Blossoms of the Dark Continued

CCXIV Selene: Insecurity

Trigger Warning:

- sexual assault

- mention of drugging

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Ten bleeding hells and all their denizens!

My body aches as though I just climbed ten thousand steps to a temple on top of a mountain.

And I have to traverse that many steps down, too.

Just the effort into opening my eyes takes a toll on me. Even better, the second I manage to, the brightness of the colors stings. Immediately, I have to close them again. This time, I try to sit up. That fails, too. I end up rolling off the bed.

Wait. Sit up? Bed?

Perhaps the knock on the back of the head once I fall or the dull headache in the forehead stirs some sense of awareness in me. I try to open my eyes again. The vibrancy does not hurt so much anymore. Glancing around, I make note of my surroundings.

Beige and cream aesthetics. Tatami flooring. Bamboo stalk in the corner. Paper panels for windows on a sliding door. No mosquito net around the bed. Spacious and cozy. Nothing like my bedroom at the boarding house or the Hanada mansion. Everything like Shouto's. What am I doing in Shouto's room? Am I at the dormitory?

I try to recollect the events of last night. It was my debutante party. Shouto and I smuggled my belongings into a car. Within the rose labyrinth, we eavesdropped on Miyamoto-san and his lackeys planning something nefarious. The arthritic flare. Toast. Dance. Everything else after that is a blank space in my memory.

Toast ... That's right. My drink smelled and tasted odd.

It would not be farfetched to assume that Hanada-sama laced the liquid with a date-rape drug. He has an alliance with Miyamoto-san, and it would not be the first time he drugged me to make me compliant for his clients. Which means that Shouto must have rescued me and brought me here. This is not the boarding house, I realize as well. The rooms there are not nearly this big. So I must be resting at the Todoroki home.

An IV is attached to my arm, and so are many other pieces of medical equipment, confirming what I had already suspected. There is a pager resting atop the nightstand. I press it.

Moments later, people come rushing in. Nurses who lift back onto the bed. Doctors who check my vitals. They ask how I'm feeling. I tell them the truth: like a living corpse. That elicits a snort from one or two of them. They perform tests to determine whether I am capable of regular function. One nurse passes me a pair of nitrile gloves, having already been informed of my scar insecurity. When I try to ask them about what happened to me, their expressions become guarded. They tell me to ask the Todorokis because it was Endeavor Oji-san who brought them here. When they are content with what they find, they remove the plugs and wires connecting me to the machines.

Finally, the person I was hoping to see the most comes into the room: Shouto.

The instant he sees me sitting upright, he storms up to my side and embraces me tight. Fingers dig into my back. Face snuggles against the slope of my neck. Our heartbeats become one rapid tandem. Our breaths palpable fast rhythms. "I couldn't sleep at all last night. Thank goodness you're awake. Are you feeling better? Any problems? I can call the doctors back if you want."

My body is weak, but I manage to reciprocate the hug. "No," I murmur, combing back the unruly locks of his hair. "I'm fine. Sorry for worrying you. Get some rest." Though he does not look at me, I can feel him shake his head. He mutters how much he had done and how much more he has to do. "Then can you tell me what happened after the dance? The subsequent events are a vacant spot."