ᡕᠵ᠊ᡃ່࡚ࠢ࠘ ⸝່ࠡࠣ᠊߯᠆ࠣ࠘ᡁࠣ࠘᠊᠊ࠢ࠘𐡏 ...♡
Kaori walked down the hallway, stopping in front of Principal Yaga's office. She knocked on the door three times, waiting for an answer.
"Come in," he said.
She opened the door, stepped inside, and bowed her head to greet him. "Sorry for interrupting," she apologized upon seeing Gojo standing in front of Yaga's desk.
"That's alright, what is it?"
She played with her fingers while she spoke, "I was wondering if Toge and I could have permission to go away this weekend to my family home, leaving Friday evening and returning Sunday afternoon."
He looked to Gojo for his opinion, and he nodded at Yaga. "You may."
With a smile, "thank you!"
He nodded back to her, looking towards Gojo as the white haired sorcerer began to speak. "When do you want to begin your technique training, Kaori?"
"Is Monday okay?"
He held his thumb up, "meet me in the dojo after school."
"Will do," she nodded, turning to leave.
ʚ♡⃛ɞ
Two days later, Toge knocked on Kaori's door. She answered, her small bag slung over her arm.
"Ready?" he asked, offering to hold her bag.
She pulled her arm away, but he insisted so she reluctantly gave in with a sigh. "I guess so."
She locked her door, heading down the hall next to him.
"Aren't you happy to go?" he questioned, holding onto her hand lightly as she dropped hers to her side.
"I'm just a little worried, but I'm sure it'll be fine."
Ijichi opened the door for the pair once they arrived at the gates, during the car ride, she stared out the window. The landscape became more and more recognizable and her fears lifted away from her. She told herself over and over, "everything's fine."
Once the car stopped, she got out quickly, grabbing her bag from the trunk of the car and thanking their driver before heading up to the front steps.
Her boyfriend followed behind her, glad to see she was excited after seeming gloomy the whole day.
Kaori knew her mom was waiting for her to arrive, so once she was at the door she knocked quickly, and then opened the door immediately after. "I'm home!" she greeted.
Footsteps came down from the hallway, and the pair of students stepped into the doorway, kicking off their shoes and looking around the house. Kaori's mother came down the hallway, a second set of footsteps echoing around the house behind her. A third, quick sounding set followed suit.
Kaori set down her bag, stepping off of the doormat and onto the hardwood floor, opening her arms wide to hug her mom that was approaching the door. They embraced, sighing in a content state, asking each other how the other was doing before the footsteps became louder.
The third pair of feet circled around the three by the doorway, and white fur brushed against each person's legs. "Mellow!" Kaori laughed, bending down to hug her dearly missed pet. She pet the feline's soft fur, kissing her small head repeatedly until her mom spoke up.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Toge," she said, offering her hand to the boy.
"Kelp," he replied, bowing his head and shaking her hand.
Kaori continued to pet her cat, still wondering what that second pair of footsteps was. The voice of that echoing march soon made itself clear. His throat cleared and Kaori's eyes darted up to meet his.
"Hello," he greeted cautiously.
Her father's dark eyes looked afraid, likely how Kaori's eyes looked every time he rose his voice at her over the littlest things during her childhood.
Kaori kept silent, placing her pet back onto the floor before standing before her parents again. She glared at her mother, "you promised," she sneered at her.
Stealing another look at her father, she pushed past him down the hall to her room, pulling the door closed, gently.
The four at the doorway were all silent except the purring cat against Toge's leg. He bent down, scratching the cat behind the ear quickly before picking up the bag Kaori left on the doormat.
"First door to the right," Ms. Machi spoke quietly in her embarrassment.
Mr. Tsukumo stepped out of Toge's way, quiet himself. The blonde stepped past the two, "seaweed," he replied as thanks.
ʚ♡⃛ɞ
Toge opened her door slowly, both of their bags still slung over his shoulder. Closing the door behind him, he found her room to be a replica of her doom, or rather her dorm a replica of her safe space. He found her first couch seated to the left of her door, setting their bags next to the foot of it. He then found her, lying curled up on her bed, her arms wrapped around a stuffed bunny.
Approaching her angered form, he sat on the edge of her bed, sighing, and hoping to think of a way to lift her mood when he didn't even know the true cause of it. Her father was the issue, but he had no idea what experiences it rooted from. So he sat, pondering ways that he could make her feel better again.
Kaori lay still, breathing in the smell of her lavender scented and colored bunny. Her breaths became more steady as she continued to lay, but her anger was still boiling in her stomach.
