Archive of Our Own

Megumi stares at his left palm sometimes and wonders what the universe thinks when it decides who your soulmate is.

Relationships are pretty much a social construct, he’s aware, along with all the taboos that come with some of them. The idea of a picture-perfect couple in society’s eyes, the do’s and don’ts of who you should be allowed to date or marry, were illusionary concepts that should never have been made mandatory in the first place.

But when you’re born with a soulmark, the thought that there is someone out there, the right one, non-negotiable, is a little hard to go against.

So Megumi closes his fingers around the strange mark on his left palm and accepts that his soulmate is Naoya, his cousin whom he’s known since childhood, and because the universe has decreed it so, it must be right.

Who was he to go against the universe, after all?

Megumi steps into his apartment, and blinks in surprise at the extra set of shoes in the entryway. Only Naoya has the key to his place, but it's so uncommon for his soulmate to visit that Megumi has grown used to returning to an empty home.

He briefly wonders what news Naoya has for him this time. That's got to be the only reason he'd ever drop by.

"I'm home." He calls out, walking into the living room to find Naoya working away on his laptop, an angry scowl on his face.

His soulmate barely glances up from the screen. "Took you a while. Didn't see you at the office today."

"Had to run across town to meet a client for the Shibuya deal." Megumi responds flatly as he heads straight to the fridge to grab a drink. His hand pauses, suspended over a can of coffee, before he calls out to Naoya. "You want anything?"

"No need. I helped myself to some coffee earlier. Why do you even drink that brand? It's horrible."

Megumi closes the fridge door with slightly more force than necessary. "It's my place, I drink whatever I want. What are you really here for, Nao?"

He heads back to the living room, taking a seat on the sofa across from his soulmate, and Naoya finally glances up at him with a grin.

"We're getting the Yasohachi deal."

Megumi raises his eyebrows as he sips his coffee. "Now that's a surprise. I thought that deal was heading south, the way the meetings have been going."

"Well we haven’t actually gotten it yet, but we’re pretty close. Keep it under wraps, but I've got a source on the inside saying that the Kamo Group’s finances aren’t doing very well, and they’re seriously considering accepting our terms over theirs. All we gotta do is play the rest of our cards right and it's more or less in the bag."

"Playing our cards right... By which you mean, you need me to go talk to Noritoshi."

Naoya has one of those smirks on his face that Megumi knows well. It's the same look he gets before a servant falls for a prank or trap he's set, an employee is about to get fired, or shit's basically about to go down.

"Do whatever you need. Charm him a little; he’s always seemed to have a thing for you. You’re smart, you’ve got a pretty face, I’m sure you can work something out. We need this deal, Megumi, don’t go doing or saying anything that could hurt the family’s standing.”

Megumi mentally goes through his schedule for the next few days. He’s fully occupied and it’s already Thursday, so the earliest he can arrange a meeting with Noritoshi to discuss the deal is probably next Monday. He knows how important this deal is to the Zenin Corporation, so time is of the essence, but Megumi has no wish to work weekends.

Besides, he already has plans on Saturday, and meeting Noritoshi is not one of them.

“I’ll work something out.” He says quietly. “Is there anything else you wanted to discuss with me, Nao?”

Naoya peeks up again from his laptop screen, his brows furrowed a little. “Oh, Dad wants to know if we’re going ahead with the engagement.”

Megumi huffs lightly. “Now? We’re both busy, Nao, we’re up to our necks with work and securing our places on the corporate ladder, as the family would like it, might I remind you, does he really think we should be thinking of tying the knot now?”

His tone is a bit too harsh, and Megumi wishes he could reign in his emotions better, but for some reason every time they talk about settling down, Megumi's defenses seem to go up.

It's always been a particular sore spot for him. The Zenin elders have been pressuring both of them for the past year to make an official announcement, yet every time he thinks about it, Megumi feels dread instead of excitement.

He's never discussed his feelings with his soulmate though. Somehow Megumi thinks that Naoya would take the elders' side. And frankly, he does feel a little bad about this.

Because even if Naoya had his flaws, the last thing Megumi wants is to hurt his soulmate's feelings.

“It will look good for the stakeholders, Megumi. Shows that we’re both demonstrating commitment to the family and the business, that we’re serious about this. We can’t keep behaving like carefree children with no responsibilities.”

Family first. It's the Zenin creed he was drilled with growing up, it's not like Megumi's going to forget that easily.

“I’ll think about it.” Megumi acquiesces, and Naoya smiles. He closes his laptop and crosses over to Megumi, ruffling his spiky hair a little.

“That’s my boy. We can decide on a date after you’ve made the Yasohachi deal. I always knew I could count on you.”

Megumi gives a nod and finishes the rest of his coffee, the bitter liquid churning like bile in his stomach. Naoya’s already heading to the door, and Megumi briefly wonders if he should even bother asking his soulmate to stay for dinner.

He’s not a particularly romantic person, but sometimes Megumi does wonder if there were certain things you ought to be doing with your soulmate, like having dinner every night, or going on dates, or moving in together, in order for it to feel right. He’s known Naoya for so long, knows him so well, and ironically, that knowledge makes his nonchalance towards their relationship feel like a sin somehow.

Soulmates try, don’t they? They look forward to spending time with each other, they feel at ease with the other’s company, they’re perfectly made for one another, so why does it always feel like no matter what he does, it’ll never be perfect?

Instead of dinner, however, a random thought flickers in his mind.

“Nao, are you free on Saturday?”

Naoya turns back at the entranceway. “Depends. You need me for something?”

Megumi pauses, before speaking hesitantly. “There’s a special exhibit going on at the zoo; I was thinking of going this weekend. Do you want to come with me?”

Naoya raises an eyebrow. And then he smirks and shakes his head. “Nah, you run along and have fun. My weekend’s packed as it is.”

“Okay.” Megumi shrugs it off like it’s nothing, pretending that he's not hurt by the casual dismissal. He's always known they were two very different people, whose interests and passions rarely aligned, and Megumi's not about to insist that Naoya change for him.

Solitude is preferable, he tells himself, rather than forced company.

Everyone was born with a mark on either one of their palms. In some cases, both palms, if you were one of those rare people destined to be with multiple soulmates. Your soulmate’s mark would always be an exact mirror image of yours, on the opposite palm, so that when you held hands, your soulmarks would line up perfectly.

It’s a romantic notion, in some sense. Two souls coming together as one, matching perfectly when their hands touched.

So people searched, hopefully, longingly, desperately, for that one person whose palm would mirror theirs, to fill their hands with the warmth of their other half.

And yet, in a world so vast, there were some who would search a lifetime and never find their soulmate.

Megumi supposes he should consider himself lucky that he never had to go through the pain of such a search. He knew, even before he learnt to read, that his soulmate was his cousin, and no one in the family ever let him forget it. It was a topic brought up at almost every family gathering, his uncle boasting about how the two brightest of their generation were fated to be together, his aunts fawning over how adorable they looked as a couple, how proud everyone was that such talent could once again be kept within the family.

The first time Megumi learnt what soulmates were was when he was playing in the nursery and had thought to ask his nanny what the strange mark on his left palm was. The older woman clapped her hands in glee and called for his cousin Naoya, older than him by five years, to come in and show him something.

Megumi remembers Naoya glaring at his nanny for interrupting his day, but when she explained what Megumi had asked, his cousin glanced at him with a surprised look.

And then he grinned and motioned for Megumi to come closer.

“Megumi, high five?” Naoya held his right hand out, and Megumi had to reach a little but he happily touched his left palm against his cousin’s.

His small hand fit nicely against Naoya’s larger palm, and Naoya laced his fingers with Megumi’s to hold his hand before opening it again to show Megumi his mark.

“They’re the same!” Megumi exclaimed. He poked at Naoya’s soulmark, a shadowy inky blot exactly like his, and the older boy chuckled.

“Yeah, that means we’re soulmates. I was about your age when I found out, when the elders told me that you had been born with the same mark. Cool, huh?”

At that time, Megumi had indeed thought it was cool. He used to think his older cousins were all cool. Naoya in particular was always very clever, he would always have an answer for Megumi's toughest questions, and was always eager to show off how much he knew.

Megumi had pressed his palm against Naoya's again, smiling shyly at how their marks lined up, and had asked what a soulmate was.

"It's like your special someone. Very special. Your soulmate is made for you, and you're made for your soulmate! It's your fate to be together someday."

"What does a 'fate' mean?" Megumi pulled his hand back and stared at his own palm. "I thought we were already staying together?"

Naoya thought hard. "No, it's a bit different from that. It means that one day… when we're grown up… we'll get married I guess."

Megumi's little head could only take so much before it was fried, so that was the extent of the conversation they had that day. What followed was years of family gatherings that eventually grew awkward every time the soulmate topic was brought up, far too many letdowns that soured his impression of his older cousin, and Megumi no longer thinking it was “cute” as he became more serious about examining his growing relationship with Naoya.

Honestly, he would’ve thought it weird if he hadn’t heard of stranger soulmate pairings in the world. Two of his other cousins were soulmates too, born within a minute of each other with mirroring images on their palms, and they were inseparable. Yet, their bond was not without flaws. A major source of strife within their turbulent relationship was the fact that one of the twins, Maki, had two soulmarks instead of one. She’s expressed interest in seeking out the owner of the other mark, but Mai hates the idea.

She’s terrified she’ll be left behind, Megumi thinks.

He can relate, actually. The idea that your own soulmate would leave you for another is terrifying indeed.

It is not something he would wish upon anyone, at all. Not even Naoya.

There’s so many people at the zoo today, and the crowd kinda stresses him out, but Megumi’s here for the animals and that’s the only thing that matters.

He wanders by the elephant enclosure, admiring the gentle creatures and their strength. He spends a little too much time with the wolves, watching them play with each other and thinking that he might just adopt a dog someday. At the reptile and amphibian house, he amuses himself by reading every single one of the descriptions displayed, even though by now he’s already familiar with all of them. He says hi to his favourites: an albino python, a large, bored toad that always looks strangely cross-eyed, and before he knows it, his day is almost over.

One glance at his watch and Megumi is shocked to see the time. There’s one more thing he wants to do before he leaves, and he'll need to hurry if he wants to make it.

The zoo's having a giveaway for the special exhibit, where visitors can claim a free lottery ticket when they drop by. Megumi had claimed his earlier, because the grand prize is a horned owl plushie that he really, really wants (it’s so fluffy he could die), and the winners would be announced soon, so he rushes out of the reptile house to where they'll be making the announcement, hoping he’s not going to miss it.

In his haste, he isn’t really looking where he’s going, and Megumi runs straight into someone, hard. The force knocks him off balance, and he would’ve fallen over if the other person didn’t reach out immediately to steady him with both arms.

“Oi, watch where you’re going.”

Megumi clutches the other man’s sleeves as he tries to regain his footing, and looks up to find what is possibly the most intimidating face staring back at him. Facial tattoos, a sharp glare that seems to glow red with the intensity of his gaze, everything about this stranger screamed yakuza and Megumi really hopes he’s not going to make him pay for running into him.

Still, he’s not going to forget his manners. “Sorry, are you alright?”

The other man blinks at him. Then he smirks, a devilishly handsome thing that catches Megumi off guard. “Now I am, beautiful.”

Megumi scowls. “Don’t call me that.”

“It’s true though.” The other man says, as he releases his hold on Megumi's arms now that he’s certain neither of them are going to fall over, and Megumi rubs the spot where the stranger's touch lingers, flushing red in embarrassment.

“Well, you’re clearly alright, so I’ll be on my way then.” He mutters, and before the other man can say anything, or threaten him for compensation, Megumi walks away quickly, leaving him behind. He has no time to flirt with dangerous-looking men, he wants to win that plushie, goddammit.

