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When Yuta woke up that morning, it was from the sensation of someone climbing into his bed. Stirred awake by the feeling, he blinked his eyes open, a girl’s grinning face peering down at him.
“Morning, Yuta!” Rika chirped.
“Morning,” Yuta mumbled back, his voice rough with sleep. “What are you doing here?”
Rika poked his cheek, undeterred by his less than enthusiastic greeting. “Waking you up, silly. You overslept again, and I didn’t want you to get in trouble with Gojo.”
Upon the realization that he’d somehow slept through his alarm again, Yuta bolted upright in bed, just barely missing Rika, who leaned back at the last second. “I can’t be late! Are we already late?” He threw the blanket off his body, scrambling out of bed and rushing to grab his uniform out of the closet. “I set two alarms!”
“You work so hard,” Rika pointed out, still sitting on the edge of the bed. “You must be tired.”
“Three,” Yuta decided, quickly changing his t-shirt. “I’ll do three alarms tomorrow.”
Rika giggled. “Or I can just wake you up.”
Yuta pulled his black uniform jacket off the hanger, sliding his arms into the sleeves. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re not even supposed to be in here. It’s the boys’ dorms.”
Rolling her eyes, Rika huffed and flopped back onto the bed. “Oh who cares? Boys’ dorms, girls’ dorms – there’s only five of us in this class, and one of them isn’t even human.” She rolled onto her stomach, propping her chin in her hands and giving him a pout. “I’d much rather be here with you.”
With a frown, Yuta asked, “Why? Don’t you like Maki?”
Rika didn’t blink, nor did she make a move. “Yeah, sure.”
It wasn’t that positive of a response, and Yuta knew it. Still, he smiled good-naturedly and finished getting ready for school, instructing Rika to turn around so he could change out of his shorts and into his uniform pants. She hid her eyes behind her hands, giggling like, well, a school girl, only lifting them when Yuta said he was good. She always listened to him when he asked or told her to do something, but sometimes, he couldn’t help but wonder if she liked to push the envelope. She wasn’t that good at listening to others aside from him.
Picking up his katana, which he’d been practicing to imbue curse energy with, Yuta paused and peered at Rika, who was kneeling patiently on his bed. “Hey, Rika?”
“Mm?” Rika was bright-eyed and aware, ready to respond at the drop of a pin.
He thought of Maki, who was helping him with his swordsmanship, and then wondered, not for the first time, why Rika didn’t seem to care for her that much. Maybe it was because Maki was so intense and serious, always pushing Yuta to his limits. Rika would disparage her later as she tended to Yuta’s scrapes and bruises, but she was all smiles and laughs when it was the two of them, looping her arm around Maki’s as they walked through campus. Maki didn’t seem to know how to handle it, unused to being touched so warmly.
Yuta smiled tiredly. “Never mind, it’s not that big of a deal. Let’s get to class.”
“Right!”
They made it to class only a few minutes late, better than Gojo who was a full fifteen minutes late despite his ability to teleport. He smiled nervously at Maki, who simply shook her head as he sat down at the desk beside her. Rika made a strange huffing sound, sitting in the one behind him. She preferred it there, able to lean over his shoulder or prop her feet on the bottom of his chair.
Smoothing out the skirt of her uniform, Rika sat upright, almost proper, an attentive expression on her face. “Do you think we’ll be assigned any missions this week?”
“It has been unusually quiet these last two weeks,” Panda pointed out, scratching his furry chin.
Inumaki nodded. “Salmon.”
With a giggle, Rika leaned sideways in her seat to pet Panda, always eager to feel his fur, and he laughed. Panda, for his part, never complained, seeming to revel in the attention. He often worried about his smell, but seeing as how he wasn’t actually an animal, he didn’t have the issue he freaked out about. Rika had taken to spraying him with perfume or fabric conditioner, telling him that it would help, which allowed her to get closer to him. He was a big ole teddy bear, she liked to say, though Yuta asked her not to say that around Yaga.
The door was kicked open, startling everyone, only to reveal one Gojo Satoru, who hopped into the classroom as if he’d had three too many espressos. “Hello, hello, and good morning, students!”
“You’re late,” Maki griped.
“It’s not his fault you were fifteen minutes early,” Rika stated.
Maki eyed her sideways out of the corner of her glasses but said nothing. The bright smile never left Gojo’s face, as if he hadn’t heard the two girls speak. In the beginning, Yuta wouldn’t have put it past him to miss it since he acted like such a silly airhead at times, but months into the school year, he’d wisened up. Gojo might’ve acted like an idiot at times, but he was a lot more clever and perceptive than he came off, especially with his Six Eyes. It was just one of the reasons why Yuta admired him so much.
