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Yuuta was no stranger to blood, working in the jujutsu world as a special grade sorcerer, he tends to get used to it. Seeing it on his friends was a different matter entirely, whenever he would fret over his friends wounds whether it be mild or, god forbid, severe, they would chastise him for being a mother hen.
But this time it was so so much worse.
Yuuta was debriefed on the situation in Shibuya quickly during his flight back, they needed his assistance as soon as possible. He had listened to all the details, it being far worse than his missions as a special grade, but when they got to the missing persons list he felt all his emotions heighten.
The car ride to Shibuya from the airport couldn't go any slower. He felt his anxieties rise and Rika scratching at the edge of his consciousness, he felt bad for the poor driver if they could sense any cursed energy.
But it finally all came into view. The now desolate city was in shambles, buildings collapsed, the smell of rot permeating from the cracked sidewalk, blood everywhere, he didn’t know where curse blood started and human blood ended.
He swiftly exited the car and thanked the driver, scanning over the city. There were multiple people on the missing persons list, but as harsh as it was to say it, he was only here for one name.
Inumaki Toge.
The higher ups told him the cursed speech user was tasked with keeping all the bystanders safe, using his cursed technique, but never reported back after the veil was uncovered from Shibuya.
Yuuta could feel the bile scratch the back of his throat as his brain rudely thought of scenarios that Inumaki could be in. He felt Rika ask for permission again to materialize and he held nothing back.
“Yuuuuta, hurttt?” She said mournfully, looking in the area for threats.
“No, not hurt, just…worried.” Yuuta bit his lip nervously.
“No worries!” She chirped, coiling around Yuuta.
He chuckled and placed his hand on top of her head, “I’ll be ok when we find him. Go on ahead and look for Inumaki.”
The curse paused in confusion for a moment, then seemed to brighten, “Toge! Toge! Yuuta love!”
The special grade immediately flushed and pushed her head away playfully, “Just…find him!”
She coiled around him one last time and chirped before heading in the direction of a collapsed building.
Yuuta sighed and grabbed the katana from his back, he still sensed a lot of curses in the area and shouldn’t let his guard down.
With one last deep breath, steeling his nerves, he took off down the opposite direction Rika went.
The previous bustling city was now dead silent; you could hear a pin drop from a couple of feet in front of you. Yuuta took this advantage and focused all his energy to his ears, if there was any sign of life he would hear it.
So far, he’s found trapped animals under rubble and curses loitering about. No sign of human life. He’s asked Rika a couple of times through their connection, but it seemed like the same on her end as well.
The sun was almost setting now and Yuuta was absolutely exhausted, but he couldn’t give up, this was Inumaki Toge who was missing. The boy he had a crush on since their first mission together, the boy he did everything to understand him, to decode the rice ball ingredients he used to keep everyone around him safe. The boy he loved.
Through negative emotions, he slashed the curse he was fighting with a little more power than needed for the level of curse.
The blood splattered over his white uniform and cheek, he couldn’t be bothered to wipe it away as he watched it burn to ashes in front of him. He collapsed to the ground on his back, heaving out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
He felt Rika’s presence get closer to him, “Yuuta? Didn’t find anything…” she cried hovering next to him.
He guessed it got too dark out for her and the curse worried about her user.
“Mm..me too.” He moped.
They fell into silence, Rika too worried to melt back into his shadow and Yuuta too tired to get up.
But then, they both heard it, and maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him from running hours without sleep, but it was there.
Someone was breathing.
He sprung up from the ground and Rika whipped herself in the direction of the noise, “That way!”
Without a second thought, Yuuta dashed towards the half collapsed building Rika pointed to.
Sure, he could be getting his hopes up and this could be another animal or someone else on the list, but he so so wanted it to be him.
The building looked intact enough to navigate, so he cautiously walked up a fallen beam to get into the next floor.
It seemed to be an office building from all the crushed desks and computers he could see. He stood still once he got to the center of the room until he heard it again.
“Up! Up!” Rika chirped again next to him.
He left the room through a giant hole in the wall and got into the main part of the building. He looked up and down crumpled hallways for some sort of stairway up.
