Work Text:
There was a saying in their field that the work of a sorcerer was never finished. Assistant managers liked to argue that the work of a sorcerer was never finished because the work of the assistant managers was endless.
Nitta found herself being run ragged trying to keep up with the demands of this job most of the time. Even more so after the incidents in Shibuya and Shinjuku. The public knew about curses now, and instead of that making their jobs easier, it only made it harder. The public was terrified - it was practically a breeding ground for new cursed spirits. Not to mention they had yet to finish cleaning up all the spirits released by Kenjaku after the Shibuya Incident.
Six months after that fateful battle in Shinjuku, and Nitta couldn’t remember the last time she had a day off. She was lucky to have such an understanding girlfriend, most people would not be able to stand having partners who were such workaholics, but Saori understood her. She also found herself working more than she should, staying late at the office, more days than not. Their lives both ran a mile a minute.
That’s why Nitta appreciated these moments more than ever, where she could take a break from the chaos of her life and just spend time with the woman she loved. She finally had an entire day off, and Saori had used some of her time off at work as well. Nitta planned to do nothing but laze around and watch movies with her girlfriend for the rest of the day.
She had her head resting against Saori’s shoulder as they snuggled on the couch when her phone dinged loudly. Nitta froze - she knew there was still a possibility she got called in if there was an emergency, but Ijichi had sworn he wouldn’t contact her unless Sukuna himself came back from the dead. And well, if that happened, it’s not like Nitta would be any use anyway.
“Do you need to get that?” Saori asked. Nitta looked up, seeing that Saori was looking down at her with a kind, understanding smile. She knew that Nitta needed to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, but Nitta had sworn up and down to her that today would be different - they’d just spend it together.
She didn’t seem upset though. Things like this in the past had caused a small strain in their relationship. Even a workaholic like Saori had not been able to comprehend a job that was as demanding and all-consuming as Nitta’s one as an assistant manager was. And due to sorcery laws, Nitta hadn’t been able to explain to her why that was. The recent incidents had thrown that law out the window, there was no hiding the existence of curses or sorcery from the public anymore. Nitta had finally been able to come clean and be honest with Saori about what she actually did. It had done a lot to ease any tension between them about Nitta’s job. Saori understood now why it was so demanding, and ever since, she had done her best to be accommodating to that even though Nitta knew sometimes it frustrated her.
God, Nitta really had lucked out with Saori. She couldn’t have ever imagined finding such an amazing girlfriend who was also able to roll with all the punches that came with Nitta’s life, “No, it’s my day off, it’s fine,” Nitta replied, softly smiling back up at Saori as she did. They deserved a day to themselves - Nitta’s job be damned. Society wouldn’t collapse because she didn’t come into work when they called her one time.
They tried to return to watching the movie, but a moment later, Nitta’s phone buzzed again. Both her and Saori stared at it for a minute, “You should check,” Saori finally said as she saw Nitta’s conflicted expression, “It might not even be your work, it could be Arrata,” she pointed out.
Nitta sighed, doubting it. Her brother did frequently message her, but she knew for a fact he was with Ieiri today - training with her. Nevertheless, she knew she wouldn’t be able to relax again until she at least checked what was blowing up her phone. And if it was Ijichi calling her into work, she would tell him a firm no - she swore that to herself.
Saori paused the movie and Nitta grabbed her phone to open her messages. It was from a saved contact, but there were no other messages in their chat other than the two that had been sent today, “Is it work?” Saori asked as she cleaned up some of the wrappers and empty cans of soda they had been drinking while watching the movie.
“No,” Nitta said, frowning in confusion, “I mean, kind of,” she corrected, staring at Nobara’s contact, “It’s one of the kids that I work with,” she wasn’t actually supposed to give her personal number to the students, she had a work phone for a reason while she was assisting them on missions. But Nitta had been extra fond of Nobara from the moment she met the girl. So, when Nobara had pleaded with her to exchange contact information, Nitta had folded and agreed. Besides - what trouble could that really get her into? She liked Noabra, she wouldn’t mind if the girl contacted her more frequently. She just wished it didn’t happen to be the one day Nitta was trying to spend with her girlfriend that she decided to do just that.
