Mute

19 | Where?

I glanced quickly around the room, leading Emiko across it and into another one. She held my hand tightly, staring at the strangers around us. She was worried, not that I could blame her. Her friends had decided they wanted a party the last day they were here, so they'd gone out and found one, dragging me along. Only an hour or so ago we'd lost all of her friends, and now were searching for them.

"Not this one either." I sighed softly, finding another door to go through, and again finding none of her friends. "Do you have any idea where they would have gone?"

She shook her head. Over the week her friends had gotten her much more used to me, but she still wouldn't speak. At least, not directly to me. Still though, progress is progress.

I felt Emiko draw closer to me, and a quick scan of the room showed more males than females. I let go of her hand only long enough to reposition it, entwining our fingers and squeezing her hand softly.

She relaxed slightly, letting me lead her to yet another room. I already hated this place, it had too many rooms and too many people. Luckily we found Bri in this new room, dragged along was Emma. She did not look very pleased.

"Hey! Todoroki! Emi! We're playing a game with everyone! You guys should play!!"

"What game?" I asked, not noticing Emma glance at our hands as I glanced around the room. "We've been looking for you all."

"Aww! Was Emi worried again? Where's Jacob, Angel, and Ace?"

"We were hoping they'd be with you."

Emma giggled, and as she swayed I realized she was drunk. "Nah, hey! You should play with us!"

Emiko released my hand to steady her, whispering comforting words to the blushing girl. I found it rather adorable. Would these feelings fade? When? It wasn't fair for me to like her so much.

"Awww, you're no fun Emi! You're always the sober friend hehe. Lets party!"

The entire room cheered and soon enough we were swept into the crowd. I frantically searched for Emiko, quickly pulling her to my chest to ensure we wouldn't be seperated. My eyes widened slightly as we were pushed, widening further as I caught myself on the couch.

Instantly I froze. Emiko was now on the couch, half propped up and looking very embarrassed as I pinned her without actually touching.

"OOoh! Get some Todoroki!" Bri yelled.

I yanked myself off the couch, my hands in the air defensively. Emiko scrambled to her feet, ducking her head to hide her heavy blush. I flashed a glare at Bri, but she just grinned.

"We're going to find the others. Don't leave the room." I instructed as I began leading Emiko away, holding her sleeve to lead the girl.

Bri and Emma had different ideas. "Nope!" They forcefully shoved us in a closet filled with boxes and slammed the door on us. I almost didn't hear the cheering and screaming as Emi collided with my chest, instantly capturing all my attention.

"Are you okay?"

She didn't respond, simply pushing herself off me. She might have nodded, I couldn't tell. Suddenly though the space was illuminated by her phone, and she aimed it at the wall. I joined her search for the light switch, lighting my hand on fire carefully. We didn't find one.

I looked down as Emi offered me her phone, reading quickly. My reading skills had improved from good to phenomenal since I'd met her, having read many books to improve it so.

"Do you think they'll let us out anytime soon?"

I shook my head. "Probably not, they've already locked the door, and pinned it in place with a chair."

She was silent, but I could tell what she was thinking. Oh.

I looked away uncomfortably. She was so close, I didn't want to accidentally touch her inappropriately and have her be upset. Actually, I just really didn't want to touch her inappropriately.

"I'm sure they'll let us out eventually." I assured her despite doubting my own words.

After a few minutes of listening to everyone outside Emiko handed me her phone, and I wondered when she'd written the words.

"Do you want to play a game?"

"Sure."

She smiled and took her phone back, moving so she was beside me and showing me her phone. I watched as she played a round.

"I move the jewels so their in rows of three?" I asked, examining the game, "and try to do that as many times as I can in one minute?"

She nodded, offering me the phone. I shrugged and took it, finding the game much harder than I expected. Everything moved when I made a match, and my hands couldn't keep up with my eyes. I ended with a score of 14000.

Emiko clapped, smiling brightly. We played the game for quite a while longer. Until her phone died. I pulled out my own phone and downloaded the game so we could keep playing. But by three in the morning we both stopped. Mainly so Emiko could use it to speak if need be, but also because we were both tired.

The party was still raging on, but I doubted anyone even remembered us at this point. My attention was snapped to the present as Emiko swayed, and I quickly caught her.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded, though she leaned against me. I lowered us to the ground and leaned her against the wall. She yawned and pulled her legs closer. I smiled and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Sleep, I'll take care of everything." I assured her as her eyes closed.