Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Endeavors agency? How did you manage that?” My eyes scanned the contract as I took bites of my breakfast. When no answer came, I looked up at my mentor, Shouta Aizawa, as he sat across from me at the kitchen table that we had shared for the last decade. My eyes rolled when I saw that he was picking at his nails, lost in thought. “Shouta!”

His dark eyes flitted up and met mine, “A few of my students who graduated last year work there now, Keigo knows Endeavor well too so that helped.”

“You want me to work with some of your old students?”

“You should really chew all of your food before you speak.”

I scowled, “old man if you wanted me to work or train with U.A. students then you should’ve had me enroll when I was in high school.”

“You know why we couldn’t do that,” he went back to picking on his fingernails.

I felt my eye twitch as I waited for him to expand upon his comment, when no further addition came, I picked up my used dishes and quickly placed them in our dishwasher. “If you think I’m ready now then I’m all for it, I just don’t know why you’ve decided now that it’s okay when it wasn’t then.”

I had begged Aizawa to let me enroll in U.A 4 years ago after I had spent the better half of the last half a decade training with him and Keigo, as well as several other heroes, such as midnight and present Mic. My pleading had fallen on deaf ears, however, and the idea was shot down as quickly as it had been brought up.

“You can control it better now, you haven’t had any slip-ups.”

“You mean I haven’t killed someone recently so now it’s okay?” My tone was light but it hurt to admit. I was used to people seemingly walking on eggshells while near me, trying to not upset me so that I wouldn’t turn them into a fine mist of free atoms. My quirk is strange, even I haven’t been able to figure out all of its many secrets yet. I’ve been able to manipulate atoms for as long as I can remember, one of my earliest memories was when I first misted a dandelion on accident. It had scared the shit out of my supervisor at the time, she was an older lady who had just wanted to take care of quirkless orphans. Her scream was loud enough to pierce eardrums, causing several other adults to come running our way to see what was the matter. Surprise surprise, the quirkless orphan had a power, and my world turned upside down. That was the first day that I ended up in the custody of the heroes, I met Aizawa a few years afterward where he then offered to take me in to help train me.

I turned around to find Aizawa studying me, “I trust you, Y/N.” A small smile found its way onto my face as I turned back around to face the sink, as long as he believed in me I could do anything. Or at least that’s what it felt like.

“Well, when do I start?”

My duffel bag bounced against my hip as I hoisted it over my shoulder, yanking out my keys at the same time to lock my apartment door behind me while also juggling my morning coffee against my chest.

“Y/N!” A shrill voice interrupted my groggy, morning thoughts as I anticipated the day ahead of me. Tearing my gaze from the lock, I glanced at my next-door neighbor over my shoulder. The older woman stood there with her hair up in rollers, carrying her small, kickable dog. I suppressed the urge to groan as I turned to face her, plastering my fakest, customer service smile on my face. 

“Good morning, Mrs. Truman. What can I do for you on this fine morning?”

“Darling, I noticed that your music was on much longer last night than usual. There was also a strange thumping noise against our shared wall every once in a while. I just wanted to check to make sure you were okay.”

I brought my hot coffee up to my lips to hide the slight blush that erupted on my cheeks. “Ahhhh, yeah, Mrs. Truman I’m fine. I’ll make sure to turn my music down for the future.”

“And the thumping? Should we have maintenance check it out? It sounded almost like a drain or water pipe. I’m worried that we might have a leak.” Her small dogs' beady eyes turned towards me, accusatory like it knew what had been going on in my bedroom the night before.

“No, that was me. There was this huge spider…”

The brisk morning air hit my face as I finally made my way out of my apartment building, the sounds of the city cascaded around me as I started my short walk to work. I exhaled as I observed the other commuters in front of me, making their way to their mundane jobs, slaving away for our capitalistic society. A new level of calmness began to seep into my body as I continued my journey to Endeavors agency. I didn’t mind the commute anymore, I’d much rather prefer this over the 30-minute train ride that it used to be when I was still living at Aizawa’s place.

A few minutes later, Endeavors agency building came into view. “Y/N, hey!” A friendly, familiar voice sounded from the front of the building. I smiled as I met my friend Mia’s gaze. A cigarette hung loosely from her fingers as she shivered against the glass.

“You know if you quit you don’t have to stand out here in the cold anymore.” I winked at her, motioning to the cancer stick in her hand.

“Bad habits die hard, babe,” she grinned as she shook the cigarette to knock some of the ashes off. “You’re a bit late today, what gives?”

“I had a run-in with the nosy neighbor.”

“Ahhh,” she signed with understanding, “she heard you and Amajiki again huh?”

“Yeah, speaking of bad habits,” I shrugged as my phone began to buzz, the name that lit up as I brought it out made me sigh. I pointed to it with my free hand, “It’s like he knows I’m talking about him.”

“Aw, he’s such a sweetheart, knock it off. You would be lucky to call him your husband someday.”

I visibly cringed, “Husband? You don’t know me very well if you think I want one of those.”

Mia cackled at the distressed, dramatic facial expression on my face. “True that. But come on, it’s Amajiki.”

“Oh, shush.” But I knew she was right, Amajiki was safe, sweet, and easy to get along with. Any woman would be lucky to call him theirs, just not me. It’s not that I didn’t want him, I didn’t deserve him. So when the topic had come up months ago about what we were, I had asked him to not complicate things and he had gone along with it. We were friends who sometimes used each other for a release, and that’s how it was going to stay.

“So what was your excuse this time?” Mia smiled at me as she caught me lost in thought.

A mischievous grin lit up my face, “Oh, check this fucker out.” I brought my phone out, ignoring the flirty text that Amajiki had sent, and showed her the picture of the big, ugly spider that I had decided to use as my scapegoat this morning.

“She believed it? That’s just a google image.”

I arched an eyebrow at her, “Mia, she’s ancient. She doesn’t know what google is.” We erupted in giggles, causing several commuters to look our way. A tap on my shoulder cut my laugh off, I turned and met the heterochromia eyes of the one and only Shouto Todoroki. “Hey partner,” I smiled at him as he observed the two of us.

“I don’t want to interrupt but we have a meeting at 7:30…” Shouto trailed off as I turned my wrist to check the time, splashing myself with my half-full coffee in the process.

“Ah, shit.” I muttered as I dabbed at my shirt, “I’ll see you upstairs, Mia,” I called to her as I walked into the building, half and half in tow. “Sorry, Sho.”

“I was late too, you don’t need to apologize,” He said softly as we entered one of the many elevators that could be used to go up to the top floor. I felt his gaze drift over my body as I continued to nonchalantly sip on my caffeine while watching the floors tick by.

“Where do you think he’s going to have us patrol today?” I asked as the elevator doors reopened. A dorky-looking businessman walked in, forcing me to shift closer to the ice and flame user.

“Who knows,” He rolled his eyes, letting out a frustrated huff as he stared ahead. “Are we still on to go over some case files tonight? Your place, right?”

I stifled the desire to groan for the second time this morning, I had totally forgotten that I had agreed to meet up with him during our prior shift. “Oh, sure yeah. No problem.”

His unique eyes darted to mine as he let out a low chuckle, “Are you?”

The elevator doors opened then, displaying the top floor of the agency, where all of the pros had offices and where our meetings took place. I smiled at him as I exited, “If I’m being honest, I kind of forgot about it. But that can be easily fixed, just a quick call and I’ll be all yours for the night.” His face reddened as his feet came to an abrupt stop, causing me to turn to face him. “Sho, what’s up? Was it something I said?” Concern lined my words, but I felt a small smile try to break free onto my face, he was so rarely caught off guard that it was kind of cute when it did happen. Shouto and I had become easy friends when I had met him a year ago when I had started at the agency. He was kind but stoic, his personality melded well with my sarcastic one. Seeing our instant connection, Endeavor elected to have us partner up, even though my quirk didn’t correlate the best with his. I was given more of a supportive position on the team as the quiet investigator, I rarely had to use my quirk violently while Shouto was present at my side, standing tall with his bipolar quirk that so many villains feared. Sometimes, I thought that they had done so on purpose as well, making it so that I never really had to worry about losing my cool and messing up.

“Ah, no, sorry. I just thought of something I forgot to do is all,” as quickly he stopped, he started back up, walking towards our large meeting room near Endeavors office. He refused to meet my confused gaze as he passed me.

A low, sensual laugh emitted from behind me as I watched Endeavors masterpiece walk off. Irritation flooded through me as I recognized the noise. Allowing the bitchiest look to move its way onto my face, I turned to face the breathtaking blonde who strived to get under my skin on a daily basis. In his defense though, I liked to throw the same energy back. “Something funny, pop-rock?”

Katsuki grimaced, “Someone’s in a mood this morning. Amajiki leave you with some unnecessary tension?”

I huffed, turning to follow after my partner. “That’s borderline sexual harassment.”

“Oh please, that and the many things that we say to each other every week,” his crimson eyes twinkled as he smirked at me, meeting my pace and falling into step beside me.

“Wipe that fuckin smirk off of your face before I do it for you,” I grumbled as I lightly shoved him.

A dangerous grin spread across his face, someone was in a great mood this morning. I rarely saw an evil smile on his face before 10 am, even though he was a morning person. “I’d gladly let you wipe the grin off of my face, how would you do it?”

“You’re insufferable, who put crack in your rice crispies this morning?”

Katsuki pouted, “here I thought you were in a playful mood this morning when I saw you tease poor icy hot.”

“Now you’re exaggerating,” I rolled my eyes as we entered the meeting room. As if on queue, my eyes met Shouto’s from across the room. He quickly looked away, fiddling with his hands, looking everywhere but at me. I walked over and took the seat next to him while Katsuki sat at his normal place down the table from us. My phone buzzed, a blush spread across my face as I read the text that had popped up.

BakuBOOM: If you need help with that extra stress, my door is always open. We can practice how you would remove the grin from my face, I have a lot of ideas.

I scowled at the blonde, who waved sarcastically back.

Me: I’ll work out the extra stress with Peppermint boy when he’s at my place tonight. Thanks though! 😊

I shoved my phone back down into my bag and watched as Katsuki’s grin fell as he read the text, shooting daggers at me with his eyes moments later before turning away. I covered my face with my hand as I tried to fight the laugh that wanted to break free. Katsuki wanted into my pants, I’ve known that since I started working at the agency. Apparently playing hard to get was his kryptonite, it drove him crazy, and I loved to play the game with him. 

My eyes darted to the quiet man beside me who hadn’t moved an inch since I had sat down. I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest as we waited for the meeting to begin.

Shouto was more confusing to me. He never outwardly said anything about liking me other than as his work partner but then little flirtatious comments would send him over the edge and cause him to not look at me for hours afterward. It was kind of innocent and cute. I was at war with the small crushes that I had on both men, Katsuki lit the fire under me while Shouto helped tame it. My relationship with Amajiki had helped the situation at the beginning as both boys seemed to back off a little, but they seemed to be getting more comfortable with it as time went on, pushing boundaries and making me question my every decision. If only there was a man out there who was the perfect combination of both of them, crazy but calm, I would never be able to choose between the two of them. A little piece of my heart loved both of them, I knew I would lose that piece of me if I ever made the life-altering decision to go after either of them while losing the other.

So I would continue to be selfish, seemingly stringing both of them along as I continued to get laid daily by my FWB. If either of them found someone else to go after, I’m sure it would bug me, but I would respect their decision. In the end, I did want them both to be happy, even if that happiness wasn’t with me.

Shouto stiffened next to me as his father entered the room. His presence demanded respect and filled the entirety of the space. From what Shouto had told me, his father had “simmered” down in the last few years since the league of villains attacked and Dabi was revealed to really be their long-lost family member, Touya Todoroki. He had lost a bit of his fire when Touya had died, and Dabi had taken more of it with him when he left and disappeared without a trace after revealing his identity. Endeavor had scoured Japan looking for the young man to no avail, many thought that he might be dead, for real this time.

“I have your assignments,” Endeavor tossed some folders down onto the table in front of him. One of his many sidekicks picked them up and began to distribute them amongst the heroes at the table.

“Thanks,” I muttered as a large file was dropped in front of Shouto and me. My eyes widened as I turned its pages. “This is fucking massive, I guess I know what we’ll have to go over tonight.”

Shouto nodded in agreement as he looked over the file with me. “The hero commissions president thinks someone might be embezzling funds from the hero association? Seems like a higher-tiered mission than what we usually do. Shouldn’t the police be looking into this instead,  or legal?” He shook his head as he turned a few pages.

“Whatever, I guess it’s different than doing our normal rounds,” I yawned and stretched my arms over my head.

Chapter Text

“Should I bring some kind of food over with me tonight?” Shouto’s quiet voice interrupted my internet scrolling. We had spent the entire day looking over legal documents and groups that had access to the hero association funds, my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head. I rubbed my temples as I leaned back to look at him. His head was tilted around the side of the computer that he had been using across from mine, watching and waiting for an answer.

“I’d be okay with cold soba if you want to get the normal order,” I smiled as my hands dropped to my lap.

A small, sweet smile grew on his face as he regarded me, “I’ll get our regular then.” He tilted his body back so that he was again hidden by the computer.

I waited for another few minutes before I stood, “I’m calling it, I can’t look at this any longer.”

“Do you want me to walk out with you?” He asked quietly from his chair.

“That’s okay, I’ll see you in an hour, yeah?” I began packing away my things as I responded. He gave me a small nod as acknowledgment before he turned back to his work.

I passed Mia’s desk on my way out and gave her a small wave, she was talking on the phone with a customer but pulled the end of the phone away from her mouth as she mouthed, “Kill me now.” I winked back at her as I entered the elevator.

“Hold the door,” A gruff voice commanded as the doors began to close. I instinctively reached my hand out causing the doors to reopen briefly.

“Well, fuck, I was having such a great afternoon too,” I remarked as Mr. Boom Boom walked into the elevator. His red eyes flicked to mine with no amusement. “Aw, who pissed you off today? You were in such a great mood this morning.” The elevators closed as Katsuki crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall, glaring at the elevator doors as if he could make the machine work faster just by burning holes into it with his eyes. “Now who needs to work off the tension,” I joked as I copied his stance and turned away from him. I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes, waiting for him to pounce, when no reaction came I felt my excitement drop. “Katsuki Bakugou, tell me what’s up,” I demanded as I stood in front of him, forcing him to look me in the eyes.

His eyes narrowed at me as he glared down at me, “You know damn well what.”

“You’re still mad that I teased you this morning? How can I fix it?” I batted my eyelashes at him before motioning to my body, “I was just joking remember. Icy hot won’t get any of this, you don’t have to worry.”

“How long are you going to do this? This stringing us long thing that you’re doing.” He asked quietly.

His question stunned me, so much so that I just stared at him in silence, not knowing what to say. It was so out of character for him to suddenly be serious and contemplative.

“That’s what I thought,” He muttered as he moved past me and walked out into the lobby, making his way towards the exit.

“You would have to take me to dinner first,” I shouted after him when I finally found my voice, making him stop. I immediately regretted the comment and fought the red hue that started to creep on up onto my face.

He briefly glanced at me over his shoulder, “Friday, 6pm, I’ll pick you up. Wear something nice,” he shouted back before he left the building, leaving me speechless once again. What had I just done?

Multiple employees watched me with questioning looks as I adjusted the strap of my duffel bag before I took a deep calming breath and walked out of the building.

This wasn’t the end of the world. We could go on one date and then act normal again, no biggie. I was in the middle of my internal pep talk when my phone began to ring, “Hey, what’s up?”

“Hey beautiful, what do you want for dinner tonight? I was thinking something with chicken in it, Fat Gum said my chicken abilities might be needed tomorrow for a mission and…”

“Ah, Tam, I was just going to call you,” I winced as I cut him off, I totally forgot to call him earlier in the day after Shouto had reminded me about our plans. “Shouto and I just received a pretty big case, big enough that he wants to go over it tonight. He’s bringing dinner with him. I’m sorry about the late notice.”

“Oh, no worries Y/N, I’ll ask Mirio if he wants to join me tonight. How was your day?”

Tamaki and I chatted about our days as I walked home, saying our goodbyes as I unlocked my door. The bright white interior of my luxury apartment greeted me as I set my keys on the island in the kitchen. The clanging of the metal hitting the granite echoed through the place. “Home sweet home,” I mumbled to myself as I looked around.

“Brrp..” A soft trill sounded from my feet as I hung up my coat.

“There’s my baby,” I smiled down at Socks, my black and white tuxedo cat who had moved here with me when I had left Aizawas place. I picked up the fluffy mammal and scratched him behind the ears as he purred into my chest. I began to feel better almost immediately, his purrs cured some of the anxiety that had been eating away at me all day. “We’re going to have a different visitor tonight, you’ll need to be on your best behavior, young man.” I chastised the young feline as he stared up at me with his bright green eyes. I changed into some comfortable clothes and went about doing some last minutes cleaning before Shouto arrived. A soft knock at the door a while later almost made me jump out of my skin as I concentrated on aligning a picture on the wall.

I opened the door to reveal the handsome, candy cane man who stood on the doormat outside. “Hey Sho,” I stepped out of his way and he walked in with a paper bag held between his hands.

“Hey,” he greeted as he slipped his shoes off before setting the food onto the kitchen island. “You have a nice place,” He smiled as his dual-colored eyes scanned our surroundings. His eyes widened as my pet from hell jumped up onto the counter and glared at him. “I didn’t know you had a cat..” He lifted his hand and allowed socks to sniff him, the cat watched him and analyzed him before leaning in to take a whiff. Whatever he smelled on him, he accepted it, as a moment later he leaned into Todoroki’s touch and head-butted his fingers.

“You’re a natural,” I laughed as I took out some chopsticks for us to use while he continued to pet Socks.

“My mom used to have a white cat that I could play with when I was younger, dad didn’t want any other animals though. We didn’t get any other pets after he passed away.”

“Well, that’s just sad. I can’t imagine a home without a furry critter to keep me company.”

Shouto smiled as he took a seat in one of the bar stools and began to watch me while supporting his chin with his hand. I’d never seen him so casual before. His dark blue t-shirt made his cerulean eye pop as they followed my every move. “See something you like?” I winked at him as I handed him his bowl. The reaction was immediate, pink spread across his cheeks and he began to look around at my apartment again. I began to laugh nervously, “I’m sorry, Shouto. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I’m just teasing.”

His eyes darted up to mine as he twirled his chopsticks in his soba, “You don’t make me uncomfortable, Y/N. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Mhm…” I hummed as I took a bite of my dinner, “Well if I ever do, just tell me to shut the hell up.” I stated after I had swallowed. Shouto gave me small smile before he continued to eat. “Do you want something to drink?” I asked him as I turned around to grab a glass, I internally grumbled at myself when I noticed that there was only one more glass left on the lower shelf. Whoever had designed my apartment kitchen had designed it for fucking giants, I could only comfortably reach the first shelf and needed to climb on the counter for any higher shelves.

“Yes please, I’m good with just water,” He said quietly as I contemplated how I was going to do this. I took the first glass down and filled it with filtered water before giving it to him. Standing on my tiptoes, I reached and tried to get a glass down from the next shelf. When I finally decided that that technique wasn't going to work, I went to hoist myself up onto the counter but was halted by a light touch. I let out a tiny gasp when a warm hand rested on my lower back, “I can get it,” Shouto said quietly as he reached up and effortlessly grabbed another glass before handing it to me. My eyes had wandered to the exposed area of his back right above his jeans when he had reached up and I blushed as I realized that I had been checking him out.

“Thanks,” I muttered as I got my own glass of water while Shouto went to go sit back down. The loud blaring of police sirens sounded outside while I took a seat next to him at the counter to eat my soba. “So, about this case…” I began as I pulled the file over between us. “I didn’t realize that there were this many people who held stock in the hero association and that they all could potentially have access to hero funds, has your dad ever talked about this?”

Shouto shook his head and took a sip of water before responding, “I’m as surprised as you are. There have to be at least 50 groups that we need to investigate. It’s a bit mind-boggling. We can always ask for help though if we need it.”

“That’s true. I feel like I haven’t heard of like 40 of these companies.”

“That’s what we can start on tonight, just researching the separate companies.”

I grimaced, it was going to be a long night, “Yay…”

“Or we could watch a movie or do something else,” he suggested quietly as he finished his meal. His eyes darted to mine as he waited for a response. 

My eyebrows rose, “what kind of movie did you have in mind?”

2 hours later I sat beside Shouto on my couch while watching a funny romantic comedy that he had heard about from a friend. I belly laughed and cackled at some parts and cried during others, all while Shouto sat there, stoic as ever. He sometimes had a small smile on his face during the funny parts, but I didn’t know if that was because of the movie or because he thought my laugh sounded ridiculous. Near the end of the movie, I rested my head on his shoulder and felt him stiffen. “Is this okay?” I asked as leaned back and looked up into his eyes.

“Uh, yeah, of course,” he smiled tightly at me as he lifted his arm and wrapped it around my torso, pulling me back into his side.

When the credits began to scroll a few minutes later I sat up and stretched, “Well, should we look at a few work-related things? I told Tam that you were here for work so I’ll feel a little guilty if we don’t at least look at something.”

I stood up then and walked over to my kitchen counter again to pull the file out, I took the first few sheets out and placed them next to each other as Shouto walked up behind me to view the files over my shoulder. “I think we should start with this one tomorrow,” I pointed to a high-profile company that had been on the news in the past, “I feel like if anyone was embezzling it might be easier to hide in larger companies.”

Shouto reached around me and pointed to a different file that I had pulled, “I looked into them today and I don’t think they have anything to do with it. They seemed secure, they’re a small company with not many people handling the books.”

I nodded as we gazed down at some of the files. I felt Shouto’s warm breath on the back of my neck as we read and felt a shiver travel down my spine as I thought about his touch on my back earlier. Had he done that on purpose? Was he trying to elicit a response from me? Was it as innocent as everyone always thought Shouto Todoroki was or was there a different reason behind it? My heart began to hammer against my chest as I felt light fingertips trail over my shoulder to move my hair to the other side of my neck. Enjoying the light touch, I automatically tilted my head and sighed. The finger stilled as it gauged my reaction.

“Sorry, your hair was blocking some of the words…” Shouto spoke quietly behind me as he went back to reading.

“You can come stand next to me, Shouto, you don’t have to stand there,” I laughed nervously as I motioned to the space next to me.

“I’m fine right here, thanks.”

I began to bite on my fingernail, the pressure in my core was distracting me to the point that I couldn’t read the words on the paper in front of me anymore and actually comprehend them. An idea sprung to mind, I’d figure this man out one way or another. I took off the hair tie that was wrapped around my wrist and dropped it. Trying to play it off as an accident, “damn,” I muttered as I bent down to retrieve the hairpiece. A sharp intake of air behind me told me all that I needed to know. My backside grazed his crotch as I came back up and the evidence that I felt there was also damning. “Sorry sho,” I smiled back at him as I put the tie back around my wrist. His face was serious but the need in his eyes was telling. At least I figured that out.

A strong pair of hands gripped either side of my waist as I felt cold lips drag along my shoulder, “I think you did that on purpose.”

“Whatever do you mean?” I spoke sweetly to him as I felt his hands tighten, the tips of his fingers dug into my sides.

He spun me around so that my back was leaning up against the counter, “What are you playing at, Y/N?” He asked quietly as he moved his hands to brace himself against the counter, effectively caging me in while doing so.

“Do you want the long answer or the short answer?”

Shouto leaned forward, bringing his nose inches away from mine, “How about the short one. I don’t think my mind could focus on a long explanation at the moment.” His voice was low and raspy as he spoke and it woke the desire inside me even further.

“Um,” I immediately blushed, I was hoping he would say the long answer so I could potentially get out of this. “I guess the short answer is that you turned me on earlier so I wanted to see if it was on accident or if you meant to do it.”

“And what did you find out?” He asked as he tilted his head and began to nuzzle into the side of my neck, leaving tiny wet kisses under my ear.

I gasped at the sensation and my stomach blossomed, “I think.. you did it.. on purpose,” I spoke in one of the breathiest, neediest tones that I had ever heard come from my own mouth.

Shouto knew exactly what he was doing.

I felt Shouto smile against my neck, “so perceptive,” he whispered as he pulled back. His eyes were dark, I could hardly see the irises of his eyes with how large his pupils were. “Do you want to guess what I’m thinking right now?”

I bit my lip and his eyes lowered to watch before they rose back up to meet my gaze, “What are you thinking right now?”

Shouto leaned in close, a breath's distance from my lips, allowing me to stop him if I wanted to, but at this moment in time, there was nothing that made me want to stop him.

A heartbeat later, his mouth was on mine. His lips were slow at first, as if he was testing how I would react. When I didn't push him away, he leaned in farther, pushing me up against the counter that stood behind me. Light fingertips grazed along my exposed hips before they reached up and landed on the base of my neck, bringing my head up closer to him. His cool tongue flicked across my lips, asking for permission to enter. My lips opened to accommadate him, and the taste of him sent butterflies sailing in my gut. I pulled his hips closer to me with his belt loops and felt him chuckle against me. Shouto dropped his palms down to my thighs and lifted me effortlessly, settling me on top of the counter seconds later. I squeezed him between my legs as his lips drifted from my lips down to the curve of my jaw. I allowed my own hands to explore his chest as his hips tilted up, causing the top of his jeans to rub against me, eliciting a soft moan from my mouth and making him laugh against me again. 

"Something funny, Icy hot?" I breathed out as my hands fell to his jeans. I toyed with his belt buckle briefly, teasing him as my fingertips grazed his skin. 

Shouto pulled back briefly, a bright twinkle lit up his eyes as he gazed up at me. "I just never thought i'd get the chance to do this-" 

Before he could say anything further, I connected our lips again. 

His soft hair twirled between my figners as I raked them thorugh his multi colored locks. 

I tried to pay attention to his lips on mine, but got distracted as his thumbs began massaging small circles into my hips. 

If only his thumb could be somewhere else instead - 

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts and it felt like had been splashed with a bucket of cold water. Shouto let go of me and fixed his hair as I adjusted my clothes before jumping off of the counter. I took one last look at him as I walked towards the door, his face was red and his chest was heaving in deep breaths. I smiled, it was nice to know that I had as large of an effect on him as he had on me. I reached the door and opened it, nearly choking when I met Tamaki’s dark eyes.

“Hey,” He smiled as he leaned down and kissed me on the forehead, “I brought dessert, I figured Todoroki didn’t bring any, and I know how you feel about your sweets.”

I gawked at him as he slid past me, bringing a large paper bag with him as he went. I joined him in the kitchen, both of us walking in on Shouto adjusting the files and pretending like he had been studying them this entire time. A part of me wanted to laugh while the other wanted to just cry, and I didn’t know why. We weren’t necessarily doing anything wrong, I had made it clear to Tamaki that our relationship was strictly friendly and we could both see other people if we wanted to. But with that in mind, why did I feel so guilty and dirty?

“Oh, hey Todoroki I thought you would’ve left by now, it’s nearly ten.” Tamaki set the food down on the counter as Shouto thought of an excuse.

He awkwardly pointed to the file, “lots of stuff in here.”

Tamaki chuckled as I walked up alongside him, he wrapped his arm around my waist, “I’ll leave you guys to finish up.” I watched as his slender figure walked towards my bedroom and turned to Shouto once he was out of earshot.

“Sorry about that,” I grinned sheepishly, “I didn’t know he was coming by tonight.”

“No worries,” Shouto muttered as he put all of the files into the folder before sliding it to where I had it when he had walked into the kitchen hours earlier. “Y/N…” He started as he looked down at the countertop.

“We aren’t together, Tam and I if that’s what you’re worried about. Don’t feel guilty.” I said in a hushed tone,  the dark look in his eye lightened a bit at the comment.

Letting out a sigh, he walked over to grab his shoes, “That’s good to know.” Before leaving he turned back to me and gave me a light kiss, “Next time, we’ll go to my place.” He winked as he opened the door and left. I stood speechless, watching the closed door for minutes afterward. How had things changed so quickly in the last 24 hours? I had gone to work today with an FWB, now I had a date with one crush and I just made out with the other. Things were about to get crowded, and not in a good way.

Chapter Text

Mia knocked on my office door the next morning, startling me out of my daily daydream. “Hey,” I smiled as I tapped on my desk. I was antsy, to say the least. I hadn’t seen Shouto yet today, I didn’t know if he was ignoring me or what, but I had not been graced with his half and half self in the last 4 hours since I had arrived at the agency.

“You seem… irritated? Or something, I don’t know. Something is off.” Mia sat down across from me as she studied me.

My eyes flicked to the door, “If I tell you something, you need to keep it to yourself and only you, okay?”

Her eyes lit up, she loved this kind of stuff, “Cross my heart and hope to die, babe, lay it on me.”

I sighed as I dove into the tale that is now my life.

Her green eyes were wide after I finished, “You have two pro heroes chasing after you and another pro hero that warms your bed almost every night with no strings attached, and you don’t know what to do.”

“Yes, thanks for the summary,” I winced as I clicked my pen.

“Girl! If you don’t hop off this angst train that you’re on I’m going to throw you off the damn thing!”

“AH, what?! Why are you yelling at me?” I covered my ears as she glared at me.

“People would KILL to be in your shoes right now, just don’t fuck it up.”

“That wasn’t exactly the advice that I was looking for.”

“What were you looking for?” She arched her dark eyebrow at me, “You wanted me to call you a slut? Say that you were taking advantage of 3 men who want to get into your pants? Psh!” She waved her hand as if there was a bad smell in the air. “You’re a queen, allow them to make you feel like a queen, and then pick your King.” She shrugged.

“And what if picking that king causes the others to run away? What do I do then?” I internally panicked, I didn’t want to lose any of them, that’s why I had been trying to avoid this situation for the last year.

She gave me a small, sad smile, “That’s a part of life sweetie, you can’t have them all.”

“I would’ve rather not had any of them if that means losing two of them,” I admitted as she watched me.

