Work Text:
At midnight, Maki is woken up by a text.
She slowly sits up, yawning. Her phone screen glows softly in the dark. Maki grabs it off her nightstand. She rubs her eyes and reads the message: pls help me senpaiii ~
It’s Nobara. She usually sends Maki memes throughout the day, silly candid shots she’s taken of Fushiguro, or else short texts complimenting Maki’s combat skills, all riddled with emojis.
Not… this. Whatever this is.
Maki’s phone vibrates with another text. i’m in danger nd i need u! cum to ym room
Danger?
Maki swings her legs off the bed. A pair of jeans lies on the floor by her nightstand; she quickly pulls them on.
She knows, even as she’s getting ready to leave, that it’s pretty unlikely that Nobara is in any real trouble. She’s rational. She can think with her head.
Maki’s stupid heart won’t listen, though. It rattles her ribcage.
I’m in danger, Nobara had said. And she’d reached out to Maki for help.
As Maki rushes out the door, she sends a hastily-typed reply: Don’t worry. I’ll be there soon.
—
…Nobara is drunk.
If Maki didn’t know it from the empty beer cans strewn around her room, she’d know it by the way she’s leaning on her, giggling and whispering, “You’re so cute, Maki-saaaan.”
Maki’s eyes flit around Nobara’s dorm room. She counts one, two, three, four, five beer cans. When did she have the time to buy all this beer? Maki wonders.
A second uncomfortable thought worms its way underneath the first — Did Megumi or Yuuji buy them for her?
Maki pushes Nobara off her shoulder, holding her at arms’ length. She glares into her big brown eyes and asks, as curtly and unaffected as possible, “Why are you drinking by yourself?”
Nobara blinks. She looks around the room. “Oh,” she says. “They left.”
Maki’s patience is running away from her. She purses her lips and wrestles it down. “Who left?”
“Fushiguro and Itadori.” She hiccups. “I told them to leave ’cause you were coming over.”
Maki’s jaw works. Her grip on Nobara’s shoulder tightens. “You said you were in trouble.”
Nobara pouts.
Maki feels a little bad for being so short with her; she’s young and drunk and clearly doesn’t know any better. She’ll plan Yuuji and Megumi’s ass-kicking later.
Still, Maki doesn’t think that she’s necessarily in the wrong here. How else is she supposed to feel about getting a text crying danger at midnight, only to find… this?
Nobara takes Maki’s hand and leads her away from the door and to the bed. When they sit, she says, “I think you’re really hot, Maki-san.”
Maki’s cheeks flush. She tries to stand, but Nobara pulls her down. Or, more accurately, she lets herself be pulled back down. She doesn’t feel like she has much of a choice, which is a strange first.
Nobara traces her jawline with a finger. “Have you ever done it with a girl?”
Maki stands abruptly, heart pounding in her chest. Yuuji and Megumi must’ve put her up to this. There’s no way — she can’t be —
“I — I have to go,” Maki says. Her body tingles in unfamiliar places, where Nobara could have touched it.
Nobara slides off the edge of the bed and crawls on the floor towards Maki, clinging to her leg. She’s out of her school uniform, wearing a plunging v-neck shirt, so when Maki looks down, she gets a full view of her generous cleavage. Her breasts press against her shin.
“I know you like me,” Nobara says.
“You —” Maki clears her throat. “You don’t know anything.”
She wants it to come out mean and forceful. It doesn’t. Nobara has cast some kind of spell on her; Maki’s voice trembles with the force of it. She feels limp and helpless for the first time in ages, like a straw doll pinned in place. When she tries to look away, she can only stare harder. Her field of vision has been swallowed by Nobara’s cute bob, her warm, brown eyes, her slender, toned arms, her huge —
“Everyone likes me,” Nobara continues, interrupting her thoughts. “Also, you’re staring at my boobs.”
“I — I am not,” Maki sputters.
“It’s okay.” Nobara releases Maki’s leg and moves to her crotch, unzipping her jeans. “I’ve wanted to fuck you for a while.”
Maki sways where she stands. She’s going to faint. “You’ve wanted…?”
“To fuck you.” Nobara pulls down Maki’s pants. She giggles. “Of course you wear boxer briefs.”
Maki braces a hand against the wall behind her. Her pants fall to her ankles. Nobara grasps her thighs. She stares at her like she’s starving. She noses at her —
“Stop!” Maki yelps. She actually yelps. She pushes her embarrassment away first, and Nobara’s head second, smacking her forehead.
Nobara’s hand flies to the faint pink mark slowly forming on her forehead. She glares up at Maki. “Ouch.”
“Don’t give me that,” Maki snaps. “You’re the one who’s — who’s taking advantage of me!”
