Chapter Text
Sometime later, Inumaki was awoken by the jolt of the car driving over a pothole. He exhaled slowly, sad that his nap was over, and peeled open his eyes.
Before him was a long winding road, canopied by the same flowering trees as before. Glittering sunbeams poked through the branches, reaching down to gently touch the pavement. Inumaki gazed at the scene in amazement as the car rode smoothly down the road.
Unsure if he should comment on it, he did what any sane human would do. He took a sip of coffee. It was lukewarm, so he couldn’t’ve been asleep for too long. He was glad that Okkotsu didn’t get him an iced coffee, otherwise it would’ve tasted disgusting. Oh. Okkotsu. Inumaki thought. I should probably apologise to him. Inumaki was about to type into his text-to-speech app when he looked up and saw Okkotsu’s face.
His eyes were wistful, golden sunbeams dancing across his face and reflecting into his deep blue eyes. A tear trickled down his cheek, glittering in the sunlight. On the car radio played an English song that Inumaki couldn’t quite translate, but as the melancholic tone flowed through his ears, he allowed the feeling to wash over him. Maybe he wouldn’t say anything just yet, and permit himself to be in the moment.
The moment lasted until the final note of the song, when Okkotsu began to speak. “I love that song so much,” he commented. “It’s about falling in love with someone and then watching them leave.” He wiped away the tear and cleared his throat. “I learned English when I went abroad to Africa for a year back in high school,” he added.
«It’s a beautiful sounding song,» Inumaki replied, «but the lyrics sound quite tragic.»
“Beautiful things often end in tragedy, Inumaki-kun.”
«What’s that supposed to mean?»
“Nothing, nothing,” Okkotsu laughed. It reminded Inumaki of crystal chandeliers swaying in the summer wind and sunkissed peaches hanging in the orchard from his childhood. “Anyways, I wanted to thank you for something.”
«What?»
“I didn’t get to tell you earlier, but my brain was stuck somewhere when you texted me to ask for help with the cookies,” Okkotsu exclaimed. “The text pulled me out, and I also got to help make delicious cookies. So thank you.”
Inumaki didn’t know how to reply. Fortunately for him, Okkotsu didn’t seem to be expecting a reply, so he just sat back in his seat and enjoyed the rest of the drive. Soon, Okkotsu pulled off the main road and onto a small dirt road, which led to a small parking lot with two other cars. Inumaki recognised the dark blue Rolls-Royce Cullinan from their dorm parking lot, meaning that was Fushiguro’s car. The other car, a red Mustang GT Convertible, he assumed belonged to Maki. Why do all the Zen’in kids drive such fancy cars? Inumaki wondered.
After Okkotsu had parked his car next to the others, he unbuckled and turned to face Inumaki. “Hey,” he asked gently, “is it okay if I have a hug?”
Inumaki nodded. Okkotsu gave comfy hugs from his (very limited) experience. Okkotsu leaned over and wrapped his arms around Inumaki, holding him close. Inumaki wrapped his arms around Okkotsu in turn, and buried his head in his shoulder. “You don’t have to apologise for anything,” Okkotsu whispered in his ear. Inumaki held him tighter.
After they parted, Inumaki grabbed his tupperware of cookies from where they had migrated to the floor and hopped out the car door. Okkotsu had already exited the car and was grabbing a picnic basket and blanket from the trunk.
I can carry the blanket, Inumaki offered as Okkotsu locked up the car.
“No need, Inumaki-kun.” Okkotsu smiled warmly. “Besides, if you have too many things in your hands, you won’t be able to talk to me!”
Oh, I uh— thank you. Inumaki performed the sign language equivalent of stuttering, much to Okkotsu’s amusement.
“Come along, Inumaki-kun. The picnic site is this way.” Inumaki followed Okkotsu as he headed up a well worn path, cutting in between flowering trees and lush underbrush.
Where even are we? Inumaki asked, curious how such a magical looking place could exist so close to university.
“We’re about 100km away from school,” Okkotsu explained. “This piece of land is a natural area belonging to Gojo— my cousin-slash-Fushigruo’s legal guardian-slash-Itadori’s mom who’s actually his dad but not really’s husband… that bit is complicated…”
Maki tried to explain it to me a bit ago, but it still doesn’t really make sense, Inumaki provided.
“That’s fair.”
The pair fell into silence, listening to the rustling of nature as they made their way to the picnic site. After a few more minutes of walking, they came upon a clearing filled with lush grass and surrounded by beautiful sakura trees in full bloom. Strewn upon picnic blankets lay Itadori, Fushiguro, Kugisaki, and Maki, all soaking in the sun.
“Hi!” Okkotsu called out. “We’ve arrived!”
“Oh yay, finally!” Kugisaki cheered. “What took you guys so long?”
As Okkotsu and Inumaki set up the third picnic blanket to adjoin with the others, Okkotsu explained their endeavors in the kitchen the previous night. A good laugh was shared around the group, amused at how neither of them had (a) remembered to set an alarm for the cookies, (b) text anyone their whereabouts, and (c) the existence of Panda. (“He’s quite the odd fellow,” Maki added, “always trying to copy off of my calc homework!”)
As Inumaki laid out the food he and Okkotsu had brought, Fushiguro explained how he had gotten Inumaki to share his location with him, lest another “missing persons” incident occur.
“Oh!” Maki exclaimed. “Fantastic idea. We should all share locations with each other, so we can make sure none of us ever get lost… if that’s okay with everyone?”
The group agreed with a collection of yeses, thumbs ups, and nods, and thus locations were shared amongst the group.
“Now,” Itadori announced, “I wanna try some of these delicious cookies that nearly ended in missing people.”
Go for it. Inumaki offered the tupperware out to Itadori, who took one delightedly.
“MMMMM!” he exclaimed. “These—” he pointed at the half-eaten cookie in his hand— “are really freaking good!”
At Itadori’s proclamation, the cookies were passed around, and similar sentiments (though slightly less enthusiastic on some people’s parts) were shared.
•••
As the sun stretched through the sky, Inumaki began to feel drowsy. He had eaten a quantity of delicious food, everything from raspberry pie to tuna mayo onigiri. (thanks Maki!)
He tipped his head back to stare at the few clouds that had re-entered the endless blue plane and heard a gentle voice in his ear. “Inumaki-kun,” Okkotsu asked, “are you tired?” Inumaki nodded softly. “You’re welcome to lay down and rest your head in my lap if you desire.” Inumaki nodded again.
Yawning, he leaned back and settled his head onto Okkotsu’s thigh, turning his body sideways slightly so as to not stare directly at Okkotsu’s face.
Before he closed his eyes, he gazed out upon the view of his new friends laughing and enjoying food in the afternoon light, surrounded by sweetly singing birds and trees swaying gently in the breeze.
He was happy to be there.