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It takes less than two months after leaving Tokyo for Nanami to decide he’s not going back. This place is warm sand and turquoise waters, sunshine and soft breezes, bright colors even when it rains, and the first real peace he’s ever felt; how could he trade that for crowded streets, sadness and curses everywhere, and the endless hell that is work and other people?
The same day he comes to this realization, Nanami decides to buy a house. It’s a passing, easy decision, a sure and simple thought that arrives in his mind as he walks along the beach one morning, watching a soft blue ocean stained red and pink by the rising sun. He wants to wake up to that sunrise every morning.
A house is just the thing. A nice beach house with a window that looks out over the water. Somewhere surrounded by trees, where the jungle meets the edge of the sand. Somewhere close to a town with a nice bakery, and far enough away to imagine he’s on an endless beach vacation.
He makes the decision in a second and continues walking. He doesn’t think about it for the rest of the morning, until later in the afternoon when he’s sitting outside his cramped motel and thinks of how much nicer this would be in a house of his own.
Shopping for a house allows his long-dormant business instincts to make what he sincerely hopes will be their final encore. He can’t deny their usefulness, so he’s grateful at least that the time he spent as a corporate drone allows him to live out this dream of retiring to Kuantan; Kapas has been beautiful, but too isolated and touristy to live in for good.
After a lot of struggling with realtors and haggling with the jujutsu higher-ups for his retirement and injury benefits (you’d think a missing eye and half-charred arm might be enough to convince them he’d fulfilled his duty to the jujutsu world), he finally signs the deed to a comfortable house exactly the right distance from the nearest town, on a little-known but gorgeous beach, and thinks he might finally have a place he can call home.
He fills his bookshelves with the piles of books he brought with him, the ones that took up ninety percent of his luggage. He throws open the shuttered windows and lets the warm breeze blow into every room, filling them with the smell of salt and outside. He walks twenty minutes to the closest town and introduces himself to the baker. She stares at his eye patch and burn scars with trepidation at first, but warms up to him quickly after he compliments her bread and sends him home with an extra loaf as a welcome gift.
Returning to his new house really does feel like coming home. As he cooks himself dinner, he reflects on his apartment back in Tokyo, and how despite his best efforts it had somehow always felt unwelcoming. He had worried that moving so hastily would leave him forgetting something vital, but he can’t think of a single thing from that place he misses.
Well, that’s not entirely true, he thinks. Not a thing, but…
“Hello, Yuji-kun?” Nanami says into his phone a short while later.
“Nanamin!” says Yuji on the other end. “You called me first! That never happens!” Nanami can almost see him jumping up and down on the other end, 5,000 kilometers away.
Nanami smiles. “I’ve just bought a house. How would you like to come and visit?”
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Of course Yuji is ecstatic at the news, and thrilled to be invited back to visit Nanami again. Of course he promises to head out as soon as humanly possible, and of course he insists upon bringing a housewarming gift despite Nanami’s assurances that it’s truly unnecessary.
“I’ll bring something you really like, Nanamin, don’t worry,” he says before hanging up the phone. “See you soon!”
Now Nanami is extremely worried about what Yuji is going to bring him.
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He tries not to think about it too much as he prepares his new home for a visitor: furnishing a guest room, dusting out the corners of the living room, filling up the pantry with enough ingredients to feed a hungry teenager (and maybe a few of Yuji’s favorite snacks as well). After all, he could be bringing anything from a loaf of bread to an actual cat, and it’s no use trying to stop him. Still, Nanami hopes it’s not an actual cat. He’s prepared to take care of an animal with the current state of his house, and he certainly didn’t trust Yuji to safely transport one from Tokyo to Kuantan.
Well, no matter. Whatever it is, he’s sure Yuji has run it past his much more responsible friend Fushiguro, so it probably won’t be anything completely ridiculous.
