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✩••••̩̩͙⊰•** 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑬𝑵𝑫 of a good trip was the absolute worst feeling that a teenager could experience. A good trip was a small window --- perhaps even just a peephole --- into what could have been. The life they might of had if they had more money, was more popular, had the resources. A good trip was a way to tease the not-so-privileged and leave their souls empty as they made their way back to their sad, sad lives.
Raia had felt that too many times in her life, more than a child ever should. She felt it on the train ride home from school every day. UA was a dream that used to seem so faraway, and she knew that any moment it could slip from her fingers.
She tried not to think about it.
She insisted that her friends not think about it. She wanted them to feel great, if only for another moment. So two days before the dawn of their final day, she found one last thing for them to do. But that was tomorrow.
For now she simply put the last of her money into a two bed motel room for them to rest, the car having been their home since Kirishima's aunt had graced them with a roof.
"I call this bed!" Mina cried before launching herself onto one of the drab twin beds.
"Like hell you do!" Bakugo growled. His rough hands were in his loose pockets and his muscled shoulders were hunched over with a tense pain. Being the driver for so long was not healthy for the body, mind, or soul.
He fell beside her, the two shoulder to shoulder and eyes closing in sync as they enjoyed the extra cushioning.
Raia and Eijiro took the time to brace their feet, pushing the bed that held their two friends against the other single mattress in the room. Shimazu took it upon herself to set everything up while the other five laid close to one another and closed their eyes.
They didn't bother to change, falling asleep in dirty t-shirts and jeans.
So peaceful. Children burdened to save the human race from themselves. Raia smiled. A rare, genuine smile.
They needed background noise to ease their subconscious minds. She flipped the TV onto a rerun episode of Fruits Basket. They needed security from any nightmares that might plague their night. She laid a blanket over their entwined limbs. They needed a clear path in the morning so that they may not stumble nor fall. She organized their shoes nicely by the door.
She almost didn't want to go to sleep.
To enter into such a blissful state only to ripped from it a few hours later. To be held by the grace of the endless universe only to be torn apart at the seams and flung back into a world that did not want you.
But it was whatever. She opted to watch over them instead.
"Not on my watch," a quiet mumble came from the dog pile. Raia glanced away from the anime on the screen and towards the boy whose eyes were barely open. He spindly arms were up in the air and waved her forward sleepily.
"Not that tired," Shimazu responds. It's barely above a whisper.
"Come here."
And so she does. Sero immediately wraps her into his arms, holding her tight. Raia curled her arms into her chest and snuggled into him. She was on the brink of falling off, but he would never let that happen.
And Raia fell asleep in his arms, knowing that the universe's embrace was a place on Earth. A place in an old motel, oozing from the hearts of five lonely teenagers.
