NeonHorizon: This story was supposed to coincide with my stories Quiet Outburst and Say it Twice. But I might only let it coincide with Quiet Outburst because otherwise Dabi will be doing something that everyone is going to hate.


What did he do to her? Sayuri's heart dropped as Eri's door was opened for her. As soon as Kurono moved aside, she wanted to run to the little girl and comfort her. She wanted to pick her up and bolt out of the house, but she knew better. Her captors would catch her before she was able to even leave the room and then Eri would be left alone again.

Fighting the urge to hurry in, she examined the child from a distance. Eri was sitting curled up on her bed, facing the wall away from them. Her head down and a quiet whimper escaping her as the door opened wider. When she finally looked over her shoulder, the girl's large red eyes instantly began to tear up.

"Can I…?" Sayuri glanced toward Chisaki, who hesitated before giving her a nod of approval. Seeming pleased that she had waited for his permission. She crossed the room at a brisk pace and wrapped her arms around Eri as the little girl began to cry.

"You're…still here." It came out as just above a whisper as Eri clung to her.

Instead of relief, Sayuri heard sadness in her voice. Fear, worry. Like she had hoped it was just a dream that Sayuri was going to stay there from now on. She leaned back a little to brush Eri's hair away from her face and it felt like there were knives jabbing into her heart.

She was used to seeing Eri in dresses. Stuff that was obviously picked out by someone other than her, but normal enough. At this moment, she was wearing a long, faded thing that looked like a hospital gown almost. She was barefoot and there were bandages wrapped around her forearms and the lower half of her legs.

"Of course she's still here." Quiet footsteps approached the bed and a gloved hand rested on Sayuri's head, sending a chill down her spine. "She isn't like your real mother. She's not going to abandon you. Isn't that right, Sayuri?"

Hugging the girl a little closer, she could feel the rapid beating of the child's heart as fear sank in. I'm in danger, she thought as she felt that gloved hand stroke her head like she was a pet. Eri knows it and she wanted me to get away. She knows that he could kill me.

Fighting back her own unease, she smiled down at Eri. "That's right. I'm not going anywhere, Eri-chan." She felt Chisaki's hand lift and she tried to maintain her smile. Anything to reassure Eri that everything would be alright. It just hurt too much to see her this way.

"Is it okay if I get lunch started?" Sayuri, still holding Eri, looked up towards her captor. Every muscle tensing as she saw a twitch behind the black mask that covered his mouth and nose. She watched his eyes narrow for a moment before relaxing.

"Eri. Get dressed for lunch. Sayuri will come with us."

He doesn't want to let me out of his sight. She reluctantly drew away from Eri and followed the two men into the hallway. Sayuri watched the door close and lowered her head. Feeling sick at the thought of looking at Chisaki. Whatever he had done to Eri, he seemed to be indifferent to it.

She silently stood beside Kurono, who was asking Chisaki something about progress on some sort of serum. It was confusing and it was clear that neither of them intended to include her in the conversation. She felt goose bumps rising on her skin when someone's gaze fixed on her. Standing perfectly still, she bit the inside of her cheek when a gloved hand reached over to smooth a wrinkle on her cardigan.

"She cleans up nice. Don't you think so, Kai?"

There was a pause. A finger went beneath her chin to lift her face. Narrowed golden eyes stared down into her half-closed lilac ones; studying her for a moment before he seemed content. "She looks acceptable. And when she's next to Eri, she looks close enough to be her mother."

"You think the boss would approve of her?"

Boss? Sayuri felt a clenching in the pit of her stomach when she heard Kurono say this. She managed to keep herself from acknowledging it and instead bit her lower lip. Putting on the appearance that she was flustered by Chisaki's attention being on her.

"I think so." He moved his hand away, but stayed where he was standing. Leaving about a foot of space between them and quietly scrutinizing the young woman. "You want to know about Eri's wounds, don't you?"

She nodded once. "I can heal her, if you want-"

"Her injuries are deep. They'll put a strain on your…disease…if you take them. You'd be more than happy to do that, though, wouldn't you? Everything you're doing, you're doing for her. You said it yourself. You want her to be happy and safe, don't you?" When all he got was a small nod, he stepped closer and gloved fingers tangled in her pale hair. Forcing her head back as his eyes narrowed again. "You'd do anything to protect her, wouldn't you? Your own life doesn't matter now."

"Kai," Kurono spoke up, stepping closer to them.

"I just…want to make sure she's alright," she agreed with him. Sayuri curled her hands into fists, nails digging into her palms, and resisted the urge to grab his wrist. Even when she could feel a few strands of hair being pulled from her scalp.

His expression began to relax when he heard her answer and saw the sincerity in her face. Chisaki untangled his hand from her hair and stepped back to lean against the wall behind him. Acting as if the outburst had never happened. "You're such a good mother, aren't you?"

Sayuri lowered her head. "I want to do a better job than my mother did," she answered truthfully. "My parents loved me until I went against what they wanted and then they abandoned me. I don't want Eri to feel the way I did when that happened."

"That's pretty rough," the pale-haired man beside her commented. He looked to Chisaki, as if trying to see if he agreed.

The other man tugged at his gloves, his eyes fixed on the two standing across from him. "Then you should forget about your previous life and focus on her. Taking care of Eri is your only reason to exist now."

When Eri emerged from her room, wearing one of the normal dresses that Sayuri was used to seeing her in, she was carried to the kitchen by Kurono. Sayuri walked beside him and behind Chisaki. Keeping her eyes on the brown-haired man and wary of each time he looked back at her.

I need to know what he did to Eri. I need to know what's going on. Kurono mentioned their boss. What did he mean? I know he only let it slip because he's so sure I won't be leaving this place alive. Can I try to get more information out of him?

