Rilakkuma Store In Tokyo, Japan 【2007年5月】 ･ﾟﾟ･｡ᡣ𐭩

being a sorcerer meant risking life and limb,⠀⠀it meant putting yourself second and dedicating all that you could — all that you were able in jujutsu society, your aptitude for exorcising curses — in service of keeping innocents safe from what went bump in the night ( usually, the dreadful manifestations of their own makings, their fears: what haunts them ) and that's who she was. a student / a sorcerer. existent duality of a girl.⠀⠀more recently,⠀⠀she'd found herself walking to the med wing of  tōkyō jujutsu tech, gojō-sensei making it somwhat clear in the eccentric way that he spoke: that her individualized training in regards of effectively targeting the souls of slightly grade-high curses wouldn't be able to be pulled off without an effigy that wasn't made of straw. it made sense to her.⠀⠀even making her 人形 took crucial amounts of time and there was no obāsan to trail after as if she was a little kid⠀⠀( to watch with a keen eye ),⠀⠀to show her the proper way physically,⠀⠀to fix her screw ups.⠀⠀nobara was on her own.

so in this, she understood why gojō-sensei just didn't have her construct a large enough doll. making them took time, something she didn't have, wasn't necessarily afforded to her as their enemies grew stronger. there was a restlessness to gojō-sensei, a carefully crafted methodology to his actions that nobara found somewhat puzzling to decipher. still, this is what she signed up for. this is what she wants to see through. still, though, she makes her way until she crosses the door's threshold of ieiri-san's office and is greeted by a completely different voice, hall pass and request jotted down on a note held in ever-delicate hands.

“ oh, hi. yeah, that's me. ”⠀⠀she confirms her identity,⠀⠀interest slightly piqued at the sight of the other girl.⠀⠀somewhere she's heard that they'd be getting a slight, more influx of students⠀⠀—⠀⠀this had to be one of them,⠀⠀and she vaguely remembers ieiri-san mentioning that there was an incoming first-year who was to be studying under her in learning reverse technique.⠀⠀this had to have been her. “ it's nice to meet you too, did you dye your hair? it's a nice shade of auburn. ”

            ❛     oh!   hello.   it’s …   Kugisaki - san,   right?     ❜          𝘯𝘰𝘵  𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨  𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯  𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺  𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥  𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦  until now,   the girl nearly trips on her feet from the sudden entrance in the doctor’s office,  a space she’s been organizing for the past couple minutes for said doctor who,  coincidentally,  is not there at the moment.   not recognizing who  ʚ @waraningyo ɞ  is right away,  Orihime quickly pieces bits of information together and greets her fellow classmate with a smile.   with a trained eye,  she quickly scans for any visible injuries and relaxes when she finds none.   from what she’s heard between auntie and Gojō,  the incoming students are an interesting bunch   ━━━   she supposes that includes herself as well,  but she hasn’t exactly been able to show that to the others yet…   auntie promised it’d be soon,  though.          ❛     if  you’re  looking  for  Miss  Shōko,   i  sent  her  away  for  a  nap  after  lunch.    so  i’m  sort  of  in  charge  here,   for  the  moment.   um,   i’m  Inoue  Orihime,   the  other  first  year.   it’s  nice  to  meet  you!     ❜          there’s a short but polite bow from her,  long hair flowing down her shoulder in a cascade of orange.   the white lab coat is fitted to her size,  shorter than the one auntie wears,  and a pair of blue hair clips are attached to the left collar,  glinting in the fluorescent lights.          ❛     please  feel  free  to  ask  for  anything,   i’ll  do  my  best!     ❜

platonic sentences.

a small collection of platonic sentences used in casual interactions between friends, or those who need a moment of platonic sweetness. some are goofy, some are serious, some are just sweet and domestic.

