The next day...
Ryuu woke to sunlight streaming through his curtains.
For a brief, disoriented moment, everything was normal. Just another morning at UA. Classes to attend. Training to complete. Friends to see.
Then memory crashed back. The cell. The escape. The building collapsing. His father's connection going dark.
His chest tightened.
Mina was still pressed against his side, her pink hair splayed across his shoulder. Momo had shifted during sleep, now curled at the foot of his bed, one hand still loosely holding his ankle like she'd been anchoring him even unconscious.
They'd stayed. All night.
Ryuu carefully extracted himself without waking them. His body protested the movement though. Every muscle ached like he'd been hit by a truck. The stress was taking its toll.
His phone sat on the nightstand.
2:47 PM.
He'd slept through the morning and well into the afternoon.
The missed messages had climbed to 63. The calls to 31.
He opened the messages. Most were from classmates.
[Kirishima]: Dude! Heard you're back! You okay?
[Kaminari]: Holy crap man, everyone's been so worried.
[Jirou]: Glad you're alive. Take your time to rest.
[Tsuyu]: We're here if you need anything, *smile emoji*.
[Ochaco]: I'm so sorry about everything. We're all thinking of you
Several from Midoriya. The most recent: Take all the time you need to recover. We'll be here when you're ready.
Even Bakugo had sent something: Don't die on us, Resonance.
Ryuu set the phone down. Couldn't deal with responding yet.
His reflection caught in the mirror across the room. He looked like sh*t if he's being honest to himself.
There were dark circles under his eyes. His hair was a mess. The clothes he'd worn during escape were still on his body, but were also rumpled and stained now.
He needed a shower. Needed to wash off the last two days.
Ryuu grabbed clean clothes from his closet and headed to the bathroom, moving quietly to avoid waking Mina and Momo. The hallway was empty. Classes were still in session for everyone else it seems.
The shower water was scalding. He stood under the spray and watched two days of grime and dried sweat circle the drain. His wrists still bore faint bruises from the quirk suppressors. The mark would fade in a few days.
Other scars wouldn't.
He pressed his forehead against the tile and tried to breathe. Tried to organize the chaos in his head into something manageable.
His father was dead. That was fact.
He'd been kidnapped by a villain organization. Fact.
He'd escaped. Survived. Fact.
Everything else were just noise. Guilt and grief and questions that didn't have answers.
"Go be a hero, Ryuu."
Kenji's last words echoed in his mind...to be honest...he thought it was nothing but a mere thought at the time when the connection between him and his dad was suddenly severed...but...the more he thought about it...the more he kept thinking of him.
And not to talk about, how was he supposed to be a hero when everyone around him kept getting hurt?
The water turned cold before Ryuu finally moved. He dried his body off absent-minded, pulled on fresh clothes, stared at himself in the foggy mirror.
He still looked like crap with the way his eyes were sunken in and not to talk about the dark circles still there.
'But at least I'm was clean.'
When he returned to his room, Mina was awake. She sat up in his bed, rubbing sleep from her eyes, pink hair sticking up at odd angles.
"H-hey," she softly called out to him when she saw him. "You okay?"
"I just showered."
"That's not what I asked."
Ryuu sat on the edge of his desk chair. "I don't know how to answer that question."
Mina's expression shifted. Sadness mixed with understanding. "Yeah. I figured."
"Mhmmh." Momo stirred at the foot of the bed, her consciousness returning slowly. When her eyes opened and focused on Ryuu, her face brightened up at the sight of him.
"You're still here," she murmured.
"Where would I go?"
"I don't know. I just..." She sat up properly, smoothing down her hair. "I was afraid I'd wake up and you'd be gone again."
The three of them sat in silence for a moment. Mina on the bed. Momo at its foot. Ryuu at his desk. The space between them felt simultaneously too large and suffocating.
"Have you eaten?" Momo was the first to break the silence.
Ryuu tried to remember. The last meal had been... when? Before the field trip? During captivity, they'd given him water but no food.
"No."
"Then we should get you something." Momo stood, stretching slightly. "I'll go to the kitchen and—"
"Can we not?" Ryuu's voice came out sharper than intended. "Can we not pretend everything's normal by doing normal things?"
Momo paused. "But you need to eat. That's not pretending. That's basic care."
"I don't want basic care. I want..." He didn't finish. Didn't know how to articulate what he wanted. His father back? The last two days erased? To wake up and have this all be a nightmare?
Mina slid off the bed and crossed to him. She didn't touch, just positioned herself close enough that he could if he wanted.
"What do you need?" she asked simply.
"I don't know."
"That's okay. We'll figure it out together."
A knock at the door interrupted them. All three tensed.
"Kazama?" Aizawa's voice. "You awake?"
Ryuu's shoulders sagged. 'Of course. The faculty would want to talk.'
"Yeah sensei," he called out. "You can come in."
The door opened. Aizawa entered, looking as exhausted as Ryuu felt. His capture weapon hung loosely around his neck, and his usual tired expression had deepened into something more concerned.
"Ashido. Yaoyorozu." He nodded at them. "I need to speak with Kazama alone. It won't take long."
Mina's hand found Ryuu's. And squeezed it once. "We'll be right outside."
They left reluctantly, casting backward glances as they went. The door closed with a soft click.
Aizawa pulled Ryuu's desk chair over and sat facing him. For a long moment, neither spoke.
"I'm not here for a statement," Aizawa said finally. "The heroes who responded already got the basics. I'm here to check on you."
"I'm fine."
"Try again without lying."