NADA - Geto Suguru X OC X Gojo Satoru

A New Curse

"Stop trying to think of ways to die! You're not Dazai!" Satoru was not having it.

"I was just saying that the railings in your balcony are pretty low."

Satoru sighed in despair, it was eating him alive. She was never like this, she was so stubborn on living, on surviving, and this was very unlike her. "I need you to tell me what you see," he said.

"Suguru san..." she mumbled and his eyes went wide, "S-Suguru?"

"Yes," she nodded, avoiding eye contact, "he asks for you too."

"He... does?" Satoru was mortified.

"He told me he has created the perfect world for us" she hopelessly smiled, "and he wants us to go see him soon. Oh, the other kids were also there, Haruto and the others. He said he misses us."

Satoru was now certain that it was a curse's doing. His heart almost stopped in his chest, feeling terribly sorry for her. Oh, how she must've been hurting on seeing him again. And almost every single night. She'd lost weight and turned pale.

Satoru cupped her face with his calloused hand, "we're not going there. We can't."

"But why not?" She didn't seem very lucid, mostly from lack of sleep. "I want to see him again."

"I'm so sorry, baby." His voice almost gave up, his heart ached for her. "Something's wrong. I want to tell you it's not him."

"It can't be..." she held his arm tight, "please, it can't not be him. It looked just like him, it felt like him, and he told me the things he'd tell me before. And he knows about you-" Yuriko was in a haze.

"It's not him." Satoru said, "whoever is doing this probably wants to get to you. And you have to stay strong for me. I can't stay strong looking at you like this. It hurts me, Yuriko. I need you to stay alive for me."

She tugged her head down to look at her fingers. "You'll do that for me?" He asked.

"Okay." She said.

"Will you tell me if it's too much?" He asked, "will you tell me if you can't take it anymore?"

"I will."

"You promise?" He held his pinky out for her and she looked at his hand before her eyes moved to look at his face. His worn out, worried face.

"I... I promise," she took his pinky with her own.

"Thank you." He said, "I kept my promises so you'll also have to honour yours, okay?"

"Okay," she found herself being suspended in his arms.

"Satoru s-"

"We'll get you some sleep. I'll be right next to you."

"It's fine. I can... I can manage" she laid her head against his chest. His chest was heaving and it only got worse with every breath he took.

She looked up to see the tears in his eyes as he carried her to his room, "Satoru san?"

"Hmm?" His voice barely reached his tongue.

"What's wrong?" She sat upright once he set her on his bed.

"Nothing." He looked away, "I'll just.... I-"

"Talk to me." She touched his face.

"I'm..." he took a deep breath before looking at her. The look in his eyes pierced her soul, "I can't lose you too." He swallowed hard, "Not again."

Satoru's nerves were finally unbundling. It was so unsettling and hurtful that someone would bring Suguru into the mix to hurt them both. He missed his best friend so much. He'd lost so many of his comrades but Suguru's death sat engraved in his brain like no other. And now Yuriko.

He was terrified at the thought of losing her, "I'm gonna ask you..." he swallowed the pain brewing in his throat, "to stay strong for me. Because I don't know how long I can stay strong for." Tears streamed down his face as his trembling hands held hers.

"Please don't leave me." He sobbed, "don't ever leave me."

"No", Yuriko pulled him into a hug, "no, please don't say that. I'm not going anywhere."

"I'll fix everything, I swear." He trembled in her hold and she felt the pain shoot through her chest.

"Shh..." she cooed, "I got you." Her hands softly ran through his hair, "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"I can't bear to even think about losing you." He held her tight, burying his face in her neck, taking whiffs of the scent he loved so much, "I love you."

"And I love you." She softly kissed his face as he calmed down in her arms. She was sick from losing sleep but she was still so warm. He missed being held. He missed feeling warm. He'd craved for it since he was a little kid. His clan and his parents were very strict and all he wanted was to experience that feeling of warmth. Away from his purpose, away from all the responsibilities that were dumped on him since he was born.

He deeply cherished the warm feeling that Yuriko gave him when he was 7, when she held him to get him to stop crying, gently patting his head after his father yelled at him for something he messed up. He remembered sleeping like a baby in her hold. It was one of his first memories of feeling some warmth and he'd never let go of it.

It was rare.

And it was so, so warm.

He let out a long breath. He was in her arms again and the feeling of warmth she gave him hadn't changed one bit. Her eyes were drawing shut as she watched him fall sleep. She placed a long kiss on his head before pulling the sheets over them, noticing a small sad smile on his face as he slept like a baby.

——————

"It seems to be working, isn't it, Riki?" Geto asked the new curse that had joined their team.

"My technique doesn't fail." He looked at the cards in his hand before playing his turn.

They were all playing Rummy.

"It's actually working better than I thought it would. That girl is head over heels for you."

"For me?" Kenjaku laughed, "oh, you mean this guy?! Yeah, she does. I can't wait to see her in Shibuya."

"Sayyy..." Mahito was now excited, "do you think we'll see her there??"

"I hope we do." Geto smiled, "I'm so excited I can barely wait to see their faces when they see me again."