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Ijichi hated crying in front of adults. Or students. Or alone. With his job and being Gojo’s favorite target, he found it impossible to hold back his tears for an entire week, no matter how hard he tried.
After yet another long lecture, he felt tears forming at the corners of his eyes. Gojo stood over him, arms crossed and eyes hidden. He looked disappointed over how easy Ijichi was to wind up nowadays.
“You cry too easily. Man up. We have the harder job you know. I saw Nanami come in to see Shoko all beat up, and he’s never cried once in his life.” Gojo started huffing away.
“I’ve seen Nanami cry before.” The words just slipped out.
Gojo froze, forgetting whatever he was going to tease Ijichi with. Even back when they were students, he’d never seen his old friend shed a tear. So, when the hell did Ijichi see such a thing? Sensing he’d said something wrong, Ijichi backtracked.
“He does all the time because he’s allergic to dust. He just hides when it happens.” Ijichi half lied.
He’d never seen Nanami’s eyes water because of his well-known allergies. But it was believable enough to get Gojo off his case and back into another lecture.
“That’s different, and you know it!’
It took him another ten minutes to get distracted enough to finally leave the office and give Ijichi some peace. Rubbing his face, he recollected himself to try and focus on work. However, the memory of those rare tears came back to him. It was such a brief moment. For anyone else, he wouldn’t have questioned it. But this was Nanami they were talking about. As much as he wanted to move past what happened, he still found himself wondering about the cause.
It happened at the start of spring. They finished their job late in the night. Ijichi was driving them back to the city, the radio in the car low to cover the silence between them. Nanami sat in the back, arms crossed and eyes covered. It was impossible to tell if he was sleeping or not. The long mountain road was mostly empty. A few small stops here and there. When a convenience store appeared in the distance, Ijichi felt his stomach tighten. When did he last eat? Lunch time? That was ages ago. He let out a sigh as the car slowly drove past his head, turning to follow the lights.
“Do you want to stop?”
The voice startled him a little. Shaking his head, he recovered to focus on the road.
“No, it’s fine. It's best we get you home.” Ijichi said, glancing at his mirror and at the co-worker in the backseat.
“Please turn around. Your stomach growling is too loud for me to sleep.”
Nodding, he carefully turned on the empty road to park in front of the store. Ijichi's face was slightly red, embarrassed that he had somehow kept someone awake without knowing. Before he got out, he looked over his shoulder, asking if Nanami would like anything. He requested a coffee and nothing else. That was strange. Normally, the man always bought something to eat whenever he had downtime.
The trip inside was quick. The night air was chilled, so the hot can of coffee and snack in his hands felt nice.
“Oh, you didn’t need to get out. I wasn’t going to be very long.” Ijichi said when he saw Nanami resting against the side of the car.
“I wanted to stretch my legs.”
He was taller than most people. Long car rides took a toll on him simply because most of the company cars didn’t have the proper leg room. He accepted the coffee and looked over Ijichi, switching to hold his treat with both hands.
‘I’ve never seen that kind of bun before. Is it new?” Nanami asked, slightly interested.
The warm bun was shaped like a peach and incredibly cute. Almost too cute to eat. The filling was a sweet paste. Ijichi wasn’t the biggest fan of sweet things; however, he heard the taste was mild and not overpowering. The one thing most people knew about him was his love of udon, and he liked peaches. While they were in season, he often had a bowl on his cluttered desk ready to share.
“It’s a seasonal thing. I’ve been trying to find one before they stopped being sold. I swear they sold out everywhere in the city, so I’m glad I found one.” He explained.
The cold air colored the tip of his nose and ears. Ijichi’s smiles had started to become a rare thing lately. He only tended to do so around the students. Nanami couldn’t remember the last time he saw the other man with such a bright expression. The bun was massive in such slim fingers. With careful effort, Ijichi pulled the bun in half, letting a puff of steam drift from the middle. Holding out the larger half, a grin that made slight wrinkles appear at the corners of his eyes, softening his face.
“Here.”
