The Reservation (Nanami Kento || JJK)

Home

I promised my grandma I would shelter in place, but when Shoko called, asking me to come get Nanami, that promise was made null and void.

Someone will get him to the school. We're near Shibuya right now, Shoko had told me. Wait at the base of the steps. Someone in a black vehicle will bring him. I've done all I can to stabilize him, but he needs nursing. Lots of rest, staying hydrated, and making sure his bandages are changed.

I swore I would do all of that. I swore to take care of him.

I know you will. She believed me without a moment's hesitation. You're Yu's sister.

I didn't know what that meant, other than that my brother left a pretty big legacy in his wake. If people associated me with him at all, it seemed to bring a good connotation, and I had him to thank for that at least.

As I sped down the street in my grandma's car that she didn't know I borrowed, I thought that Nanami would hate that I was doing this. I was risking myself for him, and that was the whole point of why he broke things off.

I didn't care though. He could be mad at me all he wanted and it wasn't going to change the fact that I would risk life and limb for him. No questions asked. No hesitation. If he wanted someone selfish who wouldn't lift a finger for him, he shouldn't have fallen for me.

I didn't really know what to expect when I got to the base of the school. Shoko made it sound like he was in a poor state. Alive, but wounded. Badly.

She'd said she could only do so much for him... That the rest was up to me.

Stomach in knots, I waited outside for Nanami to arrive. Leaning against my car, arms wrapped around myself, I watched my breath fogging up the air before me. It was rather frigid for an October night, but I wasn't sure if that had to do with the season or the simple lateness of the evening.

A car turned the corner, and I held my breath as it slowed down beside me. All black, it looked exactly like the one Shoko said to watch out for.

A window rolled down, and someone in a suit called out, "You're here for Nanami?"

I nodded. "Y— Yes. I'm Haiabara Mae. Shoko called and—"

"I don't have a lot of time. Get your car open. I'll help you lift him into the back."

The man hopped out, going to the back of the car and opening it up to reveal—

I gasped.

One whole half of his body was dark and scarred. Even his hair was gone on half of his head. Thick gauze padded one of his eyes, but I didn't know if there was an eye left beneath the bandaging.

With his arms crossed over his bare chest, Nanami shook like a leaf, staring at the ceiling of the car.

My first step faltered, my toe catching on a crack in the asphalt, but I rushed forward as soon as my momentum got going. "Nanamin—" I said breathlessly.

He tried and failed to lift his head. "Mae."

Tears burst from my eyes like a dam breaking. "You're alive. Thank God— You're alive!"

He unfurled one of his hands—the one not scarred beyond recognition—lifting it with a tremble toward me.

I took it without hesitation, half crawling into the back of the car to get to him. "I'm here. I've got you."

His grip was barely there. Another violent shiver rippled through him, and I wanted nothing more than to wrap him up in blankets to make the trembling stop. I wasn't sure if he was cold so much as he was in shock, but the primal need to take care of him had a complete hold of me.

"We've gotta move him. Come on," griped the driver. "I've got a dozen other patients to transport, and more are coming in by the minute."

"Okay, I'm ready." I dashed away the tears and dropped his hand. "Should I sit him up?"

For a minute, the driver and I worked to get Nanami's mostly limp body to the edge of the car seat. From there we both got under one of his arms, starting to lift him up to his feet without letting him bear any of the weight.

When we at last got him into my car on the passenger side, I tried not to think about how I was going to get him up to my apartment on my own.

I hopped in, shaking almost as much as him as I put the car in drive. "Okay, we're going. Just hang in there."

"I'm okay, Mae," he rasped weakly. Eye closed, head back against the headrest, he looked ghostly pale and barely lucid.

"I know. I know you are. Shoko took care of you." I said it mostly to assure myself since it felt like I was looking at a dead man.

"I'm coming home now."

My vision blurred. More tears overwhelmed me.

I took a shuddering breath to calm myself, then finally replied, "Yes, you are. You're coming home."