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Chapter Text

"Uta" yoriichi turned to her direction as his crimson eyes were waiting for the black haired girl to wake up.

".. yoriichi?" Uta rubbed her eyes facing his usual blank face.

"Uta" yoriichi repeatedly said signaling he knows she was awake.

"Why are you still awake? It's already dark" she was curious as to what he was doing while she was asleep.
Yoriichi sat up at his futon only looking down.

"Uta, I can't sleep" he muttered.
She sat up in her futon and stared at him, trying to come up with a way to aid him.

Her face lit up like a candle, causing yoriichi to turn around and look at her.

"How about I sing you a lullaby?" She clasped her hands together.
She moved herself to his futon and lied down together. Their heads small enough to share one pillow

"When I was still young, my mother used to sing this to me to help me fall asleep" she cleared her voice preparing herself to sing the lullaby.

"Darlin', I'd wait for you
Even if you didn't ask
me to
Tie a lasso around the moon
And bring it on down
to you"

As He lied close to her, Yoriichi listened intently to every word and syllable she sang with her sweet voice.

"I'd bottle the feeling you give me
And shelve that stuff for years to come"

In Yoriichi's heart, there was a strong feeling. He wishes that this moment could last indefinitely. He wishes he could stay up and listen to her sing him a lullaby. However, he was unconcerned about the sensation.

"'Cause, baby, when your arms are around me
I'd swear that I'm holding the sun"

He had never felt more at ease than when she sang. The comfort he received was vastly different from the comfort he had had since leaving home.

"I'd give you the sun if you asked me
You could have all of the time
You could have the stars and the trees
When dividing up the universe"

Uta's voice, appearance, and attitude reminded Yoriichi of his early mother. Yoriichi had felt at ease and at home ever since meeting uta.

He teared up to the thoughts of his mother. Silently controlling his breath for uta to not notice.
his hand made it's way to hers. uta noticed and tightened the grasp in her grip as they intertwining their fingers together.

"You could have mine
You could have mine"

Yoriichi's vision slipped as he saw uta become hazy, or rather, he watched his world become blurry as he drifted.
For some reason, he could hear his ears ringing. His heart was racing out of control.
He didn't seem to mind. As long as he had uta in his arms, that is.
Everything would be okay.

"𝚞𝚝𝚊, 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐"

Chapter Text

After a long slumber, I quickly puffed my eyelids open. I sat up in bed, startled.
"That dream.." I mumbled to myself.
My hair was all over the place, and slivers of sunlight peered through the holes in my white blinds, which were still closed.

I massaged my temple with my palms, since I appear to be suffering from a migraine.

My eyes felt dirty for some reason, I touched the corners of my eyes feeling a sort of cold and wet texture.
I must've been crying in my sleep.

My head started to ache as I put massaged it to ease the pain.
But..

My dream..
Why do I remember it so vividly?

I've been having these interactive dreams since I turned eighteen.
The dreams were all the same.

In my dreams, there was this girl who would continuously interact with me. But I can't seem to keep myself in check when I respond. It's as if I'm a helpless soul living in someone else's body.

I lied my body on my bed's headboard confused. I massaged the bridge of my nose and cleaned the corners of my eyes.

The dream I just had..why was it so clear?

I remember that dream to vividly. This girl was singing me a lullaby. I can't exactly remember the lyrics, but remember her face as clear as the blue sky, Her face was engraved in my mind at this point.

I wobbled my way out of my room to the bathroom. I looked myself in the mirror, god I looked awful, I next used my comb to brush my hair. Because my hair was thick and tangled, it was difficult to brush the comb through it; it felt like the comb was about to break at any moment.

I tied my hair in a high ponytail with a maroon hair tie.
My eyes looked droopy but I'll manage. My mother and brother greeted me as I went downstairs.
My mother was preparing something, while my brother ate quietly while reading through his phone. Their presence put me at peace in some way.

"Good morning brother."I gently smiled at him, but his focus was still on his phone. I sat in the opposite side of the table where my plate was already set.

"Good morning- WOAH you look horrible!" Michikatsu jolted at the sight of me, "I do?" I started to eat my breakfast as my brother laid a disgusting expression on his face.

"You look sick..maybe you should take the day off or something, I'll go out for you" I was touched my his offer, but still, I'm not sick. I rarely get sick

"That's fine, brother; I won't bother you; I'll go out with you." I gave him a soft smile before eating my breakfast peacefully.

"Sick or not. You look terrifying" he sarcastically said, I chuckled at him to a slight. My mother came forward to me and my brother because she might've overhead our conversation.
She came close to us and greeted me. But stopping mid way to look at my face "yoriichi, are you okay?"

"Don't worry mom I'm fine" I gave her a reassuring smile,

For a brief period, I could almost feel my body warm up. But I doubt it; it's most likely due to the weather. She touched her forehead and then mine. It didn't take long before she pulled her hand away.

"Yoriichi your burning hot! You are sick!" She panicked with a worried expression.

"You should let michikatsu get your new dorm keys, I'll tell your professors your going to miss a few classes because your sick" As my mother became more concerned, I began to sweat and heard my brother make a 'tsk' sound.

"Told you" he smirked and got up to put his plate in the sink. "Mom, I'm a grown man, I can do it myself" I stood up and put my hands on her shoulder, I felt her body relaxed as she sighed putting down her phone. I let go and she turned around.

"Fine, go get some rest then. Call me if you need anything" she softly smiled at me, and I couldn't I help myself to smile back at her.

Some could say my mother was unusually quiet, and that we were reared in an odd family. However, this is not the case.
My mother is one of the most compassionate and caring people I know, so I was used to her being concerned as a child. I adore her as much as she does my brother and me.

Her being worried is the least thing I want her to be, so I just follow what she thought was best for me.

I rushed upstairs to grab my towel and into the bathroom.
I decided to go for a bath since I was really tired and wanted to relax while cleaning myself.

'but why am I sick anyways? I rarely get sick even as a child' I thought to myself. Could it be perhaps my dream?

I was just relaxing myself at the tub lying there.
I was supposed to get my new college dorm today with my brother, but I guess I have to fall behind.

Unintentionally, I started humming a tune I hadn't known. It was the lullaby from that dream, I might not know what the lyrics are, but the lullaby sounded pretty.

Maybe I can surf the internet to see if the lullaby exists.

'no results'

"Huh" I put my phone to the drawer next to my bed. I lied down thinking, but got disturbed by my nose suddenly getting clogged. I already took my medicine after taking bath.

I tried to find a position to make myself comfortable to sleep in, trying to unclogged my nose to make myself breath better.
But after finding one I immediately passed out a soon as I closed my eyelids.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Yoriichi-san why do animals like you so much?" Uta asked yoriichi, while she was stuffing food into her mouth and quickly swallowing it.

Yoriichi remains quite because he knows uta probably didn't mind him not responding.

"I wonder if they see you as family, does your family take care of animals or something?" Yoriichi shook his head and took a bite of his food.

"No?" Uta responded before coming up with another question to ask.

"Oh! Yoriichi-san, speaking of family, what does yours look like?" Uta was very fond of knowing a lot from yoriichi, especially his background and history.
So she did not hesitate to ask him the question.

Yoriichi stayed quite for a moment while uta waited patiently for his answer.

"I have an older twin brother" the young girl was shocked at his response and grew excited.

"You have a twin brother? Cool! What's his name?" She smiled brightly.

"Michikatsu" upon that yoriichi smiled for a bit.

Because he wore an expressionless face all the time, Uta rarely saw him smile. His grin made her heart skip a beat for some reason.
Yoriichi noticed her heart began to beat faster and made him stare at her in concern.

"Uta, are you okay?" The young boy quickly changed his expression from joy to worried.

Uta quickly jolted and reassured him that she was fine. She was thinking about how yoriichi smiled when he said his brother's name, and how much he must have missed him.

"Yoriichi-san, you must miss your twin brother don't you?" Yoriichi looked at her with a mixed up expression face.
He just looked down and didn't respond making uta pity him.

"I miss my family a lot too.. but ever since you came I guess things got better.." she comforted the poor boy, while he was just looking at her.

She was wearing an expression he had never seen her put on. She was sad..but happy?

"B-but when we eventually grow old, both you and me will have families of our own!" Uta stuttered mid-way her sentence.

"I'd like to create a family with the person I love the most...of course, it's too early for me to be thinking about such things, but I can't help but fantasize about my future now and then."

She ignored her embarrassment off with a chuckle.
Her chuckle soon became a laugh.
She didn't know why she was laughing, it just felt good letting her emotions burst out for no reason.

Yoriichi began to pay close attention to her laughter, which made him smile. She held his attention.
Her chuckle wasn't the only thing that him happy.

Her smile, on the other hand, it looked like the sun, it was so bright. He couldn't bring himself to stop staring.

It didn't take long for him to realize that he was glaring to her, laughing.

"Uta" she heard her name was called. And made her laugh die down.

She gave a soft smile before talking
"What is it yoriichi-san?"

"Can we start a family, together?" He bluntly asked.

Uta's face immediately turned red, accidentally letting go of a bowl of rice she was holding, as rice fell everywhere.

Yoriichi saw the blood rush to her face, Her face was so red you could've mistaken her for a tomato.

"Y-yoriichi-san! i mean it wouldn't be bad B-But I'll- uh" she stuttered while the clueless boy was confused.

"I think we're too young f-for that!"
He just hummed at her in understanding.

"I understand" she continued to embarrassingly fix up her mess, while his body felt weird..

His heart seemed to be bracing itself for a tremendous plunge.
His vision began to blur, and he felt as if he had passed out as all he could see was pitch black.

His body felt as if it had collided with something hard.

Like he was falling in a dream.

Dream

Dream...

DREAM.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"ARGHH!" I fell off my bed and landed on my chest.

'oh, I was dreaming again' I was lying on the floor, trying to make sense of what had just occurred. My clothes are completely soaked in sweat. I was suffering from the most excruciating migraine I'd ever experienced.

I rose my arms so I could get up and off the floor. But since luck wasn't on my side, my arms were too weak to lift my body.

I was just lying on the floor unable to get up due to my sickness and weak body.

I'm not saying I'm not fit, I go to the gym every week. As a result, my immune system is rather strong.

So why am I feeling like this?

I waited for a moment to built up strength in my arms to get up again.
I stood up and crashed on my bed, nearly losing my equilibrium.

I was panting and gasping for air. I felt like passing out again, but I knew I'd wake up with that strange dream.
I took my temperature and it was 39.4 degrees Celsius. My headache became very severe, and I couldn't get out of bed.

My mother isn't home right now. I think she left for work while I was sleeping.
I knew I needed to contact someone for assistance, but I was embarrassed to do so.

Building up courage, I grabbed my phone and texted my closest friend.

⋆⛧*┈┈┈┈﹤୨♡୧﹥ ┈┈┈┈*⛧⋆

Hello Sumiyoshi-san, this is a very selfish request but can you come over to my house?

sure! is there something wrong though?

I'm sick and home alone, It's okay if you're busy. I'll come again later.

No no, of course I'll come over! Would it be alright if I bring sumire too?

Suyako is going out with her friends right now and I was put in charge to take care of her.

Sumire wouldn't be a problem, you can bring her, thank you again friend.

No problem Don't have to be embarrassed about it^^

⋆⛧*┈┈┈┈﹤୨♡୧﹥ ┈┈┈┈*⛧⋆

I hid my head in shame, put my phone away and wait for them to arrive.

About 5 minutes later, my doorbell rang and got off my bed.

I had just realized how horrible I looked. I tried my best to fix my hair and wash my face.
By this point my eyes were closed, and it looked like I was sleep walking.

I was surprised to see Sumiyoshi-san when I opened the door. I looked down to see Sumire, who was holding her father's hand.

"Hello yoriichi-san!" Sumiyoshi-san' bright nature greeted me. I offered them to come in and they did.

Sumire and I were sitting on the couch watching kids' cartoons, which I didn't mind. Actually, I find them quite entertaining.

I was covering my self with a blanket, my face was red and puffy as well as my nose, which was completely clogged.

I'm no longer a child because I was so engrossed in the children's cartoon. I'm 20, about to start college, so this is a little immature of me, but who cares.

"Yoriichi-san if you don't mind me asking, where is your brother at?" Sumiyoshi-san' asked while making porridge in my kitchen.

"College" my voice died down a little bit, just saying one word already makes me exhausted.
"College? You must be missing out then, since your sick"
Well..he wasn't wrong, I was incredibly excited to attend college with my brother and meet new people.

"Yeah"

About fifteen minutes later, the smell of porridge became stronger.

"I'll be done in three minutes!" Sumiyoshi-san yelled from the kitchen.

"Daaa dadaa daaa!" Sumire jumped up and down on the couch, looking behind her and yelling for her father.
My stomach began to grumble, and I grew dizzy.

