章 20: Chapter 20: Empty!
U.A Dorms.
7:20 AM
Momo woke up as a ray of sunlight hit her eyes. Shielding them with one hand, she wondered, 'Is it morning already?' She almost dropped Luffy from her embrace but managed to catch him without waking him up. 'Oh, Lu... What am I going to do with you?' she asked herself. They had stayed on the couch all night; Luffy had fallen asleep crying, and Momo didn't have the heart to wake him up or put him back in his room.
She looked at his cheeks, which were still red from crying. Then, she glanced at the straw hat on the table and sighed. She knew that whatever was happening with Luffy right now would be a major change in his personality. Whether the change would be good or bad, she couldn't say. Finally, she noticed her phone and grabbed it.
"7?! Already?!" She exclaimed out loud, she quickly put a hand over her mouth when she realized she basically yelled. Thankfully, Luffy didn't even stir in his sleep. *He's still exhausted from all that… crying.* Now Momo was sad.
But now was not the time for her to be sad, now was the time for her to take her ass out of there. At any minute, any of her fellow classmates could barge into the common area, and she didn't want them to see Luffy in such a vulnerable state, so she'll have to take Luffy back to her room, she couldn't take him back to his room for obvious reasons.
She quickly got her phone and placed it in her back pocket, she grabbed the straw hat and placed it back on Luffy's head and she gently grabbed him, and ran to the stairway on the right side. That one was closer to her room and with fewer chances of bumping into her classmates. As she set foot on the stairway she heard the elevator doors opening. *Damn! Here? Already?* She tried to send a wave of observation haki but her drowsiness, plus her lack of energy, from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position, made it difficult for her to use the little that she knew. *You just have to go up 5 stories. No big deal.* She encouraged herself, but as they say, easier said than done, or thought than done in this case.
A few close calls later, and one where she smacked Luffy's head on a wall, she found herself in her room. Panting, she slowly closed the door behind her, and with a deep breath, she finally relaxed. She considered herself lucky that she's got a suspension now. Now she can just go back to sleep instead of worrying about lessons. *I just need to figure out where I put Lu–*
*Knock! Knock! Knock!* Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard knocks on her door. Feeling dread creep into her mind, she quickly tossed Luffy into a nearby closet *Sorry Lu!* and threw herself in bed.
"Maybe she's still asleep?" Momo heard a female voice from the other side of the door.
"At this hour? On a school day? Be serious." Momo heard another female voice.
"We already tried knocking once a while ago, but we thought that she was asleep so we let her be. Maybe we should just leave."
"But what if she's missing? What if she's somewhere with the rep? The boys said he also wasn't responding."
"I'm not surprised he wasn't responding. I'm pretty sure the rep could sleep through a tornado."
*Knock! Knock! Knock!* Momo heard another pair of knocks. Deciding that they probably wouldn't leave until they made sure she was here, she responded in her best 'I was just asleep voice'.
"Yeah?" She said weakly while not getting up from her bed.
"Momo! It's me, Uraraka! Are you awake?" Apparently, Uraraka was one of the voices.
"I am now." Momo responded.
"Oh, sorry about that." Uraraka said with an apologetic tone in her voice. "Can we come in?"
"…Yeah. You can." Momo said after thinking it over for a bit. They'll probably leave faster if they got visual confirmation that Momo was here.
But as soon as the door started opening, Luffy's still asleep body, fell out of the closet. "What was tha–"
"NEVERMIND! Don't come in!" Momo suddenly yelled as she jumped out of the bed and forcibly closed the door in the girls' faces.
"Huh? Hey!" The other girl said annoyed. "What was that for?!"
"Don't worry about it!" Momo said as she used her whole body to block the door. "Just… uh… A bunch of books fell!"
"...Books?"
"Yeah! Books, It's a real mess, I'd hate it if you guys saw my place like this!" Momo said, fully forgotten about the fact that she was supposed to act sleepy. "Just tell me here, what's up?"
"...Umm, first period starts in a couple of minutes, If you don't hurry up you'll miss it." Uraraka said worriedly. "Almost everyone's ready to go, so you know… we were just worried."
"...Wait wait wait! You guys don't know?" Momo said, genuinely confused. "Todoroki didn't tell you?"
"Tell us what?" The other girl, who Momo figured out it was Jirou, said.
