age ten
The strawberry candy clinked against her teeth, her gaze never drifting far from the white-haired boy in front of her. Nana was bored. For the past hour, the two of them had been sitting in her Akito's garden playing a game of chess. Though the breeze was nice and ruffled her hair, pushing and twisting loose strands into her face and giving her a moments relief from the game, Nana wished they could go inside.
"It's your turn," Satoru's voice was cold, his eyes boring into hers as his expression conveyed absolutely nothing. Was he happy? Was he having a good time? Was he upset? Was he bored, too? She had no idea. It was only in the safety of the dark that Nana told Moe it would be more amusing to have a pet rock than to marry Gojou Satoru.
Moe laughed at that—it was the first time Nana saw her smile so wide that her eyes closed. She wished Moe would smile like that more often.
With a heavy sigh, probably more dramatic than it needed to be, Nana lazily shifted her pawn one place forward. The delicate blue of Satoru's eyes appeared to almost darken, and she struggled to contain a grin. While her husband-to-be was the perfect heir: always calm, always obedient, always silent. Nana noticed that he spoke in his own way. Satoru slightly turned away from whoever reached for him when he wanted to be left alone. If he didn't like a specific food, he would push it around on his plate to make it look as though he picked at it. When his parents said something he disagreed with, a small dimple appeared in his cheek. Not surprising, he often found her annoying, obnoxious, and rude; so, whenever she bothered him, the soft cerulean blended into a stormier color.
"Aren't you bored, Satoru-chan?" She couldn't help but ask before biting down on the candy. The sweet, liquid center of the candy flooded her tastebud and Nana hummed with content. Yes, she thought, Moe was right—strawberry is a good flavor.
Snow-colored hair ruffled as Satoru shook his head. While he was perfect—the strongest, that's what she heard Tomoko call him…Nana just thought he was a child—it seemed that he wasn't always perfect when it was just the two of them. Satoru was more willing to voice his opinion on some things (once he even argued with her and Nana couldn't wipe the grin off her face for the rest of the day). A warm feeling always ignited in her when Satoru acted like Satoru around her. It made her feel…special, in a way.
"No." He simply stated, moving his knight and easily taking her rook.
Nana could care less.
"Well, I am." She continued, ignoring his response, "We can aske Moe if we can go inside. There's this new movie that came out and I've been wanting to watch it for a while—"
"Movies are foolish," Satoru cut her off, tone cold and clipped. Had it been two years ago, Nana would've relented. Then, he was an object of curiosity to her and she liked to see how far she could push him before he snapped. Unfortunately, and she was quick to learn this, Satoru was incredibly 'no-nonsense'. He was scarily like…what was his name? It sounded like hers…Nani? No…Nananai? Nanami? Nana fought the urge to snap her finger—yes! Nanami. Satoru had been scarily similar to Nanami, the parallels between the two alarming and, at first, she wondered if her reincarnation truly fucked things up.
Pulling at a hangnail, mentally wincing when a small bead of crimson bubbled up, Nana shrugged, "Have you ever seen one?"
"No," He said, gaze never leaving her, "Why would I need to? My Otou-san already explained how worthless they are. Why do you watch them? You're weak enough as it is. You should spend your time training or else you're worth nothing to me."
Nana fought the urge to roll her eyes, and blindly reached for the napkins that rested underneath the silver fruit bowl. Pressing the paper on the bleeding wound, she glanced around and tilted her head when she caught Moe's clenched fist. Wonder why she's so upset, she hummed, it's not he knows anything about my technique.
"Because," She drawled, turning her attention back Satoru and meeting his glare with a small smile, "To practice my technique, somebody would have to get hurt and that's not something I'm ever going to allow."
Satoru scoffed and Nana wanted to cackle. The game before them laid completely forgotten (finally), and he was eying her with something she easily realized was suspicion. Akito made it clear that the Gojou Clan knew nearly nothing about their ability. To be fair, though, no Clan did. The Oguri Clan rarely spoke to the others, if not for political reasons. Only few had seen their technique in action because, well, it wasn't uncommon for the user to die shortly after.
"I don't understand why I have to marry you. You're worth nothing in the end."
If she was seven, Nana would've flinched. The smile on her face would've faded and her nose would've burned. But she was used to it now. Even though they've known each other for three years, give or take, Satoru's words never lessened and his opinion always remained the same. Nana knew why she was given to Satoru to marry—and, man, did she hate that word…who even gave people away nowadays? It was disgusting and wrong and Nana wished more than anything that she could fight it.
To ensure that Satoru would live and maintain balance as the strongest, Nana had to ready to give her life at any given time.
Ah, she sighed, to live only to die a few years later…what a life I've been blessed with.
Instead of crying or leaving, Nana merely grinned and leaned back in her seat, "It's not the end yet. Plus, nobody's worth anything in the end. Imagine it, if you weren't born with Limitless or the Six-Eyes, you'd be worth nothing."
She saw how Satoru's eyes slightly widened at her comment, at the truth presented to him, but said nothing. From the corner of her eye, she saw Moe's fist relax and watched as her figure stood straighter. Nana struggled to contain the warm feeling that flooded through her; Moe was proud of her and that's all Nana wished for.
Sighing, she braced her hands against the silk of her kimono, enjoying how soft it was against her skin, and pushed herself up. She didn't want to be outside anymore. Her 'quality time with Satoru-chan' had lasted longer than she ever wanted it to and all she really wanted to do was curl up with Moe and watch a movie.
"It was nice to see you, Gojou-san." Nana said with a small bow, "I hope the next time we meet you wake up on the right side of the bed."
It was fun to see the disgust snarl curl Satoru's upper lip, and it was fun to leave with the last word. Turning, the red and white hem of her yukata lightly scrapped against the grass. Moe was already waiting for her, head slightly tilted down but eyes meeting hers.
I can't wait to see him tomorrow, Nana giggled at the thought, maybe he'll insult my looks.
i truly didn't realize how long it'd been since i last updated (i am 100000% procrastinating a final rn). gojous character might seem ooc, but i truly honestly believe that he was a jerk (to put it nicely) when he was a kid. I read something on Tumblr (I can't remember who said it) that stated how gojou was constantly being pressured and threatened as a child bc he was so powerful and i want that to play a large role. the chapters leading up to canon will be between 1000-3000 words, until canon where it will get longer.
thank you for all the support this story's gotten! I can't stop smiling oml :)
please review! i love reading what you have to say!
Yuki Suou: thank you for checking it out! i really recommend this anime/manga. rn it's a bit sad and on a hiatus, but it has a very interesting storyline :)
starrat: thank YOU! i hope you like this chapter!
Valen Goncalvez: Thank you! so much! i'm so glad you like my writing and i really hope this chapter meets your expectations
Guest: Cherry is my second favorite flavor. Unfortunately, i'm allergic to strawberry flavored things, haha, but i imagine they taste delicious (as you can see, Nana eats one in this chapter!). dw, the sadness will be dispersed. rn it's just prominent bc nana still lives at home but it will slowly fade away. I hope this chapter has more humor/lightheartedness
Guest (WriterRay): Thank you! I feel like Gojou fics are lacking and I couldn't help but write this, haha!
SmilingLoon: Yes, SAME! gojou is totally dead inside rn and nana will have a strong influence on his character as time progresses. I lowkey can't wait for the canon to start bc it's going to be so fun to write!
shameless self-promo: i have an eren yeager fic called sunrise out now, so please check it out if you're interested!
see you soon and good luck on finals! you can do this!
ana