time out
A/N: More pining, more people. More… thoughts? Suggested tunes for this are "Rule" by Hikaru Utada, specifically the live from Metropolis Studios.
This chapter introduces OC's name because I needed it to make the jokes work, sorry.
As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!
Kento doesn't pine. He struggles, trudges, flounders, and eventually falls.
AKA: Kento Nanami doesn't want a lot of things in life, but he wants her (in it).
When he decides he wants to see her again, he thinks it's fate that had her text him:
[I won't be in Tokyo for a while, Nanami-san. Family matters to attend to, you know how it is.]
The message she sent him was short, but was punctuated with a kaomoji that reminded him of how Yu would text him before. And he knows, he just knows, that Yu would have been fast friends with her if he was still alive. Yu would probably even push him to admit his feelings for her since they're all adults now. Of course, Yu is still his voice of reason, his voice of action. Whenever he's at a loss, Yu always has an answer for him.
"She's bound to find out sooner than later, Kento."
And Kento knows that it is an answer, but not one for the current time. Not when he's still unsure of what he feels because he doesn't know her enough–
"Then get to know her, take her out on a real date."
Part of him thinks the voice in his head is Yu's, but he refuses to think Yu would ever suggest those things. That's right, because the voice that tells him she's just waiting for him to ask because she already has an answer. Now, he thinks both the voice in his head and the memory of Yu are working against him.
"You'll never know until you try, Kento."
Now it's her voice that's come up and silenced the others, and he doesn't need the other voice to tell him that he's missed the sound of his name from her mouth.
The voice tells him it's a dirty thought.
Yu laughs.
And her voice comes up again to say, "Tell me you want me too, Kento."
That's when he wakes up, feeling cold, minutes before he's supposed to. It's three minutes before his alarm rings, and it's not enough time to catch an additional wink of sleep. He decides to open her last message, still unsure of how to respond. But he sees she's sent another message, just minutes ago. Of course. Because she works nights, it only makes sense that she travels at night too.
[Hokkaido is nice if you want to take a break, Nanami-san.]
He thinks it's fate baiting him to make a mistake, but he doesn't want to think of the potential romantic implication of her message. After all, she'd gone out of her way to even invite him to Ehime. Nothing happened between them then, even if something could have. Should have? And then they talked about each other's exes and… there should be a next step after that, right? There ought to be some kind of revelation on both their ends, something that's probably as big and as bombastic as the movies make it appear.
But now, the… lack of that big, bombastic thing has him thinking. She did tell him that she'd like to be in his company again and he told her the same, so that means they're on the same page. That means they like each other enough. Maybe they've liked each other enough for some time. When he thinks about it, all their encounters and their talks and their moments together… No, he doesn't think it's complicated. Things between them aren't complicated, they're strained.
And now when he's decided that he does want to see her, with full deliberation and the mild intention of making his confused feelings known, she's not here. So he thinks about what to reply, thinks about what to say when she gets back, thinks about what the big, bombastic thing he expects to happen next.
In the end, he texts her with a single reply. Short. Safe. Simple.
[I hope your family is doing well. Rest easy there. I'll see you when you get back.]
But when she texts back, he doesn't think it's so simple.
[I will! And you'll be the first person to know I'm back.]
Maybe, he thinks, things were never simple between them from the start.
The days without her go on as usual. The days without her are quiet. The days without her are… easy. She isn't such a big and loud and bombastic presence as to disrupt his life and make him consider how boring his life would have been without her. It's not that his life is boring, but he feels that his life has grown… brighter with her. But maybe it's because she's become a representative of the onmyodo community. Maybe it's because she's like a spokesperson of the omyoji. Or maybe because she's one of the few people who'd found their way into his life and decided to stay in it.
But she hasn't really decided to stay in it because–
"Nanami-senpai!"
It's Takuma's voice that breaks the thought. But why would he be here?
"I didn't think I'd see you around here."
Why would Takuma be here when– Why did he come here in the first place?
"You know this place?"
Kento has a lot of questions and he knows Takuma might have even more… but there's no escape now. He can't make an excuse that he's just around the area when Takuma knows this isn't his usual patrol route, and he doesn't particularly have any interest in Harajuku… so he answers:
"Yes, I do."
Because an honest and endearing young man like Takuma deserves an honest answer, right?
"You do? Woah, I didn't expect… Well, come on in!"
He watches as Takuma turns the keys on the lock, rolls up the gate, and opens the door like he's done all this before. He didn't know she and Takuma knew each other to this level. Takuma never talked about her and she never really mentioned him.
"I'm shop-sitting for a former teacher," Takuma moves easily behind the counter to gather whatever he's supposed to. "She's gone to Hokkaido for a while. I would've loved to introduce you to her!"
Well, he does already know her.
"I got to know the owner of this place a few months ago," he replied and Takuma stopped to stare at him.
