Archive of Our Own ^beta

2021

“Are you even listening to me, Itadori?” Nobara says, craning her neck and narrowing her remaining eye. One of her hands is on her hip, and the other swings near her waist, holding her hammer, as though she’s about to hit him with it. 

Yuji sighs; he’s been hearing her go on the same rant for weeks —no, months— since the start of their final year at JuJutsu Tech. Always the same subject matter– Megumi, who’s irritating her, or who thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips. It’s nearly constant whenever they’re on a mission together, especially now that the division of labour has shifted. 

“You aren’t listening, are you?” Nobara confirms. She rolls her eyes and scoffs. “Typical men– always banding together–” 

“Does this really have to descend into some man-hating rant again?” Yuji says, peering ahead into the dark tunnel ahead of them. They’re on a mission, and now is not the time to be distracted. The sound of Nobara’s sharp voice reverberating around the tunnel is certainly not helping them track down this rogue sorcerer that they’ve been chasing around Tokyo for the past three days. 

Mei Mei had been the one to assign them this mission; she was clearly palming off some work which she didn’t want to do, and they were all sure she was getting some kind of pay out from it. That was the problem with being a JuJutsu sorcerer– you were always cleaning up someone else’s mess. The messes Kusakabe presented to them were usually manageable. The same went for the stuff Utahime put on the pipeline. Mei Mei’s ‘jobs’ were always the troublesome ones–either so boring you wanted to tear your hair out, or so dangerous you wondered whether you’d live to crawl underneath your sheets later that night. She was still their superior, and after Shinjuku, the ranks of qualified sorcerers were thinned out, so they had to keep themselves in Mei Mei’s favour if they wanted her to train them. Taking Mei Mei’s jobs was a necessary evil. 

Mei Mei hadn’t been helpful; she’d only given them a last name and a blurry photo. They were after some rogue sorcerer called Akaza, who Mei Mei made out to be dangerous, but who hadn’t been impressive when they’d initially run into him in the middle of stuffing a croissant into his mouth at a cafe in the middle of town. He’d managed to outrun them and had disappeared. Mei Mei had mentioned that he had an unusual ability, something involving portals— she hadn’t elaborated, which had made Nobara suspicious. Mei Mei's omission of information meant that things were probably going to take a bad turn at some point. 

Yuji stared down the dark tunnel. They’d managed to catch him near an underpass just outside of a funfair. Nobara and Yuji had been sent to track him down, Megumi had devised a quick plan– involving him scoping out the situation and providing backup. This was the new division of labour that Nobara was constantly complaining about. Megumi had determined that he was responsible for coming up with the theories, and Nobara and Yuji were the ones he used to test them. 

“It isn’t a man-hating rant,” Nobara continues. “It’s an anti-Fushiguro rant. I’m sick and tired of doing his dirty work.”

“Mmm,” Yuji says, deciding to nod along while keeping an eye out. The tunnel is pitch black, which means he’s trying to rely on what he hears, something that’s hard to do with Nobara airing her grievances. 

“I mean, he thinks he’s the queen of Sheba. He treats us like his lackeys! ‘You two chase after him and report back’-- ugh–” Nobara says. 

“Mhmm,” Yuji glances over. Her grip on her hammer is tightening, and he can tell that she’s getting angrier and angrier as she recounts his words. 

“I mean, who does he think he is, Takeda Shingen–”

“Who even is that?”

She doesn’t answer his question; she just continues with her rant. 

“He doesn’t even say please; he doesn’t care about our input– he just barks out orders like we’re one of his shikigami. It’s so—ugh–”

“Yeah, it sucks,” Yuji says flatly. He hears a scuffling sound and looks at Nobara’s shoes. He pauses. She’s stomping, not scuffling. He fixes his eyes ahead. 

“I can’t wait until we graduate,” Nobara says. “I’m not going to be someone’s lackey, much less Fushiguro’s– I’m only stuck with you two until I get my papers–”

“You can’t go solo, it’s against the rules,” Yuji says. “Come on, Kugisaki, we’re not that bad.”

Nobara laughs and flicks her ponytail over her shoulder. Her hair has grown longer, now reaching the middle of her back. It’s another source of team contention– her fashion choices. She’s still wearing her signature skirt, but Megumi complains about it being impractical, and Yuji complains about her ponytail hitting him in the face whenever she wears it high. She narrowly misses him with the ponytail flick before crossing her arms over her chest. 

She steps out in front of him, blocking him off.

“You’re terrible. Both of you– Fushiguro is worse, but you’re both bad together. I can’t even get guys to look at me when I’m out with you two, and I’m stuck doing stupid shit jobs–”

“That’s not our…” Yuji falters; he hears something– not scuffling or stomping, but hopping. 

He turns, and he knows that the floodgates are about to open. 

To be fair to Megumi, he’s outside the tunnel, so he hasn’t heard the twenty-minute rant Nobara has been on, making it impossible to make a good judgment call. In actuality, even Yuji lets out a frustrated sigh, because it isn’t that hard to remember the one shikigami that would really set Nobara off. Yuji turns to look at her. Nobara’s face is pulled into a grimace, her eyes are wide, and she looks both shocked, disgusted and insulted. He watches as a vein pops on her forehead. 

“That idiot,” Nobara says darkly. She steps forward, pushing past him, hammer raised. “He sent one of his frogs,”

Bad move, Fushiguro, Yuji thinks. Terrible move, actually. Nobara has been in a bad mood for the past three days, ever since their target slipped away three days ago. Nobara is at the end of her tether. Exhausted and frustrated to the point of tears, sick of listening to Megumi’s plans, which have had a variable success rate recently. She looks like she wants to scream, or cry, or both. 

“Nobara–”

“That’s it,” She says. She clenches her fist and Yuji realises that instead of screaming or crying, she’s simply decided to explode. 

She surges forward, raising her hammer, readying it to strike the frog. Its dark eyes don’t move; it just continues to gaze ahead, unblinking. She lifts her arm, but before she can strike, the frog hops ahead. Nobara spins wildly, stumbling in its pursuit. She runs after it, and each time she gets closer, it hops ahead. Yuji follows afterwards– maybe Megumi can hear them, and this is his way of telling them to get a move on. Either way, it’s certainly pissed Nobara off. 

The two of them clamber ahead, Nobara having lost all sense of their objective. They’re here to locate Akaza, not to enact divine justice on one of Megumi’s Shikigami– no matter how deserved it is, and in this instance, Yuji would agree that it is deserved.  

They march further and further, and Yuji can make out a little bit of light and the sound of footsteps, terrified footsteps. Probably belonging to Akaza. Mei Mei had said that his cursed technique wasn’t combat-oriented, but still troublesome. It made sense that his main strategy had been to evade them. Yuji watched as Nobara attempted to hit the frog again, nearly stumbling over the force of her swing. 

“Kugisaki,” Yuji says. “Stop– I think I can hear him,” 

Nobara pauses right as she’s about to raise her hammer again. The light has increased, and they can make out a figure shifting in the darkness. She steps backwards, raising her hammer, and she reaches into her satchel, pulling out some nails. 

She steps backwards so he’s covering her blind spot. The air is tense, and the noise has stopped. This Akaza figure is trying to take them by surprise. Mei Mei had told them that he may use cursed objects. They were to capture him alive and bring him in, which meant limiting the amount of force they used. 

Yuji narrowed his eyes, trying to make out anything else in the darkness. He stepped forward, cautiously, trying to avoid making too much noise. It was better to try to negotiate peacefully; rogue sorcerers could be reasoned with from time to time. 

Nobara, however, was of a different opinion. Yuji should have known that everything was going to go to shit when he heard the loud, sharp hiss of her sucking her teeth. 

“Fuck this,” Nobara says lowly. “We’ve been chasing this guy for the past three days–”

Before Yuji can stop her, she rushes forward. Megumi’s plans often don’t account for Nobara’s volatility when she’s angry, and today, he’s done everything in his power to set her off. 

She sends her nails flying, blue cascades of cursed energy whipping around the tunnel, casting out some light. Just enough to illuminate her target, Akaza– who is far closer than she expects. Right in front of her. 

Yuji watches as he reaches forward, a smile crossing his dark features. 

“Nobara, get back–”

It’s as if he can’t hear her. Yuji watches as Akaza retracts his fingers, but he doesn’t reach forward and strike her; instead, he reaches out into the space behind him. 

What happens next is like something in a film. A large dark vortex erupts from Akaza’s fingers like a whirlpool. His lips contort into a wiry smile, and Nobara’s eyes widen in horror as colours begin to materialise in the dark expanse which has opened behind him. 

“Stop–”

“Sorry,” Akaza says, his voice rough. “But you haven’t caught me just yet. I was waiting for one of you to get close.”

Yuji surges forward, and he grips Nobara by her belt, pulling her back. He hears a muffled scream escape her mouth, voice thick with rage, she struggles against his grasp, trying to push herself forward– but it’s to no avail, Akaza reaches into the vortex. Yuji watches hopelessly as Akaza feels around for something before his eyes widen, his face breaks into a sneer, and he steps back into the vortex, the darkness collapsing in on him. 

Something is flung out of it– someone. Yuji watches as the vortex closes, leaving nothing behind in its wake. He looks down, and his eyes widen. 

The thing that has come out of this vortex is not a curse, but a human. A little girl, to be exact. He looks her over. She’s young, she can’t be older than six–four or five maybe? She’s wearing a floral dress with a white cardigan, and she’s got some kind of backpack on, with pink straps. Her hair is black and tied into two braids, and her bangs are pushed over to her right side, tucked behind her ear. She’s staring at them, amber coloured eyes wide. Yuji squints. Something about this girl is familiar, but he can’t put his finger on it. 

“What the fu–” Nobara begins. 

“Hey,” Yuji interrupts. “Don’t swear in front of the kid,”

He kneels, but the little girl isn’t making any eye contact with him. Instead, her eyes are fixed on Nobara. She rushes forward, wrapping herself around Nobara’s legs. 

“Mama!” The girl exclaims. 

2032

They’d decided to go to this funfair, because they’d both had a day off that had coincided with the half-term. It wasn’t as though they’d had any real choice; an advertisement for it had played on the TV, and Sumire hadn’t stopped talking about it for weeks. She’d been exceptionally well-behaved at school, which was behaviour Megumi wanted to encourage. 

He’d driven them down; Nobara couldn’t drive with her eyepatch. He’d noticed the strange tunnel close to the fair when they’d parked, but hadn’t thought anything of it. There was probably just a shrine on the other end. He’d Google it later, and maybe order a book on the area if it tickled him. Nobara would probably roll her eyes and tell him that he’d really settled into this whole middle-aged dad thing– and he’d have to remind her that he was only thirty– he hadn’t brought himself a road bike and spandex yet– he still had hope. 