“ you’ve got something there… let me remove it for you! ”

“ lean on me if you’re tired, i’ll keep an eye on the movie… ”

“ you look really good today! ”

“ your hair is really soft, what kind of braid did you want again? ”

“ i love this. just you, me, an ungodly amount of blankets and netflix. ”

“ if you want it i’ll get it for you, don’t worry! ”

“ you really make my days, you know that? ”

“ nothing makes me happier than being here with you ”

“ hey hey hey, if you wanna share fries you could ask first! ”

“ okay, i’ll give you half of my burger for half of your sundae, okay? ”

“ uh huh? you’re gonna take me? you and what wrestling army? ”

“ oh ? really ? me ? weak ? have you Seen my muscles ? ”

“ can you stroke my back for a moment? i just want some cuddles. ”

“ i just really want a hug today. ”

“ you look like you could use a hug today ”

“ that outfit looks really good on you, by the way ”

“ okay but, taste this, i made this but i can’t tell if it’s tasty — ”

“ come here — let’s sort this out ”

“ if i squish your cheeks together you look like a pufferfish ”

“ oh my god, your hand is MASSIVE compared to mine ”

“ are you serious? is your hand this tiny? let me compare to mine — ”

“ yes please, keep stroking my hair. i need that today. ”

“ you. me. junk food. today was crap and i need Us time. ”

“ is that the perfume i recommended to you? it smells really good on you!”

“ you’re hogging the blankets, stop it! ”

“ if i just flop over on your lap, will you let me sleep in peace? ”

“ scoot — over — i need to lie down ”

“ give me your feet and i’ll rub them ”

“ hey now, it’s okay? i’m here for you ”

“ we make a good team though, don’t we? ”

“ hey ( name ) wanna catch a movie later today? ”

“ here you go, your favorite snack — picked up a few on my way over ”

“ well d u h, of course i know your favorite snack. friends do this stuff. ”

“ oh, so you really think i don’t know you? mhm? test me! ”

“ you think you know me? really? okay, what’s my favorite … ( thing )? ”

“ i can’t believe my clothes look better on you. that should be illegal. ”

“ well if this meme isn’t us then i don’t know — ” sends meme.

“ your shoulders are really tense, can you try to sit still? ”

“ i’ll buy you dinner if you rub my back right now ”

👥👥👥

when nobara was called in to study at tokyo tech and her grandma was against it, akari travelled all the way to their village to talk with them and find a compromise. she's not sure it helped at all but she's glad nobara managed to attend school

just like she does with arata, akari takes nobara out once a month for brunch and shopping for various necessities. she's very aware that the younger sorcerer shopping habits continue even after that but let's say in that one specific day she's usually off duty and can approach the situation more as a friend than the person who has to make sure nothing bad happens on the field

after shibuya, nobara is lowkey one of the family to both akari and arata. they've spent so much time together during the convalescence period that it would just feel weird not to think of her as such

what’s nobara’s contact name in your muse’s phone?

before she could even put a name to a face, nobara had already decided that she had a bone to pick with special-grade tōkyō jujutsu tech 2nd year okkotsu yūta. in retrospect, this wasn't at all hard to do. before he had gotten back from wherever he'd been overseas early, his name had lingered in the mouths of the other 2nd years: the residuals of his cursed energy may as well have had lingered in the hallways, too.

his accomplishments during last year's goodwill event with their sister school were spoken of with an undercurrent of pride, and even fushiguro held a deep respect for him: but nobara wasn't impressed.

if anything? she was mildly annoyed. call it a petty annoyance at his thrashing those kyōto hasbeens so good that the succeeding year's goodwill event had to be held on tōkyō's turf instead of where she wanted to sightsee and try new foods, and she'd be lying to herself if she said she hadn't felt a flare of pride, but still ...

