sacrificed sleep for this chapter but i'm more than pleased with the results. school will be starting soon so updates may become slower. i still have about a week though, so let's see how far that gets me ^^' anyways, please enjoy my lovelies <3

A faint click startled me awake from my light sleep. My eyes flew open and I sat up, clutching my blankets tightly in anticipation. "Shit!" A gravelly voice cried out, straining to keep quiet, but I still heard it. Springing out of my bed, my feet tip-toed across the cold concrete floors of my apartment. As I gingerly opened my door to peer down the hall, I caught a glimpse of grey hair.

My fear was replaced with a melting sense of relief and I calmly walked out into the living room. "G-Garou?" The softness of sleep still hadn't left my voice yet, but he still heard it. Garou jerked around, his face relaxing when he saw that it was just me. "Y/n! What are you still doing up?"

"I was worried about you..." Truth slipped out of my lips, but I didn't regret it in the least. "R-Really?" Garou's voice cracked a bit, but he quickly cleared his throat, trying to hide it. "Well, you shouldn't be! I'm going to be the best monster, remember? Nothing can take me down!" I giggled at his tenacity, but an uncomfortable sense of guilt was slowly growing in my chest; I didn't have to ask to know where he had been.

I staggered closer, still squinting my eyes from the abrupt switch from dark to light. A hand stopped me, the calloused palm pressing against my forehead. "Nope, not any closer until after I get a shower."

"Why?"

"Do you really want to know?" Garou's low voice was dripping with mischief, but there was another underlying tone that I didn't understand at first; it was fear. He didn't want me to know about what I couldn't quite see, which only made the sinking weight of guilt in my stomach grow. I bit my lip, glancing up at him, my eyes finally adjusted.

Rusty stains clung to his cheek and lips, a red tint on his teeth, like he had coughed up blood. His clothes had the same treatment and I could only guess what his hands were like. The same hand that he had touched me with; I was starting to feel sick.

He gave me a half smile, knowing that I had seen the dirty truth. "I'll be back." I managed to nod softly, somehow keeping it together until Garou had left for the bathroom. Once I heard the door click shut, I lunged for the kitchen sink, promptly throwing up. I held onto the counter for dear life as more vomit came out.

This shouldn't have been a surprise; if anything, I already knew. Hell, I had even watched him do it once! But this was different; before I didn't really know him. Garou had been a stranger to me beforehand. What he did wasn't a concern to me.

Now, though... Now he's someone that I craved to be with. He's someone that I genuinely enjoyed being near. He's someone who's been making me feel rather annoying things as of late. It wasn't fair. Why did he of all people have to be the monster in my life?

My shaky hands jerked the facet on, washing down my half digested dinner. Moving out of habit, I opened the fridge and grabbed a lemon. Slicing a small bit of it off, I threw it down the drain and flipped the garbage disposal on to ensure that my kitchen didn't stink. After the scent of lemons replaced the bitterness of vomit, I turned the loud machine off.

An uncomfortable buzz was circulating through my body, but it was better than the hazy numbness that was overtaking my mind. "The monster in my life... Why do I feel like I've been here? No... No it was different then. Similar, but different." My head began to ache as I tried to remember things that weren't there anymore. "Wait... Why can't I remember? I've... I've always had memories there..."

I let my hands drift into my hair with my eyes tightly shut as panic began to set in; too many things were happening at once. I couldn't process all these feelings at once. It just felt bad. "Mommy... Daddy... Help me..."

A cool, soft palm touched my face, the pain easing away at once. My eyes fluttered open to see the elegant face of a woman who looked practically ageless. "Hello darling. So you're finally awake? How did this procedure go?" Her eyes burned into mine, keeping me from looking around at the scenery. I didn't know what to say, but my mouth opened for me and words poured out, as though my lips were being synced up with a recording.

"It hurts, Mommy... Do I have to?" The voice that came out was mine; mine from years ago that is. I still had the high pitched squeakiness of a child and it matched how I was feeling too. The woman smiled down at me, gently touching my nose. "Of course you do, darling. Don't ever forget that what you're doing is for the good of this world. And can you tell me what's good and bad in this world, darling?"

The recording came out of my mouth again, reciting the words. "Heroes are good. Villains are bad. Mommy is a hero. Auntie is a villain." My mom's face lit up with pride as she straightened her body, standing tall above me; it was only then did I notice that I was strapped down to an operating table. "Wonderful, Y/n. As long as you remember that, nothing can hurt you. So does it still hurt, darling?"

"No, Mommy." Once that was said, she smiled again and left, leaving me alone in the dimly lit room. Before I could even gather my thoughts at all, someone was next to me; I don't remember how they got there. It was like someone had pressed the fast forward button on my life.

A man with dark hair and oval glasses looked down at me with squinted eyes. Somehow I knew that a rather handsome face was under that operating mask; I had seen it many times before. He hummed with annoyance, lifting a rather large syringe and inspecting the needle. "This should work just fine..."

Without any warning, he plunged the tip into the vein in my wrist. I would have screamed and writhed, but I couldn't move. Instead, I could only suffer as an inexplicable burning coursed through my arm, exploding when it got to my chest as the pain was transferred to the rest of my body. The needle slid out of my arm and the doctor quickly patched up the newly made hole in my arm.