When Sumire had gone missing, they’d run around the park like two wild animals looking for her. It was clear that her good behaviour streak was at an end. He was almost glad that Nobara’s grandmother was coming for a visit next weekend, as it meant that she could be the one to deliver the scolding. Sumire found her appearance terrifying, so whenever she came for a visit, he’d give her a full report of all of Sumire’s mishaps so she could read out the rap sheet. It was effective, but Nobara’s grandmother had a sweet spot for small children, so she’d always hand Sumire some candy from her purse after scolding her. It was a balance that worked. 

He’d remembered the tunnel, after they’d both spent a good half hour running around the park, Nobara looking worse for wear on account of her condition– another reason why he’d give Sumire an earful when they found her– not that she’d have known that she was going to become an older sister in a few months. It was too early to say anything really, and she probably wouldn’t get it anyway– not until her sister was born. 

Nobara nearly runs into him when they eventually meet again near the exit of the park. They’ve alerted the staff, but he’d called her and told her that they ought to check the tunnel. There’s a film of sweat on her forehead, and he can see the worry in her eyes. 

He reaches out, placing his hands on her shoulders, which are tense. 

“Come on,” He says. “She can’t have gone far,”

Nobara lets out an annoyed huff. 

“I’m going to buy her a leash,” She grumbles. “I’m seriously going to buy her a leash. I can’t keep up with her.”

“Thirty isn’t kind on the knees,” He shrugs. 

“Please don’t remind me that we’re thirty,” She sighs. “It feels like we were eighteen yesterday.”

He gives a faint smile. He remembers that time with a strange fondness, even though they were at each other’s throats. He reaches out and runs his hand through her hair. 

“I can go and look for her if you want to go and sit in the car and put the A/C on?”

Nobara shakes her head. 

“No, I’ll come,” She says. “There must be something interesting in that tunnel since she was willing to run off and leave us worried sick.”

They make their way to the tunnel, and instantly, he’s terrified. It’s eerily quiet, and he’s hit with a strange feeling of Deja vu– like he’s seen this tunnel before. They press on, and he calls Sumire’s name. There’s no answer. He and Nobara exchange a glance before continuing. 

They walk for ages, he flashes the torch on his phone, and their shadows flicker on the walls of the tunnel. He thinks about summoning one of his shikigami, but he’d rather not expend any cursed energy unless it becomes necessary. He doesn’t sense any cursed energy, and getting his Shikigami out would only make things worse– Sumire tends to get overexcited when he does, and would probably start running away from them, thinking that they were playing some kind of game. 

He steps forward, and he feels it, a sudden uptick in cursed energy. He catches sight of Sumire, a good fifty yards away, being illuminated by some strange swirling vortex. He calls out to her, but she cannot hear him. He brings his hands together, summoning Nue. 

Nobara is silent next to him, nearly frozen. He looks over at her, and her eyes are wide. 

“Nobara?” He calls. 

“She’s….I…” Nobara says quietly, eyes wide with shock. 

He runs forward, Nue flies overhead, but he can’t close the distance fast enough. He watches hopelessly as Sumire is pulled into the vortex. He throws his hand out helplessly, just missing her ankle. A terrible feeling shoots from his heart because he knows this feeling– all of those times watching Nobara get sucked away and being able to do nothing. He wants to yell, to punch something– his child has been taken by something, someone–

He looks at his feet. 

Someone lies in Sumire’s place. 

2021

Nobara stares down at the small girl who’s wrapped around her legs in shock. She turns to Yuji, who looks as though he’s trying not to laugh. She glares at him. She’s already angry enough today, having been put on one of Mei Mei’s wild goose chases. All she wants to do is get back to the dorms and take a nice hot bath, slip into a pair of pyjamas and put on one of those old Samurai films she loves so much, maybe scroll through Hinge– she’s nineteen years old after all, she should be going on dates, not fighting rogue curse users. 

She stares at the kid. She’s a cute kid, and she’s staring up at Nobara with so much adoration that Nobara can’t help but soften. She swallows her anger; it isn’t the kid she’s angry at– it's this Akaza guy, and Fushiguro of course. She’s already started mentally composing the legendary verbal lashing she’s going to give him once they get out of this tunnel. 

She reaches down and pats the girl's head. They can at least get her back to her parents. Yet another responsibility that’s been suddenly thrust on their shoulders. She’ll make Fushiguro take the lead on that– since he wants to act like he’s their boss. He can run around asking every couple at the funfair if they’re missing a child– that’s a fair punishment in her mind, especially since their search for Akaza is going to stretch on to another day. 

“What’s your name?” Nobara says. 

The girl looks up, clearly confused. Nobara wonders whether she needs to repeat herself; maybe this kid is hard of hearing? She sighs. 

“Did you hit your head, Mama?” The girl says. “It’s me, Sumire,”

Nobara sighs. She’s certain that this kid has hit her head. 

“I’m not your ‘mama’,” Nobara says. “Stop calling me that,”

“But–” The girl starts. 

“Carry her, Itadori,” Nobara says. “Come on, let's go, we need to find her parents.”

Yuji swoops down and picks this girl up. She doesn’t seem too fussed about being carried by some strange man she doesn’t know. Nobara doesn’t think anything of it. 

They walk through the tunnel, and Yuji is being suspiciously quiet. He keeps looking over at Nobara, and he’s got this horrible look on his face that tells her that he’s attempting to use his brain. Nobara swings her hammer at her side. Megumi’s frog hops behind them; she feels a little queasy every time she hears the moist pads of its feet connect with the tunnel’s stone floor. 

She tries to ignore the weird feeling, that pit gathering in her stomach. Something about this little girl is strange, and yet so familiar. She’s smiling at Yuji, and Nobara realises that she’s right– something is familiar about this little girl. She can’t put her finger on it, but she recognises that smile. Yuji almost stumbles over a rock, and her face changes into a little pout– Nobara swears she’s seen that pout somewhere…and those amber coloured eyes. 

Mama? She thinks. Nobara laughs. This Sumire girl is probably just some confused little kid. It was dark in there, so maybe they’re looking for a woman with ginger hair? She’ll relay all of this to Fushiguro when she demands he find her parents. 

“I’m going to run ahead,” Nobara says. 

“Wait–” She hears Itadori protest. 

Nobara is gone before he can finish. She sprints out of the tunnel, hammer in hand. To the ordinary observer, she probably looks like a madwoman. She doesn’t care. 

She powers ahead, and soon she sees him, standing at the opening of the tunnel, demon dog curled up at his feet, arms crossed over his chest. He’s annoyingly tall now; he had a growth spurt last year, and now he’s 188 cm, meaning that he’s nearly a foot taller than her. Still, she knows she has the more imposing presence. 

“Fushiguro!” She yells. 

He gives her a nod. 

“Did you catch him?” He asks. 

She stomps forward, teeth set on edge. She’s even more irritated. He must know that they haven’t, having sent one of his Shikigami over to spy on them. 

“No, of course we didn’t,” She snarls. She glares up at him. “But you know that already, don’t you?” 

“Kugisaki–”

She reaches out, poking a finger into his chest. 

“You know we’re a team, right? You don’t just get to sit here on your ass while Itadori and I go out and do the real work!”

“Technically, I’m standing.” He sighs. “And someone needs to be here to offer backup in case things go sideways”

Her face reddens. She pushes her finger harder against his chest, so hard she can feel his pectorals contract as he takes a deep breath. 

“And why should that person be you–huh?” She seethes. “You’re treating us like canaries in a coal mine!”

“Where’s Itadori?” Megumi asks. 

“He’s still in the tunnel, with the kid–”

“The Kid?” Megumi says, brow raised. 

“Long story– there was some portal and Akaza disappeared, and this kid came out– her name’s Sumire. It doesn’t matter. Anyway, since you’ve been sitting here lazing about, you need to go and find her parents.”

Megumi clears his throat. 

“Err…don’t you think it would be best if you did that?” He says. “Don’t you think it will look a little bit strange….I don’t want to  be accused of anything.”

Nobara grips her hammer even tighter, so tight it feels like she’s going to snap it. He’s right, it would look strange, but in her eyes, it’s a fair punishment after today. A little bit of discomfort is far less humiliating than the third day of their wasted efforts. She doesn’t even want to think about what Mei Mei will say when they tell her that they’ve failed to catch this human cockroach yet again. Nobara groans. 

“It’s your job, Itadori, and I have done enough today. This is the least you can do.”

Megumi rolls his eyes and says something under his breath that Nobara can’t make out. She reaches around, grabbing her ponytail and pulling out her hairband angrily, letting her hair fan around her shoulders. The tension is giving her a headache and making her even more irritable. 

As she turns, Itadori makes his way out of the tunnel. She waves to him, and the girl in his arms starts to squirm excitedly. Nobara turns back to Megumi, who doesn’t seem to look happy at all. He looks at Itadori like he’s punched his grandmother, perhaps annoyed that the task of finding these little girls' parents will be his. She looks at him, feeling a strange sense of deja vú, his lips are pressed into a line, slightly poking out. She stares at them, oddly transfixed for some odd reason, before she looks back at the little girl. 

It hits her like a brick. She looks at the little girl's face, really studies it, the amber eyes, the pout from earlier– no, Nobara thinks. Mei Mei said that Akaza’s quirk had something to do with time. No way? Nobara’s head feels light. She looks at Sumire’s features, that dark hair, that smile– those golden eyes, that pout. What was it she’d said earlier? Mama. 

Nobara’s head spins, and her body feels light. No. She thinks. No way– absolutely not. The clearing starts to spin, and she takes another look over at Sumire, who’s squirming her way out of Itadori’s arms, who reaches the ground and runs towards Megumi with her arms extended. 

The last thing Nobara hears before her knees buckle is Sumire’s bright, bubbly voice, exclaiming one horrifying, life-altering word: 

“Daddy!”

2032

Nobara creeps next to Megumi. One of her hands is firmly planted on her head. 

That vortex. 

When she had seen it, she’d gotten a terrible head head-splitting headache, and then a strange feeling that she’d seen it somewhere before. Then the memories came in, that day, that vortex, it was all fuzzy, but she’d gotten the sense that the memories were new. She’d always remembered the mission vaguely, but the details were a bit off. Now, a patchwork of fuzzy memories began entering her brain. She remembers being with Itadori– it was 2021, wasn’t it? They’d been searching for someone– one of Mei Mei’s missions. This tunnel was the same tunnel from all of those years ago. 

“Nobara?” Megumi says quietly. She falls into step next to him. 

She reaches out and grabs his arm gently, they stare at the man on the ground, the writhing mass before them, who’s groaning pathetically. 

