"Yuta..." you groaned, holding a wound in your side that you had gotten when you tried saving Panda, Toge and Maki from the battlefield that was once your school grounds. "You need to leave."
"I'm not leaving you guys here," he insisted as he placed his hands over Maki, Panda and Toge, his cursed energy looming over them.
You sighed, somewhat irritated by his stubbornness, and began forming small domes of vines over Maki, Toge and Panda. "They're going to heal in there... And the vines'll keep them safe."
"What about you?"
"I'll heal myself when they're done... Just—"
"I'm not leaving."
You clicked your tongue. "I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say... Just win."
He stared at you with parted lips, then nodded and jumped off the balcony where you hid, the curse that remained by his side following after.
You sighed and leaned against the wall as the vines began closing up, catching a glimpse of Toge before he was encased in the plants.
You had studied under Ieri when your vines proved to be less effective in battle than other cursed techniques, although you managed to make them strong enough after some time, along with Maki teaching you how to use various tools.
After a while, one of the cases of vines receded and Toge slowly sat up.
"You should... keep lying down..." you said breathlessly.
His head turned and his eyes widened, grabbing your arm and pulling you closer to him, noticing the blood dripping through your fingertips as you continued to hold your wound. "Mustard leaf."
"I'm fine," you assured.
Then he began waving his arms in the direction of the other knots of vines.
"They will be fine." You smiled, placing your hand on Toge's cheek, wiping away dry blood from the corner of his mouth. "Good fighting out there."
"Mm..."
You then squeezed his cheek, earning a pained grunt from him. "I told you I'm fine. Besides, if we need to find the others for help, just look in the vines."
•••
Your eyes opened and you realized that you had dozed off, although Toge was determined to stay awake, holding you close enough that he'd be able to tell when you woke up.
"The snow stopped," he told you pointedly.
You nodded and stood, holding out your hand to help him to his feet. "Let's go."
Without the storm, it was not as cold and the snow covering the ground wasn't as daunting as it was before. With the way it coated the trees and covered the ground, it was really beautiful.
Not that you were about to tell Toge that. He seemed to be angry at it.
You weren't really the greatest pair to be searching for someone, with one of you unable to hear nor speak clearly, and the other unable to speak at all.
Still, the old lady seemed to believe that you could. Somehow.
You tripped again, this time falling right into the snow. For someone who rushed through a shop four days a week, maneuvering around stands of plants and bags of seeds, with stacks of heavy pots in your arms, you were quite uncoordinated.
"Are you okay?" Toge asked.
You nodded, wondering what it was that you tripped on, and found that there was what looked like a fallen tree trunk under the snow. "It's the clearing we went to yesterday."
Toge looked around and nodded in agreement, somehow remembering the way the trees towered over the area.
Your eyes travelled further into the forest, seeing a giant boulder with vines hanging off of it. If we need to find the others... just look in the vines.
Were you about to listen to one of your silly dreams? Well, what choice did you have?
You took Toge's hand and began moving towards it. That was when he heard someone laughing, loudly, and he went into a run, skipping the jog, and practically yanked you forward.
He moved around the boulder to see Maki, Yuta and Panda there — Maki looked injured, a rip in her pants at the knee with a large gash under the fabric.
"There you guys are!" Maki said. "I was waiting for you to come."
"What happened to your leg?!" you questioned wildly.
"I tripped on a low hanging branch, no big deal. Hurt too much to move, though, and the storm was pretty bad, so we went to this shack that used to hold my family's skiing stuff."
"...We stayed in a cave."
You saw Maki laugh and you tried to laugh as well, trying to forget the sting in your cheeks.
Toge sighed. "We're glad you were safe from the storm."
You glanced at him, the panicked look in his eyes finally gone and replaced with relief. What you didn't understand still was what made him so horrified.
•••
"That kind of thing happens to other people," Maki assured, walking with Toge while you talked with Panda and Yuta up ahead. Well, talked in the way you usually "talked".
"That's..."
"And that's if they ever do happen. The old lady always says spooky stories like that. If so many people really died out here, I don't think people would be allowed to keep coming."
"I know, it just... worried me."
"You stay up watching videos of little horror stories on YouTube but you were spooked by an old lady saying you won't return from a passing snowstorm?"
He stared at you and shoved his hands in his pockets, not saying anything to further the conversation.
