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The invitation came by mail, as most Inumaki clan matters did. It was an old fashioned and slow way of communication but the Imumaki clan held themselves to an impossible standard, still riding the high of once being a revered clan even if their fall had been ages ago.
Toge hated the letter for a number of reasons, including the fact that it was harder to open an envelope with only one hand. He wondered if the clan leaders had thought of that when they licked the envelope and sealed it; if they smirked to themselves and imagined Toge’s inevitable struggle.
They always liked to watch Toge struggle. Sometimes if that was the main reason they kept him around; both to keep his technique under their thumb and to laugh at their precious scapegoat.
Toge could have asked Yuuta to open the envelope for him, but he knew the contents inside were something Yuuta would disapprove of. Yuuta had been extra tense ever since Shibuya, even after Gojo’s return freed him from carrying so many burdens as they tried to patch up the sorcerer world.
Going beyond the obvious factor of Yuuta’s inevitable stress, Yuuta was one of the few people who knew about the real inner workings of the Inumaki clan.
He wouldn’t want Toge anywhere near the clan. In fact, none of Toge’s friends would want him to go back. He didn’t even want to go back.
So, Toge opened the letter by himself. He set it on his bed and fumbled with the sealed flap, his movements careless because he was past the point of caring about ripping their special paper.
The letter stared Toge down even after he placed it on his dresser and tried to forget its existence. He could practically recite the letter from memory even after only reading it once, and he replayed the words over and over in his head as he laid in bed at night.
The message was non-threatening yet suspicious, simply requesting his visit to the estate.
The words may appear innocent, but it reminded Toge that even after all this time he still lacked the ability to make choices for himself. The clan steered him like a puppet on a string and everytime he thought the strings had been cut, they gave another pull.
Their deep clutches were always holding Toge hostage; their claws were embedded in his back and ready to drag him home into the snake pit at a moment’s notice.
Going away for school gave Toge relief, but he knew he could never be truly free. He was still waiting on pins and needles for the moment a letter arrived in the mail, and their neatly printed words held as much power over him as his own cursed speech held over others.
He hoped his words didn’t send the same intense strike of terror into people’s hearts. He would hate to be the cause of someone’s distress; he didn’t want people to fall under his speech and lose their minds.
He understood the feeling too deeply to ever willingly inflict it on someone else.
Fear was a powerful force, but so was despair. The clan had crushed him enough times to make sure Toge knew that lesson firsthand. Afterall, it was harder to fight back once you already accepted a terrible fate. Years of isolation and scorn beat him down until it was all he knew.
Yuuta always told Toge that it was proof of his strength that he managed to stay so kind even after only experiencing harshness from the world around him.
He supposed his trip visiting the clan was another test. He hoped Yuuta would still think he was kind afterwards.
Toge didn’t feel very kind. He never did, and he knew visiting the clan would only make things worse.
The invitation rested on the table; reminding him he never had a choice. Cold acceptance was already spreading through his veins and he was powerless to stop it.
It was surprisingly easy to sneak away from school in the morning.
Gojo was often away attending to countless matters and their classmates were knee deep in strategies and missions. Yuuta was his main obstacle, since regardless of their days apart, Yuuta always returned to Toge’s bed at night.
Between going abroad and being separated during Toge’s recovery, they were both rather clingy. Their nights were their own and they spent every single one together, so Toge had to plan accordingly.
Toge had feigned a cold, and even if it felt terrible to lie to his boyfriend, Toge was able to spend the night alone to ensure he could leave in the morning without a struggle. The bed felt icy and there was no one to hold Toge as he shivered through terrible nightmares and looming anxiety, but he told himself he didn't have a choice.
He never had a choice. Didn't the clan already teach him that?
Yuuta didn’t go down without a fight. He sent endless texts about wanting to bring soup, insisting that Toge should still get some cuddles for healing purposes, and offering to draw a bath. The efforts were sweet, but Toge ignored them all.
After a terrible night’s sleep, Toge got ready swiftly and silently. He needed to leave early to escape the notice of his classmates, so Toge slipped on his fanciest kimono and snuck out before the sun had even risen.
Over his mouth, Toge wore a thin veil to cover his seals. It wasn’t the most efficient methodーhis seals were still visible beneath the sheer fabric and they were sure to attract attention on public transportーbut it was the garment that the Inumaki clan most preferred.
They gave him countless sheer veils, and they resided deep in his drawers for occasions such as these. They were the only ones he wore them for.
