"Hey, how did—"
Yeah, I did it well act—"
Momo, Mina and Ryuu sat in silence with only the voices of students ringing in the background. The already setting sun dropped even lower.
At this point other students were returning from classes, their voices carrying through the walls. Normal life. Normal concerns. Homework and training and social drama.
Ryuu felt disconnected from all of it. Like he was watching through glass.
Around seven, his mother texted him: *How are you doing, sweetheart?*
He stared at the message. Didn't know how to respond. Didn't know what she wanted to hear.
Finally typed: *I'm okay mum. Mina and Momo are with me.*
Her response came immediately: *Good. I'm glad you're not alone. I love you.*
*Love you too.*
The words felt automatic. Like something he was supposed to say rather than something he felt.
Maybe that's what grief did. It hollowed you out until even love became rote.
"Ryuu." Momo's voice pulled him back. "You should try to sleep. It's getting late."
"I'm not tired."
"But you're exhausted," she corrected gently. "Sleeping helps a lot with that."
She was right. His body was heavy, sluggish even. But his mind raced too fast for sleep.
"Take the medication Recovery Girl left," Momo suggested. "Just for tonight. To help you rest."
Ryuu looked at the bottle on his desk. He hated the idea of needing pills to sleep. But the alternative was lying awake all night watching the ceiling.
He took one with water from his bottle.
Mina stood and stretched. "I should change. I've been in this uniform for like thirty hours."
"Same," Momo admitted. "We'll go to our rooms, get clean clothes, and come back. Twenty minutes tops."
"You don't have to—"
"We're coming back," Mina interrupted firmly. "You're not sleeping alone tonight. End of discussion."
They left together.
'*sigh*...they deserve better...' Ryuu sat on his bed and waited for the medication to kick in. His eyelids grew heavy. His racing thoughts began to slow.
By the time Mina and Momo returned. Now in comfortable sleep clothes...he was already drifting.
They climbed into bed on either side of him. Mina's warmth against his left. Momo's steadying presence on his right.
"Sleep," Mina whispered. "We've got you."
Ryuu closed his eyes. For once, the darkness didn't immediately fill with memories.
Just the steady breathing of the two people who refused to let him fall apart alone.
---The next morning...
In another part of Japan...lays in ruins.
The search and rescue operation entered its third day.
Teams had been working around the clock, carefully removing debris section by section. The facility's collapse had been catastrophic. Multiple floors pancaked together. Support beams twisted like paper. Fire damage throughout.
Finding intact remains was becoming increasingly unlikely.
"Sector 4-B is clear," one team leader reported over radio. "No additional casualties found."
"Copy that. Move to Sector 5-A."
The lead coordinator stood in the mobile command center, studying blueprints of the facility's original structure. Or what they'd been able to piece together from city records and satellite imagery. The organization that had operated here hadn't exactly filed proper building permits.
"How many casualties confirmed so far?" a police detective asked.
"Seventeen bodies recovered. But we're found in various states of... damage. Forensics is working on identification."
"And the primary target? The Collector?"
"No trace. Heat signatures from the explosion were extreme in the central zone. If he was caught there..." The coordinator shook his head. "Organic matter doesn't survive those temperatures. We're looking for dental fragments. Bone fragments. Anything that survived the incineration."
"What about the other one? Yamamoto?"
"Section 4-B. Found yesterday evening. Positive ID confirmed through dental records and DNA." The coordinator pulled up a photo. "He was in better shape than most. Looks like he was protected by some kind of barrier quirk in his final moments. It failed before the full collapse, but it was enough to preserve his body relatively intact."
The detective made notes. "Cause of death?"
"Combination of crushing injuries and asphyxiation. The barrier kept the worst of the debris off him, but it also trapped him. He suffocated before rescue teams could reach the area."
A grim way to go. But maybe better than burning alive.
"Any other survivors found?"
"Negative. The UA student who escaped is the only confirmed survivor. If anyone else made it out, they haven't come forward."
"Or they were the villains running the operation and don't want to be identified."
"That's also possible."
The search would continue for another few days. It's standard protocol after all. But everyone involved knew the odds. Three days in collapsed rubble without water? Without air circulation in many zones? The heat from fires?
Anyone left inside was dead.
--- Later that afternoon...
'Another day...' Ryuu blinked his eyes open from slumber.
The medication left him groggy when he woke. Mina and Momo were gone.
