Chapter Text
“Oh and Nanamin?” Gojo stopped and turned to face him, “Try and be a little nicer with him, alright? He’s had a rough past month and well- he’s just a kid” he then proceeded to smile softly, no trace of teasing or prank plotting, just a genuine smile.
He remembers vividly the words Gojo had told him before taking Itadori on a mission for the very first time, and those words always made their way back into his mind when he was impressed by the kid in any way.
“Itadori-Kun” the golden boy looked at him, “I can sense more than one shadow in the hallway, so please walk in front of me, I’ll keep an eye out behind us while you make the way” he nodded and followed Nanami’s orders. He was obedient… sometimes, but since they had that heart-to-heart in the mortuary, he started to listen more, he was becoming less reckless, a little more observing of his surroundings, still restless to fight, but… He was improving, growing.
And it would have been a lie if Nanami said he wasn’t proud of him.
“There’s a curse waiting at that intersection” he didn’t point, but Nanami understood, “And one behind me to the right, don’t turn to look” the boy with the pink hair kept walking forward, “They must have planned an ambush, It’s likely that there are more we can’t see for now. Let’s try and avoid getting separated, fighting back to back will minimize the area we will have to look out for” he nodded again, and as soon as they reached the intersection, Yuuji sprang on the curse before it could do the opposite, Nanami turned and awaited the one following them to jump him too.
“I still need to teach to the other two first years, and Ijichi is quite the busy bee, soo…” he rolled his head to face Nanami, who, feeling what was coming, instantly shut him off: “No I will not look after him” but no conversation was this easy with Gojo, “Then what about te- “
“If I had wanted to be a teacher I would have asked to, but I didn’t because I don’t want to teach” the strong sorcerer sat up from his sprawled position and sighed, “Can you at least bring him on missions with you? He’s not going to be an obstacle, and you can get him to do most of the work!” Nanami glanced at the other man, “Why are you so desperate to dump him on other people? Frankly, It’s disrespectful” Gojo made a questioning noise as Nanami pushed his glasses up, “I’m not trying to get rid of him - unlike the higher-ups - I want him to get stronger, but I have to teach and go on missions to avoid suspicions. If he would train at least half of the time I wasn't with him it would speed up the process. Not that we have a lot of time in the first place” he huffed out, falling back against the couch, pouting.
“I’m not asking you to bring him with you on every mission - even if it would be amazing - just every other, I’m not asking you to babysit him. If he gets hurt just drop him off at Ieiri… Please, Nanamin?” The sound of the beg made him look at the blindfolded man, even with the fabric and glasses in the way, the stare was intense, and something inside Kento - surely it wasn't his rational brain - told him to accept.
And he did.
He sighed, “You owe me for this”, the other sorcerer smiled, “Sure, but I know you secretly enjoy mentoring him”
The curse finally lunged forward and basically threw itself on his blade, he just needed to move it slightly to hit the spot. Behind him something collided with the wall, the inhuman sound it made reassured him that it wasn't Yuuji.
“Nanami-San! Above us!” he looked up to see a big mouth descending, and as he was about to move to fight it, another curse popped up behind the boy, “It’s yours” he gripped the handle and walked past Itadori, who was already looking for a way to damage the threat hanging from the ceiling.
He’d never admit it out loud, surely not in front of that dumbass, but yes, he was right: Nanami felt somewhat… Satisfied, from coaching Itadori.
He was a pretty blank canvas, willing to soak up any information tip or trick, and Nanami - after the initial annoyance of having to explain - felt satisfaction in seeing him apply those lessons.
After easily slicing the curse, he turned to see a big revolting tongue trying to sweep into his mouth the pink-haired boy, he checked to see that the coast was cleared and cut off the muscle, making the curse scream in pain and anger since all of a sudden, arms (definitely more than two) and legs grew from the walls. “Wait- didn't Ijichi say there was a rumour saying someone got walled alive in here?” the boy slowly walked back, “I thought it was a baseless rumour but…” Nanami doing the same, “It must have been born from the terror and anger of the victim: this is the unidentified grade one we’re after” he heard Yuuji gulp down air as the hands started searching for them, “To exorcise it we need the main body, chipping down his limbs should force him to come out. Don't waste too much energy on them” the boy made a noise of agreement and started punching the arms, Nanami wasted no time, doing the same.
