| warnings: 18+ MDNI. cursing. next chapter is the smut, i promise hehe.
| summary: seena and toji meet for the first time.
| wc: 3.6k
| a/n: you'll all learn quickly that i'm not into writing slow burn LMAO. i love answering questions, though, about this story <3 so if you have anything, send me some asks! also, for those who are new here, ineka is my friend's oc who's in the same story as seena.
Ever since Nanami came back home, heâd taken to filling his downtime with teaching me the most random things. How to ignore Satoru Gojou, for example. That was a talent Nanami had unlike any other, so he taught me the expertise by having us sit in the teacherâs lounge at Jujutsu Tech one day, reading quietly on the couches, while Gojou came in to annoy us, and we both ignored him. It got to the point that Gojou genuinely thought he was invisible. Until I cracked⊠There was only so long I could hold back my laughter while Gojou was clinging to my arm, sobbing that he had so much he wanted to say to me and Nanami while we could still see and hear him. Poor thing was so hysterically mournful that I couldnât help but smile and bite my lip, all while Nanami was giving me the stink eye as a warning to not blow the whole operation; but it was too late by that point. Gojou was at my feet, crying like a lost puppy, and I started giggling. He immediately perked up and realized what was going on.
After that, Nanami deduced that I could learn⊠easier things. For example, his favorite thing to brag about with those younger than him was what it felt like to really be an adult, because his favorite sandwich had disappeared from all of the convenience stores recently, even though it used to be wildly popular while he was growing up; and as he told me this story, we walked to a bakery not too far from Jujutsu Tech in Tokyo where I worked and he was lazily spending his days until he figured out what he wanted to do next with his life. He coached me to remember the importance of appreciating things in the moment. Or, at least he tried. Honestly, I blocked most of it out because I was too busy worrying about trying to keep up with his ridiculously long stride when I was so much shorter than him and he wasnât showing me any mercy.
He took me to his favorite bakery that served his favorite sandwich: a casse-croute. It was the last place he was aware of that still sold a version that was worth the money he earned while he briefly retired from being a sorcerer in order to work a meaningless corporate job like most mundane people did. He hated it, though. The second he realized how boring life was, he came back to us at Jujutsu Tech. The bakery itself was still boring, though. There was nothing special about it, and there was no aesthetic to really catch the eye. It had four simple white walls, a vase here and there with some fake flowers, and a small, glass pastry stand for people to window shop through. Nanami didnât even let me look. Despite the fact that the croissants and chocolate eclairs looked devine, he told me in his stern Nanami-voice, âNo. Being an adult means you must already know what you want, and you can not afford to let yourself go by splurging on desserts. Trust me. Youâll thank me in twenty years.â He said it all as if he wasnât only just a few years older than me. And as if I wasnât already an adult myself who knew how to operate fine on my own. Like I wasnât twenty-two years old. Still, free food was free food.
âYou have to have a goal, Seena. A retirement plan of some kind. What you do in between doesnât matter so much as your endgame, because everyoneâs working towards a peaceful elderly life that they can have while coming to terms with the life they wasted and the regrets they collected along the way. I, for one, would like to build a small home somewhere quiet for me to really settle down and finally read the books Iâve been collecting but have been too busy to get around to.â He said this as we sat at one of the few tables inside of the bakery. His coffee was gone within an instant. Mine remained untouched because it was too strong. âWhat about you?â
I wasnât really sure what I wanted, honestly. All I could do was shrug my shoulders before telling him that I would think about it and tell him before our next âlesson.â To which, he agreed with a nod. In the back of my mind, however, as he continued to lecture me about what it meant to be an adult, I thought about my life. I knew exactly what I wanted; I was just too scared to admit it to Nanami. He wasnât like Satoru Gojou who would laugh in my face, but Nanami certainly would have judged me and made it known. I wasnât sure if I was ready for my dreams to be crushed quite yet, considering our lives as sorcerers were never guaranteed when a curse could overpower us at any second. My silly, wasted dream consisted of a large home in the city, close enough to Jujutsu Tech that I could walk to work every day like I did currently; and I wanted as many kids as I could with a man who could care for all of us without any worries or struggles. It wasnât anything real. Everyone had issues to deal with all the time, I knew that best of all, yet it was nice to think that there was someone out there who could make our family so happy that we could live safely in our own little bubble. But that was why I was sure Nanami would judge me if he knew the truth. There was no reality where anything could be perfect.
