The Next Day----
The first thing Ryuu noticed when he woke up wasn't the familiar ache in his ribs or the sterile smell of the hospital room.
It was warmth...
Not physical warmth at least...the morning air was actually cool against his skin...but something deeper.
A faint pulse in his chest where there had been nothing but hollow emptiness for over a week.
He sat up slowly, heart racing. After so many days of that terrible silence, he almost didn't trust what he was feeling.
Is it...?
He closed his eyes and reached inward.
Usually, he met that same crushing void where Resonance used to live.
But today...
Today there was a flicker.
It was weak, unstable...like a candle flame in a strong wind, but there. His quirk was trying to come back.
"Holy shit," he whispered, then immediately felt guilty for cursing in a hospital.
He pressed his palm against his chest, feeling that fragile warmth.
It wasn't much...maybe 10% of what he used to have, if that. But it was something.
For the first time since the attack, genuine hope bloomed in his chest.
---
"Interesting."
Recovery Girl's wrinkled hands were gentle as they examined him, but her expression was intense with focus.
She'd arrived for his morning check-up to find him practically vibrating with excitement.
"The neural pathways are definitely reconnecting," she murmured, her quirk letting her sense the activity in his brain. "Slower than I'd like, but steadier than I feared. How does it feel?"
"Like..." Ryuu struggled for the right words. "Like hearing a whisper in a crowded room. I know it's there, but I can barely make it out."
"Can you sense my emotions at all?"
He concentrated, reaching out with his flickering quirk toward the small woman beside his bed.
For a moment, nothing. Then—
"Concern," he said slowly. "And... relief? But it's so faint I might be imagining it."
"You're not imagining it." Recovery Girl smiled, the expression transforming her usually stern face. "That's exactly what I'm feeling. Your quirk is definitely recovering."
She leaned back a little, considering. "I want to try something. Touch my hand and attempt to amplify my healing quirk."
Ryuu hesitated. "What if I push too hard and burn out again?"
"At 10% capacity? You couldn't burn out if you tried." She held out her weathered hand. "Trust me."
He took her hand gently, closing his eyes and reaching for his quirk. The warmth flickered, uncertain, like trying to start a fire with damp kindling.
He pushed carefully, willing Resonance to flow between them.
For a second, nothing happened. Then—
A tiny spark of amplification, so small he almost missed it.
Recovery Girl's healing quirk touched his ribs with maybe 1.2 times its normal strength. The improvement was barely noticeable, but it was there.
The effort left him gasping like he'd just run a marathon.
"D-did it work?" he panted.
Recovery Girl checked his ribs. "Minimally, but yes. The fractures are maybe 5% more healed than they were a minute ago." She looked up at him with something that might have been pride. "Your quirk is coming back, young man. Slowly, but surely."
Relief hit him so hard he almost started crying right there.
"However," Recovery Girl continued, her tone becoming more serious, "I'm discharging you today."
"What?" Ryuu blinked. "But my quirk is barely—"
"Your quirk is recovering," she corrected firmly. "The neural pathways are rebuilding themselves, but that's not something medical intervention can speed up. What you need now is rest, familiar surroundings, and emotional support." She gave him a knowing look. "Your friends will do more for your recovery than I can at this point."
She began updating his chart with quick movements. "Your ribs are healed enough that you won't puncture a lung if you sneeze. Your other injuries are minor. And frankly, you've been champing at the bit to leave since day three."
"I have no—"
"You asked me yesterday if you could 'just walk around campus for five minutes.'" Recovery Girl's expression was dry. "That's not the request of someone who needs extended medical care."
Fair point.
"Besides," she added, her voice gentling slightly, "healing isn't just physical. Your quirk is tied to your emotional state, and being cooped up in here isn't helping either of you recover."
An hour later, Ryuu was sitting on his hospital bed, dressed in real clothes for the first time in over a week, waiting for his discharge paperwork.
The simple act of wearing his own t-shirt and jeans instead of a hospital gown felt like a victory.
