Shouta doesn't know what to think.

He'd known when he was captured that he would be interrogated, known that it would probably be Tsukauchi doing the questioning, but... he hadn't expected Nedzu to show up.

He hadn't expected to come face-to-face with his past self, either.

It was strange enough getting near to where he knew the man would be, and the thought that they could have run into each other if he wasn't careful, but seeing that door swing open and his own much younger face step through was... disconcerting, to say the least. Left him feeling all the more off-kilter.

The weirder part still was probably hearing his own voice when he himself wasn't speaking. That and the fact that it sounded... off. Like hearing a recording of himself. His past self's voice wasn't quite as gravelly, though. Not quite so tired.

It helped him differentiate their two voices, at least.

...It's funny, actually. His past self had looked just as unsettled by the whole thing as Shouta himself felt.

Didn't make up for the shitty situation, but it amused him.

But now his past self along with Nedzu are gone, and Shouta... is still here.

He's still here.

"Aizawa-san?" Tsukauchi speaks up, pulling Shouta from his thoughts. And he realizes that he'd been staring at the door where his past self and Nedzu had disappeared through, so he turns back to look at Tsukauchi as the man continues with; "We're going to continue the interrogation now, alright?"

Right. The interrogation.

It's not like he'd forgotten about it, but he'd kind of hoped they were done.

Honestly, all he wants to do at this point is curl up somewhere quiet and be left the hell alone. (He wants to be with his kids, but he knows he can't have that.)

Despite all that, Shouta makes himself let out a slow, steadying breath, and says, "...Sure, yeah. Alright." Then he swallows, and realizes too that his mouth had gone dry. He ducks his head.

He could continue on just fine, but...

"Could I... have some water or something first?" Shouta musters the energy to ask, oddly embarrassed. And maybe, he thinks to himself, this whole terrible situation might go better for him if he's compliant, if he's polite, so after a moment he adds a soft, "...Please?"

"Oh," Tsukauchi says, looking honestly surprised. "...Of course, just give me a moment to grab you some."

He stands from his chair, and takes a step towards the door before pausing and asking, "Did you want anything in particular? Soda? ...Coffee?"

Coffee? Shouta thinks to himself, eyes widening minutely. He could ask for that? Coffee?

Gods, he really does want some coffee, yeah, but his stomach's been tied in knots since they dragged him in here and he doesn't know if he could stomach such an acidic drink right now. So unless he wants to feel even worse than he already does, he unfortunately has to decline.

"No, just... just water, please."

Tsukauchi nods. "Okay, I'll be right back."

Shouta watches him leave the room, the door shutting quietly behind him.

And then Shouta's alone again.

There's no point in trying to escape when he knows it's impossible, so Shouta grits his teeth and waits as patiently as he can manage.

He has a feeling Tsukauchi's going to be asking about the 'others'; Shouta's students, of which they apparently only knew the names of two. He wasn't surprised that they knew about Izuku, considering what all happened, but he is surprised that they'd mentioned Hitoshi.

Of all his trouble-making students, he would have expected Katsuki to be discovered first alongside Izuku, though he supposes Katsuki has been working hard at keeping a low profile; the total opposite of how he used to be.

Shouta's damn proud of how far Katsuki—of how far all of his students have come. He only wishes it hadn't come at the cost of their entire world.

He wishes he'd had the chance to tell them how proud he is of them all.

Now he'll never get the chance.

By now they must have moved on to a new hideout, and honestly, Shouta's got no clue where they are, other than that they were, probably, still somewhere in Japan. He knew they wouldn't actually leave the country; not without him. But with how resourceful they'd all become he couldn't put it past them either. It's been long enough since Shouta was captured—since he was compromised—that they should have had time to immediately pack up and move. It was a logical decision; where they'd been staying before was no longer secure. This is something they'd planned for.

It meant that if Shouta gave up the old location now, he wouldn't be endangering them.

Not that he ever willingly would.

Shouta likes to think of himself as strong-willed, likes to think that he'd never betray his kids, but everyone had their breaking point. Everyone. Even him.

