What did I do..? | {KokuZan}
Theme: Angst
Note: Ignore the picture i can't find any kokuzan ones ;-;
TW: suicide-
ALSO if anything doesn't make sense it's bc i was too lazy to write out the AU so, sorry..
Reincarnated everyone! (basically it's modern AU; reincarnated hhahahoksmvfewoifkmsssddddffffffffuck.)
As a child, Muzan was very easily manipulated. He believed everyone deserved second chances and said, whenever someone did something they shouldn't have—no matter how drastic the consequences—that everybody made mistakes. Which, as you can see, is quite a naïve way of thinking when it comes to reality.
What's more, Muzan tried to be very helpful. No matter what anyone asked, it was almost guarenteed to be that he would say yes.
You could ask him to do the most far-fetched thing that any sane person would say they couldn't do and he would most likely say, "I'll do my best to achieve that for you."
So, he was often—very often—asked to do things for others. And he let them, not seeing anything bad about it. He only saw that he was making it easier for others to live and so he continued on doing this.
The only exception to his agreeing was his friend—more specifically Michikatsu, Douma, Akaza, Hantengu and his many brothers, Gyokko, Gyutaro, Daki, Nakime and Kaigaku. They were the some of the only people who cared—truly—about Muzan and who constantly protected him as much as they could from people who tried to use him to their own will.
Muzan didn't notice any of this though. But he did know that they were people who would stick by him no matter what—something he was absolutely grateful for and told them everyday.
Michikatsu—also known as Kokushibo within their circle of friends—being the eldest always treated all of them as his younger siblings, telling them to do this and that and making sure they were intact and alright.
All but Muzan whom he treated more as a very close 'friend.'
Everybody else could clearly see the favortism written all over Muzan's face whenever Kokushibo was around, and they let it be.
Muzan didn't notice that either, however.
Now, as the time went on, things began to change.
True, Muzan had never been in the center of attention for selfless reasons and had always only been because people wanted to take advantage of him, but now a rumour had started passing by and Muzan started getting dirty looks from people he didn't even know.
Muzan grew scared to be outside at all as someone would hiss at him that he was a horrible man, that he'd done nothing but bad.
He didn't understand.
And neither did his friends because they had never known Muzan to do anything bad.
One day, one particular person had gone up to Muzan. She looked stern and very mad, dragging two other women with her.
"Do you remember me, Kibutsuji?" she said, glaring into his eyes. She was shorter than him, looking to be almost 5 feet whilst Muzan was at 5"6 at around the age of 16.
"No...?" he said uncertainly.
The girl then made one of the other people stand in front of him. They looked to be siblings, this new woman appeared to be older. She had pink eyes that Muzan decided would probably looking pretty if it weren't for the fact that she was looking at him as if he was going to kill her.
"What about her? Do you remember her? This is my sister Kanae," the first girl said, peeking from around Kanae's shoulder. "You and your little Uppermoon friends killed her."
Muzan looked around for some help but his friends were out somewhere and all around them were only people whispering and glaring at him. "She's alive though..." he pointed out, averting his eyes. What were they talking about?
"Oh really," the girl said. "Listen, both of us were Hashira in our past lives. Both of us died from the same demon. From the same demon you created. You had millions of people killed just so you could be immortal!!" She placed a hand on her hip, her eyes searing into his head. "You are a monster. You deserve to go to hell."
The last girl who hadn't been been introduced was fidgeting with a coin, but at this she slipped around the other two and said, her voice both equally quiet and angry, "I hope you life is it's own hell for all you ever did to all of us."
Muzan backed away against the wall. "I didn't do that! I... don't know what you're talking about! I swear! You have got me mixed up!!" he said, desperately trying to make sense of what was happening. He'd only ever helped people! What did they mean?
"Hmm, maybe you've got it all mixed up," the first girl said, letting her hair down and showing him her clip which was in the shape of a butterfly. "Look at this. And go find your blond friend—Douma. Tell him if butterflies have any sort of significance to him. I'm sure they do because you turned him into a demon. And then you let him go and eat so, so many humans. The butterfly should be a reminder to him of who killed him."
Muzan blinked. "Douma? Douma would never do that! He's very kind!" he insisted, crossing his arms. They could talk bad about him all they wanted but now about his friends!!
"Hmm, kind? Not a word I think of when I think of him. But maybe he was. Maybe he was kind and you turned him to the opposite," the girl said, giving him a cruel smile before stalking away, her hands clasped around the two other girls'.
The whispers around him grew and someone shouted, "I heard he was a cannibal!!"
Muzan shook his head. "I wasn't! I'm not!"
"My grandfather said his mother's father's mother had fought one of his demons!"
"I don't have demons," Muzan pleaded.
"I heard he called himself a demon king," someone else said.
The people seemed to rise up all at once, shouting incoherent threats to him.
They closed in on him and Muzan cowered, feeling terrified. What if he had done all of that? People were to be trusted and he knew that they wouldn't lie about this, right? They must be telling the truth... What if he was such a horrible person after all?
A hand clasped around his wrist and he looked up, dread filling him for a split second. But then Kokushibo's familiar face met his gaze and he stood, being dragged out of the crowd quickly.
