simon being a silent guy, but his daughter being the most vibrant, babbly baby possible. that’s because she’s gone on you.
you talk too much, it’s been on every report card since you were in year 5. your teachers recommended an adhd assessment, but the waiting lists were too long and your parents couldn’t afford to go private. so you’ve been bouncing off the walls since you were in school.
you met simon outside a coffee shop, whilst going to your corporate job, and after he’d been discharged. he seemed hollow, too silent, and you’d spilled coffee all over him, forgetting you didn’t have an extra arm when you were adjusting your bag’s strap.
you’d apologised (eight times) offered him another coffee (he wanted it black) and then talked his ear off for the next three hours. he didn’t say much, just nodded or shook his head, but you spoke enough for the two of you.
you left with his number on a piece of tissue, and that was how it began.
now, holding violet in your arms as she babbles away, you love to play with her, speak to her in baby talk, she’s so intelligent. but when she babbles at simon, it’s hilarious, because he doesn’t know what to say.
she’s always making him smile though, and she can’t get enough of her dada anyway, so you count that as a win.
her hands bat the scars on his cheek, twisting the skin, but he just smiles again.
“dada scar.” she says, seriously, “hurt?”
he looks at you, and then back at her, “not anymore.”
“no more?” she asks, her eyes big as she presses her face into the cheek. “owie.”
“no more owie.” he whispers, before putting a kiss on her head. she starts to babble again about her new favourite colour (it’s green, today.) and his eyes catch yours.
Lately I’ve been getting a kick outta the idea of Ghost having a girlfriend that Johnny is painfully interested in (tale as old as time). But she a lil neurodivergent and selectively mute (edit; I originally labeled reader as non-verbal, but I was made aware mutism more accurately describes this!). She’s comfortable enough with Simon that she’ll talk to him when they’re alone, but she won’t say a word to Soap (she doesn’t talk to the other guys either, but you know that Johnny chooses to take it so damned personally).
The worst part is that Soap will say shit to her, and she’ll give Simon her little signal so he can bend down and she can talk to him so fucking quietly. It’s like they speak a different language and Simon is the interpreter. And it’s so infuriating to him because shit like this will happen.
“Ain’t you looking a right picture, bonnie— that dress new? Fits ye like a damned glove, sweetheart.”
You tug on Simon’s sleeve so he can lean down. Soap is rocking back and forth on his heels, anticipating an answer. He’s down so bad, he doesn’t even care that he’ll hear it from Simon’s lips and not yours. You whisper for what feels like minutes on end.
“She says thanks.”
“God damn, L.T.— you know she fuckin’ ‘ad to ‘ave said more than that!” He whines indignantly, Simon smirking. Simon knows all about his little crush, and chooses to let the lad suffer. His time will come when you’re ready.
This goes on and on for months on end— and you know what? It’s hard for Johnny to jerk off to the image of you wedged between him and Ghost when he has no idea what you sound like, moaning or otherwise. You can probably see him half hard in his jeans every time he heads home from a movie night with you and Simon.
“G’night, L.T. Night, hen.” Soap’s almost all the way down the walkway when he hears something almost inaudible over the ambient sounds of the night.
“Goodnight, Johnny.”
Now that’s gonna keep his fantasies fed for weeks.
(a self-indulgent imagining of them with a neurodivergent MC)
✨ xavier & overstimulation
(not the sex kind, sorry. but probably that too) Xavier completely understands when you get overwhelmed by existing. he gets the same feeling sometimes. you develop a code for it eventually, a combination of eye contact and eyebrow-raising that signals to the other person that you need out, whether from a Hunter’s Association party or a grocery store with way too many people. back at home, you’ve created a haven together- eye masks and soft blankets for him, headphones and fidgets for you, whatever makes you feel peaceful and calmed. the ceiling lamp is absolutely not allowed- Xavier drapes the walls with soft spheres of light or swirls a firefly-glow of sparks along the bed in a warm canopy.
🎨 rafayel & hyperfixations/jumping hobbies
you might as well consider collecting hobbies a hobby in itself. crochet needles and yarn, jigsaw puzzles, a wood burning setup, a console and video games- whatever brings you joy, Rafayel is enthusiastically behind it. he doesn’t judge you for wanting to learn a new art style out of the blue- he’ll sign up for a pottery class with you and buy you pounds of clay. he loves your passion and enthusiasm and matches it with his own. he loves being creative with you, in whatever form it happens to take that day. plus, with the amount he spends on paint and canvas, he’s not about to judge you for getting boxes of new supplies for something. he’s hyping you up every time! even if it isn’t an interest he shares, he’s happy you’re happy.
🩺 zayne & health anxiety/ocd
no matter how many times you ask for it, Zayne is happy to give you reassurance. yes, that chicken was cooked all the way. you have a weird flutter in your chest? of course he'll listen to your heart. he listens to every symptom, every worry with unfailing patience. after all, he wants to be your protector, your safest place- this is just one way to be that for you. he never makes you feel irrational for your fears, just steadily helps you face them each and every time. he doesn't judge your compulsions, but he offers his expertise whenever you ask- he lets you take your temperature ten times a day but also explains the normal range and when to actually worry.
💭 sylus & overthinking
okay hear me out, this goes both ways: he helps ground you when you’re overthinking negatively but also supports you when you’re being enthusiastic about literally anything. he’s all in- if you have a favorite tv show he’s watching every episode and reading every analysis of it so you can discuss. he’s fully invested in your office drama, your gossip, your made-up stories about the bird family that lives outside your apartment window. but he also soothes you when you spiral into worry or fear. he happily goes through what-if scenarios with you, most of them ending in him spectacularly defeating anything that could ever threaten you. he makes it clear over and over again that you’re completely safe with him, physically and emotionally.
❤️🩹 caleb & insecurity
his life mission to make you feel adored. he makes a point of worshipping every part of you, especially anything you consider a "flaw". nothing is too much or too little- you're perfect exactly as you are. if he overhears you complaining about your thick thighs on a call with Tara, he's going to be buried in them later that night, pressing kisses to every inch. he loves working out and training with you. if you want to get healthier he's gladly cooking fresh ingredients into nutritious meals and helping you build up a fun fitness routine- but if there's even a hint of it being because you don't like the way you look in the mirror? he's going to benchpress twice your body weight in front of you just to prove he can. or better yet, he flings you over his shoulder easily and brings you to the bedroom to "work on your confidence".
Pairing: Professor!Wanda Maximoff x Professor!Natasha Romanoff x Autistic!Fem!Student!Reader
Summary: After failing several assignments, and two exams you spiral into shame and anxiety, only to discover that Professors Maximoff and Romanoff are secretly fighting the university for your right to resit and succeed academically
You are a Forensic Pathology student on a scholarship that doesn’t rest nor sleep, and a campus employee with more uniforms than regular clothes.
It isn’t glamorous, it is simple, you like simple.
The MMA fighter — who you staple closed every now and then — is the polar opposite of simple.
He's also too persistent, too cocky and he keeps showing up even when you keep turning him down.
Who's giving in first?
Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University; Slow Burn; Slow Build; Slow Romance; Blood and Injury; Dead People; Eventual Smut; Angst; Harassment; Mahito is his own Warning; Sukuna is young and dumb; Jealousy; Bullying; Harassment; Idiots in love; sukuna is obsessed; we love obedient men
Ao3 link if you prefer!
art by avecot
(🥀) This arc is complete, 17 chapters.
