𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘

CHAPTER 38

The water was cold. The heat had noticeably gone while Kai sat in the bathtub for nearly an hour. Her skin was soggy, wrinkled from the moisture. Her hair, stringy and white as the dye muddied the water around her.

She sat against the porcelain walls of the bathtub with her back turned. Mitsuki sat on the other side, pushed up on her knees as she scrubbed the color out of her hair.

There weren't very many words to be exchanged. Kai was too tired, too empty to search for conversation starters. She understood that the situation was abnormal and was silenced by the discomfort that radiated from the woman behind her.

What Kai didn't know was that the discomfort didn't stem from washing a stranger's hair, no. Rather, the scars that painted Kai's back were painfully staring back at her. But the scars that drew across her arms were even more alarming; they must've been years old. The pattern was in unison, obvious to anyone that they were put there intentionally.

"All done!" Mitsuki chirped, brushing her fingers through Kai's hair after the color had been washed out completely. "Your hair is gorgeous, my dear. Why would you want to hide it?"

Kai reached up, her arms covered in goosebumps, gathering all of her hair in both hands and pulling it over her shoulders. She let her question marinate in her mind, searching for an answer that wasn't pathetic or depressing.

Mitsuki's eyes fell on the stitches that ran down her neck, filling the bucket of curiosity that she forced herself to swallow. The incision disappeared from view when Kai swung her wet hair back over her shoulders.

"Well," the sound of Mitsuki pushing off of the bathtub to stand shifted Kai's attention, "there are clean clothes on the counter here, towels, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hairbrush. Take your time, we'll be downstairs and Katsuki's just across the hall." The sudden feeling of her soft hands brushing over Kai's hair was a gesture filled with warmth, putting Kai's mind at ease. So when her hand had gone, the goosebumps returned to Kai's skin.

The bathroom door opened. Kai turned over her shoulder to catch Mitsuki slipping out.

"Thank you, Mrs. Bakugo."

Mitsuki paused, resting a temple on the door with a subtle smile filling the bathroom. "Call me Mitsuki, honey." Her smile disappeared when she pulled out of the doorway, letting the door close quietly after her.

Kai stared for a little longer than she should've. The faint markings on the door were flashes from a time she'd been here. That's right! The bandages, the dinner... I remember it now.

Even the littlest things brought upon her past. And very quickly, she was overwhelmed with things she deemed useless to remember.

Whisking the information away with the cold water that surrounded her, she shakily pushed herself onto her toes. Grabbing the side of the tub, she spun, pushing herself upright. The air was colder, making her shiver and her teeth chatter. She shot an arm forward, her pointer finger latching on the towel sitting on the toilet seat. She whipped it, the towel unfolding before being wrapped around her body. Holding the fold with one hand over her chest, she placed the other on the shower wall.

The tub was quite high. And her fear only made it higher. She could barely clear the stairs earlier—how could she now?

Breathing through her teeth, she became her own cheerleader. "C'mon, Kai. You can do this!"

Bouncing slightly, she counted to three. "One..." she raised a leg, bearing her weight shakily on a single foot. "Two..." she extended slowly, her muscles barely responding to her request. "Three!" She leaned forward and spread her toes, her body falling out of the shower.