I'm finally making some progress on the huge chapter I'm working on ! 10k word and I'm not even done yet. Sleep is for the weak.

They did not, in fact, 'eat bad tonight,' because when Takuma woke up next, it was early in the morning and the sun wasn't even up yet. His head was still resting in Mei's lap, who was snoozing soundly next to him. He supposed the fright he must have given her yesterday had taken more out of her than she let on.

He rose from the couch as silently as he could in an attempt to not wake her up. It wasn't hard since he had noticed Mei was a heavy sleeper, but being careful didn't cost him anything, and he could use the alone time to process what he had learned yesterday.

Takuma noticed the room was a bit colder than what was comfortable and grabbed the blanket, laying it on Mei who stirred lightly in her sleep. He could already tell she felt better, even if he couldn't feel it himself. His Quirk didn't work well on someone who was asleep or not entirely there. He still could reach her; it just wasn't as clear as he was used to.

After walking to the kitchen and fumbling with the tablet for a few seconds, he learned it was five in the morning. Also, he made a note to buy a clock to hang on the wall next time he went shopping. He was eternally annoyed to have to use the tablet. He had a bit of time before he needed to wake Mei up for school. He couldn't see her phone anywhere, and he knew she rarely took it with her into the hangar, so that meant it was in her room, and it was definitely not a room he felt he should enter without his friend's express consent.

Takuma took a seat at the table and inhaled and exhaled deeply. He wasn't used to having his head on straight so soon after a premonition or whatever happened to him could be called. Going through a premonition in the middle of a city would have left him broken and insane until he could find a place sufficiently isolated for him to start recovering. The last time it had happened, it had taken him a month to be functional again. He supposed even with his mental wall fully down, being in an isolated place such as Mei's house saved him from the worst of it.

And then, of course, he needed to deal with what he saw. A deal gone wrong with the League Of Villain and some Yakuza. He didn't know what the deal was with the guy with the giant magnet for a weapon, but he hoped it was worth getting killed for it. Being turned into a bloodstain on the ground, wall, and ceiling wasn't high on anyone's list. Then there was Tomura, who was still hard to look at. The hands were a sickening sight as always, but the way he talked and his general demeanor were far removed from what he knew from the attack on the U.S.J. He was too calm, too composed, even for the brief instant he saw him.

Takuma was glad he wasn't his to deal with because, screw him if he wanted to get anywhere close to this nutcase. Villains were a pain to deal with on a good day, and the attention they brought everywhere they went wasn't something he particularly enjoyed either. And he didn't think Tomura knew what a good day was.

There were also glimpses of the people around them: a man with a mask, some girl with blonde buns in a school uniform, a guy with a black and gray mask. He didn't know why they were there, but he could probably assume they were All For One's protegee sbires. He didn't have as much of a view of what they looked like since he saw them through the mist of what was once Kennie's upper body. He would have to keep an eye out for a few new killers running around, it seemed. He was glad he knew none of them; it would have been awkward to have one of his friends join the League Of Villain.

Nova wanted out of the lifestyle, but he knew Danny was still running around, messing with the C.R.C, and was bound to get killed or come back sooner or later. His friend loved being the center of attention as much as he loved being a pain in everyone's collective ass.

Takuma started making breakfast. He placed Mei's cup of hot chocolate with her treatment at their usual spot and started working on toast. Due to yesterday's hiccup, his friend had missed dinner, and she would need something heavier to hold her up until launch.

Thinking of his friend, he was still undecided on what to do. Mei was a good friend, better than those whom he had called friend in the past. She was someone he was actually looking forward to spending time with, not like his other friend whom he had befriended in hard times. Their shared past held too much pain for them to want to be around each other, even if they had gone to hell and back for each other.

It had been two days since he had his talk with Mei, and his situation hadn't changed as much as he expected it. They were closer, maybe, but his day-to-day life didn't change much from what he had been doing so far. He was still cleaning around, helping where he could, and making sure she was taking care of herself. Her destructive tendencies still showed themselves from time to time; skipping a meal was fine, but skipping all three of them and sleep was not. With this, he thought he was pushing the balance in the right direction; he felt less like a burden.

One thing he was having a hard time wrapping his head around was that he was safe here. Not in the short term, or until Mei had an itch she wanted him to scratch, just safe. His host had been truthful when she had asked him to be her friend, where she could have asked for pretty much anything, and he would have been forced to comply or leave.

And then there was the hug. It had been an overwhelming experience that even two days later kept haunting him. He wanted to experience it again. It clawed at his skin like a phantom limb that wouldn't leave him alone. He could still feel how close she had been to him, her arm around him, her head on his chest. It was driving him mad. Then, after going through a surge, he had woken up with her petting his hair, her finger trailing over his scalp in a way that scratched the same need the hug had awoken. He wanted to experience it again. Running a hand through his own hair didn't do anything; he couldn't recreate the feeling alone. And that knowledge alone made him want to cry.

