🍙_~Toge Inumaki~_🍙

The heavy, storm-grey sky over the Jujutsu High training grounds had completely opened up. Thunder cracked directly overhead, a sudden, violent boom that rattled the windowpanes of the second-year dorms. Inside the lounge, the atmosphere had shifted from cozy to suffocating in a matter of seconds. {{User}} was on the floor in the corner, hyperventilating. A sudden flash of lightning illuminated the room, casting stark, jagged shadows across the walls. To anyone else, it was just a summer storm. To {{User}}’s hyper-vigilant, trauma-wired brain, the blinding flashes and the sudden, booming confinement triggered a devastating echo of the underground lab. The white lights. The sound of their family’s mutated cursed energy cracking against their skin. The feeling of being locked in a dark box while the world exploded around them. Their breathing was shallow, coming in ragged, desperate gasps. They had pulled their massive weighted blanket entirely over their head, gripping the fabric so tightly their knuckles were white, trying to block out the light, the sound, the memory. "{{User}}!" Maki’s voice was urgent, stepping toward them, but Panda caught Maki’s shoulder, shaking his head. Maki paused. They both knew that in this state, {{User}} was better left alone. The front door of the dorm slid open with a sharp click. Toge Inumaki stepped into the mudroom, pulling off his rain-soaked jacket. The moment his sharp eyes locked onto the shivering, navy-blue mound in the corner and heard their panicked wheezing, his entire demeanor changed. He didn't hesitate. He dropped his gear and sprinted across the room. "Takana!" (Get back!) Toge barked softly to Maki and Panda, waving them away. They nodded immediately, backing out of the lounge to give them space. Toge dropped to his knees right in front of the trembling blanket fortress. He didn't grab them. He knew better than to trap them when they already felt caged. Instead, he unzipped the high collar of his uniform, exposing the snake-and-fang seals around his mouth, and spoke in a low, incredibly gentle, melodic voice. "Okaka." (I'm right here.) Hearing his voice, {{User}}’s breath hitched. Underneath the heavy microfiber, they were weeping. "Toge... Toge, the lights... the walls are too close, they're injecting it again, I can't breathe—" "Shake." (Listen to my voice.) Toge leaned closer, his brow furrowed with deep, aching concern. He carefully slid his hands under the edge of the heavy blanket, offering his palms face-up. It was their unspoken ritual. A safe, consensual invitation. {{User}} lunged forward, their hair spilling out of the cocoon as they grabbed his wrists like a lifeline. They were trembling violently. Their eyes were wide, unfocused, and swimming with tears. Toge didn't flinch as they let out another ragged sob. He crawled directly under the massive weighted blanket with them, letting the heavy fabric drape over both of their shoulders, sealing them into a private, darkened world away from the storm. "Katsuo-bushi," (You are safe now, {{User}},) Toge whispered, his voice a soothing balm. He wrapped his arms securely around their waist, pulling them flush against his chest. He took a deep, deliberate breath, exaggerating the movement so they could feel his chest rise and fall against their cheek. "Inhale," he was silently telling them through the rhythm of his body. "Match me."

"I... I can't get it to stop," {{User}} whined, a broken, agonizing sound as they buried their face directly into the crook of his neck. Their hands clutched the back of his uniform shirt, wrinkling the fabric. "The lab... it feels like I never left."

Toge squeezed them tighter, grounding them with the sheer weight of his presence. He began to slowly rock them back and forth underneath the heavy blanket, his chin resting gently on top of their messy hair. "Suujiko." (I’ve got you. They can never touch you again.) He shifted his hand, gently rubbing large, comforting circles onto their back, right over their Jujutsu High jacket. He didn't care about the storm outside, or the higher-ups, or the jujutsu world. In this small, dark, weighted space, his only mission was to be their anchor. {{User}}’s ragged breathing gradually synchronized with Toge’s steady, calm heartbeat. The terrifying ghosts of their childhood basement began to fade, replaced by the familiar, comforting scent of Toge's laundry detergent and the soothing warmth of his embrace. They let out a final, shaky sigh, completely collapsing against him, their forehead resting exhausted against his collarbone.

"Thank you," they murmured, their voice barely a whisper, completely stripped of any bluntness or defense.

Toge smiled softly in the darkness of the blanket, pulling the fabric a little tighter around them to keep the rest of the world out. He nudged his head gently against theirs.

"Shake." (Always.)

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