MHA: Villains Need A Hero Too

In the morning, Yuno wakes up late. Heavy and warm blankets engulf his body in a comfortable heat. He's comfortable, does not want to move, but refuses to stay in bed longer than he should. He has to rub his eyes in order to actually wake up and drag himself out of bed, groaning.

Practically throwing the blankets off the mattress, Yuno kicks his legs off the bed and researches the guest bedroom, Maijima's guest bedroom. The place was sparkly clean, untouched, unused. Yuno doesn't like the way it's completely empty and clean in the room, so he just leaves the bed messy and unfixed.

The lights are on, the curtains are open, so Maijima must be awake. The smell of bacon fills his senses, a strong whiff of what must be breakfast. It's cold when Yuno exits the room so he zips up his jacket; he regrets not putting on some sweats before he left the bedroom. The sun shines into the living room, and then on his skin when he emerges from the hallway.

Maijima's voice filled Yuno's ears as he felt a hand lightly smack his shoulder. "Sleeping Beauty finally awoke?"

Yuno's lips curled into a frown, crossing his arms.

"Don't worry," Maijima laughed. "There's a reason why I didn't wake you up. You could do well with a few extra winks. You slept a full eight hours, you know. That's the amount of sleep someone your age should be getting."

"When did you become an expert on teenage physiology and psychology?" Yuno raised a brow.

Maijima pulled a chair out to the dining table, gesturing for Yuno to sit down. "Since you started calling me at two in the morning, babbling and crying."

Yuno felt his face heat up in shame and he quickly sat down. "It's not like I can control it. It's an impulse, there's no one at home to help me." 

"And that's fine." Maijima pat his shoulder before he sat down. "You don't have to worry about stuff like that when you need help. It's fine to ask for assistance, you don't need to be ashamed about it."

Maijima pushed a plate in front of Yuno. The plate had eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns, all cooked the way he liked; the eggs were scrambled and fully cooked, the bacon was crunchy, and the hashbrowns were a golden color. Maijima really pays attention to things when it comes to stuff like this, Yuno finds it a waste of time to make fancy food such as this. Eggs, bacon and hashbrowns isn't even considered fancy; that just goes to show how often Yuno doesn't make food for himself.

Kisu would make him breakfast like this, she would always come over on weekends and make breakfast because Yuno would be too busy locking himself in his room. Kisu assumes that he's doing something to make money whether that's odd jobs or regular jobs or even, sometimes, maybe less than legal jobs. She also always thought it was strange that he'd have her steal things for people when they could just go to the arena, but hey, money is money. More money means more opportunity.

Yuno frowns as he stabs his bacon with his fork and lifts it up, it slides off the spike and falls back onto his plate. He doesn't really feel hungry despite the wonderful and comforting smell.

Maijima catches on quickly, like he always does. "What's got you thinking?"

Yuno lifts his head to meet Maijima's gaze. "What?"

"You're making a face," Maijima gestures to Yuno's frown. "Something on your mind?"

Yuno kept silent, attempting to worm his way out of the question. Maijima never said it was rhetorical or literal, so he assumed he could just stay quiet and leave it at that. Unfortunately, his teacher is much more observant and insistent.

"It's not good to keep everything to yourself." Maijima sighed. "One would think that you understand that after being told so many times now."

Yuno shrunk in his seat, slumping back and sinking down. "Sorry being so incompetent."

Maijima sighed, pressing a hand to his face and then pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's exactly the opposite of what I meant. I'm trying to figure out what you're thinking about. Clearly, it has you down. Anyone could figure that you're thinking on something."

Scowling, Yuno just continued to pick at his food; his appetite was completely gone. He wished he'd stayed in bed instead, he didn't sign up for being interrogated about his own thoughts. Despite all that, he already knew he would cave in at some point. There was no point in trying to avoid it, yet he does.

"I'm not hungry." He pushed his plate away and here he was again, running away from his problems. He stood out of his seat and walked away, leaving the dining room and Maijima with the full plates of now cold food.

