Cherry | 51 | Blossoms
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Wednesday morning had been the last day of finals, so Y/N had jumped on the first bus after all her tests were over and drove down to Layland to meet up with Midnight to finish paying off the apartment.
The only reasons why she'd managed to do so was because of her recent pay. Emi had given her a bonus—and she'd been secretly taking out money from the black credit card Chisaki had given her. She would be tight on cash for a while, but at least she had somewhere to hide the siblings when she helped them escape.
The sound of her phone going off caught her attention. She opened the messaging app. Y/N smiled as she saw a message from Shouto. She'd recently changed his name in her contacts. It made her heart beat a little faster every time she saw it flash across her screen.
From: Shouto Todoroki ♡
03:45: Midoriya wants everyone to meet at One For All to celebrate the end of the semester. Will you come?
To: Shouto Todoroki ♡
03:45: I'll try to drop by, but I can't make any promises. I have a few errands to run.
From: Shouto Todoroki ♡
03:46: I understand.
03:46: Do you want to stay over tonight?
Y/N chuckled silently at his last message. For the past few days she'd been staying over at his place. It wasn't like it was intentional, most of the time they got caught up talking with one another or watching a movie that time would just fly. By the time they noticed, it was too late at night for her to take a bus home, and too late for Shouto to be out driving.
To: Shouto Todoroki ♡
03:47: If I keep staying over you'll run out of clothes. I've been wearing all of them.
She glanced down at herself. She was wearing a pair of his sweatpants and one of his large sweaters. She was glad she hadn't run into any of their friends on campus or they'd start asking questions. She hadn't been back at her apartment in a few days, so she'd been using Shouto's clothes and hairbrush. For some odd reason he always convinced her to stay.
From: Shouto Todoroki ♡
03:48: I have enough clothes
Y/N smiled and rolled her eyes at his message. His answer was so like him.
To: Shouto Todoroki ♡
03:49: I'd like to wear my own stuff. I also have to stop by and check on my place.
From: Shouto Todoroki ♡
03:49: Fine. Let me know after you're done running errands if you're stopping by All Might's or going straight home.
Y/N locked her phone and shoved it into her purse. There was another reason why she wanted to stop by her apartment. She hadn't heard from Chisaki in day's, and she was starting to become more paranoid by each passing minute. It wasn't like him to stay quiet for so long.
A part of her feared that he'd noticed her nights away and was waiting for her to come back, but the logical side of her brain told her he was probably busy with whatever had distracted him the last time she'd seen him when he'd taken the siblings to the warehouse.
She sighed. She just hoped he didn't drag her into anymore of his messes.
...
Y/N stared at the note in her hands as she pulled back the chair of her dining table to sit down. Her hand trembled as she re read the sentence.
There's no need for you to continue going to the hospital.
Y/N didn't need to be an expert to know the note had been from Chisaki; it was his handwriting and he was the only other person who could enter their apartment.
She reached for her phone and dialed his number without hesitation, but it went straight to voicemail.
She slammed her hand on the table. "Dammit, Chisaki! Why? Why are you cutting me off from Rei?"
She rubbed her face trying to think why he would want her to stay away from the hospital. Had he found out about her conversations with Rei? No. Every time she spoke about something important with her she would either take her outside or would dampen the microphones. Was he punishing her for being out with Shouto? No, if Chisaki had known she'd been out with Shouto she would no longer be alive.
Cursing under her breath, she grabbed her purse and headed towards the door. She sighed when she realized she needed to turn her phone off. Hopefully, Shouto wouldn't notice.
...
"What do you mean she's not here anymore?" Y/N was breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath after running.
"She was discharged yesterday evening," the secretary from the psychiatric hospital where Rei used to live in said.
"That can't be right," Y/N told her. "Who discharged her?"
The secretary sighed and gave Y/N a pitiful look. "Who else, honey? My boss, your boss, everyone's boss. He said you'd probably come running to ask about her. He said to let you know you were free to go home."
"Where did he take her?" she asked, her voice dripping with desperation. "I'm her caretaker. I need to be with her. I need to see her."
"Look," the secretary sighed. "I don't know where he took her, and even if I did, you know that I can't tell you. Now please leave."
Tears threatened to slip out of her eyes as Y/N walked to the bus stop. Never had she felt so miserable, so powerless against Chisaki. Even when he'd beat her, she always felt like she had something over him, but now? She couldn't save two people that were being treated worse than animals, and the only other person she relied on had been taken away from her.
Climbing on to the bus Y/N couldn't help but feel a helplessness fall on her shoulders. She needed to find Rei, but Chisaki wasn't answering his phone and she didn't know when she would see him again.
Y/N wiped the stray tears from her cheeks. She didn't have time to cry. She knew Chisaki needed Rei, why else would he keep her in an expensive hospital? Rei was going to be fine. Y/N needed to find a way to save her and save the siblings at the same time.
Maybe she could try calling Chisaki once more and ask him to reestablish her as Rei's caretaker, but she didn't know where he was or why he even decided to move Rei
Once she was back home, she slammed the door of her room shut and turned on her phone, a call from Shouto immediately came in.
"Are you okay?" He sounded worried. Y/N cursed herself for being so inconsiderate and not sending him a message before turning her cellphone off.
"Yes. The market didn't have much signal. I just got back home," she lied. She started rummaging through her purse as she looked for headache medicine. "How was the gathering with the others? Did you have fun?"
"It just ended. I'm about to head back to my apartment," he told her. "I can pick you up if you changed your mind about staying the night."
Y/N didn't want to be alone. She needed him.
"I'll pack a small bag," she suggested. "I'll bring the clothes I've borrowed before and some of mine too, is that okay?"
"Yeah," she could hear his smile on the other side of the phone. "I'll be there in half an hour."
Y/N ended the call and her eyes trailed off to the small piece of paper that had been tucked between one of the creases inside her purse. She unfolded it and read the scribbled numbers across it. The incident at All Might's from the week before flashed in the back of her head.
"No," she mumbled. "You can't. He is involved in the kidnapping of Shouto'a family."
Still, even though she knew Dabi wasn't someone she should be asking help from, instead of throwing it away, she folded the piece of paper and tucked it neatly in her wallet.
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