Work Text:
“Did you do something to upset Utahime?”
A long pause came after the question.
“Recently?”
Ijichi stared at a large fruit gift basket that arrived at his office, addressed to Gojo. Everyone knew he hated apples, yet the basket was full of them. If their longtime friend sent Gojo nearly an entire orchard’s worth, then it meant he did something to piss her off.
“I’ll talk to her about it later. Dispose of the basket for me, see you guys in a week!”
It was rare for Ijichi to be left behind while Gojo was busy with work. He enjoyed the silence for once. It gave him a chance to catch up on reports he’d been ignoring for a few days. After hours of staring at a computer screen, Ijichi needed a break. Picking out a large, deep red apple from the basket he held in his hand for a moment then started a message to the students to make them aware that the rest would be placed in the main meeting room. He took a bite before he sent the text, finding the apple sweeter than expected. Pausing, he glanced down at it, trying to place what type it could be. A few more steps were taken toward the door as his legs grew heavy. All the strength drained from his body, causing him to stumble. Horror came as he realized what just happened far too late. Shaking fingers started a new message that was never sent.
By chance, Nanami walked down the hallway outside, about to leave for the day. He heard a clatter come from the office. Stopping, he strained to hear anything else. Did Ijichi drop something and need help? He wanted to get the hell out of the building, but couldn’t leave if his friend somehow hurt himself. He knocked on the door first, with an answer. Opening it, he was greeted by a shocking sight. Ijichi collapsed just before the door, his phone nearby in one hand as if he was about to call for help. An apple with a single bite rolled away from the other. His glasses were bent from the fall, and his nose was starting to bleed after hitting the ground so hard.
It was easy to put things together. Scooping the thinner person into his arms, Nanami tossed the suspect apple into the open basket to take it with him. His long legs made short work of the trip down to the basement to see Shoko. He got A sleeping Ijichi onto a cot, expecting this to be solved quickly. She moved fast, the RCT healing the bloody nose, but nothing else. The man started to breathe heavily in his sleep, a pained expression on his face. She shook him by the shoulder; his eye remained shut.
“That’s strange,” Shoko muttered to herself.
It was clear they had a major problem on their hands on even her powers couldn't fix.
Word got around about the manager's condition. Within a few hours, Gojo came back, finding a few minutes in his busy schedule. He cheerfully threw the door open, claiming he would heal Ijichi within a few seconds, then be on his way.
“Have no fear, the genius Gojo is here!” He shouted; his voice already gave Nanami a headache.
They moved Ijichi to a room upstairs in a softer bed. The pair was talking things over when the annoyance arrived. Without a single doubt in his plan, Gojo skipped beside Ijichi’s bed. With his hands tucked into his pockets, he bent at his waist to place a kiss on thin, closed lips, fully expecting it to work. It had an opposite effect. The terrible expression grew as whatever curse was on the man tightened. His nightmares deepened, causing Ijichi to weakly grip the white sheets under his hand, sweat starting on his forehead. Gojo stood stunned at his failure.
“What now, genius?” Nanami asked, arms crossed, unable to help himself.
Not letting himself be beaten, Gojo turned around in a dramatic pose to point at Shoko.
“Your turn~” He chirped.
She sighed, shaking her head. They were going to try this anyway. The curse might have been based on a well-known fairytale, making it stronger. She figured Ijichi would wake up if he was kissed by a person he loved. And everyone knew he had a bit of a crush on her. Only she knew that the crush recently turned into simple respect. He knew the feelings weren’t returned and gave up on them to treasure their friendship.
“It doesn’t have to be on the mouth, right?” She asked.
Leaning over, she kissed his gaunt cheek, fearing how cold his skin felt. His heavy breathing calmed, chasing away the nightmares for a brief moment. It wasn’t the result they wanted, but it was something positive.
“Ok, one more try!” Gojo got behind Nanami to push on his back.
Digging in his heels, he refused the silly idea, let alone doing such a thing in front of people.
“I would just embarrass us both. It’s a waste of time. I’ll get started on research instead.”
