To be honest, things between you and Itadori have been pretty weird since that day in the hall.
2 days after Megumi's "chat" with Itadori, the two of you were brought into Gojo's office in hopes to be sent on a mission. However, during the whole meeting, Itadori failed to acknowledge you. For the entire 60 minutes you were in there with him, he didn't even bat an eye in your direction. You couldn't help but admit that you were butt hurt; he was your first friend here.
Another incident happened yesterday, when you had accidentally bumped into him after getting lunch.
"Watch where you're going, would ya," he grumbled.
You stared at him for a moment before retaliating, "Who shoved a stick up your ass?"
"That bratty territorial boyfriend of yours. Just leave me alone," he snapped before presumably walking to his room.
Now, currently, you were relaying all of this information to Inumaki, who happened to be sitting on one of the couches when he caught you in a bad mood.
"I can understand why he would be upset— Megumi was kinda an ass to him about it, but it's not my fault!"
Inumaki had passed you a note that read jealousy.
Glancing at the cursed speech user, you asked "Why would I be jealous of Yuji Itadori?"
He shook his head before grabbing the note again. He scribbled out a letter before writing a few more.
"'Jealous of Fushiguro,' I don't understand, why would he be—"
"Are you sure? Because you're completely oblivious to the fact that he liked you all those months when we weren't together and probably still does..."
"—oh. And you knew that this whole time?" You asked, completely flabbergasted to the fact that Megumi was telling the truth.
He shrugged, "so so," he quietly responded.
Slightly shocked upon hearing him speak to you for the first time, your eyes widened. If you could see his mouth, you would know that he had smiled at you. But you couldn't, so you only saw his eyes close.
"This sucks," you concluded. Inumaki only patted you on the shoulder as he left the common room.
You continued to stay on the couch but this time you payed attention to what was on the tv. Apparently a new mall was opening up near the school. Perhaps you would have to check it out.
———
"—Yeah so that new mall is basically a breeding ground for curses," Gojo said nonchalantly to the first years.
He had called the three of you to his office for a potential cursed location. Yet, you failed to understand how a bustling mall full of life would cause curses to appear.
"Yikes," Megumi muttered as he looked through the report. "There's 3 stories and over 100 shops."
"Not to mention the food courts," you added. "Or the creepy bathrooms and gross ceiling tiles."
"See! She gets it!" Gojo exclaimed as he ran around the three of you. Megumi unwillingly sat in the middle between you and Itadori while you sat in the leftmost seat.
"Gets what? I'm lost," Yuji admitted.
Thank the lord. You were hoping that you wouldn't have to be the one to ask.
"Tch," Megumi scoffed before you elbowed him in the ribs. Itadori rolled his eyes.
"Gee, Fushiguro, if you know everything like you think you do then you wouldn't mind explaining it to me, right?"
"Of course not. The reason why the mall is a breeding ground for curses is because it's new. There do not need to be deaths or anything gruesome for a curse to appear, but rather negative emotions. Say, for example, you've been waiting the whole day to go to the new mall everyone is raving about. Yet, when you get there it's a total let down," he paused, "maybe they don't have anything you like in the food courts, or maybe you found a cool sweater that wasn't in your size. Perhaps you think the ceiling tiles are gross and spend the next 20 minutes sitting in your own paranoia worried that the roof is gonna cave in. Does that all make sense?"
"Yeah actually... it does," you responded, sparing Yuji from hearing another one of Megumi's remarks.
"What— are you insinuating that I'm not capable of explaining things?"
"Yes."
Your response earned a chuckle from Yuji which Megumi shot down. Once again you elbowed him in the side.
"Great. Now skedaddle, and make papa proud," Gojo smirked.
"Ew."
"Don't ever say that again."
"What the fuck."
The three of you gagged simultaneously. Embarrassed, Gojo scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that was kinda weird wasn't it."
———
Once your small group reached the mall, you could feel cursed energy seeping through the cracks of the main entrance. It was strange.
"We should split up."
"Really? After what happened the last two times you think we should-"
"He's right," you interrupted Megumi. "The mall is huge and full of people. It would be easier and more efficient to split up."
Megumi hummed before making a hand sign. His black divine dog appeared. "Take him with you. I know you can handle yourself just fine, but if something happens you can command him to find me."
"Okay, what about Yuji?" You asked while people continued to move like clockwork around you. Some even phased through the divine dog.
"He's skilled in combat. He'll be fine," Megumi assured as Itadori smiled sheepishly at the complement.
"Okay. I can take the ground floor while you two take the others," you asserted. By now, you were petting the divine dog who was panting happily.
"Be careful," Megumi warned. You winked at him before walking away to inspect the shops by the entrance. You saw a few extremely low level curses attached to people, but it would have been easier to leave them alone to than to explain to the people carrying them what you were doing. Besides, the curses were probably personal anyways— not mall related.
As you walked into a record store, you were hit with a pungent smell of sulfur. Megumi's divine dog growled. You continued to walk through the store as though nothing was wrong, but you were careful to note every odd surrounding.
Up until now, divine dog was staying by your side, but you willed it to track the cursed energy that came from within the store. You watched as it phased through a door in the back that read, EMPLOYEES ONLY.
You groaned.
I could always just sneak through. The cashier seems pretty busy, you thought. And they were; scanning price tags and talking to people about sales.
After waiting for the right moment, you quickly and quietly slipped into the room where divine dog growled at a corner. You looked more closely and saw a first grade eating what looked to be a rat. Fortunately for you, it was facing the corner. Maybe it was unaware that you or divine dog even entered the room.
Ignorance is bliss.
You took the opportunity to land a strong hit to the back of its... head? You didn't even know to be honest. It was definitely human-like but was certainly not a human based on its anatomy. Divine dog stopped growing while you watched it wither away.
"Ew, now it smells like eggs. Let's get outta here buddy," you gave the dog a pat before sneaking out of the room.
As you and divine dog continued through the first floor, you exorcised a handful of lower-level curses. Well, actually you didn't do much; divine dog had quite the appetite.
"Take me to Megumi," you commanded the dog. With an eager bark, it led the way to the stairwell. You struggled to keep up as divine dog bounded— literally— up the stairs. Thankfully, it was only one floor.
Divine dog led you through crowds of people until you were faced with a closet door. You assumed it had something to do with maintenances.
"He's in here?" You asked skeptically. After listening through the door you didn't think he would be, but divine dog barked in approval.
Here goes, you thought to yourself.
With a quick turn of the handle, you snuck into the room while Megumi's dog phased through the door... again.
The room was dark, so you stumbled around until you found a light switch on the opposite wall. However, something was off. If Megumi was in here wouldn't the light be on?
With a small click, the lights flickered on revealing an empty room. Your eyes widened upon seeing a small smear of blood on the floor.
"Divine dog! Where—" you paused, a yawn catching your attention.
Divine dog had laid down with its head in its paws, before dissolving into thin air.
[word count: 1461]
edited! I was thinking about switching y/n and Megumi's position right here to spice it up but im deciding not to