The clan hated Toge’s seals for their power, yet they had a sick fascination with their appearance. They wanted them just barely concealed, hanging out of reach like a forbidden fruit. The higher ups liked to remember the existence of the seals as they hid in plain sight, reminding Toge he was ostracized but also revered.
People were never gentle with him. Growing up he was mostly kept alone, but adults always dragged him between isolated spaces with a tight grip on his wrist. He was pulled from place to place like a ragdoll, uncaring of how rough they were or how much he squirmed.
But no one ever dared injure his face.
The thought of their hungry expressions directed towards his seals made Toge’s stomach twist. He lost track of himself, only snapping into his body again once he was snugly in his seat on the train.
The train was mostly empty, but every glance his way made him feel disgusting. It felt too eerily similar to how everyone back home stared at him, how they touched his face and breathed against his skin as they leaned too close.
Even in his solitude, someone still approached him everyday to stroke his seals with a featherlight brush; a teasing touch that made him sick. They massaged the sigils like something precious while the rest of his body was merely a spare part to prepare for war.
It was why Yuuta knew not to touch his seals. It was why Toge had pulled away in the middle of their first kiss, nauseous and shaking because Yuuta thought it would be endearing to rub them with his thumbs.
Toge’s face never felt like his own. His seals were something different; something outside of his body.
It was hard to snap out of the mentality that they belonged to the clan. Afterall, they were the reason Toge was spending his morning on a quiet train car instead of being comforted in Yuuta’s warm embrace after suffering through a terrible night alone.
He spent too much of his childhood alone. He didn’t want to spend his nights curled in an empty bed anymore, yet his clan had somehow subjected him to the experience again.
He tried to stop himself from pointing blame. It served no purpose.
Once Toge arrived at the estate, he found it eerily empty. He expected a welcome since he had been invited home through a formal letter, but the grounds were vacant.
He was tempted to call out for someone, but he knew better than to try. The estate was different; it wasn’t like when he was with his friends at school. Even his safe words were seen as despicable, and Toge was taught to never utter a word at all.
So he waited. He sat down in the grass and tried to make himself invisible, just like he’d done so often as a child. Hiding near the gardens was still second nature, and he felt more welcomed by the flowers than he ever would by his family.
He could feel the letter sitting heavy in his pocket. He wondered if they mislabeled the requested date, but the Inumaki clan never made mistakesーbesides his existence.
The letter was stamped with the official Inumaki clan seal, which meant it had been proofread and overseen. Toge’s arrival was a formal matter yet he still waited alone by the bushes like a common trespasser.
He didn’t know how long he waited. His stomach kept growling and he felt tired as the sun beat down on his head, only being touched by a shadow once someone appeared to loom over him.
The sight of a shadow made him stiffen, but he’d been expecting it. It was only a matter of time before someone found him. They always found him; no matter where he hid, he was always dragged back to his room of isolation.
Curses didn’t need time in the sunshine. They didn’t need time with people.
“You made it,” a voice said, dripping with indifference.
Toge looked up, squinting at the face of a fellow clan member. Even though they were Toge's family, they all were the same to him. They didn’t see Toge as anything more than a technique to control, so he didn’t care for them either. It was an equal exchange; his friends at school were the only family he had as far as Toge was concerned.
It took a moment for the sinister smile to register in Toge’s brain as someone who had once been tasked with Toge-wrangling, if he didn’t volunteer for it as many others had.
Many clan members liked the opportunity to get closer to the famous child born with cursed speech, and their greedy hands weren’t gentle whenever they pridefully took control of such a powerful force.
This man knew all of Toge’s hiding spots because he had found them before; he had painfully grabbed Toge’s arm to take his body wherever it was needed.He was one of many who delighted in stroking Toge’s seals as hot tears rolled over their thumbs.
His nausea came creeping back as he caught sight of the familiar calluses on his hands; the feel of them against Toge’s skin creeping back like a prickly ghost.
“Hisato,” Toge croaked.
He wasn’t sure if his rough voice was from dehydration or if it was born out of some kind of fear response from being back home, but Hisato winced all the same.
He held up his hand and curled his lip in disgust. “Please, don’t speak here.”
Toge nodded solemnly. He was used to shutting down in the face of other members of his clan, but he felt especially low while sitting in the bushes. He was being both physically and metaphorically looked down upon, and Toge bent under the pressure.
He still felt shame running through his veins and rushing back into his heart. It was in his blood; traveling through him with every beat. He faced many things, he clawed his way out of rubble and lost an arm, yet he was most scared of people far less powerful than him.
