Work Text:
Iruka was scrolling through tumblr on his lunch break when he found the post that would change his life: jjk-big-bang was doing an interest check for fan writers and fan artists. Curious, he tapped on the post.
Jujutsu Kaisen Big Bang 2021
We, the mods, here at jjk-big-bang are hoping to make 2021 bigger and better than ever! But we can’t do it without you lovely fans.
Click here to fill out the interest check!
In the form above, you’ll find three options of tentative schedules. Please choose the one that works best for you and leave any feedback you have
Thank you and hope to see you soon!
Iruka was relatively new to the fandom side of life. Between waiting for new chapters of Jump and rewatching the anime for the nth time, Iruka had stumbled upon the fan communities on social media. There was a whole new world out there with seemingly limitless stories, a constant fountain of beautiful art and the talent that came from the videographers.
The creative spirit within fandom was tantalizing. From his first forays into AO3, to creating his new tumblr account and joining a discord server, Iruka was hooked. He had no fucks to give when he made poor life choices, staying up to read and talk about new fan theories.
Poor life choices were made on his part to stay up reading, but he had no fucks to give. Reading everything the Jujutsu Kaisen fandom had to offer suddenly took on a greater priority. It filled a gap in his life that Iruka hadn’t realised had grown ever since his adoptive little brother went off to the University of Konoha.
With now an abundance of free time to spend as he wished, Iruka found that he missed creative writing. It had been something he had done in his spare time back when he was putting himself through his own education degree.
His friends though were determined to pull Iruka back into the dating scene. Every year he watched as one by one his friends found significant others. The happy couple syndrome meant that often Iruka was the target of blind dates and 'I know a friend-of-a-friend'. The scars left behind by Mizuki still ran deep and Iruka shied away with the idea of opening his heart to another person.
He wanted to focus on himself first. After all, if he couldn't be happy by himself, what was the point of being with somebody else? Depending on others for happiness seemed unfair.
The longer Iruka thought about registering his interest for the Big Bang, the more he thought it was going to be a great idea on self-improvement. It would mean challenging himself, getting out of his comfort zone, but it could also mean meeting a new friend. On Iruka’s roadmap to happiness, there was rekindling his love for hobbies, for his interests and then if he ended up going to KonohaCon, the potential of doing cosplay again.
He was filling out the interest check form when Susume-sensei’s voice floated through the open door, startling him into dropping his phone onto the table. “Iruka-sensei, I know you’re on break at the moment, but would you mind taking Ryou-kun to the health center? I would but...” A student screamed in excitement from the playground and Iruka exchanged a tired smile with her.
“Sure!” Iruka jumped up, sent the form off without another thought, and tossed his lunch wrapper into the trash. He escorted Ryou-kun to the health center dutifully and sat with the boy to keep him company throughout the rest of lunch time.
He received an email almost a month later from the mods, thanking him for his interest. Sign-ups to Jujutsu Kaisen Big Bang 2021 was happening.
***
Iruka was nervous. The mods wanted a summary of the work he wanted to create. There were a few weeks to think about it before the submission date ended. There was plenty of time.
The question was, what did he want to write. There was no way in hell he was going to write something explicit. It had been years and just, no. He worked at the Konoha Academy and if someone found out by accident - children were crafty - all of that had to be above board.
He wasn't really into the shippy stuff either. Iruka wasn't a fandom elder, but he had little precious time as it was. From what he had glanced on his Tumblr dash, fandom was a place where being on the wrong ship could mean it would be sink or swim.
So something normal and cute. General definitely. Iruka pulled the first tankouban off his shelf and flicked through it, admiring the art style, wishing that something would jump out at him like Fushigoro's shikigami.
Three volumes later, Iruka turned to his Tumblr, scrolling through and looking at the fic prompt posts he had reblogged. There were meet-cute ideas and themed posts, photosets of the main characters with long analyses but nothing that really tickled his creative mind.
Before long it was late, Tumblr had cast its time sucky curse. Iruka scrambled to pack his bag to be ready for the next school day with curses of his own.
He'll think about his fic summary submission later.
***
Rating: General
Pairing: None. SatoSugu if you squint.
Content Warnings: None
NSFW? No.
Social Media: geto-out-of-here @ tumblr.
Name: Akuri / Geto.
Fic Summary:
Gojo ends up adopting dogs that he found in the rain. Except he had no idea what to do with them. How often did dogs need to be fed and watered?
