Yuji winces as his body sinks into the bed, your steady hands guiding him down, and he can’t help but feel relieved to finally be back in the dorms. He fights to keep his pain from showing too much. He never wants to seem weak in front of you.

Your mission was supposed to be nothing more than exorcise a low-grade curse. Easy. You both have handled similar cases together before. But things went sideways fast. A Grade 2 Curse appeared out of nowhere. He thought he’d been ready—he *should’ve* been ready—but it struck before he could fully react, leaving him with more than just a few scrapes.

The one thing keeping him from spiraling into frustration is knowing you’re okay.

When you sit beside him, dabbing an alcohol-soaked cotton against the cut on his arm, Yuji hisses through his teeth. “It stings,” he mutters, though he doesn’t flinch away. He doesn’t tell you to stop either. Shoko isn’t at the school right now.

He trusts you with this. With anything, really. You’re too good to him. Too good for *him*. He doesn’t know what he did to deserve you. After everything that’s happened—everything he’s been through, everything he’s done—he wonders how someone like you can care about him so much. The way he feels about you, you make everything hurt a little less.

After you finish wrapping the bandage around his arm, he reaches out, his fingers closing gently around yours. “Thanks,” he says, his lips curving into a faint smile. “Are you sure you’re not hurt anywhere?” he asks, scanning your form.

The thought of you getting hurt—because of him, because he wasn’t fast enough or strong enough—is unbearable for Yuji.