Ijichi had never been a big eater. He was glad he found the sought-after peach bun when he was with someone. He could never finish one on his own. Silently, a larger hand reached out to take the offered treat. Ijichi took a bite, cheeks puffing up over how much he enjoyed the soft and fluffy texture.
When he opened his mouth again, he paused in shock. His eyes landed on something that made him think the world was ending.
Nanami reached up with one hand to remove his glasses, then used his thumb to rub away tears at the corner of his eyes.
Instantly, he thought he’d done something wrong. Flailing a hand, he tried to think of what on Earth he could have done to upset a person he’d never seen even slightly rattled before.
“Are you-” He started, and Nanami raised his hand to stop him.
“Don’t worry about it. It's fine.”
His voice was even, but his head was slightly turned as if embarrassed. Trying to distract from the conversation, he ate the offered food in two bites. Ijichi found himself feeling slightly impressed by the sight. He hadn’t realized the difference in their bite size until then.
“It’s going to get cold.” He said to make Ijichi finish his food.
After that shocking moment, the rest of the night went perfectly normal. Ijichi didn’t dare ask the cause of the tears. He'd put it out of his mind until Gojo brought it up again. Suddenly, he found himself lost in thought at his desk, trying to figure out the mystery. Soon, he didn’t have time to waste. More jobs came up as he was forced out of the office and back to driving to different dangerous locations.
A small incident happened while on the field. Nothing major. A minor attack that landed Ijichi on bed rest for a day and with bandages over the side of his face. He still did reports while he should have been resting until he finally passed out in the middle of papers scattered around his bed.
When he woke up again, they had been cleaned up. Someone had arrived while he was sleeping. They left a box on the bedside table, which he found strange. Opening it, Ijichi saw six small peach-shaped buns lined in a very expensive-looking packaging. A small note simply said to get some rest.
Nanami traveled a lot. He always brought back snacks for the students, so the gift wasn’t too strange for him. It still felt oddly personal. Was he the one who came by while he was asleep? He knew Shoko or Gojo wouldn’t care enough to clean off his bed. And Gojo would have eaten the peach buns if he saw them unguarded. The fact Nanami came by personally to drop off the gift was odd to him. He should have been done work. Why waste time seeing Ijichi? Lately, he had a lot of questions regarding his old-time friend.
When he was released from his bed rest, Ijichi got back to work. Hating being confined to the office, he took a walk around the school as an excuse to see the cherry blossoms along the grounds in full bloom. He loved this time of year. Not too cold, not too hot. Spirit activities were lower, and he was able to see all the new flowers waking up after winter.
He knew he needed to be doing something. Yet he let himself have a small moment gazing up at the drifting pedals. Lost in thought, he didn’t even notice someone walk up beside him.
“Oh, Nanami. Thank you for the gift the other day.” Ijichi said when he finally glanced over to see who joined him.
“I hope they were to your liking.” He nodded and, for some odd reason, appeared slightly stiff. “You were right about the larger ones. They’re impossible to find.”
Smiling, Ijichi let himself laugh a little at the thought of Nanami going from store to store on an impossible quest.
“There’s always next year to share another one.”
A breeze came tossing pedals across the walkway. It would be such a shame that the blossoms wouldn’t last for very long. Feeling something warm on his cheek, he turned his head to notice Nanami’s hand brushing against the bandages. It lowered his shoulder, plucking a pedal off of it. The delicate thing between two fingers that let it go to drift on the breeze.
“Next year then.”
With an oddly formal half-bow, Nanami turned on his heel to start down the pink scattered pathway. Ijichi didn’t know what feeling made him follow after the man. He thought back to those tears again, unable to forget them. Easily catching up, he took hold of Nanami’s sleeve to stop him.
His co-worker appeared confused but waited for the reason why Ijichi chased after.
“What upset you that night?” Ijichi blurted out, unable to stop himself. “I mean, if I did something wrong...”
Ijichi had no idea what he could have done to cause such a reaction. And then why would Nanami have gone out of his way to do something nice for Ijichi afterwards?
“You smiled.” Nanami said as if that explained everything.