“Oh?” Saori asked, a small smile on her face, “Are they ok?”
Nobara’s first message had been simple and casual, ‘Can you meet up,’ was all it said. It was the message that came in a few seconds later that had Nitta concerned, ‘It’s an emergency,’ she had written.
Nitta wasn’t sure what type of situation Nobara could have gotten into where her first instinct would be to contact Nitta of all people, and she found herself shooting the girl a quick text back asking for more context, “I’m not sure,” She admitted to Saori with a troubled sigh, “She says it's an emergency, but in our line of work, I’m not the person she would go to for any situation that constitutes an emergency.”
“Maybe it’s an exaggeration,” Saori reassured her as she returned to the living room, “Kids can blow things out of proportion sometimes. There was a girl back in my village who would come running to me crying about an emergency over the littlest of situations,” Saori chuckled fondly, “I never scolded her for it, she was like the little sister I never got to have.”
Despite Saori’s reassuring words, Nitta still found herself anxiously watching the three dots loading on her phone screen as Nobara wrote out her response. Her foot was tapping impatiently, already ready to jump up and rush to her aide if she really did need something from Nitta.
Finally, the message came through, and Nitta’s eyes frantically scanned through it to assess the threat level of this emergency. After she did, she found herself sighing and leaning back against the couch, “False alarm, looks like you were right,” Nitta shook her head, a mix of fondness and exasperation warring inside her, “She just needs help finding someone from her past. Apparently her and her friend exhausted all other ways of searching for her, and Nobara wants me to help them out. They’re at that one cafe that just opened on Takeshita street and want me to meet them there.”
Assistant managers were privy to much more information than the average citizen of Japan could find on their own. It was a deal that the sorcerer clans had made with the government long ago in order to ensure the safety of non-sorcerers. Nitta’s work tablet had almost unrestricted access to government files about private citizens. She could probably find out where this friend of Nobara’s had gone relatively easily. The only problem was with this allowance, assistant managers were expected to only use the system for work purposes. Finding an old friend of one of the students very much did not fit into this category. Nobara was asking her to break a pretty big rule right now.
“Well, are you going?” Saori asked, not sounding upset at the prospect for some reason. Nitta had assumed it was a given she wouldn't go today - it would be an offense to her girlfriend after Nitta had promised to dedicate this day solely to the two of them.
“Of course not, I’m off the clock right now,” Nitta reassured Saori, “It’s our day. I’ll just tell Nobara we’ll talk about it some other time.”
Saori didn’t reply right away after Nitta responded, “... That cafe is only around six blocks from our apartment. You could be there and back within an hour. It wouldn’t put too much of a damper on our day.”
Nitta glanced over at Saori in surprise, “Are you telling me to go right now?” she asked, baffled at the turn of events, “I thought you wanted a day for just the two of us without my work butting into the matter.”
Saori smiled softly and shrugged, “I do. But this isn’t really work related - you said this girl that you work with contacted you for help with a personal matter. Clearly she trusts you quite a lot, it’s sweet, it reminds me of my girls back home,” she said with a fond look on her face, tinged with the sadness of reminiscence. Saori had mentioned these two girls from her childhood before. She had known them for a few years when her family moved out to the countryside. She clearly adored the two of them - frequently referring to them as her little sisters when she did mention them to Nitta. But the mentions themselves were a rarity. Clearly Saori didn’t like to bring them up due to the sadness it brought with it.
“Are you sure you’re ok with me going?” Nitta asked. Saori wasn’t one to voice when something upsetted her if she thought it inconvenienced someone else. Nitta wanted to make sure that she was really fine with her leaving, or whether it would end up hurting her feelings.