“Y/N?” A quiet voice came from the door.

Mia stood up and opened the door, a young sidekick was standing there with wide eyes.

“What can I do for you?” I asked as he continued to stare.

“They told me to come to get you, one of the copiers upstairs has stopped working again.”

My mood dropped even further. “Great, another addition to this glorious day,” I complained as I stood up to follow the boy to the copier in question. Mia smacked me on the ass on my way out.

“Just follow your heart, okay?” She muttered quietly as she shut my door behind us and retreated back to her reception desk.

“Which floor is this damn thing on?” I grumbled as the sidekick led me to the elevator.

“The top floor, ma’am,” He quaked in his boots as he stood in the same confined space as me.

Once we reached the top floor he walked me over to the copier, “They’re saying it has error…”

“I don’t need to know the error code.” I interrupted him as I laid my hand on the machine. I allowed my quirk to move throughout it, searching its inner components and electrical system for the bug. “It’s riiiiight there,” I muttered as I felt it and edited the parts. The machine began to spit out copies again as I took my hand off of it.

“Thanks for the help!” The sidekick yelled after me as I slowly walked back to the elevator. I waved over my shoulder at him.

“Y/N!” A loud, booming voice sounded from behind me, making my feet stop. Turning in place, I found Endeavor waving me down from his office.

“Jesus fuck,” I spoke to myself as I made my way to his office. He held the door open for me and closed it as I sat in the chair in front of his massive desk. “What can I do for you Endeavor?” I asked as calmly as possible, trying my hardest to not make it obvious that his son had almost buried himself in me the night before.

“Shouto should be making his way up here, I’ll tell you both then.” He grumbled as he flipped through some magazines on his desk. 

A moment later, a soft knock sounded at the door and it opened a second later. Heterochromia eyes met mine as he walked into the office. My face grew hot as I felt his eyes on me before taking the seat next to mine.

“What’s up?” He asked the number one hero nonchalantly.

“I’m removing you from the embezzlement case, it seems it was added to our cases without being reviewed. Legal and the police will take care of it. I wanted to hand you your new case.”

“A trail of burned bodies?” I asked as my eyes quickly darted across the new file. I looked at Shouto curiously, could this be?

“Why did you assign us to this?” Shouto demanded as he too came to the same assumption, “he’s dead, stop chasing ghosts.” He slammed the file down on his fathers' desk and walked out of the office. I sat stunned.

“We’ll take it,” I said quietly as I took back Shouto’s file and followed him out of the room. “We didn’t have a case, maybe he didn’t purposely assign us to it,” I muttered as I walked up next to his retreating figure.

“You know damn well that isn’t why he assigned us to it. Even if we didn’t have an active case right now he would’ve found a way.” His eyes were angry, angrier than I had ever seen them.

“Hey,” I reached out and touched his arm gently, “you need to calm down.”

His eyes began to soften as he looked down at my hand, “I’m sorry, I don’t have much of a filter when it comes to him.”

The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival at the top floor and we got back on it. Standing in silence as we rode down to our floor. Shouto didn’t try to break the silence, he hardly even looked at me as we walked back to our offices. “Where have you been all day?” I finally asked and he turned to look at me as he opened his office door.

“I’ve been in my office,” He pointed, “Working on the case that we’re no longer on,” I swear I saw his eye twitch a little.

“You seem tense,” I said gently as I entered his office to place his file down on his desk. I turned to find that he had closed the door behind us.

“I’m very tense,” He admitted, “Last night…” his eyes focused on his desk chair.

“I’m sorry about last night, if you’re uncomfortable with what happened then I wish I had been more careful,” I blurted out, interrupting his chain of thought. His eyes met mine, surprise lining his facial features.

“You think I regret it?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” I asked timidly, “and then Tam…”

Shouto gently lifted my chin, forcing me to look up into his eyes, “I would never regret it, I just regret not being able to follow through with it.” He admitted, making my insides churn again. “I’m sure that has something to do with why I’m so tense today.”

“Blue balls?” I squeaked out as I panicked under the intense look in his eyes.

A wide grin broke out onto his face as he began to laugh, my eyes widened in shock, I didn’t know that he knew how to laugh like that. His laughing quieted down as he looked down at me with pure amusement, the look on his face was cute and content.

He was absolutely stunning.

Guilt distracted me from studying him any further. Tamaki had helped me relieve my own frustrations the night before, but Shouto didn’t have another person to help him, or at least not that I knew of. 

"You know," I sighed as I busied myself with adjusting the files that I had just placed down. "I could help you out with that," he arched a white eyebrow at me as I added, "if you want, that is." 

"I'm not sure what you mean -" 

"Why don't you take a seat Shouto," I motioned to his desk chair, which he sat down in after hesitating only briefly. 

I took a tentative step towards him, his eyes tracked my every move as I neared him. 

"Y/N -" He breathed out as I leaned down. 

I placed my finger against his lips, "shhhh, icy hot." 

A slight blush erupted across his cheeks before I placed my lips on his. He allowed a light moan to escape his lips as I deepened it by straddling him on the chair.  

His erection greeted my core as I settled myself down on him. I felt him stiffen against me, but he relaxed shortly after and gripped my hips with his hands. 

We stayed like that for a while. Just kissing, enjoying each others touch before I started to rock my hips against him. 

Shouto groaned at the movement. 

I pulled back from him, "can I touch you?" 

"You are touching me -" he went to connect our lips again but I stopped him. 

My hands landed on the zipper of his pants, "no Shouto, can I touch touch you?" 

The color on his face darkened again as he finally understood my meaning. He nodded, almost shyly, and his eyes widened slightly as I stood and knelt in front of him. 

"I mean you don't have to if you don't want to -" 

"I wouldn't have offered it if I didn't want to, love," I smirked up at him as I slowly unzipped his pants. 

His eyes swiftly switched between watching my hands and studying my face as I continued. 

When his pants were undone, I slipped my hand beneath them and grazed him. 

Shouto sucked a tight breath of air between his teeth as I grabbed a hold of him. He shifted his hips and allowed me to pull his pants down farther for better access as I continued to move my hand along his length. 

When I decided that Shouto had had enough of the touching over his boxers, I motioned for him to pull the rest of his clothes down. 

His mouth opened, and I shushed him again, "don't ask me if this is okay again. I want to do this. But if you don't want to -"

"I do," he abruptly cut me off. "Of course I do -" 

"Then sit back and enjoy," I smirked up at him.  

Accepting my words, he allowed his cock to spring free as he pulled his boxers down. The slap of his erection coming up and hitting him across the abdomen made me jump slightly and Shouto chuckled. 

His laugh quickly ceased as I touched his bare skin.

Shouto watched me like a hawk as I knelt farther up to position myself over his lap.  

Air whistled through his teeth at the first touch of my tongue against him, “Oh fuck...” he groaned out as I took him into my mouth, rolling my tongue over his head and flicking it over the shaft as I sank more of him into me. I repeated the motion sloppily, over and over again, all while watching him lose control above me.

His breathing turned erratic as I pushed him to his edge. “Keep doing exactly that,” He moaned as I cupped his balls in my hand and manipulated them while I sucked. “Shit... Y/N..” His hand moved through my hair and I felt his dick twitch. “I’m… oh god.” He gasped out as I felt him shoot his load into the back of my throat. I continued moving until I no longer felt any spurts and then licked as I pulled away, swallowing the remnants of the deed that I had just committed. His eyes were glazed over as he observed me, pieces of his two-toned hair were messily shoved over as if he had fisted his hands into it repeatedly, “That was…”

“Amazing? Life-changing? Breath-taking?” I winked up at him as I motioned for him to stand. I readjusted his boxers and pulled his pants back up, buttoning them once I was standing again.

He grabbed my arm as I began to walk towards the door and brought me up against his body before he leaned down and kissed me. It was hot and sweet at the same time, full of longing but also thankful. “I was going to go with mind-blowing, but the other options were good too. Let me repay you,” He whispered in my ear as he nibbled on my ear lobe, reigniting the flame in my gut that I had been trying to dampen since I went down to my knees.

“Not now, maybe another time.” I kissed him on the cheek, “I can’t have my partner all tense, don’t say I never did anything for you.” I left him standing speechless in his office, closing the door lightly behind me, a large grin plastered on my face as I turned to walk back to my office down the hall. My smile immediately dropped when my [e/c] colored eyes met crimson ones, tilted up in amusement as they regarded me.

“What was that you said yesterday? Icy Hot won’t get any of…. that,” He motioned to my body.

I scowled as I zipped my jacket back up, “None of your business, King explosion murder,” I muttered as I began walking to my office. My fist clenched when I noticed that Katsuki had decided to follow me. He shut the door behind us as we entered my office.

“Did Mr. perfect have to take you to dinner first?” He prodded at me as he took the seat across from my desk.

“He brought me Soba.” I said quietly as I typed away at my computer, pretending like I had something that I needed to attend to, “look, Kat..”

“I can see that there’s nothing on your screen, Princess.” He snapped at me as he leaned back in his chair. I glared at him and resisted the urge to kick my foot out to topple him over out of spite.

I took my hands back from my keyboard and turned my full attention to him, “What can I do for you then, Mr. Bakugou?” I gave him the best sweet yet sadistic smile that I could muster.

His eyes flashed wickedly before he leaned forward, bringing his face inches away from mine. “I just wanted to clarify before our date in a few days, I hope you picked out a nice dress,” He winked before giving me a quick kiss on the cheek and exiting my office as quickly as he had barged in. The man was a whirlwind.

The rest of the afternoon passed slowly. I decided to read up on the case that Shouto and I had just been assigned to. It was similar to another set of murders that had occurred years prior, and it did meet Dabi’s usual pattern. I clicked my pen as I considered what we might have to go up against if Shouto and I were successful in finding the perp.

“Hey, girl, there's a cute little dark blue-haired boy here for you,” Mia’s singsong voice broke through my musing. “Can I send him in?”

I scowled at her happy face as it peaked into my office through the crack in the door that she had opened but I nodded anyway.

“Hey Y/N, “Tamaki’s soft voice sounded from the door as he entered moments later. I smiled in response but turned back to my work, biting the inside of my cheek as anxiety started to bloom in my gut. “You okay?” I met his worried eyes as he watched me before he sat down.

“I’m just a little lost right now, but I’ll be okay,” I gave him a small smile as I flipped through the file on my desk.

“Does… it have anything to do with the fact that you have a date with Bakugou on Friday that you haven’t mentioned to me yet?” His tone was soft but accusatory. My eyes dragged from the paperwork in front of me to meet his. They were irritated, or as irritated as Tamaki Amajiki could be. My mind jumped between scenarios before I chose how to respond.

“Kirishima told you, didn’t he?”

“It doesn’t really matter who else told me, it should have been you.”

I sighed as I laid my palms on my desk, basking in its coolness as a way to center myself. I knew this would happen eventually. We needed to have this conversation.

“And then on my way here I passed him, and he had the biggest shit-faced grin on his face and I just wanted to smack it off of him, but…,” Tamaki looked down at his hands. “Were you going to tell me, at all?”

“You’re right, I should have been the one to bring it up. I’m sorry you found out the way that you did, I wasn’t trying to hide it from you, I was just trying to think of the best way to bring it up. It kind of happened as a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing…” I scratched the back of my neck as I watched him. “You have every right to be mad, but we aren’t in a relationship it’s not like…”

“No, I know.” He grumbled out as he finally looked back up at me, “I know that you didn’t want to make things official. I just thought that you could at least be honest with me.”

“I’m sorry, Tam. I really am…” I exhaled as I thought about what to say next.

“I think what we’re doing now needs to end, I don’t think I was made out to be a friends with benefits kind of person with anyone,” Tamaki admitted quietly, watching me intently with a mournful look on his face as I registered his words.

“That’s… Understandable.” I felt my chest clench, it hurt worse than I had thought it would. Maybe I had started developing feelings for the sweet man in front of me, and that was my fault. Another feeling shifted into my gut, guilt. Immense, soul-crushing guilt as I looked at the defeated hero in front of me. The man who had always made me smile and laugh, the man who brought me soup when I was sick a few months ago, the man who called me each day to check in… We had basically been dating, but I hadn’t wanted to label it while he did. It was unfair, but I still didn’t want a relationship, even though my heart screamed at me to beg him to change his mind, to reask me the question that he had muttered to me months ago, “will you be mine?” And I had shut him down, told him I wasn’t ready when in reality I didn’t think I would ever be. I had kept him from dating other people and potentially finding his forever, and that’s the thought that broke me. Tears began to prick at the corners of my eyes as I studied the beautiful, gentle soul in front of me. Maybe Mia was right, maybe I had just made the worst decision in my entire life. “Make me regret it, Tam,” I whispered and his eyes widened.

“What do you mean?”

My voice quivered as the first tear fell, “I deserve to see you end up with someone else, someone who can provide for you, and make you happy, the way that I couldn’t. I never deserved you and I never will.” Swallowing hard, I wiped away my tears and met his saddened gaze, “I’m sorry, for… everything.”

Tamaki sighed as he stood up, “Can I hug you? I can’t just watch you cry.” I nodded and he proceeded to walk around the desk and pull me up into his arms, hugging me tightly around the waist. I nuzzled my face into his chest as I returned the gesture, my quiet tears stained his t-shirt as we stood there. “I always wanted it to be you,” he whispered as he rested his chin on my head. “I would imagine us getting married and having kids, the works ya know?” He chuckled quietly as he began to rub my back, “I don’t think it really hit until today that you might not ever be ready for something like that. I thought about waiting and about fighting for you, and I’d gladly do both but then I realized that I just need to move on. It’s time to think about me and what I need.”

I gently pulled away from him, wiping my eyes again as I looked up into his face, “You deserve the world Tamaki Amajiki. I wish I could’ve given it to you and I’m sorry that I can’t. You’ll find your perfect person, I know you will.”

Tamaki leaned down and kissed me gently on the forehead before he turned and grabbed his bag from my chair. More tears began to fall as I watched him walk through the door without looking back.  

Chapter Text

The cool, autumn air irritated my lungs as I ran laps around the U.A. track while the sky started to turn red as the sun descended over the horizon in the west. A few other heroes were running at the same time as me, trying to get in their daily training before the end of the day.

 I had always resorted to physical exercise when my mind couldn’t keep up with my flurry of emotions, the pain and exhaustion made me temporarily forget about my problems, and that’s what I needed right now. An hour later I slowed down my run to a steady walk, bringing my hand up to my neck, I proceeded to check my pulse while I panted. While I finished my last lap as a cool down, I recognized a dark head of hair waiting by my things.

“What are you doing here, old man?” I called out as I made my way into the grass and grabbed my water bottle.

Aizawa’s eyes scanned me, “I work here, what’s your excuse?”

“I just wanted to see my favorite mentor is all,” I breathed out between gulps of water. Sweat began to drip down my face as my body heat caught up with me.

“Hm, well you normally wouldn’t find me here, that’s for sure.” He looked around at the track and the few occupants who were left. “Present Mic said he saw you here.”

“I was planning on stopping by,” I crouched down to wipe my face on the towel that I had brought with me. “I.. was wondering if you still do sushi on Wednesdays?” I glanced up at his face.

His eyes widened a little, showing the surprise that I’m sure he felt. I hadn’t voluntarily asked him to have dinner in months, which was obviously my own fault, and I’m sure Aizawa was picking up on the ques. The swollen eyes and red patchy cheeks were a dead giveaway. “Course I still do sushi on Wednesdays, you comin?” He asked as he began walking back towards the exit to the track.

I smiled as I scurried to get my things together to follow him out.

An hour or two later I sat at a familiar dinner table, eating the same sushi that I had eaten each Wednesday when I was a teenager.  Sighing, I set my chopsticks down. “That was great, thanks for letting me hang out with you.” I pushed my plate away from the edge of the table and stood to clean up.

I felt my mentors' eyes on me as I worked in the kitchen, he stood a moment later to help. “So, do you want to talk about what has gotten under your skin or do you just want to deal with it on your own?”

I chuckled, the man just knew how I worked. He knew I wouldn’t want to talk about it, especially with him. Even though he wasn’t my dad, there was no way I was going to have a talk about boys with him. “I’ll deal with it on my own, but thanks.”

“As long as your coping methods don’t involve you going AWOL for another 8 months then I’m okay with it.”

I cringed as I washed my plate, I hadn’t realized that it had been that long. “I’m sorry, Aizawa. I didn’t realize…”

He grunted in response and I relaxed, in his weird way of communication I knew that was the same as him telling me, “It’s okay.”

“You can always reach out to me too you know,” I chastised him back as I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye, “I know that’s usually not your forte but communication runs both ways.”

I saw him stop his cleaning as he glanced at me, thinking about what I had said. “You’re right,” he huffed as he continued his work again.

“How’s Present Mic doing?” I asked as a way to change the subject. He hadn’t been the same since Midnight died years ago and I knew that Aizawa had tried to help his best friend repeatedly.

“He’s doing a lot better, I’ll tell him that you asked about it, I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.”

“I’ll try to stop by the school more, I’ve missed hanging out with you guys,” I admitted. We had some great years while I was a teenager, hanging out with the pair always left my stomach aching after Mic would tell his jokes and Aizawa would respond with his sarcastic comments. I wanted to laugh like that again.

Aizawa smiled as he took another plate from me to dry, “Come by whenever you want, I’d love to have your help training some of the new students. I can’t connect with them as well as I used to, I’m getting older ya know.”

“oh please, you’re not that old.” I scoffed, “but I think that’s a great idea.”

“Great, I’ll clean a faculty locker out for you.”

The next day passed in a blur. While Aizawas small pep talk had helped at the time, I woke up the next morning feeling emotionally drained. My heart broke a little bit more when I checked my phone and saw that I didn’t have the normal good morning text from Tamaki. Mia’s concerned gaze had followed me as I scampered into my office that morning, keeping my gaze down to not interact with anyone and not leaving my sanctuary until lunch.

Thankfully, the case Shouto and I were working on now required a minuscule amount of computer research before we could decide how to really approach it. I was relieved that I could just email him my research plan and told him we would meet up the next morning to start our patrol of the area. He had knocked at my door briefly about an hour after I had arrived to work and I had hidden under my desk, pretending that I wasn’t in my office. I heard Mia inform him that I had left briefly and that he should check back later and I watched as his silhouette walked away. I internally thanked her, telling myself that I needed to buy her coffee the next morning for the favor. 

As the clock struck 5, I decided to book it. I quickly gathered my things, shoved them into my bag, and hastily left my office. Speed walking to the elevator where I began to tap my foot with impatience as I waited for the doors to open. Anxiety crawled up my spine as I waited, hoping that no one would try to talk to me during this short amount of time that I couldn’t hide. I released the breath that I had been holding when I walked into the elevator and the doors closed quietly behind me.

“Y/N, right?” A quiet voice asked as I left the elevator at the bottom of the building. My feet halted and I screamed internally, I was so close to escaping.

Turning to face the voice, I met a pair of unfamiliar eyes. They were gold, almost yellow, and wide as they scanned my face. I briefly surveyed the young woman in front of me, she was short and her bright blonde hair came to her chin. She looked like a normal citizen, but the smile on her face was sinister. “Yeah, that’s me. What can I do for you?”

“Can I get your autograph? I’m a huge fan of yours,” she purred as she handed me a notepad with a sharpie.

I felt my eyebrows pinch together in confusion before looking around at our surroundings. Why was a fan inside the agency building? Usually, this kind of thing was halted at the front doors. “Sure, I’ll have to make this quick though, I have somewhere I need to be.” She smiled even wider, more so than I thought was possible, as I took the paper from her, “Who should I make this out to?” I asked as I placed the notepad against a nearby wall for support while waiting for her response.

“Tog..” She began but stopped herself, “Can you just make it out to “My number one fan?” She asked sweetly, tilting her head at me as I shrugged and wrote out a quick note to her before signing it. Handing the notepad back to her she squealed with delight, catching the attention of the guards near the doors. Their eyes widened as they noticed the intruder. Both men started towards us but I shook my head.

“Care to walk with me out? I don’t think the guards can allow you to stay here,” I muttered as I lightly steered her towards the exit.

“This is so cool,” she exclaimed excitedly, “I’ve always wanted a pro heroes signature, and now I have it. I usually take different souvenirs.”

I arched my eyebrow, whatever the hell that meant. The sound of the elevator doors opening interrupted my train of thought as my eyes instinctively swung over my shoulder to check who was coming down. I relaxed when I saw an unfamiliar businessman walk out on his cellphone. My happiness was short-lived, however, as a bright head of white and red walked out. Turning my head quickly I turned to the girl beside me, pretending that we were having an important conversation.

“It was nice meeting you,” I shouted to her as I pulled away quickly once we were outside of the building, my legs sped up as I began my walk home.

“Y/N!” I heard loud footfalls hitting the pavement behind me, I braced myself and tried to prepare the most normal smile that I could muster at the moment as a light hand touched my arm.

“oh, hey Sho,” I greeted him with the aforementioned smile as I turned to him.

“I know you saw me inside,” he said quietly, “You’ve been avoiding me all day, what gives?”

“I have not..”

“And now you won’t even look at me,” he remarked as he towered over me as we walked. I stayed quiet for a moment, considering what I should say, “If it’s about what happened in my office yesterday…”

“Tam broke things off with me,” I blurted out, both of our feet came to a stop as we stood in the middle of the sidewalk. Still refusing to look at him, I stared off further down the sidewalk, watching the many pedestrians who were out and about during rush hour. “And I didn’t want to really talk to anyone about it.” My voice was quiet, I almost didn’t think he heard me until he finally responded.

“Then you don’t have to,” his soft voice was soothing, so much so that I finally gained the confidence to glance up. Shouto’s eyes were sympathetic, pity shown in them as he observed my face.

“I don’t want you to feel bad for me, it was my own damn fault,” I huffed out as I began to walk again. “I’ll be all better for work tomorrow, I just need some time right now. I’ll see you bright and early Icy hot,” I muttered before I jogged away, crossing the street quickly to get back to my safe haven. Shouto didn’t follow me and I was grateful for it.

“So I was thinking of starting here,” I pointed to the map that I had spread out on my desk the next morning, “It’s where the attacks began and it seems the most likely place for additional fires.” Shouto stood on the other side of the desk, quiet as he sipped on his black coffee.

We hadn’t talked about my confession the day before, and I probably would have bitten his head off if he had even tried. My anxiety was in overdrive this morning, dealing with pent-up emotions that I hadn’t been able to burn off and thinking about the planned date with Katsuki tonight. I was a ball of stress. I picked at my fingernails as I waited for Shouto to say something, anything really about how he felt about my plan.

“I was thinking the same thing, actually.” He said a moment later after tilting his head at the map. “Here might be another good place to focus some time on.” He pointed to a region about a mile west of the spot that I had circled.

“Why do you propose that?” I asked as I twirled my pen, “No attacks have happened there..”

“It’s just a hunch,” He shrugged and my eye twitched. We were basing our plans off of hunches now? I bit my tongue as I fought the onslaught of words that I wanted to hurl at him right now.

“Okay, fine,” I said through a tight smile. “But if Endeavor asks why we’re patrolling there, I’m going to let you give him that same answer, capeesh?”

His answering nod was so calm and bored that it made me want to pull my hair out. I began to inhale through my nose and exhale through my mouth as we stood and observed the map for a minute longer. My nerves began to quiet themselves as I tried to control my emotions, I need to seriously consider being medicated.

“Shall we get going then?” His quiet voice interrupted my meditation breathing, causing me to flinch more violently than normal.

“Yeah, just give me a moment, will you?” I asked him as I packed the map up. He exited my office without saying another word, leaving me to my musing.

 Shouto and I left the agency building a few minutes later, I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he drove us towards our patrol area. His fingers tapped quietly against the steering wheel as his eyes stayed forward on the road in front of us. “So, I heard you and Bakugou have a date tonight.”

“Yeah, everyone's hearing about it it sounds like,” I groaned as I leaned on the car door and rested my head against the glass.

“You don’t sound very excited.”

“I haven’t been on an actual date in ages, Shouto. I have no idea what to wear, how to act…”

“Just be yourself, you’re charming enough.”

My eyes lifted to observe him, he had one arm out on the top of the steering wheel while the other rested on his leg. He was wearing his hair half up today in a small bun and I resisted the urge to run my fingers over the small pieces that had fallen out of his hair tie and framed his face. “You think I’m charming?” I chuckled.

His lips quirked up slightly, “Of course I do, it’s why I’m so infatuated with you.” A tiny gasp of air slipped between my lips at his admission, his gaze turned and met mine briefly as we stopped at a red light, “if I had known that you would be up to going on dates I would’ve asked you months ago. I’m a little jealous that Bakugou gets to take your date virginity.” 

I cackled and a large smile broke out on his face, “Date virginity?

“What else do you want me to call it?”

I shrugged, “it just sounds weird. Especially coming from Mr. serious.”

“I’m not serious all of the time.”

“No, you just say everything that comes to your mind, which is kind of nice actually, not a lot of people do that. I like honest people.”

“Well can I be really honest with you right now?”

I nodded at him, “shoot.”

“I haven’t met anyone like you before, you frustrate the hell out of me but you excite me at the same time. I can’t get you out of my head, it’s like you’re engrained there to drive me insane. I need you, all of you” he meets my eyes then, “I don’t mind if I have to wait for Bakugou to fuck up, hell, I don’t even mind sharing you for the time being. All I know is that I want to wake up and see your face every morning.” He pauses as he watches a pedestrian cross in front of his car, “preferably while I’m making you cum but that’s beside the point.”

“Shouto Todoroki,” I laugh out loud as his face turns red, “you want to see my “O’ face?” I ask quietly, trying to pretend to be seductive but failing miserably.

“Yes, I will die a happy man after I have seen your “O” face.”

“Hm, I’ve already seen yours,” I tapped my chin, remembering our interaction in his office earlier this week. “It was hot as hell, I wouldn’t mind seeing that again either.” Shouto’s eyes dart to mine at the last comment before turning back to the task at hand. I giggle lightly when I see him reach down to cover his lap discretely. “You don’t need to hide it from me, darling. I’ve already had my lips and tongue around it.”

His hand clenches the steering wheel even tighter, “I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear you say that.” I feel the car begin to cool down considerably, to the point that I can see my breath coming out in puffs in front of my face.

“You’ve already discovered your coping mechanism, smart boy.” I tsked as he pulled over and parked.

“It’s better than a cold shower.”

Chapter Text

I stared at my reflection in my bedroom mirror, smoothing my dress as I twisted and checked myself out from all angles. I had picked out a red cocktail dress to wear out tonight, it hugged my curves and accentuated my waist perfectly before flowing down to my knees. The black heels that I picked out made my legs look more slender and longer than normal. While the dress was modest, but it was just sexy enough to make me feel confident. I brought out my black, knee-length coat as I walked into the kitchen.

Socks came scampering from my bedroom after me, meowing as he watched me prepare to leave. “I’ll be back in no time, love. Protect the place for me while I’m gone,” I bent down and patted him lightly on the head before scratching him behind his ears. He slowly blinked at me as he watched me leave.

My heart began to ram against my chest as I rode the elevator down to the ground floor. Was I ready for this? I checked my make-up quick in the small compact mirror that I had brought and ran my hands through my [h/c] hair. Sighing, I put away the mirror and patiently waited for the doors to open. When they did, I saw a familiar head of blonde hair facing away from me, talking on his phone. He turned at the sound of the elevator and did a double-take as he recognized me. His crimson eyes trailed from my feet up to my head. I flipped him off.

“Don’t start looking at me like that, blasty.”

Katsuki smirked as he hung up his phone without saying goodbye to the person on the other end.

“That’s okay, there wasn’t much to look at anyway.”

“Ouch,” A fake, hurt look came across my face, “and here I spent the last 2 hours trying to doll myself up just for you.”

His eyes widened slightly before narrowing again, “Hmph, wouldn’t have noticed without you telling me. Ready to go?”

I grinned up at him, I could do this. I could play this game with him, just like normal. Once the cool, outside air hit my face I shivered. Katsuki glanced at me briefly before placing his arm around my lower back, pulling me to him as we walked. I’m sure he expected me to act repulsed when in reality the action had just made my heart beat even faster. I snuggled into him in response and felt him stiffen briefly, I bit my lip to fight the smile that wanted to light up on my face. He hadn’t expected that.

When we got to his car, he opened the passenger side for me and waited for me to sit before closing it behind me. I took a deep, cleansing breath before he harshly opened his own door.

“So, where are we going?” I asked after he had started driving.

“It’s a surprise, princess” he muttered as he weaved through traffic. He was a much more erratic driver than Shouto. I took the time to check him out briefly. He had gone with an all-black ensemble, with his pants, shirt, and coat all being pitch black. It looked great on him.

Probably better on the floor though.

The intrusive thought surprised me, I internally chastised myself as he continued to drive. A few minutes later we pulled up to a fancy steak house that was popular amongst heroes. “How did you get a table here? I thought you needed to reserve a table like a month out?”

“Maybe I planned on taking you out for the last month,” He shrugged as he exited the vehicle, he was at my door within seconds, holding his hand out to help me. He handed his keys to the valet driver as we passed.

“Sweet, it’s Dynamight!” I heard an excited whisper from our right. Katsuki’s eyes didn’t leave the building as we continued walking. He placed his hand on my lower back to help lead me into the restaurant.

“Thank you,” I exhaled as he held the door open for me, his curt node was his only response.

The hostess immediately motioned for us to follow her, weaving through the dining area until we reached the back corner. The lights were dim and each table had a small candle on them, providing a calm, sultry atmosphere. Katsuki held my chair out for me and pushed it in once I was settled before he sat across from me at our two-person table. It was quiet in our little corner and I loved it.

“This place is beautiful,” I remarked, in awe as I glanced at the few paintings that were hung on the wall by our table. Katsuki’s gaze stayed on me as he observed me gawking at the artwork. I turned back and met his eyes, he didn’t break eye contact. “Which one do you like?” I asked, pointing at the wall.