"Me, Luffy and Todoroki are suspended from school. That was our punishment for going against the rules." Momo said.
"What?!" "Eh?!" They both said at the same time, clearly taken aback.
"I mean, It's obvious we would get punished for breaking the rules." Momo said, she started moving away from the door and grabbed Luffy.
"Yeah, No, That's not–"
"So that's why the boys can't get the rep and Todoroki to wake up. They probably slept in!" Uraraka said while making an 'oooh' face.
"Aizawa never told us! You never told us!" Jirou said, feeling slightly offended at being left out.
"Sorry, sorry. Must've slipped my mind, with the moving in the dorms and all." Momo said as she placed Luffy gently on the end side of her bed.
"...So, what're you gonna do now?" Uraraka asked.
"Probably try to go back to sleep, after that I'll hit the books or something." Momo said.
"I see.. well, good luck with that I guess." Jirou said as her voice grew distant. "Come on Uraraka, we disturbed her long enough."
"Yeah you're right, sorry Momo! We'll tell the boys the news and stuff." Uraraka said as her voice also grew distant. "Bye!"
"Goodbye!" Momo said, not knowing if they actually heard her or not. At least now, her worry about bumping into others is gone. She took a look at Luffy and estimated at least another couple of hours when he'll still be asleep. She was thankful for that, he needed the sleep. Knowing she couldn't take Luffy back to his room and being way too tired to make an extra bed, she decided to let Luffy sleep on the far side of the bed while she was sleeping on the opposite side. At least she'll be able to keep an eye on Luffy like that, after that breakdown, he's going to need some emotional support.
After taking one last look at Luffy, she closed the curtains and hopped into bed. She couldn't have slept for more than half an hour before the window suddenly opened, waking her up.
"Whaaa–" She said drowsily, she looked at Luffy only for him not to be there. He jumped out the window, she quickly concluded. "Wait, Luffy!"
Nezu's Office.
*Ahh, nothing better than a good cup of tea to start the day.* Nezu thought as he jumped on his seat. *Now, with all these student reports–*
Nezu's thoughts were interrupted by a hatless pirate bursting through the window, scattering glass shards everywhere. Luffy was in his pajamas that looked similar to his usual clothes, he was also barefooted.
"Whoa, Young Luffy?!" Nezu said, startled. The thing that also surprised him was Luffy's new expression, one he didn't think he would see on Luffy of all people, a grim and desperate one.
"You! Please tell me you found out how I got here and how I can go back! Please, Please tell me you found a way!" Luffy said in a desperate voice as he grabbed Nezu and held him to eye level.
"Excuse–" Nezu said while trying to get Luffy to put him down but was interrupted by him.
"NO! No Excuses! I'm being very serious here!" Luffy said as anger started to seep into his demeanor. "Tell Me Right Now! If you found a way!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
After a couple of silent seconds where Luffy's sharp eyes stared daggers at Nezu, Nezu said. "...Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way-"
As soon as he said this, the fire that burned in Luffy's eyes, the same one that witnessed Shanks putting his Straw Hat on Luffy, the same one that saw Luffy's arrival in the Grand Line, the same one that saw Ace's death, the same one that persisted through all of his trials and tribulations from the moment he was born to this very second, extinguished.
With a sharp intake of breath, he dropped Nezu while staring at nothingness.
"-I did all that I could up until now, I spent a large amount of money to figure out something, but I haven't found anything new I'm afraid." Nezu said while straightening his suit. Luffy didn't move from his spot.
"But don't be afraid. This doesn't mean I've given up. I'll still do my utmost to find a way to get you back home, Luffy. That's a promise. As a hero, I can't afford to give up hope, and neither can you. I won't assume to know what happened for your sudden outburst, but I can see that you're hurt. Just remember that you're not alone here, and even if everyone abandons your side, I'll still be here to help you. So whatever you do, don't give up." Nezu finished his monologue, thinking he did some sort of damage control.
Unbeknownst to him, Luffy's mind only kept replaying the words 'I couldn't find a way' over and over and over again in his head. Without a word, Luffy suddenly started walking towards the busted window.
"Young Luffy! Your feet!" Nezu said worriedly when he saw Luffy's feet getting cut by the broken glass on the ground. He left behind bloody footprints as he approached the window but Luffy looked like he didn't even feel the cuts.
