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#1 First Sight
Nobara still remembered the day she met Fumi for the first time as clearly as if it had only happened yesterday. Many of her memories from the same time had become muddled and vague as time passed, which only made sense, they had been quite young after all. It is reasonable to believe that many of her memories from all those years ago would only be small recollections by the time she became a teenager. But when it came to Fumi, Nobara was able to remember the moments down to the smallest details.
When she first saw the other girl, on her tip-toes as she reached for a blue backpack. She knew right away that she must be from out of town. She had heard rumors of a new family moving to the area, and the girl’s blue backpack all but screamed that she was from that family. Every kid here had a red or black backpack— it was the only color the local store sold. She must have bought the backpack before her family moved out of the city, unaware it would paint a target on her back the moment she stepped inside her new school.
The very thought made Nobara huff in annoyance. She had already heard the whispers around town from people who were wary of the new residents. They acted like there was some unknown sickness they carried just because they hadn’t been born and raised in this shitty village for generations.
Her classmates had already taken to bullying the girl. It seemed that her unique backpack had been thrown on the highest shelf in the class, and no matter how hard she strained, she was unable to reach it even on her tip-toes. Down the hall came snickers and laughter as the boys in their class fled the scene. Nobara glared at their retreating backs, wanting to chase after them and teach them a lesson right then and there.
The only reason she refrained was because of the new girl still struggling to reach for her backpack inside the classroom. She walked inside with a purpose, hands on her hips as she approached the other girl.
She was excited to finally have another girl in their class. The only one besides her had been stupid Yua, who always acted like she was so much better than everyone else just because her family had been living in this town since it was founded. To Nobara that was such a stupid thing to be proud of, she couldn’t see how anyone would want to willingly admit their family had been so boring as to keep themselves penned up in this lame place for generations.
This new girl wouldn’t be like Yua though, Nobara was sure of it. She was from the city, she must have seen so much cool stuff there and been able to go to so many interesting places! She couldn’t wait to hear about them!
Before Nobara had a chance to shout out and introduce herself to the girl, she made one last push from her toes and managed to snag the edge of the bag. Nobara watched in slow motion as it fell towards her head and she reeled backwards.
Her reflexes were already much quicker than any normal child’s on account of her grandmother’s training, and she managed to jump forward and catch the bag right before it landed on the unsuspecting girl’s head.
She looked at Nobara with wide, hazel eyes. Even as she got older Nobara could still remember the expression so distinctly. She remembered thinking it looked just like the fawns that bedded down in the forest behind her house— all wide-eyed and gangly in confusion.
The girl even stumbled and flailed her arms a bit in surprise like a baby fawn getting its legs under it for the first time. Nobara wanted to giggle at the comparison in her head, but she buried it under a grin so the new girl wouldn’t think she was making fun of her.
She introduced herself with a beaming smile, and watched as the other girl’s confusion morphed into curiosity as she quietly replied an introduction of her own.
Fumi. That was the new girl’s name, Nobara thought it was fitting. It was cute, just like her!
It only took one conversation with Fumi for Nobara to realize she wasn’t the most confrontational person. But that was ok, Nobara had enough fight in her for the both of them— she wouldn’t let those stupid boys bully her new friend!
She offered to trade their backpacks, and Fumi agreed even though she looked thoroughly baffled at the turn of events. Nobara preferred red to blue, but Fumi wouldn’t deal well with being ostracized for not fitting in. And since Nobara didn’t care about fitting in at a place like this, she was happy to snatch the burden of the blue bag from Fumi.
#2: First Hug
Nobara barely lasted a day after becoming friends with Fumi before she was hanging off the other girl half the time they were together. She dragged her into hugs every time they saw each other for school in the morning— as if they had been separated for an eternity. And when the day ended she would throw her arm around Fumi’s shoulders and drag her to play. When it was dark, and they had to go their separate ways back to their own homes, she would crush Fumi in a tight hug as if preparing for years apart.
It wasn’t until Fumi arrived that she realized how nice it felt to hug someone. Her grandma thought pointless displays of affection were a waste of time, and Nobara’s parents were unknown to her. And she certainly held no desire to hug any of her annoying classmates.