it's annoying: the way he walks past her in between classroom transitionings without so much as an inkling of the setback he's put her through ( she was on a slightly fixed schedule and he ruined it! ), the way she catches him during co-training smiling sheepishly and rubbing his head while talking to maki-san, panda, and inumaki-senpai from across the training grounds, the way he's so nice ( he reminds her of itadori in that regard ) that it makes feeling even an inkling of annoyance at him? feel like a slight against him despite what he's unintionally ruined for her, the way he can't tell when a girl's got a bone to pick with him even if he doesn't necessarily know her.

what's even more annoying is that she doesn't necessarily know him, so it's a petty annoyance nobara is feeling and that annoys her more, but even still? she's decided he's earned her ire for making it so that she wouldn't be able to explore all kyōto had to offer a countryside girl, an outsider, like her. she's decided that, for his transgression of annoying her, that he must make it up to her.

so, it's in between classroom transitionings where she catches him at the water fountain that she decides on confronting him, a hand on her hip and stamped down annoyance hidden behind tight, pursed lips as she approaches him. she introduces herself as casually as she can muster as a friend and kouhai of maki-san's, to which he replies in kind, he inquires: you're kugisaki-san, right? and it annoys her that he's being formal with her where he doesn't have to be. kugisaki is just fine, no honorifics are needed. he doesn't hear itadori nor fushiguro using them, does he? okkotsu is his own person, though, he'll do what he will.

pride blooms in her chest, though, at her sensei singing praises to his current class. she has been doing somewhat well in her studies, a little better than itadori, even with the cirruculum something she's getting used to. pride blooms in her chest, and — — — no, no, no! she couldn't forget why she had cornered him at the school's water fountain, couldn't forget the annoyance that had festered before pride had even deigned to take root with his honeyed words.

“ hold that thought, okkotsu. i've got a question: did you ever stop to think about the types of students that'd be filtering into gojō-sensei's class this coming year? what different kinds of walks we've taken just to end up in the same place anyway, where we're from? do you even care? ”

❝ oh , that's a hell of a coincidence ! but anyone who's friends with maki - san is a friend of mine . ❞ the special grade quickly forms his lips into a much warmer , welcoming smile as opposed to the serious expression he'd been wearing before when he comes to the understanding that this is a kouhai of his fellow classmate , not to mention probably one of the students gojo - sensei specifically requested he look out for . good luck or coincidence , he's content with the matter , blade settled over his shoulder in a thick black sheath . ❝ okkotsu yuta , maki - san's classmate . and you're kugisaki - san , right ? ❞ as soon as he suspects her offense , he's quick to explain himself ; ❝ gojo - sensei had nothing but good things to say about his new students this year . ❞

@waraningyo

glitter for scars

I uploaded this painting to my print store here!

I also made a phone wallpaper version (1440x3200). Feel free to DM me if you'd like me to send it to you!

a curse stake-out with gojo-sensei!⠀웃⠀semi-plotted starter.

ginza, ginza, she was in ginza!  nobara had heard great things about ginza, mainly from magazines acquired from her local konbini back home, and what's more is that now? now she's experiencing first-hand what people find so great about ginza since her move to the city from the boonies of tōhoku.

that doe-eyed, amazed child-to-tween reading through said magazines was now reflected in her eyes as she took in the sights,  reflected in her nose as she took in the smells,  reflected in her ears as she took in the hustle and bustle of the famed shopping district with a penchant for attracting tourists and those native alike, joined only together in the allure that has enchanted them to come in the first place. 

put simply: nobara has found herself in shopping paradise. 

quite frankly, though?  she should be enjoying herself, enjoying the chillness that's seeping into the day as it gradually turns to night, since she's off-duty, after all. she should be decked out for the weather, dressed to the nines, and enjoying herself as teenage girls do! 

she's off-duty, technically, but technically? she's never off-duty.  

so sure, it was an off-day technically, but what's that to a student-sorcerer whose enemies are spawned around the clock: birthed by the negativity found in humanity? where her hands would be holding any number of shopping bags on a night like tonight, they're empty on a saturday night. she can't be too put off, though, it comes with the job. she isn't alone, anyway: her sensei, as eccentric and jovial as he is, is accompanying her on what is a stake-out in the deeper part of the district.