Sumiyoshi-san entered the living room with a tray containing three bowls, which he placed on the table near the couch.

Sumire went down the couch and quickly sat on the floor near the table.
Sumiyoshi-san placed her bowl next to her and handed her a spoon.

Sumiyoshi-san sat beside me in the couch getting comfortable.

"Don't get to close to me, If you go too near to me, you'll catch a cold."

"Haha, it's okay. I'll be careful." He smiled brightly.
We started to eat our porridge carefully, while cartoons of course

Sumire was eating by herself when I looked down. We haven't seen one other in a long time; the last time I saw her was in the hospital just after she was born from her mother's womb. I couldn't believe she was already two years old, and I couldn't help but smile as I thought about it. She grew up so quickly.

Despite the fact that we haven't chatted much because of her early age, I still consider her a family member. As in my niece or younger sister. I've gotten out of my comfort zone a lot more than normal since meeting the Kamado family. Sumiyoshi-san is responsible for my progress, I have to thank him for that.

"Sorry for calling you here Sumiyoshi-san, I could've done this myself." I said in a waver and weak voice,

"you didn't have a choice yoriichi-san, if you didn't call us here your fever would've gotten worse" Sumiyoshi-san comfortable me at the slightest. I appreciate his composure though.

"I'm glad you came, Sumiyoshi-san. Thank you" I could see him gleam with pride.

"That's more like it!" He demeanor glowed.

"I actually fell off my bed before you came"

"You what"

"Nothing"

I sat on my bed for a long, getting ready to sleep again. However, I was unable to continue due to my racing thoughts. I couldn't get my mind off what had transpired in my dream. All I could think about was thanking that girl once more.

Who is she? What what am I to her?

The more I continue to think about her, the more my head ached in stress, I just chose to ignore it for a long time, but now it's bothering me.

But what was really the use?, I was going to see her again after this.
My fever had died down a bit, and I hope that my dreams isn't the cause of my illness.

I lied down in my bed to sleep once again.

Here we go again.

Chapter Text

"DAA!" My heart pounded as I woke up by sumire yelling for her dad downstairs. I was up panting and felt as if my heart was going to leap out of my body. 

I rolled into bed, groaning, and covered my head with my pillow. I wasn't sure why I was groaning, but I did. I heard ruffling and timid footsteps downstairs, the sound of

Sumiyoshi-san' voice was murmured and low, but I deduced that they were about to go. 

As I came to terms with the notion that they were leaving, a pair of footsteps began to climb and approach my door. At the lowest gap on my door, two shadows appeared. Because the shadows were quite vast, I assumed it was probably Sumiyoshi-san.

A gentle knock was laid out outside my door, "yoriichi-san, are you awake?" I sat up my bed by the voice.

My headache had subsided after I slept, and I believe my temperature had dropped. My throat, on the other hand, felt like a rose thorn bush set on fire.

"Y-yeah" my voiced cracked painfully to respond. Sumiyoshi-san entered my gloomy, empty room, which had few decorations due to the fact that they were all in my suitcase.

Sumiyoshi-san said, "Yoriichi-san, you should've taken your temperature by now," which I did.

"Your temperature has subsided a little; perhaps you could walk outdoors; we were about to go to the drugstore to get some medicine, and since because your throat must be hurting, I'd thought you'd come along as well"

I thought for a while and eventually agreed, it's time for me to get some fresh cold air to relax my mind for a bit. I changed into something more appropriate for the weather and put on a black mask to shield my sore throat.

And I did my customary high ponytail with my hair. My eyes were a little bit occluded since my bangs were becoming excessively longer.

Before I left I looked at myself at the mirror before leaving, I brushed the side of my bangs at the top part of my forehead just to see my birthmark.

I really have no problem with my mark, though I sometimes forget I have one.

I went down stairs to see them already ready to go.

"Ichii!" Sumire yelled, pointing at me trying to get her father's attention.

"Oh yoriichi-san! Your done, shall we leave then?" I nodded, grabbed the keys and went out.

We decided to walk because the drugstore was not far away and the weather was pleasant for 4 p.m. Sumire was sitting on my shoulder the entire time, amusing herself by toying with my hair. 

Her cheerful laugh and giggles filled the air as we strolled.

"She likes you, doesn't she?" Sumiyoshi-san laughed at his daughter, and I couldn't help but agree. I smiled warmly at her laughs and giggles, as if it were my emotional comfort.

We eventually arrived at the pharmacy; there were only a few people present, but it was enough to put me at ease. While Sumiyoshi-san was conversing with the person behind the counter, there was silence. 

I was staring at the transparent glass walls, peering at the people and cars going by my vision, when I noticed some folks walking their dog on a leash, which inspired me to think of something.

'they must be going to the park..' I thought in silence.

Park..

Park....

"Park" I randomly blurted out, and I think I caught Sumiyoshi-san' attention.

"Hm? What was that yoriichi-san?" Sumiyoshi-san turned around holding a paper bag and money in hand.

"Can we go to the park?" I asked behind my dark mask.

Sumiyoshi-san gazed down at his daughter, who fiercely nodded, indicating that she, too, wanted to go to the park.

It didn't take long to get to the nearest park; it was only a ten-minute walk away. Sumire began to pull her father's coat as we approached the park gates; there was also a nearby playground for the tiny kids to play with, so I assume the sight of kids playing excited little sumire.

"H-hold on! W-wait alright! We're going! Ahaha!" Sumiyoshi-san laughed as he was dragged through the park by his daughter, while I trailed behind, sitting on a bench near the play area with my friend. Sumire was in the sandbox with a few other children.

"Isn't Suyako pregnant? Are planning to do a gender reveal party?" I started asking Sumiyoshi-san about his family, 

"no, I'm planning on saving up money for the baby. I didn't really like gender reveal parties anyways " Sumiyoshi-san suggested.

"So is the baby a boy or a girl" I asked since he wasn't really planning a party, he would just tell me anyway.

"It's a boy!" Sumiyoshi-san proudly announced at me.

"Congratulations friend" I muffled while Sumiyoshi-san smiled back at me. 

Whenever we spoke about family, I couldn't help but think of my mother. Growing up in a religious household, my mother always taught me to value life, even if it wasn't for everyone. However, simply existing is a blessing in and of itself.

I occasionally fantasize of starting a family of my own, but I've never gone through with it, Sumiyoshi-san poked my arm, interrupting my stream of thinking.

"Eh..could I ask you a question yoriichi-san? It's okay if you're not comfortable of answering" I nodded, curious as to what he is willing to ask me this time.

"..is the girl back?" He lowered his head a bit, to perhaps see my reaction and expression, I sat properly but didn't face him directly to speak.

"Yeah" I made my answer shortly as possible.

"Do you remember any of what happened?"

I thought to recall all those dreams I've had with her, but none could come back to me.

"I can't seem to recall some of them, but the ones I do retain are mundane and unimportant experiences." I grumbled, my gaze fixed on the pinkish sky, which was layered with Cirrostratus faded clouds, Sumiyoshi-san just hummed in response to me. 

"What does the girl look like? Maybe you could find her, she might have had something on you," Sumiyoshi-san offered, but I was skeptical because I'd only seen these things on television.

"She looked simple. She had large circular black eyes, hair that reach past her shoulders, with a ribbon tied in to a ponytail down her back. She also wore a white cloth wrapped around her head."

As he was invested, Sumiyoshi-san intently listened to my lengthy explanation about this intriguing girl.

I quickly concluded my explanation, and the atmosphere immediately became motionless.

We just watched people pass by and sumire happily playing endlessly on the playground.

I didn't expect it to be this late; it was already 6 p.m., and Sumiyoshi-san and I were just sitting until we agreed to go home because the weather was not conducive to my illness.

"Yoriichi-san are you ready to go?" Sumiyoshi-san asked me while he fixed his daughters coat and hair that was covered in sand.

I stayed silent, I felt uneasy and incomplete.

"Yoriichi-san.. y'know if you don't wanna leave yet, you could go wonder around for the time being" I looked at him to see if it was okay to leave them behind, or leave me behind.

"Me and sumire will get a snack while your gone" he said, I felt really grate full for their patience for me. I nodded in response and left.

I went to a place where there were fewer people, and I walked and walked until I came to a tree-lined lane. It was quiet, which was exactly what I wanted; I had no idea where I was heading, so I simply told myself to keep walking.

The trees started to lessen and I started to see a really big pond, I had no idea if it was owned by the park or either I just got lost.

I came to a halt in my tracks, unsure of where I was, and felt compelled to go to the pond to recollect myself before returning.

The path to the pond had a small incline. I gently walked down to the pond, passing through some trees. The water had a lot of grass, stones, lily pads, and scattered timber, as well as a few insects and fish. I knelt in a flat stone block near the water but not too far from the land.

The water was fairly clean for a public park. 

I scattered my eyes around the pond to see some tadpoles and frogspawn. I admired the swimming tadpoles from afar.

Though the thought of that mysterious girl from my dream hopped into my mind uninvited.

I haven't actually thought about it but, I haven't had to catch that girl name. 

She knows my name, obviously. So she has to have one, right?

In my dreams, the locations were different from the modern world; they appeared to be in the same location in Japan, but they didn't appear to be modern. In conclusion, me and the girl lived in the mountains, just me and her, with the animals.

So my dreams had to have happened in the past, and it was my previous life

We lived together In a fairly average house, that was fit for a family, but it was only me and the girl, I figured that we must've been siblings, but we looked nothing alike.

So what was my exact relationship with that girl?

Lost in my thoughts I felt something push me in the back, suddenly making my fall while crouching, but thankfully I catched myself in time before I planted my face in the water.

I forced myself to stand up and brushed the dirt off my clothes.

When I turned around to check who had pushed me, I saw a petite dark-haired woman on her hands, who appeared to have fallen to her knees. I extended my hand to assist her.

"Miss are you alright?" The unknown woman grabbed my hand that then pushed herself back up.

"I'm alright, I'm so sorry" she rubbed her head that might've been hit by the fall. 

She looked at me with shame and concerned, her face changes it's gaze to my hands.

"Oh no! Are you alright? Your hands are bleeding" My palm was full of filth and dust, and both of my hands had violently scratched the ground's surface, causing my flesh to bleed.

I quickly covered my hand in embarrassment, and focused my attention to that woman.

My heart dropped the second I put my gaze on her.

Dark hair, eyes like obsidian, small eyebrows, round eyes, familiar voice.

I forgot to breath for moment as my body froze, I shook my head to snap back to reality 

"No it's okay, does your feet hurt?" I was more worried about this woman when I barely even know her.

I could clearly tell that she was slightly limping.

"I'm fine, I should be the one apologizing; I was staring at you behind the bushes and didn't notice the inclination in the ground and..."

She apologized and expressed her regret about the incident.

Call me selfish, but I couldn't help but think it was hilarious.

But I kept my cool instead of laughing.

"Is there any way I could Do something that could treat you in any kind? I'm truly sorry" she insisted.

I shook my head in decline

"No it was just an accident, you don't need to do anything" I replied back, her expression wasn't satisfied and still felt guilty.

"But-"

"Ichii!" 

The woman got cut off my the small sound coming from behind her.

Little sumire was tugging the pants of the lady, catching her attention.

The woman looked at me then the small child, she then cleared the way so sumire can pass through.

She came to reaching her arms for me to lift her up. I lifted her up in one arm as she grip tightly on my shirt. 

The woman was watching us interact but didn't say anything.

"dadaa!" Sumire pulled and pointed on me; I believe Sumiyoshi-san was waiting for me in the main area, but I was too preoccupied.

"I'm sorry but I have to go now" I turned to the lady, as she nodded.

I left the Pond with sumire in my hands. I arrived where Sumiyoshi-san have been waiting at me by the gate.

By this time the sky is now dark and street lights are now turning on. 

"Ah, yoriichi-san your back, did you get some alone time like you wanted?" He asked as I passed his daughter from my arms to his.

I nodded, his expression seemed to change as he looked down at my palm.

"Yoriichi-san, is you hand okay? It's bleeding." 

"No, it doesn't hurt as much" I said.

⸾ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ⸾ 

As we got home, Sumiyoshi-san insisted on aiding my hand, after that he was about to leave.

Sumiyoshi-san gently put a bandaid on my palm after putting disinfectant on it.

"That should do it! Does it still hurt?" I shook my head.

He started to fix his belongings and properly fixed sumire's clothes before leaving.

"Isn't your mother supposed to be coming home by now" he put on his bag and asked me.

"She arrives a little late these days, but she'll come home eventually" I double-checked that Mom's work was going well and that she wasn't having any difficulties, if anything happens at her work I'll be the first one to know.

"You sure you'll be okay alone here?" He said and I nodded.

They bid their goodbye's and left.

And now I was all alone.

I thought alone while sitting in my couch, that this is the last night I'll be in my parents house.

