Third Person POV

Right after the USJ incident, classes were called off for two days, so the teachers and students that were involved could recover and heal. Everyone took that time to rest or do whatever they wanted before they start classes again. Although, a few people were still not exactly over what happened.

With the Akatanis, they weren't really on the subject as they were talking about other stuff, although Ryoichi's gloomy face said otherwise.

"Ryoichi, you're messing with your food again. Ryoichi?" Yui was calling out to him as she was worried for him.

Kari noticed this and snapped Ryoichi out of his thoughts when she tapped his shoulder.

"H-huh?"

"You barely touched your food. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. It's nothing, really. You don't have to worry about me." Ryoichi waved it off as he ate his food.

Feeling the tension in the air, Maize tried to make things less weird. "So, Kari. What's your class like?"

"Well, it's interesting, I'll tell you that. My classmates aren't exactly chaotic in a way, except for this one guy that can make blades out of his body. But Setsuna, Kendo, and Tetsutetsu are pretty cool."

"That's nice. Is your class really smaller than Ryoichi's?" Asked Lizanna.

"Yeah, it's only 21 of us compared to 1A's 25. Odd, but I'm not complaining, so I'm fine with it."

"Can I go to my room? I just want some alone time." Ryoichi suddenly asked.

It got silent again as everyone stared at him or was just giving awkward looks at each other.

"Ryoichi-" Kari tried to reason with him before Yui stopped her.

"It's okay, you can go."

Ryoichi nodded and took his plate of food upstairs to his room. Kari slumped down into her seat, feeling upset now as she sighed.

"Right… At least you're having fun in the hero course, right?" Asked Maize.

"Yeah, sure…" Kari muttered out.

Maize got worried for her now and so was Lizanna. They nodded at each other and knew what to do.

"Hey, mom, I know Ryoichi asked for some alone time, but I'm gonna go check on him." Said Maize.

"If that's what you think is best, go ahead."

Maize left to go check on his little brother while Lizanna stayed with her sister.

"Alright, Kari, wanna say what's wrong?" Lizanna spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Kari asked.

"You were excited to talk about your classmates, and now like your brother, you're all moody and upset. So, tell us what's wrong."

Kari sighed. "It's the USJ incident. I know we weren't exactly supposed to bring it up, but I can't feel like a burden to Ryoichi."

Lizanna and Yui became confused about what she meant by that.

"Why do you feel that way?" Asked Yui.

"I trust my brother with handling himself, but even then, I keep butting in, like I'm just getting in his way. We both want to get stronger, but I keep blocking that for him. Especially when…" Kari stopped talking when she remembered something from their childhood. She's been holding onto it for a while and blamed herself for making things worse for them. "I just don't want to feel like I'm a burden to him and holding him back…"

"Kari, you're not a burden to your brother." Yui told her, getting her attention. "If you didn't tell me that his class was in trouble, he and his classmates wouldn't be here now."

"I guess… but-"

"It's okay, Kari. You were just worried for your brother, and so were all of us. We're a family, so we look for each other, and if you didn't notice, you're considered his favorite sibling." Lizanna said that last bit with a small hint of jealousy.

"The point is, it's nothing too much to worry about. You were just worried for your brother, that's all."

Kari became calmer with herself from her sister and mother's words. "I guess you're right. I should take it easy on myself."

"You think?" Lizanna joked at her.

"Oh, whatever. I think I know how to deal with that." Kari said and brought out her phone.

With Ryoichi, he was in his room as he was working on his web shooters, well, hardly working on them. He was mostly messing with them while his mind was more focused on how that could've been different at USJ.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a knock at his door.

"Hello, hello? Mind if you come in?" Maize's voice came from the other side.

"Maize, I said I wanted alone time." Ryoichi told him to leave him alone.

"If your meaning of alone time was to sulk around and bury yourself in your projects, then I'm not allowing that." Maize entered his room and sat on his bed. "So, talk to your brother, what's biting at you?"

Ryoichi only ignored him and continued messing with his web shooters.

"You can ignore me all you want, but I'll still be here for you."

Ryoichi continued to ignore his older brother. After some time, Maize thought it was enough and picked up Ryoichi from his chair.

"Maize I said-" Ryoichi yelped when Maize spun him around. "Maize, stop it!"

"I'll stop spinning until you talk!"

"How is that supposed to work?! You'll get dizzy too, you idiot!"

"Bah! Being dizzy does nothing against your big bro!"

Maize continued spinning around while Ryoichi tried to escape from his grasp. His spinning came to a stop when Maize tripped and they both fell down, now feeling groggy.

"Man, I feel dizzy…" Maize said as his eyes swirled around.

