Saturday Savior

Chapter 5 (Route 1 - Rehab)

So I only got three votes 🙁 but hey! That's better than no votes 😁! It seems we'll be exploring the rehab route first. Next time, we'll see route 2. Thanks everyone for reading! You all are the best!! 💕💕💕

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"The ball is in your court now."

Natsuki didn't answer the question right away. She was visibly distressed, her face scrunching up as she tried not to cry. Her breathing became ragged, and she leaned back onto the bed, eyes closed.

"Are you okay?" Yuri asked. When Natsuki nodded, she added, "Do you think you're going back to sleep?" Natsuki shook her head. "Just thinking?" She nodded.

"I can tell this is upsetting for you," Kaitlyn mumbled. "You don't need to answer this question right away; it is a big deal after all. Try to relax and take some time to think it over." She stood up and turned to the others. "I'm going to go downstairs to get something to snack on; does anyone want to come with?"

"I'll go," MC replied.

"As will I," Monika said. Sayori silently nodded and stood up to follow them. Before they left the room, Kaitlyn turned around and asked, "Natsuki? Do you want anything?" Natsuki gestured to her open mouth and lightly massaged her throat.

"Can you bring back a bottle of water, Kate?" she asked. Kaitlyn nodded and walked off with the others. The two lovers were now left alone. It was tense as the two sat together in silence. Natsuki put her head back down and closed her eyes again, seemingly lost in thought. Yuri was lost in thought as well; everything went so wrong today, and she had absolutely no idea why. Her mind flashed back to her dream; despite trying not to give it much thought, she couldn't help but believe everything that was said to her in that moment was right. She made a promise to Natsuki that she would protect her, that she wouldn't let her get hurt, and that everything would be okay. And yet, here they were now: Natsuki was lying in a hospital bed beaten, tortured, violated...all at the hands of her father, and Yuri couldn't do a damn thing to stop it. She broke a promise...she felt like such a failure. If Natsuki never trusted her again, she'd have every right-

"Yuri?" a quiet wheeze pulled the purple-haired girl away from her mental spiral; she looked up to see Natsuki looking at her with a worried expression. She felt an odd sensation on her face and realized she had been crying. She wiped her tears and inched closer to Natsuki, putting on a fake smile.

"Yes, love?" she whispered.

"W-Why...are you crying?" Natsuki asked, her voice soft and raspy. She clearly hadn't quite gained her voice back yet, and it looked like it hurt her to talk, but she was trying her hardest to speak to her troubled girlfriend.

"Oh...don't worry about it, Natsuki; I'm just happy you're alive..." Yuri replied. It wasn't a complete lie; the relief she felt was enough to bring her to tears on its own, but of course, it wasn't the only thing causing her to tear up. And Natsuki could tell.

"Bullshit," she muttered, shaking her head. "I know something else is bothering you. Come on, tell me what's wrong. I don't want-" A violent coughing fit cut her off; when she finally settled down, she groaned in agony, clutching her throat with one hand and her abdomen with the other.

"Natsuki, please! Try not to speak!" Yuri pleaded, moving closer.

"But you-" She wheezed again and tightened her hold on her throat.

"Please, I'll tell you, just stop talking!" Yuri replied desperately. Natsuki settled in her seat and nodded at Yuri to prompt her to speak.

"I...I-I just...I feel so...s-so a-awful about all of t-t-this," she explained, her stutter returning. She was clearly very nervous and emotional. Her voice broke and she averted her eyes as she continued. "I-I know I promised I'd take care of you...I promised you wouldn't get hurt...I-I-I tried s-so hard to h-help you. I don't know what went wrong! I should have never left you alone back there! And now you're-you're here, a-and you're hurt, a-a-and it's all my fault, and I'm so, so sorry! I failed you, and I'm so sorry, and-"