Ijichi stayed silent, hoping he would elaborate. Deep down, he knew if this conversation went on, things wouldn’t return to normal. Something was shifting between them, giving him a fluttering in his stomach.
“Despite all my mistakes and everything I can’t change, I don’t regret my life. I thought that if I died tomorrow, I could go peacefully while looking back on things. Then, I saw you smiling over food you can only get once a year. Suddenly, I realized I would regret it if we couldn’t share that moment again.”
All sorcerers died with regrets. Nanami always assumed the silent thank yous and being able to save people was enough. When he found himself wanting something a little more, he felt guilty. Due to the nature of their job, they could die at any time. Ijichi’s life was at risk as well. He wasn’t a fighter, and yet he was in danger any time he went out into the field. He had a bad habit of doing too much and getting into trouble. Shared peach buns the next spring was simply a dream when every day wasn’t guaranteed.
Nanami closed his eyes, blocking out the thought of losing another person. It hurt him far more than he realized it would. Slim fingers reached over to wrap around his own, seeping new warmth into them. Opening his eyes again, he saw Ijichi get even closer; the green shades tinted his vision of the face so near to his.
“We don’t need to wait until next year. There are more things in the world to smile about than just peach buns you know.”
After such a bold declaration, he found his face flush as Ijichi pulled back, but not taking his hand away. Keeping his eyes fixed on the pedal-covered ground, he went on but more nervously.
“We can... have a lot of different experiences together now.” He added.
The answer was so simple Nanami felt almost stupid for not thinking about it. He'd been so worried about what he could lose, he never thought about chasing after the current moment. And what was currently in front of him was a nervous co-worker about to dart away if he didn’t act in the next few seconds.
A hand brushed the side of his face again. Thinking it was Nanami plucking off another pedal, he didn’t pull away. By the time he realized what the true intention behind the action was, a gentle touch on his cheek guided them into a soft and uncertain kiss.
His chest was almost about to explode from such a public act of affection. When another was placed on the side of his mouth, everything but the wave of emotions was forgotten. Ijichi had been holding a clipboard during their interaction. He dropped it to wrap his arms around Nanami’s neck, bringing them even closer. The sudden forcefulness was a surprise but not an unwelcome one.
The air was almost as sweet as the feelings in Ijichi’s chest. At first, he wanted to stay in that moment forever, then realized that if they did, they wouldn’t be able to make any new memories. No matter what sorrow their job brought, he swore he was going to make up for those dreadful moments with others like that one.
“Uh...”
A small cough came from behind them after the voice did. The pair pulled away, glasses crooked, suits ruffled, and faces as pink as the blossoms along the branches. To Ijichi’s sheer horror, he saw Ino with a blank expression on his face.
“Can I borrow Nanami? We have a mission...” He explained, trying to look everywhere but at them.
Oh, right. That was why Ijichi was outside. He was supposed to find Nanami to tell him about a job and hand over some paperwork. Peeling himself away, his brain almost shut down. He scooped up the clipboard, handing it over, and fixed his glasses.
“Please don’t tell anyone about this.” Ijichi said in a very serious tone.
“Sorry, but nope. There is a betting pool over when you two would start going out. I just won it. I promise to use the money to buy a nice outfit for your wedding.” Ino explained with a double thumbs up.
The noise Ijichi made didn’t sound human. A betting pool? Who all was in on that? And how on Earth was the prize that large?
“I don’t know why you look so surprised. Everyone could see how Nanami looked at you. It was just a matter of time-”
Without breaking his pace, Nanami walked past Ino, grabbed the back of his shirt to drag him away only looking back to give Ijichi a nod, silently promising they would continue the conversation later.
Ino didn’t seem to mind being manhandled. He waved at Ijichi, who numbly waved back. At least this saved him from the trouble of the embarrassing task of breaking the news to everyone.
Dread settled in his stomach, and he felt an ache coming over the thought of a new thing for Gojo to tease him about. Oh well, it couldn’t be too back. Now he had someone to make things a little better after those lectures. Who knew, maybe he might start crying a little bit less now that Ijichi had someone ready to kiss those tears away.