Teen Shoko x teen Ijichi is good ship! They look cute together, their dynamic reminds me of the famous trope of the nerd man that no one care about fall in love with the prettiest girl in the School
The smell of roasted hazelnut mixed with the stale air around Shoko, her eyes closing and her body swaying. She was tired. Unaware of how long she’d been awake, she reached for her mug. Lazily she poured in coffee, the warm tones clashing against the white porcelain. She neglected the sugar and cream nearby, that was only here for Gojo anyways.
Work was piling up. The number of hurt or killed sorcerers was rising, and stake outs turned to hard fought lessons for juniors almost every day. Shoko was overworked, tired. There didn’t seem to be enough sorcerers and there definitely weren't enough healers. She worked solo in the morgue, sorting injuries and bodies as they came in. Throughout the day was difficult, but nights were harder. Nights were when sorcerers too afraid to let the younger generation see them hurt came in, desperate and near death. Nights were when people like Gojo or Nanami woke her up, a faint whisper in the distance and the smell of crimson iron luring Shoko out of sleep. They were hapless, refusing to let the students see them hurt. Gojo was the strongest. Nanami was the protector. They were determined to keep it that way.
Tonight would be different though, Shoko thought to herself. Tonight she would go home, see Ijichi, and rest. Things she hadn’t done in days, maybe longer. Time seemed to loop in the morgue, leaving Shoko to run circles. The injuries and the causes of death varied, but the days did not. The wall calendar and beeping of her watch being the only reminders that a world existed above her, restless and weary. Lost in paperwork, lost in thought. That is how Shoko spent the quiet moments amongst the deceased that hadn’t left her care.
It was hard to tell, but Shoko’s mind was always running. The burn of a cigarette in her lungs being the one thing to silence her thoughts. Just outside of her peripheral was the idea that she wasn’t enough, that her indescribable healing was a fluke.
Fwoo. Hyoi.
She didn’t know any other way to describe it, it had stuck with her since she was a teen. Fwoo. Hyoi. Fwoo. Hyoi. Fwoo. Hyoi. Fwoo. Hyoi. What the hell did that even mean?
The warmth of her mug brought Shoko back, the smell of coffee poking at her senses, hinting at the caffeine she was soon to consume. She perked up slightly at the thought. Just a little longer, then she could go home.
Just a little longer…
***
Ijichi started the dryer, the hum bringing to life an otherwise quiet apartment. The soup still simmered on the stove, the smell of pumpkin and thyme drifting towards him. He was warming the sheets, knowing an exhausted Shoko was due to be home. It was late but he didn’t mind the hour, he never minded when he knew his wife would be able to curl into them, no longer fighting rest. Suddenly Ijichi felt the purring of Emiko, their two year old kitten that never seemed to age. She was rubbing against Ijichi’s leg, making him smile.
“Mom will be home soon, Emiko,” a gentle whisper, matching the cat’s disposition, “it’s been a few days for you, hasn’t it?” He reaches down and begins petting her.
“Just a few more minutes sweetheart.” Still gentle, still a whisper.
Ijichi heads back towards the kitchen, stirring the soup brought to heavy simmer in order to calm it, turning the heat down more as he does. He taps the wooden spoon on the side of the pot before setting it down, content with the outcome.
Checking his watch, he heads towards the front door. No texts. The anticipation makes him restless, so he paces. Emiko follows his movements, mimicking him to socialize. Together they pace until they hear fumbling at the front door, no more than a few minutes later. Quickly, Ijichi opens it, his tired wife on the other side.
“Welcome home honey,” his voice is coated in ease, a relaxedness to it.
He reaches, taking Shoko’s various bags from her. She thanks him with a quick kiss on the cheek, something that still makes Ijichi blush. Even now, even after marriage.
Laughing, she reaches down to pet Emiko, a wide smile spreading across her face.
“It’s good to be home, three days felt longer this time.”
Ijichi reaches, placing his hand on Shoko’s back, gently rubbing as he does.
“Dinner is almost ready, you have clothes in the bathroom and I’m warming the sheets.” He smiles too, a smaller, more content one.
His wife was home.
Standing. Shoko removes her coat, handing it to an eager Ijichi as she does. “I’ll shower, then we can eat,” she smiles again, leaning in to kiss her husband.
