fondness in those warm brown eyes gazing at him, and how much he’d missed him. Sweet, beautiful Yuji who did not deserve what he was doing to him. 

“That would be none of your business anyway,” Megumi snapped, already going for the door handle. “Just like whatever beef you have with your family isn’t any of mine.”

Once Sukuna saw Megumi opening the door, he reached across the console to stop him, but Megumi was faster. “Wait, Megumi—”

“Do not contact me again,” Megumi said and slammed the door on his face. To his surprise, and greater disappointment, Sukuna did not go after him, and drove off in the car before Megumi was inside his building. 

The following days were surprisingly calm and peaceful. Mainly because Megumi had to restrain himself from contacting Sukuna, and the impulse was so great at times that he was short of blocking his number. That didn’t stop him from reaching for his phone every time it vibrated with a new notification, and even when it didn’t, he would be checking it so often that Nobara kept making snide little comments at work. 

One thing Megumi hadn’t expected was the guilt that hounded him now that he and Yuji were on speaking terms again. It gnawed at him every time Yuji sent him a text, no matter how silly, and closed around his neck like a noose during the few times Yuji called him, to the point it was becoming harder to breathe. But this didn’t stop him from accepting to go out with him that weekend, with the belief that spending time together, like they used to do, would help him forget his little affair with Sukuna and things would be back to normal. 

On Saturday Yuji took him to eat ice cream at their favorite café and then for a walk at the park where they took selfies together under the cherry blossoms that had just bloomed. Going on a date with Yuji did not make him feel at ease as he had hoped but quite the opposite—by the end of the day his anxiety was so bad that it was making him nauseous and he was itching to get home. So once Yuji suggested they go to one of his friend’s house to watch a movie—he was the only one in his film club with a decent high-quality projector—Megumi was quick to come up with such a lame excuse that he almost cringed after uttering it. 

“What? You got a headache?” Yuji said, frowning with concern. “But you’ve been fine all day!”

“Yeah, I just got it out of nowhere,” Megumi said. “Maybe I should’ve brought a thicker jacket. It’s a bit cold today.”

“Wear mine,” Yuji said, starting to remove it, but Megumi stopped him. 

“No, don’t worry,” Megumi said. “I’ll just go home. We can go out tomorrow or next week?”

“Sure thing,” Yuji said, smiling. “I had such a good time today.” 

“Me too,” Megumi said, and meant it. He had missed Yuji terribly, and at least he could be honest on that front, even if he couldn’t on other things. Yuji unveiled that boyish smile of his, the one that used to produce a swarm of butterflies in his chest each time without fail, but now paralyzed him with fear; because that smile elicited no violence of emotion, no flutter or tremor in his heart to accompany it—instead there was fear, for his feelings had clearly changed and he hadn’t even realized it. 

Unaware of his predicament, Yuji gave him no time to ruminate on this; with an arm around his waist, he brought him closer until he could kiss him. Megumi let him, just because he couldn’t bring himself to shatter the genuine happiness radiating off of him, though all it did was prove that he was not only lying to Yuji but also himself.

That evening Megumi showed up at Sukuna’s doorstep with his heart in his throat. He had expected Sukuna to slam the door on his face as soon as he saw him, but he didn’t; there was evident surprise in the height of his brows, his eyes widening the slightest bit, but it was fleeting and his expression quickly became stony and indifferent once again.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to give back this,” Megumi said, handing him his blazer. He had made a quick stop at his apartment after leaving Yuji just to grab it before getting on another taxi towards Sukuna’s place. 

“Thanks,” said Sukuna coolly. A lesser person would’ve crumbled under the crushing weight of apathy in his stare, but Megumi was determined in his quest to speak to him. “The brat’s not here,” he said after a beat of silence. 

“I know,” Megumi said. “I went out with him today. He went to a friend’s house afterward.”

Sukuna’s eyebrow twitched. “And why aren’t you with him?”

“Because I wanted to have a word with you,” Megumi said, forcing himself to hold his gaze. “If you have a minute.”

Sukuna visibly hesitated, his lips flattening and his eyebrows furrowing, which was the most emotion he had shown so far. Half of Megumi expected him to finally slam the door on him, but he opened it wider and stepped aside in a silent invitation to come inside. 

After Sukuna closed the door, Megumi prepared to give him the speech he had rehearsed in the taxi ride there, but was interrupted by Sukuna saying, “You look cold. Want a cup of tea?”

“What?”

“You look cold,” Sukuna repeated as though it was obvious. “I thought you might want to warm yourself up.”

Since a befuddled Megumi remained there, speechless, Sukuna started towards the kitchen. Megumi quickly recovered to clasp his arm to stop him, and as Sukuna spun around, Megumi stood on his tiptoes, grabbed his face and kissed him. There was a harrowing second where Sukuna stood stock still, frozen by shock, but to his endless relief, his lips moved under his, and his large hands settled on his hips to drag him closer, pressing their bodies together, as he usually did. 

“Is this what you came here for?” Sukuna asked in between kisses over his face.

“I had to return your jacket,” Megumi said, sighing from Sukuna’s mouth kissing down his throat. “I couldn’t keep it in my apartment forever.”

Neither was willing to mention the obvious, that keeping it in his apartment meant running the risk of Yuji stumbling upon it. Sukuna swiftly hauled him in his arms, Megumi locking his legs and arms around him instantly, and let himself be carried upstairs, all the while kissing Sukuna’s face.

They were out of their clothes in record time. Sukuna dived between his legs right after taking off his underwear, and the noise he made, like a starving man tasting his favorite food, had Megumi flushing to the top of his head. Megumi was too impatient to let him take his time, so he tugged at his hair, and luckily Sukuna caught on because he moved to bend over him and kiss him while lining himself up between his thighs. 

They moaned at the same time after Sukuna pushed in with a single thrust. Sukuna fucked him hard from the outset, lifting his legs to press them against his torso, and bending over him to kiss him, snapping his hips fast and hard so the slap of skin was as loud as Megumi’s cries. 

