Sunshine and Midnight rain

Chapter 9

Attention: this chapter contains some "strong" words, related to smoke and maybe love and alcohol. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, it's perhaps better not to read it.

-I'll wait a little then, that's the best, even if it'll be difficult to try to hide these emotions.

A month later, 25th of December

Megumi's pov

Yuji and I decided to organise a Christmas dinner two weeks ago with the whole group, which consisted of having dinner at Yuji's house and then going to a nightclub to spend the rest of the evening, I was a bit against that, however I didn't insist. Yuji asked us if we wanted to come earlier so that we could cook together, needless to say that Nobara was the first to accept, even too happily, and then Maki and Panda were the second ones to accept right away. So we ended up at Yuji's house, everyone way too excited for Christmas. I like it relatively, I just don't show it or just don't like it enough to show it. I was the third one to arrive and as soon as I stepped into the hall, I tripped on two backpacks, without doubt Nobara and Maki's backpacks, why would they leave them there at the entrance? As far as I remembered, they would have slept by Yuji, that night, after coming back from the night out, so they most likely contained pajamas,, make-up, make-up remover, brushes and this sort of things, but probably also the clothes for the evening, since they surely would have got dirty while cooking and their clothes would have become stinky. I told them I wouldn't have cooked with them and that I preferred staying in another room, but Yuji managed to convince me by saying that it would have been funny and that it would have been a special moment spent together during Christmas. So, here I am, bringing as well my backpack with the change inside.
"Hii, Megumi!"Yuji greeted me at the entrance, shouting, I almost got scared. The light was still off and I could see just half of his face, thanks to the light coming from a small room near the entrance.
"Hi, Yuji. Where are Maki and Nobara?"
"They are in the kitchen. Why? You look pretty annoyed."He laughed.
"Well, yeah, I tripped on their backpacks, why would they leave them at the entrance anyway?"He laughed.
"Come on, don't be so grumpy, it's Christmas!"
"I'm gonna ask them personally then."He sighed, knowing that I never change.
"Well, think about that later."He smiled. "Merry Christmas, Megumi!"He said, while taking from behind a small box and showing it to me. I didn't notice he kept his hands behind his back all the time. I smiled.
"Merry Christmas, Yuji. Thank you for the present."I said. I took it, and meanwhile started to search for the present I prepared for him and that was still in my backpack. I placed it on the ground and crouched to take a closer look. The fact that all of this was happening with the light still off was a bit strange but we seemed not to mind that.
"Oh, hi, Fushiguro, why didn't you come to greet us?"Nobara said shouting, looking out the door, Maki behind her.
"Hi, Merry Christmas to you too."I said ironically, still searching inside my backpack, without giving a glance.
"Ahh, what a dumbass."She said.
"Anyway, mind explaining why you two left your backpacks here at the entrance? I tripped over them."I said, finally looking at them.
"I would pay to see that on replay."Maki said, smirking.
"Me too."Nobara said proudly. I sighed, finally finding the present for Yuji.
"That's for you, Yuji."I said, raising my head and my hand to lend it to him, it was a small box like his.
"Oii, Megumi, don't you have a small present also for us?"Maki asked, pretending to be annoyed.
"Yeah."
"Oh, really?"Nobara exclaimed excitedly. "I didn't think that you'd care that much."
"Well, but I do, so..."
"Yeah yeah."She shrugged the conversation. "Come on, we'll open the presents later, now it's time to cook!"She said.
"Where are Panda and Toge?"I asked, still fixing my backpack. Just as I said that, the bell rang and two figures entered.
"Hi guys!Merry Christmas!"Panda greeted us all, shouting way too much, I bet the neighbours heard that too.
"Merry Christmas."Toge said, quietly.
"Merry Christmas guys!"Yuji said. "Thanks for coming!"He smiled. We all went to the kitchen then, after placing our things in that small room near the entrance. I discovered that it's the guest room, where Maki and Nobara would have slept that night. We started to cook together, needless to say that it has been a disaster. Me and Yuji know how to cook, especially him, but Nobara, Maki and Panda, being also very chaotic and particularly lively, made a total mess with the ingredients. Toge, despite the fact that he didn't know how to cook, was calm as always. But, after all, it had been fun cooking together, even if we had to clean everything after. At a certain point Yuji, Nobara, Maki and Panda started throwing flour at each other, causing the anger of Nobara and Maki because it had gotten between their hair. Well, it seems like they will have to take a shower. We prepared a lot of food, but unexpectedly we ate everything. The table was covered by cold cuts, pasta, various side dishes, such as mushrooms, pies, carrots, salad, then those Yuji meatballs, Champagne, rice, lasagna, french fries and baked potatoes. We even had the desserts but decided to take them out of the fridge at the end of dinner; There were chocolate puddings and then two different cakes, one chocolate and the other vanilla. For the dinner, everyone brought something to eat or drink to share with the others. I had brought a bottle of wine, nothing too alcoholic; Nobara and Maki brought two boxes of chocolates, Toge lemon sorbet and Panda, a box of renowned cookies. We also decided to bring some of the ingredients that we needed to cook, so that Yuji didn't have to buy everything by himself.
