After the final match, Class 1-A cheered from the monitoring room, but in the infirmary, Chiyo berated All Might for attacking Izuku and Katuski so hard.

Rui sat between her friends as Chiyo said, "Midoriya's back was horrible. I was barely able to heal it, even with Rui's help." She looked over at Katsuki as Chiyo added with a sigh, "Bakugo probably won't wake up for a while..."

Chiyo looked at Izuku. "For now, the two of you should stay here and rest."

"Y-Yes, ma'am, thanks again." Izuku managed.

As Chiyo left the infirmary, All Might sighed and turned to Rui. "You care a great deal about these boys, don't you?"

Rui nodded. "They were my only friends for the longest time. They meant everything to me." She reached over and held Katsuki's hand. "They still do."

All Might watched her for a moment, seeing her stroke the back of Katsuki's hand with her thumb. "You love him."

Rui smiled at that, but it didn't last very long. "I have since we were children..."

"Does he know?"

"I haven't told him..."

"May I ask why?"

"I'm leaving Sunday evening and I don't know what the future holds. I don't want to tell him how I feel if it means losing him as a friend. I fear that more than getting rejected."

"I see."

There was a long silence for a while until Rui looked up at All Might. "All Might, I'm sorry... about before... I shouldn't have let my emotions get out of hand like that..."

"It's alright, I understand. You know, you're more like your uncle than you may realize."

Rui managed to chuckle at that. "I'll take that as a compliment."

*bzzz bzzz bzzz... bzzz bzzz bzzz...*

"Oh, excuse me," Rui said, pulling her phone from her pocket. "Hello?"

All Might watched as Rui stepped off to the side to take the call, staying near enough in case Izuku or Katsuki needed her. He could hear the distress growing in her voice as she spoke and her voice catching in her throat as she fought back tears. When the call ended and she tried to stifle her sobs as she wrapped her arm around herself, he knew that she had just received some devastating news.

"Rui? Is everything alright?" he asked, approaching her cautiously.

"I *sniff* need to find my uncle..."

All Might offered her a hand up and helped her to her feet. "I'll go find him. You stay here with your friends, alright?"

Rui nodded, reaching up to dry her eyes as All Might hurried out of the infirmary. She kept her back to Izuku and Katsuki, but Izuku stirred when he heard her crying.

"Rui..? Is everything alright?"

Rui turned and shook her head. "I-It's my mom... she's..." She sank into the chair she had set in between his bed and Katsuki's, but her grief was taking hold and she couldn't hold back her tears.

Izuku tried to force himself to sit up so that he could comfort her somehow, but he was still in a great deal of pain so it was rather difficult. When he did, he reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned into him and sobbed into his chest, unable to quell her emotions as they poured out of her.

It didn't take long for Shota to come bursting into the infirmary and rush to Rui's side, but when he had, Rui had cried herself to sleep and Izuku had set her head in his lap.

"What happened?"

Izuku wasn't entirely sure, but he knew one thing for sure. "Something happened to her mother."

Shota's eyes widened and after what All Might had already told him, it didn't take him long to piece it all together. He reached forward and touched Rui's shoulder, gently shaking her awake.

"Uncle Sho..?"

Shota's heart sank; she hadn't called him "Uncle Sho" since her father had died. "I'm here, Rui. Do you think you can tell me what happened?"

Rui sat up and rubbed her eyes, sniffling as she set herself back in her chair. "I-It's Mom... the doctor said her condition deteriorated unexpectedly and they can't reverse the damage... I have to get home... I have to say goodbye before she..." Her head hung low as she fought back another onslaught of tears. "I have to say goodbye to the others, too... I can't just leave without a word... not like before..."

"Rui, you need to go," Izuku said, sighing. "Kacchan won't be happy, but he'll get over it eventually. Just like before."

Rui glanced down at Katsuki as he still slept, but she knew her uncle was right when he said they were running out of time. She leaned forward and kissed Katsuki's cheek, tears slipping from her eyes as she lingered as long as she could.

"Katsuki, I'm so sorry... I can't stay... I have to go..."

"I'll let him know what happened, Rui, I promise." Izuku offered.

Rui sniffled and nodded, turning to hug him. "Thank you, Izuku... I'm sorry I can't stay or say goodbye to the others..."

"I understand. The others will understand, too." Izuku smiled as reassuringly as he could. "You should go."

Rui nodded and stood, quickly leaving the infirmary with Shota. She gathered together as much water from the area outside of the main U.A. building and created her water board.

