[Yuta Okkotsu] Monogamy

Content warnings:

1. First-person narration and an equilateral love triangle. There is OOC characterization regarding cursed energy and encounters with cursed spirits, so canon purists beware. A romance-focused daily-life story with little plot.

(I hate plagiarism, I hate plagiarism!!)

2. I'm writing this for my own enjoyment, so I like to take my time with the romance. I want to write out all the bittersweet, twisted, tangled-up feelings they have. If you don't like the main plot or think the pacing is too slow, leave early. Don't force yourself to read something you don't enjoy.

3. The whole story is undergoing major revisions. I'll post each chapter after revising it, so those who've read it before can enjoy it again~

I'm not changing the blurb. I'm terrible at writing blurbs.

Excerpt 1:

In a daze, Rika Orimoto heard herself ask, "What's your name?"

"My name is Yuta Okkotsu. What about you?"

I don't like hospitals that smell of disinfectant, and I especially hate being somewhere without Nana.

It's so lonely I could die.

So Nana-chan will forgive Rika, right? It's okay if she doesn't. Nana belongs to Rika anyway.

Forever.

"Rika, I'm Rika Orimoto."

Excerpt 2:

Found you...

Yuta Okkotsu stared at the girl in front of him, sitting up straight and listening attentively to the lesson. His gaze traveled from her glossy black hair down to her waist, wrapped in a pale green sailor uniform.

[Yuta!!! It's Nana!!!]

A hoarse voice rang out, full of excitement, but no one in the classroom could hear it except Yuta Okkotsu.

Gripping the ring hanging around his neck, Yuta suppressed his emotions and replied silently, "Rika, don't come out just yet. We have plenty of time later."

[Yuta, hurry! Rika wants to talk to Nana.]

The hoarse, grating voice made it impossible to tell its gender or age, but the earnest effort to get the words out, and the heavy yet restrained calmness in them, brought tears to Yuta Okkotsu's eyes.

He blinked and used all his strength to hold back his tears, leaving only a red ring around his eyes as proof that this unnoticed moment of crying had happened.

Found you, he repeated once more.

Please forgive us. We just miss you so much. Every moment, we're thinking of you.

Excerpt 3:

After he stopped laughing for a moment, he asked, "Can I hold your hand?"

As soon as he spoke, warmth began to spread. The change in temperature made me flinch and twitch my hand. I looked down without thinking, and saw my hand, reddened by the cold wind, being held by his.

Then his hand quickly tightened around mine. His broad, slightly rough hand naturally guided mine into the pocket of his gray coat. It had been in the heated room for a long time, and the warmth inside felt wonderful.

My heartbeat skipped a few beats, like snowflakes drifting gently down and accidentally joining the vast expanse of white feathers.

Though I didn't really want to admit it, in this empty courtyard, so much snow had fallen that, for a moment, all I could hear was the sound of it falling.

I looked away and drawled, "You, can't."

Yuta Okkotsu drawled right back, "Why, not?"

"Because Yuta Okkotsu's girlfriend won't let you."

"Yuta Okkotsu's girlfriend hasn't objected." Yuta Okkotsu swung my hand gently in his pocket, the umbrella in his raised hand steady.

"But he has another girlfriend. I don't know if she'll allow it."

"Hahaha, she will. You've already won him and his girlfriend over." He spoke slowly, his voice still full of laughter.

For a moment, I felt embarrassed. I turned my head and hurried to explain, "That's not what I meant. Don't go making things up."

He didn't reply for a moment, only lowering his head to laugh softly.

Excerpt 4:

In the dim room, a wall was covered with photographs.

The girl's pretty face was surrounded by overlapping photos. Her glossy black hair fell around her face, and her smile was pure and innocent, as sweet as honey...

Gojo Satoru took one down. His fingers were slightly bent, long and well-proportioned, each joint slender and fine, like a taut bowstring, embodying the perfect proportions of a work of art.

Because he was so much taller than an ordinary person, his presence made the quiet room feel extremely cramped. It was stifling, rotten, and dilapidated, leaving no room to breathe.

Like a vast web, love had pinned the smile on the wall fast.

It wasn't raining at night, yet the space seemed drenched in sheets of rain, pressing down the delicate flowers.

Perhaps it wasn't rain, but spider silk.

A flower from the wilderness fell into a spider's web. Amid the click-click of the camera, its fate was discussed. Lost desire closed the window, creating a... cage of its own.

Gojo Satoru turned and switched on the light. The glaring white light fell on everything before him, its long rays seeming ready to burn.

The secret that had been hidden was no longer a festering wound. Love, rotted into mud, lay exposed before Gojo Satoru.

The hurried, scattered sound of running stopped behind him. Gojo Satoru lifted his eyelids and glanced sideways.

Yuta Okkotsu stood with hunched shoulders and a dark gaze, expressionless, one hand braced against the door and the other hanging behind him, clenched tight. He must have been on his way over, only to see the person who shouldn't have been there when he opened the door.

Theme: Suffering doesn't deserve to be glorified, but those who face it bravely will always be admired.