Chapter Text
Yuuji knew he wasn’t the most observant person in the world – and he certainly wasn’t the most self-aware, as evident by the fact that he often continued fighting beyond his means after a very serious injury – but for some reason, he zeroed in every time someone seemed to be speaking intimately with either Megumi or Nobara. And maybe not intimately too, which was why he’d confused a woman asking Megumi for directions with hitting on him.
He’d tried to be better about it since then, but it was hard. He had at least learned not to bother them as much and leave them to their own devices. Megumi would not entertain anyone for longer than a few minutes if they annoyed him, sometimes even their higher-ups, and Nobara made any person rue the day they decided to bother her. He didn’t have to worry about them.
Still, sometimes, he couldn’t stop himself.
Like right now, when two obnoxious guys were very obviously hitting on Nobara.
Yuuji knew Nobara didn’t need their help. Sometimes, she didn’t even want it, reveling in the attention. He knew it didn’t mean anything in the end. She’d absorb the compliments, the treats, everything in between – and then she’d walk away. If he got in the way, she’d only get mad at him, and he did not like it when she was mad at him. Not because she was mean or anything, but because he knew she was more upset than anything else.
However, Yuuji just got the sense that this time was different. Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe he was being stupid, which he wouldn’t put past himself.
Or maybe he was just jealous.
You see, out of the three of them, while Yuuji might not have been the most self-aware of his body, he was far more aware of his feelings. He wasn’t confused whenever jealousy reared its ugly head whenever he saw someone flirting with Megumi or Nobara. He might’ve acted out a few times because of it (embarrassment was always the way to go), but he’d gotten better about thinking before reacting irrationally. He also didn’t get mad or blow up, maybe with the exception of if they looked uncomfortable or upset, much to Sukuna’s annoyance.
Still, he didn’t like it. He didn’t like seeing it. He didn’t like sitting back and doing nothing when it wasn’t in his nature. Also, for some reason, he just...really didn’t like it when someone was obviously overstepping with Nobara. She was so aggressively independent that he sometimes blanked out that she might actually need help. Even when she did, she refused to admit it at times. They were all a bit stubborn about that, but none more so than her.
Yuuji frowned, watching as Nobara tilted her head, an unimpressed look on her face as one guy bragged about something. Judging by the fancy clothes he was wearing, it was probably money. That was definitely somewhere Yuuji was lacking, but as much as she loved to shop and splurge on food, that wouldn’t mean much to her either. It wasn’t a big deal. It didn’t matter. She didn’t even seem keen on the attention this time.
And then the other guy trailed his finger down her arm while placing a hand on her hip, pulling her back against him, and Yuuji saw red.
Yuuji was prepared to do something incredibly stupid – what, he didn’t know – when a firm hand was placed on his shoulder. He was startled out of his angry thoughts, looking over to find Megumi standing beside him, a stormy expression on his face. Yuuji had been friends long enough with Megumi to know he held his cards close to his vest, so when they were out in the open for everyone to see, it was serious .
“Should we just let her handle it?” Yuuji asked.
Megumi mulled it over, his eyes locked on Nobara. “She’s fully capable of ruining their days on her own or stopping them if she’s uncomfortable.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Yuuji shifted, feeling antsy. He had to move or do something. Just standing here and watching two guys act like they owned her made him miserable, even if he knew she didn’t need their help to take care of them. “I just…”
“Don’t like it?” Megumi finished for him. Yuuji nodded, his eyes swiveling back to the situation at hand. “She doesn’t need our help.”
“I know.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t interrupt them.”
Yuuji blinked in surprise. That was normally something Nobara would say. “You think we should?”
“I think it’d be remiss of us if we didn’t.”
Well, whatever justifications he had to make to tell himself that he wasn’t acting out because he was jealous. Megumi was still figuring that out. Either way, Yuuji was one thousand percent down for interrupting things. He didn’t know how or what they were doing, but whatever it was, they’d figure it out when they got there.
You could always just kill them, Sukuna pointed out.
But not that.
Unfortunately for everyone in the world, neither Yuuji nor Megumi had any qualms about placing themselves in potentially embarrassing situations. While it sometimes simply didn’t occur to Yuuji that he should be embarrassed, Megumi just didn’t care. He had his moments, especially with Gojo, who was a pro at mortifying people, but for the most part, it didn’t seem to cross his mind. He strode toward Nobara and the two guys without blinking, Yuuji more energetic at his heels, and then inserted himself into the situation.