I ate a small meal before taking my medicine and taking a short hot shower and going to bed.

Before lying down, I sat in my bed. I couldn't comprehend what happened In the park, though I didn't want to admit it but, it was her.

I sighed, confused as to why this was happening to me. 

Who is this girl? And why is she so important that she's the first thing I see when I close my eyes.

Thinking of the situation made me my head explode. 

The only thing I can do is to let life do it's thing and forget about those dreams.

I lied down in bed immediately passing out the moment my head touched my pillow.

Chapter Text

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"yoriichi-san! Yoriichi-san!" the voice of a woman yelled behind me with steps that became louder each time it approached me.

"Uta" I turned my head to my shoulder to see a her standing behind me, leaning down, smiling.

"Yoriichi-san, may I sit with you?" she pointed to my side with her smile, I nodded and fixated my gaze to the moon again.

Uta peacefully sat beside me at this fallen tree trunk, I'd found in the woods.

It was a calm night with a full moon, a few faint cricket sounds, and a gentle breeze. The wind swept leaves into the air, a few of which kissed my face and left some on my hair.

"Yoriichi-san, you have some leaves in your hair, let me get them for you" uta then began to pick the leave stuck to my hair.

"There, All better now" she clasped her hands together in success as I ruffled my hair to spot some extra leaves.

After she took all the leaves out of my hair, there was a lengthy pause; it was cold, terribly cold, but I didn't mind. With a quiet whistle, another rush of wind blew at us. Uta shivered as she shielded her arms against the cold.

"Uta, you should go back, it's cold out here" I advised her,

"Your one to talk" she giggled, then she smiled, I side eyed her a bit for her action. Though I don't want to admit it, Sometimes I envy her for her personality and the way she acts.

"So...mind telling me why you're here? It's okay if you don't want to talk," she replied. I had no excuse to be here, but it's not her fault; I should've told her where I was going before leaving.

"I'm sorry"

"Please don't apologize." she mumbled.

"I should've told you i was here, except I didn't, and you went all the trouble of finding me." I gloated, clearly guilty.

"That's not true," she hesitated, "every moment I spent on you was worth it."

Her last phrase was delivered with real emotion. She gave me a nice smile as she gazed at my face, not expecting us to make eye contact.

She fake coughed and moved her head in the opposite direction.

"Don't mind what I said" in an awkward tone she said, and I nodded.

It was quite yet again, but I couldn't stop thinking of what she said earlier, so I asked without hesitation.

"Did you mean what you said?" I turned to her, and she turned to me.

"W-what?" She stuttered, hearing her heart beat made me more eager to find out what she meant.

"What you said earlier, did you mean it?" I lowered my voice and face to get maybe an ounce of a reply from her.

I didn't much react from our face being close together, but she leaned her head back a bit with a shocked expression.

"Yoriichi-san..i-uh" she panicked, I really wanted what she meant, I don't know why it was so important to me.

"No, I didn't mean it, it just came out" she quickly making me freeze and return back to my position.

"Oh. Okay then" back to the silence again, seeing uta not talk made me concerned, did I over do it?

Did I make her upset? If so I should probably apologize for it.

"I just wanted to know, but I probably made you upset, I'm sorry" I'm not the one to talk first in a conversation.

Her expression changed to a pitiful look of disappointment.

"You apologize to much, I'm not upset nor mad at you" she brought her knees to her chest and hug her legs with her chin resting on them. She didn't look at me, I probably deserved it.

"You should be," 

we said occasionally, largely because we disliked conflict and had nothing to argue about. If we ever had a fight, it would be nothing but back-to-back apologies. If I'm conscious of my error, I don't mind apologizing.

We're 16, yes, we're mature enough to do things for ourselves, but we're the only ones left for each other. For uta to forgive me, I could make up anything.

"I hate it when you do this..." She blurted.

"Hate what?" I turned to her face, that was now hiding in her arms that were resting in her knees.

"When you think lowly of yourself, I hate it"

I didn't get what she said, think lowly of myself?

"What do you mean by that?" 

"When you're too nice to people, even if it's not you fault" she started to get more upset and I started to panic

"But this time, it is my fault"

"But you did nothing wrong" she retorted

"I made you worry, that's wrong, isn't it?" All I could think of was her at the moment and how she felt about me.

"Don't worry about me, you were clearly upset so that's why you left," 

Uta was an expert at reading me through and through, sometimes it surprises me of how fast she can scan my emotions.

She put her foot down and placed her hand on my shoulder, looking at me with worried and comforted eyes. I glanced at her, and her obsidian eyes glistened, the moon's position creating excellent illumination that made her iris gleam.

She smiled, a typical smile, but it was enough to cause a hurricane of butterflies in my stomach.

I was a hundred percent sure that my face was heating up, but hers were already red anyways. 

My ears were now red from her touch, but I didn't bother to stop her. 

"Please, talk to me" I hesitated, and sighed.

It was just a tirade about my family, about my mother, brother, and father, that I told her about everything that had been upsetting me. Of course, I would never say anything negative.

I just felt lonely, like as if uta wasn't there.

"I feel like I've been missing something, lacking something since I left home, but I've never felt whole even while I was at home," I said, plainly aware that uta was listening.

"There was something lacking from me; it wasn't something materialistic; it was an emotion or a feeling," I said, and the atmosphere fell silent.

I just wanted someone to listen to me, And that was it and I felt satisfied. 

It was so difficult to open up for once, but it felt like opening a old dusty window and letting the clouded air spill out, it was good.

But she was silent, it didn't bother me, but I wanted to hear her response, not forcing, but just wanted to hear what she was thinking.

"Yoriichi-san" she started

"I might not know what you're feeling, nor understand, but I just wanted to let you know, that I'm here" uta looked and smiled at me, so warm it made my heart burst into flames.

"I'll be there whenever you need me, from the start to the end, I'll accompany you to your journey, please, don't ever forget that I'll be here, I want you to feel loved" 

"Even if we just stay as friends, I want to be the first person you talk to when your at your lowest, you're always welcome to be at my care, always" 

I never thought that uta would think of me like that, I never once felt so..cared for. It was then that I smiled, why did I even care about what she thought about me? 

"Thank you, uta" another gust of wind flew by us and uta shivered. 

"You should go home now, I'll stay here for a moment" she nodded and stood up from the tree trunk and crossed over to go behind me. 

"Please come back soon, it's cold out" her soft voice said, and I nodded.

"Oh..and yoriichi-san" 

"Hm?" I turned my head to my left to face her from behind, not even for a second I felt a pair of gentle lips clash through my cheek.

"I hope you find what your missing" she grinned, her face tinted pink, and my eyes widen. 

"See you" she waved and left me. 

I froze.

What just happened.

I looked forward and spaced out and recollected myself.

I turned around and she said bye, but before that she put her lips on my cheek before leaving..

She kissed me.

I put my palm to my cheek and my eyes grew small, I felt my cheeks and ears burn as my mouth agape, my breathing stopped and and my heart started to beat faster, my stomach, I couldn't even feel it anymore with all the butterflies. 

I pinched myself out see if I was fantasizing, but no.

It was real.

I was pondering the various reasons why she kissed me, but I was confident she wasn't joking; her kiss was genuine, her lips tender and light, almost as if she accidentally brushed them against my cheek.

I stood up and began walking back home, keeping my palm to my cheek while I shook my head out of reality. I was itching to visit her, but she was most likely fast asleep. I was walking through the woods when I noticed how lovely the sky was, and how perfectly the stars were positioned in the shadows. I stood there admiring it till I came home.

I slid the door open and found her fast asleep; I removed my haori and zōri and placed them elsewhere; I moved closer to her and noticed that our futons were extremely near together; uta might have put them closer next to each other, but I wasn't sure.

I sat on my futon and stared at her, examining her features. Her white cloth was still wrapped around her head, and her hair was still tied. She was snoring softly, with Her hair stuck in her mouth in a few threads.

I chuckled, brushing my finger against her cheek and tucking the hair strands behind her ear.

"Don't eat your hair" I mumbled.

I took off the cloths that were wrapped around her head and her tie, and straightened her hair into a more comfortable position. I returned my gaze to her face. Her cheeks were naturally rosy, her lashes were fair, and her lips were delicate. I caressed the corner of her eyes near her ear with my fingers. I could never dispute that she had flawless skin and a small petite face when she smiled, She radiated elegance.

I couldn't deny that I enjoyed looking at her face. When she smiled, or even simply looked at me, gallons of serotonin filled my heart; every time she spoke, laughed, or did something simple, I always admired her. Being friends with this girl would make me the luckiest boy alive.

I lied down, facing up to the ceiling, it was calm outside, but my mind was loud, I was stuck in my brain, fantasizing what are things I'll do tomorrow...with uta

Staring at the ceiling I felt a hand crept In my chest to my shoulder, her head was placed at my chest as she snored.

I was sweating nervously at her sudden unconscious action.

But I was used to her moving in her sleep. So I had to deal with it.

But this is the first time she had gotten THIS close to me, i could tell that she was half asleep. It felt so wrong, but it didn't bother me..

My hand moved to hug her again.

Pulling her even closer to me. My head rested against hers. I didn't want to sleep, and I could stay up all night hugging her until daylight, but I knew uta wouldn't like it if I forced myself to stay awake.

I smiled and took a exhale, I turned my body around and hugged her with another arm. I felt her tighten her grip and and made a small smile.

"Goodnight, yoriichi" she yawned, and snuggled close.

"Goodnight, uta"

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Chapter Text

Yoriichi swayed the soaked sponger in circles on a plate, as he streamed down the soap with the running water, he put the washed plates back and dried his hands with a clothe.

His mother and brother were conversing outside while the house was eerily quiet.

He agreed when Michikatsu insisted on driving him to the dorms.

When his chores were finally finished, he was prepared to leave, but first he wanted to check his room to see if he had left anything behind.

He went up the stairs and went into his room.

A few items of clothing that he didn't need were still in the closet, giving the space some life.

Years-old books that had never been opened remained silently on the shelves.He'll admit it; he won't miss this room and will occasionally return.

He took a few more glances before departing while grabbing his phone and placing it in his pocket with his palm resting on the wall close to the light switch.

Going down the stairs, he grabbing an stray jacket from a hanger stand.

As soon as his brother left the house, Michikatsu yelled at him, grabbing his keys out of the air.

However, Yoriichi was looking in a different direction when he gave his mother a hug. It may have felt distant, but it was sufficient for Yoriichi.

Akeno, their mother. gave the twins a warm smile that was full of joy. They would have a splitting image of their mother if they did the same.

Michikatsu watched as Akeno pulled Yoriichi's sleeve up to her level and took something from her pocket. He had probably never noticed anything was in there before.

To his ear she reached. Something weighed on his ears, he sensed.

Hanafuda earrings were clipped on for him by his mother, and Yoriichi had almost forgotten about them. Although he hadn't worn them recently, doing so brought back many memories.

Akeno turned to michikatsu's direction, who was not paying attention by the way.

She gave him a big bare hug, but more stronger than yoriichi's, mostly michikatsu doesn't really have a thing for physical touch, so this made him jumpy.

"Mom, it's okay! It's fine, relax" michikatsu exited the hug hurriedly.

She giggled, looking at her two boys.

"You don't have to be that emotional, it's not like we're leaving the country"

Michi said sarcastically opening his door.

"I know, I know" she smiled again, if yoriichi was being honest, this the most he have seen his mother smiled before. Which made him fell happy.

He Waved one last goodbye and entered to the passenger seat, bucking his seatbelt.

He rolled down the window,

"Good luck, take care of each other" their mother exclaimed, michikatsu tilted his head to peak in the lowered window. Both gave a smile and drove off.

⸾ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ⸾ 

Yoriichi watched as the buildings and cars passed by, leaning his chin against his palm, which was resting on the door.

They came to a standstill at a red light; the heavy traffic made Michikatsu irritated.

To his brother's delight, Michikatsu muttered, "Fucking Christ," and slouched down in his chair, and hearing a faint giggle.

He asked his brother, who was still gazing outdoors, "What?"

"Nothing, seeing you swear is funny."

He grinned.

He chuckled sarcastically as he turned his attention back to the road before turning to face his brother again.He asked with a concerned expression, "What happened to your hand."

Yoriichi looked down at his palm, entirely forgetting that he had a slight scar.

"This is nothing,"

Already agitated, Michikatsu repeated his question.

"Did you try something reckless when you were alone at home?"

"I wasn't alone"

The twin brother inquired again, but this time with more vigor, "Then who were you with?"

"I contacted Sumiyoshi-san for help because my fever had gotten worse."

He took a brief pause.

"And I fell when we went to the park," he remarked inconveniently.

Michikatsu remained mute while displaying a confused and irritated expression.

"First of all, you went to the park while you were sick?"

Michikatsu sighed as he nodded.

"Just please, take extra caution in the future."

He continued to nod.