Megumi gives her a concerned look. 

“I’m okay,” She says, squeezing his arm to reassure him. 

“Just be careful, okay,” He says. “Stand behind me–”

“Did you…Do you remember?” She says. 

“Remember what?” He asks. 

She steps behind him as a shadow wells around his feet. He reaches down, pulling out one of his swords. She swallows; she’d left her hammer in the car. She hadn’t expected that they’d encounter any curses on their little family day trip. 

Suddenly, Megumi stiffens. One of his hands flies to his head, and Nobara realises that he’s remembering now. Her head hurts too, and another new memory surfaces— some kind of argument, before everything faded to black. She can’t remember what it was about, but she knows that something is wrong. Something is very wrong, and Sumire’s disappearance is linked to this man who groans near their feet. 

“Akaza,” Megumi says. “That’s his name, isn’t it? I remember,”

Nobara watches as Megumi’s grip on the sword’s hilt tightens, as he presses the sword beneath Akaza’s chin. 

“How about we ask him some questions?” Megumi says darkly. 

2021

When she opens her eyes, she’s staring at the great blue expanse of the sky. She feels a small hand in her own, and there’s something soft beneath her head. Someone– she cranes her neck to see that it’s Itadori, is fanning her face. Her head is resting on something soft and warm, and when she sees the green eyes peering down into her own, she realises that she’s lying in Megumi’s lap. 

Her eyes widen, and she yelps, sitting up with a start. Itadori stops fanning her and shuffles back. She feels someone squeezing her hand, Sumire, she thinks. This mysterious little girl, who terrifies her. Whose little amber eyes are wet with tears. 

Sumire lets go of her hand and wraps her little arms around Nobara’s neck, letting out choked sobs. Not knowing what to do, Nobara awkwardly pats her on the back. 

“There…there?” Nobara says, questioning herself as she says it, she doesn’t know how to comfort a small child, not really– nor does she get why Sumire is crying like this. 

Nobara rubs her back awkwardly. She looks over at Itadori, who seems to be struggling to contain his laughter. He clamps a hand over his lips. This isn’t funny, that's all Nobara can think. They need to go back to speak to Mei Mei immediately. This can’t be right? It has to be some terrible trick devised by Azaka. 

Sumire pulls back and wipes her tears away, Nobara searches her face, and to her horror, she sees herself in this little girl. Those wide eyes, that nose of hers, even the way her bangs are parted to the right, just like Nobara’s own. 

“You scared me, mama,” The girl says. 

“I’m…sorry?” Nobara says. A sudden wave of nausea hits her. 

She looks to Itadori. This cannot be happening. This has to be a trick, right? 

“Sumire,” Nobara starts. She clears her throat. “Do you know what year it is?”

Sumire places her finger on her chin and looks to the sky. It’s clear that her little brain is working overtime. 

“Uh..I dunno…I think…” Sumire raises her fingers, trying to count with them. “Daddy says it’s twenty-thirty-something…”

She trails off. Nobara’s head whips around. 

Megumi’s face is pale. So much so that she’s worried that he’s going to hit the floor next. 

“You’re being weird, mama,” Sumire says. 

“I’m not your–”

“Hey,” Itadori says. “Why don’t we check her bag? There might be some information in there which could lead us to her parents. You know, like one of those bag tag cards we used to have in primary school,”

Nobara is about to protest, but she feels a hand on her shoulder. Megumi’s hand. She whips her head around, and he’s quietly pleading with her. 

“I don’t like this either,” Megumi says. “But…Mei Mei said his cursed technique had something to do with time–”

“It’s impossible. This little girl has clearly hit her head.” Nobara says. “We should find her parents and go back to the campus so we can go after Akaza,”

“Just let Itadori check her bag.” Megumi says. She can see that his knuckles are white. He looks a little bit queasy. 

“Hey, Sumire,” Itadori says. “Can I take a look at your bag?”

Sumire turns and beams. She nods. 

“Okay, Uncle Yuji,” She says brightly. 

Nobara’s eyes widen. How would this little girl know Itadori’s first name…..unless….unless…

Sumire hands Itadori the bag, and he unzips it cautiously, as if he were worried that the bag contained an explosive device. He searches around in the bag; there isn’t much in it. A little stuffed animal, a notebook and a children's reading book. Finally, he pulls a zipper on the inner pocket and pulls out a bag tag. 

Nobara watches as Itadori reads it. His eyes widen. 

“No way,” He says. He clamps a hand over his mouth and laughs. 

“Give me that,” 

Nobara watches him as he keels over like a monkey. She feels her jaw twitch. Trust Itadori to behave like a great big idiot in her time of need. She supposes that it’s all some silly prank, and the card will attest to that. She throws herself forward, snatching it from his hands. 

She steadies herself and brings the card close to her face. Megumi shuffles closer to her, and she can tell that he’s peering over her shoulder. 

She stares at the handwriting before she even processes the words– it’s her handwriting. Her lip begins to tremble, and sweat gathers on her brow. No– She looks up at Sumire and then down at the card, she lets out a shocked laugh. Written in her neat handwriting are the words: 

If found, please return to Fushiguro Nobara, 

Contact number: *************

Her hand feels limp. A shard of ice forms in her chest. Fushiguro…..Nobara. A cursed technique that involves time— a mysterious little girl with her eyes and Fushiguro’s hair and pout, who keeps calling her mama and refers to Itadori as ‘uncle Yuji'. Her fingers tremble, and the card flutters between. Megumi plucks the card from her hand and stares at it, mouth opening and closing like a fish. 

She feels strange. 

She can’t bring herself to turn her head. She can’t look at Megumi or Sumire. Instead, she focuses her attention on Itadori. 

“Stop laughing,” She says. “This isn’t funny,”

Itadori pauses. He zips up Sumire’s bag and tosses it to them. Sumire sits and watches the three of them quietly, clearly confused. 

“What? Why are you so mad?” Itadori shrugs; he can’t contain himself for long, and the laughter starts again. 

“Itadori, I’m serious, if you don’t stop laughing, I’m going to knock a hole into your skull.”

“Are you trying to traumatise your own child?” Itadori snickers. He’s laughing so hard that he’s nearly wheezing. 

“She isn’t….” Nobara falters. 

She looks over at Sumire, who gives her a little smile, clearly unable to read the situation. It’s undeniable, the resemblance is uncanny. The kid is practically her double, yet somehow resembles Megumi as well. She’s almost the perfect mix of both of them, save for Megumi’s hair and pout winning out over hers. 

“Oh come on– lighten up, you two–” Itadori stands, wiping off his trousers. “At some point down the line, you two are going to get hitched and have a kid, and a pretty cute one at that— there are worse futures out there,”

Nobara realises with great horror that Itadori is correct. For the name in there to be Fushiguro Nobara…. That would mean— 

Marriage. 

“I’m bored,” Sumire says. “I want ice cream– can we go back to the fair now?”

“No,” Megumi says. “No, you can’t have ice cream.” 

Nobara turns to look at him– he looks pale and terrified, but oddly intrigued. 

“We…” Megumi starts. “We need to go– right now. We need to go and have a word with Mei Mei. I’m going to call Ichiji.”

Nobara nods, trying to regain some composure. She looks away from Megumi, knowing that her cheeks are red. 

She can’t say that she hasn’t noticed the small things about him. He’s gotten taller, and he’s pretty ripped– she didn’t realise that he was so muscular, but she’d caught him lifting his shirt up during training one day, and it had made her turn as red as a bell pepper. Of course, he was a complete asshole, and she knew that someone else had her sights on him, so Nobara had never even considered it a remote possibility. Even after nothing had happened with that, someone else. 

“I want a shotgun,” Nobara said, finally. “You two can sit with Sumire in the back,”

The boys nod; she stalks off. She waits quietly on a bench until she sees Ichiji’s car pull into the car park. 

2032

They drive home with Akaza squirming in the boot of their car. They don’t say very much, and the process of getting him into the car was a little bit different– even with assistance from Megumi’s Shikigami. They had some rope in the boot, and Nobara had suggested that they hog tie him– and he’d held Akaza while she did it, slightly unsure of how she knew how to hog tie someone. She’d shrugged and told him that it was something that she’d picked up back in her hometown, which inspired both awe and more questions. Something about the look she gave him when he asked made him realise that he would never get the answer. 

They pulled into their driveway. It was obvious that Nobara was unsettled. She was fiddling with her eyepatch and her wedding ring, which was what she usually did when she was nervous. He was nervous as well, worried. The memories were all coming back, but they were still fuzzy, as though they were being developed in real time– which they probably were. 

He steps out of the car, pulling the keys out of the ignition. They need to get him to squeal, to bring Sumire back before too much damage is done. He has no memory of the mechanics of this Akaza figure's cursed technique– so they’re working on fumes right now. 

He tosses Nobara the house keys and tells her to go and relax; he’ll handle this. She shakes her head and gives him a maniacal smile. She raises her hammer, which she’s pulled out of the glove compartment. 

“We can break his fingers together,” She says seriously. “One by one,”

“If that’s what you want,” He shrugs. “Who am I to deny you?”

To outsiders, their nonchalant approach to violence may be seen as abhorrent, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary. They’ve been teammates for years, he knows how much Nobara likes getting in on some action– and he’s happy for her to work out her anger on this man, who’s sent their daughter off to some other time. 

He suspects the only reason that they’re so nonchalant about all of this is because they can remember it— what happened on the other side of that vortex. The shock, the horror, Nobara fainting outside of the tunnel all of those years ago. Her head in his lap. 

Sumire is in unequipped hands, but those will do for now. 

2021

“What’s with the kid?” Shoko asks them. 

The car ride home had been mostly silent. Nobara had sat in the front next to Ichiji, and Sumire had sat in the back between Megumi and Yuji. Yuji had, of course, not read the atmosphere and was playing a game of I Spy with Sumire in the backseat, which went poorly in a moving car. Eventually, Sumire got tired and curled up against Megumi’s side, falling asleep. Her weight against his side made his chest constrict. 

He’d seen the note. He’d felt like he’d been slapped by the note. Him and Nobara…..that didn’t even sound right. Since he’d met Nobara, she’d always had this big act where she would make a show about being out of his and Yuji’s league. He couldn’t imagine what she was thinking, especially since she was sitting in the front of the car, cheek pressed against the window, but he knew that she must have been just as confused as he was– maybe even a little embarrassed. 

Maybe it wasn’t the future, but a future. There was no guarantee that it would actually happen. Surely it could have been some big illusion– some terrible cosmic joke? That was the best explanation for the clusterfuck that today had become. 