Thank you all who commented, read, enjoyed, shared, etc! 💕
Ch1. How to staple a live exhibit
Ch2. How to Outlast a Grin Without Giving Ground
Ch3. How to Chart a Persistent Symptom
Ch4. How to Pronounce Time of Trust's Death
Ch5. How to Sit With Consequences
Ch6. How to Store Boundaries at 4ºC
Ch7. How to Chart Reckless in Ink
Ch8. How to Take a Hit and Not Waste It
Ch9. How to Guard What Isn’t Yours
Ch10. How to Want Out Loud Without Dropping the Clipboard
Ch11. How to Accidental Bench Sedation
Ch12. How to Hold Hair, Not Leverage
Ch13. How to Touch Without Ruining the Air
Ch14. How to Keep Your Hands Steady While Your Heart Learns a New Rhythm
Ch15. How to Be Soft in Public Without Dropping Your Edge
Ch16. How to Request Contact and Obtain Orders
Ch17. How to Win Boring, Pass Loud, and Celebrate Like an Idiot
Winter Break. How to Wear a Dress, Dance with a Wolf, and Decide You Want the Rest
𝒔ynopsis — the art of loving. skater!martin has a crush on one of his friend's friend and he's very upfront and obvious about it. What happens when he realises reader thinks he's been making fun of her this whole time?
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ✱ ⠀ skater!martin x neurodivergent!reader
warnings — I used my own hyperfixation for this but feel free. ⠀ to imagine yours instead ! they're awkward as hell! slowburn
GENSHIN CHARACTERS WITH A NEURODIVERGENT READER HEADCANONS
pairing(s) xiao, yoimiya, kaedehara kazuha, beidou, albedo, barbara, thoma, hu tao, zhongli, fischl x gn reader
content gn reader, bulleted hcs, can be read as romantic or platonic !
a/n rewrite of my genshin x autistic reader hcs i made like 2 years ago except this is supposed to be inclusive to more types of neurodivergence, but it's a bit difficult because theres so many of them😭
might make another part with other characters if ppl like this
XIAO 魈
due to his lack of socialization he has no perception of how people are "supposed to act", the adepti have their own etiquette of course, but when it comes to human standards of how people should act, he's lost.
even with adepti, they’re rather blunt and to the point, so regardless of what you are, when he sees you acting 'out of the ordinary' he has no clue thats something that not everyone does. to start he just thinks you’re naturally blunt and don’t play annoying mind games other mortals do or you’re just a regular adeptus. he doesn’t know that you do it because you're neurodivergent until you tell him
once you do, though, it doesn't change how he sees you at all
if anything, it probably makes him more comfortable with you?
don't like crowds or loud noises? he doesn't either, so all of your hangouts/ dates will consist of sitting together at the wangshu inn balcony, having a picnic on a mountaintop, or treks through more inhabited places in liyue that people never go to so that no one bothers the two of you. he's actually glad that your idea of a fun outing isn't dragging him into the middle of the bustling harbor
if you have a very monotone voice or speak very bluntly, he literally does the same thing so it doesn't bother him at all
struggle with social skills? you two can work on it together
in spaces like the harbor he aims to speak as little as possible but for you he doesn’t mind ordering things for you or speaking to someone when you’re anxious
struggle with coordination? xiao is very coordinated and precise as a result of his training, so if you struggle with this he offers to train you to help with your coordination skills. if you get injured due to it he sighs while treating your wounds, telling you to try to be more careful though he knows it isn't your fault
he's also very quick to catch you if you trip alot
mood swings? xiao experience bouts of irritation due to his karmic debt so he understands. hes a bit harsh with his words unintentionally, so if you're feeling emotional or angry he takes greater care to watch his mouth
you're nonverbal? he enjoys silence anyway and likes that he's able to spend time with you without the need to speak, however the fact that you probably won't be able to call out his name if something goes wrong worries him
he'd try to create some sort of alternative way of calling him when you need him because you can’t say his name out loud, potentially some sort of adepti amulet that is able to summon him, and if not him another adepti to protect you in his stead
xiao isn't a talker, so even if you're someone that rambles a lot whether it be about your hyperfixations or special interests or just how your day went, that still doesn't bother him and he enjoys having you dominate the conversation and not having to speak other than the occasional "mhm" to let you know that he's still listening
the sound of your voice is therapeutic to him, sometimes he'll literally just slump down next to you after a long day or when his karmic debt is especially bad and just ask you to talk, it's like it heals him
even if he doesn't understand your hyperfixations he listens 100%
to him, any of the things you're hyperfixated on are just another part of everyday life and he doesn't see the excitement about it, but because it makes you happy, hes happy (he'll never admit that though)
so overall nothing about you being neurodivergent makes him see you differently
the only thing that does irritate him is that if it makes you tardy often because you’re forgetful, since he values punctuality. if you’re late to train or whatever it is with him it actually irks him. to the point he literally becomes your personal alarm clock and teleports into your room or climbs through the window to wake you up or remind you of responsibilities. no matter how many times you tell him it’s odd as hell to just randomly materialize in people’s rooms unannounced
whenever he's about in liyue, if he sees something that reminds him of your hyperfixation or special interest or is related to it in any way being sold by a vendor or something, he gets it immediately (with what mora i'm not sure..) to give to you
he'll pass it off as something he just found while patrolling because he's too embarrassed to admit that he thought of you
when you tend to misplace objects, at first he finds it amusing watching you run around like a chicken without its head trying to find something that's very much in his field of vision, but once it starts to become an actual problem and you misplace important things like your wallet, keys, papers, etc he starts leaving notes around to help you, and if he sees something misplaced he'll put it where you can easily find it
whenever you get overstimulated or anxious he probably knows exactly how to deal with it and does so very quickly
people tend to think that just because he's emotionally constipated and socially awkward he wouldn't know how to deal with that sort of thing but i beg to differ
he literally fought in a war if not him then his comrades have had panic attacks or became overwhelmed so he knows how to deal with them
plus he's constantly haunted by karmic debt & trauma ? he's had his fair share of anxiety, so he's quick to notice when an attack is coming on and take you away from the trigger if theres a specific one
with stims, he'd be confused by your stims at first, asking you why you're doing that (not out of judgement but just curiosity on what you're doing)
if any of them involve hitting or hurting yourself in any way he'll try redirecting you, even telling you that you can hit him instead😭
(please don't do that though..)
he'll give you little trinkets like crystalfly cores & things he found in the wilderness for you to fidget with
his outfit has so many fandangles on it that are probably so fun to toy with, one day before he realized you enjoyed fidgeting with things, when sitting next to him you started mindlessly playing with his necklace and he was like ???
he actually has alot of repetitive behaviors himself and doesn't even realize they're 'stims'
like swinging his legs while sitting on the inn balcony, fidgeting with his sleeve, running his hands through his hair
he stops when he realizes what hes doing especially the first one (he gotta stay mysterious)
if you ever come to him upset because some mortal said something hurtful about you he doesn't even need a name, he immediately asks what they look like
for some reason, the next time you see that person they refuse to even look you in the eye...
