I. Toge - Don't Move

𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯³

Today you were spending the day with your cousin, Junpei. For whatever reason you felt uneasy the whole time, like you shouldn't be with him.

Like something bad happened the last time you were.

But what could have possibly gone wrong? Yes you can barely remember it but you were sure that last time you two hung out you guys had a blast. You always had fun with Junpei. So what was so different about the last time?

Although you two usually joked about non-important things you had like you had to confide in him about something serious.

"... and it's just so weird. I know he's my boyfriend, I know when we started dating, I know we've gone on multiple dates and I know we've hit a rough patch recently. I just can't remember any of it."

Junpei sat beside you on his bed, listening to what you were saying intently. You were so lucky to have him as a cousin. He was always there for you when you needed him most, whether physically or over the phone he always made an effort. He was your best friend, and you his. It was a shame that he lived a whole six hours away. But still, you drove the journey just to see him. Some things couldn't be discussed over the phone.

"That's so unlike you though? You remember practically everything."

"Except our relationship it seems. It's crazy because I remember having a crush on Toge and dreaming about being with him. Now that that fantasy has been given to me it's all just a blur," you said with a look of concern on your face.

"Oh, I remember when you had a crush on him, back when you didn't know if he liked you back," Junpei sighed, a dopey grin on his face. "Dear diary..."

"Okay, that's enough," you smiled and playfully hit him on the arm.

"No but seriously though. I remember you telling me how you started talking to him. It was kinda creepy if you ask me."

"How so?"

"You told me that in the beginning of the school year you heard him talking about... something I can't remember. Then near the end of the next school year you started a conversation with him about the same thing you overheard almost two years ago because you knew he liked the topic. And when you first heard him talk about it you didn't even like him! You remember everything about everyone."

You sat there, taking in Junpei's words. "You're right... I do remember the little things... but when I try to remember any detail about the fights we had I just... can't."

You felt hopeless in your current situation. Were you a bad girlfriend for not remembering any important details about your relationship? You started to wonder if what you did know was true or not, or if it was just your brain making up stories to fill in the blanks. Was his birthday really October 23rd or was that someone else's? Did you even know anyone with that birthday or did you make it up? Your sudden forgetfulness made it increasingly hard to trust yourself.

Worse yet it made it even harder to trust him.

"Y/n?"

"Hm?" You snapped out of your thoughts. How long were you zoned out for?

"Do you have like, any physical evidence?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like things that sparked an argument. Things that you know are true and trusted because you could look back at them whenever you wanted. Things that even I could see and confirm."

"I don't really..."

"Like messages with him? Maybe he said something in a message that clashed with what he said in person?"

"Messages.... message..." Suddenly a wave of memories hit you all at once. You were in blue, Inumaki clad in black, both of you at the fair. You were arguing and you pulled out your phone, showing him something...

"A message," you whispered.

"Do you remember?"

"Mhm!" You quickly nodded and started searching for your phone in your pockets, unlocking it and quickly pulled up the messages from the night before that day and showed Junpei. They were easy to find since you had Inumaki pinned. He was your boyfriend, after all.

"This! I'm pretty sure this is what our last fight was about." Junpei read over the messages, taking the information that he could from them.

"So what, you showed up with a blue top and he didn't or...?" Still, he was confused. The message only showed so much.

"I think so... but now that I think about it we were both wearing black... like he said we were supposed to. But that doesn't make sense if in the message he told me to wear blue!"

You and Junpei sat in silence, just looking at the message. You looked away for a split second and when you turned back to your phone,

the message was gone.

You looked at Junpei who was already staring at you with wide eyes, his mouth open.

"Did you..?" You didn't even need to ask. Junpei nodded. He had definitely seen it.

"That's so shady. Why delete it if you guys already 'solved' the issue."

"It's definitely weird."

"Y/n, he had to be gaslighting you or something."

"To this extent? I don't think that's possible."

"Y/n, you just saw him delete the message right now and you know I saw it too. That means you're not seeing things, he's doing things."

"But that's..."

"Y/n. You're smart. I know this. You know this. Why play dumb and make excuses? Now I don't know exactly what he's doing but I just know it's not right."

You thought it over for a while. What reason would he have to delete the message if not for some ulterior motive that you didn't know about? Maybe Junpei was right. Maybe Inumaki was up to something. Maybe you weren't crazy.

"Junpei, can I tell you something?" you asked seriously, not a hint of any playful emotion in your voice. Your face was now stoic, completely focused on the brunette before you's features.

"Anything."

"I know I'll sound crazy for saying this but... from what I can remember, whenever we argue he says these words... and I have no choice but to listen to them?" Junpei cocked his head slightly to the right, a look of confusion creeping in on his face. "Like, if I tell you to shut up you can either do it because you want to or you can choose to ignore me and keep talking." He nodded in agreement.

"If he told me to shut up I wouldn't have a choice. Like I can open my mouth but sound won't come out? Like I physically can't talk. Same if he tells me to stop, I'll literally stop in place and I wouldn't be able to move unless he says so. It's almost as if he's casting a spell. But not all his words will be like that. We'll be laughing and he'll say 'shut up' jokingly but I'll still be able to talk."

Junpei just looked at you in silence, not sure as to what he should say.

"Maybe it is magic. The world's so big, we don't know what's out there."

"Honestly? I don't know what to believe," you sighed, feeling defeated even though you hadn't fought anything but your own memory.

Looking down at your watch you realized it was getting late. So late that you would've had to start driving almost an hour ago to make it home before midnight. You hated driving at night but what choice did you have? Inumaki wanted to see you tomorrow and you didn't feel like getting him more aggravated with you.

"I'm gonna start heading out," you stood up and picked up your belongings, making sure not to forget anything.

As you walked towards the door Junpei called out to you.

"Think about what I said. And seriously Y/n, you can do so much better than him."

You looked back at him and smiled. "Sure," you replied, completely disregarding the other half of what he said. "As long as you don't tell anyone what I told you."

♚̳