“Who’s ready to go fight some curses?” Gojo asked, throwing out his hands in excitement.
Rika perked upright. “A mission?”
Gojo held up his fingers. “Three!”
“Oh, three missions!” Rika exclaimed, clapping cheerily. “This means we all get to go on one, right?”
“Yup, though I’ll have to partner with one of you,” Gojo confirmed.
That usually meant the student he accompanied did all the work, seeing as how he could take care of practically anything on his own. He’d only be there for appearance’s sake. Yuta didn’t mind going on missions with Gojo, but he had a throw them to the wolves approach that he was still trying to figure out, especially with him. Something about him being special, having far more cursed energy than any student in years.
Maki leaned over to Panda and, without even bothering to hide it, asked, “Rock, paper, scissors on who gets stuck with Gojo?”
“You all should be fighting to go with me on a mission!” Gojo insisted, though he sounded too insulted for it to actually be genuine.
Yuta smiled a little. Gojo could be very eccentric, but he had a good heart, even if he did try to hide it under a flippant nature. He’d found them, after all, bringing both Yuta and Rika into the fold, and he never underestimated Maki despite her extremely minimal curse energy, unlike most other sorcerers. When weird things had started to happen more and more in middle school, Yuta hadn’t known what to do or what was going on, only to find out that he was the source. Gojo had brought them here and promised to teach them, and he had so far, even if his methods were kind of unconventional.
“Hm, let’s see…” Gojo squeezed his lips thoughtfully. “Panda and Inumaki for team one, and…”
Rika kicked the back of Yuta’s chair, making him lean back so she could whisper, “I can’t wait to have fun with you! We can turn it into a little vacation.”
“Okkotsu and Maki,” Gojo decided. “That means you’re with me, Orimoto!”
“What!” Rika bolted upright, gawking at their teacher. “Why are you pairing Yuta with Maki?”
Gojo shrugged. “It’ll be good for him to spend more time with another cursed weapon user.”
It was a good point, one that Yuta could agree with. Maki was the most talented weapon user he knew, and he liked watching her work and also sparring with her. If not for Maki, he would’ve still been lagging behind severely, but she trained with him viciously, forcing him to catch up or get beat up for eternity.
Yuta gave Maki a thumbs up. “I won’t make you do all the work this time.”
“Just keep up,” Maki shot back. “If I catch you hesitating, I’m making you do all the work.”
Rika blinked, eyes still wide. “That’s not fair! I always go on missions with Yuta!”
“It’s okay, Rika,” Yuta told her sincerely. “We’ll go on the next mission together.”
“I want to go on this one with you,” Rika proclaimed with a pout.
“It’s good to diversify every now and then, especially when it comes to working with other sorcerers,” Gojo pointed out, actually sounding like a teacher for once. “You can’t always expect to work with Yuta. That’s just not how it works. Once you all graduate, you’ll likely be assigned on missions with others and even on your own. You need to learn how to work with people of varying levels and skills.”
It was a perfectly logical explanation, Panda nodding in understanding, but Rika didn’t take it well. Yuta could see it happening before the others: the twist of her lips, the narrowing of her eyes, her nails scraping against the desk as she balled her hands into fists. Gojo, he thought, saw it too, but he didn’t react, continuing to look at her directly (or, well, as much as he could with a blindfold on) with a neutral expression on his face.
That only served to infuriate Rika more, and she jumped to her feet, knocking her chair over. “This is ridiculous. I should be with Yuta, not Maki.”
For her credit, Maki merely arched an eyebrow, unbothered by the accusation. “If you want him that bad, you can have him.”
“No, no,” Gojo jumped in when Rika opened her mouth. “I made these assignments for a reason.” He pointed a finger at Maki, who blinked in surprise. “You also need to learn to work better with others, and Yuta needs to learn how to control his curse energy so as to not overwhelm everything. You’ll balance each other out.”
“We balance each other out!” Rika exclaimed.
“Of course.” Gojo smiled. “But you can’t always depend on Yuta, can you? That’s a lot to put on his shoulders.”
Her lips trembling in an angry pout, Rika shot one last glare at Maki, who didn’t even blink, and then stormed out of the classroom, slamming the door behind her so loudly that Yuta winced. In the ensuing silence, Panda leaned over to Inumaki, muttering something under his breath, to which Inumaki nodded in agreement. Gojo simply pocketed his hands and leaned back against the front of his desk, unphased by the outburst.