Toge sat patiently on the edge of her mattress, and she was happy he had not gathered any words to say to her yet. Speaking now would just result in her accidentally yelling at him.
Once she gathered her thoughts, she slowly rose from her position, turning her head to see Toge still waiting. She crawled over to him cautiously, sitting beside him and placing her head on his slumped shoulder.
Toge's hand opened, his palm empty, waiting for her hand. She laid hers in his, her shaking voice allowing a soft, "I'm sorry," to escape.
"You don't need to be."
ʚ♡⃛ɞ
Later, dinner time was approaching, and Kaori had not once left her room. Staying behind her protective door with Toge for over an hour, talking about all the little things in her room that she loved.
"My mom bought me this bunny after a dentist appointment once," she shared, holding up a brown bunny with a white tutu and matching ballet slippers.
Toge smiled at her anecdotes that came with every stuffed animal on the wall of her bed. A white plush cat he had earlier purchased seemed even more perfect a gift for her now.
A small knock interrupted their chatting, pulling down Kaori's lips into a frown. "Dinner is ready," her mother said behind the door.
"Coming," Kaori sighed.
Ms. Machi turned the corner to the kitchen, looking at her ex husband sadly as Kaori seemed to want nothing to do with the either of them.
The two sat on the same side of the table, waiting for the high school students to join them.
A quiet dinner passed by painfully slow with meaningless small talk about classes and what has changed since Kaori left over a year ago to study sorcery. Kaori kept her awful scowl to herself, but let her tired eyes and body language show her father she was not going to forgive him.
"I'll take your plate if you're done," her mother spoke to Toge, taking his plate as he handed it to her. Her hand moved towards Kaori then, taking her plate as well after another sigh.
Ms. Machi walked through the doorframe into the kitchen, soon followed by her daughter who couldn't bare to be at the same table as her father. She squeezed Toge's shoulder as she stood up and walked to the kitchen, but he didn't know what she meant by it. He continued to sit at the table.
Walking up behind her mom, Kaori spoke, "let me do the dishes."
"It's alright," she replied, keeping her focus on her soapy hands.
"Mom."
The woman looked up, seeing her daughter look sorry for her earlier actions. She stepped out of the way, shaking her hands off and grabbing a towel from the counter to dry them.
The running water made their conversation unheard by the two men in the dining room and vice versa.
"I'm sorry for lying to you," whispered her mom.
"It happens."
But it didn't just happen, it always happened in this house. Everyday a new lie was told just to protect another person, and it would always later hurt another. Kaori responded how she did only to keep one relationship between her parents healthy enough.
When she shut off the water, her mom was still absentmindedly wiping her bone dry hands on the kitchen towel, handing it over to Kaori without leaving her dreamworld.
Small conversation came from the dining room, causing Kaori's facial expression to become nasty again. She tossed the towel onto the counter, walking towards the table.
The talking stopped, and just Toge looked over to see Kaori in the doorway.
"Tuna?" he asked her.
Without her father's eyes on her, she pointed her thumb down the hallway, "can we go?" she asked without an audible voice.
Standing up, he offered a "caviar" to her father and a "salmon roe" to her mother who was still blankly staring into space in the kitchen.
Kaori took his hand and led him back to her room pulling the door closed behind them.
"What was he saying?" she asked, her eyes dark and scary.
Toge's pupils widened and he released his hand from hers to place them on either side of his head in a way that said he was innocent.
"Normal things about us like how school was going and how our skills are improving," he paused while her heart began to pump faster. "I couldn't even say much!"
Her eyes wandered the ground, a blank look like her mother's taking shape on her features. She blinked, coming back to reality as her hands started to rub at the skin on her face. She groaned and pushed her hair back, revealing more of her forehead.
"I'm sorry, I should trust you more."
He hugged her waist, placing his head beside hers. "You don't have to be sorry," he whispered, pulling back to give her repetitive kisses on her cheek.
A smile was forced out of her and she held onto his shoulders while they rocked back and forth on their heels.
ʚ♡⃛ɞ
The two stayed behind the closed door once again, but it wasn't even an hour later when another knock from Kaori's mother sounded into the room. Toge paused the movie they sat together on the couch watching, and Kaori looked over at the door.
"Can you come out here, Kaori?"
"One sec," she replied, pulling the blanket off of herself and setting it by Toge's leg. "I'll be back soon, you can keep watching."
While the remote was still in his hand, she reached over and turned the volume up slightly, giving him a forced smile before she left.
