I realised, I hated being seen because maybe someone would realise.

I hated being noticed because I didn't want to stand out; I didn't want to stand out because maybe it'll force me to confront my feelings about my position, my standing, and my current situation.

Maybe I've been running away for a lot longer than I've realised, and it's finally come to bite me.

After falling out of the sky, I crash-landed onto the roof and then fell down into a tree before crashing onto the floor, doing quite the number to my body as well as my hair.

In a way, it was more liberating to fall than it was to fly. As the strength in my limbs gave away, I lost control of my limbs and let my body plummet.

The air in my ears, the wind in my hair, the sky so bright and pure as I looked up.

"Please stop moving, you'll make it uneven."

I didn't resist and let Sora twist and turn my head, cutting where he pleases as quite a lot of hair was torn out.

My eyes lost focus as I stared into nothing. I want to fly again.

Or maybe I want to fall.

Yua and Raiden were sent away somewhere, leaving Sora behind so he was the only one there when I woke up. Surprisingly, he offered to cut my hair, claiming no one was better than him at making someone look cute. I stared at him in shock, wondering if this was another ploy to get into my head.

Instead, we sat in silence as more and more of my hair dropped to the floor, bit by bit coming off with each slice.

Kana left to get a first aid kit, but the minute he came back Sora started to strike up a conversation.

"How short do you want it?"

"Is this okay?"

"Ah, sorry, did any of it get it your eyes?"

Things like that.

It was obvious what he was trying to do, and I wasn't keen on playing along. When Kana finally turned his back, I spoke up. "You don't have to pretend to like me to please Kana."

His face soured like he had just eaten a bad orange and ignored what I said. "You have really soft hair."

"Not as soft as yours."

That made him happy.

A few seconds went by and he leaned into my ear, his hair falling past his eyes and tickling my face. "I don't trust you. It'll take me a very long time to trust you." He hissed, wanting to make it very clear that he doesn't like me. He then took a breath, "But Yuzu seems to care about you a lot, which means you aren't all bad. That means I'll try my best because I trust Yuzu but don't expect anything from me or you'll only have yourself to blame."

Dispute it all, I smiled. "Seems like he's found a great family."

Sora grimaced and then regained his composure, looking at me with big eyes. "Thanks for the milkshake, onee-chan."

Without even turning to look back, he left as quick as he could, not even letting me process what he had just said. Was this the time to laugh? It was so ridiculous that I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what was worse. the fact that I was tricked into buying Sora a milkshake, or knowing she was cuter than me as a girl.

I gulped, knowing exactly what I had to say and do, but I was dreading it. After taking a deep breath and counting to three, I said it.

I'm tired.

"Kanade, I've had enough of this."

He startled in the corner, so much that he knocked something off.

"Seriously, why am I here?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice steady and calm. "I don't understand what the point of this was if you aren't gonna explain anything. Is this come kind of joke? Are you all getting a kick out of this?"

He scoffed, "A joke? You think this is a joke?" His face scrunched up, and he looked so offended and upset that I just wanted to take it back. "How can you say something like that after remembering? What we went through? What we're still going through?"

"Can you blame me? Raiden has already made it very clear that I'm not welcome. Yua seems to take some sick pleasure from watching me squirm and Sora is so indifferent that I feel like I don't exist! Who are these people?! Why am I here?? What else am I meant to think when you've given me nothing to go off of?"

"Ryuuko," His voice was filled with shock and disbelief. I didn't even want to look at him as he continued, "You're just as much of a stranger to them as they are to you, it's barely been any time. Yua has a few screws loose in her brain so don't take it personally."

"You're making excuses for them," My voice barely coming out. "I just want to understand what's happening and you just... left me with them."

Silence for a minute. Silence so thick that I felt like I was drowning.

I hated that I could tell what he was thinking. Maybe he thinks I'm weak, that I'm pathetic for letting something like this shake me. Maybe he thought that I was tougher than this so he doesn't know what to say, that this was nothing.

Maybe he's right.

Am I overreacting? It's not like they did anything irreversible or physically hurt me a significant amount. They just... don't like me, and that's no crime.

I miss Akki. I miss Todoroki.