"I told you…" Ryoichi brushed himself off and went back to his desk.

"You gotta admit though, it was pretty fun, right?" Maize asked, trying to get a chuckle out of him.

Ryoichi just hummed in response. Maize got more serious as he sighed. He then spun Ryoichi from his chair as he was facing his big brother now and Maize sat down on his bed.

"Okay, real talk, what's biting at you? No excuses, alright?"

Ryoichi tried to avoid the conversation again, but knowing his own brother, it was going to be useless. "Maize, be honest with me. Do you think I'm a burden?"

"A burden?"

"Just answer the question. Am I, or am I not a burden to all of you?"

"Wha- Of course not! Why would you think that about yourself?" Maize asked.

"Because that's how it is when I try to help people. I try to help people out, and then I become the one that always needs saving." Ryoichi explained to him. "I just feel like I just add on to people's problems by jumping in their business and making it more difficult for them. That's why I feel like I'm just a burden to everyone, even you guys and mom."

Ryoichi looked down in guilt and gripped his legs tightly. He didn't even want to look at Maize and just wanted to be left alone in the meantime.

"Hey, Ryoichi, look at me." Maize told him, but he didn't look up. "You may think that about yourself, but you're not a burden to anyone, or us. What you do in helping people in need is selfless and the right thing to do. How do you think mom felt when she took care of all four of us all on her own?"

This got Ryoichi's attention and was looking out of the side of his eyes.

"There were times where mom felt stressed and felt she didn't do enough for us, where she could've done better, but she still raised us regardless, and we all helped in return."

"We did?"

"Of course. Lizanna and I helped mom relax after a hard day of working, while I was watching after all of you, and you and Kari were always making her happy by being yourselves."

Ryoichi was giving his full attention and felt more at ease with himself.

"At the end of the day, mom is still proud of us. Sure, we had our slip-ups here and there, but having her as our mom was enough to make her happy. So you're not a burden Ryoichi, not to her or us. You do what you believe is right, so if you think helping people in need is right, then you do that."

Ryoichi thought about his words for a moment. Despite getting in danger on multiple occasions, nobody hates him or thinks he's a burden. Not his family, his friends, classmates, or Momo. Regardless, he tells himself to do better and get stronger, so nobody has to worry about him.

"Thanks, Maize. I guess I was just overthinking all of this." Ryoichi thanked him for the pep talk.

"Hey, don't mention it. If you need any type of help, you can always come to us for help." Maize was about to leave before he stopped for something. "After all, you could use some dating advice for Yaomomo." He said while looking back with a smug look on his face.

Ryoichi's face instantly became red at his comment and he started throwing stuff at his brother. "Okay you enjoyed your stay, now get out!"

"I'm joking… unless…" Maize quickly shut the door when Ryoichi threw his pillow. "Ha! Miss!" He got a quick laugh before he was hit in the head with a pencil.

"OUT!" Ryoichi shouted as Maize finally left. He planted his down on his desk and sighed. "I swear, it's not like that… I mean, I wouldn't mind in a way but…" He started to think about how he really feels about Momo. She's been his best friend ever since childhood, but he's been feeling different around her lately. Not just that, he's also had the same feeling with…

"Hey, Ryoichi? Mind if I come in?" Kari asked and he was brought out of his thoughts.

"O-oh, yeah sure."

"So, how are you doing? Feeling better after… y'know?"

"I'm fine now, Kari. I talked it over with Maize, everything's cool now."

Kari felt relieved from hearing that. "That's good to hear. Say, Midoriya wouldn't happen to be busy tomorrow by any chance, would he?"

"I don't think so, why?" Ryoichi asked her.

"Well, I was just thinking since we're out of school for two days, why not hang out during that time tomorrow? I asked Yaomomo about it and she said she was free. Mind if you check in on Midoriya to see if he's available?"

"I guess, but what is this for exactly?"

"Just thought it'd be fair if some childhood friends could meet and hang out for once."

"You don't even talk to Izuku like that though…" Ryoichi deadpanned.

"That's beside the point. Just ask if he's available to show up tomorrow okay?"

"Okay fine, I'll see if he can." Ryoichi tells her.

"Great! We're meeting up at the Kiyashi Ward Mall in the afternoon. Don't forget!" Kari told him as she left.

"I won't, as long as you don't sleep through your alarm like always!" Ryoichi retorted back at her.

"Oh ha ha. Very funny."

Ryoichi chuckled and put his web shooters away. Just as he was about to call it a night, he thought about what Kari said and realized one thing.

"Wait, Momo's coming too?!" Ryoichi shouted to himself and was already nervous about tomorrow.