The Razor's Edge [[Feitan x Reader]]

28: The Cellmate

*Machi's POV*

"Has to be something to tell where she might be," Feitan said, leaning over Shal's shoulder as he scrolled through page after page on the library computer. "Look for his name. Akira."

"Do you have a last name for him, Fei?"

"No, but should not be that hard to find."

It had been three days since y/n went missing. Feitan thought that she might've been taken to Zaban city, to the estate of this 'Akira' guy. That wasn't the case, though. When we got there, the estate was under construction—apparently being rebuilt from some fire it'd had—and the only people on-site were the workers hired to fix it.

"Not that hard to find?" Shal echoed in disbelief. "I'm going to have to comb through birth records and town censuses to try and find this guy, so I'm going to need you to be a lot more patient."

Feitan had been driving us crazy during those few days, taking his anger out on all of us anytime we faced a setback. The control he normally exhibited over his emotions was crumbling bit by bit. I wasn't sure if the others had noticed it or not, but the disappointment we faced in Zaban City nearly crushed him.

I think he blamed himself for y/n's disappearance. So, no matter how insufferable he was, I couldn't hold it against him. I knew that if something had happened to Shiku, then I'd be acting the same way.

"Alright, I've found him," Shalnark announced.

"Anything of use?" Feitan anxiously questioned.

"I just have his name and birthdate so far, but I'm going to search the public records for any deeds or other proof of real estate transactions, that way we can gather a list of his properties and start narrowing it down to find out where he might've brought y/n."

"How long will that take?"

Shal side-eyed him. "It takes as long as it takes."

"Feitan," I piped up, "How about you just relax and let Shalnark do his job? You can't be making it any easier by breathing down his neck like that."

He glared at me, but came and sat down.

"Taking too long," he said.

"We've barely been here twenty minutes."

"No. Taking too long to find y/n. Do not like to think about. . . about what he might be doing to her. Need to find her soon before—"

"We will," I assured him, reaching out, against my better judgement, and placing my hand on his arm in an effort to comfort him.

Feitan normally hated any kind of physical contact, but he turned to me with an almost thankful look in his eyes.

I truly believed what I'd said to him. We wouldn't stop until we found y/n and rescued her from whatever horrors she was going through. She'd be with us soon enough.

*****

*y/n's POV*

"More tea, miss?"

"Sure. Thank you, Muiri."

I had gone the first couple of days refusing all food and drink, not trusting anything they'd offered, telling myself that I'd finally eat when I escaped. Unfortunately, my body's sense of self-preservation took over and kept me from starving myself, so I gave in when Muiri brought me dinner on the third day. Turns out they weren't trying to drug me after all.

It had been almost a week now since Akira kidnapped me. He had been sticking to a pretty strict routine of joining me for breakfast and dinner. The fact that he left me alone for the rest of the day led me to believe that he was out of the house then—probably off drop-kicking puppies or making children cry or something.

My body was littered with bruises and cuts from his punishments. He was growing more violent with each passing day—not that he'd ever shown me any mercy, he was just becoming more brazenly cruel.

He always sent Muiri in to check on me after he left. I wasn't sure if it was another form of torture, not letting me be alone to process the things he'd done to me, or if he somehow managed to feel guilt over his actions and thought Muiri would be best equipped to deal with the aftermath since she had such a comforting presence. I think the former most accurately described his motivations, but still, I did appreciate having Muiri around. Something about her definitely made me feel more calm.

As Muiri bent over to refill my cup, I noticed a locket hanging around her neck.

"That's a really pretty necklace," I said.

Her fingers automatically rose to it, absentmindedly caressing the polished silver. "Oh, thank you, miss."

"Is there anything inside? I know it's customary to keep a picture of someone you love close to your heart."

She clutched it to her chest, nervously shifting her eyes toward the door. I knew who she was looking out for.

"Muiri, it's okay. It's not like I'm going to be able to escape just by knowing whose photograph is in your locket."

Her eyes flicked once more between me and the door, but she opened it to show me a picture of her and two older adults. "It's my parents, miss."

I smiled. "That's sweet. You all look so happy. You must be pretty close with them, then?"

"Yes, miss," she said. "I'd do anything for them."

I frowned. "Will you stop that?"

"S-Stop what, mi—"

"Stop calling me that. You don't have to be so formal with me. I'm not him."

"Master Akira wouldn't approve of that, mi—"

"I really don't give a fuck what he approves of. I just want one person here to treat me like an actual, normal human being. Can't you just talk to me like you'd talk to one of your friends or something?"

"Master Akira really wouldn't like that. . ."

"Muiri. Please? Who the fuck would tell him? Only you and I would know—and if he's ever around then we can just play it cool and he'd be none the wiser."

She bit her cheek as she considered it. "Alright," she finally agreed. "I suppose that would be fine."

"Do you want to have a seat?" I pushed the other chair out, offering it to her.

Her eyes shot open wide. "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly. If Master Akira saw that. . . besides, I've, um, I've stayed too long. I really should be going."

She quickly gathered the dishes that littered the table, setting them haphazardly on her little cart before scuttling out of the room.

That suggestion had apparently crossed the line of familiarity for her. It was odd how even someone who worked for Akira could fear him so deeply. I had thought before that she was just dedicated to her job, but now I wondered if he was forcing her to obey him—if he had something that he was using against her. Maybe Muiri and I weren't so different.

We were both prisoners here.

~~~~~
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, I haven't had as much time to write recently, but I have sooo much planned!
I did, however, finish and post the Shalnark one shot, so go ahead and give it a read if you haven't yet/if you'd like.
Also, one of you lovely lovely people made sketches of some of the characters and different scenes and they made me so happy I could cry, so i'll be posting those on my tumblr (same username) soon and maaaaybe on tiktok (different username) (but this is a secret fanfic account and i'm not sure I want y'all to see my face bc I started getting creepy dms from my other account bc of that, hence why I made this secret one haha lol).
Anyway, love y'all! Thanks again for all of your kindness and support <3