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It had been years since Kento Nanami had walked out on being a sorcerer, refusing to fight in a faulty system after having been broken beyond repair. Yet four years later, here he was, overlooking the buildings and greenery of the Tokyo campus with the familiar weight of his cleaver resting against his back.
The idea of meeting his former upperclassmen had made him anxious at first as he wasn’t quite sure what to expect. His worries were for nothing, however, and the welcome had been nothing short of warm. Gojo had been the loudest and most enthusiastic, saying again and again how he ‘knew you missed me, Nanami’ and asking him to follow along to one of the many sweet shops in Tokyo. Ieiri had treated him to a drink at her office, patting him on the shoulder as she welcomed him back as she was too busy for anything grander.
Not much had changed about Gojo and Ieiri, Nanami thought, their personalities a more mature version of what he remembered. Expecting the same with Geto, Nanami was surprised to find that that was not the case. Where he had expected a handshake and a curt nod, he had instead received a hug and heaps of questions about his life as they walked along the premise, warm hand lingering on his back throughout their conversation.
As a teenager and even now as an adult, Nanami’s sternness was usually seen as indifference toward others, but even if he wasn’t the first to make contact, he still cared deeply for others. The one he had regarded the highest out of the three had been Geto, an exemplary student and sorcerer who treated his juniors with nothing but respect, which couldn’t quite be said about the others. Nanami had been slightly infatuated which was something he would’ve never admitted back then, but now it was a fond memory of his youth, remembering how he used to hide his blush under his too-long bangs whenever Geto complimented him for a job well done.
Seeing Geto now did not affect him in the same physical way. Instead of the juvenile blushing and hiding, Nanami took comfort in how grown Geto looked; broad shoulders, long hair hanging below his all-too familiar bun, and a face where the hint of roundness was long gone, instead replaced with defined cheekbones and the faint trace of smile lines. There was no denying that he was attractive, and it wasn’t a rare scene to see men and women walk up to him when they were out on missions, drawn in by the charm he exuded.
Having worked side by side for almost a month, Geto approached him one day on campus, finding Nanami in his favorite spot to read through assigned cases. Sitting down opposite to Nanami, Geto engaged him in some small talk before dropping the invite.
“If you’re not busy this Friday then you should come by my house. A lot has happened since you left, you know.”
Nanami thought it over for a second, deciding that spending a Friday evening away from his empty apartment wouldn’t be such a bad idea. When he agreed to it. Geto beamed in response, chatting on about how his girls were leaving for the night and that he was grateful for some company. Then leaning closer and looking around quickly, he whispered:
“By the way, I have weed.”
//
Friday came and they were seated outside on Geto’s porch, overlooking a beautiful garden while soft music played in the background. The house was simple and elegant, fitting for a special grade’s salary, Nanami thought. It looked like it was taken straight from a magazine, but here and there were small signs of life; a scrunchie sticking out from underneath the drawer; framed photographs of Geto and his family, faces that Nanami had only seen in Geto's phone album; and a book tossed onto one of the futons, earmarked for later.
In front of the men was a charcuterie board which was neatly arranged with a variety of cheeses, cured meats, and sides. ‘I remember what a foodie you were’ Geto had said as he'd presented the board, having no idea himself what was on it. Nanami felt embarrassed with his small bag of pastries, but Geto had been delighted, digging into the pan au chocolat straight away.
As always, talking to Geto was easy. He was captivating, not afraid of light banter, and had something to contribute to in every conversation topic. Nanami had always liked him for that, his now adult demeanor an extension of his charming and youthful self. Not as conservative and proper, but still engaging in things with his heart fully in it.
When most of the cheese board had disappeared, Geto sat up and walked inside, making way to what Nanami remembered from the house tour to be his bedroom. Coming back and joining Nanami at the table again, he brought out a small metal case, opening it and displaying the contents. Inside were five neatly arranged blunts, the unmissable herbal scent hitting Nanami as soon as it was opened.
“You don’t have to, but I just thought, you know,” Geto said, gesticulating into the air.
“Thought what?”
“Well, I heard you went abroad to the US for a year. Pretty sure you saw your fair share of weed there.”
Nanami smiled, thinking that Geto was both brave and foolish for trusting him so blindly. He had tried it, but only once back when he was sixteen and his family had gone to Copenhagen to visit his distant relatives. Some of his cousins who were around the same age as him had taken him out to a spot in the woods where they had drank beer and smoked cigarettes. At one point, one of the older cousins had pulled out a joint. Curious, Nanami had grabbed the joint passed to him.
The first rotation he had inhaled too quickly, coughing and wiping tears from his eyes as his cousins laughed. The second time he had inhaled more carefully, slowly feeling his limbs grow heavier while his mind turned lighter. For a split second, he had no care in the world, but the world had gone too blurry too fast and his breath had come to a halt. The rest of the night had been spent propped up against a tree trunk, nursing a bottle of water until he had come down from his high.