Their kisses are gentle, always have been. There's something about how tired Shoko is, on the inside and out, and how doting Ijichi is that couples into something tender. Neither mind though, they prefer it. The quiet, the compassion, the peace. It brought them together and quieted an otherwise hectic world. Something they desperately needed. A break amidst the chaos.
***
“Pumpkin?” Shoko inhales as she asks, entering the kitchen, a trotting Emiko behind her. “I didn't notice before, it smells great.”
Ijichi stands with his back to Shoko, peering over his shoulder with a smile as he scoops soup into their wide brimmed bowls.
“Something cozy for your first night back,” Ijichi pushes his glasses up as he says this, his smile gone but his eyes bright.
“Perfect.” Shoko bumps the fridge closed with her hip, a beer in hand. With a sharp click she opens it, chugging as she does.
Worry lines cross Ijichi's face, he knows work is hard on Shoko, but how quickly she reaches for alcohol once she's home reminds him. Pushing it aside, he takes each bowl and walks towards the table. Emiko quickly follows him instead, prepared to beg like a dog for scraps. Laughing, Ijichi sets the bowls down.
“She's always hungry, are you feeling her while I'm gone?” Shoko teases.
A soft laugh escaped Ijichi.
“Or maybe it's your cooking.” Shoko lightly bumps her hip into her husband as she says this, smiling.
They both sit, the air filled with the warmth of the night. Shoko eats quickly, happy to be home. A slower Ijichi admires his wife as he eats, in awe of how hard she works. In awe of the way she makes a night last forever and in a moment. In awe of her beauty.
Ijichi rises before his meal is finished, once Shoko is done.
“I'll make the bed.” He wipes his mouth as he says this, intent on making tonight as easy as he can on her.
“No! Sit, wait until you're finished. I can wait,” Shoko folds her hands, elbows on the table. “I'll have another drink.”
A soft smile.
The already standing Ijichi quickly heads towards the adjacent kitchen, resting his hands on Shoko's shoulders when she tries to rise and grab it herself. Together, they finish their meal. Shoko tries to focus on the better aspects of work, she tells him of Gojo’s current antics in the classroom. How the first yearers seem to love him. She hesitates when it comes to the older students, knowing they're struggling. Knowing they're fighting.
Catching this, Ijichi reaches for Shoko. He rests his hand on hers, a small reminder that she isn't alone.
“I'll make the bed,” his tone gentle, gentler than with Emiko. He rises, doing so quickly.
An exhausted Shoko follows, eventually resting between the warm sheets, absorbing its comfort as she's lured into a deep slumber. The sound of the fan cancels out thoughts, letting her rest. Letting her sleep.
After cleaning up, Ijichi joins her. Relieved at last, he has his wife. She is home, she is resting. He thinks this to himself on loop as he falls asleep himself. Emiko curls at their feet, falling asleep too. All three sleep in the next morning, their alarms prodding at them but not enough. It's fine though.
I HAVE I HAVE - I am not actively reading Modulo but I am keeping up to date with spoilers (I am very opposed to Suddenly Aliens in any media - it very much put me out at the end of Naruto when there were Suddenly Aliens lol) but I saw this and I immediately went, well, guess it's time to make some ocs
Like, girl, I am a sashisu truther at heart BUT Ijichi is one of my favourites and he's important to both Shoko and Satoru, and if Shoko and Ijichi find happiness in each other that would be amazing to me (big lover of the Second Love trope ngl)
Right so, in my head, Healer Girl's (as we have dubbed her, since it's fairly likely she might get a name at some point) dad is the middle child of three, the eldest of which is suspiciously pale-haired (but as Shoko will say, albinism does turn up in families randomly sometimes, and who are you to argue with the resident doctor?)
The eldest suspiciously pale-haired daughter is called Kiyoko (after her father, Kiyotaka; it was genuinely a complete accident that she got the same name as her aunt), their son and middle child is called Ikujirou, and their youngest daughter is called Yukina
Do I have much for them yet? Ehhh not really but they are ALL beloved by their father and their mother
Anyway, Shojichi is not mutually exclusive with sashisu, and in fact I think it makes it spicier so. Guess I do be a multishipper lol
