TW: Direct references to self harm, depression, and Hawks's crappy bird puns

Music selections: Unsaid Emily by Julie and the Phantoms, Cold from the RWBY Soundtrack

"Lei?" Katsuki calls softly, using the back of his hand to knock gently on her dorm door. Behind him are Mina, Hanta, Denki, and Eijirou, all just as worried about their friend. "Leinei, are you up?"

"Go away…" comes her muffled response, the group hearing her bed creak as she shifts around on it. Denki rubs the back of his head, tilting it to the side.

"Well…at least she's alive, right?"

"Dude, seriously have a little tact," Hanta groans, punching the back of his friend's head. "Not the best phrasing for this situation."

"Come on, Short Stack, you need to eat, or at the very least take a shower and get some water," Katsuki replies, ignoring the peanut gallery behind him. "Can you unlock your door please?"

"Leave me alone…"

"Yeah that's not fucking happening," he continues, trying to keep his tone patient and even despite the small slip in language. "Open the door, Leinei, before I go get the key from Aizawa and drag you out."

"And we'll help him," Mina adds, crossing her arms over her chest.

They can hear a soft groan, and the bed creaking again. Katsuki relaxes as he hears her feet shuffling across the floor and the click of the door unlocking. It opens slightly, Leinei wincing and squinting her eyes as she looks out at the bright hallway. Strands of her unbrushed hair were sticking to her face, her eyes puffy with dark circles under them, and she just looked so exhausted.

"I'm fine," she mumbles, not looking any of her friends in the eye and choosing instead to look at her feet. "My brother will be here either tonight or tomorrow morning to pick me up so we can start cleaning the apartment…"

"I don't care when Keigo's going to be here," Katsuki tells her, pressing his palm to her door. "This isn't healthy. You can't stay cooped up in your room until then. Leinei, it's already been almost two days."

"Gee thanks for reminding me, Katsuki," she says, her voice hoarse as she tries to close the door. "Leave me alone-"

"No," he says, flexing his arm to keep it open. "When's the last time you showered? Ate something? Drank something?"

"I'm fine-!"

"Lei, you're wearing the same clothes you came home in," Eijirou says softly. "Have you even left your bed until now?"

"I have a bladder don't I?"

"Leinei, come on," Mina says softly. "Let us help you."

"I don't need help. Unless one of you magically has a quirk that can bring someone back from the dead, I don't need jack shit from any of you."

Katsuki closes his eyes as he inhales slowly through his nose. Denki makes a noise reminiscent of a clown horn as he takes a wide step back. The ashen blond boy taps the nail of his index finger on the door twice before looking at his friends.

"Can you guys go downstairs? Me and Lei are gonna have a chat."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Hanta says, grabbing Denki by the collar and leading the troops away. "Good luck! Don't kill each other!" he adds with a wave over his shoulder.

"Call us if you need anything," Eijirou adds as he and Mina follow Denki and Hanta towards the stairs. Katsuki waits until they're no longer in ear shot before looking at Leinei.

"We can chat with you outside the room," she remarks, still trying to close the door. "We can chat through the door too. You don't-"

"The longer you stall on letting me in means the more suspicious I'm going to get that you're doing something you shouldn't and lying to me," he replies, getting the door to open another inch. "We agreed to talk to each other. So talk to me. Stop fucking shutting me out, literally and figuratively. It's starting to get annoying."

Leinei sniffles and uses her free hand to wipe something off her cheek. She steps away from the door and gestures for him to come in. He relaxes and flips the light switch on as he walks in, closing the door behind him. A duffel bag is sitting on the desk, clothes thrown in and taken out, strewn across the floor. Mr. Spokes is sitting on the bed, seemingly in need of a bath himself.

"How long do you think Keigo will keep you out of school?" he asks gently, watching as she sits on the edge of her bed and pulls the sleeves further down over her wrists. "Hopefully it's not very long," he continues, starting to fold some of the clothes sitting in the duffel.

"I dunno…as long as it takes to clean the apartment out I guess," she says, not looking at him. "All of Reina's stuff is going into a storage unit and I have no clue what we're going to do with mine. Probably move it to his apartment in Kyushu."

"So you'll live with Keigo when we aren't on campus?"

"Uh, well, he's hardly home to begin with, so it'll be more living by myself," she nods, reaching for Mr. Spokes and hugging him to her chest as she pulls her legs up onto the bed. "But yeah. I'll be in Kyushu for the holidays."