With a small huff, he left the room to be more helpful in other ways. Shoko shook her head, wondering if it really would have been a waste of time. They all knew how much Ijichi looked up to the man. He was the ideal person the manager wanted to become. Would that amount of respect be enough to break the curse, though?
“I hate to do this, but I gotta go. I’ll be back in a few days if I rush. Keep me updated. I know you can handle this.” Gojo said and left shortly after Nanami.
He was a tiny bit worried about Ijichi. Afterall, he was hit by a curse that was meant for the strongest sorcerer. They confirmed that Utahime was not the person who sent the basket. So far, they have run into dead ends in finding the source. The rest of the apples were already locked away to be studied. Such a powerful curse was hard to make. They may never find out who did such a thing if the person behind it had the right connections to keep themselves hidden.
In the end, Gojo just needed to trust his friends until he could get back.
Nanami came up empty on his first day of researching. He stayed in the office well into the night, then slept on the couch in Ijichi’s office. A groove by a skinny body had already been worn into the cushions from countless nights he didn’t make it home. The blanket left on the back of the couch smelled a little like the discount brand of body wash the man used. This wasn’t the first time he slept on the couch. All the other times, Ijichi was in the office as well, typing away at a report. The room without him felt far too empty. The stacks of leaning papers didn’t fill the space the same way their owner did. It had only been a few short hours, and the man was already dearly missed.
When he woke up, he got back to work after getting coffee. Unable to do much else, he started on some reports so Ijichi wouldn’t fall behind when the curse was broken. The office chair was downright awful. Nanami had no idea how the other man sat in for so many hours. He ordered a new one right away, fearing for his back if he sat on the old one for even another day.
As Nanami stayed in the office, the students got wind of what happened to their dear driver. They found the room all of them decided to see if they could help.
“Who should go first?” Yuji asked the group crowding beside the small bedside.
“It should be a girl,” Panda said, which got a few dirty looks.
“Why should it be a girl? Besides, I don’t think this will work. Ijichi isn’t a creep who sees his students like that.” Nobara sternly said, face starting to grow red over why they were there.
“You’re right, I doubt he feels any kind of romantic love towards us, but maybe just platonic love works? Yuji, you try it.” Maki ordered.
“Oh? You think I’m his favorite?” The boy asked, face flushing with pride.
“No, Inumaki and Fushiguro are.” She corrected.
That broke his heart a little. Ijichi had watched Megumi grow up, so he knew the boy better than the rest. And he often bought Inumaki the newest video games for him and Panda to play. He made his favorites clear without treating the rest of the students unfairly.
Yuji didn’t let his disappointment get to him too much. He was there for a mission. Silently praying for his actions to work, he kissed the side of the man’s face again without a hint of shame. It wasn’t a big deal to him, and he would do it again if it would save the person who treated him so kindly. Ijichi’s eyes remained closed; the small action eased some of the tension in his sleep. The nightmares had gotten worse during the night. At times, he shifted muttering in his sleep as if looking for someone.
“Ok, Mr. Favorites, you’re up!” Yuji said and moved aside for his friends to try to free the poor man from his torment.
Aside from appearing calmer, their efforts had no effect. Maki crossed her arms after her turn and looked away, a bit angry that she couldn’t save the person in front of her. She wasn’t used to that. Hard work got results. To her, this should have worked. Nobara also seemed upset that the sacrifice of her first kiss (even just one on someone's cheek) didn’t amount to anything. She expected out of all of them for her quick peck to do the most.
“We all gave up our first kiss and nothing!” She fumed, which caused a few of them to look at her.
“Not all of us. Panda and Inumaki kissed before.” Maki reminded the group.
The newcomer’s face fell into shock, demanding an elaboration.
“We did a play with the Kyoto students for one year. It was Romeo and Juliet. Fushiguro was supposed to be Romeo, but he broke his arm to get out of it, the coward.” Maki explained.
“It wasn’t on purpose. I got mauled by a spirit.” Megumi hotly defended himself.
