{THE ENCOUNTER} Itadori x Fem!Reader

𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑒

Your kidnapper wakes you up later that night with it still downpouring around you and rubs your leg. You sit up on your cot, which is soaked through, and look around at the forest surrounding you. How the hell did you get to this new spot? You weren't here when you fell asleep. Certainly not on a cot. To your surprise, he then sits beside you and hands you a mostly dry map of the campgrounds.

You blink sleep out of your eyes and try to read the map. He points to a spot near the edge of the map, and you assume it's the spot you are in right now. Then, he marks a small X on the opposite side, explaining that your friends' tents are there.

"Why are you giving me this?" you ask him as you try to memorize the route he has traced out for you.

He then leans back and sighs. "You can go there if you live through all of this, 'cause I can tell you right now if you don't follow my directions, you'll never find them."

You can tell he's trying to make it sound like a threat, but you're not buying it.

"And what's to stop me from going there now?" you grumble, trying to pull yourself together even though you feel like crying.

"Nothing," he shrugs.

You blink. He's not going to fight you on it?

"What?" you ask.

He shakes his head. "You're not gonna go through with it, anyway."

Your lip twitches. "Oh, yeah? And what makes you think that?"

He just stares at you. You look away, and the two of you sit in silence for a long time. You try not to think about your friends, but they're all you can think about. And then, you stand up. When he doesn't move, you slowly begin to walk away. Once you're past the clearance, you bolt in the direction you memorized from the map. Even if this is another one of his stupid traps, you might as well try.

Not too long after your run, lightning strikes a tree nearby and a branch comes tumbling down. You scream, and something slams into your stomach. You fly backwards into a puddle of mud and rainwater and land on your back. The wind is knocked out of you, and you feel a sharp pain in your shoulder.

However, you know you can't let this keep you from finding your friends. Except now, your path is blocked. There's nothing else to do but backtrack. And then, the idea to backtrack back to that first location where your kidnapper had brought you hits you. If you could find some way to stay there, maybe your friends would eventually find you.

But first, you need to make sure you're keeping a safe distance from your kidnapper.

You get back up on your feet and keep walking. However, the pain in your stomach makes it hard to move very fast. You keep your hand on the pain, and you wonder if this is really a good idea. Either way, you decide it's time to start heading one mile north.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

NOBARA'S P.O.V.

God, I'm such an idiot! I should have known there was something going on between Y/N and Itadori.

"So have the two of you..." I ask him as we wander in the forest for Y/N long after 24 hours have passed.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asks.

"You know... have you...?" I'm not even sure how to finish the sentence.

"What?" Itadori asks again.

"You know..." I repeat, trying not to get too frustrated.

"Why the hell do you want to know that?!" he gulps.

Itadori clearly doesn't want to say anything. I wonder if that was his idea or Y/N's. Why would they keep it a secret from us for this long? They didn't think we'd be upset with them, did they?

"So what exactly were the two of you doing when we left the other night?" I ask him.

"W-well, she was just helping me with some stuff," he explains.

I snort. "Yeah right."

"Well whatever they were doing it isn't any of our business," Fushiguro chimes in, sighing.

"I know it isn't, but it's Y/N," I point out. "I can't just not know what's going on with one of my best friends."

"Well, then ask Y/N instead of prying into Itadori's private life," he tells me.

I roll my eyes and decide to drop the conversation after that.

The three of us keep walking through the forest, but the more we search, the more it seems like the whole situation was pointless. We smell like shit and I'm finally realizing how much I absolutely despise camping.

"This sucks," I grumble.

"No shit," Fushiguro rolls his eyes as we follow after his dogs.

"What if Y/N ran away from us?" Itadori suddenly blurts out.

"Why the hell would she run away?" Fushiguro snaps.

"I don't know, but it kind of seems like she's moving around... getting further," he shrugs.

"Yeah, cause whatever sicko took her is probably trying to lure the rest of us in, too!" I tell him.

"Wait, stop talking," Fushiguro interrupts us.

"Huh?" I ask, stopping in my tracks.

"Shh," he holds his hand out, and both me and Itadori look around.

The two dogs begin to sniff the ground. They found prints! Finally! Itadori grabs one of them by the collar and gets yanked away as it runs off. The rest of us follow after them until we arrive at another site, littered with leftover food. Then, we can hear the sound of footsteps approaching us.

"Hello?!" I call out, grabbing Fushiguro's arm for protection, even though I'm sure as shit he'd never do that.

"Y/N?!" Itadori screams, running toward the sound.

"Shit, wait!" Fushiguro warns, but it's too late, Itadori is out of our line of sight.

We follow after him until we finally see him again. And there he is, with his arms wrapped tightly around a soaking-wet Y/N.

"Y/N!" I gasp when I see her.

"Oh, thank god!" Fushiguro sighs.

"She's freezing!" Itadori calls out, holding her tight.

"Get her some fucking clothes," Fushiguro barks at him.

"Oh yeah? With what? We've all been out here freezing our asses off in this crap rain!" Itadori snaps.

Fushiguro sighs. "Let's get her back to camp and find her some blankets or something."

"Yeah, no shit," Itadori rolls his eyes, leading the way. I can't help but smile, happier than I've ever been to see her.