Ume sighed, dragging a hand down her face after closing her front door behind her. She really needed to stop staying up so late, but texting Tamaki was fun. He was unexpectedly witty, which was a welcome distraction when her father's wet, gurgling coughs could be heard from down the hall in the late hours of the night.

When her father had first fallen ill, it had been a dry cough that persisted for a couple of weeks at a time, and then disappeared as suddenly as it came. It had taken months for her mother to convince him to see a doctor, and by then it had been too late. He was diagnosed with late stage metastatic lung cancer and started systemic treatments immediately. Despite the oncologist's aggressive treatment, the tumors had continued to spread to her father's liver and brain. After a year of radiation and chemotherapy, as well as countless surgeries, her father had decided he wanted to spend what time he had left with his family rather than in a hospital. Then, two weeks ago, they learned that the cancer was now metastasizing in his bones as well.

That morning, Ume was awoken by the sound of uncontrollable coughing rather than her alarm. After listening to this for half an hour and failing to go back to sleep, she decided she couldn't stay home another minute. She quickly prepared for school and made her way to the train station. Today, she was taking her normal train—the one she used to catch every day before she started walking to school with Tamaki. The train was peaceful this early in the morning, with only a few other quiet passengers nearby, so she took that as an opportunity to cram in some last minute studying for the upcoming test.

Tamaki exited the train station and looked around expectantly, but didn't see the iridescent flash of silver he was looking for. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. He could wait a few minutes and still get to school on time. He propped himself up against a nearby storefront with a good view of the train station before sending a text to Ume.

T: Are you on your way?

After ten minutes with no reply and no sign of his rosey-eyed classmate, he headed off in the direction of UA. He threw one last glance over his hunched shoulders, but she wasn't there. He sent one more message before stowing his phone back into his pocket, gripping his hand around it, ready to pull it out in an instant if she replied.

T: Are you ok?

She probably decided I'm not worth her time. I can't blame her. Why would someone amazing like Ume want to waste their time with someone pathetic like me?

A dark, uncomfortable weight settled in his chest—it wasn't a foreign feeling by any means, but it was always unwelcome. By the time Tamaki had reached the school gates, his bottom lip was sore from anxiously chewing on it. When Mirio appeared next to him while he changed his shoes, Tamaki merely grunted in response to his friend's greeting. Thankfully, Mirio took it in stride and simply settled for walking to the classroom with him in silence.

Ume was at her desk when they walked in, silver hair falling in waves over one shoulder as she traced lines of text in her notebook with a finger, her mouth set in a small frown. Tamaki could see the deep furrow between her brows, the shadows under her eyes, and desperately wanted to ask if she was ok.

No…she obviously doesn't want to talk to me. I should just leave her alone.

With a soft groan, Tamaki sank into his desk chair and dropped his head on the shiny white surface, arms wrapping around himself like a shield. He was so confused. Just last night, Ume had been texting him, and talking about how excited she was to hear about his first day with Fat Gum at the end of the week.

He raised his head to peek over at her desk. She had moved her hair to the other shoulder, hiding her face from view. Tamaki let his head fall back into the dark cage of his arms, feeling that heavy weight in his chest expanding until he felt like he couldn't take a full breath.

"That test was easier than I thought it would be!" Mirio grinned, hands behind his head as he walked down the hallway with Tamaki toward the cafeteria.

"I guess," Tamaki shrugged, glancing ahead where he saw Ume walking beside Nejire.

She hadn't looked at him once all morning. That, combined with the stress over their laws and history test was proving to be too much for his nerves. His bottom lip was raw, his cuticles were torn and jagged, and he felt like he hadn't been able to take a proper deep breath since he stepped off the train that morning.

I'm pathetic.

"I'll see you after lunch," he mumbled to Mirio, drawing his shoulders up and stuffing his hands into his pockets after one last glance at the silver head of hair ahead of him.

"You ok, buddy?"

"Not hungry," Tamaki replied quietly, slipping away down an empty corridor.

