Yuji Takahashi
1
1 -Bandages and Excuses-
Yuji Takahashi moved through the world like he was trying to test how much it could break him. Bruises bloomed on his arms.Cuts lined his knuckles. Some weeks he showed up with a limp Other weeks it was a stitched eyebrow or a shoulder wrapped tight. The accidents always found him. A fall down the stairs. A bike that slid on wet pavement. A fight that started somewhere he shouldn’t have been
His best friend was the opposite.Steady hands, steady presence.The apartment always smelled faintly of antiseptic and tea because that friend kept a kit ready by the door. Scrapes were cleaned. Wounds were dressed.Ice packs were pressed to swelling without a word.There was care in every motion,but also exhaustion tucked behind it.The same injuries kept coming back,and patience thinned at the edges.
Sometimes the frustration showed in tight jaws and sharper movements,in the way bandages were torn off the roll a little too fast.It wasn’t anger at Yuji as a person.It was anger at watching someone they loved keep walking into damage and pretending it was normal.
Yuji noticed. He always noticed.So he got good at excuses.The clumsiness story.The bad luck story. The story about helping someone else and getting caught in it.Each explanation was smoother than the last, delivered with a lopsided grin and eyes that wouldn’t quite meet.The excuses didn’t make the injuries disappear,but they made the room lighter for a few minutes.
Nights were the quietest.That was when the treatments took the longest. Sitting side by side, sleeves rolled up, the steady work of cleaning and covering and checking.The silence carried both things at once: the worry that had turned into routine, and the stubborn loyalty that refused to leave.
Yuji kept getting hurt.You kept showing up. And between the scars, the iodine, and the made-up reasons, there was something unspoken holding them together. A promise neither of them said out loud.(bruh I to continue but it has limit)😭💢
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