Thankfully, the stranger doesn’t come after him, and Megumi makes it back to the new exhibit in time, squeezing through the small crowd already gathered to see the announcer cheerfully pulling out numbers, calling out the winners. The third place has already been announced, they're giving out the second place prize now, and Megumi checks his ticket again to confirm his number.

His hopes soar as he hears the announcer start reading out a series of numbers that match the first three digits on his ticket for the grand prize winner.

He's so close, all he needs is a '5' and-

“4! 2354, will you please step up and receive your prize?”

Megumi's spirits fall, and he looks up miserably to see the tattooed stranger from earlier walking on stage to grab the plushie.

His jaw drops.

Wait, what the heck was he doing here? Of all the idiots in the world to pull the winning ticket, it had to be that one?! Tattooed bastard didn't even look like someone who likes plushies anyway, Megumi’s positive he’ll probably go sell it online or something, why did it have to be him?

His day is utterly ruined, and Megumi decides this is probably his cue to go home and retire for the night. As the crowd disperses and most of the visitors begin leaving the zoo for the day, Megumi shuffles along with the crowd, sulking all the way, and nearly misses someone calling him from behind until a hand lands on his shoulder.

“Hey, hold up a little.”

Megumi recognizes the tattoos before he recognizes the man from earlier, but glares back at him regardless. “Congratulations on winning. I hope you like the plushie.” He spits his words out. He's already in a bad mood, if this stranger tries to rub it in his face, Megumi might just punch him, yakuza or not.

The other man looks at him, and then he holds out the plushie to Megumi.

“You wanted this, didn’t you? When I won it, you looked like you wanted to strangle me with your bare hands; I could see you all the way from the stage.”

Megumi narrows his eyes suspiciously. "I'm not going to buy it off you. Go try your luck elsewhere."

"You hurt me. Do I look like the kind of guy who needs to make a quick buck? Here I was about to offer it as a gift to you, free of charge."

As if that made it any less suspicious. “I can’t accept gifts from strangers.”

“Ryoumen Sukuna.” The stranger smirks. “What’s your name?”

“Fushiguro Megumi.” He mumbles before he can stop himself. And then his eyes go wide as he realizes he’s walked right into Sukuna’s trick.

“There, now we’re acquainted, you can take the goddamned plushie.” Sukuna pushes the soft toy into Megumi’s hands, and turns to leave.

Megumi is left standing there, the plushie in his hands, as he stares after the other man walking away without another word. And then his cognitive functions kick in, and he runs after Sukuna.

“Wait! I can’t just take your prize.” He protests. Sukuna turns back and looks at him as if he's grown two heads.

"Make up your mind, will you?" He growls. "I don't want it, but you do, we came to an agreement, everything worked out perfectly. I don't see what's the problem."

"There isn't a problem, it's just… At least let me buy you coffee or something." Megumi offers in what he hopes was a sincere tone. He's not really used to people being nice to him out of the blue, now he’s feeling a little awful about having misjudged the other man, and a nagging thought keeps telling him he should at least try to repay Sukuna in some way.

An awkward pause settles between them. And then Sukuna chuckles. "Now that I don't mind. Especially not if it's an offer from someone as pretty as you."

Megumi blushes a little despite himself. "I told you not to call me that. Anyway, there's a cafe nearby the zoo if that's alright with you?"

"Sure." Sukuna says, slipping his hands into his pockets as he walks beside Megumi. "And I can't help it. I'm just stating the truth, after all."

And Megumi doesn't know why, but his heart begins to race, and he speeds up his footsteps to match.

Sukuna's an architect apparently.

He also orders the most ridiculously expensive frappé with extra cream and toppings that gives Megumi a toothache just thinking about it, and Megumi's half-sure that Sukuna's only doing it to annoy him, not because he actually has a sweet tooth.

Sukuna grins at him as he watches Megumi pay for their drinks with a not-so-subtle eye-roll. "Hey, you did offer." He points out smugly.

"I did. But I won't be responsible for the dentist appointment you'll have to go to after this."

"An indulgence once in a blue moon ain't gonna hurt me. It's not everyday I get to grab coffee with a cutie like you."

They step aside to wait for their drinks, and Megumi notices a few people trying not to meet Sukuna's gaze. The other man definitely has a threatening aura around him... or maybe it's just his tattoos.

"Not gonna lie, I thought you were with the yakuza." Megumi admits.

Sukuna snorts in laughter, a couple waiting in line glance at him warily, but Megumi finds that he kinda likes it when Sukuna laughs. It's warm, deep, and genuine, and it lightens Megumi's mood somehow.

"Must be the tattoos. You're not the first person who's said that to me."

Their drinks are taking forever; the line has already moved up a little since they started waiting. A kid with a mum who looks a lot like the kind of woman who'd threaten to call the manager over a small mistake has been staring at Megumi for the past five minutes, and he's been trying not to stare back.

It’s not working, however, and when the line moves up again, Megumi watches in horror as the child points a finger in his direction, most likely at the plushie in his arms, and announces loudly.

"I want that one!"

The child's mother turns and locks eyes with Megumi, who squeezes the plushie protectively. There are other people in line who are giggling about how cute the kid is or how adorable it would be if Megumi did give him the plushie, the mother looks like she’s about to ask Megumi if she can buy it off him or something, but Megumi really doesn’t want to give his prize to anybody.

He’s wracking his brain for something to say that wouldn’t make him seem like the bad guy here, when Sukuna leans over, slinging an arm around Megumi's shoulders, and delivers an equally threatening glare at both the woman and her kid.

Without a waver in his voice, he says, "No can do, that's mine, now scram."

Megumi has no idea if he's referring to the plushie or to him, but he's definitely blushing furiously now, and he's so embarrassed that he buries his face into the owl plushie with a whimper. Sukuna would be amazing as a bouncer, he imagines. The mother actually picks up her child and leaves the cafe without placing an order, and Megumi refuses to look at anyone else in the vicinity.

He can hear Sukuna chuckling beside him, and realizes belatedly that their drinks are ready when the server calls out "Fushiguro" for the third time, but Sukuna has already swaggered up to the counter to grab the drinks for them.

"Probably should get outta here." Sukuna comments wisely, ushering Megumi out with their drinks and plushie in tow, conveniently ignoring all the suspicious glances cast their way. "Don't want our alone time to be interrupted by a do-gooder server asking us to leave before they call the cops or what-not."

"I have a soulmate, you know." Megumi mutters, peeking out slightly from behind the fluffy feathers of the owl plushie. He really, really hopes everyone won't think he's dating a yakuza.

"Huh, shame on them for missing out on this then. You never did tell me why you were here all alone.”

They find a bench nearby and sit down, Megumi settling the plushie on his lap and accepting the coffee Sukuna hands to him.

He ponders Sukuna's question. Megumi doesn't really feel like discussing his private life with a man he's just met, but he didn't want to lie either.

"I like animals." He says quietly, settling for the safe answer. "I come to the zoo quite often actually. It's one of my favourite places."

“I can tell. You seem like the type to have a soft spot for critters. You a vet or something?"

"Nah, I work in corporate. Finance." He's not really lying, that is the nature of his job, but Megumi hesitates to reveal that he's working for the Zenin Corporation and one of the heirs to the vast Zenin fortune by virtue of birth. For some reason, people always seem to treat him differently if they knew who he was, and Megumi feels like he just wants a normal conversation with a normal person sometimes, without everyone clambering over their feet to please him.

Strangely, he also has a feeling Sukuna wouldn't treat him differently if he knew. But it's always better to be safe than sorry.

He sneaks a glance at Sukuna taking a sip out of the ludicrously over-the-top drink he ordered, and holds back a smirk when he sees Sukuna wince at the sweetness. "What about you? You don't seem like the type to love animals, what's an architect doing at the zoo earlier?"

"Just had to meet up with my client, check if everything looks good for the new exhibit."

"You designed it?" Megumi wonders aloud.

"My firm did, yeah. Outbid the rest of our competitors for the project." Sukuna boasts.

"Big firm?"

"Nope, just me and a partner. We have an intern but that's about it. My partner's been talking about expanding the business, but I'm thinking maybe in another year or so. We're fine now the way things are."

"Must be pretty good though, if you could win a project bid. I thought the new exhibit design was nice actually."

"Why thank you, I do my best. You have no idea how many sleepless nights we pulled for it." Sukuna takes another sip of his frappé and winces again. Megumi actually lets out a little chuckle at that.

"Someone has regrets." He comments snidely, and when Sukuna attempts another sip stubbornly, Megumi rolls his eyes and hands over his drink with a smirk. "You can have mine; I guarantee it's not as sweet."

“Whoever said anything about not liking it sweet?” Sukuna retorts, but when he accepts Megumi’s coffee gratefully and takes a huge gulp to wash off the sugary taste, Megumi smiles slightly as he receives Sukuna’s drink in return and wonders if he should attempt to finish it.

“So this soulmate of yours. Not an animal person?”

Megumi stares at the cream sinking slowly into the coffee. “He was busy. He’s… always busy.”

“Too busy even for you? Tell you what, you’d better not share the plushie with him when you get home. He needs to know you fought off a tattooed maniac, a deranged lady, and her spoilt brat of a kid to bring it back; it’s practically a war trophy.”

Megumi almost snorts into the frappé. He glances down at the soft toy in his lap, one arm curled around it protectively. The horned owl seems to look back at him with its wide, glassy eyes, and Megumi can’t help smiling.

“Made you smile. Guess that’s my victory for today.”

“Oh come off it.” Megumi pouts and takes a gulp of the frappé to hide his furious blush, and almost immediately regrets his move. This drink is going to give him diabetes.

“Really, you don’t have to finish that. No, really, give it back, I’ll get rid of it.” Sukuna protests, unable to stand watching Megumi suffer through the sugary overload.

“It’s such a waste though. Besides, I paid for it.”

“There are some things not worth putting your life on the line for, and that drink is one of them. Hand it over.”

Megumi stubbornly holds the frappé out of Sukuna’s reach, when suddenly his phone starts ringing and they both stop fooling around for a little so that Megumi can answer it.

The shrill voice on the other end tells him it’s his friend Nobara, and that she’s not pleased about something. Again.

“Nobara, speak slower. I don’t-... Why did you even?” Megumi tries to shift his phone on his shoulder and while he’s distracted, Sukuna grabs the drink out of his hand before Megumi can object. He walks over to a nearby trash can, and unceremoniously chucks it in, earning a glare from Megumi as he returns to the bench.

If he didn’t have his hands full, Megumi would’ve given Sukuna a piece of his mind, but Nobara is ranting in his ear and he cannot focus on two things at once.

"Wait, where are you again? Don't go anywhere, Nobara wait-"

She’s hung up, and Megumi groans. He’s going to have to go pick her up, hopefully she hasn’t punched anyone yet, but Megumi wouldn’t get his hopes up. He sighs and glances at Sukuna apologetically.

"I gotta run, sorry. Friend needs some help I think and I… Hey!" Megumi cries out as Sukuna plucks his phone out of his hands. How is that man so quick with his fingers, for fuck’s sake.

"You’re gonna go check on them, yeah, figures. Just gimme a sec, and…"

Sukuna finishes entering his number into Megumi’s phone, and hands it back to him. "There, now you know how to reach me. Drop me a text if you ever feel like getting me coffee again alright?”

"Don't push your luck." Megumi scoffs. Seriously, the balls on the guy. They had a nice chat, it was a fun way to end the day, but there is literally no reason for him to keep in touch. Still, nothing seems to deter Sukuna, as the tattooed bastard just smirks confidently back at him.

“I wouldn’t know about that. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you around, Fushiguro Megumi.”