her targets for tonight? a gaggle of upper grade 2s in a residential area: they boast the kind of intellect that makes it easy for them to pick off unsuspecting targets, and what's more is that they'd been in the area for quite some time, coming out of dormancy every now and again to terrorize. it was no wonder why they weren't exorcised sooner, but nobara supposes they'd had been kept alive just for this.

part of her should be annoyed that she isn't shopping, but there's a flounce in her step that's a touch too giddy. she's been practicing on optimizing the maximum damage of hairpin once triggered, the usage of the one binding vow she can't be bothered to properly place the name of right now: she just knows that she's elated to try it out, showcase her ever-budding strength to her sensei —-

because she had been practicing: because that's the point of attending tōkyō jujutsu tech in the first place, you hone your cursed technique against curses, you fight curses with curses. it's a battle of cursing, but it isn't something trivial, in hindsight it isn't something inherently moralistic. it just is, and that's how it's been for a long while: probably how it'll always be.

a job's a job, a cycle's a cycle, a machine's a machine until it's not. until it inevitably breaks down due to rusted old parts that interfere with its functioning, until it has no choice but to replace those old parts with new parts or until it's replaced with something new entirely.

“ since this is cutting into my me time, sensei, you wouldn't mind making sure a couple extra yen gets deposited into my student bank account, right? ”

If you miss the first year trio clap your hands 👏 👏 If you miss the first year trio—

kugisaki nobara.⠀⠀웃⠀⠀a glimpse into her instagram.

some to-knows:

maki, fushiguro, and itadori were among the first people she followed from tōkyō jujutsu tech. family members⠀⠀(⠀⠀some of those of her clan residing outside of japan included⠀⠀)⠀⠀and her favorite fashion brands, designers, + celebrities were among her first followings.

someway, somehow, she makes the time to be a brand ambassador for one of her favorite makeup brands.

she's somewhat slow at following people back⠀⠀(⠀⠀if she even chooses to⠀⠀) and extremely selective. between in-class jujutsu lectures, classwork, personal time to herself, and fieldwork on top of that:⠀⠀nobara is extremely in-demand!

whenever she goes live it's usually when she's sightseeing or trying new foods, or visiting her favorite, more popular stores and malls. sometimes, she'll stumble upon the most simplistic nook-and-crannied little spot in tōkyō ( like that one non-descript coffee shop that she's claimed for her own for studying, because she loves their coffee, and it's hers because she says so ).

she has profile reels that have become popular, and that've went viral, of her constructing wara ningyō 「 藁人形, lit. " straw dolls " 」: of her showing step-by-step how they're made. these videos have not only become a hit in her native japan, but outside as well, particularly in the west: her following is accredited to this, largely. before they were ever thought of to be used as a clever device in exorcising curses, before they were ever thought of to be ever-useful proxies by the women in the kugisaki clan, they were apart of her culture. nobara takes immense pride in that.

she has a select, private groupchat on nearly every social media app and instagram is not exempt. members obviously consist of itadori, fushiguro, and herself.

makes it a point to block mai everywhere. it works for the most part, but nobara soon learned she has ample burner accounts one day. luckily, she isn't at all afraid to run blockchains through third-party apps.

wara ningyō are a popular kind of katashiro made of straw [ ... ] wara ningyō are used extensively as wards against evil. they are combined with something from the recipient of the curse, such as a piece of hair. this transforms the doll into a substitute for the intended target. long nails are pushed through the wara ningyō, harming the subject as well as the doll.

#waraningyo is an independent, privately selective, mutuals only, headcanon and lore-heavy rendition of kugisaki nobara from akutami gege's 呪術廻戦. delicately crafted by meenah and re-est. dec 2023.