Chapter Text
Your relationship with Nanami was difficult to describe. Rivalry was too strong a word, but you two definitely weren’t friends. Hell, you were barely even coworkers. Despite spending recent years at Jujutsu Tech together, the tension persisted. If anything, your relationship became more turbulent. Yet, here you were, sitting in the back of a car with Nanami, heading towards a joint mission assigned to you by Principal Yaga.
The air was heavy and tense in the enclosed space. Ijichi, who was stuck in the driver’s seat, would occasionally look in the rearview mirror, as if waiting for an explosive argument to start. You sympathized with Ijichi’s anxiety, recognizing your role in its cause, but immediate action proved impossible. The best option was to conduct yourself professionally and complete this mission as quickly as possible.
Ijichi pulled off the road, bringing the car to a stop in a grassy clearing. The brakes squeaked loudly, piercing the silence, as he parked and killed the engine.
“We’re here,” he said, his voice sounding too loud in the tense atmosphere.
Without a word, Nanami slipped out of the car and slammed the door shut. You rolled your eyes, shaking your head to yourself before stepping out. The snow crunched under your boots, interrupting the quiet winter. In front of you, tall trees loomed ahead, their branches covered in light snow.
Everything was still. Quiet. Even the forest was too nervous to break the tension between you and Nanami.
“Let’s go,” he said, finally breaking the silence. He stepped around the front of the car and zipped his jacket. He didn’t spare you a glance as he headed directly into the woods. You huffed to yourself, glaring at his back as you stuffed your hands into your jacket and followed behind him. As annoying as it was, Nanami was still your senior, which meant you needed to respect his decisions and follow his orders.
Which you weren’t good at.
You couldn’t help it. You’ve always struggled following orders, usually deciding to complete tasks in your own manner. The method utilized to close a case becomes irrelevant upon successful completion, in your opinion. Nanami, contrary to your view, consistently followed procedure. He would always comment on how you handled a case or a mission. It didn’t matter if it was fighting, planning, or writing up case reports; he always found a mistake in your work and would comment on it.
“I could take a shit, and he would find something to critique, whether it was color, consistency, smell, or shape,” you once told Shoko after a particularly bad interaction you had with Nanami.
As if reading your mind, Nanami turned around.
“Hurry up. We must be expeditious.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming,” you grumbled, mocking him in your mind as you rolled your eyes again. He’s so impatient it’s frustrating. You step over a bramble of bushes, entering the forest behind him. The trees were all bare of their leaves, leaving behind twisted, skeletal remains. Their limbs stretched up towards the sky, the crystals of ice on their fingers trying to reach heaven. The ground was squishy from all the snow and dead leaves blanketed underneath. Small signs of life, including footprints from a rabbit and droppings from a deer, showed that at least the animals are still in the area. If there were a heavy Curse presence, then the snow would be untouched.
You couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the nature that surrounded you. Nanami’s annoying face thankfully did not spoil the view. What made him even more annoying was how effortlessly beautiful he was. If anything, the winter wonderland complemented his pale skin, showing off how smooth it was. The sky above you was gray, obscuring the sun’s rays completely. Yet the light made his hair glint, as if it were made of golden thread. You narrow your eyes before looking away from his strong back.
You found Nanami possessed attractiveness, even though admitting such felt unpleasant. He was tall, broad, and sturdy. His arms gained bulk over the last year, causing your head to spin. Despite his irritating, domineering manner, he remained a strong sorcerer. If anyone had a problem, Nanami was the person to solve it. Even though he pretended he didn’t care about the well-being of others, his actions proved otherwise. You couldn’t help but hold respect for him. Not that you would disclose that information to him or anyone else. Deep down, despite your best efforts, you still felt attracted to him, and before you knew it, you had developed a frustrating crush on him.
Not that you had a chance. He was perfect and out of your league. Nanami could have whomever he wanted, and it was obvious how he felt towards you.
The deeper you walked into the woods, the quieter the world became, and you discerned trace evidence of cursed energy. You were getting close. Without turning around, Nanami reached under his coat and grabbed his weapon. You did the same, your weapon materializing in your hand.
Finally, you came upon a thick tangle of bushes and trees, as if it were the epicenter of the forest. Oddly, shifting perspective revealed green flecks interspersed within the bare branches. Nanami held his arm out in front of you, silently telling you to stop and stand behind him. As if you were a child. You frowned, pursing your lips, but didn’t reply. Instead, you leaned to one side to get a better look at the wall of wood.
He approached slowly, weapon at the ready, and leaned closer to the thicket. Your frustration grew when he remained quiet, not explaining what he was seeing. With a huff, you marched forward, shoulder-checking Nanami as you did, to push him out of the way. He stayed silent, but you could feel the weight of his gaze on the back of your head.