NAGANOHARA YOIMIYA 長野原宵宮
amazing at taking care of other people, so she always knows what to do when it comes to you
yoimiya can easily read you and tell when you're having a hard time or when you're overwhelmed, you blink and there's suddenly a bunch of snacks and blankets in your lap before you could even ask
she's quick to bring you away from the source of your overstimulation if theres a particular cause, you don't even have time to react before shes dragging you away
"oh! lets go to that food stall over there, they have egg rolls!!! :3"
loves to stim with you
is such a great listener when you ramble about your hyperfixations/special interests, or when you need to vent about anything in general
goes out of her way to learn about your hyperfixation/special interest, and she'll run up to you and be like "guess what i just learned about __!!!"
unfortunately, if you're not good at keeping organized, thats the only thing where yoimiya is the wrong person to help you...
she's infamous for being reckless and unprepared, so you can just imagine how much chaos two disorganized people together is
"oops, looks like we forgot.." is something you now hear from her on a daily basis
the both of you never remember important plans until last minute and you're rushing to prepare, the both of you asking why the other didn't remind you😭
randomly showing up to your home unannounced to take you somewhere with absolutely no schedule or plan is also within her nature. you're either as spontaneous as she is, or the lack of preparation and scheduling drives you absolutely mad
if loud noises such as fireworks overwhelm you, she tries to create silent fireworks
that or she'll get you noise cancelling headphones so you can still enjoy her firework shows <3
owns an insane amount of plushies, fidget toys, and trinkets that she lends to you, a lot of them she found with the children she takes care of
super upbeat, so if you're high energy she matches you
yoimiya talks at a very fast pace, so it's either so healing to your attention span, or you need her to slow down because you have no idea what shes saying no inbetween
has adhd tbh
KAEDEHARA KAZUHA 楓原万葉
since kazuha is very observant, he probably already had some idea before you even told him
when he first met you, he noticed you said things in a rather blunt or harsh manner but figured it was unintentional and didn't take it to heart
he also noticed you had a lack of control over your volume
he noticed even more unusual or repetitive behaviors you had over time and eventually put two and two together
he doesn't treat you any different, other than accommodating you to make you more comfortable
if you ever stim around him, he doesn't point it out at all to not make you feel self conscious, and probably just starts mirroring whatever you're doing, not to mock you but to just do with you so that you don't feel alone
kazuha also has some stims of his own, like cracking his knuckles/joints and fidgeting with rings if he's wearing them
he doesn’t even get mad when you accidentally interrupt him or blurt things out when he's speaking, most of the time he’ll just let you talk or APOLOGIZE LIKE HE WAS THE ONE THAT INTERRUPTED YOU??
kazuha is another one with great coordination, being a samurai
he'd be very patient and understanding, he can immediately tell whenever you're getting overstimulated or anxious, and would be swift to remove you from the situation and bring you somewhere quieter
he wont touch you at all unless you want him to, knowing unnecessary contact will likely just make you more overwhelmed, he'll just guide you elsewhere
the crux fleet can be very rambunctious to say the least, so when you get overwhelmed by all the noise, he won't say anything to them as to not dampen their spirits, instead he'll take you away from all the fuss and bring you to his quarters where it's quieter
he'll distract you with poetry, or if you prefer, you both will just sit in silence for a bit or he'll guide you through breathing exercises until you calm down
after you calm down he'll go down to the galley to bring you a glass of water
if you become so overwhelmed that you have a verbal shutdown, he'll communicate with you in a way that doesn't require you to speak, asking you yes or no questions so you can just nod or shake your head, or giving you options using his hands, asking you "do you wish to leave, or stay?", one hand being to leave, one being to stay and you'd point to whichever one, and he'll speak to you very softly, almost whispering
his gentle voice ends up calming you down
kazuha is prone to sensory overload himself due to his heightened senses, so he completely understands & is super sweet about it
the two of you often disappear from the ship to recharge together, leaving the crew wondering where you ran off to now
the crew is always joking around and laughing, whenever you’re confused during dinner because you didn’t get a joke he always whispers the meaning so you aren’t left out and to not put you on the spot <3
soon enough you two are the ones with inside jokes referencing your interests or vocal stims and the crew are the ones having zero clue what you guys are talking about
with mood swings, kazuha will act accordingly as to not set you off
if you're more irritable, he'll be more laidback, and dry towards other people that approach you two, kind of brushing them off and cutting the conversation short quickly so that you don't get agitated
sometimes you get very confused with all his poetry and complicated language so he'll put it in simpler terms for you
while kazuha loves flowery, poetic metaphors, he also appreciates the blunt honesty you offer in return
kazuha helps you read any text you're struggling with without question, and in such a pretty voice too, he literally sounds so eloquent
kazuha is also a listener, so he'll listen to you ramble whenever & with a smile on his face
he'd compose some haiku about the way your eyes light up when you talk about something you're passionate about
when you zone out, unless its mid-conversation or during something important he'll just ask if you're alright and then let you be once he knows you're just daydreaming and it's nothing alarming
if there's something important going on he'll bring you back to the present by gently tapping your knee (or if you dont like being touched he'll just whisper your name)
when you get distracted by something during conversation he'll acknowledge whatever you got distracted by, then redirect you back to the conversation
"that butterfly is pretty, isn't it? you were telling me something?"
he doesn't even get angry if you get distracted while he's speaking to you, no matter how many times it happens
he'll just lightly smile and go, "no worries, would you like me to start over?"
kazuha has an outstanding memory, so if you're forgetful theres no need to worry, he's like your walking agenda book
whenever someone gets upset or hostile with you because of your tone of voice, he swiftly steps in to defend you, informing them that you have no control over it
"please, refrain from being so harsh towards them. i can assure you that is simply the way their voice sounds, they meant no harm by it."
if you dislike loud and crowded areas that'll never pose a problem because he prefers quiet, tranquil spots himself & you'll almost never find yourself somewhere crowded when with him
really the only time that happened was when he took you to see inazuma, his home town and the city started to get packed & all the noise created a cacophony in your ears
kazuha was quick to place his hands over your ears and bring you away from the city
"is this better? :)"
BEIDOU 北斗
beidou is one of the most understanding people about your neurodivergence
she has a designated area for you somewhere on the ship for when you get overwhelmed, with snacks, pillows, & blankets, and she'll leave you to relax but occasionally check up on you
"you okay? need anything? food? water?"
when you stim she treats it as a completely normal everyday occurrence (because it is, except for some reason people don’t think it is), and she wont even really react to what you’re doing. she doesn’t mind at all unless you’re hurting yourself, then she’ll have to stop you
if the crew is being too loud and it's bothering you, she orders all of them to shut it (ultimately she ends up being louder than all of them even were in the first place.. but its the thought that counts ????)
she can be a bit loud at times, so if loud noises cause you to become overstimulated she makes sure to control her volume for you. she will tone it down say sorry to you if she notices that you got startled
beidou has a no nonsense attitude so if you ever tell her about a crew member poking fun at you for your neurodivergence, before you even get the first sentence out they've already been tossed overboard
on numerous occasions you've had to stop her from punching some random person that said something rude about you while you two were in the harbor together
beidou has a very boisterous personality, but all the other crew members can't help but notice how her voice takes on a much softer tone when she's speaking to you
if you enjoy the feeling of something pressing on you, like weighted blankets, you honestly wont even need one what with the bone crushing hugs beidou gives you (if you're fine with physical touch)
if you're very clumsy and uncoordinated beidou will constantly be worried about you. with the rocking and swaying of the ship it's even easier for you to go off balance, so she keeps a close eye on you to make sure you don't somehow slip and fall overboard
her office is open for you whenever you need to unwind
ALBEDO KREIDEPRINZ
albedo 100% understands and relates to you
if you dislike socializing he's literally the exact same way, albedo finds socializing and relationships incredibly complicated and troublesome and doesn't even bother with them
he could never find you troublesome though
when you two DO end up in a situation where you have to interact with others … with you both finding emotions confusing you guys always end up offending at least one person because you said something that was taken the wrong way
out of ALL the things albedo helps you with, socializing is NOT one 😭
when your social batteries run out you go to eachother to recharge
whenever you rant about your hyperfixations or interests he literally takes notes ???