"Guys, we all smell like shit."Maki said, after taking off her apron.
"Yeah, before going out we should all take a quick shower."Yuji said.
"I live nearby, I'm gonna take a shower there, I think it's unfair if we all use Yuji's bathroom."I said.
"I agree."Panda said.
"I live nearby too, maybe we can split up in three pairs and then get a shower without taking advantage of Yuji, if that's okay..."Toge said.
"I didn't know you lived nearby, Toge!"Yuji said, surprised.
"Yeah, it's about a fifteen minute walk from here."
"I'm okay with what he said."Maki said.
"I am too!"Nobara said. We all agreed with that so we split up in three pairs. Nobara was with Yuji, Maki with me and Panda with Toge. After that, we all sat down to finally eat. It was seven o'clock, just in time since it would have taken a minimum one hour and a half. We joked all the time, while telling the others past stories and events; it's surely been one of the best evenings in my life, if not the best one, I had a lot of fun, moreover, I'm happy we all managed to know more about the others. Nevertheless, I've never eaten so much in my life; in the end, I almost felt like throwing up from eating too much, but I managed to even eat the dessert and Toge's lemon sorbet. At the very end of dinner, we opened our presents in the living room, where Yuji had a big ass Christmastree.
"Wow, Yuji, what even is this tree?"Maki asked, surprised.
"How do you even...how do you manage to decorate that?!"Nobara said. Well, she was right. Yuji's Christmas tree soared almost till the ceiling, it was practically two metres and a half, but it was fascinating. Just by looking at Yuji's house, even from the outside, I understood that he loves Christmas. I could have expected that, he's like a small child after all. The tree was decorated with golden lights and red ornaments, at the top there was a big bright star. The rest of the house was entirely decorated with garlands, on the outside there were some other Christmas lights adorning the building, everything was pretty lively.
We all sat down on the carpet that covered a big part of the floor and I gave Maki, Nobara, Toge and Panda their presents while they gave me theirs. Inside the box Yuji gave me, I found a ring, a steel ring. The circumference had a thickness of 0,7 cm, and its diameter allowed me to put it on the index finger. It had the outer edges not decorated, 0,2 cm each, while the central part of the circumference was decorated with a strip of 0,3 cm of blue colour, on which dragons were engraved. Yuji told me that he chose that ring not only for its style, but especially for the blue strip, because it reminded him of my eyes. I gave him a steel ring as well, because I saw that he wears them regularly. I tried to adapt it to the rings he usually wears, that are a bit particular. It was simpler than his; it always had a 0,7 cm thickness of the circumference, 1,9 cm of diameter, and the circumference was totally adorned with little clear crystals that made it shiny (*you can see an image of the rings after chapter 10). I gave both Maki and Nobara two little different necklaces, matching their style and then two different bracelets for Panda and Toge. Before we decided it was time to get prepared for the night out, two hours and almost a half had passed. We rushed to take showers. Maki and I took our backpacks and immediately got outside, it was freezing. We decided to notify each other in the groupchat every time a pair was ready, and finally, 45 minutes later we were all ready. For convenience, we decided it would have been better if we met up directly at the nightclub chosen by Maki and Nobara. I've already been there once, it's pretty big and it's not in the city centre, it is actually more in the suburbs. Maki and I got there thanks to my scooter. It's generally very chaotic, it's probably the most popular nightclubs in the city, lots of people go there, but to be honest I didn't think anyone would come here during Christmas, just six dumbasses like us. As soon as we entered however, I soon discovered that I was wrong. Strange, but there were actually more people than I could have imagined. In normal circumstances I would have never gone to a nightclub the night of Christmas.
