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jujuscrolled · 4 months ago

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love, actually

☆ in which if you look closely, you’ll find that love actually is all around (ft. toji, choso, yuta)

Toji

Toji had become increasingly worried about his son. Megumi had never been quite the talker - always resorting to a shrug, a nod or a side eye. Toji had become accustomed to their conversation (or lack there of) - so much so that he could read Megumi like a book. Their routine went like such: Megumi would come home, they’d have minimal conversation over how his school day had gone, he’d leave to do his homework and come out by dinner time (he’d complain about the taste or smell or anything else that didn’t meet his expectations), then they’d watch reruns of Crayon Shin-Chan and demolish exactly half of a large bucket of red vines. That was what Toji liked, it was a nice routine, he thought.

Until about a week ago - Megumi had eaten his dinner (without complaints!) and while they still had their nightly father-son bonding over Shin-chan Megumi had only eaten about a third of what he usually ate of red vines, and God forbid he tried asking about school.

Toji was at a bit of a loss considering he wasn’t much of a talk about your feelings kinda guy but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried about his son. So, the obvious solution? Talk to the most emotionally available person he knew: you.

You were their neighbor and Toji’s close friend - though, really more of his only friend. You were the only one that would genuinely tolerate and even enjoy both his and his son’s emotional constipation.

“So, you’re worried about him… Because he’s not complaining about your food?” You asked as you sat at one of the barstools that faced his kitchen.

“There’s more to it. ‘Sides, i’m not worried i’m just…” Toji paused, thinking of a word to properly describe what he was feeling but his mind was far too jam packed with thoughts to formulate a proper word.

“It’s called being worried, Toj. And honestly? Considering you’re trying to make dinner with a chicken breast and a single carrot - i’m worried now too.” You mused, standing up and making your way over to him. (He had asked you to help him make dinner earlier but you had refused knowing that you’d end up doing most of the work.)

Toji watched you as you leaned onto the counter, back against the drawers as you looked at him curiously. He felt his hands get sweaty.

“Well, have you asked his teachers if he’s been off in class too?” You asked causing Toji to roll his eyes, “‘m not asking his teacher about my son.”

It was your turn to roll your eyes at him, “don’t be silly. They spend a lot of time with him - it’s not a bad thing to ask about your son as a concerned parent! Besides, you’re asking me about him and I’m just your neighbor.”

Toji scoffed at you, lifting his hand to flick your forehead.

“Don’t be stupid, you’re more than just our neighbor. ‘Sides, the brat likes you.” He looked away from you feeling uncharacteristically bashful as you grinned up at him.

“Awww, you guys like me?” You cooed, poking at his side making him swat your hand away. Toji was surprisingly ticklish for being such a burly man so you always found it funny to poke at the not so metaphorical bear.

“Well alright then, I’ll do what I can. Now please move, I doubt boiled chicken and half a carrot can hardly provide anyone with the necessary nutrients to survive.” You muttered pushing on his beefy shoulder so he could move.

“I put seasonings and shit in here too, don’t piss me off.” He muttered, but moved away from the stove regardless.

Four bowls of chicken noodle soup (Toji had seconds), a few episodes of Shin-Chan and three-fourths of a jar of red vines later Toji found himself in his room, mouth ajar as he stared at his phone.

From: Toji (don’t answer)

no fuckin’ way. he’s 6. u pullin my leg?

To: Y/n

you’ll never find me anywhere near ur nasty ass leg, old man. ur welcome btw !! xoxo

Toji deadpanned at your message before rubbing a hand over his face. He wasn’t even that much older than you. Shaking his head and focusing on the main topic; he supposed a crush wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

The next day the three of you found yourselves walking down the street, per your suggestion of course. You’d thought the Christmas decorations would help get Megumi to talk about his crush. Some kid in his class that he refused to tell even you more about. Toji couldn’t lie, his interest was piqued. It wasn’t often that the Fushiguros were interested in people so clearly this kid has got to be something special.

“So, school got any fun things going on?” Toji asked awkwardly. Out of his peripheral he saw the way you had face palmed.

“Not really, no.” Megumi said, eyes not rising from where they’d been the entire walk; the floor.

“Right.” He muttered feeling dejected. As if sensing his father’s dissatisfaction, Megumi cleared his throat before shoving his hands in his pockets, “actually, there’s a play coming up. For Christmas and stuff.”

You and Toji looked at each other, eyes wide. “Oh! Are we invited?” You asked, only getting a shrug from Megumi.

“Well I’m in it so I have a few tickets if you want them.” He said nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t just dropped the most unexpected bomb on his father. “You’re in the play?” Toji asked, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible so not to scare off Megumi’s invitation.