She hadn’t even thought about hugs, until she saw Fumi again arriving at school the morning after they first met. She was so excited to see her new friend, her only ally in this silly town. So she rushed forward and nearly tackled her to the ground with the force of the gesture. Fumi grunted but managed to not go tumbling over from the impact.
She returned the hug without a second thought and it filled Nobara with a warm, happy feeling she had never experienced before. She pulled away from Fumi only enough to offer the girl a beaming smile before pulling her towards the back of the class so they could sit next to each other. Fumi went along without protest, if anything there was a shy smile on her face to show that the gesture had made her happy as well.
When Nobara glanced over at her she was looking back with an expression that almost seemed awed, though Nobara couldn’t understand why. Maybe it had been the hug. Fumi might not be used to such a sudden display of affection, she was rather shy after all.
Nobara resolved she would simply have to hug Fumi even more to make sure the other girl knew how much Nobara liked her.
#3: First Fight
Fumi and Nobara didn’t fight. It was a fact— just like the sky being blue and the sun rising in the morning. Saori always said it was because they ‘complemented’ each other so well.
Nobara had puffed up in pride when she heard Saori say it for the first time, feeling proud. Of course she and Fumi complemented each other! They were best friends, nothing could ever come between them!
Well almost anything.
Looking back on it, Nobara wanted to bang her head into the wall at how childish she had acted. When they were twelve, a new ice cream shop was opening in town. On opening day all the kids were allowed to get free ice cream, and Fumi had wanted to go after school with the rest of their classmates.
Nobara had brushed off the idea like it was nothing, telling Fumi they would go to her house and get ice cream there instead. The thought of hanging out with all their snobby classmates seemed like such a pain. Why should they? Nobara had ice cream in the fridge at home and the two of them could just go there and eat together without any meddling classmates!
Fumi hadn’t seen it that way. She had frowned at Nobara with a hurt expression, “But I really wanna go, maybe it will be a chance to get closer to our other classmates.”
“Why would you want to do that?” Nobara had asked with a pout, “They’re annoying and we’re gonna ditch this town together one day!”
They frequently spoke of what they would do when they were older. Nobara was determined to go to the city and reunite with Saori. Fumi always agreed and said she would go too.
“Yeah, but…” Fumi trailed off for a bit before frowning and continuing with a determined frown, “My parents really like it here. They fit in now, and I’m pretty sure they want to stay forever. Even if we leave, we’ll come back to visit. Why is making friends with our classmates such a bad idea?”
Nobara stared at Fumi in surprise for a while. She wasn’t used to Fumi arguing with her over things. Even this small disagreement felt like a big deal because of that. There had never been a need to argue over stuff before. Nobara always jumped to accommodate all of Fumi’s ideas, determined to do whatever she could to make the other girl smile. And Fumi was typically happy to just tag along with whatever Nobara wanted to do anyway.
“But they’re annoying…” was all Nobara could get herself to say in reply, too stumped by the concept of disagreeing with Fumi to come up with much more.
“Maybe they don’t have to be. If we just befriended them, maybe they wouldn’t be annoying anymore,” Fumi remained steadfast, and Nobara couldn’t understand what had gotten into her.
Nobara didn’t reply right away, and Fumi seemed to take that as a rejection. “Fine,” she said with a small sniffle, “I’ll go myself, I won’t make you come with me.”
Her eyes had already welled up with tears and Nobara felt her heart practically stop in her chest. It wasn’t the first time she saw Fumi cry. She was sensitive, whenever other kids were rude to her, her eyes always swelled with tears that she tried to hold back. Nobara had always beat up anyone that so much as dared to make her Fumi cry. But now that she was the cause of the tears, she didn’t know what to do with herself. How was she supposed to beat herself up?
The bell rang before she could find the words to reassure Fumi that she would go with her to the new ice cream place— she would promise anything as long as it meant she never had to see Fumi cry because of her again!
“I’ll see you tomorrow Nobara,” Fumi sniffled again as she fruitlessly wiped away tears and ran out of the classroom.