They’d excited the car. Yuji had carried a sleeping Sumire through the school gates, and she’d woken up when they’d started climbing the stairs. She’d insisted on walking the rest of the way and had pouted when Nobara had refused to hold her hand, looking at her with a terrified expression when Sumire had reached for it. Yuji had swooped in the save the day. Regardless of what was going on internally, Megumi didn’t think it was an excuse to treat the kid poorly….his kid? No– that didn’t sound right–his future kid? He shook his head, he didn’t need to think about it– it was the future– no, it was a future. Just a possibility, it had to be.

They’d gone to seek out Mei Mei and had found her having a tea with Shoko in the staff room. They’d merged the Tokyo and Kyoto campuses, and the staff room was packed. Utahime sat in the corner, reading a sports magazine with a famous baseball player Megumi recognised on the front– Kusakabe was brewing a coffee. 

Shoko picked her cup of tea off its saucer before looking at them. She looked at the kid, eyes narrow with scrutiny, before breaking out into her usual sardonic smile. Mei Mei sat across from her, not even looking at them, which sent Megumi into a quiet rage. Mei Mei was the reason why they were stuck in this mess in the first place. 

Shoko clears her throat. 

“What’s with the kid?” 

Megumi can’t seem to form the words, nor can Nobara. Yuji looks at the two of them, and Nobara shoots him a glare. Sumire’s eyes widen. She runs forward and wraps her arms around Shoko’s legs, hugging her. 

“Miss Shoko!” Sumire explains. 

Shoko’s eyes widen with confusion. She places her tea down awkwardly. 

“Okay…right—- this is freaky. Where did you get this kid from?” Shoko asks. 

Nobara shakes her head. 

“We…” Nobara starts. 

Itadori, who’s already shown his lack of restraint today, is the one who says something. He points at Megumi and Nobara. 

“She’s theirs,”

Shoko snorts. She has an amused expression on her face. 

“Very funny. Did you two have a secret baby a few years ago or something?” Shoko laughs. “Anyway– seriously, where is the kid from? You need to find her parents.”

“You’re looking at them,” Itadori says in an unnerving deadpan tone. 

Shoko clears her throat. 

“The joke’s dead, Itadori–”

“He’s not kidding,” Megumi says quietly. 

“Did you two….actually have a secret child?” Shoko says. 

“No,” Nobara says finally. “She’s from the future–”

Nobara taps her foot impatiently. It’s obvious that she’s exhausted. So exhausted that she’s flipped her gasket. 

“Apparently, this ‘rogue sorcerer’ that Mei Mei sent us after is a fucking time traveller. I got close, he summoned this portal and went missing, and this kid came out of it–”

“Language,” Megumi says. “Don’t swear in front of the kid,”

Nobara’s head whips around, but her expression softens when her eyes meet his. He can see her lip trembling. This has been a lot to take in for both of them. 

“Sorry..” She says. She pauses and smacks a hand over her eyepatch dramatically. “Why am I saying sorry. Am I losing my mind? Maybe I am– actually, that tracks. I’m slowly losing my mind, and in a couple of years I’m going to marry Fushiguro–”

“Could be worse,” Shoko shrugs. “And you two make cute kids by the looks of it,”

Megumi’s face turns red. This is more than embarrassing- it’s mortifying. He’s known Shoko since he was a kid– and though he’s an adult now, he still views Shoko with respect.

Nobara shifts her eyes to Mei Mei. 

“You–” She points. 

Megumi, for one, is enjoying Nobara’s bout of fury. They’ve been thrown into the deep end with no warning– if he’d known there was the remote chance of learning anything about his future, he would have turned this mission down. He already has enough issues to worry about in the present. 

Mei Mei looks up at them slowly, amusement on her face as though this is a big game to her. 

“What is that cursed technique?” Nobara demands. “And how do we fix this and send the kid back?”

“He calls it temporal displacement,” Mei Mei says. “When someone’s close enough to him, he’s able to jump to a certain point in their future or past, not without a price, though–”

Mei Mei looks at the girl and sighs. 

“He needs to ‘swap’ with someone to displace himself. Which is why she’s here,” 

“So…” Nobara says. “He’s in the future right now?” 

Mei Mei nods. “Most likely, we’ve been tracking everyone that he’s displaced. We want to capture him so we can swap everyone back–”

Mei Mei pulls out her phone and presses a few buttons. She turns her screen around, and there’s a blinking green dot. 

“What is that?” Nobara says. 

“It’s complicated, but his cursed energy has a specific signature. We can tell when he’s in the present. He isn’t here, so he must be in the future. Once we sense his cursed energy again, Ui Ui and I will go and capture him.”

“You could have done that from the start,” Megumi says. “Why send us?”

Mei Mei laughs. “You should be happy that you got experience dealing with a rare, cursed technique– most sorcerers would die to encounter a technique like that,”

Nobara mumbles something under her breath. Her shoulders fall. 

“Well– what do we do with the kid in the meantime?”

Shoko shrugs. 

“Well– your kid, your responsibility,”

He senses that Nobara is about to volley out a slew of expletives. He reaches out and places a hand on her shoulder. 

“It’s fine,” He says. “How hard can looking after a kid really be?”

In the end, Yuji volunteers to look after Sumire for the afternoon. 

Nobara storms out immediately after their talk with Mei Mei, and he thinks he sees the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes. He waits for a few minutes before giving Yuji an apologetic smile, because he needs a second to collect his thoughts as well. 

He walks down the hallway, dragging his feet. He doesn’t know whether he should be offended by Nobara– or terrified about his own future. He isn’t into science fiction, so he doesn’t really understand the mechanics of time travel beyond one pop physics book he read ages ago. Isn’t there some risk of a paradox? Surely this sudden revelation could completely destabilise the future? If he and Nobara don’t….it would mean that the girl– Sumire— would cease to exist, or would her original future be preserved with a new one branching off of it? He didn’t know how to answer these theoretical questions, and just thinking about the future and its many possibilities made him feel like he desperately needed some fresh air. 

The collar of his uniform jacket felt tight. He unbuttoned it slowly, pulling it off and opening the sliding door, which would lead him outside. He stepped out, feeling the cool air through his white cotton button-up. 

He stared at the sky for a few moments before the sound of whimpering filled his ears. Soft whimpering. He looked to his right. Nobara was sitting on the stairs of the adjacent building, head in her hands, hair a dishevelled mess. He sighed. 

Maybe talking to her about it was the right thing to do?

She seemed completely distraught by it, whereas he was shocked but curious. Best-case scenario, they could joke about it– worst-case scenario was her telling him to fuck off, which would be a return to the status quo. He hated seeing her cry. It was weird when she cried. He was used to her being so confident and sure of herself. Whenever she cried, it felt like the whole world was wrong. He sighed and decided to make his way over— angry Nobara was better than sad Nobara. 

He makes his way over to the stairs, sighing as he sits down. He places a hand on his knee. Does he approach this with humour? He doesn’t think he’s particularly funny, maybe sarcastic. He looks at her trembling back, and the first thing that enters his head clumsily exits his lips. 

“So….Am I really that bad?” 

Her back stiffens,and slowly she removes her head from her hands and turns to face him. Her remaining eye is tinged pink, and her cheeks are puffy. His eyes widen. She’s clearly upset– more upset than she normally is.

Maybe he is that bad? 

Does Nobara hate him? Sure, they butt heads sometimes, but usually they can find common ground over sharing gossip or making fun of Itadori. He doesn’t dislike her by any means, and normally he wouldn’t care if someone disliked him– but the thought of her actually disliking him is bothering him. 

“Go away,” She says. “You’ll just make things worse–”

“I’m sorry,”

She scoffs and looks away. 

“What do you have to be sorry about– it’s fate, right?”

“No– I don’t believe in fate,” He says. “We still have a choic,e right? We don’t have to–”

“What would happen to her if we didn’t?” Nobara says quietly. 

He thinks about it for a moment, about what to say. 

“I don’t know,” He answers truthfully, looking at his feet. “It may just become part of an alternate timeline or she may….”

“Cease to exist, right?” Nobara says, sucking on her teeth. She looks over at him and brushes her bangs out of her face. 

She gives him a sad smile. 

“I know you think Itadori and I are stupid, but even I can work out what might happen to the kid,”

“I don’t think that,” He says quickly. “I don’t think that you’re stupid,”

Nobara sighs. 

“It’s too much,” She says quietly. “The guilt. I’m angry because we don’t really have a choice anymore–”

“Of course we do,”

She shakes her head, and she lets out a frustrated groan. 

“No– we don’t. In fact, fuck it. Let’s just rip the band-aid off and get married since it’s going to happen anyway– I don’t understand how you’re so calm right now, huh?”

“I..” He says, “Well, I know what kind of people we are so….”

She raises a brow. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we’re both pretty stubborn……I don’t think…..” He thinks of how to phrase it. “I don’t think either of us would get married without a good reason to, so if it does happen…”

He doesn’t know where he’s going, she looks at him, mouth slightly agape, which means he’s either completely fucked it, or that he’s saying the right thing. He licks his lips and continues. 

“Well, it would be the real thing then….wouldn’t it?”

Nobara’s ears turn red, then the flush spreads to her cheeks. He’s so embarrassed by these silly romantic words he’s said that he wants to throw himself into traffic. She quickly regains her composure and knocks his shoulder with her fist. 

“Alright, lover boy,” She scoffs. “I guess that makes sense…you know…if you’re one of those losers who believes in all of that flowery crap,”

He smiles a little bit. It’s a bittersweet smile, but he knows that with Nobara, small victories come before large ones. 

She sighs. 

“Well….if it happens, I want a big fucking ring,” She says, giving him a stare. “I’m serious. Like so big the satellites can pick it up–”

“If such a ring exists, it’s yours,” He says, shoulders loosening. It’s just a possible future, not an actual one, surely– joking about it made things feel lighter. 

“Also, don’t expect me to cook for you,” She says. 

“With all due respect, I would rather die than eat your cooking, Kugisaki,” He says.

“So romantic,” She laughs. “That can be arranged– but only after you put my name on your life insurance policy. I don’t work for free.”

He laughs. An actual laugh. Maybe nothing makes sense today, but talking about it makes things better. 

“And I guess you’ll be taking my pension as well?” He says, giving her a smile. 

“Maybe I’ll divorce you?” She says, playing a finger on her chin. “Then I can clean you out and screw you with the alimony payments,”

“There was actual malice behind that one,” He glances over at her. “Look I know this is a lot, but we’re friends.”

“Yeah–” She nods. “We are.” 

She pauses for a few moments, then turns to him abruptly. 

“Also, don’t think that this means I’m not going to date in the meantime. I’m not deleting Hinge,”

“I wasn’t suggesting that we–”

Nobara scrunches her nose. 

