My Childhood Friend, Nobara Kugisaki

[The title may change. I haven't thought of anything more suitable yet, qwq]

Synopsis 1:

I'm Ai Saotome, a JK who is loved by everyone, makes flowers bloom wherever I go, treats people warmly, gets along with everyone, and has friends everywhere.

Once, I lamented to my friend Nobara Kugisaki, “Why is everyone's first reaction when they see me not to befriend me, but to scheme against me, use me, and even harbor murderous intentions?”

I sighed mournfully. “It really is a filthy world that can't tolerate someone as flawless as me.”

My friend was speechless. “That's paranoia. You need treatment.”

Another friend of mine, Sakunosuke Oda, called to tell me he was quitting the business for good. I was utterly shocked, and stayed up all night dancing to celebrate that I now had one less formidable rival.

Money is hard to earn, so I have to start by squeezing out my coworkers! (Kindly)

I once ran into a friend I knew, a stunning beauty with a cool, distant air. Every day, she complained to me about her inhuman boss, who worked her to the bone around the clock.

I stared at the huge dark circles under her eyes and the mesmerizing beauty mark beneath them, then pounded the table in righteous fury and shouted, “Come on, let's assassinate that bastard!”

This is exactly what my day job is for!

Shoko Ieiri bombarded me with messages and back-to-back calls, anxiously urging me, “Calm down, calm down! We need to think this through!”

Later, when we were in high school, my best friend Nobara Kugisaki transferred schools. I asked where her new school was because I wanted to visit her, but she flat-out refused and even stressed that I shouldn't look up her information.

Me: ???

So love can disappear, right?

What little minx has seduced my Nobara away? (Stabbing a voodoo doll.jpg)

Then I saw someone at my school wildly swinging a silver hammer at thin air, like a lunatic. I was horrified. “Has Nobara finally developed paranoia because of me?!”

Nobara Kugisaki gripped the hammer handle and tried to hold back, but finally couldn't stop herself from saying, “What kind of wording is that?! And what are you doing here?!”

I gave her a playful wink. “Because I came to find you, dear Nobara~”

I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Surely, besides me, no one knew that I had always had a crush on Nobara Kugisaki.

Synopsis 2:

Everyone at Tokyo Jujutsu High knows that Nobara Kugisaki has a strange girlfriend with an incredibly trendy identity: by day she's a cute JK, and by night she's a ruthless assassin.

She talks back to everyone, runs around and leaps about, and climbs onto rooftops to wreak havoc. It's hard not to wonder how she managed to grow up healthy.

She's the top name on the old guard's most-wanted list in the jujutsu world.

She walks through battlefields thick with smoke and flying supernatural abilities. Bullets and abilities bounce away from her like chalk, deflected by some mysterious force. She remains calm as she's swept into conflicts amid devastation and the wreckage of cursed techniques, as if a vast abyss were swallowing the techniques and cursed energy that threaten her.

Every attack the enemy launches inexplicably misses, fails, or vanishes!

She grins smugly. “Hehe, [I just love watching you try to hurt me and fail~]”

Enemy: ???

She smiles. “I'm telling you the name of my ability.”

Ability [I Just Love Watching You Try to Hurt Me and Fail~]: Anyone who tries to hurt you will never succeed, no matter what~

Enemy: “...”

What the hell are we even fighting for?! (Flips table)

Fortunately, she only has eyes for her girlfriend and is always thinking up new ways to cuddle with Nobara Kugisaki.

On Valentine's Day, she barges into Tokyo Jujutsu High and shouts loud enough to shake the heavens: “Nobara Kugisaki! I! Love! You!”

Nobara Kugisaki runs straight toward her and yells, her face bright red with embarrassment, “Aaaah! I know! You can't do this every single day!”

She's absolutely delighted. As expected, someone as perfect as her is bound to have a perfect girlfriend and a blissfully happy life.

[Reading Guide]

① The heroine, Ai Saotome, is a sweet-on-the-outside, dark-on-the-inside assassin with a complicated humanity and paranoia. Her ability is the title of the synopsis. This is a simple, satisfying power fantasy. The author is devoted to the heroine and will never put her through misery.

② CP: Nobara Kugisaki. They switch roles. A sweet romance! I'm waving the flag for JK cuddles!

③ The whole point is cuddling with Nobara Kugisaki. This is a pure romance.

④ Specific content warnings are in Chapter 1.

Theme: I'm lucky to have met you. I hope you feel the same way.