'Seems they finally had something to do at least.' Was his thought process until.
*Ryuu, if you're seeing this...we ran out of supplies so we had to get some.
Don't miss us too much *wink* *wink*.
Mina & Momo*
'Those girls...what will I do without them.' Ryuu shaked his head with a slight smile when he saw a note on his nightstand that explained they'd gone to get food and would be back soon.
His phone showed several missed calls from his mother. So he called her back.
"Ryuu." Her voice was thick. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah mum. I just woke up."
"I have news." She paused. "They found your father's body yesterday. The identification was confirmed this morning."
Something in his chest clenched. Knowing Kenji was dead was one thing. Having physical confirmation was another.
"Okay."
"The Hero Commission is arranging the memorial service for Saturday. Three days from now." Her voice wavered. "They're handling everything. We just need to be there."
Saturday...
"Okay," he repeated.
"Ryuu... are you alright? You sound distant."
"I'm fine, Mom. Just tired."
"Will you come home? Stay with me until the service? I don't want you alone at UA."
The thought of leaving his room, getting on a train, going home felt insurmountable.
"Mina and Momo are staying with me. I'm not alone."
"I know, but—"
"Mom. Please. I can't right now."
Silence on her end. Then a soft sigh. "*sigh* Okay. But call me if you need anything. Anything at all."
"I will."
They said goodbye. Ryuu set the phone down and stared at the ceiling again.
Saturday. A memorial service for a father he barely knew. For a man who'd been absent for years and then died saving him.
What was he supposed to feel?
"Yeah yeah...I know." Said Mina to Momo like they were having a interesting conversation when the door opened.
Mina and Momo returned with more food. This time from the cafeteria. Something warm that smelled like curry.
"Oh, you're up." Mina looked relieved as she dropped the bag of supplies she's carrying.
"Of course he is...Now Ryuu you need to eat," Momo said, setting the tray on his desk.
"I know."
"Then eat."
He forced himself to sit up. To take the offered bowl. To eat while they watched.
Each bite was mechanical. Chew. Swallow. Repeat.
"My mom called," he said between bites. "They found my father's body. The memorial is Saturday."
Mina's expression softened. "We'll be there with you."
"You don't have to—"
"We'll be there," she repeated firmly. "You're not doing this alone."
Momo nodded agreement. "Whatever you need. We're here."
Ryuu wanted to argue. Wanted to push them away. Wanted to insist he could handle this himself.
But the truth was, he couldn't.
Without them, he'd drown.
So instead, he just nodded. "Thank you."
They spent the rest of the day in his room again. With small conversations here and there.
Until—
"Look Ryuu, isn't this panda really Cutttte~." Came a excited Mina whose eyes were already shining brightly when she shoved her phone to him. Showing a viral cute panda video to him.
"I saw the panda too, it's indeed very cute." Momo also agreed when showed him a similar video from her Seetok.
Ryuu couldn't even muster up an expression properly, only looking at them with a blank look and what looked like a forced smile. "Y-yeah, it looks really cute."
The reply dampened the girls mood slightly, but they had a small smile which ryuu couldn't even focus on...if Ryuu saw it he would be curious why they had the smile on their face, but the reason is rather simple.
Which is, 'he replied.'
To an outsider it may look like they're happy over small things or they're making him not heal properly...but they know his better than yesterday even if it's slightly but they were happy about him recovering.
Cause recovery starts little by little...it's not something a person can look past it.
Momo with a smile decided to pick up a book and read aloud. "Now, back to studying...as professional heroes, our duty to protect civilian life is paramount. When deploying high-impact Quirks—."
To be honest...Ryuu wasn't listening to any words that were coming out of her mouth except for words popping into his head once in a while. Something about "honor" and "Heroes" bla bla bla.
And it seems it wasn't just Ryuu that wasn't paying attention...Mina also seems lost...well, at first before she gave up on listening and just straight up pulled out her phone and started scrolling through Seetok.
But strange enough, Ryuu actually didn't mind...it was better than being by himself and listening to his own thoughts over and over again.
As evening fell and the medication wore off, the memories started creeping back. The cell. The escape. The connection going dark.
Ryuu reached for Mina's hand without thinking. She squeezed back immediately.
"I'm here," she said softly. "We're both here."
And for now, that was enough to keep the darkness at bay.
Even if it's just barely.