"Muzan!!" Kokushibo called back between quick breaths as they ran off. "Are you okay?"
Muzan thought for a moment as they ran and didn't answer until they stop. "Do you think I'm a horrible person like they said I am?" he asked, his voice meek.
Kokushibo narrowed his eyes. "Do I think?" he asked, sounding furious.
Muzan closed his eyes, scared of a reaction. He'd never felt so small before.
"Of course I don't!! You're my best friend! You would never do all that shit!" Kokushibo said.
Muzan opened his eyes to see his friend looking worried and exasperated. "You... don't think so?"
"No!! And even if all what they said is true, it's definitely not about you. They probably got the wrong person." Kokushibo sighed, hugging him tightly. "You worry me, Muzan. Maybe you should just stay at home."
Muzan's cheeks flushed at the physical contact—lately, something about Michikatsu had been making him quite... happy. "Thank you," he murmured, his voice muffled by Kokushibo's shoulder.
"Anytime. Want to go to the library? No one's allowed to shout there so we can have some peace and quiet," Kokushibo said, grinning.
Muzan nodded. "Okay."
~~~
At the library, Kokushibo started roaming the shelves looking for books he might want to read.
Muzan, on the other hand, couldn't get his mind over what had happened earlier. About everyone shouting at him, that is. Not with... with Kokushibo.
He immediately shook his head. No thinking about that now.
He searched through the rows of books until he saw the sign titled, "History."
Here he might find some answers. If he'd done something like this before and had caused people to react like that there must be even a little information about it somewhere here.
After searching through the books, finding a lot of things about everything he didn't want to know about, he found a book with a paper taped onto it that said, in hastily written letters, "May be proclaimed as History and not Historical Fiction." which was interesting enough for Muzan and he quickly took out the book.
He sat down on the floor, not really caring about anything, as he opened the book.
On the spine of the book cover, there were the words, "Demon Slayer" on it, along with the name of the author. (Koyoharu Gotouge?!)
There was a little information over the book and how it was supposedly written based off the character 'Tanjiro' who had actually been real but how the editor had said it must've been simply fiction. It said other things about the author as well that Muzan decided to simply ignore.
He opened the first page, noting that it was a chapter book—quite large as well. He flipped through a couple pages, stopping quite suddenly when he saw a picture somewhere. He went back and nearly gasped as the picture was of a man that looked... almost exactly like him. There were words under it saying it was an illustration of... Muzan Kibutsuji.
He turned his gaze to the words and skimmed the page in a panic.
And there he was, Muzan Kibutsuji. It had to be him. His scent was overly powering and bringing in a deep aura that made me shake from deep in my bones. I lunged forward, grabbing his arm as I shouted, "Muzan Kibutsuji!"
Muzan turned around and his piercing red eyes glared at me for half a second. But then he turned fully and I saw he was carrying a child. A little girl. A human girl.
"Dear? What's this about?" a woman asked, a hand on Muzan's shoulder as she peeked around him.
Two humans. They were both humans, I just knew it. But he... he was a demon. There was no mistakening the smell he had, was he... He was hiding amongst the humans.
(Ermmmm pretend this is the part of Asakusa when Tanjiro first meets Muzan LMAO- I didn't know how to write it since kny is a manga :'>)
Muzan's eyes lingered on his name for a minute. He was real, no? This was real.
He skipped more pages towards the end and saw his name again. In this part, he appeared to be fighting the Main Character and the people named 'Hashira.'
Hashira.
Wasn't that what the girl from earlier had said?
Standing suddenly, Muzan held the book tightly to his chest and walked as quickly as he could, his eyes searching for Kokushibo.
When he found him, he said, his voice low and scared, "Koku... I'm a villain."
Kokushibo gave him a perplexed look as Muzan handed him the book. "What? Please don't tell me the people's words have gotten into your head. You're not a villain, you're-"
Muzan didn't necessarily know if he wanted to know the end of the sentence or not and his cheeks flushed as he said hurridly, "Just read some of this."
Kokushibo opened the book at random, still looking confused. He looked down at the page and read a couple words before he looked up at Muzan, his eyes wide. "No, uhm. I'm sure it's just a coincidence it's your name," he said, looking very much concerned.
"It's not!! It's me! There are some pictures in this as well, see?" Muzan said, flipping a couple pages and pointing to a picture of himself transforming into what appeared to be him as a child into an adult. "It's me."
Kokushibo stared at it for a long while, then said, "Oh."
"It's me," he repeated. "Koku... everything anyone had said is true. It's all true. I'm... a monster."
Kokushibo looked up at that, putting the book aside. "Listen, you're not a monster, okay? You're Muzan, the boy who helps everyone even when he shouldn't! You're everything but what they've said. You're not whatever this book is lying about," he insisted, his hands clasped around Muzan's shoulders.
"But I-"
"I won't accept any 'but's' when they're not true at all!" Kokushibo interrupted. "Now, clearly the library isn't where we should be. We can go home now, I'll make you some food."