âNext time, weâll discuss finances,â Nanami said as he dropped me off at my office at the school.
I smiled politely at him while slowly closing the door on his face before I slumped onto the floor when I was sure I was free of him. I loved Nanami⊠Truly. He was a dear friend who was like an older brother to me, yet I couldnât help but feel drained around him sometimes. He was just too serious for me. I was bubbly, bounce-off-the-walls energetic, and just as crazy as Gojou, thanks to the fact that he was the only person I connected with when I was still a student at Jujutsu Tech. Nanami was none of that. He was business all of the time. It was a miracle that we were compatible at all.
I later realized that the coffee and casse-croutes at that bakery really were something else. At the time, Nanami didn't let me put sugar or cream in my coffee because he said it was something else that was unnecessary, and if I really wanted to feel the full effect of the coffee, I needed to keep it pure and black. No nonsense, according to him. Because he was babying me, I decided to return to the bakery the following morning on my own for a pastry for breakfast and coffee with enough nonsensical sugar and cream to make it actually taste good.
I continued to go every morning after that.
Eventually, I became a regular face to the point my coffee, random pastry of the day, and casse-croute sandwich for Nanami (if he hadnât already picked it up himself) were waiting for me at the counter every time. It made life easy to know that when I woke up, a schedule was awaiting me. Breakfast at the bakery, walk to the school because I refused to live on the campus, even though Gojou always begged; then Iâd work and meet with students who needed to talk with someone, and then I would go home to rinse and repeat. I liked how secure my life was now. When I was unsure of what to do after leaving Jujutsu Tech as a student, I told Gojou that one of the reasons I didnât feel like I belonged anywhere was because of a lack of security and repetition. I wasnât built for adventure. People like Satoru Gojou and Ineka Harimachi were made for fighting and exploring, whereas I enjoyed peace and quiet amongst helping others. If I could live a mundane life in the sorcery world, I was happy. If my job meant I never had to face another incident like what happened a year ago, I was sold.
There was one day when Nanami asked to meet up again for breakfast before school. I made my way down to the bakery a bit earlier than usual, only to find that Nanami was already standing at the counter, leaning forward on it a bit, smiling, and⊠flirting. Nanami, of all people, was flirting! I decided to go into the store and âbumpâ against him to see if I could feel anything, and, yes, I didâ Oh, boy, was there a lot to feel there. His heart was fluttering, his adrenaline was up. Puppy love. Pre-pubescent-boy-type-of-horny. Whatever you wanted to call it, Nanami was it.
Ever since, I had been trying to find an excuse to bring up Nanami and somehow brush hands with the barista, too, to see if she felt the same. It was a total invasion of privacy, I knew it, but it couldnât be helped. I had to know if there was really someone out there who could possibly stand Nanami enough to like him romantically or otherwise. My curse was a gift sometimes for that reason. Feeling and controlling peopleâs emotions usually meant nothing, but when it came to Nanamiâs crush, I had never been more content with my cursed technique.
Emotion control wasnât exactly the most useful of techniques because it didnât benefit anyone in a fight, but it was great for intel and defense. As a result, last year, following a year off after graduating, I had been working at the school as a guidance counselor. I was Jujutsu Techâs very firstâ In fact, I was sure that I was sorceryâs firstâ guidance counselor; but after all that sorcerers had to endure out there while fighting curses, it seemed like a no-brainer to have me on staff. That was Gojouâs excuse to the Elders, anyways. It worked. I liked my job, others seemed to find my position helpful, and at least I was putting my technique to good use finally.
âThank you,â I told the barista as I grabbed my coffee and the bag of sandwiches that were waiting for me on the counter.
She smiled back at me as she tapped away at her tablet to start up a new order for the next person in line.
