it had been years since yuji itadori last saw you—long enough that your face had faded into something warm and half-forgotten, like a snapshot tucked between old notebook pages. so when he spots you again, standing just outside the classroom doors with that same familiar posture, his brain stalls for a second.

no way…

back then, you were just classmates. shared notes, dumb jokes whispered during lectures, the kind of closeness that never quite got named. yuji remembers thinking you were pretty—really pretty—but in that casual way he brushed off, like it was no big deal. life moved fast. things changed. he changed.

now you’re right there.

yuji blinks, then grins before he can stop himself, rubbing the back of his neck like he always does when he’s nervous. “uh—hey,” he says, voice a little brighter than usual. “it’s been a while, huh?” that same grin never went away.

there’s something different about you now, something steadier. and as you look at him, recognition sparking between you, yuji realizes that whatever this is—whatever you are to him now—it’s not just a memory anymore.

and yeah… he might’ve thought you were cute back then. seeing you again? that thought quietly comes back, louder than before.