As the week progressed, I watched as Hitoshi became more and more distant. He wasn't talking much, and if he did it was to snap about something or another. At first, I thought it was something I had done, but then I arrived home from school on Thursday and saw Himari and my mom in the kitchen, the purple-haired woman crying softly. 

That's when it clicked. Friday was the anniversary of his father's death. 

Fuck, I had totally spaced it. I was the worst person on the planet. 

Hitoshi had gone straight up to our room, so I left the two women alone and headed after him. I knew he wouldn't want to talk about it or talk at all, but he wouldn't want to be alone either. All I needed to do was be there for him, it was all he ever asked of me around this time. 

The rest of my evening was spent in peaceful silence. I worked on my essay, while Hitoshi was across the room flipping through his chemistry textbook. I doubted he'd get anything substantial done, but at least he was trying to keep his mind busy. 

Eijirou had texted me at some point, asking to hang out. I felt a little bad turning him down, but I knew Hitoshi needed me more. Not wanting to blow him off, I told him the truth. Eijirou was the sweetest person alive, immediately texting back that he and Katsuki completely understood and to let him know if he could help. I smiled softly at the message. 

Hitoshi didn't smoke that night, so neither did I. His dad had been a cop, always warning him against illegal drug use, drinking, and any sort of law-breaking. He never smoked this close to the anniversary. 

Which meant neither of us were going to be getting any sleep. 

It was nearly one in the morning when he finally spoke. "Get some sleep, Iz." 

I was caught off guard by the sudden noise in the previously silent room. My head snapped up from the paper I had been working on, fixing him with a confused look. "Huh?" 

"Go to bed," he said again, not lifting his gaze from the textbook laid out on his bed. 

"I'm not tired," I stated simply, going back to my English assignment. The good part of pulling that all-nighter, I had almost completely finished my essay. 

"You don't have to stay up with me," he said, trying to sound calm about it, but there was a strain in his voice. 

"I'm just working on my essay." I shrugged, letting the tip of my pen tap against my lip as I rewrote a sentence. 

The sound of his textbook finally closing drew my eyes away from my homework. I watched as he let it drop to the ground, turning to make eye contact with me. "Well?" he asked expectantly. 

I rolled my eyes as I set my pen down, pushing myself off my bed and making my way to his. "I really was working on my essay, you know," I grumbled, falling into his awaiting arms. 

He moved us to lean back on his pillows, holding me close to his chest. "Sure." One of his hands lifted to run through my curls, nearly enough to lull me to sleep. Nearly. 

"Mhm," I hummed, allowing myself to melt against him. "I'm almost done with it." 

We fell into another bout of silence, just enjoying the closeness of each other. My eyes started to drift shut after a while, his steady heartbeat sounding in my ear. I wasn't sure if I had ever felt more relaxed in my life. 

"We can't even visit this year," Hitoshi whispered and suddenly I wasn't tired anymore. I knew exactly what he meant. Every year, he and his mom would visit his dad's grave. I couldn't be sure, but I think it was the only day he let himself go. 

"Do you want to do something for it?" I asked softly, absentmindedly tracing shapes against his chest with my finger. My initial reaction had been to apologize, but Hitoshi hated condolences more than anything. I had a feeling he would have kicked me back to my own bed if I had even tried to say the word sorry. 

He sighed, turning his head so his face was buried in my hair. "I want to not cry at school tomorrow," he admitted, his voice lost and fragile. 

I hated this time of year. Seeing Hitoshi so distraught had always fucked with my head, even before we were a thing. He was always so unruffled and confident, seeing a chink in his armor was world-altering to me. There was nothing worse than seeing him so upset and knowing that there was nothing I could do to fix it. 

"We can skip," I offered. He usually skipped to go visit his dad's grave. That wouldn't be possible this year, but I was positive we could find something to do. Whether it was a memorial or an attempt to forget was up to him. 

"I can't." 

I frowned at the answer, my hand weakly grabbing his shirt. "Toshi, I don't-" 

"I can't, Iz," he said again, cutting me off as his arms tightened around me. His voice cracked. 

"Okay." My voice was soft as I hugged him back. Of course, he couldn't skip, his dad would have been disappointed. At least that was what he was thinking. I never met his dad, but from what I had heard about him, I didn't think he would have been upset at Hitoshi for skipping school tomorrow, of all days. That wasn't what Hitoshi wanted to hear though, so I would sit back and do what he asked. 

It didn't take long for him to start shaking, turning on his side so he could hold me even tighter. 

All I could do was hold him while he cried. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I got an hour of sleep that night, maybe. Hitoshi had gotten even less if any at all. 

"Hey," Eijirou greeted with a soft smile as we both walked across our yard and over to his truck. He placed a kiss on my forehead, not even batting an eye at the fact Hitoshi refused to let go of my hand. 

"Neither of you slept?" Katsuki asked, his red eyes glancing between us. His lips were turned down, concern etched across his face. I was hoping that no one would mention it, but at least he wasn't being a dick about it. Just worried. 

"I told him too, but he didn't listen to me," Hitoshi sighed, looking like he was trying to fight off a yawn. 

Unfortunately, it made me yawn. "I never listen to you," I said softly, leaning my forehead against Eijirou's chest and letting my eyes close. A few-second power nap would have to do for the day. 

I smiled just a little bit when I heard Hitoshi yawn. "Dick," he grumbled. 

"You're the reason I yawned in the first place," I argued back, but my words were starting to slur together. I felt like I was trying to talk with a mouth full of peanut butter, the words were thick and sticky and wouldn't come out properly. 

"Just get in the truck before one of you falls over," Katsuki instructed, the usual edge in his tone had vanished completely. I wasn't sure if it was for my benefit, Hitoshi's, or maybe both. It made my heart stutter regardless. 

Hitoshi and I sat in the back of the truck while Katsuki claimed shotgun, like always. I leaned into Hitoshi's shoulder, content to spend the entire drive pressed against him. 

"What're the odds that Uraraka and Todoroki kept their mouths shut?" the tired teen asked, loud enough for the boys in front to hear. 

I hummed as I thought about the answer. "There's no way Ura didn't tell Ash," I admitted with a sigh. "Todo's a toss-up." 

"Great," he mumbled, slouching into the seat a fraction more. 

I wouldn't find out until much later in the day that Katsuki sent both Ashido and Sero texts telling them to leave Hitoshi alone that day or he'd kill them. 

Unfortunately, that text did not get sent to Kaminari. 

"You two look like shit," he said with a snort as soon as we exited the truck. "What were you doing all night?" 

Crying, that's what we were doing. 

Sero smacked him decently hard in the back of the head. When he whined about it, the dark-haired teen just sent him a pointed glare. 

Hitoshi rolled his eyes at the interaction, something I didn't know he even had the energy to do. Without a word, he pulled me right past our friends and towards the front doors of our school. It was going to be a long ass day.

Mmm angst. 

Also, I feel the need to clarify that Kirishima and Bakugou won't end up dating Shinsou. They're just gonna end up besties because I said so. Sorry if you were rooting for KiriBakuShinDeku, but the way the first book and this one were set up, they would literally never date. They aren't even each other's types in this book (ok so Shinsou might be a little bit Kirishima's type, but still no).