he does literal research on you, he picks up on your behavioral patterns and why you do what you do to better understand and assist you
when he sees you doing a certain thing he full on studies it or will question you about it so he can understand you, except when he does it, it feels like some sort of check up or doctors appointment 😭
if there's something you're struggling with in particular, he'll study and create ways to help you
he's knowledgeable in so many things, so whenever you're ranting about an interest he occasionally chips in his two cents and tells you more about it if its something he's familiar with, and if it isn't he learns about it and writes down his findings to then mention it in conversation with you, just to watch the way your eyes light up when he does
you both take turns ranting about your hyperfixations aswell, he'll ramble to you about some alchemy experiment or arithmetic while you smile and nod even if you have no clue what in teyvat he's talking about
he listens to you infodump as background noise while he works on an experiment
when you're overstimulated hes a bit lost on what to do at first, he'd try to say comforting words to you and if you'd prefer to be left alone, he does so while occasionally checking up on you
if the cause of your overstimulation is loud noises, most of albedo's time is spent in dragonspine where it's quiet so it wont be an issue
he gets alot of blankets with the textures you like, not only because it's cold in dragonspine but also for your comfort & for when you become overwhelmed
due to being a synthetic human albedo is pretty much immune to the cold, so when sucrose suddenly sees him frequently carrying no less than 50 pounds of blankets up to the lab at a time.. needless to say she's confused😭
he notices that you forget certain things so he encourages you to make some sort of to do list so that you don’t forget too much. he'll also try to remind you about certain things that you may have forgotten, or he’ll do the things you forgot to do for you
overall one of the best people regarding this because of his knowledge on different topics including these & his willingness to learn more about them to support you
BARBARA PEGG
barbara will absolutely sing or hum to you to calm you down whenever you’re stressed or overwhelmed
barbara owns a lot of plushies for the patients that she heals, if they're a little kid or have a bad injury and need something to distract them, and she gives them to you to squeeze or feel if you like the texture
shes sooo great at comforting you too, she always has the sweetest & motivating words to say
she's usually kind to everyone but does not hesitate to stand up for you if someone is being rude, while you cheer her on in the background <3
barbara is very fascinated when you talk about your hyperfixations or special interests, if it's something morbid she'll get freaked out 😭 but she won't judge you
holds private performances for you so that you can still hear her singing without getting overwhelmed by the crowd and noise
THOMA トーマ
the sweetest ever
thoma is so supportive of you, anything you require is handed to you on a silver platter the second you ask
he's the best chef, he makes you all your comfort and safe foods no matter how difficult or simple it is to prepare, and he makes sure to include lots of love into the dish
being an extrovert who's excellent at socializing, thoma helps you crawl out of your comfort zone & slowly become more comfortable interacting with people, and encourages you to make more friends (if that's something you want him to do)
if so, he's so proud of you when he sees you finally coming out of your shell and just watches you in admiration
it becomes difficult for you to stay organized and on top of everything, so a bunch of tasks and deadlines pile up on you, your room becomes a mess, you're forgetting to eat and drink water, and you become extremely overwhelmed. you enter your room one day to see it completely spotless, thoma having cleaned your entire room and taken care of everything for you without a word
he always reminds you to take care of yourself
immediately becomes serious when anyone tries to belittle you or disrespect you, it's actually a bit unsettling how quickly his friendly personality changes
thoma is quite busy with work but he tries hard to clear up his schedule for you
loves listening to you infodump while he works or cooks
HU TAO 胡桃
hu tao has become accustomed to being called and seen as “weird” or "creepy" by others for her personality & the things she does, so she relates to you a lot
loves stimming with you, jumps and spins around with you forever
she'll come up to you, and literally just hold her hands out as cue for you to take them and start spinning and jumping around in circles with her until you guys get dizzy and fall
although hu tao is usually silly and seemingly takes nothing seriously, she drops her playful act immediately and becomes so serious when you're overwhelmed so that she can help you
hu tao LOVES hearing you talk about your special interests or hyperfixations, even more so if it's something morbid, unlike barbara. hu tao loves everything spooky !!! she'll be asking you to tell her more and listens so intently
hu tao is fixated on the dead, vampires, ghosts, the afterlife, just everything scary so she rambles to you .. basically about dead people facts
she'll literally be infodumping to you about bodies with a smile on her face
on halloween if you celebrate, if your hyperfixation/special interest involves fictional characters she asks to dress up as them with you
surprisingly, hu tao is naturally very organized & has good memory. it's a skill she eventually developed as a result of her work, so she'll remember everything you need to do throughout the day and remind you when you forget, even creating a to do list for you if you wish
when you two are together it's just pure chaos, with your lack of social cues, and her just having no filter on her mouth..
the amount of times someone has gotten mad at you or hu tao because one or both of you said something out of pocket by accident is insane
she doesn't have any volume control either, her voice is so loud without her even realizing it because it's just her personality, so its either you speak really quiet while she's super loud, or you're both loud and it's so noisy when you guys are together
poor zhongli gets a headache whenever you guys talk to him😭😭
if you have a monotone voice you guys are like opposites attract, because her voice is so upbeat and animated
some people find it off putting, but she’s not judgmental and it doesn’t scare her away from you. when she first met you it actually made her want to know you more, like how she bothers xiao all the time ☠️
if anyone pokes fun at you she pranks them so hard they have nightmares for weeks
the moment she sees anyone being rude to you she's already plotting , the amount of times you've had to stop her from scaring someone that was rude to you to death is too many to count
she tells you not to listen to them and reassures you that ur perfect, she literally just adores u and doesn't care about what anyone wants to say <3
FISCHL
she's neurodivergent she's not fooling anyone
honestly prefers the fact that you're also neurodivergent because she gets along with you so much easier
maladaptive daydreaming, adhd, probably autism too she has the full package
99% of your conversations with fischl are a yap fest about your hyperfixations/special interests, both of you taking turns rambling
fischl is always monologuing about the fantasy books she reads, especially her favorite book, "Flowers for Princess Fischl", where her personality came from
she gets so flustered when you genuinely seem interested in the things she likes, and go along with her 'prinzessin' roleplay & just tell her how cool she is instead of calling her weird or seeing her differently
you're one of, if not the only ones that don't find the others interests or behaviors weird and just deeply understand eachother. the both of you just click and are inseparable
people may look at the both of you like you're strange, but it doesn't matter because you guys get eachother like no one else does
similarly to hu tao, fischl will ABSOLUTELY want to dress as characters from your hyperfixations/special interests. it literally doesn't even have to be halloween, this girl roleplays and dresses up every day of her life
if your interests dont involve characters, you're dressing as someone from one of her favorite fantasy stories no objections. you're doing the fancy talking aswell
just like yoimiya, fischl is also very forgetful so you cannot rely on her to remind you of things, she has to write down everything she needs to do for the day to remember
that voiceline where she left her clothes hanging and forgot to take them down and it started raining... yeah
since understanding others & what they mean isn't really your strong suit, especially when they constantly talk like they just jumped out of a fantasy novel, fischl may show more of her 'amy' side to you so that you don't get so confused and you can understand what she means better
you also have oz to translate, so it's actually no big deal
fischl learns to open up to you without being embarrassed about breaking character, she actually does so fairly quickly compared to her other peers like the traveler, or bennett. shes just never met someone she relates to so much
ZHONGLI 钟离
owning so many books, having extensive knowledge on many topics, living for so long having seen so many things theres a likely chance that zhongli understands a lot about being neurodivergent and he's so good at helping you. for things he doesn't know, he reads up on them
very respectful
like albedo, also a walking encyclopedia
the best to talk about hyperfixations and special interests with, he will literally sit down and listen to you talk for hours over some tea, with a smile on his face, asking you thoughtful questions and never rushing you
if one of your interests is history, it always leads to such a great conversation with zhongli since hes so well versed in it
if you have a stutter he's so patient while you speak, nodding and not missing a single word
when zhongli is the one going on about something, he never demands eye contact and knows you’re still listening regardless
when you're overstimulated, zhongli is quick to go through a list of things in his mind that he should do to help you, the first being brewing you some herbal tea to help you relax, and talking you down
the hot tea blended with soothing herbs, combined with his smooth voice does wonders to calm you down
if you don't like tea, he brings you something else that's warm. the heat helps to ground you in the moment
when you're overwhelmed by tasks, zhongli is more than happy to take some of the workload off of your back, especially if it it involves reading something. zhongli has no problem reading through whatever it is for you and summarizing everything, and he explains everything in such an easy way for you to understand, this also goes for when you're struggling to decipher some block of text
certain situations and topics are difficult for you to process, and zhongli is amazing at breaking it down for you
in a situation where another persons upset, more specifically at you, and you don't understand their complex emotions and why they feel that way, or maybe you don't even understand if they're upset at all, zhongli easily explains how they may be viewing everything and what they could be feeling and thinking, and gives you advice on how to solve it
zhongli is even good at analyzing your own emotions that you may not understand, and gives you tips on how you can navigate & regulate your feelings better
all while you struggle to get your thoughts into words, zhongli immediately understands what you mean and it's so refreshing to not have to say anything
this is especially refreshing if you're nonverbal, or if you have verbal shutdowns. zhongli can easily assess what your needs are, and even if he doesn't know automatically he figures it out through your body language or other means so you didn't even have to talk
if you like the feeling of hugs or are a touchy person, zhongli always opens his arms for you and isn't bothered by it at all
gets so internally mad when someone won't be considerate and patient with you, he doesn't show it but you can just feel it radiating off of him
A/N: salaryman!nanami x teacher!reader. i dont make the rules, this was a must. nanami has custody of yuji in this. also i changed my pfp, yippe
warnings: tried writing smth adorable, sweet, lots of fluff, tiny bit of angst, smut a the end (sorta).