“Taking advantage?”
“Yeah! Taking advantage!”
Nobara sits back on her haunches. “You have a beautiful woman, on her knees for you —”
Warmth pulses between Maki’s legs. She chews the inside of her cheek and looks away.
“— and you spurn her? You accuse her of taking advantage?”
Maki huffs. A beautiful woman, on her knees for you. "You’re such a drama queen,” she grumbles. She's shit at playacting, but she thinks she's doing a fine job of acting like Nobara's smart, pretty mouth isn't driving her crazy.
“A drama queen?” Nobara pushes herself to her feet. She pokes Maki’s chest. They’re suddenly so close; Maki can feel her body heat. She thinks about biting Nobara’s finger.
“You’re the drama queen,” Nobara accuses. “Acting like a goddamn virgin.”
Maki doesn’t say anything.
Nobara’s eyes widen. “Maki-san.”
Maki stays quiet.
“Oh my god,” Nobara says. She cups her face with her hands. “Are you really…?”
Maki clears her throat and nods. She avoids eye contact.
Nobara takes a few steps backwards. She teeters back and forth, then falls back onto the bed. “Kill me,” she says in monotone.
“I left my sword in my room.”
Nobara groans. Maki carefully sits next to her, staring pointedly at the wall ahead so she won’t be accused of looking down her shirt.
“Maki-san,” Nobara says after a beat, “I’ve been such an asshole.”
“Hm.”
“Like, I’d still be an asshole, even if you weren’t a virgin, but — oh my god.” Nobara covers her face with her hands. “I’m such an asshole.”
Maki doesn’t know what to say. Nobara is always kind of an asshole, even when she’s not trying to seduce her, even when she’s sober.
So is Maki. It’s why they get along.
Nobara sighs. She turns her head to the side, peeking at Maki through her fingers. “I thought you had a crush on me,” she says, “but you were probably just bewitched by my natural beauty, the way everyone else is…”
Maki stays quiet. She tries not to think about everyone else or the beer cans on the floor.
Nobara uncovers her face. She slowly sits up and leans forward. “Maki-san,” she whispers, face impossibly close to Maki’s, and god, she smells so nice, even with the lingering beer stench on her breath, how does she do that, “do you want to know what kissing’s like?”
Maki can’t believe she guessed that she was kiss-less. She wonders if she wears it on her, if it’s just another curse she can’t see. She clasps her clammy hands in her lap.
She should say yes. She’d be an idiot not to say yes.
“Are you hooking up with Yuuji and Megumi?” she asks instead.
Nobara reels back like she’s been slapped. “Huh?”
Maki gestures to the beer cans. “You’ve been drinking with them!”
“So?”
“So — so —”
“I like girls, you idiot! I like —” Nobara suddenly clamps her mouth shut.
Maki rubs her neck. She can feel her cheeks heating up. She glances down at Nobara’s pink bedspread, hoping enough of her hair falls into her face to plausibly deny she’s blushing.
Nobara closes her eyes and rubs her temples. “My head hurts,” she mutters.
Maki’s shoulders slump. “You’re really drunk,” she tells the bedspread.
“And I’m being an idiot asshole.” Nobara sounds like she’s on the verge of tears.
“Yeah,” Maki agrees. She hesitates, then glances back up and pats Nobara’s head, trying not to let herself revel in her hair’s softness. “But I forgive you.”
Nobara opens her eyes and glances at Maki, sniffling. She gives her a watery smile. “You can leave if you want,” she says.
Maki doesn’t leave. Maybe she should, she doesn’t know. She’s never been one to care about shoulds. She tucks Nobara into bed, propping her head up with pillows. When her breathing evens out, she quietly collects the beer cans one by one, before gently placing them into the garbage can by the door. She flicks the lights off.
“Goodnight,” she whispers. Then she slowly closes the door behind her. It shuts with a soft click.
Maki returns to her room. She thinks she won’t fall asleep, but she does, listening to Nobara’s snoring through the wall.
We’ll talk in the morning.
—
At eight o’clock the next morning, Maki sees Nobara again. She’s at the mess, chowing down on an assortment of toast, rice porridge, eggs, and… mochi ice cream?
She looks good. She makes bedhead chic.
Megumi and Yuuji flank her, as per usual. It’s a Sunday, so they’re wearing casual clothes; their t-shirts are all different shades of blue. They look like a matching set.
An ugly, thorny emotion rears its head in the back of Maki’s throat. Maki chokes on it. She wipes her suddenly sweaty palms on her pants and tries not to get too pissed off at herself for having feelings.
When Maki approaches their table to demand ice cream, Nobara briefly freezes mid-chew. Her cheeks are stuffed like a chipmunk’s. After a moment, she snatches the mochi off the table and shoves it into her pocket.
