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I groaned, pressing the palms of my hands against my closed eyes as I lay in bed, lamenting my less-than-stellar decisions. Kuse didn't deserve to be yelled at like that, no kid deserved it. I have to keep reminding myself of that, Kuse is a child and a young child at that. To make matters worse, I had tried to make excuses for my actions. Was I stressed? Absolutely, but that doesn't give me the right to take my feelings out on quite possibly the only person loyal to me, and the one who idolizes me despite my shitty behaviour. 

No matter how much my awkward situation with Tenya and exams were weighing on my mind, I should have never let myself become such a hypocrite. I always hated how my mother would blame her lack of involvement in our lives as a parent on work and stress, and now I was doing the same thing, making excuses for my frankly inexcusable behaviour.

I took a deep breath before getting up off my bed, taking a moment to lightly slap my cheeks with my palms, telling myself to 'get it together.' I opened the door to Kuse and I's room and headed towards the living room, my heart pounding in my chest as the guilt caught up to me. I poked my head into the living room hesitantly, calling out to Kuse with the gentlest voice I could muster.

"Kuse," I called out quietly. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you."

There was no response, so I fully entered the living room. He was nowhere to be found. I felt myself begin to panic as I hurried to the bathroom, pounding on the door.

"Kuse?!" I yelled, my voice cracking. "Where are you?!"

There was no response.

I looked all over the apartment; under every bed and table, inside the cupboards, but he wasn't there. Horrifyingly, it was only after I searched the apartment again that I noticed the window on the fire escape was wide open. 

Kuse was gone. 

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Kuse pulled a couple of the soda can tabs he had collected from the pocket of his shorts, tossing them into his mouth and swallowing. After a few seconds a small, round, and relatively flat object appeared in his hand, resembling a coin. He repeated this process until he had amassed enough coin-shaped disks to use a payphone. 

The young boy entered a phone booth on the sidewalk, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and unfurling it before punching in the numbers scribbled on the note. The phone rang a few times, but thankfully a voice answered.

"Hello?" The awkward teenager said.

"Hi, Shoto," Kuse replied, his voice quiet. "I need some help."

"I will help you, but I need you to tell me where you are right now." Todoroki sighed, hoping that the boy's older sister was nearby.

Kuse nervously played with the cord of the payphone. "I'm at a payphone, Tora yelled at me and I got mad, so I left."

There was a long pause before Todoroki said anything. "Can you read the street signs nearby? It isn't safe for you to be outside by yourself, Fuyumi and I will come get you."

Kuse looked around, spotting a few street signs and reading them to Todoroki. 

"Stay put," Todoroki urged, sighing before he continued. "We will be there soon."

The phone call ended and Kuse gently put the phone back on the receiver before exiting the phone booth. He took a seat on the sidewalk, propping his head up with his hands as he rested his elbows on his knees. His ice-blue gaze went fuzzy as his mind swirled with thoughts. His usually kind and loving sister had just suddenly snapped, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. 

"Stupid Tora," He muttered to himself. "Probably fought with Tenya."

Perhaps Kuse was a little too mature for his age, or maybe he just knew his sister too well, but it wasn't difficult for him to reach this conclusion. All he had done was ask when he would get to visit Tensei. Tora had promised they would, and she never broke her promises. But since talking about Tensei made her upset, she must not want to see Tenya, since it is unlikely she fought with Tensei. 

The little boy sighed, running a hand through his curly locks. He really did know his sister too well. He knew all of her good points, and the bad ones too. As kind and caring as he knew his older sister to be, he also knew she was easily misunderstood, and not great at talking things out. Rather than repair a relationship or fix a misunderstanding, she found it easier to cut them off entirely. If she messed up, she assumes there is no way to fix things and cuts her losses before they can cut her off. 

But just because he understood his sister's behaviour, didn't mean Kuse planned to let things be. However, as mature as Kuse was, he was still only a kid. Even though he knew what he had to do for her, he still feared that she would come to hate him for it. 

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When I finally managed to calm down a little I found myself wandering the streets, looking like a dishevelled creature that had crawled out of some swamp or garbage dump. My makeup was running down my face, one of my shoes was a boot, the other a sneaker, and my lip stung from how much I had been chewing it and spinning my lip piercing.

My phone rang suddenly, startling me a little as I was still in the process of getting all my ducks in a row. I quickly answered the call, not bothering to check who it was, but hoping, praying, that it was Kuse or someone who knew where he was.

"Kuse is with me, we're at the hospital right now with my sister." The familiar voice of Todoroki both soothed and alarmed me.

It wasn't exactly pleasant hearing my baby brother was in the hospital.

"What happened?!" I shouted, not waiting for a response. "Which hospital?! How did he get hurt?!

"Sorry," Todoroki apologized, waiting for me to stop freaking out before continuing. "I should have been more specific, Kuse is fine. He insisted on going to the hospital to see Iida and his brother. He wouldn't stop screaming and crying until we brought him. He won't leave until you come."

I knew my brother. He wasn't the type to throw tantrums like that, so I knew that this was important to him. I couldn't blame him for running off. I yelled at him, broke my promise to him, and tried to excuse my actions. If visiting Tensei was what it took to make him forgive me, I was just going to have to go along with it. I was just glad that he was safe. I was worried he would be wandering the streets alone, after all, Kuse and I have no other relatives to rely on. Hell, we've never even met our grandparents.

"Tell Kuse I'll be there as soon as I can." I said before hanging up so I could quickly make another call.

I needed a ride to the hospital fast and didn't have money for a cab. So I called the only responsible adult I could think of.

Gina.

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Gina's gray SUV pulled up to the hospital's front doors, the car doors unlocking with a mechanical 'CLICK.' I hopped out of the passenger seat quickly, ready to rush inside the building. But Gina called out to me, leaning towards the open passenger window.

"I'll wait for you kids," The red-haired woman promised. "I wouldn't want you kids to be going home in the dark by yourselves."

I smiled a little, giving her a thankful nod before rushing into the building, the sliding doors parting open as I approached. Almost as soon as I had entered the building I locked eyes with the one who landed me in this mess.

And no, I wasn't talking about Kuse.

I took a deep breath before I walked over to him, raising a hand to interrupt him before he could start talking.

"We'll talk later, take me to my brother," I demanded, softening my tone when I realized how harsh I had sounded. "Please."

Tenya just nodded and silently led the way.

A/N

I have gotten so many comments and messages asking if I plan to keep writing this and the short answer is yes, but there is a long answer. I love writing, it has always been a hobby of mine, however, as I have gotten older my likes and interests have changed which in turn changes what I want to write about. When I first started writing on Wattpad I was probably like 12 or 13 and my main interest was Naruto and Naruto fanfictions. When I started this fic I was probably 15 or so and I loved My Hero Academia, but now I'm 20 and lots of things have changed about me and about My Hero. I'm slowly getting back into My Hero and back into writing, so yes I hope to continue this, but I also have my commitments to keep in mind. I have university and work to worry about now and I also hope to work on my original story ideas. Regardless, I sincerely hope you guys enjoyed the chapter (considering it took a year to finish) and I do plan to continue with this story. I have a rough outline for the next arc or so of the fanfic so as long as I have the time, energy, and motivation, I should at the very least be able to continue this story for a bit longer. I sincerely thank those of you who have patiently waited for an update!