𝑳𝑬𝑺 𝑭𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑰𝑳𝑬𝑺 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

Less of a burden ~ 18

"I only wished for you to love me as I love you." He forced out through grit teeth.

"Love was lost to me the day you were born. The love inside me died along with Yua." His words repeated inside his mind.

"What a selfish man..." His grip on the sink loosened and he slowly slid to the ground, "You're loved and yet you don't love in return," His arms went around his knees as he curled into himself, "Why can't you love me?"

There was only silence.

_

The next time his phone rang he didn't pick up.

His father was probably back in France at that point.

Yuma curled into himself, further sinking into the hot water.

But not even it could ease the tension in his body.

_

As he laid still on the sofa, body wrapped in a thick blanket, he heard the other phone ring. The only one who had that number was... Nezu? Why would he call so early? With great reluctance, Yuma stood up, the blanket falling onto the rug, and made his way to the phone, "Yes?" He spoke.

"Ah! Yuma! It's great to hear your voice!" Nezu chirpily replied.

Yuma shifted, leaning against the wall, "I could say the same, principal. Pardon me asking, but is there a reason you called?"

The other line went silent for a moment, "There is." Somehow, Nezu sounded unusually serious.

"Yes?" Yuma asked, somewhat dreading his answer.

"Following your loss at the tournament, medals were awarded. You, not being there, hadn't gotten yours. Both you and your classmate, Tokoyami, got tied for third place. I'd like for you to come to my office the day after tomorrow to get your medal." The principal explained.

The day after tomorrow? "Why can't I come today?" Yuma asked.

"There's no school today or tomorrow." Nezu replied.

No... school? Oh... "I see. Well, I'll do that."

"One more thing," Nezu quickly said, "About your last match... Are you all right?"

His last match? Against Todoroki? "I'm perfectly fine, there's no need to worry."

He lost. He lost. He lost. He lost. He lost.

"Are you, truly?" Nezu continued to pry.

Unconsciously, Yuma gripped the phone in his hand, "As I've said already, I'm fine. I lost. There's nothing I can do about it. What's done is done." He may have spoken too harshly, but it didn't matter.

"I see. Well, I don't wish to bother you any longer. I'll see you at school."

With that, the line went dead.

Yuma placed the phone down and breathed out a sigh. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the glass table in front of the sofa. It was as good as new, as if nothing even happened to it. It was the same with his shirt.

Somehow, he doubted that that woman's quirk was healing.

_

The apartment felt too stuffy for him, so he decided to go out. He brought his credit card along, hoping to stop by and eat at some place before he went back.

He walked along the sidewalk, thankful that not a lot of people were around. And then, he made eye contact with a man across the street and something akin to realisation seemed to flash across the man's features. Yuma quickly pulled his cap lower, as if to cover his features as much as he could. The Sports Festival was still on repeat, the various giant screens throughout town were replaying clips of it. Yuma was on one of them.