the sun and the sky | gojo satoru

if this isn't love

The car ride was a mostly silent affair, other than the few bickering questions Kaito had.

"What happened?" Kaito asked again, just as he did before.

"I already told you." Hina tried. "I was walking to the bus stop from dinner with my coworkers, and I heard something. I didn't know it was a curse."

"Hina honestly..." Kaito sounded frustrated, rubbing a hand over his mouth. "Seriously, you should be more careful next time."

"I know, and I'm sorry." Hina told him calmly.

"You don't..." Kaito didn't finish his sentence. He just scoffed, sighing heavily. "When we get to my house, we'll say that you felt ill, and that you didn't want to be alone. Mayumi wouldn't question it."

Hina felt skeptical about the excuse. "I can go home, you know."

"You won't. I'm not letting you out of this car until we get to my house."

Hina resisted the urge to snap back. This headache really was irritating.

Kaito spoke again. "And what will you do about the cat?"

Hina smiled down at the mop of white fur in her arms. It purred quietly. "I'll take it to the vet tomorrow morning. I wanna know if it's a he or a she."

"You're not going to keep it, are you?"

Hina hummed in thought. "Probably not. Why?"

Kaito scoffed again. "You should learn how to take care of yourself before you attempt to take care of another living thing."

Hina frowned at him. "You don't... you don't have to be so harsh."

"I'm only telling the truth." Kaito told her simply.

I'm only stating what's true.

Hina pursed her lips, deciding not to answer. They stayed like that for the rest of the ride.

-

"I hope they're not too big for you." Mayumi said, handing her two folded articles of clothing. Hina kindly took them, smiling timidly.

"Thank you, Mayumi-san." Hina told her. "And I really am sorry for showing up unexpectedly."

"No, it's fine! Really!" Mayumi chided, patting her shoulders lightly. "Really, if my dear Hina had to take care of her ill-self all alone... I would worry too much. Kaito would too, you know that."

Hina chuckled. "I guess so. And, the cat..."

"Is in the living room. It's so cute. I tried cleaning it up a bit, god knows how long it's been out there—it's sleeping in this little makeshift cardboard bed that I made. I fed it some chicken, since we have no cat food—I hope it's not too uncomfortable."

Hina chuckled. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Thank you again, Mayumi-san."

Mayumi smiled. "Alright then, goodnight. I gotta go check up on Kana to see if she's sleeping. Tell me if you need anything, alright?"

Hina nodded at her as Mayumi left, closing the door behind her. She sighed, then proceeded to change into the pajamas that Mayumi had given her, which consisted of a loose long-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts.

They had let her stay in the guestroom. The walls were a calming off-white, and the bed covers were grey. Hina's only stayed here a couple of times, a few from when she was visiting as a student and a few from when she had just moved into her own apartment.

After changing, she collapsed on the four-poster bed, staring up at the ceiling. She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead, breathing in slowly.

It had exhausted her, using her technique with that much force. She's never exerted that much, or released that much emotion and forced it into another being with that much power—and releasing a powerful emotion such as fear—