~Enji's POV~

When I woke the next morning, I went to check on Enya. Mother and Father got home late they probably wouldn't be awake yet. As soon as they were awake, I planned to talk to father to try and smooth things over so he wouldn't take his anger out on Enya. He'd hoped to use the ball last night as a chance to parade Enya around like a trophy to be won, which sickened me. I was glad I got her out of there early, I just wish it had been under different circumstances.

Her door was locked when I tried to open it. That was odd. I knocked lightly, "Enya, it's me." I called softly. "Are you awak-?"

"Go away." Her voice was quiet and raspy as if she'd been crying for hours.

"Enya? What's wrong?" I knocked again.

"Go away!" She cried.

I stared at the door wide eyed, she rarely ever raised her voice. "Enya, open the door, now." I pleaded.

The door opened and my heart fell as I looked to her busted lip, the fresh bruise forming around her left eye and the dark bruises on her shoulder. Her cheeks were streaked with remnants of tears and her eyes were puffy and red. I'd never expected my father to be angry enough he'd wake her from her bed.

"What-?" I began to ask.

"I want to be left alone." Her deep blue eyes that were always so full of light and life were now dull and lifeless. She closed the door and I heard the lock slide into place.

"Enya." My heart shattered. "Please, don't shut me out." I begged her, "come on, let's go to the archery range, we can play with all the cats, dogs, and chickens."

She didn't answer.

I clenched my fists in anger before calming myself down. I took a seat against the wall across from her door to wait for her to come out. Hours ticked by, breakfast came and went, but Enya wouldn't leave her room. Soon lunchtime rolled around and she still hadn't left.

"Quit coddling her." Mother hissed as she poked her head down the hall, she too must be sporting a bruise of her own as she was wearing more foundation and concealer than usual.

"Did you see what he did to her?" I hissed.

"She should have behaved herself." Mother retorted unsympathetically.

"And you?" I glowered looking to the concealer under her eye.

"I had a little too much to drink, it was my fault." She replied as if this were all completely normal and acceptable.

"Because that makes it okay." I shot sarcastically.

Mother ignored my commentary, "you should get ready, your betrothed is coming over for a lunch date." She smiled and walked away.

"What?!" I snapped.

She didn't answer me.

I glowered after her before turning to look at Enya's door. I got up and moved closer to her door. I couldn't hear any sounds from within her room. Lightly, I knocked again, "Enya?"

Nothing.

"Please, Enya, open the door." I leaned my head against the door praying she'd open up and talk to me.

Nothing.

"Alright...I have to go for a bit, I'll be back. I'll bring you some cocoa and cookies." I hoped by bribing her with sweets she'd say something, anything.

Nothing.

My heart crumbled. "I love you."

Nothing.

I'd always been worried about her in this hellish home. She was much too soft; it was only a matter of time before they broke her. I clenched my fists, I'd always hoped I'd be enough to keep her safe to keep her from getting broken, but I'd failed her.

"I'm sorry, Enya. I'm your big brother and I'm supposed to protect you...I failed you this time... I won't fail you again, I promise." My eyes burned; I could feel the sting of tears threatening to bubble up.

Nothing.

Reluctantly I retreated to my room to change. If I just stuck with it and met all their stupid obligations without complaint it would be easier to talk to them and possibly get them to listen to me. I had to stay on my best behavior, for Enya's sake. There was what my mother would consider a 'casual' outfit lying atop my bed. It consisted of a pair of nice tailored pants and a dark red button up shirt.

Sighing I changed into the clothes laid out for me before heading downstairs. My mother smiled as she saw me dressed in the clothes, she'd laid out for me. "Don't you look dapper."

"Thank you for the outfit." I grumbled.

Her smile grew as she realized I was going to play along. "I'm glad you like it, dear." She took me by the arm and steered me to the sunroom which she had set up for tea for two, where I presumed, I was to have my lunch date with the girl I was being forced to marry, Rei.