The front door slamming shut downstairs cut through the haze of pleasure like a shotgun, followed by Yuji shouting, “Uncle Sukuna, are you home?!”

Megumi stopped Sukuna by clutching his arm, though Sukuna had also heard, for Megumi’s bewilderment was mirrored over his face. “Fuck, it’s Yuji!” 

“What’s he doing here?” Sukuna asked in a murmur. “You said—”

“I don’t know!” Megumi hissed. Footsteps stomped on the staircase, growing louder as Yuji reached the landing, and with it Megumi’s panic increased.

“Don’t come in here,” Sukuna shouted. “I’m busy!”

A pause. Then Yuji laughed, saying, “Alright, I’ll leave you to it!” and seemingly trudged to his bedroom. 

They stared at each other in silence, waiting for another noise, but after a handful of seconds nothing else came. Megumi pushed at Sukuna to get him off of him, but Sukuna didn’t budge an inch, and instead dipped to capture his mouth until Megumi sagged in his arms, his fright mollified by a bruising, thorough kiss that stole his breath, and large hands that traced his outline with zeal.

“Want to stop?” Sukuna asked, licking and kissing over his neck. “He doesn’t know you’re here.”

“He’s in the next room,” Megumi whispered, though he’d stopped resisting. “We can’t—”

Sukuna slotted their mouths again, swallowing a sigh. Something about the way Sukuna kissed him managed to short-circuit his brain, and so for a moment he forgot why he’d wanted him to stop in the first place, but the reminder came abruptly once Sukuna pulled back and let the cool air hit his skin. 

“Do you still want to stop?”

At those words Megumi clamped around Sukuna as though his body gave an answer for him. A voice screamed that he had to stop, it was wrong, Yuji was right there, but his body kept betraying him: moving on their own, his legs and arms reached out towards Sukuna, not wanting to be without his heat, and his hips bucked down, seeking friction. Megumi snared Sukuna in a heated kiss, partly in order to wipe off that triumphant smirk twisting his mouth, and partly because that same smirk was irresistible to him.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Megumi whispered over his lips. Yet he made no attempt to get away, closing his eyes as Sukuna kissed his neck. “We shouldn’t—”

A sharp thrust cut off his next words. His mouth fell open with a gasp, and once Sukuna began thrusting into him again, building up his pace swiftly, whatever fight was left in him completely vanished. Sukuna pressed a palm over his mouth to muffle his noises as he snapped his hips relentlessly, so hard the bed banged against the wall and Megumi’s eyes rolled back into his skull. 

Sukuna managed to kiss him as his thrusts became faster, harder, and Megumi muffled his sobs against his mouth, digging his nails into the flesh of his back. And that was how they came nearly at the same time, Megumi biting Sukuna’s shoulder and clenching around him, tears welling in his eyes, as Sukuna groaned loudly, fucking him hard through a mind-blowing orgasm. 

Afterward Sukuna collapsed on top of him, breathing hard, and cradled Megumi in his arms to kiss him with such a breathtaking intensity that his chest burned. It was hard to contend with the fact that he loved having Sukuna exactly like this, his huge frame enveloping him entirely, kissing him like it was his last day on earth, all the while Megumi’s boyfriend was in the next room, perhaps thinking about their date earlier that day, and must’ve heard them have sex. 

Sukuna rolled over onto his side, trying to drag Megumi along, but Megumi managed to disentangle from him and got off the bed on unsteady legs.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” Megumi asked, pulling on his jeans. “I’m leaving.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?” Megumi spared him a stern glance before putting on his shirt. 

“The brat must be asleep,” Sukuna said. “He doesn’t know you’re—”

“Doesn’t matter,” Megumi said, donning his jacket. “Don’t follow me.”

Propelled by his anger and shame, he hadn’t bothered to check whether the hallway outside was empty, and he’d barely taken two steps out of the room when a voice stopped him dead in his tracks. 

“Megumi?”  

Dread descended upon him like a bucket of cold water dumped over his head. There stood Yuji, watching him with clear astonishment. Sukuna came out of the room after him, and nearly crashed into Megumi standing frozen in the landing.

“What?” Yuji glanced between Megumi and Sukuna wearing nothing but joggers. Megumi’s stomach tied itself in knots over the shock that replaced the confusion on Yuji’s face as realization dawned on him. “You—Sukuna—”

“Yuji,” Megumi said, trying to approach him. Yuji stepped back as though he was burned, his features twisted with dismay. “Please let me explain.”

“You’re fucking my uncle?” Yuji said in a horrified whisper. “I can’t believe this!”

Pushing past Megumi he dashed down the stairs, ignoring Megumi calling after him. Megumi ran after him, uncaring of his untied shoes as he darted towards the front door. Yuji was faster, though, and by the time Megumi reached the doorstep Yuji was already getting into Sukuna’s car and backing out of the driveway without sparing Megumi a single glance.

“Yuji, wait!”

The car sped down the road and got lost in the night. Sukuna caught up with him in the driveway. Megumi unfortunately wasn’t fast enough because Sukuna managed to grab his arm to stop him. 

“Wait!”

“Leave me alone!” Megumi yanked his arm out of his grip. “I have to go after him!”

“Why are you acting like this?”

“What? I just slept with my boyfriend’s uncle right in front of him!”

“It wasn’t in front of him,” Sukuna rebutted. “He was in another room.”

“But he saw us!” Megumi said in frustration. “He found out anyway.”

“Isn’t that better?” Sukuna said in a flat voice. “Everything’s out in the open now.”

Megumi couldn’t believe what he was hearing; the tired tone, as though he was already sick of the topic, grated his nerves. “Are you serious? I broke his heart! He’s never going to forgive me.”

“The brat had to find out at one point,” Sukuna said, shrugging the slightest bit. “It couldn’t have gone on forever like this. Were you going to lie to him his whole life?”