"You go on ahead, I need to grab a few things first then I'll meet you at your apartment," Shota said, hurrying off in one direction while Rui went the other.

Rui soared over the rooftops as swiftly as she could manage, but trying to concentrate on keeping the water board solid enough for transport was incredibly difficult in her fragile mental state.

She arrived at her building, landing on her floor and dissipating the water board before rushing to her unit. She quickly gathered her things, not bothering to grab anything other than what she had initially brought her first day back into town. As she made her way back down the hall, a banging came at the door. Thinking it to be Shota already awaiting her, she opened the door- only to find a very angry Bakugo panting in the hallway.

"K-Katsuki, y-you're awake...!"

"Going somewhere?"

Rui's chest tightened. "I-I have to leave now, Katsuki... I'm sorry, I wanted to wait until you woke up, but I-"

"Bull crap! You were just going to leave again without saying goodbye, weren't you?!"

Rui backed away as he advanced on her.

"Why is it that Deku knows what's going on before I do?!" Katsuki demanded- the desperation, hurt, and confusion strong as they muddled together with his words. "Do I not matter enough to you to at least get a goodbye?!"

"T-That's not true, Katsuki! I wanted to say goodbye! I didn't want to leave like I had to before!"

"Rui, I want you to stay..." Katsuki said, grasping her arms and looking down at her as his brow furrowed. "Please... don't leave me behind again..."

Rui's tears slipped free and her breath caught in her throat as he leaned forward to kiss her, but before he could, she put her hand up to his lips and shook her head. "I'm so sorry..."

Katsuki stood there as Rui pushed passed him and scaled the stairs down to the street where her uncle was waiting with a cab. When he pulled himself together, he grit his teeth and turned to go after her- only to reach the balcony of her floor just as the cab drove away.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

He turned and sank to the floor, his back leaning heavily against the wall as his face came to rest against his arms.

'Damn it..!'

He was so hurt and angry in that moment for several reasons, the main ones being that he knew he was being selfish in begging her to stay for his sake and that he had been trying for days to find a way to tell her that he was in love with her. And on top of that, he almost kissed her as though that somehow would have made her decide to stay.

'Shit...'

He knew that Rui had feelings for him, but having her stop him like that- while probably for the best- caused a strange feeling of rejection rise within him. And now, he may have lost that chance for good- not knowing when he would ever see her again.

As the cab pulled away from the sidewalk and started driving away, Rui chanced a glance behind them and saw Katsuki standing at the balcony with the same look he had had just moments before when he begged her to stay. She wanted so badly to stay, to tell him that she loved him, to be with him and with her friends, to live a happy life the way she chose to, but she just couldn't. Her mother needed her and she wouldn't abandon her, no matter how much it broke her heart to leave everything behind.

'He tried to kiss me...' she noted, her heart sinking even further than it had already. 'Does that mean...? Oh, Katsuki... I'm so, so sorry...'

Shota watched Rui break down crying and pulled her into his arms, knowing this was incredibly difficult for her. Aside from being about to lose her mother, he had seen how quickly she had taken to life in Musutafu, how quickly she had befriended his students as well as the other students of U.A., and he had seen how much she had grown to care for Katsuki.

'I'm sorry, kiddo...'

Back at U.A. as they awaited the final results of their exams, Class 1-A was surprised to find that Rui had gone home early but when All Might explained the situation to them, their hearts sank.

"Poor Rui..."

"Poor Mr. Aizawa. Wasn't her mom his sister?"

"Should we send her like flowers or something?"

"I don't know."

Rui's friends were unsure how they could show their support and offer their condolences, but they wanted to make sure that she knew that she wasn't alone.

Eijiro noticed that Katsuki was especially moody and when he tried to ask him what was the matter, Katsuki shot him a death glare and stormed off without a word.

Katsuki had woken up to learn that Rui was gone, but his anger had gotten the better of him and he didn't stay long enough for Izuku to explain why Rui couldn't say goodbye. He had thought of so many petty reasons for her to be leaving, his own fear of her rejecting him growing stronger- even though he knew she had feelings for him. But when he had returned to U.A. and listened to All Might's explanation, his heart sank. He felt like such an ass for not considering her feelings and being so selfish about begging her to stay. He felt like such an idiot for trying to kiss her even though he could tell she was distraught.

'Damn it...! I'm such an idiot...!'

He made his way to the tree he usually sat beneath when he needed a moment to himself and he sank to the earthy seat between the roots that he and Rui seemed to favor. He stared up at the failing light of day and sighed.

'Why do I keep screwing things up...? What's wrong with me...?'