Sayuri cooked a meal for four, to the best of her ability. Eri and Kurono ate the food. The pale-haired man seemed pleased with it since it was the meal he had suggested to her earlier that day. As always, Chisaki sat at the table with them, but he refused to eat. She could feel him watching her as she ate her food and it made her sit so tensely that her muscles quickly started to hurt.

The young woman was glad her cooking had improved since that day she accidentally gave Dabi food poisoning. As she looked down at her plate, she felt her heart sinking a little. Thinking about Dabi and wondering what he was doing.

Chisaki sent someone after him, she thought with cold dread. Lifting her eyes to meet the ones of her captor, who was sitting in the chair to her left. Dabi's okay though, right? He has to be. His quirk is good for defending himself; not like mine. But…is he going to try to save me? Is he going to tell the police?

Her eyes shifted from the man next to her and settled on Eri, who was across the table from her. For a while, the girl had cheered up. When Sayuri cooked and had Eri help her, it felt like every other time she had showed her how to make their snacks. Giving the woman a moment of happiness, of feeling like everything was alright. Giving the child a moment of relief from the worry as she focused on the cute shapes that Sayuri was cutting the vegetables into.

After lunch, Sayuri walked back to Eri's room with the other two adults. Carrying Eri and trying not to think about how close Kurono was to her side. As she lowered the child to her chair at the little table, she put on a smile and went to get her workbooks and materials.

Her thoughts flitted to Dabi again while Eri worked. Somehow, picturing him lounging on the couch in her apartment like he usually did brought her a sense of comfort. Remembering how he would smirk and hook a finger into a belt loop on her pants to pull her down to him. The feeling of his fingers running through her hair as their lips met. Thinking about Dabi made her feel more relaxed and she hoped he was safe.

Kurono stayed in the room, but Chisaki left for a while without a word about where he was going. The afternoon wore on and Sayuri felt dread settling heavily into her stomach at the thought of having to leave Eri's side. A look down at Eri's bandaged arms made her smile fall and she wordlessly wrapped her arms around the girl in a hug.

"Sayuri…?" Eri looked up at her with more worry than Sayuri had ever seen on a child's face before. "Are you…okay?"

She blinked and realized that she actually had tears in her eyes. Smiling, she nodded and wiped at her eyes. "I'm fine. Sorry, Eri-chan. I was just thinking about when I was a little kid. I got hurt a lot, too, you know? I'd take my friends injuries for them all the time so I always had some scrapes and bruises."

"Oh. Those hurt. Were you okay?" The girl tilted her head.

"I was fine! I got used to it after a while. But you…" Sayuri took both of Eri's little hands into hers. "You got hurt today, right? I'm going to make it better. Just close your eyes, okay?"

The pain was intense. Making her see spots as tears freely flowed down her cheeks. Slices opening along her forearms. Flesh being gouged out. She had to bite her lower lip to keep herself from screaming in agony as she felt consciousness try to slip out of her grasp.

The same sensation began in the lower half of her legs. Deep, searing. It built up until her eyelids fluttered, her heart beating out of control. The pain abruptly began to dull and then there was an odd feeling. Tingling and then nothing; as if the injuries never happened.

Sayuri was unaware that she had been sobbing until she felt a hand grip her shoulder tightly and pull her back from Eri. She stared at the child with wide, watery lilac eyes. Snowy locks of hair fell forward over her face as she trembled and lifted a hand to run along her forearm. Afraid to look down. What happened? What did he do to you?! What did Chisaki do to you, Eri?

A sick, sour sort of feeling settled in her gut as Sayuri saw Kurono's face come close to hers. Fingers gripping her chin and forcing her to turn her head to look up at him. Those pale, cold eyes narrowed as he examined her.

His free hand went to her wrist and lifted it, letting her sleeve slide back. Revealing to them both that her forearm was now covered in thick, fresh scars. His thumb skimmed over one near her wrist and Kurono appeared smug. Pleased. "You took the wounds and the restoration."

"Wh-what is this? What happened?" she blurted out. Unable to contain her panic at the thought of Eri enduring everything she had just felt. A look toward the child showed her slouching in her seat with her hair falling forward around her face, trying not to let Sayuri see her cry.

He lifted his eyes from her wrist to lock onto hers when she looked at him again. "Might want to calm down before Kai comes back," Kurono warned, rubbing his thumb over the scar closest to her wrist. "You wouldn't want to ask too many questions. You understand?" His grip tightened; not so much in a threatening way, but a warning way.

She nodded, still tearful and her face burning with shame. Terrified by the way he was looking at her. Sayuri gently pulled her arm away from him and pushed her sleeve down again. "I won't ask him, but is Eri-chan…?"

"She's fine." Kurono looked over at the girl and nodded toward Sayuri. "You're fine. Tell her you're fine."

Eri reached over and gripped Sayuri's sleeve, tears in her eyes. "I-I'm fine. It doesn't…hurt. I'm fine, Sayuri."

You're not fine. Now that she knew the sort of pain Eri was being subjected to, the young woman felt a tightening in her chest and throat. You were dealing with this pain all by yourself. I won't make you do that anymore. I'm not going to abandon you, Eri. I'll stay alive no matter what it takes and I'm going to get us out of here.

Chisaki returned to find Sayuri kneeling on the floor beside Eri's chair; helping her solve some simple math problems. He looked to Kurono, who was standing against the wall near the table and watching the two pale-haired girls. "It's getting late. You should start making dinner. Afterwards, I think we should discuss your first day in your new role."

"Kai. She took Eri's cuts," Kurono spoke up. He nodded at the young woman to signal her to roll up her sleeve. "She even took the effects of your quirk."

His quirk? That tingling feeling that made the cuts close? Sayuri saw the intense way that Chisaki was staring at her scars and shivered.