Talking Late At Night (Itsuka Kendo X Yui Kodai Drabble)
Itsuka’s phone lit up with a buzz as she clambered onto her bed. She grabbed it and checked the notification.
Yui: Are you free to call now?
She typed a response: Yeah, go ahead.
A second later, her phone rang.
“Hello?” Kodai’s soft voice reaching her ears sent a familiar tingle of exhilaration through Itsuka. Even after a month of talking over the phone, she wasn’t used to talking to her best friend/crush.
“Hi,” She breathed. “I’m surprised you wanted to call. I mean – I’m totally fine with it! It’s...nice. Just surprised, is all. Pleasantly.” Gosh dammit Itsuka, she groaned internally.
“I just needed someone to talk to. I’m tired, but...maybe it’s the adrenaline.”
Itsuka sighed as she pulled her covers over her. “Yeah, same. I’m exhausted, but…”
“Still thinking about it, aren’t you?”
“Worst training camp ever, huh?” Yui tried for humour, but Itsuka knew she was never one to crack a joke. Still, she chuckled humourlessly.
“I’m just glad all – most of us are safe.” She cringed as she corrected herself. She got lucky. “I’m glad you’re safe too,” She added as an afterthought.
“I was worried for you.” Kodai’s voice cracked as she said it. “When I heard that gunshot…”
Itsuka gulped as the memories flooded back like a broken dam. “Tetsutetsu put his life on the line. I hope he’s doing alright.”
Kendo remembered that barrel of that boy’s gun pointed at her face. She had froze up, like invisible weights had been dropped on her legs. I’m going to die, she had thought.
“I’m fine.” She answered.
“I’m fine,” She had told the paramedics and Vlad King. It was truthful then. She was too worried about Bakugo, about her classmates who were unconscious, to think about how she was a split second away from death then. Now, as the adrenaline faded, the flashbacks pierced her mind like needles. The reality set in. If Tetsutetsu hadn’t reacted in time, she wouldn’t be here.
“Itsuka,” Kodai murmured. “You don’t have to be strong for anyone, you know that right?”
“I know,” Itsuka choked. “But isn’t it selfish when I’m safe in my bed, and…” She struggled to find the words. “Shiozaki, Honenuki, Bakugo, everyone...Yui, I’m worried.”
“I’m worried too, but it’s not selfish, Itsuka. You’ve been through even more than the rest of us. If you want to talk to me about it, or anyone, you should.”
Itsuka closed her eyes as tears leaked down the sides of her head. Rubbing them with her blanket, she said, “I don’t think I’m ready to talk about it. Maybe tomorrow night?”
Itsuka heard white noise over the line for a moment before Yui spoke up again, her tone slightly quickened, as though she was flustered. “Itsuka, can I tell you something?”
She definitely sounded flustered. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s what happened tonight. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s 4am now. It’s probably something to do with the fact that I saw you run off with Tetsutetsu, and I remembered thinking to myself, Please come back…” Her voice grew weaker and weaker, struggling to hold back her emotions.
“I really like you too, Kodai.” Itsuka interrupted.
Silence followed for a few seconds. Then, “Why’d you ruin my speech?” In her usual deadpan. But she was giggling, interspaced with a choked sob.
And Kendo both laughed and cried, the horrors fading in that instant. Vaguely, she was aware it would come back, but she didn’t care in that precious moment. She was just happy to hear Yui’s voice next to her.
“Glad I could finally say that,” Itsuka said, blushing. She briefly entertained the mental image of Yui with a reddened face. Wish I could see that.
“I’m glad you know that,” Yui sighed. “I hope I don’t regret it.”
Itsuka didn’t get a reply. “Are you...blushing?” Itsuka teased.
“Sh – Shut up!” Was the reply, and Kendo giggled.
“Are you going to go sleep?” Itsuka asked. “We should.”
What the fk is their ship name?
Anyway, hope you liked this. Feedback is appreciated as always. Please tell me if this is not how girls talk. All I had as reference were my own late night conversations with my crush.
P.S apparently drabbles are 100 words or less. But I don’t feel comfortable calling this a short story, since The Call of Cthulhu is also labelled as a short story and it’s 10k words. So...my standards is at least 1k words for a short story. At least put a semblance of effort, you know?
