The day started coming to an end after Class 1-A and Rui parted ways, their bellies full of ramen. Katsuki and Rui headed home, but after walking most of the way home in silence, Rui was growing more uncomfortable with the tension in the air.

"Katsuki, is everything alright? You seem upset."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? If there's anything you want to talk about, I-"

"I said I'm fine!"

Rui jumped, not expecting him to yell at her. She stopped in her tracks, unsure of how to proceed. "You didn't have to yell at me..."

Katsuki stopped a couple yards ahead of her and glanced back at her over his shoulder. "You say something?"

Rui began to remember how his temperament had been as children and her heart started to sink. But that didn't stop her from standing her ground. "I said you didn't have to yell at me."

Katsuki glared at her a moment, then rolled his eyes and started walking again. "Tch, whatever."

"Why are you so angry, Katsuki? Is it something I did or said?" Rui asked, hurrying to try to catch up to him as he quickened his pace. "Come on, talk to me, Kacchan."

Katsuki turned and smacked Rui's hand away as she touched his hand. "I said I was fine, so why do you have to go poking around?"

Rui hadn't seen him this angry- ever- and she wasn't sure what to do, but for some reason she felt like she was losing him again. And quickly. "Because I'm worried and I care about you."

"Yeah, well don't, alright?"

"Kacchan, I-"

"And stop calling me 'Kacchan'! We're not kids anymore, Rui!"

Rui was trying desperately to hold back her tears. "Why do you have to be such an ass sometimes?"

"If you don't like it, then leave. See if I care!"

"So then you wouldn't care if I went back home?"

"Go right ahead, it's just a few blocks away! Hell, use that stupid ass water board trick of yours to get there faster!"

"That's..." Rui was unable to keep holding back her tears and they started trickling down her cheeks. "That's not what I meant..."

At that point, seeing Rui crying, Katsuki wanted to kick himself and it barely registered what Rui was trying to say. "What are you talking about?"

"At the end of my work study, when your final exams are done... I'm going home..."

Katsuki looked at her, his angry fading for a moment. "You're... not staying..?"

"No..."

"Does Deku know..?"

"Yeah... I told him this morning..."

Hearing that Izuku knew before he did made Katsuki's anger boiling up again. "Of course you told him first. Why wouldn't you? You two have been acting like nothing ever happened, like you weren't gone for ten years."

Rui looked up at that, stunned by the coldness of his tone. "I was afraid to tell you because I knew you would act like this!" she retorted. "I didn't want to lose you again, not after we just started being friends again!"

"Were you even going to tell me?" Katsuki fired back. "Or were you just going to leave again without so much as a goodbye?"

"I had no choice before! We were six, Katsuki! What was I going to do, run away from my mother? After my father just died?"

"You have a choice now!" Katsuki was beginning to feel a sense of desperation mixing with his anger. "You can choose to stay!"

"And what, leave my mother alone? I'm all she has and she's all I have!"

"You have friends, Rui! You have stupid Deku!" Katsuki stepped closer to her, reaching up to grab her by the arms. "You have me!"

Rui froze at that, staring up into those crimson eyes of his and seeing so many emotions whirling together as he struggled to bring them all under control again. "Katsuki..."

"You don't have to leave, Rui..." Katsuki said, his voice beginning to soften.

Rui searched his eyes, wondering how long he had been wrestling with these emotions. She reached up to touch his cheek and sighed. "I want to stay, believe me... but I have to go back to my mother. And I'll do my best to stay in touch, maybe even come visit on the weekends."

Katsuki let go of her arms and stepped back.

"Kacchan, please try to understand-"

"What's the point? You've already made up your mind."

Rui made to say something more, but Katsuki turned his back to her and walked away- heading away from their homes. "Please... Kacchan..." She knew that at this point, there was nothing more she could say to make things better. She stood there, alone, on the sidewalk and watched as Katsuki faded from view. Unsure of what else to do, she pulled out her phone as she walked the rest of the way home and searched through her contacts until she found the person she wanted to call most in that moment.

