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It didn’t take long for Yuuta to arrive back in Japan after he got the dreaded call. He wasn’t one to listen to the higher ups (thanks to his teacher), but when he heard Inumaki Toge and severely injured in the same sentence, he couldn’t help but book the next flight out.
It wasn’t a secret, his admiration towards the cursed speech user, everyone who gave one glance to the two of them hanging out could put it together. That’s why, on the whole trip back, he couldn’t rest, couldn’t even think of anything else besides Inumaki.
The thought of the higher ups lying to him crossed his mind once or twice, but he remembered what his teacher warned him about, how things would get ugly pretty soon.
The elders didn’t give him a whole lot of information, only telling him since Gojo was out of the picture now, he was the next step up.
He couldn’t give a damn about what happened in Shibuya—not until he got to see him with his own two eyes.
Flights go by faster when you only have one thing on your mind, and soon Yuuta landed back in Tokyo, Japan. He was lucky he only packed one suitcase, snatching it from baggage claim, he b-lined it to Jujutsu Tech.
He had to meet with the higher ups before seeing any of his classmates, which mildly annoyed him, only mildly.
With a furrow in his brow he reluctantly listened to the report the elders gave. Everything that happened in Shibuya, how his dear teacher was now a wanted man, how Suguru Geto was apparently back from the dead, and how he was now Yuuji Itadori’s executioner.
(It was pretty ironic how they wanted him dead only a year ago, and now want him to deal out an execution).
When they were done debriefing him, Yuuta only asked one question, “Where’s Inumaki?”
The elders grumbled to themselves, trying to decide whether they should let him see his friend or not (like they had a choice).
Their arguments settled down and one of them cleared their throat, “He is resting at the dorms. We do not know if he is allowed visitors at this time.” They spoke stiffly.
Yuuta scoffed, “He would be with Ieiri-san if he wasn’t allowed visitors.”
They all started grumbling again, “If you’re worried I won’t carry out this mission, make a binding vow with me. I don’t care if he’s Gojo-sensei’s pupil, he cut off Inumaki’s arm. I’ll kill him myself.”
He was lucky the elders didn’t put a time frame on the binding vow because hearing that Inumaki was in the dorms, only an arms length away, he couldn’t stop himself from stopping by there first.
He rushed inside the old looking building and almost ran straight to Inumaki’s room, if a certain classmate didn’t stop him in his tracks.
“Maki!” He exclaimed, rushing up to her.
He heard about what happened to her also, in Shibuya. The scars that littered her entire body, her singed off hair, and her permanently closed eye. That didn’t stop him from smiling from relief seeing her right in front of him.
He almost had his arms wrapped around her if it wasn’t for her hand pushing his chin up and back, denying further entry.
“So, you’re back.” She pointed out.
Yuuta nodded the best he could with the hand on his chin, “I heard what happened, everything…I came straight here.”
Maki let out a small breath through her nose and smiled fondly, “I’m alright, I got healed and cleared awhile ago, there’s not much you can do about scars,” she let go of her assault on his chin and stepped back, glancing to the floor, “Toge, though…”
Yuuta’s smile turned into a grimace, “Is he…alright?”
“Physically? Yes, he was cleared awhile ago too, that’s why he can stay here, he still has to rest though,” she chewed her lip, “Mentally? I can’t say he’s hanging in there.”
Yuuta had to reel his mind back from falling into a pit of rage, he shook his hands out, “Okay…okay, can I see him?”
Maki looked at him exasperated, but fond, “Of course you can, idiot. I’m not sure if he’s awake right now.”
Yuuta gave her a smile and nod, then walked past her to the dorm's hallways, “Yuuta?”
He turned his head, “He’s been…not so well, he might,” she struggled for words, which was so unlike her, it only solidified how much she cared for her classmates, “He might lash out on you, be careful.”
“He would—“
“I know, I know, he would never hurt me,” she said in a low, mocking tone, back to typical Maki, “You love birds make me sick, I just wanted to warn you, it’s happened to most of us here.”
