Chapter Text
Set In Chapter 9 during the 1-2 year time gap.
Note. This story can (probably) be read separately. It has no real impact on the main storyline. Maybe. You'll see…… :)
" A holiday trip? You? Who are you and where is my Megumi?" Yuji teased, half-serious. Megumi and him had decided while it was hot but with a nice breeze, to go bike riding. They had decided to take a break and were sitting at the top of a grassy hill that overlooked the city.
Megumi frowned, annoyed. He dodged a flick to his forehead. Yuji pushed on grinning.
"Alright, alright. I'll stop. But seriously, why do you want to go? You've never really liked these sort of trips." He asked, Curious. Megumi usually preferred to stay at home or at the library doing the holidays.
Megumi turned around, scrunching his face into a book. Yuji titled his head. Is he still mad about the teasing?
But then, Megumi turned around, cheeks flushed and showed him a piece of paper that looked, well, Sad.
Yuji looked at him curiously, but took the paper and read it. The writing was faded and scrunched in some places, but nonetheless readable.
Tsumiki' Bucket list.
See Mt Fuji.
See Hokkaido's flower fields.
Go on a beach day ✔
Go Firefly watching
Go to Nara deer Park.
See the Torii
See the Cherry blossoms at Yoshino.
Go to Okunoshima
Make plastic food at Yamato Sample factory.
Go on the Shinkansen.
Make an Omiyage.
Ect……
There were quite a lot of destinations and activities on this list, with only a few marked out. He frowned looking at the name at the top.
" Who's Tsumiki?" He asked, turning his head away from the paper to Megumi.
"She's my older sister. This is, was, her bucket list, but she got too sick to fulfil them. We were always poor until Gojo-Sensei found us, and by then, she had already had a mindset of not asking, so we never really went anywhere. And then, she went into a Coma." Megumi quietly answered.
Yuji scooted closer to Megumi and slung a hand over in comfort.
"That's why all the destinations are in Japan. She didn't even think of going out of Japan, because it cost too much. Yesterday I, uh visited her, and I found this under the bed. I… thought it would be nice to visit them for her and take photos." Megumi whispered.
Yuji gave a small rueful smile. This Tsumiki is really lucky to have such a caring brother. He knew that even if Tsumiki-san couldn't see the photos, she would have appreciated it.
Megumi looked at him concerned. Oops. Was I silent for too long?
Because of his silence, perhaps Megumi thought he was displeased or uncaring, as he started backtracking straight away.
"I mean. I was just saying. I'm not asking you to come with me of course. Um, what are you doing on the holidays?"
And oh, even though Megumi tried to hide it, Megumi was hurt. He was probably thinking that he didn't know Yuji as much as he thought.
How could I turn down Megumi? There's no reason not to. And Megumi's wet cat look is so sad. Really, I say this again, Tsumiki-san, your brother acts like an asshole, but he's actually a big softy inside. Somewhere far far inside his heart.
Just as Megumi tried to get up to leave, embarrassed and slightly hurt, Yuji dragged him down, pulling him to stop him from leaving.
Unfortunately, he pulled too hard and fell. With Megumi. Down the hill.
Yuji tumbled down the hill, shrieking slightly, with Megumi bobbling beside him. Eventually, they came to a stop at the very bottom.
Getting up, he gave a hand to Megumi. Megumi rolled his eyes and took it.
"I've got grass stains all over!" Megumi grumbled. Yuji had his back turned to him when he felt a piercing glare on his back.
Ducking, he turned to see Megumi punch the place he was before. It was a half-hearted punch, but he had to play along.
"Megumi! So violent." Megumi gave him a death stare. Yuji smiled in return. He looked up the hill they were on. Their bikes were still up there and their food.
"Race you up?" Yuji asked challengingly. Megumi's eyes glinted. With a quick countdown, they ran up. Grinning, he slammed his hand on the trunk of the tree, ignoring the fact that it had moved. He would like to be in denial of his importance to this story longer.
"I win! Ha!" He triumphantly declared turning to Megumi. Megumi in reply groaned and melted to the ground. After a bit he joined him on the ground, enjoying the feeling of grass, spiky stones and the occasional bug.
With the peaceful atmosphere, Yuji thought about the bucket list, when he realised he had left it off unfinished.
