Chapter Text
Naoto had always gotten letters in her locker. All, of course, love letters, even after the rumor of her true sex had spread. Thankfully, however, the number of small pink envelopes sealed with heart stickers and lipsticked kisses had been on a steep decline since the beginning of the new school year. It seemed like people were finally getting the message that she wasn't interested.
It was for this reason that, when she opened up her shoe locker at the end of the day, the envelope sitting inside atop her shoes was a bit surprising. Naoto scowled at the envelope before slipping it into her uniform pants pocket with a sigh. After slipping off her custom platform-soled uwabaki and swapping them for her small platform boots, she straightened up and snapped the locker shut with a click. Naoto was pushing open the door when she heard pounding steps down the staircase and a hasty shout of, "N-Naoto! Hey, wait up!"
Recognizing the voice, she allowed herself an exasperated half-smile and turned, shaking her head bemusedly. "Kanji-kun." She gave a nod of greeting. Kanji halted beside her, slightly winded.
“H-hey, you headed home already?”
“Yes, I was just leaving. Did you need something?"
Kanji looked at the worn push-bar handle on the door. "Uh... Yeah, so I need help in math. We have th... Wait, r-right, o-o'course y'already know about the test. 'm, uh, not ready for it, so..." He paused and suddenly flushed slightly. "I-I mean, if, i-if you're busy, then, tha's fine, I don' wanna im-impose 'r nothin, b-but I mean, if... If yer free...?
Naoto's brain translated his stutters and implications into proper sentences as he spoke. "I'm struggling in math class and I am not prepared for the upcoming test on that subject. Are you willing to assist me in my studies?" She nodded a little to herself, considering her translation relatively accurate, before directing a more vigorous nod at Kanji.
"Yes, I do have a large empty block on my schedule this afternoon until about..." She slipped out her phone for a split second to confirm her what she remembered of the day's schedule. "...Yes, about four-fourty-five," she concluded, nodding again. "What location did you have in mind?"
Kanji started slightly. Even after a year of interacting with the detective, her superpowers of perception and understanding still freaked him out sometimes.
"Er..." Aiya would be too loud, and the library too quiet; the pavilion and Souzai Daigaku were out, too, as it had been blustery all day. That left their homes. "Uh, my place then, I guess."
"Excellent. Let's be off then," Naoto said, taking off with a smooth, yet impressively swift, stride.
The pair headed out, away from the school campus and towards the shopping district. Naoto walked with purpose, maintaining her initial speed, while Kanji awkwardly kept pace.
A few minutes of silence passed, Kanji desperately casting around for topics of conversation. His eyes finally landed on the envelope, which was partially visible sticking out of Naoto's pocket.
“Hey, issat a letter? I didn' know people were still givin' 'em to you.” Naoto couldn’t help but note the nervous edge to his words.
Regarding what he had said, she had actually almost forgotten she was even carrying the letter. She slipped it out and frowned. Unlike the vast majority of the letters of affection she'd ever received, there was none of that girly, romantic, saccharine... Something. "My Prince Charming", "Detective Prince", "solve the mystery of my stolen heart", hearts and stars, stickers, perfume, cursive handwriting, pastel everything; she always gagged a little at the very thought of the whole aesthetic. However, its absence here was... Intriguing.
“It seems that for some reason I am still the target of romantic gestures. I tossed out a batch earlier; this one must have arrived since,” she added, indicating the envelope in her hand.
Kanji looked round at her with a frown, though he supposed he shouldn't really be surprised.
“You never read 'em? Not even one?”
Naoto shrugged.
“I never plan on reciprocating, so why bother?”
Silence hung in the air a few seconds.
“Maybe y-you should, should read this one. I, I mean, just cause—just f-for shits and giggles, right?”
Naoto was not amused. However, this envelope did seem to differ from the usual. Curiosity always got the better of her in the end—it was in her nature as a detective, after all. Her fingers curled beneath the edge of the flap, and she slit it open just as they reached Tatsumi Textiles. Without a word, Naoto slipped the envelope back into her pocket. Kanji glanced at her nervously before opening the door and calling out, “Ma! I’m home!”
