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The late afternoon sun peeks through the curtains, reflecting against the little mirror sat on the desk. Tiny rainbow prisms catch on her gloved fingers as they comb through the soft locks of the boy currently sitting on the floor between her thighs. Nobara's hair, covered in amber dye, is tucked behind her ears, tiny flecks of color peeking out from under her collar where her ends touched her skin. Her nose scrunches up as she glares at the label of the pink hair dye container clutched in one of her hands, trying to figure out how long it should stay in before they need to wash it out.
It's peaceful and quiet. For once in her life, even her thoughts have slowed down to a gentle stream instead of the usual rapid flow of consciousness.
"I want the pink, I think. It would match my hair," Yuuji proclaims with a grin, holding up a small bottle of pastel pink nail polish above his head for Nobara to see. A soft smile tugs at the corner of her lips and she nods to herself, even though he can't see her face with his back to her.
"Maybe you do have some taste after all, who would have thought," she can't help teasing him, but he can hear the smile in her voice making him chuckle, too.
They've started these little beauty nights a couple of months back, after an especially tough week when all three of them ended up even more battered and bruised than usual. Nobara has always appreciated a little pampering, never one to not indulge herself in an extensive skincare routine or a relaxing bath. Even if she has to do it herself most of the time.
That weekend she just got out of a nice long steaming shower and was rummaging through the communal fridge looking for her face masks she could swear she stocked up on recently when Yuuji stumbled upon her.
"What are you looking for?" his voice came from behind her back as he came to rest his hip against the counter next to her, completely nonchalant to the fact that she only had a towel wrapped around her body.
He used to get so freaked out whenever he accidentally walked in on her changing or saw her walking around the kitchen in just an oversized shirt and underwear, face flushing red all the way to his ears from embarrassment as apologies spilled from his lips. Megumi was much quicker in getting used to her "lack of shame and respect for her classmates" as he called it. It took him a week at most before he stopped blushing and averting his eyes in embarrassment, instead just grumbling complaints under his nose whenever he saw her in any state of undress. Maybe having grown up with an older sister helped.
Yuuji, on the other hand, the sweet boy that he is, seemed all but traumatized by her lack of decency. He'd probably never get over it if Nobara didn't yell at him about how if they were to cohabitate he needs to accept that he will sometimes see parts of her body he normally wouldn't. As much as she likes dressing up, she wants to be comfortable in her living space, let her body breathe without the constraints of a bra or pants. And she wasn't about to change her routine for anybody, and especially not for the sake of preserving Yuuji's modesty. Her yelling must have freaked him out more than the sight of her body ever did since it didn't take him long after that to become fully de-sensitized to the appearance of the bare skin of her legs and stomach.
Well, at least until they all came to terms with their feelings for each other. And suddenly, the presence of bare skin, while still a regular occurrence, invited soft glances and casual touches, carrying a certain heavy tension into their daily interactions.
"Sheet masks. They're much more refreshing if they're stored in the fridge," she mumbled as she opened the vegetable drawer, moving a pack of tomatoes out of the way as she finally saw the stack of thin packages pushed to the bottom. She pulled out a few with a triumphant look on her face, turning to grin at Yuuji and waving the masks in his face.
Only then did Nobara get a proper look at Yuuji's face, his skin slightly flushed and water droplets caught in his hair, clearly fresh out of the shower, too. He was wearing his favorite yellow hoodie, the one that Nobara knew exactly how soft it felt against your skin from the many times she stole it from his closet. A purple bruise was starting to bloom on his right cheek from a particularly bad blow a cursed spirit landed on him during a mission the day before. His eyes seemed darker than usual in the dim kitchen lighting.
"I never really understood the point of those? They look so slimy and wet, can't imagine why you'd want to put that on your face," he stuck out his tongue in mock disgust.
