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Nobara Kugisaki loves all things fashion and beauty. When she doesn’t have to wear her Jujutsu Tech uniform, she loves to accessorize to the nines and play around with her own interpretations of different fashion trends. Her bedroom mirror has seen her in hundreds of different outfits.
That’s why it was so difficult to cover up her entire mirror with a long beach towel after returning home from the hospital. Nobara’s fight against Mahito in Shibuya had claimed her right eye and disfigured her face. The doctors were shocked that she had survived at all, claiming that it was a total miracle, nothing they had ever seen before.
“Your guardian angel was watching over you, Nobara,” the nurses said to her gently as they changed her dressings day after day. “You are so lucky.” Nobara felt like she was the furthest thing from lucky.
After spending a month in the hospital, she was released from intensive care and was able to return to Jujutsu Tech. She has to wear an eyepatch over her right eye socket for the foreseeable future while the wound heals completely, though the doctors weren’t sure if the skin would ever return to normal. Her hospital room didn’t have any mirrors, not even in the bathroom, so being abruptly confronted with her new appearance the second that Nobara walked into her room was jarring, to say the least. She froze in horror seeing her reflection, impulsively reaching up to cover the right side of her face, recoiling in pain when her hand touched the skin that was still raw and angry. She decided it was easier to cover her mirror than to have to see herself every day.
Leaving her room got harder and harder for Nobara. The thought of other people seeing her face in its current state brought her overwhelming and intense anxiety. For a while, Fushiguro stopped by every day to bring her food and keep her updated on Itadori, who’s still in the hospital recovering from even more severe wounds than Nobara’s. He never came into her room—he opted to just leave her food outside the door, with small notes about Itadori attached to the bag of snacks.
One Thursday evening, Nobara is curled up in bed watching a Korean drama on Netflix when her phone goes off with a text notification. She passively glances down at her phone only to feel her heart suddenly skip a beat when she sees the sender: Maki Zenin.
Hey, Nobara. What’s up?
Nobara stares at the screen, waiting for her heart rate to slow down a little, only feeling it increase the longer she stares at the text. She hasn’t spoken to Maki since before Shibuya, but Fushiguro told her that Maki also sustained severe injuries fighting the cursed spirit Jogo. She had been burned all over her body and spent weeks in the hospital.
nothing really. just watching netflix. how r u?
Could be better, but I’m guessing you feel that way too.
Nobara grimaces at her phone. Maki’s sense of humor is as dry as ever.
ya that’s putting it lightly. idk if you heard but i lost an eye
Metal. I like my women battle-scarred.
Nobara’s face is suddenly beet-red. She had gone on a handful of dates with Maki prior to Shibuya, but they both got wrapped up in fighting and then were both mortally wounded, so romance fell to the wayside.
Another text comes before she has a chance to figure out how to respond.
I miss you. Can I see you?
She bites her lip, then promptly winces at the pain. It’s not that Nobara doesn’t want to see Maki - she does want to see her, more than anything in the world. She wants to sink into Maki’s embrace and not think about anything that happened in Shibuya.
r u okay to do that? megumi said u got messed up
I mean, I’m burned to shit and resemble an overdone piece of steak, but I can walk. Far enough to get to your room, at least.
Also, why is Megumi so nosy? Damn.
Nobara laughs out loud to nobody in particular. She sinks deeper into her bedsheets. Being with Maki is easy and comfortable, but would Maki accept her the way she looks now? The anxiety surrounding her disfiguration is all-consuming. She types out a few words, tries a few different sentences, and backspaces all of them.
i wanna see u, im just nervous about….
how i look now, i guess?
It feels like Maki’s reply comes before she even has time to read what Nobara says.
Nice. Can I come by at 7?
What? Seven? It’s 6:30. And Nobara never even said she could come over. She grabs one of her pillows and screeches into it.
ya that works, see u soon then
The sentence practically wrote itself, against Nobara’s will. She stares at the wall, then back at her phone, then back at the wall.
Perfect. See you soon. <3
The covered-up mirror seems to grow in size, suddenly dominating Nobara’s vision, making fear cloud over her rising giddyness at seeing Maki again. She extracts herself from the nest of blankets on her bed and shuffles over to her closet. Her body still hurts too much to wear anything restricting and overly tight, but she should at least get out of her pajamas.
After rummaging through her clothes for what feels like an hour, she settles on a simple black romper. If nothing else, it matches her eyepatch.
Not one second after Nobara finishes gingerly pulling on the romper, there’s a swift knock at the door, followed by a soft, “ Fuck. ” Is it really seven already?!
She quizzically eyes the alarm clock on her nightstand. 6:47.
Suddenly Maki’s voice is outside the door. “I accidentally knocked with my burned hand and now my hand hurts too much to use the door handle. Let me in.”
Nobara abruptly starts pacing in a tiny circle. She needed more time to mentally prepare. She needed thirteen more minutes to mentally prepare, but Maki is right here, and apparently in pain now too.
Maki’s voice appears again. “I will open this door and hurt myself. Let me in.”
“Don’t! I’ll be right there,” Nobara snaps back. She slowly shuffles over to the door.
She slides it open a crack, peering through the small opening. Indeed, Maki Zenin is standing right outside her door. Her face and neck are covered in burn scars, but she’s just as beautiful as she has always been.
Nobara is suddenly overwhelmed with emotions. Tears well up in her eyes before she realizes what’s happened. “I’m so sorry. You’re the bravest girl I know.”
Maki smirks at her. “I wasn’t going to fuckin’ die or anything. Can you open the door? I wanna hug you.”
The door softly swings open. Maki steps inside confidently. “Your room hasn’t changed a bit, I see. Not feeling up to redecorating?”
Tears are streaming down Nobara’s face, but she laughs. “Fuck you,” she hiccups through her tears, making Maki start laughing.
“Can I hug you?”
Nobara nods tentatively, and she’s suddenly swept up in Maki’s arms, the embrace a bit softer than what she’s used to, but still just as warm and sweet as she remembers.
Maki talks into Nobara’s hair. “You did amazing. You took on a special grade cursed spirit that killed a grade one sorcerer and lived. I’m so proud of you.”
Nobara clutches her back, leaning into Maki’s gentle embrace. “The look on Itadori’s face was awful. I wanted to save more people. I just—” she starts sobbing, choking on her words.
Maki shushes her, rubbing tiny circles on her back. “I know. Shibuya wasn’t a place that any of us should’ve been sent to. It was way too much for a first year. You’re just a baby sorcerer. It’s not your fault.”
“I was so worried about you,” Nobara chokes out, tears streaming down her face.
“I know,” Maki whispers, her own voice tightening a bit. “I was worried about you too.” She releases Nobara and steps back a bit, clearing her throat. “But we’re both here, and alive, if not a bit uglier now,” she says with a gentle laugh.
Nobara furiously rubs the tears out of her eye. “You’re still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, Maki.”
Maki suddenly blushes. “Shut up,” she scoffs, turning away a bit. “You’re seeing me 50% less now that you only have one eye. It doesn’t count.”
Nobara laughs, acting like she’s gonna swing at Maki, who instinctively recoils. “I could’ve lost both my eyes and still known that.”
Maki grins, the most pure smile that Nobara has ever seen. “I’m worn out from walking all the way over here. Let’s lay down.”
Nobara smiles and backs up to her bed. “Fine with me. Just don’t get blood on my sheets.”
Maki scoffs. “That’s what my bandages are for, thank you very much.”