If he was tortured...

...No.

That's not right.

Tsukauchi wasn't going to torture him for information. Because, well... because he's Tsukauchi. He's not any of those villains that had been gunning for them in the future—he's not the last people who'd had Shouta in this position.

In fact, Shouta probably isn't going to be tortured at all while he's here.

That... was a stranger thought than it probably should be.

But of course, society hadn't collapsed yet, people were still required to follow the law, so things like torture... were still very much illegal.

Shouta's not going to be tortured.

They won't hurt him.

That was... more relieving than he could put into words.

Obviously he wasn't going to give up the old hideout's location anyways—not willingly, never willingly—but the realization that he won't be harmed for not talking... is nice.

And when he thinks about it, he really wasn't all that hurt when he was being taken in, either.

Oh, he's sore as hell and sure he'll be finding bruises later from his tussle with Ingenium, but other than that he was fine. No cuts, no broken skin, no broken bones. His head hurt a bit from getting rattled around, but he could chalk that up to the maybe-concussion that he'd gotten two days ago. He was familiar enough with the feeling to be able to work around it.

If they'd wanted to hurt him—really hurt him—they could have. Easily.

But they didn't.

So... yeah, the chances of them physically torturing him were looking quite low.

Even despite realizing that he won't be hurt, though... Shouta's whole body is still tense and prepared for anything.

It could be a trick. He could be wrong.

He's coiled so tight that he flinches when the sound of the doorknob clicking assaults his ears; his body anticipating danger despite mentally knowing it wouldn't come.

He stares hard at the door as it swings open, his mouth pressed into a thin line though he wants to bare his teeth.

...But it's only Tsukauchi, bottle of water in hand.

Unfortunately though since Nedzu and the 'real' Eraserhead have left, the officer from before comes back into the room as well to continue guarding it. Shouta tries not to scowl.

They may not be torturing him, but they were sure treating him like a common criminal.

Tsukauchi retakes his seat. "Sorry for taking so long," he says to Shouta, before holding the water out for him to take. "Here you go."

"Thanks..." Shouta mumbles, and though his hands can't move very far he's able to grab the bottle and, with only a little difficulty, twist the cap off. He hunches down to get a drink.

The water is shockingly cold rather than room temperature like he's used to, and it surprises him.

He ends up downing half the bottle in one go.

When he finally comes up for air he's gasping, clutching the bottle tight enough that the plastic crinkles in his hands. His stomach aches a bit due to now being full of nothing but ice-cold water, but he's able to keep it down. Tsukauchi doesn't say anything, though Shouta could tell even without looking that the man was watching him closely.

Shouta keeps his head lowered to hide behind his hair, and he licks the excess moisture from his lips.

Feeling like the first time wasn't enough, he says again, "...Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Tsukauchi replies, though not unkindly.

He shuffles through his papers, before saying, "I am going to restart the interrogation now." Shouta hums in assent, and he glances sidelong at Tsukauchi to watch as he reaches into one of his trench-coat pockets. Another picture, perhaps?

As expected, Tsukauchi pulls another picture from his pocket, and like last time Shouta recognizes the person in it—only this time it's Amichan, dressed in a school smock and yellow cap.

"Do you recognize this girl?" Tsukauchi asks him.

Obviously, Shouta thinks.

There's really no point in resisting anymore though, so he sighs and says, "...Yeah. I recognize her."

Humming, Tsukauchi places a second picture on the table in front of Shouta.

This one's much blurrier than the previous two—Amichan's school picture, and the one depicting Izuku—but Shouta was able to make out the image well enough. His heart sinks.

From the angle it seemed to be from a security camera overlooking a street. And while there were plenty of people in-frame, none of them really mattered—none other than the one standing off to the side... himself.

And there, held in his arms was Amichan.

He... hadn't been aware that the whole event was caught on camera.

Oh, he'd still have helped Amichan if he'd known they were being recorded, of course he would have, but he might have been a little more... subtle.

Not growling at yet another 'innocent civilian' would have been a good start.

