Chapter Text
Nanami Kento never breaks his words. He's the kind of man that is so responsible to a fault, that he would always strive to fulfill every responsibility no matter how trivial it is.
And he's never late.
Every single task is carefully scheduled and timed accordingly. Despite being a workaholic, he knows how to draw the thin line between work and family; he knows how to put you ahead of his hectic itinerary. So when he texted you that afternoon, there should be no reason for you to be up in the middle of the night, worrying.
𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚: 𝐻𝑢𝑠𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 ♡︎
𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦, 𝐼'𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑆ℎ𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑦𝑎. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟, 𝑜𝑘𝑎𝑦? 𝐿𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡.
But it's also already midnight and not once did he answer your calls or even texted back which he never does. Kento always makes sure to check on you, because he's such a protective husband fussing over every second of your safety. Hell, your husband could call you even in the middle of a mission just to make sure you came home safe and sound.
As you camped out of your bedroom and took refuge on your worn-out couch, you couldn't help your mind spiraling into the worst case scenarios you could muster. When Kento said that he'll be back, he meant it. And come home he always did. He always came back into your arms; often tired, a couple occasions hurt and in pain. But he spent it all with you. You fought, cried, apologized, kissed each other senseless because it scared the living daylights out of you. Every single day, you feel the lurking fear of him at death's doorstep but you stood your ground all through it because you are his wife. You love him and in return he love you more than anything he could ever have in his life.
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"Kentooooo, we're going to be late if you don't stop hogging me, you cuddly, big feline," you whined as you tried to extract your body from the tangle of arms and long legs pinning you back to your bed.
You only received a fake, inaudible groan that is sooooo not Nanami Kento at all. Being married for three years, this was the first time you woke up before him acting like this. This is so unlike Kento. At this hour, your better half should be already busy preparing breakfast because that's how he shows affection for you. Underneath all that stiff and perfectly-fitted suit is your sweet husband who never ceases to show you how he loves you in actions.
You tried to get out of his hold for the second time but a pair of strong arms pulled you instead towards your supposed-to-be 'sleeping' husband. Those arms that are now circling over your waist into a tight brace, nose burrying onto the back of your neck. You can't help but let out an exasperated sigh with a roiling undercurrent of fondness. Your husband is now acting like a (adorable) big baby.
But you can't blame him. These past few weeks were too stressful for the both of you, especially for Kento. Between your endless work and Kento's (alarmingly frequent) dangerous missions just to make ends meet, the two of you barely have the time to spend in small gestures of domesticity as this. And the night before was another exhausting argument that resulted to painful words that never should've been said.
So you let yourself bask in this precious moment; and welcomed the warmth of your husband's arms. You turned around and leaned in to place your head on his chest to hear the comforting beat of his heart. A reminder that he's still alive to stop the onslaught of intrusive thoughts. 𝐻𝑒'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑒. 𝐴𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠.
Wish you could stay like this forever. Wish you could keep him away from the cruel world of jujutsu. But you can't, because that would mean stripping a part of Kento that he's struggling to resolve. Even though he denies it, you knew that underneath his excuses of hating jujutsu work, is the guilt of the past that he will never forget. He's treating it as his retribution, but you knew deep inside that it also---although painstakingly slow---it helps him reconcile with his pain.
"Hey," you were startled with Kento's gentle coax and now you're met with beautiful, cosmic black orbs that held so much untold feelings begging to be noticed.
"Listen to me," he said to gain back the thoughts drowning in his eyes. "I might not say this often but know that I mean it with my whole being... I love you. I.LOVE.YOU.SO.MUCH."
Kento Nanami, the man of few words, said it with so much conviction and affection that it hurt.
It was so overwhelming that it brought tears to your eyes. And it was leagues different the first time he said it to you. Six years ago, he couldn't even look you in the eyes, cheeks as flushed as the petals of sakura raining around the two of you, as if joining the fast thumping of your poor, smitten heart.
And now it were those words again, this time too heartfelt and strong but also gentle like a brush of feather on the cheeks. How could you possibly prevent a shaky sob from escaping from your chest?
"Hey, hey... Don't cry, my love. Please don't cry," Kento gently hushed as he peppered your face with soft kisses.
"I love you," he said once again. "Never forget that, okay? Never forget that, wherever I am. I will always love you wherever I am."
And then he sealed it with one final kiss on the lips.
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You were awoken by sunlight escaping the blinds of your apartment. It's already morning. Headache pulsed through your temples as you hastily whipped your head around to search for a certain blond-haired man. But it was quite. And it was as deafening as the night before.
You feel like going crazy at this point. You already went through your contacts of every single jujutsu sorcerer that knows your husband but to no avail. Nobody answered. Your friends and families also haven't seen Kento.
𝑊𝐻𝐸𝑅𝐸 𝐼𝑆 𝑀𝑌 𝐻𝑈𝑆𝐵𝐴𝑁𝐷? 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒---𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒. 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠.
