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tsukimefuku · 10 months ago

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❅ Sand and Snow | Chapter 4

ALL CHAPTERS HERE | PREVIOUS CHAPTER HERE.

In the city of Odate, Akita, there have been multiple deaths in the past few weeks. The first-grade sorcerer Nanami Kento is sent out to investigate the snowy city, not knowing that it would be his last mission as a Jujutsu High student.

Why Nanami left Jujutsu High to become a 9/5 corporate slave.

Tags: Murder/mystery, canon typical violence, POV Nanami, Post Star-plasma Vessel Arc, Canon compliant, Angst but I'm not Gege

Gojo and Nanami shenanigans ensue. They find out more about the Yamadas.

WC: 3.4K | on AO3 here.

The curse-user had claimed yet another victim, 28-year-old woman Takahashi Mio. Given that the killings were timely spread apart, Gojo and Nanami decided it was best if they went alone to investigate this latest death. Gojo provided Shiori with his burner phone number, just in case.

"So, Nanami, could you get me up to speed on what is going on?" Gojo asked.

"Didn't you speak to Yaga principal? I've been giving him daily reports."

"No."

How could the supposedly strongest jujutsu sorcerer of our age not get any information about the mission before he got here? Gojo's irresponsibility was particularly bothersome for Nanami most of the time.

"And did you talk to Ijichi?"

"Oh, that I certainly did! Before yesterday, actually!"

Nanami remembered Ijichi's demeanor on the phone. "Well, did you threaten him in any way?" He asked.

"I strongly suggested he didn't report his findings to you on Jujutsu High's phone anymore." Gojo grinned.

Earlier that day, when they were at Shiori's house, Ijichi relayed to Nanami all of his findings about the Yamada family. Obtaining this information was particularly difficult, because Jujutsu High's archives that he could search did not offer a lot of information about the family, something that was unusual, so Ijichi faced a little more digging around than he was accustomed to.

Gojo helped (with a healthy dose of strong encouragement called "try to look in forbidden or somewhat classified archives" right before he left).

According to Ijichi, the Yamadas did not have the best relationship with the Jujutsu Society established by Tengen and frequented by the clans. The Yamadas didn't even consider themselves as a clan, given they wouldn't keep most of their jujutsu traditions or preserve their name during the centuries, and started to spread as non-sorcerers throughout Japan, while most of them stayed within Akita's prefecture. Those that remained were mostly the ones born jujutsu sorcerers.

It seemed that the main reason the Yamadas and Jujutsu Society did not get along was because Yamadas never surrendered their cursed objects or tools to them for safe keeping. There was one object worth noting, specifically, that the Jujutsu Society was keen on having, as it involved the ability to guard cursed objects, tools, and nearly anything with cursed energy above a certain threshold in a very convoluted way. Ijichi didn't quite find what it was, unfortunately, and questioning Shiori served little to no purpose for that matter.

Nanami was starting to suspect Shiori might've been withholding information.

And about her parents, they were apparently the most well respected members of the family up until their disappearance, serving as the informal leaders of the Yamadas. They had twins, Shiori and Shiro, both born with the ability to see curses and manipulate cursed energy.

"Could this object be like Toji's cursed spirit? The one that kept his arsenal?"

Gojo went silent for a moment. "Yes."

Even though Gojo's silence was usually something Nanami longed for during most of their interchanges, this was actually sorrowful. He felt bad for Satoru and the memories that might've evoked.

"So, we are working with the hypothesis that this is a mission for retrieving cursed objects, and not actually exorcizing anything or capturing anyone?" Nanami said.

"No!" Gojo promptly answered. "Nanamin, quiz time!"

"You don't know anything about quizzes." This roundabout way Satoru had of getting his points across was incredibly obnoxious. Nanami wasn't feeling so empathetic anymore.

"What were we sent to do in Odate?" Gojo asked, with a child-like smile on his face.

"What I was sent to do while you were unavailable was to investigate these deaths and deal with what was causing them."

"Correct! We were sent to do just that!"

Nanami sighed. "Ok."

"Next question: what is the probable cause of these deaths?"

Nanami was questioning if this was actually leading anywhere.

"A curse user, most likely."

"Correct again!" Satoru responded like he was in a trivia TV show.

Nanami put his fingers in between his eyes, fighting an emerging headache as they walked in the streets of Odate. "Can you please just say what you're thinking?"

"I'm teaching my underclassman!"

"I do not respect you as my upperclassman."

"I need to train my teaching skills!"

Nanami dreaded the image of Gojo Satoru being a teacher, as that implied he'd be the most responsible person in the room — that room being a classroom.

Gojo proceeded, "We're here to capture a curse user and take him in for questioning, preferably. What does that tell you about what Jujutsu High wants from us?"

That they want us to take this curse user to them, who probably knows how to find the actual object of their interest, Nanami completed in his head.

"I see your point. What is your plan, then?" Nanami asked Gojo.

Some girls were walking by and started commenting on "the tall guy with white hair". Gojo lowered his glasses and winked. The girls went mad. One of them fainted. Nanami sighed heavily.

"We get to that object first and retrieve that. I'd like to know what it is and how it works. Information is important, you know?" He answered, pushing his pitch black glasses back into position.

Gojo seemed like an uninterested idiot at times, yet he was definitely not dumb, nor easily manipulated by Jujutsu High's leadership.

"Hey, Nanamin!"

"Stop calling me that."

"We should go eat after we finish this, I heard they have the best Kiritanpo here in Odate!"

Nanami sighed, yet again, for Gojo had started with his foodie shenanigans. At least the cold breeze helped with the headache.

As they approached the scene, the same hectic scenery ensued. The building was surrounded by curious people, some news reporters, and the entrance had police tape around it.

"Gojo, we should check the perimeter first. Last time this happened, the curse user got away from me."

"Sure. I teleport myself in, and you go and do your checking."

It actually was a good plan.

"Fine." Before Nanami finished the word, Satoru had already vanished. He then started walking around the building to look for any suspicious activity, or even the motorcycle. There was not much going on other than what he had seen already, and no trace of cursed activity on the outside, so he decided he would simply wait around and see what Gojo found.

However, as he was about to just sit and wait, he saw something. Haru, that fox from the first day, was right on the other side of the street, looking at the apartment complex.

What is going on?

Nanami started walking towards the animal, but as soon as Haru saw him, it just bolted away. Given that it was not anything of importance, He decided to let it go and keep waiting for Gojo to come back.

"I'm done!" Satoru said, as he appeared back right beside Nanami. "Found some interesting things. Let's take a look."

First, he took out a small wooden box, just like the one that was in Nakamura's office. It had cursed energy traces all over it.

"I've seen one of those before, at the last murder scene." Nanami said.

"You have? Well, how about this?" Gojo said, as he took some papers out of his pocket. He figured that if the last victim was a Yamada that had changed his surname, this was also a possibility in this case. And he was right.

The high school conclusion certificate read Yamada Mio.

"This is concerning".

"Definitely." Gojo responded. He then took his burner phone and called Ijichi. "Ijichi, we have a request. Search all the victims, see if they've changed their names and were previously Yamadas. Also, please, check similar death's throughout Japan in the past few months."

"Last three months." Nanami said.

Gojo looked at him. "Last three months" he said before hanging up. "Why that time frame?" He asked, looking straight at Nanami.

"Come. Let's have lunch. I'll fill you in."

***

"So, this lady is pretty sus, huh?" Gojo said, as he had three kiritanpo rice sticks stuffed in his mouth.

"She doesn't seem like a bad person." Nanami responded.

Gojo thought about it. "You're usually not a bad judge of character" he said, as he pulled the three sticks out of his mouth at the same time, completely scraped clean and started talking with his mouth full. "But someone can be a good person and still do bad things. People find all sorts of justifications for their shit." He wasn't wrong.

"There are some things that are not adding up." Nanami pondered.

"What about this brother? Have they not contacted the police or anything about his disappearance?" Gojo grabbed three rice sticks simultaneously.

"Apparently, they haven't. But that could be explained by the fact that he probably would be dealing with cursed spirits involved in their parents’ disappearance. His sister seemed aware of that possibility." Nanami grabbed a single rice stick and started eating at a normal rate.

"I see." Gojo responded with his mouthful of rice. "Hey, Nanami..." his tone shifted to a more serious one. Nanami noticed it.

"What?"

"How is this mission working out for you?" He lowered his glasses so he could look directly into Nanami's eyes as he waited for a response.

Nanami contemplated if he really had an answer for that question, as he started to speak without really knowing what would come out of his mouth. "At first, it was angering to see they'd put me up for another mission that seemed above my capacities." He meditated for a moment. "But I'm fine now. I simply want to finish this mission. Why?"

Gojo smiled. "Nothing. It's nice to see you still have a good head on your shoulders." He said, giving Nanami a little tap on his back as he got up. "Well, let's detective Conan this!"

Satoru was back to using references. Nanami was not pleased.

Gojo's phone rang, and he picked it up. It was Ijichi. Satoru's demeanor went from playful to serious, as he said, "ok. Thanks for letting me know." and ended the call. "We have to go back to that house now."

"Why is that?" Nanami asked.

"All the victims were Yamadas". Gojo answered, as he put his phone away. "If my thinking is right..."

"She could actually be the next target."

***

As they got back to the house, the sky grew grayer. The sun was about to set, and they knew they had to question Shiori for real this time. Nanami knocked on the door, but before Shiori could open it after unlocking, Gojo just barged in screaming Good evening!

"Hey, guys! You're back." She said, greeting them with a smile and feeling startled as a giant dude with white hair had just let himself into her house unceremoniously.

"We are." Nanami responded. "And we have some questions for you."

Shiori looked at him somewhat confused. "Let me just feed Haru."

Gojo looked at her confused.

"It's a fox, I feed it sometimes." She clarified.

"Oh."

After Shiori went outside with a bowl of food for the animal, she walked back into the living room, where they were waiting for her. "Well, ok. What would you like to know?"

"Firstly, what you really might know about all these deaths." He answered, bluntly.

She sighed, resigned. "You said something about a venomous shikigami, haven't you? Well, I know something about that."

"What do you know?" He asked. Gojo was just standing in the corner of the room, watching the conversation.

"I know there is a shikigami technique that runs in my family, one where we can summon poisonous creatures. Most of us summoned flying snakes. Some curse users in my family might be the culprit."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Nanami asked.

"I... I don't know." Shiori said as she sat down on a chair, feeling embarrassed. "I've never really been able to trust or rely on anyone other than my brother. And I barely know you!" she said, looking at him. "And we kind of met when you were being a creepy stalker and I had a gun."

"Please, stop saying that." Nanami replied while he sighed.

"Stalker? Gun? What?" Gojo asked, seemingly puzzled.

"And you're from Jujutsu High, on top of it all. I don't know if you're both aware of that, but my family never got along very well with you guys. I never had much of a reason to trust anything you told me." She said.

Nanami stood silent. After all, she wasn't exactly wrong.

Shiori looked at Gojo. "Can you imagine if you came into my house and I said, 'hey, one of my relatives might be the murderer?' What would you do to me, then?" She sighed. "And to be fair, I still don't trust you both completely. So, yeah. What else would you like to know?"

"Is there any special cursed object in your family?" Nanami asked.

"... Why do you want to know that?" She retorted.

The answer was clearly yes. "These killings might be related to it." Gojo answered from across the room. "The murderer is collecting cursed objects at the crime scenes and leaving these behind." Gojo showed her one of the wooden boxes.

"Oh, I see."

"Do you know what these are?" He asked.

"Yes."

They were all silent for some time.

"Will you tell us what they are?" Gojo replied.

"No."

Gojo wanted to smack her.

"And you both are 'good guys', I can tell that much. You won't beat me up for information."

She was right. He still wanted to smack her.

"You should know that all the victims were Yamadas." Nanami said. "You could very well be the next target."

She was taken aback. "All of them?"

"All of them." Gojo said, trying to sway her stance from that bit of information.

She considered her options for a moment. "Shit." If she gave them the entire information, they would probably catch the culprit and just leave. She wouldn't be in danger's way anymore, but would probably have to surrender things her parents left her to Jujutsu High. On top of that, her brother was still missing, and after learning that Yamadas were dying left and right, he could possibly be in danger. There was another option.

"Well, that's life. I can die in my sleep." She shrugged. "But I do have valuable information. I just need you to help me with something first." Shiori said.

"What?" Nanami asked.

"Help me find my brother." These guys, while a dynamic team themselves, were clearly good at their jobs, and she could sense that Gojo was a particularly powerful sorcerer. She knew this was the best — and, maybe, only — bet at finding her missing brother.