With his posture straightened and his brows furrowed, Michikatsu turned his attention back to the road.

He muttered, "Come on, move.." It appeared that the stop light had become frozen because no cars had yet to move.Like the other cars outside, he tooted his horn.

They questioned why they hadn't moved since, if you looked closely, you could see other cars moving, just from a different lane that wasn't theirs.

Michikatsu persisted in honking at the stationary vehicles.

He was on the verge of lowering his window and cursing at them.

Even though the window was closed, Michikatsu insulted the drivers,

"Hey Jackass why don't you move so some of us can get where we need to be."

Yoriichi fixed his gaze on the sky,

The dark night with sprinkled glowing stars made his mood slightly better.

The sky was a tad bit foggy than usual where it appeared that rain was ready to fall, as if it was a result of Michikatsu's exaggerated feelings.

The sky roared as the water began to fall and they could hear it pounding on the roof.

The vision of the window became hazy as drops began to fall from the sky.

Michikatsu complained once more as He activated the windshield wiper.

After a short period of time, the lane began to move once more.

"Goddamnit, at last"

He let out a sigh of relief, letting his shoulders drop, and put his foot on the pedal.

Since the dorms weren't really that far away, getting there wouldn't take too long. Throughout the ride, the rain had stopped, and it was quiet yet serene.

For Yoriichi, he was unsure as to whether or not he and his brother would be living in the same dorm.

"Nee-san"

"Hm?"

"..do we have separate dorms?"

"Hmm, the dorms were selected for me by the college; apparently, the room I was given was already full."

Although he had no issues with this, he hummed in response as he was interested in meeting his roommate.

However, he hoped that they could become friends, whoever they were.

Nevertheless, when they approached the building, Michikatsu flung his dorm keys at yoriichi, who barely managed to catch them.

"where are you going?"

Michikatsu putting his hands on his pockets, walking away from his brother and luggage.

"Somewhere I need to be"

"But-"

"Bye"

Yoriichi was left there standing alone with no choice for him to go inside.

⸾ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ⸾ 

Yoriichi did not count the floors because he did not expect the inside to be as large as he had thought, but he did know that his brother was on the second story and he was on the top.

Amazing.

He moved in the direction of the elevator and rode it to the top floor, feeling somewhat fortunate that he had less things to carry because he would be moving in there.

He first noticed a very long hall, wooden doors, and a large space as he reached above.

In an effort to locate his dorm, he scurried along the corridors.

The man was able to locate the room for around five minutes.

After taking a step inside and shutting the door behind him, he heard footsteps moving toward him in the living room; based on the sound, he assumed they were coming from the kitchen.

He gasped slightly and leapt as a white head appeared in a corner in astonishment.

The wall emitted a stern voice that said, "Ah, Your are here."

He has never encountered somebody taller than him, so as his physique towering over his, his eyes expand and he feels a little awed.

He said, "You must be the new roommate, aren't you?" maintaining a level expression of disinterest and holding up his chin while his eyes pierced through.

The man bowed his head and said,

"I guess I must introduce myself since we will be residing in the same dorm for a while.."

Before dramatically flicking the bangs that were hanging on his shoulders.

He raised his head and pointing a thumb at himself.

"Tengen uzui, spare me by calling me uzui, you seem flashy enough to call me by name, after all, what else should you call me?" with a smug smirk on his face, as if he had just cracked the greatest joke imaginable.

By the man's demeanor, he stammers a little, "Oh um.. yoriichi tsugikuni, glad to meet you."

Tengen gave him a disinterested expression as if he didn't want anything to do with him.

He said, "Okay Tsugikuni, follow me," and Yori did so, escorting him inside a room.

The man had a peek of the kitchen as he followed the other man.

Unwashed dishes were piled high in the sink, and a line of ants was visible behind them.

He decided to overlook the situation and deal with it later. Opening the door reveals two beds on opposing walls, both of which are empty, "This'll be your room."

He scratched the back of his neck and yawned, appearing reluctant in the situation. "Me and the other guy that lives here share the other room, so you'll be sleeping here alone," he said.

He stared around the room and decided to take the bed on the left. Yoriichi spent a moment gazing around the dimly lit space. A few cobwebs and dust particles were scattered in the room's corners. possessing two vacant beds with simple white coverings.

"Get comfy" the man yawned again putting his arms at the back of his head walking away before yoriichi can step in.

He unpacked his bag and set it down on the ground.

Where cobwebs had broken free, he fanned his hand.

He fixed his bed, which also happens to have drawers underneath. He piled all of his clothing and accessories into the drawer. Along with his laptop, he placed his supplies on a table in front of the bed.

Even though his side of the room may have appeared uninteresting, it will work for a while.

He jumped into bed since he was too worn out to get out of it and promptly fell asleep.

⸾ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ⸾ 

He opened his lids with dry tears, and hazy hair.

The shirt he was wearing hugged his torso tightly, and uncomfortably.

When he looked at the time, it was 4:10 in the morning.

He was prone to falling asleep sooner than intended, or perhaps it was because he had one of "those" dreams.

He was relieved, though, as he had neglected to set an alarm before falling asleep.

He still had time for his own before his class starts. He got out of bed and decided to do chores out of boredom.

He decided to eat his breakfast and then do chores, Though he had a terrible migraine, he pushed himself to do chores even before turning 7:00 am

He had a hot shower about 7:20 to be ready for his next class. When he first entered the dorm, his other roommate wasn't there.

Possibly sleeping in Their room, and tengen was most likely doing the same.

But he didn't waste any time getting to work and grabbing a stray light brown hoodie that was bigger in his size and looked more baggy. He wore white shoes and dark blue jeans, he grabbed his bag and quickly left the dorm.

The first thing as he enters the building was overwhelming for his sight, but he needed manage to focus on one thing, finding his class.

Floor after floor, he manages to spot the hall under 10 minutes, and graciously with hesitation, entered the room.

When the door opened, a few people were already seated in their favored locations, while the others were waiting for the professor.

He entered the auditorium through the top door, descended a few stairs, and then picked a row of seats with few people. The row he chose was at the top but a little farther from the middle.

After some time of getting comfortable, he felt a presence behind him. He assumed that it was just people behind him, so he didn't pay it any attention.

However, he felt a hand reach out to touch him and felt it press against his shoulder.

As soon as yoriichi turned to face the person, the voice cuts itself, "Hey, tsugikuni-san are you-"

Though his eyes suggested a mistake, the man he turned to had a bewildered expression.

His voice was quiet and contrite as he said, "Ah, sorry.."

Yoriichi figured that they must've gotten the wrong person, but how did he know his name? Possibly have mistaken him by his brother.

Though not that he thought about it, he haven't seen michikatsu since yesterday.

While he was gazing upon the things he will do once class was over, the professor have already settled down in their chair, which made yoriichi change his attention.

⸾ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ⸾ 

All His lectures for the day were over, and he decided to go out and eat at a restaurant or even in a small cafe nearby the campus.

Though when he was about to leave, he heard a voice call out.

"Yoriichi-san!" A man's voices he might've recognized screamed his name, turning around, the man was already close up his face and leaning towards him.

"..uzui?" His shyly voice, almost whispered, questioned.

"Yeah it's me, do you have plans right now?" 

Yoriichi shook his head.

"Great! Wanna have dinner with me?" 

Yoriichi was taken back by his offer, 

Though tengen's intentions were pretty clear, he wanted to befriend yoriichi.

But why now? 

wasn't he just mentally judging him with his threatening stare a day ago?

But he didn't bother, because he didn't care.

On the way to the restaurant, uzui rambled about there's going to be people with him when we get there.

Yoriichi had questioned as to why tengen was being so nice to him.

His smile genuinely shine d as he said, "Well, I wanted to repay the favor since I witnessed your work when you cleaned our dorm, so I figured your not a horrible guy."

He had the appearance of an anime character who confidently said something stupid.

On the other hand, Yoriichi thought it amusing. He enjoyed his loose-lipped and cheery demeanor and was positive that Tengen wasn't insecure.

Tengen opened the door politely for him when they arrived.

When initially observed

Nearly all of the tables in the restaurant had more than six persons seated at them, though there were two free seats due to a table near the window.

Tengen gave Yoriichi a pat on the back, after recognizing his signal to come closer to the table.

When yoriichi's tongue ran out of things to say, Tengen stepped in, drawing the attention of the others at the table to him.

"Uzui-san, is this your new roommate?" A pink-haired woman asked at the end of the table.

Tengen nodded his head and moved an elbow to nudge yoriichi's arm.

"..Yoriichi Tsugikuni"

Although he was surprised that the others at the table were interested,

As the two guys sat down, Yoriichi was seated next to a woman who was simply smiling at him and had faded black to purple hair.

Once they were relaxed, a man began to speak.

"Yoriichi-san"

Yoriichi turned to face him.

Now that he thought about it, he was the man who approached him when he was attending his lecture at the auditorium 

"Do you happen to have a brother at some point?" The man asked.

"You know michikatsu?" Yoriichi asked with a nod.

The man nodded, suggesting that at some point the table's unwelcoming aura had been raised.

"Giyuu Tomioka, I'm his roommate" sure of it, the man said in a low voice.

The pink-haired woman remarked, "Ahh! So you're michikatsu-san's younger brother!" once more, her happy, pink aura illuminating the room.

He picked up a menu from the table next to Tengen "we're Twins, but yes" before perusing the selection of delicacies.

Even more stunned, the table became.

"I'm shinobu kocho, and nice to meet you, yoriichi-san," she said as she clasped her hands and grinned at him.

"It's an honor meeting a buddy of tengen's. Kyojuro rengoku!, Nice to meet you."

He nodded, adding yet another loud man to his list of acquaintances. A second man sat next to Kocho but kept his mouth shut. He was covered by a white mask, so he could not see his face very clearly.

"I'm mitsuri kanroji!" The girl exclaimed again.

They all enjoyed placing their orders and conversing while waiting for their meals.

Nevertheless, the seat next to Mitsuri was empty, after a brief period, a woman entered the restaurant through the door as the bell above sounded.

Yoriichi's breath hitched, as he saw the woman sit down in the chair right next to kanroji,

"I'm sorry I'm running late, but I had to return to the dorm since I left something behind." the woman appears to be in a rush as she was struggling to catch some air.

Mitsuri sparkled, turning her head to the red-haired man. "Oh it's all right! We hadn't eaten yet, and furthermore uzui-san invited his new roommate for dinner!"

"Uta, why don't you introduce yourself to him?"

Chapter Text

Her mind somehow turned to stone, like if the gods had planned this or something, and she heard the words, "Uta, why don't you introduce yourself to him?"

Uta turned to the individual her friend Mitsuri was pointing at and just stood there dumbfounded.

Mitsuri placed a hand on uta's hand that was tightly gripping her handbag and asked, "Hey, you okay?"

The back of her neck heated as her pulse started to betray her.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she looked back at her best friend and sat down, She says with a hesitant laugh, "Sorry, I'm just weary, that's all."

"I'm uta, you?" In her entire life, she had never felt this ashamed.

He introduced himself, "Yoriichi Tsugikuni, nice to meet you, uta," which made her believe that he was being passive aggressive toward her.

She was so embarrassed and ashamed that her back and ears were burning. She pondered whether the man knew about what had happened in the park or even cared, given that his demeanor remained unchanged.

She was even more ashamed that she was the only one in pain here. Or so she believed.

Yoriichi was thinking of ways to avoid looking at her and trying not to appear disrespectful; he felt just as uncomfortable as she did, but it was hard to tell from the way he was acting.

It wasn't exactly the warmest interaction to throw a man to the ground till his hand bled.

Uta had placed her order and was currently waiting.

When Mitsuri caught a sight of her friend, Uta, she kept looking back to see whether she was alright, but she was always fixated on Yoriichi.

And whenever he would give her a glance, she would look away.

She relaxed with her chin in her palm and watched Uta's emotions and actions. She had a humiliated, worried, or even anxious appearance.

She indicated there was something wrong or incredibly dumb going on with them.

by slightly furrowing her brows, she tapped her friends shoulder.

"Uta uta"

She turned to face Mitsuri, her cheeks feeling somewhat warm and her ears crimson at the tips.

"What's going on with you and yoriichi-san?"

She was a little startled.

"Was it really so obvious?" She shook her head.

Mitsuri is aware that she should keep her distance but asks, "Is there something wrong? Did something happen?" If the situation is serious, she must act gradually.

She fidgeted her fingers, 

"NO-no, it's nothing." Her touch was soothing, but her hands appeared to be perspiring.

"It's just,... you know" mitsuri raised a brow

"What do you mean?.."

"I might've met him before" 

"Might've?"

She laughed awkwardly to hide her humiliation.

They were whispering to cover their conversation at this point because it appeared someone may overhear them.

"I need all the details."

"Why should you know?"

"I should support you if something serious happened, because I'm your friend."