“Hey, Nanami-San, Gojo sensei isn't… Forcing you to take me with you, isn't he?” He had asked on the car ride to a past mission’s cursed place, a curtain wasn't needed that day, so Ijichi didn't accompany them, he was driving this time.“I appreciate the concern Itadori-Kun, but no matter how stronger than me Gojo is, he cannot force me to do anything” having the boy in the passenger seat constantly either moving or fidgeting was making him irritated, but he kept starting forward, “I can assure you that It was my choice to bring you on missions with me”.
From the corner of his eyes, he could notice Itadori perking up at his words, “Really? Wait– does that mean you like my company?”
I do, and we make quite the team on the field, don't we?
“Don't get ahead of yourself, I get assigned to missions that you should be able to handle. And if things get out of hand it is certified that I can finish off the curse and get you out of trouble, it was simply the most convenient and safe way to train you” the smile instantly faded away, and now Nanami felt bad.
He adjusted his glasses, “... Although, monitoring your strength and ability increase has been… Rewarding” and the first year beamed at what was the maximum compliment he could ever get from Nanami…
For now, at least.
The limbs vanished as they chopped them off, but the curse wasn't budging, “Nanami-San! This isn't working!” Itadori had stopped attacking, he had noticed as well, “He must be hiding his weak point” with a firm flick of the wrist, he cleaned his weapon of all the blood, making it drip on the ground
As much as he hated it, the best idea was to split up and look for it, maybe, taking one of them at a time would make the curse cockier, and reveal his weak spot.
“Let’s split, if you find any clue or need help don’t hesitate to shout” Nanami instantly turned and started walking away, dodging some of the limbs that attempted to hurt him.
They were sitting face to face in two separate hospital recliners, Itadori was patting with a cotton ball full of oxygenated water a deep cut on his forehead meanwhile Nanami placed aside the towel he was keeping his own injury covered with, Ieiri-San already treating it. There had been a heavy silence since they entered the room, Nanami asking that Itadori would be treated first even if he was obviously the one in more pain.
“I should have been more careful… I’m sorry” he looked up at the boy with the eyes of a beaten puppy, Nanami had to restrain himself from dropping his serious façade, but he needed to be firm.
“Thinking about what you could or couldn’t have done, won’t get you anywhere, Itadori-Kun” He removed his glasses as Ieiri shifted next to him, looking straight at the boy, “What you can do is realize your mistake, and avoid repeating it in the future”.
He thought he had gotten his point across, but Yuuji was still staring at Nanami’s wound, “But you got hurt… because of me… badly”
it took him a lot of willpower not to sigh and snap at him, so he swallowed the urge, “As you are aware, my job is to also make sure you don’t get hurt, so these… occasions, are to be expected from time to time”
You saved my life, and you won’t even allow me to take a light hit for you without blaming yourself?
The boy opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Ieiri-San intervened. “You’re good to go Itadori and someone is waiting outside, please tell them to come and exit from the backdoor, I’m almost finished with Nanami” He looked up at the man with those puppy eyes and cute sad pout and hopped off the bed, making space for another injured sorcerer.
It had taken Ieiri more than she thought to finish off Nanami due to the poisonous after-effect of the hits the curse left behind: they had come in late, but now it was dark outside.
He walked out of the clinic to find the pink-haired boy sitting in one of the waiting room’s chairs, hoodie covering his face and head tilted to the side. sleeping: the exhaustion must have gotten to him. Sukuna’s mouth was open and babbling on the cheek he wasn’t covering with his hand.
“Oh hey 7:3 man, you missed the brat wallowing in sadness and crying like a high school girl, it was pretty entertaining” Hearing the king of curses talking down on the boy never failed to make his blood boil, Itadori had cried because Nanami had got injured, and it wasn’t anything life-threatening!