His mother greeted them from behind the register as the two teenagers slipped off their shoes and climbed the narrow staircase to the house above the shop. They sat down at the low table in the living room and Kanji pulled out his textbook and notebook, opening each to the appropriate page. Naoto sat up and got down to business.
“What part do you not understand?”
Kanji looked down sheepishly.
“Um. All of it?”
Naoto frowned at that. This may be more difficult than she thought.
“Look at this one.” She pointed to one of the simpler math problems on the page. “Did you not learn this last year?”
Again Kanji turned uncomfortable and looked anywhere but at her.
“Uhm... I dunno, I wasn’t really... Going to school last year." Glancing at Naoto and seeing her expression begin to turn ominous, he hurriedly added, "until, y'know, senpai helped me out.”
That didn’t match what she thought she knew about him. Last year, when she was interested in talking with him about the case, he'd said he was going to school.
Without realizing it, Naoto had slipped into interrogation mode. She kept her suspect pinned down and quieted with her glare, and her voice lowered back to the masculine tone that she had used for years before she met her Shadow.
“Kanji."
“Y-yeah?”
"Do you remember our first encounter?"
Kanji turned three shades redder at the memory.
"Yeah..."
“And during that interaction, did you not tell me that you were attending school?”
“Oh that, um, uh... I kinda, um, that was sortof a... I mighta been, uh, not totally honest?”
Naoto's expression was quickly turning from stern and concerned to downright dangerous, and poor Kanji was the target of her icy eyes.
"So how much school did you"—her eyes flashed—"honestly attend last year?"
He mumbled something noncommital.
Her next sentence was through gritted teeth.
"Speak clearly, Tatsumi."
"Prolly... 'Bout eight months, total..."
Kanji had always been taller than Naoto—hell, who hadn't? But him especially. It certainly didn't help that he'd undergone a growth spurt since last year, leaving him at an imposing 6'7" (201 cm), while Naoto had barely grown enough to hit 5'15/16" (154.78125 cm). ("I consider precise accuracy to be valuable in all things," she'd said at Yosuke's snicker.)
Despite this, however, Kanji suddenly felt as though they had swapped heights.
Naoto, for her part, was fully blinded by instinct. Her voice fell lower still, and she began rising to her feet when she next spoke.
"Do you mean to te—" nostopdontfight
She suddenly stopped, mouth still open in mid-word.
Kanjisnicehegoestoschoolnow dontmakehimhurtaboutthepast hesourfriend
The room was left in ringing silence. Naoto's gaze dropped to the floor, and her right hand went to the side of her head.
"I... Sukuna...?" She breathed.
imherewhenyoureallyreallyneedme
Then, abruptly, time stated moving again. Naoto looked both horrified and embarassed, and Kanji straightened up, confused.
"I... I am... I sincerely apologize, Kanji-kun. I... I don't know what came over me." She let herself fall back to the floor, sitting on her heels, and adjusted her cap.
"Do... You ever hear Take-Mi anymore?"
Kanji hesitated.
"Well... Y'know, he was never talkative t'begin with, but, uh..." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Um, once. Back in February, righ' after Senpai wen' back t'the city, an' righ' when you wen' out on tha' case in Sapporo. When I almost got in a fight with some third-years. Take-Mi, erm... He tol' me t'stop. That I'm better 'n them. An'... Well, y'know. Never got into that fight, righ'? ...Why d'you ask?"
"Sukuna-Hikona just... He talked sense back into me. And... Said he's still there, when I 'really really' need him."
"'S good to know they're still there f'r us," Kanji rumbled quietly. Naoto blinked, somewhat surprised, and looked up at Kanji. He was staring at his pencil, which sat abandoned atop his math book.
"Yes... It is," she concurred softly. A wave of guilt suddenly washed over her.