"Nothing happened at all, I probably forgot about it."

It was clear to Mitsuri that she was lying, she was skeptical and had some self-doubt.

"Please make an effort to remember."

She stared down at her hand, aware that she was to blame for the cuts and scratches on his palm that she had caused. Her face briefly became red, as did her hands.

Heat waves moved through her body like animals.

She recalled his demeanor that day. He seemed stunned but not angry, which just served to increase his imposing presence.

She covered her warm face with her palms and forcefully mumbled, "Sorry I can't tell you! It's embarrassing!"

Mitsuri didn't say nor do anything other than smirk and observe her overwhelmed friend; she had a rough sense of what might have happened, albeit it might not be accurate.

She patted her back and said, "It's okay, we'll talk about it later." Their meal finally arrived just in time, which brought some relief to the girls.

⸾ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ⸾

"Yoriichi, Are you alright? You seem to be in a bad mood" 

"Yeah, I'm fine" The crunching sound he was creating was drowned out by his husky voice, surprising tengen.

He was in a terrible mood, his stomach was bothering him, his back was hunched, and his eyebrows were set deeper into his eyes.

Shinobu pointed her connected chopsticks at the man and reprimanded him, "Yoriichi-san, stop slouching your back; it can stay like way forever and you'll develop horrible posture."

She said as she chewed on a piece of her meal, "You don't want to end up like Tomioka, don't you?" giyuu had an unfazed expression on his face.

He didn't seem to bother as it looked like he was used to this woman's taunting. he rolled his eyes drastically, before she softly giggled, satisfied with his response.

He straightened his back with the remaining effort he had, a sense of dread coursing through him for no apparent reason; he didn't want his mood to ruin his first impression. He sighed a little to hide the apparent deterioration in his manner coming from him.

While the rest of the table were talking, yoriichi was kept mute the entire time. However, from time to time, he stole glances at the person seated next to Mitsuri. The two were talking with a third man, who didn't speak, but from listening in on the conversation, he learned that the man's name was Obanai.

Unlike his brother, he loved sweets, therefore he wanted to eat less so that he could reserve room for dessert. He ate slowly until nothing was left on his plate, just mere crumbs of rice and meat left untouched.

Even though he could have had more than simply rice, a sunny side up, and beef for his meal-which was simple-he still realizes that it wasn't appropriate for supper either.

He had a spare fried rice onigiri in his palm that was wrapped in plastic; he reasoned that since he no longer desired it, he should give it to someone else.

He looked around the table to see whether anyone was interested in the onigiri..

As she finished her third bowl of soba tonight, Mitsuri appeared to be having too much fun with her meal, and Obanai appeared to be too busy paying attention to Mitsuri's ramblings.

The restaurant's sweet potatoes appear to be a hit with Rengoku.

And due to Tengen's mocking, Tomioka appeared as though he was ready to leave.

The only option was the woman sitting next to him,...or her.

Shinobu, however, appeared to be pretty stuffed; she had consumed the entirety of her dinner, so he chose the second course of action. But because he felt different, he was hesitant to give a girl a straightforward onigiri. He assumed she would be a quiet, shy girl because of the way she appeared to be speaking to Mitsuri at first, but his prediction was completely wrong.

She was joyful, and if he wasn't lying, she looked exactly like the girl from his dreams. Of course, Yoriichi isn't stupid enough to miss the similarity. He was certain she was, and it's her.

He tapped gently shinobu's shoulder.

"Kocho" She hummed in response 

He forwarded his onigiri Infront of her making her tilt her head.

"Is there something wrong with your onigiri?" She said, He almost whispered, "No...could you please give this to Uta." He paused.

"But I beg you not to let her know it's from me."

When he realized the words had mistakenly come out of his mouth, he tightened his lip in humiliation.

As she took the onigiri in his hands, Kocho giggled as she noticed the pink blush on the tips of his ears.

"Okay, I'll give it to her later" yoriichi just nodded and turned away.

He began to stare at the counter of the restaurant. Every time a waiter emerged from the back door carrying a tray, a glimmer of hope appeared in him, but it was quickly dashed when they turned the other way. He desperately needed something sweet to lift his mood up a bit.

"What was that?" he quickly looked at his roomie that was resting his head on his palm, with interest sparkling in his eyes.

"What was what?" 

"The onigiri, why did you give it to uta"

"Why? Did you want it?" Yoriichi tilted his head.

"No dumbass!, why did you give it to her out of all people?" Tengen shouted a bit but not enough to get people looking at them 

"...is there something wrong about it?"

Yoriichi felt tengen's temper and anticipation rise, though he was still curious as to why he was so nosy about it. 

Tengen assertively chewed on his food and gulped, as Yoriichi's face maintained a puzzled expression. "Yes! A male gifting a girl has no indication being platonic whatsoever," he said.

Yoriichi had the impression that Tengen was a straightforward man who opposed anything that wasn't in his best interests, but as he continued to speak, Yoriichi started to doubt that thought.

In translation, yoriichi thought tengen was smart, but is a dumbass

Tengen's brow wrinkled as Yoriichi hummed, "... it's nothing, I just had some leftover onigiri, that's all." He picked up his fork and fiddled with it with a plain expression.

Tengen shifted as his chair creaked, leaned in, and wrapped an arm around the man with crimson hair.

"You like her, don't you?" 

He promptly let go of his fork and a loud silver cling reverberated throughout the dining table, prompting everyone to look at Yoriichi with concern. He picked up his fork and looked away, making everyone do the same.

Tengen made a cocky smirk and sparkled, yoriichi had no idea how he did that but didn't bother to ask.

"Don't worry friend, I'll help you hook up with her in the flashiest way possible!" Tengen pointed his thumb at himself and gleamed proudly,

Yoriichi looked at him dumbfounded, he had the thought that tengen will probably let go of this situation and forget about somehow, so he didn't bother to correct him and just shrugged.

Without noticing a black tray was placed in their table, seeing the tray filled with sweets and sugar, the waitress had cleaning up the eaten plates and left.

Yoriichi drooled over a specific snack and carefully grabbed it, placing it Infront of him.

A plate of strawberry cheesecake alone caused his heart to race, and the aroma sent happy-making signals to his brain through his nose and into his stomach.

He picked up his spoon and gently took a piece, forgetting the other people at the table who were also eating. Every time he took a bite, his tongue savored the cake's flavor. The sweetness of the experience relaxed him, and he closed his eyes while forming a warm blush and a tiny smile.

He felt tengen and rengoku's gaze lock at him. "Wow! I didn't know yoriichi-san can smile!" He loudly whispered to tomioka, making him cover his ears.

"Yeah, I thought that man was half dead, he never changes his expression,...hey tomioka, it seems like you too would get along well" tengen teased, but he was serious.

"Unlikely" giyuu said, scrolling through his phone.

⸾ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ⸾

Mitsuri chewed on her Sakura mochi, she tapped a finger on uta's shoulder, she leaned in and showed her the soft sweet.

"Uta! You should try this mochi! It's so good!-" mitsuri had gotten cut off by the face of her friend.

Uta didn't seem to be paying attention as her eyes were on someone else as Mitsuri cocked her head to ask, "Are you okay?"

Uta only nodded and turned to her friend slowly.

"Oh, well, do you want this-"

"Mitsuri," she says abruptly. In response, Mitsuri only hums inquiringly to her friends and blinks and perspires in confusion.

"Tell me I'm not crazy but.." 

"But?" Mitsuri could only question her well being right now.

Uta remarked innocently, "Do you think Tsugikuni-san's smile is cute?" Mitsuri was a little taken aback, she had not expected her to pay any attention to his looks.

Yoriichi smiling had also taken Mitsuri by surprise, so she turned to look at him and saw that he was indeed, smiling. Mitsuri raised her brows in surprised, she turned to her friend, smiling.

"He seems really attractive to me, but...cute?"

Uta merely nodded meekly.

"For the first time, a boy's smile caught my attention as cute rather than handsome." She gave him another quick glance as he enthusiastically ate the strawberry on his cheesecake and took another bite, which made Uta smile.

"He looks really cute" uta kicked her feet, making mitsuri giggle.

Uta admired he's face until someone nudged her leg from the bottom of the table, shinobu looked at her and she raised a brow.

"Hm? Do you need anything kocho-san?" Shinobu put a hand in the side of her mouth, seemingly looking like she wants to hide what she wants to say.

"Here" she handed her an onigiri in a Wrapper.

"Oh... what's this for?"

"Nothing" she winked and grinned, uta just collectively held it and put it beside her and brushed it off.

⸾ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ⸾

Yoriichi stepped out of the restaurant, feeling the breeze hit his warm body, he snuggled his own body in his hoodie to warm himself at this cold blue night.

"Ugh, it's cold as hell tonight, I'll head back to the dorms, you coming with?" Tengen asked.

"I'll come back later, I'm going somewhere else" giyuu checked his phone once again, tengen just hummed and stretched.

"The girls are also going somewhere, let's just go" Obanai plainly said underneath his mask.

Yoriichi peered up at the sky; a cloudy, dark blue plane obscured the brilliant stars that he adored so much.

His eyes went down and landed on a sight he didn't wanted to see.

He saw scraped knees of the girl he tried to avoid very much the whole meal, she looked as if her scratched knee wasn't a big deal to her, though in the actual picture she didn't mind her injury as much as yoriichi did.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her face and then her legs, and he felt his heart weakened with guilt.

Though he felt a warm presence near his shoulder, looking over, he saw tengen looking at him at his shoulder, crouched.

"Stop being so lewd" yoriichi widened his eyes but didn't say anything.

Tengen straightened his posture to his original height, he clicked his tongue and smirked.

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone" yoriichi just blinked it off his shoulder that it wasn't much big of a deal.

"Because it's normal for a guy to look at the legs of the girl he likes, especially like a girl as beautiful as her," tengen just winked at yoriichi.

Yoriichi thought that his attitude was hilarious, but kept a straight face.

"Yes, but I don't like her tengen."

Tengen's hopes immediately deflated and he just slouched.

"Oh.. really?"

"Yes, really"

Tengen sighed and just turned away in annoyance.

"You could've told me earlier, I would've made a fool of myself even more."

"I did" yoriichi's blank face made tengen even more annoyed at his foolery, tengen just marched off and swatted his hands.

"Let's go, it's getting late" yoriichi nodded.

As they walk off, tomioka and the girls went to different directions.

But Shinobu tugged tomioka's sleeve before leaving.

He looked at his phone then at her, raising his brow at her by the slightest.

"Kocho? What is it, be quick I have somewhere to go." He looked away from her face and back to his phone, appearing to be talking to someone.

"My my, it appears to be you forgot how to properly talk to your friend tomioka-san"she teased, fake giggling.

Giyuu closed his eyes forcefully and massaged the bridge of his nose, sighing.

"..I got to go, bye" before he could leave, shinobu's hand didn't leaving his sleeve.

"Don't stay up too late, it's bad for you health" she advised, well, that's what she's supposed to do, she was born in the medical field. Giyuu widened his eyes at her words, his ears swallowed the words deeply in to his brain.

Shinobu just hummed and let go of him, heading towards her group. Before she left tomioka called her name, making her turn to him.

"Hm?"

"Uhm..get some rest...don't overwork yourself.." he stuttered his sentence, making shinobu chuckle at him.

"Thank you" making her leave him.

Shinobu approached mitsuri and uta, and continued to walk to a different direction.

"I texted daki, she said it was fine for her to be alone at the dorms, so it's okay I guess" uta put her phone down.

Shinobu looked at her. "Uta"

She hummed, 

"Do you still have that onigiri I gave you?" Uta nodded, patting her handbag hanging on her shoulder.

"Yep! I'll eat it later" she cheered.

Shinobu smiled and put her hand at uta's shoulder.

"Sure, the one who gave you that wouldn't want you to eat it spoiled anyways" uta raised at a brow at her sentence.

"Aren't you the one who gave this to me?" Shinobu only shook her head lightly, uta asked where she got this onigiri from anyways, but it only made shinobu whisper in her ear.

"The onigiri was from yoriichi-san," her soft silver like voice whispered and Uta barely gave her a fleeting glance, surprised that she hadn't fallen over yet given that she wasn't looking at the ground.

"Eh?!" Uta jumped and shinobu was still in her smiling face. Mitsuri blinked at her.

"Eh.. uta, are you okay?" Uta came back to her senses and nodded, she kept walking as her mind echoed what her friend had just said.

In order to avoid having the pointless notion ruin her evening, she caught up with the other girls while ignoring the rush of thoughts that was filling her head.

Chapter Text

It had been a hard day for Daki, who sighed and stretched, "Yeah... sure." Right now, she had just talked to her brother. 

Daki, also known as "ume," joyfully entered her dorm's kitchen to see a delicious snack waiting for her in the fridge.

The chilly air gently brushed across her as she opened the refrigerator, introducing her to a whole new flavor world.

