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Finally, she was out of the hospital and the bandages has been removed from her face.
A scar.
There's a scar over her face. A large one.
It. . . no. . .
She thought Shoko could fully heal it but to her unfortunate, she was unable to do so.
I look ugly. . .
Gojō, on the other hand, secretly watching her right outside the door, clenches his jaw at the sight of Utahime's tears slowly running down her cheeks. "I look so ugly. . ." she held back a sob.
'No, you're not. You're pretty with or without the scar. Prettier than any woman out there.' He silently replied, not wanting to interrupt her. 'You're gorgeous, Utahime.'
He turned around and started to walk away, eyes turning dark, filled with irritation and wrath. 'Goddamn old fucks.' He thought to himself.
"You have been downgraded to semi grade one."
"Huh?" Utahime stills, her brain processing what Gakuganji had just stated, words trying to sink into her mind as she drops her head. "It's a shame, I couldn't do anything against it, Iori. But, it is for your good." He stands up, heading to the exit, leaving Utahime behind who clutched her Miko skirt with her teeth biting her lower lip, resisting the urge to cry.
The girl who was assigned to watch over Gakuganji, who stood behind the door peaked in with pity in her eyes as she calls out for her "Utahime-senpai. . ."
"Don't worry about me." Utahime let out a deep sigh, "You can go home now." She adds, head still down as the girl nods her head. "Of course, goodbye, Iori-senpai." She walks away but not without bowing ninety degrees.
Utahime sat there until she was sure no one was around before letting some of her tears out as she lets out a sob, clutching harder on her skirt.
I worked hard, didn't I? I did my best to kill it.
I can't do this without a drink.
She stands up, wiping her tears away before grabbing her purse, leaving the office by slamming the door shut, directly heading to her favourite bar.
She fishes her phone out of her purse, unlocking it as she pressed on the messages icon, tapped on Shoko's nickname on the screen and starts typing.
« Are you busy today? »
• • •
« No, why? »
« I'm heading straight to Tokyo today. I'll be at our usual bar. »
« Today? Did something happen? »
« I need a break, I'll tell you the details later. »
« I'll see you there at six PM then. »
Utahime turns her phone off, pushes it back into her purse and hurriedly makes her way to the station before she misses the train. 'I'll just book a hotel later.'
Finally, some good fucking beer. She lets out a groan, chugging down the beer, the bartender served her as she squeezed her eyes tight before blinking them as she checks the time on her phone. Eight thirty-nine o'clock. Huh, where's Shoko?
Before she could even turn her phone off, Shoko's nickname on the screen popped up, the green and red icon below telling her to pick as Utahime brings the phone to her ear after pressing the green icon. "S. . Shoko. .?" She hiccupped, the alcohol already hitting her nerves like a truck. "Utahime, I'm sorry but I have to cancel my arrival tonight. There's been-"
"'s okay. . ."
"Are you sure?" She can hear the slight concern in Shoko's voice but Utahime shook her head and drunkenly giggled into the phone, causing her friend to get even more concerned for her. "I can send Gojō to accompany you for a while." Utahime furrowed her eyebrows at the mentioned name. "Don't tell him to come! He- He's a bother. . ." Utahime hiccupped once more.
She heard Shoko sigh in the other hand, "I'm not letting you be alone there. It's dangerous, especially you're drunk. Too drunk. I know, your scar has recovered but, Utahime-"
"Ah! Beer! Thank you! Goodbye, Shoko!"
"Utahime–!" Cutting her off by hanging up, her pupils dilated at the fresh mug of beer in front of her. "It's from that man over there." Utahime looked up, arching an eyebrow, eyes directly on an unfamiliar man who waved at her with a grin on his face as she waves back with a drunken smile on her face, her hand reached for the beer and attempt to chug it in one go.
"Uta-hi-me~! Wait– 'Hime!?" Quickly stopping her from drinking more of the beer that was given to her, he pulled it out of her grasp, causing her to yell at him. "The hell's your problem–!? G– Gojō!?" Another hiccup escaped her mouth.
"Now, now, 'hime. Too much alcohol can kill you, y' know?"
"Coming from a—" She hiccupped "A man who eats too many sweets!" She continued, pointing her index finger at him, her face red as a tomato, obviously from the amount of alcohol she drank. "Yeah, you surely drank a lot." He fishes his wallet out, taking enough money to cover her bill, sliding it against the counter as the bartender takes it before giving him the thumbs up.
"It's time for you to go to sleep. Don't worry, I've already reserved a hotel room for us!"