Yuuta reddened from her use of love birds, followed by a frown when he heard the rest of her sentence. She could keep it unsaid, he knew exactly what lash out and happened to the rest of us meant, still he wasn’t afraid of opening that door.
He gave a polite smile, “Thank you Maki, you’re a great friend.”
She groaned loudly, he still knew how to rile her up.
He doesn’t know why he’s hesitating in front of the dorm room door. There’s a tingling throughout his whole body, he couldn’t tell if it was anxiety, excitement, or anger, maybe it was all three.
He took a long breath in and steeled himself.
Yuuta raised a fist to knock, soft and polite. No response.
He tried again a little more loudly. No response.
Ok, it's not something to freak out over, Maki just said he could be asleep.
So, he tested the doorknob, ever so lightly, he twisted it to see if it was locked.
It wasn’t.
He slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open, peering around the corner into the pitch black room.
It was midday and somehow the room was completely and utterly drowned in darkness.
But Yuuta didn’t need light to navigate around Inumaki’s room, he’s been in it countless times for movie nights, nights that followed after a really bad mission or if the special grade sorcerer woke up from a particularly bad nightmare, he knew every inch of this room.
Wanting to make sure he wasn’t going to scare Inumaki by walking up behind him, he softly called out, “Inumaki?”
There was a stillness to the air, he could hear light breathing, but couldn’t tell if it was from a sleeping or awake cursed speech user.
Venturing further into the room, a floorboard squeaking underneath him, “It’s m—“
He couldn’t say anymore before something washed over him, “Stop.”
Involuntarily, his advance came to an end, like his shoes got glued to the ground.
This wasn’t the first time he experienced Inumaki’s cursed speech, it happened to him before, in fact multiple times. There were times where Inumaki would have a nightmare, when they fell asleep after a movie or after he coaxed Yuuta into falling asleep from him having one. They were horrible and Yuuta was pretty sure they were categorized under night terrors, but Inumaki refused to call them that. He never explained them to the raven haired boy, and Yuuta only knew it was a bad one when he would use his cursed speech in his sleep.
So, Inumaki using his cursed speech now when he was injured and scared, Yuuta didn’t blame him (not that it worked that long on him anyways).
“Inumaki it’s—“
“Turn around.”
Again, against his own volition, his sneakers squealed against the hardwood floor as they twisted around, back facing the injured sorcerer.
“Inu-“
“Leave.”
Yuuta huffed and took a shaky step forward, fighting Inumaki’s cursed energy. It only lasted two steps, putting him right at the door.
Listening carefully, he could hear the slight inhale the other always did before making a command.
“Inumaki!” He exclaimed.
The breath stuttered, “Inumaki, it’s..it’s Yuuta.” He shakily explained, feeling the others cursed energy unravel from him.
“I heard what happened and I’m here. Please, just let me see you.” Yuuta pleaded, just above a whisper.
He heard the breathing pick up and the creak of a bed, “Yuu-“ Inumaki tried to croak out, but was interrupted by a coughing fit.
The cursed energy completely unraveled and he was at the other sorcerer's side in an instant, “Inumaki!”
The other jolted at the suddenness, trying to back up into his bed corner. He held his throat in his hand (his only hand, Yuuta thought bitterly) and continued to cough, “O-okaka,” he sputtered, shaking his head fervently.
“It’s alright…” Yuuta tried pleading with him like you would a wild animal. Inumaki kept shaking his head.
Yuuta knows when he’s wanted and unwanted, he didn’t want to put the other boy into more panic, so he very carefully lifts himself from the bed and makes his way to the window, “I’m going to open this a little, I can’t see a thing.” He tried joking, laughing lightly.
Inumaki made a startled sound and tried sputtering something else, only to erupt in coughs again. Yuuta frowned and opened the curtain just a peak.
Just a peak was all that was needed to flood the room in afternoon light. He saw just how disheveled everything looked, books thrown onto the floor, bedsheets crumpled like they haven’t been changed, clothes strewn across the headboard and on his desk.