Snatching a granola bar, Daki's gaze stumbled on the black-haired girl who was sitting motionlessly like a shadow. For a time, Daki watched Uta as she sat in front of a fried rice onigiri.

Mitsuri stepped out of the shower looking fresh while a towel hung in her shoulders

Little beads of water fell to the ground as Mitsuri rubbed her towel against her scalp to dry her hair, as she said to Daki, "She's been doing this consistently since we left the restaurant."

"Is it about the man"

Mitsuri nodded. On their way home, uta had already told mitsuri about what happened in the park, while shinobu being there, she laughed while mitsuri tried to cover her's to not cause anymore embarrassment to her best friend.

Daki grunted in disappointment and ate all of her granola in one mouthful before crossing her arms and throwing the wrapper in the trash.

Uta was brought back to her senses when daki snapped her fingers across her face.

"Watcha think'n about?" Daki asked, hunching her waist in a menacing manner while Uta only blinked.

"If your not gonna eat it, I will"

After ume said this, She took the onigiri with care and began to unwrap it.

She laughed, sounding bashful, "I'm overreacting, aren't I?

As she chuckled, Mitsuri's hair dryer could be heard in the distance, "The guy offered you an onigiri, so what?"

"Yes, but kocho-san was told to give it to me, so why didn't he mention it was from him?"

"The real question is why he didn't just give it to you forward" she added.

when uta bit into the onigiri, her body relaxed in response to the rice's flavor; she would be lying if she said she didn't like it.

uta says with a childlike grin, "mhh....yum." even though daki's brow twitched, she wasn't irritated and instead was amazed at how quickly uta's mood shifted. 

Uta continued to eat while thinking deeply. Being a talkative person, she watched her mouth and kept her words to a limit since she knew that if she didn't, people wouldn't like her.

However, she was taken aback by the fact that the man offered her food without even exchanging a single word to each other. Perhaps Yoriichi was just shy? A man who seems like he can annihilate a soul with a single glance cannot possibly be shy.

But Uta didn't believe it; perhaps the man was merely trying to make a good impression and avoid coming off as threatening? Uta maintained her optimism and didn't set the conclusion that he was a horrible guy.

"He probably just didn't want to come off threatening to me, I think he's a nice guy!" Uta cheered like a child, Daki grinned and sighed, she flicked her finger at uta's head to put her senses back to her brain.

"You pea-brain, the last time you said that about a guy, your relationship didn't even last for a month" she snickered, but uta only smiled.

"I wouldn't want people to get hurt if they knew their friend had a bad view about them, besides, the last guy wasn't that bad anyways, I've met worse people"

Ume sighed bet let her be, "if she's got a problem, she can deal it on her own," 

Is what ume always says

"Well, I'm going to bed, I have to wake up in 4, see ya" a big yawn was released before the pearl colored girl went to the room where both mitsuri's bed and her's was theres.

Uta only nodded and took the quietness of the room for her own mind to wander.

Uta finished the onigiri and was now staring in to pure darkness.

Her vision kept looking at lumps of shadows in corners,.not helping herself to stand up and finally finish the day. Yet she stayed. Her teeth nibbled at the tiny rice that was left to stick in her gums.

A cold breeze hit her legs and she shuddered, her eyes landed on the open window Daki must've left. She stood up, thanking herself for already wearing slippers with the cold wooden floors.

She leaned in the window and didn't bother to close it, she ignored the wind as it stopped. She looked down below the window. Streetlights glowed where shadows disappeared, the wind was strong enough to make the thin trees wobble yet the branches never falter.

She gazed widely outside the warm home and peeked her head closer outside to see.

She didn't see a few people down, of course, it's close to being midnight now and she's wide awake.

She closed the window, blocking and creating a wall between her and the outside world.

She lazily bought her body to bed, her phone connected to a charger beside an empty space above her bed and didn't hesitate to use it.

She wanted to tire herself till her eyes couldn't take it anymore and pass out.       She scrolled through social media, reading story's, and just looking at other people's lives through pictures.

Her mind kept echoing for her to sleep until she gave up and did so.

She hoped, she just hoped, that tomorrow or the day after that, would be okay, even if it's boring, it would all be okay for her.

It would be okay.

____________

It's funny how Yoriichi-the student who graduated at the top of his class and remained there-won nearly all of the school's awards and received accolades from the school's professors.

Yoriichi, the person people frequently compare him to his mother, because of how similar they are, was the same person who was late for his second lesson of the day.

This was three days after the meal he shared with tengen's friends

He slumped his body and he felt his own brain slip of from his consciousness, it wasn't fun for him to feel like this, nobody would think it would.

But he remained his posture but couldn't help but place his chin on his palm, it'll be just an hour, he thought, trying his hardest not to drift off and fall asleep.

He had plenty of instances where he arrived at class after the bell had gone off, but he was even more embarrassed by the fact that he kept up this habit throughout college.

Internally groaning, he pulled his hood over his head because the brightness pained his eyes and he didn't want to see anything too bright around him just now. However, he was unaware that a ball of sunshine was already sitting close by, just right next to him.

"Yoriichi?" A chirpy voice entered his ears and he turned abruptly to the woman.

"..uta" he whispered tiredly, though he was surprised she had coincidentally sat beside him.

"Yoriichi! I'd didn't know we had the same class!" Uta cheered, her bright demeanor surprised yoriichi once again.

"Yeah me too..." 

She softened her voice and asked, "How are you doing? You don't seem good. I wonder why we didn't see each other yesterday....But it doesn't matter; how are you feeling?" she's a kind person, yoriichi was taken aback by this.

"I'm okay, mornings just aren't made for me.." he said as quietly as he could, looking awful from lack of energy and making Uta feel sorry for him.

Yoriichi cursed himself as he always felt like garbage in the mornings, just a few more days and this pain of waking up in the morning and feeling like shit would pass. 

"Does your stomach hurt? Are you feeling sick?"

His back hurt, causing him to whimper, and he shook his head sourly as he lowered his head to the open book in front of him. Uta could only stare at him and feel pity for the suffering he was through.

Uta had an idea for later to at least make an effort to comfort her own friend, if she can even call him her friend. 

She had noticed that yoriichi had fallen asleep, she tapped his shoulder causing him to alertly wake up.

He sat with his head on the table for the entirety of the lesson before falling asleep for five minutes later, again

Although she couldn't deny it, she could not help but be hypnotized by his appearance. She could even refer to him as... unique.

Her gaze studied every detail of his face could offer to her, from his remarkably clear complexion to his softly spoken, flawlessly falling hair, as his delicate crimsons fell elegantly upon his face.

he was beautiful.

And she knew

She ignored her desires to gaze at his face and focused directly on the lecture, after all, this was part of her idea.

Uta's whisper of Yoriichi's name caused him to wake just in time. When he opened his eyes to see her resting her head on the table in the same position as him, she chuckled at him and continued to mumble that the lecture was finished.

"Why are you whispering?" Ironically, he whispered back at her.

"Well, who said I couldn't?" 

"Why are you still whispering, I'm awake now"

"Well your whispering too" 

It appeared just as horrible if someone had noticed these two idiots whispering to each other while leaning their heads on the table.

Yoriichi had heard a giggle behind him, a few people passed by them and seemed to chuckle, but upon realizing why, he swiftly turned up. He wasn't aware of how foolish he appeared while he spoke so quietly.

"Something wrong?" Uta questioned, going back to her original position.

"Wa- actually, it's nothing" he stood up and walked outside the auditorium.

Though uta walked by his side, he didn't question her actions, but it only ended after uta asked him a question.

"Yoriichi-san, are you feeling well?"

"Hm...I'm okay" he scratched the back of his neck in hesitation.

"Hey..I know this place near campus that sells really good drinks, want to come? I know a something that would make you better,"

Yoriichi was briefly debating going as he had extra time and wanted to finally get rid of his somber mood. However, since he had less to eat that morning, he accepted the invitation.

He followed her like an obedient puppy tailing behind uta, he continuously had to look down at her to not lose her to such a big crowd.

She was able to drag him to the store despite the huge crowd surrounded around them.

They were both standing at the counter, and while Uta was speaking to the cashier, Yoriichi was still off. Since he occasionally dozed off, Uta couldn't help but smile at the look of clueless on his face.

She ordered for him as he seemed as he didn't mind at all. 

Yoriichi had only snapped out of his trance once they exited the shop. Uta held the two warm plastic cups with each hand, clouds of warm smoke entered the man's nose, and he became alert to the sweet scented aroma.

Yoriichi took the second cup from her hands as she was already drinking hers.

"Hm.." he exclaimed while gazing into the cup. His stomach immediately melted upon taking a small taste of the steaming tea. He had thought that the beverage would be enough to keep him alive for a day and uplift his spirits since he had one more thing to do.

He appreciated the tea uta had given him, although this was too much for somebody that you just met three days ago. Yoriichi was still taken back from her kindness for him, he truly wondered wether her sudden kindness was because of him or her. 

"Thank you uta for...this, I feel better." his eyes fixated only on the warm cup, his hand gently moved the drink in a circular motion making the liquid inside do a perfect swirl. His eyes lowered as his stomach swallowed itself.

A sudden overwhelming feeling of guilt rushed over him.

all because over a cup of tea.

Although the remorse didn't linger as long before a warm sensation came over him. He took yet another tiny sip of the precious tea, holding the cup near to his face.

He felt his face fell warm after the sip, but all he knew it wasn't because of the tea.

He shook his head as he caught a glimpse of himself in the drink's reflection.

"No problem, I love making people feel better, knowing that i wouldn't want to go through such pain as well" She confessed, taking another sip of the drink and melt herself to the flavor of the tea.

He hummed as a response and continued on with his plans as he walked back to campus.

She asked, sipping, while looking at her phone, "Where are you going next?, if we have different plans I should probably just go." He assumed she was looking at her schedule, so he ought to immediately tell her where he's going.

"Library"

"Oh, same" 

she threw away her cup in a nearby bin and happily gleamed on her way to the library.

"You should finish your tea, food aren't allowed inside" 

Yoriichi swiftly followed the girl to the library after finishing the entire cup in one swallow and wiping the tea from his mouth with his thumb after spilling it.

He didn't notice the girl's height as he was walking by her side till she got close to him. Her head was peaking above his shoulder in height, the crown of her head could possibly touch yoriichi's chin. 

He was aware of his height because he frequently stood out due to his red head, height, and possibly birthmark. 

He was surprised that the girl hadn't mentioned how much taller he was than her, but he was ready in case she did.

Uta suddenly looked at yoriichi and he thought she had read what he was thinking just now and was expecting a response from her stare.

He raised a brow and she only smiled.

"I like your earrings yoriichi, they're really cute" she said and looked back where she was walking, she wore a cheeky smile of a child on her face while she said that comment. 

His fingers brushed his earrings lightly and he could not help but feel a gasp escape from his mouth.

She complimented him, about his earrings.

His mind bubbled the compliment but his face didn't falter at all, he felt nice about what she said, this was the first time yoriichi was encouraged to wore his earrings more often.

_________

In the library yoriichi put his bag down on a seat and uta did the same. a solid 10 minutes of silence on staring at a book, yoriichi stood up, making uta look at him.

"I'm just going to get something, I'll be back" uta smiled and nodded and response.

Yoriichi was wondering around the aisles and aisles of pages and leather covers in hopes of finding a specific title. 

His hand felt the hard leather covers, his fingertips grazed at the letters, reading them as if any word would come in to familiar of what he needs.

"No, it's this" a rather familiar voice spoke behind the shelf he stood after.

He peaked his head over to the other side, his eyes landed on his brother with another familiar friend.

"I don't think that's the right one koku, it doesn't really match the title we're looking for"

"Nakime trust me, I have more than two eyes, my brother said so"

"And you believed him?"

Michikatsu scoffed at the remarked his friend nakime made. Yoriichi observed the two debating about an unidentified book he didn't quite recognize.

"Nee-san, you're here..with nakime-san" he mentioned, the two looked over the quite man and michikatsu seem to light up.

"Oh, yoriichi, how are you" yoriichi slightly smiled and approached the two.

"I'm fine, I didn't know you go here nakime-san, good to see you here" yoriichi nicely greeted an old friend.

Nakime waved lightly, her appearance didn't change a bit in yoriichi's eyes.

She was still as pale as ever, with hair as black as ink covering half of her face. The only difference was that she was no longer concealing her eyes with her bangs, so he might be able to see her face more clearly.

Her straightforwardness showed as she spoke once again.

"Yoriichi-san, wonderful to see you too," remained unchanged. She waved softly while holding a book, turning a few pages forward before closing it.

Nakime hit the spine of the book at michikatsu's head and scolded him.

"You idiot, how come you say that you 'have more than two eyes' and yet still be blind,"

she said "this isn't the right book." 

