Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nanami had been living in his old apartment for years now, probably since he had finished college. The place was cheap, perfect for someone just out of college, and was big enough for a single man living alone. Plus, it wasn’t too far from the train station which he rode to get to work every day. It wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst either.

But after all these years of living at 203-0320 Kaisen, he was seriously considering moving out, as bothersome as it could be to look for somewhere else. But if it meant he would be rid of his downstairs annoying neighbour, Satoru Gojo, then maybe it was worth the trouble.

The man had moved in shortly after him and for some time they were unaware of each other’s existence. Although the moment Gojo met him, he seemed to have set himself on bothering and teasing him every time he meets him and being too familiar by times. All the teasing and intrusion were a bit too much for Nanami who simply wanted to live a quiet life.

Plus, the area around the bloc wasn’t really as quiet and safe as it used to be when he first moved in. The area had developed a lot and reports of crimes were getting a bit more common than they used to be. So it was probably time to move out, maybe to somewhere even closer to work.

Then he noticed someone had moved in next door.

He could vaguely remember his landlord mentioning to him that someone was finally moving into room 202. That morning he was running a bit late for work and didn’t put that much attention into what was happening next door.

But now that he was coming back home and not in a hurry, he noticed the crooked paper tapped where the nameplate should be. “Itabori?” Nanami read aloud to himself, the name written in childish handwriting with orange crayon, a cute drawing of a tiger under the name.

‘Maybe their child made the paper until they get their plate’ he assumed, as he doubted any adult would have written it like this.

He would have maybe knocked to present himself but assumed the family must have been tired from moving in that day. And in all honesty, he was tired from working all day too. He decided to go home, simply assuming he would end up meeting them at some point. after all, they were living next door.

Little did he expect to hear a couple of quiet knocks at his door only an hour later as he was starting to get ready to make himself dinner. So he left that for the moment, going to open the door and see what it was about.

At first, when he opened the door, he saw no one, before his attention was caught by the top of a head appearing in his field of vision, making him look down.

A child was standing at his door.

‘Must be the new neighbour’s son’ Nanami then thought to himself, since no one else had children in the building. And last time he heard, the newer constructed third floor was still vacant.

“Hello!” brightly said the young boy, clutching close to himself a notebook and a pen, “My name is Yuji Itadori and I moved in next door” he then presented himself.

“Good evening, Yuji, I am Kento Nanami” the man presented himself in return, waiting to see if the boy needed his help with something.

“Happy to meet you, Nanamin” Yuji then smiled. Nanami politely corrected him only to be ignored when the boy continued, “I was wondering if you could give me directions to the nearest grocery store, please?” the boy asked, “I just moved in and don’t have enough to make something”.

Nanami arched a brow at this, feeling like something sounded weird in the way he was saying it. Wouldn’t the parent be able to use their phone to find the nearest grocery store? Or come ask him themselves, since playing a game of telephone wasn’t the best way to get directions.

“Are you making errands for your parents?” he asked, ready to go next door to give them some stores nearby that were quite useful. It would be easier than telling Yuji here or writing everything down. Plus, it would give him a reason to present himself to his new neighbours.

“No, I live alone, so I make errands for me” innocently replied the boy.

At this Nanami was stunned, unsure what to reply. This couldn’t be right, a child couldn’t be living all by himself. It made him frown a little bit, getting even more unsure “You… live alone?” he then asked carefully.

“Yup!” Yuji nodded, then extended his notebook to him, “I know it’s diner time soon, so Nanamin can simply write the direction for me!”.

Nanami couldn’t reply immediately once again. Was Yuji planning to go alone at this hour? Something in the older man couldn’t help but keep worrying about the idea of letting the boy wander the streets alone. What if something happened to him?

He took a look at his watch, then looked back towards his kitchen where he had gotten some ingredients out. It was nothing that couldn’t be left there for the time it would take to go get groceries…

“I was actually running out of some ingredients I need for my recipe” Nanami lied, grabbing his shoes, “Why don’t I accompany you? It will be easier like this,” and he won’t be feeling worried about the young boy all night wondering if he made his trip to the grocery store safely. This seemed to make the boy happy, quickly thanking him before running back to room 202.

