A Song to Come Home to

Chapter Thirty-One

A twig snaps under Touya's boot as he continues down the winding and nameless dirt path. He can't shake his thoughts from the worry that bites at his heart, it was a gamble to leave Keigo alone but Touya had no other choice. It was either to stay there as sitting ducks until Keigo ultimately dies from an infection or Touya risks getting caught to get help. Both options are nothing short of a beggar's desperation but Touya can't ponder on the mistakes of his past. Rather, he has to keep marching forward towards a hopefully better future.

Touya reaches a summit that juts far above the surrounding forest. It's a long climb and by the time he reaches just past the halfway point, he's gasping for breath. Thankfully where he stops, there's a big area of flat ground for him to rest. Touya has to squat down as he curses himself for getting so out of shape. There was a time where he had been fit enough where climbing up this would have been just about as easy as breathing. Now, he's covered in sweat and gasping for breath. At least the weather is cold against his skin and making his sweat feel almost icy. Though Touya is almost embarrassed watching all of the puffs of white air escape between his lips. He finds himself thankful that Keigo isn't with him. Keigo with his perfect abs and toned muscles probably would have laughed at how out of breath he is.

Wondering if he's at a good spot, Touya pulls out his phone and dials Spinner. If there's one person that can reach them in a record time, it'll be Spinner. Thankfully, the phone seems to have enough reception and Touya idly listens to the soft beeps as he waits for Spinner to pick up. Looking to the north, Touya spies a small clearing with a few buildings. Seasonal homes, perhaps. Or cabins for the wayward hunter or hiker.

He has to squint but it looks abandoned, Touya hopes that it is. He could bring Keigo there so they could at least have shelter from the unpredictable weather from the mountain range. While his fire could provide all the heat that Keigo might need, an avalanche or a freak snow storm would render him useless. Touya would never admit it aloud but even the strongest of elemental quirks have their inhibitions. His fire can burn as brightly and as hot as a supernova, but, like with a supernova, Touya is running on borrowed time the more he uses his quirk.

"Holy shit, you're alive." Spinner's words shake Touya from his thoughts. Touya blinks, scoffing at Spinner's disbelief. "We've all been keeping an eye on the news but you just sorta... disappeared so I figured that you went up in your own fire." Spinner trails off, letting Touya know that Spinner most likely didn't share his trepidation with Natsuo or Rei. Touya can just about feel the anxiety ebb away through the line and Spinner sighs with what sounds like relief.

"You wish I was that easy to get rid of." Touya drawls. He doesn't want to do a tearful reunion over the phone. Touya doesn't even want to do a tearful reunion with the League of Villains to begin with. Especially since he has them under the impression that he physically cannot cry because he burned his tear ducts. In reality he can, he just hates crying more than anything and that includes being around crying people.

"Shut up and let me have hope." Spinner shoots back, granting Touya the mercy of not bursting into tears. However, there's a short pause and Spinner clears his throat. "But... glad to hear that you're still alive." Spinner adds in a soft voice, making Touya grin.

"Aww, did you miss me?" Touya purrs. There's a muffled string of curses on the other end of the line. "As much as I'd like to sit around here and gossip like a couple of office workers at a water cooler, I need your help." Touya starts to draw a small design into the frost on the boulder next to him. Curiously, it lays in half, seemingly cleaved clean through the center a long time ago. He wonders how that even happened, though he doesn't dwell on it.

"I think you need like... professional help. Sorry but I ain't a therapist." Spinner replies, Touya doesn't need to see Spinner to know that he's smiling. He rolls his eyes as he wonders why on earth does he even put up with any of them. Touya can say that he doesn't care about them all he wants but at the end of the day, everyone knows it and they call his bluff.