Yuta’s shoulders sank. He really did wish Rika was better about working with other people. While he loved going on missions with her, Gojo was right that she needed to learn how to work with others. Her curse energy was quite temperamental, fluctuating constantly, as if it didn’t know what it wanted to do. She didn’t have an innate curse technique either, and, truth be told, there was a chance she wouldn’t make it beyond a grade two sorcerer, but she wouldn’t get anywhere if she just kept following him around.
With a sigh, Yuta moved to stand. “I’ll go calm her down.”
“Why?” Maki scoffed. “You’re not her sitter. Let her throw her fit.”
Yuta frowned. “I don’t like it when she’s upset. Her curse energy…”
It seemed to be tied directly to her emotions, causing outbursts whenever she was upset. Rika was relatively calm for the most part, put together in a way that made adults smile, but she had her moments, like now, usually when it came to him. She wouldn’t be acting like this if it was anyone else, so he felt…obligated to go to her, calm her down, something to smooth things over. He could make her understand. She was just upset right now, but she’d realize that Gojo was right.
She had to eventually.
*
It had become apparent early on that Rika’s attachment to Yuta was bordering on unhealthy. Best friends didn’t cover it. Hell, not even a massive crush could account for things. It was beyond that, close to obsession, and Gojo, of all people, had learned to recognize the signs of someone spiraling. Rika’s, of course, wasn’t the same as Geto’s, but there was something off there. He’d ignored it back then, for the sake of his friend and his own struggles to perfect his abilities, but he wouldn’t make the same mistake.
Sure, Rika might genuinely love Yuta, but even love could become a curse in its own way.
He could look over her constantly sneaking into the boys’ dorms, trusting Yuta to keep things proper. The boy was still too shy to do more than hold hands, which Rika almost always made him do whenever other girls were around. It didn’t do much with Maki, who didn’t give a shit, and Utahime’s female students seemed equally unimpressed.
What Gojo was more concerned about were non-sorcerers, who Rika would snap at viciously if they even tried to talk to Yuta, who was coming more into his own each day. Good-looking and endearingly sweet, for people that couldn’t sense his massive amount of curse energy, the kid drew others in. He didn’t seem to notice it himself, scratching the back of his head when girls and even some young women flocked to him, but Rika did, and she did not like it one bit. Gojo couldn’t help but think of the cursed knives she kept on her person for missions.
He didn’t think she would actually outright attack a non-sorcerer for getting too close to Yuta, but still… It was very obvious that she wanted to do that, glaring daggers at anyone that spoke with him.
It was too much, her jealous nature becoming more possessive by the day. He could also recognize that, since he’d suffered from it himself. The difference was that he’d caught it and was trying to fix it, but maybe that came with age. He could wait and see if Rika matured or Yuta finally called her out on her behavior, but…
No, waiting had not helped anyone. If he saw a problem, he needed to curb it immediately.
Which was how they had gotten here, Rika glaring him down with her hands on her hips. Gone was the skinny girl she’d been when he first found them. She was growing, having filled out her uniform as her body developed, something she used to her advantage. Men, he’d heard her laughing, were easy to manipulate. It was ironic that she’d flirt with someone without blinking an eye to get what she wanted, but she’d snap if someone tried to do the same with Yuta.
But boys, especially grown men, thought she was pretty – that she was sweet, innocent, weak, lovely. She put on a good show, he had to admit. Her grandmother had said something along the same lines when Gojo showed up with an offer to Jujutsu High, all too relieved to send the girl away to a special boarding school.
“There’s something wrong with her, I think,” the old woman had said, watching Rika cutting meat for a stew while Yuta washed vegetables. “I feel sorry for that sweet boy, caught up by her…”
Gojo waited for her to speak first, knowing it would unsettle her. Orimoto Rika might have been one of his students, but he knew a game when he saw one. She was especially good at them and was trying to force him into one, but she didn’t seem to realize that he was a pro. Either that, or she was arrogant enough to believe she was better. She was a clever girl, sure, but she was still a girl.
“You’re separating me from Yuta on purpose,” Rika stated.
Tilting his head, Gojo asked, “Now why would I do that?”
“I don’t know,” Rika ground out. “You tell me.”
“Well, I can’t,” Gojo quipped, “seeing as how I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
For a moment, Rika seemed to struggle with what she wanted to do, but then she softened, hands falling to her sides as she bowed her head, turning over a more respectful and submissive leaf. A rather pitiful look came over her then, all the fire in her extinguished.
