ushijima dropped you to work in the morning, and you changed into your scrubs, doing your morning rounds and checking on patients as instructed.

the day wasn't particularly hectic, but somehow you felt more drained than you normally would. you chalked it up to nothing more than lack of sleep and downed a fizzy drink during your break to feel a little more refreshed.

you couldn't find any drinks in your house although you were pretty certain you bought a few last week and kept it in the fridge. you just assumed ushijima had drank some.

"woah, (f/n), slow down that's like your third can of the day hun'." hiyori cut in, taking the half finished fizzy drink from your hands.

"ah, sorry i shouldn't have drank that much. i'm just tired hiyori." you sighed and rubbed your eyes.

"damn right you shouldn't drink this much, you're going to need about 50 bathroom breaks after this." she chuckled. "you were just sick last week (f/n), take care of yourself alright?"

"i wasn't sick!" you protested. "i was sleep deprived!"

"if you were up reading manga all night again i will—"

"not this time, no." you laughed. "thanks for being all worried, hiyori, but i'm just a little tired right now. i'll be back to top form tomorrow." you assured her and she smiled.

"alright, i'll drop by your dorm at some point to make sure you're doing okay though. maybe tomorrow?"

"of course, just come by any time." you nodded.

"(l/n)!"

you took the drink back from hiyori's hand and gulped the rest of it down. "duty calls, i won't drink any more today don't worry. see you later!" you said over your shoulder and scurried away to take instructions from your supervisor again.

~•~

you headed home after work had finished, and kicked off your shoes before you headed for the kitchen counter. you were too hungry and impatient to make proper food, so you opened your cabinet of pot noodles and grabbed one, pouring boiling water into it and tying your hair back while waiting for it to cook itself.

being a trainee doctor left you with little to no free time, even for proper meals, so you resorted to the easiest food option available, pot noodles.

thanks to that though, you were forced to master using chopsticks, and you didn't have to make a fool of yourself in front of ushijima.

you finished the noodles, and although you weren't exactly full, you weren't hungry either. deciding that was good enough for now, you tossed the plastic container into the trash and headed for your room.

only, it felt strange. your room felt oddly bare, but you couldn't pick out what exactly was missing. you tried to put the uneasiness aside and walked towards your mirror, reaching for your hairbrush, only to notice that it wasn't where it should've been.
you looked around but couldn't find it, and gave up, leaving your hair in the messy bun you had tied earlier.

this happened a few more times, you were unable to find your slippers, then your chapstick was missing, and your spare hair tie that was usually by your bedside was gone too.

beginning to feel more and more paranoid, you went back to your door, wanting to get some fresh air. you had just pulled your shoes back on when you felt a cold breeze brush against your skin, causing goosebumps to rise.

confused, you looked toward the windows to see that one had been wedged open.

i did not leave it like that. which means—

you heard footsteps and narrowly dodged a metal pipe flung at your head and whipped around quickly to see who had thrown it— even though a part of you already knew— you were met with him holding out a bag full of things that had gone missing from your dorm recently, from cans of fizzy drinks to the slippers you failed to find. "took you a while to notice."

"are you fucking crazy?" you exclaimed, glaring at the man who'd made your life a living hell.

"why i'm glad you asked, (f/n)-chan. i got a diagnosis from a therapist recently, and they told me that i am, in fact, schizophrenic." he grinned. "but what do they know?"

"go back to where you fucking came from." you hissed, backing away from him.

"the room they gave me wasn't very comfortable." he shrugged.

"jail isn't supposed to be comfortable." you snapped. "just leave me and mom alone."

"mom?" he asked, his brows raised. "you mean satori's mom?"

"i said just leave us alone!" you yelled.

"oh?" he stepped closer and grabbed you by your hair. "where's my respect, you brat? i'm your dad, don't you fucking forget it."

you shoved him away from you, using all the strength you could muster. "maybe do something to earn my respect and i might treat you with some, dad." you said with unwavering confidence.

"where's that fear that you used to have around me?" he sighed, crossing his arms. "oh that's right, the only way to see that is to hurt those important to you. should i start with your little boyfriend?"

"don't fucking touch him, you hear me?" you threatened. "i'm capable of cutting you open, stealing and selling your organs and stitching you back up so don't you dare go near him."

"is that supposed to scare me, (f/n)-chan?" he sneered. "you've always been all bark and no bite. you'll have to try harder than that to affect me."

"and what am i supposed to do? stab you? sorry, i don't plan on rotting away in prison because of someone like you."

"oh you don't have to go that far, (f/n)-chan." he stepped closer again. "all that's required is a simple. little. scare." he grabbed the metal pipe from where it lay and swung at your head, and you luckily managed to dodge again.

you were crouching down, and used the opportunity to tug at his legs, making him lose balance and fall and without a second thought, you bolted out your door and aggressively pressed at your watch until you felt a vibration from it, assuring you that your location had been sent.

you ran until you reached a bus station a few minutes away from your dorm and since it was getting dark, there weren't any people at the stop.

you sat there, hugging your knees to your chest and tried to focus on your breathing until you had calmed down. ushijima arrived quickly, and led you into his car.

"what happened?"

"he was in my dorm." you mumbled quietly.

ushijima didn't push any further, assuming this was probably the last thing you wanted to talk about at the moment. "i'll take you back to my place, you'll be safe there." he told you and nodded slowly, unable to give any other reaction.

"(f/n)." ushijima said firmly. you looked at him to meet his eyes. "i'm going to protect you, i promise."

even though his words didn't make your problems disappear, they made it a little easier to handle.

"just trust me, okay?" he added.

you managed a weak smile. "always."

~•~

lolll psycho dad is back and i still haven't named him 🤩🤩 watch i swear i might just refer to him as psycho dad for the whole book no joke fkdjdjjd

ANYWAYS the angst was supposed to be in this chapters but i put in a lot more dialogue in this than i thought i would? so the angst is actually next chapter, i was just setting the mood ✨✨

aaaa hopefully you guys enjoyed reading <33
i'll update again in a few days mwahhh