“I didn’t want him to find out like this,” Megumi said quietly. Now he was almost on the verge of tears, though no actual tears were coming; it was the searing wave of self-loathing and shame flooding his veins and scorching his eyes. “This isn’t what I wanted.”

“You came here out of your volition,” Sukuna said. “You obviously knew what you wanted.” 

“Don’t speak for me,” Megumi said sharply, glowering at Sukuna. “You don’t know me.”

Sukuna clasped his face, his grip strong enough that Megumi couldn’t push his arm away by wrestling with his wrist. “I know you enough to know that you like this, what we have,” Sukuna said, “but you’re too scared of breaking the brat’s heart to do anything about it. Now you don’t have to—he already knows.”

Anger fizzed up in Megumi’s throat, sour and searing, like bile. “You don’t know shit,” Megumi spat. “This was all a mistake.”

An odd emotion zipped through Sukuna’s countenance, his eyebrows twitched and the corners of his mouth tugged down—something akin to hurt—and Sukuna released him, taking a small step backwards as though Megumi had slapped him across the face. In his current mood Megumi felt a sadistic sense of gratification over it. “I can give you what you want,” Sukuna said, an almost pleading edge to his voice that was wholly unfamiliar. “You know it too.”

“This was a mistake,” Megumi repeated, low but firm. “You’re almost twice my age.”

“So what? Megumi—”

“Date people your own age and leave me alone.”

Megumi spun around and left Sukuna standing there. A big part of him had wanted him to chase after him, stop him—just so he didn’t have to face the despair and guilt that were to be his only companions for the endless hours ahead of him. 

Yuji had gone to Nobara’s place that night. She came to work the next day looking like she was going to beat Megumi’s ass in the parking lot until she saw he was genuinely miserable and her anger quickly dissolved into begrudging concern.

“I can’t believe you did that.”

“I know,” Megumi muttered. “Can’t believe it myself.”

“I know Sukuna is a hunk and all,” Nobara said. “And he’s hot for his age, but he’s old and weird! And of all people I just never expected you to be attracted to older weird guys.”

Of course Nobara wouldn’t really be hung up on the you-fucked-your-boyfriend’s-uncle aspect of the situation. “I was drunk, okay? And miserable because Yuji had broken up with me and—”

“Was it some weird fucked up way to get back at him?” 

In some way it had been a way to get back at Yuji, he couldn’t deny that, but there was also no denying that he was horrendously attracted to Sukuna. “Maybe,” he admitted vaguely. 

“Can’t say I didn’t suspect something,” Nobara said, crossing her arms. “I saw you looking at his LinkedIn profile once,” she added after Megumi gave her a quizzical look.

Since Sukuna had no social media, Megumi had had to resort to stalking his LinkedIn profile in lieu of anything else just so he could stare at his picture whenever he missed him a little. It had been a particularly low point for Megumi. 

“I hate my life,” Meguni groaned, burying his face in his hands. Nobara patted his back commiseratingly. 

“That’s what you get for fucking your boyfriend’s forty-seven-year-old uncle.”

“Shut up please,” Megumi muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ve had enough of this.”

“What did Sukuna say by the way? Did he laugh like a cartoon villain after Yuji ran off?”

“No, he kind of…” Megumi trailed off. Nobara watched him expectantly. “He kinda implied he wanted us to be serious.”

“What? After causing all this mess?” Nobara clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “That guy’s shameless. You told him to fuck off, right?”

Megumi bit his lip at the memory of Sukuna’s face falling after Megumi said their little fling had been a mistake, the evident disappointment in his features. The memory produced conflicting emotions within him: the knowledge that he shouldn’t feel sorry for him after the damage they caused and the yearning that consumed him every time he thought of him. It was particularly bad at night; without his even noticing he’d grown so used to Sukuna spending the night that he missed his heat and his large body to hold while he slept like a giant teddy bear.

Since his silence stretched, Nobara gasped loudly. “You said yes?!”

“Of course not,” Megumi said, a tad defensive. “Yuji would never speak to me again.”

“Well, it’s not like you guys have huge chances of being pals again after this,” Nobara said. “He’s pretty hurt.”

“I know,” Megumi said, “and it’s all my fault.”

Nobara squeezed his shoulder. “Give him time. He’ll get over it eventually.”

“I don’t know about that,” Megumi murmured. “I fucked up pretty badly this time.”

“Yeah, I’d say so,” Nobara said, “but now at least he knows how you feel.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if you felt the same way you did about Yuji, you wouldn’t have slept with his uncle after going on a date with him the same day.”

“It’s not that simple,” Megumi rebutted, frowning. Or maybe it was, and the skeptical look Nobara was giving him seemed to support this. It wasn’t a topic he wanted to breach, though, so he pushed his chair back and rose to his feet. “I’ll go stock up the drinks machine.”

Nobara waved a dismissive hand, though he could feel her concerned gaze on his back the rest of their shift. 

Life grew quiet around him in the following days, despite his heart being in constant turmoil. And although Megumi had his thesis to focus on, and his part-time job to keep him busy, it was hard to think about anything but how hurt Yuji had looked, and the dejection in Sukuna’s features that night, and he wondered why both occupied his thoughts in equal amount even though only one had been his actual boyfriend. 

The irony of the situation didn’t escape Megumi: now it was him who dreaded seeing Yuji, for he didn’t know what to expect. He’d never known Yuji to go through something like this, and in any case he’d definitely make it clear what an awful person Megumi was.

So seeing Yuji right outside the Arts building a week later Megumi was ready to spin on his heels and run the way he came, but Yuji saw him first and marched right up to him. Dark clouds packed the sky above, and despite the chill in the air of an incoming rain, it was the unreadable expression that Yuji wore that sent a shiver down his spine: it was worse than if he had been glaring at him with all the hatred in the world, for it was stone-cold and so odd in Yuji’s usual cheery demeanor, and gave Megumi an awful sense of déjà vu. 