At the age of sixteen, Nanami’s lungs had been untrained, never having smoked a cigarette before, but his career as a salaryman had exposed him to more cigarettes - and other substances - than he thought he’d ever see during three lifetimes. He hadn’t been an avid smoker himself, but sometimes when the days dragged on for too long and the clients were less than manageable, he’d dig into his bottom drawer to pull out a cigarette, letting the nicotine rush dull him for a moment.
“Hey, where’d you go?” Geto said, leaning forward so he was in Nanami’s direct line of vision.
Nanami blinked a couple of times, returning to the moment.
“Sorry, my mind wandered.”
“Somewhere nice? Nicer than me?” Geto winked.
Nanami huffed and brushed the comment off as Geto being cheeky, even if it made his heart skip a beat. He looked at the ignited joint as Geto passed it to him, much neater looking than the one his cousin had handed him over a decade ago. Exhaling, he brought the joint to his lips and carefully inhaled, barely letting the smoke fill his lungs. When he tried to hand it back, Geto pushed it back toward him.
“That was a baby inhale, take a proper one.”
Nanami did as told, breathing in deeper and allowing the smoke to settle for a moment before letting it out. The smoke was smooth, no hints of the burnt tobacco flavor he had gotten as a teen. Geto smiled next to him and held his fingers out to take the joint.
“There we go. Good boy.”
Nanami ignored the fluttering in his stomach, attributing it to the weed instead as he watched Geto smoke. It was almost elegant in a way, how his long and slender fingers held the spliff in a relaxed grip as the tip of his tongue peeked out, wetting his lips slightly before bringing the joint to his mouth.
They passed the blunt back and forth, and instead of the paranoid feeling Nanami had anticipated, the edges of his vision mellowed out, a pleasant lightness to his mind as time slowed down for a moment.
Geto hummed as he finished the blunt, putting it out in a small ashtray underneath the table. Nanami put his head into his hands, heavy eyelids focusing on Geto and following the man's movements as he tossed some cheese cubes into his mouth, sighing contentedly. Drumming his fingers against his cheeks, Nanami squinted at his host.
“This is not what I expected of you, considering how you behaved in school.”
Geto smiled, displaying the crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. Nanami really wanted to touch them.
“Yeah, guess I was a bit stuck-up back then.”
“You were a good student. Haibara and I looked up to you a lot.”
Geto let out a small chuckle as he scratched the back of his head, a faint twinge of pink on his cheeks.
“Really? That’s sweet.”
I even had a crush on you, was on the tip of Nanami’s tongue.
“You did?”
Nanami blinked, feeling his face flush after his brain caught up.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
Geto tossed his head back and laughed hard, a carefreeness that Nanami had rarely seen in him when they were younger.
“Don’t worry. Maybe if I hadn’t been so absorbed in whatever Satoru and I had going on with ‘the strongest’ thing, I’d have noticed you more. You were kind of cute in your emo cut.”
Geto reached over to pat Nanami’s thigh, fingertips sliding along the seam of Nanami’s trousers as his hand retracted. Feeling he could blame the high if things turned to the worse, a sudden boldness entered Nanami.
“And now?”
Geto’s eyebrows shot up, then he tilted his head, eyes roaming over Nanami’s body. Despite being dressed head from toe, the scrutinizing eyes had Nanami feeling like he was naked, hands nervously fidgeting until Geto spoke.
“Nice features, great body, and even if I miss the emo bangs, neat hair. All in all, a very handsome man.”
Geto put his weight on his hand and leaned forward, inching closer to Nanami and inhaling softly.
“You also smell really good.”
Nanami’s breath stilled as he locked eyes with Geto, intense violet gaze meeting his. They sat like that for a moment until Nanami switched focus, his gaze landing on the hair hanging in front of Geto’s eyes instead. Reaching forward, he gently lifted it, fingertips intertwining with the soft strands. Geto hummed as he let Nanami play with his hair, then he leaned back to his spot with a tender smile on his face.
“Nanami, you’re very high.”
Nanami shook his head, then blinked a couple of times when Geto became a blur.
“Maybe?”
Geto snorted, popping an olive into his mouth as he hummed again.
“You know what would be amazing right now?”
Nanami squinted for a moment, then gasped softly as if he’d had a revelation.
“Grilled cheese.”
“Sure,” Geto said as he rose from the futon, body swaying back and forth to the music.
“The kitchen is stocked with all sorts of things, I’m sure we’ll find something good in there.”
Nanami heaved himself up, staggering as he gained awareness of his own body. Seeing Geto’s hand in front of him, he reached forward and clasped their hands together in an awkward grip. Laughing, Geto maneuvered their hands into a firm grip and pulled Nanami up, both men standing silently next to each other for a second.
“Come on,” Geto said, intertwining their fingers, “let’s see what we find.”