"You did? When? How?"
Well, it's an obvious reaction, with them coming from different backgrounds.
"Satoru introduced us."
Takuma shrugged. "Right… But you really aren't the type to go to places like this."
"I'm not."
He doesn't know what else to say to that, and Takuma notices it.
"So why are you here?"
…Takuma smirks at it.
"I wanted to buy flowers."
But Takuma's smirk doesn't falter.
"In Harajuku?"
He coughs. "Yes, in Harajuku."
Takuma's smirk breaks into a full grin.
"I get it, senpai."
No, he shouldn't–
"I mean, fresh flowers are a great way to brighten up rooms."
He wouldn't–
"But I didn't think you'd be the type to have flowers."
Because he isn't, but he's considered it sometimes. He's considered it a few times when he was seeing the baker. He's considered it a lot more when he got to know her. He's seen the flowers and all the plants in her place left over by her… past. But what flowers does she like? Does she even like flowers, or was she just doing this because… Well, because she still loves Tatsuya who honestly sounds perfect for her–
"You like someone, don't you?"
Takuma–
"So what flowers do you think they'd like?"
Takuma is either oblivious or he's just pretending to be, and Kento doesn't know which is better. Kento doesn't know which way to direct this. If he doesn't tell Takuma, how long can he pretend? How much will he need to make up? But if tells Takuma now… Well, he doesn't think there would be any repercussions to it. They're both adults now. They're all adults now, so there's no use in beating around the bush and hiding it. No use in keeping it a secret because Takuma should understand, right?
Yu tells him he would.
So here goes…
"What do you think she likes?"
Takuma's jaw drops.
And then– silence.
And then– a ringtone.
It's Takuma's.
"Sensei!"
Takuma easily slips into what Kento thinks is knowing bliss, the way he's already put it all together and solved it like a puzzle. Kento knows Takuma likes puzzle games and mystery stories, so this must be really, really fun for him.
"Yeah, I'm inside now."
Kento doesn't listen in as Takuma chatters away. Instead, he busies himself with counting the figurines on the shelves. He trusts Takuma enough not to tell, trusts Takuma not to make fun of him or to make it so obvious that he likes her.
"By the way, what flowers do you like?"
Then Takuma winks at him.
"Really? I never woulda guessed… Okay. Go do your thing, sensei!"
Then the call ends. Now Takuma looks smug, looks elated, looks like he's planning something.
"She likes lotus flowers," he grins. "Now where in Tokyo could one view lotuses?"
Kento knows there's one place most people go to, but will he really finally ask her out? Yu tells him he should. The voice tells him he definitely should. And Takuma tells him:
"Don't make me ask her out for you, Nanami."
So he decides to think about it.
Later, he hears from Satoru that she won't be coming back anytime soon because the onmyodo community in Hokkaido is in shambles.
"The spirits have gone mad! The entire world is going to end!"
Of course, he knows better than to believe it. From what he's seen on her social media, they were just planning a wedding. A cousin of hers is getting married and the entire family came home. It looked like it was going to be a big event. Big and grand and… who was her cousin getting married to anyway? Wait, was that–
"Hey, hey, look at this, Nanamin! It's a Zenin wedding!" Satoru points to Naobito in a photo.
It is strange that one of the Big Three Sorcerer families would arrange a marriage with the onmyodo community, but her family is at the top of the onmyoji hierarchy, right? So it would make sense that, if there would ever be a marriage between a jujutsu family and an onmyodo family, it would be her family. For what reason a marriage like that should ever take place, he doesn't know and he doesn't care to find out. Much like Satoru, he couldn't care less what the upper echelons of their society do in their free time.
He forgets she is still part of that upper echelon. Her family is the family keeping the gods appeased at the spirits at bay. Hokkaido is sacred land because of them, and it's only Hokkaido because it's the only place in Japan where there are no jujutsu sorcerers. The only place in Japan they have complete control over–
Was that the reason for the marriage? A… A takeover? He recalls a photo of her grandmother, the matriarch of their family, and considers the possibility.
"Never thought he'd agree to the old hag." Satoru shrugs as he passes through the rest of the photos. "And I didn't even get an invite."
Kento chuckles once, through his nose. Short enough to be considered just breathing, but not Satoru.
"Are you… laughing at me, Nanamin?"
He's not. Honest.
"Now that's extremely surprising."
And the Satoru Gojo is rarely surprised.
"Why?"
But it's just like Satoru to ignore this and get back to his usual, casual, and carefree self the instant it happens.
"Those old bags hate me all right." Satoru laughs. "Maybe I should ask my kouhai…"
And before he realizes it, Satoru's calling her–
"Senpai!"
–and she's answering on loudspeaker.
"I have Nanamin here with me!"
"N-Nanami-san, hi!"