“Megumi,” Yuji said in a cool voice. “I need to have a word with you.”

Despite sounding oddly composed, the thinly concealed anger in his tone pricked Megumi like a million needles. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you as well, but you aren’t answering any of my calls or texts.”

“Why do you think that is, Megumi?”

Megumi flinched at the sarcasm, so unfamiliar coming from Yuji. “Listen, can we go somewhere?” he said. It was starting to rain now, the dark spots on the cobblestones growing bigger and more persistent by the second. “We’ll get wet if we stand here any longer.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”

“Please, Yuji, you’ll get a cold—”

“Okay, I’ll ask what I wanted to know,” Yuji said. “Why did you do it? How did it start?”

“Yuji—”

“Just tell me please,” Yuji asked, exasperation coloring his voice. “Sukuna refuses to tell me anything.”

For some reason he’d assumed—or feared—that Sukuna would’ve told Yuji everything in a sick attempt at taunting him. He wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or annoyed that he hadn’t, for it didn’t make things any easier for him. 

Megumi expelled a sigh through his mouth first in a futile effort to brace himself. “It was the day you told me you wanted a break,” he started, a bit reticent. “I went to your house looking for you, but I found Sukuna instead. We started drinking and…” Yuji was gaping like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Guilt roiled like acid in his stomach. “I’m so sorry. I know it was an awful thing—”

“Why did you do it then?” Yuji spat. “If you know it was awful why—”

“I don’t know, alright?” Megumi snapped, growing impatient. “I was drunk and sad and he was there.”

“What about all the other times?”

A quivery breath slipped past Megumi’s lips that got lost in the chilly wind rattling the trees lining the path. Nothing he could say was good enough to justify why he’d slept with his boyfriend’s uncle, and no justification that came to his mind would’ve saved his already precarious relationship. 

“What hurts most is that you were my friend before my boyfriend,” Yuji said, “and you went behind my back with my uncle—”

“I already said I’m sorry, Yuji,” Megumi said. “What else do you want me to say?”

Fat drops hit his face one after another, coming faster, and the cold was seeping into his bones—needless to say his patience was wearing thin. Yuji didn’t seem to be done just yet.

“I guess I should’ve seen it coming,” Yuji said. “You never made any time to hang out, dragged your feet over moving in together because you obviously didn’t want to—”

“What about you?” Megumi countered. “You never understood that I need time for school stuff and my job! It’s always about how you feel and what you want! It’s not fair!”

“You know what’s not fair? You fucking my uncle!”

Students around them turned to look in their direction, some bemused, others leering. Heat flared in his cheeks. The rain seeped into his clothes and plastered his hair to his face, and all the shame and resentment he’d carried these past weeks was rushing to the surface, spilling out of him like foam in a glass. 

“You’re right by the way,” Megumi said. “I don’t feel the same way I did about you and I’m sorry I wasn’t honest sooner.”

Megumi saw his words hit their target in real time in the way Yuji’s face fell: first his lips falling open, the ends of his eyebrows drooping, and his eyes widening as though he’d been dealt a blow that left him winded. Hurt quickly replaced surprise over his features, his brow furrowing and his bottom lip trembling, at the same time Megumi’s stomach twisted with a sick feeling. 

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I’m sorry,” Megumi said quietly, casting his eyes towards the rain-splattered ground. “I didn’t realize until recently…” He trailed off as it was evident what he meant. Yuji flinched visibly. “But I—I still care about you.”

“You know he’s just using you, right?” Yuji said after a moment. “He hooks up with random people all the time and never sees them again.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Megumi said, shrugging, though this gesture was less than convincing. “It’s already over.”

“Yeah,” Yuji said, nodding, “so are we anyway.”

He turned on his heels before Megumi could edge a word in. It began pouring then, rain splashing on the cobblestones and students running for cover, and Megumi stood there, torn between wanting to go after Yuji and letting him go because the empty feeling inside him told him there was nothing left to do. 

Megumi had believed coming clean to Yuji would make things slightly better, but in this he was also wrong. So far it was turning out to be the worst day of his life: since he didn’t take his umbrella that morning, his clothes were drenched and stinking, and his sneakers squelched embarrassingly with every step on his way home. And as if things weren’t bad enough, he found none other than Sukuna waiting for him outside his building; Megumi tried to ignore him and walk past him, squeaking shoes and all, but Sukuna’s mountain of a figure jumped in front of him to prevent it.  

“Megumi, wait,” Sukuna said. “I need to speak to you.”

A note of urgency ringing clear in Sukuna’s voice made Megumi pause for half a second, but he wasn’t about to let himself fall into his trap again. “We have nothing to talk about. Go home and leave me alone.”

“I’ve tried calling you,” Sukuna said, “and message you, but nothing goes through.”

“That’s because I blocked your number,” Megumi answered easily. “I thought that’d deter you. And since that’s cleared up—” Megumi tried to sidestep him unsuccessfully since Sukuna blocked his way again. He sighed wearily. “What do you want?”

“Let’s talk,” Sukuna said. “Just a minute.”

“I had a shitty day and I’m soaking wet,” Megumi said, exasperated. “Can you just let me go up to my apartment and leave me alone?”

Sukuna blinked for a couple of seconds. Megumi waited with bated breath for his response, even though he should’ve taken the chance to slip past him and made a run for his building. 

“You look like a wet kitten,” Sukuna said. A small smile played at the edges of his lips and Megumi’s heart flipped treacherously. 

“Shut up,” he snapped. He was aware that he probably didn’t look as intimidating as he hoped given he was dripping wet and sniffling, and that Sukuna looked more amused than anything. To make matters worse, he sneezed loudly, twice, before he was able to tell Sukuna to leave again, which made Sukuna chuckle.

“Let me run you a bath,” Sukuna offered placidly. “And then you can tell me about your day.”

Megumi considered it for a second; Sukuna didn’t seem like he was about to give up any time soon, and he wasn’t in the mood to try to change his mind. At length he heaved a long sigh. “Fine. Whatever.”

