Ding ding. The bell had rung. School had just ended. 

Yuji went over to Megumi's desk and sat on top of it. He nudged with his elbow. "I saw you got the 7th highest score for the math test. Congratulations!" Yuji noticed that Megumi was improving rapidly in school. He went from missing two math units to getting above average grades. At the rate he was going, he'd be at the top of the class in no time. 

Megumi finished putting all his stuff away. "Yeah well, I have nothing to do anymore except study." He brushed it off. "Even bigger congratulations to you though, you got 5th didn't you?"

Yuji smiled coyly, trying to hide that he was proud of himself too. Seeing Megumi put in effort made him want to study his ass off too. And that effort got them into the top 10. "Well congratulations to us then! We should celebrate!" He cheered. 

"Yeah, we can go get something to eat," Megumi replied, a bit more solemnly then usual. 

Yuji noticed that Megumi was down lately. He was usually quiet and reserved, but for a while he seemed happier. Now he seemed sadder than usual. 

"Hey is something wrong?" Yuji asked. "Did anything happen recently?"

Megumi took a deep breath. "It's my dad." He pursed his lip. "Actually it's my family in general. My new step mom and my dad are fighting almost every single day. I feel like they're gonna break up at any minute. And they both treat me like I don't exist. We don't eat, talk, nothing. My dad just gave me a bunch of money and told me to 'go eat' so I'm assuming that's my food budget for the rest of the month."

Megumi looked out the window. "Well it could be worse." He said, with no emotion in his voice. 

Yuji wanted to comfort him but he didn't know what to say. So instead he just patted Megumi's head and ran his fingers through Megumi's black hair. Even though it looked spiky, it was actually really soft. He looked at Megumi with concerned eyes.

Megumi knew Yuji was worried about him, so he looked at Yuji and tried smiling. "Don't worry, that doesn't matter. Why don't we go somewhere special to celebrate? It can also count as our first date." He suggested. 

Yuji perked up. He realized that even though they hung out together a lot, they still haven't been on their first date yet. He started getting excited. "Let's go on one today, right after we leave the shcool!" He said with enthusiasm. "But where will we go?"

"I have an idea," Megumi replied. 

⤜-------⤛

"Welcome back Masters," The lady at the front greeted them. "Table for two?" She asked.

"Yeah," Megumi replied. "Can we have a table near the back. And if it's not occupied, can you seat us in the area for groups that usually reserved?"

"Well.." she trailed off. "Normally you aren't supposed to, but since nobody's booked it and it's a slow day today I'll make an exception. Only because it's you Megumi." She winked. She took out two menus and led them to their table. 

"Hey Megumi," Yuji asked. "Why did you bring us here? Did you miss this place?" 

"Yeah. I missed it a little," Megumi admitted. "But there's someone I need to talk to." He said. They both sat down, sitting side by side. 

Ever since Megumi's dad came back, Megumi had quit his job since his family was rich now and he no longer needed the money. In normal circumstances, Megumi would probably try working in order to be independent no matter how much money his family had, but since he didn't like his dad, Megumi had no issue with leeching off as much money from him as possible. Technically it was his step-mother's money, but it didn't matter since he didn't like her either. Megumi could be petty when he wanted to be. 

It was also why he was able to get his grades up so much. He no longer had to work and he had a ton of free time now, and since he didn't talk to his step-mom or dad he had nothing to do. So he spent all his time studying, mainly out of boredom. 

Yuji looked at the menu, then looked up at Megumi. "So Megumi what should we-" 

"MII-CHAN~" A familiar voice interrupted Yuji and tackle hugged Megumi from behind. "I missed you! I can't believe you aren't working here anymore!" 

Megumi pushed his arms aside. "Manager, you can't just hug your customers out of the blue like that!" Megumi complained. 

"Sure I can!" He argued, as he went over to hug Yuji. Yuji liked hugs so he didn't mind it. "Oh by the way, I'm not your manager anymore so you don't have to call me that! Call me Gojo~ instead!"

