Burnt to Ashes - Kenichi Todoroki

Burdened

Ryker's POV:

Anxo dying honestly wasn't a surprise to me. At this point, I felt immune to everything thrown at me.

Milo kept worrying about me, which was exhausting. I was exhausted. This whole situation that we were placed in was exhausting.

With no fresh clothes or water, my classmates were starting to look rough. Maxwell suggested we go to Lake Ontario to wash off, but Akihito said Shirokages were close to that area, so it wasn't a good idea. Instead, we settled for a hotel that apparently had running water still, and got it from a well and not from the city.

I undressed and got into the shower, feeling a little better than before. I took the silence as a space to think, and let the water just run down my body.

It seemed hopeless at this point. As much as I tried to stay optimistic, I couldn't. If we weren't going to die today, we would tomorrow. If not tomorrow, some day down the road. Hopefully it'd be years in the future, but we were lucky to be alive this long.

I stepped out of the shower and sat on one of the hotel beds, only covered up by a towel. I noticed that Milo was sitting on the other bed, staring out the window.

"I'm done with the bathroom," I said.

"I already took a shower," they said, turning to me. I should've noticed their wet hair, but I didn't. I rubbed my eyes; maybe I was seeing things.

"If you need anything, Ryker, I'm here," they walked over to me and held my face with both their hands. I closed my eyes and let the weight of my head rest. I could never forget how much I loved them; no matter how alone I felt through all this, they were there.

I'm unsure how it led to it, but Milo and I ended up intertwined in the hotel bed. We were so exhausted that we didn't bother to put clothes on, and we didn't care to, either. It was nice to sleep in an actual comfortable bed rather than a generic sleeping bag from Milo's "seventeen sleeping sacks" chant.

I was woken up by Sasha's voice saying, "Gross, did you two sleep together?"

Still half-asleep, I mumbled, "Yeah,"

"No, Ryker, that's not what she meant," Milo told me, "no, Sasha, not yet."

Sasha gave a fake gag. I was more concerned on why Milo said 'not yet'.

"We're staying here for the night," Sasha said as she left the room, "just so you two know."

I heard the door close, and as soon as it did, I let out a sigh. "Should probably put our clothes on. They should be washed and dry by now."

"Yeah," Milo said, "they should."

We got our clothes out and put them on. I still felt tired, so Milo laid down on the bed and pulled me onto their chest, lightly massaging my head through my hair. But as long as we laid there, I couldn't sleep, although I did feel comfortable.

After a while, we both got up and sat in silence for a bit. I ended up breaking it.

"Don't you think it's weird how this hotel is the only non-destroyed one in the area?" I asked.

"Not really," they answered, "I mean, Akihito clearly knows his way around. He knows where the most and the least destruction is. And besides, this isn't really a well-known hotel anyways."

"But what if the Shirokages are leading us here to kill us?" I muttered.

"I think you're paranoid."

"Am I, though?" I retorted. "Look at all the stuff we've been through, and it's not even the worst of it! We have to always be on our feet..."