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Nanami thought it was a dream at first. He was at the beach, walking and cherishing the soothing sound of the waves crashing on the sand. The rhythmic symphony of the sea lulled him into a momentary escape from reality. But in an instant, he was jolted back to the grim confines of the train station when a tiny hand grasped his, yanking him back to his harsh situation. He looked down and saw a child. A child who seemed out of place in this hellhole, like a flower blooming in a wasteland. Nanami surveyed his surroundings to grasp the situation and make sense of what was happening. He saw the mountain of cursed corpses disintegrating into the air. Among them, he noticed a familiar figure—Mahito, if he was correct—turning into dust.
“What happened?” Nanami asked no one as he looked more around.
He felt a tug on his hand again and looked down, thinking that everything was just an illusion born from his slow descent into unconsciousness. But there was really a child holding his hand, looking up at him with concern. Nanami had to blink several times to ensure that it was indeed a child and not another curse. Being exhausted and half-burned made it difficult to see and think clearly, but it was unmistakably a human—a child with pale blonde hair and unusually colorful eyes, gazing at him with a worried expression.
The child was speaking, but Nanami couldn't hear anything. Before he could utter a word, he succumbed to the gentle embrace of unconsciousness, drifting into a serene slumber as the world around him faded away.
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Nanami awoke to a throbbing ache; his whole body hurt and stung simultaneously, pulling him back to the harsh reality of what had transpired before he fainted—his students, Gojo being sealed, and the child with blonde hair. He immediately tried to sit up, but his body instantly protested, shutting down his efforts as his back came into contact with the bed again. He felt a lump on his unburned side. Lifting his arm to see what it was, he saw the child.
Nanami stared at the child for a long time, unsure of what to do. The child was awake, leaning against him—one hand gently patting his unburned arm while the other clutched his shirt.
"Hi," Nanami said softly, holding the child's hand that was trying to comfort him. He held it as gently as he could, given the pain coursing through his body.
"Hi," the child replied, looking at him with wide, colorful eyes. A small smile appeared on the child's face. "The doctor says that you'll be okay, but I was worried when you weren't waking up."
"Thank you," Nanami said, confused and unsure of what to say at that moment. The child giggled when Nanami placed the little hand he was holding on his chest.
"I can feel your heartbeat!" the child squealed quietly. "I'm really happy that you're okay. Well, okay-ish, I guess."
Nanami couldn't help but smile at the child's happiness. "What's your name?" he asked, not wanting to refer to the child merely as "the child."
"I have many names!" the child said excitedly, sitting up and facing Nanami while listing various names. Most were foreign, but one was a name of crystal stones, Aventurine. "But what I like the most is Kakavasha. My parents has given me that name. You can call me Vasha!" the child ended with a smile.
"Hi, Vasha. You have quite a lot of names," Nanami said, reaching out to pat Vasha's hair.
"I do! People like giving me names wherever I go. I was even tattooed here," Vasha replied, pointing to a bandage on his neck.
"Tattooed? But you're still a child!" Nanami exclaimed, anger rising as he wondered who would tattoo a child. "What did they tattoo on you? And why did your parents agree?"
The child's demeanor quickly darkened. "My parents are dead, and my sister was killed. The IPC put this as a brand so that others would know that they own me."
"What?!" Nanami asked angrily. This time, he managed to sit up despite the pain, his anger fueling his movements. But as quickly as the anger surged, it quickly disappeared when he saw tears welling up in Vasha's eyes.
"I'm sorry!" Vasha cried, curling into himself and almost falling off the bed as he tried to crawl away from Nanami. Nanami's fast reflexes caught him in time.
"Oh, shit!" Nanami whispered, using his unburned hand to haul the child’s body and hurriedly settling Vasha back on the bed. "I'm sorry, I wasn't angry at you. I was angry at those who did this to you."
The child planted himself against Nanami's chest. It hurt, but Nanami endured it for the sake of the crying child. He positioned both of them comfortably, making sure to avoid his bandaged wounds.
He didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he woke up again in the same room for the second time. This time, Shoko was there.
"Shoko-san," Nanami greeted his senpai.
"Do not ‘Shoko-san’ me, you stupid kohai!" Shoko yelled. "You died, you dipshit! Twice!"
"I'm sorry," Nanami apologized, noticing the tear marks on her face.
"Of course you're sorry! As you should be!" Shoko retorted, sitting down angrily and scowling at him. "Yu's dead, and so is Geto. Gojo's sealed. You're not going to leave me, Kento. I swear I'll revive you again and again just to kill you myself."
Nanami smiled sadly, the weight of their dire situation pressing down on him. He wanted to ask about what had happened after he fainted, about Gojo and his students, but then he remembered the child.
"Where's Vasha?" Nanami asked, looking around the room.
“He told you his name? Unfair.” Shoko smiled. "Ah, our new boy-wonder. You're lucky that child saved you because, if Itadori’s story is accurate, the patch-curse was near you if it weren’t for the kid."
"What?"
"Lady Luck has shown us her favorite," Shoko said, smirking at him.
"That totally didn’t answer my question," Nanami said seriously, but Shoko didn't respond directly and just laughed at him.
Moments pass, and Shoko stands up; patting his unburnt knee, she says, "Rest. We need everyone, especially now that Gojo’s sealed. Itadori’s life is in danger."
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