He wondered if his friends would judge him for cowering. Maki didn’t cower when she faced her clan; she fought back and won. She wasn’t scared of bloodshed and she knew how to handle loss.
The Inumakis were different. They didn’t start with outright violence; snakes were able to strike in ways that disarmed immediately. Their fangs were laced with poison and a nest of snakes meant Toge was only one against an army.
This time he was only faced with Hisato.
Toge could handle one person, but he didn’t know what traps were laid ahead. Life in the Inumaki clan meant he had to think ahead; he learned running was useless when someone was bound to drag you back.
Hisato jerked his chin out in a silent demand for Toge to stand. Toge’s body mindlessly followed the command, his limbs numb while his chest tingled.
Toge brushed off his kimono with a shaking hand, trying to ignore the burning stare of Hisato as he locked in on the sight of Toge’s left side. The sleeve of his kimono was tied shut to avoid the annoyance of having a vacant sleeve at his side. In its place resided a knot, and Toge slowly realized it was the first time any Inumaki clan members would be seeing it in person.
The thought made his mouth dry.
“Let’s go,” Hisato ordered, turning around as Toge stumbled after him.
They walked through the grounds quickly, with Hisato glancing around nervously as they ducked into a building. There was still no one to be seen and every step in the empty grounds made Toge’s stomach sink a little lower.
As a child it seemed there were always people around.
Toge wasn’t even alone while he was outside in the gardens; his one place of peace. People were always watching him, eyes locked in on his mouth to admire and scrutinize. Toge couldn’t open his mouth to speak even to himself; the passersby made sure of it.
Back then it had been a curse, but now he wished to see another face. He didn’t trust being alone with anyone, even though anyone else would only remain a bystander anyway.
Toge felt a distinct wave of nausea once they stepped into a large matted room. The walls were white and the floors soft under his bare feet, but Toge’s body knew not to trust the blankness.
He remembered it. It was called a solitude room, but it had really been solitary confinement.
Toge always knew it wasn’t normal how he was locked up for so many hours of the day. He didn’t need a book to tell him that solitude was damaging, he already lived it first hand. Coupled with the suppressing talismans that had once been plastered to the white walls and the constant feeling of eyes on himーToge felt he was right to be anxious about being back in the room.
Hisato smiled reassuringly, as if he hadn’t been one of the people throwing Toge down on the mats and locking the door shut behind him.
He stepped across the room and reached for a gym bag leaning against the wall, slinging it over his shoulder nonchalantly. There was no reason for any belongings to be in the room, the room had been Toge’s cage and no one else’s, but Hisato remained unphased.
Toge eyed the bag warily and Hisato shrugged. “I had to retrieve my things.”
Toge said nothing. He wasn't supposed to say anything.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why you’ve been called here,” Hisato said. His voice wrapped around Toge menacingly, daring him to speak and ask the questions stuck to his cursed tongue.
Hisato narrowed his eyes as Toge remained silent. He hummed in approval, proving that once again Toge’s entire life was a test for them. They planned to push and push until they were finally free of him.
“We have some important matters to discuss and I wanted your input.”
Toge raised an eyebrow. A clan member had never before sought his counsel and he wasn’t able to give it anyway.
“I’m not the only one,” Hisato added, as if sensing Toge’s hesitation. For the first time he looked a bit flustered. He ran a hand through his hair, staring at Toge’s mouth as he spoke. “We all want your help.”
Toge took a step backwards towards the door. It locked from the outside but Hisato wouldn’t willingly lock himself inside alone with Toge.
“Stop,” Hisato called as Toge took another shaky step backwards.
Toge froze immediately, his eyes wide and his heart pounding. Toge had witnessed a lot of sinister expressions on people’s faces, yet he still found Hisato’s hard to read.
It didn’t matter though. Fear put Toge’s senses in overdrive; he could hear everything.
He could hear a fan running down the hallway, blowing wind into another vacant room since apparently everyone was gone.
Toge could hear the clock ticking on the wall, because time had always been his only companion in the room.
Most importantly, Toge could hear the slightly clanging of metal coming from inside Hisato’s bag as he shifted it on his shoulder.
Hisato wanted him for something and he ensured the grounds would be empty so he could do everything in his power to get it. Toge wondered if it was a strange way to gain his trust, or if he thought Toge would be easier to take down while nervous and unsure of who to put his faith in.
Toge took another step backwards and Hisato sighed. He readied his stance, planting his feet to let Toge know he was already caught.
He’d been captured to begin with.