"Hello?"

Rui opened her door and stepped inside just as her call went through. "*sniff* Hi, Uncle Shota, it's me."

"Rui? What is it? Why are you crying?"

"C-Can you come over?"

"Of course, but what happened? Is everything alright?"

Rui was trying to pull herself together, but she couldn't. "I just really need you right now..."

"I'm on my way."

Rui hung up and fell back against the wall, sliding down to the floor and unable to stem the flow of tears any longer. She felt just as crushed as she did ten years ago when she was forced to leave her life in Musutafu behind, but this time it was much worse. This time, Rui had realized that her playground crush was now more than just a crush.

Not long after, a knock came at the door and Rui heard it open as Shota let himself inside. She barely looked up when he knelt beside her and just let him pull her into his arms and sit with her as the tears resumed.

Shota had never received a call like that from Rui before and his protective nature went into overdrive. He rushed over as fast as he could possibly manage, his worries only growing when he saw that Rui's door wasn't locked. Finding her on the floor like that, hugging her knees to her chest and her eyes red from crying, nearly broke his heart. All he knew to do in that moment was hold her- in relief that overall she appeared to be fine and in comfort to try and quell her tears.

After nearly twenty minutes, Rui's tears had run dry and she sat back. "I'm so sorry..."

"Hush, Rui, you don't need to apologize." Shota reached up and wiped away the remaining tears staining her face. "Let's get you to the couch and I'll make you some tea."

Rui nodded and stood with her uncle, letting him lead her to the couch before he hurried to her kitchen. She grabbed one of the throw pillows and clutched it to her chest, staring blankly at the floor.

Shota stood in the kitchen, brewing her her favorite tea- a blend featuring cherry, blackberry, and hibiscus. He watched her stare off into space, holding onto the throw pillow for dear life, and wondered what could have possibly happened to upset her so much. When the tea was done brewing, he stirred in some sugar and brought it over to her- gently touching her shoulder to bring her back from her daydreaming.

"What happened, Rui?"

Rui gingerly took a sip of tea, feeling an added comfort from the warm liquid. "I had a fight with Katsuki..."

"Before I go into protective uncle mode, tell me exactly what happened."

Rui began explaining the events from earlier, trying her best not to let more tears flow free in the process as Shota listened and did his best to keep his own anger in check. When she had finished filling him in, Shota sat back and sighed heavily.

"Damn it..."

"I just wish he hadn't gotten so mad..." Rui said. "I still feel like I may have done something or said something that upset him..."

Shota watched her a few moments before speaking again. "You really care about him, don't you? As more than a friend?"

Rui nodded, too exhausted from crying to blush. "I've always had feelings for him, ever since we first met as kids. But since coming back, I've been realizing more and more that it's not just a little playground crush anymore. It's much more than that and that's why it hurts so much worse this time around."

"This is why I never married."

Rui had to smile at that. "No, you never married because you like your privacy too much."

Shota chuckled. "Maybe. Glad to see you're feeling a bit better now."

"A bit, but it's better than not at all." Rui looked at him. "Thanks, Uncle Shota. I know you aren't exactly the best at this sort of thing, but I didn't know who else to turn to."

"You could have called your mother."

"True, but you know Mom. She'd tell me he's not worth it and that I should have just listened to her and stayed home, then none of this would have happened."

"But do you think he is worth it? After what happened today?"

Rui sighed and looked down at her tea. "I do, and I want to try to fix things, but knowing him? It'd be best to leave things be for now and run their course."

"You've really grown up, Rui." Shota ruffled her hair a bit. "Why don't we order in and watch a movie or something?"

"Don't you have papers you need to grade?"

"They can wait. You're more important right now."

Rui smiled at that and leaned into her uncle. "You're the best, Uncle Shota."