“We? Who said ‘we?’-- you’d better keep your dick in your pants–”

A vein throbs in his forehead. 

“Don’t you think that’s a double standard?” 

“I don’t care if it is,” She shrugs. “It’s not like you’d give a shit if I started seeing other guys–”

“Maybe I would?” He says, voice going up a few tones at the end. 

Nobara just shakes her head and laughs. 

“Come on, let’s go find Itadori,” Nobara says. “Not really fair to dump our future kid on him– especially if she’s anything like us,”

He stands and helps her up. She powers ahead of him, and he hangs behind. His handwas  still warm from the moment their skin made contact. 

2032

He’s learned a lot of things about his wife over the course of the past twelve hours. She somehow knows how to hog tie a person; she has a pretty good grip on human anatomy, so much so that she knows which bones are the best to break and how to do it. He watches as she slams her hammer down on Akaza’s pinkie finger. They’ve been here for hours, and he hasn’t bothered to say anything. Probably because he knows that they can’t kill him. He’s taken someone precious to them , and they can’t kill him, not until he does his little party trick again. 

So they tied him to a chair in their living room, and that’s where he’s been for hours, subjected to an interrogation led by Nobara. 

Megumi watches as he cries out in pain. It’s impressive watching Nobara work, so impressive that he’s hardly had to do anything; he’s been sitting around in the background, making dinner. Their house is detached, so they don’t need to worry about any neighbours hearing him, and Nobara put up a barrier anyway– getting the police called in the middle of your impromptu torture session would be….inconvenient. 

He fills a glass of water and hands it to Nobara. She takes it from him and gives him a smile. 

“Thanks,” She says. “I’m surprised you haven’t tried to stop me,”

He shrugs. 

“Trust me, I gave up on trying to stop you from doing what you want ages ago,” He says. “You’ve been going for hours, I don’t think he’s going to squeal soon so we should probably eat and go to bed–”

“Go to bed?” Nobara rolls her eyes. “Megumi, our daughter is missing–”

“Well, she isn’t technically, she’s at JuJutsu Tech–”

“JuJutsu Tec,h eleven years ago,” Nobara sighs. “I’m not stopping until we get some answers– or at least until he opens one of those portal things,”

Megumi sighs. He stares at the pot of curry he’s been standing over for the better part of an hour. 

“Well…the food’s going to get cold–”

“Just put it away, we can have it later,” Nobara places her glass down on the coffee room table. She turns to Akaza and gives him a smile. “Now…where were we? I’m not done with you–”

“Don’t break all of his fingers,” Megumi warns. “He may need them to use his technique.”

She nods and turns to him. 

“Mmm.” She says. “You’re right–ugh– oh well… guess it’s time for psychological torture then,”

He sighs. 

“Should I even ask?” He sighs. 

“Samurai films,” She shrugs. 

He looks at her, both eyebrows raised. 

“You mean….you’ve stolen your torture methods…..from old Samurai flicks,”

“Yeah?” She says innocently. “What’s wrong with that?”

He laughs. He imagines that Akaza is probably having the most insane day of his life– but if anything, he brought it on to himself. 

Who in their right mind decides to try to one-up a woman wielding a hammer?

2021

“Shh” Itadori says as they enter the common room. 

He’s sitting on the floor, back pressed against the sofa, while Sumire sleeps on top of it. Itadori put his jacket over her. 

Nobara examines her sleeping features. There’s no doubt. She looks like both of them. Even the way she sleeps reminds her of Fushiguro. She looks over at him. His attempt to comfort her on the stairs had been kind– but she didn’t expect him to. If anything, she thought he’d be more mortified than her— they didn’t hate each other and he was her friend…..but it was weird…..weird to even think of him that way. 

Strangely, she could almost see it. They had a similar sense of snarky off-beat humour. She couldn’t really see Fushiguro getting on one knee for anyone, nor did she think him the kind of guy to show up with flowers and chocolate, but in all honesty– she sort of hated all of that presumptuous stuff. 

Her ideal man was someone who was no bullshit, much like she was. That was why she loved those Samurai movies. Some stoic warrior, who had a lot of street cred and brains to boot. Her favourite were the films about Nobunaga– they always depicted him so nobly. She didn’t want some sensitive asshole, she’d seen enough of those types on Hinge– the ones who used weird touchy-feely language, and ran around with tote bags containing notebooks full of bad poetry. The sort who always had whatever book had won the most recent prestigious women’s literary prize to hand. All of that was just a way of manipulating their way into a woman's pants after all– and she didn’t fall for their vinyl collections, or the rings they wore on their fingers. She wasn’t particularly inspired by their vintage denim collection and their trucker hats. The modern dating market was truly in hell. 

Not that she needed a boyfriend– she was only morbidly horrified at the idea of one of the boys starting to date before she did, and Fushiguro was right, she was stubborn. She wasn’t the type to just be with any guy– she wasn’t desperate, she did everything with good reason. 

So what the fuck did future me see in him? She thinks, she looks over at Megumi, who gives her an awkward thumbs up. What in the hell did she see in this huge dork, who pretends to be edgy, but cares about his friends more than anything? Who seems to notice the small things whenever she and Itadori are down. This guy, she’s known since she was sixteen, who spends most of his time in sweats and doesn’t brush his hair (although he’s really clean and smells really good– Itadori had shown her Megumi’s room once, and she’d been mildly impressed and a little embarrassed, as her bedroom floor was covered in clothes). 

They sit in front of Yuji, and Nobara draws her knees to her chest. The sun is starting to set, and she has no idea where Sumire is going to sleep or what they’re going to feed her. 

“Thanks, Itadori,” Nobara says. “For looking out for her,”

Yuji waves her off. 

“No worries,” He whispers. “Honestly it’s fine. Are you two okay? Sorry about laughing earlier….it’s just– well it’s a shock isn’t it,”

“We’re fine,” Nobara says curtly. 

“Cool!,” Yuji says. He turns his attention to Megumi. “Does that mean I get to be the best man?”

“What?”

“At your wedding?” Yuji says. “You know, in a couple of years,”

“Read the room, Itadori,” Megumi sighs. 

“Sorry,” Itadori says sheepishly. 

Nobara takes a deep breath. 

“So then…” She says. “We just have to wait, don’t we? There’s no telling how long she’s going to be stuck here then,”

Megumi shrugs. 

“I guess….but I don’t know– I kind of have a funny feeling about it,” He says. 

“Go on?” Nobara says. 

“Well, Mei Mei said it was temporal displacement right?” Megumi continues. “If he was able to grab her, I’d put money on us being nearby in the future,”

Nobara laughs.

“What? So you think there’s a future version of us right now hunting him down?”

Megumi shrugs. 

“Well….it’s a possibility,”

Nobara looks at the couch, Sumire starts to stir. She sighs. This isn’t the kids fault– and she’s probably the most confused right now. She’s holding up surprisingly well for a young kid– especially since her and Megumi have been avoiding her for most of the day. She wonders whether being ignored is normal for Sumire– whether they’re both so wrapped up in their work in the future that they don’t have time for her. Is it even right for sorcerers to be parents? Her mother was crap– but that was for reasons unrelated to sorcery, it was the gambling and drinking, not the curses. 

“Yuji,” Nobara says. “You’ve been helpful today, but we can look after her from hear on out,”

“Are you sure?” Yuji says. 

“Yeah,” Megumi says. “Today must have been confusing for her, the least we can do is….act like we’re her parents–”

“Well technically we are,” Nobara says. “Even if we aren’t right now,”

“Oh boy,” Yuji says. “Time travel sure is confusing,” 

Yuji leaves, and there’s an awkward silence for a few minutes. Neither of them has much experience with kids— Nobara’s babysitted a couple of times back home, but she’s always been terrible at it. 

“So..” Nobara says, breaking the silence. “What do we….do?”

“Well, maybe some food for a start?” Megumi says. 

“What do kids like to eat?” Nobara says. “I’m not cooking,”

“I’ll order a pizza,” 

“Order two. I’m starving,” 

Nobara watches as he opens the delivery app on his phone. She unlocks her phone absentmindedly, trying to look busy. She peers at the hinge app, and suddenly feels terribly guilty for even having it on her phone. Maybe she should delete it? It isn’t like there’s anything good on there anyway. 

“What toppings do you want?” Megumi asks. 

“Hmm maybe barbecue chicken?” She says. 

Megumi makes a face. 

“Absolutely not. Also what if she’s a vegetarian?”

Nobara scoffs.

“You think future us would let our kid be a vegetarian?”

“I’m ordering two cheese pizzas,”

“How much do I owe you?” Nobara asks. 

“Don’t worry about it, there’s some kind of deal– we get like a litre of soda and some dips. It’s not expensive at all. What do you want? Diet Coke, right?”

“Yeah…” She says. “Diet coke like always,” 

“Cool, do you want to take a look at the dips?” 

“Just pick whatever,” Nobara shrugs. “Something a kid would want,”

He nods and makes the order. Nobara pauses. 

“What are we going to do about sleeping arrangements?” She asks suddenly. “Like pyjamas, I don’t have anything that will fit her.’

“Well– I figured she’d sleep in your dorm,” He says. “I don’t think it’s right to take her to the boys dorm,”

“What if she wakes up in the middle of the night? It’s not fair for me to have to deal with that alone,” 

He pauses. She expects pushback, but instead, he sighs and relents. 

“You’re right,” He says. “We can always sleep out here?” 

“On the floor?” She rolls her eyes. 

“No– the school has some spare Futons knocking around. I’ll ask Shoko. There’s a TV in the common room, so we can put a film on or something,”

Nobara nods. 

“Well as long as it isn’t a kid’s film, it’s fine,”

Megumi snorts. “And what do you propose we watch instead? Nightmare on Elm Street?”

She sighs. “Okay, fine, you have a point.”

“So…” He starts, not really knowing what to say. “These are the kind of movies you watched as a kid?” 

They’re sitting in the common room. The coffee table is pushed to the side, and they’ve laid out a futon on the ground. They’d eaten the pizza, and Nobara had procured some microwaveable popcorn and sour candy that she had stashed away in her room. 

Sumire, had been overjoyed with the pizza. She sat between the two of them, wearing one of Nobara’s shirts, which was oversized on her, but the best they could do. Megumi was still surprised that they’d been left to mind her– but he understood Shoko’s logic. They’d fucked up the mission and it was probably best that she be left with them anyway– since they were technically…..

It’s better not to confuse her. 