Saori nodded, “Yeah. It shouldn’t be long. While you’re gone I can order takeout for us, it will probably be here by the time you get back, and then the two of us can get back to our movie marathon,” she said cheerfully, “Besides, this girl seems very eager to find her friend. I’m sure you helping her would mean a lot.”
With her girlfriend’s encouragement, the matter was already decided in Nitta’s head. Rule-breaking be damned. She doubted anyone higher up than her on the chain of command would notice, and if they did, Ijichi would vouch for her to not get in trouble, “Alright,” Nitta agreed with a grin, quickly shooting a text to Nobara telling her that she would be there in twenty minutes.
As Nitta hopped up and got ready to leave, she grabbed her purse and a coat. She wasn’t in work mode right now, she didn’t even think about the fact she kept her tablet in her work bag and not her personal one as she hurried out of the house to meet up with Nobara and her friend.
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Noabra greeted her with a bright grin and hug when she found her in the cafe, “Nitta! Thanks for coming, you’re a lifesaver.”
“Thank my day off, and my girlfriend for being fine with me taking a break from our movie marathon,” Nitta told her fondly as she slid into the seat across from Nobara and another girl who Nitta didn’t know.
“We bothered you on your day off?” The other girl asked, “I’m sorry, it wasn’t that urgent, you didn’t have to drop everything to come help us.”
Nitta shrugged, “It’s fine, the place you guys picked isn’t actually that far from my apartment,” She looked at Nobara before she said the next part, “And you know we have to keep this between us, right?”
Noabra grinned, making a zipping motion by her lips in agreement as the girl next to her frowned, “Why? Is this not allowed?” she asked Nobara, “I thought you said your friend was just good at finding people. Are we going to break the law or something?”
Nitta sat back and let Nobara handle this, unsure of all this unknown girl knew. She didn’t want to bring up sorcery if Nobara had not mentioned she was a sorcerer to her friend yet - that would certainly make everything rather awkward, “She is good at finding people,” Noabra told the girl, “She works with the school I go to and finds out stuff about people for our missions,” she explained, which Nitta assumed meant that the girl did in fact know that Nobara was a sorcerer.
“I’m sorry, but, uh, what’s your name?” Nitta asked, growing tired of not having a name to place to the girl’s face in her head.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce her!” Nobara answered for her with a bright grin, “Nitta, this is Fumi - my girlfriend. Fumi, this is Nitta!”
Nitta instantly felt a sense of recognition at the name, “Oh! You’re the famous Fumi,” she snapped her fingers, “Nobara mentions you all the time!" They didn’t get much time to talk outside of missions that they were assigned to together, but Nitta remembered Nobara rambling about her close friend, and apparently girlfriend, from her home town many times, “What brings you to the city? Nobara said you’re from her hometown out in the countryside.”
Fumi’s face flushed slightly, “Ah, well, I decided to transfer to a boarding school in Tokyo after my first year of high school,” she explained.
Nobara was practically beaming as she threw an arm around Fumi’s shoulders, “She didn’t even tell me either,” she complained in a whiny voice, “I had to figure it out totally by accident!”
“I was nervous, I thought you wouldn’t want to see me,” Fumi defended herself, though there was a soft smile on her face that told Nitta that Nobara teased her about this frequently, “You didn’t answer any of my calls or texts for months.”
“Come on, you know that wasn’t really my fault,” Nobara pouted, “I was in a coma after a near-death experience. Surely that gives me a little leeway.”
“Stop bringing that up so casually!” Fumi gasped, “Do you know how worried I was when you explained all of that to me. I still can’t quite believe it!”
Nitta found herself smiling fondly as she watched the two girls bicker playfully with each other. They reminded her a little bit of her and Saori, and the thought had Nitta remembering she shouldn’t be dallying here, “Well, it’s nice to meet you Fumi! Who is it that you two need help finding?” she asked, pulling her purse to the side to open it up and pull out her tablet.
“It’s a friend of ours, who used to live in our hometown,” Nobara explained as Nitta frowned, rifling further in her purse in the search of her tablet, “She was actually more like an older sister to us. But she moved away when we were twelve, and we haven’t seen her since.”