We paid and then entered, it was really warm, reassuring from the freezing cold, and you could already hear the loud music from outside. Just when we entered I noticed how the two girls from the group were dressed. Both dressed in high heels and short and thigh dresses. I wondered how they were not cold but before I could ask anything they were already gone, I'm sure we'll find them drunk and probably making out with someone in the hallways at the end of the night. I sighed. On the other hand, I was dressed in an unusual way, not really my style. Above a black shirt, then black loose ripped jeans, like the ones Yuji wears, my Airforces and the thick steel necklace. Toge and Yuji were elegant as well. Toge wore a total black outfit like me, but it was more of a suit, while Yuji wore his usual ripped jeans, light-blue, and above a black shirt, that enveloped his muscular body; he left the first two buttons unbuttoned and I clearly smelled his fragrance, it's a really strong one. The four of us sat down at a table, those surrounded by red, comfortable sofas, but Toge and Panda left almost right away because Panda wanted to get drinks. Being left alone, I started looking at Itadori, who seemed to be zooming out. Taking a closer and longer look at him, I noticed things that I didn't notice before. His jawline is well-defined, tough, his nose creates a perfect little curvature that brings it upward and leads to his lips; perfect dark pink full lips, that matched the contrast of his hair; and then, his light-brown eyes, that in the sun took a golden colour, honey; short eyelashes and then thick eyebrows. Every trait matched perfectly. I found myself thinking that he is objectively handsome, not that I ever thought he was ugly, you can easily notice his beauty the first time you meet him, but this time it's more like a deep thought. I'm not gonna lie, but his outfits, particularly this one, make me think that he's attractive. Apart from his beauty, something really attracts me to him and I don't know what, especially this evening. I broke my gaze from him, without turning my head back to place, taking a look up and down to the room. I had zoomed out like him, I didn't notice that it had filled with people, now dancing, while keeping their drinks and taking a sip occasionally. The music is loud, really loud, and a fuchsia light, accompanied by smaller yellow, blue and white lights, paints the room and its people. I noticed two girls, one dark-haired and the other ash blonde, near the end of the bar counter, looking at Yuji and grinning, the blond one biting the straw of her drink while keeping a smile, observing him accurately, while the other seemed to be teasing her. Well, I must not be the only one who finds him attractive then, how to blame them. Suddenly, two drinks landed on our table.
"Here we are, guys, these are for you."Panda said.
"We didn't ask for drinks."I said.
"We know, but, you see, these are just a starter, then you'll choose whatever you want."He winked. I sighed.
"Okay."I said, I was already annoyed. Both Yuji and I took a look at the drinks, the first one was red and the other was blue. "What drinks are these?" I asked.
"Sangria, the red one, and Blue Lagoon."Panda said.
"I'm gonna take Blue Lagoon, is that okay for you, Yuji?"I turned to him.
"Yeah, it's also way too strong to be considered a starter probably."He giggled.
"Well yeah, but it's not that big so it's okay."I took a sip from the black straw, immediately feeling the alcohol scrape my throat and send it on fire, gradually keeping it warm.
"Well, we're going into the crowd, see you later, guys."And they went away. It was me and Yuji again.
"Do you like it, Yuji?"I referred to the drink.
"Yeah, it's not that strong either."He smiled.
"Are you going to dance?"
"Yes, maybe. I usually do."We stood in silence for a while. I took a glance again at the two girls near the counter, feeling something strange, as if they annoyed me. It's not difficult to annoy me, however this time it's different, there's something more, something that perhaps I never felt or don't remember feeling. I gave them a bad look, while drinking my cocktail.
"Yuji, there are two girls behind you, I'm pretty sure one of them likes you."I said, while looking to my left, where there was a huge group of people sitting at another table, a bit far from ours.
"Uh?"He sounded a bit stunned, so I turned to him, he was embarrassed. Despite the low light, I could see his face in a low shadow of pink.
"Yeah, she's probably interested in you or finds you attractive."
"Oh, well..."He turned around to see her. They looked at each other and she blushed, smiling at him with a wide smile, and waved a little to him. He turned to me again.
"Would you like to try?"I asked, looking at the table in front of me, as if I was scared to hear his response, continuing to take sips of my drink, feeling my throat returning as hot as the beginning at every sip.
"Try what?"He giggled. taking a sip as well.
"I don't know, know her, make out or whatever you feel like to do."I felt a small grasp on my stomach after that, I don't know why.
"I wouldn't have problems doing that, making it clear that it's only for tonight of course, but..."He seemed to be ruminating."I'm interested in someone."That gave me a second, negative, grasp.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah..."He smiled, embarrassed.
"What's her name?"I asked, while looking at an empty spot in front of me and taking another sip.
"Well..."There was silence.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uneasy."I looked into his eyes this time.
"Don't worry, Megumi, it's just that it's not a girl. I don't have problems saying that I like guys as well, it's just...complicated telling you who I like."He giggled. I looked at him. Could it be that...? No, impossible.
"Don't worry, Yuji, sorry for putting pressure on you."
"Oh, no don't worry, really."He smiled, blushing. We continued drinking, while taking a look occasionally at each other or just watching people dance.
"You know, I like guys as well."He almost choked. He put the drink on the table and looked at me with mouth open and widened eyes. Cute.
"Really?!"He asked, incredulous.
"Yeah, but, like you, I like women as well."