He didn’t find any stairs, but there was another fallen beam he could traverse up. There were more office rooms and fallen walls, but all he could care about was finding the source of the breathing.
He heard it again and for himself this time, he could hear where it was coming from. He estimated it was in the far room at the end of the hallway. He slowly made his way over, not wanting to scare anyone or alert any curses.
He put his back against the surprisingly intact wall and slowly slid himself over to the doorway. He waited to hear something again.
“Yuuta, Yuuta,” Rika insisted from across where he stood.
He almost told her to lower her voice and wait, but the next thing she said made his veins turn to ice.
“Human blood!”
Yuuta, as cautiously as he could, peaked his head around the corner, and sure enough there was a puddle of blood pooling from behind a desk. He looked down to the dusty carpet and noticed there was a trail of it leading to said desk.
He took a few breaths through his nose and out of his mouth (ignoring the smell of death and rot) and fully turned into the doorway. When he made it a quarter way to the foreboding desk, he called out, “I’m with the jujutsu tech school, and on a mission to find survivors from the Shibuya Incident, my name is Yuuta Okkotsu.”
Through his racing mind he managed to relay as much information he could remember, so he wouldn't come off as a threat or startle the other person. He heard movement from behind the desk, then a groan and a thud. Throwing all caution to the wind he rushed around to help the person, it sounded like they were in immense pain.
His sneaker grossly squished in the blood soaked carpet as he rounded the desk to get to the other. His brain almost shut down from the emotions he felt when he saw a mess of platinum blond hair.
He immediately knelt down next to him, the other had fallen over from what he assumes was a struggle to get up, “Inumaki…Inumaki!”
Tears filled his vision as Yuuta coaxed his classmate to a sitting position again, “You're ok, I found you.”
When Inumaki gave him a weak smile he noticed how awful he looked (not in that way, though, Inumaki was always beautiful in his eyes). One side of his hair was caked in blood, turning it an almost pink color, blood dripped down his chin from most likely using his technique, and his eyes sunk in from exhaustion.
“Y…Yuuta..?” the cursed speech user squinted up at him.
Yuuta nodded, “Yeah, yes it’s me.”
Inumaki’s eyes grew wide and his mouth parted in shock, “Yuu–!” he was cut off by himself falling into a coughing fit.
Yuuta shushed him and slowly brought a hand up to the others neck, he poured the festering emotions in him into his reversed cursed technique and let it wrap around Inumaki’s throat. The coughing subsided soon enough and turned into small wheezing fits.
The cursed speech user uncurled from himself and stared into the others eyes, “K-Kombu.”
Yuuta laughed wetly, “Really? After all that?”
Inumaki smiled at him too and they both fell into a small fit of laughter.
Yuuta wiped his eyes from the tears of relief, “Let’s get you out of here.”
Inumaki nodded.
Yuuta stepped back first and went to assist him in standing up by lifting him from his arms.
He paused short.
“I..Inumaki?” His eyes burned again.
He saw how the platinum blond shrink and covered his bloody arm (or lack thereof) with his other hand.
Yuuta was stupid, he was so stupid. There was a puddle of blood beneath them and he didn't even think about it when his brain was flooded with relief. Inumaki was injured and he ignored it.
Yuuta’s hand hovered in the air, and Inumaki stood there staring at the floor, shaking.
Yuuta gasped and pulled himself out of his shock. He went to Inumaki’s side in an instant, putting his hand over the others, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
Inumaki’s wide eyes met with his blue ones and he shook his head fervently, “Okaka.” his voice still scratchy from use.
“No…no I want to apologize for not being here, for not coming sooner,” Yuuta squeezed the hand still covering his wound, “but, but I’m going to make it better from here on out. I’m here now and not leaving anytime soon. I'll find who did this and make them pay ten fold.”
Inumaki gave him a sad smile, for he had already forgiven who did this to him, but nodded nonetheless.
“Let’s go home, Inumaki.” Yuuta offered, with his other arm stretched out.
Inumaki didn’t hold back his tears now, he fell into awaiting arms, arms that he longed for, clutching onto Yuuta’s dirty uniform.
Yuuta wrapped his arms around the other carefully and he nuzzled into the top of his head, “We’re going home.”