We just got side-quested, Gojo thought, as he groaned and made his way into the kitchen. He hated being pulled into situations he couldn't simply solve by using his powers and beating or exploding things. "Are there any cookies left?"

"Can you both help me find my brother? Please?" She asked, worriedly waiting for an answer.

Nanami and Gojo said "yes" at the same time. Both of them sounded defeated.

"Fine. Then let's get talking. We need to find the remaining Yamadas in town. As much as I want to find my brother, I don't want anybody to die because of that." Shiori said. "There were 9 deaths, right?"

"There were 12, actually." Nanami replied.

"What?" She was very surprised. "What do you mean by twelve deaths?"

"They happened in other cities, with the same M.O." Gojo responded from the kitchen. He sounded like he was munching on something.

"And they were all Yamadas?" She said.

"Yes."

"Well, I need their names, right now." She opened a drawer and grabbed a key. "Come, follow me, you two."

They all went upstairs, following Shiori's lead. She then went inside the main bedroom, which was a little unkempt, and seemed unused for a while now. "Now, where was it...?" She started stomping on the ground, until they heard a hollow board. "Here!" Pulling it up, the woman grabbed a chest and opened it. Inside it, there was a small black notebook.

Before she could do anything, Gojo grabbed the notebook.

"What the hell?!" She yelled, surprised. Damn, he's fast.

"We need to be absolutely certain you're not withholding important information again." He opened it. There was a huge list of names. The pages were yellowy, and the small notebook seemed pretty old. "What is this?"

"The list of people that might be targets, from what you both have told me. Flip to the last pages, the most recent ones are there."

He did, and instantly read many familiar names under those that were already struck out. Nanami approached and looked at the notebook too. The name "Yamada Itsuki" popped out.

"Your mother's name is here." He said.

"I know. Let's cross out that, and also everyone that has died. Whoever doesn't have their names crossed will be the next targets."

"And how do you know that?" Gojo asked.

"I just do. You told me that people were dying and getting cursed objects stolen from that box, right?" They stayed silent. "So I'm sure that list is what we need. People usually just change their surnames, and keep their first names. This should be easy enough."

Nanami and Gojo asked Ijichi to send them the list of all the deceased's names, and after striking out those, there were only 2 names left. Miyuki Yamada and Ayako Yamada. They relayed that information to Ijichi and asked him to search for residents in Odate that went by the names Miyuki and Ayako, who were or had been married.

"Well, now we wait." Gojo said, sitting down and resting his face on his hand.

"I guess." Shiori replied, while her mood shifted. "I'll be going downstairs for now."

She did, while Gojo and Nanami shared a look. Gojo's look meant, what do you think? Nanami said nothing and followed Shiori downstairs. She was sitting at the table, looking very upset and poorly hiding it. Nanami sat beside her and waited to see if she would say anything.

"I just realized something because I'm an idiot, and I'm very angry at myself right now." She said. "If I had trusted you, even if you took me away for questioning or to Jujutsu High, or something else, that woman might still be alive if I helped sooner." Shiori clenched her fists. "I'm such an egotistical idiot."

Nanami realized she was truly saddened and furious at herself because of that.

"You only knew where to look after we told you about the cursed objects being stolen. There was nothing you could have done." Nanami replied.

Shiori looked at him and sighed. "Thank you."

"I just stated a fact." He said.

She smiled, still somewhat upset. "Yeah. I guess so. I was just scared that-" She choked up a little. "That I wouldn't be here for when my brother came back, whenever that happens."

"How do you know if he is still alive?" Nanami asked bluntly.

"Well, you're kind of abrasive sometimes." She replied, smiling. "I just do. I can't explain it to you factually. It's a twin thing. I know he is alive, I'm completely sure."

He wasn't going to question it. As a jujutsu sorcerer, he sure had seen weirder things.

"I want to help when you guys go save those two women." Shiori said, out of the blue.

"You will hinder us. You have no combat training." Nanami pointed out.

"Well, you will follow us no matter what we say, won't you? Just like you did today." Gojo said, as he came down the stairs.

How did he know that? And was he hearing our conversation all this time? "Yes, I will. Exactly like I did today." She answered frankly. There was no point in lying.

"We're not carrying dead weight, and we won't jeopardize this, because people might actually die. Do you understand?" He asked, staring at her. His tone was serious. She felt like he could see through her soul, and it sent shivers down her spine.

The way this man shifts between 'pretty boy' silly demeanor and this menacing aura is eerie, she thought. "I understand. I don't want to put myself or other people in harm's way anymore, but I still want to help."

"Fine. Then, show me what you've got." He said, hiding his eyes back behind his glasses and grinning widely.

End notes:

I started to go down that path where I'm hating everything I write, so it took me forever to be done meddling with this chapter before posting it. Ugh I hate when this happens (hope you enjoyed it, still).

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tsukimefuku · 11 months ago

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❅ Sand and Snow | Chapter 3

ALL CHAPTERS HERE | PREVIOUS CHAPTER HERE.

Why Nanami left Jujutsu High to become a 9/5 corporate slave.

Tags: Murder/mystery, canon typical violence, POV Nanami, Post Star-plasma Vessel Arc, Canon compliant, Angst but I'm not Gege

Here we go! First fight scene, and everyone's favorite white haired sorcerer arrives.

WC: 3.6K | on AO3 here.

This time, Nanami called Ijichi after reporting to principal Yaga. Ijichi picked up pretty fast, and had a worried tone to his voice.

"Y-Yes?"

"Ijichi, I have some things to ask. Firstly, do you have any new information about the Yamadas?"

Ijichi paused. "No... I have not. I mean, I don't." He sounded nervous.

"Is there anything wrong?" Nanami asked.

"No, just... h-haven't found anything yet. Nope. Nada."

He thought Ijichi's demeanor was out of sorts, but decided to not press the matter any further on the phone. Some things about this mission were shady, Ijichi must've had a reason to be acting like he was.

"Also, I need to have some samples examined. Is Ieiri available?"

"Samples? Of what?"

"Coagulated blood from the last corpse." Nanami answered.

Ijichi sounded like he fought back an urge to hurl and gagged a little. "I will ask her about it."

"Ok, do it now."

Nanami heard fast footsteps, a thump, another thump, Ijichi saying ouch and ruffling on the line. He sighed as he waited for Ijichi to solve his locomotion hardships on his way to Ieiri. Shoko picked up the phone and answered.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Ieiri, I need to have some coagulated blood samples examined. They contain a cursed type of venom. Normal methods were not able to determine its nature or origin."

"Tough luck, huh?" She responded. "Nanami, you're in Odate. Just the time it would take for that sample to get here... I don't think I can do anything to help you this time around, unfortunately."

He sighed. It was worth the shot, anyway. "What would you suggest?"

"This is something that has to be analyzed in loco and as soon as possible."

"I understand. Thank you." Nanami said as he hung up. He grabbed the phone number Shiori had given him earlier that day, and dialed it. She picked up.

"Hello, who is this?"

"It's Nanami. Are you occupied?"

"I'm not, actually. I'm just at home taking care of my plants. Why?"

"I need your help with something." He replied, hoping she wouldn't ask for further clarifications on the phone.

"Ok, I guess. You can come over. But please, knock on my door this time, stalker." She replied, before hanging up the phone.

Nanami sighed and started getting ready. As he thought about how much a job was worth if it meant getting accused of being a stalker, he did not notice his hotel room window was just barely open right before he went out.

***

As Nanami approached the house in the woods, it started to grow colder. This time around, the snow beneath his feet was considerably thicker, and the wind felt like razor blades slipping just above the skin. He hurried his pace, just so he wasn't in the cold for longer than necessary.

Getting to the front porch, he knocked, and Shiori answered.

"See? Much better than hiding in the bushes and getting jumped with a gun. Glad you knocked." She said, jokingly.

"I did. You instructed me to." Nanami replied in a monotone.

He really has absolutely no sense of humor, she thought, welcoming him. "I'm brewing some tea, if you're interested. Will help ease the cold off."

"Thank you. I accept it."

"You really do talk funny, huh?" Shiori remarked, smiling.

Nanami seemed puzzled.

"Nevermind." She replied. For someone his age — clearly still a teenager —, Nanami sure talked in a very formal way. "Here, take it." She gave him a cup and got one for herself. She then poured the tea in both cups and sat on the table, inviting him to join her. He sat down and smelled the tea, it had the same strong sweet and flowery aroma.

"What is this?"

"Oka tea, one of Yamada's specialties." She answered. "It's a mix of herbs, flowers, and other dried ingredients. Some people still buy this concoction I make, I like to believe other Yamadas out there still make it for themselves, but my customer base has been growing thin. I almost can't afford the costs for keeping my greenhouse anymore." She seemed somewhere in between upset and resigned about the entire situation, adapting to another bad thing happening in her life.

Nanami sipped the tea. It was a perfect balance between sweet and acidic, but had no sugar or sweeteners added. It was impressive, actually. He looked at Shiori. "You still don't want to become a jujutsu sorcerer or an assistant for Jujutsu High? They pay well."

She scoffed, as if the idea itself was absurd. "There's more to life than money. I want to keep my family's legacy alive, even if it dies with me. Also, I have to wait for my brother's return."

"I see." He didn't quite know how exactly he felt about what she said. Never one to contemplate about the meaning of work, or purpose, for that matter, Nanami felt he had nothing to add to the conversation on this matter particularly.

"You said you needed help with something, didn't you?" She asked him.

"Yes." Nanami took out the scalpel enveloped in paper. "Do you have any reservations regarding blood?"

"Not really. My family would train us from a very young age in the tradition of healing with nature and those kinds of things." She shrugged. "I have helped my mother treat wounded people before."

"Fine." He unwrapped the paper and plastic, revealing a scalpel with a tip covered in blood. "I need your help taking a look at this blood sample. It has been infused with some type of cursed venom. I'd like to know if you know something about it."

"I see. I mean, I don't see anything out of the ordinary. But I get what you mean." She scratched her head a little, staring at the scalpel, not knowing exactly how Nanami thought she could help. Understanding about poisonous plants was one thing, working with cursed venom-infused blood was another entirely.

"You can't see cursed energy traces?" Nanami grew increasingly skeptical at her ability to help him.

"See what?"

"Vestiges. Here, look closely. Focus. It is like seeing a cursed spirit, but fainter."

She drew her face closer, and her eyes widened for a moment. "Oh, yes! I can see it! Some very small traces of cursed energy." Shiori reclined in her chair and laid a hand on her chin, while she evaluated some possibilities. "Look, I don't have a lab or anything here for analyzing whatever this is. I do, however, have some old books from my family that might help us determine the origin of this."

Better than nothing, Nanami thought.

She went upstairs, and he could hear sounds of things getting taken, dropped, twisted and thrown around, like Shiori was trying to remodel the house. At one point, it sounded like a large bookcase fell, followed by a scream and some cursing like shit and holy fuck. Shortly after, Shiori shouted, "I'm alright!".

He hadn't moved an inch, still sipping on his tea.

Shiori came down holding a very large — and apparently ancient — book. It had a very worn out brown leather cover, the binding seemed just about ready to give in to time and degradation. It also smelled funny. "Here, this might help us. Let's take a look."

She opened the book, and started flipping through the pages, until she got to a part that talked about poisons and different types of venom. "So... what do you want to know?"

"Is there any indication of a curse or shikigami that possesses venom?"

"Let me see." She put the book on her lap and started flipping through it. She paused for a moment, and then continued. "Well, there isn't anything about curses or shikigami. It has, however, some things about medicinal plants and such."

Shiori didn't raise her eyes to meet Nanami and stayed silent. He found that to be out of character. This would usually be the moment she'd make some unfunny or confusing remark.

"Is there anything about any plants or herbs that can asphyxiate someone?"

"I don't need a book for that one." She closed the book. "There is the heartbreak grass." Shiori looked at him. "The most toxic varieties are spread throughout Asia. Do you think someone could infuse the extract with cursed energy?" She asked. "Why would somebody even bother to do so?"

"It avoids that a jujutsu sorcerer turns into a curse after their death." Nanami replied.

"I see. But were the victims even Jujutsu sorcerers?"

This still didn't explain the bite marks, though.

Shiori looked through the window. "It's starting to get dark outside. I don't have much to eat here, since I'm the only one living in this house for the time being, but I might have some hibari senbei cookies, if you want to take them with you".

Nanami remembered Gojo would be arriving at Odate tomorrow, and had a faint memory of him asking about cookies. He sighed, putting his fingers in between his eyes, and responded, "Thank you. I will be needing that."