Luffy, grabbing the sides of the window and putting one foot on the window's broken frame, jumped, slicing his hands and making a deep cut in his leg.
*This is bad, we're on the 6th floor.* Nezu said as he quickly ran to the window and looked out to see Luffy face-planting the concrete, making some cracks in the ground. Due to his power, Luffy didn't receive any sort of damage, but he was also not moving. *At times like these, it's best to let the close ones deal with it.* Nezu thought as he dialed Momo and Aizawa. The first one to pick up was Momo then Aizawa.
"Nezu, In case you don't know, I'm a teacher, therefore I'm in the middle of classes. This better be important." Aizawa said frustrated while trying to keep the class quiet.
"Mr. Nezu! Mr. Aizawa! Umm… Weird question, but you haven't happened to see Luffy wandering around, right?" Momo said while she paced back and forth in her room.
"That is actually the reason I've called. I don't know what happened, but Luffy suddenly busted through the window of my office, looking very deranged, demanding I tell him what I know about the portal that brought him here–-" Nezu said as he started carefully picking up the bloody pieces of grass from the ground.
"Portal? What do you mean a portal?" Momo interrupted Nezu. She stopped walking and started getting dressed.
"Hold on a second, Yaoyorozu. Let the principal finish." Aizawa said as he started writing something to keep the students busy on the chalkboard.
"Yes, I will explain later but for now, I request both of your presence at the spot right beneath my office window. You see, after I told Luffy he was unable to return home, he walked to the window and jumped. I'm not worried about his physical state at the moment, I'm more so worried about his mental state, so I leave this in your hands, Luffy's friend and Luffy's guardian." Nezu said and after receiving a quick confirmation, he closed the call and quickly trashed the broken pieces of glass.
Luffy.
*What's the point?* This sentence repeated over and over in Luffy's mind as he sat face-first on the ground. He knew his hands and legs were bleeding, he just didn't care, why would he? He doesn't have a way to go back to his world, he can't see his crew again, and he can never fulfill his dream. From Luffy's perspective, he didn't have a reason to go on living anymore.
"Luffy? Luffy!" Momo said in surprise when she saw him on the ground. "Come on Lu, Stand up!" Momo said but Luffy didn't, he just stood there. Momo crouched to his level to make him forcefully stand up, but that's when she noticed his hands. She looked at them in horror. "What did you do–" Momo said slowly before noticing his legs were also cut. She expected it to be bad, but not this bad.
Quickly steeling herself, she took Luffy by the shoulders and lifted his head up to look him in the eyes. Only then did she see the emptiness within them. He wasn't just sad and depressed, he looked completely lost, his eyes devoid of the usual cheer they held.
"Momo? When did you get here?" Luffy said absent-mindedly.
"Okay, Lu. Time to get up, come on." Momo said as he put one of Luffy's arms on her shoulder and forced him to stand up. But Luffy's body remained limp.
"Just leave me here, there's no point in it anyway." Luffy said with a dead voice. Momo didn't like it.
"Oh? Where's the usual Luffy that I know? The one who wouldn't let something like this get him down?" Momo said in an attempt to get Luffy back to his old self.
"He? He's on the Grand Line, I'm just a reminder of him." Luffy said.
*Oh no, he's already starting with the deep quotes, this is worse than I thought.* Momo thought as she looked at him with worry.
"Come now Lu, there's some tasty meat in the fridge, I can cook it up for you in no time!" Momo said with a cheerful smile and, to her credit, Luffy did look at her for the first time instead of just staring off into space.
"Not hungry." Luffy said before resuming his dead stare.
*WHAT?!* Momo screamed in her mind as she looked at him in complete bewilderment, if this wasn't such a serious moment, her jaw would be hitting the ground. *This is officially way, way, worse than I thought.*
"Yaoyorozu? Luffy?" Aizawa said as he noticed them from the back. The first thing he saw was Momo holding Luffy's lifeless body, the second was his bloody hands and feet, and the third was the absence of his hat. *The kid's in a bad place right now, I don't need haki to know that. I need to think of a way to get him back or else he'll stay like this forever.*
"Ah, Mr. Aizawa! Good Morning! Could you pleasw help me out here?" Momo asked to which Aizawa complied. They proceeded to hold Luffy up, each taking one arm.