On the day Yuji is supposed to arrive, Nanami begins preparing a lunch for the two of them after his usual morning walk. He offered to pick Yuji up from the airport—actually, he offered several times—but Yuji insisted on getting there himself.
“I don’t want to trouble you, Nanamin!”
It is, of course, the furthest thing from troubling him, and Nanami’s house isn’t exactly along the beaten track, but Yuji was adamant that he could find it, and Nanami supposes it’s exciting to get places by yourself when you’re fifteen and still not sick of travel, so he didn’t argue, although he did urge Yuji to be safe and call him if he needs help or gets lost.
Nanami is straining the water from a pot of noodles when the first-ever knock on his door echoes through the front hallway and into the kitchen. Leaving the noodles on the counter, he goes to answer. He’s actually excited to welcome the first guest into his home.
“Hi Nanamin!!” Yuji beams, throwing his arms around Nanami. His superhuman strength makes the hug uncomfortably tight, but it’s quick enough that Nanami doesn’t have time to mind. He wouldn’t mind anyway, although he appreciates that he won’t have a bruised spine later.
“Hello, Yuji-kun,” Nanami says, grunting from the impact. “And…Fushiguro-kun?” he adds, noticing the tall, spiky-haired figure lurking behind Yuji on the front porch.
“Hello, Nanami-san,” says Fushiguro with a bow.
“Is it okay that I brought him with me?” asks Yuji. “He’s, um…my best friend, and he also really wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”
Nanami smiles. He’s well aware of how much Yuji and Fushiguro care for one another. He’s sure Fushiguro is here for Yuji first, visiting Nanami a distant second, but he doesn’t mind the extra company, and he tells Yuji as much. Besides, he’s always gotten along well with Fushiguro, and if he’s anything like Nanami remembers, he could probably use some time to relax.
Yuji breaks into a grin. “Good! Because…I might’ve brought a few more people, too?”
Nanami’s smile falters. “You did what?”
Ignoring him, Yuji turns around and shouts, “Hey, everyone! C’mon out!”
Fushiguro looks at Nanami with a grimace. “I’m sorry. I tried to get him to warn you, but…he didn’t listen.”
“When has he ever,” agrees Nanami, watching a larger crowd than he’s laid eyes on in weeks emerge from the foliage and make their way up his front walk.
There’s the third first-year, Kugisaki, trailed by Zen’in and Inumaki. Behind them lags Panda, carrying a large box of sweets. Okkotsu is walking beside him, looking vaguely guilty that he’s not helping. Ino’s among them too, waving enthusiastically at Nanami. There’s Ieiri-san—they somehow managed to drag Ieiri away from the morgue? Even Ijichi is here. Nanami can’t believe he worked up the courage to ask permission to come here.
And, running up the steps past everyone, with an idiotic grin on his face…
“Nanamiiiiiiiiin!” Gojo shouts, leaping on Nanami for a hug much like Yuji had done, although unlike Yuji, he does not respectfully let go after a reasonable amount of seconds. “I missed you! Why do you keep ignoring my calls?”
“I’m out here to avoid stress,” Nanami grumbles, shoving Gojo off of him. “And don’t ever call me that.”
Gojo pouts. “You let Yuji call you that.”
Yes, and Nanami loves Yuji like a son, which affords him certain privileges that are not extended to irritating upperclassmen with no respect for boundaries. Arguing with said upperclassmen is not a stressor Nanami feels needs to be introduced into this environment, so he ignores Gojo in favor of fixing Yuji with a flat stare. “You brought quite a few extras with you. Did I miss a text?”
Yuji fidgets. “It’s…your housewarming gift. A party! I even brought your friends…” He pauses. “Do you like it?”
Yuji, with no announcement or warning, brought a whole crowd of people to his new house, the place he bought to live a peaceful life. Yes, his favorite person brought all his favorite people for a surprise housewarming party.
“Of course I like it. Please, tell everyone to come inside.”
