When Takuma regained consciousness, he was more exhausted than he could ever remember being before. "Drained" was the best word to describe his state of being. Despite that, he felt warm, having fallen asleep hugging Mei's midsection and waking up in pretty much the same position. Her hand trailed gently through his hair, making him shiver. He allowed himself to sink into the feeling before the third emotion he felt most strongly reared its ugly head: shame. Takuma had lost his composure in front of her, the last person he wanted to see him that way. Still numb from his crying session, he couldn't even comprehend how he had reached that point.

'Maybe a Quirk?' he wondered, before dismissing the idea.

A lot had gone wrong yesterday: the way he fought and acted, the reckless endangerment of others' lives. But he didn't think he could lay the blame on anyone but himself. The number of unknowns that had shown up was higher than what he usually contended with. A villain messing up his joke of a plan was one thing, but the Quirkless Liberation Front had been a surprise he never would have expected. They had been busy fighting against the remnants of the Meta Liberation Army last time he checked on what Old Beard was doing. When was that? When was the last time he checked on O.B.? No fucking clue.

'Stupid memory.'

Then there was the Carmine girl who could have murdered him on day one. His carelessness could have ended everything right there and then.

'I need to do better.'

Mei wasn't as deep in the pit as he had feared. His little meltdown hadn't left her unaffected; worry, like a drumming noise, danced in her thoughts, and he hated being the source of it. He wasn't supposed to be a burden; he never could afford to be. The idea left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"You know I can tell when you're awake," his girlfriend's voice rang, clear as day. "You never relax more than when I'm playing with your hair."

She was probably right. "I'm sorry."

"Nah."

"Nah?" he repeated dumbly.

"You don't need to be sorry for something like that," she said in a gentle tone. "I'd rather you lose it when I'm around than keep bottling it up like you were doing."

That raised the question of how she even noticed. "How did you—"

"You cry in your sleep," she told him with a wave of sadness. "A lot. It's been going on for a while."

That was something dreadful to learn.

"Oh," he could only find himself to say. "I didn't know, sorr—"

"Stop it," she cut him off, gently but firmly. "This isn't something you should be sorry about."

He nodded, the upper part of his face pressed against her belly, and the movement made her giggle. It felt nice. Takuma gathered his willpower and then let go of Mei. He moved to a seated position so he could see the expression his very worried girlfriend wore, and also the small fort of blankets and pillows that now surrounded them, cutting them off from the rest of the house.

"When did you find the time to do that?"

"You slept a long time," she told him with a shrug. "It was getting warm under the blanket, and I didn't want to take it off you before you woke up, so I improvised a fort with a few chairs lying around."

"It's nice," he commented, earning a small grin from Mei before her expression switched to something darker.

"Could you tell me why crying upsets you so much?" she asked, and he found himself looking away. Her hand landed on his cheek and gently invited him to look at her. "Please."

Takuma breathed in deeply, searching for the words to explain something so easy, yet so complicated to understand. "I told you I grew up on the street, with a group of other children."

She nodded, holding his hand and rubbing the back of it with her thumb as a show of support.

"Well, when you're used to having no one but yourself and other kids your age to survive, there are a few things you get used to," he tried to explain, his voice straining a bit. "Not making noise is one of them. And kids cry a lot, so when the younger ones couldn't stop, that was when the bad guys would find us. It was the job of the older ones to fight when that happened. And I did, a lot. Most of the time it's because I didn't catch them in time anyway. Having to fight for my life with that in the background... well, you get the idea."

He listened as Mei took a steadying breath, righteous fury burning in her veins. "One day you're going to give me names."

He couldn't even manage a smile. "My memory is shot. I don't know if I already told you, but there's a good amount of time lost to me."

"You didn't, but I saw you stare blankly at the wall enough times to know something was going on," she informed him, adding another detail to his ever-growing list of problems.

He sighed deeply. "I'm not a big fan of seeing people cry either. It just makes me want to run away," he added, turning her hand so he could see the redness and bruise on the back. "It's not too bad."

"I barely felt anything," she told him with a reassuring smile. "It's nothing compared to the time you caught me when I fell from the death pile."

The memory made him smile, strangely enough. "Catching you was the bare minimum; it was nothing."

She shook her head with a sigh. "Well, maybe for you. It wasn't for me." Mei moved and invited him to lay his head on her lap. When she thought he was comfy, she took a more serious tone. "Are we expecting a visit from anyone?"

"I don't think anyone on the wrong side of the law is going to care too much about who I was and what I did yesterday," he told her. The Carmine girl didn't seem to care about spreading his name around, and the boy wouldn't go after him after checking in with O.B. "There are a few people I saved who saw my face. I had to give them my name, and given how much of a shitshow yesterday was, Gran Torino and All Might will probably put two and two together." He revealed this to his girlfriend's dismay. "I don't think they'll have enough to put me in jail. I didn't commit any crime—not that they can prove anyway. And even if they do, saving the heroine's life might push the balance far enough in my direction that they might be willing to look the other way."