“Why would I look at those pieces of trash when the most beautiful thing in this place is sitting right across from me,” he said softly. 

My jaw dropped, the waitress chose this time to walk up and introduce herself, I dragged my gaze from Katsuki’s as she started going through her normal spiel talking about their specials and what wine they had for the night. We gave her our drink orders before I allowed myself to glance back at the man in front of me.

He had a small smirk on his face, “Don’t get all shy on me now.”

“Shy? Me?” I feigned shock. “Never,” I scoffed as I grazed my foot over his lower leg.

A small hiss of air rushed from his mouth at the contact, I brought my foot back down as the waitress came back with our drinks, smiling sweetly as we both ordered our entrees. We both glanced around afterward, trying to think of what to say.

“I heard about you and Amajiki,” He blurted out.

“Starting out strong I see,” I chuckled lowly, “I sort of figured you would find out pretty quick.”

“I’m sorry that I told shitty hair about our date, I didn’t think it would impact your situation with him.” His tone was still harsh, but there was a slightly apologetic look to his eyes.

“You’re fine, Kat. I would’ve told him eventually so it didn’t change the outcome.”

“Do you regret saying yes to me now?” He mumbled as he swished the wine in his glass.

My eyes widened, was that what he was worried about? “No, course not. Tam and I shouldn’t have let it go on for as long as we did. It was bound to happen,” I shrugged. I’d be lying though if I said my heart didn’t strain a little at the words. It still hurt.

“Yeah well, either way, I’m sorry.” His eyes scanned my face.

“Apology accepted, even though it was unnecessary,” I took a sip of my own wine then and let out a small moan of approval. Katsuki’s eyes darkened considerably. “You have great taste in wine,” I complimented him as I ignored the small blush that grew on his cheeks.

“Shitty hair recommended it, said it was life-changing and made him feel more like a man,” He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. I watched as the candlelight illuminated his handsome, chiseled face. The red hues in his eyes sparkled as he observed me studying him. Realizing what I was doing, I coughed lightly and looked away, missing the smirk on his face.

“What kind of patrols have you been doing?” I asked when he stayed quiet.

“I don’t want to talk about work right now.”

“What do you want to talk about then?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Icy Hot seems pretty enamored with you.”

I narrowed my eyes, “You want to talk about Shouto?”

Katsuki looked away, “does he know that we had a date tonight?”

I nodded as I matched his position, leaning on the table. His eyes trailed down my neck to the small bit of cleavage that showed when I did so and I smiled. “He knows, and he doesn’t care.”

His eyebrows rose, “Really?”

“Well…” I trailed off, “He did say he didn’t mind sharing until you fuck up.”

“That peppermint bastard…” His eyes glowed and little bursts came from his palms.

“Cool it with the boom booms,” I laughed, “He said it casually, I don’t think he really meant it that way.”

“He means everything he says, he’s a walking lie detector that only speaks the truth.” He huffed as he looked off into the restaurant.

“He was also a little jealous that you got to take me out first.”

Katsuki seemed to relax at that, “Good, he can go fuck himself.” He muttered as our waitress brought our food.

We both enjoyed our food, making little comments here and there about movies we liked and bands we wanted to see. Two glasses of wine later, my lips started to tingle as the alcohol hit my system. Katsuki held out his credit card as the waitress brought the bill and she left with it.

“How much do I owe you?” I asked as I pulled out my wallet.

He scowled, “don’t even try it.”

“Do you want some other form of payment?” I winked at him as I played footsy with him again, eliciting a scoff from him.

“Not when you’re tipsy.”

“I’m not that tipsy,” I muttered, slurring my words a little.

“Drunk enough that I won’t touch you, doll face.”

I pouted, “what was the point of taking me out then if you’re not planning on getting in my pants?”

“Y/N, I like you for more than your body, I just wanted to take you out on a nice date to get to know you better, nothing more.” He said quietly with a frown on his face, “It’s nice to know how you think about me though.”

“Kat…” The waitress returned his credit card and he pulled his coat on, ignoring my eyes. Standing, he walked around and pulled my coat off my chair, and held it up for me. I joined him and found my knees to be more wobbly than I thought they would be. Tucking my arms into my coat, Katsuki helped me button it before reaching out to grab my hand as an offer of support. My face was hot and I didn’t think that it was because of the alcohol. We walked silently out to the valet where they already had his car pulled up. Moments later, we were driving off into the streets of Tokyo.

He pulled up to my apartment complex a few minutes later, parked, and walked me to the door. “Come up?” I asked nervously. He gave me a look that said “hell no, woman.” I panicked as he began to walk back to his car, “can I just show you something quick then? You said you wanted to get to know me.” I pointed to the building, “it’s not in my apartment,” I sighed out as he glared at me.

“Fine, make it quick though. I have some people that want to hang out with me.”

I nodded as I felt a twinge in my chest, why did I continue to hurt the people close to me? Holding out my hand, he accepted it and allowed me to steer him towards the apartment. He cast a confused look at me when I pressed the 60th-floor button in the elevator. My apartment was high up in the building, but it wasn’t at the top. I tapped my foot as I waited for the elevator to ascend. Once it did, I led him to an emergency exit door after walking down a few hallways and opened it, revealing a set of stairs that led up to the roof. Katsuki didn’t say anything as we walked up. The air was cooler up here than it had been on the ground and I pulled my coat tight around me as the night wind whipped my hair back. It quieted a moment later and I walked out further, looking back at him briefly as he still stood in the doorway.

“This is a roof,” He blandly commented as he joined me near the wall that surrounded the edge of the skyscraper.

I chuckled as I gazed out at the city that encircled us, “Right you are, Kat. But it’s a special roof because it’s mine.” I winked at him as I placed my arms on the side and leaned over, peaking down at the streets 60 stores below us. Katsuki reached out quickly to pull me back.

“Are you insane?” He barked.

“Oh, please. I do this all the time. I usually sit right on the edge.” I laughed as I patted the wall. The buildings around us weren’t nearly as tall, “this is the only spot that I can look up and actually see a few stars.” I said quietly as I admired the night sky above us. His eyes followed mine a moment later.

“You like the night sky?” He asked softly as I felt his eyes back on me.

“I’d love to move out of the city someday so that I can actually see it,” I smiled sadly, “this isn’t good enough but it’ll suffice for now. I like to come up here to think.”

I heard a small intake of breath next to me before he interrupted the quiet sound of the city below, “What else do you want to do someday?”

I tilted my chin back down, tearing my gaze from the sky, and met his eyes, “There’s a lot, are you sure you have time?”

“I always have time for you.”

Chapter Text

My stomach began to ache from the number of times that Katsuki had made me burst out laughing. We still sat up on the roof, chatting to each other about life, telling stories about our childhood and I listened to him complain about his friends, who he actually adored but he just didn’t want to admit it. I had sobered up a while ago, but the conversation had kept me from getting too cold.

After Katsuki had told me about the first time that he met Kirishima, the conversation lulled a bit and I shivered. “Are you cold?”

“It’s not that bad, we can continue talking,” I smiled at him as my teeth began to chatter.

He rolled his eyes, “come on, time to go downstairs.” He held his hand out to me and waited for me to take it.

I sighed as I took it, “I guess you’ll be heading out then? Who are you hanging out with?”

“It’s too late for that, I’ll just go home.” He shrugged as we got into the elevator.

“Oh, I’m sorry for keeping you.”

Katsuki scoffed, “I wouldn’t have just spent the last hour on that rooftop if I didn’t want to be there.”

“Aww,” I said softly, “You wanted to talk to me?” He glared at me as we got to my floor and watched me quietly as I unlocked my door. “Gonna come in for a nightcap or are you just heading out?”

“I’ll stay for a nightcap and then I need to leave, I need to be at an event tomorrow so I can’t stay too late.”

“What time is your event at?” I asked as I opened the door, revealing my pristine entrance and kitchen in the background. I hung my coat up and dropped my shoes at the door before walking further into the apartment.

“Noon,” He grumbled as he did the same and followed.

“Noon?” I asked in disbelief and he rolled his eyes as he sat at the kitchen island. “Let me guess, you have to work out and get a bunch of things done tomorrow beforehand, right?”

“You know me so well,” He jeered at me.

“What do you want to drink?”

“I’ll take a whisky on the rocks if you have it.”

“Coming right up!” I announced as I brought out a glass and poured a few ice cubes in it before bending down to grab the bottle of whisky that I kept under the counter.

“Interesting spot for alcohol,” He commented, I could feel his eyes drift over my body as he watched me prepare his drink.

I handed his drink to him and prepared my own concoction before I rested against the counter across from him to sip on it. “Do you want any ice cream? I know you’re not much of a sweets guy but I figured I’d ask.”

‘I’m good, thanks.”

I brought out the tub of my favorite ice cream and a spoon and began to eat directly out of the container. “I’m happy I said no, that’s not super sanitary,” his nose wrinkled in disgust as he watched me.

“This is the best way to eat ice cream, bite me.” I slipped another spoonful into my mouth and met his eyes as I slowly pulled it out of my mouth. I gave it a second, slow lick to get the rest of the sweet substance off of the utensil. His eyes followed my every move and I saw his jaw clench. I winked at him as I went back to eating normally.

“HOLY FUCK!” He barked as a flash of black and white jumped across his lap and landed on the counter next to him. His palms sparked in response.

“If you kill my cat, I’ll never forgive you,” I commented calmy as I finished my serving of ice cream and put it back into the freezer.

“You have a cat?!” He demanded as he observed the small creature.

I looked at him and then back at Socks, “obviously, he’s right there.” I pointed to the feline and Katsuki gritted his teeth. “Oh, calm down. Yes, I have a cat, his name is socks.” Socks leaned over and sniffed at Katsuki, who just glared back.

“Well tell it to back off, I’m more of a dog person.” Socks meowed at him in response and jumped down into his lap, nudging his head against Bakugou’s chest.

I laughed, “he warmed up to you as fast as he warmed up to Shouto.”

“Todoroki has been here?” Katsuki’s eyes met mine as he awkwardly laid his hand on the cat’s head and gave him a few pats.

“Yeah he was here a few nights ago, remember? … we just needed to go over some cases.” I added quickly as he arched a perfect blonde eyebrow at me. Seeing his discomfort with socks, I walked around the island and reached into his lap to pick the animal up. My arm brushed his chest as I pulled away and I felt butterflies in my gut.

“I’m sure that’s all you did,” he muttered as he watched me put the cat down in his bed next to the floor-to-ceiling windows in my living room. It opened out onto a small balcony where I could see down the street to observe the city whenever I wanted to.

“If you want, I can show you what else we did,” I teased as I walked into my room to put my shoes away, ‘it’s pretty PG.”

“I’ll pass,” He grunted out as he took the last swig of his drink. “I should get heading out though, thanks for the drink.” Katsuki stood and went to go put his shoes on, I walked around the corner as he struggled to get his jacket around his back. I stood on my tippie toes and reached around to help, resting my hands on his shoulders once he had gotten it on and allowed my hands to drop down to wipe off a piece of lint that was stuck to his lower back. Taking a step back, I watched the explosive, handsome man in front of me. “Well, thanks for coming out with me tonight.”

“No, thank you.” I smiled as I walked forward to give him a hug, wrapping my arms around his neck and nuzzling my face into his shoulder as I felt his arms wrap around me to hug me back, his hands resting on my lower back. I kissed him on the cheek as we pulled away and saw the little blush that he tried to hide by turning away quickly.

“See you at work,” He grunted as he left.

I stood there in disappointment as I watched the door close behind him. I thought we had had a small breakthrough with the conversation on the roof, but then he had grown cold again once we had gotten down to my place. Did I do something wrong? I slowly walked into my room and changed out of my dress, substituting it for a dark tank top and a pair of short shorts. I pulled my hair up and started getting ready for bed before I heard a short, quick knock at my door. Confused, I walked down the hallway and opened it slowly, peeking my head around, gasping as I met Katsuki’s crimson eyes. “Did something happen?” I asked as I opened the door all the way.

“You forgot your purse in my car,” He held his hand out with my black clutch resting in it.

“Oh, shit. Thanks!” I said as I took it from him. I had expected him to leave right away since he had delivered my belongings, but when I looked up he was still standing there, gawking at me as I stood in my doorway. I blushed as I realized that I wasn’t wearing much more than undergarments at this point. “Do you see something you like, Kat?” I asked quietly. His eyes darted up to meet mine before he reached out and gently tilted my chin up.

“Everything. I like everything,” He admitted as he brought his lips down to mine. The kiss was fervent and hot, he backed me up into my apartment where he then slammed the door closed behind us with his foot. I felt my back hit the cold wall of the hallway and I tossed my clutch into the kitchen as our mouths stayed connected and wrapped my now empty hands around the back of his neck. His hands started to explore as his one hand stayed on my lower back, the other went to my hip before it trailed over my bare leg and hoisted my knee up so that it was wrapped him. His attention turned to my neck as his second hand dropped and lifted my other leg so that he was now holding me up against the wall with my legs wrapped around him. I let out a strangled gasp as he kissed down my neck, he latched onto an extra sensitive spot and gave it a small suck before he broke away.

“Bedroom?” His voice was light and breathy as his eyes gazed into mine.

“Down the hall,” I motioned to our right and he wasted no time carrying me to my bedroom as I continued kissing along his chin before connecting our mouths again. I tugged at his blonde locks as he stood with me next to my large, king-sized bed. A soft groan left his mouth as he lightly placed me on the bed and placed his body over top mine, supporting himself with his forearms.

He broke our heated kiss and pulled away, “You’re not drunk, right?”

I laughed lightly, “No, not at all.” I pulled his head back down to mine as I spread my legs, allowing his hips to lie between them.

“This doesn’t change anything I said earlier,” He sighed as he pushed up onto his knees before helping me out of my shirt, “I don’t just want you for your body, you have to know that.” I pulled my shorts off and tossed them over his head before reaching between my legs to unbutton his pants.

“I know, Kat,” as my fingers grazed his bare hip, he jumped back into action, lifting himself out of his pants and leaving him in just his boxer briefs and dress shirt. I pushed myself up so that I was at eye level with him before I reached out and began to slowly undo his shirt. His breathing quickened as my fingertips trailed over his bare chest, working my way down to his abdomen. He quickly yanked the top off once the buttons were all unlatched. I smiled as I shoved him down so that he laid on his back, his eyes were wide with excitement and wanting as he watched me straddle him while undoing my bra. It came off easily and I tossed that away too. His crimson eyes followed my every move. I allowed my core to rub up against his clothed member and watched as his eyes fluttered and he gritted his teeth. “I feel what I do to you,” I whispered in his ear before giving it a small nip, “Can you feel what you do to me?”

He growled in response and reached out, trying to retake the reins of this experience. I lightly slapped his hands away and kissed him again. My tongue traced his bottom lip as I continued to move against him. “You’re going to have to stop that unless you want me to cum in my pants, princess.”

I giggled as I stopped and began to trail wet kisses down his chest, keeping my eyes on his as I reached the edge of his boxers. His dick sprang free and hit his stomach as I pulled his boxers down his legs. He let out a small moan as I began to suck on him, making his legs twitch a little with each flick of my tongue. “Y/N…” He groaned as his hand made its way into my hair. He pulsed his hips up into my mouth a few times before he had decided that he had enough. He let out a frustrated moan as he quickly sat up and lifted me off of him before dropping me on my back again.

“It’s my turn now,” he had a playful smile on his face as he pulled my hips to the edge of the bed and began to leave small, torturous kisses against my lower leg and up to my thigh. He stopped when he got to my inner thigh and he met my heated gaze as his hands reached up to peel my lacy underwear off of my hips. He let out a sigh as I was laid completely bare to him, “You’re so beautiful,” he said before his mouth landed on my core.

“Oh, fuck,” I moaned as his expert tongue and fingers began working against me, and in me. He curled his fingers and rubbed inside of me while his tongue flicked across my clit, switching the direction of each flick as he went. He knew exactly what he was doing like he already knew my body like the back of his hand. “Kat… Please...” I breathed out a few minutes into his ministrations. “I need you.”

“You already have me, princess,” He smiled as he flexed his fingers inside me again.

I yelped, if he kept doing that I wasn’t going to last much longer. “You know what I mean, get in me. Now,” my voice was so needy that even I was surprised.

“Whatever you want,” he whispered as he rose from his knees. “Shit…” he ran his hands through his hair as I watched him from my spot at the edge of the bed. “I don’t have…”

“1st drawer” I pointed to the side table next to him.

He came into view a moment later, all covered up and ready to go. “Are you sure about this?” He asked as he followed me onto the bed as I placed my body more on it and propped my head up on my pillows.

“I haven’t been more sure about something in a long time,” I whispered back to him. His eyes flashed eagerly before he lined himself up to me. We both let out a collective sigh as he entered me and stilled. The feeling that came over me as he began to move was incredible. The pressure in my abdomen began to grow as he moved in and out, his quick breathing in my ear was almost enough to send me over the edge. 

His hands pinned mine next to my head as he quickened his pace, he leaned his head into the crook of my neck and kissed it before saying quietly, “Todoroki might be okay with sharing you, but I’m not. I’ll show you what it’s like to be mine and you’ll be crawling back to me for more.” Shifting around he brought his hand down between us and began rhythmically rubbing my clit, timing it perfectly with his thrusts.

“Oh, god,” I gasped as I neared my orgasm.

“You like that, princess? Tell me I make you feel good.” He moaned as he sat back and lifted my legs up to rest by his shoulders. I quivered as he hit a new angle, the massage of my clit slowed as he gazed down at me through half-lidded eyes. “I’m waiting.”

“Kat… Don’t stop,” I begged.

“You know what I want to hear love, just say it.” He demanded.

I felt heat rush to my face, “You make me feel so good, Katsuki,” I whimpered and sighed in relief as he began his magic again on my clit.

“Such a good girl,” he breathed out, “Cum for me, Y/N.”

His words were my downfall. My core clenched and released, making me twitch with pleasure and moan as Katsuki watched from above me. The feeling was indescribable. He helped me through my orgasm and then brought his hand away once I started getting too sensitive. Dropping back down into missionary, I wrapped my legs around him, keeping him to me as he thrusted. He kissed my neck and bit down lightly as he reached his own high, breaking away briefly to audibly groan as he released himself into me. His hips slowed after he reached his climax and he stilled above me, “You’re amazing.” He breathed out as he pulled himself out. I winced at the uncomfortable feeling but continued to lay there bare as he cleaned himself off quick before joining me back on my bed. Katsuki brought me to his chest and began to trail his hand up and down my back as we lay there in silence, basking in each other post-orgasm bliss.

“This is okay, right?” He whispered a few minutes later. “Like, I didn’t just mess things up between us?”

My eyebrows pinched together as I peeled my eyes away from watching my finger graze his bare pec muscles to study his face instead. “What are you talking about?”

Katsuki shrugged, “We’ve only just had a drama-free, casual relationship. I want to make sure that you’re not going to run from me now is all.”

“Kat…” His crimson eyes lowered to look at me, “I’m not running.”

Chapter Text

The sound of my phone buzzing and vibrating across my bedside table woke me the next morning. I shifted out of Katsuki’s warm embrace to pick it up, my heart jumped as I saw Shouto’s name illuminating on it. I silenced it quickly and rolled back over, meeting Katsuki’s bright eyes as I did so.

“Good morning,” His tired, raspy voice stirred my stomach.

“Hey, you stayed,” I smiled up at him as his arm snuck around my hip to pull me closer to him. My breasts rested against his chest as he gazed down into my face.

“Course I did, dumbass.”

“What do you have going on today?” I asked as I reached out to play with the small tufts of hair that hung over his ear.

“Just meeting my buddies at noon, nothing other than that. Why?”

“It was just a question,” I winked as I pulled myself out of his arms and stood up to walk to the bathroom.

“Do you have anything going on today?” His gruff voice sounded from behind me as I turned on the shower. I shrugged as I got into the shower, smirking as I heard the shower reopen behind me before a pair of large hands gripped me by my hips. “I saw that Icy Hot called you just now, you can tell me if you have plans with him.”

“Oh, thanks for giving me permission, sir.” I joked as I turned around to wet my hair.

“Come with me to go see my buddies,” he crossed his arms across his chest as he watched me wash my hair.

“What will you be doing?”

“Just hanging out at an outdoor bar and café place.”

“You want me to meet some of your friends?” I arched one of my eyebrows at him as I dipped my head back to rinse.

“Yeah, I’m sure they would love you. If you don’t want to though just say that,” His voice was slightly irritated.

“Relax, attack dog,” I put some conditioner into my hair as I motioned for him to wash his hair. He backed up into the water and rinsed before taking some of my shampoo. “I need to check what Shouto wanted first and then I can let you know.” His eyes narrowed at me and his mouth opened to respond, “We didn’t have anything planned today so don’t even say that again,” I chuckled, “He is my partner, I just want to make sure there isn’t an emergency. Don’t get jealous now.” I kissed him on the cheek as I went to wash my hair out again. “If you don’t mind?” I gave him my body soap and turned so that my back faced him, I felt my body heat up as his hands began to move over my skin. His hands steadily lowered until he got down to my ass, where he cupped me and massaged the soap there as well.

“turn around for me, princess,” He muttered out quietly and I did so. His eyes were dark as he regarded me. He began washing my stomach first before moving up to wash my tits, he slowed around my nipples before he gave them both a small pinch. My body jerked in response and I saw his mouth tilt up in a small smile. “So responsive,” he whispered as he knelt down to wash my legs. Again, he slowed as he rose higher but stopped before he got to my core. “I’ll let you handle that, I don’t want to give you a UTI or something.”

I laughed as I finished washing myself, leave it to Katsuki to be mindful of my vaginal health. “Your turn, babe,” I exclaimed lightly as I squeezed some soap into my hands, “you’re going to smell like flowers today.” He grimaced at the thought but the look quickly disappeared as my hands washed over his body, leaving his manhood for last. I smiled mischievously up at him as I reached down to smother his hard dick with soap. I moved my hand around a few times in a jerking motion and heard a small intake of air above me.  “You like that?”

“Mhm,” He hummed as he closed his eyes.

“Get in my bed,” I instructed as I turned off the water. His red eyes opened quickly as he did as he was told. I tossed him a towel and giggled to myself as he struggled to quickly dry himself off before he walked back to my room. I followed shortly afterward and grabbed a condom from my bedstand, tearing it open with my teeth as Katsuki watched from where he was lying on his back in the middle of the unmade bed. “This is going to be quick because you made me horny as fuck,” I looked up at him with accusatory eyes as I pulled the condom over him. Hoisting myself above him, his eyes didn’t leave mine as I lowered myself on him.

“Shit,” he sighed as I began to move, grinding my core against him abdomen and bobbing my hips up and down on him. His hands moved to my hips where he helped me move. “Yeah, just like that,” His head tilted back as he moaned. I quickened my pace as my orgasm neared. 

“Does that feel good, baby?” I mewled at him as I leaned forward to kiss him.

“So good, you make me feel so fucking good,” He growled out as his hands went around my back to keep me to him. I felt him begin to thrust up into me at a bruising pace.

I pushed myself up so that I could look down at him again. “None of that, be a good boy for me.”

He let out a frustrated groan as I slowed my hips. My orgasm began to build again as my clit rubbed against him. Sighing, I started moving faster again. “I’m so close,” his breathing quickened and his eyes widened as he watched me pleasuring both of us.

“Cum for me, Kat,” I demanded as I bounced harder on him.

The new force caused him to lose control, he threw his head back into the pillows and his hands tightened on my hips as he moaned. I felt him pulse inside me as he reached his high and the feeling alone was enough to take me to mine. Gasping, I moved erratically on top of him before stilling. The familiar, euphoric feeling moved throughout my abdomen and into my extremities as I sat there. Our loud breathing was the only sound in the room as we both tried to calm down, gazing at each other as we did so. I let out a sigh as I leaned down with him still inside me to give him a small kiss before I pulled myself off of him, taking the used condom with me to throw away.

A few minutes later I emerged from the bathroom to find Katsuki asleep again. I chuckled to myself as I began to get ready for the day, allowing him to snooze while I did so. Once I was done with all of my tasks, I still couldn’t bring myself to wake him up. He looked so cozy and youthful as he laid there with his mouth partially open and his hair strewn across his face. I grabbed my phone and walked out into the kitchen and began to make some breakfast. While the scrambled eggs and bacon were cooking I dialed Shouto’s number.

“Hey,” Shouto’s calm voice answered on the second ring.

“Hey, Sho, What’s up?”

“I was just calling to check in on you, see how things went last night.” His voice sounded on edge, nervous almost.

I smiled, “Yeah, it was great. That’s not really why you called though, right? I thought maybe an emergency happened for you to wake me up on a Saturday.”

“Sorry, I didn’t think that you would still be sleeping.”

“You called at 8, not everyone is up at 8 on a Saturday. Anywaysssssss!” I sighed, “Spill it, I have some bacon that’s going to burn.”

“Making breakfast?”

“Shouto!”

I heard him sigh on the other end, “I was going to ask if you wanted to get coffee with me this weekend. Or get some food, something?”

“You didn’t really call with a plan, did ya?”

I heard him laugh nervously, “Not really, I wanted to gauge what you might be interested in.”

“Maybe brunch tomorrow?” I asked as I turned to stir the eggs before I popped some toast into the toaster.

“Oh, yeah! That would be great. I already have a place in mind.”

“Great, Sho. Send me the details and I’ll meet you there.”

“Awesome! Will do!” I could almost see him running his hands through his multi-colored hair as he paced in his house, his anxiety was palpable through the phone.

“Is that Icy Hot?” Katsuki's raspy voice asked from behind me as he took a seat at the island.

I nodded as I turned and gave him a mug of coffee, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Was that Bakugou?” I heard him ask as I hit the end call button.

“Want some bacon, eggs, and toast?” I asked with a smile on my face as I turned the stove burners off.

“I’d love some,” he gave me small smile before reaching out to help himself. “You guys make plans for tomorrow then?” He asked after he took a bite of toast.

“Yeah, we’re just getting brunch tomorrow.” I sipped from my coffee as I watched his reaction.

His eyes flicked up to mine, “so you’re free today then?”

I smirked, “Yes, Kat. I’ll go with you to see your friends.”

His answering smile was blinding.

Chapter Text

“You smell like a chick, dude,” Kirishima complained as Katsuki embraced his best friend.

“Like a good smelling chick though, right?” I asked from behind the blonde.

Kirishima’s head popped around Bakugou to look at me, his eyes widened, “Yeah, he smells great, Y/N. I had no idea you were going to be joining us today, how are ya?” He brought me into a tight hug and quickly released me.

“Sorry, I thought King explosion murder over here would’ve said something. I didn’t mean to invite myself…”

“Oh, shut up. I said I was bringing a plus one, and I invited you,” red eyes met mine over his shoulder as he walked over to the large table outside on the patio that had been set aside for the group. He motioned for me to sit next to him near the end of the table. Leave it to Katsuki to want to sit as far away from everyone else as possible. With Bakugou at the head of the table, I took a seat next to him while Kirishima sat across from me.

“I’m actually happy that you’re here though I wanted to apologize…” Kirishima glanced down at his hands before meeting my gaze, “I shouldn’t have said anything to Am..”

“It’s okay,” I smiled as I cut him off. “Really, Kirishima. Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t hiding it.”

“How are you guys doing, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Bakugou glared at him as I folded my napkin in my lap. “I haven’t talked to him since, I think we’re okay,” I muttered while shrugging. He looked guilty. “Why do you have that look on your face?”

“I…”

“Kirishima!” A bright, feminine voice shouted from the café. I looked up and my heart dropped. It was Hado, one of Tamaki’s old friends, and the aforementioned man stood next to the excited female as she gave our red-haired friend a big hug. “It’s so great to see you, Tamaki talks nonstop about you. He loves working with you but he’ll never say anything to your face since he’s so shy,” she winked at him and then allowed her gaze to move over Katsuki and me.

I gave her a small wave and smile when I realized that Katsuki definitely wasn’t going to say anything to them. “Hi Hado… Amajiki.” I nodded at him before diverting my attention back to the bubbly woman.

Her eyes were wide, “You’re Y/N! Right?” She let out an excited squeal as she moved around the table to sit next to me. I immediately felt myself stiffen as she gave me a small hug after sitting down. I felt Katsuki’s eyes on me, watching the interaction. “I’ve wanted to talk to you for so long, Tamaki has told me a lot about you too.”

“Hopefully all good stuff,” I joked as I looked back up at Tamaki. His eyes were sad as he regarded me, it was definitely too soon for him and me to be in the same area. I winced as his eyes drifted away without saying anything. We weren’t good. I felt Kirishima’s guilty eyes back on me as he studied us, he had most likely come to the same conclusion.

Hado laughed at my comment, her laugh really was beautiful and genuine. “Tamaki never has a bad thing to say about anyone, he would be too chicken to say anything.”

“That’s true,” I agreed. Hado turned her attention back to Kirishima then briefly after he had asked her some question that I had ignored.

Katsuki’s hand gripped mine then under the table, making me jump. Turning to meet his surprisingly concerned gaze, he leaned towards me and whispered in my ear, “are you okay? We can leave, just say the word.”

“I’m fine, kat. Thanks though,” I squeezed his hand before pulling away.

“Tamaki, sit down buddy,” Kirishima patted the seat next to him. Tamaki glanced at him from where he stood and nodded before doing as he was told. My heart clenched. I knew he didn’t want to be that close to me, I could feel the anxiety oozing off of him. I decided then and there that I was going to avoid looking at him at all costs, anything that might help him enjoy his time with his friends.

A few more voices shouted from the café and I saw several figures waving, to which Kirishima waved back.

“Is this like a class 1-A reunion or something?” I asked Katsuki as he observed the newcomers as well.

