Work Text:
When Nanami was younger, he went through a phase. A phase with long hair, bangs, piercings, and tattoos.
Just a phase.
But like everyone else, he grew up.
He cut his hair. He removed his piercings. His wardrobe newly consisted of button ups, suits, and luxury accessories.
But his tattoos remained. Hidden from judgmental eyes.
Eyes like Gojo Satoru’s.
-
“And this is my second year!” Gojo pointed out as Megumi, Yuji, and Nobara crowded around his opened yearbook. Not all memories from that time were good, but Gojo couldn’t pretend like they didn’t exist. “And the delinquent in the background is Nanamin!”
Yuji gasped and snatched the book closer to his face, “What?! But his hair is all long and he has piercings!”
Nobara’s shoulders pressed against her friend’s, “He looks hella moody. Like a blond Fushiguro!”
Megumi rolled his eyes but didn’t disagree. He liked Nanami and his pessimistic realism. He wasn’t the worst person to be compared to.
“Wait wait wait, look! Is that a tattoo!? Does Nanami have tattoos?!” Yuji flipped the book to show Gojo. “Look!”
This time it was Gojo who snatched the book back, “Tattoos?”
There it was, though. Clearly in the photograph, peeking out of the cuff of his shirt’s right sleeve - the grainy black and white image making it too faint to make out.
Still…
Nanami had a tattoo.
-
It was only logical that the next step for Yuji and Gojo was to immediately confront the man when he next showed up to the school.
“Nanamin! Gojo showed us your yearbook and we saw your tattoo!”
Nanami didn’t even look startled by the accusation, “Ah, yeah, I visited some non reputable places and got a few tattoos when I was underaged. All part of growing up, I guess. Luckily I had foresight enough to get them where they’d be mostly hidden when I’m dressed.”
Gojo, for some reason, looked delighted the news, “Wait, does that mean you have a tramp stamp? Something on an ass cheek? Can I see?!”
“You absolutely cannot.”
“But you’re not denying it!”
Yuji and Gojo shared a look, their childish giggles fueling each other. Then Yuji stepped closer, practically buzzing in excitement “Are there any that I can see?”
“I-“ Nanami sighed deeply, obviously over this conversation already. “Sure, I guess.”
Neatly rolling up his shirt sleeve, Nanami revealed a large colored bird in neo traditional art, spreading its wings. It must’ve been the same one peaking out from the yearbook picture.
“It’s a phoenix. It’s meant for symbolize transformation and rebirth. I got it shortly before I left jujutsu.”
Yuji reached out in awe to touch it even though it was long healed.
Gojo, though, stayed where he was; his mouth slightly ajar. It was like a sudden revelation had hit him.
Nanami was always attractive, yes. But Nanami with tattoos…
-
“So how many do you have?”
Nanami had just pulled off his glasses as he sunk onto the couch in the staff room after returning from his training session with Itadori that same day.
“Have what?”
“Tattoos!”
“Gojo, are you still on that?”
Gojo smiled widely, “What can I say? They’ve enraptured me. How many do you have?”
“I don’t know. I have a sleeve, there’s one on my head, but my hair has covered it up now, my back is done, one on my chest, and my thighs done. I haven’t actually kept count.”
Gojo pretended his mouth didn’t immediately start watering. Nanami had his thighs done. Never before had Gojo wished nothing more than to be the tattoo artist that Nanami trusted enough to get that close to his family jewels.
And also an undercut tattoo?
This was no longer a want, but a need.
“Can I see them?”
Nanami rolled his eyes, putting his glasses back on, “They’re nothing worth you obsessing over.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Actually, you won’t be. Because I am not stripping down for you.”
Satoru threw his head back, laughing loudly as a wonderful idea popped into his head “Why don’t we wager on it? Every tattoo that I guess right, you have to show me. No matter where it is.”
“This seems unprofessional.”
“It’s just a game between two high school pals! Nothing weird, promise! I’m just a curious guy and I know surprisingly little about my kohai. So what do you say?”
Nanami looked weary, but shook his head nonetheless, “Sure.”
-
“Do you have… a Samurai?”
Nanami was currently doing paperwork after two back to back solo missions.
“Hmm?”
“A samurai tattoo?”
“I considered it, but I do not.”
“Damn.”
Gojo circled Nanami like a shark in the water. He was fully clothed and his exasperated expression gave nothing away as he continued to type on his laptop.
“Is it a naked chick?”
“Have some class.”
Shoko, who was on her way back from speaking with Yaga, stopped as she saw Nanami in one of the unused classrooms. She never really saw him outside of whenever they met up at the bar.
It was a pleasant surprise.
“What are you two gremlins up to?”