“Sure, you did.” Panda shrugged, still not over the offense that his friend got out of the kissing scene with him.
“Mustard leaf...” Inumaki added also a bit offended that he needed to step up and suffer the teasing for months afterwards.
“Ijichi helped us out a lot back then. He kept Todo in line and spent hours sewing our costumes. We still have them in storage. We would have refused to do the play, but it looked like he was having fun, so we went through with it.” Maki added as she looked over to the still sleeping manager.
Ijichi just wasn’t their driver. He helped out in so many different ways that they didn’t realize until they stopped to reflect on it. From taking them shopping to making sure their snack fridges were stocked. Once, he even got the group into an amusement park after hours so Panda could experience such a place with his friends without normal people around. Their faces fell, wondering if he would ever wake up.
“We just need to try harder!” Yuji said, trying to bring the mood back up.
He leaned down to kiss the side of the manager’s face again, only to cause the sleeping man more stress. It seems as if a second kiss from a person would cause the curse to tighten for a few minutes. A person just couldn’t have an unlimited number of attempts, hoping that one kiss got through. They learned something new, but at a cost.
The group left the room, unsure of what else to do. They passed the information onto Shoko, praying it would help in some way.
After they left, a new person came inside the room to check in on Ijichi. His face was paler than it should have been. Aside from the nightmares, the curse was draining him. He’d already lost some weight he couldn’t afford to drop. An IV was placed to combat the loss of strength, slowing down what the curse was eating away at. If this kept up, the adults knew the man wouldn't last more than two more days. None of them had the heart to tell the students how dire the situation was. Still deep within terrible dreams, Ijichi’s raspy voice weakly called out for some unknown person. Tears ran down his face from tightly shut eyes. A larger hand took his, feeling how ice-cold the long, thin fingers were.
Yaga knew his students were always in danger of their lives being taken by a curse. Watching them suffer without being able to do anything for them wasn’t made any easier just because he expected such a thing to happen. Here, he thought Ijichi would die in the field due to someone’s carelessness. It was frustrating. He was standing right next to him, so why couldn't he do anything to help?
When Ijichi was still a student, he caught a terrible flu. The fever almost killed him. He was always on the weaker side and prone to illnesses. Yaga secretly was the one who nursed him back to health. His student still had no idea that the stern man stayed by his bedside for two days watching over him. Leaning over, he did the same thing he did back then. He kissed the damp forehead, wishing he could do more for the person he saw as his own child. Just as he did years ago, the affection was enough to put Ijichi back into a peaceful sleep.
It wouldn't last; he knew that. Without being able to do much more, he left the room, praying someone would be able to wake the precious student of his.
Two days passed by without any progress made. Nanami didn’t leave the school; his attempts at information fell short. His head pounded from not sleeping in his bed for days. He’d also forgotten to eat properly. Aside from showering, he hadn’t taken breaks either. Unable to do much else, he went into the room to see the still-cursed Ijichi.
Sitting next to his bedside, he put a cold hand between both of his. His breathing was weak, and his pulse slow. How much longer did they have left? A day? Only a few hours? Seeing Ijichi without his glasses was surprisingly hard on him. His friend already looked like a corpse. Reaching over, Nanami lifted the shifted blankets to cover a pale, sunken chest. With that done, his hands went back to gripping the weaker one, regretting he couldn’t do more.
“How is he doing?”
The door opened as a person peeked inside. He didn’t need an answer. Ino saw the scene in front of him and realized how bad things had gotten. He slipped inside to silently stand next to them. He’d never seen Nanami appear so defeated. His body slumped forward, hair down, and tired eyes hidden behind green-tinted glasses.
“Sorry, I was with family, or else I would have gotten here sooner,” Ino said weakly, only to get a nod as an answer. “I had an appointment yesterday, too. Without Ijichi reminding me of it, I missed it.”
Ino was as frustrated as the rest of them. He couldn’t stand seeing people he cared about like this. He didn’t realize just how lost he would be without the manager until after he wasn’t there for him. Suddenly determined, he walked to the other side of the bed, smoothing down his black sweater.