Maijima had said Yume was taken care of, Yuno frankly didn't believe it. He only knew that Maijima had put her in one of his extra rooms; it was odd Maijima lived in an apartment but had multiple guest bedrooms, now that Yuno thought about it. Whether Yume was truly taken care of, he needed to see her. He felt completely lost about how he should feel, being with Yume always helped him clear his thoughts.

Yuno opened the door, ignoring the way it creaked for a moment; those hinges needed to be fixed ASAP. Yume sat near the bed in the corner of the room, her hands in her lap as she stared at the floor. She was clean and dressed, a blanket wrapped around her legs and a comfortable sweater keeping her torso warm.

Making his way over, Yuno turns on the heater because it's quite chilly and he doesn't want Yume getting too cold. He opens the curtains to let the sun shine in, it's good for Yume to get some sort of sunshine even if it has to be within the house. Back home, the windows were always closed and the curtains were never opened unless Kisu was over.

Always going back to Kisu, no, it's Kisuma now.

After grabbing a blanket from off the bed, Yuno draped it around his shoulders and sat in front of Yume, kneeling down. He looks like a small child as he lays his head down on her lap and sighs. Fidgeting with the tips of Yume's long hair, he begins talking to her, mumbling nonsense that she most likely can't even hear.

It's not like he's unaware of Yume being unable to understand him. He just needs someone he trusts and loves to to talk to. After his fallout with Kisuma, he had to cross out her name on the list of people he could talk to; the list was already very, very short.

"How do I just 'get over' something like that?" Yuno mutters heartbrokenly, muffled by the cloth of Yume's own blanket. "I miss her, Yume. I miss you too. Nē-chan, I can't. Why won't you help me?"

As usual, Yuno doesn't receive an answer, she can't speak. Her mind is stuck somewhere and she can't even hear him. The only thing she can do is weakly grunt and reach for things that isn't in the real world. Yuno can't help but clench the blanket around his shoulders, crumpling fabric in his fist. Pent up frustration had him cornered and he couldn't help but shout in anger. He pounded the floor with his other fist, dragging his head down against Yume's shins as every little piece of his mask is torn to shreds. He didn't care if Maijima's neighbors heard him, in fact, screw the Karen that lived underneath him; Yuno will surely tear her apart if she comes up and sticks a note on Maijima's door or tries to knock and complain.

