Era

21

It was stifling, sitting still and letting the world move on without him. Especially when he knew that the villains who had hurt his students were still out there, no doubt plotting their next move. Already he was running through lesson plans in his head, horrified by the idea that his students might face another foe without the proper training. That he might fail them again.

Still, Hizashi was right. If he was really to undergo any sort of sustained healing from Chiyo, he needed to conserve his strength. And besides, hearing Hizashi's voice break like that, seeing the devastation in his eyes... he didn't want that.

"Fine."

"Really? Just like that?"

Shouta huffed again, wishing he could cross his arms. "You made a pretty solid argument. It makes sense for me to take it easy."

"Great!" Hizashi clapped his hands together excitedly. "So you'll take a few days off school?"

What if they aren't ready?

"...I never said that."

"Shou..."

"Look, they're probably taking a couple days off from school anyway, right? Nedzu has to deal with all the media fallout, the kids need time to recover..."

"And you should take a few extra days on top of that! You know, it might surprise you to hear, but those kids aren't stuck in a hospital after hours of extensive surgery."

"Yes, but seeing me could bring them a sense of normalcy."

"Not when you're a walking corpse!" Hizashi stood from the bed, frustration making itself known in the way he paced across the room. "They understand what happened, they'll know that you just need some time to recover. They're high schoolers, not idiots."

"What's the difference?" grumbled Shouta. Hizashi reared back with what was no doubt a sharp retort, but a polite knock at the door interrupted him mid-breath.

The heroes looked at each other, then at the door. For a brief, ridiculous moment Shouta began to map out all the possible exits and entryways in this room, as well as any potential weapons. The knock came again, this time accompanied by a voice.

"Hello? It's Detective Tsukauchi, can I come in?"

Relaxing muscles Shouta hadn't even known were tense, he watched Hizashi collapse into one of the bedside chairs and shoot him a sharp look.

"This conversation isn't over," he whispered, eyes narrowing when Shouta just snorted. He called out towards the door, "Come on in!"

Tsukauchi looked a little worse for wear as he entered the room, rough stubble along his jaw and dark circles under his eyes as he took off his rumpled coat and set it on a chair, sinking into it with a heavy sigh.

"I take it you've been working?" asked Shouta. Tsukauchi looked up, barely repressing a huff of laughter before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, been a long couple of nights. You look ridiculous by the way."

"You try getting smashed into the ground repeatedly, let's see if you look any better."

"I think I'll pass, thanks." The detective pulled out his notebook, flipping through the pages pensively. "I came to talk to you, actually."

"I already gave you my statement. Was there something wrong with it?"

"No, no it's not that. Your statement was very thorough, as always. It's not even about the USJ, actually, it's just..." Tsukauchi closed the notebook with a sharp snap, placing it in his lap to rub at his temples. "It's just something that's been nagging at me."