“I’ll try to wake him up. It can’t hurt, right?” He said, feeling a bit nervous.
Like the students, he hadn’t kissed anyone before. Shaking his hand to remove his nerves, he felt Nanami’s eyes on him. Ignoring the stare, Ino took off his hood and fixed his messy brown hair. Bracing himself, he placed his hands on Ijichi’s shoulders to slowly lean down. A blush was creeping across his face.
“You can just kiss his cheek.” Nanami offered to watch where Ino’s face was drifting to.
“I need to do this properly!” He defended himself.
Without releasing Ijichi’s hand, Nanami watched as Ino struggled to finish his task. He was wavering for longer than he would have liked. His nervousness was charming. He truly was taking this all seriously. Lips pressed against another, awkwardly uncertain of how long he should stay like that for. In his hands, a finger twitched. Eyes widened at the only signs of the curse being lifted. The soft breathing improved after Ino pulled away. Sensing the change, Ino wasted no time trying a second time, silently praying to some higher power that his efforts worked.
“I helped!” Ino said his voice was far too loud in the otherwise quiet place.
“It seems you did.” Nanami agreed.
“I wonder why my kiss did something, and yours didn’t,” Ino commented with a sigh.
“I haven’t kissed him.”
Ino’s face became blank with disappointment in his mentor. Everyone else did. Why hadn’t Nanami? Surely, he wasn't embarrassed, right?
“Do it,” Ino ordered using a stern tone he’d never dared to.
“It’s not going to help,” Nanami said, glancing aside.
“You never know! You’re his friend, right? It’s the least you can do.”
There had been a long line of assistants and co-workers placing a kiss on the side of Ijichi’s face to help ease the nightmares for a few moments at a time. Ino had no idea why Nanami hadn’t been one of them yet. His face formed into a deep frown over being called out. Ino was right; it was the least he could do. Why was he avoiding it?
Standing up, he sighed with an odd feeling forming in his stomach. He should get this over with quickly. Having someone watch him wasn’t ideal. Sensing Nanami didn’t want eyes on him, Ino shifted away, back turned. Halfway to his task, he froze, hearing another comment.
“You should take your glasses off,” Ino said over his shoulder.
With a glare, Nanami listened, putting them away. Without his eyes covered, it showed just how little sleep he’d gotten in the last three days. Looking away, Ino gave them some privacy. His heart started to race just at the thought of what was going to happen in the room.
Regardless of being convinced that nothing he could do would work, Nanami still felt oddly nervous. Like most people who had been in this room, he hadn’t kissed anyone before. Maybe his co-workers snagged one while he was drunk once or twice without him knowing. Most likely, Gojo did. Was there a proper way to do this? He copied Ino and placed his hands on shrunken shoulders. His thumbs rubbed the fabric, feeling the raised collarbone. His heart dropped over how thin Ijichi felt. When things got hard, he ran away again, just like he had years ago when he lost his best friend. Fearing going through the same thing, Nanami buried himself in work, not wanting to see what was right in front of him.
His head tilted to avoid their noses from pressing together. The lips under his were deathly cold as if it was already too late. Refusing to pull away, he waited for any signs this was the right choice. A sound of rustling frabic he assumed came from Ino filled the silent room. Icey cold fingertips touched the side of his face, then were followed by the rest of the hand. The body under him shifted, which made him finally raise his head. Heart heavy in his throat, his eyes met a pair of dark, half-closed ones looking up at him.
Still half asleep, the person he was so worried about spoke.
“Oh, my Kento finally found me...” Ijichi said, voice weak from lack of use, his finger lightly pushing aside blonde bangs.
His eyes drifted shut again. His body was still weakened from the now broken curse. A new peaceful expression on his exhausted face. His hand fell from Nanami’s forehead, but found the other man’s to tightly hold it as he went back to sleep for a few moments. Freezing to the spot, Nanami didn’t react to what had just happened.
Shifting in his sleep, Ijichi’s brain started to work again. His eyes flew open, then he forced himself to sit up. Panic rose as he had no idea what time it was or how long he had been out for. Struggling to move, his long legs swept off the bed, bare feet touched the cold floor.