There was a whimper from where Inumaki hid himself in the shadow from the corner of the bed, he was only slightly illuminated by the light, Yuuta could only make out his silhouette.
The coughing subsided a little, but he still held his throat in his hand. “Oh!” Yuuta brightened and made his way over to the desk where he knew Inumaki kept spare throat medicine.
Squatting down, he opened the bottom drawer on the left side, sure enough there were around ten bottles of throat medicine. He fished one out of the array of flavors, strawberry, Inumaki’s favorite.
He smiled to himself and stood up again, “You’re always so prepared, Inumaki.” Yuuta kept smiling and stepped towards the bed.
There was more shuffling, like the other was trying to hide himself more, Yuuta frowned. “It’s your favorite flavor! Take some and we can talk?” It came out more like a question, he didn’t want to force the other into conversation.
It felt like an eternity passed before a slim, pale arm emerged from the darkness, palm up, waiting for the medicine. Yuuta stared for a little too long, he noticed the still healing cuts and bruises adorning his arm and hand, he was pretty sure he was missing a fingernail or two, and bandages plastered here and there.
He blinked slowly when the hand waved in his face, “Sorry!” He quickly placed the medicine in the center of his palm. Cold fingers brushed the inside of his wrist when Inumaki closed his fingers around the bottle. Yuuta couldn’t help the urge to wrap his own hand around his to warm them up, but he had to stay vigilant, he didn’t want to startle Inumaki anymore.
The crisp crack of a bottle being open and swallowing was the only sound in the room for a few seconds. Inumaki cleared his throat, signaling the medicine worked its job and relieved his throat for now.
Yuuta couldn’t help the rush of words after he took that as permission to explain, “The higher ups called me in not too long ago, but I wanted to come here first,” he hesitated bringing up the incident, but the other encouraged him with a small Takana?
“God, I was so worried. The first thing they brought up was how hurt everyone had been, I couldn’t not get on the first flight here. I was so worried I lost,” he choked on his own words, “that I lost someone again. That I lost you.” His voice broke.
“I saw Maki in the living room and almost fell to my knees with how relieved I was to see her alive. She told me about—“ he was cut off by a slight nudge to his thigh.
He looked down to see the other's foot insistently nudging him, as if to say ok I get it, stop talking.
(He ignored the reason why he stopped him there.)
He laughed and put a hand on Inumaki’s shin, “That…explains everything I think, if it's ok to ask, how are you doing?” He absent mindedly ran his hand up and down the other’s leg.
“Mentaiko.” I’m fine, no need to worry.
Yuuta huffed, “Why are you hiding in the dark then?” He pouted, childishly.
He thought it was a lighthearted jab, but he could feel Inumaki freeze under his touch. The leg was pulled from under his hand swiftly and back into the darkness, “Okaka.”
“Inumaki…”
“Okaka.” He said desperately.
“I don’t know why you’re fretting over that…there’s nothing that you could do, or—or how you would look that would get me to hate you.” Yuuta took a shaky breath in.
“I—I don’t know who made you think that way, but when I find them I’ll..I’ll—“ he struggled to find his words. It was a childish threat, but the anger and rage was starting to form a pit in his stomach
Inumaki sighed, “…mentaiko.”
Yuuta scoffed, “I am not leaving.”
Not until I get to see you, went unsaid.
Silence filled the room.
Yuuta’s eyes started to hurt from straining them to try and see the other, he held out his hand, illuminated by the sunlight pouring in, “Inumaki, they told me how you helped save countless people that day, how you destroyed your own throat to get everyone to safety.”
The bedsheets shifted ever so slightly, “and it’s…it’s not fair that this happened to you. The most caring person I know,” he didn’t have the courage to say the most beautiful person I know, “how the world repays you like this,” he bit his lip nervously.
He stretched his hand out more, “If you think this makes you weak you’re entirely wrong. If you think mourning a loss for yourself is selfish, you’re entirely wrong. Inumaki, you deserve to cry, to mourn, to scream and shout, you deserve everything.”