Megumi stares at the screen, he’s balancing a bowl of popcorn in his lap and leaning against the couch. He’s utterly exhausted from today, but he won’t be able to sleep until he feels settled. He’s let Nobara select the film– something called Adventure in Kigan Castle, an old film from the 60’s with campy costumes and a lot of fuzzy Technicolour. He thinks it’s a bit outdated, but Sumire’s eyes are glued to the screen– maybe this is the kind of stuff Nobara lets her watch in the future? He gazes over at Nobara, wanting to see how she’s holding up. She’s chewing on some sour candy absentmindedly. 

“It’s a good movie,” She says. She turns to face him. “What did you watch?”

Megumi can’t remember. He doesn’t remember very much of his childhood and he’s glad for it. 

“I read a lot,” He says. 

He feels Sumire pull at his sleeve, he looks down and she points towards the popcorn bowl. 

“Please can I have some Megumi?” She says, in a singsong voice, tripping over his name. 

During dinner, they’d both nearly choked when she’d referred to them as ‘Mama’ and ‘daddy’. Nobara had stepped in, using her quick thinking and had said that for tonight, Sumire was going to have the special privilege of calling them by their first names. It clearly made her a little uncomfortable, and she struggled to pronounce their names at first, but she was saying them confidently now. 

“Sure,” He says, placing the popcorn bowl in her lap. 

He looks over at Nobara’s bag of candy, he isn’t a fan of sweet things, but he’s partial to a little bit of sour candy. He reaches over and tries to take one, only for Nobara to pull the bag back. 

“Hey!” She says. She turns to him and squints her eye. “I thought you didn’t like candy–”

“My blood sugar’s low,” He says. 

She takes out some candy for herself before handing him the bag. They both decided not to give any of it to Sumire, knowing that children and sugar are a disaster. They’d told her it was licqourice and she’d puckered her face up and said ‘ew’. In all honesty, this felt like babysitting. It was easy to ignore who Sumire was, and where she came from– in a way, it was almost sort of fun. 

She wasn’t a bad kid, she was obviously pretty energetic but she was exhausted which meant that it wasn’t hard to keep her occupied. The pizza had helped. Her eyes had expanded to the size of saucers when she saw it and she’d nearly choked on string cheese– they’d had to tell her to slow down. 

He chews on a sour gummy. Sumire takes some popcorn and he places the bowl on the side. He can see that she’s blinking heavily. He sighs with relief. She’ll probably fall asleep soon, leaving he and Nobara to finish the film. 

“My grandmother used to put this stuff on,” Nobara says quietly. “Reminds me of when I was a kid,”

Megumi nods, he stares at the screen, it’s strange to think that films like this were Nobara’s childhood go-to’s. He hears the soft sound of yawning and looks down at Sumire, who’s blinking slowly like a tired cat. He gives her a little nudge. 

“Sleep if you’re tired,” He says. 

She pouts. “But I want to finish the movie,”

“We can pause it and watch the rest tomorrow,” He says. If she’s still here tomorrow. He’s praying that Akaza makes another time jump and he’s sure that her parents— them in the future, must miss her. 

“Okay,” Sumire yawns. 

He takes the remote and pauses the movie. Sumire slides down and almost immediately falls asleep. 

Nobara is quiet. All he can hear are the sounds of her chewing on the sticky sour gummies. She’s tied her hair back into a messy bun at the nape of her neck and she’s fiddling with the ties on her pink pyjama pants. 

He switches the news on, turning the volume down, there’s some news report about the government's new budget. Boring stuff but it will help them sleep, if sleep is at all possible. 

He looks down at the girl who sleeps between them. Nobara has rebraided her hair and clipped back her bangs with a beret. She snores softly, rolling around every once in a while. 

Nobara looks over at him, giving him a tired smile. 

“She’s kind of cute…isn’t she?” Nobara says. 

She reaches out to brush a stray hair off of Sumire’s forehead before her hand stops short. She retracts it. 

“Weird day, huh,” Nobara says awkwardly. 

“Yeah,” He agrees. “Weird day. We should probably try to get some sleep at least,”

“Can’t,” Nobara shakes her head. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep. I feel like my mind is going a million miles an hour,”

“Just turn your brain off,”

“That’s a male thing, you know?” She inserts another gummy into her mouth. “I don’t have some internal switch that I can use to lobotomise myself at will,”

“Fair enough,” He says, not knowing how to respond. 

He stares at the newscast, there’s a male presenter with a horrible haircut that makes Nobara laugh. Sumire snores softly between them.

He won’t be able to sleep either. 

2032

Akaza breaks the next day. 

Perhaps he realises that there’s no escape for him, or maybe he’s just tired of having his fingers smashed; either way, Nobara doesn’t care. She cares that this nightmare is about to be over. 

They’re on their way to the school–making him send them back there would certainly make things easier. He’s explained the ins and outs of his ability, even all of the weird time-related science– they don’t have to worry about running into their past selves. Megumi had asked him about paradoxes and Akaza had laughed him off– apparently they weren’t a real concern to anyone who had a grasp of how time worked. That was something ominous, and Nobara didn’t care to get him to elaborate further. She didn’t care about the secrets of the universe. 

They pulled into the school's parking lot. They didn’t want to attract more suspicion, nor did they want to deal with any of their students. This was going to be a clean job, as clean as they could manage. 

Megumi opened the car boot and pulled Akaza out, loosening his ties. Nobara raised her hammer. He’d decided to co-operate, but there was always the risk that he’d run. 

Nobara stared him down. 

“Come on,” She said, tapping her foot against the ground impatiently. “Use your technique,”

Akaza glared at her, he raised one of his hands which was purple and swollen from various blows coming from Nobara’s hammer. He scowls. 

“Give me a moment,” He sighs.

He waves his hand and they watch as a swirling mass erupts from his fingertips. He reaches in and pauses. 

He turns. 

“I’ve found three candidates, but for some reason–”

“You need four,” Megumi says. “Technically,”

“But….oh,” Akaza starts. He pales. “You mean she’s…..but how did she–”

“Shut up and do your job,”

Nobara and Megumi exchange a look. The black vortex expands. They take each other’s hands and follow Akaza through. 

2021

Megumi is shaving when he hears the loud knock at his door. He’s left Sumire with Nobara, who had told him that he needed to go and take a shower. Neither of them had been able to sleep at all, and Nobara had slipped out early to grab a shower before telling him to go and do the same. He nearly nicked himself, but managed to finish before answering the door. 

He was unimpressed to see Yuji standing and panting. It was too early in the morning to be banging on his door that loudly, and he wasn’t at all impressed. He made it known through his scowl. 

“What?” Megumi said gruffly. The lack of sleep was probably apparent. He’d caught a glimpse of his dark circles in the mirror when he’d hopped out of the shower. 

“You’re not going to believe this–”

“Out with it,” Megumi says. 

“All of the first years have gone missing.” 

“They’re probably on a mission–”

“No,” Yuji shakes his head. “They disappeared and then well…you guys showed up,”

Megumi runs his hands through his hair. He’s exhausted; it’s way too early for Yuji’s crap. 

“What are you talking about?”

“You and Nobara, and that guy we were after,”

He pauses. 

“Wait– you mean them us, not us us,”

“I saw them come through the gates,” Yuji says. “Dude– you should see yourself,”

Nobara is taking Sumire to the staff room when she bumps into herself. 

Not literally, she doesn’t actually bump into her older self. They both reach for the staff room door at the same time, and Nobara, who’s been on her phone, looks up. Of course, she reacts as anyone would when running into an older version of themself: shock and horror. She swears and jumps back, dropping her phone in the process. 

Standing before her, isn’t just an older version of herself, but an older version of Megumi, who’s holding hands with other–her. She looks at their hands, and sure enough, there’s a pretty nice-sized rock on her older self’s ring finger. 

“What the fuck?” Nobara says. 

She examines her older self. On one hand, she can see that her strict skincare routine has paid off. Older Nobara looks good. They’re the same height, and her hips are a bit wider, but it’s obviously her. Her hair is at her waist and Nobara likes her outfit– a red sweater and a pair of black jeans. She’s holding her hammer, Nobara recognises the signature carved heart on the top. 

“Sorry,” Older Megumi says. “We didn’t mean to startle you,” 

He kneels and picks up Nobara’s phone, handing it to her. 

She eyes it with mild terror before taking it from him. She doesn’t know what to say, she just shifts from foot to foot awkwardly. What do you say to your future self, who’s made choices that make no sense to you? 

Sumire looks between Nobara and older Nobara, clear confusion on her face. Nobara can’t blame her; she’s confused as well. None of this makes any kind of sense. 

“Mama?” Sumire says. 

“Yeah, she’s over there,” Nobara mutters. She leans down and pats Sumire on the back, encouraging her to step forward. 

What follows is classic parental scolding. Her and Megumi’s older selves kneel and check her for bruises and scrapes, then proceed to give her a talking to. Sumire pouts, perhaps not understanding the danger she was in. 

All the while, Nobara watches on, shocked. It’s strange to see someone with her face be so….maternal. She watches how her older self looks at Megumi and how he stares back at her. She hasn’t seen anything like it. It’s weird seeing Megumi look so easygoing. He really looks like someone’s dad, in his chinos and his sweater. The two of them finish their scolding and stand. She watches as older Megumi takes older Nobara’s hand, and the only thing she can think is fuck, this guy is whipped. 

“Uh,” Nobara say,s licking her lips. “So–”

She’s interrupted by the sound of two sets of frantic footsteps, and she doesn’t even need to turn her head to know that it’s the boys. 

“Hey,” Megumi says, falling into step beside her. He looks up at himself, and his eyes widen. “What the–”

“Holy shit,” Itadori says. He laughs. 

The sound of Itadori’s laughter makes Nobara regain her composure. This situation is comical and ridiculous and she has a million questions. She stares her older self down.

“Hey–” She starts. “Megumi and I have some questions for you.”

Older Nobara squints.

“We don’t owe you any explanations– we need to get home. Sumire has school on monday,”

Nobara scoffs. She steps forward and points at older Megumi.

“Oh I think you owe me more than a fucking explanation,”

“Stop swearing in front of my daughter–”

They’re both interrupted by the sound of laughter, Yuji’s laughter. Nobara turns and he’s nearly keeled over. 

“Oh man,” Yuji says. “Kugisaki’s got to be the only person in the world who’d get into a fight with herself,”

Both Nobara’s watch him, both of them twitching their remaining eyes. They have the same anger tells. They both open their mouths and say the same thing perfectly in unison:

“Shut up Itadori,” 

At that, the door to the staff room swings open. Mei Mei steps out and doesn’t even try to hide her bemused smile. Nobara realises that she’s probably been in there this whole time, listening in. She gives older Megumi and Nobara a nod, before turning to Nobara. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll have a few hours to talk.” Mei Mei says. “We’ve got to figure out how to get everyone back after all,”

Nobara scowls. She hates Mei Mei’s stupid missions, and she hates how thin the walls at this stupid school are. 

