Tuesday, September 29th

"(Y/n), are you sure you don't want us to stay here with you for the day?" Saki groaned at her friend for the hundredth time.

"You asked me this yesterday and the answer is still 'no.' I'm not gonna make you guys stay here with me. Plus, it'll just look suspicious if you girls don't go, I'll be safe here." The tomboy irritatingly sighed at the denial and received a light hit on the head from her sister.

"Don't mind her, she's just looking for any excuse to say at home." (Y/n) chuckled at the truth of the statement while Saki blushed with embarrassment.

"You guys have done enough for me. Besides, I feel comfortable knowing that I'm not bothering you girls with anything." The pair were about to object to the claim when they heard their mother calling them down.

"(Y/n), you'll be all alone in the house. You know that right?" The girl nodded, remembering that the sisters' parents were taking the day shift in their jobs. It was a difficult task on explaining to the two adults that the female had come over for a sleepover, but despite the sceptical looks they received, they weren't questioned further on the matter.

"By the way, where's Kenzan?" Lala gave an awakened smile while Saki  quickly left the room, forcing her sister on the spot to explain.

"He had to meet up with someone out of town to sort out the whole 'anonymous e-mail' thing. He'll be back in a few days so don't worry." (Y/n) nodded, relieved that he'll stay safe and out of the problems that were surrounding her for a while. "Anyway, remember: take anything you want from the fridge, the surveillance cameras are working so you'll be ok if you stay in the house. If you want anything just text us and we'll see you after school." The female prepared to leave until (Y/n) called her back with a warning tone.

"You have the doctor's note right?" The blond held up the forged record that would excuse the (h/c) haired girl's absence from school. "Honestly, I don't know how Saki finds the people to do these, but as far as the school is concerned -you're down with a terrible cold.- see ya (Y/n)!" The girl gave a final wave and closed the door to leave her friend on her own.

The female sighed and looked out of the window to see the two older parents departing from their children to go to work, and the twins soon leaving the scene after that. (Y/n) leaned against the pillows on the bed and hugged one of the plush animals Lala was in possession of. She contemplated over going downstairs and watching something on the television to kill time or use the computer. However, she also felt much more at comfort under the watchful walls of her friends' room and began reciting what she might say to her parents when they come back from their business. She still had 3 more weeks and she knew the group of boys would scout her out by then. 'Could I really stay safe here for the whole time...?' She looked down at the conventional clothes she was given to borrow and grinned to herself at the kindness and tenderness she was being treated with. 'Though, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I enjoy it while I can.'

Begging for absolution was was unnecessary with the two and they seemed more than happy to accommodate her at a time like this. The female finally concluded on getting up and wandering around the empty house to find some source of entertainment. However, she couldn't find the mood to watch television or play computer games so she ended up scavenging around to distract herself. As she passed one of the corridors on the first floor, she was stopped at the sight of the laundry room. On top of the washing machine were her ripped up and dirtied clothes that she had to strip off that morning and switch into the cleaner garments. She shivered slightly at the memory and took steps on leaving the scene when a loud sound broke through the silence. It startled the female and she looked around to see where the origin of noise was until she realised it was coming from inside the laundry room. She entered the small space and approached her messy clothes to notice the buzzing sounds emitting from them. After a moment of hesitation, she reprehensible looked amongst the fabric to discover where the racket was coming from. She began trembling slightly when she conceived it to be the phone Kaito had given her. She had completely forgotten about it until now.

She stood back and stared at the device as it continued to ring and (Y/n) took the mobile in her hand to warily watched it as it proceeded to buzz. The number had no caller ID so there was an unsure moment of whether she should answer or not. She took in a deep breath and curiously tapped on the 'answer' icon, and held the device to her ear, waiting for the person on the other end to speak first. After a few second of silence on both ends, (Y/n) prepared to hang up when a familiar voice rang out.