"Is this you in the picture?" Tsukauchi asks, though they both already knew the answer.

Shouta sighs. "...Yeah, that's me."

"Can you tell me why you kidnapped Kibarashi Ami, Aizawa-san?"

"I didn't kidnap her," Shouta says, before grimacing at the disbelieving look on Tsukauchi's face. He clears his throat. "Not... exactly. She ran up to me asking for help, so... I helped her."

"You helped her?" Tsukauchi echoes. "With what, exactly? I need you to explain to me what happened."

"She told me she was being stalked by a stranger," Shouta tells him. The water bottle crinkles in his hands, and Shouta looks down at it as he continues speaking. "She... well, recognized me as being Eraserhead—a hero. So... she felt safe with me. Then the guy stalking her showed up—"

Shouta glances to the picture still sitting in front of him, and what would you have it, the would-be kidnapper was right there. He points to the fucker.

"Him," Shouta says, "—he's the guy that was trying to take her. I told him off and got her out of there, since she was afraid of him. Then..." He takes his hand back, frowning down at the picture. "After that, I... wasn't sure what to do with her. Ended up taking her back to, uh... back to where I was staying for the night. Got her some food."

"Alright..." Tsukauchi says slowly. He checks something off on his notepad, then asks very seriously, "And where is Kibarashi Ami now?"

Shouta shifts a bit in his seat. That was the big question, wasn't it.

Eventually, all Shouta can say is, "...I don't know."

Tsukauchi predictably calls him out on it.

"That... was a partial truth," he says, frowning over at Shouta. "Do you know where she is or not?"

"I don't know where she is anymore," Shouta sighs. He looks away. "She's... probably still with the others, but I don't know where they are anymore, either."

Tsukauchi's frown had deepened considerably when Shouta glances back over at him, and his tone seems off when he asks, "And Kibarashi-chan is... unharmed?" Something about the tone has Shouta focusing more closely on Tsukauchi's demeanor.

"Yeah," Shouta says, confused. "The kid's just fine, if a little shaken up. Last I checked, anyway."

Since he's watching closely, Shouta notices how visibly relieved Tsukauchi looks to hear that. The relief is even audible in the way he notes 'truth'.

Shouta doesn't really get why, though.

Why did Tsukauchi seem so freaked out over Amichan's well-being? She was just fine, given she had one pro-hero and several more pro-heroes-in-training looking after her. It's not like any of them were going to—

...Wait.

Oh.

Tsukauchi didn't know that.

From his perspective, Shouta had shown up unannounced with a different civilian whom he had also kidnapped and then mutilated, before dropping that particular 'civilian' at Tsukauchi's feet. Without his hands. It was only minutes after that that Shouta had 'kidnapped' Amichan.

...Okay, yeah, fuck. Shouta can see how that would look bad. Really bad. No wonder everyone had panicked and then scrambled to capture Shouta.

"Shit, sorry," Shouta apologizes, which seems to surprise Tsukauchi. "I know how this looks, believe me I do, but I mean it when I say that she was never in any danger. I was just trying to help the kid out."

"Then why did you not return her to her parents?" Tsukauchi asks. "Or, at the very least, bring her to the authorities?"

Again, Shouta can see what the problem is.

"That's what I was trying to do, actually. Before Ingenium tackled me to the damn ground. If that hadn't happened..." Shouta sighs.

Tsukauchi straightens up. "You were bringing her here?"

"I was, yeah."

"...But you were spotted alone; you didn't have her with you."

"Well, I was kind of trying to avoid being arrested. Not that it mattered much in the end." Shouta turns his head to the side, adding in a mutter, "...Honestly, I was only scouting ahead. One of the others was going to drop her off."

"...And they left with her when they saw you were being apprehended," Tsukauchi concludes, sitting back in his chair.

"Yup," Shouta nods.

He thinks Tsukauchi looked like he wanted to curse, but he doesn't.

Rather, he says, "But she is safe?"

"She's safe," Shouta confirms.