Heading for the nearest stairwell, Tamaki tried to fight the burning in his eyes—at least until he was sure he was alone. He stumbled through the door of the stairwell and thumped his head against the wall a few times as the tears that had been lurking all morning finally broke free. Dropping his bag, he turned so his back was against the wall and slid down the cool stone until his butt hit the floor. With his head between his knees and his trembling arms coming up to cover his neck, he felt like he could breathe just a little bit easier.

Ume peered around the cafeteria, looking for a messy mop of dark hair and pointed ears, so she could apologize for not walking to school with Tamaki that morning. She hadn't even been able to text him to let him know she was leaving early; she had already been on the train by the time she realized she had left her phone on her bedside table. She was sure he had been right behind her and Nejire with Mirio, but now the blond was sitting across from her, and Tamaki was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Tamaki?" she finally asked, once five minutes had passed and he still hadn't joined them.

"He said he wasn't hungry," Mirio supplied around a large mouthful of rice and salmon. "Tests freak him out sometimes, he's probably just out getting some air."

Ume tucked her chin and stared down at her tray, bottom lip sucked in between her teeth. She could wait until later, try to catch him before their next class. It was more than simply wanting to apologize, she also missed walking with him that morning. After only a few bites of udon, she picked up her bag and stood up from the table.

"Hey, hey! Where are you going?" Nejire asked in surprise.

"I'll see you in class," Ume called over her shoulder as she walked away, unwilling to express her concerns to her friends.

She deposited her tray near the door and exited into the hall, stopping briefly to consider where her anxious friend might be hiding out. Through the window, she could see it was overcast and especially windy, so he likely wasn't outside. Ume backtracked toward their classroom, hoping he wasn't hiding out in the boys' bathroom. She peered down an intersecting hallway and saw the entrance to a stairwell at the far end, turning to head towards it.

Worth a shot. It's quiet and out of the way.

Ume peered through the window on the door and felt her stomach drop. Tamaki was huddled on the floor with his head between his knees and his arms curled over his head. She didn't have to see him shaking or hear his shallow gasps for breath to realize that he was having an anxiety attack.

"Tamaki?" she called once she had pushed open the door.

When he didn't answer, she walked closer and sat her bag down on the floor before crouching in front of his huddled form. Her first instinct was to use her quirk, but she also knew that it could have the opposite effect if he was too deep into the throes of panic—and judging by the shuddering sobs that shook his whole body, he was in very deep. She would have to try to calm him down without her quirk first. She tried to recall everything her father had taught her when she told him of her ambitions to be a rescue hero.

"Tamaki," she began soothingly. "Hey, it's Ume. I'm going to try to help you calm down, ok?"

What did dad say was most important? Breathing. Oxygen to the brain first and worry about the rest after.

"I-I'm going to touch you, ok?"

He said to always state your intentions, even if they're non-responsive.

She reached out and covered his hands with her own, noting his freshly ripped cuticles with a pang of worry. He jumped at her touch, and whimpered when her hands covered his, but didn't resist when she pulled his arms away from his head. His hands trembled in hers, and she resisted the urge to simply pull him into a hug then and there.

Dad said to go slow, wait for some sort of response before initiating more physical contact than necessary.

"Tamaki? Hey. Can you look at me?" she requested, trying to keep her voice low and calm.

With a groan, the indigo-haired boy slowly raised his head. His violet eyes seemed to look right through her, glazed over with tears and red around the edges. Ume sighed and settled down onto her knees, giving his hands a small squeeze.

"I'm going to try to help, ok? I want you to try to match my breathing," Ume instructed gently, demonstrating a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth.

Reaching out and grasping his shoulders, Ume eased his upper body forward until his forehead rested against her shoulder and then wound her arms around him, squeezing gently. She focused on her breathing, keeping the rise and fall of her chest consistent, while the boy leaning on her shoulder breathed shakily.

Dad said applying physical pressure can be helpful.

Tamaki breathed in deep through his nose, the crisp citrus scent of Ume's hair sharpening his panic-dulled senses. He breathed out through his mouth and opened his eyes, greeted with a curtain of iridescence. That heaviness in his chest was gone, like he had just breathed it all out. As he inhaled again, his vision was suddenly tinted blue and he was vaguely aware of Ume humming an unknown tune softly. He pulled back from Ume's shoulder enough to see her face, and she loosened her hold around him.