"Hello?" The girl's heart stopped beating as she recognised the voice of the boy that had held a gun to one of his friends. Flashbacks from that night assaulted her mind and paralysed her body. "(Y/n), I know you're there." The female felt observed, but dared not speak. Her breathing had completely stopped to avoid making any noise with each inhale and exhale, and tensely waited for the boy to vocalise again. "I miss you...it's so quiet here without you." (Y/n)'s knees began shaking and seemed that any moment now she would collapse from the nausea each word brought. "Please talk to me. I miss the sound of your voice so much. All I've been craving was to hear you again, but you're just not coming to school." The female silently gulped as her hands trembled at his words. Each sentence was spoken with delicateness that sent unpleasant shivers over the girl's body. "You aren't avoiding us, are you...? Please answer me, I'll be so contempt to just listen to you again." However, even if she wanted to, (Y/n) couldn't find her voice in that moment. "...I've been thinking about you. I never realised how lonely it feels when I can't see you. But how have you been? Are you ok?" (Y/n) couldn't believe the nerve of his question when he was well aware that it's because of him and the others that she was under pressure. "I hope you're taking care of yourself...I hope those two girls are treating you well." The female's heart sank at his conclusion as fear took over her emotions.

"How did you find out?" Her voice came out as barely a whisper with a hint of frantic delusion.

A slight, low moan could be heard from the other end of the phone, "That's the music I've been desperate to hear. How are you darling?" His words were coated with kindness and sincerity but the female wasn't affected by the solicitous tone that came with each syllable.

"How do you know?" She repeated herself, stern and solid with her inquiry.

"It was an obvious choice (Y/n). You really should try and be more original with your hiding places." (Y/n) could practically hear the smile in his voice and had to clench her teeth shut to avoid shouting at him. "So when are you coming back my muse?" The female cringed at the title he referred to her with and swallowed a lump in her throat.

"Just leave me alone."

"I'm afraid I can't do that sweetness. I'm absolutely impatient to have you in my arms again." (Y/n) shuddered from the smooth and syrupy tone he spoke with but refused to respond. "I can't wait...I guess I'm going to have to tell Kaito about this...unless." The female furrowed her brows at the last part, wondering what would follow it. "Unless you agree to be mine, (Y/n). We could keep your whereabouts our little secret if you meet up with me once in a while-"

"No." She sternly ostracised him through the phone, refusing to play games with his demands.

There was a long pause on the other end until a heavy sigh was heard. "Such a shame...you're not making this easy for me darling. But all this will definitely be worth it if I get you in the end...ah, I can see your friends outside." (Y/n) clenched her hands into fists, desperately hoping he would simply ignore them. "They're pretending as if they're still livid with each other? Haha, you think that would have worked for long?" The female felt degraded at his words but admittedly knew there was truth to the questions. "I guess I'll just have to discuss this with Kaito then. Oh, and by the way." (Y/n) prepared to throw the mobile to the wall in an anger-induced state, when she took in his next words. "If you ignore any calls we make, that'll just make us angry. And when we get angry, we need someone to take the heat for us."

"Stay away from them!" Despite the unsure undertone, (Y/n) yelled in a warning and threatening manner.

"You hurt me when you shout like that. But don't worry, nothing will happen to your precious friends if you continue to answer our calls. So make sure you keep that phone in hand." (Y/n) bit her lip to stop it from trembling with a mixture of fear and anger. "Goodbye." The female quickly hung up after the last words and paced the small area of the room, trying to gravel for any ideas that could turn her luck around.

'Screw me...this is going downhill...what do I do now?'

Time Skip

(Y/n) continuously tapped her foot in anxiousness out of a developing habit and kept glancing towards the phone every 10 seconds, expecting it to ring any moment. She had her eyes glued on it for the past hour, awaiting for it to ring and give her answers. The twins were still going to be in school for another 5 hours, which only caused more worry to surround the girl's head.

BUZZ

(Y/n) was startled at the sudden sound and quickly darted her hand out to answer it. She accepted the call but waited for the person on the other end to respond first. Much like the first time, there was no reply for a long while from the caller but then a grunt emerged. "You know, when an individual calls it's customary for the receiver to inquire on the caller's identity." However, the female denied any response which only further aggravated the boy. "In any case, I heard you've been hiding out. Not the most successful choice you ever made."