It was definitely not a good idea to let Sukuna back into his space, knowing how it went last time, but Megumi was too tired and sick of everything to think rationally. And besides once he peeled off his wet clothes while Sukuna ran the bath in the bathroom, his mood gradually began to lift, and it only improved once he smelled the sweet fragrance of his favorite bath bomb wafting from the bathroom. 

Megumi stepped into the bathroom in his robe. Sukuna didn’t budge after Megumi looked at him pointedly. 

“Can you turn so I can take off my robe?”

“I’ve seen you naked more times than I can count.”

Megumi released a sharp sigh. “Fine,” he muttered and slipped off his robe. “Hold this.”

Sukuna held his robe and his hand as he got into the bath. The water was the right temperature, and he sank into the tub with a sigh, letting the warmth surround and envelop him like a hug. 

“I take it you liked it,” Sukuna said, taking a seat on the toilet lid. Megumi didn’t have the willpower to care about this obvious interruption of his moment of relaxation. “So what happened today?”

“I ran into Yuji,” Megumi said, letting his head rest against the tiles. “We had an honest talk for once and he definitely hates me now.”

“Couldn’t have been worse than what’s already happened,” Sukuna said. “And besides he got what he wanted—he’s living on his own now.”

Megumi snapped his head up. “What?”

“I’m renting an apartment for him,” Sukuna explained in a monotonous voice that was clearly meant to sound unaffected. “Since he hated living with me so much…”

“Why would you do that for him? And why would he take your money—”

“I paid half of his tuition," Sukuna said. “Did he ever tell you that?” 

Megumi shook his head, perplexed by this revelation. Yuji had never mentioned it, but Megumi should’ve known, given Yuji was on a partial scholarship and Sukuna was his wealthy family member.

“He didn’t say it, but he definitely felt that I owed him for sleeping with you,” Sukuna said, rolling his eyes. There was a twinge in Megumi’s heart, for he recognized that expression as his own. “And I did feel like I owed him too to be honest.”

“Ryomen Sukuna has a conscience?”

Sukuna grunted. “Not sure if it’s that exactly. I’m not a good person, Megumi. But thanks to that brat I got to meet you.”

“You could’ve fucked any other young guy—” 

“It’s not the same,” Sukuna said, “and you know it.”

There was a pause where neither seemed to know what to say next so they let the silence lay. Something seemed about to come loose inside Megumi, and every second he’d spent yearning for Sukuna would spill out of him like a broken dam so he closed his eyes and let his head rest against the tiled wall.

“Don’t be feeling too bad about the brat,” Sukuna said. “I think he’ll get over it pretty soon. He was really happy moving into that apartment and I know he must be throwing parties already.”

“I’m not getting invited for sure,” Megumi said. “And we’re certainly not speaking any time soon.” In a quieter voice, he added, “I hurt him pretty badly.”

“All relationships end,” Sukuna said, reaching into the tub to grab his ankle, “in one way or another and someone always gets hurt. That’s how life is. This was just your first serious relationship, that’s why it looks like the end of the world, but trust me, he’ll get over it.”

Sukuna dug his thumbs into his skin, rubbed his foot firmly but gently. Meguni allowed it. “How do you know?”

“Because I was your age once.”

“A million years ago,” Megumi said. Sukuna chuckled, and Megumi tried to pretend it didn’t make his heartbeat trip. 

Sukuna continued to massage his foot, that heavy-lidded gaze trained on his eyes a beat too long, then dragged down his lips to his collarbones and landed on the swell of his breasts covered by water. 

“We’re not having sex,” Megumi warned him. “You’re leaving as soon as I’m out of the bath.”

Sukuna scoffed. “I just wanted to see you.”

“Sure you did.” Megumi played with the suds some more as he practiced his next question in his mind, and somehow, when he said it, it still sounded awkward in his ears. “So what’s the deal with your family?”

Sukuna raised a single brow. “I thought you didn’t care.”

“I’m curious,” Megumi said, shrugging. “Why let Yuji live with you, and now pay his rent, if you don’t like him?”

“I never said I didn’t like him,” Sukuna said. “I just can’t stand brats. And he’s just like his father—another spoiled brat.”

“So that’s it? You have beef with your brother and Yuji reminds you of him?”

Sukuna sighed. “Well, he’s my half brother. Different fathers. And even though Wasuke, Jin’s dad, accepted to raise us together he made sure to remind me I wasn’t actually part of his family my whole life.”

“Oh,” Megumi murmured. “That’s awful.”

He’d heard about how tough and cold-hearted Yuji’s grandpa had been from him, but he’d never imagined to such an extent. Sukuna’s touch remained delicate, even though his jaw was locked and his eyes squinted at his foot. 

“He made sure to remind me even after his death because he left everything to Jin.” Sukuna scoffed. “I was already in law school by then so I didn’t need anything from him, but I knew that I had no one to rely on except myself. Jin went to live at the house with Kaori and there was no place for me anyway.”

Megumi had listened in silence until then. “And they still asked you to let Yuji live with you and pay for his tuition?”

“I couldn’t say no,” Sukuna said, shrugging. “It’s not the brat’s fault. And I thought someone should support him even if we’re not blood-related and he’s annoying.”

Megumi chuckled, which made Sukuna’s lips twitch into a tiny smile. Gently he put Megumi’s foot down in the water, and left the bathroom quietly. Megumi wondered if he would make food for him, and his guesses were right after catching the delicious smell of cooking coming through the open door. Despite Megumi’s stomach grumbling with the smell, he remained in the tub until the skin of his fingers shrivelled, thinking about what Sukuna had just told him. 

Putting his bathrobe back on, he followed the smell to the kitchen to find Sukuna at the stove, wearing his apron with cartoon dogs all over it that Yuji gifted him for his birthday. Megumi stared at him blankly. 

“What?” Sukuna asked. “This shirt is worth half your rent.”

