【𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 • 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐊𝐔 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑】

6| Dead-End

❧

"Do whatever you can, and just don't get caught."

Suzuki's words echo in your head as you head towards the hospital, phone in hand. You send Hiroto a quick text so he won't worry about you.

Won't be home until late. Work stuff. There's dinner in the fridge, just microwave it.

Read, 9:39 p.m. ✓

You shove your phone back into your pocket, keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious around you. You clutch the knife in your pocket and hope you don't have to use it.

The sky is dark and full of stars, and the half-moon shines down on your pathetic little town. How will you even get in the hospital? Should you just pretend to be visiting someone?

However you're going to sneak in, you have to find out what's wrong with Deku before Akari does. It's detrimental to your job and your pride. It would certainly feel nice to beat her in something. She's always been better than you. At everything.

You clench your fist, stopping at the front of the hospital. 

It's small, and the lights are on. A man stands at the entrance, and as you get closer you realize he's holding a gun. Is he guarding a hospital?

You put on your saddest smile, and walk up to him, fluttering your lashes. "Sir," you say, looking at the ground, "am I allowed in? Sorry, it just feels sort of dangerous around here."

He grunts, nodding. "Are you visiting?"

You plaster the best smile you can on your face. "Oh, yes! My fiancé is here. He got attacked by a rabid dog. Real beastly little thing, it was."

He steps to the side, and as you walk inside of the hospital, you can feel his eyes drilling into the back of your head. Maybe you shouldn't have acted so flirty; the dog story probably didn't help, either.

The hospital smells like musk, but the inside is clean, or so it appears to be. Again, it's pretty old and the staff could normally care less, but they must've upped their game for Deku and Dynamight.

The secretary, a teenager at most, stares down at her phone, and she doesn't even glance at you when you walk by. Perhaps this will be easier than you thought. Now you just have to find out which room the hero is in, take a picture, probably grab some files, and leave. 

You hop in the elevator, clicking the button to the highest floor. You cringe as you pull your hand away from the button; a pink, sticky residue coats your finger. You wipe it on your jeans.

Start at the top, and go down, you think as you rise. When the bell dings and the door opens, the first thought that hits you is this:

Of course it would be on the top floor.

Room 345: it's being guarded by two armed men, and there's a lock on the door. A freaking lock.

It obviously Deku's.

Something awful must've happened for security to be this bad. Or, well, journalists like you were just super persistent. Too bad. Now, at least, you have an excuse for failing. Surely Akari wouldn't be able to get past them, either, so that makes you feel a little bit better about yourself. 

You trudge back to the elevator, defeated.

❧

The sky is even darker than before, and you're not sure if this is too safe, so you've retreated to the alleyways, although they might not be safer. They're just easier to hide in.

You're outside the hospital, desperately wishing you hadn't accepted the challenge in the first place. Suzuki can go die in a hole; this is not worth getting hurt for.

Your phone buzzes, and when you pull it out of your pocket, a text stares you in the face. It's Hiroto.

Stay safe.

Read, 10:15 p.m. ✓

It's completely random, especially since he usually adds a string of emojis to the end of every text. You send a quick okay and a smiley face back, then stuff your phone away into your small, cursed woman-pockets.

A soft beeping suddenly infiltrates your ears, and you look up to where the sound is coming from. It's the hospital; an open window?

Curtains flutter, peeking outside, wind ruffling the edges. Your eyes trail downward.

A fire escape, leading to the window. The lock is broken, and it looks as if someone climbed inside the hospital. Then a thought hits you.

Could that be Deku's room? It's on the top floor.

Your heart starts to pound; from excitement or nerves, you can't tell. The wind blows your hair towards the building, as if urging you on. 

Well,  you think, there's nowhere to go but up.

You climb the fire escape, the creaky metal cold beneath your fingers. Rust coats the ladder like butter on toast. Now you're hungry. Your stomach complains, but you shake your head. You have to focus.

You reach the window, then take a deep breath, and climb inside.