DARK RED [ITADORI Y.]

―XXXVII. VISIT

CHAPTER XXXVII. SURPRISE VISIT

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I woke up to the sun shining through the crack in my curtains. I flinched from the light, rolling onto my side away from the window. It took me a minute to actually wake up, making me roll onto my back and rub at my eyes. I was groggy from the pain medicine. It took another ten minutes for me to even roll out of bed.

Once I did, I stumbled onto my feet, tangled in my blankets. I shook the covers from my ankle and walked to my dresser. I pulled clothes out for the day and then left my room. I shuffled down the hall into the bathroom.

After I'd taken a shower, dried my hair, and gotten dressed, I walked downstairs. My mother greeted me first, who smiled and grabbed both of my cheeks, kissing them.

"Good morning, Okaasan," I muttered.

"Morning, Y/n," She hummed. "Yuuji-kun is in the living room."

Oh, shit. I'd forgotten he was here. What even happened last night? I mean, I remember that, but after, I have no idea.

"Morning, Y/n," Yuuji smiled at me as I walked into the living room. It was just him sitting on the couch, watching some TV show I didn't know the name of.

"M-Morning," I said, taking the seat beside him. "Um, Yuuji, what happened last night? I mean, I remember us k-kissing and stuff, but..."

Yuuji looked like he was holding in laughter. I suddenly felt embarrassed and felt my face flush with heat.

"W-What?" I asked. "God, what did I do?"

He burst into laughter. I buried my face in my hands, making him grab my shoulders. "N-No, it's not like that!" He said, trying to quiet his laughter. "You just look really cute when you're flustered like that."

"What happened?" I cried.

"You fell asleep," He giggled. "Like immediately after."

I groaned loudly, making him laugh and wrap his arms around me. He pulled me into his chest, still giggling as he laid his head on my shoulder. He settled after that, and I didn't bother to pull away from him. Instead, I rested against him.

Oddly, I felt comforted around him. I always had. It made me wonder why, but I think I was learning why. And to be honest, I was welcoming this feeling with open arms.

I faintly heard a knock on the front door, followed by my siblings yelling that there was someone on the porch. My mother, who was occupied in the kitchen, called my name.

"Could you see who it is?" She asked. "If it's someone trying to sell something, just shut the door on them."

I sighed and got up from the couch. I walked down the hall, pausing to fix my hair and straighten my clothing out in the mirror hanging on the wall. I rubbed at my side as I reached for the handle on the door. However, before I could open it, I felt something swirling in the pit of my stomach.

It wasn't an 'I'm about to throw up' kind of swirl. It was a 'something's wrong' kind of swirl. I felt myself frown, my eyebrows lacing together. I was slowly learning to listen to my intuition and to stop doing things so recklessly. But this was just answering the door. What was so wrong with this?

Why had I suddenly become so anxious about answering the front door? I'd done it multiple times before. I didn't understand the big deal now. I tried to shake the feeling away, but it remained there, and only seemed to intensify as the moments passed. I slowly moved my hand away from the knob and returned it to my side.

I pulled the curtain to the side ever so slightly beside the door. I looked out onto the porch and frowned even more.

Yuki and Oyama? What were they doing here? I haven't talked to either of them in months. I was blocked in their contacts. Why were they standing in front of my house? Oyama was holding a bouquet of flowers, and I could see a 'get well soon,' card sticking around the flowers.

I looked back at the door. Slowly, I twisted the knob and opened it.

Yuki had her gaze cast to the side. Oyama's eyes widened when she saw me, and the grip she had on the flowers tightened. She swallowed hard and shifted on her feet.

"H-Hey," She greeted. "We...We heard about what happened. How are you?"

I stared at her. I looked at Yuki. I caught her staring, but the moment our eyes met, she turned her head away. She shifted away from her, and I was now staring at her back.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

Oyama cleared her throat, kicking Yuki in her foot. Yuki didn't move or say anything. She looked back at me.

"Listen, Y/n, we're really sorry for ghosting you," She said, rubbing the ring on her thumb. "It's just...we've been busy with...school and stuff."

"Yeah," I said, my voice quiet.

Oyama looked down at her feet guiltily. "I'm sorry, Y/n. Your Mom called me to tell me what happened. We had no idea that something had happened to you."

"Because you blocked me."

She shifted again. "It wasn't because we were mad at you or anything. I don't even have your number anymore."

"It's been the same since we met," I said.

"We came to apologize," Yuki muttered. "Can't you just accept it?"

"No, I can't," I said, making both of them turn and look at me in surprise. "You both abandoned me. Replaced me."

"No, you've got it all wrong!" Oyama said quickly. "We didn't replace you!"

"Really?" I said, gripping my side. It was aching. "Because that's exactly what you did. I moved to a different school. That doesn't mean I wasn't your friend anymore. But that's how you guys saw it, huh?"

"Just stop," Yuki mumbled, walking down the steps off of the porch. "I told you we shouldn't have come, Oyama."

"Yuki, wait," She said. "We just need to talk this out! All of it's a misunderstanding. Y/n, please reconsider and accept our apology. We really are sorry about what happened."

"What happened?" I asked, my voice wavering because of the increase of pain in my body. The medicine was wearing off.

The door behind me opened. I glanced over my shoulder to see Yuuji in the doorway. He glanced at Oyama, then at Yuki. They both stared at him in shock. He glanced at my face and frowned. He reached out and grabbed my arm gently.

"Breakfast is ready," He said. "You need to eat so you can take your medicine."

"Hold on a damn minute," Yuki came back up the stairs. "You're Itadori Yuuji. You're that kid. The one from that freak school."

Yuuji ignored him. "Come on, Y/n."

"Y/n?" Oyama said, her shoulders slowly dropping. "Can we please talk about this?"

Yuuji looked down at me, frowning softly. His face was filled with concern. He looked at Oyama as I turned towards him, stepping back into the house.

"Maybe later," Yuuji said. "For now, she needs to rest."

[Chapter XXXVII. End]
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