Me + U
Echoes of the Morning After
The sunlight that filtered through the window of the boys' dormitory was far too bright for Megumi’s liking. It wasn't the soft, ethereal glow of the moonlight from hours before; this was the harsh, uncompromising light of reality. It hit the floorboards, illuminating the discarded hoodie, Yumi’s loafers near the door, and the tangled mess of sheets that barely covered the two of them.
Megumi stirred first. His body felt heavy, anchored by the warmth of the girl curled against his side. Yumi was still fast asleep, her breathing shallow and rhythmic. Her long black hair was a chaotic silk spill across his pillow, and her face looked softer than usual, devoid of the mischievous glint she usually carried in her eyes.
He didn't move. He couldn't. The weight of what had happened—the transition from childhood companions to this profound, physical intimacy—was settling in his chest. It wasn't regret. It was a fierce, protective territoriality that made his cursed energy hum beneath his skin. He watched the way her eyelashes fluttered in her sleep and felt a sudden, sharp pang of realization: he would burn the world down before letting anything happen to her.
A sharp, rhythmic pounding on the door shattered the silence.
"Fushiguro! Rise and shine, sunshine! Training starts in twenty minutes and Gojo-sensei says if you're late, you have to spar with Panda without using your shikigami!"
It was Itadori. Megumi froze, his heart hammering against his ribs. Yumi groaned, her eyelids flickering open at the noise. She looked up at Megumi, her eyes bleary with sleep, before the sound of Itadori’s voice registered.
"Is that Yuji?" she whispered, her voice raspy.
"Shh," Megumi hissed, pulling the blanket higher over her shoulders.
"Fushiguro? You in there? I can hear you breathing!" Itadori called out, followed by the muffled sound of Nobara’s voice in the hallway.
"He’s probably brooding," Nobara’s voice drifted through the wood. "Or staring at a wall. Move aside, Itadori. Fushiguro! If you aren't out here in five minutes, I'm coming in to drag you out by those ridiculous spikes you call hair!"
Yumi’s eyes widened. She scrambled to sit up, clutching the sheet to her chest. "I have to hide. If they see me, Gojo-sensei will never let us hear the end of it."
Megumi caught her wrist, his expression darkening. "No. Let them see."
"Megumi, be serious!" she whispered, looking around for her clothes. "I'm in my underwear in the boys' dorm. This isn't exactly the 'good student' image I was going for on day two."
"I'm opening the door!" Nobara shouted. The handle rattled. Megumi had locked it, but a Jujutsu sorcerer didn't exactly need a key to get past a standard dormitory lock.
"Wait!" Yumi squeaked. She dove under the bed, disappearing into the shadows just as the door clicked open.
Megumi sat up, his back against the headboard, his chest bare and his hair even more disheveled than usual. He looked toward the door with a glare that could have withered a cursed spirit on the spot.
Itadori and Nobara stood in the doorway. Itadori looked cheerful, holding a carton of milk, while Nobara had her arms crossed, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"You look like hell," Nobara noted, stepping into the room without an invitation. She sniffed the air, her nose wrinkling. "And why does it smell like... wait. Why is it so warm in here?"
"I was sleeping," Megumi said, his voice a low growl. "Get out."
Itadori blinked, his gaze wandering around the room. "Hey, where’s Yumi? I went to her dorm to see if she wanted to walk to the cafeteria with us, but she wasn't there. Her bed looked like it hadn't even been slept in."
Megumi felt a cold sweat prickle his neck. He didn't look toward the bed frame. "Maybe she went for a run."
"Yumi? Running?" Nobara scoffed, walking further into the room. She stopped by the desk, her eyes falling on a pair of small, feminine loafers tucked neatly into the corner. "Fushiguro. Those aren't yours."
"They're... prototypes," Megumi blurted out. It was the worst lie he had ever told in his life.
Itadori leaned over, looking at the shoes. "Prototypes for what? Are you getting into fashion, Fushiguro? Because those look exactly like the shoes Yumi was wearing yesterday."