"Let go of me— ugh! G– Gojō!" Ah, now she remembers, she actually forgot to book one earlier. Gojō grabs her arm, pulling her close to him before sliding an arm around her waist. "Sleep for now, 'Hime. We'll talk later." Huh, why's her brain complying with his words? Or is it just the beer? Her eyelids are getting heavier with every second as someone tapped Gojō's shoulder.
"Hey, where do you think, you're taking her?" The man who sent her a free beer from earlier came up as Gojō arched an eyebrow. "I'm taking her home, got a problem with it?"
"She probably doesn't even know you—"
"You heard her call me by my name earlier, what makes you think she doesn't know me? What, you wanna take care of her instead?" He scoffs "She doesn't know you." His arm tighten around her waist, his other arm wrapping around her head, to keep her face pressed against his chest. "Just so you know, she's not interested in men like you. Weak and desperate. She's already dating me anyway so you got no chance, dude. Fuck off." With that, he walks out of the bar and makes sure no one is around before teleporting with her.
"We're here!" He smiled, looking up at the tall building in front of them as he carries her inside.
"Hngh. . ." Eyes blinking open countless times, Utahime looked over at the window, the sky still dark and the moon still shining brightly. "W– where. . ."
"Awake already? You need to sleep more, 'hime." Utahime furrowed her eyebrows, rolling over at the end of the bed before setting her feet against the floor that caught Gojō off guard. "Hey, hey, no! I said sleep more—"
"Fuck– fuck off. ." She pushed him aside as she heads straight to where the refrigerator is located, opening it wide to search for some beer. "I've never seen you want to get more drunk than you already are. This is new, something happened, 'Hime? You can talk to me."
"Are you still remembering that day you proved yourself to be weak? Haha! That was really funny!" Fucking asshole, shut the fuck up already, it's not funny.
"Man, what could've happened to you if I were not there? Poor 'Hime." Shut up, you arrogant bastard.
"Lemme guess, you still can't accept the fact that I'm far, far way superior to you and you're weak. Utahime, you can always call me y' know? I'll be there for you since—"
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
"You're weak—"
"Shut the fuck up, Gojō!!" Oh, shit. She's mad and she about to cry– fucking hell— "I get it, okay!? I accept it! I'm weak, you're strong, I'm pathetic and you're the honoured one, I fucking get it!!!" She screamed, tears running down her cheeks. "Yeah, what could've happened if you didn't show up!? If you didn't then I wouldn't have to deal with your bullshit! It could've been better if I died, right!? After all, I'm weak and weak people don't deserve to live according to you!!" She adds.
'No no no, I didn't mean to say that, goddamnit, I should've kept my mouth shut.'
"Now that I've been demoted to semi grade one after all the hard work I did, what are you gonna say?"
'Semi-grade one? But, you're more than that, Utahime.'
"I'm weak, that's right!"
'Don't say that—'
"I've always been weak—" She sobs, bringing her palm to her face to wipe the tears running down her cheeks. "No matter how hard I try to fight, I'm always weak to you" She squeezes her eyes shut, sobbing harder as she sniffles. "I tried my hardest, you know!? I wanted to become more than a grade one but I became a semi instead when I just became an official grade one last month!" She broke down, knees about to give up but Gojō quickly took her into his arms.
"No no no, 'Hime, look at me. I didn't mean what I said, I meant nothing about it at all, I was just joking! 'Hime, 'Hime, 'Hime, please don't cry, I promise, I won't call you weak anymore, I swear." Letting her cry into his shirt, he starts to soothingly rub her back in circles, comforting her as he slides an arm under her knees before carrying her to the bed.
"You're strong, 'Hime. 'm not lying, you really are strong. The higher-ups are stupid for doing this to you. I could've dealt with them if you told me right away."
She didn't listen, she just kept crying. "You don't deserve to be a semi grade one."
'I swear, if they make you cry like this in front of me again, I'll kill them.' His left eye twitched, arms tightening around her.
"I'll try to talk to them, 'Hime. Stop crying-"
'You're gonna make me go mad.'
"If you want I'll go convince them."
'I'll lay each of their heads upon your feet just to satisfy you.'
Her cries died down, leaving behind small sniffles as she dozes back to sleep after an exhausting breakdown. "I can kill them for you, 'Hime. I'll lay anything beneath your feet as long as you're happy." Placing a kiss on her sweaty forehead, he uses his thumb to wipe the tear off her red cheek. "If the higher-ups give you another life-risking mission, I'll kill them." His dark shades fell off, dropping on the floor, his eyes filled with anger and insanity as he pulls Utahime's body impossibly closer to his chest.
"One more. . . Just one more. . ."
"I promise if they ever do this again. . ."
"I'll slaughter them."