Himaris eyes shot open only to find herself in an unfamiliar room with different posters portraying a sad collection of emo bands
The light from the half draw blinds caused her to momentarily wince as she sat upright on this weirdly grey bed, nothing like hers, in order to close it
That's when she heard a grumble and felt a hand slump off of her shoulder, Himari turning to see a human sized bump sleeping inside the covers whilst she dangled off the edge of the bed
"Who the fuck are you?!" She yelled whacking the person only to hear a very yuta like yelp
"Who's there?" He said in a tired but shaky voice, turning around to go back to sleep
"Ohhh!" Himari smiled, now she remembered, the five of them stayed up all night watching a movie
But where were panda Toge and maki?
Her question was answered when a bright flash from the door caught her attention
"You idiot why was it on flash?!" Maki yelled, whacking panda over the head
"My paws barely work with this thing" The cursed corpse huffed, Himari turning to Yuta who was now definitely wide awake
The two were expressive in different ways, whilst Himari screamed and hit him, Yuta stared at her with eyes so wide they threatened to pop out of his head and the reddest of cheeks
"Good morning yuta!" She smiled "we fell asleep watching a movie and the others didn't wake us up" Himari more so explained, understanding yutas confusion
"Oh! That makes sense" Yuta muttered, an embarrassed and shy smile spreading across his face
"Tuna" Inuamki spoke, holding up a bag of food
"Toge, you're my favourite for a reason" Himari stated as she took the bag she knew was for her
"Sorry we didn't wake you two up" Maki snickered
"You just looked so peaceful, we didn't want to disturb you two" Panda joined in, yuta looking like he was about to die
"Gosh don't word it like that!" Himari frowned, a large white hand grabbing onto her left arm
"Back..." a distorted voice spoke "back off!!" Rika screeched, emerging from the ground
"Rika no!" Yuta pleaded, the other first years backing off and getting into a fighting stance whilst Himari analysed the situation she was in
Still snacking on the food Toge had given her
She had no weapon, her left arm was being grasped by a special grade curse and she was in a small space
Should she accept defeat?
Nah
Himari managed to duck and avoid the full force of rikas punch, working her way out of her grasp before darting at yuta only making the curse more angry, panda Inuamki and maki trying their best to pull the curse back as it scratched at Himari
"Sorry" Himari cringed, landing three jabs on yutas stomach and one on his back leading to him collapsing and rika dissolving
"No..I'm sorry" Yuta muttered, trying to move his finger around to regain a sense of touch
"That was scary!" Himari shuddered, noticing the guilty look of yuta and her friends worried expression
"Himari your heads bleeding!" Maki yelled, grabbing one of yutas clothes and wrapping it around Himari
"It is?" She blinked "well shit.."
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"What the hell happened to you?" Gojo thought as he looked at Himari who wore a small smile
Not a happy smile, but those smiled you wear as you slowly grow more irritated
Yuta in the other hand was a mess, constantly apologising and making sure she didn't hate him
"Rika happened." Himari stated, Gojo cringing as he painted a picture in his head
"Seems you were getting a bit too close to yuta for her liking Himari!" Gojo cackled, turning to yuta who was still unscathed
"How come Himari isn't mad at you?"
"Oh I am!" Himari smiled, yuta flinching at her words "but I can't take on rika this time."