"I've been telling you that IS the right book, you just don't listen to me" michikatsu rubbed his head in pain

Nakime appeared to be fed up with Michikatsu's behavior.

"This book is for hakuji, if we grab the wrong book because of your stupid ass I'll make sure you take responsibility for it." When Michikatsu sneered at her comment once more, the woman's brows appeared to twitch in irritation.

He put a hand michikatsu's shoulder and softened his gaze for a more appropriate approach.

"Why don't you two check out the books you think to be the correct ones? Besides, I doubt Hakuji-san would be upset over a little mistake."

Michikatsu sighed and gave up to agreement and so did nakime.

Yoriichi was the one who always broke the two whenever they butt heads about useless thing,

Though he is still thankful that despite their numerous conflicts, they are still close friends and haven't torn each other apart by now.

While the three exited the bookshelf aisle, michikatsu turned his attention to his brother, asking.

"By the way Yoriichi, what are you doing here?" Although it would be an easy question with an equally clear answer, Yoriichi would respond differently than his brother would expect. Hence why he asked.

"I'm here with a friend" 

"You already have a friend?"

"Yes," yoriichi seemed to fasten his pace as he mentioned his friend.

Uta was left alone at the table after he almost forgot about her. He prayed that she hadn't already left since he was scared that she would think he left her for too long.

At the table uta waved and yoriichi sighed in relief that she was still there.

"Hi yoriichi-san! You're back with... a second yoriichi" uta greeted him along with his twin brother. Michikatsu seem to be confused as to why she called him 'second yoriichi' but he chuckled at uta's attempt.

"This is your friend?" 

The red haired man nodded like an innocent child, michi sighed and looked back at the girl.

Nakime smirked at the girl and laughed, she nudged michikatsu's arm, teasing him lightly

"Hehe, 'second yoriichi'"

"Shut up" michikatsu pushed nakime lightly, it didn't stop her from laughing like a fool at the man.

"Uta, this is my twin brother, michikatsu" 

Uta beamed at the twin and greeted him.

"Oh wow, it's nice meeting you michikatsu-san, I'm uta" 

Michikatsu only nodded and sat the opposite side from the girl.

Yoriichi opened his book while seated next to her. Despite the fact that they were at the library, Uta couldn't help but strike up a conversation with Yoriichi, who was otherwise preoccupied with his book.

He lowered his own head to hear her whisper in his ear. Michikatsu began to wonder how long they have been friends since it appears that they act as though they've known each other for a while.

Even though he didn't show it, he was genuinely pleased that his brother now has a friend. Looking back, yoriichi didn't put much effort into finding friends in elementary school nor high school. He never hung out with anyone other than his brother's friends.

Sumiyoshi-san was the only friend Yoriichi was able to get. However, shortly after the two received their degrees, Sumiyoshi got married, leaving Yoriichi alone.

Michi was continually concerned that if he wasn't there, the man would carry on with his life without someone watching after him.

Yoriichi constantly said that he was fine on his own, but knowing him, he wasn't.

Michikatsu smiled seeing his brother actually enjoy the girl's company, something in his heart felt light at the feeling of relief.

"Ew" nakime pestered.

"What the fuck is it now"

"You're smiling, stop that"

"Why do you care"

"Because it doesn't match your face, you look terrifying" he could sense that the woman was smirking behind her dark bangs, michikatsu hated that image.

"Is it because I'm ugly"

"Never said you were ugly, I said that it just looks terrifying, I'd rather see you frowning than... whatever you're doing" nakime's honesty was enough to peck through michikatsu's ego and break it down to pieces.

that's what he likes about her, her straightforwardness.

Their relationship was the polar opposite of yoriichi's relationship with uta. Just pure spite and hatred.

Michikatsu wanted to talk to his brother, not seeing him for a few days was enough for him to drown yoriichi with questions.

"Do you have any other friends you've made so far yoriichi?" Yoriichi nodded.

"Actually I met your roommate nee-san" michikatsu didn't expect this response to come out of yoriichi.

"..which one?"

"I think his name was tomioka...giyuu, I think" michikatsu sighed that he met one of the more quieter ones.

"Oh so you met giyuu, how did you guys meet?"

"He mistook me for being you in one of my lecture, and I went to a restaurant with other people and saw him again."

"You got invited to dinner? By who?"

"My roommate" yoriichi recollected his memories of tengen asking him out for dinner.

"Oh, uta were you there too?" Uta nodded.

"I was a little late, but me and yoriichi didn't really talk that much" she admitted, michikatsu seemed to raise his suspicion even more. How are they so close if they didn't even talk to each other?

Yoriichi looked at the time in his phone, and packed his belongings ot his bag.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience but I have to go, goodbye nee-san, nakime-san"

He stood up, but just before he left he side eyed uta.

"And thank you for the tea uta...I liked it" yoriichi made it sound like he was confessing something secretive.

Michikatsu's attention went straight to what he said, but before he could even turn to his brother, uta was already waving him goodbye.

___________

Michikatsu sat in his bed scrolling the his phone, his hand inside his hair, ruffling it.

Giyuu stepped inside the room yet he didn't pay any attention to him.

"You look stressed"

"I am" michi exhaled.

Michikatsu put down his phone and tucked himself in bed, it was a little to Early for him to sleep yet looking at his phone made him put it down easily.

He messaged his brother goodnight for the first time yet he was still dissatisfied. He promised that he'd take care of him, just like what his mother said, so he wanted to meet him again.

He just hoped that he succeeds.

__________

Chapter Text

Yoriichi loves to bake, which explains his love for pastries and other sweets, it was clearly obvious as he didn't try to sugarcoat it at all.

From a young age, his mother would often teach him to bake, out of his bonding with his brother—He and his mother had a close relationship.

It started with just bread, she thought that this would bring Interest to him and hopefully make it a hobby of his. And she was right, it did.

Although, the student eventually outpaced his own mentor. He began to teach himself by creating new sweets and recipes. He would never publicly admit it, but this was his method of coping.

He never had the time or energy to explain how this hobby of his helped him development through childhood, it was not like he never knew, he just didn't want to think about it.

He was known to express less of himself to others. He finds it difficult, to be honest—talking. That's when he finds it more easy to communicate with treats instead of words.

On valentines, he would gift his teachers, sometimes classmates, little shaped cookies. He either got the praise or just the mocking word for it.

In secret santa, whoever got their names on his hands Would receive a bundle of gingerbread cookies and twice of the amount of what they wrote on their wishlist.

Crazy, huh? People would have believed that he was only acting this way to win their sympathy and praise. Others might say that he was doing this out of hope of someone would take interest in him. 

All those assuming didn't make a word out of him, because deep down—they weren't the ones he was trying to please anyways.

Though this didn't make a word of his roommate either, tengen was fully intrigued by his hobby. The dwelling smell of baked yeast coming from the kitchen never seem to fail to attract the man simultaneously. every time he had come to see the treats, it was always a different dessert from the last time he baked.

He thought of himself as lucky to have a roommate, this also was a chance for him not to buy anything and just feed off of his treats, because yoriichi really didn't mind. He was happy that others was pleased with his talent.

Tengen screamed half-heartedly, "Yoriichi! These cookies are just fantastic!" as he shoved a dozen into his lips.

As supposedly yoriichi's second roommate, Rengoku greatly liked his work as well.

Yoriichi just sat down with arms crossed and brows connected, as if he was dissatisfied of his work.

"I made it wrong" the tone of his voice wore a saddening yet disappointed aura.

Tengen was about to retort untill thunder can be heard near them outside interrupting him. Yoriichi stood up and started to clean the kitchen.

Rengoku asked, "Do you need assistance, tsugikuni-san?," but yoriichi politely declined, hence Rengoku merely smiled and nodded.

A plate of soft cookies were left alone in the table while yoriichi recollected himself at the sink.

As yoriichi dozed off, tengen admired the cookies once more.

Tengen asked; "hey, are you gonna eat these?"

"Nope, if you want, you can take them" yoriichi didn't hesitate to freely give him the cookies, since he can always make them whenever he pleases. 

Tengen thanked him, and Yoriichi only nodded in response to his further praises.

"My girlfriends are gonna love these, -I mean, who wouldn't ?" 

Yoriichi sucked in his breath, how could he forget about tengen's girlfriends? The first time he'd heard about uzui having three girlfriends was brought up randomly when they were eating on the couch watching some generic ron-com on the television. 

The man said that he was in a polyamorous relationship. Despite the fact that yoriichi wouldn't think much of it, The way he talked about them is what truly drew his attention.

Yoriichi never would have imagined a man who uses the word "flamboyant" as if it were alcohol, would have such passion, love, and admiration for his lovers.

His lips drew lines and just let it go. The mention of uzui's girlfriends made him utter a question to himself he ought to answer.

What would it feel like to be in a relationship?

Does it truly feel as good as everyone says it does?

Other have described love in many ways, such as Always wanting to be with them, and always feeling nice and fuzzy on the inside. Some might 

Describe how amazing and truly wonderful it is to have a lover.

Yoriichi was truly happy for others that found their happiness, he truly was. But he couldn't help but feel selfish to put himself in the picture. To put himself in a imaginary relationship, just to 'feel'—Just to feel the warm, butterfly feelings.

He thought it was hopeless, so he easily dropped the fantasy and kept living to find happiness in other things, other than being in a relationship. 

But he wouldn't admit that he was still waiting for someone.

His brain snapped as cold faucet water hit his hand, he turned off the pipe and rubbed his hand against a clean cloth.

His eyes fell to tengen carrying a plastic bag with a box inside, perhaps maybe containing the cookies he'd made. Though a strange feeling occurred to him—seeing his cookies being placed in a box as if it was some kind of delicates. It's an odd feeling.

"Are you gonna go out with your girlfriends?" Yoriichi flickered his hands to flick off the water.

"Yeah, but it looks like it's gonna rain real bad." Yoriichi exhaled. The weather might've been bad, but he had places to go too. As stubborn as he was, he grabbed a coat, his bag, and an umbrella.

Yoriichi bid rengoku and uzui a goodbye and headed off.

Out of campus. Yoriichi heard the thunder above him get louder and louder with each step he took, further more, it started to shower gentle droplets. then it became more aggressive and rained over him with painful speed.

Yoriichi was unable to find a bus stop with a shade, so he was left desperately trying to find a bus stop sign to settle for.

Turning a corner, he had spotted a blue sign and let out a sigh of relief.                             His umbrella held above him like a shield, protecting himself from getting wet.

He heard a tapping sound that was distinct from the sound of an umbrella as he was standing near the bus sign. His natural movement was to the left, where he fixed his gaze on the expecting person.

"Oh, hey yoriichi-san!" Uta greeted, With her bookbag perched on her head, she didn't look good either.

Her turtle neck paired with her cardigan was drenched with rain. The edges of her long skirt were caked with muck. Her wet cheeks and smile contrasted against her tarnished clothes.

Yoriichi leaned his umbrella to her direction. Uta put her bookbag back to her shoulder to rest. Uta smiled and moved closer to him.

"What are you doing?..." Yoriichi almost whispered.

"We're sharing an umbrella" she said, with her signature cheeky smile.

"No, the umbrella was to be only for you.." his face looked down at her, focusing only at her. Despite her smile clearly contrasting the situation with her clothes, he thought it suited her.

"We can share" 

And there they was, sharing an umbrella in heavy rain.

The peaceful moment really meld in inside yoriichi's mind. Who knew it was this peaceful to share an umbrella with someone.

"Sooo..What are you doing?", Uta asked.

"Going to visit a friend"

"That's nice, I was supposed to meet my friend near a cafe" pausing her sentence, when the rain barely even letting her finish at once.

"but I guess I'm going to be late this time," she said, chuckling to compensate for being careless with the time.

They stayed silent but yoriichi kept keeping glances at her from second to second.

"Your clothes" he mumbled

"Hm?"

"Your clothes. They're ruined" 

"It's okay!" She dropped a sweat and reassured him.

She gave him an unidentifiable smile and said, "It's okay to be dirty every now and then, plus, it doesn't actually bother me that much." 

Her words caught his interest first, followed by her smile.

Her smile, her stupid smile was tempting his attention and patience at once without him realizing.

He sighed and waited once more for the next bus to stop.

A drip of rain fell over her shoulder, making her scoot to her right, causing her bump herself against him. Her shoulder was now touching his. touching.

Uta flinched, looking up to his face already looking at her.

"..Sorry" apologizing, yet she didn't move away. Her shoulder was warm despite for the soaked cardigan again his coat. He scratched his neck while looking the opposite direction from each other.

"Hey yoriichi, can I tell you something?" She asked, for some reason, she reminded yoriichi of a child that's about to confess a secret to an adult.

He put his thoughts aside and hummed in response, telling her to continue.

"Please tell me if what I tell you sounds weird, but...you smell like cookies" 

Yoriichi immediately went to thought,

Oh, I forgot to change my shirt

He mentally shamed himself for slacking off like that, and letting a simple mistake slip pass him so easily.