"This isn't fair." He glares at the ground, digging his knuckles into the carpet that will later burn from the friction. "Why won't you come back to me?"

~~~~~~~~

"Ototo~" Yume called out, walking through the bushes absentmindedly and playfully. "Where did you go? You're so good at hiding?"

Yuno giggled behind a bush, holding his hands over his mouth. Yume has been looking for him, she played the seeker during this round of hide and seek and she still has yet to find him. Being significantly smaller for a twelve year old, he was able to fit into cozy spaces more comfortably. He hid inside a bush full of berries, and he was sure that Yume wouldn't be able to catch him.

"Yunooo!" Yume called again. "Mmm, how come you can hide so well but I can't? That's not fair! Okay, I give up!"

Yuno uncovered his mouth and laughed as if he were five. He stood up and shot out of the bushes like a rocket. Waving his arms around, he called out to his sister. "Nē-chan, I'm right here!"

Yume turned around to face her little brother. "Uweh?! You were right there? But I looked over there twice!"

"You're so bad at this game. Look harder!"

"No, you're just way too smart and way too small. It's not my fault I'm a lot bigger and easier to find."

"Isn't it? You eat like you're a one man army."

"Hey! Don't say that to a girl. Man, people would think you're a charmer, and then they'll find out that you have no idea what sugar coating is."

The two laughed, joyful, as if there were no such things as problems in the world. They had always been together like this, finding time in the day to play together even if they were a teenager and pre-teen acting like six year olds.

Yume lifted her wrist and examined the watch. She frowned right reading the clock and Yuno could clearly see discomfort.

"What's wrong?" Yuno held her hand, it was much softer than his concerningly slender fingers.

Yume furrowed her brows, she began pulling Yuno behind her. "We have to go back home, it's almost four."

Yuno's heart sank to his stomach. Almost four in the evening, meaning his parents were expecting them to be home after school. They had skipped their last class, wanting to play together again. If they lost track of time and arrive home late, they won't get dinner tonight or breakfast the next day. Yume could probably survive, but Yuno wouldn't be able to keep himself from sobbing and then their father would most likely smack him.

Home wasn't far, it never was. They never needed to take a train or a car to get home, the trip was easy. But now, it felt unusually long, Yume checking the time what seemed like every thirty seconds. Her nervous expression just made Yuno scared, even if she tried to smile at him to comfort the boy.

"Nē-chan," Yuno gripped Yume's hand tighter as they approached their home; the home that was always quiet on the outside, but terrribly loud on the inside. "What will happen if Papa is home? I don't want to go in the closet again."

Yume kneeled down to ruffle Yuno's hair. "Then Nē-chan will protect you with all her heart. Big sis is really strong, Y'know. She can do anything."

Yuno…knew that was a lie, but if Yume believed it to be true, then he would try too as well. They approached the door, hand in hand, and Yume unlocked it with a twist of her keys. She twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, "Tadaima."

There was no answer at first, so they assumed that maybe they were actually early and their parents were working overtime. The siblings had been so relieved, but only until they heard a click of a door and their parents emerged from the bedroom. Mama looked irritated, dusting off her hero costume which they both hadn't taken off yet.

"There you are," Papa smiled, and it was uncharacteristically not sinister. He clapped his hands together once and gripped them. "We've been waiting for a while. Come, change your clothes and get in the car."

Yuno's breath hitched, confused and scared as his eyes shook in his sockets. Their parents walked past them, ignoring how the boy was frozen in place. As soon as they left the house and sat in the car, Yume took both her brother's hands in her own.

"Yuboo, come on, look at me." She called with his silly nickname they came up with. "It's going to be okay. I'll protect you, don't worry."

She wrapped him in a hug, holding him tight. Yuno always liked squeezy hugs, he called them that because of how tight they were; they kept him grounded. He hugged Yume back, feeling his chest become tight with fear. He felt a soft hand stroke his hair gently, comfortingly, and sweet reassurances were whispered into his ear.

"It's okay. I'm right here, see?" Yume smiled at him as she holds him by the shoulders. "There you go, better now?"

He nods, "Thank you."

Yume rubs his pale cheek as she holds his hand. "Let's go, we should do what Papa and Mama say."

Yuno never let go of Yume's hand, he fears she'll be taken away if he does. But when they enter their room, he allows her to pry his fingers away from her hand. After escaping his grip, she moves to find new clothes, but she catches out of the corner of her eye, white clothes. One set is a dress, like a night gown only more plain and boring. The other is a pair of pants and a shirt with three quarter sleeves. They're both soft, silky, and they feel comfortable. There's a note that sits on top of the folded sets, "put these on" is written in thick and bold letters.