"Needing?" she replied, a little confused, as she walked into the kitchen to grab the baked sweets. "What would you need cookies for? Do you have low blood sugar or something? Here." She came back and handed him a small paper bag with homemade cookies inside.

"Nothing. I apologize for inconveniencing you." He replied as he took the bag.

"Don't worry. I appreciate the company." She smiled. "Even if you're a stalker, company is company, am I right?" Shiori said mockingly.

"Please, stop saying that." Nanami answered, annoyed. She just chuckled.

***

Back at the hotel, Nanami greeted Yoko, who was just about to end her shift. She waved as he got closer.

"Hello, Mr. Kento! Can I help you with anything?"

"Actually, I have some questions about Yamada Shiro, if you have some time."

"Oh." She was completely caught off guard. "Of course, I think." How does he know his name? "What do you want to know?"

"What can you tell me about him?"

"Well, I have been best friends with his sister and him since middle school." She said, whispering. Probably so that her grandmother couldn't hear anything. "They were good kids. He had a thing about protecting weaker people, but every time he got in a fight, he'd be 10 times more hurt than the one he had beaten up." Yoko shrugged. "And she had something about not meddling in other people's businesses. She just wanted to protect him."

"I see. What about his departure some time ago?"

Yoko was taken aback. "How do you know that?"

Dammit.

"During my work here in Odate, I've met your friend, Shiori. She told me her brother left the city a while ago."

"Your work in Odate? What do you do?" She asked, and then pondered. "Oh, you've met Shiori then."

"I'm a private investigator." It was hard trying to keep track of all the versions of his story. This was starting to become tiring. "I'm here to investigate these deaths in Odate. After talking to you and some people, I decided to go to Yamada's house and learn more about them, just in case." He replied. "Yes, I've met your friend."

Yoko was at a loss for words, wondering if he was treating her best friend as a suspect of any sort. She needed to talk to Shiori as soon as possible, and know more about what this man standing in front of her had said to her.

"Well, about Shiro... You probably heard it better from his sister. He left about a year ago to go looking for their parents, and grew increasingly distant, up until he simply stopped responding to our messages and calls to ask him how he was doing, around 3 months ago." Yoko thought that it would be fine telling him this, given that he probably already had that piece of information from Shiori. "Even though I wanted to call the police, Shiori asked me not to."

"I see." Nanami noticed her change in demeanor. He knew he wouldn't be getting very far questioning Yoko anymore. "Well, thank you for your time." He said, walking towards the elevator. When he got to his floor and started making his way to his room, he could hear someone shutting their window loudly. People lack basic cordiality with others, he thought to himself.

As Nanami entered his room, something felt off.

He looked around and nothing seemed actually out of place, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. As Nanami turned his back to the closet, for a split second, he felt someone lunging at him. Thanks to his reflexes, Nanami was able to throw himself in the window's direction before the culprit made any contact.

It was the man dressed in black.

Nanami grabbed his blunt sword from his back and advanced in his opponent's direction, instinctively ready to deal a 7:3 blow. However, he quickly realized it would be a bad idea, given that the preferable outcome here was capturing the curse user and taking him to Jujutsu High for questioning and, being the case, sentencing. Restricting his strength, Nanami dealt a measured blow to the man's stomach, which made him spit blood inside his mask.

What Nanami was not ready for was a shikigami appearing right in front of him. It was a floating four-eyed purple snake, with a menacing set of fangs. The snake instantly charged in his direction, quicker than he could deal another blow. He reinforced his arm with cursed energy before the snake could bite him.

The shikigami suddenly disappeared, and right behind it came a full-blown punch from the man that caught Nanami with his guard down. He could feel his nose cracking at that moment. Nanami was thrown against the wall behind him, breaking the mirror, while shattered glass fell all over him. As he tried to get up, the man opened the window, held his shikigami on one arm, and the floating monster helped him out.

Nanami then realized what was missing. His documents regarding the case from Jujutsu High, which were laid over the room's table.

He pulled the phone and called #903. The old lady picked up. He informed her his room had been invaded, and he got attacked.

***

"Hey, good morning. There's a pretty guy asking about you at the door."

"What?" Nanami had to take a few moments to get himself back to reality.

"Yes. A pretty guy. He's asking for you. He's calling you Nanamin." Shiori responded. She said the word 'pretty' mockingly with a half smile on her face.

The night before became a haze. Old lady called Yoko, who then called Shiori, who then called Nanami. It was a full circle of what the hell was going on. While Nanami assessed the state of his wounds in the bathroom mirror, he told Shiori he would be looking for another hotel to stay for the time being.

"That's a terrible idea." She replied. "Look, there is something weird happening, and it might have something to do with my family. I saw the last victim's photo on the local news. That was my uncle whom I thought had left Odate years ago, Hiroshi."

He was silent, trying to figure out if his nose was broken or just very purple.

"We are already joining forces. Or, for the matter of fact, you're using me as a source of information."

"I-" Nanami started to say something.

"It's fine, I understand that's how an investigation works" she cut him off, before he could say anything. "But I want to know what the hell is going on."

This was bad. He couldn't stay on the phone with her anymore.

"I'll be at the hotel waiting."

"I'll ask Yoko to give you a ride." She hung up.

Nanami started texting Gojo right away, and hoped he would answer at that moment.

NK: I have been attacked in the hotel. I'm going elsewhere. Ask where to find me at the main desk.

SG: Are you okay?

NK: Yes. Only some mild bruising.

NK: Hurry.

After he got to Yamada's house, Shiori offered to help to treat his nose. They sat at the dinner table, and she adjusted Nanami's hair, which got completely over his face during the altercation, and was laying on top of the wound. This guy should really cut these bangs, she randomly thought. Shiori then started treating his nose — it was not broken, but might have a hairline fracture. He was pretty sturdy, after all, even for a jujutsu sorcerer.

"Did your face get hit by a car?" She asked.

"No. It was a curse user. He had a snake shikigami."

She went silent for a moment, and kept treating his wounds.

"Well, did the snake headbutt you?"

"No, he punched me when I had my guard down."

She applied some ointment mixed with fresh and clean snow on his nose. It burnt. "It will be uncomfortable, but you'll feel better in the morning."

"Nanamin!" Gojo exclaimed loudly, as he walked into the room, white hair slightly covered in snow and frosty pitch-black glasses. "Well, you're definitely in the middle of nowhere." Satoru remarked, grinning widely. Nanami wished he could fall back asleep. He then feared he would have a nightmare reenacting this exact moment.

"Interesting!" Gojo said, examining his face wounds closely. "These are well into recovery for someone who just got attacked last night. Did you treat them yourself?"

"No," Nanami replied, "she did."

Gojo then looked at Shiori, who was at the corner of the room leaning against the wall while she held a bowl filled with water and a towel, at a loss for what exactly was going on.

"Well, hello. I haven't properly introduced myself."

He never properly introduced himself.

"My name is Satoru Gojo, and this guy right here will be my sidekick for the time being." He placed his hand on Nanami's shoulder. Nanami slapped it away.

"I'm Yamada Shiori," she replied, "and I make things with herbs."

"You got that result with just plants?" Gojo asked.

"Yes. Plants and some clean snow can go a long way." She answered. "My mother used to make me help her when I was around 8 years old to treat the wounded and dying people of our family."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Most of them still died, though."

"Oh." Gojo was surprised she said that with such a straight face.

"... It's a joke. We used to help people that got hurt in these woods, or relatives, but they were sent to the hospital if things were dire enough." She replied. Gojo thought to himself that she had a weird sense of humor.

"She can also see curses and has an innate cursed technique." Nanami added.

"Oh." Gojo answered. "Well, have you heard about Jujutsu High? We have very few healers, and only one actually talented!"

Shiori seemed irritated. "No." she said, as she got out of the room and began descending the stairs, stepping loudly while pouting.

Gojo was confused. "Nanamin, what-"

"She was already scouted by Jujutsu High. Doesn't want to go." Nanami answered. "And stop calling me that."

"Hey, Nanami! Pretty boy! What do you want for breakfast? I only have cookies and tea, so that will have to do." Shiori shouted from downstairs.

"Did she... just call me... 'pretty boy'?" Gojo sounded disheartened. Nanami had a hard time concealing his satisfaction at that.

"She did."

"I changed my mind. I hope she doesn't come with us to Tokyo."

Nanami sighed as he started to get up. They both went downstairs and sat at the table. Shiori had served homemade cookies with Akita faces on them. "They're from the last festival that happened a few days ago," she explained.

"Well, I might just forgive you then." Gojo said, as he grabbed one of the cookies and took a bite.

She understood nothing, but figured it was pointless to ask. He clearly just liked hearing the sound of his own voice.

"So... What is going on, guys? What is happening?" She asked.

Gojo lifted his finger, as if asking for them to be quiet and pay close attention to him, while he ate one of the cookies. They were waiting patiently — or, at least, Shiori was. Nanami was annoyed that someone would request his turn to speak while he had a mouthful of food to chew and swallow. Satoru finished munching and started speaking.

"I'll get into that in just a minute, but first, Nanami, I need you to call Ijichi." He pulled a brand new and never before seen phone from his jacket. "Use this. There is another Ijichi's number in there, as well."

Nanami grabbed the phone and started dialing.

"As for you, Mrs., are you aware the last victim was a Yamada?" Gojo said, lowering his glasses to stare at her directly.

"I know. He was my uncle." She answered.

"This might be a coincidence, or you might be in danger!" The way he said it so casually and kind of exhilarated somehow annoyed her. "You could be our culprit's next target."

"Seriously?" She asked, revolted.

"Rest assured, you've got nothing to worry about."

"I don't? And why is that?"

"Because the strongest jujutsu sorcerer you will ever meet just got here." He said, putting on a conceited smile.

"Did he? Where is he?" She asked earnestly.

Nanami could be heard suddenly coughing from the living room. Shiori honestly did not understand the point Gojo was trying to get across.

"Well, you're really making this difficult for me." Gojo replied, taking a sip of tea. The tea was incredibly sweet, which he appreciated a lot. "Well, very difficult."

End notes:

I really need to define a day every week to post, heh. Next chapter will probably be posted on the 22th, but maybe earlier if I get around revising it before that!

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tsukimefuku · 11 months ago

Text

❅ Sand and Snow | Chapter 1

ALL CHAPTERS HERE.

Images via @incepstla on Tumblr

DISCLAIMERS

* This is cross-posted from AO3, link here.

* This is a murder/mystery story. Like so, it contains depictions of violence that some readers may find disturbing.

* Classic Nanami and Gojo shenanigans will ensue. This is my copium.

* This fanfic is mostly built on original characters that are plot-centric (we need ppl to kill and to be questioned in a murder/mystery story, amiright?), though Nanami is the protagonist. There won't be any romance/smut/fluff/ship involved, but in case you don't like OC's at all, this story probably isn't suited for you.

* I wrote this in the most faithful way I could to JJK Canon and events, with the intention you could read this as an actual one-off light novel from the series (even inspired the writing on the translation from the official light novels). I hope you enjoy.

********************************

Chapter 1

Traveling alone became a common occurrence in Nanami's life ever since Haibara's death. More common still after his promotion — turning into a first-grade jujutsu sorcerer in his third year came with some perks, like a raise, for instance. But it also meant he would be frequently dealing with complex missions by himself. To fill up time, he was reading a pocket version of "The Devotion of Suspect X" by Keigo Higashino, as he drank a small and well brewed cup of coffee.

As Nanami approached his destination, he closed the book and started to mentally review the details of this mission. He anticipated it should take around a week for completion at most.

Around the city of Odate there had been 7 deaths, all containing traces of cursed energy. All involving poison. The presence of a cursed spirit was not out of the question, but considering the way those people died, a curse user was most likely. If that was the case, the curse user should be captured and taken in for questioning.

His phone rang. It was Yaga.

"Hello." he said, as he accepted the call.

"Nanami, be sure to report as soon as you get there, and report to me daily." Yaga replied.

"I will. Has something happened?"

"No, but those that sent this mission our way are very keen on accompanying every step taken." The contempt Yaga tried to hide in his voice was pretty clear.

"Fine. Let me know when and if Gojo is coming my way." The thought of meeting Satoru with his whimsical personality during a mission made Nanami involuntarily sigh.

Nanami was on his way to Odate because Jujutsu High's first choice, Satoru Gojo, was off on another mission that took longer than expected. This had been disclosed to Nanami right from the start. He would be there up until Gojo Satoru got to Odate or until he just finished the job by himself, whatever happened first.

He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that they wanted to send Gojo, a special-grade sorcerer, on a mission suited for a first-grade, though. But dutiful as he was, Nanami simply did not spend his time questioning. Orders were orders, after all.

