Rui woke the following morning feeling drained, both physically and emotionally. Shota had stayed another hour or two before Rui insisted that she would be alright and sent him home for the night.

As the sun started to peek through the curtains, she slowly got out of bed and started making her way to the bathroom- turning on the shower and letting the water run for a moment as it heated up.

'Why was he so mad...? There had to be something else...' Rui wondered, stepping into the shower.

The warmth of the water soothed her aching body and helped ease her mind as she washed her hair and body. The fragrance from her soaps intensified in the steam, filling her bathroom with the scents cherry blossom and peach.

Across the street, Katsuki lay back in his bed- staring angrily up at the ceiling of his room. He had been unable to sleep very much after what happened between he and Rui, but he realized that he was more upset with himself than with Rui.

He sort of knew from the beginning the way that Rui talked about her work study and her temporary apartment that she wouldn't be staying, but he had let himself hope more than he should have that she would find a way to stay this time.

'Damn it... how could I be so stupid...? Of course she wouldn't be staying... work studies are meant to be temporary...'

As he sulked, he wondered why it was that he couldn't have brought himself to just ask Rui to stay instead of saying that she had the choice to. He kicked himself silently for saying a lot of the things he had said to her, with almost all of them things he didn't mean to say. But yet again, he let his emotions get the best of him and he made Rui cry as a result.

'I haven't seen her cry in years... and it was my fault then, too...'

Katsuki recalled the last time he had made Rui cry and it just made his guilty deepen all that much more.

"Kacchan, stop it! Leave Izuku alone!"

"Why are you always defending him, Rui? Do you like him or something?"

"He's my friend, and so are you. I would protect you too if you were the one being bullied!"

"Deku has no quirk and he's not worth it."

"Don't say that, Kacchan. Izuku is still a person, with or without a quirk. Why are you always so mean to him? What did he ever do to you?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You're just being stupid, Rui."

"Don't call me stupid, Kacchan."

Katsuki watched as Rui helped Izuku to his feet and brushed off the dirt from his jacket and hair before offering him a tissue to blow his nose with. Seeing them together really irritated him, but he didn't know why.

"Why do you care so much, Rui?"

Rui looked at him when he said that. "Because you're my only friends, Kacchan, and you guys mean a lot to me."

"You don't have any other friends? Haha, what a joke! I bet it's because of that stupid thing you do with your water."

"Kacchan, why are you being so mean?"

"What, are you going to cry about it? Like the stupid little girl you are?"

"Don't call me stupid..."

"Stupid little Rui with her stupid little pigtails and her stupid little dress and her stupid little quirk." Katsuki pushed Rui down into the sand and laughed, glancing back at the other boys who laughed with him. But then he heard sniffling and looked down to see Rui pushing herself back up to her feet, tears streaming down her cheeks. He watched Izuku hurrying to help her up and reach up to wipe away her tears- just like she had done for him many times. "Rui..."

Rui stepped back when Katsuki tried to move closer and she shook her head. "Kacchan, you're such a bully *sniff* it's a wonder you even have friends at all..."

"Y-Yeah? Well who'd want to be friends with such a stupid cry baby?"

"I said don't call me stupid!" Rui yelled at him, throwing water over his head again and drenching him straight through. She turned and ran off, disappearing down the grassy hill.

Katsuki stood there, dripping wet, as the other boys snickered behind him. He glared at them, then shrugged off Izuku's hand when he tried to check on him.

"Y-You should apologize to Rui, Kacchan. You really hurt her feelings."

"Whatever..."

Katsuki headed down the grassy hill and found Rui crouched by the creek, her face buried in her arms. He cautiously made his way over to her, stopping a few yards from her. He stood there, silently, unsure of what to say to make her feel better, but after a few moments he sighed.

"I-I'm sorry..."

Rui sniffed and glanced at him. "Liar..."

Katsuki looked at her. "I-I mean it, Rui."

Rui wiped her face clear of tears and snot before staring down at the creek as it flowed by. "Do you hate me, Kacchan..?"

Katsuki was surprised by her question. "N-No... I don't hate you..." He sighed and sat down on the grass. "I don't hate people who are my friends..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of candy he had been saving just for her. "H-Here... it might be a bit wet, but I saved this for you."

Rui looked at the small wrapped candy in his hand, seeing it was cherry flavored- her favorite. She glanced up at him, unsure what to expect, but she saw that he was blushing and pouting a bit the way he always did when he meant his apologies and was embarrassed to admit it. She reached into her own pocket and pulled out the watermelon candy she had saved for him, putting that in place of the cheery candy as she took it from him.

"Here, I saved this one for you, too."

Katsuki looked down, surprised. "Truce...?" he asked, hopefully.

Rui smiled and nodded. "Truce."

Katsuki sat up and went to his window, pulling aside the curtain and looking across the street at Rui's apartment building. 'We're not kids anymore... it's not that simple...'

He watched Rui come down the stairs and start making her way down the street towards the bus stop, her yellow dress bouncing with each sullen step she took. He sighed, turning away from the window and heading to the bathroom to shower.

'Can I even fix this this time...?'