"Well, just make sure to give me an address so we can come visit you," he tells her, making his way to the bed and sitting next to her. "Just because he's not home doesn't mean you have to be alone."

"You don't have to. I'm sure your parents miss you-"

"Yeah well, they grew pretty attached to you, so they're gonna miss you too," he says, rubbing her arm. "How…how are you feeling?"

"Heh," she snorts, shaking her head. "Ask the girl with the emotions quirk how she's feeling?"

"It's a simple question, you don't have to be a dick about it," he reminds her, tugging on her hoodie. "Do you know when Reina's funeral is going to be?"

"Keigo's taking care of all of that. Not that we have a body to bury." She tightens her hug on the plush. "Fucking-why did it have to be her? We were just starting to work everything out."

"I know," he murmurs, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her into his chest as she starts crying again, stroking her hair as she unwinds one arm from Mr. Spokes and curls her fingers in his shirt. "I know, Short Stack…"

"I didn't-I didn't get to say I love you back, before she left," she chokes out, Katsuki's heart breaking. "I-I didn't say it back and she died before I could. I-I'm a bad sister, I'm-"

"No you're not," he reassures her, starting to rock her back and forth ever so slightly. "You had no idea that the truck was going to be attacked. You didn't know what was going to happen."

"I should've still said it," she whimpers, shaking her head. "I-I could've texted it to her, or-or called her-"

"You were worried about Kirishima. She would've rather you give your attention to him than worry about her."

"I should've said it.."

"I'm sure she knew," he tells her softly, still stroking her hair. "And I think she'd cry if she saw the way you are now."

She groans and pulls away, Katsuki letting her as his brow knits together, seeing angry lines across her wrist as her hoodie's sleeve slides down. He grabs her hand, watching the way she winces when his fingers go over her wrist.

"Lei.."

She says nothing, looking away. He eases her hand back to him, pushing the sleeve up and seeing the dried blood around several new cuts crossing with the old scars and leading all the way up to the inner crook of her elbow. He bites the corner of his lip, trying to decide what to say as she sits there, her face alternating between pink and red.

"How long ago?" he asks, standing up and laying her hand on the bed. She looks up, her eyes wide as fresh tears bloom in her eyes. "And where's whatever you used?"

"Ye-yesterday," she murmurs, her voice weak and cracking. "And the blade is in the bathroom under the sink. Far back corner. Ar-are you-"

"I'll be right back," he says, trying to be reassuring and calm despite the anger in his stomach and the combined fear and disappointment in himself. Why didn't I check on her? "Don't move."

She nods, looking down at her lap before closing her eyes tightly. She can hear Katsuki rummaging around under her bathroom sink, pushing stuff side to side as he curses under his breath. Something heavy sounds like it hits the floor, and he yelps before cursing louder. She almost laughs, then hears the toilet flush, Katsuki coming out with the small first aid kit the school is sure to put in each of the rooms(seeing as most of their kids are somehow constantly hurting themselves).

"You have a crap ton of cleaning supplies in there," he remarks, pulling the desk chair over and stopping it in front of her. "Almost took my toe off with the Drain-o bottle," he adds as he sits in the chair and rests his ankle on his knee to set the first aid kit on his lap without worrying about it falling.

"Gotta have more than one way to kill myself don't I?" she replies in a strained voice as he picks her arm up and pushes her sleeve as far as it will go up her arm. She cringes as the fabric rubs across the still tender cuts.

"Not funny," he mutters, glancing up at the way she refuses to look him in the eye before taking his hand away and grabbing one of the alcohol wipes out of the kit. "And yeah it's going to hurt, idiot. Open wounds and anything really don't mix."

"I know."

"Then why did you do it?"

"You would-" she hisses through her teeth as he rubs the wipe across her skin, getting the crusted blood from around the wounds. "You wouldn't understand."

"You can try talking to me then and maybe I would," he remarks, using his thumb to swipe the wipe across one of the cuts that was being extraordinarily stingy with the blood around it. "I understood when you showed me the first time."

"This is different."

"It's really not."

"Yes, it i-"

She shuts up as his lips set into a thin line and he tightens his grip around her wrist, setting the dirty wipe in the lid of the kit. He says nothing as he stares at the disinfectant and bandages inside the bottom half of the plastic box.

"If you don't want to tell me, fine," he says softly, picking up the tube of disinfectant and using his index finger to gently apply it over each cut. "But..but please don't do this. There are better ways to cope with what happened than to mangle yourself like this."

"..."