"About that… Gojo requested for you to work with him if you still haven't finished the job when he gets there.”

Nanami was annoyed.

"Why?"

"Who knows. He's always acting on a whim. Just accompany him. I have been told this is an important job, and you're the responsible one."

Nanami was annoyed, times two.

"Fine."

Getting “punished” with more work for being a good jujutsu sorcerer was the kind of thing that happened to him regularly. Not so different from a normal job. Nanami sighed and ended the call. There was now a pretty good incentive to get things done as fast as he could, and it didn't involve (just) overtime.

***

As the train came to a stop, the doors opened, letting a cold breeze seep in. I should get to the hotel and leave this luggage before I go out investigating, Nanami thought to himself, before stepping out and making his way onto the exit from the train station.

There were few to no taxis so early in the morning, so he just decided to walk. It wasn't terribly far, and it gave him the opportunity to look around the city for anything out of the ordinary along the way.

There were many snow sculptures by the roadside, and some ice figures resembling the Akita dog breed. At the end of February, Odate had many winter festivities, with a lot of Akita-dog related decor and souvenirs.

He had nothing against cold weather, but preferred the beach, ever so slightly.

Nanami picked up his phone and sent Yaga a text that said "I'm here. On my way to the hotel".

"Ok" Yaga replied instantly.

They must really be on his case, he thought, as it was out of character for Yaga to reply so fast. He usually had more things to deal with as the new Jujutsu High principal.

After an uneventful walk, Nanami got to the hotel and was greeted by a woman at the main desk.

"Good morning. My name is Yoko. How can I help you, sir?" She asked politely.

"I have a reservation."

"Perfectly. I need your full name."

"Nanami Kento."

The lady typed quietly on the keyboard, and around two minutes passed.

"Sorry, our systems are kind of slow today."

Nanami said nothing and just waited.

"Hey, Mr. Kento... Be careful."

That grabbed his attention. It was clearly not a threat, and the lady was visibly concerned, even though she tried to hide it.

"There have been some people dying these past few weeks. Somehow it hasn't made national news, and I can tell you're not from here. I mean, new face and all. So... Be careful, ok?"

"I appreciate your conce-"

"It was the majo!" someone shouted from the inside office. The lady got startled, and instantly irritated.

"Grandma, please stop with these silly superstitions!"

There were heavy and steady footsteps, and shortly after, an elderly woman came from the back office, raising a finger and pointing towards Nanami and Yoko.

"They are not superstitions. Hear me out! The majo, the witch, she did it!"

Yoko sighed and felt her third migraine of the week paying her a visit. Wednesday had barely started.

Nanami looked at her, as if asking for further explanation about what the old woman was talking about. She put on a cordial smile and started to speak.

"My grandmother has old superstitions about a woman that lives just outside the city. Her parents went missing when she and her brother were young, and they sell herbs and things like that. There is not much to it, but people in the city have had that long held superstition against their family for a while now."

Her smiling face and calm voice did not match the angry energy she was emanating.

The old woman interjected once again.

"Her parents went missing because she is a witch, and I bet you, these people dying must be related to all of that!"

The migraine had settled in.

"What 'all of that', grandma?"

The old lady gestured vaguely with her hands in the air, as if there was some obvious fact that everybody was unaware of.

The computer emitted a sound, and Yoko promptly grabbed a key and gave it to Nanami.

"Here. Room 409. If there is anything you need, you can just dial #903 for room service."

“Thank you. Excuse me.” he replied. As he started walking towards the stairs, it was possible to hear Yoko chastising her grandmother about scaring travelers and people she did not know. The words were followed by loud footsteps into the main office and a door being slammed.

As Nanami got to his room, he started texting Yaga.

NK: I'm at the hotel. There is a local superstition around a person whom they call “a witch”. I've been told this person deals with herbs and medicinal plants, so they probably also have poisonous ones. I will be checking this out before going elsewhere.

MY: Let me know if you find anything. Also, talk to Ijichi, he will assist you researching this.

After settling in, Nanami got out of the hotel and started walking down the street, intent on questioning people about it. He failed to notice the man following him from afar.

***

It was already two in the afternoon, and he figured he might as well stop and eat something for lunch. After all, expenses were completely paid for.

As Nanami went inside the restaurant, he went over mentally the information he got about the family.

The Yamadas were a pretty old family in that region, and most lived northwest of Odate. After the disappearance of some of the family's members, mainly a couple with two children, most relatives just left the city. Aside from that, there was not much else to be said about them. Nanami had already sent Ijichi all the details he was able to gather and asked for research as soon as possible.

His phone lit up. It was Ijichi.

KI: Hey, Nanami, I found some interesting things.

NK: Tell me.

KI: So, the Yamadas were a family of jujutsu sorcerers, it seems.

Nanami felt that was definitely suspicious, to say the least.

KI: Apparently, they had little to no ties to Master Tengen or anything. They were all from that region of Odate, but most of the members have since disbanded throughout Japan in the last 10 years. I couldn't find much in the archives, especially about cursed techniques that run in the family.

NK: I see. Let me know if you find anything else.

KI: No problem.

***

After some asking around, Nanami finally got to Yamada's “witch” house. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and a snow-covered dirt road led the way there through the woods. As he was approaching from the forest quietly, he could see a lady with short black hair and a pretty thick coat putting some food bowls by the side of the house. He didn't see or sense anything particularly suspicious. The house was considerably big, having two separate floors and a very traditional Japanese ceiling for snowy weather.

Not long after she put the bowls, the lady whistled loudly. A fox came out of the snowy forest and started eating.

"There you go, Haru. Eat well!" she said, as she went inside the house.

Nanami was unsure if he should go question the woman, or if he should simply stay hidden and watch for anything strange. After all, this could be nothing, or she could be a sorcerer that would attack him on sight. He chose the latter, and sat down near some bushes as he paid attention to the house and its apparently sole resident.

From the frosty windows, he could see her in the kitchen, sitting idly while drinking something from a cup. Behind the house, there was a greenhouse with many pots of plants and other greeneries planted directly on the soil.

This will take a long time, Nanami figured, feeling disheartened for having to work late that day. Resigned, he used his flip phone to take a picture of the house and waited. He got to see the fox finish its food and go back into the woods.

Around an hour later, there were some scratching sounds that he could not really see what was the source. The lady came out of the house, sprinting hastily to the other side, where Nanami was having a difficult time seeing her. He moved his position to try and see where she was headed, and walked quietly around from the opposite side in a semicircle, but she had vanished. The fox from earlier was there, looking directly at him.

He went into alert mode, but before he could do anything, Nanami felt somebody get behind him.

The sound of a gun being loaded could be heard, and he froze on the spot.

"Raise your hands. Who are you and why are you watching me?" a female voice asked.

"I'm someone investigating the deaths that have been occurring in Odate". He said, as he was lifting his hands and putting them on his head. Nanami figured there was not much of a point in lying. She didn't ask why he was there, but why he was watching her, so she probably had noticed it for a while. Also, if she was a curse user that wanted to harm him, she would've probably done so by now.

"Turn around."

He turned to face her.

She was pointing a small handgun at him, keeping her distance. Her green eyes seemed irritated. He could probably disarm her and further question the woman on the subject, but weighing his options, it felt more responsible to avoid conflict escalation.

"Look," she said, picking her words carefully. She sounded annoyed, but not scared. "I don't know what you've heard about me or this house, but I am not a witch, and I'll tell you what I already told the officer, I didn't kill anyone."

She examined his face.

"Why are you pointing a gun at me, then?" He asked.

"I'm a woman living alone in the woods, and a creep has been stalking me for god knows how long. Sorry if I chose to pull a gun first and ask questions later."

Both of them examined each other, and the air was tense. She seemed inclined to simply let him go, and his instinct was that she harbored no ill intent on hurting him out of anything other than self-defense. He decided to try to de-escalate the situation further.

"My name is Nanami Kento."

She was slightly taken aback, as she didn't expect him to present himself like that given the circumstances.

"I'm... Shiori. Yamada Shiori."

"I'd like to ask you some questions about these deaths. I'm a private investigator of sorts. Preferably without a firearm between us." Nanami said calmly.

She hesitated and examined him. Her instinct was that he was telling the truth. After a few seconds, her arm relaxed, and she put the gun down, then inside her coat.

"Ok. We can talk." Shiori said. "But I'm keeping the gun on me."

Nanami sighed as he lowered his arms. "Fair enough."

She pointed at the house. "And you go first."

They walked towards the house, and she unlocked the front door, letting him in. She indicated a table where he could sit, and pulled a chair for herself. Once both were seated, as Nanami was about to say something, she took a crystal ball from her other pocket.

"Here. Please hold this."

Nanami thought about it for a second, and held the ball in his hand. The small sphere started to glow blue after about 5 seconds. "Tsk", Shiori groaned, "Figures."

"Sorry, I don't understand."

"Where are you from? Kyoto?" She asked, grabbing the crystal from his hands. "Is this really about the deaths, or are you guys here to try to recruit me and my brother? He is away, just so you know."

Nanami was confused, and it must have shown.

"You're a jujutsu sorcerer, aren't you?" She asked. "Look." The crystal was glowing in her hands too. "This is my sort of 'jujutsu sorcerer detector'. The last time one of you came was a few years ago, so I'll just cut to the chase. I'm happy in the woods, and I don't want to go to Jujutsu High — I’m actually 18 now, and have just graduated. Please, leave me alone."

This was definitely not how Nanami expected this conversation to go, and he definitely did not expect to be dealing with cursed objects in Odate. After collecting his thoughts, Nanami started to speak.

"I'm here because of Jujutsu High, but I came from Tokyo on a mission regarding the deaths that have occurred recently. I questioned a few people and after some research, found that your family had sorcerers, and that you and your brother work with medicinal plants. Given the cause of those deaths was poisoning, I came to your house for further investigation." He answered bluntly.

"I see." She put the crystal ball back inside her pocket. "You're not the first one to think that, though. A police officer was here a few days ago. Those town's people still hate us, even centuries later, simply for being Yamadas. But I truly had nothing to do with those deaths."

"I see." Nanami muttered the thought for a moment. "And do you have an innate cursed technique?" Cursed techniques in sorcerer's families that were passed through generations were common, even if those that involved poisoning their victims weren't that common.

She was a little surprised with the question. "Well, it has nothing to do with poison, I can tell you that much. I can show you, but it can't be done inside the house."

"Why?"

"Because I still want to have a roof over my head. Come." She pointed to the door, and they went outside. Behind the house, there were plenty of wide holes in the ground just barely covered in snow, something he hadn't noticed earlier.

"Please, step back." She concentrated, put both hands together and said "cursed technique: melt grenade". Then, Shiori threw a small blue ball of cursed energy towards the holes. It exploded loudly, and made a hole around 2 feet deep, covered in a thick corrosive black substance.

"That's all?" Nanami asked. He waited for a response, but after a few seconds of silence, looked at her just to see Shiori falling to the ground. He started walking to her side offering assistance, but she was already sitting herself up, as if this was something the woman was accustomed to.

"Yes. That is all. I can only throw one or two of these before passing out." She stood up slowly. "So this is it. Unfortunately, there is not much I can do to help you." She had a surprisingly laid back approach, even if the circumstances they had met were somewhat odd.

Nanami sighed. At least this explained why she used a gun. Nevertheless, it was a dead end, after all.

"I was told you had a brother. Where is he?" He asked.

"My brother decided to do some traveling about a year ago. He went looking for our parents. I told him it was a bad idea, but he did it anyway. I don't know where he is currently." Shiori responded. "His name is Shiro. Our parents weren't very creative naming twins".

"Well, I won't occupy you any longer. I'll be on my way, then." Nanami said, as he bowed and started to leave.

"It's fine. But if you come by again, please, just knock on the door." Shiori responded with a half smile, putting her hands inside her pocket while she calmly walked back inside the house.

***

Back at the hotel, Nanami was on the phone talking to Yaga and giving him his report on the investigation. He informed Yaga about Ijichi's findings, and the conversation he had with Shiori.

"I see." Yaga said. "Keep an eye on her, though."

"Why?"

"Well, she has a cursed object we were not aware of. Doesn't seem like anything serious, but she could be hiding something."

"I understand." Nanami pondered for a moment. "She had some visitors from Jujutsu High years ago, more specifically from the Kyoto sister school, according to her."

"We usually scout families that have a history with jujutsu for potential students, but they don't always accept the invite." Yaga replied. "I didn't know she was one of the people we visited."

Nanami, still on the phone, walked towards the TV and turned it on. Local news had an urgent news broadcast on.

"Well, I imagine this is it for resting today." he said.