Mother looked to me as we stepped into the sunroom. She wanted me to comment on her 'hard work'. Hard work for her was ordering the servants to put everything exactly where she wanted it. "The room looks lovely, Mother." I said with a forced smile.

Her smile grew, she was enjoying this way too much, "thanks dear, I wanted everything to be perfect for you."

"You've outdone yourself." I felt like I was going to be sick. I hated playing their stupid games.

The bell rang and I almost sighed in relief, as it meant I'd be rid of my mother soon. "Enjoy your date." She gave me a light pat on the shoulder before taking her leave.

A butler arrived with Rei. She was wearing a nice grey dress with pale blue accents. Her long white hair was lying flat down her back with a single pale blue ribbon separating her bangs. She looked nervous. I had zero sympathy for the girl, not after she upset Enya and started this whole mess. Rei curtsied as the butler left. It was a little sloppy, nowhere near as flawless and graceful as my kid sister who'd perfected the art at a young age.

"Is Enya alright?" She asked with genuine concern.

"Funny thing for you to ask when you're the one who upset her." I growled.

She flinched at this, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset her, I thought she knew. I was really worried when neither of you returned to the ball."

Before I could respond, I noticed Enya's maid enter the sunroom. She waved at me trying to subtly get my attention. I motioned her to come forward not caring if it was rude to Rei as she wasn't exactly in my good graces.

The maid bowed as she raced forward, "sorry to interrupt, young master."

"It's fine, what is it?" I asked.

The maid looked around to make sure my parents weren't around, "Mistress Enya isn't in her room. I went to bring her some lunch and when I unlocked the door, it was empty." There were tears in her eyes, my little sister inspired such devotion in people with her kindness.

"What?!" I felt panic grip me as I remembered when she'd tried to run away not long ago, she'd gotten hung up in the rose vines on the trellis. "Did you tell my father?" I asked warily.

She shook her head, "I thought it best I come to you first..." She trailed off so as not to alert Rei as to why.

I nodded. "Thank you, don't tell anyone else, I'll find her."

"Please let me help." Rei offered.

"I don't need your hel-." I began but cut off as my Mother stepped into the sunroom.

"You two haven't started on tea?" Mother asked curiously.

Rei curtsied, it was still a little clumsy, my mother picked up on it right away and scoffed. "You have such a lovely home, Mrs. Todoroki and I've heard so much about the famous Todoroki garden's, Enji just promised he'd show them to me before tea." She lied with ease.

It would give us an excuse to leave the house and go search for Enya without being suspicious. Mother smiled at the flattery, "oh, how charming he is."

Rei smiled, "indeed, you've raised quite a wonderful young man."

Mother smiled, "oh, aren't you a dear. Have fun you two, enjoy the gardens." She waved coyly before sauntering away.

I turned to Rei with a frown, "this doesn't mean I forgive you for upsetting Enya."

"It's alright, I wasn't expecting you to, I just wanted to help."

"Fine, thanks for your help, now leave." I grumbled before heading for the garden.

"It'll look suspicious if I leave now." Rei argued and ran after me. "Let me help you look for Enya. Its probably my fault she's run off again."

"...it's not..." I sighed. She did seem really sincere in her remorse. It didn't feel right to let her blame herself for anything more, she felt bad enough, and I was certain she wasn't the reason Enya took off this time. "You can come along so long as you stay out of my way."

Rei smiled and nodded.

We left the sunroom and stepped into the gardens. There was no sign of Enya anywhere. I was sure she wouldn't stay on the property if she was really intending to run away. Rei managed to keep up without complaint as we jogged through the garden. I paused as I noticed a single tulip out of place near the outer wall, Enya must have climbed the wall here. It was out of view of the house, the perfect place to escape.

"Why did we stop?" Rei asked as she scanned the area searching for a clue.

I pointed to the tulip, "she must have climbed the wall."

"That's impressive." Rei remarked.

"She's an accomplished child." I retorted.

