Horrible Acts | ✔️ | Blue Exorcist

Interrogation

Yukio had grabbed me a pair of sweats and once I changed, he told me that he'd be doing the laundry and all heavy lifting from now on. Even though I wanted to argue, I reluctantly agreed. I'd just have to do a better job at the chores I had to make up for it. With everything settled, Yukio and I walked back to the stairs, my body ached more than it ever had, but I tried not to let it show.

As Yukio started picking up the scattered clothes on the stairs, I thought of something. "Hey," he paused and turned to me, "when you came into the room, you acted as if you knew what had happened. How'd you know?"

He gave me a look, "I think anyone would believe that something was wrong if they came across this scene." He gestured around to the mess of dirty clothes and I got his point. "And when I walked in the front door, I heard Kuro frantically scratching at the kitchen door." He sighed, "I thought something happened to you while you were in there, but when I went in and couldn't find you, I got worried."

I chewed on my lip, embarrassed, "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, "don't apologize, it's not your fault that you're hurt."

"True, but I could take a little more care of myself instead of trying to be macho about it."

He chuckled, "that would be appreciated, if you would." I nodded, even though he wasn't looking in my direction.

Once he'd finished cleaning up, he did as I had earlier and hefted the basket onto his hip. Maybe he'd make a good housewife, too? We both walked down the stairs in silence, the movements jarring my body, causing me to flinch. Thankfully, I was walking behind Yukio, so he didn't notice.

Entering the laundry room, Yukio sat on the floor in front of the washers and started separating whites from the darks.

I chewed on my lip, "Yukio, no ones going to know about this at school, right?"

He looked up, a surprised expression on his face. "Of course not, this is a personal matter. I've already asked that the cram school kids keep this hushed, and they didn't hesitate to agree." I sighed in relief, a small weight lifting off my shoulders. "What about your school work?"

"Huh?"

He glanced up at me again, separating the last of the piles. "You can't really expect to go to school in your current situation, right?" I gave him a puzzled look and he sighed, "you can barely walk the way it is, how can you plan on making it through eight hours of education, for five days in a row?"

"I've done it plenty of times in the past." As soon as I said it, he flinched and I apologized softly. "But it's true, I've handled myself fairly well in elementary school, I can do it now."

He sighed, keeping his eyes cast away from me, "just because you can, doesn't mean you should, Nii-san." He started loading the lights into a machine and he huffed, "you went to school before because you had a secret to keep, but now, you don't have to hide anything. You're hurt, and that deserves a few days vacation from high school."

"I understand that, but what about my classes? I can't just skip multiple days. And cram school...." I remembered that my peers knew everything and my resolve faltered.

Yukio didn't seem to notice my hesitation, however, "you're taking pain meds, I don't think you'd be able to study on your classes much, anyway. As for cram, well, things can be worked out."

I huffed, "fine, and by the way, you forgot those," I shoved my finger in the direction of the garbage bag. He huffed and snatched it, grabbing out a few handfuls of dirty laundry. "Yukio?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?" He paused for a moment, but then continued as if he hadn't heard me. "Yukio, you're acting strange, and I know that all of this is stressful, but that doesn't mean you have to hide things from me. I'm stronger than you think, so you don't have to shelter me." He was silent for a moment and I sighed, leaning against the wall.