"I'll make the necessary calls. Go there now." Yaga replied.

He sat on the bed as he heard the reporter say police had just discovered a new body.

"I'm charging overtime fees."

#jujutsu nanami #jjk #nanami kento #kento nanami #jujutsu gojo #jujutsu satoru #jujutsu sorcerer #jujutsu kaisen #jjk satoru #jjk fanfic #fanfic #ao3 fanfic #ao3 #fanfiction #ao3 author #archive of our own #sandandsnowchapter #jjk fanart #anime and manga

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tsukimefuku · 10 months ago

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REMINDER | ❅ Sand and Snow fanfic

Hey! Just a reminder that the next chapter will be up on the 22nd.

If you still haven't read it, here are the links :)

Tags: Murder/mystery, canon typical violence, POV Nanami, Teen Nanami, Post Star-plasma Vessel Arc, Canon compliant, Angst but I'm not Gege

On AO3:

On Tumblr:

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tsukimefuku · 10 months ago

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❅ Sand and Snow | Chapter 5

ALL CHAPTERS HERE | PREVIOUS CHAPTER HERE.

Why Nanami left Jujutsu High to become a 9/5 corporate slave.

Tags: Murder/mystery, canon typical violence, POV Nanami, Post Star-plasma Vessel Arc, Canon compliant, Angst but I'm not Gege

Gojo Satoru is a little shit. OC's are a dynamic duo as well. We meet the last targets and find out more about the cursed objects.

WC: 3.75K | on AO3 here.

"Shit, what the hell?" Shiori said, as she fell ass-first on the snow for the tenth time. "How are you so goddamn fast?" She had barely been able to reinforce her arms with cursed energy before he threw a high kick at her, knocking her off her feet and onto the ground. Gojo had briefly explained his techniques, but never mentioned it made him move at the speed of light or anything of the sort.

It was early in the morning. They were outside, Nanami was sitting down on the porch sipping tea peacefully, watching the whole scene, as Gojo trained Shiori on the basics in protecting herself from strikes using cursed energy. She had already demonstrated her innate cursed technique, but it was clear she had no fine control over the specifics of it — if it always had the corrosive element or not, how much cursed energy was spent, how long it took for exploding, and how strong each grenade would be. This was unexpected, considering she had a pretty good grasp on cursed energy manipulation for defending herself or even imbuing objects.

"Well, you've got a defense, and you can actually take a hit. That's good." He said, putting his hands on his waist and tilting his head to the side. "But do you know how to hit someone?"

"Not much, that was my brother's strong suit, not mine." She admitted, starting to worry if she'd survive this "training" session. Shiori wondered if he was just looking for an excuse to kick her ass for calling him 'pretty boy' earlier.

"So, let's try that. Come, hit me." He said. "Come on... Here. Here. Hit here." He pointed at his hand stretched forward, like he was talking to a five-year-old.

This dude can't be for real, Shiori thought, as she got up and punched his hand. It was a terrible, limp and poorly executed punch overall.

"I meant with cursed energy, though I don't think cursed energy could've saved whatever that was."

"Well, why didn't you say so!?" She started pouting. "Your teaching skills are terrible."

"Speaking of which, surprise quiz time!" He said. She started asking herself if it was really worth the trouble. "Question number one, what do we have for breakfast today?"

"Eh?!" She couldn't believe that. "Are you serious?!"

"Terribly." He replied.

"Well, nothing. There is nothing anymore." She said, sighing deeply.

"Precisely! And why is that?" Gojo asked, putting on a 'very serious teacher' voice.

"Because you ate everything!"

"No, wrong answer! Because you have no money for groceries and still refuse to work as a jujutsu high employee with us!"

She threw a better punch imbued with cursed energy directly at his face, hitting the infinity. "I'm poor, leave me alone!"

"Well, that's a little more like it!" Gojo said, smiling lively. "But your attacks are still half-assed as hell. You should focus on defense for now." He cleared his throat. "You know, about the food, people need potions if they want to have MANA!"

"Fine, let's go to town and buy something to eat!" She yelled, walking away, cursing Gojo under her breath.

"Why are you insisting she goes to Jujutsu High, even though her family and the institution have a terrible relationship, and after she explicitly told you she doesn't want to?" Nanami asked, putting his tea cup away.

"Well, I have a dream, and to fulfill it, I'm going to need good allies." He pointed in her direction. "Her combat skills are awful, but she's got potential as a healer. I'd like to see if she can learn reverse cursed technique from Shoko. This apparently is something that occurred more frequently in her clan, according to Ijichi's findings."

Nanami could see Gojo was brewing something. He definitely wasn't the same Satoru Gojo that failed Riko Amanai years ago — Gojo was growing into a fine sorcerer. Maybe Nanami could respect him a little, after all.

"Now, let's go, Nanamin! Did you know that pastry making is more suited for cold weather? Yes! That is why-" Gojo started blabbing about food and customs to each location, and what he wanted to eat before they left Odate. Nanami sighed as he changed his mind.

***

"Please, could you do it?" Shiori asked.

"No." Nanami replied.

"Please? Even if I promise I'll stop calling you a stalker?" She said, trying to convince him.

They were outside Odate Ryokan, and Shiori's phone was dead. She didn't want to go in to ask for Yoko to lend her some money, wanting to avoid encountering Yoko's grandmother. Nanami thought that was foolish and refused to help. Gojo was behind a wall of girls fawning over him and heard nothing of the conversation.

"I'm listening." He said.

"You just have to go inside and let her know 'her friend' is outsi-"

The hotel's door opened, and Yoko came out. "Shiori! I thought I heard your voice!" She said, as she hugged her friend.

"Yoko! Hi! I need to borrow some money!" She exclaimed, hugging Yoko back.

"Again?! And also, you're terrible, at least ask me how I'm doing first!" Yoko replied, somewhat offended.

"I'll pay you back, I promise!" Shiori said, with a wide smile on her face.

"Oh, I have heard that so many times before..." Yoko replied. She finally noticed Nanami was there. "Oh, hey! I'm so sorry for what happened here at the hotel."

"I have recovered fully." He answered.

"Well... Where are you staying?! We can pay for any hotel in the area. Please, accept it as our apology."

Nanami pointed at Shiori. "At her house."

"What?!" Yoko said, incredulous, as she thought he would only be getting treatment for his wounds and wait for his colleague there. She then turned her face into a mischievous smile and approached Shiori. "So, he is sleeping at your house?"

"I'll slap you." Shiori retorted, annoyed.

Yoko chuckled. "Just teasing you." She gave Shiori a little forehead flick.

"Hey, how about you pay me for his stay at my house?"

"Never gonna happen." Yoko said. Shiori had no talent for money making. "Uh, and what about him?" Yoko said, pointing to Gojo, that was still getting fawned over. The girl screaming around was loud.

"Hey, pretty boy, come over!" Shiori yelled. "Let's go grab something to eat."

Satoru waved, as if he was saying goodbye to his loyal fans, and moved over to meet them. The group of girls left disappointed. "So, what are we eating? I'm starving!"

"Well, there is a great bakery just around the corner that serves amazing options for breakfast!" Yoko replied. "Should we go there?"

"About that..." Shiori replied, grabbing her empty wallet.

Yoko sighed. "Fine, I'm paying for you. But only you!"

"It's ok! Pretty boy and stalker guy can foot their own bill!" Shiori said smiling, while pointing to Gojo and Nanami.

"Please, stop calling me that." Nanami said.

"Stalker?" Yoko asked, puzzled.

"Well, I can start calling you 'side bangs' if you would prefer." Shiori retorted jokingly.

"I would not." Nanami responded, irritated.

"So 'stalker' it is!" She concluded, grinning widely.

Gojo and Yoko were at a loss for what was happening.

They made their way into another restaurant, which had similar features as the previous one Shiori and Nanami had been at. They all sat at the table and placed their orders.

"So, are you two private investigators?" Yoko asked.

"Yes, they are." Shiori replied.

Yoko looked at Nanami, seemingly puzzled. "Aren't you a little too young to be investigating people dying? Also, I thought these people died because they were bitten by a venomous animal. What is the investigation?" Yoko was a very curious person, and never really thought much before speaking. It was a family trait.

"He's... The intern." Shiori answered.

"That's right! He's my promising intern looking for a position at my private investigation business." Gojo answered, putting his arm over Nanami's shoulders with a smirk on his face. Nanami sighed.

"Oh, I see." Yoko answered. "But why are private investigators looking into this, anyway?"

"One of the deceased's widowers asked us to see if there was any foul play." Nanami promptly made up on the spot. Gojo and Shiori were impressed.

"Oh. And there was?"

"We unfortunately can't disclose that information." He answered.

"Hey, Yoko, stop interrogating them." Shiori said, smiling uncomfortably. "Their work seems so stressful already, how about we talk about something else, shall we?"

Yoko was disappointed, but nodded. "It's just that nothing interesting ever happens here!"

"Yoko, 9 people died." Shiori said, stunned.

"That wasn't interesting, that was terrifying. Having private investigators around, however, is something interesting." Yoko started pouting.

"Yoko, nothing interesting happens to you because you're still in Odate working for your family with that old hag on your case." Shiori said as their food arrived. Yoko was frowning and seemed slightly offended, but knew her friend was right.

Gojo had ordered an assortment of sweets, meanwhile Nanami ordered his classic deli sandwich. Shiori and Yoko both ordered a bread basket with different types of toppings to put on. Shiori did her previous 'mix absolutely everything you can', taking a spoonful out of each topping, putting it over some toasts in a profane way and began eating the desecrated bread, eliciting the same appalled look from everyone at the table. How can she taste anything?

With her mouth full, Shiori started speaking again. "And Odate is boring, anyway. After Shiro is back, I'm going to travel. I've never been to the beach!"

"What? Noshiro is very close, like an hour and a half away from here." Gojo replied, a little incredulous.

"I know! It's just that..." Shiori sighed, embarrassed. "I'm always broke." She smiled as Yoko facepalmed.

"Shiori, why are you still in Odate?" Yoko asked. "Anyway, at least something exciting happened to you! You're fostering two good-looking men in your house."

Shiori nearly gagged. "Yoko, what the hell?!" Gojo was very pleased with himself behind his glasses, and Nanami awkwardly moved around in his seat while looking away, nearly blushing. She really had no filter.

"What?!" Yoko protested.

Shiori sighed. "Yoko, it’s not appropriate to comment on someone’s appearance to their face." She replied.

“I see no problem if it’s a compliment.” Yoko retorted, crossing her arms and lifting an eyebrow as she looked at the guys. Gojo was even more pleased, and Nanami felt even more embarrassed.

Shiori sighed yet again, and decided not to address that. "And I'm only waiting for Shiro to come back. I know he will."

Yoko looked at her with a hint of concern in her face as they all started to eat.

***

"So, what do you think we should say? The truth?" Shiori asked, as she accompanied Gojo to Ayako's house. Nanami went to see how the situation was at Miyuki's house. They got a call from Ijichi shortly after breakfast, who gave them their locations.

"Whatever will make her let us in and help." He responded. "Don't you know these people?"

"I had so many relatives. These two particularly, I don't remember, since I was very young when I stopped having any relationship with the family. My brother and I just received some financial aid from an aunt that died around 2 years ago. They might know who I am, though." She shrugged. "Even if we don't get to do anything, I believe we should tell them they're in danger and that they should go to the police for protection or something."

"Maybe, maybe not." Gojo replied.

"Why is that?" Shiori asked.

"The curse user. He's killing these people and clearly doesn't have much of an issue invading enclosed spaces. He might even be using his shikigami for that."

"I see. What do we do, then?"

"We kick his ass and take him to Jujutsu High. Or kill him." He answered. Gojo had that same menacing aura as he said that, even though his face was covered with a frivolous smile. This guy must be monstrously powerful, Shiori thought.

"And about the cursed object thing..." He started saying.

"Rescue ladies first. Find my brother second. Every information you could hope for third." She replied, fearing for her physical integrity as she did. The world was definitely lucky this guy wasn't a genocidal maniac.

He just sighed and answered "Fine." Gojo thought for a moment. "That girl, Yoko, is she a close friend?"

"Yes. She's actually my best and only friend." Shiori responded. "We've been friends since middle school, when kids used to bully me and my brother because of my family. Yoko stood up for me." She said, smiling to herself.

"I see." He answered, reminiscing his own school life and most recent events for a moment. Satoru sighed silently.

"She has a lifelong crush on my brother, even if her comments about you and Nanami didn't make it seem like it." Shiori chuckled. "Those two are really something."

Gojo laughed softly. "Your friend is definitely a little loony." He then changed his tone to something more serious. "Shiori, what will you do if your brother never comes back?" Gojo asked, looking at her directly.