"Pfft, I wouldn't expect you to understand the appeal of skincare, you idiot. You boys and your complete lack of appreciation and care for your physical appearance, it breaks my heart," Nobara heaved a dramatic sigh before reaching up to Yuuji's head to lightly flick his forehead. But then an idea popped into her head. She crossed her arms over the towel still wrapped around her, a mischievous look on her face, before continuing,"Fine, you leave me no choice. I'm feeling particularly generous today, so I'll share some of my products, introduce you to the delicate science of treating yourself."
"Huh?? That's not at all where I was going with this!"
"Oh shut up, you'll like it, just trust me. Or do you have better things to do than spend time with your girlfriend?" she glared at him with murder in her eyes. She knew that she was playing dirty, Yuuji would always turn into a puppy with his tail between his legs when she got like this, ready to do anything and everything she asked for. But that night she didn't care, she wanted - needed - to unwind all the stress from the week and his presence always seemed to calm her down. Even if she'd never admit that out loud.
"Okay okay, if you insist on torturing me," Yuuji raised his hands in front of his body with a huge grin, "Who am I to oppose you?"
"Oh shut up before I actually decide to torture you," Nobara rolled her eyes before punching his shoulder at the sight of his smug expression.
"Awww, but then who would you use as a pillow for your naps," he threw one of his arms over her shoulders and she couldn't help but relax a little at the touch. She breathed him in subconsciously, the familiar smell of his laundry detergent washing over her like a warm blanket. "Now come on, I wanna see what all this fuss is about."
She honestly couldn't predict just how into it he would get. She only showed him the absolute basics that night, doing a short routine of steaming and cleansing their faces and ending it with a refreshing sheet mask. It was fun, they got to relax and refresh and take care of themselves, giving their minds and bodies a well-deserved break from the burden that comes with being jujutsu sorcerers. Nobara honestly expected it to be a one-time thing, something he tried for her sake and then moved on. So you can imagine her surprise when, next Sunday, she found him sitting on her bed, clearly fresh out of the shower, and with a bunch of skincare products spread out in front of him, looking up at her with an expectant smile. Almost like a kid waiting to play with new toys.
And then it just kind of became their thing. They always invited Megumi to join them, too. After all, everything they did was better when it was the three of them together. But he usually either declined their invitations or came up with elaborate excuses about how he didn't get the appeal or it simply wasn't his thing. Honestly, Nobara could see right through his bullshit on that, but there's only so much threatening to kick his ass she can do before he calls her bluff.
So it's usually just her and Yuuji, taking some time to care for themselves in the midst of all the chaos always looming over their lives. They started off from skincare, but quickly branched out into other activities, especially once they both realized how much easier touching up their roots is with the help of another person. So they added hair into their routine. And today, apparently, they're adding manicures.
"You're all done," she runs her hands through Yuuji's hair one more time, making sure she didn't miss any spots, before taking off her gloves and flicking them onto the coffee table. She rises from the bed and stretches her back, careful not to bump into the boy still sitting on the floor in front of her and making sure her arms don't touch her own dye-covered hair.
"Thanks. Yours will be ready for a wash in like 3 minutes," Yuuji notes after checking the timer he set on his phone a while back. He turns around and gives her a toothy grin. Nobara would like to say that her breath doesn't catch anymore whenever he does that but that would be a lie. At the risk of sounding extremely dramatic and cliche, his smile does still feel like the sun breaking through the clouds on a rainy day. God listen to yourself , she thinks, you've gone soft, Kugisaki.
She reaches down to flick his cheek before heading out into the bathroom to take a shower.
At this point, they have the hair-dying process down to perfection. They always try to bleach at the same time, although Nobara tends to get preference since she has more ground to cover. By the time they wash out the bleach, Yuuji will have mixed the perfect shade of amber and start working through her roots before they swap positions so she can work on his hair instead.
