"So, you ended up hurting a friend. You screwed up. You know what you did was wrong, the question is... how are you going to make things right?"

"..."

The following day, Leizcio asked Blink for help fixing some personal issues. Now the two were there in Blink's office where Leizcio sat in a couch and Blink sat on a chair backward, resting his arm on the top of it.

"Okay okay, my bad. Just always wanted to try saying that. Anyways, what's eating away at you kid?" Blink asked, now ditching his small act and giving Leizcio his attention.

"Thanks... Well, uhm, you remember the brown-haired girl? The round-faced one?" Leizcio described, even moving his hands to try and symbolize the roundness of Ochaco's face.

"Yeah, Uraraka was her name right? Blink responded, making Leizcio nod.

"Well you probably know since she was there, but she was the one who knew about who I was ever since the beginning."

Blink was still focused and let Leizcio continue which he did.

"She told me... well more so scolded me not to go out and be blur so much. It was around UA when she was telling me that. I even started to get sleepy during classes sometimes because I would spend most nights restless."

"But there was something more to it wasn't there?" Blink asked, referring to what caused the near breaking point between the two.

"... I was going through some things a week before internships and I was using 'Blur' as a means of escape. Even my healing wasn't able to cover up the bruises and damage. She tried confronting me about it but I just left her. Last time we saw each other was... yeah..."

Leizcio summarized his feelings to Blink without giving the exact reason as to what caused him to use 'Blur' as an escape mechanism.

"I know it had to have been rough, but you really need to listen to people Esperanza. Especially the ones that care about you." Blink advised Leizcio. He's gotten this advice before but it fell on deaf ears as Leizcio was too focused on being a vigilante. But now he didn't have much of a choice but to hear out Blink. However, noticing his sudden bit of silence, Blink asked Leizcio a question.

"Have you tried talking to her about this by chance?"

There was a small silence but Blink still paid attention to Leizcio. He started to dash his eyes around, most likely trying to think of something else to change the topic. Blink read him like an open book and just sighed in slight disappointment.

"Esperanza, if you don't try to actually fix things, then they're not going to get fixed." Blink told Leizcio, his voice now becoming a bit stern.

"It's not exactly as easy as just going up to her to talk about it!"

"How come?"

"She hadn't even given me the time of day when I came back! Isn't it pretty clear that she wouldn't want to talk to me?"

Leizcio was starting to slip out the truth little by little. Hoping that he can make a breakthrough with Leizcio, Blink continues to try and press the right buttons.

"We aren't always going to be the ones that get initiated first, sometimes we have to do it ourselves. So why not try and talk to her?"

Surprisingly enough, that question was just enough to get the answer that Leizcio had been hiding.

"I just can't! How can I talk to her if she was the one who destroyed my suit?! She knew how much that meant to me!"

And there it was.

Leizcio already had an idea of what needed to happen, but something kept pushing it out of his mind. Despite what happened, getting rid of that suit ripped at a personal chord for him. What was months of work felt like it was thrown down the drain.

"Esperanza..."

Blink put his hand on Leizcio's shoulder, staring right at his eyes. His face was stricter than Leizcio has ever seen.

"I understand that title must've meant a lot of you. You were clearly someone who made an impact. But I need you to realize something."

Blink got out of his chair and stood in front of Leizcio. Within a passing moment, Leizcio and Blink were up on the roof of the agency. It was only about two stories tall but the view was still something to behold as the sun was barely starting to go down. Leizcio realized he didn't have his crutches and was barely able to stand his ground.

"You see how high we are Esperanza?"

"Yes... But what exactly are we doing up here?" Leizcio asked as he was barely standing his ground.

"I want you to understand how far you've gotten since you left the agency from internships. You were someone who was trying to shut people out, trying to deal with things your own way." Blink explained, suddenly sitting in a chair, having brought one for Leizcio as well. He ended up taking a seat and the two were just facing and watching the rest of the city below them.

"I don't want to come off as harsh Esperanza, but if you close yourself off and don't try to swallow that pride of yours, you're not going to get that far."

A side of Blink that rarely ever shows suddenly came out of the blue, surprising even Leizcio. Even if it threw him for a loop, Leizcio heard what Blink said and tried to refute it.

"It's not about that! I really don't want things to be like this! I want to go back to the way things were! It's just that I could be out there in a week or two and start getting back to work if I still had my suit!"

Blink again just sighed. He got up from his chair and stood up, facing Leizcio.

"Stand up."

"...What?"

"Stand up." Blink repeated. A bit hesitant, Leizcio stood up.

"Tell me... What would you get out of being Blur? The only thing that would happen is that you'd be back to square one again." Blink stated.

As much as Leizcio wanted to say something against it, he couldn't really find a fault in what Blink said. Even if he did go back to being a vigilante...

Where is he going to get a suit?

How is he going to be a 'Blur' if he doesn't even know when his speed is coming back?

How long would it be before Mashito's sidekicks tried to jump him again or worse try and kill him?

Blink being observant yet again notices that Leizcio is starting to give it some thought so he makes one last attempt to get the idea into Leizcio's head.

"Take a look at where you stand Esperanza. In this small amount of time, you've managed to get back on your feet and even start to realize your own mistakes. If you go back on it, you'll have made all this progress for nothing. But if you keep facing your problems head-on and grow from them, then it'll get easier from there."