"Kanji-kun, I-I truly do apologize. My actions were completely unwarranted and did not mean... Rather, I... My apologies. I still struggle to express my emotions properly, so I always seem to express indifference, interest, or anger. However, that may not be how I truly feel. Or, that usually is not how I truly feel."
Kanji seemed to take a moment to absorb and translate what she had just said. Eventually, he grunted and spoke.
"First off, don' 'pologize. I get it, I wanna 'pologize to Ma left'n right all th'time. But y'know what? Tha's all jus' parta you, righ'? Gotta accept it, an' all. We already did that, an' we got a buddy in our hands t'make sure we don' forget." He tapped his head. "An' secon' off, i's fine if you can' show emotion. Cause even if y'can't show it, y'can always tell it, righ'? Use... Put all your big fancy words to good use," he added, before sputtering out and halting like a car run out of gas.
"That..." Naoto was half-stupefied, half-awed—stupefied at the length and fluency of his little speech, and awed at its eloquence.
He caught her eye for a fraction of a second, and they shared a look that said much more than words could've. Kanji looked away and blushed again.
Naoto decided it was a good moment to change the subject back to math.
“Regardless. This is simple, do you remember the Pythagorean theorem?”
An hour later the books were closed and the pair were instead talking about a popular crime show. Naoto explained to Kanji about how ‘this is not how a real police team works’ or ‘this process involves much more paperwork than what's shown’. While Kanji couldn’t really follow what Naoto said half the time, he still let her rant just to hear her voice.
However, their conversation ended prematurely when Naoto noticed the time.
“I’m sorry but I really must be going,” she said, rising from her place at the table.
“Oh yeah, o-of course, I’ll walk you out.”
It certainly was getting late; the early summer sun cast long shadows as it approached the horizon, and the street lamps that lined the shopping district were already beginning to buzz and flicker to life. Naoto turned to Kanji and tipped her hat slightly.
“I’ll be off now. Till morn.”
“Yeah, see ya. Thanks for helpin' me out. May even pass this time.” He said with a grin.
“If you remember those theorems then you just might.” Naoto cracked a small smile before turning to head towards the bus station.
After boarding the bus and choosing a seat by the back, Naoto finally slipped the envelope from her pocket, removing the paper inside. Her eyes widened as she skimmed the sloppily written message.
If you're up for a challenge then solve the riddles to find the clues
I have 88 keys but cannot open a single door
What am I?
Naoto reread the message, intrigued at the challenge. However, solving a simple riddle couldn’t be too hard. Child's play, really. Nevertheless... She folded the note up again and slid it back into the envelope. She turned to the window and watched cars pass by, her mind somewhere else completely. This little scavenger hunt reminded her of the one her grandfather had her solve. That had been much simpler, and last time Yu was in town to give her a hand. She leaned against the cool glass window of the bus as it carried her to her apartment.
“Did she open it?!”
“I dunno, I didn’t see her open it, Rise, she's prob'ly thrown it out by now.” Kanji said into the phone, feeling sick with himself. Gaahhh, he KNEW this was a bad idea!!
“What! but it was such a good plan...” Rise’s voice was dripping in disappointment.
Kanji sighed, tired of Rise’s supposedly great dating advice turning sour. He knew in the end it was probably his fault for screwing up the supposedly great dating advice, but he was starting to feel tired of it all.
“But hey, there's still a chance! Naoto IS a detective, after all, she'll probably LOVE this!” Rise chirped reassuringly.
He decided not to mention that there was also a chance that Naoto didn’t see him the same way he saw her at all.
“Thanks... Ugh, I guess.” He yawned and glanced across the room at his current knitting project.
“You can thank me the day when Risette's Master Kanji/Naoto Matchmaking Plan works out, heehee!! Ah~!! Senpai's texting me, gotta go Kanji! Baiii!!!”
“Night Rise.” She'd ended the call before he'd finished speaking, but he didn't mind. 'S just Rise being her excitable self. Setting down his phone, he padded over to pick up the unfinished newsboy-style cap, and perhaps work on it to help ignore his worries. He really hoped that this would turn out okay.