𝑴𝑰𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑳𝑬, 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒙 𝒋𝒋𝒌

𝑪𝒉 𝟏𝟒| 𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒑

In my arms, I carry two large pizza boxes along with paper plates and napkins. The heat of them warms up my entire body leaving me just the tiniest bit uncomfortable. "Will one of you open the door?"

"Mhm." Itadori eagerly nods his head. He's in front of me in a second opening up the room to Megumi's dorm.

"We've brought gifts!" Nobara announces, sauntering into the injured boy's room.

From across the room, I hear a deep-rooted sigh leave the boy.

"Hey! That's no way to greet us!" Nobara chides.

I carefully lay the two boxes atop his dresser, careful to avoid anything.

"Do you want cheese or pepperoni?" I ask.

"Cheese."

"Mkay." I open up the cheese box grabbing two slices for Megumi. I gently hand him the plate along with a few napkins.

"Thank you." He mutters, grabbing his plate. He looks up giving me a small smile something Nobara and Itadori miss, too busy getting their pizza.

"No problem." I breathe out. I run my hand over his shoulder trailing it down his arm when I step away to get my food.

Physical touch was often the way we shared our care for one another kids. But, as I've continued to grow the soft touches we give each other leave burning sensations on my skin.

I brush away the sick feeling in my stomach assuming I'm just hungry. I grab my food and plop down at the foot of Megumi's bed. Both Itadori and Nobara took the only chairs in the room.

"I promise to be careful," I assure Megumi. He would never let it go if I got food on his bed.

"You better." He squint's his eyes at me.

"Itadori since when were you buddies with that gorilla?" Nobara questions in between a bite.

"Yeah, he almost took my head once y'know!" I exclaim.

"Um.. I wouldn't say we're buddies. I remember what happened but I wasn't really myself."

"Were you drunk!"

"Kugisaki, do you really think I'm the kind of person who would drink in a situation like that? That hurts." Itadori says.

"But, anyway we're glad you're okay Fushiguro!" Itadori smiles at his dark-haired classmate.

Megumi puts down his food. "It ended up being a good thing that I was out of cursed energy. Once we got rid of the roots Shoko was able to heal me."

"So things like that happen too, huh?" Itadori questions.

"You fought against it right, Itadori?" Nobara speaks up.

"Itadori, you've gotten stronger." Megumi looks at Itadori, his tone more serious. "We talked about truths back then. Maybe we're both right. Or both wrong."

"There are questions that don't have an answer, you know." Nobara crosses her legs shifting in her chair. "You're overthinking it. You're going to go bald."

I take a deep breath at her words. How is she so confident in how she lives, you're rather envious. Maybe of all of them. You're envious of how Megumi and Itadori are inclined to help those who need saving.

To me, it feels almost like a chore. A job that I didn't know I was signing up for. Yet, when someone dies because of me, their smeared blood haunts me. Why is that? Why do I have to be involved in this world? Why can't I be a normal high schooler oblivious to this world?

"Yeah, there's no answer." Megumi's voice breaks me from my thoughts. "It comes down to whether you can come to terms or not."

Can I come to terms? Can I accept how unjust and unruly this world is? Looking down at my half-eaten pizza I find that I've lost my appetite.