Chapter Text
It’s been two months since Ren’s lessons have ended. Two months since you met Kento Nanami.
Kento Nanami, the handsome ex-stockbroker. Kento Nanami, the Jujutsu Sorcerer. Kento Nanami, the lover of bread.
Kento Nanami, your boyfriend.
You still can’t believe it.
The kiss on the night of the street food festival was the jet fuel that skyrocketed your relationship with him. You were just known as Ren’s older sister who cooked delicious food and attached encouraging, and occasionally flirtatious, notes to bento boxes. Nanami was just your brother’s very serious and very handsome Jujutsu Sorcery mentor.
Over the past two months, you learned that there’s so much more to the stoic Kento Nanami than meets the eye. Behind that serious exterior is the sweetest, gentlest, most cuddly man you could ever dream of.
Seriously. This man LOVES to cuddle. He loves nestling his face in the crook of your neck when you’re in bed together. He always offers to be the big spoon, even though you secretly know he loves being little spoon, so you make sure to take turns. Often, when you’re standing in the kitchen cooking or washing dishes, he’ll come up behind you just to wrap his long arms around your waist, resting his chin on top of your head or to either side of your shoulders. Even when he’s engulfed by his newspaper, he’ll set it down as soon as you hug him from behind, just so he can sit you on his lap to snuggle.
It's not just the affectionate touches. It’s the sweet gestures. The little things. Like how he always sends you a good morning text, except on days when you’re waking up in bed together. On those days, he'll brush the hair out of your face and tell you, "Good morning, beautiful" or "I love waking up to this smile" as he traces your lips with his fingertips.
The little things. Like the first time you visited his apartment, when you noticed the bento box notes you wrote him hanging on the refrigerator, like a work of art. Or how on the fifth time of spending the night at his place, he pointed out a new electric toothbrush, right next to his. Your toothbrush. He even emptied a drawer out of his dresser just for you. That drawer is now nearly full of extra pajamas, comfy sweaters, leggings, and underwear. Then there’s the time you told him how much you love these chocolate peanut butter granola bars from this particular grocery store. The next day, you noticed two boxes of it sitting next to the rest of his snacks, ready for whenever you have a craving.
Two months. That’s all it took for you to fall for Kento Nanami.
Thankfully, your teenaged brother has started warming up more to Nanami being your boyfriend. When Ren got the official news about his acceptance into Jujutsu High, Nanami treated the both of you to all you can eat sushi, which your little brother was ecstatic about. Even though the lessons have ended, Nanami still offers advice and guidance to Ren about Jujutsu Sorcery.
Your boyfriend has even started joining you and your brother on your weekly Friday movie nights, after getting Ren’s approval, of course. And after a stern talking to from your protective little brother, which involved him saying phrases like, “Use protection!” and “Consent is very important!”, he has been much more lenient on you spending the night at Nanami’s apartment. Especially since that means he gets to have the whole house to himself.
There are still boundaries you and Nanami adhere to. Whenever your boyfriend stays over at your place, again with Ren’s approval, you set aside strict rules for yourselves. This includes no PDA in front of your brother and no naughty business in general, which you’ve both miraculously managed to follow. Sometimes it takes Nanami forcing himself to sleep on the couch to avoid any temptations.
With Ren’s complete support of your relationship, you start to think that maybe it’s time to introduce Nanami to your parents. They are finally home from their summer long overseas vacation. Upon learning that Ren has been accepted into Jujutsu High, they decide to throw a little going away party at their house to celebrate. They invite a few aunts, uncles, and cousins, as well as Ren’s friends under the guise that Ren will be attending a prestigious private boarding school in Tokyo.
Your brother's upcoming move into the dormitories is also quickly approaching. He’s already started packing. As you stand in the doorway of his bedroom, you say, “I’m going to miss you, booger. Can’t believe you’re moving out soon.”
“I know. This has been the best summer ever,” he replies, smiling at you. Seriously, your little brother is so precious!
“I’ll try not to miss you too much. You better come visit me sometime. I know you’ll be busy with all your new friends and stuff, but don’t forget about your dear old sister!”
