DARK RED [ITADORI Y.]

―XIV. BUMMER

CHAPTER XIV. WHAT A BUMMER.

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I jumped up, looping either of my legs through my arms, hooking them around a metal bar. I made sure my shirt was tucked into my leggings before dropping, letting my arms dangle in the air. I looked off to the side at the high school my two friends attended, waiting around for their bell to ring and dismiss them from school.

It was a Friday, and Gojo, who claimed to have a date, let class out early. He told us to enjoy our weekend and to do whatever we wanted. I immediately jumped up to go hang out with the friends that I've had since before we could even walk.

So as I waited, I messed around in the park across the street. Kicked my feet through the mulch, slid down the slides, hung from bars, played tag with a bunch of random primary schoolers, and even climbed up a tree and then back down it. I scraped up my arm a little doing that one.

But when I heard the bell ring, I stopped everything and jogged across the street, impatiently looking around for my friends. I rocked back and forth on my heels, jumping up on my tiptoes to see if I could spot them. Finally, I saw them exiting the school and smiled brightly. However, before I could call out to them, I saw something that made me pause. There was another girl with them, one of the popular girls as I remember. I shook my head and called out to them.

"O-Oh! Y/n!" Oyama said, clearing her throat. "What are you doing here?"

"I got out of school for the weekend," I smiled. "I was...hoping we could hang out! Y'know, go to the city or something! We could get soba too!"

"Sorry," Yuki said, shifting her bag around. "We have plans."

"Oh," I said, my enthusiasm dying with her words. Though, I tried not to let it show, and laughed, rubbing the back of my neck. "That's okay! There's always next time, haha!"

"Yeah," The other girl said, walking around me, the three of them rejoining one another.

My hand slipped back down to my side, my shoulders dropping as I watched them huddle together and mutter things to each other before laughing. I exhaled softly before turning away before I could get any more looks from the other students. I walked away quickly.

Damn. Talk about a major bummer.

What was I supposed to do now? Fuck around until the next bus came and then go back to the college? Or head home for a bit and see my family? I could raid the fridge if I did that, and Mom made spicy curry last night. My mouth watered at the thought.

But that was still such a distance away, and I didn't really want to walk anywhere. So I slumped down on a bench in the park, pouting to myself. I watched as a little boy ran up to me, handed me a sticky piece of cand, which had probably been in his mouth and was covered in mulch, and then ran off again.

I think I could suck it up and walk a little.

As I stood up, wiping my hands on my pants, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I clicked the home button, the screen lighting up in response.

New Message from: 

Note Dealer 🥶🔫
Are you busy?

Note Dealer? Oh! That was Itadori! What did he want?

Me
Not really. Just screwing around. What's up?

I waited, sitting back down on the bench as I saw three bubbles pop up.

Note Dealer 🥶🔫
Wanna go with me on a mission?

A mission? I hadn't been on one before...but I heard a lot about how good Itadori was. Plus, I didn't have anything better to do.

Me
Sure. Where @

I stood up, slipping my opposite hand in my pocket. I slowly began to walk out of the park. More bubbles appeared.

Note Dealer 🥶🔫
The south end of tokyo. I can have ijichi swing by and get you. wya?

I sent him my location, and he replied with a thumbs up and 'be there soon'. Not five minutes later, a black car pulled up to the curb and Itadori popped out of the backseat. He jogged over to me, meeting me halfway down the path.

"Hey!" He greeted, stopping in front of me.

"Hey," I said.

"Thanks for coming with me. You didn't have to," He said.

I shrugged. "I didn't have anything better to do. Besides, I need to get used to these things if I want to, y'know, not die."

Itadori laughed, nodding his head. "Yeah! Yeah, I get that. Well, let's get going? It's not that far out."

I nodded, motioning for him to lead the way before falling into step with him. "So, what kind of curse is it?"

"It's nothing like you saw," Itadori said, looking over at me. "What we're dealing with is less...horrific. This one looks more like a human."

"Really?"

Itadori nodded, opening the backdoor to the car. "But it'll be a little more difficult. I'm pretty sure I can handle this by myself, but I may need your help. Do you think you can handle it?"

I swallowed hard. I never went on a mission before, so I've never actually used what Gojo had been teaching me before now.

"Yeah. 'Course," I said, nodding.

Itadori smiled lightly. "Great. Get in."

I slid into the car, scooting to the opposite side of the seat to let him in on the same side. As Ichiji and I shared pleasantries and he began to drive off, we all failed to notice something very important.

A figure resided under the comforting shade that the large oak tree provided. Long, dark red hair blew in the breeze, making the woman move a strand away from her face. Bright red lips pulled into a sinister smile, cerise eyes gleaming with mischief.

Looking back on it now, I realized my lack of care for my surroundings would prove to be fatal.

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