If she were honest, she'd admit that she didn't need him to do all her hair and mainly just check the back of her head where she can't see by herself. But this is one of the few times that she's allowed herself to simply indulge in being taken care of, getting help even if she doesn't need it. And if she were completely honest, she'd probably have to admit that she just likes his fingers playing with her hair too much to ever let this routine go now.
She steps into the shower, letting the hot water beat a rhythm into her tense shoulders. No matter how many missions they go on or how much she stretches before bed, her muscles seem to have forgotten how to relax. The stress of risking your life every day, fearing the people you love won't come back, has found a permanent source of tension right below her neck.
She shakes her head, physically banishing those thoughts. No point dwelling on that now and ruining the rest of her evening. She quickly rinses out her hair, washing her body in the process, before stepping out and wrapping herself in the fluffiest towel.
She paddles out back into her now empty room. Yuuji must have gone to wash out his hair in his own bathroom. He'll be back soon enough.
Nobara takes her time with her post-shower routine. Moisturizing her skin, toweling her hair, but also making sure to apply antibacterial lotion to all the new scratches and bruises and wounds, covering them with a protective cream to speed up the healing process.
By the time she hears the knock on her door she's dressed back into her pajama shorts and a soft black hoodie, that might or might not belong to Megumi, wet hair secured back by a fluffy headband with cat ears on it.
"It's open!" she yells but the door is already swinging, Yuuji coming through in a whirlwind of energy. He's changed into his own loungewear, hair still dripping water down his neck, arms full of snacks and face masks, he must have gotten from the kitchen on his way back.
"I got you the cucumber one since you were complaining about your skin looking dull yesterday," he says as he settles back down on the carpet, placing his haul onto the low coffee table. Nobara hums noncommittally as she grabs the other headband lying on her desk and joins him on the floor. She throws the headband in his direction, already reaching for the mask pack he put in front of her.
"You should really dry your hair properly, you're dripping all over my carpet, dumbass" she snickers, not even surprised when Yuuji instead proceeds to shake his hair out aggressively in retaliation. "Oh my god, stop. Are you a dog or something?" she whines but she can already feel laughter bubbling up and out of her chest. Before she can stop herself, she's giggling, with Yuuji staring at her like she's crazy, the tiger ears on his headband sticking out above his hair.
He just lets her laugh, though, shaking his head as he takes the mask pack out of her hands to open it for her. He grabs his own pack, taking out the wet sheet and carefully placing it onto his face, making sure to pat it down into all the crevices of his face, and looks back up at her.
Nobara doesn't even get a second to catch her breath before she's laughing again.
Because of course, of course, he got himself one of those animal-face-print masks. So now his face is a distorted caricature of a cartoon tiger, his huge grin blending into the print of the tiger's open mouth, the look completed by the ears on his headband.
The image is so bizarre Nobara completely loses control of herself. She's laughing full out now, shoulders shaking as her body rolls down onto the floor. The entire time, Nobara is trying so hard to get her breathing under control, but the image of his face is etched into her mind and every time she thinks she's over it the laughter just keeps pouring out of her. By the time she calms down, her lungs have started hurting.
It takes her a while to get her shit together, tears from laughter blurring her vision, as she breathes in deep, willing her beating heart to slow down.
"So I take it you're a fan? I ordered a whole batch, you can try some next time too," he winks at her, a look of absolute child-like delight on his face.
God, he's such an idiot.
She doesn't even try to stop herself from leaning across the table and pressing her lips to his softly. It's barely a peck, but he almost freezes in place, a self-satisfied smile forming on his face from her quick show of affection. She pulls back slightly, making sure to stay only a few centimeters away before whispering against his mouth: "Over my dead body."
She's starting to pull back when he moves to her side and tackles her. She has no time to react, which given her extensive combat knowledge is not a good sign, but then again his super-human strength tends to over-power her quite easily. Not even a second later she's ready to cry again, his fingers digging into her sides, tickling her in all the worst places.