“Don’t worry, I will visit! And besides, now you have Nanami to keep you company! You two better keep the tradition of Friday movie nights or else.”
“We will. For you, of course.”
"Also, remember what I said? Always use protection. You better not get pregnant any time soon, I'm not ready to be an uncle yet!"
"Ren!" you yell, throwing one of his jackets on the floor at him as he snickers.
“By the way, speaking of Nanami, Mom and Dad told me to invite him to the party.”
“Huh?!”
“Well, they knew about the summer lessons way before you did, remember? So, they know about Nanami. They told me to invite him. Is that okay?”
Scratching your neck nervously, you respond, “Of course. I was already thinking of introducing him to Mom and Dad. I just…I guess didn’t expect it to be this soon.”
“Don’t worry, sis. It’s going to be fine!” he says, beaming at you with a thumbs up.
It will be fine. The last time you introduced a new boyfriend to your parents, that relationship ended after one year. It wasn’t a bad breakup or anything; it just didn’t work out. But this time is different. It feels different. This one is going to last.
Two months. That’s all it took for you to fall in love with Kento Nanami.
~~~
Two months. That’s all it took for Nanami to fall in love with his girlfriend.
To be honest, he started falling the first time they kissed. That’s when everything leading up to that moment became real. It was the beginning of their love story.
Nothing has ever felt anything close to this. Nothing. He never used to get butterflies in his stomach. Even after two months, the fluttering is still there. It never stopped. Pet names were never his thing, but he catches himself calling her baby, sweetie, even princess. Blushing has become a regular occurrence for him, especially when she surprises him with a racy text or whispers something naughty in his ear, which almost always leads to sexy time in his bedroom.
Nanami can confidently say that he has never been in love before, until now.
It's fast. Two months and he’s already having such deep feelings. But even after one month, he already knew she is the one.
It was mid-August. The night before while they were talking on the phone, Nanami told his girlfriend that he has a summer birthday, to which she cried, “Wahhhh, we missed it! We should celebrate retroactively!”
“It’s okay, sweetie. I don’t usually do anything for my birthday anyways. Unless you count drunk karaoke with Gojo as something.”
“That is something. But I want to do something for you!
It was an off-handed comment. Something that could have been forgotten about. At least that’s what he thought.
The next day, she invited him over to her house for dinner. He had a particularly exhausting mission that lasted nearly 6 hours, so he was itching to see her.
When he arrived, he was greeted at the door by his girlfriend and Ren wearing birthday hats, holding a giant ham and cheese sandwich with a dozen lit candles sticking out of it. “Happy birthday, Nanami!” they cheered. Ren pulled on a confetti popper to release flying bits of multi-colored paper as his girlfriend started blowing on a noisemaker.
It was silly, goofy, and wonderful.
After they indulged in the ginormous, delicious sandwich and birthday cake, Nanami offered to wash the dishes, to which she refused profusely. Choosing to ignore her protests, he walked into the kitchen and noticed that it was a mess. Pans stacked in the sink, flour all over the counter, a few bowls of what looked like deformed dough near the oven, and several burnt loaves of bread on top of the stove.
“What happened?” he asked.
Looking embarrassed, she said, “Well…I tried to bake bread. No one told me how hard it is! My dough wasn’t rising properly, I was eyeballing all the ingredients, which I guess is a big no no, I wasn’t checking on it every minute. I just kept messing up. I ended up having to go to our favorite bakery and just getting a loaf from there. I think baking bread is something I just can’t do. I’m so sorry, Nanami.”
She spent the whole day trying to bake bread. For him.
That’s when he knew she is the one.
It wasn’t just that moment. It’s the little moments he thinks about. The way she always sends him goodnight texts with a bunch of different emojis, despite him never using emojis himself. The way she kisses him on the forehead every morning when they wake up together or every night before the fall asleep. The way she gets up early to pack him a bento for work on the days when they’re at her place, in that same Hello Kitty box. How she still leaves notes for him inside those bento boxes. You’re my FAVORITE loaf of bread. Your cuddles are the BEST. Those curses got nothing on my baby! I love waking up next to you.
Love. They haven’t said they love each other out loud yet. He does love her, though. A month ago, he was falling in love with her. Now, it’s been two months and he is in love with her. She means the world to him. The apple of his eye.