Simultaneously, she heard a mixture of “Paperwork.” and “Trying to figure out what Nanami has tattooed on his most intimate area.”
Gojo pulled down his blindfold to wiggle his eyebrows at that.
“Gojo I told you I don’t —“
“Did you get another one?”
Silence. A long, pregnant pause fell amongst the three alumni…
And then—
“Damn it Shoko.”
“You knew!?”
“You didn’t say it was a secret!”
Gojo pouted, “Seriously!? Did everyone know that you were tatted up except me?”
“I only know about the birds and Yu’s memorial piece because Suguru and I came with him!”
“Shoko!”
Almost impulsively, Satoru bit his tongue to stop himself from outwardly cursing Geto for keeping yet another secret from him. Old habits died hard.
Instead, he crossed his arms.
“Let me see Yu’s!”
Nanami shot Shoko an annoyed look, but a deal was a deal. Slowly, he closed his laptop and stood up.
Taking his time, he removed his jacket and placed it on the back of his chair. Then he slowly unbuttoned the first few buttons of his signature blue shirt until one muscular pec was exposed.
The tattoo was significantly smaller than the phoenix. This time, the words “Can I copy your homework?” was written in vaguely familiar handwriting.
“It was the last note I got from him.” Nanami explained after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.
Satoru nodded slowly before sticking his hands in his pockets. His heart ached just a bit.
“I like it. A lot.”
-
It would be another three weeks before Satoru got to see any more exposed skin.
And trust, he tried.
He tried following Nanami into the locker room after he dealt with a particularly nasty curse.
Kicked out.
He tried asking Shoko if she was sure that Nanami hadn’t shown her any other pieces while they were drinking.
“Do you think he just gets naked at the bar, Gojo? I haven’t seen anything else.”
He even went as far as trying to pay Ino for information.
“He told me he has tattoos on his back, arms, chest, and thighs.”
“I knew that already!”
“Sorry,”
It wasn’t until Gojo had started playing private investigator and snooping through Nanami’s old social media accounts that he saw a glimpse of it.
“A dragon!”
“Hmm?”
This time, Nanami was using the coffee machine to brew a dark roast. The entire staff lounge smelled like a cozy coffee shop.
“You have a dragon tattooed on your head!”
Yaga looked up from where he was sitting with his newspaper before immediately going back to reading. Old man.
“Yes I do.”
“Let me see it then!”
“My hair is grown out.”
“But you promised!”
For a second, it was just the sound of beans being ground and then the mug filling up with the fresh brew. That and Yaga flipping through the paper.
And then Nanami sighed as he pulled out his phone.
He did some clicking scrolling before turning his phone to show off his old MySpace account.
There was so much that Satoru wanted to ask. Like how did he remember his log in? What song would play if he opened it on an actual laptop? Who was in his top 8?
And why was he never friends with Satoru on there?!
Before any question could come out, his eyes zeroed in on the profile picture.
Nanami looked young in the photo. He was probably studying for his salaryman position at this time. He looked like he was out at a party; his arm thrown around someone who had been long cropped out of the photo.
Most of the piercings from high school were gone outside of his ears which still held multiple earrings.
He also had the smuggest smirk he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing on Kento’s face - ever. But most importantly, both sides of his hair were shaved clean and the middle left in perfect a top knot.
On the left side of his head showed an intricate linework depicting a dragon mid roar. The thick, black lines contrasted beautifully against the color of his skin and then paleness of his hair.
It was the single hottest thing Satoru had ever seen in his entire life. He could feel his brain malfunctioning.
Gojo.exe force closed.
“Oh my God,”
“I know, it was stupid but I was 19–“
“It was not stupid. Please shave your hair again.”
“Gojo—“
“Please!”
-
It was with Yuji’s help that Gojo got to see Nanami‘s back. And not in a good way.
The two had done their little mentorship missions and came across a special grade. Definitely someone that even one of the strongest would have moderate trouble with.
Both of them were lucky to come away alive at all.
Yuji was a little worst for wear with a bloodied face and broken arm. But Nanami had taken the brunt of the fight.
His stomach was bloodied and there was a moderate size of missing flesh where he was bleeding profusely. He also had scratches and welts all across his body.
While Yuji laid back in the infirmary bed, trying to get some well needed rest, Kento was sitting upwards in the next bed.
His shirt was off and Shoko was leaning over him, using her reverse cursed technique.
From where Gojo was standing, he could see his back in pristine clarity.
The entire design spanned the entirety of his backside, dipping further into his slacks.
In an American traditional art style, there was a large bear with his rage filled eyes wide open, jaw unhinged, and fangs on display. He had a paw raised, as if he was ready to swipe at Satoru and knock him unconscious.