This close, he was sure he could count the freckles that dotted her nose. He had never noticed the darker flecks in her irises before. She was talking, but it sounded garbled, like he was underwater, and his eyes were drawn down to her rosy lips.

What would it be like to kiss her? Her lips look so soft. What is she saying?

"What?" he muttered quietly, marveling at the flush that was creeping across her cheeks.

"A-are you feeling better?"

Tamaki couldn't remember the last time his chest had felt so…empty. That crushing weight was just gone. And it didn't return when the blue tint washed away from his eyes.

"Y-yes. I… Thank you."

Ume pulled her arms away and sat up straighter, tucking her hands together in her lap.

"Good. T-that's good," she said quietly, giving him a small smile. "Do you…do you want to talk about what happened?"

"Just, uh…rough morning," he offered awkwardly, settling back against the wall.

He didn't want to tell her that it had started when she hadn't been at the train station. She was here now, and she had just brought him back from the brink of panic quicker than he could ever remember. The last thing he wanted was for her to possibly feel guilty because of his overactive imagination and insecurity. So, he told her the other half of the truth.

"The test was harder than I expected, a-and it made me worry about the work study," he admitted quietly, staring at a point over Ume's left shoulder. "What if…what if Fat Gum changes his mind about me? He's going to realize I'm not good enough to be a hero and he'll send me back-"

"Hey, that's not going to happen," Ume assured him quietly, reaching out to put her hand on his knee. "You work so hard every day. I know you'll be a great hero."

Tamaki felt his cheeks heat in a blush and fought against the lump forming in his throat. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, taking a moment to breathe deeply again. She was such a genuinely nice person. He felt guilty for thinking she would just ghost him, especially when he remembered her admission of being lonely a few days ago.

"Are you doing anything after school?" Ume asked suddenly as she shifted to stand and picked up her bag to sling over her shoulder.

Tamaki cracked an eye open and watched her curiously, shaking his head slowly. She grinned at him, nose wrinkling, and offered him a hand to help him up. He took it and heaved himself up, his bag clutched in his other hand. He couldn't stop himself from brushing his thumb across her knuckles before he let her hand go.

"Great! I think I know something that will cheer you up," she told him with a wink.

"O-ok."

"I uh… I'll need to borrow your phone to let my mom know, if that's ok?" she flushed again, brushing her hair behind her ear nervously. "I uh…kinda forgot mine this morning. Left in a rush."

I shouldn't have doubted her.

"But you were here early."

"Y-yeah. I was," she sighed, nodding before tucking her chin to let her hair fall around her face.

"Ume…is everything alright?" Tamaki asked, reaching out and brushing her hair back over her shoulder on one side before he could stop himself—he didn't like it when she hid from him, as hypocritical as that sounded.

"Dad's getting worse," she mumbled, and he didn't miss the way her voice was shaking, nor the few tears that clung to her eyelashes. "I just…couldn't stay there this morning."

Tamaki didn't know what to say. Was there even anything he could say? He had been so young, barely six years old, when his own father had died suddenly. He hadn't had to watch him wither and wilt, he simply hadn't come home one day. He couldn't imagine how Ume must be feeling, likely waking up each morning and fearing the worst may have happened in the night.

He reached for her on instinct, pulling her to him by her shoulders. He raised one hand to the back of her head and gently guided her head to rest against his chest while his other arm dropped to wrap around her lower back. She let out a shuddering breath and her hands came up to clutch at his shirt. He ignored his racing heart as he stroked the back of her head, her silver hair as soft as silk under his trembling fingers.

Tamaki wanted to protect her, to hide her away in his arms where nothing could touch her. But he knew he couldn't protect her from this, no one could. Tamaki agreed with Ume's father, death was a natural part of life. That didn't make it any easier on those left behind. Tamaki would do whatever he could to make this a lighter load for her to bear.

