Euphoria

A Call

You woke up quietly the next morning, it was late compared to when you usually woke up and as you went to stretch you found yourself engulfed in someone's arms. Of course after realizing it was just Hitoshi cuddled up against you, you relished in the moment. You found your phone and looked at the time to see it wasn't actually too late, there was still enough of the day to be productive.

When getting out of bed, or at least trying your best to get out without waking the sleeping form next to you, that ended up being exactly what happened. With a small roll and groan he slowly sat up and looked over to you as you were halfway off the mattress.

"Morning." His voice was husky and sleep ridden. Sounding like he hadn't quite wanted to wake yet.

"Good morning, sorry for waking you."

You bent over and laid a small peck on his forehead before continuing to head to the bathroom. You put on your socks and shoes, readying yourself to go downstairs, before realizing Hitoshi had done the same thing. You needed to get more water into your system, that you knew, but you also wanted coffee and maybe something to eat too.

A few others were gathered when you finally got down there.

"Good morning everyone." You took it upon yourself to acknowledge their presence in the middle of a yawn.

"It would seem so, huh? Perhaps a good night too?" It took a moment to register what Sero was trying to insinuate until you remembered Hitoshi left a few light hickeys on your neck. You saw one visible in the bathroom earlier, but didn't think much of it in your groggy state. Rather, you found them quite beautiful, like he left a piece of art on you.

As you realized, you touched your neck where it would have been, and surely enough you felt the tell-tale bruise. Rolling your eyes, you dead panned to your boyfriend who wore a smug grin.

"Oh don't make that face, looking all proud of me getting exposed." You said before taking a sip of the coffee you made, it sounded like you were annoyed, which to be fair you were to an extent. Even if you did like them.

He simply left you a small laugh before continuing to drink his black coffee. No one else commented on your marks, no thanks to your feelings. Rather because Kiri and Bakugou seemed to have it a little worse, let's just say it was because they were both visibly very giving. Even more than Hitoshi and he looked at you like he knew what you were thinking.

At least I wasn't that bad.

You made the decision to leave the house not long after you finished the coffee you made. About 15 minutes after that and you were out the door, hand in hand with Hitoshi. Heading back to the dorm went by quickly and soon enough the two of you parted ways to continue working on school things. You, on the end of year assignment and Hitoshi, well you weren't quite sure. Probably finalizing the essay he had to turn in before break officially ended, you assumed.

—

The first week went on as normal as possible considering you went to an art college and break had just ended. So did the second, but already, that was a few weeks behind you. Still though, your classes as knew them to be, got more expectant in portfolio advancement.

As for your relationship, things were still as normal as ever. Though since classes had both of you working even harder with assignments, separation from the time you left the dorm until dinner, was normalized. You had gotten closer in physical attention too, though it wasn't anything too extreme. Which you were happy with, you had never been one to fixate on the need to have a sexual relationship with a partner anyway. But he had gotten more comfortable with seeing your body and vice versa. Even taking it upon himself to let his hands explore it more, giving you the green light to do the same.

Though this high you got from being in your dream school, working on your dream projects and being in a happy relationship, soon was slapped upside the head.

It was a random Thursday, some weeks since break ended. At some point you'd stopped counting.

You were lounging with Hitoshi on his bed around 7pm when your phone rang. As you checked who it was, your eyes widened and brows furrowed, with an audible thought of "what the hell" leaving your mouth.

It was your grandpa, who you hadn't heard from since New Years. He called you every once in a while to catch up, but never this late. Needless to say, your breath hitched, immediately thinking about all the reasons he could be calling. You decided to not put your phone on speaker like you usually did, instead holding it up to your ear waiting for his first word to be spoken.

You didn't dare break the silence first.

"Hello sweetie, are you there?" His voice wasn't like it usually was, his tone seemed dim and it cracked at the end of his question.

"Hey Apa, what is it? Is everything okay? You never call me this late, usually you are in bed reading by now."

"Yes, reading had to wait tonight, you see..." He took a long pause with what sounded like a sniffle in between, you got even tenser than before. "You see, it is your parents, I know you didn't have a relationship with them ever since you left for school. And I couldn't get myself to tell you until now, but you deserve the right to know. They were in a car accident last week, they passed away on impact." He stopped after your breath audibly hitched.

You went numb, not knowing how to feel. It was like a nightmare, it didn't feel real. Your body froze not knowing how to process the information just given to you. You simply took the phone down from your ear and put it on speaker now, still dazed and confused.

You swore your hands were going numb.

"The paramedics said there were noticeable signs that they had been drinking again. Must have been a lot from the looks of the aftermath of the car. Luckily no one else was hurt in the process...I'm sorry I didn't tell you until now, but your mother was my only child, I couldn't talk about it without breaking. I know you are very busy and they did not love you as much as they should have. So I will take care of everything when it comes to sorting the funeral and such. However, the house and the little belongings they had were left to you."

He finally stopped talking again, you'd wished he never started.

Hitoshi was shocked at what he heard, but now he understood why you sat there next to him looking like a deer in headlights. He had started hugging you, for comfort obviously, but it felt more like a straight jacket. You couldn't do anything, you felt something warm fall down your cheek and like that, you were awakened from your trance.

You were crying, not just a tear or two. You were bawling, your cheeks littered with tears and nose running. You hadn't even noticed even through the shortened breaths that kept tightening your chest. Although you were now aware of your surroundings, there was no way you were getting words to leave your lips. Tongue tied like you'd never know any language ever again.

"Um...Hi sir, this is Hitoshi Shinsou, I heard the whole call and she is going to need some time to be able to get back to you and talk things over. I'll make sure she calls you within the next few days to discuss more with you. For now, I am going to say good night."

"Good night, Hitoshi. Oh and thank you for making my granddaughter so happy, she told me about your relationship a little while back. Please take care of her for me."

"I will sir, I always will." He hung up the phone after that, you had changed your far off gaze to focus on the boy beside you after he took the phone. When he put it down and turned towards you, his eyes were sad and sympathetic. Which made you start breaking down once more.

Your body shook in its place.

He engulfed you in arms that felt as if he would never let go. This time, it did not feel confining, but comforting. You stayed like that until you simply had no tears left and passed out from over exhaustion.

Falling into a dark and dreamless sleep that acted like a safety net from reality looking back.