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The mission had been a disaster, but not because of some high-stakes Special Grade. It was the sheer, grinding exhaustion of clearing a swarm of low-level fly-heads from a rotting apartment complex. The hallways were narrow enough to catch on every corner, the wallpaper peeled in damp, moldy strips, and the stench of decay was thick enough to taste.
In the field, Yuji and Megumi moved with their usual synchronicity, but the silence between them was loud. It had been like this for weeks a heavy, suffocating tension that settled over them the second they were alone. Every time Yuji tried to crack a joke to break the ice, Megumi just stared at him with a look of genuine confusion, as if they were speaking different languages.
"Left!" Megumi’s voice cracked through the hallway like a whip.
Yuji spun on instinct. His fist surged with the flickering glow of Divergent Fist, pulverizing a curse that had been dragging itself out of a rusted vent. But as his boots hit the floor, the wood softened. His leg went through the floorboards with a sickening snap, and a jagged, splintered beam sliced a deep, ragged line into his thigh.
"Damn it," Yuji hissed, hauling his leg out of the wreckage. Blood was already blooming dark and heavy through the fabric of his uniform.
Megumi was there in an instant. He didn't ask if Yuji was okay, he didn't offer a hand. He simply lunged forward, grabbed Yuji’s arm, and hauled him upward with a grip that was far tighter, far more desperate, than it needed to be.
"I’m fine, it’s just a cut-"
"Shut up and move" Megumi snapped. He wouldn't even look at him.
Back at the school, Shoko made short work of the injury. A few silent seconds of Reversed Cursed Technique and the skin knit itself back together, leaving nothing behind but a faint pink mark and a ruined pair of pants. Megumi, however, had vanished the moment they crossed the school gates.
After a shower and a change into a clean hoodie, Yuji couldn't shake the restless feeling in his chest. He walked down the dorm hallway and stopped at Megumi’s door. He knocked once, then twice. Silence.
"I know you’re in there i can hear the floor creaking," Yuji said.
A muffled, frustrated sigh drifted from the other side, and then the door clicked open. Megumi had clearly just showered too, he was in a plain black t-shirt and grey sweats, his dark hair still damp and messy. He looked completely drained, but more than that, he looked pissed.
"What do you want?"
"To see why you’re acting so annoying," Yuji said, not waiting for an invitation as he pushed his way past into the room.
Megumi slammed the door shut and stayed there, leaning his back against it with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "You’re reckless. You don't pay attention. You treat every mission like it’s some kind of game until you’re bleeding on the floor."
"It was a floorboard, Megumi! I didn't try to get hurt!" Yuji whirled around, his own frustration finally boiling over. "Why are you so worked up? I’m literally fine. Shoko fixed it in five seconds."
"That’s not the point!" Megumi’s voice rose, the sudden volume cracking the quiet of the dorm. He took two steps forward, invading Yuji’s space. "The point is that every time we go out there, I’m just waiting for the moment you don't come back. And you act like it’s nothing! You smile, and you joke, and I’m standing right there wondering if that’s the last time I’m going to see you breathe."
The air in the room felt electric. The tension that had been stretching thin for weeks finally snapped, leaving something exposed between them.
"You think I don't care?" Yuji said, his heart hammering against his ribs. "I'm doing my best, man! What do you want from me?"
"I want you to realize that I give a damn!" Megumi shouted, his hands flying out to bunch the fabric of Yuji’s hoodie in his fists.
They stood there in the center of the room, Megumi breathing in jagged heaves, his eyes locked onto Yuji’s. The anger was still there, but it was crumbling, revealing the terror underneath the mutual, unspoken fear of the day one of them wouldn't make it back.
Megumi didn't let go of the hoodie. His knuckles were white from the strain, and slowly, his gaze dropped to Yuji’s mouth.
Yuji moved first. He leaned in, crashing his lips against Megumi’s in a hard, clumsy kiss that tasted of desperation. Megumi didn't hesitate he kissed back twice as hard, his hands sliding from the hoodie to the back of Yuji’s neck, fingers tangling in the short hair there to pull him closer, as if trying to bridge every inch of space between them.
They stumbled back, Yuji’s shoulders hitting the wall with a dull thud, but they didn't break contact for a second. Megumi’s palms slid upward, slipping under the hem of Yuji’s hoodie. The sudden, bold contact sent a jolt of heat through Yuji he felt flustered, his breath catching in his throat, but he leaned into the touch, stunned and exhilarated by the intensity Megumi was finally letting show.
The impact against the wall knocked the air out of Yuji’s lungs, but he didn't care. Megumi was usually so composed, so careful with his space, that the sudden, desperate weight of him felt good and confusing
Megumi’s hands were no longer hesitant. They slid higher under the hoodie, his palms hot against the skin of Yuji’s ribs. The contact sent a sharp shiver down Yuji’s spine, his brain scrambling to keep up with the shift from a shouting match to this. He let out a low, muffled huff against Megumi’s lips, his own hands coming up to grip Megumi’s waist, pulling him flush against him until there wasn't a whisper of space left.
The kiss deepened, turning from something clumsy and frantic into something heavy and consuming. Megumi tilted his head, his teeth catching briefly on his lower lip. Every time their tongues brushed, it felt like they were trying to overwrite the fear.
"Megumi," Yuji breathed out, the name hitching in his throat as Megumi’s mouth traveled down to the sensitive line of his jaw.
Megumi didn't answer with words. He pressed his face into the crook of Yuji’s neck, his breath ghosting hot over the skin before he nipped at the cord of his throat. Yuji’s head thudded back against the wall, his eyes fluttering shut as a wave of heat rolled through him. He was flustered, his heart racing at a pace that had nothing to do with combat, but he loved it the way Megumi was finally dropping the walls, showing just how much he’d been holding back.
One of Megumi’s hands migrated from Yuji’s waist to his chest, feeling the frantic, steady thrum of Yuji’s heart under his palm. He squeezed the fabric of the hoodie, his movements becoming more urgent, more demanding. He pushed off the wall just enough to hook a thumb under the hem of the sweatshirt, pulling it upward.
Yuji got the hint, lifting his arms to let Megumi tug the garment over his head and toss it blindly onto the floor. When the cool air hit Yuji’s bare skin, it only lasted a second before Megumi was back, his hands wandering over the solid muscle of Yuji’s shoulders and chest, his touch alternating between firm grips and light, tracing fingers.
"You're okay," Megumi muttered against his skin, the words sounding more like a vow than a statement.
Yuji let out a shaky laugh, his hands sliding down to the waistband of Megumi’s sweats, pulling him back in. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."
He guided Megumi’s face back up to his, meeting him halfway in a kiss that felt slower, more intentional, and twice as intense. The room was dark, the only sound the rhythmic, heavy breathing of two people who had spent way too long pretending they didn't feel this.