It was getting harder to ignore the elephant that followed her into every room and space she occupied. Neither of them had mentioned it, and carried on as if nothing had happened. Kairi waited for him to say anything, and couldn't believe he thought it completely normal and average that she had fallen asleep against him and he remained the whole night sleeping in her bed. It was obscene, of course. It was strange, it was odd. It wasn't like when she spent a couple nights in Momo's bed, or slept in Tsu's room that one time. That was normal, that happened all the time. Friends did that, that wasn't the part that was weird. And it wasn't like it was a normal night either, he was comforting her. Besides, they were exhausted and it was a complete accident they fell asleep together.

But then again, they had slept near each other during that survival exercise, a mere couple feet from each other. Of course, that was a different time. Kairi's feelings had changed very much since then and this time they were in the same bed. But Shoto made no mention of it. He woke up, said good morning, and left the bed to head over to the bathroom. He went back into his own bed and let the nurses attend to them. Not a single word, and he had acted like everything was fine. Meanwhile, Kairi had to deal with the pinball game that played in her center as her mind pieced together what had just happened. Two friends watched a show and fell asleep. It was such an innocent sentence and held no meaning. A boring story, being perfectly honest. But she couldn't shake how much she was freaking out about it. He was perfectly fine. With rooted sadness, Kairi had to admit to herself – he acted normal because to him it was perfectly normal. He held no affection to her beyond friendship. He had no problem just falling asleep because that's all it was. There were no feelings. They were friends and nothing more. Just friends to him, and that was all they would ever be. Part of her was thankful that's all that would happen. The other part of her withered away, weeping.

Shoto had spent years learning how to mask pain, dull his true feelings to the rest of the world and appear fine. It was this trained talent that came into play as he dealt with pretending to act completely normal around Kairi. All that had happened was, he fell asleep beside his friend. Something in her felt anxious, but considering everything that happened, it didn't surprise him she felt that way. She viewed him as just a friend, a really good friend. Of course, maybe it surprised her a little to have a friend fall asleep beside her like that because she had never been used to it. A lot of stuff about friendship was still new to her and she reacted in surprise, with gratitude for it all. But the truth was, he was struggling to hide it all away. He played the part, talking with the nurse and continued to tease Kairi as they packed up their belongings. He acted normal as they were discharged and waited for their parents to pick them up. His mind was distracted for a moment when his father had to be the one to get him (he had refused to let Mr. Hoshino drive him back this time), but the minute he said goodbye to Kairi, he was back at it again, unable to tame his flabbergasted mind.

Perhaps another teenager would have had lewd thoughts (he could name a few who would have) considering he had just fallen asleep beside a girl he... really felt for. Or at least, he thought he did. He wasn't sure if this was how it was supposed to be. There weren't a lot of examples of it he had seen, and his mom had told him that's what it was. Being around her made him happy, happier than he had ever known. But for Shoto, all his thoughts consisted of; did that actually happen? How did that happen? How could he had let that happen? What was he supposed to do now? Had he encroached onto some territory? She never seemed freaked out about it so he didn't think so. Had her chin really been on his shoulder all night? Was his shoulder still burning from her touch? More than anything, his thoughts were confused as he tried to figure it all out. What did this mean for them? If anything? Were they just that close of friends?

They took a moment to quietly acknowledge each other before each heading up to their respective dorm rooms. Kairi let her door shut behind her and tossed away her panda sweatshirt, quietly saying a funeral service for it in her head. First stop being the shower, she stood under the cascade of steaming water. That was where she finally unleashed her cries and expressions of everything that had happened.

"What is wrong with me? Why did I do that? I am such an idiot, why didn't I use my head! Because I just had to be right, I just had to go and play some fucking hero, well guess what Kairi Hoshino, you're the only one in the class without a fucking provisional license, that makes you less of a hero than everyone else! So what makes you think that you had any right?! Oh, and also you drug Shoto into it which by the way, he must be your real friend because he is a fucking saint for dealing with all that! And also, by the way, you better get your fucking head on straight because you fell asleep beside him and he was unaffected. So clearly there is nothing for you there and you better just..."