After a few minutes, Ume sighed deeply and stepped away from him. Tamaki let the arm around her back fall and moved his other hand to push her hair out of her face and over her shoulder, ignoring the way his hand was shaking.

"Better?" he murmured, letting his hand drop.

"I'm supposed to be asking you that," she sniffled, wiping her flushed cheeks.

He couldn't help the small smile that pulled one side of his mouth up.

"We should get to class," he said quietly, turning to the door and holding it open for her.

"H-hockey?" Tamaki questioned, staring up at the arena in front of them uncertainly.

"Ice skating!" Ume corrected brightly, grabbing him by the elbow and dragging him toward the doors.

"N-no, I can't ice skate," he protested half-heartedly, dragging his feet a bit as she tugged on his arm.

"Have you ever tried?" she asked, raising a slim eyebrow at him over her shoulder.

"Well, no," he admitted, hunching his shoulders. "But I-"

"Then, how do you know you can't?" She giggled, tugging him after her through the door.

Tamaki just sighed and let her lead him farther into the arena. She was right, of course. He didn't know whether he could physically ice skate or not, but that hadn't quite been what he meant when he said he couldn't. Part of him thought she probably knew that hadn't been what he had meant, and he appreciated her effort to help him step out of his comfort zone.

They stopped at a long counter that sat situated in front of rows and rows of shelves full of skates available for rent. The young woman working was quick to retrieve their skates once they had relayed their sizes and came back with a wide grin.

"You guys are lucky; UA students skate for free on weekdays in November and December. Do you have your student IDs?"

Once they had presented their IDs for inspection, the woman sent them on their way with instructions for how to enter onto the rink floor, and he was tugged along by the elbow once more. Ume led him to the edge of the rink, where a row of storage cubbies lined one wall. They placed their bags and shoes inside, then sat down at a bench to put on their skates.

"You need to tie them tighter so you don't roll your ankle," she instructed quietly.

Tamaki felt his entire body flush when she knelt in front of him and began to fix his laces. He was a teenage boy, and the sight of a beautiful girl on her knees in front of him had his imagination running wild.

"I-I can-" he stuttered, afraid to pull his foot away because of the blade on the bottom of the boot.

"It's ok" Ume insisted, grinning up at him. "I don't mind."

He watched quietly as she tightened up his laces on one boot and then the other, struck once again by how kind she was. Her father was ailing on his deathbed, and she chose to spend her time with him, trying to make him feel better after his morning freak out. He wouldn't take advantage of that. He would try to have fun and hopefully help take her mind off of her family situation for a while.

He glanced around nervously—having fun was a lot easier when there were less people around. Thankfully, it wasn't too crowded in the arena, since it wasn't close enough to the holidays for many people to see ice skating as an acceptable outing.

"All done!" Ume chirped, tapping a finger against the side of his boot before she stood and offered him a hand up.

She showed him how to walk carefully from the bench to the edge of the ice, and he wobbled along after her on shaking legs.

"Go on, try it out! I'll give you some space until you get your legs under you," she urged, giving him a gentle push away from the wall.

Tamaki slid across the ice slowly, arms held out straight from his sides. He found it surprisingly easy to find his footing. He supposed it wasn't all that different from roller skating, and he had done that a few times with Mirio for the blond's birthday over the years. It wasn't long before he felt confident enough to drop his arms and start pushing his feet harder against the ice, moving faster across the smooth floor, weaving around the few other skaters. He couldn't help the wide grin that stretched across his face as he turned back to return to Ume.

"Hey, Ume I- Ume?"

He skidded to a stop, watching in confusion. The silver-haired girl was clutching the low wall that surrounded the arena, knees bent and shaking as she slipped awkwardly on the ice. He skated over to her and stopped a few feet away, his hands on his hips.

"What are you doing?" he asked, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice.

"Yeah, laugh it up. I'm never doing this again," she grumbled uncharacteristically, sounding a bit out of breath. "You sure you've never done this before?" she demanded once she had finally righted herself against the wall, pink eyes squinted in suspicion.

"Never. Haven't you?"