“Hi, Maki-san!” Yuuji says brightly. He nudges Nobara with his elbow.
Megumi’s eyes slide from Maki to Nobara, who’s slowly chewing and staring forlornly down at the table. He lets out a breath before standing. “C’mon, Itadori,” he says.
Yuuji blinks. “Where are we going?”
Megumi grabs his arm and pulls him out of his seat. “Come on.”
Yuuji sighs, but follows. He waves at Maki and Nobara over his shoulder as Megumi drags him away.
They’re completely alone. In the corner of her eye, Maki sees trees outside the mess hall’s large windows, branches gently bobbing in a breeze.
Well. No turning back now.
Maki sits down across from Nobara. “Hey,” she says. She’s not sure where else to start.
Nobara swallows. She wipes her mouth with her sleeve. “Hey.”
“Are you gonna share the ice cream?”
“I’d never eat ice cream for breakfast, what do you mean?”
“You can’t lie to your senpai,” Maki says. She can feel herself smiling. “You have to give me some.”
Nobara exhales, blowing a lock of hair away from her face. “Pfft.”
Maki raises an expectant eyebrow. After a beat, Nobara reluctantly pulls a plastic-wrapped piece of mochi ice cream out of her jacket pocket. “It’s half-melted,” she says, pushing it across the table to Maki.
Maki carefully unwraps it, then pops the ice cream into her mouth. It’s lukewarm. It instantly melts on her tongue.
“You know sensei has a secret stash?”
Maki chews and swallows. “I’m not surprised.”
“I am. How come he doesn’t share?” Nobara complains.
Maki quirks an eyebrow. “You’re stealing?”
“I’m not stealing,” Nobara replies, indignant. “Megumi is.”
Maki barks a laugh. She leans back in her seat. “Yeah? Good for him.”
Nobara smiles a little, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Did you sleep okay?”
Maki clears her throat. She shifts in her seat. It creaks underneath her. “Slept fine,” she says, nodding at Nobara. “You?”
Nobara chews on her lower lip. “Yeah. Uh. Someone tucked me in and everything, so…”
Maki doesn’t know what to say. She looks off to the side, crossing her arms. Her eyes trail the grain of the wood floors.
“I’m…” Nobara exhales. “I’m really sorry, Maki-san.”
Maki sniffs. “’S’okay.”
“Maki.”
Maki looks up.
Nobara’s jaw is set determinedly. Her perfectly arched eyebrows are slightly furrowed. She looks cute like this, as ever.
Maki doesn’t look away. Her breath turns shallow.
“I shouldn’t have pushed that far,” Nobara says, voice rushed. “And… and I really do like you, Maki. So if you still like me, then we can take it slow, and you can stop being jealous of Itadori and Fushiguro because I seriously do not like them like that, and you can stare at my boobs all you want! I don’t mind! I want you to! And —” Nobara takes a deep breath. “If you don’t forgive me, that’s okay too.”
Maki blinks.
She’s as unused to straightforward communication as she is appreciative of it; growing up as the Zenin clan’s failure will do that to you.
She opens her mouth to speak, then closes it. Words won’t come out. Why won’t words come out, dammit?! She needs words to come out! She needs — she needs —
Nobara tentatively reaches across the table, taking Maki’s hand. Maki thinks she’s trying to be gentle, but she ends up squeezing it hard, crushing Maki’s fingers together with trembling hands.
That’s okay. Maki’s not a gentle person either.
“Kissing,” Maki finally blurts out, body racing ahead of her brain like always. “You, uh, said we could try it?”
Nobara’s face lights up. Her expression feels warmer than the sun. Maki’s heart beats harder as she basks in it.
“Wanna try right now?” Nobara asks, grinning.
Maki leans forward, propping herself up by her elbows on the table. Nobara raises her chin, lips parted.
Maki exhales. She grabs the back of Nobara’s head and pulls her forward, smashing their lips together, glasses pushing up against her face.
The kiss is… soft. Maki didn’t think it would be soft. She distantly realizes that she’s supposed to close her eyes, knows it’s something people do from what she’s seen on TV. She can’t bring herself to do it. Before this moment, she’d never considered her heightened senses to be useful for anything besides revenge. Now she uses them to map out Nobara’s face; studies the mascara clumps clinging to her long eyelashes; memorizes the faint rosy blush on her smooth cheeks.
Nobara pulls away. “How was —”
Maki cuts her off with a kiss. She feels Nobara smile.
“I thought you wanted to take things slow?” Nobara whispers.
“Shut up and let me kiss you.”
Nobara shuts up and lets Maki take the lead.