Tsukauchi lets out a huge sigh at that, physically slumping forward in some mixture of relief and what must be exhaustion. He puts his head in his hands.

Shouta feels... bad, but there wasn't much he could have done to prevent this.

But maybe, there was something else he could prevent.

"...Hey," Shouta speaks up, before Tsukauchi's managed to compose himself. "Speaking of Ingenium..."

"...Yes?" Tsukauchi prompts when Shouta doesn't immediately continue.

Now that he'd brought it up though, Shouta's not entirely sure what to say—how to explain the danger lurking on the horizon.

It's not like he could just outright state 'Ingenium is going to be permanently injured by the Hero Killer during the Sports Festival,' because they seemed to be dancing around the whole 'time travel' situation. Something he's thankful for, of course. He especially didn't want to talk about it in front of the officer in the room—he doesn't know them, doesn't trust them.

He's not sure how much longer they could avoid talking about it, though.

Shouta hopes that Nedzu will be able to keep him out of an HPSC warehouse, but he's really not sure what's going to happen to him after this.

He doubts he'll ever be a free man again.

He... doubts he'll ever see his kids again, either.

For now, he just... needs to focus on doing what he can while he's here. And right now that meant trying to avert Ingenium's accident. But did he suggest Ingenium stay out of Hosu, or did he suggest additional back-up...?

What if he made the wrong choice and changed nothing?

What if he made things worse?

He needs to be decisive, but Shouta had no way of knowing what the right decision is.

Clearly he's taken too long to answer, because Tsukauchi prompts him again.

"Aizawa-san?" he questions, brows knit together in concern.

"Yeah," Shouta says, before clearing his throat. "I just think... that Ingenium should take some extra back-up with him during Golden Week. Specifically on the day of the Sports Festival."

"Oh...?" Tsukauchi frowns. "Is there... any reason for that statement?"

Shouta shrugs vaguely, and he can't quite look at Tsukauchi as he says, "Hosu's just real dangerous right now, isn't it? What with the Hero Killer running around and all."

From the corner of his eye, he sees Tsukauchi straighten up.

"...Yes," he says, "It is."

"I think, maybe..." Shouta licks his lips. "Maybe Eraserhead should partner up with him that day. Just in case."

Tsukauchi sits back in his chair again, no longer hunched over the table. "On the day of the Sports Festival? Won't Eraserhead be busy at UA?" he asks.

"Yeah, probably, but the spotlight really isn't his thing." Shouta sort of shrugs again. "It's just... I don't think Ingenium should be alone that day, that's all. And Eraserhead's quirk would be very effective against the Hero Killer."

Obviously Shouta hadn't known what was going to happen back in his own time—not like there'd have been much he could have done about it even if he did, what with him being stuck in a full-body cast and all. And then of course considering he'd been narrating the Sports Festival itself alongside Hizashi; he'd insisted. But the USJ trip went fine this time. His past self isn't hurt, he could do something to stop Stain before Ingenium gets paralyzed.

They have time—there's still a little over three weeks left until the day of the Sports Festival. Maybe before then Shouta could explain better, but for now and with the officer in the corner eyeing him suspiciously, this is all he feels safe admitting to.

And if his past self is anything like him, then he wouldn't take the fight lightly.

He'd better fucking not, that is.

Shouta really doesn't want to test whether or not he'll still exist if his past self dies, and he doesn't want to live with the guilt of getting his past self killed either.

Damnit, if only Nedzu was still here...

Or if only Shouta's own Nedzu was here—though that would've meant there'd be two separate Nedzus, so... no.

Shouta can't deny though how the sight of this time's Nedzu standing over him, seemingly tall due to their positions, had been... a surreal experience. So very different from how small Nedzu had felt cradled in his arms that last time Shouta had seen him alive.

Another thing he'd really like to avoid happening altogether.

"Aizawa-san?" Tsukauchi says, yet again pulling Shouta from his thoughts. He blinks dumbly at the man's expectant expression; had he said something?

"...Yeah?" Shouta grunts in response.

He really hopes he hadn't been asked an important question.

