The Proximation of Hello and Goodbye

14

"Hey, is everything okay?" She asks.

He groans, "Suki, I told you not to use link on me without my permission. And since when do you use the entire twelve hours on one person?"

"I'm not using Link. I hear it in your voice, what's the matter?" She asks.

"It's nothing," he lies, running his fingers through his hair. "How's everything? Any word on Sana, Ena, and Katsu? The cafe?"

Akasuki remains silent as if thinking about which direction she wants to move forward in. Knowing her, she wants to get to the bottom of his moodiness, but she seems to ignore that for now. "The cafe is being investigated as a crime scene, and the damage is... substantial," she says uneasily. "We'll be helping out at the other location until this one gets fixed up. As for Sana, he's good. His memory was a little cloudy as you know, but the doctors couldn't quite figure out why, as he had no serious injuries. They ended up keeping Ena overnight just to ensure she was okay, she has a pretty nasty concussion. Even with that being the case, she threw a temper tantrum, which was to be expected. Told the doctors she wanted to 'sleep in her own damn bed and have a cigarette.'" She sighs, definitely exasperated by the idea of Ena's stand-offish demeanor. He wonders if Akasuki had to deal with the repercussions of Ena's fit. "We'll say it got worse before it got better and leave it at that."

"And Katsu?" He asks.

"Oh, he's okay too. I swear they hardly looked at him, he was out in thirty minutes flat. He says the doctors said he was fine," she answers. "I half expected him to at least have stitches, but he walked out without so much as a bandage on him. He did ask about you before leaving though."

"He did?"

"Yep. He saw you leaving and wondered if everything was okay. I told him that Masashi was home and you'd gone home to see him," she replies. "He's always got you on his mind, you know? It's kind of cute... and nauseating. I don't think I've ever been a part of someone's consciousness that was so filled with thoughts of another person."

Izuku remains silent. He's not sure what to make of that information. He likes the idea of being on Katsu's mind, but at the same time, it fills him with a sense of melancholy. "That's strange," he manages.

His friend laughs, "Yeah, strange. Maybe to you, I guess."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing," she replies. "Look, I've got to do some paperwork, but I know you'll want a few days at home with Masashi, so don't worry about coming in until you feel like it, okay? With things the way they are now, we won't need many people for the time being. And give Ena a call if you get the chance. I'm sure she'd love to hear from you."

Izuku tries to force a smile although Akasuki wouldn't even be able to see it, "Yeah. I'll call her soon. Thanks, Suki. I'll be back in the swing of things in a couple of days."

"Looking forward to it, Izu. Talk soon," she chimes before hanging up.

Izuku drops his phone onto the mattress and rolls over to stare out the window. He lies there all day, occasionally getting up to use the bathroom or grab a snack. Aside from that, he watches the time, consistently trying to convince himself that Masashi will be back any minute. However, instead of believing it will happen, he watches as the sun makes its way through the morning sky before making its descent for the night. He stares out the window, watching as the sky changes color. The day comes to a close, welcoming the dusk, and finally the night sky. He finally resigns from his tiring convincing and lying, rolling back onto his other side. Tears sting the backs of his eyes as he comes face to face with the reality that Masashi had lied yet again.