~~~
Muzan's eyes traced Kokushibo's actions as he cooked. He wondered what it would be like for his friend to cook for him as a boyfrie-
No, no, they could never date. Not when Kokushibo was already getting enough hate as it was.
Muzan sighed, leaning his head on his arms.
"You alright?" Kokushibo asked, placing a bowl of ramen on the table.
"I'm fine," Muzan mumbled, picking up the spoon he was handed. "Thanks."
Kokushibo nodded and sat across from him.
They ate in silence for a while, both consumed in their thoughts.
As Muzan ate, he stared at the noodles in his bowl intently. He wondered if anything would be as it used to be again. He really wished it could be. He really hated this. Hated it too much and wanted to badly for it to be over. Not for himself, no that would be selfish of him, rather for his friends. And his family. He knew it wasn't easy for them either, constantly trying to help him when they should just let him die. It wasn't like he'd been a good person anyways. He had been horrible. He'd killed so many people just so he could be immortal? Wow.
The door opened suddenly, bringing him out of his thoughts.
Kaigaku strode in followed by Gyutaro, both looking rather beaten up but wearing triumphant smiles on their faces.
Kokushibo and Muzan stood at the same time and rushed over to them, concerned.
"What happened?" Kokushibo asked as Kaigaku batted his worried hand away.
"Nothing, nothing. We were only teaching some people talking bad about Muzan here a lesson," Kaigaku said, swerving around them and plopping onto Muzan's chair. "Hey, you finishing this? Can I have it? I'm starving."
Muzan nodded slowly, losing his appetite. "You shouldn't be getting into fights deliberately..." he fussed. "Especially for me."
Gyutaro waved him off. "It's fine, they're liars anyways," he said, grinning and stealing Kokushibo's bowl, grabbing a new spoon.
"Hey, that's mine!!" Kokushibo whined.
"They're not liars," Muzan mumbled as Kokushibo went to chase Gyutaro.
The other three froze and stared at him. "What?" they asked, almost simutaneously.
"They're not liars," he repeated. "It's all true, all what they said."
Kaigaku raised an eyebrow. "Is this your attempt to convince us that we shouldn't be friends with you because it'll cause trouble for us?" he asked, his spoon raised half way to his mouth.
Actually, that was what he was trying to do.
Muzan hesitated.
Kaigaku sighed, dropping his spoon and splashing some of the soup onto the table. "Drop that, it's seriously annoying. And you'd have to kill me to make me stop being your friend," he said.
The word kill reverberated(?..) in Muzan's mind and he flinched. "But that's just it! I killed so many people in my past."
Gyutaro gave him a look. "They're lying."
"They're not," Muzan whispered. He looked up, his eyes glazing over the worried faces of his friends. They didn't deserve having to deal with im. They deserved better. "You guys can go home... Take the food if you want. I'll see you later," he said, basically dismissing them.
Fuck, if he was going to be that rude he was better off dead anyways.
Muzan didn't miss the way they looked at each other with worried gazes before nodding and getting ready to leave.
Gyutaro and Kaigaku filed out the door but Kokushibo stayed back.
"Hey, uhm... Please don't do anything reckless, Muzan. If you need to speak to someone, I'm only one call away. I'll be here if you need me to be," he murmured, hugging Muzan tightly before closing the front door behind him.
And then Muzan was alone, feeling like he could feel the imprint of Kokushibo's arms around him still. He wished Kokushibo hadn't left. But it was better if he had, really.
Making up his mind, Muzan went up to his room and got his notebook and a pencil.
He wrote down quickly, writing a letter to each of his friends and his family. Once he finished, he read them all through, making sure that he hadn't made any mistakes and that he'd listed enough things to show that he did appreciate every little part of them.
He signed them all and folded them up into makeshift envelopes, taping them all shut.
He went and slumped onto his bed, burying his face into his pillow. He would deliver them tomorrow.
~~~
The next day, as he'd promised himself, he went to his friend's houses, handing them the letter and telling them to read it in a few days time—his birthday, actually.
They didn't really think much of it, especially since Kokushibo was the only one who knew his birthday and he probably didn't remember anyways.
Muzan wouldn't have minded that, after all it didn't matter whether or not Kokushibo remembered.
By the time he opened the letter, it would be too late.
~~~
The next few days passed rather quickly and Muzan found himself in a sort of daze as he continued on. He was waiting for the last day, the day he could finally let his friends live in peace.
He found his most battered clothes—deciding his better ones could be given to people who needed them. He didn't need to wear his best clothes if he would just be wasting them by dying in them.
He went out walking, ignoring all the stares he recieved. He had left a letter on his bed in case anyone bothered to look there. Solely a letter of thanks to his family—he'd already written them letters individually but he'd felt it wasn't enough.
It was early morning when he'd set out and so most people were asleep, although the occasional person was around. But when he finally arrived, the sun was already half way up.
He had to hurry, he didn't want them to read the letters before it was true.
He waded into the water, trembling at the coldness that hit his skin.
No. He had no right to be cold when he'd made people suffer before.
He clenched his teeth together and continued into the water, nearly tripping several times before he made it to the point that the water nearly reached his mouth. He held his head up high and bounded forward cautiously.
