Too Different~

chapter 18

word count: 1243
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"hi y/n."

i look up to see gojo. he's leaning against the doorway, looking in at me. his hands are tucked into his pockets.

"gojo?" i don't know whether to ask him if what i experienced was a dream or real.

"glad you're finally awake... it's been a few days. we should talk. that is... if you're up for it?"

i nod in response.

i watch gojo pull his hands out of his pockets and walk into the room, sitting in the chair beside the emergency room bed.

"do you remember falling down a huge hole and waking up in another 'dimension' i guess you could call it."

"y-yeah... what was that place? and who was that guy?"

"ash... we barely know this guy yet. but i made it down there in time. he's taken care of for now... i believe it was a domain, just an unusual one. domains don't typically destroy anything on the outside of it, as it is a barrier. however "ash" created something that destroyed half of jujutsu tech. 50 percent of the people in jujutsu tech ended up in this so-called "domain," but only few were actually able to see each other... this is why you were only able to see maki and panda."

"what do you mean? and is jujutsu tech okay?" i ask.

"yeah, it's already put back together, didn't take much effort. and what i meant was half of jujutsu tech was down there... but for some reason, you could only see maki and panda, and the others could only see few as well. megumi, nobara and itadori all ended up down there together but couldn't see anyone else. toge was actually alone down there... even though he fell only a few feet away from the trio, neither were able to see each other."

"what! he was alone? where is he? is he okay?" i can feel myself start to panic.

"shhh... he's fine. he's in the other emergency room with panda. y/n, did you happen to see a bright light when you were down there?"

"yeah... it's the last thing i remember seeing before i woke up here," i tell him.

"that's what all of the other students said as well... anyways, it's under control for now. we're still figuring some things out but ash is locked up as we speak."

i let out a sigh of relief.

"anyways, i have to go talk to some of the other people who ended up down in ash's domain. make sure to eat something." and with that, he gets up and leaves.

i stand up and wobble a bit, still feeling tired. i'm pretty sure i've been passed out for a few days now... so i don't really know how i'm still tired.
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i peak my head into the other emergency room a few halls down from where mine was. all i can see is the back of panda facing a bed. i walk in and peak behind panda to see toge laying in the bed.

"toge!" i almost yell, happy to see him.

"ah! oh, y/n! hi!" panda says while turning to look at me. "i'm glad you're okay," he tells me.

"yeah, you too," i say with a smile. "is maki okay?" i ask.

he replies with a nod and then looks back down at toge. "i should go check on her though..." panda says, while leaving the room with a wave. he closes the door behind him and i look down at toge.

he has a blanket pulls over his chest, his arms resting on top of it.

i sit in the chair beside the bed.

"are you okay?" i ask.

he nods and looks up at me. i walk over to the door and open it to peak my head out, making sure nobody is in sight. i close the door and walk back over to toge.

"you're good to talk... so are you okay?" i ask again.

"yes, i swear," he whispers, adjusting his collar to hide his mouth more. i tilt my head in confusion at the action.

"did anything happen to you in his domain? did you talk to ash? did you see him?" i ask.

"mmm... no, no, and no."

"promise?" i ask.

"promise."

i nod and rub my eyes when i feel them begin to burn from the tiredness.

when i take my hands away from my eyes, i see toge sitting up in the bed, pulling the blanket off of his body.

i take a step back to let him stand up, which he does.

i take another look at his collar while he avoids eye contact with me.

i reach over to unzip his collar but his hand quickly moves up to cover his zipper.

"what?" i ask.

he shakes his head.

i frown. this is the first time he's never let me unzip it for him.

"toge? what happened?"

he starts to walk away from me, putting his hand on the doorknob.

"toge?" i follow him.

he turns around to face me and i quickly lift my hand up to unzip his collar. this time he lets me.

when i pull the collar down from his face, i see his regular markings. nothings different than usual.

i tilt my head once more in confusion.

"are you mad at me or something..." i ask.

he shakes his head.

"you're lying!"

"noooo."

"togeeee," i whine.

"c'mon, let's go eat," he mumbles while turning the doorknob.

i follow behind him in the hallway, making our way to the common room.

we walk inside and see yuji and maki sitting together.

"maki!" i yell, running over to her.

she waves me a hello.

"did panda talk to you?" i ask her, remembering that he said he was going to talk to her today. i sit right between her and yuji.

"mm nope, haven't seen him actually..." she says.

i facepalm and watch makis eyes narrow to toge, who is walking by himself to the kitchen counter. he opens some cupboards, pulling out random ingredients to make something.

"y/n, you were down there too, eh?" yuji asks me.

i turn to look at him, "yeah, you were too?"

he nods and says, "i'm glad you're okay."

"yeah, you t-" i hear the door shut and look up to see toge not in the room anymore.

i look over at maki who is shaking her head.

"yuji you idiot!" maki yells over me to talk to yuji.

"what! what'd i do!" he yells back.

"i've never seen toge like this... wow y/n, he must really like you. especially to get jealous over someone like this dimwit." she moves her arm across me and flicks yuji in the head.

"what're you taking about maki!" yuji whines.

i stay quiet while i look back and forth between the two.

maki facepalms and waits for yuji to clue in on what she said.

"oh...ohhhh!! oh no! i uh- y/n, i don't have a crush on you or anything- i mean- it's not that i don't have one! wait- um- u-uh! i-" yuji stutters and fumbles over his words.

i stand up.

"you're fine, yuji. i should go talk to toge though..." i look back at maki and she gives me a short nod.

i hear the two of them start to argue once again as i leave the room.

i start speed walking to toges dorm, hoping that he'll be there.
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more slow burn? or should i just cut it straight to the confession?