“Yeah. A friend of mine convinced me.” Toji glanced over at you, watching as your eyes sparkled.

“Cool, well we can help you practice, if you’d like.” You said, looking over at Toji who cleared his throat, “yeah, and I can help build stuff or whatever.” Toji kept his gaze in front of him, not wanting to scare the young boy off.

He pulled out his phone having felt it buzz and arched a brow at the message.

From: Y/n

wasn’t I the one that helped you build everything in ur house ? :p

Toji reached over, behind Megumi, to shove your shoulder surprisingly gently before texting you back.

From: Toji (don’t answer)

help me get the kid w his crush i’ll take u to dinner. on me

Toji stuffed his phone in his pocket, refusing to turn to look at you since that same damned warmth in his cheeks that you always seemed to cause was back and warmer than ever.

choso

Your fingers clicked against the keys on your keyboard, filing out yet another dreaded email. With the holidays coming up it seemed like less and less people were using their brains.

One of those people being your boss: Satoru Gojo. Who was currently standing beside you, the rolled up sheets of paper that he’d probably had some poor intern print out just to give them something to do, tapping against your head in attempts to get your attention - though really, he just found a wicked sense of pleasure in annoying you.

“Yes, Gojo?” You sighed, clicking send before turning to look at him.

“Come to my office please, I’d like to discuss a very important topic.” He said. Now, if Gojo was normal you’d be very concerned at his words. Thankfully (or not, depends who you ask, really) Gojo was far from normal and if the cheshire grin and the pure evil lurking behind his cerulean eyes were anything to go by; he was just playing on something else that would surely cause you a headache.

Sure enough, the second you were in his office he was grinning even wider at you.

“So. How’s my beloved friend doing today?” He asked, leaning forward onto his elbows, his head supported by his folded hands.

“What do you want from me, Satoru.” You sighed, patience unusually thin due to the long string of his emails that he’d tasked you with replying to claiming that you did all the “proper talk” better than he did.

“Okay fine, i’ll cut to the chase but only because I have last minute party planning to do; when are you gonna do something about your little problem?”

You only stared at him, unable to find it within you to somehow guess what the hell he was talking about this time.

“Pardon?”

“Sheesh, and you say i’m the childish one. Look, because you’re my friend and I love you; we have a bet going on and while I can afford lose a grand; I’m not about to let my best friend be alone on Christmas so if confess by tonight i’ll personally give you the thousand that I have riding on this.”

Satoru was insane, you knew this, but this was just far beyond insanity.

“Don’t look at me like that! I’ll even be your wingman!” You could only gape at his words, the rest of his speech finally processing in your mind and only humiliating you further.

“You said the entire office has a bet on this?!” You whispered shouted, feeling your cheeks heat up as you thought about all the times you’d caught people staring at you whenever you and Choso spoke. It all made sense now, though really, you had hoped you’d just been paranoid. The reality of it all was much more horrifying than your mind.

“Well… Yes… We weren’t aware that you were trying to keep it lowkey, sweets…” You groaned at his words, moving to slam your head onto his desk but his hand reached over blocking you from doing so.

“Does… Does he know?” You asked, unable to look at him in the eyes.

“I think you know the answer to that…”

“I’m putting my two weeks in.”

“Nonsense! Sweets, you have this in the bag alright? And especially if you have me as your wingman! So here’s the plan-“

And so you found yourself standing awkwardly in the corner of the stupid Christmas party Satoru had thrown to “boost morale”. You had to give him credit though, despite your sour mood - the rest of the office seemed to actually be having fun. The dance floor was filled with your coworkers dancing and talking together - Satoru in the middle of it all of course, eyes bright and santa hat tilted atop his head. The man didn’t even have to drink to have that much fun, you couldn’t help but smile at the realization.

“He seems to be enjoying his own party.” Your eyes widened at the all too familiar voice next to you, swallowing your drink harshly as you turned to look at him.

Kamo Choso. Looking devastatingly handsome in a white button up, sleeves rolled up and exposing his forearms. The black slacks he wore always were a joy to witness. And as if you needed any other reason to gawk at the gorgeous man in front of you, he had decided to wear his hair down. Oh, what a treat.

“Huh? Oh! Er.. Uhm, yeah, he’s quite the party enjoyer.” You inwardly cringed at yourself, party enjoyer?! Really?

Choso only laughed, looking back over at your friend who was now doing the sprinkler - Suguru and Shoko throwing confetti at him as if it was money.

