The boy from the bookstore ( Megumi x Reader )

Chapter XV

  As the year passed our skills as exorcists increased, more for some than for others. Megumi and I had almost no assigned missions together. Our time together was decreasing significantly. He opened my messages that very little and replied even less. We saw each other sometimes on weekends, very quickly, he always seemed concerned or stressed. So that was what the life of a class 2 exorcist looked like.
I would sigh as I dropped my phone and dropped it suddenly on my mattress. I put my face in both hands, clasped together. Nothing was official between us. Nobara says we act like a couple but as soon as the subject comes on the table Megumi remains marble, even if the moment we spent just before showed the opposite. I sighted sadly and drifted to sleep.

The next day I was getting up dragging my heavy sleeping body out of bed. These days the rest was rare, too preoccupied with the situation to be able to relax enough. I had to stay motivated for high school, I had to hang on and hope to join class 2 as soon as possible to find Megumi.

My headphones on my ears I closed the door of my apartment breathing the soft breeze of summer. The beautiful days had returned, normally they meant the return of joy. Normally. I was walking peacefully through the city streets, slightly late, but who cares? Nobody is waiting for me in high school. This place that was the reason I got up in a good mood all day had become a nightmare for me. Ironic isn't it? See how a man can impact your vision of life and the world around you. I mumbled those words in my mind as I entered the classroom. I hate theory classes, even others, everything had become bland and monotonous.

The morning classes passed at an unimaginable slowness. At noon I went to the distributor buying only an inexpensive bottle of water. Sitting on the bench under the tree in the back of the yard where Megumi and I used to meet all lunch I felt nostalgic again. I curled my knees against my chest staring at the ground lost in my thoughts. I felt a bare hand on my left shoulder, I turned around quickly. He was there, my nostrils were quickly filled with a perfume that I knew very well, even too well.
The light breeze swept away the few strands of hair that hid the parts of his face, parts that were illuminated by the sun. His blue irises remained planted in mine for a moment before he looked at every inch of my body and then he returned to my eyes.

"How long has it been? " He questioned with a slight smile on his lips.

" Too long, I stopped counting " I returned still amaze by his looks. Even if I knew him for a long time I could never help but feel my cheeks turn pink in his presence.

He took me in his arms gently, as usual. I wrapped my arms around his broad back, noticing that he had gained muscle, I stroked him gently with the tips of my fingers.
He gently withdrew from the hug looking up and down at me a second time, his eyes were not judgmental or mocking but rather worried.

"You've lost weight, haven't you?" He asked me for his hands still firmly on my frail shoulders. 

I looked away embarrassed. I didn't think he would notice it so easily, he knows me too well.

I looked back at him when I felt his grip on my shoulders firming. I stared at his face again and noticed that heavy dark circles were forming on his face.

"You sleep badly Megumi " I retorted to avoid his question.

He muttered my name in a breath before a man with a deep voice screamed his own behind him.
Megumi sighs heavily exhausted.

"I'm sorry I hate to leave you in such a situation but I have to go sweetheart". My cheeks flushed as he gave me the nickname and put a small kiss on my forehead.

I watched as the back of the man facing me moved away and approached the man who seemed to be berating Megumi.

I spent the afternoon replaying the scene in my head. Instead of going straight home in the evening after school, I decided to stop by the bookshop. It had been a while since I'd been there, the last time being with Megumi.
I pushed open the door and stepped inside, a strange yet comforting sensation taking hold of me. I ran my fingers along the books, both old and new. As I wandered through the aisle where I first met Megumi, running my index finger along the shelf, a shiver running down my spine, the ringing of my cell phone echoed through the silent bookshop. I apologized to the bookseller, who gave me a sincere smile before exiting the shop.

"Megumi? "I said, my voice echoing on the other end of the line.

"That's not Megumi" A much softer but at the same time serious voice answered me, pronouncing my first name in a breath. "Listen, it's Gojo-sensei" I sighed with relief, thinking that someone had stolen Megumi's cell phone. "Don't sigh too quickly" the voice continued in an almost threatening tone.
I listened carefully to Gojo's voice on the other end of the line. Something bad had happened, I could feel it.
"Listen, it's about Megumi."
He sighed heavily, paused, then resumed his speech a few seconds later.
"The mission went wrong, really wrong. He was wounded by a Rank S curses. It wasn't supposed to be there. His vital prognosis is compromised."
He finished his sentence and I felt my heart clench so tightly I felt like I was being stabbed with a thousand knives at once.
I felt my legs trembling and my head spinning. I looked for support and leaned against the bookshop wall.
"He's in the Hospital in central Tokyo, I'll send you the address and room number."
The voice snapped me out of my trance and brought me back to reality.
"You can come if you like, even if it won't change his condition."
He continued.
"Take care on the road."
Gojo-Sensei pronounced my name in a worried way before cutting off the call.
I took the first subway I could find in the direction of the center and hurried into the hospital. I asked the lady at reception where the room Gojo had indicated was. I arrived in the corridor to his room and saw several people standing in front of it: Gojo, the man from the last time and other people I didn't know.

I approached Gojo and asked if anything had changed.
- "Any better? Or worse?"
I swallowed, thinking of the worst that could happen.
- "We still haven't seen the doctor since the last news I gave you."
I looked at the floor, biting my lip, anxious, he noticed.
-" Hey, listen."
He put both hands on my shoulders, forcing me to lift my chin and look up at him.
- "Megumi is a strong person, a very strong person, and I've no doubt he'll be fine. And he'd like you not to doubt it either. "
Gojo smiled at me to reassure me of the situation.

A man in a white hospital gown emerged from Megumi's room. He pushed up his glasses and flipped through his calpin.
- "So, the good news is that his prognosis is no longer life-threatening, the not-so-good news is that we have no idea when he'll wake up. It could be a few hours, a few weeks or even a few months."
Months... I sniffled sadly at the latest news, but I have to put it into perspective, it could be worse.
After that news, people I didn't know started leaving one by one, in the end it was just me and Gojo-Sensei. He told me they were people who had been there during the accident.
After a while, a man arrived, and Gojo-Sensei looked at him warily. I'd seen him somewhere before, his face was familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. A tall, pale-skinned man with blond hair, bleached I guessed, in his twenties or maybe thirties. While I was analyzing the man to find out where he was from and who he was, he spoke up.
- "Is his life in danger?"
He stood in front of Megumi's bedroom window with his hands behind his back.
-" Not anymore."
Gojo-Sensei replied in a cold, unwelcoming tone.
The man turned in our direction with half a smile on his lips.
- " Too bad."
He said with an insolent shrug.
- " Naoya, if you're just here to send your misfortune and malice you can dispose of us with your presence."
Naoya... That's his first name, but where did I hear it?
- " I'm just here to see how my dear cousin is doing, come on..."
His cousin? I frowned, not understanding the outcome of this conversation.
His gaze shifted to me.
- "And who is she?"
He took a step toward me.
- "That's none of your concern."
Gojo-Sensei placed an arm in front of Naoya preventing him from going any further than he wanted to.
- "It will be."
Those were his last words before he turned and walked away from this hospital for good.
What did he mean by that? I stood there confused.
Gojo-Sensei turned to me.
- "You should go home now, I'll do the same."
I shook my head in refusal.
- "I'll stay here for a while, until closing time at least."
He sighed.
- "Fine, if you want, but be careful."
- "As always."
He rolled his eyes before walking away.