“The clans are worried,” Hisato admitted. He glared at Toge, slowly pacing around him like a shark stalking his prey. “As I’m sure you know, the Zen’in clan was massacred. We would like to avoid a similar catastrophe.”
Toge shook his head frantically. He had no intention of hurting his clan even if they’d done nothing but bring him pain. He just wanted them to slip away into the dark shadows of his memories, forgotten and let go of.
“I was a bit shocked when you accepted the invitation,” Hisato added. He looked Toge up and down carefully, only smiling once he caught sight of his poorly concealed seals. “Afterall, with missing an arm you’re more defenseless than before. All you have going for you is that pretty mouth of yours.”
Toge shifted his feet. His whole body was on fire, his muscles tense and ready to run. Hisato was blocking the only door but Toge could rip off his veil and demand he moveーhe just had to do it quickly. He only knew of Hisato’s location, likely another tenant of his plan, but Toge was fast. He could outrun the entire clan if his life depended on it, which apparently it did.
“I suggested we didn’t have to dispose of you completely,” Hisato said softly.
He closed the distance between them quickly, reaching his hand out like a snake sunk its fangs into a helpless animal. Toge couldn’t move, his breath lodged in his throat and choking him as Hisato snuck his hand under the face veil and lightly brushed Toge’s seals.
Toge’s stomach lurched dangerously.
Hisato continued rubbing his skin and each brush made Toge want to gag. He exhaled heavily through his nose, trying to regain focus even as his vision blurred.
“I said we could still use you,” Hisato said.
He finally withdrew his hand but Toge’s face still burned with shame. The touch was imprinted on his skin; branded onto him with the seals. It was exactly what Hisato wanted and it made Toge feel sick.
Hisato moved while Toge was still disoriented. He reached into his gym bag and pulled out the muzzle that haunted Toge’s dreams, producing it as casually as one would pull out their gym shoes.
The muzzle looked smaller than he remembered; Toge had already outgrown it. His clan never cared for his comfort though and he knew a tight fit wouldn’t stop them.
The clan would still force him into it and tighten the straps until he couldn’t breathe. They just wanted him quiet; they wanted him controlled.
He didn’t know what would happen once they put it on. He couldn’t be controlled again, he might not survive. They were scared of him now and Toge knew the power of fear all too well.
The sight of the muzzle made Toge buck backwards again, his body twisting and head turning as Hisato tried to force it onto his face. Toge was at the disadvantage; his mouth was already covered and he was still adjusting to missing his left arm. For a moment he pushed with his left side as if the arm was still there, and he winced at the mistake. Each second counted as a lifetime and Toge needed to save his.
The element of surprise binded him but Toge couldn’t lose. He couldn’t bear to surrender again; his fear wasn’t comparable to his desire to see his friends again. He needed to see Yuuta again, he needed to apologize for lying and spend a nightmare-free sleep together.
Toge felt the restricting straps brush against his neck and his body moved in response before his brain could scramble together a coherent thought. It was still flashing images of his friends, of his real family and the life he finally had a small semblance of control over before his clan pulled him back in.
It didn’t matter though, he let his body take over so it could take him home.
Toge shoved Hisato backwards with all his might, kicking frantically until Hisato stumbled away. Toge didn’t waste a second, swinging with his one good arm until he felt a satisfying crack under his knuckles. His whole hand ached with the punch, but Toge didn’t care.
The images of his friends turned into pure white nothingness after his eyes zeroed in on the sight of the muzzle still locked in Hisato’s grip, until the next thing Toge knew he was outside of the grounds covered in dirt and barefoot.
He fell back into himself all at once, finally processing the strained breathing as his own and wincing at the sticky feeling of blood on his hands. The blood was thick, it likely came from Hisato’s nose, and it felt disgusting.
The gates to the Inumaki clan were a good distance behind him, and Toge’s muddled brain slowly rebooted enough for him to continue walking down the road. He was dragging his body along the road, letting his mind guide him once more.
The ground hurt under his feet. It took him a moment to realize he was walking on gravel, each tiny peddle digging into his bare feet as he wandered away from the Inumaki clan grounds.
His veil was gone. Toge reached up and felt his face carefully, squeezing his own cheeks to confirm that they were free from the confounds of the muzzle. He exhaled shakily and reminded himself that he was free, he wasn’t imprisoned and gagged in the isolation room, and Hisato’s plan had failed.
He dragged his hands through his hair and tugged. He knew it was a stupid idea to return, yet fear had moved him forward.