Nanami went to wait at his opened door, taking a quick look inside. No one to be seen aside from Yuji grabbing a little orange hoodie and a backpack in which he stuffed his wallet and some reusable bags. Even the numbers of boxes weren’t enough to give the impression many people had moved in.

The boy was seemingly really living in here all by himself. What kind of situation was that?

“Do you have everything you need?” Nanami asked when Yuji joined him after locking his door, carefully pocketing his key.

“Yes!” he replied with a nod. And with this, they started making their way to the closest grocery store.

Nanami mostly kept quiet as Yuji was filling the silence all by himself, talking about his day and how moving next door had been for him. At some point when they crossed a street the older man was a bit surprised when he felt Yuji grab his hand.

Despite his surprise, he didn't pull away, returning the gesture a little bit even. He had never taken care of children before, nor was he all that good with them in general actually, but he could do that much to make sure the boy crossed the road safely.

“The grocery store really is close” Yuji smiled when they finally got there, letting go of his hand to go and grab a basket. Nanami followed along closely behind him, watching as the boy mostly picked up fresh vegetables.

At some point the basket seemed to be getting too much for Yuji to handle, so Nanami gently took it from him. Like this Yuji would just need to put what he picked into it without having to put it down every time.

“What are you going to make, Yuji?” he then asked.

“hmm” The boy then replied first, clearly thinking about it, “Probably some noodles, I do have noodles at home, I just need to make broth and cut vegetables,” Yuji said as he looked at the eggs, checking if they were all intact.

Nanami was still a bit unsure about all this. Yuji wasn’t looking anything above 6 years old, how come he talked about cooking as if he was already used to doing it all by himself?

“Will you need help?” he then asked. To this, the boy looked back up at him for a moment, before shaking his head.

“No, I will be alright,” Yuji assured him as he added the eggs to his basket, “I wouldn’t want to bother Nanamin when he also must have started diner”.

Nanami didn’t push any more than this, simply letting him do his grocery as he followed along, helping him reach what he couldn’t. “Oh, Mr Nanami, it’s rare seeing you on a Wednesday night” greeted the cashier as she started scanning the items he was placing on the counter.

“My new neighbour needed guidance to the store so I helped him,” he said, taking a look at the boy that was fishing out his bags from his backpack. He was quick to put what had been scanned into them carefully.

“I see” smiled the young lady, seemingly surprised before taking a look at the boy, “Hello…” she started, although she didn’t remember the man stating a name.

“Yuji Itadori” smiled the boy, before returning the greeting.

“Well, hello Yuji” she chuckled at his joyful energy. She chatted a little bit with the boy who told her too about his day moving in as he paid. Nanami was a bit surprised, but also relieved, that he had more than enough on him.

“Good night” Nanami greeted the cashier as he took the bags Yuji was trying to carry. “Byebye” Yuji cheerfully greeted too before starting to follow the older man.

And then they made their way back, Yuji grabbing his hand once again as they needed to cross the road, not letting go even once it was done. This time he was happily humming a tune Nanami didn’t know, swinging their hands to the made-up rhythm.

“Thank you for taking me to the grocery store, Nanamin!” Yuji thanked him once they were back at his door.

“I was happy to help” the man simply replied. He was ready to go back to his own room while Yuji was unlocking his door, yet stopped in his track.

“Also Yuji… If you ever need something or to go out again, don’t be scared to come and ask my help” he suggested, “... and don’t go wandering alone, okay?”.

The boy simply hummed at his words, thanking him again before wishing him a good dinner and good night.

Nanami sighed at this, going back to his own apartment, ready to prepare dinner for real this time. He was still unsure what to think about the fact that a young boy was living all by himself next to him.

“Guess I’ll wait a bit before moving out” Nanami mumbled to himself as he started cooking.