When she followed his gaze, she noticed the light blue scarf hanging around your neck. "Is Y/N wearing your scarf?"
"I gave it to her."
Maki raised her brows, then laughed. "Don't you treat that thing like gold?"
He nodded. It didn't really matter to him, though.
When you all returned, the old lady stood at the entrance, anticipating your return, with hangars hanging off of her forearm. Toge walked past her, hiding his face behind the fuzz of his jacket, not bothering to take it off until he got to the living room.
Panda stared. "What's with him?"
"The storm just... freaked him out." Maki pursed her lips before taking a hangar for each of your jackets so you could hang them.
You all gathered around the fireplace while you tended to Maki's leg.
"Ouch- That stings!"
You continued dabbing a cotton pad soaked in disinfectant on her wound, not heeding her yells of pain. You gently rubbed a remedy your mother would use when you got scrapes on your knees and wrapped up the scratch. "All done."
"Well, I wouldn't recommend you be a doctor."
"Wasn't planning on it, but why?"
Maki sighed and lied back on the couch. You tilted your head before picking up the cotton pads you used and leaving to throw them away.
You walked into the kitchen, spotting the old lady at the counter putting rice into the rice cooker.
She noticed your walk in and smiled, not saying anything. You shuffled towards the garbage can in the corner and tossed the cotton pads inside, seeing that there was nothing in the plastic.
How much did this old lady work? Between cooking, cleaning and taking out the garbage, when exactly did she have free time?
You returned to the living room and sat beside Maki on the couch.
Toge and Panda sat on the ground playing a board game that you didn't recognize and Yuta was on the other side of Maki, reading one of the decade old magazines that sat on a magazine rack at the entrance.
"Is your entire family supposed to fit on this couch?" you asked Maki, staring at the three person couch and the fact that there was only one.
"Bold of you to assume that my family even sits together."
You dropped your hands in your lap with an awkward smile, staring straightforward to avoid the awkward eye contact that comes after saying something completely out of context.
The living room was still cozy even without enough seating arrangements. A fireplace stood at the front with two large windows on either side of it, the pale brown curtains normally drawn. The singular couch sat in front of the fireplace with a coffee table and a fuzzy white carpet in between.
There was no TV, of course. It's not like there was any internet. There was a small stack of board games on the hearth, though.
"I'm surprised there's no books here," Yuta said once he finally decided that he was tired of the magazine about houses that were on sale in 2010. "You know, since there isn't a TV or anything."
"We haven't finished playing every board game on the fireplace, though," Panda said.
"Speaking of the fireplace, are you not hot with that panda head on?"
Panda shrugged and looked back at the board game. Yuta still hadn't seen his face before, with Panda having put his food into his mask every time he ate.
Yuta probably just thought that half the friend group didn't like showing their face, since Toge usually wears a mask as well. Given, it never really looks like he's hiding anything once he takes it off, except for the small scar on his jawline.
You felt someone's eyes on you and glanced at the archway that led to the living room, seeing the old lady standing there and giving you a close mouthed smile, partially hidden by the wall.
You shifted in your seat and faced straightforward, leaning against Maki and staring at the flames dancing in the fireplace.
"Yes!" Panda pumped his fist while Toge deflated, leaning back against the couch.
"How do you even win that game?" Maki queried.
"No clue. The instructions were gone so we just made our own rules."
"Which is definitely cheating," Toge added.
You tilted your head. "What's definitely cheating?"
"He made the rules for the game because we couldn't find the instructions."
You looked down at the board. "...Candyland?"
"Is that what it's called!"
The old lady walked in with a sweet smile. "Dinner is ready."
•••
As Toge finished washing his plate from dinner, he heard your feet dragging through the kitchen and saw you sweeping the floor of uncooked grains of rice and other remnants of dinner being cooked.
"Do you need help?"
You hadn't noticed him, your eyes still on the floor. You were moving awfully slow, the broom moving back and forth and just spreading dust everywhere.
He stepped forward and reached out, taking the top of the broom, but instead of looking up, your knees buckled and you fell forward. He nearly fell back and clutched you by your elbows.
The sound of the broom hitting the floor summoned the others.
"What happened?!" Maki ran forward and tried to hold you but Toge gripped you as if you would disintegrate if he let go. She pressed her hand against your forehead. "She's sick. Come on, our room's that way."