And then he winks and saunters away, and Megumi stares after him before glancing down at his phone screen, at the contact Sukuna's created, for a moment. His face breaks into a smirk and Megumi shakes his head as he pockets his phone.

There’s no way he’s going to text Sukuna after this.

He keeps thinking that as he makes his way to the location Nobara sends him and retrieves his friend. Keeps thinking that as he heads home late at night, staring at the buildings pass him by from the window of the cab, horned owl plushie soft in his arms. Continues to think that when he reaches his apartment well past midnight.

Empty and dark as usual, but Megumi doesn't feel the same loneliness as he throws himself onto the sofa and stares at the plushie for a while, before remembering that even after all of that, he’d completely forgotten to say one thing.

So he pulls out his phone to look for Sukuna's number.

‘I forgot to thank you for the plushie.’

And when his screen lights up with a reply, so does Megumi's face light up with a smile.

‘it was nothing ;)’
‘besides, ngl, it was this or selling it online.’

‘... I’m glad you found it in your heart to give it to me then. So thanks.’

‘yw. seeing the way your eyes lit up? i'm beginning to think it was the right decision’

There’s no mistaking the way his heart races at those words. For all the strange decisions the universe makes, Megumi thinks that this is one of those times he’s actually thankful that Naoya hadn’t come to the zoo with him after all.

They do meet again for coffee. And then two days later for drinks after work. And before he knows it, it’s something of a second nature for Megumi to drop Sukuna a message about the little things in his life.

The truth is, they never actually stop texting since the zoo, and Megumi will never admit it to Sukuna’s stupid, smug face, but he’s secretly glad they kept in touch. They send the most random of things to each other, and Megumi loves how he never has to feel bad about it. A lot of times it’s about work, but sometimes there’ll be moments when Megumi just wants to tell someone something and have them give him their full attention, and that’s exactly what Sukuna does.

Growing up with the Zenins, with both his parents gone, Megumi’s never felt like he was the centre of attention for anyone. It had always been far too easy to slip into the shadows, pass as a wallflower between all his cousins, and avoid conflict in a household full of family drama.

Perhaps at some point, he began paying far too much attention to duty and family, to honour and obligations. And somewhere along the road, he’d told himself he was alright with the nonchalance.

But now Megumi just wants someone to pay attention to him.

He sends a photo of a big, grumpy cat he spots on the street one day, one with markings that reminds him of Sukuna, with a caption that reads ‘look it’s you’, and Sukuna replies with a ‘haha very funny, look I found you too’. The photo he gets in return is the most adorable puppy ever, with a deep black coat and bright green eyes, and Megumi almost melts on the spot, before remembering he’s supposed to make a sassy comeback.

He closes the Kamo deal. Naoya’s elated, drops him a fucking congratulatory email, but Sukuna meets him for drinks that night (he insists on paying to celebrate, and Megumi lets him), and they spend the entire evening ranting about family. Turns out Sukuna has a twin brother who is nothing like him, and Megumi tells him perhaps it’s a good thing that the world doesn’t have to deal with two Ryoumen Sukunas.

“One of you is already enough to end the world, I’m sure.”

“I don’t doubt it. And my fucking idiot of a twin would save it single-handedly.” Sukuna complains as he downs another shot.

They even go out for a movie once. Neither of them could sit through the whole thing, so when Sukuna suggests halfway that they bail, Megumi eagerly complies, and they sneak out the theatre and spend the rest of the evening at a ramen joint nitpicking every single thing they hated about the movie.

He accidentally lets Nobara meet Sukuna one day (to be fair, it wasn’t planned, Nobara had sprung another one of her emergencies on him and Sukuna had decided to tag along), and was initially terrified they would murder each other. For a good five minutes, Megumi holds his breath as his little spitfire of a friend stares down his murderous-looking new buddy, before they both start cackling like they’ve been plotting world domination, and end up comparing shoulder tattoos. Now Nobara keeps asking him to invite Sukuna along for hangouts, and Megumi has no idea how the two of them got along so well in the first place.

In fact, he has no idea how he and Sukuna got along so well either.

They were two very different people, whose interests and passions don’t align at all, but that just makes learning about each other all the more fascinating. Sukuna’s loud and brash; Megumi’s more reserved and quiet. Sukuna is definitely not an animal person, while Megumi prefers animals over humans, and that much Sukuna can agree with him because he doesn’t really like a lot of people either. And while Megumi can be a bit of a picky eater, Sukuna’s palate is refined, and he apparently spends a lot of his free time checking out new places to eat at (and giving them scathing reviews if they displease him).

Megumi never knew he could be so invested in someone so different from him, but he’s never met anyone like Sukuna before. Maybe it’s natural that he can’t help but want to know more about someone who’s leading such a different life.

Or maybe he really likes the way Sukuna looks at him as if he’s the most fascinating person in the whole world.

It comes as a surprise to him that Sukuna has never tried to look for his soulmate.

"Not once?" Megumi looks up in shock, and Sukuna shakes his head.

They're at one of Megumi's favourite cafes, both trying to catch up on some work away from their offices. Megumi still hasn’t told Sukuna where he actually works, but Sukuna’s never asked, so Megumi pushes away that topic for another day.

Most people would’ve tried to look for their soulmate, he thinks. Megumi gazes at Sukuna, watching the other man frown at his screen as if he could somehow threaten his software to auto-render the blueprints for him, and wonders if there’s a reason why he’s never tried.

Megumi can’t really recall what led them to discussing soulmates, but now that they’re on the topic he can’t help but be curious about something.

"Sukuna, can I see your soulmark?"

Sukuna turns to him and his eyes go wide, which almost makes Megumi laugh because surprise is always a comical expression whenever it's on Sukuna's face. But the hilarity fades when he notices the discomfort in the other man. Like most of his other emotions that aren’t amusement or anger, Sukuna quickly reins it in, but Megumi can read his little tics by now and he catches how Sukuna also seems to close his left palm unconsciously.

Yet, after a moment’s hesitation, Sukuna turns his face away from Megumi and extends his arm towards him, leaving Megumi to pull Sukuna's hand the rest of the way and place it on his lap, before he pries his fingers open gently, one by one.

In comparison to his own, Sukuna's mark looks sharp, and Megumi can see where the inspiration for the rest of his body or facial tattoos come from. He tilts his head to get a better look, tracing what seems to be the edge of a bent line with his finger, noting how two shapes like opposing ‘V’s meet at the bottom with another smaller diamond, ending somewhere near Sukuna's wrist.

"That's kinda cool. It looks like… crystal shards." Megumi mutters.

"Really, that's the first thing you think of?"

Megumi looks up to find Sukuna observing him with a curious look in his eyes. He stays silent, encouraging the other man to continue, and Sukuna resumes.

“People usually say they look like the devil’s horns. Demon spawn, my teachers used to call me. Heck, even my parents thought I’d turn out no good. ‘Why can’t you be more like your brother?’, they’d always say.”

Megumi glances back at Sukuna’s mark and brushes both his thumbs across it. “Bet you were a little hellraiser growing up, huh?”

“Fuck yeah. If everyone was going to call me a little devil, I see no reason to prove them wrong.”

The thought of a tiny Sukuna raising hell and being absolutely unrepentant for it makes Megumi chuckle. He can imagine that. Sukuna’s definitely the kind of guy who’d cause trouble and be proud of it. It reminds Megumi of the brief rebellious phase he’d had in middle school, which was put to a stop quickly once the Zenin elders found out.

“Can I see yours too?” Sukuna asks, and Megumi lets his hand go before offering his left palm to the other man, revealing the inky blot within. Sukuna cocks his head, supporting Megumi’s hand from below.

“That’s strangely artistic. Like modern art or something. You know, from a certain angle it also looks like an uprooted tree.”

“We’re doing palm-reading now, are we?”

“Oh yes.” Sukuna says, smirking as he catches Megumi’s hand in his and traces the inky soulmark, the tickling sensation making him laugh. “This blob here means you’ll come into a sudden windfall by the end of the month, and this strange squiggly thing under your middle finger means you should avoid the fifth step on every staircase and… You’re just going to let me go on, aren’t you?”

“Wanted to see how far you could go making up all that nonsense.” Megumi tugs his hand back. It still feels warm where Sukuna’s touched him.

“Your soulmate has the same image mirrored on his right palm, huh?”

“Yeah. I found out when I was five.”

Sukuna sighs and shifts his gaze. “Well, I suppose someone out there has this mark on their right too then.” He waves his hand and then settles it back on the counter top. There’s a sort of forlornness that seems to settle over him, evident by the slight sag of his shoulders. “Or maybe they’re not happy about being born with an ugly mark on their hand, which is fine by me because I’m doing alright on my own.”

Some people searched their whole lives for that one person whose palm would mirror theirs. The warmth of Sukuna’s hand lingers on his, and Megumi wonders what idiot hasn’t tried to fill their hands with such a beautiful feeling.

Because he’s sure if they knew Sukuna, knew who he really was, they wouldn’t think of him as a demon. They’d accept him for who he was, they’d be made for him perfectly, they would bring him nothing but happiness.

He reaches over and takes Sukuna’s hand, slipping his fingers into that strong grasp, hoping to give Sukuna a little bit of warmth as well.

“Don’t worry.” He says. “You’ll find them.”

And although he genuinely wishes for the other man’s happiness, his heart twists strangely at the thought that there is someone else out there waiting for Sukuna, and Megumi wonders what it would be like if it was his right palm that matched Sukuna’s instead.

“Dad thinks it’s best if we set a date for the engagement, preferably before the next reporting season.”

“Oh.”

It’s the only thing he can say. Megumi’s known this was coming for a while now, he’s been delaying all discussions of the engagement, but it looks like there’s no more stalling and he’s drawing blanks on what other excuses he can give aside from the fact that he’s not ready.

Megumi wonders if he’s broken in some way for not feeling joy at this. The thought of spending your entire life with your soulmate should be a happy one, so why does he feel nothing?

He thinks about all of the dissatisfaction he feels from his relationship with Naoya, and wonders if it’s him who’s the problem instead. If he hasn’t been putting enough effort, been invested enough or interested enough, if he’s the one who’s flawed. Because normal people should feel happy with their soulmates but it’s been nearly twenty years and Megumi’s heart has not stirred one bit.

Will it hurt Naoya’s feelings if he found out that Megumi has never cared about him in a special way?

How can he bring himself to tell Naoya to wait, or to turn him down, when the proof of their compatibility was etched into their palms, irrefutable evidence that they were meant for each other?

And so he takes a deep breath, summoning every bit of courage he has to make a decision, to try to make this work.

Because maybe he just needs to do a few more things right for all the pieces to fall into place.

Naoya’s still on the call, listing down potential dates when they can hold the engagement ceremony, and without thinking further, Megumi selects the furthest possible date.

Perhaps he’s still not brave enough.

Engagement day creeps upon him eventually, despite the fact that he chose the furthest date, because nothing can stop the march of time. And on the morning of the engagement, Megumi finds himself staring at the wall of his apartment, clutching a fluffy owl plushie to his chest, a sense of dread curling in his stomach.

They’ll be making an official announcement at the Zenin Manor in the afternoon. It’s not legally binding, just a lot of pomp and ceremony, and they’ll exchange rings with the rest of the Zenins in attendance, have a drink or two afterwards, and then maybe Megumi won’t have to hear anything until the wedding in December.

Megumi shuffles nervously on the sofa. Was this what people meant when they talked about getting cold feet before their big day?

He’s not sure what’s causing the anxiety. It could be the fact that he hasn’t returned to the Zenin Manor for almost a year now. Ever since he moved out and got a place of his own, Megumi visits their ancestral home less and less and eventually he only stops by during the inevitable gala that they’ll organize for their business connections and clients every New Year’s.

