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The perfume bottle lands in the dumpster with a solid thunk .
It really is a shame. He’d just started a new bottle when society collapsed. It wasn’t particularly cheap either– nothing that broke the bank, especially not for Yuuga’s family, but he’s aware enough that the cost would probably cause several of his classmates to tear their hair out. And he’s throwing it away.
He considered giving it to someone, but then they’d probably wear it, and… not now. Maybe someday he’ll be able to tolerate it again, but not right now.
Anything floral in his wardrobe– shirts, scarves, jewelry, etcetera– goes in a box in the back of his closet. Two boxes, actually, since he was rather fond of flowers. It’s easier to look at them than it is to smell them, but it’s still too fresh.
His new perfume is strawberry scented. Nobody comments on the change.
Yuuga is so incredibly lucky that UA didn’t expel him for what he did. He’s lucky he didn’t get arrested. His actions at Operation Troy earned him a lot of gratitude, even when he was so sure his time as a hero was going to be cut short.
He never thought of himself as lucky before. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Yuuga was lucky, in the fight with Kunieda. Lucky that the villain wanted to draw out his death for as long as he could. Lucky that Tooru was there, that she trusted him. Lucky that it wasn’t too late for any of Kunieda’s victims.
He can look at the scars on his face and his arms and know that he’s lucky.
He has such amazing classmates, that they forgave him. It can still be tense, even with some of the teachers, but everyone is friendly on the surface.
Now, with All for One truly gone and everything out in the open, he can begin again. The world is brighter with his friends beside him.
His closest friends are still Mina and Tooru. They bonded while they studied under Yoroi Musha, and then again after that final battle. Now, since Yoroi Musha retired, they’re going through their new internship offers together. He and Tooru even have several thank-yous from the heroes they saved.
Something’s burning in the kitchen. Kaminari was the last one they saw entering, so he must’ve tried cooking again.
“There’s a reason you’re banned!” Mina yells from where they’re sitting around the common room table.
“You’re banned too!” Kaminari yells back.
Yuuga wrinkles his nose. How did it even get that bad?
Yaomomo pokes her head out of the elevator before grimacing and ducking back inside. He can’t exactly blame her.
The elevator opens again moments later, and Yaomomo walks out carrying several thick white candles. “These should help the smell,” she says.
“How is more things burning going to help things smell less like burning?” Kaminari asks.
Yaomomo doesn’t bother responding as she creates a lighter.
Yuuga turns back to the pile of offers. Here’s one from… oh, that could be a good fit, actually. He turns to Tooru to see if she has a matching letter-
The scent of roses fills the air.
Roses and burning.
His arms ache, right where Kunieda’s flowers ran him through.
He can’t breathe.
“Yuuga?”
The odor is overwhelming. Is he going to be sick? His stomach is churning.
“Oh my god, Momo, put those out!”
He has to get the growths out. His nails dig into his forehead, searching, scraping. Something grabs his wrists as blood runs down into his eye.
The vines?
“You’re okay, Hero, you don’t need to do that. Mina, help me -”
He blinks. His arms are wrapped around something big and soft, and the room smells like sugar cookies.
His face stings.
He looks down to find a big frog squishmallow in his lap. He’s surrounded by pink.
Tooru’s room.
“Hey there, Hero,” she says. She and Mina are sitting on either side of him on her bed. “You back with us?”
He nods, and then tests his voice.
“What… What happened to me?”
He curls in on himself, holding the frog tightly. For a while it was like he was fighting Kunieda again, except he couldn’t do anything.
Mina rubs his back. “Momo wasn’t thinking. She lit these fancy flower candles to cancel out Kaminari’s stink. You got pretty freaked out, dude.”
Oh. Flower candles.
“Sorry,” he says. He touches his forehead– there’s a big band-aid across where he scratched himself.
“You don't need to apologize for someone triggering you,” Tooru says. “The war sucked. I don’t really like flowers anymore either.”
He glances over at her, picturing the scowl on her face clearly.
“I’m not used to making a scene,” he says.
“You’re not? I thought you loved making scenes!” Mina jokes.
Tooru reaches behind him to swat her arm.
“You don’t have to hide anymore,” she tells him. Of course she understands what he means. “Nobody’s going to judge you for feeling genuine emotions.”
“It’s okay to not be okay,” Mina adds.
It’s a new concept, being real. He’s not used to it, still so focused on his persona. Genuine emotion is scary.
The war changed him. His former staples now cause him grief with even the slightest reminder. The fact that flowers could do this to him…
“Just another thing to tell my therapist,” he says, half-joking.
“We’ve all got ‘em,” Tooru agrees. “It’s what they’re here for.”
At least he isn’t going through it alone.