IMAGE REFERENCE: Link to: Instagram, Oretsuu
It starts with curry.
Well. Technically, it starts with a glitter painting of a blonde man with a briefcase and some disturbingly realistic abs for a seven-year-old’s drawing.
But the curry stains come first.
And the glitter.
And then you.
*-*
Nanami Kento had not planned to fall in love. Certainly not at 3:24 PM on a humid Wednesday, standing in front of a tiny, cracked elementary school with its peeling paint and suspiciously leaning flagpole.
No, Nanami had planned to simply pick up his kid, accept the drawing with solemn gratitude, and return home to review Q3 sales reports with a glass of whiskey.
Instead, he found himself paralyzed, hand halfway in his pocket, blinking like he’d seen a curse materialize in the form of a woman who looked like she had walked out of a Ghibli movie and into his very, very tired heart.
You were beautiful in a way that should be illegal during daylight hours. Ethereal but grounded.
Like you read poetry over tea and could probably fix a flat tire without breaking a sweat. Your long, black skirt whispered around your ankles, and your cardigan—was it green? Olive? Sage? Who cared, it was soft-looking and elegant and made you look like the protagonist of a historical fantasy romance.
The kind where the prince never stood a chance.
Nanami stood no chance.
“NANAMIN!!!”
And then Yuji was gone, bolting across the courtyard with the enthusiasm of a golden retriever who had just spotted its owner after a year-long expedition to Antarctica.
“Yes,” Nanami replied, calm as ever, despite the absolute chaos buzzing in his chest.
Yuji flung a glitter-covered paper in his face.
“LOOK! I MADE YOU! I EVEN GOT YOUR TIE COLOR RIGHT!”
Indeed, the tie was yellow. There was also an unfortunate amount of glitter on his eyebrows now.
“Thank you, Yuji,” Nanami said, brushing off some of the glitter with the same dignity he used when confronting Grade 1 curses. “This is very… detailed.”
“He worked really hard on it,” said a new voice.
And then there was you.
Nanami looked up.
Up, because of course the universe would choose now to knock the breath clean out of his lungs.
You were smiling. Bright, genuine, sunshine-between-clouds smiling.
“Hi,” you said, offering your hand. “I’m Yuji’s new teacher.”
Nanami stared. Just for a beat too long.
He took it like it was going to shatter in his palm.
Your handshake was warm, confident. Your nails were painted a chipped gold. There was a faint ink stain on your palm.
You were real. Too real.
“Nanami Kento,” he managed. “I’m Yuji’s guardian.”
His voice. It rumbled like a cello note, deep and smooth and carefully measured.
Your brain short-circuited for exactly 2.5 seconds.
“Ah! Nanamin!” you said, laughing, eyes crinkling at the corners. “He’s always talking about you.”
Nanami blinked. “Oh?”
“Mmhm. Says you make the best pancakes and that your briefcase is actually a cursed tool.”
Yuji gasped dramatically. “You weren’t supposed to tell him that!”
“Oops,” you said, grinning at the boy before turning your attention back to Nanami.
He’s never been more envious of a glitter painting in his life.
“I just wanted to apologize,” you continued. “Yuji got a little excited during lunch. There was curry. And, uh, centrifugal force. Long story short, his shirt is in his bag. I hope it’s salvageable.”
Nanami blinked. “Centrifugal force?”
“He was spinning to show off his bento box.”
“I WAS SPINNING LIKE A BEYBLADE,” Yuji added helpfully.
“Right.” Nanami exhaled. “Thank you for taking care of him.”
“He’s a joy,” you said, absolutely and completely sincere.
Nanami could tell you meant it. He could also tell your earrings were shaped like little books. That you wore comfortable shoes because you were on your feet all day. That the ink smudge on your hand matched the color of the dry-erase marker clinging to the sleeve of your cardigan.
He noticed all of it. It was a problem.
The sky was the color of apricots as you handed him a trifold pamphlet.
“So, I know this is short notice, but we’re organizing a class field trip to the dinosaur museum next week,” you said, brushing a stray curl behind your ear. “Yuji mentioned you used to be an archeology major in college before you went into finance?”
Yuji nodded. “He knows ALL the dino names. EVEN THE ONES WITH THE REALLY LONG NAMES.”
“Would you be interested in chaperoning?” you asked, voice gentle but curious.
Nanami, who had not processed anything beyond “field trip” and “next week,” nodded.
You smiled.
The world tilted.
“Wonderful!” you beamed, handing him the pamphlet. “We’ll be leaving at 9:00 AM sharp. There’s a lunch break and a guided tour. I’ll put you on the group text.”
“Text,” Nanami echoed faintly.
“Thank you for volunteering!”
“Of course.”
Yuji beamed. “We’re gonna see the BARYONYX!”
Nanami had absolutely no idea what he’d just agreed to.
*-*
Later that night, Nanami sat in his apartment with a glass of whiskey in one hand and Yuji's glitter painting pinned on the fridge behind him.
He was trying very, very hard not to think about the way your cardigan had fluttered when you turned.
Or the little crease between your brows when you focused on talking to the children.
Or the way you seemed to glow, just a little, in the sunlight.
He failed.
Miserably.
Yuji appeared from the bathroom, wearing dinosaur pajamas and smelling like strawberry toothpaste.
"Nanamin," he said, flopping onto the couch beside him.
"Yes?"
"You like my teacher."
Nanami sipped his whiskey.
"Don’t be ridiculous."
"You blushed. Your ears did the pink thing."
"I did not."
"Did too."
Nanami sighed, tipping his head back against the couch.
He was doomed.
Utterly.
And it was only the first day of school.
*-*
The next morning, Gojo Satoru leaned across their shared booth at a café and said, “So. You’re blushing. Spill.”
“I don’t blush,” Nanami snapped.
“Yuji said you met his teacher. Said she looked like a pretty kung fu librarian.”
Nanami considered stabbing himself with the butter knife.
“What did you agree to?” Gojo asked, too delighted.
“A museum trip.”
“Oh my god,” Gojo cackled. “You got seduced by a cardigan. This is amazing.”
Nanami stabbed the butter.
*-*
The field trip starts with Nanami realizing he's the only man in a sea of volunteer mothers.