“What time is it? I need to file reports.” He said, standing on shaking legs.
“You’ve been cursed for days. Take it easy.” Nanami told him.
He feared even gently guiding Ijichi back to bed would bruise him in such a weakened state. Shaking his head, the man refused to sit back down.
“Days? I have too much to do. Ino’s appointment, the students have missions and-”
His words were cut off as he was swept up into a tight embrace. Confusion filled his expression as Nanami held him tightly, his head leaning down to steal a kiss, knowing it was the one thing that would make Ijichi stop in his tracks. His eyes widened, then he accepted it. Long arms wrapped around to grip the back of a blue shirt tightly, then to have his fingers run through messy hair. A smile formed on his face when they pulled away. He wasn’t aware of being lifted off the ground to be placed back into bed. A few playful kisses were placed on the side of a blushing face that only stopped when the blankets were tucked under his chin.
“I must still be dreaming, so it’s alright to take a break, right?” Ijichi asked, already accepting his cozy fate.
“That’s right. Get some more rest. I’ll have Shoko come and see you later.”
He quickly fell asleep again to regain some strength the curse had taken away completely unaware that what happened was real. And that there was a witness.
The redness in his face faded into a pale expression. A glare that meant death landed on Ino, who froze.
“Speak a word of this to no one.” The words were cold and laced with threats.
Nodding, Ino silently swore he would not tell anyone what he saw. He could fool himself into thinking Nanami kissed Ijichi a second time to get him back to sleep. The man would do whatever it took to save someone. And yet... to Ino, it looked as if he enjoyed it far too much for it simply be a duty to save a friend. The fact that Ijichi woke up meant he had some feelings for the other man. Whether they were mutual or not remained to be seen.
“I heard voices. What’s up?” Shoko asked at the door, arriving too late.
“Curse is broken,” Nanami said, walking past her and out of the room, refusing to elaborate.
“Huh?”
She glanced between his back and Ino. Taking the hit, the younger man raised his hand, claiming he broke the curse. She didn’t fully believe that but didn’t care.
When Ijichi woke up again, he was forced to eat. Gojo showed up to give him a stern talking to that didn’t stick. The manager was in a good mood despite having almost died. He claimed it was from a nice dream he had, but was unable to remember. So many people came into his room, glad he was awake, and it was overwhelming. Ijichi let himself stay in bed for an entire day before he got dressed and ready to work.
No matter how many people tried to get him out of the office, he refused. Ijichi was off for far too long for comfort. He wanted to get caught up with work. He found he wasn’t as behind as expected. His co-workers made sure to keep checking in on him. Snacks and meals were forced on the man; everyone worried about his weight.
Since it had been so busy without the manager, people were still working hard, which let his working hours go unnoticed. He lied to everyone, saying he had gone home to rest since he last saw them. In reality, Ijichi’s anxiety over making a mistake that affected so many people kept him in the office.
Ino was acting strangely around him. He heard that Ino was the one who removed the curse, yet no one told him how. Information about what happened while he was cursed was hidden from him. It made Ijichi worried, which led him to work more.
It wasn’t as if Nanami was avoiding him on purpose. They didn’t have any jobs together for a few days after the curse was broken. When Ijichi arrived with the car for this mission, Nanami regretted his choice for not checking in on him. Dark bags were under his eyes. It was a miracle that he could still drive safely. He dismissed the concern that came his way, promising Nanami he would rest after their job for the night was finished.
The job went well. When Nanami came out of the building, finished with the mission, he found Ijichi nodding off standing against the company car. He watched him for a few minutes, wondering if he would pass out on his feet. What could he do for the overworked manager? Was there a way to make him rest? The memory of breaking the curse flashed across his mind, causing him to look away.
There was a way to help him.
Silently, he went over and placed a hand on Ijichi’s shoulder. The man jolted awake, his glasses slipping down his nose.
“Sorry! Are you finished?” He asked, face growing red from embarrassment.