It’s not that he hates the place, but Megumi’s never really felt a particular connection with the manor he grew up in. He has memories of the place, yes, but they were never fond enough for him to want to go back and relive feelings of nostalgic bullshit.

Besides, something about Zenin Manor always felt suffocating. As a child, he never noticed. As an adult, building a life away from the place felt freeing.

Most of the younger generation had moved out, actually. It’s pretty much only his uncles and aunts who’ve remained, along with Naoya and his brothers. His cousin Maki had been the first to leave and Megumi remembers there had been a lot of cursing and screaming as she made her exit. But inadvertently, Maki paved the way for the rest of them to move out with little fuss, because after the shitstorm that had been her departure, most of the elders seemed a bit more lenient on the others like him when their turn came.

Megumi thinks that maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t actually want to marry Naoya, but the second the thought flashes in his mind, a flurry of panic rises in him as well.

God, what is wrong with him?

The clock says it’s almost nine. He’ll need to be at Zenin Manor by three. There’s six hours in between and if Megumi spends any more time with his own mind he swears he’ll have a breakdown.

Before he can stop himself, he grabs his phone and presses “call” and Sukuna picks up on the second ring.

“Hey sweetheart, what’s up?”

At the sound of Sukuna’s voice, Megumi wants to burst out laughing. Or crying. Or both. The relief that floods him is immense, and Megumi hates that he can never feel this way with Naoya or anyone from his family.

He can hear some sounds in the background on Sukuna's end though. Did he catch Sukuna at an inconvenient time?

“Sukuna, are you free?” He asks in a small voice.

The shuffling noises on the other end stop for a while. “Nothing particular to do today, what’d you have in mind?”

“Can you take me somewhere nice?”

There is a pause before Sukuna’s voice returns. "Alright. Where do you want to go?"

"Somewhere. Anywhere. I don’t care, I just need you to take me somewhere nice."

“I get to spend the day with you? Colour me interested. Is everything alright? Want me to pick you up?”

“It’s alright. I’m fine. Meet you at the station?”

When he hangs up, Megumi begins to feel a little better. He dresses hastily, throwing on something casual and rushing to the station, where Sukuna’s already waiting with that usual smirk on his handsome face.

The sight of him relaxes Megumi further. Sukuna's dressed in a nice shirt, sleeves rolled up to show off his forearms, a watch Megumi bought for him to celebrate a contract he won recently adorning his wrist, as he swaggers up to Megumi.

“Come on, let's take you someplace nice.”

He has less than six hours to be at the Zenin Manor. Megumi can only hope whatever Sukuna has planned would be enough to take his mind off things.

Sukuna's idea of somewhere nice is apparently the park, and they linger by the pond feeding ducks.

The birds are cute, and Megumi already feels his spirits lifting a little. The weather is lovely, he can feel a shy smile creeping upon his face as he watches the fat little waterfowls squabble for everything he throws at them, Sukuna making an off-handed comment about how he thinks they'd make a great meal, and Megumi chucks a handful of feed at him.

But the sight of two ducks swimming side by side reminds Megumi of the fact that ducks mate for life, and he's pulled back into a reverie of depression as he thinks about the upcoming engagement.

He never told Sukuna the reason for his sudden invitation, but Sukuna seems to notice the change in Megumi’s mood almost immediately. He reaches over and grabs Megumi's hand, smothering his slender fingers in his large palm. Without another word he leads Megumi out of the park, leaving the squawking ducks behind.

Megumi gazes at the clouds floating overhead, willing his mind to wander as carefree as the cottony pillows in the sky.

“Where are we going?” He asks Sukuna, who only turns back to say, “Someplace nice. I hope you’re hungry.”

They hop on a cab, and at the next stop, Megumi's eyes widen when he realizes where they're headed next. It’s a highly-rated restaurant that they’ve both been talking about visiting someday, when they’re less busy with work. Megumi’s a little surprised that Sukuna still remembers.

He also knows the waiting list is insane.

“Sukuna?” He tugs at the other man's sleeve to get his attention. “Don't you need a reservation to get in?”

When Sukuna grins, Megumi knows that he's about to stir up something.

“Just watch me.”

In the end, Megumi watches as Sukuna threatens a server nicely to let them in, and he almost laughs at that. On another day, he might have chastised Sukuna for being a dick; today, Megumi has no more fucks to give for anyone else.

He still makes sure to tip well for all the trouble later though. The food is amazing, they might have ordered a little too much, but for a couple hours Megumi has literally forgotten about the burdens on his mind as he discusses the meal with Sukuna. The other man has always had an interest in food, he surprisingly knows a lot of gourmet locations and fine-dining experiences, and Megumi’s always interested to hear what he has to say about various cuisines and dishes.

He suspects that Sukuna is an excellent cook too. Who knows if he'll ever get to have a taste?

They grab some dessert after leaving, a couple of crêpes from a nearby stand, and walk around a little to the waterfront to find somewhere to sit down. When they find a bench, Megumi steals a bite from Sukuna’s crêpe, and the latter eventually just gives up and hands his entire snack to Megumi, who munches on his extra treat happily.

Here they are, just sitting and talking with sweet treats in their hands and smiles on their faces, and Megumi feels his worries float away like the ripples in the water before him.

It’s barely been six hours, but this has been the happiest day of Megumi’s life, and he doesn’t want it to end at all.

But at the chime of the nearby clock, Megumi glances up in shock and realizes the time has come for the inevitable.

If he doesn’t leave in ten minutes, he’ll be late for the engagement ceremony. So he quickly finishes up the remainder of his (formally Sukuna’s) crêpe and tells Sukuna that he needs to go.

Sukuna stands up from the bench as well. “So, was this nice enough for you?”

“Yeah, thanks. Best day of my life.” Megumi replies, a small smile curling his lips.

Sukuna’s gaze softens a little. “What’s wrong, Megumi?”

Startled, Megumi glances back at him. He hasn’t spoken a word about the engagement, or the awful feelings he’s been having, was he really that obvious?

“Nothing, what do you mean? I had fun, it was a really nice day, Sukuna and I’m… I’m happy.”

“Then why do your eyes look so sad?”

The question struck him like a bolt of lightning. Megumi inhales sharply and when he looks into Sukuna’s eyes, he sees only care and concern and he almost breaks down because there’s so much emotion in them that no one else in his life has ever given him, not even his own soulmate.

No one else in his life has ever looked at him the way Sukuna is looking at him now.

The way he's always looked at Megumi, when they hang out and have meals together or even drinks after work, when they're driving back late at night and spend an extra hour chatting in the car long after they’ve reached his apartment, when Megumi talks about anything and everything he's interested in, and Sukuna listens as if Megumi’s the only person worth being interested in.

Sukuna reaches over and cups Megumi’s cheek, and Megumi leans into his touch, closing his eyes. He reaches up as well, grasps Sukuna’s hand tenderly, allowing himself just this.

Only this. The memory of Sukuna’s touch, warm against his skin.

As his eyes flutter open, he sees Sukuna leaning in, and suddenly Megumi remembers himself and pulls away instinctually. Sukuna hesitates, his brows furrowed, and then he takes a quick step forward and pulls Megumi closer to him.

Frantically, Megumi pushes against Sukuna, his hands braced against the other man’s chest as he holds him there, keeping a bit of distance between them. They can’t do this, it would be unfair if he gave Sukuna the wrong impression, he needs to tell Sukuna-

“I’m engaged." Megumi blurts out. "Or at least… I will be. We’re making the announcement today. Sukuna, I never meant to lead you on, truly, I didn’t, I’m engaged Sukuna, we can’t do this-”

“I know. You have a soulmate.” Sukuna states bluntly. “Megumi, you’ve never led me on, I’ve known this since the day we met. Don’t you remember? You were alone at the zoo, because he didn’t want to come with you, and I remember thinking what a fool he must be to take you for granted.”

Megumi smiles sadly. “You never told me that.”

“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. The point is, Megumi, I know you have a soulmate, I know our marks don’t fucking match, but I don’t care. I will burn the world to ashes for hurting you, the last thing I want is to see you in pain, and I would kill to be the one who can make you happy.”

"You do." Megumi says. "Sukuna, you have been the one person who has made me so happy in the past few months. I like hanging out with you, I love hearing you talk, and every time I’m with you it just feels-"

Perfect. Every small moment they’ve shared, all the jokes and laughter and secret glances, the nights they’ve stayed up sharing their hopes and fears, every single minute that Sukuna’s by his side.

Because it feels like that’s exactly where he belongs.

Sukuna brushes some hair out of his eyes with a tenderness that makes Megumi's heart ache.

"Then be with me. Let me make you happy."

He never realized how much he’d wanted to hear those words. In that moment, for a few seconds, Megumi wanted nothing more but to throw himself into Sukuna’s embrace and let his heart do the talking.

But he knows he cannot. Megumi cannot be this selfish, he has a soulmate, and he reminds himself that Sukuna does too, even if he hasn’t found them yet.

"I appreciate the thought.” He says slowly, enunciating each word clearly so that Sukuna will not mishear a thing. “But somewhere, out there, is a person who's made for you. Someone with a matching soulmark on their right palm. I will not deny that you make me happy, Sukuna, but the thing is…”

Megumi looks right at Sukuna, tears prickling against his eyelashes, threatening to fall as he forces himself to smile. “I cannot steal you away from your soulmate."

There’s no arguing against that, Megumi knows. They were never made for each other, they weren’t meant to be. So he waits for Sukuna to let him go, to feel him pull away, for them to both walk away from each other and towards their own paths of fate.

He does not expect Sukuna to wrap an arm around his waist, pulling him closer until their lips are mere inches away. Another hand comes up to hold Megumi by the back of his neck so he’ll have nowhere to run, and Megumi freezes as he feels Sukuna’s breath ghost against his lips.

"Well here’s the problem, Megumi." Sukuna whispers. "I want to steal you away from yours."

And Sukuna kisses him, hard. It's not chaste at all, it's fiery, passionate, demanding, and Megumi feels like Sukuna wants to devour him whole. But Megumi doesn't stop him as he deepens the kiss, drowning in the flames of his want, kissing Sukuna back with all the hidden desire in his soul because he wants, no, he needs Sukuna to know that he burns for him just as much.

He’s never felt so alive.

When they finally break apart, they're both breathless, and Megumi has to grip Sukuna's shirt tightly to anchor himself because his legs feel like jelly. He stays there for a moment, leaning into Sukuna's neck, tears falling from his eyes because his heart hurts and hurts and he cannot stop the pain.

He can feel Sukuna stroking his hair gently. He can hear the other man’s heartbeat pounding against his chest, feel every rise and fall of his shoulders as they breathe in sync, just them against the world and nothing else.

And Megumi knows he can never keep this for himself.

He pushes away and leans back to look at the man he's fallen in love with, against all odds, despite what the universe has dictated. He presses their foreheads together as he whispers, “Thank you.” Sukuna breathes heavily, and leans in again as if wanting to kiss him one more time, but Megumi pulls away and untangles himself from Sukuna's embrace, taking a few steps backwards.

"Goodbye, Sukuna." He whispers.

Before Sukuna can stop him, he stumbles backwards, almost tripping, before turning and running, as fast as he can, trying not to look back because if he does Megumi knows he will never leave.

He hails a cab at the main street, and the minute he’s in the car, there’s no holding back the steady stream of tears down his face. The whole way to Zenin Manor, Megumi tries desperately to stop crying in the car, rubbing at his eyes again and again. He steps quickly into a bathroom when he arrives to clean himself up. He hopes no one will notice his puffed eyes.