He shook his head, “just a few of us. Shitty hair, tape arms, dunce face, and me. And guests that we decide to invite, obviously.”

“Hey, guys!” A blonde with a lightning mark in his hair yelled as he got closer to the table, I recognized him from some of Aizawa’s pictures and knew that his name was Denki Kaminari. A dark-haired girl followed close behind him, Kyouka Jirou. Tape arms, Hanta Sero came up behind them as well with a young blonde girl on his arm.

“Hey bro!” Kirishima yelled back as he jumped up to embrace his friends, “I’m happy you all could make it!”

Kaminari glanced at Bakugou, “no hug from you still? Damn!”

“In your dreams, dunce face.”

“Are you going to introduce your friend to us, Bakubro,” Sero commented as they all took seats.

“All, this is Y/N. Y/N, I’ve already told you who these idiots are.”

I chuckled as I waved at the group of new people, “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“So, you finally have a girlfriend hey?” Kaminari joked next to Tamaki.

Kirishima laughed nervously as he reached around Tamaki to pat Kaminari on the back, “why do you always have to put your nose into everything, quit it.”

“It was just a question,” He shrugged as he glanced at me, “He’s never brought someone to one of these before, especially not a beautiful young lady such as yourself.”

I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing as I felt Katsuki tense next to me, ready to pounce on the other blonde at any moment. “We’re not together, but I appreciate the compliment.”

“Not together? Why not? He’s such a catch!”

Kirishima slapped his friend across the head this time, earning an expressive “ow” from the lightning user.

“So, Hado.” I turned to the girl next to me, her bright eyes met mine and I didn’t see any anger there. Maybe she didn’t know about Tamaki and I? “Tell me about yourself,” I smiled.

Hado talked my ear off for the next hour, successfully barring any conversation from centering around me again and I was thankful for it. Tamaki looked relieved as well as he watched his friend talk animatedly. Katsuki rested his hand on my leg as we ate and would squeeze it whenever he thought my mind was drifting to unhappy places whenever I accidentally met Tamaki’s eyes or just happened to glance at him in general. I appreciated the gesture and would find myself with a small smile on my face each time.

I overheard Jirou talking about her new guitar at the end of lunch and tilted my head around to glance at her, “Jirou, if you don’t mind, I’d love to see your studio sometime. I have a big appreciation for the arts and I haven’t had the opportunity to see a studio before.”

Jirou’s eyes lit up, “Of course, I’ll send Bakugou the details sometime and we can meet up.” We both looked at the blonde next to me then, who looked bored while he supported his head with his hands.

He nodded in understanding, “I didn’t know you liked music.”

“Yeah…”

“She has a big CD collection in her apartment, I’m surprised she hasn’t shown it to you yet,” Tamaki said quietly as he turned the straw in his drink around with his finger. “Lot’s of different pieces of artwork on the walls too.”

My eyes widened as he continued to speak.

“She has this one CD where when you play it and she’s just a little tired, it’ll make her fall asleep in seconds. There’s another one that’ll make her cry. Another one that will make her want to have...” He winced, “I’m not going to tell you which ones do what though, I had to take the time to figure it out, so do you.” He quickly stood from the table and walked back into the restaurant without looking back.

“Hado…” I looked to the blue-haired girl beside me, tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.

“You’re good, I’ve got this,” she gave me a sad smile before she ran off after Tamaki.

“Oh!” Kaminari said in surprise as it clicked in his mind. “Oh…” he repeated a moment later, but with more of a sad hint to it.

“Yeah, you fucking idiot,” Bakugou growled.

“It’s not his fault, he couldn’t have known,” I sent a guilty smile to Kaminari.

“If it’s any consolation, I had no idea that Bakugou was bringing you, if I did I wouldn’t have invited Amajiki. The guy looked like he could use a day out though… I just thought…”

“Kirishima, stop. He does deserve a nice day out, don’t let this prevent you from doing so in the future. You’re a great friend.”

“Y/N!”

My eyes flicked up to meet Hados, she motioned for me to join her near the doors. “I’ll be right back,” I muttered to Katsuki who nodded at me.

“Fucking morons, all of you,” I heard him say in an exasperated tone to his friends.

“What’s up?” I asked Hado as I walked up to her.

“I… don’t know what to do for him. Can you try talking to him? I know it might be difficult but please…” The worry in her eyes tore at my heart, making me nod automatically, even though I immediately regretted it.

I walked past her and through the restaurant until I reached the front doors. I saw Tamaki’s silhouette outside and took a deep breath before opening the doors. They creaked open as the hinges rubbed together and I gritted my teeth. Dark eyes met mine as I let the door slam behind me.

“Hey,” I muttered as I sat down next to him on the curb.

His eyes glared off into the city around us, “Hado went to go get you?”

I nodded as I rubbed my knees nervously, “I can go back inside if you want to be alone though.”

He shook his head, “I can’t believe how bad this week has been. First, I think you and I are fine. We fuck around like normal, get food, whatever. Then, I hear from my partner that the girl I’m hooking up with is going on a date with one of her coworkers. I spend the next few days grieving a relationship I never had the chance to really have after breaking things off and then I come out today to enjoy my Saturday afternoon, to forget about said relationship, and then I run into you. You’re everywhere.” His eyes turn to me at the end, “Why is that?”

“I’m sorry, Amajiki…”

“Don’t call me that,” He begged, his eyes widening as they welled up with tears. “Don’t call me by my last name, not right now. I can’t handle it.”

“I… Tam. I’m sorry. If I had known that you were going to be here today I wouldn’t have come.”

“So you think avoiding me is the best option.”

“Is it not? You just said so yourself that you want to forget about what we had, wouldn’t avoiding you help that?”

“I don’t want to forget about everything. You were my best friend, I can’t just let go of that. I feel like my life has just been turned upside down and the person that I always went to for support isn’t there anymore. I feel lost.”

“You have Hado..”

Tamaki scoffed, “I love Hado, but she doesn’t get me the same way that you do. You get me almost as well as Mirio does.”

“Just because we ended things doesn’t mean we can’t hang out anymore, we can still be friends.”

“I don’t know if I can be just friends with you.”

“Damn it, Tam. What do you want me to say then?” I demanded as I turned to him, my patience beginning to wear thin after the constant social exposure all day. My people meter had almost run out.

Tears fell from his eyes, immediately dissipating any frustration that I was starting to feel. I pulled him to me and hugged him as he lightly cried into my chest. I don’t know how long I held him for, but the sound of a rude driver beeping at us had me whipping out my middle finger faster than ever before. The sound had made Tamaki jump though, almost wakening him from his mood as he sat up straight and rubbed his eyes.

“How about we do Taco Tuesday’s still,” I commented as he stared off into the distance again, “you can come see Socks and we can talk about our weeks and try to act like normal again, without the… ya know. You can invite Hado or Mirio too.”

“Can we do Sushi Sundays instead? You always could make some great sushi, I’d rather take advantage of that.” The small smile on his face told him he was at least somewhat joking.

I chuckled as I lightly hit his arm, making him sway gently, “Sure, sushi Sundays are back on then, we can even start tomorrow. I have some people that I can invite too if you bring Hado and Mirio.”

His eyes turned contemplative then, “It’s not Bakugou though, right?”

I arched an eyebrow at him, “No, I’m meeting up with Shouto tomorrow and I was thinking about inviting Aizawa. What do you have against Katsuki?”

Tamaki shifted his body a little, showing how uncomfortable he was getting, “I just… I don’t know. There’s something about him.”

“He won’t be there then, don’t worry. Sundays are for Tamaki,” I winked at him as I stood up and held my hand out to him, he grabbed it and I helped him up. “Sound like a plan?”

Tamaki smiled at me, squeezing my hand before releasing it. It was probably the first genuine smile that I’ve seen from him since earlier this week. “Yeah, deal. Thank you, Y/N.”

“You don’t have to thank me, this might surprise you but I consider you to be one of my best friends too. This week wasn’t easy for either of us, it was just weird.” We entered the restaurant then and made our way back to the table.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry about earlier..” Katsuki grumbled as we walked back to his car, side by side. I bumped my hip into his, causing his eyes to shoot to mine with a small glare.

“I had a great time actually, thanks for inviting me.”

He sighed as he rested his arms across my shoulders and pulled me into him, “I’m happy you came too. What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“Hmmm… I was planning on getting some errands done. I need to do some grocery shopping and I need to stop by U.A.

“U.A?” He glanced at me as we reached his car.

“Yeah, I have to talk to one of the teachers there about a faculty locker,” I winked at him.

“You’re going to teach at U.A?” He asked after we had both gotten into the vehicle.

I shrugged, “I think I’m just helping out when I have time. If you want to come with I just need to pick up a few things from my apartment and then we can go there next?”

“Yeah, it’s been a bit since I went to U.A.” He started his car and rested his hand on my knee before he began driving.

An hour later we parked at U.A and began the trek into the building. “So, to be honest, I haven’t been here too many times but I do know how to get to one place.”

“I never have asked you where you went to school, I actually haven’t asked you much about your past.” His face was contemplative as he observed the posters on the walls as we walked down the long hallways.

“I was an orphan who was adopted by a hero and homeschooled.”

“Which hero did you grow up with?”

I grinned as we reached Aizawa’s office. Confusion grew on his face as he realized where I had led him to, and then his eyebrows shot up. “No fucking way.” I began to laugh before I knocked on the door. “Shouta fucking Aizawa?!” He whisper yelled at me as we stood outside of my adoptive parent’s office. I heard movement from behind the door before it was jerked open.

“I thought I recognized that voice,” Aizawa said with a bored expression on his face.

“You look tired,” I commented as I moved past him into the office. Bakugou stood at the doorway, still staring at Aizawa and me, his jaw slightly hanging open with a stunned look on his face.

“Aizawa,” he cleared his throat as he regarded his old teacher.

“I see you haven’t changed much, how surprising,” Aizawa breathed out as he rolled his eyes before joining me in his office.

“Speak for yourself old man, you just look older.” Katsuki barked out as the shock wore off before he joined me by the desk in the office.

“It’s good to see you, how are you doing?” Aizawa asked me as he patted me on the shoulder.

“Better,” I smiled at him as I shifted my bag on my shoulder. “I actually stopped by for a few things, I have some workout or exercise clothes to put in that locker that you mentioned earlier this week.” I motioned to the bag and he nodded. “I also wanted to invite you over to my place tomorrow for sushi. I know we just had some on Wednesday but I told Tamaki that I would try to keep some things normal I guess… Shouto will be there too, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.”

“Are you hanging out with all of my old students now?” Aizawa grumbled as he glanced at Katsuki who was staring again in awe at some childhood pictures of Aizawa and I that were posted in the office.

“How did I never notice these before?” He mumbled to himself.

“She was about 10 there, I don’t think you would recognize her anyway.”

Katsuki pointed to a more recent picture, “She’s definitely not 10 here, old man. I’d recognize that ass...asshat anywhere.” He coughed as he tried to cover his comment and his cheeks reddened. I stifled a giggle with my hand and glanced at Aizawa but he either hadn’t noticed the slip-up or he was ignoring it. 

“Anyway” I quickly said, “what do you say? You in?”

He leaned back in his chair as he studied me, “yeah, I’ll be there. What time?”

“I was thinking around 6?”

He nodded before he stood up, “I can take you to that locker then so you can get this kid out of my office.”

Katsuki’s eyebrows furrowed at the comment and I elbowed him when Aizawa had his back to us to keep him from responding. We followed Aizawa out towards the training areas and to a faculty locker room.

“It’s coed, there are changing rooms and separate bathrooms with showers if you need it.” He pointed to a locker, “this is the one I had assigned to you, I also got you a little something.”

I opened the locker and saw a large garment bag hung up. I met Aizawa’s eyes and he gave me one of his rare smiles, the ones that actually reached his eyes. Bringing the bag down, I unzipped it and found a new hero uniform inside. It was all black and made of a stretchable material.

“It’s a lot like your current one, but this one conducts energy better. The soles of the combat boots in there are obviously rubber to avoid electrocuting yourself with electrons or something but the rest of the suit will conduct any energy that you happen to bring into your body so that you can reuse it quicker. It’s also more lightweight and durable than the old one. It’s black for recon and stealth missions and it’s tight so that it doesn’t get in the way if you ever have to fight. There are arm guards for protection and a chest guard that you can try out…” He trailed off, “they kind of made the chest guard a little more promiscuous than what I had originally planned so only use that if you want to. Otherwise, we can have them remake it.”

“It’s great, Aizawa. Thank you,” I smiled warmly at my mentor who almost looked bashful while rubbing the back of his head. “You didn’t have to do all of this but I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. I just wanted to make sure you had the most updated equipment that you could have. Especially if you’re going to be helping me with some of my classes.” He glanced at my companion then, “Hell Bakugou if you ever feel like coming by I could always use your help too.”

“Sure, old man.”

I quickly put the bag I had brought with me into the locker and took the garment bag with my updated suit with me.

Aizawa walked us to the front doors and said goodbye as we began walking off to Katsuki’s car.

I turned after taking a few steps and gave Aizawa a hug, he stiffened as I did so before relaxing and hugging me back. I rarely hugged him when I was growing up, but he always looked like he needed one. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said as I pulled away. He watched as we walked away and stayed on the front steps until we began to drive away.

I felt a small hole in my chest as I watched my mentor in the distance. I had been so excited to move out a year ago that I had never really thought about how it would affect him. Just the fact that I had come here to U.A on a Saturday and automatically knew that he was going to be there should’ve been a sign enough that Aizawa was lonely. So very lonely. He had given up his 20s to take care of me and hadn’t put forth the effort to ever meet anyone, dating or hook up wise. Now in his mid 30’s, he didn’t have anyone, except for me, the student that never put in the time to visit.

A flick on my forehead distracted me from my thoughts. “Ow!” I exclaimed as I rubbed the irritated skin to dissipate the pain.

“That’s for not telling me and preparing me for the fact that I was going to be seeing my old teacher again.”

“Oh, please,” I rolled my eyes at the blonde. He didn’t get the chance to prepare for you, it wouldn’t be fair if I told you beforehand.”

“I’m not that difficult to handle.”

I choked on a laugh but covered it.

Katsuki glanced at me with a smirk on those plump lips of his, “got something to say, princess?”

Chapter Text

A blood-chilling meow woke me the next morning, causing my eyes to snap open to come face to face with the black and white cat who lived with me.

“What?” I grumbled as I tried to pull my cover-up around me to hide my face.

Socks stepped further up on my chest to look at me, meowing again.

“You’re not going to let me sleep, are you?”

A small, sweet trill responded as Socks jumped off the bed and walked into the kitchen. I followed shortly after, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I went to go feed the pesky feline.

He happily ate while I began to make myself some coffee. Katsuki had dropped me off the day before so that I could run my errands. Picking up my groceries had taken what had felt like a century, and I had had an enjoyable run-in with a man on the train that caused me to go into “no people mode.” I spent the rest of the evening recharging my social meter so that I could enjoy today.

My eyes widened as I glanced at the clock on my microwave, “Oh, shit!” I gasped, it was nearly 11:30. How had I slept for so long? No wonder the cat had pestered me so much this morning. I quickly picked up my phone and called Shouto.

“Everything okay?” he answered almost immediately.

“I just woke up,” I grunted as I multi-tasked, taking off my clothes so that I could take a quick shower while balancing the phone on my shoulder. “I might be a tad bit late today, I’m so sorry Shouto.”

“Hey, no worries. Would it help if I picked you up at noon instead?”

“That would actually work really well, you know the apartment number, come on up whenever you get here.”

“See you in a bit.”

I hung up the phone as I jumped into the shower, emerging about 5 minutes later. A quick knock at my door startled me as I applied a small amount of makeup. Taking my towel off my head I quickly wrapped it around myself to answer the door without checking the peek hole.

“That was quick,” I said as I opened the door. I met red eyes instead of mismatched ones. “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, exasperated as I rushed back into my room to continue getting ready.

Katsuki entered and I heard the door close as I went back into my closet. “I was checking to see if I forgot my jacket here.”

I looked over my shoulder to scan the room and saw his jacket draped over the chair in my bedroom. I tugged on a tank top and jeans before walking back out to give him his jacket. “It was in my room, you could’ve just called or texted ya know.” I joked as I tossed it at him.

“But if I called or texted then I wouldn’t be able to do this,” He whispered as he leaned down to kiss me. I turned my face at the last moment, causing him to kiss my cheek instead. His eyes opened, and I swore I saw a flash of hurt in them before they hardened.

“I can’t do that right now, I need to get going,” I stood on my tiptoes to place a light kiss on his cheek, “I appreciate the gesture though.” I rushed back into the bathroom and quickly brushed out my hair, while also finishing up the rest of my process. Katsuki slowly walked to the bathroom and leaned up against the doorway.

“You’re sure you don’t have time?”

“Kat,” I gave him a look as I went back into my bedroom to finish my outfit. Another knock at the door sounded as I picked out a sweater to wear since it was so chilly outside. “Come in!” I shouted, the creak of my front door opening, and the soft close a few seconds later told me that he had heard me.

I walked out to greet my guest and found that Katsuki had beaten me to it.

“Icy hot,” He glared as he put his jacket on. His red eyes were piercing as they regarded the calm man before him. I rolled my eyes as I walked around the blonde.

“Hey Sho, pop-rock here decided that he needed to pick up the jacket that he forgot here yesterday. He was just heading out.” Katsuki’s heated glare turned to me then, “Don’t give me that look, you knew I had plans today.” I walked up to him and held his gaze. “See you at work tomorrow yeah?”

He nodded to me but stayed quiet, turning to the door he reached out for the door handle. I saw him hesitate before he turned back around suddenly to pull me into a quick hug. “Call me if you need anything, princess,” He whispered in my ear before he squeezed my ass. He smirked at the startled yelp that had come from my lips, then he turned on his heels and walked out of the apartment without saying another word.

I stood stunned for a moment before I regained my wits, turning then to face the man who was still in my kitchen. “I’m sorry about that, Shouto.”

Shouto smirked at me, “it’s okay, I know what he’s trying to do and it won’t work.” His hands were scratching Sock’s ears, who had jumped onto the counter just to greet him. My mind went blank as I watched him pet my cat, his hands looked so strong yet soft, I wouldn’t mind if….

“Y/N?” His quiet, calm voice interrupted my thoughts and I blinked hard.

“Uh, yeah?”

His lips quirked up again as he walked over to me, “Are you good?”

I nodded as I tucked my hair behind my ears, “Do I not look ready?”

His footsteps paused as he reached me and tilted his head down to look me in the eyes, “you just seem a little distracted is all,” he muttered as he tilted my chin up and rubbed my lower lip with his thumb. His eyes drifted down to watch his own thumb, eyes widening slightly as my lips parted.

His hand moved to rest below my ear as he lowered his face, waiting for me to push him back if I wanted to. The kiss was soft as he finally gave in to his desires. My heart swelled a little as heat rushed to my face. The kiss missed some of the fire that Katsuki used, not that Shouto couldn’t be passionate, but he was sweeter and laid back. His kiss was comforting, like sitting in front of a fireplace on a cold night, snow falling outside, surrounded by loved ones, and reading one of my favorite novels. My nose filled with the spicy cedar scent that Shouto always exuded. My arms wrapped around his lower back as I kissed him back. I smiled as he pulled away, kissing me on the nose before taking a step back.

“Ready to go?” He held his hand out as he motioned to the door. “Our reservation technically started 5 minutes ago,” he winked.

I nodded as I grabbed his hand and followed him out of the apartment, locking the door behind me.

“I’m sorry about being a mess this morning, I never sleep in that late, I don’t know what happened.” I sighed as we stood in the elevator.

He gave me a sideways glance, “it didn’t have anything to do with Bakugou?” I arched an eyebrow at him and he held his hands up in defense as he chuckled, “just saying.”

“He really didn’t stay over, he just came for his jacket and showed up a few minutes before you did.”

“He did stay over though Friday night, didn’t he?”

“What of it?” I saw a flash of annoyance appear on his face before he looked away.

“Nothing, never mind.”

He left the elevator as it opened on the ground floor and began to walk towards the entrance of the building, “We don’t have to do this if you’re not comfortable…” I started, giving him a cautious look as he stopped dead in his tracks, almost making me run into him in the process.

“It’s not that,” he sighed as he nervously swept his hair back out of his eyes before looking back down at me, “I’m just…”

Jealous. He was so evidently jealous that I could see it on his face and I immediately felt bad. I shouldn’t be doing this with either one of them, I should stop this right now. They were both good friends of mine…

“I’m ecstatic that you said yes to me today,” he shrugged before he reached out for my hand again. He began to lead me to his car, “and he might’ve been the first one to have you, but I was the first one to have your mouth on me.” I opened my mouth to respond but his next words shut me up for the next ten minutes. “And I’ll be the first to make you fall for me.”

Shouto picked a small brunch place a few blocks away from my apartment. The entrance was littered with green plants and small wind chimes which rang as we walked into the establishment. An older gentleman greeted Shouto with a friendly pat on his back, his sweet smile told me that he must know these people well. The restaurant was well lit with massive skylights that looked up at the skyscrapers around the building. Booths surrounded the outside wall and small tables sat in the middle. The man walked us to a table near the back. Several patrons glanced at Shouto as he walked past, I even received a few glares from a few young women at a table nearby.

Shouto was well known around this area since he had been working with his dad at his agency for at least the last few years, the locals here knew him really well since he tried so hard to integrate himself into the community.

Shouto motioned for me to sit so that I could face the restaurant while he sat across from me. I met the eyes of one of the young women again and winced slightly.

“You have some fans here,” I commented after the worker left us with a few glasses of water.

Shouto’s eyebrows pinched together with confusion before he glanced over his shoulder, immediately seeing the table full of young women and looking back at me. “Ah… Yeah, I come here quite a bit on my days off. They must’ve figured that out.”

“Do you usually sit here too?” I chuckled as I reached for my glass of water to take a sip.

He nodded, “I think he reserves this table for me every Sunday.”

My jaw dropped, “every Sunday? During brunch?”

Shouto smiled and shrugged, “like I said, I come here quite a bit. I did call to get a reservation today though just in case.”

“That’s impressive,” I noted as I avoided the eyes of the onlookers.

“You can come sit next to me if you want, or we can switch seats?” He suggested as he noticed me shift uncomfortably in my seat.

I shook my head before I winked at him, “I’m a tough cookie, I can handle a few glares. So what’s good here?”

He pointed out a few items on the menu that he usually had, and the waiter returned shortly after to ask us for our order.

After the waiter left, I suddenly remembered about the Sushi night. “Before I forget! I wanted to ask you something. I’m inviting a few people over tonight for Sushi Sunday, do you want to come?”

“Oh,” Shoto sat stunned for a second before he recovered, “Yeah, of course. I don’t have anything else going on.”

“Sorry if that seemed blunt,” I lightly chuckled before I rubbed my hands together. While there was plenty of sunlight in the restaurant, the air still had a slight chill to it from all of the skylights.

Shouto held his hands out to me and I hesitated before placing my hands into his. “Who’s all going?”

I watched as his left hand began to steam up, immediately warming mine. But even as the temperature in my hands rose, he didn’t let go. We both were looking down at our conjoined hands, almost in wonder. He began to rub small circles into the back of my hand with his surprisingly soft thumb. “My adoptive parent, amajiki, and I think Mirio and Hado. And now you,” a light groan left my lips as he began to massage my palm lightly.

His eyes snapped up to mine at the sound and his cheeks immediately turned pink. “You like that?”

“It honestly feels amazing, who would’ve thought I’d have that much stress in my hands.”

Shouto smiled as he continued his ministrations on my hands, “you said Amajiki is coming?”

“I sort of ran into him yesterday. He needs some semblance of how things used to be to help get over everything,” I admitted quietly.

He nodded, almost as if he understood. “I’d have issues getting over you too.”

I arched an eyebrow at him, “Oh please. You’re Shouto Todoroki. You’re charming and sweet. You have women showing up at your local brunch stop. It’d be easy for you.”

He gave me a calm, yet stern look, “I don’t have eyes for anyone else. They can look as much as they want, they’ll never be on your level.”

Just then, our waiter came to place our meals in front of us. We pulled our hands apart quickly as he began to set the plates down. We both said our thanks before we began to cut into our food.

“Hi, you’re Todoroki right? Shouto Todoroki?” A quiet, feminine voice asked from beside us. We both looked up to see one of the glaring women from before, but instead of a dissatisfied look on her face, she was batting her eyelashes as Shouto looked at her.

“How can I help you?” His voice was low, not exactly welcoming but not hostile either.

“It is you,” she beamed at him as she stared down at him with wonder, “I’ve been such a huge fan of yours ever since your first sports festival,” she gushed and her friends giggled from where they still sat at their booth. I continued to eat as Shouto waited for her to finish talking about him.

“You did this one move against Bakugou that was so amazing I just..”

Shouto held up a hand to silence her, “I’m sorry, but I’m kind of on a date right now. Is there anything you need or an emergency nearby?”

I internally winced as I watched her face drop.

“An autograph?” She whispered as she held up a small poster with his face on it.

Shouto glanced at me, “is it okay if I?”

I nodded, “go for it sho.”

While the girl looked relieved, she still sent me an angry look as Shouto looked down to sign the poster.  “There you are,” he said as he handed it back to her a moment later. “Have a good day now,” his words were polite but the tone in which he said them was short. The woman stood stunned for a moment before she walked away in silence. Her friends all gave her reassuring pats on the back before they sent grimaces our way. They all left the restaurant shortly after. If they had been dogs, their tails would be between their legs with how they walked.

“Ouch, Shouto.” I laughed as they finally were out of sight.

He looked up at me with an innocent look on his face, “What?”

“She obviously had a huge crush on you…”

“And? We’re on a date and she was glaring at you. I don’t have time for people like that.” He was so blunt and to the point, so Shouto Todoroki of him.

“We’re on a date?”

His cheeks grew pink again, “Well, I just thought… I…”

“Relax, Sho.” I stuck my foot out to lightly kick him. “I’m just messing with you.”

Shouto gave me a small smile as he continued to eat his meal.

“This place is great, really. How did you even find it?”

“My dad, actually, if you can believe that.”

My eyebrows raised, “Endeavor found this place?”

Shouto nodded, ‘It’s one of my mom’s favorite places to relax at.” We both glanced around at the green, welcoming environment of the restaurant around us.

“I think your mom and I have similar tastes then.”

The comment made Shouto give me another small smile, his eyes lit up lovingly as he thought about his mom.

“Tell me about her,” I said quietly as I finished my food and placed my dishes at the edge of the table.

Shouto gave me a little rundown of what his mom, Rei Todoroki, had been up to the last few years. He had started talking to her again during his first year at U.A. and his family had come together quite a bit since then. Touya revealing himself had seemed to bring his family together even more. While things weren’t perfect between his parents, their family drama had simmered down a lot in the last few years.

“Do you think we’re going to find Touya?” I asked gently after he had finished his synopsis.

Shouto grimaced slightly as he studied the table, “I don’t know. One part of me hopes we never find him and that he truly is dead, another part of me wants to kill him for what he put my parents through 4 years ago. But there’s also a part of me that just wants my older brother back, ya know?” He looked up at me then, “I never got to know him very well since my dad had me training all the time. Natsuo was really the only one who knew Touya for who he was.” Shouto shrugged, “If we ever actually find him, I don’t know how I’m going to react.”

I reached out then and grasped his hands in mine, “I’ll be at your side when we do. You won’t be alone if you face him.”

His cheeks turned pink as he regarded our hands again, “Thank you, Y/N.”

Chapter Text

Shouto shoved his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans after he finished paying for the meal as I studied the many plants by the entrance.

“Do you like them? I’d let pro hero Shouto buy one of them if you do. They're not usually for sale but I can make an exception,” the owner smiled warmly at me from where he stood by the cash register.

I glanced at Shouto who was looking down at me out of the corner of his eye as he pulled his sweater down after it had been bunched up by him rummaging in his pockets. “Oh, no. I mean, I like them but I don’t want to buy them,” I heard the half and half hero next to me chuckle. “They’re beautiful where they are.”

The owner grinned, “come back again and see them then.”

“Will do,” I nodded as Shouto held the door open for me.

A bitter breeze tossed my hair around as I walked out of the restaurant, making me shiver. I pulled my sweater tighter around me, but it did little to protect me against the wind. Shouto stepped around to my right side as we walked back to his car, pulling me to him as he did so. His warmth seeped into me as he activated his fire quirk slightly. “You’re so perceptive,” I laughed lightly. The smirk that he gave me in return made my heart flutter.

“I’d say I’m great at gauging what your needs are,” He winked as we approached the vehicle.

“Oh yeah?” I arched an eyebrow at him. A mischievous smile grew on his face as he leaned down to whisper in my ear, but before he could say anything, a loud screeching sounded from down the road.

Our heads swiveled to analyze where the sound was coming from, and my eyes immediately picked up on a car careening down the roadway at breakneck speeds. It whipped past us, and several police cars followed behind it, sirens blaring and lights flickering as they warned pedestrians and other drivers of the danger.

“Pro hero Shouto!” A panicked voice yelled from down the sidewalk. An out-of-breath officer jogged down the sidewalk towards us, panting as he reached where we stood.

“What’s going on?” Shouto asked, voice low and serious, all playfulness was gone as he went into life-saving mode.

“The woman’s gas pedal is stuck, she can’t stop. We’ve been clearing the road for miles but she’s going to reach the bay soon. There’s a festival going on there today.”

My eyes widened as Shouto glanced at me, eyes pleading.

“Duh, we’re going, you don’t have to even ask me” I barked out as I yanked his car door open. “The car will be faster, get us a few hundred feet ahead of it and I’ll handle it.”

“Y/N…” His voice was exasperated, unbelieving.

The police officer looked between the two of us.

“Are you underestimating me, Shouto Todoroki?” I asked quietly. He glanced between me and where the car had traveled like he was contemplating just running for it.