At least, that was likely what she wanted him to think.
“I’m sorry,” Rika murmured. “I’ve simply grown so used to Yuta always being there for me that I get nervous and scared when I’m not with him.” She clasped her hands in front of herself. “He means a lot to me, you know? And we’ve had each other’s backs ever since we met. It just feels wrong being parted from him.”
“You won’t always be able to be with him,” Gojo pointed out once more. “You can’t depend on him.”
“I don’t–” Rika twisted her lips into a pout. “I just worry about him, and if I’m there, I can at least protect him.”
Gojo held out a hand. “Yuta’s a strong sorcerer. He can take care of himself.”
“Yes, but he’s so compassionate and thoughtful of others,” Rika said. “He forgets himself sometimes.”
“And it’s your job to remind him,” Gojo surmised.
Rika lifted her head, her dark eyes shining as she met his gaze directly. “We promised each other that we’d be with each other. He watches over and takes care of everyone else, but who is going to take care of him?”
“That’s a good point,” Gojo hummed, scratching his jaw. “It’s also my job, as your teacher. Yours, as a student, is to learn – and you’re not going to learn if you keep following Yuta around everywhere.”
“But–”
“And he won’t either.”
Blinking, Rika reared back in confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying that I’m holding him back?”
They were in a precarious position right now, a turning point in their student-teacher relationship. With such small classes, Gojo could afford to have different types of relationships with each student, depending on what they needed to help them grow. However, if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure if Rika growing stronger was a good idea. Learning, yes. Becoming more powerful? He didn’t know. While she did not have Geto’s curse technique, he got the same distinct feeling from her as he did when he caught wind of Geto’s curse energy residuals.
Something dark, something festering, closer to a curse than a sorcerer.
“You’re afraid, aren’t you? Afraid that if he grows too strong, he won’t need you anymore.” Gojo kept his hands pocketed, unthreatening, seemingly defenseless, although they both knew he almost always had Infinity up. Rika stared back at him blankly, not giving anything away. “You love him when he’s strong, but you really love him when he’s dependent on you, because then you still have a purpose in his life. You can’t base your entire existence on him. That’s not healthy, Rika, and it’s not fair to him.”
“You think I want him to remain weak so he won’t leave me?” Rika questioned. When Gojo didn’t contradict her, a sneer crossed her face. Ah, there it was – the true side of her, the one she hid from others, but most especially Yuta. He wouldn’t be able to contend this side of her with the girl he adored. “That’s rich coming from you, Gojo. Aren’t you the one always harping on Utahime about how weak she is and how much she needs you?”
“That’s very different.”
“Is it?” Rika tilted her head. “I’ve seen your behavior with her. It’s very unseemly. You don’t like others around her either. Maybe we aren’t so different after all.” Her sneer transformed into a sharp smile. “The only difference between us is that Utahime ran away from you, but Yuta would never do that to me. He loves me, and he knows we’re meant for each other.”
Gojo looked at her, the neutral expression on his face not betraying the irritation boiling underneath. Rika sure knew how to get under people’s skin. She was particularly talented at it, as if she could slip a knife right under and dig where it hurt the most. He’d witnessed her more passive aggressive attacks toward Maki, who was better at handling physical attacks, the emotional ones hurting her more. Rika knew that too. Sometimes, she still pretended like she didn’t understand Inumaki’s code words, pulling Yuta away because she felt left out and confused.
That wasn’t love, and he knew that damn well, unlike her.
“I’m not telling you how to feel about Yuta,” Gojo said. “It’s clear that you two care about each other deeply.”
Rika huffed. “Of course we do.”
“But you need to be careful,” Gojo warned, turning away from her. “There’s a fine line between loving someone and cursing them.”
*
Yuta was, admittedly, not the most observant person in the world. It was different when he was fighting someone. For some reason, in a fight with a curse or a sorcerer, it was like he could zero in and see everything clearly. Analytical, quick, and intense, when he was battling, he could see things from every angle. It was what made him such a dangerous opponent, his ability to block out everything except the variables in a fight. It had taken a lot of practice and beating, but even Maki admitted that he’d improved leagues since their first time sparring.
Which was why Rika’s outburst shouldn’t have caught him off guard, but it did. Maybe he had a blind spot when it came to her (okay, he definitely had one), but when she blew up, it took him aback. He hadn’t seen it coming, even though, in retrospect, it was right in front of him all along.
It kind of made him…uneasy.