He's fifteen minutes late, and that's the only thing the Zenin elders hiss in his ears as they usher him into the grand hall where everyone else and his soulmate is waiting.

Naoya is already there, dressed in a clean cut suit that accentuates his handsome features, a warm smile on his face and none of the same warmth in his eyes as he greets Megumi. They sign the papers, symbolic, in front of clicking cameras. They swap rings to the delighted squeals of their aunts. And everything passes like a blur for Megumi because the only thing he’s focusing on right now is to keep himself together and not fall into pieces in front of the entire family.

Later, when Naoya kisses him after they’ve put the rings on each other’s fingers (to look good for the photos, he says), just a curt meeting of their lips, the only thought in Megumi’s head is that nothing will ever compare to the way Sukuna kissed him earlier.

And no one else will ever kiss him the way Sukuna did.

On sleepless nights, which have been occurring more frequently lately, Megumi lies on his bed and wonders if Sukuna's out there, somewhere, mad at him.

He's ignored every single one of Sukuna's attempts to reach him ever since the engagement ceremony. And boy did Sukuna try. The other man had called Megumi, left him voicemails and texts asking if he was okay. Leaving messages telling Megumi to call him back and tell him, just give him a sign, that Megumi's alright.

Yet despite everything, Megumi cannot bring himself to delete or block Sukuna's number.

It’s not like he hasn’t tried. The first week he began ignoring Sukuna, Megumi’s fingers hovered over his contact details time and time again, right over the delete button, and always, he backed out and decided against it. He reads every single one of Sukuna’s messages, listens to all of his voicemails, reminds himself that it’s probably healthier to erase them and pretend this never happened, but still, he clings onto every last text like they were precious letters meant to be treasured.

And he never lets himself respond to any of them.

You know what? Maybe he really is a masochist.

But perhaps even someone as stubborn as Sukuna’s realized that Megumi was never going to talk to him again, because after about a month of constant attempts, Megumi's phone eventually went silent and Megumi wonders if Sukuna has finally moved on.

He wonders if Sukuna has managed to find his soulmate, to find happiness, in the few months that have passed since the engagement, on his own. Without Megumi.

It’s probably for the best. Megumi has been trying to, himself. Without Sukuna in his life, there's a void he begins to fill with work and a newfound dedication to his soulmate and family. It kind of feels like starting a new chapter of his life, and this time, Megumi is determined to do things right.

He hangs out with his cousin Maki more often as they talk about their futures and their lives, and begins to learn things about her that he’d never noticed before. He starts to have dinner with Naoya a lot more, even though half the time they don't really talk and if they do it's mostly about work and the family business.

Megumi puts in more effort, more than he thinks he used to put in, he throws everything he has at the deep, empty void in his heart and hopes that one day it will begin beating for the right person instead of continuing to pine for someone who isn’t his to begin with.

But no matter what he does, nothing ever feels the same without Sukuna. And on sleepless nights, which have been occurring so much more ever since he left Sukuna behind, Megumi lies on his bed and tries to sleep, pretending that he doesn’t still feel the ghost of Sukuna’s lips against his own.

And it’s always the thought of Sukuna’s arms around him that sends him, eventually, into restless slumber.

Megumi blinks. And then he blinks again.

It feels like a dream, but Sukuna is standing right there, in the lobby of the Zenin Corporation headquarters, glaring down the frightened receptionist with his patented death glare.

Megumi has never been this happy to see anyone in his life before.

That scowl, the handsome face with the mean tattoos, the slicked-back, ridiculous pink hair… Oh, how Megumi has missed him.

Sukuna looks up and notices him standing there. His scowl immediately breaks into a smirk that makes Megumi's heart skip a beat, but there’s a coldness in his stare that was never there before.

“So, Zenin Megumi, hmm? Heir to the Zenin Corporation? You sent me down the wrong rabbit-hole with all that bullshit about Fushiguro, but once I found out that wasn’t your real name it was much easier to track you down. Did you really think I’d treat you any differently if I knew you were a rich kid?”

“Fushiguro is my mother’s name; I much prefer using that. What the hell are you doing here, Sukuna?” Megumi hisses.

Sukuna’s expression darkens, but the edges of his eyes soften a little. “I came to see you.”

“I thought I made it clear that we should stop doing just that.”

“No, you fled from me and then ghosted me for months. I thought I made it clear that I didn’t care about that soulmate crap.”

Megumi glances around warily. “Not here, Sukuna.”

“Why? Too high and mighty for me now?”

Megumi’s eyes flash angrily, and he grabs Sukuna’s arm, bodily drags the man out of the lobby, out the doors and round a corner, until they reach a spot behind a pillar where they’ll be concealed from most of the public eye.

“Okay, now talk. Say what you want to say and then leave.” Megumi spits out. “Do you want to yell at me for hurting your feelings? Do you want money to keep this quiet, is that it?”

He sees the hurt in Sukuna’s gaze, and as much as it pains him, Megumi will keep going. Maybe if he makes Sukuna angry enough, it will cause him to stop seeing Megumi. Sukuna takes a deep breath, and for a minute, Megumi readies himself for the barrage of insults that will follow, but nothing comes as Sukuna exhales loudly like he’s blowing steam out of his mouth.

“You’re trying to make me mad, Megumi. Unfortunately that’s not going to work.”

“I’m not trying to make you do anything except leave. Did you come all the way to cause a scene?”

“You’re the one-” Sukuna stops himself, takes another deep breath to calm himself down. “No, I did not come here to cause a fucking scene, I came to see if you were doing okay.”

His answer stuns Megumi, and whatever willpower he has to keep on hurting Sukuna just ebbs away. Behind all the coldness and the pain, he can still see traces of concern in those scarlet eyes, the same concern that was always there for Megumi.

“I’m okay, Sukuna.” Megumi lowers his gaze shamefully. “You didn’t have to come all the way, I thought you’d be-”

“Mad at you?” Sukuna inhales. “Fuck yes. I'm pissed off, I can't believe you'd just disappear from my life like that, of course I'm mad.”

“Then why did you come?”

“Do you really think I care for you so little that ghosting me would make a difference?” Sukuna replies quietly.

The last of Megumi’s defenses crumble at those words. He did think Sukuna had given up, he wouldn’t have blamed any normal person for giving up, he just hadn’t thought he would mean so much to Sukuna, for him to not care about anything else at all.

Then again, Sukuna was always a hell-raiser. Megumi knows he’d take on the entire world for him if he had to. He was a fool to think he could’ve turned Sukuna away.

“I'm sorry.” He whispers. “I didn’t want to hurt you but I couldn't… Sukuna, I’ve said it before and I'll say it again. I genuinely never meant to lead you to think that this could mean anything more. We're not soulmates, we could never be, and I don't want you wasting your time on someone who's clearly not meant for you.”

“I'll decide what counts as a waste of my time. And you, Megumi, aren't one of those. Just… reply my goddamned messages, will you?”

Megumi lets out a small laugh, smiling despite himself. “Okay.” He concedes, and Sukuna reaches over to stroke his cheek but Megumi stops him there.

“But we keep things platonic this time, okay? Just friends.”

He watches as Sukuna hesitates, notices how his eyes are drawn towards the engagement ring on Megumi’s finger, on the hand that’s holding his tattooed wrist in place, the hints of the soulmark hidden within his left palm, and Megumi waits. It’s their last chance to walk away, to never have anything to do with each other in the future, and Megumi wonders if Sukuna will take it.

They say when you cannot decide on something, you flip a coin. The trick isn’t to ask the universe to decide for you, because when the coin’s in the air and you begin to hope it will land on one side over the other, that’s when you realize you’ve always wanted that outcome to begin with.

When Sukuna lowers his hand, agrees to his terms, agrees to stay, Megumi knows that his heart never really wanted Sukuna to leave, because that was the only outcome he had been hoping for.

He's glad Sukuna found his way back into his life, but it's so much harder this time round.

They slip back into the way they used to be before they kissed: casual hangouts and drinks after work, meeting on the weekends for lunch or random activities that normal friends would do, going back to Sukuna’s place sometimes to watch a movie, taking long drives at night, working together at Megumi’s favourite cafe.

Except that Megumi's now hyper aware of every single glance Sukuna gives him. Every time their fingers brush unintentionally, or they get a little too close. He's aware now of how his heart races every time Sukuna gets closer, how he blushes under the other man's gaze, how he's reminded of Sukuna's lips on his every time his gaze is drawn towards the smug smirk on the other man's face.

And it’s terrifying how he knows he still wants Sukuna, despite all the little lies he keeps telling himself.

He feels like a moth, drawn to a flame, reminding himself repeatedly that he’s bound to get burnt.

But like the moth, who clearly has stupidly suicidal tendencies, Megumi cannot help but drift closer to the man he's already given his heart to.

He cannot bring himself to ask for it back.

All he can do is keep pushing himself away. So that’s just what he does. He pulls back whenever Sukuna brushes against him accidentally. Steps a little further if Sukuna stands too close. Tries to ignore the obvious hurt on the other man’s face, no matter how much Sukuna schools his own expression, every single time he pushes his chair just a tiny inch apart from wherever Sukuna’s sitting.

If Sukuna’s noticed what he’s doing, he never says a thing. And Megumi falls even more in love with him for it.

Whatever happened to doing things right this time?

“I’ll just be a minute.” Sukuna says as they step into his apartment, a place almost as familiar as Megumi’s own. It’s late, so Sukuna had insisted on sending him home after dinner rather than let him take a cab, but then his business partner called and Sukuna had to stop by his place on the way to grab some documents for them.

“Pulling another all-nighter?” Megumi calls after him as he waits in the living room, green eyes taking in his surroundings slowly. He always found it funny how Sukuna’s place was decorated so differently from his, yet Megumi never felt like a stranger here.

“Yeah, client wants a last-minute change.” Sukuna calls back, and he can hear the other man fumbling in his study, probably pulling out stacks of folders.

“I can get home on my own, Sukuna. Don’t let me trouble you.”

“I’m not hearing that from you at this hour, Megumi. But if you’re that concerned,” Sukuna pops his head out of the study. “Do me a favour and see if you can find an orange file tossed somewhere.”

Megumi begins searching and quickly spots the file on a shelf near the TV. He had a hunch it would be there; Sukuna has a habit of stashing the folders of projects he hates working on in the shelves at the living room, and Megumi's surprised Sukuna himself hasn't noticed his own pattern.

“Found it!” He announces as he snatches the orange folder.

Sukuna quickly leaves his study to meet him, and Megumi hands him the file with a smirk on his face. “You really need to clean up a little around here. Uraume’s going to throw a fit if they learnt you were chucking important files everywhere.”

“Uraume’s not the boss of me.” Sukuna grumbles as he reaches for the file. “Thanks, Megumi. Don’t know what I’ll do without you sometimes.”

Their fingers brush as the file gets passed over, and they both freeze. Megumi lets go a little too quickly, and nearly drops the file if Sukuna didn’t catch it in time.

They both apologize at the same time.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“No, my fault, I shouldn’t ha-”

“It’s okay, I uh…” Megumi swallows a nervous gulp. “Really, Sukuna, I can get a cab.”

They fall silent for a moment, awkward tension building, before Sukuna cuts it with a curt statement that warrants no further argument.

“I’ll send you home, Megumi.”

He turns and places the file on a nearby table. “Just need to print something before we leave. Might take a while, you want something to drink while you wait?”

"Tea. Please." Megumi responds, the tension between them palpable. His fingers are still prickling where they just touched, and he clenches his fist tightly, fighting down the feelings threatening to rise inside his heart.

Sukuna sets the water to start boiling, and then moves towards the cupboards to pull out boxes of stuff until he finds the brand of jasmine tea Megumi likes and sets it on the kitchen counter. Then he resumes his task of collecting all the needed documents for Uraume, steadfastly avoiding Megumi’s gaze as he walks past him.