I spun around and walked over to the side counter where there were napkins, stirring sticks, bottles of sweetener and creamer, and packets of condiments. I grabbed a few packets for Nanamiâs lunch before pulling a handful of napkins to throw in the bag. On my way out, the door opened, and I sidestepped to avoid it, which ultimately led to an untimely collision.
I only got a quick glance at him before we suddenly crashed into one another. He was taller than I was, his width was impressive, and he was cleanly cut both grooming-wise and muscle-wise. By all traditional standards, he was a very attractive man. In the seconds before we collided, I thought to myself that he was incredibly handsome, and as a result of my gawking, I wasnât watching where he was stepping, and as a result, my coffee cup exploded on his chest.
âOh, myâ Iâm so sorryâ Iâ Iâm so, so sorry!â
I panicked and started crumbling the napkins in my hands so that I could clean his shirt off. Without thinking about it, I just went at it. I pressed the wadded up napkins against the inevitable stains and started tapping and scrubbing away in the hopes that it wasnât too hot or that it wouldnât stain too badly. The good news was, he was wearing all black, so it wouldnât show up too much⊠Right? Oh, I was a clumsy fool. At least his shirt was tight enough around his body that it made it easier for me to press against his abs as a hard surface to clean his shirt against for some balance and pressure. But then I froze when I realized what I was doing. Without asking or stopping to consider how rude it was of me to just start touching him while trying to clean up my mess, I had accidentally overstepped a strangerâs boundary.
I looked up at him, blushing, awkwardly smiling, and croaked, âIâm sorry.â
He smiled at me kindly. âItâs really no problem.â He took the napkin out of my hand to finish wiping some of the coffee that remained at the hem of his shirt where his pants started oh-so-low on his hips.
I caught a glimpse of perhaps a little too much skin, making me blush and panic.
I immediately offered to pay for the cost it would take to cover his laundry. Whether it was dry cleaning, a laundromat, or even just the soap it would cost to clean it at homeâ Anythingâ I wanted to pay him back for my mistake.
He only smirked in response while crumpling up the used napkin. âItâs no big deal. Really. But⊠If you insist on finding a way to make it up to meâŠâ He retrieved his phone, a flip phone, I immediately noticed, and he traded it for my coffee. âIâd like your number, if you wouldnât mind. For the dry cleaning, and all.â
I looked him up and down for a moment before blushing under his stare. He was very, very cute; and he was very, very into me, clearly. Yet part of me was still apprehensive. I could always protect myself if he ended up being an asshole, but the question was⊠Well, was it really worth it?
Noticing my hesitation, he said, âIf itâll make you feel any better, lemme show you something.â
I watched as he stuck his tongue out, and without any effort, a small, slimy, brown ball of a curse fell onto his hand. I took a step back. The curse was growing. It shaped itself into a worm that slithered its way onto his bicep and shoulder, settling so comfortably it looked like it was at home. No one else in the bakery seemed to notice the curse, thankfully, aside from me, so I played it cool and tried not to bring any more attention to us after my coffee mishap.
He told me then, âWeâre the same, you see? I canât hurt you any more than you can hurt me.â
For a short moment, I continued to stare at the shikigami on his shoulder, debating on whether or not it would attack me the second I let my guard down. The worm was a decrepit little thing, though it certainly wasnât physically small by any means because it easily constricted its bulbous limbs around the manâs thick arm and still had enough length and strength left over to hold its head up high so that its disgusting black eyes could follow my every move. However, it didnât seem like any real threat. Sure, it could have hurt me if it wanted, but the man was still smiling at me, and as a result I could have sworn his shikigami was smirking, too. Perhaps I was going insane. Still, he waited for me to put my number into his phone. It couldnât be helped. A gorgeous sorcerer like him who had taken an interest in me? No one ever cared much for me aside from Nanami and Gojou in their own brotherly kind of ways. Everyone else I had known throughout my life saw me as a weak tumor in the community that they could freely kick around because I wouldnât defend myself and I would never be so stupid as to tell Gojou because I knew that heâd overreact and rain hell down on anyone who hurt me. All of that aside, this man was different. Did he seem nice? Not exactly. But he sure was interesting and very good at seducing me, so my blush darkened and I put my number in his phone. Could it have possibly been a dumb decision? Yes. But he was too handsome to pass up onâ And he knew it, which made me more eager for him, honestly.