“Need a lift?” A bright, familiar voice shouted to me from the sky.

My head whipped up and I instantly smiled as I recognized the boy who I had grown up with. “Keigo?”

“Our reunion can happen later,” He held his arms out and I grabbed onto them without a second thought.

“Y/N?” Shouto called after me as Hawks lifted up into the air.

I looked down at him and waved, “meet you there, icy hot!” Hawks sprung forward as the last word left my lips, nearly taking the breath right out of me. We caught up to the police and car almost a minute later, proving how quick Hawks could really fly. I glanced back and saw a string of ice following far behind us.

Our feet hit the pavement about 10 blocks ahead of the speeding car, the sounds of laugher and excited chattering carried on the wind from the festival down the road a few blocks to my left. I sent a panicked look that way as I analyzed how exactly I was going to do this.

“I could just drop you on the car so you can use your quirk to shut it off,” Keigo offered.

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea…” I was about to grab onto his arm again before we both heard a shrill scream, I looked up in time to see a young boy run into the road between us and the car which was still speeding towards us.

“Do what you have to do!” Hawks yelled as he took off to grab the boy before he could be run over.

Everything seemed like it was happening in slow motion, Hawks flew to the boy, his red wings beating rapidly, and picked him up seconds before the car was there. I jumped into action, realizing that I needed to act now or else I would miss the opportunity and dozens of people could end up killed or injured.

Suddenly, an idea flashed in my mind.

My feet slipped as I sprinted into the road and bent to touch the hot asphalt, editing the atoms in it so that the hard ground became like quicksand for the next block. My hand began to sink into the ground from where it rested, I gasped as I glanced up to see that the car was almost on me. Focusing my quirk on my feet, I flipped up off of the ground, throwing myself into the air to dodge the two-ton vehicle. My fingertips lightly trailed along the hot metal as it flew under me. Activating my quirk again, I sent a shock wave of electrons through the vehicle, stopping all electrical conduction and causing it's engine to sputter and shut off. My feet hit the ground again just as I cleared the car, nearly falling over in the process since the pavement was still wobbly and soft. The car came to a complete stop at the end of the block, its wheels sinking down into the ground. I reached down and deactivated my quirk as things settled around me. The ground became hard again and the car was pushed up so that it rested back on top of the road, calm and unmoving, almost like it hadn’t just been about to murder a bunch of people. The old woman who was driving the car tumbled out of the driver's side, her knees quivering as she stared at the car in absolute horror, in utter disbelief of what could have just happened.

“Good job, kid,” hawks golden hand came into view from where I still knelt on the ground. I smiled up at him as I took it and he pulled me up. “I knew you could do it. You’ve gotten a bit more ballsy since we trained together though.”

“Let’s not act that I haven’t seen you in decades, Keigo. It has only been a year.” I chuckled as I smacked him on the shoulder.

His jaw dropped as he gave me a fake hurt look, “And to think I just helped you save citizens,” He scoffed.

His words registered and my eyes involuntarily drifted to where the old woman had been. My eyebrows furrowed as police officers surrounded the car, but the woman was no longer in sight. “Where did she go?” I asked and Hawks looked up, a look of confusion passed his face as well.

“That’s odd.”

A large group of people had come towards the commotion from the festival down the road, their curious eyes studying the car and dozens of police officers who showed up at the scene, as well as to look at me and the popular hero who stood next to me. My eyes glanced between the faces of the citizens and stopped on a pair of familiar gold, yellow eyes.

“Hey!” I shouted at the girl that I had given my autograph to a few days prior, a man walked between us and obscured my view of her. When I shifted my feet to look around him, the girl was gone.

“What are you shouting for now?”

“I thought I saw someone I recognized…” I began, but a cold breeze hit me, making me pause as the scent of cedar followed it.

“Are you okay?” Shouto’s calm voice interrupted my musings and I tore my gaze from the crowd to look back at him.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” His face was red and his hair was wind-blown as he studied me in return.

When he seemed happy with his investigation about whether or not I had been injured, he reached up and wiped some debris off of my cheek, his hand resting on my face longer than it should if things between us were just casual. Keigo arched an eyebrow at my partner.

“You guys are partners at Endeavors agency, right?” His voice was contemplative, almost accusatory as he gave Shouto a look that only a protective, older brother would have.

Shouto tore his eyes away from me briefly to meet Keigo’s eyes, “Yeah, we’re partners.”

“And that’s it, right?”

I choked on a laugh, “quit drilling him with questions.” I tugged on Keigo's arm, “since I’ve run into you randomly, want to come by for sushi later? I can text you the address.”

Keigo narrowed his eyes at Shouto as we walked away from the ice and flame user, before turning back to me. “Sure, Y/N. I’ll come by.”

“Awesome, I’ll see you at 6 then.” Taking that as a dismissal, he sent me one last smile before he turned to go talk to the cops.

Walking back to Shouto, I gave him a reassuring smile. “Ready to get out of here?”

He nodded, “let me see if one of these officers can give us a lift back to my car.”

The ride back to his car was quiet, besides the small conversation that the officer tried to have with Shouto at the beginning of the ride. I looked out of the window as I felt nerves flowing off of Shouto in troves.

“What’s up?” I asked him after I had closed the door of the cop car and he had driven away.

Shouto glanced at me nervously as he held his own passenger side car door open for me. “I didn’t mean to make it seem like I didn’t believe in you earlier.” He closed the door before I could respond, and all I could do was watch him as he slowly walked around the car to get into the driver's side.

“I don’t want you to think that I underestimate you…” He admitted quietly as he buckled up before putting the car into drive.

I sighed, “it’s only natural for you to be protective. You graduated from U.A. You’re one of the best heroes on the market right now, you’re strong and your quirk is well rounded. Villains fear you.” I watched out the window as we passed small shops and restaurants. Shouto stayed quiet as I thought about what to say next, “It has never been like that for me. My quirk is unpredictable, even dangerous at times,” I shook my head. A small intake of breath told me that Shouto wanted to make a comment but I cut him off, “What I’m trying to say is that I don’t blame you for underestimating or doubting me,  there’s so much about my quirk that even I don’t know or understand. I’ve always been the support and backup person in our partnership at work, and I’ve never really been able to let loose, ya know?” I glanced at him then and his eyes were speculative.

“You’re strong too, Y/N. You might not notice it, but everyone around you does. There was a reason why my dad signed you on in the first place,” He looked at me then as we stopped at a street light. “I’m sorry if I made it seem like I underestimated you earlier because I truly don’t. I know you’re a force to be reckoned with, even if I haven’t seen your entire quirk with my own eyes. I can feel it radiate off of you...” His eyes drifted back to the road as he started driving again, “and to be honest, I wasn’t worried about you not being able to stop the car, I knew in my heart that you could do it. I was more worried about you putting yourself in danger and me not being by your side to help you if things went bad.”

I smiled at his admission. He cared. That’s why he had hesitated earlier because he didn’t want me to throw myself in front of a speeding car.

“I care about you too, Sho,” I said quietly as I reached over to grab his hand. “But I don’t need you to protect me, I’ve got this.” I winked at him before I brought my hand back to my own lap. “I’ve had enough excitement for this afternoon. Want to help me prep for Sushi tonight?” 

Chapter Text

My hand shook a little as I aimed my key to unlock my apartment door. A cold grip latched onto me lightly, “are you okay?”

I smiled up at Shouto as I was finally able to get the door open, “Yeah, my adrenaline is still going strong it seems. It feels like I just finished an entire pot of coffee.”

He chuckled as he took off his coat to hang it up by the front door. “So, where do you want me?” He asked as he washed his hands in the sink.

I followed suit and then began to bring out my sushi-making produce and supplies. “Can you cook rice? I’ll handle the vegetables. Kat made a comment once that you’re not the best with a knife.”

Shouto smirked, “Bakugou is just picky is all. I do just fine.”

I brought out a large knife and lightly handed it to the ice and flame user, whose gentle eyes observed my every move as he leaned up against the counter. “Fine, I guess I’ll be the judge of that then.” I winked as I placed some vegetables next to him to cut up.

“Are you planning on having everyone make their own rolls?”

“That was the plan, I’ll make the rice and provide some popular recipes but I thought it would be more fun if I got to watch everyone make their own.”

I turned on my rice cooker and began to put a large amount of rice into it as Shouto began chopping away.

We worked in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Shouto’s calm, low voice broke the peace and quiet, “Y/N, I don’t want this to come off poorly, but I feel like I don’t know a lot about you.” I glanced over my shoulder and met his mismatched eyes. “And while that isn’t an issue, I would like to find out more about you, if you’re comfortable with that.”

I picked up another cutting board and rested it next to Shouto’s, placing a piece of celery on it before I  began to cut into it as my partner watched, “what do you want to know?”

“Where did you go to school?”

“I was homeschooled, always have been.”

His eyes widened slightly at that, “was that by choice?”

I shrugged as I cracked a slightly bitter smile at him, “not exactly. I would’ve loved to go to U.A. Things just didn’t work out that way though.”

“Why is that?”

“My mentor didn’t think I was ready at the time,” I sighed, “I’ve mentioned how volatile my quirk can be, I’ve had issues controlling it until recently. He didn’t want me putting myself or others in danger.”

“Who is this mentor that you keep referencing? Is it someone I know? Obviously, they must’ve been somewhat close to my dad to get you a job at the agency so quickly.”

I bit my lip to keep from smiling, “yeah, I think you know of him.”

“That’s all I’m getting?” he scrunched his nose up in frustration, but it only made him look more adorable. The smile that I was trying to hide broke free onto my face and he stopped cutting vegetables to watch me. He smiled in return once he stopped gawking.

I bumped my hip into his, “is that all you wanted to know?”

“What happened to your parents?” The smile that was easily resting on my face dropped. “You don’t need to answer that, I’m sorry if that crossed some kind of line.”

“No, it’s okay. I actually don’t know,” I glanced up at him, “I’ve been in the foster system for as long as I can remember. I was originally at a normal foster home for quirkless kids since I never showed any signs of having a quirk. The heroes took me in once it started to manifest.”

“So you’re similar to Hawks then.” It hadn’t always been public knowledge that hawk had grown up in an abusive, drug-infested household. With everything that had happened with Touya 4 years ago, Keigo’s secrets had also been revealed to many heroes.

“Sort of, yeah. I grew up with him too. He was the only other foster kid that understood my situation. He was allowed to go to public school though since his quirk was so manageable so even he doesn’t totally get it.”

“How do you know that your quirk is so volatile?” He asked quietly as he grabbed the last carrot to cut apart.

I paused my cutting and clenched my eyes shut briefly to clear the images and memories of a face full of agony and the blood-curdling screams that echoed in my brain. “I killed someone, accidentally.”

Shouto stopped moving then too to turn to me, giving me his full attention, “I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for? You didn’t do it,” I joked while trying to lighten up the mood a little. It was safe to say that I was unsuccessful.

He gave me an incredulous look.

I shook my head lightly and my breath shook as I stared back down at my hands. “It was a while ago, I was 13.” Shouto stayed quiet as he studied me. “There was a time when my mentor was okay with me going to school for academics. I didn’t use my quirk there, at least not on purpose. One day, as I was walking home from school, a van stopped next to me and two men got out. They tried to abduct me.”

“Jesus Christ,” I heard Shouto mumble as he ran his hand through his hair.

“They got me into the van pretty easily since I hadn’t been doing any training and I didn’t know how to use my quirk effectively. They brought out some handcuffs and I think something just broke inside me. I was terrified and my quirk reacted without me consciously activating it. Usually, when I use it, it just destroys the thing that I’m focusing on like the object just shrivels away and disappears. This time, I don’t know if it was because of my emotions or the panic that was eating away at me or what, but the man's hands began to melt. Like literally melt off, Sho. it was slow and it went on for minutes.” I winced as images shot through my mind again, blood and gore on the van’s floor, and the man screaming as his body disintegrated. “He probably felt the entire thing as his nerve endings melted away, he definitely screamed like he did.”

Shouto’s light touch on my shoulder startled me as I relived the memory. “It’s okay, you’re not there right now,” he whispered.

“Thanks for that,” I lightly said as I gave him a small smile. “It’s funny, one of the things that really stuck out to me, other than the obvious pain that the man was going through, was that his partner kept yelling ‘we were just supposed to scare you,’ like that was supposed to mean anything to me.” Shouto brought me into his side as I continued talking, “The second man shoved me out of the back of the van and left me there, crying and in disbelief, as the first man finally stopped screaming. The progression of the melting had eaten away at his abdomen. I don’t know where they drove off to, but the only thing I did know was that the first man was dead without a doubt. I told some cops and my mentor about it and I never went to public school again, they didn’t want to risk me getting placed in that situation again, at least not until I could control my reaction to it.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Y/N.” His voice caressed my entire being as it was soothed and eased the despair that had started to settle into my veins.

“It feels like it was,” I gave him a small smile as I pulled away from him slightly so that I could view his face, “but thank you for listening.” I stood on my tippy toes to place a chaste kiss on his lips. He responded immediately, kissing me back and keeping his grip on my side. Butterflies erupted in my chest, warming me and chasing away the majority of the negative feelings that had started to plague me. “You know what I could use right now…?” I asked quietly as I pulled away from him.

“What?” He gave me such an innocent, confused look that I nearly laughed out loud.

Without answering, I pulled him down to me again, entwining my mouth with his. This kiss was much more heated, full of an unspoken need that I hoped was translated between our lips. Shouto returned the kiss and met my lips as fervently as I kissed his. I dropped my hands to grab onto his belt loops, sticking my fingers into them and pulling his body closer to mine as his thumbs trailed along my jaw, tilting my head up to deepen the kiss even more. I don’t know how long we stood like that, but by the time I pulled away my face felt hot, and I was almost out of breath.

Shouto’s pink-stained cheeks turned me on further as he looked down at me with heated eyes, pupils blown wide. “Are you sure you want to do this right now? What about the sushi?”

I glanced at the countertop, “I think we’ve made a good start; a break won’t put us that far behind schedule.”

With that being said, Shouto crouched down slightly and swung me into his arms to start carrying me bridal style towards my bedroom. “You don’t have to tell me twice,” He chuckled as he maneuvered us through the tight hallways before entering my room. Before I could say anything, he tossed me onto the bed and crawled on top of me. His hot lips met mine moments later, continuing the make-out session that I had started in the kitchen.

I wrapped my legs around his hips, bringing his center closer to mine. My fingers entered his gorgeous head of hair and lightly pulled, eliciting a small groan from him. He tore his lips from mine and began kissing along my neck, making my breaths come out as little gasps. “Shouto…” I began to protest as his mouth continued to get farther away from mine.

“Shhh...” He whispered as he placed a finger on my lips before he began leaning back. “I believe that I owe you one from this past week,” his voice was low and husky as he gazed down at me, watching as I clenched my legs together, trying my hardest to put at least a little pressure on my core as it pulsed. “I plan on making us even babe.” His eyes were dark as he regarded me before he reached down to caress my inner things, gripping them lightly before pulling my pants down.

“I’m not going to argue with you,” I breathed out as my legs began to cool down from the open air.

He placed wet kisses on my thighs as he lowered his body down to the bed so that he rested in between my legs. His eyes darted up to meet mine as his finger lightly began to massage circles into my clothed clit. I bit my lip as we looked at each other, the eye contact alone was almost enough to get me off. When Shouto had decided that he had teased me enough, he pulled my underwear down before laying back in his spot. His hot breath landed on me as he lowered himself. The first lick from him almost sent me over the edge. He began to flick his tongue over me, keeping his eyes on me, gauging my reaction to each direction and different levels of force. When he decided on the perfect combination, he entered a finger and curled it with each lap and twirl of his tongue, keeping pressure on me inside and outside at all times. My eyes flickered closed as I threw my head back against my pillow. The coiling tension in my gut began to build as he continued his movements. I whimpered as he quickened his tongue and flattened it against me, providing additional friction that I hadn’t known I had needed.

“Shit…Shouto,” I breathed out and felt a small laugh vibrate against me.

“You look so beautiful like this, keep your eyes on me” he whispered before he brought his tongue back down.

My eyelids fluttered open to watch him, his eyes roamed over my face, watching every twitch and soaking up every breathy moan as he continued his ministrations. 

“I’m going to…” the words left my lips just as Shouto began flicking his tongue in a different direction. “Fuck!”

His mismatched eyes twinkled as he watched me come undone, my thighs quivered as he slowed down, drawing out my orgasm.

Shouto licked his lips as he hoisted himself up so that he could lie next to me. My breathing was still heavy as he pulled me into him so that my head rested on his chest.

“That was…”

“Amazing? Life-changing? Breath-taking?” He echoed my words from days earlier with a grin on his face.

I glanced up at him before I began to laugh outright, his musical laugh joined mine as we lay there.   

Chapter Text

“There, everything is cut up!” I exclaimed as I tossed my cutting board next to Shouto, who had been washing some of the dishes that we had been using for the sushi prep.

His eyes narrowed at his pruning fingertips before he sighed and picked up the new dish to clean.

We had relaxed for a while after he had performed some good ol’ cunnilingus on me, but we were back to work afterwards, cutting up more veggies, fish and other sushi ingredients before the rest of my guests could arrive. And by we, I mean me. I had directed him to the sink after I had seen some of the vegetables that he had cut, Katsuki had been right, Shouto doesn’t know his way around with a knife.

I was just putting out some plates and chopsticks when I heard a light knock at the door.

“You don’t need to knock, just barge right in. Like this!” I heard a loud, familiar voice say noisily before my front door slammed open, revealing Hawk’s tan, bright face. A shit-faced grin spread across his lips as he walked into my apartment. “Hey again, stranger!” He pulled me into a quick hug before tossing me a bottle of sake and then hanging up his coat. He chuckled as he noticed Shouto at the sink. “Just partners, right,” he sighed as he turned away. He kept his wings tight to his body, careful not knock anything over as he walked farther into my place, looking at pictures and other decorations as he went.

The sound of my front door closing startled me, but the tired face at the door made my face light up. “Hey,” I set the sake down on the counter before I turned back to Aizawa, pulling him into a tight hug, which he returned quickly.

“Two hugs in a week? I can die a happy man,” He said quietly after we had pulled away. He took off his shoes before walking farther into the kitchen. “Shouto,” he greeted the man at my sink, who returned the greeting with a dumbstruck look on his face.

“Aizawa…”

“I like to call him dad,” I joked as I pulled my mentor towards me into a casual embrace.

Shouto’s eyes widened as he studied the two of us. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. He was at a loss for words.

“Oh, quit that. You’ve never called me that for a single day in your life,” Aizawa shrugged me off of him lightly before he went to look for Socks.

I slowly walked up to Shouto, who just watched me as I came closer. “Surprise,” I whispered into his ear as I did little jazz hands.

“You think I know him?” He asked, referring to our earlier conversation.

I dramatically shrugged, “I just wanted to see that look on your face,” I laughed lightly as I grazed Shouto’s dropped jaw with my finger. He swallowed hard as he shut his mouth, looking down at me as I pulled my hand back.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind me caused me to drop my hand. “Got any cups for the Sake?” Hawks arched an eyebrow at the two of us as he stood next to the kitchen counter.

“Oh, yeah!” I exclaimed as I reached into the cupboard by Shouto and began to take out some small glasses. I felt two sets of eyes watching my every move as I set the glassware onto the counter by the bottle of Sake. “Do you want me to pour some for you too since your hands apparently aren’t working?”

Hawks tsked at me as he sent me a sly grin, “there’s the Y/N I grew up with.”  He reached over and opened the bottle, pouring a cup and then handing it to me. He poured himself a glass as I stood there with the glass that he had handed me, “to feisty women and friendly dinners,” he announced before he clinked my glass and took a swig of the alcohol.

I chuckled to myself before I downed my glass. Hawks eyes widened slightly as he watched me, “when did you decide to grow up so fast?”

A scoff erupted out of me as I beheld the partially stunned man in front of me, “Oh please…” I began before I felt Aizawa’s presence next to me. Socks was nestled in his arms with a content look on his face.

He took one look between the two of us, “who’s going to pour me one?”

Hawks grinned as he proceeded to pour two more glasses before handing one to Aizawa and one to Shouto, surprisingly.

I smiled warmly at the group of men. There weren’t many people other than this small group that I cherished more than anything. I had grown up with Hawks and Aizawa, and Shouto had easily become one of my closer friends in the last year, partially due to the fact that we had to be with each other on a daily basis, but he was also just that great of a guy.

Hawk’s bright laugh echoed off of the walls of my apartment as Shouto’s face turned red. Even Aizawa was smiling. My eyes darted between the three of them, I had missed a comment. “What was that?” I asked.

Hawk’s began laughing even harder and Shouto avoided eye contact with me, “See, she didn’t even hear it anyway. Chill out Todoroki.” A light knock at the door interrupted me as I went to ask again what they had been laughing about.

“Coming!” I said loudly as I left my glass on the counter and turned to answer the door. I opened it to see Tamaki’s blushing face.

He held a large box in his hands, “hey Y/N,” He said quietly as his eyes dropped to avoid extensive periods of eye contact.

“Y/N! Hey!” Mirio excitedly shouted as he angled himself around Tamaki and gave me a brisk hug before he entered my apartment. I stepped aside, motioning for Tamaki to walk in.

“I’m happy you could make it, Tam” I smiled at the dark haired man, who’s blush only deepened at my words. He smiled back though as he walked into the entrance way that he had waltzed through hundreds of times before. “I can take that from you,” I offered as I noticed him struggle to take off his shoes while balancing the box.

“Thank you,” He said softly as he handed it off to me. I left him to himself then as I entered the kitchen and placed his box on the counter. Mirio had already integrated himself into the conversation that the men had been having. Shouto’s eyes briefly glanced at me as he took a swig of his Sake.

“How do you feel about the change in curriculum at UA?” Mirio’s contemplative voice asked Aizawa and I nearly rolled my eyes. Work this, work that. If they could have one semi normal conversation that didn’t involve hero work tonight I would be stunned. I reached around Shouto to take down some more plates in order to set the table, purposely bumping him with my hip as I did so. His fingers lightly grazed over my thigh in response, sending a shiver up my spine and causing a slight blush to erupt on my face.

“Bold of you to do that with your adoptive dad standing right there,” His low voice whispered in my ear.

“Bold of you to assume that he cares,” I winked at him as I took my plates and walked away to set the table.

After announcing how dinner was to work out, where to find their sushi fixings and what recpies they could use, as well as how to roll the sushi, I released my guests and watched with amusement as Aizawa went to work on rolling his first sushi roll of the night. Of course he was a natural at it though, unfortunately. A few minutes later, I giggled as I watched Hawks attempt to roll his own sushi multiple times, shoving his blonde hair out of his face in frustration, Aizawa analyzed his technique and gave him small pointers. His golden eyes flickered to me as I tried to stifle my laugh with my hand. A small grin grew on his face, “Laugh it up, dork. Why don’t you come help me?”

“Shouto and I prepared the food, the least you can do is entertain me,” I chuckled. He rolled his eyes, smile still on his lips, as he turned back to his sushi rolling.

“Thanks for doing this again,” Tamaki’s light voice spoke from beside me.

I glanced at him, “Of course. Hado couldn’t make it?”

“No, she had another dinner that she was already invited to.”

“Maybe next time then.”

He nodded in response, “Mirio was pretty excited about this though.” Both of our eyes darted over to look at the energetic blonde who was talking animatedly with Shouto as they waited for the sushi rolling mats. I saw Shouto wince as Mirio exclaimed something about new capes extra loudly in his face.

We stood in comfortable silence as we watched our friends. Shouto laughed at something that Mirio had said, his face lighting up as his eyes observed the man in front of him. As his smile faded, his heterochromia eyes shifted and met mine, where they rested for a moment, holding my gaze. I broke it as I heard Tamaki clear his throat.

“Would you mind rolling my sushi for me? I could never get the hang of it.” He asked as his eyes darted up to meet mine.

“Yeah if these slow pokes would hurry up I’d be happy to roll some sushi for you.” I said loudly enough that Hawks glanced back at me with slightly narrowed eyes. I sent him a small smile to ease the blow. I tucked some of my hair back behind my ear as I fiddled with my cup that Hawks had refilled with Sake at some point. The first glass had already started to have an effect on me since I hadn’t eaten since I had brunch with Shouto, so I wanted to slowly drink this one.

“Is that Sake any good?” Tamaki asked quietly, breaking the silence.

I handed him the glass without a second thought, “You can try mine, it’s not bad.”

He took the glass lightly out of hand and took a sip, a blush spread across his face to the tips of his ears as I watched him. “Yeah, not bad,” He commented as he handed it back to me. Our fingers lightly grazed against one another and he dropped the cup before I had a good grasp on it.

“Shit! Tamaki, I’m sorry,” I quickly grabbed a few napkins from the counter and began rubbing at the large, wet spot of Sake on his sweater.

His hands dropped and grabbed mine swiftly, blocking me from wiping at his shirt. “Don’t worry about it, it was my fault really.”

“Can I get you a new shirt or something?” I asked as I tossed the napkins away.

His face was red as his dark eyes glanced down at his shirt, “I think I left a few shirts here actually. I’ll go grab one.” He mumbled quietly as he turned and walked towards my bedroom.

“Whoo-hoo!” Hawks excited yell broke the silence that had followed Tamaki’s retreat out of the kitchen. “I finally figured this damn thing out!” He shoved his roll of sushi in my face, “Check it out!”

It looked a little sloppy and loose, but I definitely wasn’t going to tell him that when he had such a happy look on his face. I met Aizawa’s gaze over Hawk’s shoulder and he just rolled his eyes, as if to say, “I tried.”

By the time Tamaki came back out with a new shirt on, the others had rolled their sushi and I had made one for each of us as well. “Sorry I took so long, socks stopped me in the hall,” he admitted as he walked up and leaned against the countertop to watch me as I cut our rolls into slices.

“did he have anything to say?” I jokingly asked as I focused on the knife in my hands.

“The usual. You don’t feed him enough, you always smell like your jasmine shampoo, he dislikes the fake plant in the living room, the usual.”

I chuckled, “Oh yeah? He told you all of that?”

Tamaki nodded as he looked off to glance at the men who had settled themselves at the dining room table. They chatted amongst themselves, not touching their food until we went to sit down.

I handed Tamaki his plate and grabbed mine before I motioned for us to join the others.

Shouto smiled at me as I sat down next to him. Aizawa sat at the head of the table, Hawks was across from me with Tamaki next to him and Mirio sat at the opposite head of the table with Shouto next to him.

I held my glass up and glanced at each occupant of the table before I said, “Thank you all for coming, I hope you like the food. Here’s to friends, family and sushi rolling.” I smiled as the others held their glasses up, repeating my words and taking a sip before they delved into the sides and sushi.

Chapter Text

Two hours later, we all sat with full bellies, finishing off our 4th bottle of Sake. The box that Tamaki had brought was open on the table, displaying the half-eaten dessert that he knew I loved. 

“You should have seen her today, Aizawa. She jumped over a fucking car!” Hawks exclaimed; his cheeks were pink with the buzz that I was sure he was feeling by now.

Aizawa’s eyes shifted to me, “I don’t think I taught you how to do that.”

“It was a last-minute decision,” I shrugged as I smiled at them.

“It was beautiful, like an action movie!” Hawks said loudly as he rested his elbows on the table.

I scoffed as my own cheeks heated, “I’ve seen you do more daring things than that.”

“I have wings, Y/N,” He said dully as he watched me, “you can literally edit the world that we walk on.”

My eyes narrowed at him playfully, “I would love to be able to fly, the grass is always greener.”

I had always been slightly jealous of Hawks and his abilities; I never voiced those thoughts though since they would’ve just been thrown back into my face. Jokingly or not, that wasn’t something that I really wanted to put up with then, or now.

“Who’s to say that you can’t?” He asked, arching an eyebrow at me.

I opened my mouth to respond but stopped as I thought about his comment. He was right, who was to say that I couldn’t use my quirk to fly in some way. I sat stunned as Hawk’s mouth quirked up.

“You think that she could fly?” Shouto’s soft voice interrupted my pondering. He sat with his arm stretched out behind my chair as he twirled a chopstick in his right hand. So casual and relaxed that it made me want to cuddle up next to him in my fatigued, full stomach state.

“I don’t think that there’s much that she can’t do,” Hawks golden eyes stared down the man next to me before resting on my face again. “What do you think?”

“I… I never really considered it I guess.”

“Come meet up with me some time and I’ll help you try,” He winked at me.

“I can help too. If you need it that is…” Tamaki’s quiet voice trailed off. I sent him a small smile as the conversation diverted away from me, thankfully.

I fiddled with my fingers as I thought about all the possibilities that could come out of using my quirk. I had always tried to limit it to prevent myself from overusing it or abusing it and causing more damage than I wanted to deal with. If I was given a safe environment, away from other people, where I could try it out without any fear of killing or maiming another human being or living thing, I wasn’t sure where my limit would be. And if I did overuse it in such a setting, would there be any adverse effects on myself?

“Do you remember the first time I ran into you, young Todoroki? You were working with your dad, the spikey blonde-haired kid and…” Hawk’s voice trailed off. I watched as Aizawa’s eyes dropped.

“Bakugou and Midoriya,” Shouto muttered quietly. “Yeah, I remember. You were an ass.”

Hawks choked on a laugh as his face brightened up again. The others at the table followed suit as I sat in confusion.

“Wait, Midoriya?” I asked in confusion. “I feel like I’ve heard the name before but…”

Aizawa sighed, “We went to his funeral a few years back, Y/N.”

Oh, yeah.

My heart dropped.

The funeral with the closed casket. That was the first time that I had seen any of Aizawa’s students, but I hadn’t spoken with any of them. I had stayed in the back of the room, watching from afar as mourners walked up and placed flowers, prayers and All Might action figures on the casket. I had watched as tears had streamed down my mentor’s face, something that I hadn’t ever seen before. The whole experience had been so surreal for me since I hadn’t known the young boy whose body had laid cold in the tomb that he was to be buried in, but my heart had broken all the same. I could see the love on the faces of the many people who wept for Midoriya, could see how many lives he had touched and the influence that he had had on them.

