"It's not bad to cry. In fact, I think it makes a person stronger."

Haru Tanabara did not show up to U.A. the next day. Nor did she the day after that.

Hitoshi Shinsou ended up presenting their project alone in front of the class- apologizing endlessly for his partner's absence. The teacher allowed it, but was obviously put off by her lack of presence. Everyone else in the class noticed the tension by just uttering her name, and somehow knew that something horrible happened. The rest of the week in class 1-C was spent in utter silence; no one able to ask what happened the weekend before. 

"Shinsou, you're usually the last to see her, where is Tanabara?" One of the girls in the class finally worked up the nerve to speak to Shinsou during their lunch period. He paused mid-chew of his sandwich to look up at her. The bags under his eyes were darker than they've ever been from tossing and turning and sleepless nights. 

"She wasn't feeling well when I went over to work on the project with her, she'd probably still sick." Hitoshi muttered, but lying wasn't in his skill set. He assumed none of his classmates took the lie that Haru was sick, but he kept repeating it. He watched the doubt flash in their eyes, but no one questioned him, because no one was close enough to Haru to know what had really happened.

The cold, dark distain in the eyes of Haru's father still shook Hitoshi to the very core. How could someone whose daughter has such a wonderful Quirk and talent to become a hero be hated? Hitoshi thought back to the first day he met Haru, and could only remember her being a cheerful and beautiful ray of sunshine. Yet his mind kept replaying her last words; as if it was a skipping record.

"-Shinsou? hello?" A hand waved in front of his face, snapping the mind-controller's vision from Haru's vibrant blue eyes as she pushed him through her portal to the lunchroom and the now. His classmate was standing from the table; it seemed like everyone had already left. "The lunch hour is over... everyone is heading back to class." 

"Oh... Thanks for letting me know." Hitoshi muttered, grabbing his tray and heading for the garbage. He kept his eyes downcast towards his feet and shuffled through the emptying room, until something soft smacked right into him and made him fall onto his back. 'ouch,' he thought, clearing the thick cloud of thoughts of Haru Tanabara.

"Oh! Shinsou? I'm so sorry!" a girl from class 1-C apologized quickly, and used her quirk to create small band-aids on his  are you sure nothing is wrong with Tanabara? You have been acting weird ever since she got sick..." The girl's words trailed off into a muddled mess of words as she twirled her hair nervously; trying to collect her thoughts. She blushed furiously as Hitoshi's eyes bore into hers as they gave her his full attention.

It was obvious that many of the girls in the general course were attracted to the young mind-controller, but were far too afraid to confront him about their feelings. It seemed impossible to have a full conversation with the boy when he stared at his classmates with such a bored expression, but Haru Tanabara seemed to not notice the awkwardness towards Hitoshi. She would go up to him as if it were second nature to her and regurgitate conversations as if reciting scripture.

To put it bluntly; Haru Tanabara and Hitoshi Shinsou were enigmas to their classmates. Not necessarily bad enigmas, but certainly ones that caught attention. 

"Oh, well, I guess I'm just worried..." Hitoshi admitted, instinctively raising a hand to cratch the back of his neck. "I'm kinda not allowed over to her house without her parent's permission so I really don't know how she's recovering right now." 

'Just a little white lie'  Hitoshi thought, 'just until Haru decides when to ask for help...' but that didn't set right with him either. He could guess what had happened that night after she saved him from a possible terror, but refused to solidify the thought. It wasn't until she hadn't come to school the next day is when he started to feel real fear. 

"I hope she gets better soon." The girl tugged harder at her hair in anxiousness. "The sooner she comes back, the sooner everything can go back to normal in class."

"Me too," Hitoshi agreed, walking alongside his classmate as they headed back to class. 

The rest of the day trudged onward; the hushed tension tight like a noose tied around the students of Class 1-C as they refused to address their classmate's absence. 20 pairs of eyes followed Hitoshi's every move: his reach for a pencil that fell to the ground, or getting out of his seat to go to the bathroom. Any movement to have confirmation of Haru.

Once classes at the end of the day, Hitoshi was itching to bolt from the classroom and get somewhere private. he shoved everything into his backpack haphazardly, and headed towards the door before anyone could stop him to talk. He stopped outside of U.A., and made sure he was hidden in a corner of the campus's brick wall. He fumbled into his pocket for his phone, the one thing he'd been desperate to use all day.

Hitoshi: Haru please text back

Hitoshi: I need to know you're ok, so please just give me something

His hands were shaking, and he could barely see the screen past the tears welling up in his eyes.

Hitoshi: I'm so sorry...

Hitoshi: You're suffering, and I can't help you because I'm too afraid... 

Hitoshi: I guess I'm not cut out to be a hero...

"I can't be a hero when I can't even save my friend..." Hitoshi's whisper choked out from his mouth, and he slammed his hand to muffle any stray sobs from coming out. He took a few moments to rub furiously at his tearing eyes and trying to make himself presentable. It was when he stood up from the grassy safe haven that he felt a buzz from his phone.

Haru: Don't you dare.

Hitoshi's heart was stuck in his throat as the three little dots meant she had more to say.

Haru: Don't you dare say or think you aren't able to be a hero. I know you can be.  I am never been wrong, and I refuse to believe my instinct is wrong about this.

Hitoshi felt another swell of emotion.

Haru: So don't you ever say that again to me!

Haru believed in him; believed he could be a hero.

With that, another fresh set of tears fell from his eyes.

~(The Next Day)~

Hitoshi awoke in his bed with a light heart. It was the first night in a streak of insomnia-induced anxiety, but after all of the crying, he seemed to have drifted off to sleep. Which left him somewhat well-rested and the calmest he's been in a few weeks. Sitting up in bed, he rushed to get ready for school as if it was the norm to be on the cusp of late everyday. As he leapt down the stairs two at a time, he was shocked to see his mother in the kitchen; cooking breakfast.

