warnings:
- angst
- gruesome
    - mentions of blood

please do not read if you are uncomfortable!!

~•~

"mom, it's not safe for you to be alone right now." you insisted. "let me come over."

"(f/n), sweetheart, if we're in the same place, it's easier for him to hurt us. it's best we don't see each other until he's behind bars again." tendo's mom reasoned.

she wasn't wrong, it would certainly be much easier for your father to hurt the two of you if you were near each other, but you didn't feel too good about leaving your mother alone.

"but mom—"

"i'll be okay, (f/n). just make sure you and ushijima take care, okay?"

she didn't leave any room for arguing, and so you felt uneasy even after she hung up a few minutes later.

ushijima got off the phone and came to sit next to you. "i've sent an officer to her house." he assured you. "he's a friend, he'll take care of her."

your expression softened and you offered him a weak smile. "thanks, wakatoshi."

"don't mention it."

in order to distract you from meeting your father again after years of no contact, ushijima filled the bathtub with hot water and offered you his clothes to change into. "just shout if you need anything."

you hummed in response and made your way inside the bathroom, and it wasn't long before you'd climbed into the bath. you rested your head against the edge of the tub and allowed yourself to relax.

every time you closed your eyes though, images of your father raising his metal pipe and preparing to swing at your head would flash through your mind.

"i can't fucking do this." you sighed, draining the tub and getting out after a quick shower. you'd hoped to feel a little more peaceful after the bath but if anything, you felt more on edge.

ushijima looked up from his laptop, shutting it and keeping it aside when he saw you and made space for you to sit on the couch next to him. "feel any better?"

you nodded at first, but your eyes welled up with tears that threatened to spill and you shook your head. "i'm scared."

"i would be too." he assured you, combing his hands through your hair. "it's normal."

"i just- i thought it was over, toshi. i thought i'd seen the last of him. i thought i could finally move on with my life." you rambled, wiping away a few stray tears. "i only stopped going to therapy this year. i was doing better, so much better. but now i've to start going back. and i don't feel safe, i don't know when i'll see him next, i don't know when he'll try hurt me or mom."

"he can't hurt either of you." ushijima promised. "i'm here."

"that's the fucking problem." your voice came out strained, as if you were holding back from crying any harder. "if something happens to you, what the fuck am i going to do?"

"(f/n), i'll be—"

"no. no you won't always be okay, toshi. you've gotten hurt because of him once, what if it happens again? what if it's worse this time?"

ushijima pressed his lips to your forehead, and cupped your face in his hands. "nothing will happen to me as long as you're here. it's my job to protect, but it's your job to save, remember?"

you let out a shaky breath and nodded. "yeah. yeah it is. thank you, toshi."

and you were almost able to relax.

almost.

your phone began ringing, and you picked up after seeing the caller. "hiyori, what's up?"

"(f/n), where are you?"

"uh, i'm with wakatoshi. why, what's wrong?"

"stay with him, don't go back home, i think someone broke into your place." you picked up on anxiety in her voice and stood up immediately.

"hiyori where are you?"

"you're okay right?"

"hiyori, tell me where the fuck you are."

"i- im at your place. i was dropping by to check on you and your door was already open so i thought you were home but it's a mess here, don't come back yet, okay? i've called the cops already—"

"hiyori get out of there." you snapped, running to the door and pulling your shoes on. ushijima did the same, having no plans to let you move alone until your father was no longer a threat.

"what?" she asked. "someone has to be here when the cops arrive, don't worry i'll handle it, just stay sa—"

"hiyori, i said get out of there."

"(f/n), is there something you're not telling m—" you heard the phone drop, a muffled scream and the thump of the metal pipe that you were all too familiar with before the line went dead.

your face paled and your hands were shaking, but you had no time to waste panicking. "we have to go." you told ushijima. "my dad is with hiyori. my dorm."

ushijima didn't say anything, only grabbing his car keys and phone in response before holding the door open for you to exit through.

you were sprinting to his as fat as your legs would allow you, and ushijima drove much faster than he should have. it was dark and there weren't many cars on the the road, and even though it was hard to see, you appreciated the lack of traffic.

when you arrived at your dorm again, the cops had already reached and labelled everything off limits. your dorm was now a crime scene. "let me through." you said firmly, attempting to push past a cop. "move over, i live here."

"sorry ma'am, you'll have to answer a few questio—"

"let me just see my friend first i need to make sure she's okay!" you insisted.

ushijima fumbled through his pockets and found his ID, and the cops let you through. you stumbled past officers who moved out of your way until you came face to face with hiyori's body, which the medical staff were now covering with a sheet. the most horrifying part, aside from the blood smeared absolutely everywhere, was the fact that hiyori's hand wasn't even attached to her body.

out of instinct, you recoiled. as a doctor in training, you had seen a lot of blood and a lot of accidents. some accidents way more gruesome than the sight in. front of you. what caused you to feel sick to your stomach this time compared to all the others times was that, this was no accident.

your father had taken yet another persons life, and he was gone again without a trace. you couldn't even bring yourself to cry anymore. you'd done plenty of that already. you were staring intently while the medical staff carried away hiyori on a stretcher, hoping she'd sit up as if nothing had happened, as if it were all just a bad dream.

a cop approached you, most likely to question you, but ushijima held him back. "give her a moment would you?"

your eyes, though, were focused on something else entirely now. you saw a piece of paper laying where hiyori had been, bloodstained, but with your name on it.

nervously, you reached for it, willing your hands to stop shaking as you read it. but the words you saw made you wish you hadn't read it at all.

"who do you think might be next, (f/n)-chan?"

you lifted your head to see ushijima approaching you, and your heart sunk.

"(f/n), what's that paper?" he asked.

"wakatoshi." you managed, without your voice breaking. "you're next."

~•~

bruhhh that last line makes f/n sound low key yandere OOPS

sorry for not updating!! school had me dead 😔✌🏼

n e ways this was supposed to be a lot sadder but i'm not feeling angsty enough rn to make it work but maybe next chapter i'll be more in tune with the sad vibes idk idk