That's the first time he's heard her voice in… weeks.
"When are you inviting us to the wedding?"
She laughs, and he hasn't heard her laugh in… weeks either.
"The guest list isn't up to me, but I'll check."
Satoru hums, "I know the old hag still hates me–"
"She doesn't, but she'll be glad to hear you called."
"Really now?"
She pauses.
"She saw something… important. But I'll tell you some other time, she won't even tell me."
Satoru's expression shifts for a split-second, but then he erases all of it and instead perks up–
"Anyway, best wishes to the happy couple!"
–which even Kento thinks is uncharacteristic of him.
He hears her sigh on the other line and imagines her smile.
"Thanks for the support, senpai."
The call is short and brief, but the change in Satoru's expression comes back and it stays.
And it stays.
And stays.
And then the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons happens.
And maybe that was the important thing her grandmother saw. Maybe that's why the Zenin were nowhere in sight. Maybe that's what kept her from coming back. Maybe it's what's still keeping her in Hokkaido because that event has nothing to do with them. Whatever Suguru Geto had done, whatever he planned to do… The onmyoji community has nothing to do with it. The onmyoji have no involvement in such an event. She has nothing to do with–
[Merry Christmas, Nanami-san. I hope everyone's safe back there.]
Of course she wouldn't have anything to do with it.
[Merry Christmas. I hope you're safe too.]
It all happened in the spur of the moment, or the season, or the alcohol at Tokyu Jujutsu High's annual Christmas Party… which this year was quieter and more somber with Satoru having gone off on his own and everyone else just drinking by themselves… he sends her a photo of the lotuses in Ueno Park.
Four seconds later, he's thinking of deleting the message.
Another four seconds later, he sees that she's typing something back.
But then she stops.
Then she's typing again.
[Thank you, Kanto.]
He knows why he suddenly feels so hot, but he doesn't want to think about it. She used the wrong characters for his name, anyway. On purpose? No, he doesn't want to think about it. She might be drinking too. She might have typed it accidentally. She might have–
[Kento.]
She uses the correct characters this time, and he imagines her voice– Stop it.
[Sorry.]
The voice tells him to make sure she remembers by– Stop it.
[It's fine, Yoriko-san.]
Instead, he texts her back and uses the wrong characters for her name on purpose.
[Okay, Kento.]
[Kento.]
[Kento. Kento. Kento.]
[See? I won't get it wrong again.]
What was she doing?
[And if you do?]
No– What was he doing? They weren't kids anymore to text like that! He wasn't a kid anymore to tease her– Wait, was he teasing her?
He sees her typing a reply, but then she stops.
A minute passes and all he's left with is his message. He's starting to hate it. He thinks about deleting it and apologizing. He thinks about sending "Call me Kento in person again" but that would be too forward, wouldn't it?
And then she's typing again.
And typing.
And typing.
Is she writing a formal oath?
But then she stops.
He doesn't think he's felt this nervous before.
[Then you'll just be Kanto and I'll be whatever that is.]
He's already though of a reply, but the voice in his head tells him to not go through with it, but–
[Okay, Eureka.]
–too late.
And she's quick to reply.
[wwwwwww]
[That was really funny.]
He realizes that was the first joke he told her, and wonders how it would be in person. No. No, because it wouldn't be as funny. It would just be… awkward. She surely wouldn't laugh like the did. But he doesn't have a follow-up to it. He doesn't know what he should say next, so he doesn't reply anything at all. She doesn't reply anything at all either. Did he… Did he somehow say a wrong thing?
[Yuriko.]
What?
[You've never used my name in texts before, so that's how it's spelled.]
Yuriko.
[But "Eureka" is nice too.]
Now what is he supposed to reply to that? He checks their earlier messages, and she's… She's right. They've never used her name through text, and he's always just referred to her by her last name or in second person, but…
[Can I call you that?]
Why ask that, Kento? The voice scolds him.
It's two minutes before she replies, but he doesn't feel it at all. Instead, he feels hot. He feels cold. He feels like he's going to explode. He wonders if she feels the same things too. He feels like his heart is going to burst–
[Can I call you Kento?]
Now he knows his heart is going to burst, and his reply is instant:
[Yes.]
Her reply comes in just five seconds.
[Then yes, Kento, you can. We're friends now, aren't we?]
He feels like he would have wanted this conversation to be in person, but looking at their exchange, he doesn't think he'd be able to do it. No, he knows he wouldn't be able to do it. The voice tells him he's done good. Yu tells him he's done good. And her voice in his head tells him he should call her by name when he sees her again.
"I'd love to hear it, Kento."
But then again, she already was calling him Kento before. Why did she stop, anyway?
A/N: "wwwww" is like saying "hahahaha" or "LOL"
Anyway, I don't really like "text fics" but the texting segment was fun to write and visualize.