He knew he wasn't used to a touch that wasn't meant to hurt him, but the single overwhelming need to feel how she made him feel again was getting ridiculous. He had gone his entire life without it; why the hell did it start bothering him now? Well, thinking on it, it was probably the reason he never missed a kind touch. He couldn't remember the last time he had hugged before meeting Mei.

"Just another reminder my life sucks a massive amount of balls if I needed it."

Another thing was that he didn't know what he was supposed to do. Now that he was out of the survival mindset, at least for the near future, he was kind of stuck on what to do.

What goal did he have?

Not dying had been his priority for so long; he'd never had the luxury to see farther than the immediate need for food and shelter. Getting out of the way of gangs or villains had also been a part of his daily routine. It was normal for him. And now that he had none of that, he was kind of stuck on what to do.

Takuma wasn't a vigilante nor a hero. He wasn't a villain either. A normal job wasn't in the cards; he tried to hold a stable job enough times to know it wasn't something he could do with a Quirk like his. Working for Giran wasn't possible since his little stunt in the public eye. He dearly hoped something else had grabbed the attention of the civilian population since the last time he checked. It also impacted his side gig of looking for missing people; it wasn't the most well-paid job he ever had, but looking around for missing people wasn't that hard with a Quirk that could go through walls and the know-how to go to places P.I.s and heroes couldn't go without creating a stampede. He wouldn't find work in his usual haunts, which left him with very little idea of what to do.

Music reached his ear, some kind of symphonic music mixed with hardcore vocals more in line with what a metal band would make. Mei's alarm could wake up the dead.

Walking closer to her, he took a knee next to her, with a bit of distance as to not be right in her face when she woke up. He didn't want to startle her. "Mei, you need to wake up; you're going to be late."

She stirred but didn't wake up. He needed something that would grab her attention. He wouldn't resort to screaming at her since he certainly wouldn't enjoy being woken up that way.

And Takuma thought he knew what would work.

"Mei... I broke the baby."

Her eyes snapped wide open, and with a glint that warned she wasn't entirely there yet, she turned her head toward him.

"Why?" she asked in a whisper with the most heartbroken voice he ever heard.

Takuma's heart broke as she kept staring at him. He felt like he had just kicked a puppy, a very sleepy puppy. "The baby is fine, Mei, but I need you to wake up."

She nodded sadly. "Not broken?"

"Not broken," he confirmed.

"Cute?"

"Very, but you know what would make it cuter?"

"M'no ?"

"Breakfast."

As if on cue, her stomach grumbled loudly, and he could feel from his Quirk her mind slowly emerging from her torpor. "Up."

She extended a hand, and Takuma helped her to her feet, the blanket falling on the ground. He was about to bend down to pick it up when Mei's arm slipped under his armpit, and her head lazily rested against his shoulder. Takuma froze. His friend wasn't entirely there yet, so he felt extremely conflicted right now. On one hand, half a hug—'Yeayh'—on the other, he very much felt like he was taking advantage of her right now. He didn't have his Quirk to tell him what was and wasn't okay, no sensory input to tell him if he was doing something wrong.

Walking her to her seat, Takuma helped her sit on her chair, pushing the cup and pill in front of her before stepping away with shaky hands. He returned to his seat at the other end of the table. He didn't miss the disappointed groan from Mei, but she noticed the steaming cup of chocolate in front of her and immediately started to greedily drink it. After her first sip, she was finally coherent enough to greet him.

"G'mornin'."

"Good morning to you too," he greeted back. "Hope the couch wasn't too bad on your neck."

"t's okay, didn' wan' wake you up," she told him before going through her morning routine of putting the pill between her lips and washing it down with a sip of her drink. "Better?"

He could understand sleepy Mei after two weeks of knowing her. "Yes, I'm feeling better. Sorry for the trouble."

He knew blood was a pain to clean, and Mei had done an excellent job when she had cleaned his face. Crusted-over eyelids were a nightmare to deal with. He knew from experience.

Mei stretched on her seat, making her back pop in a few places. "Don't worry about it, just try not to scare me like that again," she asked with a small amount of concern.

"I'll try my best; hopefully, there won't be a next time," he said, hoping to reassure her. "Also, you might want to go and change; you're still in your working clothes."

She looked down. "I need a shower," she pouted, looking sadly at the food he had prepared.

"Tell you what, go take a shower, I'll make you something to take for the road," he offered.

She raised her head with a big smile, jumping from her seat. "Thanks; you're the best!" she said right as she hugged him briefly with one arm before leaving to prepare herself for the day ahead.

Takuma chuckled internally and started to arrange some food in a plastic box she could take to school. He didn't know what this new chapter of his life would be, but he was starting to think it wouldn't be as bad as he was used to.

"Yeah, this is nice," he commented with a smile that somehow didn't want to leave his face. Weird.