Outside her room, her parents were in the dining area. Her father sat on a chair while her mother stood beside him.
"Please sit down," her mother said, offering the chair diagonal to her father.
"I'll stand," she replied, her anger rising again.
Her mother sighed, looking to her ex husband in worry. He leaned forward in his chair, getting closer to his daughter.
"I want to make things right."
"Then why did you mess everything up in the first place?" she huffed, not wanting the answer they both already knew.
"It was wrong of me to try and change you into something you weren't, and I apologize for it. I'm sorry about what I did."
"I don't care if you're sorry."
"Honey, please hear him out," her mother pleaded, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"I don't want to hear an excuse for his awful parenting," she stated, turning to leave before speaking again, "I can't say I forgive you." She then stepped angrily out of the kitchen before her mother grabbed her wrist.
"Kaori please!"
"No! I asked you last week and you told me he wouldn't be here!" she shouted through her teeth.
"I knew you wouldn't come if you knew he'd be here!"
"And you were right! You told me you got divorced—"
"We did—"
"I thought he was gone!"
"But he wanted to make up for his mistakes! Why can't you give him a chance?"
"He had plenty of time to make it right before I left, I don't see why I should care anymore," she said, turning to leave once again.
Her father stood from his chair only to be stopped by the hand of his former wife. Ms. Machi fled down the hall behind her daughter, catching her hand once again to display her own regrets.
"Kaori, I know that saying sorry ten thousand times would not match the level of regret I feel for lying to you, but I still want to apologize. I love you so much and I don't want to loose you too."
Kaori listened quietly, not showing any signs of forgiving. Her mother didn't say it, but Kaori knew her mother relied on her father's money to keep the house. She was a good person but didn't know when something was really wrong.
Her mother's hand was still clasped onto her own, so before she left for her room again, Kaori squeezed her hand. "I..."
With no further words, her eyes became blurry from the threatening tears. She pulled her hand away and continued down the hallway to her bedroom, opening the door and shutting it quietly behind her.
Toge paused the TV, looking over the back of the couch while Kaori stood with her back against the door. He waited to speak or move until she let a sob escape from her throat. Her hand clasped to her mouth and her eyes pooled with tears.
From the couch, Toge quickly threw everything aside and rushed to Kaori to hug her tightly. His hands weaved through her hair and pulled her head right into his chest where she stood shaking, continuing to cry harshly.
Her hands eventually wrapped along his back, his clothes being pulled into her balled up fists. Her cries were as quiet as she could keep them, but to the head resting above hers, they sounded broken and pent up. Tears welled in Toge's eyes from the state of Kaori and he tried to calm her with words, kisses, and strokes of her long hair.
"You can always talk to me, you know that right?" he asked, placing a kiss on her temple as her face reminded buried in his collarbone.
Her sniffles and sobs slurred her speech, "y-yeah..."
Soon, although her breaths didn't become less uneven, she pulled away from him, peeling the hair away that was glued to her skin with her tears. Her bloodshot eyes and red cheeks were now visible to the blonde in front of her and he wasted no time in delicately holding one of her free hands.
Tears on Kaori's face were wiped away by both of them while she wondered why his eyes matched hers. She caught her breath, her hand still shaking from the emotions she had tucked away.
"He's the worst," she simply put it, her eyes squeezing shut to try and hold back her tears. "He tried to make me into the son he couldn't have and it was the worst fifteen years of my life!"
Toge continued to hold her hand while his second one rubbed her arm in a comforting manner, allowing her to rant to him.
"He never once showed me that he cared for me and that's why I'm always so clingy to you and I'm sorry for that-"
"You don't need to be sorry!" he said, laughing off the way he has said that to her so many times before.
"I'm sorry for always being sorry! You probably hate that I always say that and with all of this fighting today you probably don't want to be around my family or me anymore. If you want to break up with me I understand because I wouldn't want to be with me either right now."
She shook his hand off of hers, wiping away the tears that began to fall again with the backs of her hands. Toge stood in front of her, his eyes still watery and even more so after her speech.
"Do- do you want to break up?" he asked, afraid of her answer.
"Of course I don't! You're the best for dealing with me over these last couple of months!" she sobbed again, her face buried in her hands.
Toge gently pulled her hands away so that he could see her tear streaked face, holding her hands tightly in his. "I'm not going to break up with you. It doesn't matter to me what kind of childhood you had or if you might not have the best relationship with your parents right now. I'll give you all the love you need... because I love you."