He was going to continue to rant about how perfect he was, how he would never see him differently, but was interrupted, “Sujiko…mentaiko.” I don’t want you to see me like this.
Even as rice ball ingredients, it held so much weight and heartbreak, Yuuta almost couldn’t keep himself together.
All past anxieties seemed to wash away when Yuuta was filled with the feeling to protect and comfort Inumaki, “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, and no injury could ever, and I mean ever, make me think differently.”
His hand was still raised in offer, moments passed that seemed like hours before the same cold fingers brushed against his wrist again. He enveloped his cold hand with his own warm one and squeezed reassuringly.
When Inumaki squeezed back he took that as an invitation to pull the other closer. He moved himself up on the bed more so he could fold his legs underneath him, and slowly guided Inumaki from the shadows.
Slowly but surely, the afternoon glow casted its light on Inumaki’s small frame. Yuuta let out a small gasp finally seeing him after all this time, he let his hair grow out more to frame his face, and Yuuta was pretty sure his shoulders were a little bit broader (he was still short as ever, but he would never say that to him directly).
The gasp made Inumaki look into Yuuta’s eyes, wide with question. The special grade sorcerer almost choked on air again when he saw his eyes bright as amethysts. When his look of inquiry turned into one of panic, it clicked how Inumaki would have taken his reactions.
Quickly and gently, he pulled Inumaki fully in front of him, “No no it’s not what you think, you’re just…” Inumaki’s stare bore straight into his soul, “You’re even more beautiful than I remembered.”
Yuuta’s hand tracked from Inumaki’s arm up to his shoulder, he noticed Inumaki was wearing a loose tank top, so he traced over his collarbones, up his neck and finally resting on his cheek, bringing up his other hand he cupped his face gently.
Yuuta didn’t miss the slight jolts and shivers through Inumaki (he tried to ignore how the other tried to hide his left arm). His thumbs gently stroked the snake eyes and fangs seals, it was a rare opportunity to see him without any sort of face covering, “Beautiful, just…beautiful.” Yuuta whispered.
Inumaki flushed hard and scrunched his face up like he was fighting tears (and god was it adorable), he dipped his head down, hiding behind his bangs and leaned forward. Yuuta got the message and brought him closer to his chest, when he was inches away Inumaki latched onto him, he missed him just as much as Yuuta did.
Yuuta brought both of his arms around Inumaki’s shoulders, covering him with their warmth. The cursed speech user shifted closer, effectively sitting in the other's lap, and rested his head against his shoulder. He gripped desperately with his one arm to Yuuta’s back and bunched his signature white uniform in his hand.
It was when Yuuta began to run his hands up and down his back reassuringly that Inumaki did something he hasn’t done in years.
He cried.
He poured his heart out onto Yuuta’s shoulder, drenching his shirt with tears (he would never complain about it), while Yuuta whispered sweet reassurances and drew comforting circles into his back.
Inumaki cried for his childhood, cried for the most frustrating times when he couldn’t convey his emotions correctly, cried for his arm.
The jujutsu world was not a forgiving one, they learned that on day one, but neither of them expected a loss like this. It was relieving to be able to mourn something for once, and in the presence of someone he cherished.
Inumaki’s sobs turned into small hiccups after a few long minutes, that’s when Yuuta guided him in front of him to look into bright purple eyes again.
Still sniffling, Inumaki rubbed his face and he looked at Yuuta questioningly. Like before, Yuuta took his face in his hands and wiped the remaining tears away, “From now on, whenever you need me, I will be your left arm. For anything you need Inumaki Toge, I will be there for you.” Yuuta spoke so earnestly it shocked himself.
Inumaki was stunned by the sudden proclamation, but soon it melted into something warmer. He smiled ever so softly and placed his hand on top of Yuuta’s, he turned his head to place a gentle kiss on his palm and hummed.
Thank you.
