a/n ok sup bbs.

Doki Doki Literature Club is a legend. I suggest you all download it, it's a wonderful fluffy game! ;DD

Anyways, straying off from the topic - I'm not entirely sure if this will be a slow burn or not - but I'm estimating this to be about 9-12 chapters, because I still have some ideas I'd like to implement. Please bear with me until then.

Also - quite a long chapter.

Review, follow, and favorite if you liked this chapter and want more. It really gets my inspiration up and running!

The blonde leads Maki around the rotting building, dank and musty smell invading her nose, it's a smell she's recognized over the years of camping inside abandoned buildings.

After Maki had woken up, she was immediately given a glass of water and a 'pill', of some sort, and was quickly told to follow the blonde. They'd went several floors down. The building is seemingly tall, with what Maki estimates to be at least eight floors max, (just from the information she's gathered from her frequent peeking outside the windows.) and she figures she can't EASILY escape. Eli has many people, about twenty-five, and the barricades she's seen outside are tough and hard to breach.

Eli stops in her tracks, hand pointing to a door to the right, "And this, is my room." She pushes the door open. It creaks loudly. "Let's talk here."

Maki follows Eli inside, and this time, the smell is different. She smells perfume, tough, slightly foul-odored rose perfume. It's slightly too strong for her liking, but she chooses not to mention it. "Sit down."

Maki pulls up a foldable chair, and Eli nears the door. Click.

"Did you just -" Maki's face whites, "Lock the door?"

Eli's eyes stare her down, completely ignoring Maki's previous question. "Who sent you here?"

Maki inches closer to the wall, "What on earth are you talking about? Is this what you say after fifteen years of not seeing me?"

Eli walks cautiously towards her, a small handgun facing Maki. "Speak. Or I'll shoot." Maki groans, and stands up, slapping the gun away from Eli's hands. "I know you won't shoot me, Eli."

Eli sighs. "Sharp as ever."

Maki genuinely felt fear, in that moment. She wasn't even confident that Eli wouldn't kill her - because honestly, it was just a wild guess. No one can ever tell what time could have in store. And lucky for her, her guess was right. "What gives?"

The blonde ruffles her golden hair, "We've got enemy groups trailing us. They suspected that we held some of their members in our basement - idiots," Eli rolls her eyes, "We don't have enough professional equipment for that."

Maki takes a seat again, "So you thought I was a spy?" Eli awkwardly chuckles, "Well - yes."

"You know me better than that." Maki says, sighing.

"Haven't seen each other in what, more than a decade? Can't just trust you so easily."

The redhead grumbles. "I guess." Eli picks up her gun from the flood and dusts it off with her slender fingers, "Can I ask you a question?"

"What..?"

"How are you feeling?" Eli asks. Maki can see the blonde gulp, anticipating her answer. "I'm.." Maki hesitates to reply. "Fine."

Eli's eyes visibly soften, a relaxed smile falling on her face. "That's good."

Maki doesn't know what that means, but she'll just assume the best. She has a nagging feeling of discomfort at the back of her mind. She decides to shake it off.

"So, do you wanna start with some missions?" Eli gives a warm smile, "Missions..?" Maki wonders. She didn't exactly sign up for this - she planned to bail the moment she had the chance, and going on a mission..?

The blonde affirms. "Yes. Missions. Think of it as a way.. to try and repay us." Maki flinches. "Repay you?" She scoffs, frustration seething through her teeth. "You guys were the one who knocked me out and practically kidnapped me."

Eli senses the quiver in Maki's voice, the irritation, and she's quick to react. She chuckles. "You're right. Sorry about that." She scratches her neck. "Apologies."

"Just think of it as an opportunity to find a home." Maki rolls her eyes. She's unusually irritated today, "Home? What do you even mean by tha-"

"You know what I mean, Maki." Eli grabs hold of Maki's hand. "I know how hard it is to survive out there, without someone to go home to," Eli continues, "Without a home."

Maki pulls her hand away, and Eli's face stills. "I don't care."

Blue eyes soften, again. Her expression looks like a scared puppy, her eyebrows furrow. "Why?" Curiosity leaks from her tone. Worry - probably, if Maki didn't look carefully.

Maki sighs. "It's really none of your business, is it?" She twirls her hair. "Besides," She stands up, "Don't you have like - thirty workers?" Twenty, actually, but it doesn't hurt to act innocent once in a while.

"Members, Maki." Eli corrects. "Not workers - " she stares sternly at Maki, "Members."

Eli snakes her way to Maki's hand, tightly gripping it with force. "Maki, I'm eager for you to learn. I'm eager for you to find a family - friends, a community." Her blue irises flicker for a moment. Maki sighs. "I just don't -" She slowly moves her hand away from Eli's grip. It loosens. "I just don't want to deal with all this - after what happened before I went running out alone."

Eli smiles in understanding. "So - you need time?" Maki lowers her head. "Yes."

She looks away. "Lots of time."

"So, your room will be here. You're allowed to leave the building - but you need permission from - well..." Her eyes roll away in embarrassment, "Me!"

Maki scoffs, "Why? Can't I just leave on my own?" Eli places a firm hand on her shoulder. "We can't have you dying on us." Her tone is serious, it's practically a whisper - slightly threatening, and Maki only sighs. For what seems like the hundredth time that day. "Right."

"Well - I'll leave you to your own devices. See you later." Eli says, pushing Maki in the room and abruptly closing it shut. Maki hesitates sitting on the bed - it's riddled with dust. Probably hadn't been used in years, and as Maki takes a seat,she feels the dust brush against her rear, thus standing up and wiping everything with a spare cloth she had in her pocket from the night before.

After finishing it, she takes a seat - and this time - considerably more comfortable. Maki then removes her shoes and helps herself get comfortable with the idea of lying in a bed that's probably always there, never used. She lets her head rest on the almost tattered pillow and closes her eyes. She falls asleep after a long day.

She doesn't notice the pair of pink scrunchies laid across her wooden bedside table.