His phone buzzed with a text from Mina:
*Heard through the grapevine (Ochaco, who heard from Iida, who heard from Recovery Girl) that you're getting out today! Want company for the walk back?*
Before he could respond, another text appeared:
*Also Momo has been pacing the common room since 6 AM. Just FYI. *
Ryuu couldn't help but smile. Some things never changed.
*Meet me at the hospital entrance?* he typed back. *And tell Momo to breathe. I'm fine.*
*Will do! See you soon! *
---
The walk back to the dorms was surreal.
Everything looked exactly the same...the familiar pathways, the training grounds in the distance, the imposing shape of UA's main building...but Ryuu felt like he was seeing it all through different eyes.
A week ago, he'd been carried in on a stretcher...quirk dead and injured...
Now he was walking back under his own power, Resonance flickering weakly but persistently in his chest, surrounded by friends who'd barely left his side.
"So," Mina said, practically bouncing with excitement as they walked, "what's the first thing you want to do now that you're free?"
"Eat food that doesn't taste like cardboard," Ryuu said immediately, making her laugh.
"Sleep in my own bed," he added. "Take a shower that lasts longer than five minutes. Maybe sit outside without someone checking my vitals every hour."
"Simple pleasures," Ochaco observed with a warm smile. She'd joined their little group along with Tsuyu, both of them having insisted on "welcoming him home properly."
"The best kind," Tsuyu agreed. "Sometimes normal things feel amazing after you can't have them, ribbit."
They were right.
The afternoon sun on his face, the sound of his friends' voices, the knowledge that he could go wherever he wanted again...it all felt like luxury after a week of hospital confinement.
When they reached the dorms, Ryuu paused at the entrance, suddenly overwhelmed. This was home. He was actually home.
"Welcome back," Momo said quietly, appearing in the doorway.
She looked like she'd been waiting there all day, which, according to Mina's texts, she probably had been.
She wore a soft cream-colored sweater that hugged her curves elegantly, the fabric clinging to her full chest and emphasizing her narrow waist before flowing over the gentle swell of her hips.
Dark jeans accentuated her long legs, and her usually perfect ponytail was slightly looser than normal, a few strands framing her face.
Her usually perfect composure was slightly frayed around the edges, relief and something deeper shining in her dark eyes.
"It's good to be back," Ryuu said, meaning it completely.
The common room erupted in celebration when they walked in.
It seemed like half of Class 3-A was there, despite it being a Saturday afternoon.
Kirishima cheered, Kaminari made jazz hands, and even Bakugo looked up from his book with what might generously be called approval.
"About time," Bakugo grunted. "Place has been too quiet without your emotional support group crying about everything."
"We missed you too, Bakugo," Ryuu said dryly, earning snickers from around the room.
The next few hours passed in a blur of normal, wonderful chaos.
Board games, terrible reality TV, someone ordering way too much pizza.
Ryuu found himself in the middle of it all, soaking up the warmth and noise...just as it was meant to be...
His quirk flickered sporadically throughout the evening...it was like tiny sparks that vanished almost as soon as he noticed them.
It was frustrating and encouraging in equal measure. Like learning to walk again, but with a limb he couldn't see.
"You keep spacing out," Jirou observed during a particularly intense game of Jario Kart. "Everything okay?"
"Just... processing," Ryuu said honestly. "A week ago I couldn't feel anything with my quirk. Now I keep getting these little flashes of emotion from people, but they're so faint I can't tell if they're real or if I'm imagining them."
"They're real," Momo said confidently from her spot curled up in an armchair, tablet balanced on her knees. "I heard neural pathway reconstruction follows predictable patterns. You're essentially relearning how to use your quirk from the ground up."
"Comforting," Ryuu said, then immediately felt bad when Momo looked hurt. "I mean—sorry, that came out wrong. I'm grateful. It's just frustrating being back to square one."
"You're not at square one," Tsuyu pointed out pragmatically. "Square one was when you first got your quirk and didn't know what your quirk did. Now you know exactly what it's supposed to feel like, ribbit. That's got to count for something."
She had a point.
As the evening wound down and people started heading to their rooms, Ryuu found himself alone with Mina and Momo in the common room.
The familiar trio, back together again.
