From Distant Lands - Juro's Return

Chapter Seventeen

For a few minutes, I don't know how I got here or why my face is soaked with tears. All I can really remember is Juro and the kid, but... when I look around, they're nowhere to be found. I blink, surprised by the hiccupping sobs that are making my chest shudder, and I wipe my face, trying to remember what happened. I start to get up and my neck twinges, a spot just under the left side of my jaw throbbing and making me curse as I reach up to grab it. That's right... he injected me with something again, but... when I get to my feet and flex my hands, I don't feel any different. The energy inside me feels just the same as always and the strange shivering feeling I felt the last time is completely absent. I swallow, feeling both intensely uneasy and relieved at the same time. I look around the room one last time, seeing the evidence of our almost fight as plain as day, but... Juro is nowhere in sight and neither is Rihito, so I start for the exit I saw before, hoping I'll at least be able to find my friends. I know one thing for sure and that's that we'll have to regroup. Juro has to be long gone by now... whatever he was planning, he doesn't seem interested in carrying it out anymore. I huff as I walk towards the door, soreness still lingering in all of my limbs. Fuck... what the hell did he inject me with?

"Kaida!" I hear Tsu's voice first and look up in surprise to see her running into the room through the same door I was heading towards.

"Tsu..." I manage as both Shoto and Bakugo follow her inside, all of their eyes on me.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Bakugo demands, walking towards me. I instinctively take a step back, startled by his sudden concern. He freezes, eyes hardening suspiciously. 

"I... I'm fine..." I say slowly, my gaze automatically falling to Shoto. He blinks at me, a strange look on his face.

"What happened?" he asks and my whole body aches at the fuzzy memory. I shake my head, panic making my heart race. Why can't I remember?

"He... I don't know... I think he injected me with something, but I..." I shake my head again, frustration and fear bubbling up inside of me.

"Let me see it" Bakugo commands, stepping forward again and reaching for me, but my hand comes up to block his, my eyes wide. Of course, everyone's worried, but having Bakugo so close to me all of a sudden... as if it's second nature to him... it feels alien and unsettling.

"What's wrong?" he demands, a thousand different emotions fleeting across his face, but the only ones I recognize are anger, impatience, and irritation. I look between the three of them, Bakugo his usual surly self, Tsu both worried and uncertain, and finally Shoto, blinking at me with that familiar look on his face. The one that says he's working through a problem. I look back at Bakugo, instantly irritated myself.

"What do you mean? I just told you what happened" I spit coldly, angry that he's choosing now to be so obnoxious. He recoils, seemingly surprised by my tone and I don't know what to do with the expression. Since when does Bakugo give a single shit about how I feel?

"Shoto...? What the hell is going on?" I demand, the unfamiliar behavior only increasing my panic. Why is everyone staring at me like this? Bakugo's eyes widen, a fire lighting behind his gaze.

"What the fuck does icy hot have to do with anything?!" he snaps, making me flinch. What is he talking about? Shoto has been my best friend for four years, the closest person to me outside of my sister, and... my gaze falls over him again, heart stuttering. He's been the one good thing I never thought I deserved. Looking between him and Tsu, I'm starting to wonder if there's something I'm missing.

"Are you okay, Kaida?" Tsu asks, looking between me and Bakugo. I shake my head, incredulous. Was literally no one fucking listening to me?

"Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on before I lose my shit?" I demand, heart hammering and hands shaking. Bakugo's face shifts slightly, a strange sense of realization coming into his eyes.