“Yes. Sit in the back. I’ll drive.” Nanami offered not removing his hand.
Ijichi shook his head, wanting to refuse the offer. The least he could do was drive. Not doing so felt like a failure.
“You’re exhausted. It’s not safe.”
Ijichi's face fell, and he agreed. Fiddling with his hands, he regretted that it was true. With a small apology, he slipped into the backseat. Nanami knew how to drive, but he just didn’t do so often. Carefully, he made his way back to his apartment, glancing at Ijichi in the backseat. Stress kept him awake instead of resting as he should have. His head nodded. Sheer will keep it up on the ride. He only drifted off for a few minutes after they arrived at Nanami’s apartment. He parked, then needed to settle his stomach to do what he planned.
“Ijichi, we’re here.”
A soft voice pulled him from an uneasy nap. His hand raised, expecting his car keys. Instead, Nanami took it in his helping the manager out of the back seat. Sleepy, he let himself be guided out of the car. The door was shut, then locked behind him. It wasn’t until they reached halfway across the underground parking lot that Ijichi realized he wasn’t getting his keys back. His pace slowed, his hand feeling warm from being held.
“Come upstairs with me,” Nanami said, his head facing away.
He was dirty from work, his jacket slightly torn. Normally, he would shower and rest after such a long day. There was something far more important to do first.
“Alright.” A shy reply came, and the hand gripped his tightly as Ijichi caught up to walk beside the person leading him away from his car.
Surely Nanami was just going to let Ijichi sleep on his couch. Why else was he offering them to go to his apartment together? They had never held hands before. He must be doing this to make sure Ijichi didn’t run away. Nothing else made sense to him.
He noticed a slight tremble in Nanami's hand the apartment keys came out. It took an extra second for the door to be unlocked. Their hands came away long enough for their shoes and jackets to be removed. Ijichi was silently guided again through the space. He wasn’t sure what he thought his friend's apartment would look like. It was clean and bare. Only the minimal furniture aside from a large, filled bookcase on the side of the large living room. The couch was white and looked as if it had never been used before. Ijichi started towards it, stopping when he felt an arm slip around his waist.
His ears grew red. Why was the person who was so distant treating him in this way? His heart raced so hard he thought it would burst through his chest. Still, he wasn’t allowing himself to consider what may happen next aside from Ijichi being tucked into bed. This had to be Nanami’s spare bedroom, nothing else.
The door stayed open to give them enough light to see by. Without switching the bedside lamp on, they stopped at the bed, Ijichi’s head swimming. His breathing started to grow as his face became redder. Slowly, he turned to face the person who brought him there, wondering what kind of expression he would be greeted by. Before he could, his glasses were lifted off his face, making it impossible to see in the dim light. They were carefully placed on the bedside table. Raising his hands, Ijichi gripped the front of his shirt, trying to settle his pulse.
“Nanami?” Ijichi spoke, his voice shaking.
Squinting, he still couldn’t see the other person's expression. Not once did he expect the gap between them to be closed. His weakened legs wanted to give out under him when strong arms wrapped around, pressing them so closely together. He spoke up, softer, the single word, a confused whisper. The answer was the arms growing tighter, causing Ijichi to stand on his toes, his face reaching where it needed to be.
This had to be a dream. He'd fallen asleep in the car. That thought made his stress disappear and to return the kiss with a small sigh.
Half expecting each other to pull away as they slowly moved. Each action hesitantly returned. Delicate fingers tugged at a wrinkled shirt, uncertain of what to do next. Gasping, Ijichi was lifted to be gently placed on the soft bed, Nanami following him, shifting his body, so he was hovering about the shorter man. His hands got to work removing the dark red tie, not breaking their kiss or giving Ijichi time to react.
His eyes opened to watch the tie drop to the side, slightly amused by the careless action. He thought Nanami would have put it in a more proper place. Another gasp came when he felt his belt buckle open. Within seconds, it slipped off and joined the tie on the floor.
