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"ᖇOᑕKS?" ᗰOᖇI ᑫᑌESTIOᑎS, his face a canvas of empty curiosity. He pierced Y/n with a pointed gaze before the shorter h/c-ette then chuckled. Mori observed the subtle color rising in Y/n's face, likely due to the liquor. He himself was generally indifferent to drinking, provided it remained under control.
After a moment of pause, Mori broke the stillness, his deep voice rippling through the quiet between them, "Y/n. Do you remember the day you took us to the party?" Y/n seemed to pause, their eyes meeting the floor. They stared for a couple of seconds before sighing, "Unfortunately, yeah. I mean, I was entirely shitfaced but I remember much more than I like to. I just lied and told everyone I didn't remember much."
Mori hummed, nodding before continuing, "To be honest, ever since that day I've been worried. You've told me how you felt and..." He stopped himself, analyzing Y/n's body language to gauge their emotional response. Mori then decided to continue, "Do you want to talk about it?" he finished. Although they were friends, Mori didn't want to push anything Y/n didn't want to talk about, even if he was concerned.
Y/n seemed to chuckle, a strange look of disbelief on their face. There seemed to be a moment of contemplation before Y/n stood up with a smile on their face, Y/n glanced at Mori from the corner of their eye, "Can I tell you a secret, Mori? But ya gotta promise not to judge even if I sound stupid, ight?" Mori held their gaze firmly, a quiet promise. "Go ahead, Y/n."
"It's been hard, ya know. I mean as time passes, I feel like I'm realizing more and more how...FUCKED I am," Y/n let out a soft, self-deprecating laugh, threading their fingers through their hair in a restless motion, "I mean—like...I'm not trying to say boo hoo my life was hard, because well...it wasn't as bad, but then I think well if it was normal why do I have trouble doing the simplest things? Up until now, I felt like I was put in an environment where I had to survive. I felt like a pathetic puppy trying to crawl around and grip onto something—anything..." Y/n's voice wavered, but Mori remained attentive, He stared at Y/n's face growing weary, but the tall man remained seated.
"Now that I'm away from all the shit that's been causing me pain. I—I don't know what to do. I'm still struggling, but I'm also happy that I can figure myself out without any consequences. That being said..." Y/n sighed deeply, finally staring back at Mori with a look, "I don't think I'm in the right body. Being called a girl doesn't feel right it makes my skin crawl. I know I said I'm nonbinary but I still catch myself constantly wishing I was born as a man. It's always in the back of my head...I know—I KNOW you probably think I'm crazy! I mean, my mom told me how these thoughts are bad! They're sinful and disgusting and God doesn't make mistakes! I probably just wanna feel special right? This...I shouldn't—"
Rising to his full height, Mori casts a shadow over Y/n. His hand rested gently on their shoulder—a silent solace. Halting mid-sentence, Y/n's eyes, wide and vulnerable, met his. "Stop beating yourself up," Mori said calmly. Overwhelmed, Y/n fell silent, their breath releasing in a quiet, ragged exhalation. "I'm at a loss here, Mori..." they whispered, fighting back a swell of tears. Mori hummed, "I don't know much about religion, but from what I've gathered, isn't God supposed to love everyone? Even the bad people, ultimately, he loves them."