Tsukauchi seems to study him for several seconds, and for some reason, his eyes light up in... understanding?

Shouta couldn't really wrap his mind around what that was about, but he's listening this time as Tsukauchi says, "I was just letting you know that I'll be informing Nedzu-san of what you told me today—so long as that's alright with you. He will likely have more questions for you regarding Ingenium... and Eraserhead."

"Oh," says Shouta.

Yeah, that's... probably good.

If there's anyone in the world who can figure out how to change things without fucking it all up in the process, it's Nedzu. This sort of thing was well beyond Shouta's expertise.

He's doing the best he can given the circumstances, but honestly, Shouta is far too wrung out to be making world-altering decisions like this.

Shouta both feels and hears his stomach rumble then, reminding him that he really didn't have much to eat before they'd left to unsuccessfully drop Amichan off, and that plain water wasn't very filling. There's nothing he can do about it though, so he ignores the feeling.

But Tsukauchi does not.

"I suppose that's our cue to finish up," he says, sighing as he stands from his chair again. "We'll continue this tomorrow, Aizawa-san. After you've had some time to rest."

Shouta blinks in surprise. "We're... done?" he asks.

"For today, yes," Tsukauchi says. And he's already packing up his things, taking all the pictures he'd shown Shouta and tucking them back into his pocket.

"It is getting rather late, and I've got some things I need to look into before my shift ends..."

Once he's got all his paperwork sorted, Tsukauchi flashes a tired smile at Shouta. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, Aizawa-san," he says, already on his way to the door.

Shouta mumbles a 'yeah' in response as he watches Tsukauchi take off.

Not like he had much of a choice in the matter; he's kind of stuck here, both literally and figuratively.

As in, he is still literally chained to the fucking table and unable to go anywhere.

Right after Tsukauchi's left though, the second officer that'd dragged him in here emerges from the hall to join the officer guarding the room. The two of them turn to stare at him.

Shouta sits ramrod straight, expression purposefully neutral. The water bottle in his hands crunches noisily.

He already knows what about to happen.

And though Shouta knows there's nothing he can do, he still tenses when the two officers approach him; he stares at them hard, barely resisting the urge to bare his teeth.

They pause before reaching him, exchanging glances.

Then one of them looks to the muzzle still sitting on the table, and this time Shouta does bare his teeth.

He hunches in on himself as the officers watch him warily, and he pulls his hands as close to his chest as the short chain allows him. If his quirks weren't being suppressed, he knows the water bottle would've been punctured by his claws at this point. And again, he knows there's nothing he can do to stop these people from doing whatever they want, and logically he knows that being compliant means less trouble for him, but he can't just do nothing.

There's no way in hell they're getting that fucking muzzle on him again.

"...Better grab the heavy-duty gloves, Yoshida," the one officer who he still doesn't know the name of mutters. "I don't wanna get bit like Takeuchi."

"On it," Yoshida answers.

Shouta and what's-his-name—he can't make out the guy's name badge from here—keep staring each other down while Yoshida disappears out the door, returning only a minute later with two pairs of police-grade gloves. The gloves go all the way up to their elbows; like the kind used when working with dangerous animals.

Shouta's lip curls at the thought of him being that dangerous animal.

The sight of both officers donning the gloves though have him recoiling away with a grimace.

Then they start approaching him again.

"No," Shouta croaks, leaning away to the point he nearly falls off the chair. The muzzle still sits there on the table, mocking him. He turns his head away.

Fuck. He can't do this.

The words feel bitter as he growls, "I won't bite again, just... don't muzzle me... Please."

He knows he's not being very convincing.

He's practically vibrating in his seat as both officers step up to him, one taking the half-empty bottle of water from his hands to toss into the trash.

"...We're going to unchain you now," Yoshida tells him, tone firm. "Don't make any sudden movements."

Shouta narrows his eyes, but he keeps himself still as Yoshida unlocks his cuffs from the table. They're quick to reattach the cuffs to each other, locking Shouta's hands in front of him, followed by them removing the cuff from his ankle.