Maki and Inumaki had been sent on a mission last week, clear across the country. They’d kept in contact via text messages, something far easier to do with Inumaki, but Yuta had noticed four days in that Rika had rarely touched her phone. She wasn’t talking with them. He got curious about it once, asking if she’d heard from their friends, but she had simply dismissed him, saying she could hear about them through him.
“But…they’re your friends too, right?” he’d prompted.
Rika had giggled, rolling on the bed to bump into him. “You’re my friend, silly.”
He hadn’t realized that she meant it quite literally – that she was his only friend.
One second he had been hugging Maki, excited to see her back, moving to high-five Inumaki after, and the next, he was being physically torn away from her. So caught off guard, he stumbled on his feet, damn near falling on his ass, but Inumaki caught him at the last second.
Yuta blinked, staring at Inumaki in confusion. “Wha–?”
“Don’t touch Yuta,” Rika seethed, gripping Maki’s wrist so hard that her knuckles were white.
“Rika.”
She glanced back at him, a strange glimmer in his eyes that he didn’t want to recognize, her lips pressed into a frown, but he knew what she was telling him to do. Stand down. She would handle this. She’d done a lot of that growing up, always making sure no one bullied him, protecting him, keeping people at bay.
Maybe even people that she didn’t need to keep away.
“What are you doing?”
Yuta vaguely registered that the voice speaking was his, but it didn’t feel like the words were coming from him. It couldn’t be. Why would he question Rika like this? Why would he be so cold?
Even Rika’s eyes widened at his flat, demanding tone. “Yuta…”
He didn’t understand what she was doing. He’d missed his friends. They’d experienced an arduous task, the mission longer than most, so of course he was eager to greet them upon their return. He and Maki were just recently getting to a place where they could hug, both of them awkward and shy about it, but in his excitement upon seeing her again, he hadn’t even thought about it. He was just happy she was back and seemed relatively unhurt.
But Rika wasn’t. In fact, from the way her eyes had flickered up and down Maki’s body, she had kind of looked like she was disappointed.
“Let go of Maki,” Yuta ordered.
“But–”
“Now, Rika,” Yuta demanded, and Rika did without questioning him again, Maki jerking her hand away the second it was let loose.
She stared back at him with wide, watery eyes. He had only seen Rika cry a handful of times, but he was suddenly aware of the difference between those times and now. She hadn’t really meant it back then, had she? Instead, she’d used tears to her advantage, knowing it broke adults down. She was so sweet and innocent-looking that whenever she cried, people couldn’t handle it. They’d cave to her whims. It wasn’t long after she got what she wanted that she’d stop crying, sniffling and wiping her eyes, a tremulous smile on her lips.
Oh. She’d done that to him too, hadn’t she? It was so easy to see.
But standing before him now, she wasn’t faking it. Those were real tears – with real fear in her eyes – shock over genuinely angering him sweeping over her.
“What the hell was that for, Oriomoto?” Maki grumbled, rubbing her wrist. “Control your damn jealousy–”
“I’m not jealous!” Rika snarled viciously, glaring at the other girl.
“That’s enough, Rika!” Yuta snapped.
Rika startled, blinking back at him in horror. She was torn between her emotions, flickering between angry and jealous to upset and scared, the two contrasting emotions fighting for dominance, but he knew which one would win in the end. She wouldn’t want to be on his bad side. They’d only argued once, after Gojo had told him that he would need to attend Jujutsu High, before he’d agreed to take Rika on as a student too. She had been terrified of Yuta leaving her then too, yelling at him and then crying like she was now.
“I’m sorry, Yuta,” Rika started, her voice wobbling as she tried not to cry. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I just–”
“You can’t behave like that,” Yuta told her, rubbing his temple. A headache was beginning to build, replacing the joy he’d felt just moments before. “I don’t understand why you’re acting like this, but… They’re my friends too. Maki, Panda, Inumaki… They’re important to me, and I’m grateful for their presence in my life. I can’t…” He sighed, hand falling to his side as his shoulders dropped. “I can’t just belong to you only anymore, I’m sorry.”
“Wha…? Yuta…” Rika brought a hand to mouth, hiding her trembling lips. “Am I not good enough for you?”
“It’s not that,” Yuta insisted, taking a step forward. He could sense Maki rolling her eyes, thinking that he was once again catering to Rika’s needs, but it wasn’t that. Just as Rika didn’t seem to understand his desire for friendships outside of her, his friends struggled to understand his relationship with her. “I just…want more, you know? We don’t have to be alone like before.”