“Ah, yeah,” I muttered, Shouto’s hand rested on my back then in a comforting way. As if I was the one who needed counseling; as if I was Midoriya’s friend. He was the one who knew him, I didn’t.

“I was happy to see Bakugou the other day though, it seems like he has gotten over Midoriya’s death,” Aizawa said quietly as he glanced at me.

My eyebrows pinched together in confusion. I had never been under the impression that Bakugou was grieving or upset, but I guess I hadn’t known him for long enough to really make such a judgment. I only knew post-Midoriya Bakugou, I didn’t know what he was like beforehand. 

“I think working as a pro has given him something else to focus on,” Shouto commented. 

Tamaki cleared his throat, “He’s been pretty close with Kirishima too, I’m sure that has helped him keep his mind off things.”

Aizawa tipped the rest of his Sake back before speaking, “Either way, I’m happy to see that you guys are healing.” His eyes rested on Shouto, who gave him a small smile in return.

“Same to you, Aizawa,” Shouto said quietly.

“I can thank these two for that,” he motioned to Hawks and me, “without them causing me trouble and keeping me busy I don’t know how I would have handled it.” I winced, was I that horrible of an adoptive child that I hadn’t even noticed that Aizawa was struggling back then? “With that being said though, I think I need to call it a night, I need to be at U.A. bright and early tomorrow. The first years have a big exam coming up.”

I stood as he did, the others followed, except Hawks, who remained in his chair, staring at the glass of Sake that rested in front of him.

“We should get going too, I’m sure we all need to work tomorrow,” Mirio smiled as he patted me on the back in a way of parting.

“Do you need help cleaning up?” Tamaki asked as he brought a few dishes to the sink.

I shook my head, “don’t worry about it.”

“I’ll stick around and help her,” Shouto commented as he began cleaning off the dining room table. Hawks watched him closely as he maneuvered around the table, picking up dishes and balancing utensils on the stack.

“How are you feeling?” I asked Hawks quietly as I rested a hand on his shoulder.

He smiled up at me with glassy eyes, “The world is spinning a bit.” He remarked truthfully.

I chuckled, “Did you drive here? Or fly?”

He rose an eyebrow, “If you could fly, would you drive?”

“Touché, my friend. The couch is available for you if you need to wait it out.”

I saw Shouto’s fingers clench tightly around the dishes that he was carrying as he listened to the two of us.

My feet directed me to the trio who now waited near the door, having put on their shoes in the time that I had been speaking to Hawks. Socks had migrated towards the group as well and now sat at Aizawa’s feet, who had bent down to scratch him between the ears. “I’m going to watch over him for a bit,” I winked at Aizawa as I motioned towards the drunk man at the table.

Aizawa chuckled, “He never really could hold his alcohol very well.” He drew me into another hug, “thanks for doing this, kid. It was great seeing you two at the same dinner table again.” His voice was quiet.

“Thanks for coming, you’ll have to come for next weeks too.”

“Of course, take care. I’ll see you at school?” He pulled away then.

I nodded, “Text me when you need me, or I’ll just show up randomly.”

He smirked at that and let his eyes drift over Hawks and me before he left the apartment.

Mirio brought me into another quick hug, thanking me again.

“Same time next week?” Tamaki asked as he hugged me then. The familiar feeling of his arms around me was comforting in a way that almost made me uneasy. With everything that had happened between us, I still viewed him as a reassuring, relaxing presence in my life, and I didn’t know how I felt about that.

“You bet,” I confirmed. The pair both gave me small waves before departing, Tamaki’s eyes lingered a bit longer than Mirio’s but he too left shortly afterward.

“I thought they would never leave!” Hawks announced from his spot at the table.

I chuckled as I went to grab him a glass of water. “Drink up,” I motioned to the cup before I turned around to help Shouto. “You washed enough dishes earlier, let me do this,” I commented as I noticed Shouto at the sink again. He had pulled his hair back so that half of it was in a small bun, a few strands of hair fell into his eyes as he regarded me. He tried pushing them back out of his face with the back of his arm, but they fell back seconds later, much to his frustration. My hand reached out automatically to tuck them back, earning me a warm smile from the ice and flame user while also causing butterflies to erupt in my gut.

“No, I don’t mind. Go take care of Hawks, I’ve got this.”

I stood on my tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek, surprising both of us since Hawks was still in the room. He turned quickly back to the task at hand to hide the heat that rose in his face.

Hawks and I rested on the couch for a while, looking through some old photo albums that I had found deep in storage a few weeks earlier while Shouto worked on the dishes. When he had finished, he sat down next to me and laughed with us as we talked through some of the memories that were displayed on the images.

A bit later, Hawks stretched. “I feel better now,” He stated as he stood up.

“Are you sure?” I asked him warily, I wasn’t very confident that he wasn’t still drunk.

“Wanna test it? I bet I can walk better on a straight line than you can.”

“I’d rather not, I’m pretty comfortable,” I admitted as I felt Shouto lean closer into me, the warmth of his shoulder resting against my own.

“I bet,” he arched an eyebrow at Shouto. “Let me know if you want any help with training.”

I stood up then and walked with him to my balcony. He gave me a quick hug, “be careful you two!” He shouted out as he dove off the railing and towards the streets below. My heart began beating rapidly out of instinct, it wasn’t normal to be able to do such a thing. It slowed as I watched him bank his red wings and drift off towards his own apartment.

My body turned and walked back into my living room, shutting the door to the balcony and locking it behind me before I turned and met Shouto’s mismatching eyes.

I sighed as I tossed myself down next to him again. “You’ve been a huge help today; I don’t think I would’ve pulled this off without you.”

“That’s not true, you would just be more tired than you are now,” he admitted as he lifted his arm and rested it around me, pulling me into his chest as he leaned up against the armrest.

My mind drifted back and considered the conversations that we had all had tonight. The laughs and the smiles, it was enough to keep a small smile on my face even now. It slowly dropped as I remembered one of our more recent conversations.

“I’m sorry about asking about Midoriya,” I said quietly. I couldn’t see Shouto’s face, but I felt him stiffen behind me.

“You didn’t know, I don’t mind,” He softly responded, “I’ve come to terms with what happened. Just… don’t bring it up with Bakugou. Tamaki and Aizawa were right. He does a lot to keep his mind off it and it seems like in the last year he’s been more like himself since it happened.”

“I won’t say anything to him about it.”

Shouto’s cold fingertips lightly tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear as he surveyed my side profile.

“What did happen though?”

“It was between our 1st and 2nd year. He went off to handle All for one on his own and didn’t come back.”

“But the casket?” I asked as I tilted my face to look at his. I had always assumed that Midoriya’s body was in the casket, but if he hadn’t returned…? His eyes were gentle and sympathetic.

“All for one sent one of his hands back, that was all that was left.”

I winced.

“Oh, I see.”

“Bakugou had been on his case about teaming up and not going off on his own, but he didn’t listen. I think that’s why he took it so much harder than the rest of us did. He looked up to Midoriya and saw him as a partner. Losing him was like a slap in the face, a reminder from reality that we’re all mortal. We can all die.”

Shouto began rubbing my arm, soothingly.

“I heard he was a good guy, I’m sorry that he’s gone.”

He hummed in response. When I looked back at him again, his eyes were distant and haunted. “He was a great friend and leader. I miss him.”

My heart clenched as I watched him.

“Tell me a story about him, a happy one,” I sighed as I leaned back against the man behind me.

He paused for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. When he spoke, his voice was light,“during our first sports festival, we had an obstacle course where we needed to dodge a bunch of land mines…”

Shouto’s stories left me in a fit of laughter. The mood had lightened considerably as we reminisced about Shouto and Bakugous deceased friend. Midoriya had been a very positive force in their lives, and his loss had been substantial. I could see the effect that the loss had had on Shouto, but as we continued to talk about him, the sadness in his eyes had begun to disappear.

Shouto had an easy smile on his face as he laughed with me. Looking back at him, I came up with an idea. Standing, I grabbed us both champagne glasses. Shouto’s mismatching eyes watched me as I moved throughout my kitchen effortlessly. I hummed to myself as I opened a bottle and poured us some of the champagne that I had been saving for a special occasion. I turned from the counter to see that Shouto was now standing directly behind me.

Looking up into his face I handed him his glass, “To Izuku Midoriya, a great hero and an even better friend,” I clinked my glass with his before I took a sip of the bubbly liquid. A small, thankful smile grew across his lips as he gazed down at me before he brought the glass to his mouth.

I set my glass aside and felt Shouto’s eyes on my face. When I turned back, he was placing his own empty champagne glass onto the counter.

“I appreciate how considerate you are,” he said quietly. “I didn’t realize how much I needed to talk about him…”

“There’s nothing I respect more than someone who can stick to their convictions. I’m sure I would’ve enjoyed knowing Midoriya, the least I can do is help his loved ones remember him in a positive light.”

Shouto’s breath caught, “thank you, truly.”

I smiled up at him and watched as his eyes drifted down to my lips. His own mouth parted as he tried to think of something to say. Deciding against it, he shut his mouth and reached out to me instead, apparently deciding that some things could be translated better through contact rather than by words.

His cold lips landed hard against mine, his usual restraint was gone as his fingers snaked up into my hair, holding my head to his as his mouth devoured mine.

Shouto pulled me with him as he brought us back towards the couch, not disconnecting our lips until the backs of his knees hit the couch, causing him to fall backwards, his arms tugged me down with him and I landed on his lap. I shifted my legs so that they rested on either side of his body and straddled him against the couch. His fingers traveled down to my waist.

My arms drifted up to rest around his shoulders as his fingertips dug into my hips. I allowed my mouth to open partially, and he took the opportunity to sweep his tongue against my lower lip. Heat began to pool in my gut as his hands started to move. One traveled up and under my shirt, lightly tickling my skin before it reached my breasts. He cupped me lightly, groping me as our lips moved against one another. His other hand lowered and pulled my hips harder down onto him. I loosed a groan as his erection grazed my core through our pants. I began to move my hips against him in response. His hand on my waist twitched as I moved against him. Shouto pulled his lips away from mine and began to place light kisses under the shell of my ear as the hand that had laid on my hip went to join his other hand on my breast. In a swift movement, he reached around and unclasped my bra.

I pulled back from him briefly to lift my shift off, tossing the bra after it. His eyes grazed over my curves and darkened as they met my own gaze again.

“You’re so beautiful it almost hurts to look at you,” he said quietly, almost as if he was in awe.

“Better stop looking then, come here.” I pressed my lips to his again and a soft moan breezed out of his mouth. I rolled my hips against him in response, aching for more contact and friction to satisfy the desire that was pooling in my core.

As if sensing my needs, Shouto slowly pushed me back, keeping our lips connected, until my back lay flat on my soft couch. Detaching from me again, the half and half man smiled down at me before his lips landed on my neck, leaving wet spots as he trailed down to my breasts.

Shouto teased each nipple slowly. I felt as he adjusted his quirk between being hot and cold, igniting different receptors within my body and sending shivers down my spine. I gasped as his tongue flicked a more sensitive region, eliciting a small twitch from me.

“I love making you gasp,” He murmured softly between licks.

“You know a better way to make me gasp?” I asked, my voice was slightly strained with desire as his eyes rose to look at me.

“Patience, we don’t need to rush,” his hot breath fanned my breasts before he leaned back down to tease them.

I panted as Shouto continued his movements. If he continued this, it was going to drive me insane.

“Shouto…” I breathed out, almost begging.

Sensing the urgency of the need that was traveling through me, he pulled back. His lips were puffy and red and his eyes were dark as they studied my face. Without saying anything, he lifted me carefully and carted me off to the bedroom.

My back hit my plush bedspread and I watched as Shouto continued to stand at the edge of the bed, his eyes scanned me, almost like he was trying to memorize how I looked at this very moment.

I bit my lip and saw his grey and blue eyes widen as he focused on the movement. They traveled from my lips to glance at my fingers then, which were now unbuttoning my jeans slowly. As someone who had just been in my pants hours earlier, he was acting like a man who had never seen a woman’s undergarments. His cheeks grew pink as I tossed my pants off and towards my closet.

“I think I might need some help with these,” I smiled and motioned towards my flimsy underwear. I wanted his hands back on me.

Reaching down, his fingers lightly trailed over my hip bones, causing goosebumps to grow on my skin, as he pulled them down and around my ankles.

 Quickly sitting up, I kissed him again as my hands found their way into his shaggy hair. He groaned against me as he gave into his desires as well. Ready to feel more skin on skin contact, I gripped his shirt and brought it over his head, making us pause briefly. His lips were back on mine though right as the barrier disappeared.

I reached down and began to undo his pants, which opened easily, allowing my hand to lower. The soft groan that came from his mouth when I touched him made the ache between my thighs worsen. His cock was hard as my hand began to grope him and I felt him shudder against me as my fingers grazed the tip.

He pulled away then and removed the rest of his clothing. I watched him with heated eyes as the light from the full moon ricocheted off of his broad chest and abs. I blushed as my gaze lowered to his erection. I had seen it before, but it was still as impressive now as it had been back in his office. He brought a condom out of his pants pocket and tore it open with his teeth.

“Someone was prepared,” I joked as I rested back on my forearms to watch him.

His eyes flickered up to mine, “Would you prefer that I wasn’t prepared?”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” I smiled at him as he rejoined me on my bed.

He kissed my nose before he reached down to angle himself into me. I bit my lip as I felt him push into me and released a breath as he stilled after he had entered me fully. He loosed a groan at the feeling of me clenching around him as I adjusted to his size. “Tell me if it’s ever too much,” he panted before he began to move slowly. Shouto rolled his hips into me as he set a deep, easy, pace. The tension in my gut began to build as I savored the feeling of him.

He continued this slow pace until it almost wasn’t enough. “Go faster, Sho,” I begged.

Shouto’s breath hitched as he began to thrust faster, the sound of our skin hitting each other echoed through the room, followed by our breathing and moans.

I raked my nails down his back as we chased our orgasms, causing him to let out a quick breath through his teeth. He adjusted his body so that he could reach down between us to rub my clit, making me gasp as his fingers made contact. His heterochromia eyes observed my face.

“I like you like this, all needly and breathless,” Shouto whispered in my ear as my back arched with the pleasure that he was sending through my body.

“Sho,” I groaned out.

“Do you want me to keep going like this?”

I nodded rapidly, my gut clenching in response.

“Come with me, Y/N” He demanded as he quickened his pace, even more, rubbing his thumb against me faster as well.

“Oh fuck,” I whimpered as I reached my high.

Shouto thrust several more times before he came. My name breathed out of his lips as he stilled inside of me, huffing deeply in my ear as he tried to calm himself down. He kissed my temple before he pulled himself out of me a moment later, rejoining me on the bed after he had cleaned up and thrown away the condom.

Pulling me to his chest, he wrapped his arms around me, encasing me in his warmth while also cooling me down at the same time.

“It feels weird to be both warm and cold at the same time,” I commented as I trailed a finger against his forearm.

“Does it bother you?” His voice was tired yet satisfied.

“Course not, just an observation.”

“My quirk gets a little out of control when I’m excited. It should settle in a bit, then it won’t be as noticeable,” He murmured quietly in my ear.

“I’m glad that I excite you,” I giggled as I turned in his grasp to face him.

His gentle eyes surveyed my face, “you do a lot more than excite me, Y/N.”

The soft kiss that he placed on my forehead left me with a bright smile on my face as I lay in his bipolar embrace.

Chapter Text

The journey into work the next morning was somewhat stressful.

Shouto had left early in the morning to get ready at his own place and had left me lying half asleep in my bed after leaving a chaste kiss on my forehead, promising that he would see me in a few hours. I had fallen asleep again shortly after, enjoying the feel of my warm, cozy bed after having a pleasant weekend. My eyes had snapped open a while later to glance at the clock.

I was late.

Showering quickly and pulling on some clothes, I nearly sprinted to the office. My breath came out in puffs as the cold air seeped into my lungs, freezing my insides and sending me into a small coughing fit as I entered the warm building. Mia wasn’t outside smoking, which was a bad sign. She was normally out waiting for me on Monday mornings to get the weekend's details before the day began. If she was already gone, then I was really late.

My feet quickly carried me to the elevator where I slammed my palm into the buttons; I tapped my feet as I impatiently waited to land on my selected floor once the machine had started to ascend. When the doors finally opened, I walked quickly to the conference room for our scheduled weekly meeting, tugging my bag across my shoulder on the way.

I could hear loud voices behind the large set of double doors as I neared it. I pulled on the door lightly and eased my body into the small gap that I had given myself, slipping into the room as quietly as possible.

Endeavors back was to me as he addressed the heroes and sidekicks at the table. I felt multiple sets of eyes land on me as I tiptoed along the wall to stand in a nearby corner to not disrupt the meeting more than I already had.

I met a familiar pair of crimson eyes as I quickly surveyed the room. Katsuki’s face looked bored, but he lifted an eyebrow at me in greeting as he leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. Pulling my gaze from his, I noticed that my partner was in his normal seat. Shouto was leaning forward with his elbows on the table, his eyes trained on me as well as he ignored his dad. I sent him a small smile before I tried to focus on what Endeavor had been saying.

“We’ll continue with the normal rounds that you’ve all been assigned already. Some banquets are coming up this week that we’ll need people to patrol at, if you don’t volunteer then I’ll volunteer your free time for you.”

Irritation flooded through me. Everyone knew how time-consuming hero work was, even time spent off the clock could be spent working, and that’s just how things were, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating. Being a hero meant putting everyone else's needs before your own, and Endeavor liked to make sure that we all knew that. I guess this was what it was like to work at one of the top hero agencies though, I knew what I was getting myself into when I had accepted the position here.

Wrapping things up, Endeavor handed out new assignments to the teams that needed them and then dismissed the rest of us. As I turned to exit the room, Endeavors voice called out.

“Y/N, I need to meet with you and Shouto if you could stay behind.”

I stopped in my tracks and stepped out of the way so that everyone could get out of the room.

“What did you do this time? Besides being late that is.” Katsuki asked quietly as he passed me.

I smirked at him, “wouldn’t you like to know, pop-rock.”

“Back to the nicknames, eh? And here I thought we had made some progress this weekend.” My cheeks heated and his lip quirked up, “I’ll see you later, princess.”

He left the room without looking back and I continued to wait for everyone to leave before I took a seat at the table a few seats down from Shouto. He looked on edge for some reason, his eyes flickered to mine, giving me a small smile before he directed his gaze back to his dad.

Endeavors deep sigh drew my attention from the flame and ice user.

“Do you two have any idea why I might’ve pulled you aside today?”

Was this a trick question?

“No idea, enlighten us,” Shouto’s calm voice sounded irritated. But then again, he was usually annoyed whenever he talked to his dad.

Endeavors blue eyes drifted to mine and I shrugged. I cringed as I noticed how unprofessional that probably looked to him. I couldn’t be this casual around my boss.

“Look… I get that when you’re young your emotions and desires are… strong…”

Say what?

My cheeks started to grow and Shouto stiffened in his seat. Endeavor looked between the two of us, “still nothing?” His own face was pained like he couldn’t believe he was having his conversation with us either.

“Rei saw you two at the restaurant yesterday,” he pulled out his phone and displayed a picture of the two of us holding hands while sitting at the table for brunch. I hadn’t even noticed someone taking a picture at that moment… I must have been too distracted, and rightfully so.

“I’m fine with you dating, that isn’t an issue. Rei was actually pretty excited…”

“Then why did you pull us aside today to talk to us about it if you don’t care?” Shouto’s voice was strained, he wanted to go off on his dad, I could tell. I was grateful that he was holding back though. I wasn’t about to correct his dad in the moment either about the dating thing.

“I can’t keep you two on the same team. I’m reassigning you indefinitely,” Endeavors voice was quiet, careful even, which was so uncharacteristic of him.

I felt my jaw drop with surprise, but I quickly closed it. I felt a combination of temperatures seeping their way towards me from Shouto. His face was dead calm, but I could see a hint of anger in his eyes as he glared at his father. The only true sign of how enraged he was, was the fact that his fists were clenched so tightly on top of the table that his knuckles were turning white.

“Why?” His voice was cold, emotionless.

“It’s a conflict of interest.”

I jumped at the sound of Shouto’s fist hitting the table suddenly as he stood, “a conflict of interest?!”

Endeavors eyes were wary as he studied his youngest son.

“You were hired as a hero to help take care of other people, Shouto. If I were to assign you two to a dangerous project that might involve one, or both of you, getting hurt, would you protect the person you’ve been assigned to protect, or would you try to protect her?”

Shouto’s eyes were furious, but we both knew that he was right.

“Shouto…” I said quietly, so quietly that I wasn’t even sure if I had actually said it.

His eyes darted to me, confirming that I had spoken.

“Don’t,” I shook my head lightly. His breathing was fast as he stared at me. Finally, he sat in defeat. His eyes dropped to the table to study his hands. 

“That’s what I thought. While I think those kinds of actions are admirable, I can’t have it happening with my heroes at my agency, we have a standard to uphold. I can’t risk it, and I’m sure you two don’t want to either.”

I nodded at Endeavor as he glanced between the two of us. It wasn’t the end of the world. I would still see Shouto at work, it wasn’t like this was going to cause us to never see each other again. I could understand Shouto’s frustration though too. We had gotten used to each other’s quirks and working styles. We had figured out our “groove,” recently, just to have the team split up. I would miss seeing him every day and getting to rely on his steely and calm persona. I had depended on his relaxed nature dozens of times in the past, and not having that presence at my side daily was going to be rough, at least initially. 

“I’ve reassigned you to a different partner, Shouto. You’ll begin working with them today.” Shouto’s eyes remained on the table, refusing to meet my gaze as I glanced at him. 

“Y/N, we’re working on signing someone else on, but until we do that, you’ll have some time off. A day or two tops, I can’t have you working the arson case on your own.”

“You want me to stay on the arson case?” That was surprising.

Endeavor nodded, “I’m sure you held onto the assignment papers that I gave you last week?”

“Yes, of course.”

“This is bullshit,” Shouto muttered as he shook his head before grabbing his bag. His father’s eyes followed him as he left the conference room, the door slammed shut behind him, leaving Endeavor and I alone.

Endeavor sighed again as he rose from his chair, “I can understand why he’s upset. I would be too if my dad split me up from my girlfriend. But you get it, right?” His blue eyes bared down into my soul as he stared down at me. The intensity of his gaze was startling and made me want to shrink down into my seat. This guy was just straight-up terrifying, even if he was being somewhat logical and realistic right now.

“Yeah, I get it,” I admitted, even if I didn’t like it.

Endeavor nodded at my answer, “I’ll notify you when we get the new hire on then. Have a good day off.” And with that, he left.

I followed behind soon after and nearly ran into Mia.

“What happened in there? Todoroki just left and almost left a mini winter wonderland in his wake.” She wanted the gossip, I could tell, but she also appeared to be genuinely concerned. “You didn’t get fired for being late or anything, right?”

“No, nothing like that, I’m still employed,” I smiled down at the short assistant, whose bright green eyes continued to study me.

“What have you been up to this weekend?” she asked with a speculative look on her face, “I can tell there is something you haven’t told me.”

I tugged her along with me and unleashed my weekend onto her after we were safely behind my office doors.

Her jaw dropped as she listened.

“You got with both of them? In one weekend?”

I gave her a guilty shrug of my shoulders as I logged into my computer. I might’ve been given the day off, but I wanted to start working again on my case. I’d just have to do it without Endeavor finding out.

“And now you’re being reassigned because Endeavor thinks you’re dating Todoroki even though you aren’t.”

“That’s the gist of it.”

“Soo… I have an automatic follow-up question that you can’t avoid,” she gave me an evil grin that immediately made me nervous. “Who’s better?”

I dropped my head into my hands as my cheeks reddened, “you can’t just ask that.”

“And why not?” She demanded as she giggled, “they’re projected to be the upcoming top heroes, I need the details.”

“Absolutely not, I don’t kiss and tell like that.” I shook my head as I pulled up some of the arson information that I had been researching the previous week. “What happened between me and those two men in my bedroom, living room, or shower, stay with me.”

Mia cackled, causing a small laugh to erupt out of me as well. “You did not…”

A short knock at the door interrupted her and she rose her eyebrows at me, I shrugged in response before I stood to answer it.

“Oi, I can hear you two laughing from down the hall,” Katsuki gruffly commented as he slipped past me and into my office.

“Good morning, Kat,” I sighed as he took the seat next to Mia. The young woman gawked at the explosion hero next to her and his eyebrows pinched together in response as he glared back at her.

“Oh, I just forgot about some paperwork that I need to file before 10,” she glanced at her wrist to check the time and then quickly realized that she wasn’t wearing a watch. “Oh, just look at that, I need to get working on it. Bye!” She smiled at me as she swiftly left the room.

“So you and Icy Hot aren’t on the same team anymore?’ Katsuki asked as I took my normal seat again.

“Have I ever told you how much I love how blunt and to the point you are? How did you find out anyway” I asked as I printed off a map of some of the more recent pyro locations.

He rolled his eyes, “gonna answer the question?”

“Yes, as of right now I am partnerless.”

“I’m sure he’s pissed.”

I shrugged, “I think he was a little upset yeah, why?”

“No reason,” He looked away then to glance at some of the books that I had propped up on the bookshelf on the far wall. “Have you actually read these?” He asked as he got up to look at them closer. I walked over too to view the book that he had pointed out.

“Of course. You like books?”

He arched an eyebrow at me before he reached out to grab one of them, the cover read “Frankenstein.” The muscles in his forearm twitched as he opened it to read the inside cover. “This is a good one,” his voice was quiet as his fingers drifted over the words on the first page. “A friend of mine recommended it to me a while back and I didn’t pick it up until recently.”

“Why did you wait so long to read it?” I asked gently, I didn’t want to pry, but I wanted to give him the chance to talk about it if he wanted to.

In my heart, I think I knew why. Which friend had recommended it, and why he had waited for so long to read it.

He gave me a weird look like he wanted to say something, but he decided against it. “I thought it was a shit recommendation.” He set the book back down in its place and then looked back at me as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“What are you going to do then until they find you a new partner?”

“I was planning on going by U.A. for a bit today, then I’ll do some of my own patrolling,” I motioned to the map on my desk which his eyes darted over quickly.

“if you need any help with anything, just text me.”

“What kind of help would I be needing?” I arched an eyebrow at him as I crossed my arms.

A little smile grew on his lips as he regarded me, he took a step closer to me and I felt my breath catch in response.

“Anything, princess,” He whispered into my ear. The warmth of his breath grazed my neck, stirring the needy beast inside of me for the umpteenth time since Friday and shivers traveled along my spine. He nipped at my ear lobe lightly before he stepped back. “I’ll have my phone on me all day,” sending me one last glance, he walked out of the office and closed the door behind him.

My heart was beating wildly in my chest, I tried to take some steadying breaths to calm myself down before I sat back down at my desk. Why had I been so responsive to touches like that in the last week?

Pulling myself together, I brought my map with me and lifted my duffle bag over my shoulder. I stopped briefly at the door to Shouto’s office as I began walking out of the building. I knocked and waited, but no sound came from behind the doors. Sighing, I left and sent him a quick text as I walked out of the agency building.

Me: I know I don’t need to update you about this now since we’re no longer partners, but I’m heading over to U.A. for the day. I hope you and your new partner get along well. 😊

The cold, bitter air chilled my fingers as I held onto my phone. I waited for a moment to see if he would message me back right away or not, but no such text came, and I quickly shoved my phone into my coat pocket and tried to warm my hands as I walked towards the nearest train station.

Traffic on the train was light right now since technically the business day had already started. I sat on the train and pulled out my notes, studying them to try to figure out what my strategy would be later during my patrols. I was going to try to be more careful than normal since I didn’t technically have any backup and Endeavor had told me to not investigate on my own. What he didn't know wouldn’t hurt him though, right?

I walked through the halls of U.A. a while later, trying to find my way through the hall when I heard a familiar voice shout out.

“Y/N!”

Present mic’s loud voice boomed through the hall as he pulled me into a tight hug. “Shouta said you might be coming by one of these days,” the grin on his face was infectious.

“Well, today’s your lucky day, I can bug you guys for a few hours.”

He laughed as he began to steer me down the hallway, “Shouta’s room is this way. How have you been doing; it feels like it has been forever since I saw you last!”

I updated Present Mic on my life as we walked. His animated personality was beginning to wear me out as we got to Aizawa’s classroom. Mic knocked once before he shoved me into the classroom, I let out a shocked gasp as 20 pairs of eyes turned to look at me. I turned to glare at Mic but found that he had already closed the door behind me, and he was nowhere to be found.

I turned back to see that Aizawa was smiling at me, his eyes were light and soft as he turned back to the class. “You guys get to have a special guest today it appears. This is Y/N.”

---------------

“Thanks again for coming by today to help, your presence helped me relax a bit.” Aizawa glanced at me as I tugged on my uniform shoes onto my feet in the coed locker room. We had been working with the students in Gym Gamma, going over some stealth techniques, since that was what I was the most skilled at as of right now. We spent most of the time talking though. Once the students found out that my previous partner was the Shouto Todoroki and that I worked with Katsuki Bakugou, that’s all they had wanted to ask about. I tried to not take it personally.

The new suit that Aizawa had bought for me now rested against my body for the first time. It was tight, which I didn’t totally mind. It wouldn’t get snagged on anything like a cape would, and that’s what was important.

I ran my hands down over my suit as I responded, appreciating the smooth texture of it, “it was cool to see how your classes work. You should send me notes for next time though, I felt like a fish out of water in there for a bit.”

“You did great, no one would be able to tell that it was your first time working with high school students. I especially liked the balancing lesson.”