For fifteen minutes, she continued on. She rambled as she lathered up her hair, rinsed, cleaned herself properly. She still continued as she stepped out and brushed her hair. When she was dressed, words ran out. She gripped her stuffed elephant and flopped onto her bed, her mind exhausted of all her thoughts. Her phone angrily chirped at her. After jumping, she grabbed it.

Is Shoto with you? – Dad. Her heart flipped.

What kind of question is that? Why would Shoto be with me? – Kairi

Because he's your best friend and the two of you just left the hospital and you might be talking about your experiences? – Dad. She bit her lip, feeling sheepish.

Oh, yeah meant physically with me?

Yeah, what else did you think I meant?

Nothing. Do you need him to be?

I just thought he might appreciate hearing some of the details about QuirKey. I thought I might call you and talk to you both.

Yeah, sure. Give me a second. A moment's text asked Shoto if he wasn't busy, if he could come into her room. A reply almost immediately, he agreed to it. With that said, Mr. Hoshino rang Kairi and she answered.

"You get back all right?" he asked.

"You just saw me like, an hour ago," Kairi said, twirling her hair into a wet ponytail. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just how I am..." he sighed. "Is Shoto there yet?"

"Not yet. Give him a few minutes though." An awkward pause, followed by a sigh.

"Kairi... listen... about the ring." The stone dropped into her stomach.

"Dad, I know, I shouldn't have taken it."

"No, I just... I understand, I... if you had maybe explained it to me I would have understand and I would have let you but... Riri, I don't like that you still want a connection to her."

"It's not like I can just cut her off..." she said. "Dad, she's'... she's my mom. No matter what horrors she did and how she treated me. It's hard to just stop loving your mom."

"I... I know." There was a break in his voice, as if he trying to not cry. "It just hurts me that you are willing to allow such toxicity into your life. I happily signed the divorce papers because I couldn't allow her treatment of you to go on. I wanted her away from you, as much as I loved her."

"Maybe I'm an ass for saying this, but it's a little easier for you to get over a relationship when you can have many," Kairi said, trying hard to remain calm in her voice. "It's harder to get over your mom when I will only ever have one who birthed me."

"It isn't when your daughter looks more and more like her every day." Her heart pinched. "No, I'm sorry... you have a point. It can't be easy to just let go of your mother. I didn't mean that as a bad thing. Your mother was beautiful. I imagine still is." A gentle knock resounded on the door. Kairi quietly moved to it and pulled it open.

"Also remember – you're the one who still has it."

"Yeah... that's... a good point too." She waved Shoto inside. He softly let the door close while she paced the room with the phone against her ear. "I guess it... is a little hard to let go of the woman who gave me the greatest thing I could ever hope for." Her cheeks warmed, pleased at the response. Shoto have her a questioning eyebrow raise.

"You... said I... look like her. Do I... act like her?"

"Uhh..." he mumbled, cautious in his words. "In... some ways. She got stressed easily too and tended to dodge around things that upset her. She pushed away issues and liked to pretend they didn't exist. She didn't want to deal with them so she decided if they were out of sight, they were out of mind. She ran from her problems, obviously. If I tried to bring something up and discuss it, she would try to change to subject to avoid getting stressed, and it happened so easily."

"How did she become a cop then?"

"That was... different. It was something she could solve. Like she knew how to handle that kind of stuff. Emotional, personal stuff. Issues in her own life was difficult. Work was so easy for her and she could just jump in and do it. I guess in some of those ways... you are like her? You get stressed easily, but when it comes to this hero work and its important, you see it differently and jump right in and do your work. Sometimes through whatever means necessary, as long it was the right thing." He chuckled quietly. "However... where you're different is, even though its hard and you so badly want to ignore the issue – you still try to work through it. You still try to figure out, as much as it bothers you. It's like you can't let it go until it's taken care of. Unless it's fixated on you, that's why you just try to disappear. But if the stress is important to you, you will still deal with it. On and off the field. That makes you a much better hero than she ever was as a cop. You don't run away from your problems unless I'm asking you to vacuum."

"It's loud and I don't like it!" Kairi said.

"You did get your anger for injustice happening from her. Which, in a way, is contradictory to the way she acted to you."

"You don't think that maybe she left because she felt it was best for my well-being?" Kairi posed. "Like she knew we were stressing each other out, it bared on my mental health, and so she left to protect me?"