"What? Besides meeting you guys?" There was a slight, impatient growl from the other end.

"But I digress, we can, of course, strike a deal with you." (Y/n) wasn't sure what to make of the proposal but kept listening intently. "It goes like this: we'll give you three days to give yourself to us or your friends will get involved in all this. How does that sound?" There was a hint of playfulness in his voice, giving off the impression that this was simply a game to him. The girl hit her head against the wall in an effort to relieve some frustration and thought hard about her decision. "Anyway, I have to go now. Don't forget to pick up when we call you and to keep this phone only between us unless including your companions is no longer a worry. I hope to see you by Friday. Bye bye." (Y/n) chucked the phone onto the bed with slight force and was left alone to think about her decision.

'This is insane...please, come back home safe.' She desperately hoped for the prospect of seeing her two friends unharmed and well.

Time Skip

"They should be leaving right now..." The female checked the clock to make certain that the school should be finishing and nervously twiddled her thumbs. Right at that moment, a buzz could be heard and she dove to reach the phone. "Hello...?"

"Are you alright?" The worried voice of the stone-faced male came through. (Y/n) didn't answer him, having no urge to discuss matters with the boy. "Tell me you're safe right now." The girl ignored his question and proceeded to stare out of the window in hopes of spotting the twins. "(Y/n), answer me!" The girl flinched away at the outburst of concerned rage that emitted through the device. "If you don't answer me I'll go to that house right now and take you back-"

"I'm fine." (Y/n) quickly returned, hoping that would satisfy his vexation. A small sigh of relief was heard through the speakers, before a momentary pause.

"When are you coming back?" The girl clung tightly to the sheets, aggravated by the gull he had to ask her that question.

"I'm not coming back. I don't want anything to do with you."

"I can't protect you if you're not with me." There was a hint of impatience in Alex's voice which gave further excuse for the girl to act the same.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?! I don't need you! Just stay away from me." She quickly hung up on the male, set the phone down and continued her task of watching out for her friends. However, after a minute of silent stillness, the device began buzzing with life again to her disappointment. (Y/n) glanced at it and a wave of reluctance stopped her from answering on the first few vibrations, but after realising what her hesitance might lead up to, she took the call.

"...Why can't you understand?" The boy's voice came out soft and delicate, afraid of triggering the female's depleting patience.

"Why can't ｙｏｕ understand I don't want anything to do with you guys?" Her fingers tightly balled up into fists and could feel her temper rising.

"What did we do wrong? Tell me and I'll fix it-"

"No, you can't 'fix' this. You can't just magically take back all that had happened. You can't make it better." There was a long pause from the other end of the device and it almost seemed like the person had gone mute.

"We'll see about that." There was a beep from the other side to indicate the end of the call. (Y/n) set the device down and looked towards her window to see her friends approaching.

Time Skip

"Wasn't it boring to just sit around in our room, or were you just sleeping the whole time." Saki waved her spoon around in irritation and slight jealousy that her friend got to be absent for the whole day.

"Just eat your food and stop complaining. Anyway, you've been looking too distracted (Y/n), is everything alright?" The girl in question raised her head to regard her friend and quickly smiled.

"Yeah yeah, just wondering what I'm going to do. With the guys and all..." The pair looked at each other and back at their worried friend.

"Don't fret, as long as we're here there's nothing-" Saki was interrupted mid-sentence by the sound of their door bell. "I'll be right back." She quickly stood up and ran out of the room, leaving Lala and (Y/n) to enjoy their meals of microwaved noodles.

"(Y/n), you're acting too reserved. There's something on your mind, isn't there?" Despite the negative shaking of the female's head, the blond continued to intently stare in speculation. "You know if there's something you want to tell us you can. There's no point keeping secrets after all this."

The girl's fingers began fumbling around, wondering whether to share the news of the phone. But with every desire to tell the two, Kaito's words continued to ring in her head like a chime of death. "Yeah I know. I'll tell you if something is bothering me-"

The door burst open with Saki struggling to hold onto a large basket in her hands. She stumbled through the door while the other two girls could only stare at her predicament. "No, don't help me or anything. It's not like I'm dying here!" She glared at the pair, causing Lala to snap out of her daze and run to aid her sister.

