Car Rides After Work (Jujutsu Kaisen, Nanami)

[hiddentalents3237]

   Felt slightly disappointed at the lack of Nanami sickfics where HE'S the sick one instead of the caretaker, so here:-)

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   “Heh...HgCHsk! Fuck...” he sniffled and ran his finger under his nose swiftly. How or where he’d picked up this bug he didn’t know for sure, but he had his suspicions. It could’ve been from Ijichi last week, who seemed so miserable and sniffly he might as well have disappeared into his handkerchief, or from one of the students whom he was sent to help out, or any of the dozens of sick people in the street this winter season who didn’t have much regard for others’ health and continuously sneezed and coughed uncovered. Either way, it didn’t matter. He was sick, and he felt feverish and achy all over, and this mission would probably be the death of him.

 

   It wasn’t a particularly difficult assignment, but with so many sorcerers out of commission due to this same cold going around he found himself taking on extra work. A few days ago he’d woken up with a headache, which morphed into a migraine, with transitioned into a sore throat, and now here he was. Snow was falling gently all around him as he glanced at the exorcized curse before it faded away. He took one final look around at the abandoned factory. He sighed deeply and coughed a little, grabbing his phone from his pocket.

 

   “Hello?” came Ijichi’s voice after a couple beeps.

   “Hey,” he coughed weakly and cleared his throat. “Sorry. I took care of it. Could you pick me up? It’s freezing out here,” a pause.

   “...y-yes, of course. I’ll be there in ten.”

   “Thank you,” as soon as his phone clicked off he felt a tickle in his nose. Come on, not again... “Huh...hH’izCHEw! HgCHnk! H...HeT-SCHEw!” another cough. He picked up his coat from the ground, damp from the snow, and draped it over his shoulder. He sat on a rock, sniffling, and waited.

 

   When Ijichi finally showed, he felt as if he might freeze right then and there. He spotted the car and got up, every bone in his body aching and creaking with every step. He didn’t say a word as he opened the backdoor and slid into the seat, grateful for the warmth inside. But the change in temperature set off his nose again, and he cursed under his breath.

 

   “Hello, Nanami, how’d it-?”

   “HgChk!”

   “...u-um, bless you, are you-?” Nanami held up a finger.

   “One s-seh...Huh...Ht’zcHEw! H‘izcHiEW! Hah...H...Fuck, hold on...” he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a neatly folded hankerchief. He blew his nose, a low, gurgly sound, and sniffled once more. “Huh-tZCHEW! Ugh... excuse me,” his sentences seemed to be followed by wet sniffles every time now.

   “Bless you, don’t worry. But, are you feeling okay...?”

   “Snrrf, yes, thank you. Just my allergies,” he lied. He didn’t want Ijichi to feel bad about possibly giving him his cold. He drove his fist to his mouth and coughed weakly, then a little harder, and then a little too hard to pretend he was doing alright. The other man kept driving, glancing at him occasionally through the rearview mirror.

 

   Nanami leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes. He felt absolutely awful. His nose hurt, and he was sure it looked bright red at this point. He found himself crossing his arms and shrinking a little in an attempt to keep warm, not even aware that he’d started shivering. He was so tired, heavy and sleepy that he would’ve passed out right then and there, were it not for-

 

   “HaH-TzSCHEW!” he barely had time to cover his mouth with both hands, holding his hankerchief to his face for dear life. “Hih-hi’zTCH! HeG-tsCHIEW!Huh...H...HaH-TscHEw! HgCHsk!” he tried stifling that last one, which only shot a wave of pain through his temples and sinuses. “Snrrf, ugh, I’m very sorry, Ijichi, I don’t mean to be disgusting right now.”

   “Bless you. That’s alright,” came his response from the front seat. He didn’t say anything else, but Nanami could sense him shifting nervously in his seat, so after another hearty, wet nose blow, he spoke.

   “What do you want to say?”

   “Um...Nothing,” another uncomfortable silence. Light tapping on the steering wheel.

   “Ijichi-” he meant to sound firm, but a cough cut him off. He covered his mouth with his handkerchief once more. Ijichi waited patiently for him to finish before speaking.

   “Sorry, it’s just... You really don’t sound that well, Nanami. Are you sure you’re not coming down with something?” I feel like we’re well past that point, Nanami thought to himself. Still, he just sniffled and shut his eyes again.

   “Yes, I’m sure, thank you,” but yet another weak cough escaped him. At this point, the square of fabric in his hands was rapidly becoming useless, and Ijichi could tell. At a red light, he pulled out his own handkerchief and handed it to him. Nanami opened his eyes just a bit and stared at it before hesitantly grabbing it. “Thank you.” He blew his nose again.

   “...you know, if you’re not feeling great I could just drop you off at home instead of-”

   “I’m fine, I promise. There was just a lot of dust in th- theh...” come on, not again. “the fact- faH...hAHsCHEW! Huh’zchIEW! Hih-tZCHEW! Snrrf...Ugh, sorry again.”

 

   He only sneezed in threes or more when he was ill, and Ijichi knew that. Still, he didn’t press the subject. “Bless you again,” was all he said. They rode in silence for a while, only broken by Nanami’s constant wet sniffles, coughs and occasional sneezing fits. When the car came to a stop well before they’d reached the school and the driver hopped out, he risked a quick glance at their surroundings. Ijichi had stopped on the side of the street, right next to a pharmacy. Damn it, he said to himself, but decided to stay put. His head had started hurting more consistently now, and he guessed having some medicine wouldn’t hurt. The other man came back after a few minutes with a bag full of supplies, which he set in the passenger seat before getting back on the road.