As I returned his phone to him, I reached to take back my coffee; however, the man kept it out of my reach.
He smiled again. âI think youâd be better off with another cup before you go. Allow me.â
Before I could protest, the man threw my coffee away and started walking towards the counter where he held up two fingers, indicating exactly what the barista already knew. The man paid with cash silently and quickly. The drinks were ready just as soon. As he carried one cup for each of us, he walked to the stand on the side to shake in sugar and milk for me, nothing for himself.
âToji,â he said.
âHm?â
He took my cup, leading me towards one of the empty tables in the bakery, and set it down, enchanting me to sit in the chair he had designated for me by pulling it out and gesturing that he was waiting for me. âMy nameâs Toji,â he explained as he pushed my chair in gently underneath me.
My eyes followed him as he sat across from me. âDo you happen to be a December baby?â
âYes.â
The name Toji quite literally meant âWinter Solstice,'' which was the shortest day of the year, making it infamous for being cold and dark. I could tell that his parents took one look at his dark hair and knew that he would be the perfect personification of the shortest day. It was a fitting name, which was why I smirked when he smiled at me for catching the meaning to his name, and I tried my best to not read too much into the rest of him as a result of a simple detail. Dark, yes; but he was anything but cold.
âWhat about you?â he asked.
âMarch. Not as special, I suppose.â
He shrugged. âThatâs alright when there are other things to make you special.â
I did my best to hide my blush behind my cup of coffee as I pretended to take a long sip until I could calm down. Hopefully he would figure my cheeks were red from the drink and not him. How embarrassing that would be if he knew⊠How easy I was⊠How effortlessly I broke at the slightest compliments.
âAnd what about your name, March?â
âSeena Kiyomi,â I replied.
âHajimemashte.â
âYoroshiku onegaishimasu.â
âI take it you work at Jujutsu Tech.â He was so smooth with how he flowed between topics, guiding me to interact with him more without a second thought. He pointed at my black uniform. âHopefully youâre a teacher,â he joked.
I giggled and set my drink down. âYes, I am.â
âDoes Satoru Gojou still work there? Havenât seen him in forever.â
My jaw dropped a bit with shock. He knew Gojou? How? When did this happen? For what reason did they know each other? How did I not know Toji if Gojou knew him? All of the questions whirled in my head while I tried to decide on one to land on; but Toji beat me to it by changing topics again.
âDo you like working there?â
âYes,â I answered with a smile. âHow do youââ
âWhat do you do there?â
âIâm kind of, like, you know, a therapistâŠâ
âWhy do you say it like youâre embarrassed by that?â
I shrugged. âI donât know. I guess itâs because itâs not as cool as what Gojou does. How do you knowââ
âI think itâs lovely.â
I blushed again. âThatâs very kind of you to say.â
Toji smirked at me while he relaxed so casually in his chair. He seemed so confident and suave in comparison to all of the men Iâd met before, and I knew that it was on purpose because he was trying to impress me, but I was sure that was why I loved it so much. I enjoyed watching him put on the performance of running his fingers through his black hair so that he could show off his chest and bicep. He knew that he had my full attention, so he did everything he could to maintain it⊠Until he slipped up and made the mistake of letting the silence linger for too long in the hopes of letting the attraction brew for a bit. I tapped my phoneâs screen twice to get it to wake up to show me the time.
I jumped to my feet with a shocked gasp. âShit!â I started collecting my things while he raised a brow at me. âIâll be late for workââ
Toji stood smoothly. âIâll call you,â he said nonchalantly. âKiyomi-sanâŠâ My name rolled off his tongue so easily I felt myself swoon for him again.
He took his leave from the table before me, beating me to the door so that he could hold it open for me as I made my speedy exit out of the cafe. I waved to him while I ran down the road. He watched me, grinning, his hands in his pockets, his pelvis resting forward to accentuate his abs. I nearly tripped over my own feet again.
