SILENT || Sugawara Yuri

CHAPTER | 38

   The rest of the dinner was filled with Yuri trying to ask questions but Kei would always cut her off and whenever they asked the girl any questions he would also answer, if his brother asked any, Kei would ignore it and change subjects. Mr. and Mrs. Tsukishima were doing most of the talking.
   Yuri tried to keep calm and kicked Kei under the table a couple of times so he would let her talk. She couldn't be too mad because he didn't know that she was supposed to be speaking to prove to his father that she was confident enough to be Kei's partner. She did try smiling to make up for the limited speaking, but she didn't think the man would be convinced.

   "How is your family?" Mrs. Tsukishima asked.

   Yuri looked at her, there was no hidden motives behind the question, she even looked slightly concerned.

   "Good—"

   "Still terrible—"

   "Kei, can I talk to you?" Yuri stood up, cutting him off. "Please excuse us."

   They walked away from the table and into a secluded hallway area, she glanced back to see the man whispering something to his wife who smiled and waved it off. A bit of nerves settled into her body but she brushed it off hoping that it was just a husband and his wife being affectionate towards each other.

   "What?" Kei asked.

   "Are you trying to make me look bad!?" She asked sudden frustration overshadowing across her face. "Do you not want them to like—"

   "Some fake bitch who doesn't know which persona to play?"

   A heavy blanket of tension fell upon them, neither of them saying anything as he had that displeased look on his face, her own face sinking to it's emotionless state.

   "Wait—"

   "I'm going home." She whispered and walked away leaving him alone. She got to the table and picked up her purse, a lump formed in her throat and she avoided looking at them. "Thank you for the—"

   Unable to finish the sentence she walked away from the table and into the bathroom, a panic swept over her body, she tried to control her breathing but it seemed almost impossible like something was physically blocking her lungs, getting tighter with every breath she took.
   She pulled out her phone and quickly clicked a few buttons.

   "Hello?... Yuri?" She felt numbness take over her body, she set the phone down on the sink. "Yuri? Are you okay?"

   Instead of facetiming the person she accidentally hit the call button. Please hang up. Please hang up. She pleaded and then it did the ringing filled the bathroom.

  "Hey, where are you?" Tadashi showed up on screen worried, already running out of his house.

   "D-Din-"

   "Are you still with Kei?" He asked and she nodded. "Is he with you right now?" She shook her head. "Yuri take a deep breath."

   She tried and exhaled, he continued to coach her through the breathing, her heart was still racing at the embarrassment she felt after Kei yelled at her. Those words sank into her skin as if he carved them there himself. She never really had the panic attacks that usually came with select mutism, her body always suppressed it until she got home and dealt with them but by then they would have already settled.
   Though she did have the occasional throat blockage and her heart racing, but her body was more into a panic because of the people she was with and the place she was at. All unfamiliar.

   After a good fifteen minutes she could suddenly hear sounds of cars and honking as Tadashi was clearly running through the streets of the small town.