“You just liked to see your students fall on their asses,” I chuckled out as I pulled my hair back.

Aizawa leaned up against a nearby locker to watch me, “that might be true. Where are you heading off to now?”

“I’m heading out to do some quick patrolling,” I admitted as I checked the shin and forearm guards that had been integrated into the suit. They both offered some protection to more vulnerable areas that I might need in a fight.

“I thought you said you didn’t have a partner anymore.”

“I don’t. I’m going alone today.”

Aizawa’s eyes narrowed, “there’s no way that Endeavor approved that.”

“I just want to get a little ahead, sue me.”

“You could get hurt…” he started but I interrupted him.

“I’ll be fine. I can send you my location if that makes you feel better?”

His eyes scanned my face as he thought about it, but he eventually caved and nodded, his dark hair shifted into his eyes with the motion. “Send me your location and let me know when you get back home.” 

I clenched my jaw with subtle annoyance, “will do.” I tossed the items I wouldn’t need into the locker; I’d retrieve them after I was done with my work today. U.A was located closer to the areas that I wanted to check out this evening, going back to my apartment seemed like a waste of time.

I went to pass Aizawa on my way out of the room, but his arm snaked out quickly and stopped me, “be careful.” With that being said, he sent me one last fleeting glance before he let go and left in the opposite direction, back towards his office. I watched his back as he walked away, sighing as I turned and walked to the exit.

--------------

A few hours later, I walked up to the last destination that I had marked to look at today. All of the previous locations hadn’t turned up any new evidence, and I was beginngin to drag my feet a bit with slight exhaustion.

It was an old, abandoned warehouse that sat in the middle of the last few buildings that had been burned by the perpetrator. I had mentioned the warehouse to Shouto last week, but he had shot the idea down because it didn’t seem to be connected. I just wanted to check it out though, on a hunch.

The brick on the outside of the building was cracked, and its red color was fading after the many years of the sun beating down upon it. I passed a long bank of windows and didn’t see a single window that wasn’t broken. The building also didn’t appear to have any life in it, it was dark and neglected. Shards of glass cracked under my feet as I walked. I made a mental note to thank Aizawa again later for the upgraded shoes.

I finally neared the main entrance to the building, its large double doors were beaten up, just like the rest of the structure. I had to brace my body and shove against it with my full weight to get the door to budge. When it did, I walked through the small opening. The inside wasn’t any better than the outside. Tables, chairs, and old machine equipment lay sprawled across the large space. Graffiti littered the walls. I had to squint my eyes as the sun began to set outside, leaving little natural light in the room to see.

“Shit!” I gasped out, as I nearly tripped over a broken chair. So much for being stealthy. I tried to carefully walk through the warehouse then, analyzing each spot before I set my foot down. I wanted to make sure that I actually checked the building out, then I would leave.

My feet paused as I noticed a faint glow up ahead, my heart began to beat rapidly in my chest as I tried to peer into the room at the far end of the warehouse. Moving silently, I finally reached the room. Not hearing any sounds from within it, I tilted my head around the door and found it to be empty, besides one table in the middle of the room with a lamp-lit upon it.

I analyzed the table and its contents as I got closer. Papers were strewn across it. Crinkled newspaper clippings, printouts from news channels, and pictures all sat on the table. There didn't seem to be any order to them, almost as if someone had just tossed the pile on the table and left them how they had fallen.

My fingers picked through some of the newspaper stories. They each had numbers scribbled on them in red ink.

#1 Sex trafficking ring uncovered in a local district after building burns

#2 Man pleads guilty to sex trafficking after crime is uncovered by firefighters.

#3 Investigation into arson leads to the arrest of several groups involved with area drug trafficking

And so on.

I shifted my gaze from the newspaper clippings, and I felt my eyes widen as I noticed another paper. It was a map, with several areas circled. When I looked closer, I was surprised to see that I recognized the areas. They were the same places that I was now investigating.

Little notes were scribbled on the paper, dates. Dates of when the places had been burned, as well as the corresponding number. There was a #1 written next to a large warehouse that had been one of the first arson cases. My eyes darted back to the first newspaper clipping, they must be related.

I gasped as realization hit me, the arsonist had been burning down and destroying locations that were being used for other crimes. How had we not noticed this pattern before?

“Now, why did you have to go off and snoop?” A feminine voice chirped from behind me, I jumped as I twisted around, fully prepared to fight the newcomer.

She laughed at me from behind her mask. Her blonde hair bobbed as she bounced on her feet excitedly. “I always love making new friends, but it seems like I’ve already met you,” she commented as she studied me.

I glared at her in response, “I have no idea who you are, nor do I want to get to know you.”

“Aw but look!” She tossed a notepad at me; I didn’t try to catch it. The notepad hit the floor in front of me, sprawled open. I glanced down quickly and felt my stomach drop. My signature sat on the page in black sharpie.

The girl's yellow eyes twinkled at me as she watched me, “See? Best friends already.”

Then it struck me, I had seen those yellow eyes before. Multiple times actually. It was the girl from Endeavors agency and the same one that I had seen at the incident with the old woman and her car.

“Why are you following me?” I asked quietly. I wasn’t scared, but she did make me feel uneasy. She seemed… unhinged.

“It’s all part of the plan, silly,” her eyes smiled at me as she pulled out a syringe. “I just need a little blood if you wouldn’t mind.”

A short footfall hit the ground behind me, and I tried to dodge as I saw the flash of something in my peripheral vision. Pain exploded through my skull as something struck me across the side of my head. I tasted blood in the back of my throat as I hit the ground, stunned. I tried to lift myself up onto my arms, but they shook with the effort, and my body dropped back down to the cold, hard floor. 

“Shit, Spinner. He said to knock her out, not give her brain damage,” the same girly voice chimed in as I felt a hand touch my arm to pull the sleeve of my suit back.

“I wanted to make sure we didn’t have to deal with her quirk,” a scratchy male voice answered.

I winced weakly as a sharp pinch pricked at my wrist. I started to feel even more lightheaded as my blood quickly left my body and entered the syringe that the girl held.

“There, I think that’s enough,” she commented a few minutes later.

Blackness began to edge at the corners of my vision as I stared at the feet of the yellow-eyed female. A moment later, I was looking into her eyes as she lay on the floor next to me.

“Spinner is sorry about the head wound.”

“No, I’m not,” he said quietly from above us.

“It was nice to see you again.” She reached out and poked my forehead, when she brought her finger back, it was red. She popped her finger into her mouth after she brought her mask down and hummed to herself happily. My stomach rolled at the sight, if I wasn’t about to pass out, I would have vomited at the sight of someone licking my blood off their finger.

“Toga, back the fuck off,” A low voice commanded from the doorway.

Toga frowned before she pushed herself up and back to her feet. “Yes, sir!” She jokingly said as she left my line of vision.

The black closed in even more and my hearing began to diminish considerably. The voices around me were muffled as I began to fade out of consciousness.

A pair of black boots walked towards me and stopped as they neared my body. The owner of the boots crouched, and a pair of scarred hands entered my field of vision as they casually rested on the person’s knees.

One of the hands reached out and tilted my head to the side, the motion made me grimace as my world once again shifted and made me feel nauseous, I pinched my eyes shut. This head injury was going to be a bitch.

When I finally tried to reopen my eyes, a pair of bright, cerulean eyes stared down at me.

Shouto?

They were Shouto’s eyes, or at least, one of Shouto’s eyes.

The face of the man in front of me contorted quickly into a deep frown, stretching the scarred tissue on the lower portion of his face. His hand left my chin abruptly, allowing it to drop back down towards the floor. I assumed I had just thought Shouto’s name, but in my confused and disoriented state, I must have spoken it out loud.

“Let’s see how you get out of this one, little miss hero,” I could hear the ice and bitterness in his voice, even with my muffled eardrums.

The room lit up blue around me as my world faded to black

Chapter Text

The pain in my skull woke me.

I clenched my hands as I pinched my eyes shut tighter to ease the ache between them. Soft voices flooded towards me, but they were barely audible as if they were behind a door.

I cracked one eye open and winced at the bright light that ricocheted throughout the room. I went to rub my eyes in response and felt a tight pain in my arm.

“Ouch,” I whispered out as I glared down at the IV in my left arm. I followed its tubing and found it to be hooked up to a large bag of fluids.

My eyes darted to survey the space around me. I was in a hospital room, my right arm was bandaged from my wrist to my elbow, but the dull ache there didn’t compare to the pain in my head. The heart rate monitor that I was hooked up to began to beep as I shifted in the bed.

The quiet noise of the hospital room door opening distracted me from my analysis of the situation. A young nurse popped her head in to see why the machine had started going off and smiled at me as she noticed that I was conscious.

“She’s awake,” she announced to the voices outside of the room that had hushed as the door had opened. She held the door and allowed my visitors to enter.

Aizawa’s concern-filled face was the first one that I saw, and I felt shame in my chest. He had warned me about going off on my own, and here I was now, in a hospital room connected to wires and machines. I broke eye contact with him to study my fingers.

There was dried blood under my fingernails, which I tried to find really fascinating as the rest of the group walked in. 

I looked up to see that Endeavor, Shouto, and Katsuki had all entered the room. The nurse walked to my side and began to adjust my IV as Endeavor opened his mouth to speak.

“Y/N, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that I’m happy you’re okay…”

Katsuki scoffed as he rolled his eyes. He crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at the ground. His face looked tired.

I narrowed my eyes at him, but he ignored me.

“What happened out there?” Endeavor asked me, directing my attention back to him.

My nurse silently left the room to give us some privacy.

Should I tell him? Tell him about the league of villains who we thought had disbanded years ago. Tell him the information that I had found – that we had been hunting down an arsonist who was technically helping law enforcement in a way. Tell him about his long-lost son who had appeared in that broken-down warehouse.

No.

He was the number one hero, he had to already know that information. Anything I said now, wouldn’t be news to him, that much I knew.

What else was he hiding?

“I was looking into the warehouse by the recent arsonist attacks when someone knocked me out, I didn’t see who it was,” the lie slipped easily from my lips.

Shouto’s eyes narrowed at my words. His eyes were as tired as Katsuki’s.

“You’re sure you didn’t see anything?” Endeavor asked, exasperated.

I shook my head, “why? Did something else happen?”

“The building we found you in was burning to the ground,” Katsuki growled out, “if Aizawa didn’t have your location you would have died in that warehouse.”

I swallowed hard; they had meant to kill me.

“They were blue flames, Y/N,” Shouto said quietly as he watched me warily.

“Touya’s flames.”

“I guess I’m on your brother's kill list then,” I joked and Katsuki’s face darkened further.

“Do you think this is funny?” Katsuki demanded as he took a step towards the bed. “I had to walk through a puddle of your blood to drag you out of there. I thought you were dead. You were so pale...” His voice trailed off, a haunted look spread across his face. The look quickly disappeared from his face as he met my eyes again. He opened his mouth to say something but clenched his jaw shut instead when he decided against it. Without saying another word, he turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him on his way out.

“What I think Bakugou is trying to say is that we were worried,” Aizawa said calmly as he studied my face. “How is your head?”

“I’m fine.”

He arched an eyebrow at me as he reached out to turn my right wrist over to look at my bandage, “I know you’re not fine, you don’t need to act tough. Let them know when you need pain meds, you’ll be here for observation for at least a day or two anyway, you might as well be comfortable.” He let go of my arm and turned to leave as well, “I’ll be down the hall in my office if you need me.” Aizawa sent me a small, exhausted smile before he left the room - much more quietly than Katsuki had.

“Am I at U.A?” I asked Shouto and Endeavor as they stood at the end of my bed.

Endeavor nodded, “this was the closest health clinic for heroes and with recovery girl on staff, you’ll be in good shape in no time.”

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out as he turned to leave. “I went against your orders to just take the day off.”

“I think your injuries are punishment enough,” he admitted in his deep baritone voice as he turned to glance back at me, “we all learn some way. Let me know when you can return to work, we hired another hero yesterday to team up with you. Get well soon.”

And with that, he was gone.

Shouto continued to stand silently at the end of the bed, watching me carefully.

“What?”

“You’re sure you didn’t see anything at the warehouse?”

“Do you think I’m lying?”

He sighed and then ran a shaky hand through his two-toned hair. “No, it’s just… It seems like a weird coincidence.”

“How long have I been out?” I asked while trying to steer the conversation away from the warehouse and what I did or didn’t see.

He pulled a chair up so that he could sit at the bedside, “you’ve been unconscious for almost 2 days.”

“Fuck, they got me good then,” I sighed as I rubbed my temples.

“Is your head bothering you?” He asked, worry lining his face as he watched me.

I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye, “it hurts a little, yeah.”

“How’s the arm?”

I lifted my bandaged arm up, “I can’t even feel it compared to my head. What even happened here?”

“You were burned. It’s not bad but it’ll leave a small scar.”

Shouto hit the nursing call light as he continued to watch me as I rubbed my head to try to relieve some of the pain. The same nurse from before entered the room to answer the call light.

“She needs some pain meds when you have a chance,” Shouto said gently and the nurse nodded before she left the room.

“I should’ve been there with you…” He whispered out randomly after we had been sitting in silence for a few minutes.

“You can’t honestly be blaming yourself at all right now,” I groaned out.

His kind eyes turned angry, “if I had been there…” he began.

“If you had been there, you could’ve gotten killed. We don’t know what might have happened. I’m happy that you weren’t there.”

“I could’ve protected you.”

“I don’t need anyone’s protection,” I glared at him.

I was tired of him and Aizawa thinking that I wasn’t capable enough to keep myself safe from harm. Of course, the most recent event hadn’t helped convince them otherwise. Regardless, I was sick of it.

I hated the pity-filled look in his eyes when he looked at me, the feeling of doubt and concern that exuded from him.

Rage welled in my gut as he continued to watch me with wary eyes. I knew he was just trying to help, that he was just showing that he cared. But at that moment, I decided that I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to hear about the fact that he thought the situation could have gone differently if he had been there.

“Y/N…” He said gently as he observed me.

“Don’t!” I finally snapped. My voice was harsh as my frustrations from the last few days grew and overflowed.

“I did this to myself, I got myself into this situation. They caught me off guard. It won’t happen again. You can’t fix it, so don’t even try,” I nearly growled out. “I don’t need you.”

His eyes flashed with anger and hurt at the sound of my words.

“You don’t need me?”

“We’re not together, stop acting like I’m yours to protect. I can handle my life on my own without you doubting me at every fucking step of the way.”

Shouto sat back in the chair with a stunned look on his face as if I had slapped him.

I might as well have.

I immediately felt guilty as the words exited my mouth, I had instantly regretted them. But truthfully, a small part of me was happy that I had gotten it off of my chest.

I had felt pathetic and weak when I had offered to send Aizawa my location to him days ago, and I felt insignificant and feeble now, knowing that Katsuki and others had to barge in to rescue me after I had put myself into such a precarious situation.

I questioned myself and my abilities enough, I didn’t need someone else to remind me of that doubt.

“I thought...” He trailed off as he looked towards the window in the room, away from me, away from the annoyance in my eyes and the bite in my tone.

“You thought what? That since we went on a date and had sex that we would finally be together officially or something?”

I had noticed that he hadn’t corrected his dad a few days prior when he had mentioned that we were dating. Of course, I hadn't corrected his dad either, however, that really wasn't my responsibility. Endeavor was Shouto's dad after all, not mine.  At the time, I assumed he was just ignoring it, but now…

“Shouto…” I sighed as I buried my head in my hands.

His voice was annoyed, and almost tired sounding, when he answered, “what? Is it that bad that I would like to date you?”

“Yes,” I groaned out. “I don’t date.”

“Yeah, I know you’ve said that before but…”

“There aren’t any buts,” I said quietly as I met his gaze again. “I never technically dated Amajiki and I was screwing around with him for months. Being the Shouto Todoroki doesn’t change anything.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to date me because of my name,” his jaw clenched.

“You’re my friend, Shouto. That won’t change, even if we’ve done some extra stuff.” My heart clenched a little as the words escaped through my lips. There was a part of me who would enjoy calling Shouto mine, but it wasn’t dominant.

“Some stuff?” He choked out a bitter laugh as he stared at his feet. “The sex didn’t mean anything to you then?’

“It was sex, Shouto. It was nice, I enjoyed it. But if I dated every man who got me off…”

He winced.

We sat in silence for a few moments, collecting our thoughts.

“Do you think you could ever love me?”

The question startled me, but what I found to be even more surprising was the vulnerable look in his beautiful, dual-colored eyes.

“Of course I could love you, I already do.”

He looked hopeful as he listened, but those hopes were soon dashed by my next words.

“I don’t know if I could fall in love with you though... I don’t think I’m capable of it, honestly. I’ve never been in love with someone and felt like I could spend the rest of my life with them, so I’m not sure what to tell you…”

The nurse chose that moment to walk into the room to give me my pain meds.

Shouto jumped when she knocked and stood quickly as she entered the room. He continued to observe as she administered the medication into my IV. His eyes were sad as they watched me and he looked as if he wanted to talk further, to get some kind of closure from our previous conversation, but the drug that she gave me began to work quickly.

My body began to feel weightless as the drug traveled through my veins and spread further throughout my body. Fatigue settled into my muscles and my head began to grow foggy as my vision also blurred for a moment. I leaned my head back in response and closed my eyes.

Sleep began to drag me down into its dark depths. As my final bits of consciousness began to slip away, I spoke quietly into the room with the small amount of energy that I still had, not even knowing who was still there to hear it.

“I’m sorry, Shouto.”

--------- ------ ---------

The next 48 hours passed slowly.

Aizawa stopped by several times to check-in, but no other visitors graced me with their presence, which in some ways I didn’t totally mind.

The boredom began to set in about 2 hours after I had woken up later on Wednesday. My sleep schedule was all out of wack because of how often I had been unconscious, but I continued to try to sleep anyway since I didn’t have anything better to do.

Recovery girl visited me on Thursday morning to heal anything that I hadn’t naturally healed over the last 3 days. She lectured me about my injuries as she healed them. I didn’t know if the grimace that grew across my face was in response to her lecture or to her using her quirk on me as both were equally painful.

I was cleared to go back to work on Friday and I had called Endeavor to let him know right away. He reminded me again that my new partner would be there and he was excited to introduce us.

In the present time, I stared at the glass of wine in my hands as I sat at my kitchen counter, my phone was placed on the counter in front of me, open to my recent text messages.

I hadn’t had the chance to look at my phone since I had left to go patrol on Monday. It had been dead when it was given back to me in the hospital room at U.A. and since I didn’t have a phone charger with me at the hospital, it remained that way until I got back to my apartment. When the device had initially turned on, message after message had alerted on it.

Katsuki.

Shouto.

Aizawa.

One after another.

A message from Katsuki had buzzed through first.

BakuBOOM (1:25 p.m): “Would you like to sacrifice your dinner time to get food with me?”

BakuBOOM (4:01 p.m): “No? Okay, cool. A simple no would suffice.”

BakuBOOM (4:35 p.m): “Where are you?”

BakuBOOM (5:19 p.m): “Answer your phone, dickhead.”

BakuBOOM (5:20 p.m.): “I’m heading over to U.A. and you had better be there when I get there.”

I scrolled through his messages and immediately felt guilty.

Checking Shouto’s messages next, I tapped on his name.

Peppermint (11:35 a.m.): “I miss you already. I hope you have a good time at U.A.”

Peppermint (12:15 p.m.): “Do you want to get a drink later tonight? Or we could just hang out, whatever you want to do.”

Peppermint (4:15 p.m.): “I’m sure you’re busy at U.A. still but let me know if you want to get that drink.”

Peppermint (5:45 p.m.): “Can you answer your phone? I just want to make sure that you’re okay.”

Aizawa had pinged my location around 5:50.

I sighed as I set the phone back down and rubbed my eyes. What had I gotten myself into?

My mind drifted to the warehouse then and the chilling blue eyes that had stared down at me before they had tried to abandon me in the warehouse to wither away in the heat of his flames.

I had decided, as I sat alone in the hospital room, that I needed to find out if the hero association knew anything further about the League of Villains, and I knew exactly where I was going to start.

A quiet knock at my door brought me back to reality. I paused for a moment to collect myself before I got up.

As the door opened, I was surprised to find my doorstep empty. Peaking my head around the corner, I caught a glimpse of a familiar pair of broad shoulders as they walked back towards the elevator. 

“You’re just going to distract me from my resting and then not even have the balls to show your face?” I said loudly towards the man down the hall.

Tired, crimson eyes turned and met mine as he stopped at the sound of my voice.

“I don’t know why I came here,” his voice was low and emotionless. “I guess I didn’t trust Aizawa and wanted to see your recovery for myself, but I decided against it once I knocked.”

“Kat…” I sighed as my apartment door shut quietly behind me. My feet dragged me across the linoleum floor towards the explosion hero, who appeared to stiffen as I came closer.

“I’m sorry I pissed you off in the hospital.”

His eyebrows pinched together, “you think that’s why I’m upset?”

“I’m sorry for almost getting myself killed?” I shrugged as I reached him.

His bright eyes bore down into mine as he analyzed my face.

All signs of my injuries were now gone, thanks to recovery girl, which was confirmed by the somewhat satisfied look that settled on his face as he finished studying me.

“Y/N…” His face crumpled briefly, but he hid his fleeting moment of vulnerability well behind his normal mask a second later. Clearing his throat, he glanced down at me before he wrapped his arms around me and brought me into a tight hug.

“I thought you might have been dead…” He whispered, “You fucking idiot.”

“Hey now…” I began but he squeezed tight, and a small squeak flew out of my mouth as the air rushed out of my lungs.

“No, don’t interrupt me,” he commanded as he loosened his grip.

Pulling back, he held me at an arm's length away, “what happened in there? I know you can handle yourself with villains, so why didn’t I see any evidence of a fight or anything when I got there? Why did I just find you bleeding on the floor?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but he held a finger up against my lips. “Don’t you dare say that someone just snuck up on you. Don’t try to bullshit me.”

I rolled my eyes, but I tugged him along into my apartment anyway.

“I was trying to review some evidence when someone came into the room, as they talked to me someone snuck up on me. It was a moment of weakness and it won’t happen again,” I admitted as I poured myself another glass of wine.

Katsuki watched me from one of my bar stools, arms propped up on the counter, fingertips tapping mindlessly against the hard granite as he considered my words.

“Did you recognize any of them?”

“If I tell you, can you promise to not make a big deal out of it and keep it from the agency?”

His face turned speculative. “Why don’t you want the agency to know?”

“I want to do some of my own research about it first before I come clean with them.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes but motioned for me to continue.

“It was the League of Villains or three of their members at least.”

He stiffened.

“Which three?”

“Toga, Dabi and Spinner.”

Katsuki’s jaw clenched. “So, Touya Todoroki is alive and well then.”

It wasn’t a question, but more of a statement like he had had his suspicions about the missing Todoroki’s fate since the beginning.

“It would appear so,” I confirmed as we observed each other from across the counter.

“You haven’t told any of the Todoroki's then? Endeavor or Icy Hot?”

I shook my head carefully before I took a hefty sip of my wine.

“If I told them then I might be immediately thrown off this case. I want to be able to look into it without them breathing down my neck.”

“If Dabi is involved, then you need to be extremely careful, Y/N.”

Utter shock rolled through me at his comment, “you’re not going to discourage me from looking into this further?”

“Why would I?’ He arched a blonde eyebrow at me.

“I just thought you would say something like, ‘you moron, leave it to the professionals.’”

Katsuki smirked at my imitation of his gruff voice, “I don’t sound like that, and you are a professional. Like I said, just be careful. You already owe me for one round of dry cleaning since your blood wouldn’t come out of my uniform with normal washing. Let’s not make that a standard occurrence, deal? Or else I’ll be taking you to the dry cleaner each time to explain to the workers that I’m not a serial killer.”

I nodded, still somewhat rendered speechless by his rather casual demeanor towards this conversation.

I had been prepared to defend myself and tell him why I needed to do this, him accepting my decision with very little arguing wasn’t how I had expected this conversation to go. 

“Well,” He announced as he stood up and pushed the stool in, “I should get going then. I just wanted to check-in.”

My heart dropped a little. This had been the first slightly normal conversation that I had had with another human being since Monday. The loneliness that had started to settle in during my stay at the hospital hadn’t gone anywhere yet, but this brief interaction with Katuski had started to chip away at its edges.

“Do you have to go?” I asked abruptly, causing him to stop in his tracks as he made his way towards the door.

His eyes were curious as they met mine.

“I just mean… It’s been a long few days and I haven’t been able to really talk to anyone. Having you here has been nice and…” I trailed off and glanced down to study my glass.

“So you want to use me for human contact, is that it?” His eyes twinkled mischievously at me.

I groaned, “when you put it that way…”

Katsuki chuckled, “don’t worry about it. I can stick around. What did you have in mind?”

“Netflix and chill, but without the chill. Just Netflix. We can do it in bed though,” I winked, and he smirked at me.

“Whatever you say, princess.” 

Chapter Text

Katsuki had me up early the next morning, much to my dismay.

The sound of pots of pans clanging in the kitchen and the smell of a new pot of coffee rose me from my slumber and caused me to tumble out of bed. The pitter-pattering sound of Socks’ small feet hitting the linoleum quietly followed behind me as I walked.

When I stepped into the kitchen, rubbing my eyes and yawning, I found Katsuki rifling through some of my cupboards as he looked for something. A steaming cup of coffee sat on the counter, and I sat down in front of it and took a sip, it was perfectly brewed, not too strong but it had enough kick that I knew I would feel its energizing effects.

“What are you looking for?”

Katsuki remained turned away as he answered, “hot pads.”

“In the drawer to the right of the oven,” I answered, and he followed my directions, setting the hot pads on the counter a moment later.

He sat down next to me after he finished up the food, placing a plate in front of me as he did so.

I smiled at him, “thanks for the coffee and breakfast.”

“No problem,” His eyes darted to mine before he delved into the food. His face was calmer than it normally was, the usual anger and annoyance that typically plagued his features weren’t there, instead, he appeared to be content, almost happy even.

We ate in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the early morning sun as it began to light up the skyscrapers around my building. The sounds of the city started to come to life from below.

I was genuinely shocked that Katsuki had stayed for as long as he did. He had fallen asleep before me last night with his arm wrapped around me, cradling me to his chest as we watched some movie that I had randomly picked. I had half expected to wake up and find him gone in the morning but was pleasantly surprised to discover the opposite.

“Do you mind if we make a quick stop at my place before we head to the agency building today?”

Warm, crimson eyes analyzed me as I considered his question. He wanted me to tag along with him to go to his place? We could just split up and go to work on our own.

“Unless you want to just head to work from here, I can go home by myself too.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. Could he read minds as well as blow things up with his nitroglycerin sweat?

“I can go with you, I don’t mind,” I answered, without really thinking.

The answer seemed to please him as I saw a small smile erupt at the corner of his mouth.

--------- -------

After finishing our breakfast and feeding Socks I got ready for the day while Katsuki cleaned up after us, which only made me feel guilty. But when I had offered to clean since he had prepared the breakfast, he had scoffed and commented that we would never get to the agency if my slow ass cleaned the dishes. After flipping him off, I went to shower and get dressed.

We now stood outside of Katsuki’s tall apartment building. It hadn’t been a very long drive from my own dwelling, but it was a little farther from the agency by a few blocks.

The sun glared off the walls of glass that stood in front of me.

“Are you just going to stare at it all day?” Katsuki chided at me as he handed his car keys to the man at the door. “I won’t need it today, you can park it for the night.” The young doorman nodded and bowed towards the explosion hero before walking off to hop into Katsuki’s car. Katsuki caught me watching his car as it drove off, “you’re okay with walking to work today, right? Sorry, I should have asked you first.”

I nodded, “Of course that’s fine. My legs work well enough.”

“Debatable,” he chuckled as he motioned for me to follow him into the building. He dodged the shove that I aimed for his shoulder.

We walked through an expensive-looking lobby, with tall ceilings and marble floors. The sunlight streaming in through the outer windows bounced off of the cream-colored stone pillars that we walked between and sparkled through the crystal chandeliers overhead.

“What the hell?” I muttered to myself. I had never pegged Katsuki for the luxurious type.

I slammed my jaw shut when I noticed that it had dropped a bit. Katsuki smirked again at me as we waited for an elevator to come down to the lobby to pick us up.

“How much do you pay to stay at this place?” I asked after we were behind the safety of the elevator doors. We ascended up into the building, the floors ticked by on the dial above the door.

“Too much if you ask me,” he scoffed as the doors opened, revealing another extravagant hallway.

He stopped in front of an apartment door and began to open it with his keys. His blonde hair shifted down into his face as he glanced down at the lock, his scarlet eyes were focused on the task at hand, and I couldn’t help myself from studying him.

The sharp curve of his jaw, the points of his hair and how soft I knew that hair really was, his broad shoulders which were now covered by a black jacket, and the tip of his tongue as it darted out to wet his lips. His eyebrows angled down in frustration as he continued to have issues with the lock in front of him. 

“Damn door!” His loud bark jolted me out of my daydream.

The sound of his shoulder hitting the door echoed through the hallway, his door budged open and made a sticking sound as it creaked open.

I giggled as I watched him right himself. He growled under his breath.

I was willing to bet that in the entire building, there wasn’t another door like this one. I’m sure Katsuki came home to this door everyday, complaining each day when it gave him issues, but Katsuki was too stubborn to do anything about it, so he would continue to have problems each time he went to open it.

It almost felt like how it felt to interact with the young hero. He was hard to get to know. It was difficult to get him to open up, and once he did, he’d shut back down again right away, similar to his door.

Katsuki opened the door and stepped aside for me to walk past. I gasped as I observed the room in front of me. The exterior of the apartment did not match the interior.