He feels it before he sees it — the polite tilts of heads, the way some of the moms size him up like an endangered species in khakis and good posture. He straightens instinctively.
Not that it matters. He came prepared.
And by “prepared,” he means Gojo called it a “Dilf Fit” and threatened to post it on Instagram if he didn’t wear it.
So here he is: beige cardigan, navy slacks (tailored, of course), glasses perched low on his nose, hair slightly tousled from the breeze. A look he’d call “functionally resigned with mild aesthetic intention.” But Gojo had cackled like a demon and said it screamed “emotionally available single dad with a tragic past.”
Nanami hates how right he might be.
Because then you walk in.
And your skirt—your skirt—is covered in hand-drawn, softly colored dinosaurs.
Brachiosaurus. Stegosaurus. Tiny little parasaurolophus curled in a spiral at the hem.
And you walk toward him.
“Oh no,” he mutters under his breath, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Yuji, who immediately squints up at him.
“Nanamin?”
“Nothing,” he says. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”
You’re waving, clipboard under one arm, your cardigan a soft lavender today, layered over a white blouse. And the boots. The same tiny-heeled, probably-ridiculously-comfortable boots you always wear.
But then the man himself showed up that morning, standing awkwardly near the museum entrance, a gentle expression that made him look like he’d just wandered off the set of a melancholic film about finding love in the quiet moments.
And—well.
You had not been prepared for him to be that attractive.
Which is saying something, because usually your brain does not clock this kind of thing so easily. Faces are hard. Emotions are harder. Subtext is a cursed language.
But something about Nanami made your neurons all scream in the same direction like an alarm: “ATTENTION. DILF IN CARDIGAN. WE REPEAT. HOT DAD DETECTED.”
So of course, like the absolute fool you are, you walked directly up to him.
“Nanami-san!” you say with a smile that could heal generational trauma. “Thanks for coming today. We really appreciate it.”
“My pleasure,” he replies, even as his brain screams ABORT MISSION SHE’S WEARING A SKIRT WITH DIPLODOCUSES ON IT THIS IS A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT.
You fall into step beside him, gesturing to the kids who are already pressing their faces to the glass doors of the Natural History Museum.
“I hope you brought earplugs,” you joke, “They get really excited around the animatronic T-Rex.”
“I used to major in archaeology,” he says, playing it off. “I’ve heard worse.”
“Oh right! Yuji said you were a ‘dinosaur nerd with cool bones.’ I wasn’t sure what that meant until now.”
“Cool bones,” he echoes blankly. “Nice skirt,” he adds. Then cleared his throat like it surprised him too. “Thematic.”
You grinned. “Dinosaurs spark joy.”
And then, gods help you, you curtsied. CURTSIED. LIKE A MEDIEVAL LIBRARIAN.
You were going to die. Right there on the concrete.
You laugh anyway, then immediately start calling for the kids to get into pairs. And for the next two hours, Nanami watches you navigate chaos with the grace of a wind chime in a storm — always moving, always calm, somehow both delicate and indestructible.
He helps organize the snack break and accidentally impresses a cluster of seven-year-olds with a spontaneous lecture on hadrosaurs.
“Oh my god,” you whisper after, “You just explained cretaceous herbivores to a bunch of second graders and they understood you. That’s... incredible.”
He clears his throat. “They were attentive.”
You lean a little closer, eyes wide. “Can you stay forever?”
He almost dies.
*-*
The museum garden is surprisingly peaceful for a place surrounded by life-sized skeletons. It smells like grass and sunscreen and fruit gummies. You’re sitting cross-legged on a bench under the shade, Hello Kitty bento box in your lap, smiling as Yuji trades a grape jelly for a rice cracker.
Nanami sits beside you.
His heart stops.
Because there, nestled in your pink, compartmentalized lunch box, are four — count them, four — dinosaur nuggets.
You catch his stare and follow his gaze.
Dinosaur. Nuggets.
You didn’t think twice when you packed them this morning, still half-asleep with your hair in a messy bun and your cardigan inside out. You just thought: “The kids’ll love it. Thematic. Funny.” And also: they were on sale.
But now there’s Nanami Kento. Sitting next to you. Looking like a walking Pinterest board labeled “Divorced Hot Professor Aesthetic,” and you’re holding up a stegosaurus-shaped nugget like it’s the world’s saddest romantic overture.
“…Is that a dinosaur-shaped chicken nugget?” he asks, voice dry but—maybe—you think you detect a hint of amusement?
You blink. Then grin. “Oh. Yeah. Stegosaurus. Or... maybe a weird horse?”
Nanami adjusts his glasses. “It’s definitely a stegosaurus.”
“Thank you,” you say, overly sincerely, as if he’s just confirmed your doctoral thesis. “I try to stay on theme.”
“I noticed.” His eyes flick down to your skirt.
Right. The skirt.
It’s ankle-length. It’s flowy. It’s covered in pastel-colored dinosaur silhouettes. And you wore it on purpose—because the kids would love it and because you’re a sucker for matching your outfit to your lesson plans and because dressing like a chaotic kindergarten Pinterest board gives you comfort.
And maybe a little because someone else might notice.
(He noticed.)
He tries something wild. Something reckless.
He flirts.
Sort of.
You sip juice from a thermos with tiny stars on it.
He tries: “It’s nice. Seeing someone so enthusiastic. You light up when you talk about things you love.”
You blink at him.
“Thanks! That’s really sweet. I try not to get too annoying.”
“You’re not annoying at all.”
You pause, looking genuinely touched. “Oh. Wow. Thank you, Nanami-san. That... means a lot.”
It hits him like a train: you didn’t realize he was flirting. Not even a little.
He is doomed.
You don’t notice the way he looks at you then—soft, curious. Like he’s trying to memorize the way your face lights up when you talk about weird science facts or how you wiggle your shoulders when you’re proud of a lesson plan. He notices everything about you, always has. The chipped gold nail polish. The way you organize your clipboards by color. The fact that you hum Studio Ghibli soundtracks under your breath when you think no one’s listening.
But you’re not listening now. Because Yuji is screaming somewhere in the sand pit.
“OH NO THE FOSSIL IS DEAD AGAIN—”
You sigh. “Time to supervise the excavation, I guess.”
*-*
Term One: The Simpening.
It gets worse.
Or better.
Depends who you ask.
Nanami picks up Yuji every single day, rain or shine, and every single day you say hi. You talk. About school. About Yuji’s drawings. About the latest picture book you found on carnivorous plants.
He brings an umbrella when it rains. Offers you his coffee when you’re yawning. Buys you a little dinosaur keychain because Yuji said you’d like it. (You do. You clip it to your lanyard.)
You think it’s just—friendly. That he’s just a Very Nice Man.
You have no idea that Nanami Kento is living in emotional agony. That he goes home and lays awake thinking about the way your eyes scrunch when you laugh. That he remembers every outfit you’ve worn this semester. That he writes mental poetry about your hair.
That he tries—so many times—to flirt.
“That color looks nice on you,” he says one day, casually.
“Thanks!” you say. “It has pockets!”
He dies a little.
“You always wear such thoughtful accessories,” he tries another time.
“Oh, I got them on clearance!”
Dead. Flatline.
Eventually, he gives up entirely and just... listens. Collects every detail like sacred fossils. He watches you talk to the kids with your whole heart, watches you make jokes with Gojo, sees how Yuji glows when you praise his coloring page.
He wonders—more often than he should—what it would be like if things were different. If he had more time. Less fear.
If he could reach out.
If you’d ever reach back.
*-*
The day you wore the book skirt, Nanami stopped breathing for twelve full seconds.