“Okay,” Megumi said. “What did you make?”

“Fried rice,” Sukuna said. “Sit down.”

Megumi did not appreciate someone telling him to sit down in his own home, so he remained standing as Sukuna tossed some rice into a plate, grabbed a spoon from a drawer and handed it to him. Megumi took a spoonful of rice and had to close his eyes when all the flavors exploded in his mouth; he was either famished or Sukuna was an excellent cook. 

“I take it you like it,” Sukuna said, a tad amused, watching his face. 

“Didn’t know you knew how to cook,” Megumi said after swallowing. “You’re always buying takeout.”

“One of my many talents,” Sukuna said, leaning against the edge of the counter. “Aside from making you come multiple times in one night.” He said this so flatly that Megumi wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but the food in his mouth nearly went down the wrong way.

“Can you refrain from saying stuff like that while I’m eating?” Megumi said curtly. “And what did you want to talk about anyway?”

Sukuna paused, straightening his posture, and giving Megumi a look so impenetrable that every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Gradually it began to dawn on Megumi why he was seemingly hesitating, which in turn made him instantly apprehensive of what he was readying to say. 

“Megumi,” Sukuna said, more serious than ever, “I want you to move in with me.”

The plate nearly slipped from Megumi’s grip. “What? Are you insane? We’re not even dating! Why would I do that?”

“We can date,” Sukuna said, taking a step closer. “If you wanted to.”

“Did you hit your head on your way here?” Megumi asked, leaving the plate on the counter. “We can’t date! You are my ex’s boyfriend’s uncle, who I cheated on with you.”

“So?”

“So?” Megumi repeated, baffled, as though Sukuna was pulling his leg. “Is that not weird enough for you?”

“Who cares about how it looks?” Sukuna said. “We had something good. You know we did and you had the best sex of your life. Admit it.”

“Is that all you care about? Sex?” Megumi asked. Sukuna was caught off guard by his recriminating tone, for he went silent with a kind of chastised look. “You want to keep me at your fancy house like a sugar baby for whenever you feel like having sex. Is that it?”

“No,” Sukuna said vehemently, taking a step closer. “How did you even come to that conclusion?”

“Anyways,” Megumi continued, crossing his arms, “the answer is no. And we should never talk about this again. In fact,” he took a breath, “I don’t think we should speak ever again.”

“You still think this is a mistake, don’t you?” Sukuna blew a frustrated breath. “You think I’m too old for you.”

Megumi met his gaze steadily. “I’m not insane enough to date my ex’s uncle. So there’s your answer. Can you leave now?”

“I think you want me to stay,” Sukuna said, lowering his voice to a dangerous pitch. Stepping closer he was hovering over Megumi and caging him against the edge of the table. “You look so enticing in that robe and it drives me crazy knowing you’re naked underneath it.”

“I’m always naked underneath my clothes,” Megumi said in a breathy voice. For some reason he couldn’t get enough air in his lungs; there was a heat in his belly that was spreading fast to the rest of him like a forest fire. Sukuna clasped the edge of the table while his other hand traced the outside of his leg, and his cologne now tickling his nose was making him weak in the knees. Prying his legs open, Sukuna suddenly knelt before him, and holding his gaze, he began to drop kisses along the insides of his thighs, making sure to drag his robe up until it bunched around his crotch.

Something in Sukuna’s gaze kept him enthralled; perhaps it was the way his pupils nearly swallowed the red of his eyes, or the reverence in them that bled into the searing touch of his hands over his legs. Slipping his fingers into his hair seemed to make Sukuna content, for he went back to kissing along his thighs, Megumi’s breath growing labored the closer he came to his center. 

Yuji’s voice echoed in his head, You know he’s just using you, right? Megumi wasn’t too far out of his senses not to see the danger he was courting by letting this happen: he closed his fingers in a fist in Sukuna’s hair, gripping hard enough to yank his head back. Sukuna’s eyes widened then darkened with desire.

“I told you to leave me alone.”

“Megumi—”

“We were just hooking up and it’s over.” He let go of his hair and drew his hand back. “So would you please leave?”

Sukuna was stunned, his lips drooping at the corners, as though Megumi had dealt him a serious blow. It was the most unguarded Megumi had ever seen him, and despite hoping for a hint of vulnerability from him for so long, it left a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, so he didn’t dare to look at him as he rose from the floor. 

“You were dissatisfied with your relationship and I gave you what you wanted,” Sukuna said, “that’s why you kept coming back.”

“We can’t be together,” Megumi said. “End of the story.”

Sukuna’s face hardened, and with it went any trace of emotion. “Fine, I’ll leave you alone,” he said drily, “if that’s what you want.”

Grabbing his jacket from the back of a chair, he spun on his heels and marched towards the door. The worst part was that, up until he heard the slam of the door, he’d been on the verge of retracting his words and asking him to stay—but it was too late now.

Two weeks later Yuji showed up at his door to get the stuff he’d left at his place.

Yuji’s demeanour was a lot less abrasive than the last time they’d spoken; he leveled Megumi a steady gaze, that despite its clearness was no less resentful. 

“Came to pick up my stuff,” Yuji told him. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” Megumi said, stepping aside and opening the door wider to let him in. Yuji walked into the apartment with a quiet “thanks” which surprised Megumi more than if he’d insulted him—he’d truly expected him to lash out if they were alone again even if that went against Yuji’s personality entirely. It was just that Megumi felt like he deserved nothing more. 

Apparently Yuji wanted to avoid the awkwardness that came with a situation like this because he walked straight past him towards his room. 

“Wait,” Megumi said. Yuji stopped and turned to look at him. “I took care to collect your stuff. I didn’t know you would come over for it—I thought I’d have to mail it to you.” 

“Oh,” said Yuji. Megumi tried his hardest to avoid grimacing over how awkward this was, so he paced to the living room, expecting Yuji to follow. There he pointed to a box where he had stashed a couple of hoodies and some manga that Yuji had left at his place these past months, as well as toiletries he kept in his bathroom. In the process of gathering all his stuff he’d been surprised over how little there was of him around, as though they’d slowly but gradually stopped sharing a space without either of them noticing. 