If it’s going to take a while, he might as well get comfortable. Megumi removes his coat and heads to the kitchen to make his own tea, drumming his fingers on the counter as he waits for the water to finish boiling.

His mind keeps replaying the brush of their fingers. Megumi shakes it off, casts the thought aside, but his treacherous brain offers alternatives instead. He denies every single one of them, forbids himself from entertaining even the slightest memory of the small touches, the heated stares, the closeness of their breaths, even though he knows his body, heart, and soul yearns only for the one person he cannot have.

Like a moth to flame. He flips his left palm upwards and stares at the inky blot of a soulmark.

For the first time in his life, Megumi finds the sight of it absolutely disgusting.

There is nothing more that he wants than to scratch it off, hide it, remove it somehow, even if he has to sear the very flesh off his bones. He despises the shadowy, inky pattern so much, he hates the destiny that the universe has chosen for him now more than ever, he’s never felt so trapped before.

It’s suicide, but he wants to burn himself up. He opens his right palm and glares at it, internally screaming because it’s blank and it bears no mark at all resembling crystal shards or demon horns but that’s all he fucking wants.

Megumi has stopped wondering what the universe thinks when it decides who your soulmate is, because whoever's in charge is clearly a sadist and doesn't give a fucking damn about how much pain he's in.

Twenty-five years of trying. A good quarter of a century of working so hard to be the perfect soulmate for someone he's fated to be with, only to feel like a sham. He's never admitted to himself because it feels like giving up, but Megumi has been so unhappy. He's been lonely, touch-starved, aimless, buffered by the winds of fate and swept along by the unforgiving current of that which they call life, searching for something he never knew he needed.

And it's cruel that he should find it in the form of a man with tattoos all over, an arrogant, smug grin on his face, crimson eyes that look at him as if they never want to let him go.

His heart is pounding in his ears, his blood is churning and he doesn't know if he's angry or hurt or just numb. It's getting hard to breathe and it's too hot in here, and Megumi curls a finger around his tie to loosen it as he glares at the kettle because why is it taking so long to boil water for the fuckin-

"Megumi?" Sukuna's voice comes from behind him just as the kettle clicks, and the world comes to a pause at the mercy of his heartbeat.

Megumi turns around slowly, his finger still worming its way through the knot around his collar. It's like his brain's turned off at that moment, only his senses are working, not his thoughts, and Megumi’s aware, extremely aware, of Sukuna’s eyes on him, as he continues to work his tie loose and pull it apart with one finger.

Sukuna watches him, red eyes boring deep into Megumi's soul, fallen silent as he's transfixed by the sight before him, like he always has been ever since the day they ran into each other.

He feels the silk come apart, reminds himself to breathe as he keeps his gaze on Sukuna, aware, so aware of how the other man's pupils have blown wide, how he's observing Megumi's every move with interest, with fascination, with lust and Megumi remembers again that he needs to breathe as he drops his tie on the floor.

The second the fabric hits the tiles, something snaps in Sukuna, and he dives in, pinning both of Megumi’s arms to the counter behind him.

“You’re mine.” He hisses as he claims Megumi’s lips in a frenzied dance of passion. It’s harder than the last time, the only time they’ve kissed, it feels insane, there’s no logic, only emotion as Megumi moans into the kiss and snakes his arms around Sukuna’s neck to hold him there.

He sighs as Sukuna sucks at his jawline, inching closer to the sensitive spot where his neck meets his ear and feels a shiver run down his spine as Sukuna keeps kissing him there, another hand wrapped around the small of his waist, making sure he can't move away, has to stay there and take all of the sensations dancing across his skin like sparks of lightning.

Megumi doesn’t know when they lose their clothes, or how they get to the bedroom. It’s all a tangled mess of hands and lips and limbs and then Sukuna’s pressing him against the bedsheets and doing a number on his bare chest. He writhes under Sukuna's ministrations, doesn’t know how Sukuna finds every one of his pleasure points so fast, cries out at the scrape of teeth against his nipples, feeling the press of Sukuna’s fingers like a hot iron branding him all over, making sure Megumi knows exactly who he belongs to.

“You’re mine.” Sukuna whispers, face buried into the crook of Megumi’s neck, as he thrusts into him and Megumi falls apart at the seams. Sukuna's big, it feels like he's being split apart, but Megumi wants him deeper. His legs try to wrap around Sukuna's waist to encourage him further, until Sukuna grabs the back of his thighs and folds him nearly into half, driving his cock deep inside Megumi at an angle that has him melting into a puddle of whimpers.

Hot tears are running down his cheeks, he’s not sure if they’re from the pain or the pleasure or the sheer happiness he’s feeling right now because he’s wanted this for so long, he’s needed Sukuna for so long, and he has him, they have each other now.

Sukuna’s name is spilling from his lips like a chant, a prayer or a plea that he screams every time Sukuna hits that spot inside him that has him seeing stars. Megumi just wants this, if the universe has any sense of compassion in its cold dead heart, it will let him have Sukuna for once, it will turn a blind eye to the sins he’s committing as he cries out the name of the man he loves, heat spreading from where they’re both connected, all the spots they're touching, intimately, hopelessly, desperately.

He’s burning up, but like the moth, Megumi no longer cares. He’s deep in the heart of the flames, consumed in the passion of a man whose love for him burns brighter than any fire. As he feels himself crash over the edge, blissful pleasure sweeping over him like a wave, Megumi reaches blindly for Sukuna, feels his lips against his, kisses him desperately as he rides out the remaining throes of his orgasm.

“You’re mine.” He hears Sukuna mumble against his temple, later when they’re curled up under the sheets, limbs entangled in the tender afterglow.

Megumi nuzzles his face against Sukuna's neck. “Yours,” He whispers in return.

He lets himself forget all of his guilt for a second, and allows himself to believe, for a short, blissful moment, that it is true.

They should've stopped at one kiss.

No, if he were a good man, Megumi would’ve nipped this in the bud ages ago. But Megumi is not a good man, he should know this by now.

He’s a horrible person, and this is something neither of them should’ve started in the first place.

One night turns into several, turns into secretly organized rendezvous at love hotels, passionate lovemaking after a movie (or even without) at Sukuna's apartment, a desperate makeout session in a back alley once after drinks, in the back of Sukuna's car if they spend too long saying their goodbyes whenever Sukuna sends him home.

Again and again, he surrenders to Sukuna. Each time feels amazing, it just feels right. But each time Megumi leaves with a growing burden of guilt, even though he’s addicted to the feeling and he just can’t stop.

He begins to wear turtlenecks, covering up the hickeys Sukuna leaves on him. He also starts to keep some of his stuff at Sukuna’s because he stays over so much now it’s almost like his second home. On the flip side, he’s oddly a little nicer to Naoya, in some sick way of making amends for the crimes he’s committing but it’s not like his soulmate seems to notice anyway. They even begin planning that wedding in December, Megumi actually contributing to the discussions about what to wear and who to invite, even though once all’s said and done, he’ll run into the arms of another man and they’ll fuck and pretend like he’s not already promised to someone else.

He’s a shadow of the man he once was, a candle burning at both ends, and in just a few more months, his life will change again. Forever.

But for just these few more months, Megumi wants to feel alive.

So he throws himself whole-heartedly into the flames, burning himself up and tossing caution to the winds, because it really doesn’t matter anymore.

He’s a horrible person, he’s dragged Sukuna into a cesspit of his own selfish desires, knowing full well that he’s not the right one for him yet forcing Sukuna to give him the attention he wants. It’s a fact that does not escape him, and he lies in Sukuna’s arms one night, tracing the mark on Sukuna’s palm absentmindedly, as a nagging thought repeats in his mind that he is not the one who deserves Ryoumen Sukuna.

Megumi thinks he knows now why the universe never made them soulmates. He’s a terrible human being, and Sukuna deserves better.

The other man shifts a little. Megumi looks up from where he’s cuddled against that broad chest, fondness welling up in his heart, and drops his head back where he’s curled up comfortably. He continues to trace Sukuna’s soulmark. Megumi’s seen it so many times now, he could probably draw it out from memory alone.

He knows there is someone out there, with the same mark mirrored on their right palm.

A person he’s keeping Sukuna away from.

The question is out before he can stop it. “Sukuna, do you want to look for your soulmate?”

Sukuna tenses up, he feels it, his grip tightens on Megumi as he mutters, “Megumi, we’ve been through this.”

“There are agencies out there that help with these things, you know?” Megumi ignores his feeble protest and continues. “I know a couple decent ones-”

“Sweetheart,” Sukuna says as he pulls Megumi up to place a kiss on his forehead. “Why do I need a soulmate when I’ve got you?”

His heart twinges with pain when he hears that, and Megumi schools his features into what he hopes is a serious look.

“Because I’m not your soulmate. It pains me to think that I am keeping you from yours.”

“Megumi, I’ve spent my entire life going up against anything I can and I’ve won. Heck, I’d take on the universe if I had to, no mystical force out there is going to dictate how I run my life. Do you really think I’d bend over to the whims of a single person, all because they shared a silly little design on their right palm with me?”

‘You’ve bent over for the likes of me,’ Megumi thinks. ‘How much more will you bend for the one who’s actually meant for you, the person who shares that silly little mark with you?’

Because he’s no idiot, Megumi’s already noticed. Whenever he’s stressed from work or wedding-planning, Sukuna will always have dinner ready for him, or something nice planned. If he argues with Naoya or finds him extremely disagreeable for the day, Sukuna seems to read his sour mood immediately, even if it’s over a text or a call, and he’ll open his door for Megumi to stay the night. And it’s as if Sukuna wants to make up for the eventual day they’ll end things, because he buys him gifts, he showers him with kisses, he makes every single moment of their time together unforgettable, and Megumi is sorry, he’s so, so sorry, for being such a horrible person.

He cannot bring himself to talk to Sukuna about December, though he suspects the man already knows.

The only thing he can do is love Sukuna back, in his own little way, hoping that for these short, few months he can show Sukuna how much he appreciates him, before they go their separate ways.

So he drops the subject for now, even though he already begins forming plans for helping Sukuna find his soulmate. He kisses Sukuna back, distracting him with a coy smile and wandering fingers, savouring the way the other man gazes at him with unrestrained want. He registers the sound of Sukuna’s soft groans, the way he sighs in pleasure as Megumi rolls his hips against his, files them away as memories, soon to be a distant dream.

He lets Sukuna unravel him slowly, for the second time tonight, clenching around the fingers deep inside him, gasping as Sukuna finds his prostate and caresses the spot repeatedly. He nods fervently when Sukuna whispers sweet nothings in his ear, nips his earlobe and drags his tongue down his jawline, telling Megumi how good he is for him.

“Sukuna!” Megumi cries out as he feels the other man push his thick, hard cock into him, his body opening up to let Sukuna in deeper. He’s still a little loose from earlier, he snaps his hips forward as he tries to sink further onto the heat, crying out again when Sukuna hits his sensitive spot straight on and begins bouncing him up and down like a ragdoll.

“As if I’d give this up, love.” Sukuna breathes, harshly, as his thrusts become more erratic. “As if I’d let you go for some stupid, soulmate, out there.” He accentuates each word with a powerful upward thrust, Megumi sobbing with each one. “You’re perfect for me, Megumi, I’m not going to want anyone else.”

His mind’s going blank, all he wants to do is make Sukuna come, give him pleasure, let him use his body however he wants. For the next few months, he’ll take whatever Sukuna has to give him. He’ll show him how much he appreciates him, how grateful he is, how sorry, and how much he loves him.

And then he’ll leave.