Even once he's 'free' Shouta still can't exactly walk by himself, but both officers get on either side of him like before and hoist him up by his armpits.

Immediately Shouta's scrambling to keep his balance despite being held up—he's only got one leg to reach the ground with, dammit—and they must take that as him resisting, because a second later the officer on his left is grabbing the back of his neck with his free hand; essentially holding him by the scruff.

Shouta tenses further, back arching in a futile attempt to move away, and he lets out a gust of air that hisses through his teeth.

It's not quite a hiss or a growl, but it had both officers holding him tighter, almost to the point of it hurting. Shouta bites the inside of his cheek as they drag him out into the hall.

The one officer keeps his hand firmly on the nape of Shouta's neck, keeping his head down as they walk him away from the interrogation rooms.

There's really not much Shouta can do other than stumble along between them.

It's not much of a walk to the holding cells, but to Shouta every second felt like a lifetime. It was difficult to overcome all his instincts screaming at him to do something—to fight, to struggle. Anything other than letting himself be taken to a cell.

He trembles with the effort of keeping himself quiet and obedient.

There's a third officer waiting for them in the block of holding cells, and they open one of the doors for the two officers carrying Shouta to bring him in.

Things go faster after that. They drag Shouta in, detach his cuffs from one another, then promptly drop him on the floor before backing out themselves. The door locks loudly behind while Shouta tried to regain his bearings.

He blinks around at the unfamiliar room.

It was brightly lit and modern, with fresh white paint covering the walls.

And while the room was relatively small, Shouta could see it contained a toilet, a sink, and even a clean futon folded next to a short desk. The floor is tatami rather than plain concrete. The tatami underneath him wasn't all that uncomfortable either, and like the rest of the building the room felt... temperate, if slightly chilly.

Other than that the room was sterile, lacking any sort of warmth from being lived in, though he'd imagine it would be considering it was just a holding cell.

There's no windows.

Obviously there wouldn't be, that was a huge security risk what with all the quirks in the world, but the complete and utter disconnection from the outside world unsettled him greatly.

He can't leave and that scares him more than anything, but at least the room—his cell... isn't terrible.

Looking around a second time, he couldn't see any switches that would let him control the lights—they were probably on a timer, ready to plunge him into darkness at a moment's notice—and he couldn't see any other electronics either, save for the lights themselves. He can't see any cameras, though he knows there must be at least one watching him right this second. Behind him, the door was featureless and didn't even have a knob on this side for him to try, though he knows it would have been locked even if there was a handle.

Thankfully there aren't any shackles that would keep him trapped to the floor or wall, and while he was still cuffed the officers had disconnected the two cuffs from each other before leaving him in here; leaving with with relative freedom to move around.

Would have been nice if they'd given him back his prosthetic leg or his arm braces so he could actually get around on his own.

Sure, he could still get around even without them, it was just much, much slower. It was also frustrating. Demeaning. Huffing, he pushes up on his hands and knees, wobbling a little as he has to compensate for his right side; no foot to push with or gain traction.

He crawls.

Shouta's able to pull himself to the little cushion in front of the desk—a goddamn cushion, he feels spoiled—and he just sort of... sits there, unsure what to do next.

Really, it's all he can do to not just fall into a panic.

The last time he'd been in a situation like this... well, it hadn't ended well, to say the least.

His gums ache with the thought, fingers curling until his blunt nails press into the palms of his hands, but the cuffs stopped his quirk from activating.

He hates feeling so powerless.

But... if him being here meant all of his students were safe... he could live with it.

He's gonna have to live with it, there was no other choice.

Suddenly there's a noise at the door and Shouta startles badly, his mind immediately screaming danger.

He pushes away from the little desk with both hands and his one leg, briefly slamming all of his weight down on the end of his stump as he half-crawls-half-scrambles into the furthest corner from the door. He stays braced like that, fingers curled atop the tatami, as a panel on the door itself—near the floor—slides open.

Something gets pushed through, and Shouta hisses through his teeth as he rears away from it, bristling.