“Let me see,” you said, leaning in to get a closer look.
Through the vines and sticks, you could see golden sunlight. The smell of clean, warm air filled your lungs, which was a stark contrast to the sharp cold of winter. Your eyes narrowed the longer you looked through the branches as you tried to understand what you were seeing. It was a small clearing, like someone had taken a chunk out of a tropical beach and placed it here. Similar to an oasis you would hallucinate in a desert as a result of severe dehydration.
“This is obviously a trap,” Nanami’s voice cut through your thought process, almost causing you to jump. Since he was taller than you, it was easy for him to look into the clearing over your head.
“No shit, Sherlock.” You click your tongue before shedding your jacket. Nanami stepped back, looking irritated with you. Like always. Even with his glasses obscuring his eyes, you could feel how sharp his gaze was as he focused on you.
“You’re not going in there,” Nanami said, his voice hard as stone, “we need to scope out the perimeter, and-”
“Yeah, whatever. You can do that. I’m going to check it out.”
You hung your jacket on a nearby tree, leaving behind a scarf and hat with it, not looking in Nanami’s direction.
“That is unwise and reckless, (Y/N). We don’t know what this Curse is capable of-”
“Only one way to find out,” you replied stubbornly, beginning to push the branches to the side, using your weapon to assist you. Nanami continued to scold you, trying to convince you to come back, but you ignored him. The sound of twigs snapping filled your ears, filtering out Nanami’s voice. You’ll feel guilty about disregarding his instructions later. For now, you were determined to show him your capabilities. You are a strong Grade One sorcerer, not a child, and you are confident in your abilities to prove it to him.
You stumbled into the clearing, successfully breaking through the odd barrier. It wasn’t like any normal veil you’ve seen before. Was this really a Curse or something worse? Curses evolve with humanity and technology; was this a new type of Curse that has yet to be discovered? The sound of breaking branches caught your attention, and you turned around to watch a frustrated Nanami make his way into the oasis. He had also shed some of his winter attire; he was now only left in a nice pair of slacks and a tan turtleneck, which somehow made his shoulders look even broader.
“Finally made it?” You asked sarcastically, definitely not eyeing him in appreciation.
Nanami’s frown deepened, and he let out an unimpressed hum, but otherwise didn’t take the bait. Years with Problem Child Gojo must make ‘dealing’ with you like a walk in the park for him. He looked around, assessing the clearing.
The entire area was fraught with cursed energy, making the warm air feel like soup in your lungs. The epicenter of the energy was the pool in the middle of the clearing. You approach cautiously, peering down into the clear water. It was so blue, you could see the bottom. It felt oddly eerie, wrong, with how perfect it was. Every stone, leaf, and speck of sand seemed intentionally placed, undisturbed by the creatures that would inhabit such an environment. Yet there were no signs of life. This place was wrong, which was a sensation you had gotten used to, but something about this Curse was extra off-putting.
You stood over the pond, peering at your reflection in the glassy water before kneeling on the bank. Your hand stretched out, pointer finger at the ready, to touch the pool and see if there would be any reaction. Before your skin could come into contact with the water, Nanami’s hand stopped you. His thick fingers easily wrapped around your wrist, a detail that made you instinctively gulp, and he pulled your hand away from the surface.
“Don’t touch it,” He said seriously, his voice not giving away any authentic emotion behind it. “We don’t know how your body could react or how the Curse will respond.”
You huffed, getting sick of him telling you ‘no’ repeatedly.
“What do you suggest we do then?” You asked in a sassy manner, tilting your head to one side and sending him a challenging look. He remained stoic, as always. He released your wrist. You hadn’t realized he was still holding onto you, and you mentally slapped yourself for not noticing his touch. The skin that came into contact with his tingled and felt cold, but you discarded that information. This was a mission, not a picnic.
“I’ll touch it. You stand behind me.” Nanami instructed, flipping his weapon out to use it to disturb the water.
“I’m not incompetent, Nanami. I’m a Grade One sorcerer. Same as you.”
“I wasn’t implying you’re incompetent,” Nanami sighed, pushing his glasses up a little higher on his nose. “I am your superior, and I should act accordingly. And as my underling, you should respect my judgement.”
You narrowed your eyes at him. How many times has he man-splained this concept to you? Enough for you to memorize his entire monologue. As he spoke, his calm voice sounding almost bored, you turned back to the pool.
‘Fuck it,’ you thought, throwing caution to the wind. Before Nanami could stop you again, you reached out and stuck your finger into the pool.