She hummed quietly to herself, flipping pancakes in a pan. The confusion and nostalgia hit Hitoshi in a double whammy of emotions. Ever since he started sleeping later and later, he gradually started to miss his mom in the morning as she would've already left for work.

"Well, you're up on time?" His mother seemed just as surprised as he was. "This is new, had a good sleep?" she smiled brightly at her son who just stood speechless.

His mother laughted at his shocked face, and ushered him into the kitchen, " The food's going to get cold if you keep standing there, gawking."

With a small smile, Hitoshi gladly joined her at the kitchen table.

Hitoshi arrived to class earlier than he ever believed possible, but after breakfast his mother wanted to keep him on the early streak he started, and ended up at U.A. at least ten minutes earlier than he usually did.

"Hey! What's go you so early? I thought you'd still be in bed." Yuma Kioshi clapped his classmate on the shoulder. His smile was tight; a front put up against the thick tension of the class. "Somebody take a picture! No one will believe this otherwise!" He laughed.

"Haaaa, not really sure; just felt like it." Hitoshi rubbed the back of his neck furiously, realizing that he is the center of attention. Since Haru's absence, everyone started to chat wit him more, and Hitoshi was still very new to being in the limelight of Class 1-C.

"Kioshi, you're no better! Are you ignorant, or did you forget the day where you were so late you forgot to change your pajama pants for your uniform ones?" another girl teased as Kioshi's face lit up a bright red from embarrassment. The whole class giggled and snickered; even Hitoshi couldn't help but grin.

"Alright class, settle down and get to your seats!" Their homeroom teacher clapped his hands as he walked through the door. The students started to shuffle back to their seats as attendance was being taken.

"Haru Tanabara?" He called out, "is she absent again from school today?"

Hitoshi turned to the empty seat next to him. A pang of loneliness echoes through him.

"I guess we'll start wi-" The teacher was cut off by the sound of the door forcefully pulled open. 

Hitoshi looked up from his notebook and looked towards the door like his classmates. The first thing his eyes focused on was her silver hair falling down over her shoulders and transitioning into a rich orange. After a week and a half, he never realized the little things about her; the way she shifts her weight from foot to foot, or that her own nervous tick is wringing her hands. 

"Haru..." Hitoshi whispered as the room hushed.

In the doorway stood Haru Tanabara: backpack slung haphazardly onto her shoulders, dressed in a ruffled uniform, and covered in bandage wraps and bandages. There were only one or two, but Hitoshi could see more peeking out of the collar of her shirt, and the sleeve of her blazer, and her sock-

'God,'  He felt sick.

"Sorry for being late!" She bowed deeply at the door, "it won't happen again; I guess I overslept today.." standing back up and letting out a nervous laugh before rushing in and popping a portal underneath her feet that deposited her into the seat next to Hitoshi. The action was so effortless, like she hadn't been gone for almost a week and a half. Was a moment of total silence, and the spell casted over the class suddenly was blow apart by her mere presence.

At that moment, Hitoshi felt as if he was taken over by a rush of emotion, and grabbed Haru's arm before dragging her out of the classroom.

"Hey! Whu-" Haru exclaimed before her arm was pulled a little too hard, "Oof!"

"Sorry Mr. Hiroto, but I'm gonna take Haru to Recovery Girl! We'll be right back!" Hitoshi called out as he pulled the girl out of the class and down the hall. Once they were out of hearing range, Hitoshi stopped, and turned back to the confused Haru.

"Hitoshi, are you ok-"

"Forget about me, are you alright?" He cut her off, concern bleeding into his words. "Listen, if I had known that's how your father felt about Quirks, I would've never suggested that I come over to your house. I'm so so sorry I should've never left you to deal with that alone..." Hitoshi's grip on her arms tightened as his apologies rambled onward.

"Hitoshi."

"And I know you said not to think it but I can't even help a friend in need..."

"Hitoshi."

"And look at you now! You're covered in bandages because I was a coward and did nothing about your situation-" Hitoshi was stopped by hands clapping down on his cheeks and forcing his lips shut.

"Hitoshi!" Haru cried out in annoyance. It took a minute or two for him to completely calm down enough to listen to her, but his hands never ceased their clingy grasp. He was scared that this was all a dream, that he was still asleep, late for school like always, and Haru was still absent from school. 

"Don't you dare say that what happened at my house was because you were a coward. You were scared, and that does not equate to being a hero or a coward." Haru began, "My father is not someone good, and that confrontation was bound to happen with me going to U.A. He never did approve of people with Quirks.." She admitted.

There was a pause of silence, Haru looking guiltily at the ground and Hitoshi staring at her with shock.

"Look, you're the first person in a long time to be my friend, and I will never regret my decisions, so neither should you."

Hitoshi felt tears springing up again, and squeezed Haru's hands.

"Alright, fine." He choked out, "But you have to tell me everything; no keeping these types of secrets ever again." 

Haru smiled at that.

"I promise- no more bad secrets."

~~~~

*Crawls out of hole where I've been hiding for most of 2019* 

Hello everyone! I felt really bad for not uploading anything for most of 2019, and being barely available because of college life and haha art college is a killer...

ANYWAY! As a late Christmas present and end of the century present, I am uploading two chapters of I'll Follow the Sun, another chapter sometime in January, and hopefully one chapter of Living in the Light during the first week of January 2020! (Take into account different time zones) Maybe if  am feeling up to it I'll post a picture of Haru on a chapter later next year... I'm still learning though so please be patient!

Thank you for the continued love and support! And enjoy 2 new chapters!

~Lila Greenwood