"He will come back." She answered straight-up. Even if Shiori was saying that, though, she had said that so many times it started to sound fake.

"You don't know that. What if you're stuck here forever, always holding onto people who left, when you could be doing something better with your life and your abilities?"

Shiori was silent. She knew exactly why she never left Odate, or her parents' house, for that matter, even when all of her uncles, aunts, cousins and such were going away to live their lives in other places all throughout Japan.

As they got to the door to knock, they saw the lock was bust open.

"Shit!" Shiori exclaimed.

They both bolted inside, and saw a woman with long black hair lying on the ground over a puddle of blood. Beside her, was the already familiar wooden box, completely empty. Shiori crouched beside her to check her pulse. There were cursed energy remains all over, and some holes in the walls around, covered with a thick black corrosive substance — the same type Shiori's grenades would leave behind.

"Gojo, she's still alive!"

When she rolled the woman's body, it was possible to see that Ayako had no bite marks on either wrist, but a deep cut in her torso area, which had just barely missed her internal organs. Shiori turned her with the stomach area up, so the blood would stop leaking to the floor, and started trying to wake her up. The woman wasn't moving.

"You, go after the one who did this!" She shouted. "I'll take care of her and call an ambulance. Go!"

Satoru ran outside and focused on trying to find someone, but the surrounding area was already empty. Nothing, not even cursed energy traces for him to follow. Given how they found Ayako, the curse user didn't use his technique this time around. He went back inside the woman's house, and saw that Shiori had already packed her wounds with some gauze she found. She was applying pressure and had the woman's blood all over her coat.

The lady started to wake up, just barely.

"Ms. Ayako, stay with me. Stay awake!" Shiori shouted.

"Hm... Who, Itsuki?" Ayako was slowly coming back to her senses.

"No, it's Shiori."

"You... Itsuki's daughter?"

"Yes! Good to see you're awake. Stay with me." Shiori was still keeping pressure on the wounds.

"Who did this?" Shiori asked.

"Sh… Shogo…"

Shiori tensed up immediately. "Shit." She looked at Gojo. "Call Nanami."

***

Nanami knocked on Miyuki's door, and the woman promptly answered. Shiori had instructed him to use her parents' name if necessary, or even her own, to gain the woman's trust in order to help her.

"Hello, how can I help you?" she asked.

"Hello, Ms. Miyuki. My name is Nanami Kento, and I'd like to talk to you about something regarding Yamada Itsuki."

She got visibly tense and stared at him for a few moments.

"Why?"

"Her daughter, Shiori, asked me to come and see if you were fine." He replied. "And you might be in danger. You probably know about the recent deaths occurring in Odate."

She was still very unsure about opening her door and letting him in.

Nanami's phone rang. He answered, it was Gojo.

"Gojo, I just got here at Ms. Miyuki's house."

"Tell her she is in danger, and that the culprit's name is Yamada Shogo. Ayako was hurt pretty badly and was nearly dead when we arrived here." He replied.

Nanami stared at Ms. Miyuki. "Do you know an individual by the name Yamada Shogo?"

She widened her eyes. "Yes, I do."

"Apparently, he just attacked Yamada Ayako. Do you know her?"

Miyuki's face was hard to read, but she seemed to be... angry? "Yes, I do." She inhaled deeply and closed the door. Nanami called out to her, and she simply screamed from inside the house for him to leave her alone. He sighed.

"Gojo, please ask Shiori to come." Nanami said on the phone.

"She is holding the woman in one piece here." Gojo replied.

"Hey, you just have to apply pressure. Come here!" Shiori yelled at Gojo. She grabbed the phone and started talking. "Tell me, what is going on there? Is everything ok?"

"For now, yes, but she didn't let me in. I believe it would be better if you sorted this out with your relative."

"Ok, I'll be there soon." She replied.

"What? What do I do here then?!" Gojo asked on the other side.

"Just keep applying pressure until the ambulance arrives so she doesn't bleed out! Have you never had any basic first aid training in your life, and you're a jujutsu sorcerer?!" Shiori yelled, incredulous.

"I've never had to learn that! That is not what I do, I fight and use reverse cursed technique on myself!" Said the most powerful jujutsu sorcerer of our era.

"Well, just do something about it! Nanami, I'm on my way right now." She said as she hung up the phone. Shiori then removed her coat and left it covering Ayako's legs, trying to provide some warmth. "You will be fine, okay? I'm leaving now, but I already called an ambulance." Shiori said beside Ayako.

As she was getting up, Ayako grabbed the end of Shiori's sleeve. "You're... Itsuki's daughter?"

"Yes, I am."

"Be... careful." Ayako said.

Shiori and Gojo looked at each other, and she seemed concerned. Ayako was drifting in and out of consciousness. Shiori finally made her way out of the door.

***

"Well, this is bad." Miyuki said as she lit up a cigarette. She opened the door as soon as Shiori got there and told her everything Nanami said was true.

"You're really in danger, Miyuki." Shiori said. "We need to get you out of here as soon as possible."

Miyuki was a woman in her early 40s, with the same black hair and green eyes that Shiori had — there was a clear family resemblance. She got up, went inside her bedroom, and came out holding the same wooden box the other Yamadas had. She handed it to Shiori. "Please, take this and leave."

"Miyuki, you're not listening. If you stay, you will die, having this around or not!"

"I have my unresolved business with Shogo, though." She answered, furious. "How does he know all that, anyway? Everyone that he has to go after?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it matters." Shiori replied. "What unresolved business?"

"Do you know why he was cast out from the family?" Miyuki asked.

"No."

"Well, then. Let me tell you." She inhaled deeply. "Well, the Yamada family and the Jujutsu Society run by Tengen are not on good terms. That is because a member of the golden clans got our family's leader killed centuries ago, and Tengen thought it'd be better to just let it go instead of taking action and punishing someone. So you can imagine the disappointment we felt when Shogo was working alongside them. Worse, retrieving our cursed objects for them, right under our noses!"

Shiori and Nanami were silent, taking in the relevance of all that just had been said.

"Well, that's not all of it, though. He relayed the information about the veil realm to those little shits. So, we cast him out and had to disband the entire family." Miyuki looked at Shiori and sighed. "I never got the chance to tell you, but I'm truly sorry for your parents leaving."

"Veil realm?" Nanami asked.

Shiori was taken aback. Clearly, her parents left to protect her and her brother, as well the cursed object Miyuki had just mentioned. She took a few moments to ground herself back to the conversation after hearing everything Miyuki told them. "Yes." Shiori said. There was not much of a leverage anymore. "Veil realm."

Miyuki started explaining. "It's a special grade object that has infinite space for storage of curses and cursed objects once you open it, but, to open it, you need 15 different keys. We have been passing them down generation after generation." She pointed to the box. "Mine is in there. We all take a binding vow to give them to our first child as soon as they are born, just to be sure it is kept within the family."

"I know." Shiori answered. She pulled her own key from inside her clothing. "I keep mine with me all the time."

"Where?" Miyuki asked.

Shiori blushed. "None of your business." She sighed. "And there is no changing your mind?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"We can use this to our advantage, then." Nanami said. Shiori looked at him, incredulous, as she realized what he meant by that.

"You can't possibly be suggesting using her as bait!" Shiori said angrily, looking at him.

"That is not a bad idea, actually." Miyuki said. "And I can hold my own pretty well. I have our inherited cursed technique, melt grenade."

" Me too." Shiori answered. "But this is still a bad idea."

"Ms. Miyuki, we're in the middle of a residential area. You can't use that very effectively to defend yourself without collateral damage or attracting too much attention." Nanami replied. Ayako clearly had tried and failed miserably.

"Oh, true." She replied. "What do you suggest, then?"

"Just come to my house. We can sort this out there. And when he comes, we will be ready." Shiori said. She looked at Nanami. "What do you think?"

"It's a plan." He replied.

End notes:

To avoid postponing posting this one, I just decided to not proofread it to exhaustion. It is written, it is here, and if it has anything poorly written, I'm sorry, but I won't be going back to fix it anytime soon 😅

5 notes · View notes

tsukimefuku · 11 months ago

Text

❅ Sand and Snow | Chapter 2

ALL CHAPTERS HERE | PREVIOUS CHAPTER HERE.

At the city of Odate, in Akita, there have been multiple deaths in the past few weeks. The first-grade sorcerer Nanami Kento is sent out to investigate the snowy city, not knowing that it would be his last mission as a Jujutsu High student.

Why Nanami left Jujutsu High to become a 9/5 corporate slave.

Tags: Murder/mystery, canon typical violence, POV Nanami, Post Star-plasma Vessel Arc, Canon compliant, Angst but I'm not Gege

Sorry it took so long for me to update this. Things have been hectic around here. Hope you guys like it :)

WC: 3.7K | on AO3 here

07:52 PM

Nakamura Hiroshi, married man, 39 years old. Found dead in an alley behind the office building he worked in, with purple lips and signs of asphyxia. The body, already covered and waiting for the coroner, had no evident signs of violence. The police found just a cigarette pack in one of the pockets.

The scene had already been isolated, and it was surrounded by police officers and curious citizens. When Nanami got there, he promptly searched for the officer in charge — it was Satoshi Inoue.

"Sir, please step back." officer Inoue said.

"I'm Nanami Kento." he answered, showing his ID. "You must've received a call of some sort."

"A call? For what? A seventeen-year old?!" The officer replied, getting impatient. The man was clearly under a great amount of stress, and seemed ready to have a heart attack with beads of sweat on his forehead, even in the cold weather.

Before Nanami could answer, though, the station radioed the officer. He received orders for letting Nanami in the vicinity to look around. Angrily, he lifted the tape and signaled Nanami to come in. "You better not fuss anything around".

"I won't." he replied. "Who was the victim?"

Inoue grunted something to himself before responding. "Nakamura Hiroshi, an office worker, almost in his 40s. Had a wife. Death by asphyxia, it seems, just like the others." The officer gave a big sigh and went into a pensive state, scratching his head. From his demeanor, it was clear these deaths were taking a toll on the police. "I bet they'll probably have the same findings from the other deaths."

"What were those?" Nanami questioned.

"Asphyxia from intoxication. Venom unknown, we couldn't identify it even after consulting multiple databases."

"I see." Nanami took a closer look over the body, which had a plastic like black cover all over it. He could barely make the body's shape underneath it. Given that they were surrounded by people, and out of respect for the deceased, Nanami chose not to examine the body there, something he could do later. Nanami decided to simply look for cursed energy vestiges. There were many all around the body, the walls and over the metal back door that led inside the building.

"I'm going inside." Nanami said, and before the officer could answer anything in protest, he was already following the cursed energy trail all the way into Hiroshi's office, on the opposite side of the building.

Inside the victim's office, he initially found nothing out of the ordinary. The man's computer was still on, greeting anyone that saw it with a locked screen. There were bookshelves around, a wooden table, and an office chair.

While walking around the room searching for some clues, Nanami stepped on something. Looking over, he saw a small wooden box on the floor. It seemed old, and had some flourish engravings all around.

What is this?

When he took it in his hands and opened it, the box was empty, but had cursed energy prints all over it. Another cursed object?

Before he could arrive at any sort of conclusion, Nanami heard a loud thump coming from the outside of the building. He ran towards the window, and saw a tall man that had a balaclava covering his entire head and an all black outfit.

"Hey, you!" Nanami shouted.

The man looked up and started running. Since this was only the first floor, he knew he could jump out of the window and start chasing the man. Nanami debated if he should alert the police officers, but if this was a cursed technique user able to poison his victims, he would probably just be putting non-sorcerers in danger.

Nanami jumped out and made a run for it, staying right behind the man. The chase ensued for some blocks, and the man was considerably fast. He ran into a street, promptly followed by Nanami. The man had jumped over a fence in a residential area, and bolted through a yard, towards another street, where an already running motorcycle was awaiting. It was black, and had no license plate.

Dammit.

The man got on top of the motorcycle and sped off, leaving Nanami grasping for air in the cold. After catching a few breaths, he pulled out his phone and called Yaga.

"Principal Yaga, we may have a problem."

"What is it?"

"We may be dealing with more than just a curse user killing people at random. There was indication that this person stole a cursed object from the victim after killing him."

The phone was silent for a moment.

"I see."

Nanami never thought he'd find himself in this situation, but flashbacks of the last mission he went on with Haibara started to flare up in his mind. His breathing grew heavy.

"When is Gojo coming?"

Another pause.

"I don't know, Nanami. It could be tomorrow, it could be a few days from now. Keep an eye out."