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It takes less than five minutes for Nanami’s house to become filled up with people, laughter, and a fair serving of chaos. Nothing is immediately broken, thankfully, but Maki and Panda immediately get into an argument and Yuji starts dashing from room to room to look at everything, with Fushiguro trailing menacingly behind him and warning him not to break anything or invade Nanami’s privacy. Gojo and Inumaki attack the basket of sweets Panda was carrying. Ieiri scolds them to lave some for everyone else, smacking their hands away.
Nanami tries to disappear into the kitchen and cook a large enough meal for all of the unexpected guests, but Yuji spots him immediately and drags him away.
“You can’t do work at your own party!” he says.
“That’s right, Nanamin, you have to relax!” adds Gojo, clapping Nanami on the back. “Yuji and I will take care of dinner.” He throws a friendly arm around his student’s shoulders.
“Absolutely not. Neither of you is getting anywhere near my new kitchen. And, Gojo, do not call me that.”
“Kento?”
“No.”
“What? I’m a good cook!” protests Yuji.
Nanami seriously doubts this, and he knows for a fact that Gojo is permanently banned from every kitchen he’s ever stepped foot in. Nanami rather enjoys cooking, and he’s not allowing his kitchen to be burned down before he’s even had a real chance to use it.
“And I wouldn’t think of trying to cook,” says Gojo. “We’ll order food.”
“I suppose you’re planning to make Ijichi-kun pick it up?”
Gojo looks shiftily to the side behind the sunglasses he swapped with his blindfold when he entered the house. “Maybe.”
Ijichi looks up from his place in the corner, startled. “What? I thought I was on vacation, too!”
“You will not be doing that,” says Nanami. “Anyone who wants to order takeout it welcome to go pick it up themself. Anyone who wants to cook can reconsider, unless they happen to be Ino-kun, who I know will not burn my house down.”
“Yeah, go pick up the food yourself, sensei!” shouts Kugisaki.
“Salmon,” adds Inumaki, followed by vociferous agreement from every Jujutsu High student in the room, until Gojo is bullied out the door by a crowd of his own students.
The house ceases to be a stressful environment for Nanami the instant he steps out the door.
As the shock of having eleven extra people in his house (an absurd crowd for what was supposed to be a solitary retirement) wears off, Nanami realizes he missed them more than he’d ever thought possible. Being among the loud, happy students, shouting and laughing together, brings a familiarity that brightens his mood in a way he hasn’t realized he needed. And despite what he says, he’s missed his own friends, as well.
Shoko catches him up on all Gojo’s ridiculous antics, giving him plenty of ammunition for when the idiot comes back, maybe even enough to drive him away for good. (Nanami’s kidding.) She also coerces him into calling her by her first name, after some wheedling.
“I’ve known you since you were in high school, Kento-san! You can find it in you to call me Shoko.”
Hearing his first name is…jarring. He’s not sure he can remember the last time someone used it. “Alright…Shoko-san. And please, don’t remind me of high school.”
She gives him a small grin. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about those bangs.”
Yuji and Ino look over in unison, hearing made superhuman by the potential for gossip about their mentor. “Bangs?”
Nanami puts his head in his hands.
“That’s right!” says Shoko in a schoolteacher’s voice. “Kento here was a full-on emo during our high school days.”
“Please stop talking.”
“He had bangs covering half his face, only dressed in black, even moodier than he is now…”
“No way!” from Ino.
“Do you have a picture?” asks Yuji.
“Absolutely not.”
“Absolutely yes!” corrects Shoko. Of course she does. She probably dug them up just to torment Nanami at this party. From her jacket pocket emerges a stack of photographs that bring up memories Nanami hasn’t looked through in a long time.
Sure enough, there he is, in all his early-2000s emo glory, all bangs and a babyish face he can barely recognize now. A stark contrast to the other figures in the photos, smiling and making peace signs (or middle fingers) at the camera.
“Woah,” says Yuji, in a tone usually reserved for the sight of a rare tropical animal, or a life-altering musical performance. “Nanamin really was emo.”
