DARK RED [ITADORI Y.]

―XXXIII. CONSIDER

CHAPTER XXXIII. CONSIDER YOUR CHOICES
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I stared down at the reflection of myself on the dark screen of my phone. I chewed on the bottom of my lip, contemplating my next actions. After unlocking my phone, I clicked on the messages icon. When I clicked on the group chat with my two friends, I felt my face fall.

Chat unavailable.

I frowned a little bit. I clicked on Yuki's icon, my lips parting when it brought our messages up.

You are unable to respond to this conversation.

"She blocked me," I whispered, tightening my hand around the phone. "Yuki fucking blocked me?"

"What does that mean?"

I was only a little surprised when I heard Eris' voice. At this point, she'd become my conscious. She was more active now than she ever had been. To be honest, I wasn't opposed to it either. I'd think I'd lose my mind if she wasn't talking to me. Though, to someone else it might seem I had lost my mind, talking to myself and shit.

"It means I can't message her anymore," I muttered, hunching my shoulders together as I held my phone in my lap. I clicked away from that chat and clicked on Oyama's contact instead. Unlike our mutual friend, she hadn't blocked me.

Hey! Was wondering if we could take some time to chat? I miss you!

I watched the delivered appear under the message, and placed my phone face down on the table beside me. I sat back on the bed, tucking my arms over my stomach.

"Do you really miss her?"

"She's my friend. Of course I miss her."

I looked over when I heard a knock on the closed door. When no one opened it, I called out for them to come in. The handle turned, and a familiar face peered inside.

"Can I come in?" Yuuji asked.

I nodded, and he pushed the door open just wide enough for him to slip in before closing it behind him. He shuffled in the room, awkwardly standing at the end of my bed. I could see the bandages wrapping his hands and peeking out from under the collar of his shirt.

He lifted his arm, placing his hand on the back of his head. He avoided my eyes, looking around anywhere but my face. I could see the strain on his bandages as he moved.

"Hey," He said.

"Hey," I replied. "How are you doing?"

He shifted on his feet. "Better than you are," He muttered, finally meeting my gaze. "I'm sorry," He whispered. "I should have fought more for you."

"You don't have to be sorry, Yuuji," I said. "Please don't blame yourself for this."

"I can't help it," He said, swallowing hard. It looked like he might cry. "I wasn't there...to do...anything."

"You were," I said. "More than you think. Do you wanna sit down?"

He picked at his bandages. "The nurse doesn't want me to," He muttered. "She said...she wouldn't even let me in here. I'm sorry, Y/n, I don't—"

"Sit down," I said, pulling my legs up to make room for him on the bed. "I don't wanna be by myself anymore."

Yuuji stared at me worriedly before slowly sitting down on the bed. I watched his eyes widen when I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him. After a moment, he placed his arm around me, his gaze softening.

"I don't want you to be afraid of me," He said.

"I never would," I muttered. "If anything, you should be scared of me. You saw...you saw what happened. Heard it, even."

"You did what you had to do, and he fucking deserved it," Yuuji said, tightening his grip on my arm.

"Just don't leave," I said quietly.

"I'll be here until you tell me to leave," He said. "Until then, I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you," I whispered.

At some point, both of us had shuffled up the bed. We laid on our sides, my face in his neck and his head on top of mine. My arm was behind his head, the other around him, my fingers dancing through his hair. His arm was tucked under mine, his opposite hand drawing shapes into my back.

Drifting in and out of sleep, I was close to being out when there was another knock on the door. Yuuji raised his head, his arm tensing around me. I kept my face down.

"I figured I would find you in here," Gojo's voice lifted in my ears. "Is she sleeping?"

"I think so," Yuuji muttered, easing his body back to mold against mine. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking on my students," He said. I could almost hear the frown in his voice. "I've notified her parents."

"You did what?"

"So she isn't sleeping."

Lifting myself from the bed, I turned to look at my white-haired mentor. His hands were in his pockets, a slight frown on his lips. I gripped the pillow under Yuuji's head.

"You were hurt, Y/n," He said calmly. "Pretty badly, at that. Your parents need to know what happened."

"You can't tell them anything!" I exclaimed, making Yuuji grab my arm. "They don't get this world! They're not like us!"

"You were attacked," Gojo said, his calm tone never wavering. "You and Yuuji were on your way to get ramen. You were caught in the middle of a mugging gone wrong. The two of you decided to play hero and help out. Things didn't go as planned."

"You think my mother will believe that?" I swallowed the lump forming in my throat.

"From what I hear, you're already stuck with bad luck," He strode to the other side of the bed. "Besides, your mother is a very easy woman to convince. Trust me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I frowned.

"Nothing," He raised a hand in defense. "But in the meantime that your family is returning from their trip, both of you are suspended by medical leave. Nobara poked around your room until she found your keys. By order of your mother, once you're both discharged, you're both to report straight to your house. 'No arguments' is what she said."

"Do you even realize what you've done?" I groaned, letting my head fall into my hands. "God, you did the worst possible thing!"

"I'm being who I said I was going to," Gojo said. "As your teacher, it's in my best interest to make sure nothing happens to you. Kazuhiro was a mistake everyone saw coming but did nothing to stop. That's on me. I'm going to make sure both of you are safe again before I even think to take you back to school grounds."

"Where are you going now?" Yuuji asked.

"I have a meeting with the Elders. If I want to plead your case, I better not be late for this one," He said, opening the door, pausing after doing so. "I'll make sure you're both safely escorted from here to your house, even if I have to do it myself. I'll get your discharge papers and sign them."

He got halfway out of the room before he stopped again. "I'm proud of you both for the way you handled things. Even now, you're both being brave about this. I'll do everything in my power to keep you both alive. Until the verdict..."

Gojo's demeanor seemed to shift a bit. It was odd to see him as serious as it was. Perhaps it made me actually think about how serious this was.

"...consider changing your mind about this whole...profession."

[Chapter XXXIII. End]
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