"You think skipping the training with Izu might help?" she offered, unsure of how to proceed.

"No, I have to go back as soon as I can. Hiding might do more harm than good, and it's not like I'm against feeding them the poor traumatized orphan spiel if I need to," he informed her, not missing the quizzical eyebrow she raised. "I don't do it with you, but I'll have you know I'm a pretty good actor when I'm not busy acting like a complete moron."

She booped him on the nose in response. "You will stop talking yourself down like that, or I will boop you again."

"That isn't much of a threat," he asked, confused.

"It isn't supposed to be one," she confirmed before giving him a short kiss. "Don't do that again, okay?"

There wasn't much he could say to that request.

"I'll try, I promise."

"Good," she said with a firm nod. "Now it's time for you to change and take a shower because last time I checked, you were still covered in blood."

Takuma winced. "Yeah, I should probably take care of that."

A few seconds passed. "You're not going to move, are you?"

"Don't wanna," he pouted. He blamed the way she played with his hair for his lack of willpower. "I'm comfy."

Mei let out a laugh as she started to scratch him behind the ear. "You're such a cat. Never thought my boyfriend's weak point would be scritchies."

"I blame all the cats in my life for that part of me," he chuckled as he grabbed her forearm and laid a kiss on it.

"Stop being cute," she demanded, booping him on the nose again. "The sooner you get clean, the sooner we can dive under a blanket and cuddle the night away."

Takuma hummed lightly. "Now that's a plan I can get behind."

It took more out of him than he expected to get up. He didn't particularly enjoy leaving the comfort of the pillow fort, but with Mei in desperate need of going to the bathroom and him smelling like death, he finally left and went to grab a quick shower. He threw his clothes on the floor and jumped in, then immediately jumped back out. The sting of the warm water was more than he could handle, which was surprising since it was how he usually took his showers. There was no relief in the scalding hot water hitting his skin, only discomfort and pain. It was strange. After lowering the heat to something more reasonable, he got cleaned up and stepped out, putting on a fresh pair of sweatpants and a shirt. The hoodie was appealing, even if, for reasons he couldn't explain, he didn't feel like he needed to wear it today. He stepped out of the bathroom with what felt like a new lease on life.

Walking back to the kitchen, he was surprised to see Mei behind the stove preparing dinner. "Do you want me to take over from here?"

"Nope!" she denied, popping the "p." "Sit your cute little butt down; I'm cooking tonight."

As much as Mei could try to play it off, she was still far from well herself. He didn't expect her to witness his breakdown and be peachy about it so soon after. She was rattled, worried about him. It stung to be the reason for her being so down, even if she was trying her best not to show it. So he walked right behind her and hugged her from behind, letting his chin rest against the back of her head as she leaned on him as soon as she realized what he was doing.

"Thank you."

She stirred the meat in the pan as she looked up at him. "What for?"

Takuma nearly didn't answer her question, knowing full well where that would go. "Taking care of me?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Don't be silly," she told him as she refocused her attention on her cooking. "It's about time I got to spoil my boyfriend, don't you think?"

"I'm plenty spoiled already."

"Nah," she countered. "And by the way, I'm buying you a fucking phone, and that's not up for debate," she added, with a silent fury she could barely clamp down in time.

She was scared, and she was bouncing between fear and fury every two heartbeats.

His skin crawled at the idea of Mei spending her money on him. "I should have enough to buy it myself, but I might need your help to set it up. I think you already know technology isn't my strong suit."

"My boyfriend shall not be defeated by his own phone," Mei intoned dramatically before sticking her tongue out at him.

Takuma used this perfect opportunity to go for a kiss that took her by surprise, right before she turned and nearly climbed on him as she returned the kiss with twice the passion. She pushed him until his back hit the center table, and her hands snaked their way to the back of his neck, pulling him toward her. The kiss was passionate, if a little desperate, as they both clung to the other as if it were the last time they would see each other. He broke the kiss to her dismay as he inhaled sharply.

"I missed you too," he told her as she dived for his lips a second time, this time a shorter exchange that left both of them breathless at the end.

"Never scare me like that again," she half-begged, half-demanded. "No more risking your life, no more fighting against criminals until you've got your license. Got it?!"

He couldn't help but chuckle at Mei; it was a heartfelt demand he could get behind. "I promise. Next time trouble finds me, I won't be the one who went looking for it."

"Good," she said with a relieved tone. "I forgot the food!" she added with a hint of panic as the smell of burned meat started to waft in the air.

The whiplash of Mei being... Mei made him chuckle lightly as he sat down and just enjoyed her company as she finished cooking.

"This is what I want," he thought as he watched her mildly panic when she realized the meat was a bit charred on the bottom. "Good company and good times."

He exhaled, his chest lighter than it had been ever since he'd woken up.

"As long as she's safe and happy, nothing else matters."

o-O-o SUBMIT-PROTECT o-O-o

This felt right to him. This was his goal, and nothing else mattered.