The water rose to his mouth and he could barely keep it from his nose as he started treading water, keeping himself upright.
He turned back to the town he'd grown up in, bobbing up long enough to murmur, "I'm sorry," before he closed his eyes and mouth, slipping under the water.
The cool water slipped around Muzan and he could feel it soaking into his body. He gave himself a couple seconds to change his mind before he let out a breath and opened his mouth, letting the water flow into his nose as well.
He resisted the urge to go back up, though it pained him to. He'd chosen this specifically because it would be the least messy—his body would just float out into the ocean or sink or something, and probably disintigrate eventually—and because it would still be painful to himself. He deserved more pain but he didn't know how else he'd do it since he wasn't particularily strong. Not now.
He used to be. And he deserved every form of torture he'd ensued(the fact that i don't rlly know what this word is-) over everyone... and more.
And so, as Muzan felt himself slipping out of consciousness as the water flowed into him, he thought of everyone he ever knew—whether the experiences with them were pleasant or not—and thanked them. He apologized over and over as he slipped away from the world of the living.
~~~
Kokushibo was smiling to himself as he ate his breakfast, excited for today.
"Why are you so happy?" Yoriichi asked skeptically.
He said nothing and continued eating, wondering how he might ask out Muzan.
He'd been planning for some time now and had decided, finally, to ask him out. Especially since it was Muzan's birthday.
He felt that he wanted him to have the best day today since every other day had been absolute shit. And besides, he figured Muzan would say yes. He'd noticed him blushing around him so constantly.
Yoriichi leaned on the table, looking annoyed. "By the way, are you going to open that letter Kibutsuji gave you? I heard he gave them to all of his friends," he commented, nodding to himself. "I overheard him telling you to open it today. Or are you smiling because of the letter?"
Kokushibo hadn't, in fact, opened it yet. He'd actually kinda forgotten about it in all his plans. "Right!" he said, abandoning his breakfast going back to his room.
Yoriichi sighed and watched him run upstairs. "He's in love, isn't he," he said to himself, grumbling.
Kokushibo opened the letter cautiously, noting how the paper looked a bit smudged with ink.
His eyes landed on the first words, smiling to himself as he was met with Muzan's handwriting. Willing himself to read it slowly and not only skim through it, he started down the letter, his smile wavering on his face for a while. But as he reached the middle of the paper, it slowly slipped away forming a frown in it's place. The frown deepened to a look of sheer horror and he dropped the letter as his eyes consumed the last word.
He turned abruptly and ran back down, ignoring Yoriichi's questioning looks as he harshly pulled on his shoes and ran out the door in a panic.
Yoriichi glared at him. "What now? Has he gone to confess his love to him?" he said, sighing.
He went upstairs and picked up the letter which looked a bit crumpled at the bottom. He skimmed through it then placed it on the table. "Muzan is a fucking idiot," he said, following his brother's tracks downstairs and out the door.
~~~
Kokushibo knocked furiously at Muzan's door and the fact of a devestated woman met his. She was Muzan's mother.
"Is... Muzan...?" Kokushibo whispered, dread swimming in his stomach.
She looked down. "He's... I think he left home early. He left a note on his bed... And he gave us each one a couple days ago," she mumbled, lifting a paper. It clearly said something different than Kokushibo's but he figured it had some sort of thanks and then apologies and then explanations as he glanced at it.
His face fell and his arms wrapped around his stomach. "He's dead?" he said, his voice coming out cracked.
Muzan's mother flinched at that but Kokushibo was too preocupied to notice. Muzan was dead.
A hand was placed on his shoulder and he turned, numb inside.
Yoriichi gave the woman an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for you loss, Mrs.Kibutsuji. I'll... take my brother now," he said pulling Kokushibo away.
~~~
Kokushibo found himself in a park sitting next to Yoriichi who was glaring at the ground.
"Yorii?" he said hoarsely.
Yoriichi glanced at him. "Hm?"
"Why did he die?"
He sighed. "He was worrying too much about you, I guess."
"But why? He had only to worry about himself! He didn't have to worry about me—us—anyone but himself! He was getting the threats. He was getting all of the hate and yet... he did this for us?? He didn't say once in the whole letter that he died because he couldn't handle it for himself anymore! He said it all because he was worried about the lashback on us!! He was worried about us when he should've worried about himself!!" Kokushibo spat, glaring at the ground.
"Michi, he was a selfless fuck in this time. He used to be... otherwise, but he changed, I suppose." Yoriichi looked at his brother with a look of pity that had nothing to do with Muzan. "But he's gone and you can't change that or the reason for it."
"No!! He can't have died!!" Kokushibo looked up. "I can't let him die!" he decided, standing abruptly.
Yoriichi stood as well and his voice came out more of a command, "Kokushibo. I want you to sit down."
At the nickname—the name Michikatsu had heard most of from Muzan, he felt himself break. He sat down and Yoriichi stood in front of him with a stern look.
