Work Text:
Naoya Zenin was as temperamental as an early spring day, warm one moment but cool another.
Your marriage had been arranged by your families before either of you could walk. So the pearls from his maternal line, passed down for generations, would find themselves secured around your neck. They were like your husband, beautiful but cold.
~
He was gone most days, off on a mission or training the Hei. You were often left to yourself, something that only increased in pain as time went on. The other members of the family kept their distance, not wanting to be caught playing with the prince’s favorite toy. Ogi’s wife, you didn’t even know her name, would occasionally school you in etiquette, how to carry yourself as the wife of the future head of the clan.
Her eyes occasionally wandered towards your collarbone where the pearls rested and she sighed, remembering something from long ago.
~
The rare times when Naoya would show affection towards you was after sex. He’d allow you to lay your head on his chest while you’d dared to rest against him. Most of the time he’d talk and you’d listen, eager to hear about events going on outside of the walls of the Zenin estate. He told you about a mission he had just returned from, exercising a grade 1 curse for a family in Osaka.
“The younger brother was killed in a car accident so he came back to finish off the older brother.”
“That’s awful.”
“Well, it’s done.”
You thought of something, deciding to use it as an opportunity to get to know your husband more.
“What are your brothers like?”
Without warning Naoya flung you off of him in disgust. You fell back and froze up when he predatorily leaned over you.
“You’d be so much prettier if you learned to shut your mouth.”
~
Ogi’s wife noticed your deflated mood the next day during your etiquette lessons.
“(Name)?” she asked.
“Yes?”
“Did something happen between you and Naoya yesterday?”
“Why?”
“Jinichi told me he was in a foul mood this morning during training. He nearly broke Ranta’s arm.”
You sighed. “I don’t know what happened. All I did was ask about his brothers. “I’ve rarely seen them and I was curious how they got along.”
She glared at you in annoyance. “Silence is more becoming of a woman.”
“Is that what you tell your daughters?” you pointedly asked.
She clenched her jaw.
“I’ll be letting Naobito know about this display of selfishness from you.”
~
“My brothers, they’ve been a source of grief to me.”
Naoya had pushed you to the ground, and then he picked you up and held you close. “When I was a child they conspired against me. They almost killed me with a cursed tool and my mother protected me by taking the blow. She bled out on top of me.”
"Your father said it was a curse user."
"It was better for it to be an outside source than an inside one."
You thought of the little boy who had lost his mother. “Do you miss her?”
He doesn’t answer your question, because he’s done talking about it.
Suddenly the pearl necklace feels heavier, forcing you to sink further into him.
~
Naoya is angry again. This time it’s because he’s found a letter you had hidden under your mattress.
It read:
Dear (Name),
How are things? It’s been a while since we last spoke. I hope you’ve given more thought to the offer to join the faculty at Jujutsu Tech. I know the situation you’re dealing with at home but I think it would be a great way for you to get back in the field. Kusakabe would love to have the extra help dealing with the students. Please let me know.
Sincerely,
Utahime
“What do you think you're doing working without consulting me?” he angrily asked.
Your blood boiled.
You knew that he had someone search through your things and the idea of him monitoring your every move made you see red.
“Utahime approached me when we visited the school last month and told me there was an opening. I never said yes.”
“Well tell that conniving bitch no. I don’t want you to end up with some disgusting scar like her.”
~
One night you had had enough. Naoya had insulted you over some meaningless mistake. You hadn’t folded his shirt the way he wanted it.
“Useless idiot.”
So you slapped him, and when he reached out to grab you his hand caught the pearls and with a harsh tug the necklace snapped.
The two of you looked at the mess around you and laughed, then you fucked, and fought and laughed again.
~
The End.