"I... don't know, Kairi. I think it was better for us mentally that she did, I won't deny that. But I have no idea if she was aware of it and that's why she did it, or if what she did was truly selfish or not. I'm just mad at the whole thing and I'm glad she doesn't have contact with either one of us anymore." Kairi gritted her teeth. Her insides flopped, and she was grateful he was unable to feel her emotions through the phone.

"Y... yeah. Any way um... maybe it's best you get rid of the ring then. If you don't want another piece of her hanging around."

"Are you okay with that?"

"It's..." she swallowed. "It's okay. I have other things of hers."

"Okay. Well I guess I'll sell it then. I'll get it some other time. Did Shoto arrive?"

"Uh... yeah." Kairi pulled her phone down and pressed on the speaker button. "He's here and you're on speakerphone."

"Hello, Mr. Hoshino," Shoto greeted.

"Hey. Are you doing all right, Shoto?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

"And the car ride with your father went all right?"

"I think he got out most of his anger yesterday. He was pretty silent."

"I'm sorry about that, again."

"Don't worry about it. What was it you needed?"

"Okay... so..." Mr. Hoshino paused to take a deep breath before beginning. "It was an easy interrogation, from the sounds of it. I wasn't needed, even though I tried really hard to be the one to talk to them."

"That makes sense, considering it was a conflict of interest," Kairi said.

"Kurisu did really attend medical school. He is a real doctor, or at least was. His whole staff was. But for one reason or another, they lost their licenses. It seems as if he truly wants to help people and thinks he is doing the right thing, but some of his practices have been questionable and ethically ambiguous."

"Like how quirkblocking is ethically ambiguous?" Kairi asked.

"Ehh, not... quite that. More like mercy killing of humans. If someone is suffering and their death is inevitable, is it better to allow them to die slowly while trying to make it as comfortable as possible, or is it kinder to kill them painlessly with some sort of injection?" Kairi flinched. Shoto uncomfortably shifted. "Doctors are not allowed to mercy kill, it's against their ethics. The closest they can get is to not resuscitate, and that's only if a family signs a DNR. He didn't believe that. As much as he would like to do everything he can to save people, sometimes he thinks the kinder thing is do something that violates his oath as a doctor."

"An oath he's no longer under since he had his license taken away from him," Shoto said.

"Well, that's why his license was taken away in the first place. That's just one of the less dark beliefs of his."

"Less dark?" Kairi repeated, shock widening her eyes.

"Yes, he has some beliefs that a bit darker and honestly kind of confusing. I won't go into what they are. But he truly seems like he believes he is trying to help people. And in a weird twisted way, his heart is... facing the right place? If that makes sense. But his methods, and the things he does... I don't agree with. He's also arrogant and it sounds like there have been times where a patient would not give their consent to him, but he would think it's in the patients best interests and do it anyway."

"But aren't there moments where a doctor has a right to do that?" Kairi asked.

"Sometimes," Mr. Hoshino agreed. "If religious beliefs, for example, made a patient not want a lifesaving treatment and the doctor did it anyway because they are required by oath to do everything possible to save someone. But he went beyond that, arrogance controlling him rather than doing it for the good will of the person. He also would break laws, obtain illegal drugs, et cetera, in order to do what he thought was in the patients' best interest. I understand some of that feeling, but doctors can't break laws unless it's something other laws can protect them against. This doesn't sound to be the case for Kurisu.

"Anyway, it sounds like this was the kind of operations he was running and trying to continue to run in QuirKey. He created QuirKey because it was ethically ambiguous and he believed in the future, it could really take off as something the general public approved of. Over the years, he found colleagues who agreed with him and some people he eventually convinced to agree with him. They built QuirKey together and had hopes to expand their... medical business. They were hoping that QuirKey would help the world, and help them get money to continue 'helping the world' in their own ways."

"This is really confusing... and upsetting."

"It is. Maybe he truly believed he helped people and in some instances, he might have. But it doesn't change the fact he used many illegal methods and violated a lot of people's rights and privacy. Including your own and classmates, by taking your blood for their own needs, without your permission to do so. Think of this way... his medical practices were like getting addicted to morphine to stop an opium addiction. And some of the people thought they were being helped."

"What about the people who received their quirks?" Shoto asked.