Now fear moved him away. He had been burnt too many times; he bore too much pain already. He had allowed someone to make him cower on the ground and tremble in his cage, but he refused to let them muzzle him anymore.
Toge didn’t know where he was going. All he knew was that he needed to get out.
He felt unstable. When he looked down at his hands, he realized his bruised knuckles had more blood on them, and his chest tightened as he processed the possibility that he killed someone.
Toge’s mind was moving too quickly to think properly; he was still in survival mode. Sometimes it felt like he always was.
He rubbed his thumb and finger together, feeling the smear of blood between them slide uncomfortably against his skin. Toge supposed he should be used to the feeling of blood since he spent years coughing it up, but blood was more alarming when it wasn’t his own.
Toge just wanted to be kind like Yuuta always said he was.
Yuuta wouldn’t call him kind anymore if he saw the blood staining his clothes. Yuuta had to find out the truth eventually. Toge couldn’t hide from him and he just wanted to go home.
Toge reached into his pocket and found his phone, which had somehow stayed tucked away during his escape. Toge tapped his sticky fingers on the screen and pulled up Yuuta’s contact, calling him before the world would attack him any more than it already had that morning.
Yuuta picked up almost immediately, which meant he was likely worried already. The thought made Toge’s gut twist, and he resisted the urge to bend over and puke all over the side of the road.
“Toge?” Yuuta’s frantic voice asked.
“Yuuta,” Toge sighed into the receiver. He could hear the exhaustion in his voice, and his throat felt raw in a familiar way that told him he had used his cursed technique recently.
He cleared his throat and tasted the familiar tang of blood on his tongue.
“Where are you?” Yuuta asked. “No one has seen you and Gojo said you didn’t have any missions today.”
Toge swallowed. He wished he had some throat medicine, or at least some water.
“Yuuta,” he repeated. The voice speaking sounded desperate, far too upset to be him, but there was no one else around to produce the sounds.
Toge wished he could say more. He hated himself for being so useless at communication.
“Send me your location,” Yuuta requested.
Toge did as asked, distantly hanging up the phone as Yuuta’s promise to retrieve him drifted through the speaker.
Toge sat down in the dirt as he waited. His silk kimono was already ruined, soiled with blood and sweat, and Toge never cared for the garment anyway. It was usually stored away with his face veil, hidden from sight until the clan decided to bring him out of his comfortable shadows and into the blinding spotlight.
Toge ran his finger through the dirt, making tiny shapes as he waited. It would probably take Yuuta awhile to get to him, but he wanted Toge to stay where he was and Toge was too tired to argue.
He closed his eyes and tried to see past the red flashes in his vision. Even in the darkness he could see blood splatters, so he focused on them as he tried to piece everything together. He had time to think now and he planned to use it.
He hadn’t killed Hisato, but he had injured himーbadly.
Toge could remember now; he used his cursed speech on Hisato.
Toge blasted him away like he was just another curse, and his imprint in the wall had ensured Toge’s freedom. Toge had done more than that though; he had used his words to hurt, to maim. He told Hisato to snap, to bleed, and to stay away.
The walls that once confined Toge were now damaged with a man-sized hole and the blood on the floor was no longer from Toge.
Toge didn’t regret it. He would use far worse words again if it ensured he could escape the clan.
The realization made him feel cold. He understood Maki’s desire to burn her clan to the ground better than ever, and sometimes Toge wished his clan's talons weren’t so deeply embedded into his flesh so he could do the same.
Toge drifted in and out of consciousness, exhausted from a terrible night’s sleep and the physical toll of carrying around so much anxiety. It weighed on him like a physical force, pressing against his chest as he took overly long breaths.
Toge felt rather than saw Yuuta’s arrival, the air suddenly ripe with Yuuta’s intense spike of cursed energy. His normally sea blue eyes were sharp with anger, but Toge didn’t feel scared as Yuuta loomed over him like he had earlier when Hisato did the same.
Toge knew Yuuta’s anger wasn’t directed towards him. He had nothing to fear when Yuuta was there.
“Why are you covered in blood?” Yuuta asked in a low voice.
“Okaka,” Toge denied. His hands were bloody but it was his own doing, and he thought it was obvious.
“It’s in your hair!” Yuuta exclaimed.
Toge blinked, self-consciously raising a hand up to his head. He could feel some matts in his hair so he dropped his hand in defeat.
Blood was all around him: in his hair, on his skin, staining his kimono, and even rubbed into the dirt he’d been mindlessly pushing around.
“What happened?” Yuuta asked. He crouched down to Toge’s level and stared at him intently, even his blinks appearing calculated.