She shook her head, blowing a piece of iridescent hair out of her face, unwilling to let go of the wall to push it out of her eyes. She tried to glide forward but began to fall. Tamaki was there in an instant, grabbing her around her waist and hauling her up closer to him.

"S-sorry," he sputtered, dropping his arms and feeling his ears burn. "Didn't want you to hurt yourself."

"You're sweet," Ume replied with a blush of her own, any signs of her previous grumpiness gone. "I just really didn't think it would be this difficult," she pouted.

Should I offer to help her? That's what Mirio would tell me to do.

He took in a shaky breath before offering her his hands.

"H-here. Let me help you," Tamaki offered.

Ume's blush deepened, and she ducked her chin to her chest to hide her face as she placed both hands in his. Thankfully, he found skating backward to be just as easy as skating forward and didn't fall onto his butt as he pulled Ume around the rink. It wasn't long before she was smiling widely at him, nose crinkled and cherry blossom eyes softer than he had ever seen them. He was grinning, too, and after an hour of this, his cheeks started to ache from holding the expression for so long.

After returning their skates, the duo decided to grab some food from the concessions before heading for the train station. They settled into a couple of stadium chairs near the top of the arena and dug into their food, both famished from skipping lunch that day.

"So about your quirk," Ume began thoughtfully after finishing her first bite of her hotdog. "How long does it take after eating something before you can't manifest it anymore?"

Tamaki hurried to finish the bite of his burger he had just taken, and took a sip of his water before replying.

"Usually around eight hours."

"Hm. Hotdogs for breakfast," Ume mumbled, seemingly to herself as she stared at the hotdog smothered in ketchup and mustard in her hand.

"I-I'm sorry. What?" Tamaki chuckled, completely confused.

"With that quirk of yours, you could solve one of mankind's greatest mysteries," she replied mischievously, brandishing the hotdog toward him emphatically. "What's in a hotdog?"

Tamaki's head tipped back as he laughed, taken completely by surprise by the direction this conversation had taken.

"I'll have to try it sometime. I'll let you know what I find out," he assured her once he could speak around his laughter.

"I've just always been curious and no one seems to know the answer," she shrugged, sounding a bit defensive.

"Whatever, you little weirdo," he teased lightly, enjoying the blush that dusted her cheeks. "Finish that mystery dog and I'll walk you home."

"You didn't have to walk me all the way home, Tamaki," Ume sighed as they turned onto her street.

In truth, she was thrilled that he had insisted. But she also felt guilty, since it was getting late. She hoped he had enjoyed himself as much as she had—she couldn't recall the last time she had laughed so much. She had been surprised that Tamaki was as good at ice skating as he had been, but supposed that worked in her favor. She had wanted to cheer him up, and it seemed their outing had served as a confidence boost for her shy classmate.

"I don't mind," he shrugged, hands in his pockets as he walked beside her. "You don't have your phone, what if something happened?"

He's so sweet.

"Well, I appreciate it," she assured him as they came to a stop in front of her home. "I had a lot of fun."

"Me too," he nodded, a small blush and smile on his face.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

She made her way to the front door and looked back as she unlocked it, offering a wave to the boy still standing with a smile on his face. He waved, and turned back the way they had come once her front door was open. Ume sighed and slumped against the closed door with a wide smile on her face before removing her shoes and heading up the stairs to her room, calling out that she was home as she went.

Her phone lit up as she sat her bag next to her desk, catching her eye.

T: Early train in the morning?

U: Probably.

T: K. My early train still runs a little behind yours, but I can walk with you if you don't mind waiting.

U: I'd like that. Thanks for coming with me today. That was fun!

T: Maybe next time I can choose what we do. Something that won't bruise you and your ego.

Sweet and a little sour.

Ume huffed a laugh before sending back an indignant reply, her smile never wavering.

U: My bottom and my ego are just fine. Thank you for your concern, hero.

She fell back onto her bed with a sigh, biting her lower lip as she clutched her phone to her chest. She gave a childish little squeal and kicked her legs wildly.

Next time…

Thanks to my amazing beta xSteleAliniax