Rika stared at him for a moment, eyes wide and shiny. He hated seeing her like this – it tugged at his heart, made him want to run and hide – but she had to understand. She had to learn, just as Gojo had said. Didn’t she get that? They couldn’t possibly grow if she kept them tethered down – if she held back.
Sensing her on the edge of something, Yuta held out a hand. “Rika, please.”
But she smacked his hand away, startling them both, and then ran past him, darting around the main building toward the dorms. Yuta huffed out another sigh, feeling endlessly exhausted. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings, but he was starting to realize things needed to change.
A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts, and Yuta glanced back to find Gojo standing behind him. “Don’t beat yourself up,” his teacher told him. “Let her be for now. She’ll be fine. Good job standing up for yourself.”
Yuta offered a weak smile. It didn’t feel very good.
*
Hours after everyone had gone to sleep, Yuta found himself doing something very out of character. For once, instead of Rika sneaking into his bedroom, he made his way to her room, careful not to disturb anyone. It was easier said than done since his curse energy tended to stick out like a sore thumb, but no one seemed to have noticed when he quietly knocked on Rika’s door. When she didn’t answer, he tried the door, finding it unlocked, and then, after a few seconds of warring with himself, he slipped inside.
Just as he suspected, Rika was lying on her bed over top of the blankets, curled up in a ball and crying softly. His stomach flipped at the sight. Even though he was growing more aware of the fact that she’d been manipulating him and even trying to isolate him from others, her pain still tugged at his heart.
Taking a deep breath, Yuta walked over to her and then sat down on the edge of the bed. “Hey there.”
Rika bolted upright and threw her arms around Yuta’s neck, her tears soaking the collar of his shirt. “I’m so sorry, Yuta! I didn’t mean to anger you! Please don’t be mad at me!”
“I’m not,” Yuta told her gently, smoothing down her hair on the back of her head. He probably should’ve been, especially because of her harsh and cold behavior with Maki, but he couldn’t do it. No matter what, he couldn’t be mad at Rika for too long. He loved her. What else could he do but forgive her? Maybe that was a sign of weakness, but he wouldn’t linger on that right now.
“Are you sure?” Rika sniffed, nuzzling into his neck. “You were so cold. It was scary.”
Yuta opened his mouth, ready to apologize, but he stopped himself short. He wasn’t at fault here, he reminded himself. Gojo was right about one thing: he needed to stand up for himself more. Before, he would’ve gone crawling back to Rika and begged for her forgiveness for upsetting her, afraid that she would be mad at him, but no, that didn’t make any sense. Still, it was difficult not to fall back into that role, his desire to protect her strong.
“I promise,” Yuta said instead.
“Okay.” Rika sniffed again, growing still as he continued to pet her soothingly.
However, when he felt her press her lips against his neck, he stiffened immediately. “Rika–”
“We can still be together, right?” Rika murmured, her breath hot against his skin. The sensation sent a tingle down his spine, something a little uncomfortable lighting up in his brain. He squirmed on the bed as she continued to press little kisses on his neck, pressing his lips into a thin line when she began to play with his hair. One of her hands moved, sliding over his shoulder and collarbone, pressing down on his chest where he wore the ring on a string around his neck.
Yuta swallowed thickly, “Rika, I–”
She pulled away from his neck so she could look him in the eyes. “You promised me then too.”
“I did.” Yuta took her hand in his, and he smiled. “And I meant it.”
A warm smile lit up Rika’s face. “Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?”
“Okay,” Yuta said, blush warming his cheeks, something she could probably see even in the dark. “But then I have to go back to my dorm! This isn’t, you know, appropriate.”
Judging by the giggle she let escape, she did. Still, she guided them both to lay down, the two of them facing each other. He didn’t let go of her hand, holding it between two of his, while she reached out to play with his hair again with her free hand, eyes bright with adoration.
“I love you, Yuta,” Rika told him earnestly. “I won’t ever leave you.”
Yuta’s heart skipped a beat. “I know.”
It was a good thing, he told himself, a promise, one that he intended to keep. He knew what his friends would say, even had an idea that Gojo might not approve of this, but they didn’t understand. Yuta couldn’t be parted from Rika, not when she was a part of him. In his heart, he knew she was special. She just needed some time to adjust, to learn, and then things would be okay. Jealousy was normal, right? Hers was just born out of love, but she would figure it out eventually.
Rika was sweet and thoughtful. She was just overly protective of him. Things would be okay. They were going to be happy here – and they were going to be together, always, just as he’d promised her.