“We need to leave,” Megumi stated flatly. “Now.”
Nobara raised one immaculate eyebrow while the guy holding her from behind tugged on her. “Why don’t you run along without her, buddy? We’re kinda busy here.”
The look on Nobara’s face said they were anything but that. A flicker of amusement ran across her face, which normally would’ve made Yuuji grin, if not for the fact that he really couldn’t get over the hand lying on her hip. It wasn’t right. She clearly wasn’t interested in them, so why were they continuing to press the matter?
Likewise, Megumi was equally unimpressed. “Busy with what?”
“Personal business,” the bragging guy answered.
“With her?” Megumi countered. “I don’t think so.”
“And I think you need to leave,” the guy snapped back, his pleasant facade disappearing at the drop of a hat. The sudden change made Yuuji’s hackles rise. He knew it was different, but it kind of reminded him of how violently he changed whenever Sukuna took over his body. “Now fucking scram, boys, and let us men have some fun, got it?”
If they had it their way and Yuuji and Megumi left, the only one having fun would’ve been Nobara when she kicked their asses. Any other day, Yuuji might’ve locked eyes with her, watched for a nod of confirmation from her, and done just that. He would’ve grabbed Megumi by the arm, gave him a look, and then walked away with him. Let her beat some sense into them and wait for her to come back swiping her hair out of her face and wearing a proud grin.
But it didn’t happen because that guy’s hand slid from Nobara’s hip to her ass, she stiffened in discomfort, and Yuuji just kind of, well… Maybe he pulled a Nobara.
He reacted so fast that Megumi even took a step back. Grabbing the guy by his shirt at his shoulder, Yuuji ripped him away from Nobara. She stumbled slightly, Megumi catching her by the arms, as Yuuji shoved the guy back and slammed him into the nearest wall. He coughed out a gasp and grabbed Yuuji’s wrist to pull him off, but then Yuuji pressed his forearm against the man’s throat, not enough to choke or hurt him, just enough to warn him to stop.
“Hey!” the other guy yelled, leaping forward to attack him from behind.
But then Megumi stepped in between them, holding out his hand and stopping the guy cold. “Sorry, they’ve got some personal business to settle.”
Honestly, Yuuji preferred to settle things in a non-violent way. Jujutsu society tended to respond to everything with violence, so he ended up doing that as well, but if he could avoid it, he’d gladly do so. Build bridges, not burn them – that sort of thing. Give people a second chance. Whatever. He liked to see the good in people and hoped that by giving some good, he’d receive some in return. Maybe it was naive and stupid – Nobara and Megumi would certainly say so, and Sukuna absolutely hated it – but it was him.
Right now, he wasn’t in the mood to play nice.
“Get the fuck off me!” the guy shouted.
“Did you ask if you could touch her?” Yuuji demanded heatedly, ignoring his demands. “Did you see if she wanted you to grab her?”
When the guy clamped his mouth shut, Yuuji seethed more on the inside. This was the kind of reaction Sukuna enjoyed feeling from him. It didn’t happen often, but the jealousy inside him came to a boiling point of rage. Nobara could’ve easily taught them a lesson on her own – he’d listened to her tell stories of how she emasculated a man that thought they could play with her – but seeing it firsthand made his skin crawl too much.
He couldn’t ignore it, not with her, and Megumi apparently couldn’t either.
“Tell your stupid friends to back off,” the guy told Nobara, who only shrugged in response. “You stupid bitch–”
Out of the corners of Yuuji’s eyes, he saw something glint in the sun, but before he could even register what was going on, it was over. Still holding the second guy to the wall, Yuuji looked back and found Megumi bending back the wrist of the other guy, who was currently on his knees, a useless knife now kicked to the side.
“Stand down,” Megumi warned him, “before I put you down.”
“I’d listen to these two if I were you,” Nobara said in a sing-song voice. “It’s been a while since they’ve been in a good fight.” She bended over forward, tilting her head so she could look the first guy in the eyes at his level. “The last few guys that went against these two couldn’t walk for almost a month. It’d be such a shame for your game if that happened to you.”
“You’re crazy!” the guy exclaimed in horror.