It wasn’t even that flashy—okay, maybe it was. It was one of those high-waisted, pleated midi skirts with actual book covers printed on it. Little classics: Anne of Green Gables, The Little Prince, The Secret Garden, even Dune of all things, curled near the hem like it was hiding from the sun. You’d paired it with a crisp white blouse and your usual boots, and you had a book clip in your hair. A little enamel one. He noticed it right away.
Of course he did.
Nanami Kento notices everything about you. *
It’s sort of his curse.
How you always carry three pens but only use one.
How you count your steps in sets of four when you’re anxious.
How your handwriting changes depending on what mood you’re in—print when you're focused, cursive when you’re tired.
He notices the way you talk to Yuji like he’s an equal, like his little heart and brain are important.
He notices how you tilt your head when you listen, as if you’re cataloguing everything.
How you always stop to look at the clouds before you unlock your car door.
Nanami also notices that today, your earrings are little open books.
He is—officially—losing his mind.
So he tries.
He flirts.
Sort of.
“Your skirt,” he says, that evening at pickup, hands in his coat pockets, “is impressive. Is there... a theme today?”
You blink up at him, squinting against the sun. “Oh! Yeah. It’s Book Fair Week. You know—literacy encouragement and all that.”
“It suits you,” he says.
You smile. “Thanks! It has pockets.”
He almost screams.
*-*
This goes on for weeks. Flirt. Deflect. Flirt. Completely Missed Cue.
And it’s starting to hurt.
Because he really, really likes you.
But at some point—some horrible, cursed point—Nanami starts to wonder if you’re not just missing his signals.
Maybe you're ignoring them.
And not in a way that’s cute or endearing, but in a way that makes his stomach churn with the sharp guilt of a man raised in a country that taught men to be terrifying by default.
Maybe you're being polite.
Maybe you don’t like him, but also don’t want to upset him. Maybe you’re scared to reject him directly, because you don’t know what kind of man he is. Maybe you’ve been trying to gently pull away for weeks, and he’s been too selfish to notice.
So he stops.
Cold turkey.
No more flirtations. No more “thematic” compliments. No more sidelong glances. No more stolen moments when he pretends to touch your hand accidentally while passing you the clipboard.
He goes back to polite. Distant. Formal.
And it kills him.
*-*
It lasts three days.
You're folding chairs after the Friday morning assembly when you finally ask, straight-up, “Nanami-san, are you okay?”
And he just.
Snaps.
Not in an angry way—no, never. He would never raise his voice around you. But everything in him has been packed tight for weeks, and the stress is leaking out through the cracks in his carefully composed self.
“My boss rejected three quarters of my submitted quarterly figures today,” he says flatly. “I have to redo the entire proposal by midnight or risk losing our most lucrative client.”
“Oh.”
“The cat had an allergic reaction to the new litter. We had to rush him to the vet. Yuji cried for an hour. I cried for forty-five minutes. The vet bill is absurd.”
“Oh no.”
“I have not slept properly in four nights.”
“Nanami-san—”
“And I stopped flirting with you because I thought you were trying to let me down gently, and I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, but it’s driving me mad, and I’m exhausted, and I still think about your stupid weather-themed skirt from today—”
You blink.
Once.
Twice.
You look down at your skirt. Pale blue, with clouds stitched along the hem and tiny embroidered suns and raindrops. You paired it with yellow tights and a storm cloud pin.
You wore it because today’s science unit was climate and weather. The kids made rain clouds with cotton balls. Megumi told you that the sun embroidery looked like a fried egg. You’d laughed for a full minute.
Now?
You look at Nanami’s face. Pale. Tight-lipped. Scared.
And suddenly you see it. The way he’s been looking at you for months. The way he tries to speak your language. The way he cares.
“Oh,” you say.
“...I’m sorry,” Nanami adds, voice low. “I didn’t mean to overwhelm you. I just—I couldn’t not say something. Not anymore.”
You nod slowly.
“Well,” you say finally, “me too.”
He blinks. “...What?”
“I like you too,” you say, soft. “You’re very… capable.”
Nanami stares at you.
You smile. Thank him for his honesty.
And walk away.
He stands there at the school gates for an eternity.
Yuji tugs at his pant leg. “Nanamin?”
“…Yes?”
“Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like someone hit you with a dictionary.”
Nanami puts a hand over his face.
*-*
That night, Nanami reevaluates everything.
What did you mean by “me too”? Why did you leave? Did you think he was rejecting you? Did he mess it up? Were you scared again? Did he blow it by being too direct?
He overanalyzes everything. The thank you. The smile. The pause. The weather skirt. The dinosaur nuggets.
He lies in bed and watches the ceiling. He makes a list of every interaction you’ve ever had. He’s going to lose his mind.
*-*
The next day, at pickup, he marches up to you like a man on a mission.
You’re crouching near the garden gate, showing Yuji, Megumi and a gaggle of children a ladybug on your wrist.
He clears his throat.
You look up.
“Oh, Nanami-san! Hi! Look—bug.”
“We need to talk,” he says.
You blink. “Huh?”
“About yesterday.”
You tilt your head. “Which part?”
“The part where we both admitted we liked each other and then you walked away like you’d just told me you liked my tie.”
“Oh,” you say. “That part.”
“Yes. That part.”
You let the ladybug go on a plant, you straighten up, brushing dirt from your palms.
“Sorry,” you say. “I needed to process. I don’t usually—well. Feel things. Like that.”
Nanami tilts his head. “Like what?”
“Big. Loud. Messy things. It’s hard to put them in order. And also... I didn’t want to be wrong.”
You look up at him.
“I do like you,” you say. “I just didn’t know what came next.”
Nanami is quiet for a long moment.
Then he says, “Coffee.”
You blink.
He clears his throat. “Come for coffee. With me. Tomorrow. After school.”
You smile. “Okay.”
Nanami exhales for the first time in months.
Yuji claps. Megumi sighs. Gojo, somewhere in the background (probably in the bushes), yells “I KNEW IT.”
*-*
Okay, so here’s the thing:
Nanami Kento is not someone who typically loses his composure.
He is steady. Reliable. He wears his watch two fingers above the wrist bone because it’s correct, he files his tax return early, and he drinks his coffee black, every time, without fail.
And yet.
The moment he saw you walk into that sleepy, tucked-away coffee shop on the western edge of Tokyo in your goddamn star-themed skirt—he almost dropped the ceramic mug he’d just been handed.
Cardinal blue. Gold thread. Constellations stitched by the gods themselves. The hem swaying just past your knees as you stepped in and shook the drizzle from your worn leather messenger bag. You looked like a vintage painting and smelled like chai and honey and the subtle scent of printer ink from your classroom.
He’s gonna throw up or propose. There is no in-between.
“Hi,” you said softly, pushing a damp strand of hair behind your ear. “Sorry I’m a bit late, I forgot my umbrella and had to borrow a friend’s.”
He stood when you approached, because of course he did, because manners, and helped you hang your bag over the back of the wooden chair. “No problem. I wasn’t waiting long.”
(He was. He got there fifteen minutes early like a weirdo. He’s never been this nervous in his life.)
You sat. The light was warm and soft in the little café, and rain slid in perfect, lazy streaks down the windows.
Aesthetic: immaculate.
Your skirt: criminal.
Nanami: struggling.
The date? It went stupidly well.
You liked the same books. You both couldn’t stand overly sweet coffee. You told him about your favorite classroom stories—about how Yuji tried to turn a math worksheet into a comic strip, and Megumi once corrected the dictionary in front of the entire class with no shame.
You laughed at his dry commentary. He smiled more than he had in years.
Your foot brushed his under the table by accident (you apologized, he short-circuited). You pointed out the rainbow-colored mug set near the pastry counter and whispered, “I want to live in this café.”
And when it was finally time to go?
It was still pouring.
Of course it was.
So Nanami, ever the gentleman, offered you his umbrella. Walked you to the metro. Held it tilted slightly more over you than himself, because of course he did.