"He's gone and you cannot change that. You can't change the fact that he was who he was. I need you to think about it. Just accept it. I don't care how hard it will be, but you have to accept it. You'll just pain yourself more if you don't." Yoriichi's eyes were narrowed in a glare but when his brother started to cry, his gaze softened. He wrapped his arms around MIchikatsu, feeling that he couldn't bear him to cry over so dead person.
Michikatsu sobbed into Yoriichi's hug, letting himself pour out. "I was going to tell him I loved him," he said between hiccups. "I was... I was going to..."
"Shh," Yoriichi murmured, "don't talk until you're ready."
And it was quite a few minutes until he was ready, but when he was, he rubbed at his eyes and looked up at his brother.
"Today was his birthday," Michikatsu mumbled. "He... on his birthday. I'm sure he did that on purpose."
Yoriichi gave him a sympathetic look. "Perhaps he did. But we will never know. Why don't you... invite your friends over to our house? I'm sure they'll need some help through this as much as you do. Take yourselves through the process together, at least," he suggested.
Michikatsu had never known his brother to give Muzan any sort of proper acknowledgement and at that, he was surprised. But he nodded and stood, pretending not to notice all the people around them staring.
"Alright... Will you help me call them?"
Yoriichi nodded. "Of course."
~~~
Dear Koku,
Or Michikatsu? Kokushibo? What do I call you?
I always wanted to call you my lover.
I know it's quite sudden, but I really love you. I have hoped against hope that one day I could tell you. But I couldn't tell you when everybody was hating you for being my friend—and I feared their reaction if you were dating me. If you did like me, of course.
But there was a reason I said nothing, and I apologize if it makes you uncomfortable knowing I've been crushing on you for a while now though you may not like me in that way at all.
I just found myself so deeply in love with you all the time and you were most likely one of the main reasons I've been able to make it quite so far in my life.
I always loved how you were. How you act, how you talk, how you walk... everything. You were always just so beautiful to me. I'm sure others see you like this as well. How could they miss such and amazing person?
I adore you with all my heart and my being and my mind. I want to stay here with you forever but I know that would only bring pain to you for being seen with me. I know you don't want to be targetted for knowing me as much as I don't want you to be hated on because I love you.
Yes... I love you. Too much for my heart to handle sometimes. You make me so happy and I want to live so much longer with you by my side.
But I can't.
I can't live, Koku. I want you, and everyone else, to be content. If me being dead brings happiness to people, then why not give them a time to be happy?
I know how much you'd blame yourself for this though it was purely my own decision, so I need you to know that everything you've done for me has made me ever the most happiest person alive. I need you to know that you're worth everything, every breath, every smile, every little moment. So please keep living for me. Please don't blame yourself.
Make a life you can live in happiness with me gone now. Make a life you can grow up as someone known as the amazing Koku and not the Person Who Made Friends with Kibutsuji. Please be happy for... for anything you love.
You're very dear to me, and I love you, Kokushibo. I love you so, so much.
I promise to think of you till the very end.
You may not see me anymore, but I promise that I'll be watching you. I'll make sure your life goes as heavenly as possible because you are heaven. You're the greatest person to exist.
I love you, Michikatsu Tsugikuni.
I love you.
In hopes of your well being and greatest happiness, Muzan Kibutsuji.
{Word count: 4825}
I thought I had not motivation
Ig i lied to myself (my motivation always tends to come when i have to finish my hw the same day!!)
ngl this was both depressing to write and fun
and i hate it but i love it yk?
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Crash and Burn || N.K x reader
Summary: Nanami Kento can never have what he wants. Life just isn't that way for him, Jujutsu sorcery and all. He is Icarus, trying to fly to safety, trying to escape the hell that was his prison, his maze. And you, you are the sun. You make him feel warm. You make him feel like he can do anything. But everyone knows what happened to poor icarus when he flew too close.
A/n: I'm sorry in advance for this one, I promise I’ll make it up to you guys with something happier :’) and I left the warnings a little vague so that I don’t spoil the whole fic, but i'm sure you can guys what happens! Please don't read if these things are triggering or harmful to you! This is loosely based off of the tale of Icarus, for my What Could Have Been collab !
WC: 3.7k
Warnings: mentions of blood/slight gore, loss, death
It had been a long day.
The man couldn’t count the amount of curses that he had taken care of throughout his day, and he couldn’t count just how many close calls he had while doing so.
Slowly he walked towards his bedroom, pausing only for a moment to take off his suit jacket and drape it over a lone chair near his desk. Soon enough, he was sitting on the edge of his perfectly made bed, hands held together in his lap loosely as he tried to ignore the screaming of his body.
From the pocket of his pants, his phone pinged. Once, then twice. He could check it tomorrow. He needed to sleep. Nanami Kento had already given all of his energy to the day, obvious from the way that he could hardly muster any other facial expression aside from a deep frown.
Slowly, he fell backwards onto his bed, letting his eyes shut from the weight of his exhaustion. He wasn't even sure if he had dreamt that night. All he knew was that he had eventually made his way to his pillow, but still woke up on top of the blankets, his perfectly made bed now slightly disheveled with a ghost of his body pressed into the mattress.
