My fic from the Sleep On It (Tired Characters Zine)
Curse Users, Coffee, and Caring Students
A Jujutsu Kaisen Fanfic
(For Sleep On It Zine)
Nanami is exhausted, overworked, and really just wants to take a break he can't afford. Thankfully, Yuuji takes notice.
Nanami swiped his blade through the air to rid it of excess blood as he watched the Curses he had just exorcised disappear in a burst of cursed energy. As the miasma dissipated, he took a second to lean back against the nearby wall with a heavy sigh, reaching up to adjust his glasses.
If his calculations were correct—and they usually were—that was the last of the Curses in the area. Abandoned mental hospitals were always some of the worst places for gathering Curses, but this one had given him a run for his money. He almost regretted saying that he could handle it by himself even though he usually much preferred to work alone.
Still, this had been a close one, he thought wryly as he cautiously prodded his ribs, fairly confident that they were just bruised and not broken. His left shoulder had also taken a beating and would likely be stiff the next few days, but he had been lucky overall. He was looking forward to enjoying a hot bath and a relaxing cup of tea once he got back to Tokyo.
Nanami's phone rang, surprising him in the current silence of the dilapidated building. He pushed himself off the wall with a grunt and rummaged in his pockets until he found the phone.
"Nanami," he answered wearily.
"Nanami-san, it's Ijichi," the slightly nervous voice came over the line. "Are you still on that job near Ibaraki?"
"Just finishing up," Nanami informed him.
"Oh, that's good. Is it possible you can pick up the First Years and bring them back to Tokyo with you? They're on their own job not far from you and something came up at the school so I won't be able to pick them up for a few more hours..."
"That's fine," Nanami cut in tiredly before the man could ramble further. "Send me their location."
"Thank you, Nanami-san!"
He ended the call and quickly received a text from Ijichi with the students' location.
Nanami sighed as he started back out toward his car, images of a relaxing night in his apartment fading. He'd already been out here for going on three days now; he supposed one more stop wouldn't kill him. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to leave the kids stranded just because he was tired.
So, he set aside his exhaustion along with the aches and pains and drove to the location Ijichi had sent him.
When he got there, he saw the three teens sitting outside the abandoned apartment complex they had been hunting in. They stood when he pulled up, Itadori giving a wave and a smile.
"Nanamin!" the pink-haired boy cried happily as he slid into the backseat with Kugisaki. "Nice to see you again!"
"Thank you for picking us up, Nanami-san," Fushiguro said as he got into the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt.
"I was in the area," Nanami replied, glancing in the rearview mirror and taking in the three students. They all looked a little rough and dirty, but that was to be expected. "Any injuries?"
"Nothing serious," Itadori said, which was not exactly a comfort coming from him.
"Just a few bruises," Fushiguro iterated pointedly.
"Yeah, look at us, for once no one got impaled or lost a limb," Kugisaki said, folding her arms over her chest with a roll of her eyes. "But I'm exhausted."
Itadori sighed heavily as he leaned back against the seats. "Me too. And hungry."
Kugisaki perked up. "Me too! Can we stop and get food on the way back?"
"That would be fine," Nanami replied as he put the car in gear and pulled back onto the main road. He was also hungry—thirsty too. Honestly, it had been too long since he'd had something to eat.
"We deserve it for a job well done!" Itadori grinned at the others. "That was actually a record for us, huh?"
"We weren't exactly dealing with overly powerful Curses," Fushiguro pointed out quietly.
"Whatever, it still feels good to get a job done without something awful happening," Kugisaki returned.
Nanami could definitely agree with that. These three had a tendency to get themselves into trouble. He was honestly glad he hadn't had to pull them out of a sticky situation that day. He didn't really have the energy for it.
Once they got back into the city, Nanami pulled up at a convenience store so they could grab something to eat.
"Pick whatever you'd like," he told the students.
"Really? Thanks!" Kugisaki exclaimed as she and Itadori ran into the store, Fushiguro close behind them. Nanami would be passing the bill to Gojo anyway.
He followed the students in more slowly, glancing around before picking up a sandwich and a cup of coffee for himself. He was about to ask if the kids were ready yet, when his phone rang again.
Unfortunately, it wasn't Ijichi this time, but Gojo.
"Hey, Nanami! How'd the mission go?"
"Fine," Nanami replied, brow pinching. Gojo was the last person he wanted to talk to at the moment.
"Great! Good to hear—hey, so tomorrow morning, there's going to be a mandatory meeting to discuss a few things. Think you can make it?"
Nanami refrained from sighing. "Of course. When is it?"
"Nine o'clock. Oh, and it would be great if you could also get your mission report done by then. Thanks!"
Nanami's hand clenched around his phone tighter. "I'll be there." He ended the call before Gojo could further the conversation and tucked his phone away. He slipped his glasses off briefly and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He'd had the beginnings of a headache for hours now, but it was starting to get worse.
"Hey, are you okay, Nanamin?"
The sorcerer looked up to see Itadori standing there with his arms full of snacks.
"I'm fine—just not looking forward to a meeting first thing in the morning," Nanami admitted. Hob-knobbing with the higher ups at the school was one of the main reasons he had refused a teaching position.
"Aw, that sucks. How long were you on your mission for anyway?"