So they do, they do slip the clothes over their head and Yuno pulls his pants up to fit the waistline above his hips. Yume has to button up his shirt for him because his hand keep fumbling, he never liked button ups.

When they finish getting dressed, they slip their shoes back on and make their way to the car. It's unusually quiet and there's no arguing or screaming. It's becoming quite scary with how silent Papa and Mama are, it's beginning to make Yuno scared again. Yume helps him into the car and wraps her arm around his shoulder, pulling him close.

Yume decides to be bold today, and she questions them, "Where are we going? What are these clothes for?"

Papa, surprisingly, does answer, and he doesn't have that bark in his usual tone. "You'll see. Don't question the clothing, keep quiet, we'll get there faster."

In other words, if they shut up and just take what's being given, things will go smoother for them. But Yuno finds nothing but fear as the car starts and they begin their journey to who knows where. Yuno curls into Yume's side, doing everything he can to keep his sniffles silent. He tells himself that he's a crybaby and a scaredy cat when nothing is happening to them. He doesn't care though, because he's scared out of his mind and if it were not for Yume holding him close and tight, he would've been sobbing into the air right about now.

They don't go into the city, instead, they go farther away from the city. It's beginning to get dark as the sun goes down and the moon comes up. It's natural for Yuno to feel a bit tired, sleepy from their playtime. But right now, Yuno feels anxiety and fear twisting his stomach in a knot and it settles in his gut like a heavy weight. He's clinging to Yume with such desperation for protection that his hand is trembling in his sister's grip.

"It's okay," Yume whispers into his ear as she rubs her thumb over his knuckles. "Calm down, it'll be alright."

The car came to a stop, finally arriving at their destination. It was quiet and Papa and Mama got out of the car without a word. Papa had gone around to Yuno's side of the car and opened his door. Even with Yume telling him it was okay, he whimpered when Papa grabbed his arm with a harsh grip and yanked him out of the car. He gave Yume the same treatment and held her with his other hand. Compared to Papa, they were small from lack of nutrients, they stood no chance at trying to get away from his grip.

They were walked over to a small cube building. The children wondered why a building was even out here and what it's use was. A woman in a white coat, akin to those of doctors, held a clipboard and was writing something down. Mama approached her and began conversing with her, waving a hand about when she gestured to something.

The woman crouched down to meet Yuno's level. "May I have your name?" She asked with kindness.

Yuno looked up at Papa, wondering if he was allowed to speak. Papa just shoved Yuno forward and he took that as a sign to hurry up and answer. "Y- Yuno. My name, it's Yuno."

The woman smiled and nodded, now turning to face Yume. "And yours?"

Unlike Yuno, Yume spoke strongly and confidently. "Yume. I'm his older sister."

The woman took her pen and wrote down more notes. She pressed it against her chest to hide when she finished. "All right, you're checked in. Please follow me this way, do not enter any rooms and please do not touch any of the patients you see."

Of course, Yuno didn't understand what that meant, he didn't have the brain capacity to process what that meant. But he could tell by the way Yume went completely silent and still, it wasn't anything good. Papa pushed them forward to follow the woman, Mama was quick to make sure their clothes were clean before entering the building.

"As you've been told, most patients begin in the smaller rooms. The smaller room are the least detailed and receive the least attention. They also receive the least amount of testing and training. You could say that they don't need anything aside from food and sleep and they'll be fine." The woman raised a hand to gesture at the windows as she spoke. "Since you're children are strong with their Quirks and body, they will start in a room different to these. They will receive more care, and as a result, more training."

Yuno looked up at Papa, then he turned to Mama. He searched desperately for an answer, why are they here? What are these children doing here? Why were they trapped in these big gray rooms?

The children were placed in front of a door and their shoes were taken off. The woman stood in front of a kiosk, it had multiple glowing buttons of red, orange, blue, and green. She pressed a red square button and the children watched as the door opened automatically.

