summer solstice.

{ 03; the warmth of a sudden occurrence. }

{ chapter 3 }

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the warmth of a sudden occurrence.

it had been a while since nao had held a proper conversation with fushiguro besides the occasional greetings that they would share when they saw each other at their doors. it was strange not being able to talk as often to the junior, but it was even stranger finding out that there was another first year that had joined.

"nice to meet you, i'm yuuji itadori," the boy grinned with a contagious smile as he saluted.

"oh, uh, yeah! nice to meet you too, i'm nao hakaze," nao managed to reply as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck with his palm. "you're, uhm, next door to fushiguro-kun?"

the pink-haired boy nodded as he pointed to the said male, who stood by his own dorm with his arms crossed. nao glanced up at the figure as he continued to converse with the new student, struggling to socialise.

"stop bullying hakaze-senpai," fushiguro demanded in a slightly irritated tone as he walked off. "let's go."

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nao didn't know what he was doing, but he was now at harajuku station with fushiguro, itadori and gojo-sensei. the crowds were more than enough to tire him out, not to mention the other new first year that they were to pick up. he stifled a yawn as he leaned his back onto the nearest wall he could find before he was forced to pay attention to the newest first year. her hair was a light shade of brown that reached down to her shoulders, while her brown eyes were also a similar brown, though it seemed to have a hint more of red in it due to the light. the eldest student wished he could have the leisure to care more, but his eyes were dangerously close to shutting on him, which was something he couldn't do in the middle of harajuku station.

meanwhile, the now three first year students began to share their greetings. the latest addition to the group, nobara kugisaki, looked to nao for yet another self-introduction. 'he looks like he last slept in the 1900s,' she thought to herself.

"ah, sorry, i'm just a bit tired. i'm nao hakaze, second year. you won't see me around as often as the other two, so don't mind me too much," the boy smiled awkwardly, once again rubbing the back of his neck out of habit.

fushiguro's concerns only continued to grow at this point as his senior, once again, began to zone out on the conversation. how much sleep was he getting? not enough, evidently. nao, on the other hand, was not very able, though he managed like every other day he went without sleep. his eyes traced fushiguro's figure, distracted and focusing being too much of a challenge. he stared intently at the younger boy's hands; they looked weirdly soft for a jujutsu sorcerer.

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nao now began to understand why his wonderful teacher had decided to make him tag along, rather than letting him enjoy his free time. to be fair, he wouldn't have been able to sleep anyways, but it still annoyed him knowing that all he was there for was to supply a single weapon.

"you could've just asked for one in the first place," he complained as his face crinkled with slight annoyance.

"but then yuuji-kun wouldn't have any learning material," the white haired teacher replied in a sing-song tone.

gojo satoru was someone who nao had never wanted to punch more in his seventeen years of life. but what could he do? next to the two were fushiguro, who was also irritated at the fact that he was unable to exorcise the curse with his two peers. something along the lines of still recovering due to the incident where he ended up recruiting yuuji somehow. but soon, this was the least of his thoughts.

golden eyes observed fushiguro almost scarily, squinting as they attempted to stay open. laid back shoulders became tense at the not-very secretive attention and his posture stiffened. however, the dark-haired boy noticed that his senior's eyes strangely lurked the area around his shoulders.

"hakaze-senpai," he began before hesitating.

his eyes trailed off to the side, the tip of his ears now turning into a dark shade of pink. god, what was he trying to say in front of gojo-sensei anyways? but it was already too late to turn back- or rather, he cared too much about nao than his dignity.

"you can sleep on my shoulder, if you'd like."

nao blinked.

"what?"

"nevermind," fushiguro mumbled as he turned to face the side, his pink ears now in full view for the older boy.

"no, no, sorry, i meant yes please- but are you sure?" nao's eyes almost sparkled as he could feel the warmth in his body slightly rising. "i didn't think you'd be comfortable with this sort of thing."

"i... don't mind."

he didn't think he'd ever find fushiguro this cute, but here he was.

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fushiguro nervously waited for his new classmates to complete exorcising the curse while also facing gojo's smug face that seemed to silently snicker at him. he really, really didn't appreciate it, but everything seemed to be forgivable when he looked at how well nao was sleeping.

"he's really sleeping like a baby," gojo whispered.

the boy gave a slight nod, a soft smile gracing his face. his senior seemed almost like a child asleep like this. the boy's eyelashes were surprisingly long and his black hair soft as it tickled at his cheek. his motions were limited due to the additional weight added to his body, but he felt as though he was genuinely helping, which was also, unsuspectingly, a decent feeling. it was warm and, despite it being in the middle of summer, fushiguro didn't seem to mind. forgetting all his impatience from before, he hoped his classmates would take their time returning.

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nao had never slept so well- okay, that was overexaggerated, but he had definitely not been able to get this quality of sleep for a while now. he was definitely more awake, and felt as though he could function for another week or two just with the amount of sleep he got. he decided he would use fushiguro's shoulder on the car as well, remembering the junior's response of 'i don't mind'. with such nice naps throughout the day, however, nao's fear of the night only grew.

he let out a sigh instead of a yawn this time as he walked with the new first years back to the dorms.

"eh, hakaze-senpai's room is here too?" kugisaki asked in genuine curiosity.

"yeah, i asked for this part of the dorms because it was quiet and i didn't want to disturb anyone... but you guys are here now, and it's too late to move out." nao rambled on as he put on his automatic 'respectful' smile.

the conversation continued before each person began to enter their rooms one by one as they walked down the hallway. home sweet home, though nao didn't seem to be very happy about it for some reason. fushiguro furrowed his eyebrows as the older male sighed for the third time within the span of less than 3 minutes.

"hakaze-senpai, is something wrong?" he wasn't usually the type to care, but it concerned him for some reason.

"ah, nothing. i was just thinking about how i'd survive tonight- it's fine i'll survive though, so don't make that face and loosen up your expression, fushiguro-kun." perhaps it was the extended amount of sleep he got that day, but he seemed more talkative than usual.

nao's responses grew longer and almost into short rants or rambles along the side of oversharing. call it 'drunk on sleep', if you would. nevertheless, fushiguro's expression did not loosen up as asked of him, so nao took it upon himself to hastily enter his own dorm before anything could happen- whatever that would be.

though, he wouldn't mind borrowing fushiguro's shoulders again some time.

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