“It’d be worse if it was her,” Megumi pointed out. “Consider yourselves lucky.”
With that warning dealt, Yuuji let go of the guy he was holding against the wall and took a step back. The guy slumped back, gasping for air as he held his throat. It was kind of dramatic if you asked Yuuji, but then again, his tolerance for pain was not the standard.
“Just get out of here,” Yuuji told them. Megumi let go of the other guy’s wrist and let him scramble to his feet. The two of them booked it, looking nothing like the attractive, smooth men they’d been portraying moments ago. “And don’t even think about looking at Nobara again! She’s too good for you!”
And she’s ours. He fortunately managed not to say that out loud.
Once the guys were gone, Nobara grinned and hopped toward him, getting right in his face so suddenly that he fell back against the wall. “Were you jealous?”
“No,” Megumi said, at the same time Yuuji blurted, “Yeah!”
He burned bright pink and turned away, especially when she laughed, but then she jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He staggered about as he tried to regain his balance, holding onto her forearms to keep her from falling just in case, and then he was laughing too as she hugged him from behind like a spider monkey.
“Aw, you really were,” Nobara teased. “How adorable.”
With her chin propped on his shoulder, her mouth was right at his ear, her breath hot against his skin. It took everything in him to fight back a shiver at the pleasant feeling, but it was even worse when she wiggled against him, clinging to him even tighter. He couldn’t deny how pleased he was now, all that rage gone and replaced by a warm, bubbly feeling in his chest. They’d been like this since the first day they met, both more physical with their feelings.
But he also couldn’t deny that it felt a little different these days. He craved her touch a bit more than normal, and he burned with affection when Megumi spent more time with him. They weren’t just his best friends, but he wasn’t sure how else to explain it either. They were a part of each other, and okay, he was a bit loathed to share it, especially when he was already kind of stuck doing so with a curse demon inhabiting his body.
When Nobara finally slid off his back, Yuuji scratched his head and muttered, “It didn’t feel right, letting them bother you like that.”
“I thought Yuuji was gonna burst a blood vessel,” Megumi said.
“You could’ve switched with me,” Sukuna pointed out, his mouth appearing on Yuuji’s cheek. “I would’ve gladly taken care of them for you to let off a bit of steam.”
Yuuji slapped a hand over the ingrown demon mouth. “I wasn’t that bad.”
Nobara snorted. “You just threw a guy against a wall.”
“I couldn’t just stand here and let them manhandle you!” Yuuji burst. “That’s not okay. Plus, you’re–” He gestured vaguely. “You know.”
Nobara gave him an innocent look that definitely wasn’t innocent, batting her eyelashes in that pretty way that alerted him to trouble. “I’m what?”
“You know,” Yuuji repeated, his cheeks flushing. At least Sukuna was gone, back to being dormant probably because he was ashamed at having to share the same body as him.
“Am I yours ?” Nobara prompted sweetly.
Yuuji shoved his hands into his pockets and determinedly kept his face turned from hers. “I didn’t say that.”
“You call us yours all the time,” Megumi pointed out.
“Ha! That’s because you are .” Nobara stood upright and flashed them a proud look, not a hint embarrassed. Or maybe she was just better at hiding it, able to transform emotions into another to hide how she felt. He jumped when she slipped her arm through his, tugging him against her side. “Okay, my knights in shining armor, how about we get some boba? My treat for saving me from those fiends.”
Yuuji perked up. “Really? You never pay for anything.”
Nobara jabbed him in the side with a sharp finger. “I’m feeling generous.”
“That doesn’t happen often,” Megumi said, somewhat to himself.
“Just for that, no extra boba for you.”
Megumi frowned and mumbled, “I wasn’t wrong…”
Nobara stood on her tiptoes and, without letting go of Yuuji, leaned over to ruffle Megumi’s already wild hair. When he flashed her a somewhat perturbed look, she only smirked. “Gotta treat my boys every now and then.”
Something warm blossomed inside Yuuji’s chest, and even Megumi softened. Pride, glee, happiness – he wasn’t sure, but he did know he liked the sound of that. Because it was true. They were her boys, and she was their girl. He couldn’t imagine it any other way. It had been an unspoken decree starting the moment they’d met each other that fateful day at the train station, one that would never be broken. Not by a curse, a stranger, colleagues, or family. Not by anything, even them.
And they wouldn't have it any other way.