They ditch Itadori. 

Well, that’s inaccurate. He’s unable to stop laughing and Nobara chews him out and sends him on their way. They’re sat in one of the common rooms, sitting across from each other with cups of coffee in front of them. Sumire’s been left to occupy herself with a set of crayons and some paper in the corner. 

It’s awkward. Megumi doesn’t know what to say or what to ask. He doesn’t want to know, and in all honesty, he’s looking forward to them leaving so he can forget about all of this. The past twenty-four hours, have been confusing and the sooner he doesn’t have to think about any of this, the better. 

Nobara taps the table. She’s quiet but lets out heavy sighs every few moments. Her older self looks out of the window. 

Megumi sighs and takes a sip of his coffee, he looks at his older self's cup. He cracks a small smirk. 

“Do you still like it black?” He asks, trying to make some conversation. 

His older self nods. “Yeah we do,”

Nobara nudges his leg with her thigh, he looks over at her, eyebrows raised. 

“What do you want to know?” Older Nobara says, finally tearing her eyes away from the window. 

Nobara scoffs. 

“What do I want to know? Hmm…. where to even begin– how did this happen. Did he drag you kicking and screaming or something?”

Megumi rolls his eyes. He watches as his older self exchanges a knowing glass with other–Nobara. 

“I wouldn’t say you were kicking and screaming–” Other Megumi says. 

“Oh shut it,” Nobara’s older self says, her face red. She gives him a playful knock on the shoulder. 

“Ew,” Nobara says. “Oh my god– ew. They’re flirting, Fushiguro, make them stop.”

Older Nobara glares at her. 

“What? Am I embarrassing you?”

Nobara’s face reddens. 

“Of course I’m embarrassed– you two have a kid….which means that now everyone knows that at some point…Fushiguro and I are…have–no….are going to….do that–”

Megumi nearly chokes on his coffee, his older self who’s been quiet looks away, obviously slightly flustered by the direction this conversation has taken. 

“--it’s embarrassing,” Nobara says. “And Itadori is never going to shut up about this, not now, not ever.”

“You’re going to be living with him soon enough, so you ought to get used to it,” Older Nobara snaps. “And you may act all high and mighty, but you and I both know that you care about those ‘silly boys’ more than you’d ever admit–”

“I..” Nobara falters. 

“Oh and by the way, that whole ‘playing hard to get’ thing is cute when you’re nineteen, but it isn’t when you’re in your twenties. You’re going to fall in love one day, and you’re just going to have to learn to get over yourself,” Older Nobara finishes. 

Nobara is quiet. She sips her coffe and Megumi realises that for the first time, she doesn’t have a retaliatory quip lined up in her arsenal. He’s quiet. It turns out that the only person capable of outwitting Nobara…..is Nobara with a few more years behind her belt. He catches a small smirk on his older selves face. 

Other Megumi clears his throat. 

“You should also probably be a bit nicer to Nobara,” He says, directing his attentions towards Megumi. 

“I am nice to Kugisaki,”

His older self gives him a knowing smile. 

“Start treating her like a lady, not just one of your comrades. Stop with the frogs, you know she hates them,”

Megumi’s ears redden. 

Their older selves exchange a glance. 

“Jeez,” Other Nobara says. “I forgot how emotionally stunted we were at this age,”

“Who are you calling emotionally stunted?” Nobara says, brow raised, clearly she’s feeling recharged and is ready for another fight. 

Megumi sighs. He nudges her with his elbow. 

“Calm down,” He says. “I don’t think they’re saying this stuff to be mean,”

Nobara sighs, he watches as her shoulders subside. 

“At least tell us when it happens,” Nobara says. 

Other Nobara thinks for a moment and then shakes her head. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Other Nobara smiles. “If I tell you, you’re just going to obsess over it. It isn’t as bad of a thing as you both seem to think it is–”

Other Nobara pauses. She leans onto his older selves shoulder. 

“It was pretty unexpected, and yeah it felt random at the time– you’re probably going to be a bit pissed if it plays out the exact same way it did, but don’t kill the messenger okay?”

“But–”

“It’s probably better that we don’t know,” Megumi says. “Thank you–”

“We should be thanking you,” Older Megumi says. “Sumire can be a handful.”

“She was fine,” Nobara says, waving her hand. “We didn’t get to finish the movie we out on for her, but it’s fine–”

“We’ll finish it, when we get home,” Older Nobara smiles. 

The four of them watch as Sumire organises the crayons by colour. 

Mei Mei rounds everyone who’s been displaced up in a couple of hours. All of them stand near the school’s main entrance, Akaza in front. 

Nobara stands next to him, they watch as he opens the portal. They stare at their older selves, waving them off. Mei Mei has explained that once Akaza returns everyone he won’t be able to use his technique for the foreseeable future because of the imbalance. The explanation fries Nobara’s head and she shuts Itadori’s voice out when he tries to explain it to her again. 

She watches as the first wave of people enter the portal. Their older counterparts stand at the back. Nobara watches as older Megumi picks Sumire up. She looks over his shoulder and waves to them, which pricks Nobara’s heart. She nudges Megumi’s shoulder. 

“Wave,”

He does. He’s been quiet since everyone has gathered. Older Nobara turns and waves a final time before winking at her. Nobara is glad that nothing about her has really changed, even after all those years. 

She waves and watches as they step into the vortex. She stares as people begin to exit, including four first years. She turns to Megumi, eyebrows raised as she does some quick maths. 

“How can there be four first years if only three of them came through the portal the last time?” Nobara says. 

“Don’t know,” Megumi says. 

Then they realise, they look at each other, eyes wide. 

Two kids. 

Christmas Eve 2022

“I can’t believe that Yuji’s ditched me,” Nobara says. She’s standing behind their kitchen counter furiously mixing a bowl full of eggs with a handmixer. She’s wearing a glittery red christmas sweater with white snowflakes and a pair of leggings which have light dustings of flour all over the thighs. 

“You can’t just use him as your personal errand boy,” Megumi sighs. 

He’s watching the carnage unfold. Their living room and kitchen is a complete mess, scraps of wrapping paper, piles of unwrapped gifts for their friends. Their flat gifts were sat underneath a shoddy christmas tree that Nobara had bartered for. They’d moved in together after graduation, and Nobara was the one who’d suggested they turn christmas into a big deal. They were hosting a big christmas party tomorrow, which Megumi had begrudgingly agreed to only on the promise that there would be spiked festive drinks. He was sure that Shoko would appreciate his input. 

Nobara was of course, chronically disorganised. Megumi had been telling her for a week that they needed to start wrapping the gifts they’d all gotten for their guests. They’d all put some money in and had managed to get a nice gift for each guest. Nobara of course, had left everything until the last minute, including the holiday baking she’d been bragging about doing. 

“I mean– ditching me to go and hang out with his friends from middle school–ugh. So annoying. He told me he’d be here to help today, and he’s ditching me for a bunch of people he hasn’t seen in years–”

Is that what Yuji told her? Megumi thinks. Yuji isn’t seeing friends from middle school, he’s on a date with Ozawa. 

They’d started casually seeing each other a couple of months ago, and Yuji had sworn him to secrecy because he wanted to see if everything would work out before going public with it. Plus, it would probably cause Nobara to spiral with her whole ‘its way easier for guys than girls’ rant. 

She’d deleted hinge, and they hadn’t talked about last years events at all. Way too awkward. It felt like a distant fever dream. Meeting their future selves, their future child. He’d thrown himself into his work and both of them had been more open and honest with each other. They’d grown a lot closer to each other and she was willing to confide in him a lot more. 

He sighs. He doesn’t want to be the one to tell her, but someone ought to or else she’ll spend the whole evening disparaging Yuji’s name. 

“He’s not out with his middle school friends. He’s on a date,” Megumi says. 

“What?” Nobara says cooly. 

“You know– with Ozawa, remember her. They’ve been going out casually for a couple of months” 

“Yeah of course I do,” She says. She combines her wet and dry ingredients. The whole house smells like ginger. She’s decided to make gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies and Itadori was supposed to help her decorate them. 

She works the gingerbread dough together before pouring it out on the counter. He watches as she angrily rolls out the dough, grunting as she works it down to a thin sheet. 

“Uh…Nobara,”

“Sorry, I didn’t realise it was annual ‘lie to Nobara’ day.”

“He just wanted to make sure things were solid between them,”

“Is he bringing her tomorrow? He’d better or he’d be dead to me.” Nobara asks. “Shit– I don’t think we have a gift for her do we? Yuji is such an idiot. Imagine how she’ll feel if everyone gets a gift except for her tomorrow. This is a disaster!”

He’s surprised by her reaction. 

“I don’t know if she’s coming,”

“And we got such thoughtful gifts for everyone– it will look bad if we just get something like wine for her. We’re getting KFC so we can add to the order, but the gift situation will be a complete embarrassment. I put in all of this effort just for–”

“I’ll text Itadori and tell him to pick something up from all of us,”

“Good,” Nobara says. “Also stop standing there and help me. Those gifts need wrapping and labeling.”

“Yes ma’am,” Megumi says sarcastically. He takes out his phone and texts Itadori. 

He makes his way over to the fridge puling out a bottle of red wine. He pulls out two glasses. 

“What are you doing?” Nobara pauses. 

He fills both glasses, handing one to her. 

“It’ll make it easier. Let’s put some music on or something,”

“Fine,”

He connects his phone to the kitchen speaker, putting on some generic Christmas playlist. He makes his way over to their dining table and takes a big swig of wine. He places it down to the side and gathers his materials. 

He starts with the gifts. Some of them are easier than others. Nobara had helped pick out most of them. Skincare sets, scarves, cookbooks, they’d gotten Shoko a scarf and Kusakabe a nice pair of slippers. Nobara had put some cash in a card for Mei Mei. She’d gotten Maki a cookbook, because Maki had mentioned feeling like she’d gone overboard with her fried food obsession and wanted to learn how to cook because she was sick of eating the same thing over and over again. Most were thoughtful, even if they were ridiculous. Nobara had somehow secured exclusive Takada merch for Todo– a pair of pyjamas covered in Takada’s face, which Megumi thought were creepy. 

He finished his glass of wine at the midpoint and poured himself another fat glass. It was dark outside and as much as he hated to admit it, even he could feel the holiday cheer. He poured more wine into Nobara’s glass. 

She’d just got her first batch of cookies into the oven. She brushed her leggings off and let out a sigh before tucking into her wine and walking over to inspect Megumi’s handiwork. 

“I’m nearly finished,” He says. 

“Even with the tags?” She says. “Have you signed them like I told you to,”

“Yeah of course,” He nods. 

“Good,”

She shifts from foot to foot. 