Nanami sighed quietly, pushing his glasses back into place. "Almost three days. Are you done shopping?"
Itadori smiled and nodded then headed toward the register. Nanami motioned to the others and soon they were back in the car, opening packages and chatting over their dinner. Nanami sipped his coffee wearily as he drove back toward the school.
Once they were done eating, the teens all seemed to have dropped with exhaustion. Fushiguro's eyes were closed, chin resting on his fist with his elbow propped against the window. Kugisaki was sleeping on Itadori's shoulder in the back, both of them seeming dead to the world. Nanami was rather envious.
He almost felt bad having to wake them up once they got back to the school, but they would be more comfortable when they could clean up and get into a real bed. He would too, for that matter.
"Thanks for the ride," Kugisaki said with a yawn as she slid out of the car.
"Yeah," Itadori added, leaning over the seats.
Nanami glanced back at him, wincing slightly as the motion tugged at his injured shoulder. The young man's brow furrowed with concern.
"Hey, are you sure you're okay, Nanamin? You look pretty rough."
"I'll be fine, just tired. I'm sure you are too."
"Yeah," Itadori said with a yawn and rubbed his eyes as he slid out of the car. "You get some rest too, okay?"
He closed the door behind him and Nanami waited for them to make their way into the school before he put the car in drive again and made his way back to his own apartment.
It was a bittersweet return at best, because he knew he couldn't simply collapse in bed like he wanted to.
He did, however, take a bath before everything else, and the heat helped to ease some of the aches from the mission.
He then made himself a nice cup of tea and sat down to write out his report, watching the hand of the clock on his desk creep later and later into the night with a feeling of resentment.
He was nodding off at his desk before he finished, his head aching even more insistently now.
Nanami grunted as he finished the report off half-heartedly. There was nothing else for it. If he was going to be coherent at the meeting tomorrow, he needed to get at least a few hours of sleep.
He shut the desk light off and barely remembered to set his alarm before he tumbled into bed, asleep almost instantly.
It was not the alarm that woke Nanami the next morning; in fact, it took him a second to figure out what it was as annoyance began to seep in, forcing him to open his eyes.
The sound was completely foreign, and honestly slightly concerning—pans rattling in the kitchen.
Nanami groaned as he pushed himself out of bed, feeling just how badly his aching body had stiffened in sleep. It better not be an intruder. He was not feeling very lenient this morning.
He tugged his robe on and staggered out toward the kitchen, only to be surprised by the sight that greeted him there.
An intruder had indeed made their way into Nanami's kitchen, but they came in the form of Itadori Yuuji. The pink-haired teen was currently wearing Nanami's apron as he attended to eggs on the stove with skillful chopsticks.
"Itadori-kun? What are you doing here?" Nanami asked him.
The teen jumped. "Oh, Nanamin!" he exclaimed with a slightly sheepish look on his face. "I'm sorry I woke you so soon. Here, sit down."
Nanami, admittedly somewhat bewildered, took a seat at the small table in one corner of the kitchen and accepted the steaming cup of coffee that appeared in front of him.
"How did you get into my apartment?" Nanami had to ask.
"Eh…Gojo-sensei gave me a key," Itadori said with a laugh before heading back to the stove. "I hope you don't mind, it's just… you looked so tired yesterday, I thought I could at least have coffee and breakfast ready for you when you woke up since you had to leave for the meeting early."
Nanami stared at the teen in surprise as he happily worked on breakfast. "You didn't have to do that."
"I know, but I wanted to." Itadori shrugged as he concentrated on plating the food. "Consider it a thank you for picking us up yesterday."
He put a plate of eggs and rice down, along with a bowl of miso soup. "To be honest, I miss cooking for my grandpa. Even he used to compliment my tamagoyaki."
Nanami felt his heart warm at the earnest boy's words. He took up his chopsticks and picked up one of the rolled eggs. "It was very thoughtful of you, Itadori-kun," he said sincerely. "I do appreciate it very much."
Itadori grinned and picked up his own chopsticks. "It's no problem! I enjoy it, really. I'd be happy to cook for you again sometime."
Nanami ate thoughtfully, realizing that Itadori really did have a knack for cooking. "I think that would be nice."
Itadori beamed, and the two finished the breakfast in companionable silence before Nanami realized the time and went to go get ready to leave, grabbing his report at the last minute.
Itadori handed him a thermos with the leftover coffee. "Here, take this with you."
Nanami accepted the thermos gratefully. "Thank you again. Can I drive you back to the school?"
"Nah, if it's okay with you, I'll clean up your kitchen first," Itadori said. "It wouldn't be fair if I left a mess."
Nanami gave him a surprised look but nodded and then headed toward the door. "That's fine. Oh, and, Itadori-kun? Don't give that key back to Gojo. Keep it for yourself if you ever need to come over."
Itadori grinned and saluted. "Sure thing. Have a good day, Nanamin!"
And maybe it wasn't a necessarily good day—the meeting was just as long and obnoxious as he had suspected, but Nanami would be lying if he didn't say it was made better by the kind gesture Itadori had shown him that morning.
And it was made better still when he came back to a homemade dinner wrapped up in his fridge.
Nanami felt that perhaps that night, he might actually get some decent sleep.
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