He shuffled back towards his small kitchen, starting to pull out a mug from his cupboard, when he noticed that he wasn’t alone anymore.
“Morning Nanami!” You chirped, giving a small wave of your hand as you did.
He groaned slightly, fingers grasping his favorite mug, “ I should have never given you a key.”
“It was me, or Gojo.”
You were sitting on his counter, lazily sipping at a cup of coffee, peering at him from over the edge of your mug.
It was domestic. A sight he would have wanted to see in another lifetime.
He watched you for a moment, ignoring every beat of his pounding heart. For the past few months, Nanami had been wrestling with his internal monologue and bubbling feelings for you. He knew he couldn’t have you, he shouldn't even want you. This line of work was dangerous, a curse could take you away from him at any moment. And he wouldn’t allow that. He couldnt allow that.
You motioned to the still warm pot of coffee, waiting specifically for him. “You’re going to need that for what we’re dealing with today.”
Nanami busied himself with pouring his cup, forcing his hands to steady as he did. When he finished, he brought his eyes back to yours, “What’s on the agenda for today?”
You paused, a slight look of concern crossed your face that he couldn’t ignore. It wasn’t like you to display your negative thoughts. Nanami knew you well enough to know that much. You were one of the few people that he knew who could still put on a brave face, but in the way where you would look across towards him, smiling despite a curse bearing down on you. You would always take care of other people first, fussing over their wounds and taking a gentle approach to bandaging their wounds, even if you were ready to pass out.
“Well, we’ve got two grade two curses, and a potential unregistered semi-grade one.” You start, setting your mug onto the counter beside you, “Three hostages…and well, you aren’t going to like this but, they’ve got a few of the students.”
Nanami stilled, mug halfway to his lips as his eyes searched yours for a moment. It wasn’t like most of the jujutsu students couldn’t hold their own, but with the idea of a semi- grade one curse looking over their heads, he knew it wasn’t something they could risk.
“Why isn’t Gojo going after them? Or a higher rank sorcerer?”
You sighed, climbing down off the counter, and instead leaning against the faux marble, “They didn’t say why he wasn’t, and honestly I haven’t seen the guy in a while.”
Nanami shut his eyes, mulling over the mission at hand while taking a long sip of his coffee. Eventually he opened them again. “I suppose we should get going then.”
You nodded, pulling out a pair of keys from your pants pockets, “I’ll drive us there.”
He glanced your way, a certain distrust in your driving ability clear as day. While he trusted you as a jujutsu sorcerer, and as a colleague, he knew that you had a tendency to speed, take sharp turns, and blow through intersections when you could. All of which were typically not on purpose, but with the dire task at hand, he wasn’t sure if he should let you drive. But trying to argue with you, when you were hardly hiding your worry wasn’t something he wanted either.
Nanami took your mug and his, dumping their contents out and setting them in the sink. “Okay.”
The drive was quiet, aside from the fast drumming of your thumbs on the steering wheel. He tried to ignore the slight idea that this could have been normal. You in the driver seat, because he could never say no. Nanami taking your hand while you drive, thumb brushing over your knuckles. It could have been the domestic life that he wanted, that you might have wanted. But instead, his stomach was filled with lead, knowing that what lays in wait could be the one thing that takes you away, or that takes the chance of life away from the students.
Walking onto the scene, a ruined warehouse reflected in his glasses, his face emotionless. Nanami could hear you muttering the words to drop a veil. He scanned the area, looking past bloodied rubble, and a few broken weapons. Ones that belonged to Maki Zenin.
From his side you strode forward, stopping short by a pair of green glasses. The lenses were cracked, and one of the ear supports had been snapped off. He watched as you picked them up gingerly. No words were exchanged between the two of you. Instead, he took the lead, making his way to what had been the door of the warehouse. He could hear the clap of your hand as you brought it to your mouth.
Two students laid still on the concrete. Nobara Kugisake was the closest to you both. She had a nasty gash across her temple, and seemed to have been clawed across her side. The blood on her body had already dried, and the pool of it around her was closely following. A few feet away from her was Maki. She was in similar shape, though the claw marks covered her arms and legs, and the blood on her face seemed to have been from the top of her head.
Neither of the two showed any consciousness. Not even when Nanami knelt down in between them, taking a moment to assess their wounds further.
Just as he moved to look up, your hand flew to your side, pulling out a small knife and throwing it just past his head. He turned his head, directing his attention to the source of your action. A single curse stood near a window, your knife deep in its outstretched hand. The thing chuckled, pulling its arm back to look at the knife for a mere second before yanking it out and tossing it to the floor.
Nanami stood up abruptly, already reaching for his own weapon.
In the dark of the room, he couldn’t see the curse very clearly, but just by the amount of cursed energy it was giving off, Nanami knew it was the grade one curse.
“They called out your names for help, did you know that?” The thing’s voice cracked with every word, much like the sound of breaking glass. It was unpleasant and unsettling. It cocked its head to the side, eyes glowing with malice.
From his side, you stepped closer, seemingly trying to put yourself between the curse and the students. “Where is he?” You asked, voice steady despite the situation.