And right there, under the yellow-orange glow of the metro entrance lights, you turned to him and said—
“I had a really nice time.”
He nodded. “Me too.”
Then—
You leaned up and kissed him.
Just.
Kissed him.
Soft. Light. Like stardust and sugar and everything he’d ever wanted. Your fingers brushed his jaw, and your lips pressed gently against his, and then you pulled back and said—
“Thanks for the coffee. See you Monday.”
And just walked away.
You walked away.
And Nanami just.
Stood there.
Absolutely fried.
A blank screen with the cursor blinking.
Then a gust of wind ripped the umbrella out of his hands and he had to chase it down the sidewalk in the rain like a clown, which felt incredibly on brand.
*-*
Pickups after that? Oh.
OH.
Nanami becomes a new man.
There is a kind of pep in his step that could only come from mutually confirmed crushes. He doesn’t skip (he would never), but if he did it would be between 3:18 and 3:22PM every weekday.
You make a point of saying, “Nice tie,” every time he wears the ones that match his socks. He dies. Reincarnates. Dies again.
You keep showing up in your thematic skirts. Snowflakes. Constellations. Pumpkins. Even a ramen-themed one once (he still thinks about that one at night).
You laugh at his dry flirting. You bring him little things—pressed leaves from class activities, sticky notes with Yuji quotes (“My sandwich fell into my feelings”), the occasional ginkgo leaf tucked into the pocket of his coat without him noticing.
He’s thriving.
You start holding hands casually. Nanami’s world explodes quietly in the background every time.
*-*
Then comes Christmas.
The school year winds down. There’s glitter on everything. Paper snowflakes. Holiday cards. Yuji is living on candy canes and joy. You’re exhausted but glowing.
You and Nanami have been dating (yes, dating, real word, real relationship, holy shit) for two months now, and the weekend after Christmas? That’s your dinner date night.
At his place.
Yuji is at Gojo’s with Megumi. Shoko’s coming later. There’s eggnog. It’s chaotic.
But for now?
Just the two of you.
You arrive wearing a dark green wool coat, cheeks flushed from the cold, and underneath—he catches a glint of golden thread.
A skirt again.
Of course.
This one is a deep velvet blue, stitched with little weather motifs—snowflakes, suns, clouds, golden-threaded lightning bolts. When you walk, the hem catches the lamplight like starlight.
Nanami’s already down bad.
You bring a bottle of wine, and two small gifts. He offers you slippers, makes sure the apartment is warm. There’s gentle jazz playing in the background, and the scent of roasted chicken and rosemary lingers in the air from dinner.
It’s quiet, safe, lovely.
When you hand him your gift, his throat tightens: it’s a small book of poetry. Well-worn. Annotated. Tabs and underlines and your handwriting in the margins. “Thought you might like it,” you say. “It’s the one I always borrow from the school library.”
He gives you a scarf, soft cashmere, navy blue to match your cardigan. “I thought it’d go with your weather skirts,” he says softly.
You put it on immediately. “Perfect. Thank you.”
You talk. Eat. Sip wine and tease each other, legs brushing under the table.
And when the plates are cleared, and the movie is halfway in, and the soft sound of wind against the windows hums in the background—
You reach for his hand.
Thread your fingers through his slowly.
He exhales. Tightens his grip. And when he looks over—your eyes are on his mouth.
“Come here,” you whisper.
And that’s the beginning of the end.
The first kiss is slow.
Molten.
You climb into his lap with easy confidence, your thighs straddling him as you pull his cardigan off with practiced hands. “Can I?” you murmur, fingers ghosting the buttons of his shirt.
“God, yes.”
You kiss him like you mean it—mouth warm, insistent, tongue just shy of sinful. He makes a soft sound as you slide your hands under his undershirt, palms smoothing over the firm planes of his stomach. He’s warm, solid, trembling just slightly beneath your touch.
He grips your waist, strong and grounding, then lets one hand drift up your back, feeling every ridge of your spine, every shift in your breath. You shiver, and he doesn’t miss it.
“You cold?” he murmurs against your cheek.
You shake your head. “Warm enough.”
His lips curve. “Let me make sure.”
Nanami carries you to the bedroom. Gently. Reverently.
It’s neat. Softly lit. The bed’s already turned down, the blankets inviting. He sets you down like you’re fragile and precious and peels your cardigan away, fingers brushing your arms like he’s memorizing every inch.
You’re wearing a fitted blouse. He undoes the buttons slowly, one by one, mouth dragging down your collarbone.
He doesn’t rush.
No.
Kento Nanami maps you.
With his mouth.
Your moles, freckles, the faintest scar on your left shoulder—he presses his lips to each one like a cartographer sketching stars. Every kiss is deliberate. Like a prayer.
“Beautiful,” he murmurs. “You’re so—”
You kiss him again, hands diving into his hair, short blond strands soft between your fingers. You gasp when he pulls your blouse fully off and kisses your sternum, warm mouth leaving heat that pools deep in your belly.
You guide his hand to your skirt.
He raises a brow.
You nod.
And he worships.
When he gets you naked, he doesn't stare. He studies. Like you're a miracle he’s only just earned the right to touch.
His mouth drags down your chest, past your navel, over your hip. You’re shaking by the time he kisses the inside of your thigh.
“Relax,” he murmurs, kissing your knee, your ankle, every delicate part of you. “I’ve got you.”
And he does.
His hands are steady, his mouth sinfully talented. He learns your body by sound—gasps, moans, the sharp inhale you take when his tongue flicks just right.
When you come the first time, you’re half-sobbing, fingers tangled in his hair, thighs clenching around his head.
“Fuck—Kento—”
He just holds you through it.
Kisses your hips as you ride it out. Pulls you up after, wraps you in the blanket for a minute, presses a hand to your chest.
“You okay?”
You blink at him.
“What are you?”
He laughs, low and quiet. “Yours, if you’ll have me.”
Round two begins with you pulling him onto the bed, kissing him slow and sweet and deep. You help him out of his shirt. Then his pants. Your hands roam like you’re learning him too.
“You’re gorgeous,” you breathe, lips against his neck. “So capable. Always holding everything together.”
You kiss down his jaw.
His chest.
Lower.
When you take him into your mouth, he loses it—his hands fisting in the sheets, jaw slack, whispering your name like a sin. You suck him slow. Deep. He’s breathless, ragged, hands trembling when he finally pulls you up.
“Need you,” he growls. “Now.”
You guide him in.
Both of you moaning into each other’s mouths, your nails digging into his back, his lips at your shoulder, your neck—he bites you.
It’s soft. Sharp. Possessive.
You gasp.
“Oh—fuck, do that again—”
He does.
Harder.
You mark him back with your nails.
You ride him, pressed chest-to-chest, whispering praises between every kiss. He holds your hips, guiding your rhythm, groaning your name like it’s the only word he knows.
You both come hard—together.
It’s messy.
Raw.
Feral.
And then it’s tender.
He doesn’t let you move.
He wraps you in blankets, pulls you into his chest, kisses your temple and smooths your hair.
“You’re staying,” he says. “Non-negotiable.”
You hum sleepily. “Good. Too cold to walk anyway.”
“I’ll make you breakfast in the morning.”
“Will it be dinosaur-shaped?”
A low laugh. “I’ll do my best.”
You nuzzle into him. Kiss his neck. He feels the sting from your earlier bite and shivers.
“Marked me,” he murmurs.
“Felt fair,” you reply, dreamy. “You already ruined me.”
He smiles. Kisses your shoulder. “You have no idea.”
*-*
The next morning, Yuji finds Nanami’s cardigan on the lamp.
You wear his shirt to breakfast. He hands you dinosaur pancakes shaped with a cookie cutter. You kiss his cheek.