Could this really be happening? His mind buzzing, Ijichi found his back arching, desperate to press against the person already so nearby. Arms wrapped around, bringing them closer, his mouth parting silently, asking for more.
Nanami hadn’t expected Ijichi to be noisy from just kisses. He found himself enjoying each sound and soft sigh. For a moment, he feared the other man would burst out into tears due to the sounds. His hands rested just above a tiny waist, thumbs rubbing along to feel just how much weight Ijichi had lost in such a short amount of time. He didn’t go further after he removed the belt. He just needed to take his time until the real reason behind all of this kicked in.
Soon, Ijichi’s movements started to slow. His grip became weaker, his arms losing their grip. Nanami moved to start kissing the side of his face and buried his nose in the collar next to listen to the rapid breathing grow softer. Unable to fight it, the manager slipped into a deep sleep, face flushed from their previous actions. When he felt safe to do so, Nanami carefully moved off the bed to take a long while to wash his face, then get changed.
Still in the bathroom, he leaned over the running sink, glancing at his face, almost not recognizing the person looking back. His chest hurt, and his face felt hot. What was the expression? Shot by cupids' arrow? When Ijichi woke up from the curse, his soft words and touch did feel like a shot right through his heart. No matter how much he wanted to reject the idea, Nanami realized he’d fallen in love over such a brief exchange. He’d run from that truth for a few days too long, and it caused Ijichi to suffer. Now it was his job to take care of the man because he demonstrated that, left alone, he might end up working himself to death.
Nanami was no better. He'd worked a bit too hard and needed to rest just as much as the manager he practically forced into his bed. He wanted to get Ijichi changed, but knew he might not be able to stop himself if clothing came off that night.
There was plenty of space for them. He set an alarm for the morning and found his place next to the exhausted manager, wondering how the morning was going to go. Nanami had always been a light sleeper. That night, he fell into such a deep rest that not even an earthquake would have woken him.
Ijichi stirred first in the morning. He rolled on his side, expecting to see the inside of his office. Not to Nanami’s sleeping face right next to his. Blinking, he thought he was still dreaming. Sensing eyes on him, hazel eyes opened, and a tired smile formed.
“How is my little Kiyo feeling this morning?” He asked voice lower than normal.
A redness came over Ijichi’s entire body. The dream he had when the curse was broken wasn’t a dream at all. Neither was what happened the night before. His heart literally stopped, realizing he let his feelings slip a few days ago, only to be returned. Then his face fell as he shot up in bed, a childlike annoyance coming over him.
“You tricked me!” He accused.
Dark hair sat up every which way. It made his anger hard to take seriously. Still smiling, Nanami nodded, taking his time sitting up, his hair not looking any better.
“Would you have properly rested if I didn’t?” Yawning, he regretted the fact that he would need to get out of a warm bed soon.
His eyes went past Ijichi; he was fumbling around looking for his glasses. The room was far too bright for so early in the morning. When he saw his alarm clock, he realized why. They both overslept. Every muscle tensed when he saw the time and then remembered neither of them plugged their phones in that night. They were still in their jacket pockets by the door.
Before Ijichi found his glasses, his hands covered his eyes from behind to protect him from seeing the time for a few moments.
“We’re late for work,” Nanami said, only slightly worried.
“How late...?” Ijichi asked after a long pause.
“Enough for people to notice.”
Searching their brains, neither could come up with an acceptable answer. Yaga would lecture them for their tardiness and lack of reply to anyone worried over their absence. Lifting his hands over his eyes, he squinted enough to see just how much trouble they were in.
“Since we’re already in this mess, do you want to take our time and fool around a little?” He asked a very stunned sorcerer.
That was the last thing he ever expected to hear.
“Yes, but... what?”
A body shifted closer, and Nanami was quickly forced back down into his comfortable pillows, a few kisses silencing him, which he wasn’t upset over. His confused expression was extremely cute to the other person, which made it hard to start speaking again.
“I like you a lot. Is that alright?” Ijichi asked, still breathless.
Nodding, it took Nanami a few seconds to respond. A new feeling stirred in his stomach, causing him to be afraid that they weren’t going to make it into the office at all that day.