“Nanamiiii, I can’t believe you hid this from us!” says Ino, punching him repeatedly in the arm. “Wait—Nanamin? Can I call you Nanamin?”
“Just what I needed. Reminders of how I looked as a teenager, and another person using that ridiculous nickname. Thank you, Shoko-san.”
“You’re welcome!” says Shoko brightly.
Actually, he is grateful to Shoko. This moment feels the way things did back in high school, teasing and easy, no hidden agendas or imminent danger or crushing responsibility. It’s stirring up a lot of complicated emotions, but the prevailing one is happiness of a kind he’s been without for so long that he forgot how to miss. He gives her a smile that he hopes can put across some of the words he doesn’t know how to say. Shoko smiles back in acknowledgement, and somehow Nanami thinks she understands.
The boys, oblivious to this moment between estranged friends, are still crowing over the pictures. Yuji has dragged Fushiguro over, which has led to a whole crowd of students craning to see Nanami as a teenager. Wonderful.
“He was an emo!” Kugisaki cackles.
“Nice bangs,” says Maki.
“Tuna!”
“He looks so young,” says Okkotsu in a tone of wonder. Does Nanami seriously look that old? “They all do…that’s Gojo-sensei and Shoko-san!”
“Hold on, is that Geto?” says Maki, snatching the photo from Okkotsu. “He went to school with you guys? No wonder he was always so weird towards Satoru!”
“Fushiguro, look at this!”
“I’m looking.”
“I can’t believe how different you guys are!”
“Losing the bangs was definitely a good move.”
“What do you mean? Bring them back, Nanami-san!”
Then, someone asks the question he somehow hoped no one would ask: “Who’s this guy?”
Of course Yuji is the one to ask it.
“Haibara,” Nanami says shortly. There’s an ache in his chest and a gap in this bright, happy crowd where Haibara should be. He’s been almost-successfully ignoring it until now, but hearing the question in Yuji’s voice, who reminds him so much of that smiling, confident boy…it makes the absence suddenly too real.
“Who—”
“Itadori,” says Fushiguro, one hand on Yuji’s shoulder. “Leave it alone.”
Yuji nods. “Right. Uh, hey everyone, check out that bird!” He drags the others after him, running towards the window, filling the silence so expertly to give Nanami space. He’s smarter than he gives himself credit for.
“I know he should be here,” says Shoko awkwardly. “I know he was the only one of us…you really meshed with.”
“It isn’t quite complete without him,” Nanami agrees quietly. “Him and Geto both, really.”
“Well, I miss Suguru, of course,” says Shoko. “We all do, especially…especially Satoru, but…he made his choice. And if Haibara…if…he might’ve made a different one. But Suguru’s not the point. Haibara never got to make a choice. You and him were a unit, and it’s not fair to him and it’s not fair to you, so…anyway, this is a long way of saying that these photos are for you.” She shoves the stack at him. “Because you deserve to remember him, and he deserves to be remembered by you.”
Nanami takes the photos wordlessly and leafs through them. He smiles faintly, holding back tears of a good kind. This is an impossibly kind gesture from Shoko, someone Nanami has barely ever spoken to outside of work or school.
Shuffling the pictures back into an even stack, Nanami looks back at Shoko, who is watching him hesitantly.
“Thank you, Shoko-san,” he says. “This means a lot.”
“Good,” she says, visibly relieved. “Because I spent a long time thinking up that whole speech, and I didn’t prepare for what to say if you went into emotional shutdown or something.”
“I guess there’s a reason they have you stick to physical wounds.”
Shoko gives a surprised laugh. “Nanami Kento is making jokes!”
“I’ve always had a great sense of humor.”
“Another good one! Keep it up.”
“Are we telling jokes? I know a good one!” says Yuji, immediately earning him groans from everyone in the vicinity. Undeterred, he says, “What’s orange and sounds like a parrot?”