Megumi comes with a shout, and Sukuna follows, spilling deep inside him as he bites down hard on Megumi’s shoulder. Megumi rolls his hips a few more times, milking Sukuna for all he’s worth, until the other man’s satisfied and his hold on Megumi loosens.

“Don’t you ever think you’re worth any less, just because you don’t have this stupid mark on your right palm, Megumi.” Sukuna murmurs sleepily, exhaustion finally overtaking him after all the exertion for one night.

He can feel himself drifting off to sleep too, as he nods against Sukuna’s neck. The guilt settles in like it always does after they’ve had sex, but this time Megumi lets it wash over him. Just let him have this, for a few months, until the last of the embers die out when he douses the flames himself.

Sukuna may never forgive him come December.

Megumi thinks that’s okay. He probably deserves it after all.

“Was wondering when you’d decide to break the news. Figured it would be soon.”

He’s standing in the middle of Sukuna’s apartment, suitcase in his hand, green eyes sweeping the place for any last item he might’ve forgotten to pack. His gaze lingers on every familiar corner, each spot with its own memory, of laidback evenings curled up on the couch, sleepy mornings tinged with the scent of coffee, of evenings filled with shenanigans in the kitchen, unexpected moments of domestic bliss, passionate nights spent in each other’s arms.

The past few months have been the most alive Megumi's ever felt, in twenty-five years, but that's as much as he'll take from Sukuna.

Megumi does one more sweep of the place he’s about to leave behind, before lifting his gaze to meet Sukuna’s as the other man steps into his apartment and closes the door.

A sigh leaves Sukuna’s lips. “Not exactly what I wanted to see after a long day at work. Can’t say I haven’t been expecting it though.”

“I’m sorry, Sukuna-”

“Don’t.” Sukuna takes a deep breath. He stays where he is, between Megumi and the door. “Don’t even fucking…”

His grip tightens around the suitcase handle. Megumi’s made up his mind, he’s laid every single one of his remaining concerns to rest over the past few weeks, having planned his exit for a while now. All but one.

The one that stands between him and the door that will lead him away from this, away from all that he’s known and loved, towards a future that he’s destined for.

“I’m leaving, Sukuna.” He states simply. “If you find anything that belongs to me after this, just throw it away or something. Chances are I won’t be needing it.”

Megumi’s prepared for screaming, crying even. He’s prepared for anger and hurt and Sukuna lashing out at him.

He’s not prepared for the devastating silence that falls between them.

Sukuna doesn’t say anything, just keeps staring at Megumi with a strange expression on his face, unmoving from his position. Megumi swallows, and takes a step forward. “Sukuna, can you-...?”

He’s losing his composure and he can feel it. If he doesn’t leave now, Megumi doesn’t know if he’ll have the courage to leave again.

It’s already taking all of his willpower to do this.

“You couldn’t even tell me about it, could you?”

Megumi furrows his brows. “What are you talking about?”

Sukuna shoots a bitter glare at him. “I waited for you to talk about it. About the wedding. It’s in two weeks, isn’t it?”

“I thought you knew.” Megumi replies. Everyone fucking knew. It’s the wedding of the year and while it’s not a public event, anyone who’s the slightest bit interested in their business sector would’ve heard of it. It’s all over the news.

“That’s not the point. I thought you’d be the one to tell me about it, I didn’t want to have to find out from the fucking business section of the papers, Megumi, god-”

“It shouldn’t come as a surprise. I’ve told you about the engagement, you know I’ve got a soulmate, you should’ve known this was just a temporary fling-”

“You’re not happy with him, Megumi!” Sukuna shouts.

Silence settles between them again, deafening in the wake of Sukuna’s outburst. Megumi drops his gaze, a sad smile gracing his lips. This is the hardest thing he’s ever done, but he can do it. He has to.

“Perhaps someday I will be.” He shrugs. “Which is why I want to end things, Sukuna. I have no wish to continue an affair while I’m married, and it’s time you looked for your soulmate too. I did you a favour and contacted an agency on your behalf; they should be able to at least dig up some information on whoever it is bears your mark.”

Sukuna looks mad, angrier than Megumi’s ever seen him before. “You didn’t.”

“I did.” Megumi responds dryly as he glances back at him. “It’s the least I could do for you after all that you’ve… After everything you’ve given me. I’m sure they’ll be in touch.”

His voice almost breaks delivering that last sentence, and Megumi hopes Sukuna doesn’t notice. Sukuna wouldn’t like it, he knows, but that’s alright. He’ll be mad at Megumi, but it’ll work out because then he can move on to his soulmate and Megumi will return to his, and everything will be as they should be.

As the universe has dictated.

“Will you step aside, Sukuna?” He asks resignedly. “I should get going. Thanks for everythi-”

“Have you never thought about what I wanted?”

Megumi freezes. There is a pained look in Sukuna’s eyes, and his brows are scrunched up as if he’s physically hurting.

“I don’t give a damn about what’s right or wrong, or what should be done. All this time, I’ve never regretted a single moment with you, this whole thing… I won’t regret it but I hate how no one’s ever asked what I fucking want.”

“We all want things, Sukuna. But they’re not always good things.” He should know. Megumi wants, too. Yet he needs to stop being selfish and let Sukuna go.

“You deserve to be happy. Somewhere out there is a person with a mark on their right palm that looks like devil’s horns or what-not, who’ll put up with every single one of your stubborn little tics and your stupid smirk. Someone who’s perfectly made for you and you may not want that until you’ve met them and realized that they’re who you’re meant to be with.”

“I don’t want someone perfect. I want you.”

“Stop it.” Megumi pleads. He’s losing control of the situation. “Shut up, stop talking, just let me leave.”

Sukuna steps towards him, and Megumi almost shrinks back, but his body betrays him and stays rooted to the spot as he feels strong arms wrap around him comfortingly.

“You have been the only good thing that has ever happened to me. You’re smart and pretty and funny and kind and good.” Sukuna whispers, his embrace almost crushing as Megumi fights a losing battle with his composure. “So good. I’ve never given a fuck about the universe, I’ve always charted my course, so why can’t I have you?”

And at that, a sob wrenches its way out of Megumi’s chest. If it weren’t for Sukuna’s arms holding him together, Megumi is certain he would’ve crumbled into little pieces already.

The suitcase falls out of his grip, lands with a clatter on the floor, and Megumi brings his arms to wrap around Sukuna’s back tightly. He wants to stay here, like this, just him and Sukuna and nothing else. He wants to feel Sukuna’s touch on him forever, wants to wake up every morning to the sight of black lines etched across a grumpy forehead, wants to kiss his stupidly pink hair and inhale the scent of his sandalwood cologne, wants to come home every night to the only person who looks at him as if he matters.

“Let me have you, Megumi. Stay with me. We can run away together, move away somewhere no one can find us. We can leave all this behind, you don’t have to do this, I can steal you away if you’ll let me. I can make you happy.” Sukuna promises, stroking his spiky hair reassuringly. “We can both be happy, together.”

Megumi doesn’t doubt they can be. And he’s willing to give up everything: his inheritance, his job, his life here, if it means he can start anew with Sukuna by his side.

But he’s not willing to make Sukuna do the same. Not when he’s worked so hard to build his own firm from scratch. Not when he’s just scored yet another big project with high stakes on the line. Megumi’s not willing to wrap a blindfold around Sukuna’s eyes and lead him away from his soulmate, he’s willing to give up his own happiness for Sukuna's sake but he will never, ever, let Sukuna sacrifice his.

He’s already made his decision.

“I love you.” He whispers in Sukuna’s ear, and when Sukuna freezes at those words, Megumi takes the chance to pull away from the embrace. He gazes into those crimson eyes, that intense gaze which he’ll probably never see again, and smiles. “I will always love you. I will always want you to be happy, even without me. And I’ll always want the best for you.”

He turns around, bends down to pick up the fallen suitcase. “And if you’ve ever felt the same way, then all I ask is that you wish the best for me as well.”

Megumi won’t look at Sukuna again as he heads towards the door, but he feels a hand reach out for his and grab it in one final attempt to keep him there.

“Megumi, please.”

Sukuna never says ‘please’. Megumi’s heart breaks as he turns back, pulling Sukuna’s hand towards his lips, the one with his soulmark on it, and places a soft kiss on his fingers. “Be happy, okay?”

And then he’s out the door, closing the chapter forever on a life he’s never meant to have.

In the days since Megumi left him, Sukuna felt nothing but anger.

Initially he thinks he’s angry at Megumi. Mad that he left him, betrayed his trust by contacting a soulmate-matching agency behind his back, and decided to return to his idiot of a soulmate even though he’s so clearly unhappy with the match.

But the longer he thinks about it, the more he realizes that he cannot be mad at Megumi, no matter how much the other man has hurt him. Despite everything, he still cares about Megumi, and although he hates a lot of things in life, Sukuna can never bring himself to hate the one person he loves.

The only person he’ll ever love.

He never thought he’d know the feeling. Sukuna’s always been selfish, arrogant, and brash. He did things solely for his own pleasure, his own brother has always called him inconsiderate, his parents deemed him a disappointment ages ago and Sukuna’s never bothered to prove them wrong. So to think that he’d learn to love was the most surprising thing that’s happened to him this year, and Megumi has done nothing but show Sukuna that even a bastard like him can have a heart.

Sukuna is a horrible person, he knows that, and Fushiguro Megumi is an amazing person that Sukuna has never deserved. To think that he wanted to steal him away, to forcefully separate him from his soulmate without a care for Megumi’s destiny or how many other people it might hurt, already goes to show how little Sukuna cared for anything else except the one thing that he wanted.

Yet still, Sukuna’s unrepentant. He doesn’t deserve Megumi, but he wants him. He still wants him. Sukuna doesn’t think he’ll ever stop wanting him.

God, he’s a horrible person.

His phone rings, and Sukuna nearly jumps. He picks up immediately, but doesn’t recognize the voice on the other end.

“Hello, is this Ryoumen Sukuna I’m speaking to?”

“Who the fuck are you?” He growls.

“I’m calling from Binding Vows; you started an application with us last month? I’m happy to inform you that we have an update regarding your soul-”

Sukuna hangs up.

He doesn’t want to know who his soulmate is. How can there possibly be someone better than Fushiguro Megumi? How can there be anyone out there who can look at him with those beautiful green eyes, accept all of his flaws and imperfections, and still love him for who he was?

How can he ever possibly love anyone more than he already loves Megumi?

There’s nothing but rage within him. Sukuna hates the stupid agency, he hates the soulmark on his hand, he hates the universe so much right now because all he wants is Megumi yet he cannot have him.

He stares at the phone in his hand, and a thought comes to him.

He’ll take on the universe if he has to. Sukuna will bend to no one else, not even the fucking universe, and he’ll never give his heart to another.

Fushiguro Megumi already has it.

The agency, as it turns out, has not found his soulmate, but they do have some interesting information from a contact who is willing to meet Sukuna and give him answers.

Sukuna called them back after he’d hung up, and now he’s standing outside a dodgy-looking diner, in a part of town that looks shady as fuck, having followed directions given to him by the agency’s mystery contact to meet up with them and learn more.

Well, he doesn't intend to learn more actually. Sukuna intends to tell his soulmate to fuck off because he refuses to be with anyone else if he cannot be with Megumi.

So much for the universe wanting him to be with another person.

He’d never set foot in this part of the city willingly, but no one seems to bat an eyelid as he strides into the diner. Must be all his tattoos.

There’s only one other person there, matching the description that the agency provided, and Sukuna pulls out the chair right across them and takes a seat.

“You the contact?” He growls.