"I'm really glad you're okay," Mina said quietly, leaning against his shoulder on the couch.
"Hey." Ryuu wrapped his arm around her. "I'm here. We're all here. That's what matters."
"Is it weird?" Momo asked suddenly. "Having your quirk come back so slowly?"
Ryuu considered the question. "Kind of. It's like... you know when you have a word on the tip of your tongue, but you can't quite remember it? That's what using Resonance feels like right now. I know it's there, I know what I want it to do, but I can't quite grasp it."
"It'll come back," Mina said firmly. "Recovery Girl said so, right?"
"Right." Ryuu squeezed her gently, then looked at Momo. "She also said I need emotional support more than medical supervision at this point."
Something shifted in Momo's expression...a flicker of nervousness mixed with hope. "About that..."
She glanced at Mina, who gave her an encouraging nod.
"We talked yesterday," Momo continued, her usual confidence wavering slightly. "About... well, about plans we had made before everything happened."
Ryuu felt his cheeks warm as he remembered.
The weekend after the field trip, they'd planned to... explore things between them. Physical intimacy had been on the table, tentative but mutually wanted.
Then The Collector attacked, and everything went to hell.
"I remember," he said softly.
Momo's hands twisted in her lap. "I understand if you're not ready. After everything that's happened, the trauma, the recovery proces—"
"Momo." Ryuu reached out, covering her restless hands with one of his own. "I will ask again....Are you sure? I mean, really sure? Not just because we talked about it before, but because it's what you want now?"
Her dark eyes met his, and for a moment, all her careful composure fell away. "I've been thinking about it all week," she admitted quietly. "While you were in the hospital, while I was sitting in that chair trying not to fall apart... I realized how much I wanted....how much I want...to be close to you. Really close."
She took a shaky breath. "Nearly losing you made me understand that I don't want to wait for the 'perfect' moment anymore. I want to be with you, Ryuu. If you'll have me."
The raw honesty in her voice made his chest tight with emotion.
"When I'm cleared for... activity," he said carefully, very aware that Mina was listening with poorly concealed amusement, "your room?"
Momo's smile was radiant. "My room."
Mina made a soft "aww" sound, which she tried to cover with a cough when they both looked at her.
"What?" she said innocently. "I think it's sweet. You two have been dancing around each other for days or maybe weeks now."
"We have not bee—" Momo started.
"You absolutely have," Mina interrupted with a grin. "Remember the study session where you spent twenty minutes explaining thermodynamics just so you could sit closer to him?"
"That was educational!"
"Uh-huh. And what about the time you 'accidentally' created matching jewelry for both of you?"
Momo's face went pink. "Those were friendship bracelets!"
"They were promise rings in everything but name."
Ryuu watched them bicker with fond amusement, feeling more normal than he had since the attack.
This was his life....complicated, warm, full of people who cared about him enough to tease him mercilessly.
His quirk gave another faint pulse, like a sleepy cat stretching.
"Getting stronger… bit by bit, I guess," Ryuu thought, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"I should probably get some sleep," he said eventually. "Recovery Girl said rest is the best thing for my quirk right now."
"Good idea," Momo agreed, standing gracefully. "I have some studying to catch up on anyway."
"It's Saturday night," Mina pointed out.
"Exactly. I'm behind schedule."
Ryuu and Mina exchanged a look. Some things never changed.
They walked to the elevators together, comfortable in each other's presence. When they reached Ryuu's floor, he paused.
"Thank you," he said quietly. "Both of you. For everything this week. I know it couldn't have been easy."
"You don't have to thank us for caring about you," Mina said, giving him a quick hug. "That's what people who love you do."
"Indeed," Momo agreed, her own hug more reserved but no less warm. "Sleep well, Ryuu."
As the elevator doors closed and he walked to his room, Ryuu felt his quirk flicker one more time...a gentle pulse of warmth that felt almost like contentment.
He was home. His quirk was healing. The people he cared about were safe.
For the first time in over a week, the future felt bright.
---
Author's Note: Hey everyone!
Thanks for the support of "My Hero Academia: The Support Hero's Harem."
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–Your lazy author.
P.S- another exam passed guys.