The three other students watched as Itadori robotically moved his body, bringing the spoon up to his lips only to miss his mouth completely, smearing hot soup on his skin. The hot sensation trickling down his chin was enough to make him snap out of his daze, but not quite enough to make him fully grasp the situation as he continued to take another spoonful of soup in his mouth.
"Yuuji," ___ called out, dabbing a napkin on his chin to wipe off the remnants of soup on his mouth like a child. "What is going on with you lately?"
Itadori's honey eyes shifted to the girl, his face paling like he had just seen a ghost.
"Damn, he's still out of it." Nobara muttered, raising an eyebrow. Fushiguro only shook his head as he continued to eat his breakfast, minding his own business. They had both tried to comfort the boy for the past few days but nothing seemed to be working and now, even Fushiguro was lost on what to do.
"Yuuji.." ___ called out once more, shaking the boy gently. It was then that tears started to roll down Itadori's cheeks as his lips quivered, holding back a sob before dipping his head down to look at his breakfast. In the reflection of the soup, he saw his miserable face and he couldn't stand it. How weak he looked, he must look so lame to his friends now.
Itadori slammed the table and shot up, making the table shake along with his friends' breakfast. Nobara finally snapped.
"That's it! I've had enough of you moping around!" Nobara slammed the table and made her way across to where Itadori had been sitting before raising her hand and slapping the poor boy. The stinging sensation started to crawl up Itadori's reddening cheeks as more tears started to spill endlessly.
"Itadori, we're sad too." Nobara admitted. Her form was trembling and Itadori knew she was trying to hold back her tears. "But you can't keep living like this! You're barely eating, barely sleeping, barely paying attention to anything around you!"
Itadori cupped his now swollen cheek, turning his head to gaze at Nobara with apologetic eyes.
"Kugisaki, that's enough." Fushiguro stood up from his seat and grabbed the girl's wrist, pulling her away from Itadori but she struggled against his grip.
"No! Itadori needs to get his shit back together! He's not the only one suffering!" she yelled. Fushiguro knew that she was right but nonetheless, they shouldn't solve this with violence. ___ stood up from her seat, brows furrowed in worry.
"Guys, let's calm down.. We shouldn't be fighting like this." she whimpered softly, but it all fell on deaf ears as Nobara continued to struggle away from Fushiguro's grip, making the boy scold her on her childish behaviour. Itadori could only sob in his hands as he listened to his friends fighting.
"Stop acting so immature! You're not making this any better!" Fushiguro yelled, making Nobara grumble and sneer at his words.
"Immature? You two are the ones that are making it hard in the first place!" she retorted, attempting to tug his hand away.
"Well we can't exactly act like nothing happened either! Is it so bad to mourn for someone we just lost?! God, I can't stand it when you act all high and mighty; you were just like this when Itadori died!"
"Don't start turning this on me now! You acted like nothing even happened either, so I don't know why it's such a big deal now!"
"Because I've known her ever since I was a child - hell, she's like a sister to me! You expect me to just brush off her death just like that when I spent five years of my life being with her everyday?!"
Taking a deep breath in, Fushiguro tried to calm himself down. He didn't want to say anything that would make the situation worse. If he slips up, the group might just break apart.
"I think we all just need to rest today; take a break and rest." Fushiguro said sternly. He glanced between Itadori and Nobara, a scowl on his face. He has had enough - they've all had enough. Letting go of Nobara, Fushiguro turned on his heel and retreated back to his room without a single word uttered. He knew he'd end up crying if he said anything.
Before Fushiguro could exit the empty cafeteria, Itadori had whispered softly under his breath but Fushiguro's sharp ears still caught on to what he was saying.
"What did you just say..?" Fushiguro growled in disbelief. Itadori had to be kidding right? Hiccuping, Itadori repeated his sentence.
"But she's right there.. ___'s right there.."
Itadori pointed at an empty spot by the vacant chair, untouched. Fushiguro gritted his teeth and made his way towards Itadori before grabbing his red hood harshly, his knuckles turning white from how hard he was gripping the fabric.
"Itadori, what are you talking about? Snap out of it!" he cried out, shaking the boy. "___ is dead and she's not coming back!!"
Itadori gripped onto Fushiguro's own uniform, bashing his forehead against the raven-haired boy, causing their foreheads to bleed. Despite the pain, the two boys didn't falter, glaring at each other with malice burning in their eyes.
"You're wrong! ___ is still here with us! Why can't you see her?! She's standing right there!" Itadori wailed desperately. Nobara dropped to her knees and shoved her face into her hands as she sobbed.
"I-Itadori.. Please.. We can't take this.." she murmured against her palms. "It hurts too much.."
"Stop being in denial, Itadori.." Fushiguro cheeks were wet with his own tears. "You might end up cursing ___.. Her soul deserves to rest, so please.. Let her go.."
Itadori shook his head, blood smearing their foreheads. With wide eyes, Itadori pulled away and pointed at the same direction earlier : a vacant seat by the table.
"Then why do I see her right there?" he whispered with a shaky voice. Before Nobara and Fushiguro could turn their head to look at the spot, they felt an ominous aura spread throughout the whole cafeteria, causing chills to run down their spine as goosebumps appeared on their skin.
"Itadori.. You.." Fushiguro felt his heart clench. This was the last thing they wanted. If only they had handled the situation better, comforted each other better, coped with ___'s death better, then this wouldn't have happened. Shifting his eyes to the translucent body, Fushiguro's gaze landed on ___'s smiling face.
"You cursed her."
"Don't die on me, ___!" Itadori clutched the girl's hand in his own, the other cradling her head. "Stay with me forever! You can't leave me!"
___ could only whimper inaudibly as she gazed at the dark sky, unable to form any words. Her throat was destroyed, blood seeping through her mouth as she let out a strangled cough.
"I need you, ___! We promised that we'd be together forever!" he cried, embracing her cold, lifeless body. "___..?"
Itadori choked down a sob, biting his lip till it bled.
"Don't leave me like this.."
Exhaling out her last breath, ___ placed her lips against his before closing her eyes. Her body went limp.
"Please.. stay with me forever.."
