DARK RED [ITADORI Y.]

―VI. YEARBOOK

CHAPTER VI. YEARBOOK

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"WE don't know what happened," I said, Yuki and Oyama beside me as we sat on in the chairs, facing the police officer. We agreed that what happened stayed between us. 

"Your shirt was covered in blood," The officer said, holding up the plastic bag with my torn uniform inside. "Was it yours?"

"Yeah. I got caught on something and it tore my shirt and cut my side," I said, showing her the fake bandages we made. 

"I see. Well, that's all the questions I have for now. If you remember anything, please use this number and contact me," She stood, handing each of us a business card. 

"We will," Oyama nodded. 

"Thanks," Replied Yuki. 

"Alright, girls," My mother said, Yuki and Oyama's mothers coming forth as well. "Let's get you home and get you some rest."

"I'll text you later," Oyama said, waving to us as she left. 

"I'll see you at school, Y/n," Yuki said, leaving with her mother. 

"Yeah, see you guys,"

What had happened to us was almost unexplainable. There was no way that we could tell the police that something they couldn't see stabbed a giant hole through my stomach, I came back from the dead and that we got kidnapped into a school that wasn't there. I'm pretty sure they would have locked us up in a mental asylum for a few weeks. 

So we agreed to come up with some kind of lie. That we were followed by some old guy and we got scared and ran. Our injuries were from running through the forest. We stayed there because we got lost, then found our way back in the morning when the rain stopped and we came straight to the police to contact our parents. 

I could tell Yuki and Oyama were still worried about what had happened to me. They begged me to go to the hospital and full make sure nothing was wrong, but I had assured them that I was perfectly fine. I wasn't hurt, and I truly felt fine. 

Besides, I wouldn't know how to explain that I didn't have a heartbeat. 

What Yaga said had turned out to be true. I checked my wrist, my neck, and even stole the blood pressure cuff we used for my grandmother. But...it wasn't there. I didn't have a heartbeat. 

My body wasn't cold all the time, my skin wasn't decaying, and I didn't smell like a dead person, so I...didn't really think much about it. The thought was always there, floating around in the back of my mind, though. Yuki and Oyama didn't know about it either. And I didn't feel like I should tell them. Not yet, anyway.

The rest of the week passed by fairly slowly, allowing the three of us to catch up on school work before actually returning back to school. And when we returned, we were immediately swarmed with people. They kept asking if we were scared, how we felt, if they could do anything for us, or if the people who took us were cute or butt-ugly. 

"How did they even find out?" Yuki groaned, the three of us have taken refuge in the yearbook club room. 

"By this," Oyama muttered, turning her phone to us. Someone had published an article about us on the school webpage, and it just gained popularity from there. 

"I bet a thousand yen that's why we're having a class meeting right now," I said, rolling a pencil around on the table. "Public safety."

"Wonderful," Yuki huffed. "Now we're going to have to start taking the bus again."

"I'd rather ride our bikes," Oyama said. 

"This is all just a load of crap," I muttered, flipping through last year's yearbook that had been left on the table. 

"Did anyone come to talk to you, Y/n? When we were at the crazy school?" Oyama asked. 

"Yeah, that tall white-haired guy, and some old man. He said he was the principal or something like that," I said, leaning my cheek against my fist. "They just spouted a bunch of nonsense. Stuff I don't understand, and didn't care to remember."

Yuki rolled her eyes. "He could have said something valuable and you forgot it,"

"I don't pay attention half the time---Woah! Guys, look at this!"

Yuki and Oyama sat up at the exclamation from me, leaning over my shoulders as I pointed to a picture in the yearbook. A boy with sandy blonde hair and a darker undercut, honey-colored eyes, and a bright smile. I recognized him. 

"That's the kid with the red shoes," Yuki muttered. 

"What's his name?" Oyama asked. 

"Uhm...Itadori Yuuji," I read aloud. "By this...he should be in the same grade as us. A-And look here, he was on the track team too..."

"How did we never notice him?" Yuki asked. "I mean, we were always ogling over the boys' team. How come he never caught our eye?"

"He looked popular too," Oyama said, pointing to a picture of him with a bunch of other boys. "I wonder how he got to that school..."

"I'm gonna go talk to the coach," I said, standing up. "I want to know more about this kid."

"Y/n, I think you should just leave it alone," Oyama said, grabbing my arm. "If you dig any further into this, you could get hurt again.."

"I'll be fine," I smiled. 

As long as I kept smiling, and didn't tell Oyama and Yuki that these people were more than likely hunting me down, then everything would be fine. So I just had to keep telling them that, and telling myself that too. But I could see the uneasiness in their eyes. But they let me go anyways. 

...

"Itadori Yuuji?" The coach scratched the side of his head. 

"Yeah, is there anything you could tell me about him?" I asked. 

"Well, he was the best damn boy I ever coached," He stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "The Tiger of West Junior High. The kid was fast, and he was strong too. You see that soccer net?"

I looked over to the place he pointed at, seeing a dent in the metal. I nodded. "Yeah."

"He threw a shotput and bent that," He said, making my eyes widen. "You throw for the girls' team, so you know how much force that would take to do that."

"A...A lot," I said. "Was he...violent, or mean in any way?"

"Itadori? No, no. He's one of the sweetest boys you'll ever come along. Very polite," He said. 

"Do you know why he moved away?" I asked. The coach sighed. 

"After his grandfather passed away, he found another high school and went to. It happened just shortly after the accident here at the school," He said. 

"The accident...are you talking about what happened to the occult club?" I asked. "The robbers that broke into the school?"

"Yeah," He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just guess he couldn't handle it. Needed a change of pace. It's a shame though. Woulda loved to have him back on the team."

"I see. Thank you for your time, Coach."

I bowed to him before leaving, thinking to myself. I wonder if this Itadori boy was connected to the accident that happened at the school.

I think I was going to pay a visit to Sasaki-senpai. 

[Chapter VI. End]
[Image belongs to me]