“Tuna mayo,” says Inumaki dismissively.
“Shhhh, I know it’s easy, but let him say the punchline!” says Okkotsu.
“A parakeet!” says Ino confidently. “Wait…hm.”
“Obviously, it’s—” Maki starts to say, but it cut off by an elbow from Fushiguro. “Ow!”
“Don’t ruin his joke,” Fushiguro growls. “What, Itadori?”
“A carrot!” says Yuji, grinning hugely and laughing at his own joke. No one joins him. Kugisaki begins teasing Fushiguro for something, who turns red and glowers at her as Yuji watches in confusion.
Ino rants about how of course it was a carrot, he would’ve figured it out if he’d just had another second. Inumaki says something in onigiri fillings that Nanami can’t understand and apparently neither can Ino, because he looks at Inumaki and Panda with an expression of bafflement as they shake with laughter.
The kids break off into their own shifting groups of chaos again. Shoko drags Ijichi away from his phone to have a conversation with herself and Nanami, forcing them to talk about books until they gain enough momentum that she doesn’t have to prod them along with a question every thirty seconds. Ijichi has read nothing in common with Nanami, but is a pleasant enough conversationalist and heartily agrees with his views on work, once he gets over his fears that one of his bosses will overhear. Nanami feels bad for scaring him so much when they worked together.
Gojo returns with far too much food that everyone swarms and then slowly picks away at as the night wears on.
Someone brings out a speaker and starts playing terrible pop music, sending Nanami on a manhunt for the owner so he can revoke their Bluetooth privileges. It turns out to be Yuji and Kugisaki, from Fushiguro’s phone. After securing his permission, Nanami switches the soundtrack to a playlist of indie rock which is much more pleasing to his ears, at a volume that is more pleasing to everyone’s ears.
He’s not sure who starts the dancing, but soon it’s spread to everyone in the room, bouncing and spinning and laughing around his living room, and he can’t keep from joining in. When was the last time Nanami danced?
He feels like a fool at first. Moving his limbs like this is awkward and unnatural and he feels as though everyone is laughing at him. He actually considers lurking by the wall like…well, no one, actually. Everyone is dancing, even Shoko and Ijichi, even Fushiguro is dancing with Yuji, so Nanami stays, and as he steps to the rhythm and sees how everyone is smiling, it clicks.
The movements are no different, but he’s stopped thinking about it and now he’s just enjoying himself. It doesn’t matter if he’s a good dancer, it matters that he is dancing, here, with people that make his life brighter.
They dance until people start to collapse onto chairs and couches, which Nanami has too few of for a gathering of this size, but no one really cares. They dance until the playlist plays itself out and Nanami can barely keep his eyes open. As the final song plays, he has an instant to wish Haibara was here so Nanami could dance with him, but he looks over and sees Yuji and Ino dancing their hearts out to the music, and they remind him so much of Haibara in that moment that he’s not entirely sure which decade he’s in.
They’re not the same, don’t even look like him, and certainly can’t replace him or what he was to Nanami. But he thinks that pieces of him might live on in those boys, and the rest is waiting somewhere peaceful until Nanami comes to join him.
Nanami thinks that now, he’s no longer in a rush.
The music gone, Nanami goes to bring out pillows and blankets, because there’s only one guest bed, and of course he has nowhere near enough, but Yuji thought ahead for once and has a whole pile of them stashed in the car. He promises to leave them at Nanami’s house “for when we come visit again!”
He hopes they won’t wait long.
Everyone’s passed out on the floor or couches within minutes; Shoko slumped in a chair as though fallen asleep at work, Gojo sprawled out on the couch, Yuji and Megumi in a corner where they think no one will notice them sharing the same blanket.
Nanami collapses into his own bed, exhausted, and thinks of waking up to the same beautiful sunrise and a house full of people the next morning.
Maybe he’s been lonelier than he realized.
This really is the best gift Yuji could have given him.