level 8;

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goshiki had taken every possible chance to avoid shiori, to which the girl had expected that, not that she minded much.

in fact, by the eleventh day, when shirabu had taken up goshiki's responsibility, shiori had finally ate for the first time since she's arrived.

     shirabu was quite shocked at the girl's actions, as the moment he had placed the food on the floor, shiori had picked it up and started feasting.

surprisingly, the girl ate like she had manners, even though she had been starved for ten days straight.

"is tomu still flustered?", shiori asked, to which shirabu had quickly realized that she was talking to him and not herself, unlike some others.

"you're talking about the bowl-cut brat?"

shiori lightly chuckled, shielding her mouth as shirabu was even more baffled at how calming her laugh was compared to that of others.

     her shiny red eyes glimmered with amusement as shirabu just cleared his throat.

     "indeed. his haircut's quite the silly one, similar to yours, but I really like the uneven bangs", shiori calmly complimented, to which shirabu was once again startled by the girl's serene aura.

"hm".

shirabu observed as the girl carefully slid the plate back over to the boy's side and nicely placed the foam cup down.

"I'm finished", shiori stated, to which this was the first time an officer was able to leave early, with shiori at least.

     "I'll be taking my leave now", shirabu stated, until he heard a faint "wait".

     turning around with the plate and cup in hand, the male raised a brow, wondering if there was anything else shiori had needed.

     "can you...stay and talk with me for a bit?", shiori requested, to which shirabu had dearly wanted to refuse, but something deep within had prompted him to stay.

     "what is it that you wanted to say?", shirabu coldly questioned, still standing meanwhile shiori had decided to take a seat on her bed.

     "I was just wondering when I'll be let out to socialize you know? it's been quite boring since shin-chan won't even return any of my hugs", shiori pouted.

shirabu nearly choked on his spit at what the girl had said.

'commander kita? no way...no way!'

"and kenma barely talks to me, only hums in response to the things I say", shiori sighed. "so pitiful~"

shirabu furrowed his brows. the girl didn't sound dejected in the slightest.

"three and a half days left...considering you've been behaving normally", shirabu said, muttering the last part.

"I have?! you're saying that I've been obedient. is that it?!", shiori asked, making shirabu confused at the girl's excitement.

the copper-haired boy hesitantly nodded, to which shiori only smiled wider, making shirabu utterly amazed at the sudden change of attitude.

     "aha! you've made my day, kenji. you can go now", shiori laughed, waving her hand as shirabu wondered when he took orders from a criminal.

     but nevertheless, the boy had left, as he had no more reason to stay there.

     'I made her day? what the hell?'

♛

    "S̷̟͎̬̜̎̄͐̚͜H̴̱̞͙̘̏̇́͌ͅŌ̸̜͎̱̜̑̀̕͝ͅS̵̮̎̿̚H̸̼̑̐̋̂̀̑̆̎̓̚A̵̧̳̪̪̺̤̖̬̥̔̄̈́̽̐̽̓ GO!! RUN AWAY!!"

     "FATHER! STOP! STOP IT!!"

     the little girl cried in pain as shiori's father had given the girl the same treatment as he gave her daughter.

     it was shiori's fault that the two were there, as chitose—shiori's childhood friend—had persisted on going home with the girl.

     shiori had only agreed since she knew her father wouldn't be home until later, or so she had thought.

     chitose thought that she had knew of shiori's family situation, but in reality, it was much worse. and the girl—even though she was six at the time—had came to the conclusion that shiori was being abused, with the dumpster of a home being one of the many evidences.

     unfortunately, with the miscalculation of shiori's father, he was home and even more pissed than usual.

     not only had he been drinking more bottles of beer than usual, but the death of shiori's mother had always lingered on the back of his mind since the girl's birth.

     after all, it was shiori's fault that her mother had passed away.

     "DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO NOT BRING ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS HOME?! DO YOU WANT THEM TO THINK THAT I'M MISTREATING YOU?! IS THAT IT?!"

"n-n-no sir!", shiori stuttered, to which chitose was now certain that this was not how families were supposed to be.

"sir, you shouldn't be—"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO?!"

chitose flinched as shiori had ushered the girl to quickly leave, though the blue-eyed girl was adamant on staying.

"if you don't start treating s̶̰̦̆̀̐͑̅̓̄̕͜͜h̴̛͎͈͓̙͙͙̍̾̈́͗͗̊͝͠ō̷͔͔͉͙̖̬͉͔̈́̇s̸̛̠̰̰̼͎͋̄͊͊̆̕͝ĥ̸͎̐̚ą̷̡̧̱͉̮̬̥̳̻̐̏͗̀̿͝ nicely, I'm going to tell the police!", chitose huffed, to which the man was irked and had started laughing a little too crazily for shiori's comfort.

shiori's father had quickly snatched the little girl's hair, pulling her across the floor as she struggled to break free.

"LET ME GO!"

"MY HOUSE, MY RULES!", shiori's father yelled as he hastily took a random belt that was laid across the nasty floor and started beating the child, meanwhile shiori had tried to get to stop him.

"F-FATHER, STOP IT!!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT, YOU LITTLE SHIT!", the male grunted as he threw shiori to the side.

it wasn't long before chitose's screams and cries had ceased, to which shiori had passed out from the sudden shock and pain from her entire body.

"chitose...chitose...CHITOSE!!"

shiori was suddenly awoken by a hand on her shoulder, to which if it weren't for the dim outline of the person, she would've most likely screamed.

     "kuroo..."

     "I saw on security cams that you were yelling and screaming. I came by to check if you're alright", kuroo bluntly stated, to which the girl was clearly not alright, but nevertheless she appreciated the thought.

     kuroo was about to get up and leave before a hand griped tightly onto his, making him look back.

     "stay with me...please...", shiori begged, her eyes filled with no tears, but only trepidation and need.

"just until I fall asleep. I beg of you...tetsurō".

kuroo's brows furrowed as he knew he shouldn't be doing this. however, he saw the unease in the girl through the monitor, and it was definitely not fake.

the male sat on the edge of shiori's bed, not that there was much room, but the two managed.

shiori clenched tightly onto kuroo's hand as she intertwined their fingers. the girl hovered under the blanket as she closed her eyes once more, calming her own breathing.

     kuroo merely loomed over the girl, glancing occasionally at her as he internally debated what had made her react this way.

     'perhaps I ought to report to the warden about the name chitose tomorrow'.

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     author's note: okay tea??

     but anyways guys, the miya twins are about to make an appearance and so is our god, asahi!

     if you enjoyed, please don't forget to vote + comment! love you all <3