Nobara wanted to follow her, but she was so mad at herself she couldn’t even imagine facing Fumi at the moment. Instead she ran all the way home and hid in her room for the rest of the day, crying into her pillow. Was she not enough for Fumi? It had always been just the two of them, why did Fumi suddenly want more friends now?
She had only recently lost Saori, she couldn’t bear to lose Fumi too! The very thought of it had her breath freezing in her chest as she cried harder. She knew she couldn’t let it happen.
Without any more hesitation, Nobara stubbornly wiped away her tears and managed to calm down her hiccupting sobs. She spent the rest of the night practicing how she was going to apologize to Fumi and make it right. Even if it meant that she had to share Fumi with her stupid classmates from now on, all Nobara cared about was getting her friend back.
She could barely sleep that night from the stress as she worried over what Fumi would think of her, and whether she would accept her apology.
It turned out she had nothing to worry about. The next morning Fumi saw her first and ran to her as her crying caused her voice to hiccup. Fumi hugged her and spewed apologies as she babbled about never wanting to fight again. Nobara wasn’t much better, the moment she saw Fumi she was clinging to her and crying out apologies of her own.
Looking back it was truly a silly argument, and they hadn’t even lasted a day being mad at each other. At the time Nobara had truly thought she was being abandoned by her best friend though. A foolish thought— nothing could come between her and Fumi. All that came of the trip to the ice cream shop was their classmates suddenly being less rude to Fumi. She still spent all her time with Nobara.
#4: First Goodbye
Finally managing to convince her grandmother to send her to the city to attend Jujutsu Tech felt like a hollow victory. Nobara didn’t regret her decision— she had been waiting for the moment she could leave this town for as long as she could remember.
But it still hurt that Fumi couldn’t go with her. There was no way Fumi would be able to attend a school for sorcerers, she couldn’t follow Nobara this time. Instead she would be staying in town to go to the local high school.
They had spent the days leading up to Nobara’s departure at each other's sides non-stop. They hung out together and laughed like everything was normal. Both of them did their best to ignore the looming day of Nobara’s departure and what it meant for them.
They had scarcely spent a day without seeing each other since they met. Sure there were small trips here and there where Nobara would go hunting for cursed spirits with her grandmother or Fumi and her parents would leave to visit family. But those never lasted longer than a few days. Going to school in Tokyo would mean that they would be apart for months.
When Saori had left, Nobara had cried and cried until she didn’t have any tears left. Fumi had been teary-eyed as well. But for the most part she stayed strong as she patted Nobara on the back and tried her best to comfort her.
As Fumi walked her to the train station to see her off, Nobara resolved to be the strong one this time. She wouldn’t be there to comfort Fumi once she got on that train, and if she cried it would only make Fumi cry. Tears had been threatening to burst from her hazel eyes from the moment they met outside Nobara’s house, and Nobara resolved she would do everything she could to not let them fall. She had promised herself she would never be the cause of Fumi crying again after their fight as children.
“Well, this one’s me!” Nobara said with as much false cheer as she could. There was only one train ready to leave for the city in their tiny train station, so pointing it out had little actual effect, but Nobara would say anything to fill the sudden silence.
Fumi nodded as her lips trembled. They had already hugged each other tightly before they arrived, knowing it would be harder to let go if they waited until the last moment.
Nobara didn’t say goodbye outright, instead she repeated the promise they had made to each other countless times over the years, “Fumi, let’s meet again in Tokyo— you, me, and Saori. Just like we promised!”
She grinned as brightly as she could, feeling her cheeks strain from the force of stopping her own tears. Fumi looked up at her with the most heart-broken expression Nobara had ever seen on her.
And that was the moment that Nobara couldn’t hold it back anymore. As the train doors began to close tears finally filled her eyes and began to drip down her cheeks. She had wanted to be strong for Fumi, but it seemed that once again Fumi was the one who managed to stay strong in the face of a goodbye.
Seconds later, Fumi’s own tears spilled out of her eyes and she finally nodded, agreeing to the promise once again. It made Nobara feel a little better with their promise renewed.