"Oh, sunglasses, It's you." Luffy acknowledged Aizawa's arrival and continued to not say anything else. Now, with better support, they were able to take Luffy back to the dorms. But the walk wasn't completely silent.
"By the way, I heard the principal mentioning a portal, I'm still lost on that. Could you perhaps explain?" Momo asked as she did her best not to squeeze on Luffy's injured hand.
"...Not here." Aizawa said before taking a quick look around. He didn't want to be heard by any student by accident, like Mirio. Ok, the walk was mostly silent.
Dorms.
"Give him here, you open the door." Aizawa said as he did his best to balance Luffy on himself. They then quickly got inside, thanked their luck for not being seen, and plopped Luffy on the couch, his gaze never changing.
"Shouldn't we call Recovery Girl to take a look at him?" Momo asked.
"I'd like to keep this a secret as much as possible." Aizawa replied before grabbing a nearby bottle of disinfectant alcohol and a bowl of water from the kitchen "As for his injuries, I'll bandage him, as a hero you're forced to know first-aid, which I do. Make a roll of cotton bandages."
Momo did as instructed and Aizawa got to work. While looking at Luffy, she realized how he was missing his hat, not having any better ideas for now she made a quick trip to grab it from her room. *This has to cheer him up, hopefully.* When she got back, Aizawa was already done with the bandages.
"Hey Lu, did you forget something?" Momo asked while holding his hat. Noticing that he hadn't moved his head, she put the hat right in front of his face. For a split second, she saw some sparks in Luffy's eyes, but they didn't last long.
"Oh that, I don't care about that anymore." Luffy said, to which Momo looked hurt and Aizawa didn't change his expression, he expected it.
"But you used to care about it a lot, what changed?" Momo asked.
"I can't give it back to Shanks anymore, can I?" Luffy said.
"Shanks? Who's Shanks?" Momo said.
"Oh, He's a really cool pirate from my world, I made a pro–" Luffy began to say but was interrupted.
"Whoa Whoa. What do you mean from your world?" Momo asked, feeling genuine frustration for being left out for so long. "Is this related to the portal?"
"It is. Luffy, care to explain what you mean?" Aizawa said, hoping that reminiscing might get some of his cheer back.
"I don't care." Luffy said to which Aizawa sighed. Feeling a long explanation coming, Momo took a seat on a nearby armchair.
"From the little that I know, Luffy isn't exactly a human…" Aizawa said and paused. "To be honest I thought you were going to interrupt me."
"No, I want to hear the full version first, then make a conclusion." Momo said, to which Aizawa nodded and continued.
"Luffy here is a human from another earth. One in which he is a pirate, I assume." Aizawa said to which Luffy's lip quivered. "Somehow, he found a way to open up a portal to our earth, the problem is that he doesn't know how to get back. Nezu has been trying to find a way to get him back but… well, you know. We wouldn't be having this conversation if he did."
"I see, I see." Momo said while nodding with closed eyes.
.
.
.
"WHAT?!" Momo yelled after failing to process the information she just received.
"There we go." Aizawa said while leaning in his armchair.
"I-I-I mean come on! Another world?! That means the multiverse theory is correct! DO you have any idea what that means?! How many groundbreaking discoveries we could make? What this means for the future of science– or scratch that, for the future of humanity as a whole?! If only we could find a wa–"
"Yeah, if. " Luffy said as he interrupted Momo in his unusual monotone voice.
"O-Oh, sorry Lu. Guess I got a bit too excited." Momo said while bringing her voice down. "You never told me Lu."
"What do you mean? I told you all the time." Luffy said.
"All the time? Wait, you don't mean. All those ridiculous stories, those were real?! All of them?!" Momo exclaimed, Luffy nodded.
"The 2 fighting giants?" Momo said.
"Mhm." Luffy affirmed.
"The Island in the sky?" Momo asked.
"Skypiea, mhm." Luffy said with a slight nod.
"The mermaids? The elephant with a tribe on his back? The Island made out of cake?!" Momo said and even Aizawa was slightly surprised, not knowing all of this.
