"[ NAME ]!"

You hit the ground hard, agony screaming up your arms. You try to say that you're alright, but all the breath has been knocked out of you. You wheeze as you gasp in a lungful of air. Your face feels wet, and dampness runs down into the collar of your shirt.

Is that blood? You open your eyes hazily. Your face feels like one big bruise, and your arms ache and sting like you've just taken a grater to your flesh. You cough until you think you'll hack up a lung. You feel dirty. Filthy. Nasty.

"[ NAME ]!"

Yuta screams out a warning. With difficulty, you turn. A Curse advances. It stands on two legs, but its skin is grey and in some places torn away; it flaps like loose cloth when it moves. You think you scream. Yuta seems to steel himself, swinging his new sword in a wide, but wobbly arc. He's only received it recently from Gojo, so you suspect that Yuta's more surprised than anyone else when the blade sinks into the side of the Curse. Moaning, the Curse turns its attention to Yuta; but another wide arc of the blade later, the Curse has dissolved into ash.

Coughing, struggling to draw in a breath, you manage to ask, "Was that the last one?"

"Yeah, Maki, Toge and Panda went to take care of the Second-Grade."

They should be able to exorcise it without a problem. Crisis successfully averted, the tension leeches out of your limbs. As shock loosens its hold on your senses, you take stock of your injuries. Your skin has been shredded beyond belief, and the contact with the cold air stings your wounds. Those are easily fixed with your Cursed Technique, but you suspect that your clothes are a different matter altogether. The tattered remains of your blazer and skirt hang limply on your frame; you catch a glimpse of pale pink lace and find yourself blushing. You look away as your skin heats up.

To his credit, a red-faced Yuta keeps his eyes trained on your face as he offers you a hand up. "[ NAME ], aren't you going to heal yourself?"

You shake your head. "Not until I see if anyone else has been injured."

"You should heal yourself first," Yuta says, fretting. "Were you Cursed?"

"Huh?"

"Your neck."

"Huh?" Your face is blank, your mind whirling as you try to catch up. Yuta's waiting for an answer. The problem is, you don't know which answer he seeks. "Unsheathe that sword of yours, and let me have a look."

The clear metal of the blade doubles as a mirror. You stare at your reflection. You certainly look as bad on the outside as you feel on the inside. You find that Yuta's gaze is drawn to the webs of dark colour that stain your skin – the curve of your neck, the hollow of your throat, the rise of your collar bone. You poke at a discoloration on your throat, watching it fade where you touch and then reappear. It throbs a little.

Oh.

Seeing the fresh bruises brings back a deluge of memories from last night. Rolling across the mattress in a heated tangle, mouths sliding over shoulders and throats. Inumaki nibbling and licking across your shoulders, your neck, catching skin between his teeth. The tiny darts of pain making you mewl and arch, pleading wordlessly for more. It feels as though all the blood in your body has rushed to your cheeks.

You clear your throat, sheepish. "It – Uh. I fell. It's fine."

Yuta's eyes are wide, disbelieving. "You fell?"

The door behind you groans in protest when it's tugged open, saving you from any further indignities. You give a startled cry when a hand on your shoulder turns you around, but your fear soon becomes embarrassment when you find that it's only Maki.

Maki's slate gaze rakes over you from head to toe. "You look like crap."

"Thanks." You tell her, dryly.

"Curse gone?"

"Yuta took care of it."

"Everything okay?" Panda asks, poking his head into the room.

"Fine," You tell him. Then, in a louder voice, you ask, "Toge?"

"Tuna, tuna." Inumaki replies, walking in to find you. You can see the fresh worry written all over his face when he sees the state that you're in; he crosses the room in double time and takes your hand in his. "Mentaiko?"

You give his hand a light squeeze. "I'm fine."

His gaze drops to your linked hands, then rises to meet your eyes. "Kelp." He says again. He lets go of your hand for the briefest moment, only to shed his jacket and hand it over to you. You stare at the fabric, surprise making you freeze. You know he enjoys the anonymity afforded to him, how the high collar covers the markings on his skin, and you don't want to rob that away from him.

"Kelp." Inumaki repeats again, more insistently when you make no moves to accept it.

You nod. "Thanks."

It's only when you look up at him that you find evidence of your teeth imprinted upon his skin – large purplish bruises are beginning to blossom across the pale column of his throat, and the sharp angles of his collar bones. His jacket had concealed the blotches of blue and purple before, but it's glaringly obvious what Inumaki's been doing. His cheeks are the pink of cherry blossoms.

Maki's eyes light up with awareness, and the look she gives you is dry. Panda snickers into his paws, causing your embarrassment to run even wilder. Fidgeting, you inch away from Inumaki, feeling as though you've been caught doing something terribly naughty.

Yuta's gaze ping-pongs between you and Inumaki. "Um, has Toge been Cursed?"

"No." You tell Yuta, with as much dignity as you can possibly manage. "No, Toge hasn't been Cursed."

Yuta opens his mouth. Closes it. "Well – Did – Did Toge fall too?"

Panda cracks up laughing.

"Uh, well – PANDA, STOP LAUGHING, DAMMIT!"