“You were right about the wine,” She says. “It does help. I feel way less stressed.” 

He nods. 

“You took the Itadori thing pretty well,” 

She shrugs. 

“Well…how am I supposed to take it?” She says.

“Well you’re always on about dating so–”

“What’s the point of dating. I currently live with the guy I’m going to end up marrying.”

He pauses with the gift he’s currently wrapping and looks up at her. 

“Do you…want to talk about it then?”

He’s been wondering if she ever would. He doesn’t even know if he wants to talk about it, but it’s the only slight point of tension in their dynamic. It constantly feels like they’re waiting on something to happen. 

“No, I don’t” Nobara says, finishing her wine. “I have cookies to bake,”

She returns to her station and pours herself a massive goblet of wine, nearly finishing the bottle. He can tell that she’s a little tipsy. He finishes his presents and makes his way over to the kitchen counter. 

She’s preparing the sugar cookies. The gingerbread cookies are cooling on a wire rack on the counter. He’s surprised with her baking skills. She’s got the cookbook propped up on a stand and is reading it like it’s some great ancient tome. 

He pours the rest of the wine into his glass and turns to face her.

“What can I do to help?” He says. 

She turns and sighs, as though he’s burdened her with the question. 

“Measure out the dry ingredients,” She says. 

He peers over her shoulder, reading the instructions. He watches as her ears redden and he realises that he’s way too close. 

“Sorry,” He says, backing off. 

She doesn’t say anything, she just raises the glass to her lips and takes a long, slow sip. He clears his throat. 

Something shifts. As he’s measuring the dry ingredients, the tension in the room is palpable. He sips his wine, not knowing what to say. He calls her over when he finishes measuring his ingredients and her arm brushes against his as she takes the bowl of dry ingredients and pours it into the wet bowl. She looks at him when she finishes, her mouth stained red from the wine. 

“What?” She says. “Why are you looking at me so strangely,”

“Uh…” He feels a little dumb. He needs to think of a quick excuse. “Your lips are stained–”

“Well we are drinking red wine, what did you expect?”

He nods, realising how stupid he sounds. He takes another sip. 

He’s starting to see her differently. 

He gulps. 

He assumed that it would happen at some point, because she isn’t sixteen anymore. Over the years she’s come into her own. Confident, self-assured. The only thing that’s strange about it is that she’s standing here in that silly christmas sweater with her hair in two braids completely dressed down. 

“Hey, help me roll out this dough,” She slaps a big wad of sugar cookie dough onto the floured surface. He grabs the rolling pin and flattens it quickly. He’s never baked before, but he’s getting the gist now. 

Nobara picks up one of the cookie cutters and he watches as she works, setting out the shapes onto trays. He watches as she reforms the dough and rolls it back out again, repeating the process. The way her shoulder blades move as she kneads the dough. The sweater is honestly nice, now that he thinks about it. He likes the sweater. He likes it a whole lot. 

She finishes setting out the trays and places the first one in the oven, setting out the timer. She raises her flowery hands up. 

“High five?” She says. 

He obliges, raising his hands to meet hers in the air. 

“Is there anything else I can do?” He says. 

“Hmm,” She says, she places a finger on her chin, leaving a fingerprint-sized spot of flour on it. He is overcome with a strange sudden urge to lick it off. He coughs. “Maybe if you help me start cleaning? I can do the icing tomorrow morning.”

He nods, washing dishes will do him some good. Keep him grounded in reality. 

He washes and cleans and wipes the surfaces. Nobara exchanges the trays. They work like a well oiled machine until Nobara goes to take out the final tray. She accidentally grabs a wet dish cloth and all he years is a loud resounding yelp as she burns herself. She drops the tray of cookies and it clatters to the floor.

Immediately he springs into action, grabbing her wrist and running room temperature water over her hand. He holds her hand under the faucet, both of them breathing heavily. Her back is pressed against him, and he can feel everything. 

She’s breathing heavily. He feels a shiver run through his body as he realises that he’s tipsy. He switches the tap off and kneels down grabbing the tray with a fresh towel and placing it on the counter. Some of the cookies have broken into pieces. 

“Does it feel better?” Megumi asks. “The water should stop a burn from forming,”

“Yeah it feels fine,” Nobara says. 

She looks at the tray and pouts. “So much for that tray,”

“It’s fine,”

She sighs and hoists herself onto the counter. Normally Megumi would chastise her for sitting on the counter, but he’s happy that she isn’t burnt and it’s christmas eve, he can let it slide for one day. 

He stands awkwardly. 

The kitchen is quiet. He leans down and turns off the oven. She kicks her legs back and forth on the counter and sips from her wineglass. 

She’s looking at him like he’s a scientific specimen, her head is cocked to the side and she wraps the counter with her fingers. 

“Should we try them?” He offers.

“Yeah, sure bring one over here,” She says. 

He picks up a gingerbread cookie and a sugar cookie and moves to stand in front of her. He splits them in half, passing her half of each cookie. She takes a bite of the gingerbread, her eye is fixed on him as she chews. 

He tries it. It’s extremely good. He hums as he chews. 

“Verdict?” She asks. 

“Really fucking good,” He says. 

She smirks and raises her sugar cookie.

“Cheers?” She says. 

He raises his half, knocking it against hers gently before popping it into his mouth. This one is even better, practically melting in his mouth. 

“Damn,” He says. “You know I normally hate sweet stuff but these aren’t too sweet,”

She nods and stares at him. 

She looks like she wants to say something. He wonders whether they’ll finally talk about what happened last year. 

He waits with anticipation. Some old christmas song plays in the background and he knows that his face is probably flushed from the wine. He doesn’t know what to expect, or what he wants her to say. 

She sighs. 

“Do you know what–fuck it,”

She reaches forward grabbing him by the front of his sweater and pulling him forward. She smacks her lips over his before he can even recognise what’s going on. Her lips are soft, and she’s wearing some kind of fruity chapstick. He shuts his eyes and kisses her back– and the blood in his body rushes to all sorts of places. He reaches up, grabbing the back of her head and pulling her in closer. 

Suddenly, the older version of Nobara’s words make a lot of sense to him. If this is the moment, Nobara is probably feeling a bit pissed off with herself. 

He pulls away and she looks at him, cheeks flushed, hair slightly disheveled. 

“What did you do that for?” Nobara says. “Why’d you stop,”

“Are you…what are you…” He pauses. “Why did you kiss me?”

“Umm…” She shrugs. “I don’t know? I mean I was kind of sick and tired of waiting for it to happen so I thought I’d just see?”

“So you…do you…did you like it?” He says. 

He liked it a whole lot. More than he expected to. He wonders whether his nether regions have taken control of his brain like some kind of horrible horny parasite. 

Her face goes red. 

“Just shut up and kiss me again,” She says. 

“Point taken,”

He leans forward, wrapping his arms around her waist. She scootches forward, wrapping her legs around his waist. This kiss is a calamity, a nasty messy hot kiss that’s audible. He finds himself tugging at the hairties at the end of her braids, pulling them out and running his hands through her hair. 

What happens next is a blur, a whirlwind. He remembers knocking over an empty mixing bowl, maybe even a tray of cookies. He doesn’t even ask who’s room, he just makes the decision and somehow they end up in his room, her pinned beneath him on the bed. The christmas jumper is on the floor, and then his shirt is gone, and it’s like they’re playing a game of strip poker because their clothes don’t last very long at all. 

He doesn’t even bother to lock his door. 

Yuji comes home with the dumbest smile plastered across his face. He’s finished up with Ozawa but he’s a bit more chuffed with the fact that he’s managed to get a group gift for her underneath her nose. They’d gone to a christmas market and he’d managed to grab something when she’d slipped away to use the bathroom. 

He shuts the door, placing his keys and coat on their hook. The lights are off, which means that Megumi and Nobara must have gone to bed. He places the bag down on the table. The gifts have been wrapped and he feels a slight pang of guilt that he’s abandoned Nobara and left her to fend for herself on the party prep. He’ll make up for it tomorrow, and he’s sure that she’ll chew him out in the morning. 

He stares at the kitchen, and its a mess. There’s a mixing bowl on the ground, someone’s knocked over a bag of flour and the floor is covered in it. Theres a tray on the ground, and some broken cookies on the floor. He sighs. Maybe this is Nobara’s revenge, leaving him with a mess to clean. 

Then he hears it. 

At first, he thinks it’s a joke. A woman’s voice, gasping and moaning— like how boys would pretend to do it in middle school. But he couldn’t imagine Nobara joking around like that. 

Yuji eyes the bottle of the empty bottle wine on the counter. The two empty glasses which stood next to it. He pales. 

He realises it’s real when he hears Fushiguro, low and breathy– saying things that are enough to scar Yuji for life. It is quite literally, the stuff of nightmares. Not because the noises are abnormal, but because the thought of listening in on his two best friends having sex in the next room makes him feel like all of the blood is about to leave his body. 

He sighs– he’s glad he has noise cancelling headphones for times like these. He slips into his room and shoves his head underneath his pillows, attempting to forget the auditory horrors coming from the room right next door to his. 

When Nobara wakes up, she knows exactly what she’s done. 

She wakes up, completely naked in Fushiguro’s arms. It’s christmas day, and she can tell that they’ve slept in way too much from the time displayed on his alarm clock. It’s ten am, and guests are coming from three. She needs to finish the preparations. 

She thinks about last night and blushes. Megumi is snoring lightly next to her. Last night was good. Terrifyingly so. They’d fallen into bed together like a hurricane. For a moment she almost panics when she can’t remember if they used a condom. The sight of the empty wrapper calms her down, she lets out a heavy sigh.

This sigh, wakes Megumi up. He opens his eyes and gives her a small smile– a presumptuous smile. 

“So…”

“So..” Nobara says. 

“I guess it’s happened then,” He says. 

She nods– it’s happened and she’s the instigator. She’s the one who brought it on, just on a whim. 

Stupid. 

Why did she do it? She doesn’t know, perhaps it was their impending future together– wanting to end the uncertainty. One thing is for sure, she’s certain that she’s seen him differently for a long time now. 

“We…we should get up,” She says. 

“Do you really want to?” He says. “We’ve done our part, Yuji should honestly handle the rest– since he ditched us yesterday,”

He kisses her neck and she lets out an involuntary gasp. 

“I guess…” She says. She sighs. She can’t think when he does that. “We might as well stay here…”

“Merry Christmas Kugisaki,” He says, drowning her in another kiss.

She’s surprised by her own boldness, but it feels like them. Of course it would happen in some ridiculous way, half a bottle of wine, a terrible christmas jumper and a bunch of terrible jokes from Itadori when they’re late to their own Chirstmas party later.