Toge’s signs were clumsy with one hand, but Yuuta had always excelled at understanding him anyway.
'My clan called me home,' Toge signed, even though that much was obvious. Yuuta didn’t comment, his face unnervingly flat as he waited for more explanation. 'I don’t know why I went. Someone led me into the isolation room and he…'
Toge stopped, dropping his hand in defeat. Yuuta already knew about his past; the training, the muzzle, but the fact that Toge almost let himself be chained again still filled him with shame.
'He tried to muzzle me,'Toge signed quickly, blinking frustrated tears out of his eyes as he stared down at his bare feet.
“Baby,” Yuuta cooed immediately, his arm shooting out to grab Toge and pulled him closer.
Toge knew he must have looked especially pathetic if Yuuta was already using pet names, but it made him feel good. He let the sweetness roll over him and remind him of who he was now, who his loved ones really were.
“I’m so sorry,” Yuuta whispered into Toge’s blood-spotted hair.
Toge shook his head tiredly. He was comfortably tucked under Yuuta’s chin, but he reluctantly pulled back enough to sign again. “I fought back. The blood is his.”
Yuuta smiledーa sad smileーbut a smile all the same.
“Of course you did. You’re so strong.” Yuuta’s arm ran up and down Toge’s bicep as he spoke, squeezing his hidden muscles reassuringly.
Toge didn’t feel strong; he felt horribly weak. He had cowered under the gaze of his clan and he paid the price.
He supposed they paid the price too. He had the blood on his hands to prove they were foolish to willingly call him back yet still underestimate him.
As it turned out, Toge would do a lot to keep the life he finally had. He enjoyed his freedom, and it wasn't so easily taken away when he was truly tested.
He liked spending time with his friends. He liked sitting around with them casually, relaxing in the way he always saw other kids do when he was growing up. He liked making them laugh. He found pranks and practical jokes easy to earn some smiles, and his skills with reading people came in handy for his plans.
He liked Yuuta. He loved Yuuta, and Yuuta loved him. There was a safety and security in Yuuta’s affections that Toge never had before and now he couldn't get enough.
Thankfully Yuuta seemed to have an endless supply of love to give. He always delighted in showering Toge with affection, and he was even more thrilled when Toge showed it back.
Even in Toge’s current poor state, Yuuta simply brushed the blood out of Toge’s hair with a hum. His love wasn’t something that Yuuta would take away as punishment, and Toge hated that the clan made him doubt that.
Maybe their hold wasn’t as deep as Toge thought.
“You are strong,” Yuuta insisted, as if reading Toge’s thoughts. He rubbed calming circles against Toge’s back, creasing the dirty kimono under his touch. “I’m proud of you, but I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
Yuuta leaned closer and gave Toge a gentle peck on the lips, kissing him even though there was still dried blood in the corner of his mouth leftover from coughing. Yuuta never seemed to mind; simply kissing Toge like normal and drawing back with an impossibly soft smile.
“You don’t have to go back to them anymore,” Yuuta promised, and for once Toge believed him.
Hisato may still be alive, but Toge was ready to bury the clan in the past. They may not give up so easily but neither did Toge, and neither did his real family. They would fight and bleed for him, unlike the Inumaki clan who only caused his bloodshed.
“Shake,” Toge agreed in a scratchy voice.
Yuuta smiled, breathing deeply against Toge’s neck. “Let’s go home,” he whispered, the words brushing Toge’s skin in a comforting way that made him feel like it was their special secret.
Toge blinked, pushing aside the pleasantly fluttery feeling in his stomach to focus on what Yuuta actually said.
Because Yuuta was right. If Toge’s friends were his family, then his school was home.
Toge nodded, rubbing his face against Yuuta as he moved. “Shake,” he agreed. He pulled back again, but Yuuta’s arms didn’t budge enough to free him completely.
Toge didn’t mind. He accepted the embrace and glanced down at his dirtied kimono with a grimace.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Yuuta agreed.
His eyes flickered down to Toge’s feet and his expression darkened. Before Toge could even comment, Yuuta pulled off his own worn-out converse and slipped them onto Toge’s feet as gently as a prince in a fairytale.
They were a little big, but Toge’s feet were cold and sore so he accepted them readily. Yuuta laced the shoes extra tight and held out his hand, unbothered that he was now left with only socked feet. Yuuta didn't think his own comfort was important while Toge was upset, and Toge supposed that was what love was all about.
They rose from the ground together, ready to go home.