"You don't have to agree with me either," he continues, looking up at her as he dabs more of it onto a deeper slash and feeling her flinch. "Because I know I'm right. I'm also not going to sit here and let you hurt yourself-"

"I just wanted it to stop," she says softly, looking at her lap as her face turns red. "I just wanted it all to stop. It hurt so much."

"What hurt?"

"The grief. The crying. The playing the last time I saw her and wondering what I could've said or done differently. I just wanted it all to stop," she whispers, her voice catching as she uses her other hand to wipe the fresh tears from her puffy eyes. "And it didn't stop. It didn't, not even when I did that. It always worked before and it didn't this time. Am I that broken? Am I that fucked up that I have to actually try to kill myself-"

"No you aren't," he says adamantly, taking out the roll of bandages and having her keep her arm up. "You aren't fucked up and broken. You're hurting. You're heartbroken. Someone you love just-just died. You can't hurt yourself to make it stop because it's always there."

"I feel like I'm drowning…"

"You're tired," he murmurs, finishing wrapping the bandages around her arm and tearing the end off the roll before pulling it to tighten and tuck the end under the edge to keep it in place. "You've put so much on yourself lately you don't know how to cope. You put yourself in a riptide. That's why you feel like you're drowning."

"Says the one that's training every day with Izu and All Might when he's not doing remedial lessons…"

"But I also know when I need a break," he says, cupping her cheek and getting her to look at him. "Lei, when was the last time you picked up a book? Sat and played a game with the others? When was the last time you went on a run?"

"I..I don't know.."

"How much have you been eating?"

"I-I dunno, lunch and some dinner."

"And what about sleep? Your eyes look a lot worse, especially since we had the run in with that asshole from Shiketsu."

"..."

"That's a no." He sighs and moves the first aid kit onto the floor, making a mental note to throw away the used alcohol wipe before he puts it up. "I'm not going to give you the lecture on how you need to take care of yourself, because you know what you should be doing. I also know this is going to be hard for you and I don't know how far into yourself you're going to sink."

"So what..?"

"I'm not leaving," he tells her, watching the way her eyes widen and her bottom lip trembles. He leans forward and presses his lips to her forehead before pulling her into a tight hug. "It'll take me a minute to catch up, but I'm walking right alongside you. You can lean on me as much as you want or need to. If you fall, I'll be right there to help you back up. If you break, I'll help you piece everything back together."

"What if I don't want to get up..?"

"Then I'll stay with you until you can again."

"Promise..? Promise you won't leave me..?"

"I promise," he murmurs, stroking her hair once and letting his hand rest against the nape of her neck. "I love you, Leinei. That's never going to change."

"I love you too, Katsu…"

Keigo curses under his breath as he hurries into the teacher's lounge at the school, panting softly as he gets the door open and closed. Aizawa and the other teachers that were in there look up, Aizawa standing. The younger pro offers a smile, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry, I know I'm a little late," he says, his face flushing. "I had to do some last minute things before coming here, and the Commission has been up my ass about Leinei and her living arrangements now."

"You're fine. We figured it was a time frame rather than a set date," Aizawa assures him. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine. Just a little outta breath. I think I'm a bit outta shape from all the coffee and chicken," the hero laughs, trying to keep the mood light. "I'm just here to pick up Leinei and get going. I can head straight to the dorms and get her."

"I thought we were keeping it under wraps that you and her were related in any way?" Midnight asks, turning an essay she was grading over as she starts the next one. "Or is that out the window and up with the crows?"

"Heyy, my puns are catching on," he chuckles. "But honestly I don't give a fuck what I'm allowed or not allowed to do regarding my baby sister anymore. If people knowing who her big brother is keeps her safe, I'm more than happy to take the heat for it."

"So I'm assuming she's changing her address to your Kyushu residence?" Aizawa asks with an eyebrow raised. "If so, there's paperwork-"

"Whatever paperwork needs to get done, just put it in a file. I'm trying not to have her gone longer than a week, a few days at the minimum. Just enough to get the apartment squared away and Reina's funeral."

"Take as long as you need, Hawks," Present Mic says from his chair, leaning back with a pen balanced on his finger. "Just focus on you and your sister."

"He's got a point. Just take a day or two to relax. I'd suggest finding a genuine therapist for Leinei to start seeing," Aizawa adds. "I can add it into the paperwork, a few names and emails of the ones I'd recommend."

"That would be helpful, thanks," Keigo breathes, letting his shoulders sag. "She's at the dorms?"

"As far as we know. I can have Bakugo bring her-"

"Nah, I'll go get her. It can be a cool surprise for her and her classmates. Thank you guys, for everything."