"Ah, that makes sense" Gojo hummed, suddenly wrapping a arm around yuta as if they were old pals
"Yuta! Let's have a super important chat!" Gojo smiled, leading yuta who glanced back at a dissapearing Himari, away
"Now where's maki?" Himari hummed
"What did you want to talk about Gojo?" Yuta asked, slightly nervous as his teacher crossed his legs
"Well, I noticed you seem to be growing close with your classmates which is good" Gojo nodded, yuta confirming this statement
"Especially Himari." He said in a less playful manner making yuta freeze
"As her basically father, I just wanna say this, and I know it may be unprofessional or even pure favouritism but" He laughed
"You better not let rika harm her again,"
"Because if something happens to Himari then I'm gonna be suuuper pissed" He yawned, yuta swearing he could feel Gojos cursed energy output increase
"Well, that's all! Good luck with your rika-chan!" He waved, skipping out of the field
"That was..intense" Yuta muttered to himself, finding himself shuddering despite being in September
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"Uhm, Himari" Yuta nervously spoke as he knocked on the door, it took a few moments before he heard a 'come in'
Yuta found Himari on the floor stacking up various different children's books, seemingly submerged in it
"I-it's me Himari! I just wanted to apologise again an—"
"I'm not actually mad at you yuta" Himari scoffed, patting to her bed for him to take a seat
"Oh, that's a relief" he exhaled "I was so worried you'd hate me"
"I could never hate you yuta" Himari smiled, going back to stacking the books intime to miss yutas reddening cheeks
"So what are you doing?" He asked, analysing himaris room
He'd never been in a girls room before, well at this age
Her room was filled with different posters of her favourite movies and brands, along with a stack of smaller photos that ranged from her Gojo megumi and tsumiki in their childhood to more recent ones with her, him and the other first years
He noticed one at the centre though, it was larger than the others
It was of a young girl who he presumed to be her, being carried by a man with similar hair whilst a dark brown haired woman laughed
Must be her parents
"Oh, I'm just stacking these kids books" She hummed
"Do you read them?" Yuta asked, Himaris grip on the book tightening
"Why would I do that??"
"I don't know!"
"So then why do you still have them? Do they hold sentimental value?" Yuta inquired, fiddling with his ring
"Yeah, they were given to me by my parents and they used to read one to me at night. When megumi and tsumiki came I started reading to them" She stated, a sad smile appearing on her face as yuta tired to think of ways to comfort her
"My dad was a great story teller" She hummed
'A world without mum or dad is too cold for me to live in'
"It's a bit cold isn't it yuta?" She questioned
"Himari it's September, we're still in summer" Yuta reminded her
"Still cold" She shrugged, yuta looking back at the picture
"Are those your parents?" He asked, Himari nodding "are you maybe finding everything cold, because an anniversary is coming up?" He asked, Himaris eyes widening
"Yeah, my dads birthday is approaching" She stated, placing the book she was holding down
"How did y—"
"I understand how you feel Himari" Yuta said quickly "the world seems too cold to keep living in when someone you love dies, and even years later, when their birthday, death anniversary or even your own birthday rolls around, it can seem unfair" Yuta frowned
"You wonder why they can't be there to celebrate it with you, and that frostiness re-appears" he continued, looking at Himari who's tears threatened to spill from her eyes
Gojo was horrible with emotions although he tried his absolute best to comfort her, and she never wanted to over burden him so she kept it all in
But Yuta wasn't afraid to be vulnerable himself, he was strong, no denying that. But he was gentle and compassionate
"I can't take this cold yuta" Himari muttered "and it was my fault. No matter what dad would've been shot when he opened that door, but mum?"
"If I'd just gone with them she wouldn't have died trying to fight back, she was pregnant with my twin brother and sister, yet she.."
"If I wasn't a star plasma vessle, if I hadn't b—"
"Don't say that Himari" Yuta said in a firm but kind tone, handing the girl a handkerchief that by its withered appearance and fading pattern, she could tell he'd used it a lot
But nevertheless she was grateful
"Don't say you shouldn't have been born. They wouldnt want that" He continued "I don't know the details and I don't mind if you never tell me. But I'm sure your parents loved you and valued your life over theirs, that's why your mother protected you"
"So don't throw it all away by wishing for death"
There was a few moments of silence shared between the two before a grateful smile appeared on Himaris face
"hm, you're right yuta" She nodded, going back to stacking these books that's she once believed shrouded her room in darkness a grief, a reminder of what could've been
But there was no point in 'ifs' she had her friends, megumi, tsumiki and Gojo
These books were a nice way to remember her parents aswell, not a burden
"Thank you yuta" She smiled "I'm sorry you had to see me so gloomy, I don't really talk about these things" she lightly chuckled
"No no, it's perfectly fine" Yuta stated "I'm glad you're comfortable with talking about your feelings to me, or else it would just be me rambling and whining about mine to you all the time" he awkwardly chuckled, a sudden embrace catching him off guard
"That's not how I view you, seriously yuta. Thank you"