“BOOP!” You exclaimed, simply trying to annoy Nanami as much as possible. Rings formed around your finger, growing bigger as they skimmed the surface. Immediately, the water bubbled and churned, causing tentacle-like appendages to project out of the pool and rise high into the air, around the same height as the surrounding trees. There were too many to count, and they were difficult to see since they were clear. From beside you, you heard Nanami grumble.
“Idiot!” he exclaimed, “Why do you never listen?”
Before you could respond, the appendages advanced, shooting directly towards the two of you. Instinctively, you dove to the left, evading the attack. Nanami did the same, jumping to the right and standing up to his full height, his legs bent in preparation to act. Your fingers wrapped tighter around your weapon, adrenaline coursing through your veins. You’ll face Nanami’s wrath later; for now, you need to handle the tentacle problem.
You lowered your stance, rushing forward to advance on the Curse. With a powerful jump, you brought your weapon down on the closest tentacle, hoping to expel it. Uselessly, your weapon ran through the water, now more like a jelly substance, which caused no damage. Still, you persisted, slashing, punching, and kicking the tentacles with all your might. Still, there was no damage done. Your gaze landed on Nanami, who was having the same issues you were. His brows furrowed, his jaw set, as his eyes narrowed in on his targets. Skillfully, he utilized his technique, striking the pool at a 7:3 ratio perfectly, and the jelly substances rained around the oasis. You were both breathing heavily, your guards slowly lowering as the rain coated the two of you. Nanami turned towards you, anger evident in his gaze. Your shoulders raised sheepishly, ready to genuinely apologize for your reckless actions. Even you couldn’t help but understand that your actions could have ended this mission in a much worse manner. From under your lashes, you looked over at Nanami. Your eyes widened, and you rushed him.
“Nanami!”
He looked confused, startled that you were rushing him, but he didn’t have enough time to react as you shoved his larger body with all your might, saving him from the tentacle that was approaching him from behind. Nanami fell to the ground with a grunt. The tentacle that had snuck up on him, turned its attention to you, grabbing hold of your wrist and lifting so that your feet weren’t touching the ground anymore. With your free hand, the one that was still somehow holding onto your weapon, you swung at the tentacle that was lifting you. You fell, but before your body could hit the ground, another two tentacles swarmed you, now holding onto both of your arms this time. A third tentacle disarmed you, causing your weapon to splash into the pool that had somehow reformed. You grunted, swinging and kicking at the numerous appendages that were now quickly trying to bind you.
“(Y/N)!” Nanami called, now standing and running in the direction the tentacles were pulling you in. As he chased after you, he kept slashing at the arms that were stretching towards him, but they were quickly going to overwhelm him if he stayed.
“Just get out of here!” You kicked, trying to defend yourself as you were lifted higher into the air. “Go call for backup or something! I can handle this-”
“I’m not leaving you,” Nanami interrupted, his voice tense with an underlying emotion you couldn’t put a name to in the moment.
“Now you’re being stupid,” you snapped, “Just tru-”
You were cut off again. This time, it was because one of the water extremities had forced its way into your mouth. It felt strange, gross, against your tongue; similar to a Jell-O consistency. Instinctively, you bit down to try to get the tentacle to retract from your mouth, but it didn’t do anything. Instead, the chunk you bit off slipped down your throat before you could stop it. Liquid immediately followed afterwards; your body naturally swallowed since you had no other choice. It was either swallow what was forced into your mouth or choke, and who knows what would happen if you choked.
Below you, Nanami was now swarmed on all sides, just as you were, and they began to snake around his limbs. He was weaponless, his legs were bound, and more extremities were making their way towards him. Still, he kept fighting, just as stubborn as you were.
“Don’t swallow that! You don’t know what that is!” He yelled, his attention still mostly focused on you. The tentacle in your mouth finally retracted, causing you to cough. Your stomach was full of the warm liquid, and you could feel how it sat and churned inside your body.
“Like I had a choice!” You snapped back as the bindings tightened around your arms and legs, easily stretching them out. By now, your muscles were tired from trying to fight and resist the Curse, but it was obvious that the two of you had lost this fight. Such is the life of jujutsu sorcerers. Every day, every mission, is dangerous, and it is normal to lose coworkers daily. You know this. You put your life on the line for the greater good of humanity every day.
So, why?
Why were you so terrified?
As you struggled to accept defeat and your rapidly approaching death, the tentacles worked together to maneuver you into a supine position so your eyes turned toward the false blue sky of the veil. A strange sensation brought you back to reality, and you glanced down at your body. A single tentacle had slipped under your shirt, moving the material up as it went. Your heart dropped as reality set in.
You weren’t going to die.
Something else was happening, and you feared you knew where this was headed.