“Go away” he softly spoke as he approached the sleeping figure and, with what strength he had recovered, picked up the boy. “Wowowo! What are you doing blondie? Put us down!” he immediately shouted, Nanami was surprised Itadori didn’t budge, but then again, he must have been pretty tired, “Us? This is about Itadori, not you, now go away” Sukuna must have recognized the path back to Itadori’s temporary dorms, and picked up the hint of anger in Nanami’s voice, “Oh? So you do care for the brat! Man, and I thought you just pretended to like him… fools, both of you” and the horrid mouth vanished, leaving him in silence as the soft breathing of the sleeping boy and his footsteps became the loudest sounds. As he arrived in Itadori’s temporary room, he took off his shoes and placed him on the bed, covering him with a blanket.
He quietly closed the door and was internally debating if leaving him a message would be a good idea when Gojo turned the corner, instantly noticing Nanami.
He braced himself for whatever teasing he was in for, but the teacher simply walked past him, with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. It made him self-conscious, and therefore his face reddened.
He had been walking for a few minutes when two hands appeared in front and behind him, trapping him in, especially when a mouth appeared above him.
He sliced the one behind him and started retreating, when at one point one eye appeared next to the mouth on the ceiling, and he instantly knew that was the weak spot.
Two more hands joined the three and they were all working on mobilizing him, he quickly evaded to the side and sliced another, pointlessly, since another spawned in its place.
The ceiling was too high for him to reach, and throwing his blade at it was recklessly stupid, so as he kept dodging, not bothering to fight back, he planned a solution.
The curse probably wanted to consume him, so he would use its hands to bring him up to the mouth… so the only way to go up was…
He dodged closer and closer to the mouth until a hand curled up in a fist, and before it could hit him, he sliced away the finger, forcing the palm open, and before the curse realized his plan, he jumped on said hand and finally hit its eye.
At first, nothing happened, the hands kept attacking him and he could even feel more cursed energy flowing through them, but out of nowhere, a blood-freezing scream interrupted the relative silence wrapping around the abandoned building. In an instant, all cursed energy vanished.
He hypothesized that, just like he thought, the curse had revealed his weak point by splitting up, and that Itadori must have exorcised it. On this train of thoughts, he started walking back, occasionally half-shouting an “Itadori-Kun?” without getting a reply.
It was a few minutes later that his phone started vibrating in his pocket: It was Ijichi.
“Itadori-Kun has exorcised the target, he’s currently here at the entrance of the curtain with me, but…” He unconsciously started walking faster, “Is he hurt?”, a shaky breath came from the other side, “No, he was stressing me to call you because he couldn’t find you, but I assume that you are alright?” He hummed, “I have been called from the school that I’m needed on the other side of town soon, is it ok if I leave you two here and come pick you up later?”
So right after a mission, they had to wander around town? Perfect…
“The sooner you go, the quicker you are to come back..?” Ijichi’s answer was positive, “Then go, I’ll be there soon” he faintly heard the boy’s voice in the background, the manager sighed, “All right, I apologize for the inconvenience” and hung up. Nanami had finally found the stairs to reach the bottom floor as he felt the curtain above him disappear.
Itadori was waiting for him at the entrance of the construction site, leaning on the door. “Ijichi-San was called to assist Megumi and Nobara on a mission” he looked at the ground, “I hope they don’t get hurt…” He missed them, it was obvious, and whenever anyone would mention them, his mood would drop underneath the floor.
“I’m sure they will be fine. Did you exorcise the curse?” Nanami passed him and the boy pushed away from the support to follow him, “Yeah, you were right, as soon as we split up it revealed its eye, I punched it, and after five minutes or so, the main body just dropped out of the ceiling” So the two eyes were the weak points, and as soon as Nanami hit the second, the curse was done for. “Good job, especially for coming out of it with nothing but a few bruises” he looked at the spots of his uniform that were whitened by the dust littering the place, “He grabbed me once, but I managed to break free” he ruffled his hair, shoving the other hand in his pocket.
As soon as Nanami hid inside his jacket his trusty weapon, a rumble came from Itadori’s stomach. The boy instantly blushed, “S-sorry… I'm kinda hungry” and smiled.