“I take it you’re not?” He asked, looking back at you before taking a sip of his own drink. You could only shrug, “I guess I prefer a quiet night in…”

“Me too.” He said, nodding to himself.

“Y/n!” You felt your entire body tense at Satoru’s call, eyes closing in fear of what was to come.

Sure enough, an arm was thrown around your shoulder. “Oh, hello, Cho!”

“It’s Choso.”

“We’re all pals here are we not? Anyway! This is perfect, i’ve been trying to get Y/n on the dance floor all night but since we’re all paired up already, do you mind a few rounds with my good friend here?”

You felt like pinching yourself, wanting so desperately to wake up from this very obvious nightmare you were having.

Unfortunately, the pinch only added to your pain and suffering.

“Uhm…”

“You really don’t have to do that, Choso. Our boss here was unfortunately dropped far too often as a child and it clearly must have caused irreversible damage.” You said, glaring at Satoru who only let out a loud laugh before patting your back far too harshly causing you to stumble forward.

“Have fun! Not too much fun though.” He winked, walking away leaving you to clean up the mess he’d caused.

“I’m… So sorry…” You cringed out. Not having the heart to face the man next to you.

Much to your surprise, he only let out a chuckle.

“Don’t be - I’ve actually been meaning to ask you to dance but couldn’t figure out how to so I guess now I’ll just have to thank him later.. If you’ll have me of course…”

Yuta

“Yuji what the hell are these?” You asked as you stared down at the ridiculously bad pictures Yuji had taken on your phone. You had put your entire trust in him seeing as he had been bending down and allegedly breaking his back to take “the perfect photos” but as you stared at the blurry atrocities on your phone - it was clear that while he meant well, Yuji was far to hyperactive to take steady photos.

“Huh? whats wrong with them?” He asked, leaning over your shoulder to look at them with you.

“What do you mean what’s wrong with them?! Are these even of me? This is a blurry picture of a dog!” You whined, hearting the picture so it’d be put into your favorites folder - it was actually a pretty cute dog, blurry or not.

“Aw man! I must’ve accidentally had the one second delay on them, i’m sorry.” He said, grabbing your phone so he could get a closer look at the photos.

“It’s okay. I don’t even really need them anyway.” You sighed, patting his head. He only pouted, handing you your phone.

“Maybe you show up in Maki’s pictures? Or inumaki’s! He took some too!” Yuji said.

“What about my pictures?” Maki asked before you could say anything. You and Yuji looked over as she walked closer to you and Yuji, Inumaki and Megumi following behind her.

“I took crappy photos of Y/n so I was just talking about your photos and how you might have better pictures of everyone!” Yuji explained, sitting next to you.

“Why’d you take crappy photos?” Maki asked, frowning at Yuji who only let out an offended scoff.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” He replied only causing them both to argue if it had been intentional or not.

“Guys! It’s fine, really, but if I happen to show up in the background of any of your guys’ pictures then send them my way please.” You begged, clicking off your phone before leaning back on the bench you were all squeezed onto.

The campus was abnormally empty, though with the temperature dropping you couldn’t say you were surprised. Sitting outside during the winter was not something any of the other students wanted to do so you guys chose to sit there to avoid the indoor crowds. Nobara, Yuta and Panda refused to go out in the cold if it could be helped so you all usually met in the library once Nobara sent you a text telling you that the crowds had dispersed.

“Oh! Wait, I’m pretty sure I remember Yuta taking photos of everyone.” Maki said causing you to look away from Megumi and Yuji who were debating if your professors Geto and Gojo were dating or not. They just seemed to have too much unspoken energy in the air around them.

“Yeah maybe of you guys.” You sighed. Maki rolled her eyes at you, “i’m serious. He’s the likely candidate for having pictures of you. Good ones too - you’ve seen his portfolio.”

You could only shrug at her words, unlocking your phone again to see if maybe you’d missed any hidden gems.

There was nothing.

“Just ask him, Y/n! Why are you so scared?” Maki sighed, grabbing your phone and forcing you to look at her.

Your only hope was Yuta Okkotsu - the guy who honestly would’ve been your first choice (aside from Megumi who was too busy with finals to join your group) but unfortunately for you, he hated your guts.

“Oh my Gods he does not hate you.” She groaned, as she scrolled through the pictures. You watched as she grimaced at them only furthering your feeling of despair.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t even need the pictures or anything.”

“Need them or not - Yuta will have some. So speak now or forever hold your peace.” Maki said handing you your phone back.

“Well, lucky for me I enjoy my peace quite a bit.”

The week had passed with you refusing to ask Yuta for pictures. Maybe he didn’t actually hate you but you highly doubted he liked you.

