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He couldn't feel anything on his upper left side, couldn't see from his left eye, couldn't hear anything from his left ear. He knew he was badly burned, skin gone to reveal singed flesh. If he still had his sense of smell, the stench of burned human meat would have made him gag. It was a miracle that he was still alive, walking unsteadily through the empty train station.
He descended down the stairs, having sensed cursed energy from down there. Waiting for him at the bottom of the steps were a group of grotesquely twisted humans, barely anything more than lumps of flesh with too long or too short limbs, mouth and eyes too wide or too small and placed where they weren't supposed to be.
Mahito.
So this was where it ended. Nanami thought of the beach in Kuantan, Malaysia where he would love to retire. He thought about the pile of books collecting dust back in his apartment, not a single page read yet as he kept saving them for the right time . A face and a name appeared in his mind.
Nanami moved. He was tired, so very tired, but he couldn't--
Nanami moved, and then stopped, chopped flesh belonging to former humans twisted by a curse littering the linoleum floor around him. The floor was sticky and slippery with blood.
Mahito appeared in front of him, one palm flat against his chest, smug smirk on his lips, but Nanami wasn't looking at him.
Haibara Yuu looked the same as he remembered, an apparition from his past, and Nanami wanted to go down on his knees and beg for forgiveness. Sorry, sorry, sorry, you were so young, I should have done more, I'm sorry I let you down.
He was beautiful. Nanami drank the sight of him like a parched man dying of thirst in the desert being offered water from the oasis. Haibara wasn't the bloodied, pale corpse on the morgue table that haunted him all these years. He was forever sixteen, clad in the black uniform of Jujutsu High and with a smile that reminded Nanami of sunny summer days.
There were so many things he wanted to say. An apology, a welcome, a thank you, a confession. He wanted to touch Haibara's face, wanted to gently trace that smile that he could never forget all these years. Nanami didn't deserve it, but he was feeling selfish.
Haibara raised his arm and pointed sideways. Nanami followed the direction.
"NANAMIN!"
Ah, Itadori. The boy looked broken, but still determined. Nanami felt a surge of pride inside him, for this boy who was kind and full of boundless potential. Itadori had a good heart like his Haibara.
Haibara touched his hand, looked at him with eyes full of adoration and love, and Nanami was suddenly sixteen going on seventeen again, shyly holding hands with his first love behind the school building on a clear spring day when the cherry blossoms bloomed.
"You have done enough, Kento," Haibara--Yuu--said. "Leave it to him. He got it from here. You have taught him well."
"But--"
"No, Kento, you have done everything you can. That's enough. Now it's time for you to go. Itadori is a great kid and a great sorcerer. You made sure of it."
Nanami smiled, a sad smile, but he felt relieved. That's right. There's nothing left for him to do here, not in his condition.
"You got it from here, Itadori," he said to the boy.
He felt pain like he had never felt before. It tore his body in half and disintegrated it to nothing. He heard his name being shouted, but it seems so far away.
Darkness took over.
.
.
.
Yuu was still holding his hand. Nanami squeezed back and cupped Yuu's face, large hand calloused from time spent handling cleaver caressing it, thumb touching the corner of the other boy's lips.
"I'm sorry," Kento whispered.
There's sadness in Yuu's eyes. "I'm sorry for leaving you too soon. Did you miss me?"
"Everyday," Kento said and Yuu made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob.
"Me too, Kento, but I never wish that you will be here early."
"You were too early. I should have done more. I could have prevented it."
"I should have been stronger. That way I might have stayed longer by your side."
Kento closed his eyes and shifted his arms until Yuu was in his embrace. “It’s alright. We are here now. Together.”
“Yes, together.” There’s a smile in Yuu’s voice. “Hey, Kento?”
“Yes?”
A pair of soft lips touched his own. Kento opened his eyes in surprise. Yuu grinned.
“We never got to do that,” Kento said.
“I know, but we have an eternity here to do that again and again.” Yuu was blushing, red spreading from his cheeks to the tip of his ears.
“Is this the afterlife?” Kento stared at the blinding white nothingness around them.
“Maybe? I don’t know.” Yuu shrugged. “Hey, kiss me again, then we can figure it out later.”
Kento let out a small laugh and bent his head down as Yuu leaned up. Their lips touched again in a kiss.
This was enough. This was good. They were separated too soon and now in death they were reunited. Together again just like all those years ago.