Yoriichi put his head down and apologized

"Sorry...I didn't have time to change"

"I like cookies too, so it's cool."

Unaware of Yoriichi's baking skills, Uta assumed the man was simply eating cookies rather than making them.

"I mean, at least we're equal now, right?" She was right. They were both a mess. But, If uta was so okay about it, why can't he?

His cookie aroma piqued her interest more. She found it charming that a man who is so intimidating can have such a passion for cookies. Uta felt that was wonderful because it meant that she now knew the kind of pastries that he liked.

She grinned broadly. Her hobby was getting to know people better; she enjoyed being social.

"Hey" yoriichi blurted, making uta surprised he was the one who spoke first

"Yes?"

"About that time at the park.."

Uta's smile faded, it made her lips relax and make a gap between them.

"I'm sorry" uta immediately said.

"No, I'm..."

"Please don't apologize. It's my fault that I tripped and you got hurt for it" uta tried to explain.

Yoriichi let out a sigh of relief and understanding.

"I understand"

Uta looked at him

"And I forgive you" he added

For a split second, uta saw him smile, but only if she saw it quicker, then she would've seen it better.

She smiled and beamed like a lightbulb.

"I'm glad you do, so why don't we just forget what happened and just be friends?" Yoriichi nodded making uta sigh in relief as well.

While yoriichi was still waiting for the bus to come, uta was now figuring out ways to get to know her 'new' friend.

With the boost of motivation, she continued the conversation.

"I really like the rain, cold but- enjoyable" yoriichi eyed her with his signature dull eyes. He had only noticed that the rain had died down for a bit, but it still didn't stop.

"...you do?" He questioned.

"Yeah" she paused, and continued—

"Something about it is so beautiful. Clear water falling from the sky."

He first turned to face her before turning to the gloomy sky. To be honest, 'the girl from his dreams' had a ring to it that made him unable to believe it was real. She appeared less and less frequently in his dreams as time went on. Though, what's the point of seeing her in your sleep if your gonna see her when you wake up anyways?

It seems as if faith really want me to know this girl.

He looked back, those obsidian eyes never seem to leave him alone. A clear reflection of a rain drops can be seen passing by her iris. Rain drop after rain drop, her eyes seem to reflect the whole world. 

He didn't want to move his sight anymore, he just wanted to see the world through her.

"Isn't the rain pretty?" 

.

.

.

"Yeah, pretty"

The engine stopped and let out a loud gas, yoriichi looked forward where the bus's door were wide open.

It was still raining yet uta was prepared to wave him goodbye until yoriichi handed her his umbrella.

Her brows raised and mouth agape.

"Take it, I'll just get a new one" her hand hesitated.

"Hurry, the bus is leaving" she immediately grabbed the handle of the umbrella.

Yoriichi let out a chuckle, that was barely audible because of the rain.

He stepped inside the bus and it already left before the girl could react.

She held the handle tightly with her hands and held it close to her.

It was warm.

———————

The bell door rang as it opened, the Kamado bakery, one of the few bakery's yoriichi used to work was owned by two sides of the Kamado family.

He went up to the counter with an unfamiliar face working on the other side.

"Hello sir, what can I get for you?" A red haired boy greeted him as he approached. 

He couldn't put his finger as to why this boy was sorta' familiar, maybe because they looked the same? 

"Um....I'm here for my friend, is Sumiyoshi-san here?" 

The boy nodded

"Yes, actually he's just at the back doing something. If you don't mind me asking what is your relationship with Sumiyoshi-san?" He asked, 

"...my name's yoriichi tsugikuni, I'm his friend"

"Is that so? actually I think he's coming here now, please wait here," he said. The red-haired boy hurriedly left the cashier and went around to the back, while Yoriichi waited by the counter while seated on a bar stool. 

Sumiyoshi came through the back, his dirty green apron matching the teenage boy beside him like father and son. 

The young boy returned to the cashier while Sumiyoshi approached Yoriichi.

But in a empty bakery with three red headed boys, you can't miss the contrast where two is smiling and one is not.

Sumiyoshi carried a box filled with sweets of some sort and placed them into a table for them to eat.

As placed, the bakery owner spoke.

"Yoriichi-san, how's college treating ya?" 

"Alright" his fingers fidgeted the yellow macarons. Crumbs landed on the wooden table as he took only one bite.

"I'm happy to know, I really wish I can experience it too for once" 

Yoriichi's stomach churned in a way of pity, he wishes the same, so he couldn't be alone at college as well.

Sumiyoshi was at least 2 years older than yoriichi, although he never got a chance to ever even go to college. Given that he was financially secure and that taking care of his family came first, this didn't bother him as much.

"I wish I could've done better" he made a sweet coated laugh that made yoriichi's lips thin.

"You have a family that loves you Sumiyoshi, and a friend that cares. You've done enough of what you've tried." 

Sumiyoshi smiled, and then laughed. He patted his arm as he wiped a clear tear from his eyes.

"Sorry for making this conversation gloomy. The truth is that I just really wanted to talk to my friend again. Since both of us have been so busy lately" 

Yoriichi ate another macaroon, filling his stomach with pure sugar once more.

"I suppose you're right" 

And then, the door bell rang and came a couple of teenagers. From the looks of it they were the same age as the young red-headed boy.

The two men looked at the front, in complete silent, Sumiyoshi let out a sigh.

"Remember when we were at highschool, and you still worked here?" He said.

Yoriichi went to the back of his head to remembered the pieces of moments when he worked there. 

He missed the moments when there was a slight aroma of bread. And the occasional puff of smoke brought on by the broken oven.

"Yeah.. remember that time when you slipped on the wet floor while trying to woo Suyako?"

Sumiyoshi's cheeks heated and nervously laughed, making yoriichi smirk in amusement. He told yoriichi to never mention it again. 

But he was secretly holding that memory for something useful in the future 

The bakery owner sighed again, this time was long and cold. 

"The bakery was a hit when you worked here" he admitted, the only reason why the bakery was such a success was because of a shy, quite boy who only worked there for two years.

"I even remember girls would ask for your number, but you'd decline" he didn't look directly at yoriichi, but he knew that he would be looking at Sumiyoshi.

"I was never interested"

"They weren't your type, I suppose?"

"No, they were actually really nice, but they would cause a distraction for my school. I had to know my limits" 

Declining the girls request for his number was one of the first decisions he'd put himself first. Though Sumiyoshi was proud for his decision, considering the fact yoriichi was one to have low self-esteem.

They hadn't noticed that the young boy was now not wearing an apron, as it looks like he was now leaving his shift for today.

"Uncle, I'll be taking my leave now" the boy slightly bowed. One teenager behind him bowed nervously while eyeing the red headed boy if he was doing it right. 

"T-thank you, Tanjiro's uncle, for the free pastries."

The young boy stumbles through his expression of gratitude. He had golden hair and was visibly sweating.

"No problem! I'm happy you kids are friends with my nephew" 

Tanjiro turned to face yoriichi.

"You too Mr. Tsugikuni, I hope you liked your time here" 

He blinked, surprised someone even acknowledged his existence.

He could only nod his head. His eyes sharpened, and without him knowing—his aura changed.

The golden boy stiffened and avoided the man's gaze. Petrified, the Blondie clutched tanjiro's shoulder.

"Tanjiro, let's get out of here!" He aggressively whispered. Tanjiro was pushed out of the store, joining the other group of teenagers outside and then leaving the sight of the two men.

Sumiyoshi bursted out laughing as soon as the kids were gone. It was clear he was holding it for a while now.

"Hahhahahaaha! The kid got scared of you, AHAHHAAH!" 

Like an owl, he tilted his head in confusion as he watched his friend laugh.

Sumiyoshi fanned the topic away and just said it was nothing. He really wondered what did he did wrong, and why the boy looked scared at him.

They laughed, talked and ate. Yoriichi left before the sun could depart it's way to the west

——————

Street lights began to turn on, occupying the darkness. The wind howls emitted from the shadows as Crickets and cicadas buzzing outside filled the empty space of night winds

Yoriichi couldn't help but stare Intently at the cookie box Sumiyoshi had given him as a gift. Although he tried to protest and decline, he had unknowingly carried the box all the way to his room anyways.

The hot pink bow and pink stripes design on the white box gave it the appearance of being given by a lover, was seated at his desk just beside his laptop.

Yoriichi knew that Sumiyoshi chose that box for a purpose. He maybe perhaps thought that he can gift the treats to someone, knowing well he won't eat sugar with a full stomach.

He was being tricked, and fell for it.

Yoriichi went to the kitchen carrying the box and putting it in his fridge. once he closed the door, he went to get a glass of water. 

Holding the glass, his attention shifted midway drinking. 

"Yeah right, Obanai, I'm sure you do" tengen answered back to the phone he was holding just by his ear.

Yoriichi couldn't help but eavesdrop. It isn't bad to be naughty once in a while, isn't it?

"By the way I heard one of mitsuri's roommate got sick" 

The voice responded.

"Wait, deadass? IS IT DAKI? Please tell Me it's daki" tengen brightly cheered, chortling laughter and joy from his chest.

"No" his shoulders dropped in disappointment letting out a frustrated 'damnit' 

"It's the other one, I think her name is ita—uta, but back to the topic—"

He put down his glass. 

She must've gotten sick from the rain

His first initial thoughts. He felt somewhat, heavy, in a emotional and physical way. 

He had an idea, but he had to talk to a stranger for it.

——————

"Uta!! There's a package for ya!!" Daki screamed across the room as uta was eating some kind of soup in the table.

Her stuffed nose was enabling her from breathing or even smell anything. With her feeble hand clumsily held the spoon.

Seeing the decorated box in front of her was decreasing her level of confusion, making her think, and making her head ache.

"So who's this from?" One with the white hair asked.

"I dunno..I didn't order anything like this" she sniffed her nose mid sentence.

Mitsuri overheard and timidly made a possible accusation.

"W-wait, maybe it's from an admirer?" uta's eyes widened. Mitsuri realized what she just said and covered her mouth

"I-i'm sorry! I didn't mean to make such a uncomfortable accusation" she shamed herself for being such an embarrassment.

"No no..not at all..." She closed her eyes, too tired to open them.

"I'll just get this to my room.." 

Her two roommates gave her some space to be alone and rest.

Once she stepped inside, her body laid flat chested on the bed, with the box beside her.

She thought it was simply just own of her friends gifting her, and didn't bother to make a statement.

But she was sceptical. The pink striped box appears as it was meant to be a love gift, unlike uta, she didn't really had anyone at that time.

Upon opening it, a greyish-blue index card was placed on top.

It was neatly done, and pulling the card closer, her eyes deceived her from reading.

Get better soon..

Enjoy

To: uta

From: tsugikuni, 'the one with the earrings.'

How sweet she thought, yoriichi cared.

She hadn't noticed her smile had widened. She giggled beneath her chest. She flipped the card and again—she was surprised.

A number.

She entered it, it was indeed him.

It was already past 10.

She was underneath her blankets, light closed and texting a guy she barely knew.

She hit send, and—

Uta: hello, is this yoriichi?

Yoriichi: oh, hello uta.

Uta: OMG, hi yoriichi-san :D

Yoriichi: hello uta, did you enjoy the cookies I gave you?

Uta: I only ate two since I was full, but yes they were delicious. Where did you buy them? They were so cute too !!

Yoriichi: I'm glad. They came from a bakery of my friend's.

Uta: the cookies were so cute, I ate a bunny shaped one, and a frog shaped one too. I LOVE THEM !! Tell your friend he's an amazing baker

yoriichi: I will. Sorry if giving you my number was too sudden..I wanted to know how they tasted.

Uta: no it's fine, but the packaging looked as if it was for a lover, any reason for that?

Yoriichi: sorry..it was my friend.

Unaware, uta imagined his face while texting and blushed while giggling behind the screen.

Uta: no prob bob:)

Yoriichi: ...my name's yoriichi

Her head hurt from laughing too hard, but she disregarded the pain and continued to cackle.

Uta: hehe sorry, anyways I'll return your umbrella back if I ever bump into you again, is that okay?

Yoriichi: oh

no, you can keep it

Uta: but it's yours?

Yoriichi: it's okay, keep it.

Uta: if ya say so. It's mine now >:D

Yoriichi, kept looking at the emoticons she used, and wanted to try it too.

Yoriichi: yeah, it's yours now:)

Uta, the one behind the screen, giggled at his attempt of using the smiley face. 

Uta: sorry for cutting it short but I gotta sleep now, getting tired.

Yoriichi: oh, sorry. Get some sleep and rest well. 

Uta: goodnight yoriichi-san :D

Yoriichi: goodnight, uta.

Like anyone would dislike sick days, uta smiled, a bright one, as she fell asleep.

—————