He loves her.
Nanami doesn't know when the "right time" to confess to her is. He just wants to tell her when it feels right.
He’s meeting her parents tomorrow at Ren’s farewell party in their hometown. This is a big step in any relationship. Maybe the right time will come then.
~~~
The day of the party, you, Ren, and Nanami take the train to your hometown. The house you grew up in is about a 10-minute walk from the station. When you enter the home, you are greeted by your family. Ren abandons you to greet his friends and now you are walking towards your parents with Nanami at your side. You feel nervous.
“Hi Mom and Dad!” You approach them to give them a big hug. “How was the trip?”
“So much fun sweetie. Wish you could have joined us,” your mother says. She eyes Nanami up and down with a curious smile.
He bows and introduces himself. “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura. My name is Kento Nanami. It is such a pleasure to meet you.”
Your dad chimes in, “Nanami! So good to meet you! Ren has told us so much about you! We knew he would be in good hands this summer.”
“Ren has been an exceptional student. I had no doubts that he would be accepted into Jujutsu High. They are lucky to have him.”
“We’re grateful to you and the establishment for taking him in. We’re sure his skills will improve under the school’s guidance. We know a little bit about Jujutsu Sorcery from Ren’s biological parents, who were our close friends. I know they would be so proud of Ren right now,” your dad says.
Your mom turns to you and asks, “Dear, could you please go check on the salmon in the oven?”
“Well, Mom, I actually have something to tell you.”
“Honey! It can wait, we are speaking with Nanami! Please go and check the fish!”
You give Nanami a quick glance and a small smile. He keeps his poker face, but you see a crinkle in his eyes. “Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura. Actually, we have something to tell you.”
Clearing his throat, he says, “I am…I am dating your daughter. We are together.”
After an extremely long and silent pause, where you can practically see the gears working in your parents’ heads, your mom finally responds, “Oh. Oh! Really! You’re dating my daughter? Really?! My daughter? You?”
“Okay Mom, you don’t have to sound so shocked,” you say, rolling your eyes.
“No, honey, I mean. Honey! He is just…well, sorry to be so blunt, but he is very…well, handsome and established.”
“Okay Mother, we get it!”
“He’s not like any man you’ve ever dated!”
“Yes, Mother, I know!”
Nanami interrupts, “I can assure you, Mrs. Nakamura, it was your daughter who had me smitten first. She’s truly a wonderful woman.”
Your mother’s eyes widen as she giggles, “Oh Nanami! How sweet of you! My, my! You are truly a gentleman! Should I start calling you ‘son’?”
“Mom!”
“Just a little joke, of course! Ha ha ha, oh my. My sweet daughter! You got yourself a looker!”
“Dad, can you please, please make her stop?” you plead, as your dad chuckles.
He rubs your mom’s shoulders and pushes her in the direction of the kitchen. “Sweetie, let’s go check on that salmon and leave these two lovebirds alone, you are embarrassing them. It’s so nice to meet you, Nanami. Go ahead and mingle.”
Your father gives you a small wink before steering your embarrassing mother into the kitchen. You hear her yell out, “So nice to meet you ‘son’!”
You turn to face your boyfriend, cheeks burning red. “Nanami, I’m so sorry. I’m mortified.”
Nanami smiles and says, “Don’t be sorry. I think that went well.” He leans in to give you a small kiss on your forehead, which is noticed by your other relatives sitting in the living room.
The next hour goes just as you expect, much to your dismay. With aunts, uncles, and cousins in attendance, it’s no surprise that everyone is curious about your handsome and established boyfriend.
One uncle asks the standard, “So, how did you two meet?” And after hearing the abridged version of the story, he jokes, “My niece is always finding ways to snatch herself a new boy toy, good on you!” You bury you face in your hands horrified, as Nanami rubs your back affectionately.
Then, there’s your auntie, who reveals, “Did you know that my dear niece here has only ever had one boyfriend? Better be gentle with her; she doesn’t have too much experience if you know what I mean.” She says the last statement with a nudge and a wink. Before you can get up to excuse yourself from this horrifying situation, Nanami squeezes your hand and responds, “Don’t worry, Auntie. If anything, she’s the one who should be a bit gentler with me.” Your auntie reacts to this with a loud, “Oh ho ho!” and several more nudging and winking. God help me, you think.