“Thanks for doing the job for me I guess,” Yuji said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I thought there’d be more stuff for some reason.”

“Just this,” Megumi said, scratching his cheek nervously. Somehow he felt the need to fill the silence so he said, “I heard you moved out.”

Yuji blinked puzzled eyes at him. Megumi felt like kicking himself because now he’d have to explain he’d found out through Sukuna.

“How did you know? Did Nobara tell you?”

“Yeah,” Megumi lied, averting his gaze. “Well, I hope you like your new place.”

“Sukuna’s paying for it,” Yuji said. “I guess he feels guilty. Who would’ve thought he had a conscience, right?”

Megumi wanted to crawl out of his skin, run down the street naked or shave his entire head—anything was better than having that conversation with Yuji.

“You know, he’s been moping for weeks,” Yuji went on without waiting for Megumi to speak. “And he drinks almost every night. It’s like watching someone go through his first breakup or something. You truly did a number on him.”

“Yuji, I don’t want to talk about this,” Megumi muttered. “We just hooked up a few times and—”

“But you weren’t just hooking up, Megumi,” Yuji rebutted. “Or you wouldn’t have gone back to him again and again.”

For a brief moment Megumi was at a loss. Not from those words exactly but because of what his reaction elicited in Yuji: he smiled warily, and Megumi saw a bit of Sukuna in that expression, the smug curl of his lips and the coolness in his gaze. The worst part was that a pang of yearning stabbed him right in the breastbone, a desire so deep to see Sukuna that it manifested like a physical ache. 

“Yes, Sukuna told me everything,” Yuji continued. “You guys met regularly right here at your place.”

“Yuji, I don’t know what to tell you,” Megumi said. “It’s over. What else do you want?”

Yuji sucked in air to speak, but was interrupted by a noise from the street. In the silence it became evident that the noises sounded like a man yelling outside, or more specifically right beneath his window. 

“What’s that?” Megumi wondered, heading towards the source of the noise. Opening the window, he stuck his head out to check, and regretted it almost instantly: there on the sidewalk was none other than Sukuna. He was wearing his work suit, looking clearly disheveled as though he’d taken a few tumbles on his way there; his tie was loosened and his collar undone, his hair messy, and he seemed to sway where he stood. Seeing Megumi seemed to shock him to the extent that he staggered backwards on his feet.

“What are you doing here?!” 

“Megumi, I want to see you!” Sukuna shouted back, putting his hands around his mouth. “I’m coming up!”

“Wait!” Megumi yelled. But it was too late, Sukuna was already striding into his building and promptly disappeared from sight. “I can’t believe this.”

“What’s going on?” Yuji asked, trying to see over Megumi’s head. In his bewilderment Megumi had forgotten he was there. “Did you order takeout?”

“It’s Sukuna,” Megumi explained, grasping his shoulders to steer him towards the door. “You have to leave right now.”

“What’s he doing here?” Yuji seemed outraged. “He said he wasn’t going to see you anymore!” 

Yuji grabbed the box with his belongings and strode towards the door. Opening it revealed Sukuna outside, knuckles raised as if poised to knock. They gawked at each other in similarly looking stunned expressions, then Sukuna blurted out, “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” Yuji echoed back to him. “You said you were going to stay away from Megumi!”

Sukuna’s countenance appeared to shift and soften after spotting Megumi over Yuji’s head. Like a man possessed, he shoved past his nephew to lumber his way towards him. “I can’t,” he slurred. “Impossible.”

Before Megumi could step out of his way Sukuna scooped him in his arms. Megumi was too stunned to react in time, but he was caught in a vicious grip and could not break free. 

“Sukuna, you stink!” Megumi pushed him unsuccessfully. “Let me go!”

“I tried but I can’t,” Sukuna mumbled into his hair. “Needed to see you.”

Nuzzling his face into his hair, he suddenly stopped and started to tip forward, and Megumi wasn’t strong enough to hold his mammoth weight in place. “Help!” he exclaimed, and Yuji rushed over to help him hold Sukuna upright. They moved him towards the couch, not without effort—Megumi dragged him from his torso while Yuji carried his legs. Sukuna fell on his stomach over the length of the couch like a dead weight, dragging Megumi along so he ended up trapped under the upper half of his body.

“He’s so heavy!” Megumi huffed, trying to push him off of him. Yuji tugged at Sukuna’s arm until he was able to shift him and give Megumi enough space to be able to sit, Sukuna’s head resting on Megumi’s lap. 

“I thought he was going to crush you right there,” Yuji joked. “Told you he’s been drinking a lot lately. He probably won’t be up before tomorrow morning.”

Megumi shifted, trying to get up, but suddenly a hand reached out to clasp his wrist, startling him. Sukuna lifted his head slightly to blink bleary eyes at Megumi. 

“Megumi, stay,” Sukuna slurred. “Please.”

A surge of tenderness trickled through him, unexpected and overpowering. As if on an afterthought he cast a guilty glance at Yuji who was watching him attentively.

“Didn’t I tell you you did a number on him?” he said, and added before Megumi interrupted, “I mean I get it—you’re beautiful and smart. You make it very hard to get over you.”

“Stop speaking nonsense,” Megumi mumbled, bashful. It took great effort to hide how much he’d missed Sukuna, and the joy that filled him now for having his sleeping face on his lap, and the mere fact that he’d come back to him. “He shouldn’t drink so much.”

“You know why he’s like this,” Yuji said, not unkindly. “You should stop lying to yourself.”

Megumi was about to refute him before he thought of it better. Maybe Yuji was right, there was no point in lying to himself anymore. It was all in the open now, and the man he’d pined for all these weeks was snoring softly on his lap. 

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Megumi said in a quiet, doleful voice. “I’m sorry.”