At that moment, a small, muffled sneeze echoed from beneath the bed.
The silence that followed was deafening. Itadori’s jaw dropped. Nobara’s eyebrows shot up so high they nearly disappeared into her hairline.
Slowly, Yumi crawled out from under the bed. She was wrapped in Megumi’s discarded hoodie, which was so large on her that it reached her mid-thighs, leaving her legs bare. Her hair was a mess, and her face was bright red.
"Hi guys," she said, giving a weak, apologetic wave. "The floor is actually very dusty, Megumi. You should sweep more."
Itadori dropped his milk carton. It hit the floor with a dull thud, fortunately not bursting. "You... she... under the bed?"
Nobara looked from Yumi to the shirtless Megumi, then back to the bed, which looked like it had been through a hurricane. A slow, terrifying smirk spread across her face. "Well, well. I knew you two were close, but I didn't realize we were at the 'sneaking into dorms and hiding under furniture' stage of the relationship."
"It's not what it looks like," Megumi began, but Yumi cut him off.
"Actually, it's exactly what it looks like," Yumi said, standing up and dusting off her knees. She walked over to Megumi, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning her head against his bare shoulder with an air of total defiance. "I told you yesterday. I've been sleeping in his bed since I was five. Why would I stop now just because there’s a uniform involved?"
Megumi sighed, but he didn't push her away. Instead, he reached out and rested a hand on her waist, pulling her closer in a gesture that was undeniably possessive. "Go away, Itadori. Kugisaki. We’ll be at training when we’re ready."
"Oh, we’re going," Nobara said, grabbing a stunned Itadori by the collar and dragging him toward the door. "But just so you know, Fushiguro, I’m telling Maki. And Panda. And probably the principal."
"If you tell Gojo, I will kill you," Megumi called out.
"Too late!" a sing-song voice echoed from the hallway.
The door swung fully open, and Satoru Gojo stood there, leaning against the frame with his signature blindfold in place and a grin that was far too wide. He was holding a bag of sweets, popping one into his mouth as he surveyed the scene.
"I knew I felt a spike in cursed energy from this wing last night," Gojo chirped. "Though, looking at the state of things, I suspect it wasn't a curse you two were exorcising."
Megumi grabbed a pillow and hurled it at his teacher’s head with all his might. Gojo didn't even move; the pillow simply slowed to a stop inches from his face, caught by the Infinity, and dropped harmlessly to the floor.
"So mean, Megumi! And after I practically raised you!" Gojo let out a dramatic sigh. "Yumi-chan, I hope he was a gentleman. He can be quite grumpy when he hasn't had his coffee."
"He was perfect, Sensei," Yumi replied with a cheeky grin, ignoring Megumi’s groan of embarrassment.
"Good, good! Youth is so fleeting, after all," Gojo said, clapping his hands together. "Now, as much as I’d love to stay and discuss the nuances of young love, we actually have work to do. There’s a Grade 2 report near the old shrine. It’ll be a good warm-up for Yumi’s first official mission. Megumi, you’re lead. Try to keep your mind on the curse and not on your neighbor, okay?"
Gojo winked—or at least, the movement of his blindfold suggested a wink—and vanished in a blur of speed, taking a still-shell-shocked Itadori and a cackling Nobara with him.
The room fell silent again. Yumi turned to Megumi, her expression softening. "Well. That went better than expected."
"Better?" Megumi buried his face in his hands. "My life is over. I’m never going to hear the end of this. Gojo is going to make jokes about this for the next decade."
"Let him," Yumi said, reaching out to pull his hands away from his face. She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. "I don't care who knows. I'm tired of being the 'girl next door.' I'd much rather be the girl in your bed."
Megumi looked at her, his eyes softening as he took in her messy hair and the way she looked in his clothes. The embarrassment flickered out, replaced by that same steady heat from the night before. He leaned forward, catching her lips in a deeper, more certain kiss.
"Fine," he murmured against her mouth. "But if we're going on a mission, you need to put on your actual uniform. You can't fight curses in my hoodie."