“I think I like you a lot, too.” He admitted hating how weird his own voice sounded. “But we really need to get to work.”
Once again, he was acting like the bad guy. Pouting, Ijichi refused, feeling brave for the first time in his life. When hands wrapped around his waist to lift him away, he leaned into it, taking a wrist to guide it somewhere else he wanted it to be. He was making the idea of work very, very difficult.
“Listen-” It took a few minutes for Nanami to get back in control struggling to get his mouth and hands back.
Sitting up, he pinned Ijichi’s hands to the bed and let the man rest in his lap, disappointed they weren’t going any further.
“You're not healthy enough for this. I don’t want to hurt you.” Nanami admitted.
Ijichi had not recovered enough from the curse. No matter how much people tried to feed him, he’d always been a small eater. It would take at least a month for him to get back into shape, or at least to a point where he was well enough for anything too physically demanding.
“We don’t need to... do everything.” Ijichi offered as a compromise.
“I don’t trust myself to stop.”
Looking away, Nanami wasn’t able to keep Ijichi’s eyes even if he wasn’t able to fully see him while still lacking his glasses. A head rested against his shoulder. They were too damn close, which made him wonder if he could keep his resolve.
“I trust you.”
Ijichi wasn’t helping. The man was a handful the moment he gained any sort of confidence.
“Nothing today. Gain ten pounds, and I’ll take you home every night to do the same thing we did until then.” He offered.
His face was taken in for another kiss, the tender action caused his train of thought to derail for a second.
“You were going to do that anyway.”
Damn it. Since when was Ijichi this tricky to deal with?
Changing tactics, dark hair was moved aside, so new words were whispered in an unsuspecting ear.
“Good boys go to work. You want to be called that more often, don’t you?”
The voice he so dearly loved, saying such suggestive things, was almost enough for them not to need to do anything. Nanami was playing dirty, and they both knew it. Such an underhanded tactic wasn’t fair, but it worked.
“Fine. I need to borrow your shower first.” Ijichi muttered, moving away, dreading what they needed to face when they finally arrived at the office.
The lecture from Yaga never came. They went to his office first, expecting him to yell, demanding a very good reason why they took the morning off without notice. Nanami decided to tell the truth, unsure of what else to say.
“We slept through my alarm. I was worried about Ijichi’s health and took him to my place after a mission.” He said, accepting all the blame.
“That’s fine, don’t let it happen again. Get to work.”
That was it. They had never been let off so easily before. Confused, they went down the school hallway, wondering about the reason behind the lack of punishment. Nitta saw them first, her face flushed into a knowing smile.
“I wasn’t expecting you two love birds to be in at all today!” She said extremely happy her boss found someone he cared about.
“Love birds...?” Ijichi repeated frozen to the spot.
How did anyone find out about them so soon?
“Ino spilled the beans.” She instantly caved.
At the far end of the hall, the criminal peeked around the corner. Nanami saw him, eyes hidden behind his green glasses. Without hesitation, he started into a sprint, which made Ino scream. Ijichi didn’t know what would happen when he was caught, but it wasn’t going to be pretty.
If Gojo hadn’t arrived for Ino to hide behind, it was very likely he would have been buried in a shallow grave that day.
The rest of the morning was filled with questions and people buzzing about. It was exhausting. Around lunch time, things finally quieted down for Ijichi to sit down on his couch, ready for a nap. He was getting too tired far too easily lately. The pile of snacks tempted him. Surely if he finished them all, he would gain the weight he needed for his new partner to be comfortable following through with his request. It wouldn’t be healthy, and he knew that.
“I brought lunch.”
A voice snapped him from his thoughts. Smiling, he watched Nanami cross the room, two bento boxes in hand. He gave one to Ijichi, clearly worried the manager would skip a meal unless he was supervised. They ate silently together, Ijichi let himself lean against the other person, feeling happier than he had in ages. Maybe waiting until he gained some weight wouldn't be too bad. He was content with just being able to share moments like this for now.