A/N: This is a short submission for Purple Manipulations' Birthday challenge. Let me know what you think.

Life and Death of a Sorcerer

"That'll be eight thirty-two."

Nanami opens his wallet to grab the bills and scavenge for exact change; nothing more, and hands the neatly creased currency to the elderly woman.

She passes him his routine order. A small brioche bun straight out the oven. "Please come again!"

"Of course." He takes the delicately wrapped bread in his hand and turns to leave. In the corner of the small shop sits a little girl who discarded her crayon doodles for a moment to examine the peculiar high-school student.

"Hey mister! Has your bag gotten heavier? You have giant wrinkles under your eyes and you're walking in shorter steps than usual!" The old woman behind the counter sweatdrops and begins waving her hands.

"Please excuse my granddaughter, she gets her manners from her mother!" Nanami glances at his bag that holds the blunt cursed tool he wields and then musters all he can of a smile. "Apology not needed. I've been working more than I should be recently. In fact, I just got back from Sapporo. Maybe it's time I take a break," he reasons. The little girl pouts at the careless answer."Don't work yourself too hard, you're our best customer," the owner's brow furrows with worry.

"Right."

The walk back to his dorm at Tokyo Prefecture was a long one and provided plenty of time alone with his thoughts.

'Too much time,' he thought.

The girl had been right; truth conveyed through a child's honesty. He hadn't felt the same since Yu's death…hadn't been able to sleep at night.

'Tch.' Waves of fragility and uselessness tinged his psyche. Moving to work as a part-time sorcerer did little to ease the twitch in his hands, especially on a day like today. Even without telling him, Yu pinpointed Nanami's birthday and annoyed him until they had no choice but to celebrate. He was dead now. A meaningless death to a meaningless curse accompanied by a birthday that served only to remind him.

The passing months made him wonder if he should quit practicing Jujutsu altogether. There was no point in throwing his life away. As long as non-sorcerer's existed, curses would too. A fact that would never change, no matter how much Suguru wished it to.

'What if it had been Gojo that went off the deep-end instead of Suguru. More meaningless deaths, including my own.' The cracks that shape the sidewalk etch toward him with each step, but he's careful to avoid every fracture.

As he reaches the door of his room, his eyebrow rises at the smudged fingerprint on the side of the doorknob. There's hushed whispers on the other side and he makes out a stifling, "Shut-up for once, will you!" The grade-three sorcerer opens the door and walks in.

"SURPRISE!"

Packed inside his cozy room were Principal Yaga, Shoko, Utahime, Gojo, and even Mei Mei.

"Wh-What are you all doing?"

"It's your birthday, isn't it?" Shoko says while digging into her pocket for a cig and her lighter. In his room no less.

Gojo strolls up to him with a grin and casually swings an arm around his stiff shoulder. "You know what they say, today's the oldest you've ever been, and the youngest you'll ever be again."

"That's every day, you moron!" Utahime exclaims.

"Yaga outbid my parent's babysitting compensation to be here," adds Mei Mei.

"Rich brat," The cursed corpse-user mutters.

Nanami stands motionless, a whirl of emotions spiraling through him. Life and death. It was ingrained into every sorcerer's lifestyle as seamlessly as the moon replacing the sun. He could die tomorrow…or the day after, and the life he had lived wouldn't have changed.

"Happy birthday." Yaga hands him a wrapped gift, the contents unknown but the manilla-colored tag read, From: Family, To: Nanami.

"Don't start getting sentimental on us now, Nanami."

Not even Gojo's insufferable personality could ruin this moment. "My eyes get dry without my glasses," he lies as he wipes the tears away.

He wished Yu was here to celebrate with everyone else–but Nanami knew not to take those who were here for granted. No matter where the future led him. Whether he would quit Jujutsu or not, the lives of those close to him would always be a part of who he was. In life or death.

A/N: Let me know what you think