Yuji seemed taken aback by this, even though it wasn’t the first time Megumi apologized. “Shit happens, I guess,” he said, shrugging, too casual to be sincere. “Sometimes your uncle falls for your ex boyfriend.”

Megumi chuckled mirthlessly. Yuji was too good for someone like him. In the awkward pause that followed he could barely look Yuji in the eye before lifting his hand to place it on Sukuna’s hair. The action was revealing enough not to need words, and the heavy silence from Yuji seemed to confirm he understood Megumi’s decision.

“I think I should go and leave you to it,” Yuji said at last. “Just a heads up, he’ll be cranky in the morning.” After considering it for a second he added, “Well, maybe not with you.”

Picking up the box where he’d left it on the ground, he started to shuffle towards the door. “Yuji,” Megumi said. Yuji turned back to him. “I’m so sorry for real. I hope we can be friends again someday.”

Yuji pursed his lips, as though contemplating this. In the end he smiled faintly and said, “I’ll see you around.”

The sound of the door closing seemed devastatingly final in the ensuing quiet. But Sukuna soon started snoring louder than humanly possible, and Megumi had to shift him into a comfortable position on the couch to help him stop. Caressing his hair, he smiled when Sukuna mumbled his name in his sleep as though he was dreaming of him.

The next morning Megumi was standing by the counter, pouring coffee into his favorite mug, when Sukuna shuffled into the kitchen looking like death warmed over. 

“Good morning,” Megumi said offhandedly.

“What the fuck am I doing here?”

Megumi had the sudden fear that Sukuna might’ve been too drunk to remember last night, but Sukuna stopped dead in his tracks after finally noticing his attire, or lack thereof: he’d specifically chosen to forgo pajama pants and put on a long t-shirt that reached mid-thigh. Sukuna stared for a long second until their eyes met, and only after Megumi arched an eyebrow at him did he proceed to trudge to the kitchen table and pull back a chair to sit down without waiting for Megumi to answer. 

“Can I have some coffee?” he muttered, wincing and holding his head in one hand, as though the movement had pained him terribly.

“Sure,” Megumi chirped, grabbing a clean mug from the drying rack. “You probably need it.”

Sukuna grunted in acknowledgment after Megumi placed the mug in front of him and immediately took a swig of coffee. A second later Sukuna grimaced, sticking his tongue out after burning it. 

“Be careful,” Megumi said, amused. “It’s hot.”

“You have to kiss it better.”

“Shut up,” Megumi said. Sukuna dragged his chair back and grabbed Megumi as he was moving away, and Megumi let him pull him into his lap, letting out a little surprised laugh. Holding his face, he kissed him as he’d wanted to do since he saw him the previous night. His unshaved jaw scratched his skin, but even this Megumi had missed desperately, along with his huge hands tracing his naked legs.

“Do you need aspirins?” 

“Is that really your first thought after kissing me?”

Megumi snorted, stroking Sukuna’s hair. “Yuji said you might be cranky in the morning.”

A wrinkle appeared between Sukuna’s brows, marring his forehead with lines, before his face loosened with realization. “He was here last night.”

“Yes,” Megumi said. “And he helped me drag your drunk ass to the couch.”

Sukuna grunted again. “We had a talk and I told him everything. I told him I’d stay away from you,” he took Megumi’s hand and kissed his knuckles, “but I realized I couldn’t.”

“I might be a horrible person but—” Megumi pecked his lips. “I want this too.”

“The brat will be fine,” Sukuna said. “I’ll buy him a car so we’re even.” Megumi chuckled and Sukuna dropped a kiss to his chin. “Me without you however—”

“Please don’t be cheesy,” Megumi said, clapping a hand over his mouth. “Just kiss me.”

Sukuna snorted. Grasping his thighs, he lifted Megumi and placed him over the table. Megumi let out a gasp that quickly turned into a laugh as Sukuna bent over him to kiss him. A thought crossed his mind then with toe-curling delight: from now on he was free to kiss him whenever he wanted. 

“So you don’t mind dating a man twice your age now?”

“Nope,” Megumi said, dropping a chaste kiss on his lips. “In fact I kinda like it.”

Sukuna hummed vaguely. “I’ll be fifty in a few years and you’ll still be in your twenties.”

“So? I won’t put you in a retirement home, don’t worry.”

Sukuna rolled his eyes in the same petulant way he’d learned from Megumi. Once again he thought he was ridiculous for finding a middle-aged man so endearing.

“So you won’t complain when you’re thirty and I’m pushing sixty with grey hairs all over—”

“Are you kidding me? You’d look hot as fuck.”

It’d come out of him before he could think it through; his ears were on fire as he registered the surprise over Sukuna’s face until his lips curled into a smirk. 

“That filthy mouth of yours,” he said, voice lowered to a raspy murmur, before gripping his chin to kiss him. It was a slow, thorough kiss that made his head spin, the same way it did the first time and all the times afterward, and with a flutter in his chest, Megumi wondered if it’d feel this way forever. “I’d like to put it to better use.”

Sukuna tossed the mug off the table so he could push Megumi onto his back. Before Megumi could reprimand him for breaking his things and making a mess of his kitchen, Sukuna slotted their mouths together, effectively shutting him up and wiping his mind clean. One of his hands was already toying with the band of his briefs under his shirt and his mouth had started kissing down the column of his neck, drawing soft sighs out of him. If wanting this meant he was a horrible person, then he would gladly throw his soul away, though he suspected he already had the moment Sukuna kissed him that first drunken night.

“You’re mine now,” Sukuna whispered over his mouth. “All mine.”

Kissing him felt like sealing his fate. So it was the nod that came after, and the steady gaze he met those red eyes with, the clear adoration and possessiveness coloring them, like Megumi was a tiny bird on his large palm that he could crush easily by closing his fingers over it. Yet he’d never felt safer and more right in anybody’s arms.

“Yes,” Megumi said, smiling, and kissed him again. “All yours.”