Enter Geto: the Dog Whisperer and Gojo's new friend. Shenanigans ensue.
***
Iruka winced at his apparent fic idea but hit the submit button anyway. He hopes the mods didn't mind that his submission was technically a couple of hours late. If he missed the deadline, the oh well. He didn't need to write the fic after all, so it was a bit of a win-win situation here.
Iruka turned off his laptop and then went to brush his teeth before bed. Hopefully they went by Iwa or Suna's time zone.
***
The discord server was slowly populated by the writers of JJK Big Bang. There were a few authors he admired joining and couldn’t help contain his excitement, replying to posts with emoticons.
It was all very exciting. A lot of them seemed to know each other from other servers. Iruka lurked from the shadows, happy just to occasionally send pictures of his lunch or to react with an emoticon on the cute animals that were shared in the dedicated cute animal channel.
There were cats of all colours that looked super soft. Someone shared pictures of a grumpy looking pug sitting on top of a monstrous looking bulldog. Iruka couldn't imagine having that many, but the dogs in the photos they sent looked healthy and happy.
***
Iruka missed when the artists joined the JJK Big Bang server. It was semester break and Naruto was back to visit. Iruka wanted to spend as much time with his little brother as he could.
Having Naruto back was like when the sun made a reappearance on a gloomy day. Naruto didn't miss a beat, filling in Iruka on everything . Naruto had opted for a shared dorm. His roommate was called Gaara, a transfer student from Suna, and he was pretty cool if a bit weird. But then again everyone in his dorm block was a little bit weird.
Iruka missed when the artist claims were happening. Iruka hoped that someone was interested in his idea, and even if there wasn’t, Iruka was so thrilled to know that there was a community out there that enjoyed JJK as much as he did.
***
The mods sent out a thank you message in a post on social media, announcing all the teams. Iruka missed the ping and only realised when he was checking discord at home while eating dinner.
The server had been busy whilst he was gone. There were new unfamiliar names, new ideas and sketches being done in the big bang chats. But it wasn’t the server chatter that got him excited.
There was a DM from his person.
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 13:45
Yo, Akuri! I'm Kashi. Nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to working with you.
geto-out-of-here / Akuri Today at 18:57
Omg. I'm so sorry for not replying earlier. I was at work.
Nice to meet you, Kashi. I am so excited to be sharing my ideas with you and I hope you feel as inspired as I am to make it happen. This is my first fandom event so please be gentle with me.
While waiting for Kashi’s reply, Iruka scrolled through the introduction channel, looking for shoujo-gojo’s post and what pronouns to use. It would be awfully awkward (and rude!) to accidentally misgender someone. Kashi was… a few years older than he was and was also a he/him. Iruka smiled as he read the snippet about himself. It was less a blurb about himself and more a long ramble about the eight dogs he clearly loved.
***
Iruka got on like a house on fire with Kashi. He tried not to stay up late on work nights to talk with him, but sometimes when the ideas came on thick and fast it was hard not to share. Plot bunnies when left to their own devices would multiply and Iruka scrambled to keep up with them, hastily scribbling down notes before sleep.
Often during lunch break, Iruka would catch himself smiling widely at his phone.
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 13:05
Is this going to be a no curse au or were you going to make this a part of canon verse?
geto-out-of-here / Akuri Today at 13:07
I’m aiming for gen for this fic, so no curses.
Just fluff and all the nice things.
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 13:08
And dogs. That’s very important. It’s what drew me to your idea in the first place.
geto-out-of-here / Akuri Today at 13:09
Lol Kashi. Yes, all the dogs. Speaking of, you should send me more pictures of your dogs and give them all squishes from me.
“New special someone, Iruka-sensei?” Kurenai asked, appearing out of thin air. “You’ve been in a really good mood lately.”
“Gah! Kurenai-sensei.” Iruka locked his phone, trying not to look like his students when they’ve been caught red-handed doing something they shouldn’t be.
Kurenai saw right through him and if anything her smile turned sly. “Happy is a great look on you, Iruka. I hope they treat you with the care and respect you deserve. And if you ever need someone to give the shovel talk to them, just know I’m right in line behind Anko.”
Iruka wasn’t sure how to react or how to explain fandom to a non-fandom person. Accepting it was the easiest course of action and Iruka smiled awkwardly, “Um… Yes, thank you?”
