You stand firm between the two of them, masking your fear surprisingly well.
"If your beef is with the kids who were there, then why go after me?" You murmur
"Ah! It speaks!" Gyutaruu comments
Ume leans to the side with one hand on her hip "You really think we don't know? We're not pathetic and clueless like you."
You barred your teeth at her
"We were recently informed by a certain someone that you've been talking shit and feeding lies to all the other students. Lies about us, and lies about your whereabouts that night."
"YOU said, that you were at that party that night and that it was Gyutaruu who made Genya do it. You set this rumor up and now it's going perfectly to plan. How does it feel?!"
You could no longer hold back your shock. You step away from Ume, looking at her with wide eyes "I never said that! Why would I lie about something like that?!"
Ume laughs and shakes her head "Oh PLEASE. You have every motive to lie."
"I was going to invite you to that party" You perk up at those words
"But when I found out that you hated me even before all of this? Of course, I decided not to invite you. So, out of spite, what do you do? You try and screw it up for EVERYBODY ELSE."
When Ume's palm comes down upon your face, you're so taken aback by her words that the slap has more power over you than it should.
It causes you to stumble back, clutching the red spot on your face where she slapped you.
"Please leave me alone" You beg
your throat was dry. You could feel beads of sweat forming on your forehead.
"Not a chance," Ume growls, looming over you
"You fucked with us, and now it's over. It's a shame I'll have to smash that pretty face of yours in now."
She slaps you again, harder this time
"Please, I didn't do it--" but it seems the more you beg, the more excited Ume gets to hit you again. This time, she kicks you in the stomach, and you feel all the air leave your lungs at once.
"Okay Ume, I think that's enough" Gyutaruu warns, but Ume doesn't stop
"I'll NEVER forgive you. NEVER. THIS is why everyone hates you: because you're nothing, nothing, nothing" Ume cries through each kick
Though your vision is blurred, you can see Ume crying. Why?
Something's happening now, but you can't tell what it is
The last thing you hear is a horrified scream coming from Ume, and Gyutaruu's yell
But you're in so much pain, and your ears are ringing.
You lay your head down and close your eyes, for what you think is the last time.
Where am I...? It's so bright in here, I can't see anything
You squint at the white light burning your eyes
Am I dying? Damn, that was a shitty end.
"(Y/n)"
A warm hand caresses your cheek. You lean into their touch.
"(Y/n) can you hear me? Look, it's me!"
The hand gently turns your head to the side, and you see him
"Tanjirou? Where am I?"
Despite the situation, Tanjirou's smiling at you. Albeit a worried smile, but a smile nonetheless. Either way, you're pleased to feel that warm feeling again.
"At the infirmary. You passed out in the hallway at lunch, so I brought you here. I'm allowed to stay during this class period, but only for now."
You blink a few times, and the rest of the room comes into view. Sure enough, you're laying on the bed in the infirmary--you recognize the pastel blue curtains and the faint smell of bleach and medicine.
"What happened to Ume...and Gyutaruu. Are they okay?" You ask
You feel strange asking about your attackers, but for some reason you want them to be okay. Especially Ume.
"Hmmm..." He looks off to the side "next question?"
"Tanjirou!" You sit up quickly, but wince in pain almost immediately.
"Don't worry about them, I did what needed to be done," He lays you back down "You have four bruises on your stomach."
" We don't know if there's internal bleeding or any broken ribs yet, so you should sit still."
You place a hand over your stomach, prodding it gently and looking up at Tanjirou
"You don't have to do this for me, you barely know me."
He watches you intently, reaching for something in his pocket
"I know," he pulls out your phone, handing it to you
You take it, your fingers brushing against his briefly as you do
"...call me sometime. Okay?" He says, waving at you one last time before walking out
what?! How am I going to call him if I don't have his--
When you opened your phone, you saw in your contacts a number named 'Tanjirou' under 'most recent'
Okay, this is getting weird. Am I imagining this? Is this some sort of weird dream?
In the back of your parents' car, it was completely silent. Evidently, this meant that your parents were upset about something, but the silence was something you wanted for a change; it's much easier to watch the buildings go by that way.
When the school nurse inspected your condition closely, she was happy to announce that nothing was broken, and nothing was wrong with your vital organs. Still, she sent you home because the bruises were bad enough to keep you from functioning normally in class.
While you're staring out the window, you can't help but think about it
Why did Ume say that? What did any of that stuff mean? Ume and I were friends, I would never have said something like that about her or her brother
You shift in your seat, trying to get comfortable
So then that has to mean someone has been saying things about me that aren't true...but why? Who would do something like that?
Then you remember something
Zenitsu! That dress code kid from the first day of school; he's bound to know something. All I have to do is find a way to talk to him...
You're torn out of your thoughts when you hear the car slow to a stop
"(Y/n), we're home. Do you need help getting out of the car?" mom looks at you from the driver's seat
"No, that's okay, I can do it" You open the door and slide off of the seat, clutching your stomach with one hand. Something's missing in your other hand, but you can't think of what it is
The whole time that you're opening the door and walking into your house, you're trying to remember what it is that you lost. It seems like it would be so obvious.
You crawl into your bed and bundle up under the covers, turning on your phone
14 unread messages
HUh?! Who is texting me?
Upon opening the messaging app, you can see that 11 of them were from a group chat, and 4 were from direct messages with Sabito.
You decide to open Sabito's message first
Sabito🙄: I'm outside, wya
12:02 pm
Sabito🙄: Bruh :(
12:40 pm
Sabito🙄: Lunch is almost over, You still owe me a soda
1:00 pm
Sabito🙄: okay I'm not a double texter, but is everything okay? Someone said you were in the nurse's office but Mr. Uzui won't let me leave class
You frown at this, realizing that it must've seemed like you were avoiding him.
You: Hey! My bad, I just got sent home early
it takes him a moment, but he texts back
Sabito🙄: What happened?
You: I ran into Ume and Gyutaruu during lunch :(
Sabito🙄: wow
You: Yeah...Ume thinks I hate her or something. Luckily that new kid was there, or I probably would've had way worse injuries to deal with rn
Sabito🙄: New kid? Do you mean the redhead?
You: Yeah! His name's Tanjiro. He might start hanging out with us :3
Sabito🙄: hmm.
You: Aren't you excited?
Read, 3:35 Pm