In the car, you stare down at your phone watching your notifications fill with heart emojis from Tamaki. You open your messages and respond with the double heart emoji. Hizashi sits next to you in the driver's seat, belting his lungs out to Heart Attack by Demi Lovato. Noticing that you're not singing with him like you usually do, he turns the volume dial, and Demi quiets enough for you to hear Hizashi over the music. 

"Hey, kiddo," he says, turning his head slightly toward you but keeping his eyes on the road. "You okay?" 

You turn off your phone and set it on your leg face down. "Mhm," you answer dryly. Your phone buzzes. 

Hizashi is silent for a moment. "I know you don't want to do this but it's the only way for your wings to heal properly." 

"I know that," you say, "but that doesn't make it any more enjoyable." 

With no way to argue, Hizashi turns up the volume again as the pre-chorus of Just a Friend by Jordi plays, both of you joining in. 

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

When you reach your house, your doctor is sitting on the porch. He stands as you pull into the driveway and you all bow to each other before entering the house. You kick off your shoes and go straight to your room to change. Fluffy oversized sweatshirt and soft shorts on, you open your bedroom door and call out to Hizashi and your doctor. 

"Alright, Y/N," Dr. Yoshima says, donning blue gloves. "Let's see what we're working with." You sit cross-legged on your bed as he walks around studying your wings, delicately touching them every few steps. Pulling off his gloves, he lifts his glasses onto his forehead. You look up at him hopefully. 

"How bad is it?" you ask him, crossing your fingers under your leg. 

Dr. Yoshima clears his throat as he drops the gloves into the trash can by your desk. "You'll be in for about a week, I'm afraid," he says, wiping his glasses on his shirt to avoid your gaze. 

Dammit, Shota was right. You groan and drop your head. Hizashi walks over and rubs your back soothingly, keeping a safe distance from your wings. 

"It'll be okay, kiddo," he says from beside you as you mope. 

You look up at him angrily as if it were his fault. "But what about school? And all the makeup work I'll have when I get out." You turn to your doctor. "Can't we do something like a few days now and then a break and then another few days later?" At this point, you're desperate. A week of comatose, no food, no entertainment, no people. You were miserable the last time you had to do this and you didn't even have any friends then. Now you have people that you can actually talk to and now you have to spend an entire week without them. Without Tamaki. 

"Well, Y/N," he starts, nervous. "That isn't how this works. We cannot control the chrysalis, we can only make predictions as to how long you will remain in there." 

"As if these so-called predictions are even close to accurate," you hiss, glaring at the doctor across the room. He backs away further, bumping into the wall. Hizashi pats your shoulder to calm you down. You swing your head away from the doctor, lifting your chin and closing your eyes. "Whatever, let's just get this over with." 

"Yes, of course," he responds, slowly walking back to your bed. You snatch your biggest stuffed animal and hug it, setting it in your lap. Hizashi walks backward to the other side of the room in front of your bed, not taking his eyes off of you. "You know what to do, Y/N." 

You don't respond, instead throwing one last glare at the doctor before closing your eyes and relaxing. Your wings flap slowly, lifting you a few inches off the bed. The lightest and most delicate of pixie dust is emitted from your skin and begins to form a teardrop shape around you. You continue to rise until the top of the teardrop attaches to the small branch-like fixture you had put in your ceiling. The chrysalis around you is still translucent as the dust works to fix the gaps and thicken it. Once the process is complete, the doctor pushes his glasses up on his nose and Hizashi lets out a breath. 

"And there you have it," Dr. Yoshima says, turning to Hizashi. "Call me immediately if anything happens that isn't supposed to or when she comes out. See you in a week." 

"Yes, thank you very much," Hizashi returns, shaking his hand before leading him out the door. 

After the doctor has left, Hizashi takes out his phone and texts Shota to let him know that you're in your chrysalis. At Shota's thumbs-up response, Hizashi puts away his phone and goes to take a nap. Only to be woken by a teenage boy a few hours later...

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

This is a much shorter chapter than usual but it was necessary. At least I believe it is.

Thank you all for your love and support of this story. It's given me so much pride and confidence, I hope you all know how grateful I am for you.

Feel free to check out any of my other stories while you wait for me to come up with ideas for the next chapter of this one.

<3