We Are Better Together!

Chapter 25 - Underlying Guilt

"Irina! Where's Irina?"

Karasuma said, in a tone full of anxiety as soon as he opened the door to the house. He huffed as he slowly walked towards where Karma and Rhea were standing in the living room, both had a worried expression on their faces. Karma looked over to the door to find Karasuma's car door still open as he came running inside. Karasuma guiltily sighed as Rhea pointed upstairs to where Irina was.
Karasuma ran upstairs to the bedroom only to find Irina tucked up in the bed as she slept. He sighed in relief as nothing too bad happened to her. When Karma called him a while ago, he was so panicked, but it was all okay now... No, it was not okay, He shouldn't have left her alone and he was feeling guilty for it. Nothing was more important than Irina. He walked over to Irina and stroked her hair, rubbing her cheek with his thumb.

"I am so sorry..." He whispered to her and kissed her forehead, before deciding to let her sleep.
As he was about to leave the room, his gaze stopped on the side table as he saw a dose of medicine still there. She didn't take her anxiety pills. He sighed as he remembered telling her to take the medicine. 'She must've been sleepy' He thought.

He went out the room and closed the door behind him, before tensing up again as he knew he had to answer some questions. He slowly walked downstairs to see Karma looking outside the door at Rhea who was parking the car in the garage. Rhea walked inside the house, hanging the car keys on the key holder as Karma turned around to see Karasuma awkwardly standing there.
Karma sighed as he walked towards Karasuma.

"Sensei, let's talk.."

Karma's Pov:

"Sensei, What happened with her?"
I asked and he just looked at me as if he didn't want to answer me.

"Sensei?" I sternly asked and he finally looked at me, knowing I didn't want to beat around the bush. He sighed as his brows tensed, he rubbed his hands before putting them on his ears. He brought his hands back down on his knees, in an attempt to stop his hands and knees from shaking. I decided to wait till he got ready to tell me, but what came was so sudden that I was at a loss of words.

"She was...assaulted..."

He said in a shaking voice. It was all he said, but it was enough for me to understand what he meant by that as my eyes widened. I tried to compose myself, but it didn't work.

"What about the...perpetrator?" I asked after a while of an unpleasant silence.

"In custody..."

He said, looking down on the floor and I found myself gritting my teeth. I was getting furious and annoyed.

"Why...why didn't you do anything before it all came to this?!"
I asked in raised and irritated tone, only to find a look of guilt and helplessness on Karasum-sensei's face. I stared at him wide eyed, not only that I've never seen such an expression on him, but I realized what I said was totally false.
I should've known that more than anyone, he's the one who's most frustrated right now.

"..Sorry....I shouldn't have said that- "

"I...I also thought about it...for a long time...why?" He said in a low whisper.

"Why didn't I prevent all that from happening?!" He said in a shaky voice, I could feel him tremble from a distance. I got up from my seat and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and he immediately held onto it, getting up and hugging me tightly. I was a bit taken aback, but soon realized that he must've been holding it in for a long time and had no one he could share his guilt and sorrow with. I returned the gesture, rubbing his back as he continued to talk.

"I....I w-was supposed to protect her...."
He said in a quivering voice as he chocked up on his words. I didn't know what to say to him to make him feel better but I decided to listen to him instead, but then I remembered something, something so normal, but something so important.

"I should've-"

"Sensei, in life, not everything goes our way, both you and I know it...We didn't want Koro-sensei to die, but we had to kill him.... We have to forgive our selves to find closure and move on, sensei, you have to take care of her...you can't be like this..."

I said as I broke the hug, Karasuma-sensei looked wide eyed at me. He looked troubled as if he had questions.

"But...this guilt won't go..."

"Guilt is a feeling everyone should experience, but don't let it stay with you, it'll only eat you from inside, hurting you...and in turn hurting her..."

As I said that I heard his breath hitch, he looked at me expressionless, as if he got the answer to all his miseries. He looked clear, now. I smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Sensei, it isn't your fault...we all have to take care of her now and stay strong with her..."
I said and he looked at me with a grateful expression. I was astounded, my eyes widened for a bit, but all I had on my face was a reassuring look. Karasuma-sensei smiled at me warmly.

"umm...thank you-"

Before he could finish what he was saying, we heard a loud crashing sound from upstairs, as if something of glass broke. We all were alerted as we were sure the sound came from Irina-sensei's room. Karasuma-sensei ran upstairs as I followed behind him.
When we opened the door we saw that the table lamp was broken at the side of the bed and a panicked Irina sensei on the bed, looking frantically around the room. Karasuma-sensei immediately ran up to her, sitting beside her and holding her in a tight hug. She had a relieved expression, but she was still panicked.

She lightly pushed Karasuma-sensei, wanting to tell him something desperately. As Karasuma-sensei loosened his grip a little, she promptly clutched his shirt, before saying something unanticipated and abrupt.

"I-I...I s-saw him..." She said in a trembling voice that conveyed her fear.

Rhea and I both looked at each other, confused, thinking who it was that she saw beside the two of us, as there was no one else in the house except us.

who must it be?
well, sorry this chapter was a tiniest bit short, but I had to put a cliffhanger.🙃

do comment only for engagement, just kidding😁
See Y'll😛