Rui walked alone in silence the following morning. She had debated waiting for Katsuki to join her as she did every morning, but thought better on it and made her way to U.A. by herself.

The bustling of the students as they crowded towards campus was a welcome sight, but it just reminded Rui more and more that she wouldn't see it for very much longer.

'You can do this, Rui...'

She greeted the teachers and students she had befriended as she passed them by in the hallway, making her way quickly to the infirmary where she could escape and hide herself away from everything as much as possible.

Keeping herself as busy as she could throughout the day, Rui barely left the clinic- even for lunch. This didn't go unnoticed by her friends and they could sense that something was wrong.

Izuku watched Rui and Katsuki closely, figuring that it was something that had happened between them that was the cause of the turmoil. 'She must have told him...'

"Midoriya, do you know what's up with Bakugo and Rui?" Eijiro asked.

Izuku sighed. "Not really sure, but I think it has something to do with Rui going back home after this week."

"What? You mean she isn't staying?"

Izuku shook his head. "She has to go home once her work study is over. She said she'd try to stay in touch as much as she can, even visit on the weekends."

"Man, that sucks. I really like her."

"It's not every day you get to see someone even come close to taming Bakugo." Denki added.

Across the cafeteria, Katsuki brooded more than he usually did as he mulled over everything going on. Not only were finals closing in, but Rui was going home at the end of the week.

'It's not like her work study was going to go on forever... so why does it bother me so much that she's leaving..?'

He thought over everything that had happened since Rui came back into his life and how his life had begun to change- more or less for the better, even if he wouldn't admit it aloud. They had just started being friends again, just started to reconnect, but now it was like it would all get taken away just like before.

'This is so stupid...' he said to himself, his eyes wandering about the cafeteria in search of Rui. But there was no sign of her, just as there had been no sign of her that morning on the way to school. 'We have all week to say goodbye, it's not like she's just disappearing again...'

"Dude, did you hear that cute girl who's been helping out in the infirmary is leaving at the end of the week?"

Katsuki watched and listened as a group students from another class commented on Rui's ending work study.

"Man, that really sucks, she's awesome! I wish they'd offer her a permanent position here or something."

"Yeah, she's been doing a really great job, too. Too bad, she's going to be missed quite a bit around here."

Katsuki rolled his eyes and started to tune out the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria, but their words had already stuck their claws in deep. 'They're right, though... she's going to be missed...'

Rui stayed behind after the school bell rang to end the day and cleaned the infirmary for the third time that day. It wasn't until Shota came to the infirmary to get her that she even realized it was way passed time to go home.

"Rui."

"Hmm?"

"It's time to go home. Come on, grab your things, we'll grab dinner on the way."

Rui looked at her uncle and sighed. "I'm alright, Uncle Shota. You go on ahead. I still have a few more things to do."

Shota watched her for a few moments. "You're more like your father than you realize. He used to bury himself in work, too, whenever something bothered him."

Rui paused in her work. "I'm alright, Uncle, really." She offered him her most convincing smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, and we can take a rain check on dinner, I promise."

"Alright, but be sure to call if you need anything."

Rui kept her smile up as long as she could, but when her uncle left the infirmary, it quickly faded once more. Sighing, she returned to finishing the few remaining tasks she had given herself.

As she completed her work for the day, she thought over what she was going to do about the rest of the week. The day had been difficult enough, trying to avoid contact with Katsuki as she worried she would only make things worse.

'Can I keep doing this all week, though? I can't avoid him forever...'

While she gathered her things and rechecked that she had finished her work for the day for the fourth or fifth time, Katsuki was making his way through the campus- having stayed after school as well to get in some extra training. He had hoped it would help clear his head, but it did little to quiet the turmoil of emotions and thoughts battering against him.

'Why am I so angry about this...?' He kept asking himself, but couldn't find an answer.

He turned a corner near the exit, nearly running smack dab into Rui- who was just as lost in her thoughts as him.

Rui stopped short of herself as she almost collide with another person and when she made to apologize for not paying attention, she saw that it was Katsuki and found herself tongue tied. She opened her mouth a few times to say something, but each time, she hesitated. Finally, she turned away and hurried off, hoping to put some distance between them.

Katsuki stood there, unsure of what to do or say. He could see how much Rui was struggling, how much she wanted to say something, but the hurt was still clear in her eyes and he couldn't blame her for walking away. He watched as she got further and further away from him, all the while a voice in his head was calling him an idiot and telling him to go after her. But he feared that he would only blow up on her again and that made him even angrier at himself than he already was.

"Damn it..!" he muttered after punching the wall next to him. He looked up to see that Rui had disappeared from view. "I have to fix this... but how..?"