Keeping his face pressed into his palm (it was so warm, so grounding), he was able to hear Yuuta’s breath hitch with how close he was. He shifted his eyes to meet deep blue and noticed how red he had gotten.
Inumaki panicked a little, moving his face from the others hand, “Takana?” He asked a little too urgently.
“I-I’m ok, sorry! You just…caught me off guard.” Yuuta smiled nervously, flushing some more.
Inumaki caught on and smirked. He shimmied in his lap to fully wrap his legs around Yuuta’s waist.
“I..Inumaki?” Yuuta whispered.
He met his gaze again and held it, he maneuvered the hand he was holding (clammy as ever) to bring towards his lips again.
Yuuta made a few unintelligible sounds, but Inumaki held him gently, and pressed a light kiss to his fingers.
“Wai-“
He ignored him in favor of kissing his knuckles, then the back of his hand, like kissing a princess (his prince).
He took Yuuta’s hand away from his mouth and intertwined their fingers. Yuuta was a burning mumbling mess, Inumaki couldn’t help it when his shoulders shook with silent laughter.
“That’s not fair!” Yuuta wailed after composing himself.
Inumaki tilted his head innocently, a smirk threatening to break onto his face.
Yuuta pouted, but squeezed his hand experimentally. Inumaki gave him a real questioning tilt of his head as Yuuta stared at him with determination.
“Then…would this be alright?” He took his hand from where they were interwoven and placed it on his cheek again. He brought up his other to caress his seal, “It’s a rare opportunity, without a face covering.”
It was Inumaki’s turn to flush, suddenly feeling incredibly exposed, he took his own hand to cover the markings he was suddenly very aware of.
Yuuta pouted, his thumb was trapped under Inumaki’s from where he tried covering it, so he nudged Inumaki’s palm in an attempt to get him to budge.
Inumaki made a noise of negation, keeping his hand in place. Yuuta sighed woefully, “That’s cheating.”
Inumaki rolled his eyes, “Fine.”
Yuuta used the advantage of holding the cursed speech user's face and brought it closer to his own. He hesitated for a moment, staring into those gorgeous purple eyes that stared right back. Flicking his gaze downwards, he quickly but gently placed his lips where he thought Inumaki’s were, if it weren’t for his hand.
He heard a sharp inhale from the other, but made no plan to move. He had wanted to do this since their first year, their first meeting. Overly curious about what’s under his face coverings, wanting to monopolize it for himself.
Yuuta ended up lingering for longer than he probably should have, and leaned back when he realized, “Sorry, I–”
He couldn't get his full apology out when something pushed back against his lips, something so soft and warm and tasted a little like strawberry. It shouldn't have taken him that long to notice Inumaki kissing him back.
Not hesitating, Yuuta returned his kiss strongly. He fully leaned into it, almost toppling the other, he wrapped an arm around Inumaki’s waist to keep him steady and the other returned with wrapping his arm around his neck.
It was over just as quick as it had started, but the two savored every minute of it. Yuuta pulled away first and noticed how Inumaki chased after him briefly, “I’ve been waiting to do that for a long time,” he chuckled.
Inumaki snorted and shook his head, “Shake,” he leaned his head down to rest on Yuuta’s shoulder.
“We should probably tell Maki we didn’t keel over and die,” Yuuta sighed, dragging a hand down the others back.
Inumaki groaned but slid off of Yuuta, fundamentally agreeing with him. Yuuta got off the bed with him and started towards the door, but something bumping his back stopped him. He peered over his shoulder and saw Inumaki’s hand resting on him, “Inumaki?”
He took a deep breath in and righted himself again, swaying a little, “T-takana.”
Yuuta gritted his teeth, he realized what was wrong, the weight on Inumaki’s left side was gone. He wasn't used to the unbalance. Yuuta fully turned around and walked beside the other, “You can lean on me if you have to,” he offered.
Inumaki smiled at him painfully, but took up on the offer. He grabbed Yuuta’s right hand with his own and pressed his side against him, “Shake, Yuuta.”
“Of course, Inumaki, I’ll stay with you, always.”