"Yes, that's it subject 67. I can't have you die like 65 did. Your dad was such a disappointment to me, he had so much wasted potential! And don't get me started on your aunt, subject 64. Everything was going perfectly with her until she went awry."

"Daddy... Auntie..."

"However you and your brother, 66, are flourishing beyond my expectations!"

"Onii-chan..."

"Your mother is truly an angel for my research. What an honorable woman she is, sacrificing her family in the name of science."

"Mommy... An angel? No I don't like Mommy. She put Onii-chan and me here. She killed Auntie and Daddy. Mommy's evil."

"Although subject 66 is started to stir up trouble again. I'll have to take care of him quickly."

"Don't hurt my brother..."

"Well, it's time for another round, subject 67, please refrain from moving." Another needle was jammed into my arm, the pain growing by the second. My hearing became watery, my vision going grey and fuzzy. "Auntie... Onii-chan... Daddy..."

"Y/n?"

"Daddy!"

"Umm, what did you just call me?" My eyes flew open as the new voice registered in my head, the operating room melting away and leaving me in my kitchen. I was on the floor, the back of my head incredibly sore and the area on my left wrist where the doctor had been stabbing me was still stinging. I finally focused on the body above me, their face tinted a bright pink.

Garou had his hand on my shoulder, a mixture of concern and embarrassment playing with his features. My words came back to me and a stuffy heat crawled across my face. "Uh... It was an accident..." He nodded his head awkwardly, shyly glancing away only to have his eyes flitter back. "Are... Are you okay? I came out to find you lying on the ground like this..."

The events were still fresh in my mind; this wasn't a dream, that I knew. It was like I had dug up a time capsule in my brain and the contents were so familiarly unknown, like deja vu. Still, I couldn't bring myself to talk about it, so I put on a smile that hopefully wasn't as shaky as it felt. "Yeah... I'm fine."

Garou offered a hand to help me off the ground and while I had been nauseated by the same palm earlier, it no longer held that same stigma. Maybe it's because my moral compass at the moment was spinning wildly, unsure of everything at the moment. My small fingers wrapped around his wrist as he pulled me off the ground.

I got a good look of his outfit; boxers and the hoodie that I had decided was ours. Even after he had gotten me back on my feet, I didn't let go of his hand. Instead, I clung onto it, savoring it's warmth, confused on why I was so scared of it early. It's not like hands stained with blood hadn't touched me before; now that I think about it, what's so wrong with that?

"Hey Garou," His head snapped up, his gaze that was trained on my hand now completely on me. "What happened tonight?" He stiffened slightly, narrowing his gold eyes. "Why?"

"I just want to know..." My throat was dry when I answered, but whatever he did couldn't scare me anymore. Little pieces of memories that I didn't even know I lost were floating back bit by bit; the lab that I spent my life until 12, my dead aunt and father, the fact that my mother sold us in exchange for undying beauty, and how my older brother escaped when I was 8, leaving me behind in that hellish place.

"Well," Garou rubbed my hand as he started to speak and I subconsciously took another step forward so that we were practically touching one another. "I went out and I hunted some heroes. Tanktop Vegetarian came back for round two along with the whole Tanktop army." Garou chuckled, his eyes becoming bright with excitement as he rambled on about the fight.

"There was also this bike dude... Mumen Rider, I think? The old man's top student was there too. Ah, when I say old man, I'm talking about Silver Fang. You know him right? Oh, and guess what, Y/n! Tanktop Master was there! And I beat 'em all! I beat 'em all to the ground!" He brought his other fist into the air, a seemingly innocent joy surrounding him, like a child winning a sports match. "Aren't you proud of me, Y/n? I'm stronger than a Class S hero!"

A smile broke out on my lips when I saw his eager grin. "I guess you are pretty strong, huh... That's really impressive, Garou!" He squeezed my hand a little too hard, but I didn't complain. "I know right! It won't be soon until the whole world knows of Garou the Monster!" Garou went on and on, each word making me feel oddly happy. I tried to listen, enjoying every bit that I could comprehend, but a heavy sleepiness was starting to weigh on my eyelids.

My body pitched forward, bumping into his. My arm automatically came out to catch my fall, my free hand pressing on his muscular chest. His arms came around my back to support me, his eyebrows raised slightly from surprise. A drowsy giggle escaped me as I abashedly looked up at him. "Sorry... I guess I'm just a little tired..."

Garou's face softened as he smiled down at me. "I bet. You didn't have to wait for me dammit..." I laughed again, leaning into him with my eyes closed. "I already told you, I was worried. Also, your hugs are improving, Garou."

"Are they? Maybe it's because I want to use them more," He teased, scooping me up in his arms. I hummed in response, just enough to let him know that I heard it. Garou carried me back to my, no, our room and set me down on my side of the bed. He climbed in next to me, pulling the covers over both of us. "Night Y/n."

"Wait," I rolled over to look at him, catching one glimpse before he cut off the lamp. "What's up?" Garou turned to face me even though we could no longer see in the dark. "Will you... Will you hold me like you did last night?" I timidly made my request, suddenly very thankful for the lack of light. Garou let out a quiet chuckle before moving under the sheets to get closer to me. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling our bodies against one another. "Better?" His whisper tickled my neck and I felt myself grinning.

"Better."