"He had records of them on his tablet. They're following up on them now, trying to track them down. I'm repeating everything I have been told. They're willing to update me on the case, but I'm not allowed to be on it at all, even if it's desperate and they need me to use my quirk. It's too personal for their comfort, but Kairi... this is very important, are you listening?"

"yes," Kairi said quietly, clutching the phone.

"Your methods weren't the best, perhaps. You should have requested backup. Your friends helped you with that. They helped you with back-up, and Shoto made sure you didn't get into trouble. Remember that, for next time, okay? Always call for back-up because you never know what you'll encounter. That's almost rule number one at the precinct. But aside from that... your intuition was correct. Your suspicion, the strength of your emotions and following them... brought down an entire institution. You felt something and you couldn't shake it's strength. And you were right because your emotions were so strong. Because of that, you got several people arrested who over the years hurt hundreds of people, and may have continued to hurt many more were it not for you. Because they kept records, like any doctor should, we can follow up on them and check on those people. If they are in need of treatment, we can get them treated and checked out. Do you understand how big this is? Do you know how many people you have saved doing this? It was your emotions, Kairi. Your emotions saved people." The phone slipped from her hand, bouncing against the bed. Sobbing, she pressed a hand to her mouth. Shuddering coughs and weeping wheezes silenced by the action of her hand, a flood streamed from her eyes. Overpowering pride and relief expanded out from her, too big to contain. Could it be true? Her methods were clumsy but had her actions actually done more good than harm? Did she just get a feeling that really, truly... saved, rescued, hundreds of people?

"Kairi?" Shoto asked, extending a hand to touch her arm. "Are you okay?"

"Kairi? Honey, are you still there?" Echoed Mr. Hoshino from the phone.

"Did I... really... do that?" She said, disbelieving.

"Shoto, is she okay?"

"She's fine she's... emotional but, in a good way, I think," he answered.

"Kairi. Your actions saved so many people. You're learning how to follow your quirk, and you're using it in a heroic way. Your friends, they did as they were supposed to and made sure you went about it legally, the right way. They made sure to send in back up. Whatever they're teaching you at the school... they're making some great heroes, and know how to teach teamwork. You should be so proud of yourself sweetheart. I am so proud of you, Kairi! You felt something in your gut so strongly, you couldn't ignore it. And you followed it, and you were right!"

She keeled over, coughing through her wails. Her own arms hugged herself tight, laughter escaping between the sobs. Crying, and then laughter. Then crying, and then laughter. She couldn't figure out the most appropriate response. This whole time, she was thinking she screwed everything up, and while a lecture from her teachers certainly still coming, it was hard to obsess over it. She laughed wildly, cackling from hysteria. It was impossible to believe. Could her quirk really have that power? Have that strength? Did that really just happen?

"Kairi, keep that group of friends, they'll serve you well in the future. Shoto, keep Kairi by your side. I have a feeling she's going to be a great asset, and a phenomenal hero in the future."

"I don't plan on going anywhere, Mr. Hoshino," Shoto chuckled.

"Good. I'm going to get some sleep. I've been up most of the night but... remember Kairi. Be proud of yourself. You did so well, honey. I'm so proud! I love you!"

"I... love you... t-too! Dad!" she gasped, gripping her phone tightly again. "Thank you!" With a chuckle, he ended the connection. Kairi rocked in her wild elation, unable to stop the flow of emotion from her eyes. Shoto grabbed her, holding her close to himself in a tight hug.

"You did it, Riri. You did it. Just like I knew you would someday, and it came sooner than I even thought it would. In so many ways, you might have saved hundreds of people from malpractice."

"I'm a rescuer..." she whispered to herself, between sobbing laughs. "Shoto... I'm a rescuer!"

I really truly appreciate the wonderful feedback I have been getting from this story. I had no idea when I started this it would grow to be this big. I appreciate everyone's patience in this agonizing slow slow burn. I take slow burn very seriously, to the point where I even start to get annoyed at myself. But I have done quite a bit of writing the last few days and as a reward for being so so patient and so amazing I will tell you this: Chapter 60 is going to be a chapter FULL of so many feels and Chapter 61... is when feelings will finally be confessed. So hold tight, lovelies. It's coming, and I am sorry I have dragged you along so long. But it won't be long now, I promise!