"I don't know," Yumi teased, tugging at the strings of the sweatshirt. "It’s very comfortable. Maybe I’ll make it part of my official sorcerer gear."
"Put your skirt on, Yumi."
"Make me."
Megumi’s eyes darkened, a predatory glint returning to his gaze. He moved faster than she expected, pinning her back against the pillows once more. "We have fifteen minutes before Gojo comes back. Do you really want to spend them arguing?"
Yumi’s breath hitched as his hand slid beneath the hoodie, finding the warm skin of her thigh. "I can think of better ways to spend fifteen minutes."
***
The mission at the shrine was supposed to be simple. A lingering resentment had manifested into a spindly, multi-limbed curse that haunted the dilapidated torii gates. Under normal circumstances, Megumi would have summoned Nue to strike from above or Divine Dogs to tear it apart in seconds.
But today, his focus was elsewhere.
He watched Yumi move. She was fast—faster than she had been during their sparring sessions back home. She moved with a grace that was almost liquid, her miniskirt fluttering as she leaped over a fallen stone lantern. Her technique involved manipulating the shadows of objects, a subtle variation of the Ten Shadows that she had developed under her grandparents' tutelage. She didn't summon shikigami; she turned the environment itself into a weapon.
As she drove a sharpened spike of solidified shadow through the curse’s core, Megumi felt a surge of pride so intense it was almost dizzying. She wasn't just a girl he needed to protect. She was a partner.
"Watch out!" Yumi yelled.
A second curse, smaller and faster, lunged from the thicket behind Megumi. He didn't even turn around. His own shadow rose up like a tidal wave, the Great Serpent manifesting for a split second to swallow the curse whole before vanishing back into the darkness.
Yumi landed beside him, breathing hard, her face flushed from the exertion. "Nice timing."
"You too," Megumi said, reaching out to wipe a smudge of dirt from her cheek.
They stood there for a moment in the quiet of the forest, the remnants of the cursed energy dissipating into the air. The sun was high now, casting long shadows across the mossy ground.
"You're different today," Yumi noted, her eyes searching his. "You're... less tense. Even when you're fighting."
Megumi looked away, his ears turning slightly pink. "I don't have to worry about where you are anymore. I know exactly where you stand."
Yumi smiled, sliding her hand into his. Their fingers interlaced perfectly, a habit years in the making. "And where is that?"
Megumi squeezed her hand, his gaze returning to hers, steady and unwavering. "Right where you belong. By my side."
They walked back toward the school transport, their pace slow and synchronized. For the first time in his life, Megumi didn't feel the weight of the Zenin clan or the burden of his potential. He felt light.
As they reached the car, Nobara was already leaning against the door, checking her nails. "About time. Did you two stop to make out in the bushes, or did the Grade 2 actually give you trouble?"
"None of your business, Kugisaki," Megumi snapped, though there was no real bite to it.
"Oh, it's definitely my business if it makes you this easy to talk to," Nobara laughed, hopping into the backseat. "Itadori! Move over! The lovebirds need the back row so they can hold hands and be disgusting."
Itadori, who was busy eating a rice ball, scrambled to comply. "Sorry! I didn't mean to crowd the power couple!"
Yumi laughed, sliding into the car and pulling Megumi in after her. She rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes as the car started to move.
Megumi looked out the window, watching the trees blur past. He knew the road ahead wouldn't be easy. Being a sorcerer meant facing death every day, and being a Fushiguro meant being a target for political maneuvering. But as he felt Yumi’s thumb stroking the back of his hand, he knew he didn't care.
The tether of shared shadows had pulled them through childhood, through a year of longing, and through the threshold of adulthood. Now, it was a bond that couldn't be broken—not by curses, not by sorcerers, and certainly not by a few school rules.
"Megumi?" Yumi whispered, her voice barely audible over the hum of the engine.
"Yeah?"
"We're sneaking out again tonight, right?"
Megumi looked down at her, a small, private smile touching his lips. He leaned down, whispering into her ear so the others wouldn't hear.
"I’ll leave the window unlocked."