"Take it back, Kugisaki. Just admit you like this mask and I'll let you go," he's sitting on top of her, straddling her hips, holding her arms to her sides with his thighs. His fingers are still dangerously close to her sides, one wrong move and he's back under his mercy. And the fucking tiger mask is still stuck to his face, gravity making the edges separate from his skin, making him look borderline insane.
She could just give up and humor him. In fact, she should do that, the position she is in now doesn't create many openings for her to get out of his grip, even less so to turn it around considering Yuuji's size and strength. But she's never been known for doing what she should. Or take the easy way out.
She starts squirming, her hands reaching up as far as she can, just barely getting to the sliver of skin peeking out above the waistband of his pants. She digs her fingers into the soft skin around his hips, a triumphant grin blooming on her lips when Yuuji yelps and lets up his own tight grip on her sides. She's almost wiggled out from underneath him when he gets his bearings together and grabs her again.
This time he doesn't relent so easily. She can't help but scream out, both from laughter and a little pain as her sides start to ache. At this rate, his fingers are gonna leave bruises if he's not careful.
"Stop. Oh my god, okay, I'm sorry!" she gets out in between sobs and laughter. "I love the masks, now get off me before you crush my organs," Nobara pushes at his chest, desperately trying to catch her breath. He lets up on his efforts to drive her crazy a little, sitting back onto his heels and smirking down at her, clearly very happy with himself. She's one dumb comment away from smacking him.
But before Yuuji even opens his mouth the door swings open again.
"Kugisaki, are you okay?" Megumi barges in out of nowhere, a look of something between worry and annoyance clear on his face.
He stops dead in his tracks upon noticing the mess of limbs they're stuck in.
"What exactly are you guys doing?" It takes him only a second to fully take in the scene, eyes landing on Yuuji's face, the tiger mask having shifted around but still very much stuck to his skin and headband slipping down onto his forehead from moving so much. "What is that on your face?"
"Oh, Fushiguro. What are you doing here?" Yuuji sets his face into a blank expression, eyes widening in surprise, the perfect picture of innocence. As if he's not still on top of Nobara, holding her down into the floor, knees digging into her hips.
She can see Megumi's patience run out in real-time, a very familiar look of I don't even know what's happening here but I'm so done with you starting to form. He raises one eyebrow at them, lips pressing together in a tight unimpressed smile before stepping further into the room and closing the door behind him.
"I was getting some food in the kitchen and heard yelling. And considering Nobara is usually quite capable of fighting on her own, I figured it wouldn't hurt to make sure everything is okay," Megumi snorts as he plops down next to the coffee table still covered in snacks and various beauty products. He grabs a bag of chips before continuing: "Now, care to explain what exactly is going on here?"
Nobara has to commend him a little in her mind for his nonchalance. There used to be a time when he'd get flustered by their tactile nature, although he'd always mask it as annoyance with their antics. It took weeks, if not months after their relationship became official that he finally started taking their physical affection for granted, as natural for the two of them as breathing. He'll still sometimes pretend like it's a huge burden on him to be roped into their cuddling sessions, right before nuzzling his nose into Nobara's hair and squeezing Yuuji's waist tighter. Frankly, it's ridiculous, if you ask her.
"Yuuji can you get off me, you weigh a ton," Nobara finally manages to get one of her arms free and proceeds to shove the boy off of her. He relents, throwing her a quick apologetic smile before moving to her other side, across from where Megumi is currently staring at the contents of the open bag of chips in his hands. She sits up, resting her back against her bed, and drags her hand up to fix the headband that has slipped down to her neck. Her fingers catch on the knots in her still slightly moist hair that seem to have formed from rubbing her head against the carpet so much. She sighs, pulling up the headband to keep her bangs out of her face, before turning back to the boys sitting next to her.
Megumi is reaching across the table to help Yuuji fix his own headband above his forehead, while Yuuji finally peels off the grim face mask. She barely catches how Megumi's fingers seem to linger a little longer than necessary, brushing through Yuuji's hair for a moment before retreating. She smirks to herself at the sight.