One thing is plausible, something happened at Shibuya.
You need to go. You need to find Kento yourself or else you'll go insane. Being kept in the dark for this long will not end good for you. With one, last-ditch effort, you called your husband's phone again. Finally it went through! You eagerly slipped your phone on your ear, hoping to hear the voice you've been missing.
"Hey... Kento, my love. Where were you! I was worried sick, I thought something bad---" you're rambling came to a halt when you heard a voice hitching on the other line. It's not your husband.
"Kento, my love? Where are you? Answer me please... Just answer me. Please, I just need to know you're okay, " you muttered, suddenly tired and helpless.
𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑜𝑘𝑎𝑦. 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜---
"N-nanami-san, Nanamin... N-nanamin," and the boy who answered burst into sobs that sent chills in your spine.
Something happened.
𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑. 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜---𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑠𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑤.
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Shibuya, normally bustling with people from every corner, felt like a ghost town. Dead bodies littered everywhere, kids, adults, old people. It was a mess. Streets that once hosted skyscrapers and small shops alike are wiped out and in place is just a waste land. You could hear the heartbreaking wails of people who survived or probably people who lost their loved ones in the battle that destroyed Shibuya in just one night. The air is filled with the tangy scent of blood spilled everywhere.
And this was the exact nightmare you have been dreading. The nightmare that came to life to haunt you. You want to step back and forget what you've seen. But you need your husband first. Just your husband. For once, you need to be selfish and ignore all of their pain because your husband comes first. He will always come first.
After walking for who knows how long, you finally saw that familiar mop of pink hair. The kid you and your dear husband have cherished like your own, hunched over in a corner. It tugged your heartstrings how the boy look so heartbroken. You and Kento already treated him like a son and seeing him like this hurts as much as the sobs you heard not too long ago as he repeatedly chanted your husband's name like a prayer. That in itself is a huge red flag of an incoming tragedy in your life, but you chose to ignore it.
𝐴𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡. 𝑁𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒---
"Yuuji? My dear," at the sound of your voice, the poor boy finally looked up, and tears pooled in his eyes.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" You asked as you took the boy's cheeks gently in your arms in attempt to calm him down.
"Nanamin, Nanamin... Nanami-san," and Yuuji cried again into your arms.
"Yuuji, hey, it's okay... It's okay. Where is Kento? What happened Yuuji? Calm down," you're starting to panic yourself when you realized that you can't see Kento anywhere.
"Yuuji... Where is Kento? Please... Answer me," you're crying now too because that nightmare is suddenly back, clutching viciously in your heart as you look for the love of your life in frenzy.
"I'm sorry, Nanami-san... I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect Nanamin. I'm so sorry," fat tears rolled down his flushed face. And as you followed it's trails you suddenly caught a glint of a familiar golden band so strikingly similar to the one you're wearing on your left hand.
You don't want to believe it but it's happening.
And it finally did. Yuuji crying as his hands carefully clutched on your other half's ring. The ring that you chose together to seal a promise of tomorrow, together. The ring your husband never took off, let alone be on another person's hands, ever since the day you got married.
The pain is unbearable. You ignored it for so long that you forgot it existed and now it's seeking vengeance. The blocks of a once benign pain residing in the heart, turned malignant, and now it's thawing into tears. But it's also too severe, that no amount of crying will ever make it go away.
And it hurt so much, like your heart was forcefully ripped away with no anesthesia. It felt like losing a part of your soul. The future built together is now gone.
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After crying with Yuuji in Shibuya, days passed by in a blurry. You felt so numb, even the relief of crying is showing no mercy.
A short funeral was held with nothing but clothes. You weren't even able to see your husband's dead body for the last time; nothing was left of him but the ring and his phone and the remnants of torn clothes. A lot of tears were shed, a simple exchange of nods and look of sympathies from people who you couldn't even remember.
𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑠𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑? 𝐼𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑡? 𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑒𝑝𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓?
And now alone in your home---if you can even call it a home---you miss him so much. The tiny space of your apartment felt too massive now, like a gaping hole that continues to expand. Walls that were filled with hanged pictures of you together suddenly felt suffocating. Because painted unto those frames is happiness that will never come back. Your husband is gone and he's not coming back.
𝐻𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑚𝑒. 𝐻𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒.
In rage you threw those frames to the floor, the crash sending shards of glass everywhere.
"You left me... You left me! You promised me. How could you?!"
You couldn't stop yourself, because stopping means welcoming the pain once again and you can't handle that.
"You told me you'll never leave me behind. So where are you now, huh? What about our plans? Our family," you shouted at no one because this house is empty.
"I haven't even said goodbye..." Your voice shaking with the tears flowing back again.
"I love you Kento, I love you so much... My love, I haven't even said goodbye---I miss you---I miss you so much, it hurts. Please... Please, come back to me. Wherever you are, come back to me..."
𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐼 𝑎𝑚.