The other man looks up, and Sukuna is immediately stunned. Green eyes, spiky hair slicked down, a smirk on his face that looks awfully familiar… The man is a spitting image of Fushiguro Megumi, and for a brief moment, Sukuna wonders if he fell for Megumi in the first place because of the resemblance to his actual soulmate.

“Are you my fucking soulmate?” He asks in horror, unable to accept the fact that he’s been unconsciously, unintentionally, using Megumi as a substitute for what the universe has decided for him.

The other man raises an eyebrow. “Oh fuck no. And with that attitude, I sure as hell am glad I’m not.”

He raises both hands, and Sukuna is stunned again. The man’s palms are blank, both of them; Sukuna’s never looked for his soulmate, but he’s never met anyone in his life who has no soulmark. While he might have pitied him before, right now Sukuna’s a little envious of the man before him.

To think, if he didn’t have a soulmark, if neither him nor Megumi had soulmarks, he could’ve had his little blessing. His sweet, perfect Megumi. And there would’ve been nothing the world could do to stop them.

But he remembers that he’s here for answers, so Sukuna scowls back at the mystery man. “The agency said you had information about my soulmate, so here I am. Now spill, do you know who it is?”

The man is completely unperturbed. “I hope the agency also mentioned compensation? I’m not about to give information for free, especially not something this juicy.”

Sukuna narrows his eyes. “You must be joking. You’re completely mistaken if you think I’d pay to find my soulmate.”

“Oh? Most people would.”

Sukuna laughs cruelly. “Not me. Listen, I’m not here to meet my soulmate, I honestly don’t give a shit about who it is, all I wanted to do was to tell this fucker, whoever it may be, that I’m not interested. So if you know who it is, be a dear and tell them to fuck off. And don’t bother coming after me.”

He pushes his chair back and gets ready to leave, but the other man stops him. “Hold it. No, really, hold it. You may not be interested in your soulmate romantically, but what if I told you there was money to be made from this?”

Wow. Sukuna thought he was a horrible person, but this man seems to be giving him a run for his money. He turns back and glares at the other man.

“If you’re that desperate for cash, here, take this and just get off my back.” Sukuna slams a couple of bills on the table. “I’m not strapped for it, so no, still not interested, you can keep your stupid information.”

The man actually picks up Sukuna’s money and begins counting it. “This should be worth something. I’ll drop you a little teaser then; I know who shares your mark, I have proof of it, and you might want to change your mind if you knew they were related to the Zenin Corporation.”

Sukuna whips around and seizes the other man by the collar, the world coming to a stop around him. “Why the fuck would you mention the Zenins?”

“Interested now, are we? Knew you’d be, anyone would be thrilled if they had a soulmate who’s that rich and famous. Now, let’s talk about the price.”

“Seriously, who the fuck are you?” Sukuna wonders as he loosens his grip. The man hasn’t even flinched one bit and he grins back.

“The name’s Fushiguro Toji, but you don’t have to remember that.” Toji sits back down and crosses his arms. “Now I’m thinking, for the information plus the proof that I have, it should come up to-”

‘Fushiguro.’ It dawns on Sukuna slowly. “Do you know Megumi?”

Toji’s eyes go wide. “Wait what? How would you know about… Fuck, the information’s useless now if you’ve already met him.” He throws his hands up into the air in mock surrender. “Fine, fine, your soulmate’s one Zenin Megumi, happy now?”

His brain screeches to a halt. “You’re lying.”

“I assure you, I most certainly am not.”

“You’re lying!” Sukuna shouts. “I’ve seen Megumi’s mark, it’s nothing like mine. We both have our soulmarks on the left palm, Megumi’s right is blank, and he already has a fucking soulmate who isn’t me!”

Toji grabs his chin, thinking. “That can’t be right. Megumi’s soulmark is on his right palm, I was there when he was born, punk, and I’ve seen it.”

The gravity of the situation sinks in, and Sukuna pulls out his phone. “I’ll transfer whatever you want, just explain everything and give me that proof you were talking about. I have no time to be playing games with you.”

Toji smirks, and leans forward expectantly. “Now we’re talking.”

It takes another hour for Sukuna to get the last of the details from Toji, along with the physical proof, but what he learns is horrifying and when Toji’s done, Sukuna almost leaps to his feet as he strides out of the diner.

He absolutely will not give away Fushiguro Megumi this time.

“Look at you. All grown up already. You look beautiful, Megumi.” His aunt says as she pinches his cheek fondly and he offers her a curt smile in return.

He’s dressed in a sleek white suit, his aunts and cousins having fawned over him all morning and making sure everything’s alright. One of his uncles, Maki’s father, will be walking him down the aisle, and Megumi’s rehearsed his lines so many times he can deliver them without slipping up.

He feels surprisingly calm. Even as his uncle, Ogi, arrives to walk with him and the music starts playing, Megumi feels oddly devoid of feeling.

Numb. He realizes. He feels nothing but a sense of duty, and as long as he doesn’t think about anything else, doesn’t think about Sukuna, he should be able to get through this without incident.

Naoya’s already waiting up ahead, wearing a matching suit in black. Megumi glances at him, forces himself to smile, and tries not to imagine it being Sukuna instead.

Sukuna would look good in red, probably. Deep wine red. He’d look good in anything, and his soulmate would be so lucky to-

Oh god, why can’t he stop thinking about Sukuna?

Megumi tries to hold the tears back, the numbness slowly being replaced by overwhelming sadness. He had been doing so well, why did he go and think about that idiot? The other man would’ve found his soulmate by now, Megumi had given him up, he had made his decision but still he wishes Sukuna were here, he misses him so much, he wants to see...

A familiar voice rings out from behind him.

“Fushiguro Megumi!”

A collective gasp rises from the crowd, and Megumi spins around to see the one person he’d been wishing would be here.

Ryoumen Sukuna is barging into the chapel, looking absolutely terrifying, but Megumi has never been happier to see him.

“Stop this goddamned wedding!” Sukuna roars. “You can’t marry him, Megumi, you’re my soulmate.”

Megumi almost smiles at that. Even until the end, Sukuna would never stop raising hell, would he? “Sukuna, please. Don’t start anything.”

“I’m serious, Megumi. You have to listen to me. Your soulmark’s a fake, your entire life’s a fake, you’re my soulmate and I mean it.”

His smile fades. It’s like his blood has run cold, but Megumi searches Sukuna’s eyes and sees no lie in them. He turns slowly and the stony looks on the faces of his uncle, the rest of the Zenin family, even Naoya, tell him all he needs to know.

Naoya’s father, Naobito, is calling the security personnel to escort Sukuna out, but Megumi shouts for them to leave him alone. He wrestles his arm out of Ogi’s hand, and squares his shoulders as he faces the other Zenin elders.

“Explain. What is he talking about?”

Naobito’s eyes narrow. “Nothing that you should worry about, Megumi.”

Megumi turns back to Sukuna, his eyes pleading. “Sukuna, tell me.”

“You know the agency you contacted? They found information about the person who matches my soulmark, and I kinda ended up meeting your father.”

“I’m sorry, my father’s alive?”

“Yes, well, that’s not important,” Megumi makes an irritated little noise at that, but Sukuna rolls his eyes and pushes on. “The more important thing is you were born with the same mark as me, on your right palm. Your family here had it surgically altered later to match that little bitch’s over there, so that they could lay claim to the inheritance that only you or your spouse was supposed to get as one of the Zenin heirs.”

As shocking as the reveal is, a part of Megumi just knows Sukuna is telling the truth. The part of him that knew he had always belonged to Sukuna, was made perfectly for him, like two halves of a whole, despite being two very different people.

It's still a lot to take in though. Megumi feels like the world is spinning around him, his mind is throwing bits and pieces of the puzzle that fall into place now to match the new information provided. Sukuna approaches him, pulls out a yellowed photograph from a folder.

"If you still doubt it, there's proof. I have your medical records, your real one, not the fake stuff that's probably with you right now. Your dear old dad also kept this picture."

Megumi doesn't even have to see the whole thing to know it's true. From a glance, he can see it's a photo of a toddler playing with a woman who looks just like him, and there's a clear shot of the child's right palm.

It has a mark resembling crystal shards, or demon horns, or the one on Sukuna's left palm that Megumi knows so well he can draw it in his sleep.

He turns back to glare at the rest of his family, hating the fact that they were blood-related. “Why?”

“You’re really going to listen to this gatecrasher of all people?” One of his aunts screeches.

Megumi explodes. “You tried to steal my soulmate from me! All of you! For twenty-five years of my fucking life, you made me live an entire lie!”

The whole room is stunned into silence, but Megumi has no patience for courtesy right now. There is only rage and anger and pain in his heart and he screams again and again.

“How could you?!” He shouts at his uncle. “How could all of you? Do you have any idea how much pain I was in? What kind of person would do this to another human being?!”

“Do you really think we’d let some random, nameless fucker like him claim any part of the Zenin inheritance?” Naoya screams. Sukuna takes a deep breath and charges forward at that, but Megumi’s eyes flash red and he gets to Naoya first.

He swings his fist, hard, hitting Naoya squarely in the face, and feels the satisfying crunch of a nose breaking. Behind him, he can hear Sukuna let out a wolf-whistle.

Megumi’s breathing hard. He staggers backwards, lets Sukuna catch him as he collapses from the weight of the reveal, grabs onto his shoulders for support.

The crowd explodes into a furore; people are rushing to tend to Naoya, Ogi is calling for more security personnel, cameras and phones are clicking away, and Megumi just turns to the only person that matters.

“Get me out of here.” He whispers to Sukuna.

And Sukuna snakes an arm beneath his legs, sweeps him up, and leaves the chaos behind.

Zenin Corporation stock plunges after the called-off wedding. Megumi hasn’t spoken a word to any of his family members since, aside from his cousins who have denounced the family, referring any discussion or legal matters to his lawyer, and he tendered his resignation the day after.

Public discourse resurfaces regarding the legality of soulmark alterations, and policymakers call for reforms and regulations on such actions. Experts and journalists alike try to get a hold of the both of them, and frankly, Megumi’s tired of fending off reporters as he refuses to answer any questions.

He’s moved out of his apartment and into Sukuna’s, laying low for a while, hoping the public would eventually forget about the scandal and just let them live in peace. All he wants to do now is begin building his new life, their new life together, and he couldn’t really care less about what society thinks about soulmarks at this point.

Despite Sukuna's reluctance, Megumi gets him to arrange a meeting with Toji. He meets his own father for the first time, learning how he, too, had denounced the Zenin family and inheritance, but had left Megumi behind instead. His father has no regrets nor apologies, Megumi has no further grudges, and he just ties this loose end neatly with a vague promise to visit his father again someday, without knowing if he ever will.

Eventually, public interest does die down, and life goes back to normal. Somewhat.

As normal as life can be after you’ve realized you’ve lived a lie for twenty-five years.

“Are you sure about this?” Sukuna whispers against Megumi’s hair, as he cradles Megumi in his arms, relaxing on the sofa.

They’ve scheduled an appointment for tomorrow, for a surgery that will give Megumi a new mark on his right palm, where his original should’ve been. It’ll hurt like hell, even more than the one he had a month ago to remove the fake one, but Megumi’s insisted that he wants to do it.

“Positive.” Megumi replies. “You’ll come with me, right?”

“Of course. Would I let you go through that alone, sweetheart?”

Megumi makes a small, happy noise. He closes his eyes and inhales the familiar scent of sandalwood, fitting his thin frame into the arms of the man made by the universe to hold him and protect him and love him. He'll wake up every morning now to the sight of a grumpy face and tattooed lines, he'll come home to warm dinners and blueprint sketches scattered everywhere, he'll spend his nights with the person he almost gave up, whispering promises and showering him with kisses to make up for all the years they spent apart from each other.

And for once in his life, everything is perfect.