"Thanks. We were just about to properly start our self-care night when Nobara decided to insult my choice of face mask so I had to prove her wrong. Obviously," Yuuji lets out a yelp when she flicks his forehead at the statement.
"If this is about the monstrosity you just took off your face, I gotta side with Nobara on this one. There is no way the manufacturer didn't intend for it to cause nightmares to those who see it," Megumi says, mouth curving into a lopsided smile.
"Aha! I knew you'd support me, Megumi," Nobara announces, sticking out her tongue at Yuuji and reaching over to fist bump Megumi, who is still chuckling to himself about the whole thing. "You know the only reason you won against me was because I didn't expect you to full-on tackle me over something like this. Under normal circumstances, I would have kicked your ass."
"Of course you would, I don't doubt you for one second," Yuuji nods, a serious look on his face, but the crinkling in the corners of his eyes gives his amusement with the whole thing away. She has half a mind to lunge at him just to prove a point, when she feels a warm hand squeeze her thigh, right above her knee. Megumi watches her carefully, clearly noticing the murderous intent in her eyes, not really moving his hand, just keeping it there as if to ground her. He tilts his head at her slightly, a soft smile on his lips, as if saying it’s not worth it.
Yeah, she’s definitely gone soft.
“Just you wait until our next combat training, I’ll kick your ass so bad you won’t be able to sit down for a week,” she huffs out, reaching to interlace her fingers with Megumi’s. Holding hands is good, normal even, but something about the warmth of his hand on her bare thigh left goosebumps behind. He doesn’t protest, just squeezes her hand back and lets her fidget with his fingers.
Yuuji just keeps looking at the two of them, the softest look in his eyes, as if all the love in the world was gathered in the warmth of his dark irises and he couldn’t hold it in anymore, letting it spill out into the room. Nobara can feel the weight of his emotions even across the empty space between them.
The late afternoon sun has slowly started to set, covering the entire room in a warm golden glow, tiny dust particles flying around them. Suddenly, she wants nothing more than to lie down and have somebody pat her head as she falls asleep.
“Nobara was just about to do my nails, you know. She could do yours, too. Oh my god, we should get matching nails!”
Of course, you can always trust Yuuji to be forever full of energy, instead.
“What am I, your nail tech now?" she huffs through her teeth but she's already pulling Megumi's hand to her face for a closer inspection. His nails are short but neat - she can work with that.
"When exactly did I agree to this? This is your thing, why am I being roped into this?" Megumi starts to groan under his nose almost immediately. He'd probably up and leave now if it weren't for Nobara's death grip on his hand and Yuuji's wide expectant smile, pleading him to stay.
In the end, Megumi had gone soft, too.
So, he stays. He complains the entire time, of course, but Nobara can swear she catches him smiling when he thinks they're not looking. She ends up putting on her own face mask, getting started on Yuuji's hands first as Megumi rummages through her selection of polishes. Apparently, pastel pink nails were pushing his limits too much. Well, at least he's here at all , she thinks, baby steps and all that.
In the end, it's exactly the kind of quiet self-care night she needed in the first place. Yuuji is in charge of selecting music while she carefully applies polish to his fingernails, Megumi looking over his shoulder and providing unsolicited advice on what songs to play. The sun sets below the horizon by the time she moves on to Megumi's hands, covering them in a deep black color.
They joke around, laugh, and gorge themselves on snacks. At one point Yuuji gets into one of his signature affectionate moods and pulls both of them into his chest, one hand going straight into Nobara's hair and the other settling on Megumi's waist. The two of them just look at each other and grin before snuggling back in, continuing their conversation as if nothing happened. It's quiet and peaceful and warm.
In the end, she was right. It's so much better when it's the three of them together. Taking care of themselves and each other, as usual.