Nitta groaned, coming to the sudden realization that her tablet was in her work bag… All the way back at her apartment. When she looked up, Nobara and Fumi were both giving her inquisitive looks, “Sorry, I was in such a rush to meet you I totally forgot to grab my tablet from my work bag,” she explained, “Why don’t you just tell me her name and any other information about her that could help and I’ll look it up when I get back. I can text you with whatever I find.”
“That works for me,” Nobara shrugged, the bells jingled behind them as the door to the cafe opened. Nobara opened her mouth to speak again, only for it to remain like that, with no noise coming out - her eye widening in shock.
“Akari!” her girlfriend’s voice called, and Nitta turned to see her walking in with Nitta’s work bag in hand, “I noticed you forgot to grab this on the way out, I figured you might need it,”
Nitta felt her heart warm, once again wondering how she had ended up with such a lovely, perfect girlfriend. Saori placed the bag next to her at the table, leaning down to kiss her cheek fondly. Clearly she hadn’t planned to stay after dropping off Nitta’s bag, “...Saori?” Nobara said in a small voice, vastly different from the bold and unapologetic way she normally spoke.
Saori straightened immediately, giving the girls her full attention for the first time since entering the cafe. Nitta found herself confused as she looked at Nobara and Fumi’s awe-struck faces; she didn’t remember telling either of them her girlfriend’s name. In fact, she had barely ever mentioned the fact she had a girlfriend to Nobara. She tried to keep her work and personal lives separate.
“Nobara? Fumi?” Saori replied in an equally shocked voice, only making Nitta more confused. Did they know each other?
There was a sudden clatter as Nobara jumped up from her seat so quickly it sent the chair careening backwards. She didn’t seem to care as she scrambled forward and threw her arms around Saori with a teary expression on her face, “It’s really you!” She sniffled as Saori laughed wryly and hugged her back.
Nitta watched the interaction, patiently waiting for someone to clue her in on what was going on. The other girl, Fumi, was half out of her seat. There was a longing look on her face as she stared at Saori and Nobara, but she hesitated to jump forward into Saori’s arms like Nobara had.
“Fumi?” Saori said, looking at the other girl with a soft expression and gesturing her over, “Why are you lingering over there like a stranger?” She asked in a soft, almost teasing, voice.
Nobara lifted her head from where it had been buried in Saori’s shoulder, “Yeah, Fumi, get over here. What are you waiting for?” She sniffled with a wide smile on her face.
That was all the encouragement Fumi needed to hop up from her chair and rush over to the two of them with tears already spilling from the corners of her eyes. The three girls ended up in a group hug in the center of the cafe, not seeming to care about the odd looks from some of the other patrons and the staff as they embraced.
“So, uh, I take it you three know each other,” Nitta chuckled, stating the obvious.
“Know each other? Saori is who we were going to ask for help finding!” Nobara exclaimed.
“Akari, remember the girls from my old town that I mention to you sometimes? This is them - Nobara and Fumi,” she explained with a fond chuckle as she looked at the two girls, “I would have mentioned their names long ago if I had known that you knew them.”
Nobara seemed to connect some dots in her head because her eye widened and focused on Nitta, “How could you mention that you have a girlfriend and not bring up that it’s Saori!” She exclaimed.
“Uh, Nobara, I doubt your friend knew that Saori knows us,” Fumi piped up quietly, “Did you ever mention her before?”
Nobara frowned, “Well no, not by name, but how come you never mentioned your girlfriend's name to me before?” Nobara whined, “Me and Fumi spent months looking for Saori before coming to you for help, we could have found her so much sooner,” she could tell there was no actual annoyance in Nobara’s voice as she complained. Nitta had heard Nobara upset before and this certainly wasn’t it.
Saori chuckled as she watched them with unmistakable fondness, “I can’t believe how much you two have grown. I’m glad you made it to Tokyo like you wanted. But, uh, what happened to your eye?”