"Yep, those are all real places that I visited." Luffy said and a tear escaped his eye. "That I'll never get to go there again." Momo didn't like that she, inadvertently, made Luffy cry but she also couldn't contain her pure excitement, those all sounded like incredible places, ones that she would love to see.
"B-But what about the experiment and all that stuff?" Momo said as she directed her attention to Aizawa.
"Oh, that? We lied about that." Aizawa said nonchalantly.
"Why?!" Momo said angrily.
"Because that would make Luffy stick out, which we don't want, and it would also make him an unknown factor. People are often scared of things they don't know," Aizawa explained, which helped to relieve Momo's anger. "Now that you know, I assume you won't go telling everyone else, right?"
"Of course, I can keep a secret." Momo said to which Aizawa nodded. With that done, Aizawa sat up from his seat and headed towards the exit door.
"I still have classes, so I'll be going now." Aizawa said. It's not that he didn't want to help Luffy out, it's just that he didn't really know how. "Yaoyorozu, come with me."
"Yes, sir." Momo said as she got up and followed Aizawa to the exit door. "Is there something you wanted?"
"Listen, because of Luffy's secret, we can't send him for therapy, so it's up to you. You have a month's worth of suspension, right? Well, so does he now. You need to get him back to normal before then because there's no way he can come back to school in his current state. As for your classmates, you can get them to help you, but make sure nobody finds out about Luffy's secret. If anything goes wrong, just give me a call," Aizawa said as he put on his shoes.
"Understood sir." Momo said resolutely. Aizawa nodded and before leaving, he took one last look at Luffy's still-empty expression and said.
"I'm sure you know, but Luffy's at the edge of a cliff now, you're the only one that can keep him on the safe side. Make sure he doesn't fall." Aizawa said and left, closing the door behind him.
*I will.* Momo said and with a determined expression, went back to Luffy.
"Okay Lu." Momo said as she sat back on the armchair. "Sorry, I interrupted you before, continue. I believe you were telling me about Shanks?"
"What's there to tell? He's there and I'm here and I have no way to give Shanks his hat back." Luffy said as he stared absent-mindedly at his hat.
"How do you know?" Momo asked. "How do you know there's no way to give him your hat back?"
"Weren't you listening? The bear and sunglasses both said that they can't open the portal. If they can't do that, I can't go back." Luffy said.
"...yet, they can't open the portal yet." Momo said to which Luffy turned his head to stare at her. "They're still trying, you can't give up hope so soon."
"Soon?" Luffy said with a sarcastic chuckle. "Soon? It's been close to 4 months now. I've held onto hope for 4 months, and look where it got me."
"So? You still have your whole life ahead of you, so, if you think about it, 4 months isn't that long of a time anyway." Momo said and Luffy got back to staring at the ceiling. "Plus, isn't your crew waiting for you? I know you don't really talk about them, but they're still waiting for you, right?"
"...I… I don't know." Luffy said, in his heart, he knew that his crew would wait for him, they waited for him for 2 years after all, but this time he disappeared without a trace.
"Look Lu, I know you don't like to think but think about your crew and your pirate life, and what it really means for you, and ask yourself this. 'Is it worth holding onto hope?' If you can find the answer to that, then I think you'll be just fine." Momo said before getting up. "I'm going to make ourselves some bacon and eggs, okay?"
"I'm not hungry." Luffy said, but Momo ignored him. Luffy then took on a thinking face, and started pondering the question. He found out that Momo was right, he didn't like thinking.
"Oh, Good morning rep." Todoroki said as he entered the common area in his casual clothes. "I came down here to make myself some breakfast, I couldn't really deal with all the noise in the morning, still have to get used to it I guess."
"..." Luffy didn't respond and, with any other student, Todoroki probably wouldn't care, but it felt off to him.
"Rep?" Todoroki said as he glanced at Luffy, he noticed his bandaged hands and feet. "That looks painful, what happened?"
"..."
"Luffy, are you okay?" Todoroki asked one more time.
"...We're all just small little boats floating in an endless ocean, with no compass to show us the way." Luffy said, not moving an inch from his spot.
.
"...What?" Todoroki, even though he barely showed it, looked completely and utterly flabbergasted. He was surprised that Luffy can make such a deep statement, he was also surprised that he can make such a long sentence.
"Oh, Todoroki?" Momo said as she got back to the sofa with 2 big bowls, one filled with bacon and the other eggs, she was also carrying 2 plates with forks. "Good morning!"
