It's Always Been You

Chapter18

Yuta froze for a second trying to process the single most important sign that Inumaki had ever done in his life, I love you. Frozen in place he wasn't quite sure what to make of it at the moment as he watched Inumaki close his eyes, but he knew that he needed to protect him. He summoned Rika with a sudden burst of rage, worry, confusion and so many more emotions all mixing at once. "Rika, protect him as if you were protecting me." Yuta said with a smile as she manifested from his emotions before turning back to finish the other curse he had been fighting before Inumaki fell unconscious. 

He wasted no time slashing away at the curse while Rika easily got rid of the weaker curse that was trying to get close to Inumaki. As Itadori finished off the other curse with a black flash, he quickly ran to Inumaki's side only to be stopped by Rika as she had sensed Sukuna residing inside of the boy. "It's okay let him get close," Yuta said as he finished off the curse with one final slash. He may have some sort of dislike towards Itadori being so close to Inumaki, but he was also Inumaki's friend, of course he had to be worried about him too. 

As soon as Rika heard those words she moved aside for him to get close to Inumaki. He quickly ran up and sat him up so he wouldn't choke on his own blood. Yuta then came to his side, thanking Rika for her assistance, and checking Inumaki's breathing. He picked him up carefully, not caring about the amount of blood that was now staining his white jacket, before running off towards the entrance Itadori following close behind. Nearing the school's entrance they were relieved to see that the curtain was now rising and their mission was now over, after all their top priority at the moment was getting Inumaki healed up. Getting into the car Yuta had yet to let go of Inumaki instead let him rest on his chest, while Itadori held onto one of his hands. As much as he didn't like seeing him hold Inumaki's hand like that, he knew he was worried for his friend and he only hoped that Inumaki didn't cause too much damage to his throat. 

Back at the school Yuta couldn't gather his thoughts too well as everything had all happened at once, so as they sat in the back of the car in complete silence he began going through what had just happened. Inumaki protected him from being hurt despite the fact that he himself had started to reach his limits. Yuta knew better than anyone else how much Inumaki truly cared about his friends and how far he would go for them sometimes even ignoring his own pain or needs, but there was one thing that kept replaying in his head, I love you. Over and over, he didn't know how he felt about his friend. Inumaki had always been very important after a certain mission about a year ago, but what about how he felt about him? Was he a friend or was he something more to him? He wasn't sure, he needed time, he knew that for sure. Too many thought running through his head all at once that he couldn't process a single one of them. His thoughts were cut short when they arrived at Jujuts Tech.

Carrying Inumaki to the infirmary, Shoko attended to him with a little persuasion due to Yuta's resistance. "He'll be fine, he did hurt his throat very badly this time around but with some rest and liquids he'll be fine." She stated before turning to look at them, Itadori still holding onto said boy's hand. Yuta lost in thought once more when he thought back to when they we're still first years, just after he had asked Maki to be his girlfriend. 

"I've already met them, but they will never love me back." When it suddenly hit him, had Inumaki liked him back when they had been first years? Was he that person he was talking about? If so then he must've been in a lot of pain seeing me ask out Maki, or even just be seen loving each other. To see them understanding each other so freely, to feel love. He knew that Inumaki grew up in a place where his marks were seen as nothing but a curse by even his own family. He never grew up with someone who loved him or even cared for him as much as he did others. The thought of that just broke his heart.

Leaving the room he went to find Megumi, knocking on his door lightly. He heard the door knob turn and there he stood nervously. "I need your help." "With what?" Megumi asked somewhat curious as to what he needed help with. Yuta explained the situation, ". . and that's why I need your help." "So you're telling me Inumaki confessed to you, and you don't know how you feel about him despite the fact that he's one of the reasons you've come this far?" Yuta nodded. "I suggest that you take some time to think it over, I mean it's not right to just agree and still not be sure of your feelings, it would just be toying with him." Yuta thought it over, not wanting to cause Inumaki more pain by not being sure about his own mistake, "You're right, I'll think it over, thanks Megumi!" He gave a smile before leaving for his room.