Gojo would let it happen.
Nanami, not aware that Gojo was in the room, groaned in pain, letting his head fall backwards.
It was at that moment that the two of them made eye contact. If you could call Nanami staring up at Gojo’s blindfold with dazed eyes.
“Oh, it’s you.”
Shoko didn’t acknowledge him, continuing to focus on healing Nanami. Yuji, though, raised a bandaged hand “Hey Sensei.”
“Hey kid. Looks like that curse kicked your ass. Don't worry, I already dealt with it.”
“Is it dead?”
“Yep.”
“Good,” Nanami sighed, his eyes still following the special grade sorcerer. “I didn’t think we’d make that out alive.”
“Don’t worry, Nanamin. I know you’re the type to always survive one way or another.”
“Until the day I don’t.”
He took a step forward, “Hey, don’t say that.”
“But it’s—“
“I said don’t say that, Kento. Please.”
Nanami didn’t bother arguing back.
-
After that incident, things started to change.
Turns out, that event was the wake up call that Gojo needed. Even if he really did believe that Nanami was the type to survive anything - he felt anxiety at the thought that one day he might not.
That anxiety forced his hand and one day, Satoru felt himself confessing.
Confessing that he was attracted to the blond.
Confessing that he respected and admired him.
Confessing that he didn’t know what all these confessions meant, but he knew that he had lost a chance to do this back in high school and he’d be damned for it happen in adulthood too when life was giving him a second chance.
And Nanami took every single mangled confession and returned it with patient reassurance and appreciation.
He returned it.
And that was all that mattered.
-
To the surprise of no one except maybe Nanami and Gojo themselves, the two of them got together.
-
It wasn’t long after the two of them got together that Gojo got to satiate his curiosity and see the thigh tattoos.
He didn’t even have to guess.
All he had to do was lay in bed and wait for Kento to join him. And lucky for him, Kento didn’t sleep in pajamas.
Satoru watched with unobstructed eyes as his boyfriend removed his tie and unbuttoned his shirt after a long day. His eyes easily falling on the script across his chest and on the colorful bird on his forearm. He’d noticed it before, but he loved seeing that the phoenix wasn’t the only bird on his arm. His entire arm made Satoru feel like he was like looking into an aviary where there were dozens of colorful birds, flocking around.
“Long day?”
“Mmhm.” Nanami turned towards his closet to grab a hanger because God forbid he let his clothes touch the ground ever. “Ino is trying to get a recommendation so we’ve been going on more missions together. I had to step in today.”
As he spoke, he was moving around and his back muscles rippled, making the arm of the bear move like an optical illusion.
Satoru kept quiet as Nanami opened up about his day. He watched in unbridled interest as his boyfriend undressed.
It was almost like Kento had become somehow prettier once they had made it exclusive.
Soon the man was in nothing but his briefs, turning back around to join him in bed.
Gojo’s eyes dropped down to his left thigh. A large greyscale Arowana fish was drawn, swimming upstream. The eye of the fish was vibrant turquoise - the blue was bright enough to rival even Satoru’s own.
Surrounding it was pretty, pastel flowers of varying shades of terracotta red, blue and purple.
Gojo wondered if that is what he might have looked like in another life.
On the opposite thigh was a dotted black and white koi swimming seemingly downstream. The pattern was very similar to the wrapping around the grade one’s blunt blade. Surrounding its body was blue flames.
It honestly looked a lot like how Nanami’s cursed energy looked.
Gojo wondered if there was any significance in his fish swimming up and Nanami’s swimming down. But before he could ask anything, Kento had crawled into the bed beside him and was shuffling underneath the comforter.
It took the blond a second to even realize he was being observed so closely, “You’re staring again.”
“I know. I can’t help it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Every time I look at you, it’s like making a new discovery.”
“Are you still talking about my tattoos? It’s been weeks now.”
“Yeah but it’s the first time I’ve been able to openly stare at your thighs without distractions.”
Both of them knew what distractions he was talking about. Kento’s ears pinked a bit, highlighting the fact that the piercings in ears had never closed completely.
“Whatever. Now you’ve seen all there is to me, it should stop being such a marvel to you.”
Gojo shook his head before laying back in bed, coming to the sudden realization that he and he alone would be the only person to see every single marking on Nanami’s body.
And that went for the rest of their lives, if he had anything to say about it.
“Nanamin, I don’t think that’ll ever happen.”
“Yeah?” Kento yawned. He was already sounding drowsy as he turned his back to get comfy while falling asleep. “We can debate that one in the morning.”
Gojo wrapped his own pale, unblemished arm around Nanami’s colorful one, loving the stark difference between art and a blank canvas, “Deal.”