This was constant with Sukuna’s vessel: he would always be hungry after a mission. Most of the time, they would simply split up: Ichiji driving him back to his apartment and then head off to the school grounds, Gojo had apparently supplied him with a small stash of snacks and instant noodles for these occasions.
But this time, they had time, he had nowhere to go and neither did Itadori, and the boy had carried the mission on his shoulder like a champ, so…
“I know a good noodle place not too far away, let’s go” and he started off in that direction, stopping shortly after as he noticed Itadori wasn't following, staring wide-eyed. “I'm quite hungry myself, so if you would hurry…” and as if the boy simply needed confirmation that he really heard Nanami offer him lunch, he beamed and caught up immediately, “Thank you, Nanami-San!” the smile brighter than a thousand suns blessed the sorcerer's eyes, and he allowed a small kind smile of his own to slip through the facade, “You’ve earned it”.
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They walked for probably fifteen minutes in complete silence, the boy walking with his hands in his pocket silently following Nanami. Once they sat down, he sighed, “My stomach is demanding food… ” and they ordered. Nanami was already working on the report of the missions while Yuuji sat in silence. The food arrived and they didn’t speak either, when the boy ordered his second bowl, it was then that the silence was broken.
“Do you think that when we tell them I didn’t die, they’ll hate me?” the question was quite out of nowhere, so Nanami took moment to elaborate it, “It could take them a while to readjust to having you around. But why would they hate you?” the boy used his fist to support his head, “I did lie to them… and I made them suffer because of my supposed death. They would have every right to hate me” he pouted. This boy was too emotional sometimes: “Itadori-Kun, we can’t predict how they’ll react, but if they cared about you, they’ll be happy about you being alive independently from the lie” his food arrived and he dug in, “Plus, once you explain that it was the only way to avoid the higher-ups…” he cringed when Gojo had told him that they had sent three first years against a special grade curse endangering all of them to purposely kill one. “They will understand”.
Those words seemed to pacify Itadori a little, silence fell again as one ate and the other looked around.
It was noble to see the boy worrying about people that were ignorant of his life at the moment, working hard to impress them once he would back a comeback. Because yes, whenever he did something ‘Cool’ or ‘Impressive’, he would always comment something like: “Yo! Megumi would be impressed by that!” or, “Man, Nobara’s technique would have been a great follow up! Can’t wait to tell her about this combo!”, and on and on and on. Itadori’s thoughts were always on them: he was getting stronger for them .
And this was so cute.
Naive, but very cute.
Cute, but it hid his true feelings.
Itadori missed them, he missed interacting with his peers, and this was taking a toll on his mental health: he wasn’t straight out depressed, but he laughed less, his smiles were more fake than real and his off-times between training and missions reminded him of this loneliness. Of course, Gojo kept him company when he could, but the man already had a busy schedule before, and now it was even messier.
“What’ya thinking Na-Na-Min~?” he tilted his head and giggled, the blonde sighed. Although, Gojo was a bad influence on him. “I already told you to not call me that”
He needed another adult to look up to, more mature, more responsible, one that could show him that pranks and jokes weren’t everything in the world.
“Sorry! Won’t do it again” he shook his hands, “But seriously, you look lost in thoughts, what’s up?” he brought a chopstick-full of noodles to his mouth. Nanami weighted whether share his thought, and finally spoke, “Have you ever gone to a museum?” Itadori stopped the slurping, “Once with the school” speaking with his mouth full, Kento didn’t comment on that, “Would you like to go see one with me?”.
Spending time with co-workers in his free time was something he avoided, just like he avoided working overtime. But spending some casual time with Itadori outside of the school was not only a way to lift the boy’s spirit, but a way to show him that… Nanami cared, more than he let on.
The question had left Yuuji speechless– or well, mouth wide open full of ramen, staring baffled at the adult. “Please close your mouth, Itadori-Kun” and then he remembered to chew and swallow. “Wouldn’t it be a problem? I’m supposed to be dead!” Nanami shook his head, “I assure you it would not cause any trouble, Sourcerers have little free time, and they definitely don’t spend it in museums”, Yuuji was still speechless, “But.. I don’t–” The man pushed up his glasses, crossing his legs, “If you don’t want to, there is no shame in declining, Itadori-Kun” The pink-haired boy leaned a bit forward, “NO No no! Absolutely, I’d be honoured! I’m just…” he rubbed the back of his head, then smiled up at him, “Surprised that you’d be willing to spend your free time with me”. Nanami was glad his glasses covered most of his baffled expression, did this boy really think he hated him?
