The buds were slowly opening up, and the green color was at its peak.
It was warm enough that people were walking without their coats and scarves anymore.
The gentle breeze blew through the window and played with the white curtains, but it didn't disturb the papers and books scattered on the bed.
" Studying again?" Yuusuke shot up from the door as he stepped inside, sliding it closed behind him.
The other boy was sitting in his bed with a hospital table covered in papers and notebooks before him, his purple Cardigan draped over his back to ward off the last of the chill lingering in the air.
" My mind and right hand are the only things I'm able to use as I want, so might as well benefit from that."
While the rest of his body atrophied from almost a year bound to his bed, his prosthetic arm had no such limitations, and so, against all odds, he found himself thankful for that, as he busied himself with his work.
Yuusuke glanced down at the fluffy, small, colorful balls that were drifting through the room, some basking in the sun, others organizing papers and notebooks. They looked like dandelion fluff, and when a bunch of them stuck to something, they could lift and float it up in the air.
" What are these?"
" The spirits call them fluffs. No one exactly knows what they are. Some say that they're the spirits of children who died too young." Yuu reached out, thankfully, to take a paper from a bunch of them. " They like to help, and they're really useful. When they're not stealing candies..."
Yuu's eyes drifted down to his brother's pocket. Yuusuke followed his gaze to find several fluffs sticking to it, which he quickly shooed away.
" You still don't go anywhere without sticks of chocolate?" Yuu quirked his eyebrow, clearly amused that his adult brother still didn't grow out of that habit.
Yuusuke sighed as he reached for the pack and drew a stick, offering it to the spirits. " They're a good source for energy." He shrugged, putting another in his mouth and walking over to Yuu. " Want one?"
The boy blinked before snatching one for himself, although he didn't eat it, he stared at it.
" What did you do?"
" I offered you a snack." He took another stick and flopped on the stool beside him.
" You know what I mean." Yuu's eyes shot towards him, and they were serious. " I told you not to wake me up."
Yuusuke merely wiggled the chocolate stick in his mouth, averting his eyes. " I don't know what you're talking about."
" Don't play dumb with me. I wasn't supposed to wake up just yet."
The older brother's eyes narrowed, and the younger looked down at his atrophied hand.
" That day... I used 10 years' worth of my energy..."
Yuusuke's eyes widened as the stick snapped in two between his teeth. " That's impossible. No one can do such a thing."
" That's why... I had to do a Take Over with a strong spirit to make it happen." Yuu looked back at him. " Thanks to your advice, I managed to accumulate enough energy to summon Seiryuu, and he made it possible. Energy could transcend time and space, and so apparently do strong spirits. They can exist in every time at once, though not physically. So to properly summon Yggdrasil, instead of paying with my life, I resorted to the future. With Seiryuu's help, I drew strength from 10 years ahead, and left the bare minimum to survive. No matter how much energy you would have poured into me during that time, it would only have been absorbed back into Yggdrasil, on that day, at that moment."
Yuusuke's eyes were wide open as several pieces fell into place for him.
Yuu's state.
His last wish.
He had already seen that far.
" Yet 9 months later, I'm awake. The exchange for Yggdrasil had been evened in such a short time." The boy clenched and unclenched his metallic fist, as if wanting to make sure it was no dream. " How did you do it? You shouldn't have been able to."
" Had a feeling it was something like that." Yuusuke merely smirked in response as he balanced his glasses. " Though it wasn't me."
Yuu blinked, and the man drew another chocolate stick. " To be precise, it wasn't just me. Our parents came by every day, sharing their strength with you as well. Sora-chan and her grandmother came by every week. Angel's stamina is really something, you know. Your friends and teachers, even the Pro Heroes who cared for you, tried their best to squeeze some time to come and offer their help as well."
The young boy was dumbfounded at that statement. Not just at how much they cared, but at the implied effort his brother must have made during that time.
How did they know to help if he hadn't asked them?
Hidden behind that statement were weeks, if not months, of Yuusuke bowing his head to everyone he could think of to save his little brother.
" Still-"
" Still, it wouldn't have been enough, you're right. I might not be able to see spirits, as you do." His smile broadened as he looked back to his younger brother, taking off his glasses and opening his narrow, sharp eyes enough for their purple glow to be visible. " But I can see the flow of energy within your body."
Yuu cocked his head in confusion. " There were times that energy would pulse through your body out of nowhere. Stronger than any human could have provided. My only guess was that the spirits came to your help as well."