Papa pushed Yuno and Yume into the room and they tripped over with a yelp. Yume lifted her head back up to see the door closing, the faces of her parents disappearing the more the door closed. She threw herself at the white barricade, banging on the door with fear and anger.

"Nē-chan," Yuno looked around to examine the empty room. "What is this place? I want to go home."

"Please, do not panic and I ask you not to bang on the door." The woman's voice filled the speakers in the room, the window went from gray to clear and the children could see their parents. "Yume and Yuno, this is where you will be staying for the next few months. This is where you will eat and sleep, please do make yourself at home here."

Yume grit her teeth and began cursing. "This is a load of bullshit! What are we doing here? This isn't fair! We're just kids!"

The woman visibly frowned. Sadness washed over her expression as she adjusted the microphone near her mouth. "I do apologize for the suddenness of the situation. But, given the circumstances, it seems you weren't told beforehand. We do ask parents to tell their children beforehand, and I'm sorry that yours," the woman glared at Papa and Mama. "Did not explain to you how our system works."

Yume growled, panic evident in her eyes and body language. She picked herself off the ground and pounded a fist against the door again. She paced a few times and then went up to the window and punched it as hard as she could, glaring at her parents.

Only when she heard wheezing did she stop and turn her attention back to her brother. Yuno sat on his knees, hunched over as he held the roots of his hair between fingers and tugged at them. His chest would rise and fall rapidly as he struggled to take in the oxygen he so desperately needed. He'd cough whenever he tried to inhale a particularly large breath of air.

Yume rushed to her brother's side, kneeling down next to him. She raised a hand against his chest and uttered words of comfort into his ears. "It's okay, I'm here. Nē-chan is here, just breath."

Yuno looks up at Yume with trembling eyes and his bottom lip quivers as tears run freely down his face. "Nē-chan, I want to go home. It hurts, I feel dizzy. I don't want to be here."

Yume wrapped her arms around Yuno protectively. "I know, just breath through it. We'll be okay."

Distantly, the woman knows she was frowning. It was always hard to watch these children go through what they did. She did not sign up for this, to make children endure such harsh training. But they needed a doctor, just in case a child happens to fall so ill, they start dying. She did not want to work in the medical field to test future medicines and drugs on children. She did not work in the medical field because she wanted to hold children here against their will, she wanted to help people. This was against her morals and she hated that she never decided to quit.

"Let us go now," the woman turned to Papa and Mama. "I will lead you back to the office and hand you the schedules. Please, I ask that after this, you never come back."

Mama and Papa just scoff as they follow the woman back, and she can hear, if ever so distant, Yume and Yuno crying and banging on the glass for help, to let them out. It's all just a bad dream, how she wishes that were true.

Yuno hears a door open with a whooshing sound, fear once again gripping his heart as looks around, wishing it was a different door that opened. There were more workers in white coats, they were both men, and they each held a syringe in one hand. The clear containers were filled with a clear silver-ish substance, some of it leaks out of the tip when thumbs press on the plunger.

Yume shielded Yuno as the men came closer, expressions blank as they walked. "You stay away from us! How could you do this to children? Do you have no shame, you dirty pigs?!"

They did not answer, as if they were hypnotized. One of the men grabbed Yume by the arm and pulled her forward. She kicked and thrashed, trying to get away as she shouted and screamed. The man had to physically put his weight on her and sit on one of her legs to get her to stop moving. He pressed the sharp needle into her neck, piercing the skin as his thumb pressed the plunger. The silver liquid disappeared into Yume's body and she felt herself grow weak, eyes becoming glassy.

The other man gave Yuno the same treatment, gripping his ankle before he could crawl away. The man flipped Yuno over and pressed a hand on his chest so he wouldn't try to escape. The boy struggled, crying and sobbing as he brought his hands up to protect him. He bucked his hips to try and make room between himself and the man, only for more weight to be placed on his waist. He gave one last scream before he felt the needle pierce deep into his flesh, followed by the heavy feeling of unfamiliar liquid spreading throughout his bloodstream.

His vision began to fail him as a burning sensation prickled at his skin, spreading from the nape of his neck and down his chest. He could blearily see the image of his sister crawling toward him, and she reached out to curl her arms around him. They laid there, laying each other's warmth before everything went black. They fell into the world of darkness, not bothering to try and get off the floor.