"Don't you trust me?"

My breath came out in a pathetic shudder, my throat clamming up as I forced the words out. "I don't know you anymore."

I looked up and saw that he looked relieved. My emotions were so muddled and confused that I couldn't describe this sinking feeling in my chest. It hurt to admit, but the man standing in front of me is a very different person from that in my memories. He didn't even have to say anything for me to know that he agrees with me.

He choked back a pained laugh, and I sighed.

I tried to smile, "Well then, how... have you been?"

"Are you trying to get to know me?" He chuckled, his head in his hands.

"Well, how else am I going to do that without talking to you?"

He slid in next to me and gently ran his finger through my hair, letting me relax against him. He mumbled, "Sora cut it really short."

"Blame the tree."

His mouth twitched in a smile, "Hmm, that tree was innocently existing, hard at work. Don't you think it's a certain someone else's fault, for forgetting how to fly and crashing into it?"

My face flushed, "Urgh, fine. You win this time."

I closed my eyes and leaned my head on his shoulder, smiling as I realised I could feel his hair tickling my face. He remembered that I liked it long.

"I like your hair," I murmured and he smiled like he was glad something hadn't changed.

"Sorry, that woman made me cut it when I was young. Said it reminded her too much of my mother."

I thought back, searching through my memories like I was digging through files upon files until I found the right one, "That woman... Reina Sensei?"

"Mmm." He confirmed, "It's okay now, your little bounty hunter killed her."

I jolt up, so quick that I felt dizzy, "Bounty hunter? You mean Akki? Red hair blue eyes? Akito?"

Another nod.

I grinned, "He killed her? When? Was it recent? Is that why he came back hurt? He killed her?!"

Another nod, hesitant this time.

"Wish I could've done it myself."

Kana laughed. A sudden roar that made me jump, and then I relax as I realised he was smiling. Looking at him like this made me realise how pretty he is. He grinned, "I said the same thing."

His smile fell as he lapsed into deep thought as my mind drifted back to Akki, realising I had solid information he couldn't deny. He couldn't deny any of this, none of them can. What was I supposed to say to them?

"I'm sorry," Kana began. "I didn't mean to make you feel like that. I just really wanted to see you again so I barely thought this through. This is why I shouldn't make emotional decisions..."

Before I finished my next thought, he spoke up again.

"You should go back. Home, I mean."

I didn't know how to react.

"Say it," He urged. "All your thoughts, emotions, try and put it into words."

I hesitated for a second, everything a jumble. "I, well, in my head, you weren't forcing me to stay here so I could've just left whenever I wanted... apart from that first day. I don't even know what to say. I'm not happy, I'm not sad it's just an 'oh' kind of feeling."

"I'm not kicking you out!" He quickly said, "You can come back whenever you want, I just think this was too rushed. For both of us. For all of us."

Still, I was disappointed.

I shook my head, trying to ignore that feeling. "What have you been up to? All of you?"

This time, it was his turn to look uncertain. "That's a bit complicated to explain. Maybe another time, it's too soon. It's just that all of us, yourself included, can't fit into regular society. It doesn't matter how hard you try or fake it, you'll never belong."

Ah.

"We've been through too much, seen too much to just move on and act like it didn't happen." A wry smile spread across his face, "Misfits as some people liked to call us."

"Reina Sensei."

He nodded, "She's not exactly wrong. You'll see exactly what I mean when you go back, and I'm sorry for it."

I couldn't tell him that I knew. I already knew what it felt like. There he was telling me this was a place where like-minded people like us had gathered, and now I had to leave.

"I can come back whenever I want?"

He nodded, "All our phone numbers are already one the new phone Yua got under code names. It won't take long to figure out who's who."

I laughed, "Code names."

He flushed a little, "Don't point it out, it's embarrassing. That duffel bag Yua gave you, keep it. Full of lots of comfy black clothing and emergency supplies. Our fault for throwing away all your old stuff."

"I can't believe they had a tracker on me this whole time. I wore that scarf almost everywhere, you know."

"Don't feel too bad about it, it's also how we found you. Didn't think you'd be at UA of all places."

I looked at him, mouth agape.