She looked out the window and watched Fumi slowly fade into the distance as the train began to move. Her heart was light with excitement at the prospect of finally leaving this town behind. And with the reminder of their vow to meet in Tokyo, she was able to content herself with leaving Fumi just for a little bit.
This was only a temporary departure after all. Soon, the two of them and Saori would be together again.
#5: First Reunion
So much had happened since Nobara had last seen Fumi, and even more had happened since she had seen Saori. After waking up from her coma and finally replying to Fumi’s frantic messages wondering if she was ok, the two of them had planned to meet up in the city.
Remembering their promise, Nobara had thrown herself into hunting down Saori so the older girl could be there as well. She had promised Fumi that the next time they saw each other, all three of them would be together. And she intended to keep that promise if it was the last thing she did.
It turned out to be a lot easier than she expected. The assistant managers were skilled in finding people, and Akari had been a huge help in tracking her down with only a name to go off of. Saori had been shocked when Nobara got in contact with her, but she had eagerly agreed to meet her and Fumi at a cafe in a part of Tokyo that hadn’t been damaged by all the fighting.
The day dawned with a lot of anticipation for Nobara. This was the moment that she had been looking forward to for years— where her, Fumi, and Saori would be together again. .
She arrived at the small cafe that Saori had indicated for the meeting, and scanned the area. There was an older girl, in her early twenties. Despite the fact Nobara hadn’t seen her for years, and she had grown much older, she knew it was Saori right away.
She rushed forward and crushed the elder girl in a hug, hearing a familiar ring of laughter as she did. It really was Saori, after all these years apart, in the flesh, “Saori, I missed you so much,” Nobara couldn’t help but sniffle, feeling like a child again.
She felt someone pat her head, “Nobara,” Saori said in a fond voice, “Look how big you are now, I can’t quite believe it.”
She pulled away from the hug and wiped the tears out of her eyes, “I’m in high school now, of course I have.”
“Come sit down with me while we wait for Fumi,” she said as she led Noabra to a booth in the back of the cafe, “I’m glad we were able to meet even with all the chaos in the country right now. I hope you didn’t get caught up in any of it,” she commented idly.
“About that…” Nobara trailed off, “I’ll tell you about everything that has happened since I came to Tokyo, but let’s wait until Fumi gets here. I think you guys deserve to know,” Curses were essentially open knowledge now, though people didn’t always call them by that name. They were monsters, beasts, ghosts, mythical creatures-- whatever each person had perceived when they overran the country mere weeks ago. The clean up from all that was still a bitch, and that wasn’t even taking into account how half the city had been destroyed by Sukuna on two separate occasions.
Saori looked worried, but didn’t press Nobara on what she meant while they waited for Fumi. Instead the two of them talked about Saori’s job and how they’d been since they last saw each other. And then there was a quiet jingle from the bell on the front door. Nobara had her back turned towards the door, but she knew in her soul who it was. Saori looked past her shoulder with a warm smile, “Fumi?”
Nobara turned around to see the girl scuffing her foot awkwardly on the ground a few feet away from the table, a nervous look on her face as she shyly met Nobara’s eyes. It felt like it had only been moments since they parted on that train track, and it felt like it had been an eternity, at the same time. Fumi had a sheen of unshed tears in her eyes as she looked at Nobara, and her lower lip wobbled slightly. She felt a thick feeling in the back of her own throat, and furtively tried to hold back the wetness in her eyes.
Nobara jumped up from her seat, not caring how she knocked the table and caused her coffee to spill over the edge of the cup, “Nob--” Fumi didn’t even get to finish before Nobara had launched herself into the other girl’s arms. She squeezed Fumi tight enough to restrict airflow, but the other girl didn’t seem to mind, she hugged back just as fiercely. Nobara could feel a few small patches of wetness on her shoulder where Fumi had pressed her face against her shoulder. It was only fair since Nobara was sure a few tears of her own had slipped free and fell on Fumi’s shoulder as well. Every other thought in her mind had vanished, replaced only with the knowledge that her Fumi was here with her again. She had never liked the countryside, but there was a part of her that felt so out of place ever since coming to the city.
With Fumi in her arms, it was clear what that piece had been. Now that she was here with her, Nobara was complete, and she was never going to let her go again.