Leizcio stayed quiet a bit, but he understood the words that Blink had told him. He had indeed been avoiding trying to talk to Ochaco because of his own pride in 'Blur'. But if his past self as 'Blur' was done, then he would have to begin to leave behind that pride in 'Blur'.

"Thank you Blink. This helped a lot." Leizcio admitted as he was still looking over the city.

"You're welcome kid. And thank you for telling me about this, I know it couldn't have been easy." Blink said as he brought Leizcio back down into the agency.

"Also... You said you were going to have your finals coming up soon right?" Blink brought up as he was getting Leizcio his things.

"Yeah, why though?"

"We're going to be adding some regular training along to your rehabilitation. Something tells me that quirk of yours is going to come back soon!" Blink encouraged Leizcio as he helped him out the door.

"Sounds good Blink. Thanks for the help!" Leizcio said as he left.

As he went off to go back to the train station, Leizcio kept thinking about the words that Blink told him. He probably should've put that hoodie on a hanger a long time ago. He did what he had to do as 'Blur' back then and it was more than enough. But of course, now comes the difficult part of apologizing. Even with what he talked about with Blink today, it still seems like a major hurdle to get over.

'I could really go for some ramen right now...' Leizcio thought to himself as he got onto the train.

Quickly texting Lavania that he was going to be back home later than usual, he decided to take a small detour to fulfill his cravings.

'Been a while since I've been here...' Leizcio thought as he stood outside the ramen shop.

Entering it, he's hit again with that strong aroma of broths cooking. Even though it's only been a little more than a month, it feels nostalgic. He felt relieved to be at the place in a much better state of mind and condition compared to the first time that he went.

"Esperanza! You're back!" A familiar voice called out to him from the kitchen. Looking for it, it was Kitokito, the owner of the shop that he had saved from the beginning. He quickly excused himself from the kitchen and went to greet Leizcio.

"I'm so glad you're back kid! With the news, I was worried about what happened to you! Come, let's get you a table all right?" Kitokito said with relief as he helped Leizcio to a table that seemed to have other people there.

Leizcio was about to ask about it before he could realize who it was. They were also people he had saved from before, but they also had a pretty damning resemblance to the girl he needed to apologize to.

'Fate sure works in funny ways.'

"You know kid, pulling a disappearing act like that isn't funny! We're so glad that you're okay now though!" The man with dirty blonde hair said.

"We're just glad to see that you're still here Esperanza. We were worried when we saw the news but now that you're here we're feeling much better." The woman with brown hair said.

"I'll leave you guys for now, I'll get you the usual Esperanza!" Kitokito said as he left the three. Leizcio felt strangely comfortable around Ochaco's mom and dad. He never really interacted with them other than the time that they helped hide him after passed out in his first act.

As Leizcio didn't have to wait long for Kitokito to come back with a steaming bowl of ramen, Leizcio started to eat away at it. Taking small breaks in between, he'd have some small talk with Ochaco's parents and would explain his situation without revealing the whole truth of it all.

After Leizcio was finished with his ramen, he thanked Kitokito and was still continuing some small talk. However, the more he looked at Ochaco's parents, the more that Ochaco herself was starting to come to mind.

"Esperanza, have you heard from Ochaco recently?" The mother asked which slightly startled Leizcio. He could've sworn that she must be reading his mind but he answered her question either way.

"No, not as of late... Just been busy with our finals coming up so we haven't had much free time." Leizcio lied, not telling her the real reason why the two haven't been in touch.

"I see... well, I know you already did more than enough for us when you protected her when we were all held hostage, but can I ask you to do us a favor?" The mom asked, her face slightly showing a saddened expression.

"Of course, whatever you need."

"Can you try getting a chance to talk to her? I don't know why, but recently when we would call to check up on her, she's been sounding more tired and even... a bit sad..." Ochaco's mom said, which started to make the situation sink in even more for Leizcio.

"I know we can't expect you to fix things, but you're her closest friend at school. She'd always tell us about how you two were pushing each other forward. So please Esperanza, please keep an eye out for her will you?" The father asked with a calm but also worried tone.

"I... I will do what I can sir." Leizcio said as he got up. As he said bye to the two as well as Kitokito, he started to walk back to the train station.

Barely making it in time, Leizcio hops onto the train and takes a seat as it starts to go on the way back home.

As he sat down, Leizcio sent a quick text to Lavania that he was heading back home now. Putting his phone away, he just looked across from him to see the night sky outside the train's windows.

It was the perfect scenery as he let his mind wander. He left it to explore his thoughts and more importantly what he has been told toda- no, almost these past few weeks.

When he had fallen down, he had others to help him back up. Even despite how he tried to keep people at bay when he was going through it, they came back to help him. It started to settle in how much Leizcio pretty much took his friends for granted. Especially with Ochaco.

He can't even deny that he wants things between the two to go back to how it was. But of course, he only pushed his luck resulting in a broken friendship. Leizcio started to feel disappointed in himself for the way he acted.

But this only lit a new fire under Leizcio

He was going to fix his mistakes

He is going to do what he can to make things right between him and Ochaco

Chapter 44

End