"What the hell is all this?!" As they set the large container down with a thud, the contents were finally revealed as it overflowed from its packaging. Inside were an assortment of chocolates and sweets of all colour and shape, as well as a colourful array of flowers of every variety arranged in beautiful bouquets. To accompany the many chromatic pigments were a handful of plush, stuffed toys with smiling faces sewn onto them. "Oh my gosh, these are so adorable!" Lala held up a white, fluffy bunny with floppy ears and glassy, golden eyes.

Saki gave a low whistle at the sight, amazed that all the objects were able to fit through the door. (Y/n) came closer to examine the pile of goods and noticed a small card that had fluttered off to the side. With slight hesitation in her movement, she reached over to take the piece of paper to be surprised to see a cable taped to one side. While her friends were still distracted with examining the rest of the pile, she untapped the long cord. To her further confusion, she figured it out to be a phone charger and stared at if for a slight moment before turning back to the card to see the writing on it. She slowly read the words inscribed onto the smooth paper, her face paled and a feeling of nausea swept over her and she had to side track every sentence like a scourge:

Тσ ℳу ⅅҽɑɾ Ꭿиgєℓ ♡
            ℐ ℋσρє Тσ Ѕєє Ꮍσυ Ѕσσи (Ꮍ/ℕ)

(Y/n) clenched her teeth as rage began to fill her and disgust towards the pile of gifts. "Throw those away." She stood up and ripped up the card in order to erase the memory of his written words. "It's from Ryo. I don't want them."

The twins looked at her and Saki glanced back at the pile of presents. "Damn (Y/n), you've really got him smitten."

"Are you sure you want to toss everything? It looks so expensive..." Lala regretfully glanced at the toy in her hands while her sister glared at her insensitive behaviour from behind.

(Y/n) sighed and looked away from the mess, afraid it would physically sicken her. "You can keep that damned rabbit, just get rid of everything else..." The twins made eye contact for a brief moment to assess the situation. Lala placed the plushy on her nightstand and looked towards her annoyed friend regretfully.

"Saki, throw the things away." The tomboy jumped at that question and glared at her sister.

"UUUHHH chick, you're helping me! It was hard enough to haul this stuff up the stairs without tipping it, I'm not going anywhere until you share the pain." Lala glowered at her sibling and shuffled over to aid with the packing up. (Y/n) silently left the girls to sort the mess, not wanting to touch any of the underhanded objects. After the two left the room to perform the disposal, (Y/n) looked towards the toy and grimaced at the sight of its form.

"This is crazy..." She whispered to herself before she heard vibrations against the fabric of the bed. She swiped to answer the call and placed the phone to her ear, to be nearly knocked out by the sound of a hyped voice.

"Hi angel! How did you like my present?" He cheerfully spoke to the female, causing her irritation to reach a new peek.

"Don't send me anything like that again."

"Aaww I really thought you would like it, seeing how you have a taste for sweet things. Do you want a bigger one next time?" He innocently questioned her,

"No! Don't send me anything!"

"So I can ｂｒｉｎｇ you something?" He delightedly chuckled while the girl's impatience escalated with his cluelessness.

"No! Don't do anything!"

"But when I'm doing nothing, I'm thinking of you. Do you want me to think of you~?" (Y/n) cringed at the sweetness in his voice and forced herself to hold back a gag.

"I don't want to have anything to do with you. What's wrong with you guys?!" To her surprise, there was silence coming from the other side and wondered if she had struck some sort of chord with that.

"You should know (Y/n), that you have only yourself to blame." The girl glared at the blanc space in front of her, ready to punch a wall from the statement. "Is it truly our fault you sparked our interest?"

"There was no need to act like that!"

"...Alright then, I'll talk to you soon angel." (Y/n) grudgingly hung up and dangled her head.

'How am I gonna sort this out without involveing others?'