Suspend Your Disbelief [Megumi Fushiguro x OC]

4

Cut, pain, heal, repeat.

That had been my entire morning. I was prepping for the evening mission with Megumi and I was running on fumes. When I went back to bed after our 3AM meeting, I could barely sleep a wink. I couldn't stop replaying the scene in my head.

His fucking laugh.

My mind was totally distracted and I was hurting myself and healing without even thinking of it, till Yuuji pulled me out of my daydream.

"Yo, Ayane!"

"Hey," I smiled.

"You prepping for tonight?" he asked excitedly, coming over to where I was sat in the training room. He was always so eager to see me and it made my soul happy.

"Yep, doing the Gojo special," I said as I motioned to my pocket blade.

"Don't you think it's kind of fucked up that he makes you hurt yourself for training?"

I laughed, "I think most things that he tells us to do are a bit fucked up. But it helps, I've gotten a lot better."

He nodded but there was a slight frown on his face, "I still don't like that you do that. It seems messed up."

"I guess it is. You wanna do it for me?" I smirked and he looked absolutely horrified.

"No way! I could never hurt you!" he exclaimed, offended at the mere thought of it. I swear I could've saw the slightest tinge of pink at his cheeks too. "You know, you're so different from when we got reunited, Ayane. In fact, you're so different from how I remember you from being young."

I looked at him whilst wiping my blade with my rag and setting it down next to him on the floor, "Yeah? How's that?"

"Well, when we got reunited that night, you were like...terrified. I mean - rightfully so!" he laughed sheepishly and I nodded, "But I mean, like, even when you first got to the dorms, you were so jumpy and I remember you being like that as a kid. But now you're like, a certified badass."

I couldn't help but giggle at his recounting, "I guess that's true. I've found myself being less jumpy these days. I feel safe here. I never felt safe before."

He smiled but it was quickly replaced with a slight frown, "That sucks, man. I wish we could've went to middle school the whole time together. We would've had a blast."

I grinned and nodded, becoming nostalgic for virtually the only time in my life I remember being happy in childhood. "We sure would have. But we can have a blast now, right? Curses and all?"

"Definitely."

We sat for a moment in silence and soaked up the atmosphere. Something about his presence was just so comforting to me.

"It kinda feels like fate, you know, meeting back up with you, Yuuji."

He looked at me with wide eyes, "How do you mean?"

"It's just that, I remember as kids - and it's okay if you don't - that I told you about the curses I could see. Although, I think I referred to them as monsters or something back then," we laughed together, "But you were the only kid I ever told that went along with it. You pretended and played with me and acted as if they were really there. There's something about that that just seems fitting. Like, you ended up being the first person I knew that could see them too."

"When you put it like that, it is pretty crazy," he smiled, "So you've just seen them your entire life? As far back as you remember?"

"Yeah. I've never actually had the chance to ask you though, when did you see your first?"