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Yuta laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He often had trouble sleeping some nights. Normally he would fine, he would find other stuff to occupy his time, tonight wasn’t like that. He couldn’t bring himself to focus on anything. He was tired. His mind was racing.
He opened his phone, squinting at the light it brought into the room. It was 1:33 am. He let out an aggravated sigh dropping his phone to his bed. It was unlikely he was going to get any sleep, and he had a mission tomorrow.
Figuring there was no point in just laying in bed, Yuta got up and left his room. He figured he would just sit in the common area for the time being. Eventually his classmates would wake up and join him. He would pretend nothing was wrong.
He quietly made his way down to the common area.
The light in the common room was dim, the only light coming from the hood above the oven. The only sounds being the low hum of the fridge and ticking of the clock on the way.
Yuta had never been in this room at night before, in the dark it felt so much less inviting. However, he still found some form of comfort in the silent darkness.
He sat on the couch that was pressed against the wall behind it a large window with its blinds drawn.
He sat for a while in the silence still unsure of what to do.
It had been months since Yuta had come to Jujutsu high. He had learned a lot and was finally close enough with his classmates that he could consider them his friends. However, he still felt he was no closer to unraveling the curse on Rika.
He leaned back with a sigh, reaching his hand out, spreading out his fingers, allowing his gaze to set on the wedding band Rika had given him before she died.
It wasn’t just tonight that Yuta had no idea what he was doing. He maybe never knew, just going along with whatever happened.
He tensed as he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Yuta stared down it waiting to see who would appear.
“Inumaki,” Yuta greeted, a bit surprised when his classmate came into view. “I didn’t wake you up did I?”
“Fish flakes,” Inumaki replied, in his riceball based safe language.
“Oh,” Yuta replied. “Is something wrong?”
Inumaki shook his head.
“Something else then?”
Inumaki sat beside Yuta on the couch, and then signed,”couldn’t sleep. Are you okay?”
“Oh no, I’m fine,” Yuta replied, with a nervous tone, “just have a lot on my mind.”
Yuta could tell by the look Inumaki gave him that Inumaki wanted him to continue. He started fidgeting with the ring on his finger, “I still have no idea what I am doing here.”
Inumaki nodded.
“I know I want to break the curse on Rika, but other than that I have no idea,” Yuta leaned his head back. “And what happens after I free Rika? I guess I will have to leave Jujutsu high and just,” Yuta let out a sigh that was a mix of aggravation and exhaustion. “I just don’t know.”
“Do you have to know?” Inumaki signed.
Yuta sat quiet for a moment. He hated that Inumaki was right, that he missed such a simple answer. Maybe he really didn’t need to know.
Maybe it was okay for him to not know.
“Maybe,” Yuta muttered.
Inumaki gave Yuta’s shoulder a soft nudge. Yuta responded with a smile.
“Guess I’m just overthinking things,” Yuta paused for a second, “thanks Inumaki.”
Since Inumaki’s mouth was covered, Yuta couldn’t see if his classmate was truly smiling, but from the bits of his face Yuta could see it looked likely.
“Salmon,” Inumaki responded, once again in his safe language.
Yuta glanced at the clock on the wall, it was just past 2. He hadn’t even realized how much time had gone by. He was tired but at this point it felt too late to head to try and get some sleep. He turned to Inumaki who was still sitting beside him.
“Are you heading back to bed, Inumaki?” Yuta asked.
Inumaki shook his head.
Yuta nodded, “me neither.”
An accepted silence fell into the room, the only sounds again being the hum of the fridge and the ticking of the clock. The room was still dark, and the air was still.
There was still a lot Yuta had to learn. He was just starting to figure out how to use his katana, and how to imbue his curse energy into it. In the same vein, he still had a lot to learn about curse energy, curse spirits and the like. The world of jujutsu sorcery was complex. He wasn’t sure how long it would take him to unravel the curse he placed on Rika. There was a chance it could take him his whole life.
For now he figured he could enjoy his time at Jujutsu high with his classmates, now friends. Even if it was just for a little while.