Every time you’d try to speak to him, he’d find an excuse to leave the conversation as soon as possible. If it was ever just the two of you waiting for the rest of the group, he’d miraculously always receive a silent phone call that he just had to answer. If you ever asked to hang out (though this had been closer to the beginning of your friendship with the group) he’d find an excuse for that too.

Overall, the guy avoided you like the plague and had never tried to get close to you despite the rest of the group being welcoming. You couldn’t help but let it bother you a little bit since you really didn’t think you’d done anything to start off on the wrong foot with him but at the end of the day - you also didn’t want to force a friendship with him if he wasn’t open to it.

You groaned into your pillow before pulling your phone out, your finger hovering over Yuta’s contact number.

You supposed it couldn’t hurt to just ask… Though as your luck would have it, your finger must’ve been hovering a little too close to the call button and now before you could even process it, the phone had started to dial his number making your eyes widen.

“Hello?” His voice sounded leaving you with your mouth wide open and your heart about to beat out of your chest.

“Uhm… Hello?” He asked again, making you sit up as you put the phone to your ear. “Oh! Uhm, hi, yes sorry! It’s Y/n…” You said, face palming.

“Yeah… I know…”

“R-right… Sorry, uhm, I was just calling because Maki had mentioned something about you taking photos the other day? Or, last week would be more accurate…” You let out an awkward chuckle as you were met with silence.

“Uhm, hello?” You asked after a moment. Had he hung up on you? You checked the screen only to see the call was still ongoing.

“Oh. Uhm. Yeah, I did but i’m not sure if they’re any good.” He muttered into the phone. Despite his tone, you couldn’t help the excitement that bubbled in your chest.

“Wait, really?! Wow! Is it okay if I stop by to see if-“

“Uhm, I don’t think… I mean, they’re not great. Probably too blurry - they won’t be any good.” He explained but you were far too excited.

“Trust me, anything will be better than Yuji’s blurry pictures.” You said, jumping off your bed and slipping on your shoes.

“I can be over in about ten minutes! Thank you so much!” You said, pulling your phone away from you so you could hang up.

You could’ve been at his dorm sooner but you figured you’d get him a coffee or something as both a peace offering and a thank you.

So with a coffee and a slice of pistachio cake you stood outside Yuta and Inumaki’s shared dorm room.

You heard shuffling on the other side of the door before it opened slowly. Yuta stood awkwardly, hands at his sides as he stared at you. You pushed through your discomfort and offered a smile before raising the treats towards him, “a small thank you - for your time and maybe for your photography skills as well.”

He only rubbed the back of his neck, glancing behind him before he cleared his throat, “uhm, look, I really don’t think you show up in any of the pictures or videos… So… Sorry to have wasted your time and stuff.” He muttered, not meeting your eyes.

You felt your eyes sting, hands lowering since he still hadn’t taken the cake or coffee from you. You were feeling rejected and embarrassed.

“Oh… Well, since i’m already here… Do you mind if I still look through? I’m sure they’re lovely regardless…” You asked, trying to keep face as you smiled up at him through teary eyes.

“I-… Uhm…” He sighed before moving sideways allowing you into his room.

You’d been in the dorm before, though it was the first time he had also been in there with you considering every time Inumaki invited you over Yuta was always suspiciously gone.

He was slow to pull out his laptop, clicking through files before he placed it down in front of you.

“These are the only ones that were salvageable.” He muttered, allowing you to click through.

Sure enough, they were gorgeous. Yuta was the only one in your group with a professional grade camera and a certain eye for photography as well so it really was a no-brainer that they’d be perfect. You couldn’t help but smile at the photos of your friends. Small ache in your chest as you realized that he had taken special care in not including you in any of them. He’d even gotten some of Yuji, who had been glued to your side the entire day, and managed to not even have a finger of yours in frame. Truly talented he was.

As you clicked through, you couldn’t help but let your eyes wander to the recently opened file, your eyes landing on a file with your name on it, excitement filling your chest.

Figuring they’d probably just be the non-cropped versions of what you had already seen, you clicked on the file without really giving it a second thought.

Instead of that though, you were met with an entire portfolio of just you. Pictures of you smiling, closeups of your hands and eyes, videos of you just existing loading onto the screen.

“Oh…” Was the only thing you were able to whisper. “They’re… They’re beautiful, Yuta... But I- I thought you hated me?”

He stayed quiet, not meeting your eyes that had once again filled with tears. Happy ones this time.

“Yeah, well… Hopefully those work for you… I’ll uhm… I have to go but send yourself whichever ones you want.” He said, grabbing his backpack before darting out the door, leaving you with far too much to process.