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A/N: hey guys. new update schedule for this fic is Sundays. FYPM will be on Tuesdays. My schedule has becoming increasingly more hectic than usual so now I have to manage my time a little better. Thanks to those still reading! Please enjoy this boring filler. ❤️

Where is everyone?

Katsuki's been stumbling around that massive house for quite some time and he hasn't seen a single familiar face in at least thirty minutes. He's unsure of whether or not this house just seems so much bigger than what it is because he's inebriated or if he's simply just lost his way among the many rooms and corridors. He should have known better than to leave his phone behind; at least that way he would have easily been able to call Touya or Shouto or anyone for help.

That man in the mask has been prowling behind him this entire time.

It doesn't even feel like he's trying to be even the least bit inconspicuous, flashing Katsuki a friendly wave every single time those bourbon eyes meet his own. Katsuki is attempting to rationalize the situation---to tell him that he was safe so long as he was sure to stay in close proximities of other people. Surely this strange man wouldn't try anything with so many witnesses around, right? It's logical, yes, so Katsuki tries to make it work for his quaking anxieties but all that it does is remind him of being cornered and hunted down like prey by Inasa.

Katsuki wants to go home.

He's forced to take a moment when he begins to feel winded and disoriented, slumping against the wall at his side as he tries to catch his breath in a timely manner. He's unsure of what he's supposed to do in a situation like this. Should he just grab the nearest person and tell them that he needs help---that he's lost? He's done that before and ended up being antagonized by Neito Monoma. Is it a risk worth taking or would he put himself in twice as much of a predicament. Should he circle around and try to go outside instead? He's scared and he's confused and, at the moment, on the verge of tears.

Where's Touya?

Where's Touya?!

"Are you okay?"

The voice in his ear doesn't startle him nearly as much as the hand that seems to appear from nowhere at all and gently grip his shoulder. Katsuki's heart nearly jumps out from his throat as he scrambles into the wall, back flat against it to face the culprit only to find kind, wide eyes staring back at him.

A woman.

Not any woman that he recognizes. She's got long, dark hair and fringe that falls just above that compassionate gaze. She's not much taller than him at all---if only by an inch or two. A beta, he thinks but he can't quite tell with the almost overbearing scent of so many others swirling about. She's wearing plain jeans and a t-shirt with a smiling green frog on it.

"Sorry. You just seemed like you were in trouble and I didn't want to leave you alone when you look so scared. Is everything okay?" She asks and though her facial expression doesn't quite convey the worry in her tone, Katsuki can tell that she is genuinely concerned. His anxiety, however, is quite a different beast in his current condition and he fails to find a voice for his pleas. His eyes dart between her and the masked man who is---as he had been---still quite literally stalking him from afar. This new stranger follows his panicked gaze and, much to Katsuki's relief, seems to understand the situation without him having to further struggle to put it into words.