It doesn’t end there. More of your relatives bombard him with questions. “When are you going to get married?” To which you have to remind everyone that it’s only been two months. There’s also, “What do you do, Nanami?” And since it’s too complicated to explain Jujutsu Sorcery to every normie in your household, Nanami decides to say he is a professor.
Bless your boyfriend’s heart. He answers each question politely and listens with interest as your family members continue to embarrass you. Once you get your chance, you grab his wrist and pull him into the hallway leading to the stairs.
“I’m so sorry, Nanami. I know this is overwhelming.”
“No, don’t apologize. I love hearing stories about you. Your family is really nice.”
You reach out to hold his hand. “Do you want to see my room? It’s just up the stairs.”
“Am I allowed?” he teases, eyebrow raised.
“No one’s watching,” you reply with a smirk as you start leading him up the stairs.
Sneaking into your childhood bedroom feels naughty, especially sneaking in with your boyfriend. Once you enter the room, you quietly shut the door behind you. Nanami looks around with a grin on his face.
Your bedroom has been preserved in the exact same state as it was 10 years ago. You still have posters of your favorite pop idols hanging all over your wall. On your dresser mirror, there are old photos of your friends and family. And not the most flattering pictures. He leans in closer to get a better look and laughs to himself.
“Were you a theater kid?” he asks, focusing on a particular photo of you on stage.
“Yes. That was my one big solo, which only lasted 2 minutes on stage. I was usually just in the background for all the other musicals.”
He turns to you and says, “You have so many talents. I love learning more about you.”
His sincerity surprises you. You feel fluttering in your stomach. All of a sudden, you are very aware that Kento Nanami is standing in your bedroom. For some reason, you start feeling flustered.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just…I can’t believe I have a boy, I mean, a man in my room.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m just saying, 17-year-old me would be freaking out right now, ha ha ha.”
“I take it you were a late bloomer?”
“Late bloomer? Excuse me?!” He chuckles as he stands in front of you.
“I’m just kidding. I didn’t have much luck with the ladies myself, back when I was in Jujutsu High.” He wraps his arms around your shoulders and gives you kiss on the cheek.
You look up at him with a soft smile. “Sometimes I wonder. If we met in high school, do you think you and I would be friends?”
Nanami answers quickly. “Absolutely.”
“Oh, such a confident answer!”
He doesn’t speak for a few seconds. Then, he says, “I’m confident I would have still fallen in love with you in high school.”
You freeze. Did you hear him correctly? Did he say love?
He whispers your name. “Did you hear what I said?”
Gulping, you reply, “Uhhh, yes. I did.”
Leaning down slightly, he rests his forehead against yours, gazing into your eyes. “Before you say anything else, I want to say this properly: I am falling in love with you. And I know it’s only been a short while, but I have never been so sure about something in my life. I don’t want you to feel pressured to say it back. But I just want to let you know that is how I feel.”
His confession makes your heart race. Should you tell him that you’re falling in love with him too? It’s only been two months since you two started dating. There is still so much you don’t know about each other. You still call him by his surname, for goodness sake!
But you are falling in love with him. Everything about him screams love. The way he looks at you, the way he speaks to you, the way he touches you. His selflessness, his chivalry, his calm demeanor that hides a more confident and dominant disposition when needed. He is everything you’ve ever wanted and more, as cliché as that sounds.
There’s still that fear of admitting something so personal. The fear that saying it now is too soon. The fear that maybe he doesn’t feel the same way. Love means something different to everyone. He may say he’s falling in love with you, but what does that mean to him? What if one day, he wakes up and starts falling out of love? What if one day, he meets another woman who he falls even more in love with?
All of this is your own insecurity. It’s not Nanami’s fault that you have these irrational fears. And besides, who’s to say that Nanami doesn’t have fears like this too? He deserves to know how you feel. He deserves to feel the same fluttering you feel all over your body right now.