"Going back on our previous conversation, of course, I'm going to help! Let's see. It's currently summer. Hmmm. Oh! Let's do firefly watching! It's summer, the best season to see them! I know! Let's go to the Motosu Hotaru Park in Gifu. Although Motosu Hotaru Park is in a residential area, it’s one of the best places to see fireflies because the local government has taken steps to protect the land. It’s dark, and there’s plenty of clean water — exactly what two species of fireflies (Genji-Hotaru and Heike-Hotaru) need to thrive!".
He exclaimed excitedly, waving his arms wildly. Suddenly, he realised one of his hands had hit something solid. He turned to see the squashed and very annoyed face of Megumi.
Giggling nervously, he scooted a bit further away from the danger zone.
"Much better! Ok. The Motosu Hotaru Park is in Gifu. Oh! We could fulfil another of Tsumiki-san's wishes and go on the Shinkansen! I've gone on it a few times, but this time I'll be doing it with you! Hmm. Summer is not as busy for Grandpa as winter is, but he would probably not mind me going. Gojo-Sensei could definitely pay for us, though we may have to deal with his shenanigans. We could probably just pay for a souvenir though to appease. Maybe something sweet."
Yuji had a sudden realisation. "Gojo-Sensei is kind of like a Sugar daddy isn't he? Just without the sexual favours, and more of the " I'm annoying you, but you can't do anything " favour. Imagine if he did ask for something like that. I think I'd punch him and then die. From embarrassment and horror, or from Gojo-Sensei. I don't know."
Megumi coughed dramatically, groaning and hiding his face in his hands. "Please don't say that. You just put an image in my mind that I don't want to think about ever again. Blergh."
Giggling, he put his hands up and sighed. "Alright, alright. Oh! Since we're going there anyway, let's see what else we can fulfil while we're there! We also have to think about where to stay, what to bring, what to eat. We've got a lot ahead of us!"
He grinned at Megumi. "This is going to be fun! But first, food."
Turning around, he grabbed the two bento boxes that he had prepared. Today was his turn, so he had prepared all the food.
"Alright. On the Menu today we have food made by Grandpa Wasuke!" Grandpa was really nice and had made a lot especially for them.
For his box, he had some delicious Karaage. It's essentially bite-size chicken thigh dusted with flour and deep-fried in hot oil. With tender and juicy marinated chicken coated in a crispy shell, Karaage is a staple in Grandpa's menu.
As a side dish, he had some Korokke. Korokke is basically just Japanese croquettes and the classic style is made of mashed potatoes mixed with sauteed ground beef and onion. The flat oval-shaped patties are breaded with light and airy panko breadcrumbs and deep-fried till golden brown and crispy. Because today it was just for a side dish Grandpa had made it simple with just mashed potato and chives.
He also had some rice and an assortment of fruit, like Watermelon and orange.
He handed Megumi his Bento box. Megumi's was different to his as it was designed to his taste.
For Megumi's box, Grandpa made Shogayaki. Shoga means ginger and yaki means grill or fry. Here, thinly sliced pork is cooked with soy sauce, sake, and mirin along with ginger. Each family makes their ginger pork slightly different. Grandpa made it without mirin, as Megumi prefers it less sweet.
As a side dish, there was Tamagoyaki. This is a sweetened Japanese rolled omelette that resembles mini bars of golden pillows. With a slightly sweet taste and custardy texture, Tamagoyaki is a great snack. It looks complicated, but Grandpa said it was quite easy to make.
Other than that, Megumi had the same refreshments of fruit and rice.
"Ah. Thank you." Megumi replied, taking the food, sitting up. Yuji moved a little so that he had a clear view of Megumi's face. He waited to see his reaction as this was the first time Megumi had ever had food made by Grandpa.
Using his chopsticks, Megumi took a bite of the Shogayaki. His eyes sparkled. He didn't say anything but started eating with great enthusiasm.
Yuji grinned. "My grandpa has the best cooking!" He proudly declared.
Satisfied, Yuji dug into his own food, enjoying the taste of the chicken and potato. The wind was light and the sun high in the sky. They were under the shade of a tree, so they could enjoy the sun without getting burned. Perfect positioning.
"Thank you."
Yuji turned to look at Megumi, who had continued eating, pointedly looking somewhere else.
Even though it was just two words, Yuji could feel the underlying words.
Thanks for supporting me. And for getting your Grandpa to make really, totally awesome food. (OK, the last part was probably not said by Megumi.)
He smiled. "No problem! I'll always be there for you!"
They had a lot ahead of them. Adventures to be done. But for today, they were ok just relaxing.