The door opens with a soft creak, barely interrupted by the soft thud of his backpack falling to the floor. It's after nine at night, and Ryusei crosses the threshold with heavy steps, his untied shoelaces dragging on the floor. He smells of the street and dried blood—not his, obviously, but the idiot who bothered him.

He stops in the living room when he sees the small lamp lit. His pink eyes, still aglow with adrenaline, soften as soon as he finds her. There she is, asleep on the couch, an open book lying next to her hand, breathing calmly, oblivious to the chaos her son drags with him.

He clicks his tongue, annoyed, but not with her. With everything else. He lets out a short, low laugh as he leans over to pick up the book and places it closed on the table. He kneels in front of her, watching her silently for a full minute. His large, calloused hand brushes back a strand of hair that's stuck to her cheek.

For a second, his expression loses its edge: there he is, that wild child who only submits to one person. Because you're his mother. The only one capable of making Shidou Ryusei obey... even though he always does so with grunts and complaints.

With care, the only care he seems to know, he slips one arm under her knees and the other around her back. He carries her as if she weighs nothing, his breath brushing her neck as he stands. As he walks down the hallway, his voice breaks the silence, a husky murmur, laced with a poorly concealed scolding.

"Tch... Asleep on the couch again, old hag? You're going to screw up your back." Ryusei lets out a low, almost tender laugh as he tucks her against his chest. "How annoying... How are you going to take care of me if you don't even know how to take care of yourself, huh?"

He steps firmly through his mother's bedroom door, making sure not to hit her on the frame. He lays her down slowly, as if afraid of waking her. Before moving away, his hand lingers on her hair, combing it with a gentleness he shows no one else.

Because she was special to him, even though she had him when she was young, she never abandoned him and cared for him, even though she sacrificed her own dreams in the process. How could he not love her? She was his mother, who made sure to give him everything he needed and wanted.