"ALRIGHT guys, pencils down!", hoshimi's human physiology professor said.

everyone complied, as they went up to turn in their test. hoshimi sighed out a breath of relief. this was her second midterm and her last one was on september 10th.

she turned in her paper, walking out to see shigaraki waiting for her like usual.

"how do you think you did?", he asked.

"pretty good. the lab was pretty self-explanatory, and the questions were pretty much what I studied".

"that's good", shigaraki smiled. he hasn't been able to really spend time with hoshimi recently as they both had midterms.

"anyways, how's your intern been?", hoshimi asked, as both walked to the teacher's lounge.

"it's...been fine...", shigaraki mumbled.

"tomura, are you—"

before hoshimi could finish her question, yagi busted out the teacher's lounge.

"are you ready?!", yagi asked.

hoshimi had invited yagi to visit shimura-san, as she had told him about her. yagi has spent years trying to find her, but with no clue. he was thrilled to see her again.

"yes uncle. I'll see you in the car", hoshimi said. yagi nodded and quickly left, leaving her with shigaraki again.

"I'm sorry tomura. I'll see you later tonight though", hoshimi said.

shigaraki just nodded and waved her goodbye. at least he got to see her later tonight.

»»————-　★　————-««

"it is you!!", yagi cried out as he kneeled down to face the old woman who was in a wheelchair.

"toshi. long time no see", shimura said, smiling.

hoshimi felt her heart warm up. she was glad that she could help reunite a long lost bond. she was even happier that the old woman was happy.

"thank you young lady! thank you!", shimura said, on the brink of tears.

"of course! I'll let you two have some time alone", hoshimi said, leaving her room.

hoshimi then went to visit chisaki, as she skipped visiting him yesterday since she spent the rest of her time talking to the old woman.

"good afternoon sir", hoshimi said as she entered chisaki's room.

"hm", was chisaki's reply.

"how're you feeling today?", hoshimi asked, bringing disinfecting wipes this time.

just like the previous time, she rubbed everything down, making sure most things were cleaner than usual.

"fine". 

hoshimi smiled. chisaki reminded her of when she had first met shigaraki. he too, was very non-talkative. it took weeks and months just to get him to open up.

"would you like to go out today and get some fresh air?"

after all, chisaki had been stuck in here for a few days already. and he'll probably be here for another week or so.

chisaki just sighed. "sure".

since he didn't break his leg like the old woman did, he was perfectly capable of walking by himself, but hoshimi still insisted on giving him a hand.

at first, he really didn't want to but hoshimi was persistent.

"jesus, fine!", chisaki growled as he allowed hoshimi to hold his arm.

they walked outside, soaking in the sunlight and fresh breeze. chisaki would've usually been disgusted by nature, but after days of being stuck in the same hospital bed, his perspective had slightly changed.

"look at the blooming flowers", hoshimi said, trying to make conversation.

chisaki just kept his face neutral. never did he even have time to think about such frivolous things. he had to study and become a doctor quickly.

"they're nothing but a waste of time", chisaki said, looking at the daisies.

"perhaps, but their beauty is a sight to see", said hoshimi.

"until they wither and die".

"but that's life for everything, isn't it?", hoshimi stated.

chisaki thought for a moment. for some reason, that sentence hit deeper than he expected.

'she's not wrong. what comes around, goes around'.

however, chisaki didn't want to give up. he just wanted to save one person, one. and was that too much to ask for?

hoshimi escorted chisaki back into his room, leaving the hospital for the day.

after checking out, shigaraki was waiting in the parking lot like usual.

"hey, how was work?"

"it was great! uncle yagi got to see his teacher again. also my newest patient reminds me a bit of you", hoshimi laughed.

"is that so?"

"mhm! he's very closed up, sorta like when I first met you".

shigaraki just hummed in response as he drove them to the drive through of chick-fil-a.

"so, how's your internship been going?", hoshimi asked as she sipped on her sweet tea.

"I...I quit", shigaraki said as he parked in the chick-fil-a parking lot, eating his fries.

"you quit?? what, why?!"

"I...didn't like it. I thought about what you said a lot. and, I don't want to inherit a big company or be the boss of a huge corporation", shigaraki mumbled.

it took a lot for him to admit it since he believed that hoshimi would leave him after telling her he basically doesn't have a bright future.

"that's okay!!", hoshimi said, patting shigaraki's head. she combed through his tangled blue hair, soothing him and any of his worries.

"you can do whatever makes you happy! you can start streaming on twitch and stuff, or like I said, become a gaming channel on youtube", hoshimi suggested.

"r-really?? y-you're not mad or anything?", shigaraki questioned, surprised.

"of course not! I just want you to do what makes you happy. after all, what's the point of doing something you're don't enjoy for the rest of your life, right?"

shigaraki furiously nodded, agreeing with hoshimi. he was glad she supported him.

"so what are your plans now?", hoshimi asked.

"I'm going to find a part-time job and build up my twitch fan base", shigaraki said.

"well then, guess I'll be your first subscriber!!", hoshimi excitedly said as she took out her phone to download twitch.

shigaraki just smiled. he was lucky to have such an accepting and supportive woman by his side.

hoshimi was never a gamer, but if it meant supporting shigaraki's dream, she was willing to watch and learn.

"thank you, hoshimi", shigaraki softly said.

"of course!!", hoshimi said as she took a bite of her chicken sandwich.

shigaraki squeezed her hand, letting her know how appreciative he was. for the rest of the evening and night, he drove home using one hand, not wanting to let go.