The curse stayed at the window, another guttural laugh leaving its mouth, or the gaping hole of gnashing teeth that Nanami was assuming was it’s mouth.
“Oh, you mean the third one?” It’s voice was coy. The curse was trying to toy with you.
Nanami held out his arm to stop you from moving any further. This grade one curse, or if that was even true, was a threat. Its intelligence and ability to speak, to think, to prey so easily, made it so much more dangerous.
Nanami glanced at you from the corner of his eye, “Take Maki and Nobara out of here to safety. I’ll deal with this.”
You didn’t move. Your hands were trembling, most likely with anger. You still hadn’t taken your eyes off of the curse. “He has Toge.”
You had taken Toge under your careful eye for some time. Nanami knew just how much the kid meant to you, even if you could never admit to it for the safety of Inumaki’s life. He could relate to the thought.
Nanami took in a breath, “Just get the other two out of here-”
Before he could get another word out, Nanami found himself being thrown onto his back, his blunt sword now feet away from him. The curse beared down over him.
The thing certainly was ugly. It was humanoid in shape, with the exception of a third closed eye on its forehead. It was a sickly white color, with dark stripes on the side of its abdomen and legs, matching those of a tiger. It’s eyes were red, and it’s mouth was wide, multiple sets of sharp teeth filling it.
It raised a clawed hand, but the curse didn’t bring it down in a way Nanami had expected. It grasped the top of his head, and slowly it opened it’s third eye.
Images flashed in his mind.
You stood with your back turned, leaning over the railing of a balcony, hand outstretched towards the setting sun, the glint of a wedding band caught a ray of light. You turned back, smiling at him in a way he would never grow tired of.
You were sitting at a table with him, hands grasping a steaming cup of what could be tea or coffee. While he couldn’t hear your voice, he could see you mouthing words, all before you would reach out to take his hand in yours.
You were dancing. His arms holding you close to his chest, your arms encircled around his waist loosely. You two were in sync, slowly moving around an unfamiliar kitchen.
“Nanami!” You called out, breaking the man out of his stupor.
You held another weapon, blazing with cursed energy, and charged towards him. The thing’s head snapped in your direction, third eye fluttering shut as it jumped away.
You swung at the curse, with an arcing motion, falling short of the beast. Another distorted laugh escaped the thing's mouth. You moved with precision, Nanami had seen this time and time again. It was like watching a waltz, moving in a way that was rhythmic, trapping your enemies in a hypnotic pattern. But for you to miss, that was something Nanami hadn’t witnessed before.
You took a step forward, a clattering sound following, as you kicked Nanami’s sword back to him. He moved to his feet, hand picking the weapon back up.
The curse took two steps back.
“Nanami, you take the kids out.” You spoke with finality, motioning with your hand ever so slightly toward the two unconscious students.
Arguing would be pointless. He knew that. He knew that you were strong, that you could hold your own. But your words made his stomach drop. He shouldn’t leave you. He couldn’t afford to let you die. He couldn’t fail you too.
He looked at the curse, it seemed to be analyzing the situation, or stalking the two of you. You were wasting time. Nanami looked back at you. He wasn’t like this. Nanami Kento was level headed. He didn’t hesitate or waver. He didn’t care about trivial feelings when in a dangerous situation. Yet he felt stuck in place. A new feeling of dread washing over him like a tidal wave. He could feel the unsteady beating of his heart.
A gentle touch to his shoulder brought him out of his trance. It was you. It was always you.
“Go, I’ve got this.” Your voice was soothing. He couldn’t hear even the slightest hint of worry. But he knew. Nanami always knows. You would put on a facade in the face of danger, anything to show your allies that you were okay. It was a way to lead your friends away from concern, and tunneling thoughts.
He stumbled as you pushed him behind you, using your arm to brace against the sudden attack from the curse. It’s clawed hand grasping at your arm, easily swinging you away. He watched as you tumbled, and slid into the nearest chunk of cement debris.
He called out your name, unraveling his spotted wrap from his blade. He mirrored his body to the curse, propelling himself forwards. His blade followed through, striking the beast on its arm and severing it.
He watched as it shrieked in pain, before its face twisted in anger. He moved to hit again, but the curse spun in place, a new arm already growing back. It fixed its eyes on you.
Nanami came to the conclusion fast. It wasn’t interested in him. As he brought his eyes to meet yours, Nanami could see that you already knew that.
He pushed away his feelings. He pushed himself to be rational. To think how a sorcerer thinks. To how he should think.
Nanami turned away. He moved to the students, picking up Maki first, slinging her carefully over his shoulder, then Nobara, carrying her in his arms as best as he could. Nanami made for the door, ignoring the sound of your heavy breaths and your blade making contact with the grade one curse. He left to the outside of the building, keeping his eyes from straying. He shouldn’t get in the way of your fight. You would be fine. You would be fine, and Nanami could continue to long from you at a distance, as he always had.
You ignored him leaving. You kept your eyes on the curse. It was after you, and you didn’t know why. It had kept it’s third eye closed towards you, instead relying on brute strength and its own energy.
