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29. Anger

Rule 53: Some days are good, some are bad, you won't always get a warning.

Like the boys in Hosu, the remainder of Otsuka and Bakugou's internships were cancelled. Bakugou's parents took their son home while Otsuka grabbed her stuff from where she'd been staying in Tokyo before Aizawa and Yamada took her back to their place.

She ended up catching Edgeshot just before she had to go, managing a quick goodbye and thanks to him for all his help this week. The work they'd put in to familiarising Otsuka with her shields, ensuring she could summon them at a moment's notice, would be invaluable and she would never not be grateful for that. "Don't be a stranger, Otsuka," he told her and she couldn't see the smile under his mask but she could tell it was there. "If you're ever in Tokyo, feel free to stop by, and know that the training rooms are always open to you."

Her face hurt with all the smiling she did after hearing that, and she barely stopped thanking him even to breathe for a good few minutes. It was such a disappointment to be leaving early, but she knew it couldn't be helped. Otsuka waved back to him as Aizawa and Yamada finally managed to get her to leave.

"So, besides yesterday night, did you have fun this week?" Yamada asked. He'd offered earlier to help her with her bag and she'd thought it was the right choice to refuse but now he kept glancing at the suitcase with this sad look that made her think maybe he'd wanted to wheel it around. She wasn't really sure why, but maybe he just liked suitcases or something— strange, definitely, but everyone had their interests.

"Yeah!" She should try to find a way to offer him the suitcase without making a thing of it. Maybe she could, like, slip it into the conversation somehow. Edgeshot taught me some really cool stuff, it would also be cool if you wanted to drag my bag around for me. Unfortunately, Edgeshot may have taught her stealth, but he had not taught her subtlety. At least this was a solid distraction to  twenty-four hours she'd quite appreciate forgetting. "I got to do a lot of different things, there was never a dull moment!"

Yamada grinned, bright and distracted from the lack of suitcase in his hands. Now she just had to keep him distracted. "Really? What kinds of things were you doing?"

So she launched into an explanation that filled their whole journey to the train station. Talking almost continuously for so long made her uncomfortably aware of how much she stumbled over her words, repeating phrases two or even three times before they came out right, and then of course there were all the tangents— so many tangents. Yamada didn't seem to mind though, if anything, he seemed overjoyed. Her excitement seemed to bleed to his. Aizawa, looking back from where he was leading them, rolled his eyes fondly at his husband.

She'd finally said all she wanted to say (and seemingly exhausted Yamada's extensive list of questions to) by the time they got the train. Her throat was practically sore with all the talking. They took up a four-seat section with Yamada and Aizawa beside each other while Otsuka sat on her own, her head leaning against the window. Unsurprisingly, Aizawa had taken this perfect opportunity to nap, his head snuggled like a jigsaw in his husband's neck. Yamada was tapping away at his phone, Otsuka assumed it was work or something similarly grown up until she caught sight of the screen in the window reflection; Yamada was playing a game.

With only the gentle rumble of the train and the quiet mutter of voices elsewhere, Otsuka's mind drifted. She wasn't quite alone, but it was a quiet moment she could keep to herself and she knew better than to squander such an opportunity. There was a whole lot for her to think about and delaying would do her no good.

Start with the basics:

TT was alive, and in trouble. His family was in danger, which was why he'd brought Otsuka in on it. What she needed to do, as soon as he saw him next, was convince him to talk to the heroes since they were the ones who could really help him, not her.