In Excess (Itafushi)

Chapter 9

I stared into my wardrobe, displeased with the dismal array of bland shirts in front of me. Yuji's now dry sweatshirt draped over the back of my desk chair tempted me momentarily, but ultimately I pulled a black shirt from my closet that fit me well. I adjusted my hair, happy that it was finally behaving the way I wanted it to when my phone buzzed on my desk. I glanced at it, expecting it to be a text from Gojo since I hadn't called him yet today, but instead, it was a notification that Yuji was typing a message. My eyebrows furrowed, learning for the first time that the app that Will had me download not only sent notifications when a message was sent but also when a message was being typed out.

My phone buzzed again as Yuji sent his message, and I sat down at my desk, letting myself focus solely on the message. My heart raced with excitement, my fingers trembling slightly as I opened his message.

'Is it crazy that I miss you already?' The message read. I bit my bottom lip to contain my giddiness.

'Maybe a little crazy,' I started to type back. 'But I can't wait to see you again.'

'At least we're both crazy,' he fired back. 'Which shirt should I wear?' The message was followed by a picture of two shirts laid out on his bed, the bed that I woke up in this morning. One was a white t-shirt with a graphic on it and the other was a plain light pink t-shirt.

'I like the pink one,' I replied.

'Pink it is :)' I set my phone down for a moment to spray some cologne, and it instantaneously buzzed again. 'Are you ready already? I don't want to wait anymore.' My heart skipped a beat, a tingle of anticipation reeling through me.

'I'll be ready in five minutes,' I promised.

'I'm setting a timer ;),' he responded before I could lock my phone. I rolled my eyes with a smile plastered on my face. Yuji made my heart flutter in ways I didn't know were possible, and I had never felt so light before.

I leaned back in my chair, pressing my eyes shut. My heart was racing, unsure of what I was going to say, but I gathered the courage to call Gojo. The phone rang and rang, and I found myself hoping he wouldn't answer.

"Good morning, Megumi," Gojo answered brightly.

"Gojo, it's 8 p.m. here," I replied flatly.

"How has school been going?" He asked, ignoring my attitude.

"It's been good. It was only the first week, so I don't have very many assignments yet," I answered.

"Stay ahead while you can," he advised. "How's Will doing?" He asked, clearly proud to show off that he remembered my roommate's name.

"Um, he's okay. I haven't seen him yet today," I admitted.

"Not at all?" He questioned.

"Uh, no. Haven't seen him since before class yesterday." I debated lying to Gojo, but if he found out I lied to him, I would never hear the end of it.

"Have you checked on him? If he didn't come back to the dorm last night, who knows what happened to him." I wanted to believe he was only trying to get me to confess to my shortcomings, but he did sound genuinely worried about my relationship with my roommate.

"Okay, Gojo. I'll text him," I gave in.

"You know, you should have texted him as soon as you realized he didn't come home, Megumi," he scolded.

"Gojo," I snapped. "He's out more often than not. I didn't realize he didn't come home."

"Megumi, if you want to make friends, you have to-"