OKOSHI | JOJOLION

021 | usual charming self.

★ . . . IF YOU COULD HAVE YOUR way, you would have climbed right up the mountain today to have your talk with the mountain gods. You had given it a lot of thought and it genuinely seemed like a good plan. You didn't have much to lose. At worst, there would be no mountain gods. At best, you could get your family curse lifted. And if they didn't agree, the worst they could say was no. You actually grew more excited the longer you considered the plan. Maybe you should have been more apprehensive about meeting divine beings, but your excitement about ending the curse trumped that.

Unfortunately, you couldn't go mountain-climbing yet. It was now the weekend, and your long-dreaded video call with your mother was an hour and a half away. You just had to get through this and it would be smooth sailing from there.

Hopefully. Please let it be.

"Where is he?" you muttered for the umpteenth time. You had been pacing around your bedroom for the past ten minutes and half-expected to find a trail worn into the carpet. Your bone dice clattered noisily in your palm.

"He probably bailed on you," Karera drawled, hanging upside down from your bed. Her curly hair floated around her as she flipped through one of Hato's magazines. "You shouldn't be surprised."

She sounded surprisingly snippy about it. You stopped your pacing and looked at her.

"Karera, will you cut Tooru some slack? I know you don't like him but you've barely spoken ten words with the guy. He's not so bad. He might even turn out to be my true love."

"Oh, then you're screwed," Karera said. "Tell me, what number did he roll with your dice?"

"It ... wasn't bad," you hedged. Truthfully, you had never gotten the chance to use your dice on Tooru. It had never seemed convenient, and eventually, it had just slipped your mind. Not that you thought it mattered. He hadn't killed you yet so he had to be trustworthy.

Karera sat up abruptly. "You don't know, do you? You've never even let him use your dice."

"Not everyone needs to use my dice. It's been a while, and Tooru has never done anything bad to me. I think I'd know if he was an asshole."

"Would you? Because if you've gone on for this long and you're still together, I think you need to reexamine your people-judging-skills."

You threw up your hands. "What are you talking about, Karera? If he's so bad why don't you just tell me why?"

Karera clenched her jaw. "If I tell you, you're just going to think I'm slandering him."

"Humour me."

Karera looked down at her magazine. For a second, you thought she wasn't going to say anything.

"Tooru used to be Yasuho's boyfriend. Did you know that?"

You almost laughed. "You're kidding."

"See? I told you wouldn't believe me."

You went to sit down on your bed beside Karera. "Are you serious? They used to date?"

"Yeah," Karera said curtly. "And wouldn't you know it, Tooru was an ass to her. She said he was manipulative. He only spent time with her when it suited him. And it never mattered what she wanted. It was all about him. Yasuho could never do anything to upset him."

You thought back to the other day at the TG University Hospital—the stiff, strained silence between Yasuho and Tooru. Why hadn't Yasuho told you? Why hadn't Tooru, for that matter? You were now realizing that you knew next to nothing about him. He only ever asked questions about you. Even him working at the hospital had come as a complete surprise. You had thought he was just a naturally private person, but what if he was intentionally keeping things from you?