 

   After a while, Nanami realized they weren’t going back to the school. Instead, they rode down familiar streets until they’d reached his own neighborhood. The car came to a stop in front of his apartment building. He paused, sniffled, then cleared his throat before speaking:

 

   “I told you, I’m fine, we can go back to-”

   “Respectfully, sir, you don’t look or sound fine at all,” was all he said back. He was firm in his stance, something Nanami wasn’t used to hearing, so he paused again before opening his mouth to respond. However, all that came out was-

   “Hg-sCHK! Hu-i’ZSchEW! Heh...Ht’SCHieW!” followed by another cough.

   “Bless you.”

   “...thank you,” he blew his nose again.

   “You can keep that handkerchief until you’re feeling better. Here,” he handed Nanami the bag, which was full of cold medicine, tissues and a box of ginger tea bags.

   “...thank you, again. I’m sorry,” he sniffled.

   “For what?”

   “I didn’t want you to feel bad for... Hg-SCHiEW! Hit’iZSCHeW! HAh-tsCHEW! Snrrf, egxcuse mbe...Ugh...” he groaned at the congestion in his voice and blew his nose again. “For giving me your cold. Snrrf.”

   “Bless you. I mean, I feel a little bad about it, but mostly I’m just kind of shocked. I didn’t think someone as tough as you ever got sick,” Nanami let out a weak chuckle followed by a slight cough.

   “Yeah, you’d think that...Hh...Huh...Damn it, h-hold on,” he brought the handkerchief to his face again, “HuH-ZSCHeW! Hg-TSChew! Hih’zSHiEW! Hih...Gh...HAh’scHIEWh! Ugh...Snrrf, SNRRK, that I’d be better at fending these off, huh.”

   “Exactly, and bless you,” Nanami grabbed the bag and opened the car door. The sight of his apartment building and the promise of a warm bath, pajamas and bed had never seemed so wonderful.

   “Thank you, snrrf, I mean it... You’re good at taking care of others.”

   “It’s my job, sir. And don’t worry about coming back until you’re feeling better, I’ll take care of it.”

   “It’s your job, yes, but...Hih’izSCHEW! HEh... Ugh, snrrf, sorry, thought there’d be more,” he coughed and cleared his throat. “It’s your job, but you do care about us, and I appreciate it. Seriously, thank you,” Ijichi faced forward, but Nanami could see him smiling.

   “No problem. Feel better soon, sir.”

   “Thank you. Snrrf.”

 

   With that said, Nanami headed up to his apartment. After setting his keys on the table, taking that long awaited warm bath and changing into a thick sweatshirt and flannel pants, he made himself some ginger tea, took some cold medicine with it and cozied up under the blankets.

 

“Heh-TSchEW! Hi’izSCHEW! Hah...Hah-tSCHiEW!”

 

He grabbed a tissue from the box Ijichi got for him, blew his nose, and drew the duvet a little tighter over his shoulders. At long last, and after a long day of work, he closed his eyes and finally drifted off to sleep.

[SnzDreams]

EEEEE OMG, you've just made my day!!! Not only a JJK fic, but a JJK fic featuring my absolute fave guy 😍 there just isn't enough Nanami stuff around here ahhhhh!!!

Okay okay I like NEED to comment on all the things you did here that I love!! Firstly, just that image of him sick and cold in the snow waiting to be picked up is melting me ahhhh, the only thing cozier than a sick fic is a sick fic where there's snow and cold ahaha 😍 i just wanna WRAP HIM UP!!! And the frequent sneeze fits and sniffling and general misery is just SOOOOOOOOO 😳😳😳 GOD!! it's just not often you get to see Nanami like this and it's just so so sexy!!!!! Obsessed too with that remark about how he always sneezes in threes or more when sick ahhh 😍 I really like how you spelled his sneezes too, I can hear his voice in them eeeeeee!! 

I also love that you chose to pull Ichiji into the dynamic here!! I feel like his character has such a unique relationship with all the sorcerers and you really took advantage of that here! Especially with someone like Nanami, they're both a little more reserved and on the same wavelength! And I get the feeling Ichiji is really good at observing others, so him picking up on Nanami being sick is so good and perfect. And then him being super insistent about getting him cold medicine and stuff, and giving him his handkerchief...it's just unusual for him to be so forward which is also so, so sweet 😭❤️ idk I really like what you created between them here!! 

And like you are so right that Nanami seems to be put in caretaking role a lot- he def has that personality that makes him good at it! BUT that makes it all the more interesting when it's the other way around 😭 and I feel like you captured it so well... I specifically appreciate that while you have the really sweet gesture of Ichiji insisting of buying him all those remedies, but then you have Nanami who is really self-driven to make sure he uses them despite his exhaustion! Idk, I always headcanoned that he does decently well with taking care of himself when sick ehehe ❤️

Sorry for the long comment LOL, I am just incapable of being normal about JJK (and Nanami, specifically). Thank you for writing this and sharing it with the world!!! 🫶🫶🫶