Immediately afterwards the panel on the door slides shut and locks, leaving what was pushed through the slat inside of the cell with him.

It's only then that he notices the thing is a tray.

Shouta stares.

He almost doesn't believe his eyes, because from here, he could see food on the tray, steam wafting off of it enticingly.

Fuck, he can smell it from here.

His stomach rumbles, demanding he eat, but Shouta doesn't move.

Not right away, at least.

After several long, agonizing minutes of nothing happening, Shouta cautiously cranes his neck so he could see what's on the tray better.

From what he could see without physically digging into it, Shouta recognizes the main dish as being some kind of grilled fish, with a bowl of barley rice on the side. Beyond that were more bowls with side dishes; what looked to be a light soup, boiled vegetables, and some fried tofu.

There was even a cup of steaming hot tea next to all the food.

It was a simple meal.

But to Shouta it looked like a feast.

He doesn't understand why it was given to him, though. He's a prisoner, a villain. Why are they giving him all of this free food?

Was it a trick?

Was it... poisoned?

No. It couldn't be poisoned; they still had questions they wanted answered. It wouldn't make sense for them to poison him in his cell when they still had use of him.

Maybe then... a truth serum of some kind? But with Tsukauchi and his quirk around that wasn't necessary.

Perhaps it was laced with something to keep him quiet and compliant, but... no. That didn't make sense, either. Most detention centers didn't resort to drugging their prisoners into compliance. That was exclusive to the higher security prisons like Tartarus, and it was closely monitored. Shouta hasn't been found guilty of anything quite yet. He's not in Tartarus.

And besides, they were able to keep him under control just fine as is.

Hunger finally getting the better of him, Shouta subtly inches one hand forward to bring him closer to the tray. Immediately after doing so his eyes flit to the cell door. He holds his breath.

...The door stays shut. No footsteps in the hallway, either.

Were they just... letting him have this? It wasn't a trick to make him lower his guard?

Looking between the door and the food several more times, Shouta crawls a little closer, and closer, until he's nearly sitting on the cushion by the desk again. He can smell the fish and his mouth is already watering. He has to swallow the excessive drool flooding his mouth, eyes as big as saucers as he stares at the feast before him. He's practically looming over top of it.

And still, the door to his cell remains closed.

Finally, Shouta reaches out and snatches the cup of tea, pulling it to his chest protectively and looking once more to the door with wide eyes.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Shouta exhales slowly, and he finally glances down at the green tea that he, miraculously, hadn't spilled all over himself. He could feel the warmth of the drink seeping into his palms.

His hands shake as he brings the cup up to take a tentative sip.

...Ah.

It's bancha tea.

He can't remember the last time he had it—the last time he'd had any tea.

It washes over his tongue, and when he swallows he feels it warm his whole chest from the inside out.

And still, no one takes it from him.

Growing bold, Shouta—reluctantly—puts the tea down on the desk so he could grab the tray.

There was no sense in leaving it on the floor if they're letting him have it.

He places it on the desk next to the tea, then picks up the chopsticks they'd given him. He breaks off a piece of the grilled fish to bring to his mouth.

The fish is light and flaky. Shouta swears it's the best thing he's ever tasted.

He takes another bite, and another, and he even tries some of the side dishes like the fried tofu and the soup—it's miso, salty and sweet and absolutely delicious. Several times he has to remind himself to slow down, nearly choking on the tiny bones in the fish when he tries to swallow it down without even chewing.

Shouta eats until he can eat no more and still no one's taken it from him.

But he doesn't understand.

He just... he doesn't understand.

How come no one's yelling at him? They should be demanding answers, not... putting him in fresh clothes and giving him warm food. Aren't they upset with him? Angry? Isn't he a villain in their eyes?

Why is he being treated so... humanely?

Was that a trick? To make him lower his guard?

What do they want from him?!

Shakily, Shouta lowers the hand holding his chopsticks, and he stares at all the food left on the tray that he was too full to eat.

He doesn't understand.

Why... are they being so nice to him...?