Nanami simply ended the call, without saying anything. This was bad news, as he was taken by surprise with unexpected new information about the case that might make it that much more dangerous. Nanami tried calling Gojo, and it went straight to voicemail.

***

When he got back to the hotel, Yoko had just come in to pick up some things she forgot when she left her shift earlier that day. When she saw him, an expression of relief came over her face.

"Hey! Glad to see you're alright." she said. "Another one, have you heard?"

"I have. Did you know him?"

"Who? The guy? No. Not personally, anyway." she replied. Yoko was clearly in a hurry, looking at her watch. Nanami decided not to press the matter, and wished her a good night.

"It will be, I'm seeing a friend tonight!" she said, before stepping out on the street. It was snowing.

Nanami made his way to the elevator, and felt a sense of anger build up inside him. Did Jujutsu High once again send him on a mission suited for a higher-grade sorcerer? Were they trying to get him killed again? Haibara's death wasn't enough?

He tried calling Gojo again, but to no avail.

***

The next morning, Nanami woke up even more tired than he was when he went to sleep. After getting up and brushing his teeth, he looked at his phone. There were some texts from Gojo.

GS: Na. Na. Min! Missing me much, eh?

Nanami got instantly irritated. When dealing with Satoru, there was no peace in place, just pure and simple annoyance wrapped in a pretty bow of white hair and blue eyes. He then proceeded to read the rest of the messages.

GS: I'm wrapping up things here, and will be there tomorrow.

GS: Hey

GS: Hey!

GS: Nanamiiiiin, could you get some hibari senbei cookies from the

Nanami did not finish reading the text messages from Gojo.

He called Yaga, and let him know Gojo informed that he would be at Odate the next day.

"Are you ok?" Yaga asked. "I've never seen you anticipating Gojo's arrival."

"I am." Nanami replied.

He did not know if this call could be heard or recorded, given that he was using Jujutsu High's phone. Because of that, Nanami simply decided to keep that conversation to a minimum. He already said things about the cursed technique user and cursed objects the day prior, which were things he was bound to discover during the mission. It was not a good idea to disclose he believed this mission had even more to it — demanding a higher grade sorcerer, for that matter. "I just believe sorting this out will be faster and easier with Gojo here."

"Fine, so we'll wait." Yaga said, as he hung up the phone.

He got ready and went downstairs, pondering what to do next. Given that he was instructed by principal Yaga to go and watch over Mrs. Shiori, Nanami figured that her house would be his next destination, before he investigated Nakamura's death further.

However, as Nanami was crossing the street, he was surprised to see her beside a tent, selling plants. Business was slow, and most people were diverting their path in order to not walk close to Shiori or her tent. She saw him and waved, greeting him as he got closer.

"Hey, stranger! Nanami, right? No guns today, just plants." she said, smiling.

"Well, you shouldn't carry a firearm around the city, near schools and other sorts of similar establishments."

"Man, you have zero sense of humor." Shiori sighed. "Care to buy anything?" she retorted, pointing at some leaves.

"No. I was actually on my way to eat breakfast. There was none at the hotel."

"What hotel? If it is Odate Ryokan, I have a friend that works there, and she can give you a list of places that deliver breakfast for a nice price."

It was.

"I prefer to eat outside. Walking gives me time to clear my head."

She shrugged. "Whatever suits you, I guess." She pondered for a minute. "Do you want some company?"

"What?" He asked, slightly confused.

"For eating breakfast. Do. You. Want. Some. Company?" She asked again, pausing in between words, thinking Nanami must have some loose screws in his head or something.

He thought about it. Nanami could keep an eye on her without much of an effort, and maybe even get some more information on her and her family by chatting.

"I accept your offer."

She thought that was a very odd way of speaking, when he could simply have said something like "sure" or "yes". Well, nevermind, she thought to herself. "We can eat at my favorite place, it is just a few meters away."

"Will you leave your herbs unattended?" Nanami asked.

"No one is crazy enough to mess with the witch's herbs, eh?"

A passerby looked at Shiori scared, and hurried her pace. Shiori flipped her off. The woman started running.

"As I said, no one." she said, somewhat proudly.

They walked up to the restaurant and entered. It was well-lit, very warm and welcoming. The walls were a dark red tone, and the tables were made of dark wood with details in green and gold around the edges. They both ordered some coffee and food, and Shiori looked at Nanami, realizing he had bags under his eyes.

"Did you get any sleep, man?"

"Not much." He replied. "You said you had a friend that works at the hotel?"

"Yes! Her name is Yoko, she's my best friend. You must've met her, she works at the front desk. The hotel belongs to her family." She replied, leaning back on her chair. "She came to see me yesterday, worried about me after that guy died. Since I live in the woods alone and all. People believe now these could be animal bites or something like that."

Well, that is kind of convenient, Nanami thought. Her friendship with an employee at the hotel he was staying made his job concerning Shiori somewhat easier, as he could question Yoko for further information. It also explained why Yoko was so defensive about the Yamadas in the first place.

"And you, have any friends around with you during this trip?" She asked.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"To be fair, I'm just curious. Yoko is the only person in this whole town that isn't scared of me." Shiori sighed. "My brother left me to chase ghosts, and now I'm haunted by his absence, it seems. Just my luck."

The food came as they both received their coffees. Nanami had ordered two deli sandwiches with ham, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes in a baguette type of bread. Shiori had ordered salmon with miso soup and tamagoyaki. She then asked for a cup of hot water and started to drink her coffee.

"I used to go on these missions with a colleague." Nanami answered.

"Where is he?" She asked while stuffing the salmon inside the miso soup with the tamagoyaki altogether. It was unsightly.

"He died on a mission that was above our capacities at the time." This was the first time Nanami talked about this with a stranger.

"Oh."

They both went silent for a moment.

"I'm very sorry to hear that." Shiori said earnestly.

"It is a risk within our field. Dying on the job is not uncommon for a jujutsu sorcerer." It shouldn't be a risk, however, getting sent to a mission you're unprepared for, by people that should know better than you, he thought.

"That friend of yours, what was his name?"

"Haibara. He was an optimist and a naive person. More optimistic than me, definitely. He was the better half of the team." Nanami said as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Sometimes the best of us are gone too soon." Shiori answered. "My 'team'... About brains and muscles, I got the brains, my brother got the muscles. His heart is bigger than mine, definitely." The cup of hot water came, and she grabbed a few tea pouches from inside her purse and put them in. It had a pretty strong sweet, flowery and citric smell. Didn't seem to go with the concoction she conceived to eat.

"I see." Nanami answered, imagining her food and drinks combination must've tasted appalling.

"You know, I have thought about that. The sorcerer thing, since someone from your school came to talk to me and my brother years ago. We were 12 or 13, I believe."

"And at what conclusion did you arrive?"

"It would be ill-advised." Shiori answered, while sipping the tea she had just made. "For the Yamadas, twins are a bad omen. I was born with this cursed technique that completely drains me out after one or two uses per day, exploding nearly all energy I've got, and my brother... he's very strong and has a lot of cursed energy, but no innate technique, and is also not very sturdy, to say the least. It was a risk, you know... Well, you know." She sighed. "I haven't had news from him in months."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be, he is probably alright. But I don't think he found our parents."

"How did that happen? Your parents' disappearance."

Shiori tried to evoke the memories of her mother and father in her mind, but it was faint. "We were around 8 or 9 years old when they vanished. One day, when we woke up, they weren't home. Nothing was out of place except for some clothing that was missing. We called an aunt that lived nearby. She took us in for the following weeks while they were searching for our parents, but we never found any trace of them. It was like they dissolved into thin air".

"I see. I'm sorry." Nanami replied.

"It's ok. We learned to take care of each other, me and my brother. At least Itsuki and Ryota gave me a good excuse for abandonment issues." She smiled at the ironic joke, but behind that, seemed actually sad. "I don't know why my brother just had to go looking for them in the first place."

They finished their meal and paid for it before leaving the restaurant.

"Thank you for your company." she said as they were leaving. "I'll be here selling these up until noon, if you change your mind about buying something." Shiori grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote something down. "Here, take this." She gave the paper to Nanami, it contained a phone number. "This is my number. In case you don't feel like knocking, you can just call."

A customer appeared, and Shiori went to see what he wanted, as Nanami made his way to the police station. He pulled his phone out from his pocket and texted Ijichi, asking for more information about Shiori's parents and Nakamura, yesterday's victim.

***

As he got to the police station, Nanami looked for the officer he had met the day before. The officer was seated at his desk, probably typing out a report about Nakamura's death after the coroner examined the man.

"Officer Inoue, good morning."

Inoue lifted his gaze and met Nanami. Recognizing him, he signaled for Nanami to go inside the precinct. "Come in."

He walked across the police station towards Inoue, and sat down in front of him, waiting while the officer finished typing off. Inoue blocked his screen, rested his arms on the table and looked at Nanami, somewhat puzzled. "How can I help you?"

"I need to see the body." Easing himself into a conversation was not Nanami's forte.

"What?" Inoue seemed more puzzled than before. "You are aware that you are a minor, right?"

Nanami sighed. Well, this was going to be like that.

"Officer, I am aware. I'm currently researching these deaths for a teacher, and need to finish my research for that matter." He wasn't keen on lying, but there weren't many alternatives available. He knew that only the higher ups in police forces had access to information about curses and jujutsu sorcerers' work, so he figured lying was the better alternative to proceed.

The officer was at a loss for words.

"I can ask my school to contact the police department again, if needed."

Inoue, remembering the scolding he received the day prior, just shook his head and said, "No need. Here, come with me." This kid must've been rich or something, better not to mess around, he thought.

The officer welcomed Nanami and guided him towards the morgue. It was cold and very well lit — maybe a little too well —, as it was expected. The officer pulled the drawer containing Nakamura's body. "I will be here with you, though."

Nanami did not respond, and lowered the black plastic cover that laid above the body, down to the waist.

"It is completely inexplicable." Inoue said. "No match for the venom, yet again! Uncanny."

Nanami saw two small perforations on Nakamura's left wrist, and took note of that. It looked like something had bitten the man. His lips were completely purple, and his left hand seemed more pale than the rest of his body.

"Was there any indication to how long it took for him to asphyxiate after the venom was administered?"

"Not much. It could've been minutes or hours." The officer replied. "We're currently working with the hypothesis that these might be animal bites, a venomous one we're not familiar with yet. Like... a snake. Or something."

"In Odate? In the middle of the winter? Seems unlikely." Nanami responded.

"I never said it was a good hypothesis." Inoue said. "But we have to discard a homicide before clearing these bodies for the families."

The bite had traces of cursed energy. Police would probably never find the "animal" who did it. It could be a cursed spirit, or maybe even a shikigami, given that initially they thought it was the work of a curse user, which seemed most likely due to current events.

The station's phone rang, and Inoue saw himself alone at the police department that day. He looked at Nanami and said "no funny business", as he made his way out of the morgue to take the call. Nanami quickly grabbed a scalpel and made a small cut under Nakamura's arm, collecting some coagulated blood. He then used some saran wrap and paper towels that were available on the wall for covering/cleaning surfaces and wrapped it up, before putting it in his pocket.

Officer Inoue came back shortly after, and asked if Nanami needed anything else.

"I'm finished here. Thank you for your time and patience, Officer." Nanami said, before bowing.

"Yes... 'Patience'. Well, be careful out there, kid." Inoue replied, covering the body back without noticing anything different.

***

NK: Ijichi, do you have any new information?

KI: Well, the victim left a widow. Her name is Nakamura Ayano, she lives in Shimizu, near Nagaki river.

NK: What about the Yamadas?

KI: No. Nothing yet. Here's her address in Shimizu, if I have anything new, I'll let you know.

And that is where he was at right now. Nanami knocked on her door twice. It was a nice big gray house, with not so large windows and dark gray roof tiles. The woman opened the door, with puffy red eyes and a sad expression. "Good afternoon, can I help you?"

"Ms. Nakamura Ayano?"

"Yes. And you are?"

"Nanami Kento. Pleasure to meet you. I offer you my condolences."

She sniffed. "Thank you. How can I help you?"

"I am investigating your husband's death, madam, and I'd like to ask you some questions." He said, hoping for the best, and not a dead end endeavor.

"I don't understand," she said, "I told everything to that officer yesterday".

"I know," Nanami replied, "I just have some clarification questions, if you could assist me in making sense of things".

She pondered for a moment, and then opened the door, welcoming him in. She offered some tea, which Nanami accepted. It smelled awfully familiar. He also thought he might've seen some papers laying on top of the kitchen counter, but ignored that for the time being.

"Can you tell me about yesterday?" He asked.

