I open my eyes and blink a couple of times before realizing where I am again. I sit up straight in my bed and rub my eyes before checking the alarm clock. It's 11:23pm. Why am I awake at this hour?

I'm just about to lay back down and roll over to try to fall asleep again when I hear a knock on my door.

I get up and walk over to the door. Who possibly wants to see me at this hour? And right when I need my sleep this much… I open the door as I try to suppress a yawn and am surprised by who's standing there.

'Kacchan?' I say sleepily. He looks uncomfortable, an expression of annoyance on his face, not one I've never seen before.

'Let's go outside for a bit,' he says and takes off. I stare after him. Is he serious? It's way too late to go outside… He looks over his shoulder.

'Deku!' he snaps.

'Y-yes!' I stammer and follow after him.

The air outside is cold and I'm feeling a bit chilly. Kacchan is leaning against the wall of the dorms as I'm standing awkwardly in front of him, fumbling with my fingers, not really knowing what to do.

'So… uhm.. what did you want to talk about?' I ask after a few moments of silence. He looks away from me, thinking, looking angered, annoyed, but also a tad fragile.

'I guess,' he says while avoiding my gaze, 'that I just… wanted to say that…' he trails of, looking at the ground, struggling with his words. I look away for a bit too.

I don't know what to do. Kacchan has never acted like this before. I yawn again. It has been a long couple of days and I would just really like to go back to my bed… I'm swaying on my feet when he glances at me from the corners of his eyes. He sighs deeply.

'You're such an idiot,' he murmurs.

'Huh…?' I reply.

'You never think about yourself, do you? You always only think about others. It's so frustrating.' I'm completely caught off guard.

'I… I don't understand…,' is the only thing I can say.

'Of course you don't understand!' he snaps, his face suddenly inches from mine. He seems surprised by his own reaction and takes a couple of steps back, looking away from me again.

'I guess I just…. I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're back in one piece!' he bursts out, gritting his teeth afterwards, not wanting to meet my gaze. In the dim light I see a tear gathering in the corner of his eye.

'Kacchan…' I say, taking a step forward, but he immediately raises his guard up again so that I'm forced to take a step back.

'You're just such an idiot! You could've died out there! Why do you never think about your own safety!' I don't really know what to answer. Kacchan has never showed such behavior ever before, not even since we were little.

'I'm sorry,' I say, feeling that it's the only appropriate response to the situation.

'What are you even sorry for?' he says, looking at me again. His red eyes are piercing mine, filled with a mixture of rage and sorrow. I'm confused and uncomfortable. What is he expecting for me to say?

'I'm sorry… for worrying you.'

He huffs. 'I'm not worried about you.' I look away from him. I don't know what to do anymore.

'Is that all you wanted to say?' I ask, trying to be as delicate as I can be. He's looking at the sky. 'Kacchan?'

He ignores me.

'I'm heading back to bed,' I say and head for the dorms again.

I reach out for the door as someone forcibly grasps my wrist and spins me around, pinning me against the pillar next to the glass doors. Kacchan's face is inches from mine. His expression shifts from anger to pain in an instant. Tears are welling up in his eyes.

'Kacchan, what are you doing?' I exclaim as tears are streaming down his face. My wrists are starting to ache from the pressure he puts on them. I'm frozen in place, completely unable to move from shock of what is happening.

'Kacchan, please let go of me, you're hurting me,' I say as he squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head.

'What would I have done without you?' he suddenly says, hiccupping and sniffing to make himself audible in between his sobs.

'Kacchan…' I say, feeling sorry for him.

All of a sudden something warm is pressing against my lips and I'm trying to back away from it, but my head is already resting against the cold wall. The breeze is picking up and tousling my hair, sending chills down my spine and creating goosebumps on my arms as Kacchan's lips are pressed against mine.

I'm confused, caught up in the moment, not sure what to do. His kiss is full of passion and anger. He may say that he wasn't worried about me, but his kiss says something completely different.

When the shock has passed I decide to give in and close my eyes, only realizing now how much I've needed this.

I would have never been able to admit to myself that I needed Kacchan so much if he hadn't made it clear to me. In the heat of battle, when I was fighting for my life, Kacchan was right. I wasn't thinking about myself, or my own safety, because all I was thinking about was… him.

How, if I failed here, I would never be able to see him again. And it pained me so much, that I fought even harder, to make it back here.

Seeing him in the hall when we returned was such a great relief, but I would've never expected, never could even dream, of a situation like this happening. Kacchan expressing his worry and love for me, it makes my entire body heat up.

Finally he pulls back, releasing my wrists and dropping his arms next to him, looking uncomfortable. For once, I know exactly what to do.

I take a step forward and raise my hands to his cheeks as I wipe away his tears. He gazes shifts back to me as I smile warmly, deeply, and I hope he understands.

I then take another step forward to pull him into a tight embrace.

'I'm sorry for worrying you,' I mutter into his ear.

'I wasn't worrying about you,' he replies as he wraps his arms around me too. 'Think about yourself first next time,' he says. I softly shake my head.

'I can't do that.'

'Why not?' I pull back from the embrace and grab his hands to hold in mine as I give him the warmest smile I can make.

'Because I'll always think about you.' And for the first time in his life, he smiles back.