"Well that too, but I meant your perception skills." She giggled softly.

I rolled my eyes and quickly scaled the wall before reluctantly offering a hand to Rei to help her up. A faint splash of color flushed her cheeks as she accepted my hand and let me hoist her atop the wall. I hopped down and noticed Rei hesitate.

I sighed, "I'll catch you, hurry up."

She nodded and jumped into my arms. Her face was flushed with color. I resisted the urge to sigh again and set her on her feet before marching away in search of any more signs of Enya. I spotted a footprint in the dirt heading in the direction of the rocky bluffs where the car accident had been. Why would she go there?

"This way." I grumbled and took off toward the bluffs. Rei hurried after me.

It wasn't a very long walk to the part of the road where the accident had happened. The guard rail was fixed but there were still scrapes along the rocks from the car. There were several bouquets of flowers off the side of the road, for her driver. I knew Enya had left some of them.

"This looks dangerous." Rei paled as she noticed the rocky bluffs we were heading to and the drop to the sea below. "Why would she come here?"

"She was in a car accident not too long ago; this is where it happened." I replied.

Rei hesitantly peered over the edge, searching desperately for Enya, "there she is!" She pointed to the bottom. "She's by the water."

I followed her gaze and my heart dropped, Enya was at the bottom of the cliff sitting atop a jagged rock near the water's surface, wrapped in that stupid cape. "ENYA!"

She jumped at the sound of my voice and my heart sank as she slipped off the rock and into the ocean. Without thinking I took a running leap off the rocky bluff and dove for the water below as Rei screamed. As I plummeted toward the ocean, I saw Enya struggling to stay afloat, desperately trying to get a grip on the rock she'd fallen off of. She slipped beneath the water's surface and my heart dropped. I hit the water a few seconds later and dove after her.

Where was she?! I couldn't find her. I surfaced with a yell, "ENYA?!" There was no sign of her. I dove back under, my eyes burned as I opened them. I caught a glimpse of the ridiculous cape slowly sinking and dove for it.

Enya was desperately trying to kick her way to the surface but was having a hard time fighting the underwater currents. I caught her in my arms and used my quirk to concentrate powerful blasts of fire from my feet to propel us to the surface. As we surfaced, Enya coughed up an alarming amount of water before bursting into tears. She threw her arms around me and hugged me tight as she sobbed against me.

"N-Nii-sama, I was so scared!" She cried and all of my anger at her for running away again faded away.

"It's alright. I got you." I hugged her tightly against me before pulling us up onto one of the flatter rocks at the water's edge. The stupid cape was surprisingly waterproof and seemed to be warm. Begrudgingly, I wrapped it around her shivering frame. "What were you doing down here? It's dangerous."

"I just wanted to come here to think." She sniffled.

"What if you'd fallen off the cliff and hurt yourself or fell into the water when I'm not here to save you?" I scolded her.

"I only fell in because you scared me!" She cried.

"I know. I'm sorry." I squeezed her tight, "you scared me too."

"Are you two alright?!" Rei yelled as she slowly climbed down the cliff.

"What's Rei Nee-san doing here?" Enya looked to me curiously.

"We're supposed to be having a date." I sighed.

"Gross." Enya wrinkled her nose.

I chuckled, "my thoughts exactly."

"...at least she's nice..." Enya piped up softly.

"You think so?" I frowned.

She nodded.

"She seems to care about you, so that's definitely working in her favor." I admitted.

Rei finally joined us and took one look at Enya before letting out a gasp of horror, "what happened?!"

Enya looked to me not sure if she was supposed to lie or not.

"Our father." I responded darkly.

Rei gasped, "because you left the ball early?"

Enya bowed her head not wanting to admit it probably because she knew Rei would blame herself. She was far too kind. I nodded and Rei winced.

"I'm so sorry!" Rei cried.

Enya managed to smile, but it was much less bright and vibrant than usual, "it's not your fault Rei Nee-san."