"Sora is good with tech."

"There's a lot for me to learn," I said very matter-of-factly but the hint of sadness in my voice didn't go unnoticed. "We'll talk often?"

"As often as you want." He rubbed his cheek on my hair.

"Don't leave it up to me, I'm just as clingy as I was before, or maybe even more."

"What a coincidence, so am I." He grabbed the first aid kit and shook it slightly, "Guess this was useless."

"I took care of myself. Found some bandages just on the table. Someone must've left them there yesterday, and there was a kit in the room when I woke up also I think I should go like, now now before any of them get back and I'm saying this all very quickly in case I change my mind."

He stood up with me, "Now now?"

"Now now." I nodded.

He stared at me in shock, not knowing what he was supposed to do or where to even begin. Green eyes widening and mouth falling open, he ran upstairs, his feet thudding with each step. As he disappeared, I looked down at my bare feet, wondering if I should wear shoes or not. Would they rip if my feet changed? Did that mean I couldn't wear sleeves? I was dressed in a black sleeveless turtle neck with matching black bicycle shorts. Perfect clothing for flight.

He set out a little box in front of me and opened it, revealing a plain silver ring. He was a little flushed, "Glad we kept the purple one."

"Huh? But it's silver."

He held it out to me and I looked at it, then slid it onto my ring finger on my right hand.

Instantly, I felt a pinch of pain and yelped in shock, turning to look at Kana who only sighed. "Who told you to put it on straight away? It needs your blood to-"

"MY WHAT?"

"Your blood. Now it recognises you as its owner. If someone else where's it they won't be able to use it." He groaned, "You're just like Raiden, rushing in without thinking about the consequences."

"I'm going to ignore that you just compared me to him. Worry about the consequences? That's your job. Besides, you'll be there to save me every time, right?"

He flushed and cleared his throat, "If you tap it twice, you can communicate with the rest of us using morse code. The colours that show up depend on whose tapping. You're purple, Sora is blue, Raiden yellow, Yua red and I'm." He double-tapped his own ring on the index finger of his left hand, "Green."

He tapped his finger, I looked at the ring and a dash dot dash appeared.

I struggled a bit, "Was that a k?"

He nodded, "During missions or when we're in danger or anything, we use these to communicate. We have certain letters for different scenarios. Don't look at me like that, you'll learn all this eventually."

"But why did it need my blood?!"

"It was thirsty."

"HUH?!"

He smirked, "When you turn it like this..."

Those were his famous last words as he simply vanished. It was more like he pulled a curtain in front of him, and disappeared. I couldn't help the huge grin that spread across my face as I waved my hands in front of me, trying to touch him.

He reappeared behind me, whispering in my ear. "You disappear."

I jumped forward and clasped my ear, grinning at him. "Teach me everything."

So he did. He patiently talked me through how to do everything, and it blew my mind how such a tiny thing was capable of so much. It was refreshing. Maybe I could do that as well. Me, Ryuuko, just Ryuuko, could do something amazing too.

"You know where you're going?"

"The phone has a GPS."

"You remember how to activate the cloaking?"

"Twist the ring to the left."

"Remember what to do if you're in danger?"

"'D' Dash dot dot."

He shook his head, "When you're flying above the clouds you don't need the cloaking. Take breaks whenever you need and you should be back before dark."

"Yes, mother."

He shuddered, "Don't compare me to her, that's offensive."

I laughed as I stepped into his arms, enveloping myself in his scent. I whispered into his clothes, "I miss you already."

"Me too. Aren't we clingy? At least some things haven't changed."

"I'll see you later."

He smiled.

One last kiss on the cheek before I took off into the air, the wind wrapping around me like a loving embrace. I yelled, filled with adrenaline.

I decided to wear shoes after all.

~~~

hmmm

hm? hm!

how are you all doing I know some of you have exams rn hahahaha I'm so sorry and good luck

and genshin players how are you all after hidden dreams in the depth I for one was a wreck we don't talk about it

anything this chapter was kinda cute

like you 🥺😼🤤🤪🤝🙈😳😽🙏🤧🤠😊🥵❤️😍👯‍♂️😁