"Good morning, I came here to make myself some breakfast, but then I saw the rep." Todoroki said as Momo arranged the food on the small coffee table.
"Oh, I just made some, would you like to join us? You just need to get a set of tableware from the kitchen." Momo said as she placed Luffy's dishware.
"Sure, but why not at the table?" Todoroki asked while pointing at the big table with 20 seats.
"Oh, well this is cozier, you know? Plus we don't need that big of a table just for 2 people." Momo said, of course, she couldn't say the actual reason, that being that Luffy won't walk. "Just go and grab a plate and a fork, okay?"
"...Sure." Todoroki said as he went to grab it. Meanwhile, he couldn't help but think that the whole situation was suspicious. First of all, Luffy hadn't already devoured the entire bowl of bacon, which was a miracle in itself. Secondly, Momo came from a wealthy background like him and should know proper etiquette, but maybe Luffy had corrupted her to the point where she didn't care anymore. And thirdly, there was Luffy in general. Todoroki decided to put those thoughts aside for now since they were pointless without the rest of the story, which he hoped to hear soon.
He sat at the table and grabbed a couple of bacon strips and two eggs. After thanking Momo, he started eating. Momo was eating too, but Luffy wasn't eating, not even sitting on the sofa. Todoroki glanced over to Luffy and noticed the emptiness in his eyes. He also saw Momo watching Luffy with a concerned expression.
"Um...did something happen?" Todoroki asked, aware that something was wrong, but not skilled at small talk.
"Oh, umm no-no, nothing happened. Luffy's just… He's going through a bit of a phase right now, but don't worry, okay? He'll soon be back to the good old Luffy we know and love, ain't that right Lu?" Momo said to which Luffy didn't respond again. "Give or take a month."
"I see… Where did he get those bandages?" Todoroki asked.
"Huh? Bandages? What bandages?" Momo tried to lie in an attempt to avoid the question.
"Those bandages." Todoroki didn't get the hint. He pointed at them. "The ones on his hands and feet. He didn't have them yesterday."
"Oh, Ooooh. Thoooose bandages! Oh, I get it now, I get it. Actually, funny story, it's very funny in fact, its-its…" Momo tried to quickly think up a believable story. "Well, look, we were outside, okay? And this is after everybody left for classes, we were outside an-and Luffy tripped on a rock."
"Tripped?" Todoroki asked with his usual monotone voice.
"Yeah, yeah, He tripped. A-and he fell into a bunch of knifes." Momo was terrible at lying under pressure. "T-Thats where he got cut."
"Knifes? What were knifes doing outside?" Todoroki asked.
"Oh, t-the knifes? The ones that Lu cut his hands on? Those knifes? What were they doing outside? They-They were being carried by me…" Momo lied badly. "Yeeeah, they were being carried by me, and I tripped and dropped them and then Luffy tripped and fell on those knifes, the ones that I dropped… Yep, that's what happened. That's the total 100% truth, of what happened."
.
"Wow, I can't believe this." Todoroki said as he looked at his plate.
*Crap, he definitely knows I lied! There's no way someone would believe me!* Momo panicked as she did her best to hold her smile steady as sweat dripped on her forehead.
"I can't believe something so unfortunate happened." Todoroki genuinely said, Momo face-vaulted. "That must've hurt a lot, I'm sorry."
"N-No it's fine, there's nothing to be sorry for." Momo said as she got back on her chair. *He believed me!* Let me explain, due to Todoroki's daddy issues, he isolated himself from any children his age, therefore his social skill is incredibly low, what that means is that he's very dense and is quick to believe people he calls friends, which Momo is.
"He fell asleep." Todoroki said when he noticed Luffy's sleeping face. "I'm surprised he doesn't snore."
"He usually does. Must be some kind of side effect." Momo said as she leaned back in her armchair. "Sigh. What am I supposed to do now?"
"Well, since I'm also suspended, I'll try to catch up on some books I've been wanting to read." Todoroki said as he got up and went to clean his plate and fork. "Maybe you can do something similar?"
"Huh? What? No, that's not what I meant, I meant–" Momo said before taking a look at Luffy. "Thanks." Momo said with a small sigh. *What am I supposed to do with you Lu?*
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