There's a few murmured responses, Aizawa starting to get the paperwork together as he walks out. He takes a breath as he heads towards the dormitories, using the heels of his hands to wipe his eyes and shake his head. Breathe, Keigo. Breathe. Gotta play papa hen for Lei. Wait, hens are female. Fuck.

"Leinei would laugh if I said that," he murmurs to himself, cracking a slight smile. "Reina would've smacked me for it…"

His shoulders slump and he sighs, shaking his head again as he picks up the pace to get to Alliance Heights before someone wants pictures. Or an autograph. Or both. The time he has to give both, he wants to explode.

He gets to the dorms and straightens himself out, wringing his hands twice before pushing his usually windswept hair from his face. He can hear the students inside, laughing and carrying on for the most part. His smile falters, his heart sinking. Lei should be able to laugh like that. Not deal with something like this.

Come on, Keigo. Longer you stay out here, the longer it's gonna take to get everything situated. Knock and let's get going.

So he lifts his hand and knocks twice on the door. The laughter inside dies down a bit, and he can hear the footsteps scrambling to the door. That's not Lei. Someone else must be expecting news-

"Is Eri okay-?"

Izuku squeaks after having opened the door, his eyes going wide as he sees Hawks standing there in casual wear. The pro lifts his hand to the back of his head, giving a smile as he tilts it.

"I have no clue who you're talking about," he laughs.

"Is that Hawks?" Tokoyami says, leaning over the edge of the couch he was sitting on as the other students stare in surprise and confusion. A few whispers of why is the number three here, and what's going on now running through them. It actually made him a little sad to see the way their smiles fall so quickly.

"Tsukuyomi!" He continues instead with a broad smile, waving at his intern as Izuku moves to the side and lets the hero in. "What's up?"

"How about you not answering my calls or emails?"

"Haha!" He pats the student's head, much to his irritation. "Personal stuff I'm not gonna answer your question with."

Tokoyami's eye twitches but he relents nonetheless, having seen the way his mentor's smile dips ever so slightly. He bows his head, closing his eyes as Keigo continues on, asking everyone how they're doing, how school is going. Just talking to them as Katsuki makes his way down the stairs with a plate that still had half a sandwich on it.

"You're finally here," he remarks, not looking at the hero as he walks into the kitchen and pulls out a baggie to place the leftover food into. "She's upstairs."

"Wait, you know Hawks?" Eijirou asks, confused. "Why would you know Hawks-"

"Haha, because I showed up to his parents house," the hero laughs awkwardly as the boy snorts. "He's kinda dating my sister."

"Ohhh."

….

"Wait what?!"

"But Salinsa doesn't have wings..?" Denki whispers to himself. "But..but.."

"Great, we fried Kaminari without his quirk," Mina sighs. "Sero, get the blankets. I'll go grab his Switch from upstairs. Kirishima, stay with him so he doesn't actually quirk himself."

"So wait," Izuku starts as Mina and Sero go upstairs. "If Salinsa's related to you, why doesn't she have a quirk like yours? She and Elementia had completely unrelated quirks as well."

"Adopted siblings, Deku," Katsuki grumbles. "We need to talk about something before you run off with her."

"Aw I'm supposed to say that to you," Keigo remarks with a lighthearted chuckle but follows the ashen blond boy up the stairs as Mina and Sero come back down with Denki's things. "What's up?"

"She thought it would be fun to play a game of tic tac toe on her arm and lose several times."

"..is she okay?"

"Obviously fucking not if she's doing it," he grumbles, glaring at the hero over his shoulder as they keep heading up to the fifth floor. "I got her to shower and eat before you got here, for the first time since she found out."

"..." Keigo sighs softly. "Thank you for telling me."

"You're not going to throw her in another hospital are you?" Katsuki asks, stopping at the top of one of the flights of stairs. "Because..because this is the first real incident I've seen where she's started up again. I mean, I thought she did before-before we were together, but I-I don't-"

"No one's putting her in a hospital, kid," the hero assures him, patting his head as he passes him. "The first time we didn't have a choice…this time, it stays between you, me and her, and no one has to know but us."

"...fine. And another thing, before we get there and she knows we're there."

"What's up?"

"She's…she's been acting weird. Since Kamino-she just…I thought it was after effects of being locked inside that hell with the villains, since she told me how it works, but…it…she's just been not herself."

"Trauma does that. She's probably still processing. I'll talk to her about it."

"Okay."