“I just think you need a proper adult in your life since Gojo-San is more similar to a child” It was his nature to respond coldly and logically, but this time Itadori saw the warmth beneath the iceberg, and smiled, “Sure! Although you need to pick a place since I don’t know any museum apart from the Studio Ghibli one” he shyly smiled, making Nanami scoff, “I was going to pick anyway” and his phone rang.
It was Ijichi.
“Gojo-San has… imposed more than asked, that you and Itadori-Kun go check out an abandoned park on —--------- Street. A grade one plus a grade two fled there recently. I’m on my way to pick you up, can you send me your location?”
Damn you, Gojo, he sighed. “Yes, I will” Itadori wiped his mouth, as he hung up, “We’ve been assigned with another mission, get up, Ijichi-San is coming to get us” and as he got up, the boy followed suit.
Good thing they had both recovered some of their strength, and that the previous mission hadn’t drained them.
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But this one had.
Both curses were pissed , mad pisse d, and their attacks were erratic, full of rage and random, giving Nanami a little bit of problem: Itadori did most of the work.
But not like that time where they fought patchwork face where Nanami mobilized and Itadori hit– Nanami was genuinely useless against these curses: it would have taken him hours to go up against them alone.
His technique was a bad match-up, and their random attack pattern made it difficult for his rational mind to predict them, he got hit once on the arm (the one he wields his weapon with) and Itadori took over, punching his way through.
And that’s how they ended up here: Ijichi driving, Nanami in the passenger seat and Itadori sleeping in the backseat. A tiny bit of drool decorated his chin.
“I have a feeling he did it on purpose” the assistant manager was also tired– but then again when wasn’t he. “It’s likely, and while he did get Itadori-Kun to do most of the work, it drained him. He still doesn’t have perfect control over his cursed energy” It irritated him that Gojo made him feel useless on purpose to make Yuuji grow. He was gonna have to scold the dumbass once he saw him.
They arrived in front of the boy’s temporary dorm, but he was still asleep. “Should I wake him up?” both of the men looked in the back, whispering to each other, “No, he needs the rest”. Nanami got out and walked around the car, opening the door and unbuckling Itadori, “A-are you sure..?” it was a rhetoric question because, with a little effort, Nanami picked him up and walked into the building, Ijichi got out as well to close the door and walk ahead to open the one for Nanami. But he waited outside.
Kento arrived in the makeshift room Itadori slept in and gently placed him on the futon, the boy instantly shifting and moaning at the lack of warmth.
It was then, when the thought to get a wet cloth and wipe the dust away from Itadori’s face crossed his mind, that Nanami realized how attached to him he had gotten. He had wanted to freeze and just let that sink in, try to reason with himself and stop this feeling of need to protect, but instead, he walked to the bathroom, grabbed a cloth, dampened it, and brought it back, instantly kneeling to gently wipe at his face.
“Ya’ really getting used to tucking the brat into bed, huh?” a mouth and an eye appeared on the cheek he had yet to wipe, at first, in fear of waking him up, he ignored him. “Oi, ya dare ig–” and he passed onto the other cheek, making the curse complain as he pretty much wiped his face.
“Go away” he whispered and went back to the bathroom. He heard Sukuna complain in the distance, but he stopped short after.
He re-entered the room and took Itadori’s shoes off, leaving them next to the bed and placing a fluffy blanket on the boy, and once he snuggled into it, Nanami couldn’t help but smile.
It was right then and there that he decided he would take care of Itadori as best as he could. This boy went through a rollercoaster all while having a curse in his head. He deserved to be… appreciated? Treated right.
Nanami left the building and climbed back into the car without pronouncing a word. If Ijichi noticed the slight red on his cheek and the little smile on his face, he didn’t mention it.