The revelation made Yuu's eyes widen slightly, and Yuusuke returned his glasses to his face. " You gave everyone from your strength that day to bring that miracle, and everyone shared their strength with you, bringing forth another. One for all, all for one, don't you agree?" The older laughed.
Yeah...
It made sense...
Yuu had to agree...
" Still, I can't believe you would have left your friends waiting for you for 10 years. That would have been cruel." Yuusuke countered, poking his brother's face, much to the younger's annoyance. " Didn't you think of poor Sora-chan?"
"... I did..." Yuu averted his eyes this time, and Yuusuke frowned slightly. " 10 years would have been enough time for her, for everyone, to move on with their lives, and forget about me..."
Yuusuke leaned back, his face wrestling with several emotions and thoughts before he finally found the right words. " But they didn't. They refused to. That's why you're awake now. You should remember that." Yuu lowered his head in shame as his brother stood up and turned to leave, but lingered before the door.
" Your life doesn't belong to you alone. There are many people who would worry and care for you. So don't ever decide on their behalf again."...
________________
His days became busy from then on, between regular visits from his friends and family, rehab, and studying to catch up with the one year he had lost, he could barely take it easy, despite his brother's frequent reminders.
His classmates helped him out as much as they could when they came by to visit.
What really unsettled him on their first visit was a bow of gratitude from Bakugo, but it didn't last long, for he threatened to immolate him should he ever attempt something like Yggdrasil again.
All of his classmates rebuked him one way or another, the most vocal of them being Iida, who almost popped his head off his shoulders as he shook him vigorously. " You! YOU!!!"
He could tell how much they were worried about him.
" Your life doesn't belong to you alone..."
Even if the exchange hadn't been evened.
Even if he had to spend 10 years in a coma.
He knew...
They would have waited for him...
He received a similar treatment from Aizawa, who bound him in his cloth when he came to deliver the study materials for the second year.
" Rational my foot..." he said as he almost squeezed the soul out of Yuu.
The grand result...
Was that Yuu managed to attend his third year with them, much to everyone's delight.
They had swarmed him the moment Sora wheeled him into their new classroom on their first day.
He had to start the year in a wheelchair, as he was still recovering, and attend rehab almost daily. However, he was allowed to stay at the dorm.
Aizawa came by every night to help with his cram studies, and thankfully, he didn't take more than a month to catch up with everyone, mainly because his friends helped a lot in that regard, taking turns tutoring him in their best subjects. Although Bakugo's lessons were more threats than teaching. And they were, surprisingly, effective.
His family came by often to drive him to his rehabilitation sessions, but it was mostly his brother.
As days passed, he swapped the wheelchair for crutches, and finally, was able to walk on his own again before the sports festival in June.
Even the doctors said he had been making large leaps in his progress.
Bakugo couldn't stand that and began working even harder on his wounded right arm.
By the end of their third year, they had grown mature, stronger, more responsible... and still a delightful, chaotic class.
The ember of One For All had totally faded, and Midoriya was left all but Quirkless.
Though it didn't bother him at all, for he managed to stand by their side, to the very end. And according to him, he didn't need it to be what he wanted to be.
The graduation ceremony, or rather, concert, finally came.
As they received their diplomas, Sora raised hers proudly for everyone to see, much like what Hado did.
She understood why.
It wasn't just a diploma.
It was the proof of what they had endured.
Of the losses they had to live with.
And of how far they managed to come, after everything broke to pieces.
She wouldn't say that everything had been mended, for class B still had an empty chair among them.
And Aoyama was not with them.
But she was fine with it.
She had learned to move on.
Yuu received his with as much pride as she did.
He didn't shiver or tremble as he ascended the stage to collect it.
But he teared up.
Sora gave him an encouraging pat and a thumbs up when he returned to his seat beside her. " You earned it. You worked harder than anyone to catch up."
He did.
The speeches followed. And their year's rep was Iida.
He delivered a resonating speech about helping each other and standing side by side to overcome dark times. All without losing hope.
Several of the eyes looking at him welled up.
" Graduating class representative, Iida Tenya. UA..."
" PEACE OUT!" Bakugo shouted as he blasted his way through the back of the stage, followed by Monoma, who didn't want to be left behind.
And between them, with his sparks flying everywhere and lighting the venue along with the blasts... Was Thunderbird!
Sora turned on Yuu with a questioning look, and he scratched his jaw as he laughed awkwardly.
" He said he wanted to take part in the demolition."
Just like that, their years of high school came to an end.
And, as each turned to find their path in life...
A new story began...