Nobara grinned, “I said I would, didn't I? And- well, it’s a long story” she said as she touched her eyepatch, “I’m more surprised you’re dating Nitta! I mean, I love Nitta, but what are the chances of that?” she mused.
“I’m just as surprised you happen to know my girlfriend,” Saori raised an eyebrow, “Do you work with her helping the people that fight those monsters too?”
“Not exactly,” Nitta interjected. Earning her a baffled look from Saori.
“Nobara is one of the people who fight the monsters,” Fumi piped up.
Saori’s eyes widened and she looked at Nobara as if she expected her to say that they were kidding, but Nobara just shrugged, “Yep, that’s part of the long story about my eye.”
Saori shook her head in disbelief, “But you’re a kid, they can’t have you fighting those things, what are they thinking?” there was a bit of frustration in her tone now, which is how you knew she was affronted - Saori almost never sounded visibly angry. She got upset at times, but the woman had the self-control of a monk and usually was able to not let it leek into her tone or cause her to lash out.
“I’m not a little kid anymore, I’m seventeen,” Nobara pointed out, her words doing little to soothe the clear worry on Saori’s face.
“Don’t worry, Noabra’s one of the best!” Nitta promised her girlfriend, offering a reassuring smile, “Those curses won’t be able to take her down easily.”
“Still…” Saori sighed.
“Forget about that, I want to know what you’ve been up to!” Nobara said eagerly, “Me and Fumi have been trying to find you for months, now that we finally have you’re not getting rid of us until we’ve heard everything.”
Fumi glanced over at her as Nobara spoke, before tapping her girlfriend’s shoulder, “Didn’t Nitta say that we were interrupting her day with her girlfriend? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Nonsense,” Nitta declared getting out of her seat to join them, “What are the chances of you guys just running into each other like this after being separated for so long? I think me and Saori’s movie marathon can be put on hold given the circumstances,” she teased.
Both Nobara and Fumi’s faces brightened at the prospect, “Does that mean we can come see your apartment too?” Nobara asked eagerly.
Saori giggled at the enthusiasm, “Sure, I don’t see why not. Akari, are you ok with that?” she asked.
She nodded without hesitation. Even before knowing that Nobara was one of the girls who knew Saori in the village she used to live in, she was one of the only students Nitta would have been fine with visiting her outside of work hours. And Fumi seemed like a sweet girl, Nitta had no issue with either of them coming to the apartment. Especially now that she knew they were the Saori’s famous little sisters.
As they were walking out the cafe door, Saori spoke up, “So have you two made it official yet?”
Nobara and Fumi looked at each other with bewildered expressions and then back at Saori, “You know, are you dating yet, or still getting there?” she asked with a sly smile that told them all she was already aware of the answer to that question.
“Yeah, but how did you know?” Fumi asked.
Saori chuckled, “I mean, it was always going to happen eventually. I could tell that from the moment I met the two of you as kids. I mean, you’re Nobara and Fumi, you guys were always two peas in a pod. Two halves of a whole, if you will,” she explained. Fumi’s face flushed and a shy smile stretched across her face at Saori’s assessment.
Nobara looked a little sheepish as well at first, “I guess you’re right,” she admitted, “But, were we really that obvious?”
“Oh, totally,” Saori laughed, “I mean you two were inseparable. Don’t forget the time your teacher tried to put you in separate group projects and you threw a fit until she changed who you were partners with. I remember hearing you arguing with her from my classroom down the hall. It was so loud.”
Nobara looked mortally embarrassed at the memory, and Nitta couldn’t help but choke out some laughter, imagining little Noabra arguing with her teacher so loudly that the older kids down the hall could hear.
Saori launched into another memory of the girls as they walked down the street together, and Nitta found herself smiling fondly as she watched the three of them reminisce. She was sure Nobara and Fumi were going to become very frequent visitors to their apartment from now on, and she couldn’t wait to get to know the both of them even better.