A Taste of Forever (Katakuri x Reader)

Chapter 26 - The Festival

"(Y/N)?" A sudden voice, accompanied by a gentle nudge into your side, snapped you out of your trip down memory lane. Startled by the unexpected intrusion, you sucked in a sharp breath as your heart thumped a little more violently against your chest. Wide eyes glanced to your side, but when you saw Katakuri sitting next to you, you relaxed again. The bed still managed to look small with him on it, and you didn't fail to notice that he was already dressed in his usual attire again. His hair had dried too.

For how long have I been zoning out?

"I've been talking to you. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, just zoning out I guess," you mumbled as you turned back to look out of the windows, a heavy sigh escaping your lungs in the process.

Katakuri followed your gaze and upon realising what you were looking at, his eyebrows furrowed deeply.

"You know we can't go."

"What's so bad about us going there?" you quizzed, and you didn't even try to hide the sadness that dripped from your tone. You didn't understand why he was so opposed to the idea of going to the festival. It was held in his honour and by the sound of it, pretty much everyone on the island was enjoying themselves.

Why couldn't you?

Sure, he couldn't enjoy himself like normal people would due to his reputation, but just being spotted there surely couldn't hurt his image.

In response to your question, or lack thereof, Katakuri ran a hand through his hair in one fluid motion while squeezing your thigh with the other before he got up to unpack your bags that still sat unattended to on the floor.

His dismissal of your question knitted your brows. Maybe he rarely had to justify his decisions to other people in his life because of who he was, but that didn't fly with you. Shifting on the bed to watch him put his clothes in a drawer, you opened your mouth.

"Why are you so scared of having fun?"

He stopped mid-action, his hands still resting on the drawer, about to shut it, as he glanced at you, an obvious frown cutting through his forehead.

"I am not scared of something as ridiculous as 'fun', (Y/N)."

He finished his statement by shutting the drawer with a little too much force, the furniture shaking a little from the impact while the dull sound echoed through the room.

Apparently, being accused of having fears hurt his ego.

"Then what is it?" You pulled your legs on the bed and folded them in front of you.

Katakuri glanced at you from the corner of his eye as he bent down to open one of your bags, grabbing your toiletries before he turned around and headed towards the bathroom. You watched his figure pace back and forth in the room, putting things away in their respective place to then go back to the bags and get new ones.

Rinse and repeat.

You weren't sure for how long you had been watching him when a sudden depressing thought crossed your mind.

"You've never had any, have you?"

Your question cut through the bedroom like a knife, hitting its mark perfectly, and judging from the way Katakuri tensed, almost painfully so.

Without saying a word, he dropped himself onto a couch where he remained silent, some of your clothes still in his hand as he frowned into the void.

You watched his eyebrows knit to the point they were almost touching each other as the dull sound of the festival bounced in your room. Quite frankly, it was the worst soundtrack for the sullen mood that had enveloped the bedroom in response to your question.