“Nanami, I’m falling in love with you too. And I’m not just saying that because you just said it. I mean it. With all my heart.”
Should you do it? Should you take the leap of faith? Right here, in the middle of your childhood bedroom? The pop idols hanging on your walls are screaming at you, “Just do it!”
“Kento, I love you.”
His grip on your shoulders tightens as his eyes widen in shock.
Oh no. Did you say too much?
Before you take it all back, he puts his hands on your cheeks and kisses you, passionately. The fluttering throughout your body intensifies until you start feeling dizzy against his lips. Suddenly, you’re lying on your back on the bed, him on top of you, his warm mouth nipping at your neck. He puts his lips against your ear and chants, “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
His hand reaches down to the hem of your dress, pulling it up to expose your thighs. You feel his hand slide slowly between your legs. Every little touch sends ripples through your body like electricity.
Between kisses, he tells you, “I didn’t want to freak you out by saying ‘I love you’ first. That’s why I said I am 'falling in love with you'. But I love you. I really love you.”
“I love you, too. I really love you, Kento," you say, between shallow breaths.
You continue to kiss each other sloppily as his hand caresses your inner thigh. When he sucks on your bottom lip, you can’t help but let out a small moan. His hand starts travelling further up your body, fingertips grazing against your hips, stomach, then chest. The dress you’re wearing is hiked up to your neck as he stops kissing you to stare hungrily at your almost bare body.
Just as he begins to straddle you, there’s loud stomping running up the stairs. Immediately, you lightly shove Nanami off and sit up on the edge of the bed, pulling your dress down. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand as he stands up, back towards the door.
It swings open and it’s Ren. “There you two are! We’re playing charades now! I need you two on my team. Let’s go!” As quickly as he barged in, he runs back down the stairs, leaving the door wide open.
You hear Nanami take a deep sigh, back still turned, as you move towards him to hug him around his waist. “Need a minute?”
“I don’t need a minute. I need you. Underneath me. Right now.”
“Baby!”
“I know, I know. We shouldn’t.”
He turns around to embrace you, resting his chin on your head. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Kento," you say, burying your face into his chest.
“You have no idea how much I love you.”
“Show me how much you love me. Tonight. Let’s finish what we started.”
He chuckles in a low voice, the vibrations of his laugh sending shivers throughout your body. “You are a naughty girl, you know that? Let’s go out there and play some charades before I really lose all self-control.”
“What, are you going to make love to me on this bed? In front of all these pop idols?”
“I don’t care who’s watching. I’ll make love to you right here, right now with this door open if you keep teasing me.”
Before it escalates, you quickly drag your boyfriend out the door and join the rest of your family in the living room, where everyone plays a rambunctious game of charades. When it’s Nanami’s turn, you watch with a large smile as he gets on his knees and pretends to lick the back of his hands, giving his best impression of a cat.
God, you really love this man.
~~~
Kento, I love you.
There aren’t enough words to describe what Nanami is feeling right now. The euphoria he feels after hearing her utter his name along with that phrase is sublime. He feels intoxicated, weightless, transcendent. He’s never felt like this before. His heart is about to burst out of his chest. He wants to do a dance because of how happy he is right now. Wants to get down on one knee and propose to this goddess, this angel, his love.
Instead, he takes her to bed and almost, almost consummates their love for each other in her childhood bedroom. Luckily, and unluckily, before things progress further, Ren bursts into the room.
He can’t believe she loves him. She loves him. Everything he’s done in his life before he met her is paying off in the best way possible. All his sacrifices, all the hardship, all the mundane rituals. This is his reward. His happiness.
All these thoughts are jumbled up in his head. He’s already picturing her in a wedding dress. Travelling the world with her. Making babies. Growing old together. Everything Nanami knew before has been thrown out the window. His stupid rules of not dating, his mundane day-to-day routines, his morbid outlook on life. She makes him forget about that. He never wants to go back to his life before meeting her.
The day after the family party, he is called in for a mission. At lunch, he opens the Hello Kitty bento box his girlfriend packed that morning and reads her note with a smile.
Have the best day ever! I love you, Kento!
Two months. That’s all it took for Nanami to be totally and absolutely in love.