Thread by @ricecopperfish

#fushiita modern au where yuuji was thrust into an arranged marriage, in a world where your partners are decided by the government.

at the ripe age of 18, a modest envelope in his mailbox;
"your marriage to mr ○○ will commence on DD of MM year YY."

"more info on your partner will be disclosed later."

oh. he's married off to a male. not quite a surprise nowadays. also, year YY? that's 2 years from now. yuuji wonders who mr ○○ is. it's not someone he knows. he turns to megumi and nobara to discuss his so-called 'partner'.

megumi looked mildly displeased as he read over the general info on mr ○○. "so your compatibility is a supposed 96%. that's amazingly high, even for today's standards, with all the personality data they're basing it off," nobara comments. yuuji's pleased; they'll get along.

megumi's partner is a ms. XX, while nobara's, to her joy, is maki-senpai, her favourite senior. nobara told the two boys how maki-senpai laughed when nobara confronted her. "i knew from last year, dummy." it's protocol to keep it secret if your partner's of different age.

the initial info doesn't come with pictures of their will-be partners, just a simple list of name, age, occupation. the gov tries very hard to keep everything confidential until before the marriage ceremony itself (unless, of course, your partner ends up someone you know).

but 2 years is still a long way off. yuuji spends his free time studying the gov-provided houses and financial incentives for new married couples; he's already planning how to decorate his (their?) house. the curtains, the furniture, the bedsheets. (yuuji blushes.)

he pulls megumi and sometimes nobara, to nitori and ikea on weekends, searching for the perfect colours, the perfect fabrics. yuuji reasons it's good practice for megumi too, to provide for his wife later. megumi humours him with a shake of his head. "i'll let my wife decide."

the idyllic days pass.
one day yuuji turns the TV up as he patter around doing his chores in his family house. the news come up.
"girl dies to stabbing." yuuji frowns, but continues on with his work, until he catches something else.
"ms. XX, 18, died in her home..."

ms. XX? isn't that megumi's partner?
he immediately calls megumi.
"fushiguro, your partner...?!"
there was a heavy silence on the other side.
"... i know. the local council called me. they'll be arranging a new one soon."
the next day, yuuji accompanies megumi to her funeral.

yuuji feels a pang of pain, as he looks at the serene face in the coffin. "she could have been a good friend..." behind him, megumi was sombre, face unreadable. he exhanged condolences with the girl's parents, and then they left.
yuuji can only hope the next one will work out.

now it's only half a year left to yuuji meeting his partner, mr. ○○. yuuji couldn't help feeling nervous, as the other was older, a patissier. he practices his own baking and cooking skills, often pushing the food onto megumi, who still hasn't got the replacement for ms XX.

one day megumi appeared unannounced on his doorstep, just as yuuji was taking out some ginger pork pies from the oven. "i was just about to send some over to you!" yuuji set the table, and served whopping portions for both of them, complete with glasses of cafe au lait.

megumi was his usual taciturn self, but there was a strange glint in his eyes that yuuji didn't notice. "itadori, switch on the news, can you?" yuuji obliged, returning to his seat just as the news anchor appeared. "bakery destroyed in fire, owner found dead and trapped."

yuuji stops eating. "owner of a bakery in tokyo, mr. ○○-" the words echo in his brain. his spoon clatters to the floor, as yuuji stares at the screen in horror. that. that's his partner. his partner is. dead. mr. ○○ is dead. megumi grips his hands. "itadori, breathe."

a shrill buzzing broke yuuji's trance. "it- it's the local council." he picks his phone up. "mr itadori, we sadly inform you that your partner has unfortunately passed away this morning." the words of the cold official on the other side washed over him; yuuji's numb.

the next day it was megumi's turn to accompany yuuji to mr. ○○'s funeral. there's only ashes to be commemorated; yuuji bakes an apple pie as an offering. he leaves the pie among the flowers and farewell cards - mr. ○○ was without family, so they left without greeting anybody.

yuuji was a very sensitive person; he couldn't take it. even if he's never met his partner before, yuuji feels crushed. all his dreams of a life with mr ○○ gone to dust. nobara and megumi took turns staying over, to make sure he had company, and wouldn't get too lonely.

after a while of mourning, yuuji finally moved on. he'll be getting a new partner anytime soon too. he made some pies, in memory of mr. ○○, and sent it to his neighbours, and of course to megumi and nobara. he added extra pork to megumi's; the other was most patient and kind.

megumi smiled softly when yuuji turned up to give him his pies. "no worries, itadori. i'm sure we'll both get better partners soon. someone who actually deserves you and will love you forever." yuuji chuckled; he didn't see megumi's smile turning manic when he left.

next week, another letter came in the mail.
"mr itadori yuuji, your marriage with mr. fushiguro megumi will commence on DD of MM year YY."
yuuji gasped, incredulous; megumi smiled, victorious.

-
megumi burns his laptop. didn't want anyone to know he's hacked the gov. after all.

//fin
if it wasn't clear, megumi murdered mrs. XX and mr. ○○, hacked gov database, basically did lots of major crime, just so yuuji'll be his. hehe.
i'm not quite sure why dark megumi's on my mind so much lately.