Megumi wanted to object, but he decided to humor him, at least just this once. He came here to talk to his manager anyways. "Gojo...san," He started. "Thank you."

His manager - aka Gojo- looked surprised. Megumi didn't normally go along with his requests, much less thank him for anything. "Mii-chan," Gojo said. "Did something happen?"

Megumi turned and looked at him with gratitude. "I just realized that even though you annoy sometimes, you were there for me when no one else was. You gave me a job and let spend time at your shop. I probably wouldn't have the strength to go on if it wasn't for you. You did all of that for someone like me. Thank you." Megumi said. He smiled at him. Another one of his genuine smiles. 

Manager Gojo went to stand by Megumi again. And then he tackled him into another hug. "Mii-chan you don't have to thank me!" He wailed. "I've always thought of you as family! In fact I'm sad that I couldn't do more for you!" He hugged Megumi tighter. Instead of getting annoyed because Gojo gave suffocating hugs and Megumi couldn't barely breathe, Megumi just took it. 

Gojo let go of Megumi and sat across from them. "I never told you this, but I knew your dad," he revealed. Megumi was surprised. 

"We were acquaintances." He said. "Or maybe you could even call us enemies. But I knew he had a kid. And I knew what that kid looked like. And they day he left, I knew he would be leaving you behind. So that's why I tried helping you when you got evicted. I didn't want the debt collectors to come after you, so I got you this job." He explained. 

"I guess you could say I did it out of the goodness of my heart," He bragged. There was a glint in his eye. Megumi just sighed.

Gojo continued, but in a slightly softer voice this time. "But I didn't do enough. Even though you were homeless, I didn't help you find a place to stay." He looked at Megumi glumly. 

"Don't you have five kids though?" Megumi asked. "It makes sense why you didn't take me in. I don't blame you for anything. In fact I'm just grateful for everything you did do." 

"You're more of a dad to me than my actual dad is." Megumi said. "In fact, I consider you.." Megumi trailed off, hesitant about the next word he would say. "Family." He muttered.

I consider you family.

Gojo's face lit up. He grabbed Megumi's hands and held them tight. "Mii-chan!" He squealed. "I consider you family too! In fact you can call me dad if you want to-"

"NO! That's okay," He shot down his suggestion immediately. Gojo's shoulder's slumped. And then Yuji started laughing. 

"I'm glad Megumi has someone like you Gojo-san," Yuji smiled appreciatively at him, thankful that his boyfriend had someone who took care of him. 

"I'm glad Mii-chan has a boyfriend like you Yuji-kun." Gojo said in response. 

Suddenly he lit up. "Oh yeah~" Gojo mused. "Mii-chan, aren't you here on a date?" He said teasingly and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah. I am," Megumi said shyly, his words barely audible above a whisper.

Gojo clapped his hands together. "Then let's celebrate!" He cheered. "In honor of Megumi finally going on a date. I got so worried Mii-chan, I thought you'd end up alone!" He fake mocked him. Megumi got irritated. 

"I'm~ gonna~ go~ get~ a~ cake~" Gojo sang. "Be right back!" He got up from his seat, and skipped away, almost like he was dancing as he walked. 

Megumi looked exasperated. "That guy, he always goes overboard." He rubbed his temple. "He's probably going to get the type of cake he likes without asking us what kind of cake we want."

But when Gojo came back, he placed an almond-dark chocolate cake in front of them. "Don't think I didn't remember your favorite cake type Mii-chan!" He said. Yuji remembered too, that Megumi wasn't keen on sweets, but he did like chocolate.

"Before we eat, let's all take a picture together! To commemorate!" Gojo said. And before Megumi could even utter a word of object, there were cat ears on his head, Yuji's head, and Gojo's head as they all posed for a photo. 

And in Megumi's eyes, it was a family photo.