~~~~~~~~

"Yuno, you can't sleep on the floor." Maijima gently shook Yuno, seeing how the boy was mumbling in his sleep and gripping the blanket on Yume's lap.

Yuno awoke with a grumble, turning his head away from Maijima. "Yes, I can. I've slept on the floor before."

Maijima pulled the blanket around Yuno's shoulders off. "Yeah, I've heard that before. And then you're going to have neck and back problems when you're older. Plus, you've slept the entire morning away with a full eight hours of nighttime sleep. If you keep sleeping now, then you won't be able to fall asleep tonight."

Yuno groaned, but he lifted his head and rubbed his eyes. He hated how the images of Yume being drugged were left fresh in his mind, alas, there was nothing he could do to make them go away. "What do you want?" His eyes narrowed in Maijima's direction.

"Whoa, hold on, don't get so upset just yet." Maijima held his hands up to defend himself. "I had to ask, Y'know, because I don't want to leave you home alone in your current state-"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Maijima rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Alright, alright, I got it; you think you'll be perfectly fine alone. But, I think Yume could use a few hours outside."

Yuno's squint turned into a glare. His hand instinctively lifts up to place itself on Yume's thigh. "What for? I don't know if you notice, but there are a lot of people who will gladly knock her wheelchair over."

"And those people are assholes." Maijima puts aside the blanket in his hands and kneels down to be at Yuno's level. Those eyebags were less prominent due to a good night's rest, he noticed. But those frown lines were never going to go away. "You can't keep Yume locked inside forever, that's not healthy. And I understand how you feel about other people seeing her vulnerability. You both were never good with that."

"Then why do you keep insisting?"

"Because I know, after years of experience and seeing what It does to people, that it isn't good for either of you. You can tell me that you're fine and she's as healthy as she can be, but I don't believe a single word of that. Now, I'm going to take Yume for a walk, I'd like it if you came with me too. It'd be good for you. Staring at a screen all day isn't something a teenager should do, or anyone really."

Yuno's eyes never broke contact as Maijima stands back up and takes the handles of Yume's wheelchair. He pulls her backward a bit before pushing forward to move her outside of the room. Only when Yuno can't see Maijima or his sister does he stand and make his way to follow them.

Maijima is putting his shoes on when Yuno leaves the bedroom, and then he puts Yume's shoes on. When Maijima looks up at Yuno again, he's holding a pair of sneakers for the boy, indicating that he wants him to come. So, Yuno makes his way over, albeit, hesitantly. He really doesn't want to go out, nor does he want Yume to go out. It's not like anything bad would happen, but he still needed to be safe rather than sorry.

He gave in eventually, pulling his shoes on to follow the other two. They have to take the elevator since Yume's wheelchair can't go down the stairs. It feel like an eternity as the they wait for the elevator to come up; it only dings and the doors open when Yuno thinks it's not working anymore. They step inside, silent, and Maijima pressed the button with the number one next to it, and then the doors close impossibly slow. It closes similiar to the doors back in that room-

No. We're not associating things with that god forsaken place, he's not going to. Yuno has to remind himself to actually breath even as he tried looking away from the automatic doors. Maijima can see the way Yuno closes his eyes and leans back against to bars on the wall, he uses them for support as his head thumps against the wood of the elevator.

Such a stupid trigger, it's been years, and his heart still becomes a trapped bird in his ribcage whenever he sees something even similiar to those doors. Yuno personally thinks it's pathetic, after half a decade, and still scared to see things with a single detail in common to that place. Maijima says that trauma can stay with you forever, it doesn't matter what. Yuno…still thinks it's pathetic, so he pretends to accept this "trauma."

"Do your friends know that you have this disassociation problem?" Maijima's voice suddenly rang in Yuno's ears, his train of thought coming to a stop.

"What?" Yuno turned his head to Maijima, blinking a few times to make his dry eyes a little more wet again.

Maijima grunted in amusement, for whatever reason. "Are you even aware of it?"

Yuno's eyes narrow and he squints at Maijima. "What…disassociation?"

"Do you even know what that is? You look just as confused as me. Do you ever talk to doctors? To get check-ups anymore?"

Yuno scowls at the questions. Well, no, he doesn't go to the doctors, not at all and not often enough. He doesn't get check-ups because there's nothing wrong with him physically, it was all mental problems. No doctor could fix whatever the hell was wrong with him, and believe him, he's tried, multiple times.

"Are you implying that I have a disorder?" Yuno crosses his arms, pretending he didn't just have a small episode of panic. "Because I don't. You're incredibly rude for saying something like that."

Maijima frowned. "I didn't say that. I'm just saying that maybe you have something going on, and maybe you're not aware of it, and maybe, you should try to fix that problem before it gets you hurt."

"I do not have dissasociation."

Maijima rolled his eyes. "Yes, that explains why there have been multiple times where you zoned out, couldn't even hear the people around you, feel them, didn't even know who came near you."

"Are we going on a walk or are you going to insist I have a problem?"

Maijima sighed. Again, Yuno avoided the subject for his own safety. Maijima supposes he can't blame the boy, but with how often it happens, he can't help but wonder how he's going to fix that problem. There was at one point where he had just come to the conclusion that there really was no cure for it.