***
Iruka bought his KonohaCon tickets ahead of schedule. Izumo and Kotetsu said they might not get the time off to join him, but more’s the pity. Hayate and Anko were completely out, already being whisked out of town for another conference.
In his notebook, Iruka was planning out his route and the schedule of events he wanted to participate in. There were talks he wanted to attend and voice actors he wanted to meet. Other pages were dedicated to notes of his Geto cosplay, and a running tab of what materials he needed to purchase to make it happen. Conventions was going to make a dent in his wallet, but it was going to be worth it.
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 07:05
Do you cosplay? I saw those posts on tumblr.
Also thanks for all the dog posts.
geto-out-of-here / Akuri Today at 07:07
Wow you’re up early.
And you’re welcome! I’m glad you like.
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 07:08
I’m walking the dogs
geto-out-of-here / Akuri Today at 07:12
I do when I get the chance to.
There’s a con coming up. I’m hoping to go as Geto. What about you?
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 07:16
I haven’t gone to a con in years, but maybe this year will be different. Work keeps me really busy.
geto-out-of-here / Akuri Today at 07:17
Not your dogs? haha
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 07:20
Them too.
geto-out-of-here / Akuri Today at 07:23
Well, if you do end up going and see any Geto cosplayers, come say hi!
***
Iruka was proud of his Geto cosplay. He’d chosen to go for the second year Geto rather than the modern Geto just because he was lazy about getting a wig made up properly. With a few months to go for KonohaCon, his hair would be just about the right length that he could tie it up in a bun at the back and only have to style the front.
The clothes had come together: a pair of black parachute pants and then modifying a suit jacket when he found the right matching material to make the front panel and collar. Iruka wondered three weeks into modifying the jacket whether it would have been easier to modify a gakuran set.
He hadn’t been blogging about it much just because he wanted to keep it a surprise for the convention. The make-up tests had been working out so far. There were still issues he was facing with the eyeliner and applying it to his waterline, but Iruka knew it’ll take a bit of practise.
Between his cosplay and his writing, Iruka’s friends bullied him into going out. They were convinced he was turning hermit. Iruka had rolled his eyes at Izumo and Kotetsu. They had been working extra shifts at the konbini for extra cash and to get into their boss’ good books, trying their best to make their convention weekend a reality.
“Hopefully she’ll let us take the con weekend,” Izumo said loudly over the sizzling of barbequed meat at Yakiniku Q.
Kotetsu flagged down a waitress for another beer, groaning at the thought that it would be his last for the evening. “We could’ve gone as a set together. Who are you going as this year?”
“Geto from Jujutsu Kaisen,” Iruka answered as he stole a slice of Izumo’s cooked meat with a shit eating grin.
Izumo protested and quickly began picking up the rest of his unprotected dinner into his bowl. “Dammit! Cook your own damn meat.”
“You snooze, you lose.”
By the time dinner was over, Iruka’s phone had multiple discord notifications waiting for him. Izumo and Kotetsu left in one direction and Iruka slowly meandered home.
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 17:45
hey are you alive?
Hey
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 18:18
hey Akuri.
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 19:37
Akuriiiiii.
I’m feeling very lonely here, shouting at myself.
Drawing sketches of your fic.
geto-out-of-here / Akuri Today at 20:09
Omg Kashi. Sorry I was out.
I thought you said you were going to be at work?
I didn’t want to bother you!
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 20:12
Nah. I'll always have time for you.
So what do you think about this...
Iruka smiled as Kashi sent him another sketch. He had such a distinct style: the composition, the fluidity of the lines, and not afraid to use colour. It was a privilege seeing Kashi's process from sketches to full colour compositions, and yet it was the sketchy ones with the silly henohenomoheji for faces before Kashi added in silly things like eyes and noses that Iruka loved the most.
He enjoyed his first Big Bang experience immensely. There was a tacit trust in their collaboration that just seemed to slot into place like a jigsaw piece. It was easy with Kashi, a friendship that blossomed instantaneously. He could talk to him about everything and anything. There was no such thing as a silly idea. In fact, Kashi seemed eager to enable all of Iruka’s whims.
geto-out-of-here / Akuri Today at 23:23
I need to go to sleep soon, but I just wanted to say thanks for being awesome.
Also stop proposing every time I come up with a silly idea. You’ll give me ideas.
Good night, Kashi!
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] is typing...