"Well, I've said this to the officer already. We woke up, I made us breakfast, he went to work and then-" her voice cracked up a little as tears filled up her eyes, "he never came back."

"Did your husband have any enemies or anything of the sort?"

"Not that I'm aware of. I mean... He did change his name when we got married. I'm not from Odate, we met on a trip to Hokkaido. He said it would be better for him if he took my name, instead of me taking his."

"Why?"

"I don't know. He never did fully explain to me why, but it was something about his family coming with a reputation in the city. Here, let me show you."

She got up and walked towards the kitchen, fumbling the papers that were over the counter, drying a few tears that slid across her face for those split seconds. Ayano then came back and showed Nanami Mr. Nakamura's old documents.

It read Yamada Hiroshi.

End notes:

Some silly fun, I saw Akutami's song picks for his characters, and I thought I'd make such a list for my own original characters. Starting with Shiori, I chose the song "Setsuna" by Sunny Day Service for her. Felt like a good fit. Hope you like it.

#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu nanami #nanami kento #jjk nanami #kento nanami #jjk fanfic #sandandsnowchapter #gege when i catch you gege #jjk fanart #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #Spotify

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tsukimefuku · 9 months ago

Text

❅ Sand and Snow | Chapter 6

ALL CHAPTERS HERE | PREVIOUS CHAPTER HERE.

Why Nanami left Jujutsu High to become a 9/5 corporate slave.

Tags: Murder/mystery, canon typical violence, POV Nanami, Post Star-plasma Vessel Arc, Canon compliant, Angst but I'm not Gege

Gojo Satoru is still a little shit and we love him. They have an unexpected visitor.

WC: 2.3 K | on AO3 here.

They were all cramped up inside Yoko's car — Shiori, Miyuki and Nanami were in the backseat. Meanwhile, Gojo was comfortably put in the front seat, being the tallest one from the bunch, flipping cheerfully through the radio.

"How's everyone back there?" He asked, grinning widely, trying to pick a station. "The view from here is great!"

"Like canned fish." Nanami replied grunting, with his face nearly latched onto the side window.

“Hah. Funny.” Shiori replied, sarcastically. “You know, on second thought, we could've walked.” She said, as she was completely pressed in between Miyuki and Nanami. Since Shiori was the second-shortest person of the entourage aside from Yoko, they told her to ride in the middle. It was extremely uncomfortable, and she was starting to lose feeling in her legs.

"No way, you would've been walking for hours!" Yoko answered. "Also, you would be carrying groceries, and they're heavy!"

"You do live in the middle of nowhere." Nanami noted, matter-of-factly.

"How come you only have a sense of humor at the worst possible moments?" Shiori scoffed. "At least walking, I would be able to move. Or breathe." She tried adjusting her sitting position, but Nanami and Miyuki wouldn't budge at all and hissed in protest when she did.

"Stop being so overly dramatic, we're almost there." Yoko answered, smiling without a care in the world.

After talking to Miyuki, they all decided the best course of action would be going to Shiori's house in order to plan their next steps. Before they left, Shiori explained, a little ashamed, that she had absolutely no food in her house, to which her aunt promptly put many things she had in her fridge and pantry inside some bags. Gojo called them, informing Ayako had been taken to the hospital, and Shiori called Yoko, asking for a ride for them and Gojo as well. They had been in the car for 15 minutes that surely felt like an hour had gone by.

Around 10 minutes later, they arrived at the house, and as soon as the car stopped, Miyuki opened her door, throwing herself out of the little metal box and onto the free space filled with snow — or at least it felt like it. Shiori promptly followed suit, jumping out of the car like a prisoner that had just rediscovered freedom, and Nanami got out from his side of the back seat, inhaling deeply out of relief as he did. All three of them began stretching, and muttering thank God.

Gojo came out of the passenger seat and smiled, saying, "nice ride, huh?"

Shiori, Miyuki and Nanami looked at him with murderous intent.

"It definitely was! The sunset was beautiful!" Yoko answered, closing her door, completely clueless. They also glared at her. "What? What did I say?"

"Let's just get going. Please, open the trunk." Miyuki said, to which Yoko immediately did. She grabbed the bags with groceries and gave some of them to Gojo for him to carry. "Here you go." Miyuki sighed as she turned towards the house, being flooded with memories. "Wow. I haven't been here for such a long time. It hasn't changed."

"Yes. It hasn't." Shiori answered. "And you haven't." She stated, with clear resentment in her voice. Miyuki said nothing and started walking towards the house.

"Well, I guess this is it!" Yoko said. "I have to go back home to do some chores."

"Thank you for the ride." Nanami told her as he bowed.

"Oh, someone with manners! And you're all welcome." She replied, bowing back.

"Drive safe, okay?" Shiori said as she hugged Yoko, before Yoko got in her car and left.

***

"So... We just sit here and wait for the guy to come for us? That's it?" Shiori asked. They were all seated in the living room sipping tea as the food was on the stove, except for Gojo, who was on the ceiling guarding the house. Miyuki was preparing some curry for all of them.

Gojo could see some smoke far away from them, as it seemed like something might've been burning in the distance.

"Precisely." Nanami replied. "We already know he is after the keys for opening the veil realm. All we really need to do is wait for him to come get yours, then we ambush him."

Miyuki thought to herself for a moment. "Something is wrong, though."

"What?" Nanami asked.

"This house kind of used to be the HQ for the Yamadas. Why didn't Shogo come here in the first place? He must've known it was possible that Itsuki had left her key with her children." She said. They all pondered on the question for a moment, but no one could actually come up with an answer to that.

"While we don't know why he didn't come here first, he won't have a choice now." Nanami concluded. "Shogo seems really keen to recover every key, so with that in mind, logically, this should be his last destination."

"I guess." Shiori answered. "Well, then let's take turns watching the house and sleep down here."

"Yes. Let's do that." Miyuki answered.

Miyuki got up and walked towards the kitchen to check upon the food. Shiori laid down there on the couch, and sighed deeply.

"Hey, Nanami." She said, looking at the wall.

"What?" He asked, putting his tea cup away.

"Do you think we will be able to finally finish this in the next few days, once and for all?" Shiori asked.

"That would be the preferred outcome." Nanami replied while crossing his arms.

She seemed worried and quiet, which was somewhat out of character for her. "Your thinking is not very silent. What is it?" He asked.

"Well, my brother is still missing." Shiori closed her eyes and sighed. "You guys were my Hail Mary attempt at finding him, but if we stop Shogo now, I mean-"

"We will still help you." Nanami responded. She immediately opened her eyes and sat on the couch from her laying down position, looking at him with her eyes wide open, trying to figure out if she really heard what she thought she had heard. He then proceeded, "We agreed to assist you in finding your brother. Of course, we will first take Shogo to Tokyo, but given that your brother's disappearance may have something to do with cursed activity, it is not out of our reach looking into his disappearance."

She was at a complete loss for words and remained quiet for a few seconds.

Her whole life, Shiori could never count on anyone but her brother and Yoko — her parents abandoned her without a note, and relatives simply left them at that huge house to fend for themselves, even if one single aunt helped them financially. And now this person, who owed her nothing, was here committed to helping her find Shiro.

"You have no idea what that means to me. Thank you." Shiori said in a choked voice.

"This is simply my job." Nanami answered, matter-of-factly, as he reclined in his chair. She smiled.

"Sure." Shiori said. They were both silent for a while, with only Miyuki's pots and cutlery filling the sound in the room. Shiori then started to speak again. "Nanami, you're a good and decent person." She lifted her finger before he could say anything. "Just take the compliment."

She wasn't sure, but he seemed to have the corners of his mouth curving upwards, forming a miniscule smile as he looked away.

Suddenly, they heard a thump outside, and immediately looked through the window, seeing Gojo had descended from the ceiling and vanished right before their eyes, going in the woods' direction. Shiori and Miyuki started to go towards the door, but Nanami told them to stay inside as he left the house with his blunt blade, and ran after Gojo.

He started to make his way through the trees and snow. It was particularly cold, and the forest seemed the same all over, with not that many landmarks to guide him. Nanami was mainly following Gojo's cursed energy trail as fast as he could, but Gojo was much faster than him. After about 2 minutes running in the forest, Nanami got to where Gojo was standing.

In front of them stood a young man with black hair and green eyes that looked a lot like Shiori, and was completely covered in ashes. Furthermore, he had no coat on, his clothes were completely battered, and his shoes were just about to give in. He was shivering, holding his own arms against his chest, his lips starting to turn blue.

"What is your name?" Nanami asked.

"I need to come back..." The man answered in a hoarse voice. He was completely out of it, with his eyes barely open, wobbling from one side to the other. He seemed exhausted and ready to fall at any given moment. "Home. I need to come home."

"He did not answer any of my questions." Gojo told Nanami. "I felt his cursed energy approaching the house and thought he might be our culprit, but it doesn't seem like he is the one. He looks too young for that."

"My sister." The man's eyes widened. "Where is my sister?" He yelled.

Before asking him who his sister was, Nanami and Gojo realized it at the same time.

"Shiro, is that you?" Nanami asked.

The man looked at him. "How do you know my-" before he could finish his phrase, Shiro fainted. Well, this is an unexpected coincidence, Nanami thought to himself, staring surprised at the man stretched on the ground.

"Help me here." Nanami said as he was lifting Shiro up. Gojo grabbed the man and threw him over his shoulder.

"Tsk. The lady is a majo, after all." He grinned. "She definitely foretold the future there. Nobody expected this guy to come back except for her." Gojo said jokingly.

Nanami sighed. “It is not appropriate to joke about that right now, Gojo."

Gojo chuckled. "Who said I'm joking?" After that, they made their way back to the house.

When Nanami and Gojo entered the house carrying her brother, a knot immediately formed in Shiori's stomach. Yet, she promptly got a hold of her nerves — otherwise, she'd hyperventilate — and asked them to lay him over the table. At the present moment, she and Miyuki were assessing him to see if he had any sort of trauma that would require medical attention. Shiro didn't seem to have any sort of visible injuries other than a bump behind his head, but was still unconscious and cold.

Meanwhile, Gojo and Nanami were seated in another room having a conversation.

"So, what do you think about his sudden reappearance?" Nanami asked Gojo.

"This is definitely suspicious." Gojo responded. Nanami felt the same way. "I mean, it can't just be a coincidence, right? The man appeared exactly after we brought the two last targets to this house."

"It feels off for me, too." Nanami concluded.

"But how do we question her brother as a suspect without the situation going south?" Gojo said. From his conversations with her, he learned she was very protective of her brother, so if they posed any sort of harm to him, Shiori would probably try to fight back. Even though they would easily win, Gojo and Nanami didn't want to fight her at all if they could avoid it.

"We don't. Not right now. We'll have to at least wait for him to wake up, anyway." Nanami replied. "But I don't think we'll get to avert that conflict for long."

Satoru sighed. "You're probably right." he said, as they both glanced at Shiori and Miyuki. The women had cut his shirt open and were using a damp, warm cloth to clean Shiro of the ashes that were covering his body. Besides the ashes, his face and nearly every inch of his body was completely covered in grime and dirt. His shoes were ready to pop the soles, his pants did nothing to protect him from the cold, and he was in bad shape overall. They had to use warm water on him to bring his temperature back up slowly, because Shiro was ice-cold when Gojo and Nanami brought him in.

After they were finished cleaning him, at least superficially, Shiori put her cloth aside and sat on a chair, approaching Shiro's face.

"Hey, Shiro. Please, wake up." She said in a deeply worried tone. There was no answer. Shiori then put her hands on his face and tried not to panic. "Please, wake up. I beg of you." Her voice was but a whisper.

She then put her forehead right beside his, on the table, holding back the urge to cry. Shiori didn't know if she would actually cry, hurl, faint, or all of the above if she let herself go. There was not much they could do right now other than sit and wait.

"What did he say when you found him?" She asked suddenly, in a loud tone, slightly surprising everyone in the room.

"Not much. He seemed delirious." Nanami answered.

"He was looking for you." Gojo added.

That statement pulled on her heartstrings and made her chest ache.

"Shiro, for fuck's sake, you cannot die the minute you come back home. That would be ridiculous, and I'll kill you myself if you die a stupid death like that." Shiori said, her voice a mixture of anger, banter, and longing. "Please, chipmunk. Wake up." From her voice, she was just about to start bawling right there.

"H-Hey." a coarse male voice filled the room.

Everyone looked toward Shiro. Shiori's eyes immediately lit up, as she could hear his raspy and tired voice say, "hey, weasel. Long time no see." She smiled widely as he put his hand on her cheek and asked, "is there any water? I'm extremely thirsty."

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