The elevator came to a sudden stop, causing Yuno to suddenly feel off balanced. He placed a hand on the wall, using it for support, and he scowled at the doors as they opened slowly again. Maijima's frown deepened as he left the elevator, Yuno following behind him closely like something would jump out at him from the confined area.

"You know it's okay to have a few problems, right?" Maijima suddenly asked as they walked on the sidewalk. "I don't want you to think there's something wrong with you, and I'm not saying there is, but it's okay to admit that you may need to work on a few things. Even I know that I have a few things to work on."

Yuno didn't looked at Maijima, nor did he respond, not even a grunt in response. He hid behind his hair as he kept on walking, his feet moving on autopilot and ignoring Maijima. Or he could've been zoning out again as he walked.

Maijima tapped Yuno's shoulder, once and then twice. On the third time, Yuno came to an abrupt stop and lifted his head, looking left and right and then at Maijima.

"Where are we going?" Yuno asked, as if he had completely forgot what they were doing. That was slightly concerning, but Maijima had heard somewhere that some people briefly forget things when disassociating. No, he couldn't jump to conclusions; for all he knew, it was just a zoning out problem.

"We don't have to go anywhere," Maijima answered after seeing how Yuno stared at him. "Unless you want to go somewhere. If not, then we're just going to walk around the neighborhood for a bit. Get some sunshine on both of you."

Yuno shoved his hands in his pockets, his shoulders coming up to his ears. "It's like you think I'm so unhealthy that I can't think for myself."

"You definitely make it seem that way. If you don't want people thinking that when they look at you, maybe you should change your lifestyle choices. It'd help you in the long run too."

A man taller than Yuno and Maijima walked past them in that moment, and Yuno gripped Maijima's sleeve between his index finger and thumb as he eyed the man. He even turned around to study the back of the man, too much caution in his expression. When he turned back around, Maijima was looking at him with worry, too much worry.

Yuno scowled. "No one is trustworthy. If I can't be with you or…Kisuma, I guess, then I'll be attacked by someone."

"What makes you think that?" Maijima did not pout when Yuno let go of his sleeve, he did not.

"I just said it's because I can't trust anyone. I don't want to be alone outside, it doesn't matter where. I'm vulnerable if someone isn't watching my blind spot. I don't go out unless Kisuma is with me, or in this case, you."

Maijima took notice of the way Yuno referred to her as Kisuma and not Kisu. The boy was truly convinced that she hated him, therefore, shouldn't use her nickname that only friends call her. Only people she likes can call her that, and Yuno isn't someone she enjoys being around.

Maijima sighed. He didn't want a grumpy Yuno, so he didn't push it, but he would make sure to ask later. "You could still just sit in your backyard. The sun shines on that side, it'd be a nice evening with a snack."

"Oh, the backyard," Yuno looked away, avoiding eye contact with Maijima. The older eyed him with suspicion. "The backyard is overgrown with weeds. I never cleaned it up."

Maijima deadpanned. "Overgrown with weeds? And you haven't gotten around to take care of it at all? You do realize it'll be even worse if you procrastinate, right?"

"Who says it's going to be me taking care of it? I'm just too lazy to step out into the yard. I have better things to do like reading or fixing my PC."

"You mean playing on your PC."

"Same difference. I already have enough to do with school and paying bills for the house."

"How on earth do you even make enough money to keep that house working?"

"That is none of your business."

This boy can be insufferable at times, especially when he's like this; stubborn. It made zero sense to Maijima how a teenager could go from angry to nonchalant all in five minutes. Then again, he was like that as well, he was a teenager once too, so he couldn't really question the nature of a growing human being.

The two spent their time bickering back and forth, playful, like always. It's never like they mean anything they say to each other, whether it's an insult or name calling. Somewhat thankfully, Yume couldn't hear a thing they said and she didn't have the ability to get irritated if she couldn't hear them.

He missed this, missed having someone to talk to. And maybe he did miss being outside once in a while.