It charged forwards, mouth curling into a nasty smirk. What was it smirking for? How intelligent was this thing anyways? It had only been minutes since you told Nanami to leave, and the fight had only grown in intensity.
You jumped to the side, rolling into a low stance, your knife held with it’s blade on its side, level with your face.
You wouldn’t win like this.
You sucked in a deep breath, pushing yourself to stand. It was time. You had been working on your own domain, pushing yourself past your limits for months on end, telling no one. You wouldn’t benefit from your friends worrying about you. They certainly didn’t need the stress.
You stuck your hand out, bending your fingers into a hand sign, and letting the words fall from your mouth.
“Dance with me.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a command. And as your domain expansion separated the curse and yourself from the building, into a dim room, a tiled floor under your feet.
Just like before, you took one step forwards, and the curse took two steps back. You stepped once to the side, and it stepped twice to the side. You were pulling from your own cursed energy, trapping the beast in your own trance, waiting for the perfect moment.
You were pushing your cursed technique out in beats of three, matching your steps with it until you were right in front of the curse. You raised the hand with your weapon, the curse raised it’s opposite hand, its arm shaking in retaliation.
A dance works with two in complete synchronization. This was no different. Your domain expansion only works when you are completely focused, completely in control. And you were.
You danced in tandem. You fought in tandem.
You’d swing and land a hit, you’d always hit. An endless torrent of attacks all to a three step rhythm, a rhythm the curse couldn’t ignore.
Your lungs were screaming with pain, an exhaustion you couldn’t shake. The curse would heal with every blow it took. It never dropped the evil smile, red eyes piercing your own. You moved to strike at it’s chest, but you missed a step, a beat. Your eyes widened slightly, and the curse took notice.
It gripped your shoulders suddenly, mouth widening and a chaotic ensemble of sound smothered your senses.
All at once your domain shattered in a crescendo of wailing instruments. You were on the ground, the beast had its clawed hand deep in your abdomen. The taste of iron filled your mouth.
It lowered it’s head close to yours. Up close the curse’s words weren’t hard to make out, taunting and sinister, instilling fear into every part of your body. “You’ll dance with death this time.”
You struggled to take in a breath, chest rising heavily and deflating quickly. You needed to snap out of it. The curse’s third eye began to open. Began to swallow you whole.
A voice broke through to you. It was one word, “eye” It was Toge. You didn’t know where he came from, and you couldn’t even see him, but you knew what he meant.
In a last ditch effort, you thrust your hand into the curse’s third eye, matching it’s own arm piercing your body. You felt your fingers close around it. Another one Sukkuna’s fingers.
You pulled with a violent tug, a rattling breath mixed with a bloody cough leaving you.
The curse fell back, clutching at its face.
Nanami had seen it all. He saw your veil drop, your domain drop, he saw you drop.
He ran forwards, his blunt blade already infused. He sank it deep in the creature's chest, over and over until it was gone. Gone for the time being.
That curse. It saw into his mind. It drove Nanami to fly towards you too closely, and to leave you alone to fight. And now he had to deal with its aftermath.
“Kento…” your voice made him freeze.
His world moved in slow motion, color draining from the scene. You clutched the finger in your hand. You were smiling. How were you still smiling? Despite the gaping wound you had sustained, and the exhaustion clear on your face, you shone like the sun.
And he was falling.
Nanami was on his knees at your side. He pulled you into his lap delicately. He cradled your head, lips pulled into a firm line. If he showed any emotions now, he wouldn’t be able to hold himself back.
You moved your hand with Sukkuna’s finger to his chest, dragging your hand downwards slightly. A bloody trail following behind. “Get this to the kid.”
He nodded, not allowing any words to spill out. He shouldn’t have left you alone. He shouldn’t have let you fight that thing. He was supposed to go back as soon as he got Nobara and Maki to safety, that was until the lower grade curses ambushed him. He wasn’t fast enough. He wasn’t skilled enough. He wasn’t enough.
“I know that look,” you breathed the words out, voice fading, “This isn’t your fault.”
His hands holding you tensed up. You knew him so well. And all he wanted was to know you just the same.
“You’ll be okay.” He spoke carefully, a lump in his throat never leaving. “You’ll make it.”
“I’ll make it, when you tell my story.”
He shook his head, “You have to tell it.”
“Kento, this is where my story ends. You know it.”
This is where his story would end. That's what it felt like.
You were clinging to life. Like a small thread that you were fumbling to keep hold of. “Promise me that you’ll take care of yourself? Okay?”
He nodded once more, his hand covering yours, the one that had taken the cursed finger. The one covered in blood much like the rest of your body. He brought it up to his lips, pressing your knuckles gently to them. The only act of intimacy he could allow himself.
He was losing you. Losing the one person who made him feel like life was worth all the pain and losses. Losing the one thing that he could’ve set out for.
He could have thrown everything all away for you. Leave behind the world of sorcery just as he had done before, but took you with him this time. He could have had you. He could have saved you.
He wasn’t sure when you stopped breathing. He wasn’t even sure when the reinforcements arrived. They asked him questions. Nanami didn’t know if he really answered any.
He had lost you. He had failed you. He felt like he had crashed, and been burnt.
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