***
The check ins came and went. The excitement and trepidation grew as posting day loomed. Iruka was happy and unhappy with his overall effort. It was all not as polished as he would have liked, but his beta kept assuring him that it was fine. He should have written more during his down time. There could have been so much more dog related shenanigans for Geto and Gojo to suffer through.
Iruka found himself logging into AO3 and constantly re-reading to weed out any mistakes he might have added in. He was a little stressed out, but only because he wanted it to be perfect. He would hate to disappoint Kashi, not after their combined effort of making his vision a reality.
Then the day came for their team’s post. Their baby was official and out in the wild, learning to fend for itself.
geto-out-of-here / Akuri Today at 19:57
We've done it, Kashi. Our baby just got revealed today. We birthed it into existence.
Thanks for being here for me.
Kashi [shoujo-gojo] Today at 20:01
I feel like a proud parent. Our baby off to see the world.
Thank you Akuri. 10/10 fandom experience. Would like to do it with you again some time.
***
Iruka was still riding the high of their Big Bang being well received when KonohaCon came around. It was held at the large convention centre near the Hokage Tower and Iruka was thrilled looking at all the cosplayers arriving. There were a few from One Piece and others from classics like Sailor Moon.
Izumo and Kotetsu were waiting for Iruka at the entrance. There was no group cosplay for them this year, but perhaps next year when they had more time to plan for it.
“No cosplay means we can afford to come!” Izumo said.
“And now I can spend more money on the sweet, sweet loot!” Kotetsu crowed, head swivelling as a passing Nami from One Piece cosplayer walked past. He squawked when Izumo elbowed him, a dark look in his eye. “Aww, no need to be jealous, babe. You know I’m just window shopping.”
“You better remember it. And don't go spending it all at once, dumbass. We still have to pay rent,” Izumo sniffed. “ C’mon Geto, your supremacy awaits.”
Iruka laughed at his friend's antics, walking after them on the way inside the hall. Cosplaying as Geto was incredibly relaxing. The clothes were comfortable and the clip on earrings had dulled to a point where Iruka had forgotten about them on his earlobe.
He stopped whenever someone asked him if they could take a picture with him, happy to pose as required. Izumo and Kotetsu wandered away when more and more cosplayers joined the impromptu Jujutsu Kaisen photoshoot.
Gojo was unsurprisingly common as Iruka became surrounded by a sea of white hair, some fluffier than others. Every time he saw one Iruka was hoping it was shoujo-gojo. It would be impossible to determine though.
Kashi had been very secretive about the location he was based out of and Iruka respected that wish. Apparently Kashi’s work made him travel a lot and kept him up at weird hours. It would have been fun to meet him at a convention like this.
When the group parted ways, Iruka had to remind himself that being a fan of a series does not necessarily mean they're a part of fandom. He tucked his hands back into his pockets and sauntered away to Artist Alley, not at all hoping that he’ll recognise Kashi’s work and be able to meet him.
That would be silly.
***
Iruka was looking at some merchandise when he got a strange prickling sensation on the back of his neck, like something wasn’t quite right. He ignored it and continued walking along the tables, looking at the various prints and plushies on sale. There were even hats made from felt in the shape of animals; they would make good prizes for his students.
“Oh my gosh, are you cosplaying Geto and Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen?” a blue haired girl asked, dragging along her blonde friend. “Can we please take a picture of the two of you? You look so good.”
“The two of us?” Iruka asked, blinking in surprise and then turned around to see one of the Gojo cosplayers from earlier. One of the fluffy haired ones who was cosplaying the second year Gojo look with the sunglasses. His face was obscured from the angle, tucked into the collar of his shirt, but from what Iruka could tell the cosplayer had a good set of cheekbones.
“You guys look sooooo much like Geto and Gojo! I mean we’ve seen a lot of them today, but you guys--!”
“You’re both so hot,” the blue-haired girl swooned.
“My name is Gojo Satoru.” The Gojo cosplayer smiled, teeth white and sharp. Then in a low voice he added, “Are you a dog whisperer?”
Iruka felt time pause. Did this Gojo just...? But it couldn’t be. He gaped as the Gojo cosplayer addressed the two girls, not quite paying attention as he stared. There was only one person -- well that wasn’t necessarily true, if someone was in fandom and had read their Big Bang, but…
“Are you into …. Shoujo…. Gojo?” Iruka ventured, his heart beating fast.
Gojo’s face transformed, like he hadn’t been expecting that answer. “Do you want to… Geto out of here?”