His apartment resembled a loft. The floor was made of dark shiny concrete, and the walls surrounding the space, besides the far wall, were dark as well with very few pictures or decorations. A large cream-colored, L-shaped couch had one of its backs facing the entrance, facing a large TV to our left. A modern kitchen sat far off to the right. A bare, dark set of stairs was also to the right and appeared to go up to the bedroom which sat above the kitchen, I could see the edges of a white bed from where I stood. Across the room, a large bank of windows sat and acted as the outer wall of the apartment. A glass door was there as well to access the large balcony that was connected to the apartment.

Katsuki brushed past me and closed the door before he turned to place his keys onto a table that sat by the door. “I’ll be right back.” I watched his figure as he jogged up the stairs and disappeared, into what I assumed to be his closet or bathroom.

I felt my feet drift towards the balcony on the far wall. I was marveling at the view that Katsuki woke up to every day when I noticed a bookshelf to my left. My fingertips grazed the backs of the many books that he had placed there, I pulled some out to read their descriptions and was surprised to find many of them to be either romance novels or mysteries, who knew the Bakugou Katsuki had such a soft spot. When I came across some skinny books, I paused. They were taller than the rest so I grabbed one of them out of curiosity.  “U.A. High School Yearbook” was plastered across the front, and I nearly set it back, but the desire to open it up was stronger. It’s pages stuck together slightly as I opened it, almost like it hadn’t been opened in years.

I palmed through its pages, glancing at the faces of the students who had attended the prestigious school. I stopped when I came across class 1A. Aizawa’s tired face sat at the top of the page with his students' portraits following his. My eyes drifted over familiar names and faces, such as Bakugou Katsuki and Todoroki Shouto. I stilled as I read Izuku Midoriya. Happy, green eyes stared back at me as I studied his picture. Sorrow welled up in my gut.

“I see you’ve been snooping,” Katsuki commented as he walked up behind me and peeked over my shoulder. “What are you…” He paused as he recognized the yearbook.

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to go into your stuff, I just…” I stammered as I began to shut the book.

He shook his head, “it’s fine. I just haven’t looked at that in a while is all.” He motioned for me to hand him the book and I did so. His eyes darkened in a way as he glanced down at the pictures of his previous classmates.

I allowed him to view the yearbook on his own quietly for a few minutes before he broke the silence, “I’m sure you’ve heard about Deku.”

His voice was quiet, almost hesitant like he wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to begin this conversation.

“Do you mean Midoriya?” I asked gently and he nodded. His eyes didn’t lift from the page in front of him and I saw his shoulders droop slightly as I responded. “I’ve heard some things, yes.”

“It has been nearly 4 years and I still can’t get his dumbass face out of my head.”

I stayed quiet, unsure if I should say anything at all or if he just needed to get something off his chest. When he didn’t make any additional comments, I spoke, “you guys were close. It’s difficult to get over something like that.”

“We weren’t even that close it’s just…” His voice broke off as he slammed the book shut and placed it back on the shelf. “Nevermind,” his shoulders were tense as his back faced me.

I rested a light hand on his back between his shoulder blades, “do whatever you have to do to help heal but don’t blame yourself. It wasn’t your fault, Katsuki. I’m sure he wouldn’t want that.”

I saw him shake his head lightly, “what would you know? You weren’t there.”

The harsh emotion in his voice was evident and I backed off at the sound of it. “Sorry, Kat.”

When he turned back around, his crimson eyes were distant.

He walked up to me and glared down into my eyes, rolling them before speaking, “you have nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry if I sounded stand-offish.”

“When do you not sound stand-offish?” I smirked up at him and his eyes narrowed.

I bit my lip subconsciously as I waited for him to say something. His eyes drifted down to look at my lips and they softened considerably.

“Do I make you nervous?” He whispered as he continued to watch me and analyze my every move and twitch.

“Sometimes,” I answered truthfully as I shrugged.

His head tilted slightly, “when?”

I scoffed, “just sometimes, Kat. Right now a little just because I don’t particularly like pissing you off.”

“You didn’t piss me off, you don’t have to worry about that.” He took another step towards me and reached out to grasp my forearm. “Are you nervous now?”

I shook my head, “nope.”

He tugged me towards him and I yelped as my body hit his rock-hard, muscular form. His hands cupped my face as his eyes bore down into mine. “Now?’

My heart began to beat faster as I stared up into his unique, fiery eyes. But I stood strong, the slight head shake no was weaker than how I wanted it to come out though and he smirked.

His head tiled down closer to my face, stopping a breath's distance away from my lips.

I felt heat rise into my face and butterflies erupted in my gut as his breath fanned my face.

“How about now, Princess?”

I gulped.

Before another lie could escape my mouth, Katsuki’s soft lips landed on mine, stifling any additional comments about my nerves.

His tongue slipped into my mouth as we stood entangled in his living room. The sweet taste of him exploded across my own tongue.

As soon as the hot kiss began, Katsuki pulled away.

“We need to get to work,” He winked as he left me breathless to grab his duffle bag.

I remained standing where he left me, watching him with my jaw nearly at the floor as he moved throughout his apartment.

He paused at the door after he opened it, smirking at me as he did so. “Are you coming?”

--------------- ----------------------

Katsuki and I walked through the agency’s doors a bit later. I was surprised to find the main lobby less congested than normal, but since Katsuki had gotten us moving so early this morning, we were arriving to work much earlier than I was used to. Part of me didn’t mind the fewer people moving about, it meant there were fewer people to run into to engage with. Fewer chances for pointless conversations made me excited, but the earlier wake-up time probably wasn’t worth it.

“Are you excited to meet your new partner?” Katsuki broke the silence in the elevator as we ascended to the top floor for a scheduled work meeting. We hadn’t spoken much since our kiss this morning. The cold walk to work had shut us both up.

My gaze darted to him, he was casually leaning up against the back of the elevator with his hands in his pockets. His eyes remained facing forward as he waited for an answer, he didn’t appear to have a care in the world, or he was lost in thought.

“Of course, I wish I knew something about them though so I could’ve looked them up before meeting them.”

“You don’t trust that Endeavor will know who to match you up with?”

I sighed, “it’s not that.” I began to bite one of my nails as I thought about how to translate my thoughts and anxiety into spoken words. “I’m kind of a control freak, I guess? I don’t like to be caught off guard.”

“I can understand that,” his crimson eyes roamed over my face as I remained preoccupied with my previous introspection.

The jarring noise of the elevator doors opening made me jump lightly and Katsuki’s arm immediately wrapped around my back in response, rubbing lightly in a soothing way.

“Hey, you’ll be fine. If you need to talk later, you know where to find me.”

His arm dropped as we left the elevator and I smiled up at him. In my distracted state, I didn’t notice the group of men who were standing a few feet outside and ran straight into the back of one of them.

“Oof!” I gasped out as I reached out to steady myself.

A strong pair of hands gripped my forearms quickly to keep me from falling back in surprise.

“I’m so sorry!” I blurted out as I stepped back. Looking up, I found Endeavor and Shouto watching me, along with the stranger who I had run into. His arms were still out in a steadying gesture as he looked at me. His eyes widened slightly as he studied me in return.

The newcomer had pale blue hair with matching bright blue eyes that twinkled as they continued to regard me curiously. His eyes snapped to Katsuki, who still stood close behind me. His hand had reached out to steady me as well and it now rested on my lower back. I didn’t fail to notice that Shouto was also very interested in that hand.

“Y/N!” Endeavor greeted me as he stepped around the new hero. “We were just talking about you. This is Geten, your new partner.” He clapped Geten on the back as he introduced us and I noticed Geten’s eyes narrow slightly with irritation.

Geten. I had heard that name before in the past. I quickly racked through my memories, looking for that name, where I had heard it. An old conversation with Aizawa came to mind, one where we had talked about the liberation front and their defeat. Geten had been arrested, along with his fellow conspirators, and was sent to Tartarus. Why was he here now?

“Nice to meet you, Geten.” I stepped forward and held my hand out to shake his.

Geten’s beautiful eyes flitted down to my hand and then back up to my face, and his lip curled in disgust. “This is who you’ve chosen for me to work with? Some clumsy woman?”

My hand dropped.

“Look here, asshole!” Katsuki’s angry voice rang into my ears as he stepped to my side, ready to defend me.

“Don’t,” I said softly and Katsuki stopped. “If I cared about what a previous criminal thought, then I would’ve quit hero work a long time ago.”

Geten’s eyes flashed, and his mouth quirked up slightly, almost menacingly, “ah, someone has done their research.”

“I seem to remember it being pretty big news back when you were arrested. Your master was arrested too right, Re Destro, wasn’t it? What’s he up to these days?” I shot back at the ice user, and he grimaced.

“I’ve changed my ways and made my peace with the hero association. I have no idea what narrative or plans Re Destro might have while he sits in prison,” he gritted out and his eyes narrowed.

I gave him a small, bitter smile. “I’d rather have the word ‘clumsy’ on my record than ‘previous PLF member’ any day.”

Endeavor watched our interaction with a concerned look on his face. This pairing was sure to blow up in his face somehow.

“Endeavor, I need to talk to you,” Shouto broke the awkward silence as he glared over at his father.

Endeavor nodded and the two of them walked back to his office, mumbling to each other as they walked.

“Now look what you’ve done,” I motioned to the Todoroki’s before crossing my arms across my chest. “Who would have thought that some villain would have so much of an issue working with a woman that they would risk their position at the Endeavor agency.” I glanced at Geten, “I’m hoping they replace you with someone a bit more tolerable.”

His blue eyes continued to watch me. I didn’t know why I had allowed this man’s words to get under my skin so much. But the way his eyes roamed over my face, so casually and untroubled, made me want to punch him square in the jaw. I considered it since I knew that Katuski would back me up if it came to that.

“You wouldn’t mind working with a previous villain? That wouldn’t gnaw at your little hero conscious at all and make you lose sleep?” He crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring me, as he asked his ridiculous question.

I rolled my eyes, “I couldn’t give less of a shit about you being a villain in the past. It’s what you work towards and strive to do now that matters to me. If you want to help make this world a better place, then I can look past your previous actions, even the illegal ones.”

Geten clicked his tongue as my response, but his eyes continued to study me curiously. “You can call off your attack dog whenever you want,” he commented, and I felt Katsuki stiffen beside me.

Glancing at the blonde man next to me, I recognized his protective stance. He was ready to launch himself at the man in front of me if needed. “He’s right, kat. I can handle this. You should go to the conference room; I’ll meet you there once Endeavor comes back.”

Katsuki’s angry eyes darted to mine at the sound of my words. He loosed a rough breath before he nodded and walked away.

“Do you always have others fight your battles for you?”

“What part of that interaction made you think of that stupid-ass question?” I groaned out as I glanced off towards Endeavors office.

Geten opened his mouth to make another comment when the doors to Endeavors office swung open, revealing a frustrated-looking Shouto. He took one look at Geten and me and sighed before walking into the conference room.

Endeavor followed shortly after and made his way over to us. His eyes were tired as he regarded us.

“We’re going to try this out, I encourage you both to try to work together. Changes can be made if it doesn’t though,” and with that, he turned back around and walked back into his office, leaving Geten and me alone again. 

I felt Geten’s eyes on me as I readjusted the duffle bag on my shoulder.

He cleared his throat, “look, I think we got off on the wrong foot…”

I arched an eyebrow at him, “speak for yourself, iceman. I didn’t say shit to you.”

He rolled his eyes, “this is me trying to apologize for calling you clumsy, even if I was speaking the truth.”

“That’s your version of an apology?” I scoffed.

Geten glared back at me, “it was the beginning of one but you can’t seem to shut up long enough for me to finish it.”

I smiled bitterly at him, “you can add outspoken bitch to your description of me then too. See you in the conference room, partner.”

Irritation flooded through me as I made my way to the conference room. The good mood that Katsuki had worked so hard to give me this morning had washed out of me, leaving behind anger and moodiness in its wake.

Both Shouto and Katsuki looked up when I opened the doors, I earned a sympathetic smile from the aforementioned and a nod from the latter. I took a seat away from both so that I could brood and stew in my own mind until the meeting started.

Heroes and sidekicks began to slowly make their way into the room as the minutes ticked by. I had been gazing down at my lap when I heard the chair next to me move. The temperature dropped slightly and I felt my mood drop even further as I saw blue out of the corner of my eye.

“You have an attitude," I glared at my hands, ready to snap back at him but he cut me off. "As someone with strong beliefs myself, I can respect that,” Geten’s voice was quiet. “I can admit that my initial analysis of you might have been premature. You seem like you can handle your own. Sorry I said you were clumsy.”

I glanced over and studied his side profile. His jaw was clenched tight. I could tell that he wasn’t used to apologizing. Maybe he just really wanted to stay at the agency, or he didn’t want to worry about getting reassigned to another partner. Either way, I could tolerate him if he was going to try to make an effort to be somewhat civil.

“No problem,” I muttered back as I leaned back in my chair casually. My eyes drifted over the others at the large U-shaped table in front of me. Katsuki’s angry eyes glared at the man next to me as his partner tried to get his attention. Shouto and his partner were talking, but I caught him glancing my way every once in a while too.

“Why did you need a new partner?” Geten’s voice distracted me from my survey of the other heroes.

“Ah,” my face heated as I glanced at him. His blue eyes were studying my face, his eyebrow quirked up at the blush that grew across my cheeks. “A little misunderstanding is all.” I turned my head away from him, I refused to let this man see any further vulnerability on my face when he seemed to be the kind of the person who might use it against me someday.

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yeah, Endeavor thought Shouto and I were dating.”

Geten’s eyes darted to the fire and ice user, narrowing as he watched him. “How does someone accidentally think you’re dating?”

“Because we went out to eat together, it’s a long story.”

He looked back towards me then, “and you were injured this week, what was that about?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” I groaned out.

His head tilted slightly as he watched me, “I’m a curious person I guess.”

“I did some investigating for a case on my own and paid the price for it.”

“You fought some villains on your own?”

I scoffed, “you can’t really call what I did fighting. I more or less just walked in and got knocked out, not very hero-like.”

He shrugged, “you went in there on your own, I’d call that brave at least.”

“Brave or stupid,” I commented quietly as I picked at my fingernails. I considered my next words carefully, “especially since the villains I went after were kind of helping the community in a way.”

Geten’s eyes widened, “why would you say that?”

“Yeah, they seem to be kind of morally gray. Like anti-heroes,” I stretched my arms over my head, loosing a tense breath as I did so. Geten's light blue eyes continued to watch me, waiting for me to continue. I huffed, “they were destroying places and revealing the crimes of other criminals, more severe ones. The hero association teaches us that all crimes are bad, but some are worse than others right?” I glanced at the man next to me then and was surprised to discover an inquisitive look on his face. The expression dropped from his face as our eyes met.

“I can agree with that statement,” he muttered as he tore his eyes from me and fumbled with a zipper on his heavy jacket. “Who were the villains if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t see their faces,” I answered automatically. I could tell him the truth in the future if I ever trusted him.

His eyes flashed as they darted to mine again, I swear I saw a hint of shock there before he turned away again. “That’s too bad,” he said quietly.

The doors to the conference room opened then to reveal Endeavors sturdy form. “Let’s get this meeting started!”

--------  ----------

The man walked through the wide doors of the hideout, letting them swing loudly closed as he continued into the darkroom.

He hastily tore off the over cumbersome jacket that he had had to wear for the day to play the part that he had been given. Sweat dripped down the back of his neck, wetting the light blue hair that wasn’t his. He loosed a sigh of relief as the cool air of the broken-down building eased over his body, cooling his body and sending shivers down his spine.

“So, it worked? You’ve been gone for 9 hours. Some of your scars are peeking through though.”

Bright blue eyes flicked over to the corner of the room where Toga sat, swinging one of her many needles around her wrist playfully.

“Worked like a charm.” Dabi’s gruff voice answered. He was glad that it appeared to be his own voice now, and not Geten’s. Pain erupted across his body as he stretched, pulling his stiches tight. Sighing, he took a seat at the makeshift bar that they had created. He caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the shattered mirror that hung across from him on the wall. His eyes were now his own, the bright cerulean eyes that he had recently seen on his own father and brother stared back at him as he gazed at himself. His scarred hands reached up and tugged on the light blue locks that seemed to not want to disappear yet.

“What gives with the hair?”

Toga shrugged, “it’s always the last thing to go back to normal, don’t ask me why. It might be my quirk evolving but I can’t explain it.” She jogged behind the bar and poured him a glass of his favorite liquor, handing it to him and grinning as he downed it in one gulp. “Figure out anything helpful at dear ol’ dad’s agency?”

A loud moan erupted from behind her in one of their storage rooms. Dabi’s eyes darted to the door and back to Toga. “Has he been giving you any issues?”

She shook her head energetically, “just groaning and making noises, nothing I can’t handle. The handcuffs that you gave me seem to keep his quirk in check nicely.”

The loud sound of Dabi’s chair scratching against the concrete echoed through the old warehouse that they had chosen as their base. He walked around a stack of boxes and headed to the room to check on their guest. Toga walked silently behind him.

They both paused at the doorway to observe the light blue-haired man tied to the lone chair in the room. Blue, fearful eyes stared back at them, widening as they recognized the hair that now sat on Dabi’s head.

“We need to keep him around for a bit longer,” Dabi commented as he crossed his arms, lost in thought.

Toga arched an eyebrow at him, “and why is that?”

Geten looked between the two of them as they conversed.

“So we can keep collecting his blood. I might have found another person that we can recruit to the team,” Dabi’s low voice muttered out as he continued to survey the man in front of them. “I need to learn more about him in case they ask me any personal questions too.”

“Who are you hoping to recruit?” Toga’s eyes were curious as she glanced at the scarred man beside her. His blue hair began to turn white and moments later, Dabi, or Touya Todoroki to be exact, stood beside her as himself.

“Someone who has piqued my interest.”

Chapter Text

I logged out of my computer for the day, sighing as I rubbed at my sore wrists. Geten had left earlier in the day a few hours after our conference meeting, saying he had prior commitments in the afternoon that he needed to attend to. We hadn’t had much time to learn about how to work together, but our chat before the meeting had settled some of my anxiety regarding the ice user. I had spent the majority of my day trying to catch up on some of the work that I had missed while I had been absent from the agency.

I had been surprised to discover that hero work wasn’t just about patrols and fighting villains when I had first started working at the agency, a lot of my time was also spent writing back hero students, answering questions to the press, and documenting actual hero work.

The hero association liked to keep track of every event that involved heroes or villains after everything that went down with All Might and All for One years earlier. Touya Todoroki had also done a number on the confidence that the public had in heroes when he had released his story about growing up with Endeavor. In result, this new process of documenting events and keeping track of heroes helped the public keep more up-to-date about the happenings in their neighborhoods and helped put the heroes back into the good graces of the citizens.

“You all set?” Mia’s bright, chipper voice asked from the door of my office.

My face lit up with excitement, it had been a hot minute since Mia and I had been able to have a girl's night out, so when she had asked me earlier in the day to grab a drink with her after work, I had jumped at the opportunity. “Damn straight I am!” I announced as I grabbed my bag, “I just need to change quickly if that’s cool.”

“Course it is, girl. I wouldn’t want to go drinking in that either,” she looked me up and down dramatically making me laugh lightly, “how tight does this thing need to be anyway, your tits look like they just want to breathe.” She poked at the hero uniform that Aizawa had ordered for me as we left my office. She looked around as we walked towards the bathroom and lowered her voice, leaning in towards me as she asked “do you notice that you get more yeast infections wearing this all day?”

I barked out a laugh, “Mia, you cannot just casually ask me that.” I considered her question as we passed the other offices and reached the bathrooms and raised an eyebrow, “but now that you mention it –”

“You’re talking loud enough that the entire building can hear you again,” Katsuki leaned up against the door frame that led to his own office. He had changed into a nice pair of dark jeans and a red t-shirt. An expensive-looking black leather jacket rested over his shoulder and a mischievous smile rested on his face as he regarded us.

I scoffed as we both glanced back at the blonde. “What did we say then?”

His cheeks grew red, “um –”

“Cat got your tongue, babe?” I winked at him, “don’t let him bully you, I’ll be out in a second.” Mia’s large green eyes grew even larger as I left her standing there.

Mia was almost always bold and confident, she knew what she wanted, and she knew how to tell people to stick it if she needed to, that’s why she did so well at her job as our media specialist. It was a different story though when it came to actually talking to the male heroes that were our age, she would shrivel up and try to make herself nonexistent to avoid talking to them. I had tried to ask her about it a while back and had received some nonspecific explanation about having a bad history with heroes. She had seemed so uncomfortable and distraught after I had brought up the topic that I hadn’t ever had the heart to try to ask again. I knew that she would tell me if she ever needed to, I wouldn’t try to pry into her psyche or personal life if she didn’t want me to.

I took my time in the bathroom as getting the skin-tight uniform off proved to be as difficult as usual. When I left the stall, I made sure to check myself out in the floor-to-ceiling mirror next to the door. I had packed a casual pair of jeans and a shirt when I had left my apartment this morning since I hadn’t planned on going out tonight. I turned my body partially and looked at myself again, I was happy to see the jeans hugging me in all of the right places and the shirt was cute enough, it would have to do. When I exited the bathroom, I found Mia still standing next to the bathroom, but she had scooted closer to Katsuki and they appeared to be finishing up a conversation.

Mia turned to me with a large smile on her face, “Bakugou invited us to a bar that he knows, he’s meeting a few of his friends there. Want to go? I know I mentioned a girls night… but –”

Katsuki’s eyes trailed over my body slowly as Mia spoke, pausing once they reached my face again. Knowing him, his lack of a response spoke volumes, he liked to see me in casual clothes. “What do you say, Princess? Up for hanging with me and the boys?”

I shrugged as I checked for any sign from Mia that she was just suggesting it because he was standing there, but her face was confident and clear as she waited for an answer. “Sure, why not if that’s what you want to do.”

“I’ll text you the address,” Katsuki said as he looked down at his phone, typing away as he turned and walked away, leaving Mia and me alone in the hallway.

I turned to the quirkless woman next to me, “you’re sure you want to hang with them? There’s going to be other heroes there…”

“I can’t let my fears control me for the rest of my life. Anyway, I’m sure they’re great guys,” she shrugged half-heartedly as she looked off down the hallway. Her face didn’t give anything away as we started after Katsuki towards the elevators.

“You should invite Shouto to come with us,” Mia commented as we waited for the elevator minutes later.

My neck cracked as I twisted quickly to glance at her in surprise, wincing, I rubbed at the spot as I responded, “why would you suggest that?”

“He has looked really down recently, I’m sure he could use a night out.”

“Shouto isn’t really the bar kind of guy –”

“Y/N,” she sent a glare my way as we walked into the elevator and she tapped on the lobby button, “if you’re why he’s so out of it then he deserves some kind of message from you.”

“Ehhhh….” I sighed out, “I wouldn’t call what happened my fault per se…”

She sent me a disbelieving look, “forgive me but I’m going to have to call you out on your bullshit.”

“It’s not my fault he caught the lovebug.”

“Poor guy,” she lamented as the doors opened.

I did feel somewhat guilty that I hadn’t reached out to Shouto yet, but I didn’t know what else to tell him. He knows how I feel, and I’m aware of his feelings, or at least partially. What else could be said?

“I’ll text him this weekend if that makes you feel better,” I commented as we began walking towards the bar that Katsuki had messaged me about. It wasn’t that far from the agency, maybe a 15-minute walk tops, but I instantly regretted leaving my coat behind with the rest of my things.

“It does, oddly enough. Shouto seems like one of the good ones,” Mia said quietly as her eyes grew distant. I sent her a concerned look as we walked.

We passed a taco stand on the way to the bar and I nudged her, “want some food?” I wiggled my eyebrows excitedly and motioned to the truck. 

A grin spread across her face and the haunted look in her eyes disappeared, “you know I can’t pass up street tacos! How could I say no?”

After grabbing some food, we continued our short trek to the bar, talking about her family and how she missed the countryside. I didn’t offer up any details about my own childhood and how I grew up and I was relieved when she didn’t pry. She was happy to keep the focus on herself and I was grateful for it.

“This looks like the place,” I arched my eyebrow at the German-style pub that Katsuki had sent me the address for. “I hope you like beer,” I commented quietly as we entered the establishment.

“It’s so cute!” Mia gushed as we both admired the wooden structures around us. It looked like a classic pub, with cute ornate chandeliers, low lighting, and wooden booths along the dark red walls. Beer signs hung around leaving almost no space for any other decorations. I grabbed one of the many empty bar stools and took a seat, Mia sat next to me, her green eyes darted across the bar and landed on the many tap beers that the bar had.

“You weren’t kidding about the beer,” she laughed as she squinted to look at the names on the handles.

“Can I get you ladies anything?” An appealing, masculine voice asked from behind the counter.

I did a double-take as I glanced at its owner. A young man stood there, polishing some glassware. He had on an army green shirt and dark jeans, his lower arm muscles rippled as he twisted the towel and glass between his hands. But I was more transfixed by the bright green eyes that met my own. He tilted his head curiously as he waited for me to respond, making a small piece of hair escape his small, brunette man bun. He swept his hand across his face quickly to push it back.

Mia nudged me with a smirk on her face, “Y/N.”

I jolted in my seat as I tore my eyes from the gorgeous man in front of me. Clearing my throat, I answered, “I’ll have your most commonly asked for beer on tap, please.”

He nodded casually and went to work, grabbing a glass and filling it with an amber liquid before setting it in front of me. He turned his emerald green eyes to Mia then who smiled weakly in return.

“Um… I’ll just have the same,” she gulped. Her nervousness made me choke on a laugh, I was happy to see that I wasn’t the only one affected by the man behind the counter.

She sent me a small glare as he handed her the same beer.

“Do you both want to keep your tabs open?”

I nodded as Mia squeaked out a weak, “yes!”

“Let me know if you need anything,” he smirked as he went back to cleaning and tending the bar.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you speechless before,” Mia giggled when he was out of earshot.

I narrowed my eyes at her playfully, “I was stunned by his beauty.”

“Obviously,” she choked back a laugh as I went to take a sip of the light beer in front of me. The hoppy flavor rolled over my tongue as the cool liquid entered my mouth, and I was surprised to find that I didn’t mind it. I always found beers to be such a hit or miss, but thankfully, this one was popular for a reason.

“Not bad,” I commented as Mia took a brave sip as well.

She shrugged, “I think I’ll order a vodka and lemonade next.”

My phone buzzed then, glancing down, I read the text message that popped up on the screen. “Kat is going to be a little late, the others should be showing up soon though.”

“Want to have some fun before Mr. Serious gets here?” Mia asked as she eyed the bartender.

“I don’t think I like that look in your eyes,” I laughed as she glanced back at me.

She grinned, “I dare you to buy a shot for the bartender.”

“Psh, easy.”

“Oh yeah?” She arched an eyebrow at me with a new challenging look on her face, “kiss him then.”

I coughed as I partially choked on the sip of beer that I had just taken, “are we in middle school?” I asked as I arched an eyebrow at her.

She sent me a bewildered look, “what do you normally do with total strangers?”

I smirked and winked at her before I took another swig out of my glass, “I’ve taken my fair share of strangers home from the bars.”

She rolled her eyes playfully at my response, “that’s just a bonus then, we’ll keep the dare PG so that Bakugou can’t tear me a new one.”

I scoffed but I nodded anyway, “touche.” I chugged the rest of my beer quickly, making Mia’s eyes widen when I set the empty glass down.

“Why did you –”

“It looks like you enjoyed the most commonly requested beer on tap,” the bartender commented as he walked over slowly after seeing the empty glass. “Want anything else?”

I sent him an award-winning smile as I turned to face him, “it was great. I was thinking about getting a shot, what’s your favorite?”

He loosed a breath as he glanced back at the bottles of liquor behind him, resting his hands against the top of the bar as he did so. I caught a glimpse of his well-toned stomach as his shirt rose up with the movement, I felt my mouth go dry.

I tore my gaze from the exposed skin as he turned those beautiful green eyes back to me. “I personally like tequila,” he shrugged, “I can give you some limes with it too.”

“Awesome, I love tequila. I’ll take two,” I held up two fingers and he nodded. As he went to grab two shot glasses and lime wedges, I turned to Mia.

“You’re taking two? It’s only 8pm.” She laughed out as she turned her glass in her hands, tilting the amber liquid in it back and forth.

“I’m only taking one,” I whispered back as the bartender set the two glasses in front of me. Mia covered her mouth with her hand, partially hiding the smile that had grown on her face.

“Here’s one…” He said as he poured one shot and pushed it towards me, “and another.” He passed a small plate to me with two lime wedges on it.

“Thank you, um – sorry it doesn’t look like you’re wearing a name tag,” I flashed another bright smile at him.

“Eren,” he leaned over the counter casually, resting his forearms on the edge as he studied me in return.

“Y/N, nice to meet you officially,” I held out my hand and he chuckled but he shook it anyway. “Now that I know your name, this shot glass seems to have it written on it.” I pushed one of the glasses towards him and he raised a perfect, dark eyebrow at me.

“Does it now?” He smirked.

“My number might follow it if you’re lucky,” I commented confidently as I sat up and brought my shot glass closer to me.

Eren bit his lip as he glanced down at the shot glasses before looking back up at me, “eh, what the hell, fuck it,” he shrugged as he stood up and took the glass.

“What are we toasting to?” I asked as I held the glass out.

He clinked it lightly to not spill the liquid contents, his eyes bore into mine as he considered a toast, they sparkled as he spoke, “how about freedom. The freedom to live, love, and do whatever, and whomever, the hell we want.” 

“To freedom then,” I felt a small tug at the corner of my lips as he winked at me. I held his gaze as we both tossed the alcohol back down our throats. Mia gawked at us as her eyes darted between Eren and me as we both bit into our limes while still holding each other’s gazes.

The sound of someone clearing their throat made Eren drag his eyes from mine. “What can I get for you, sir?” He asked as he walked away to help an older man at the other side of the bar.

“I could literally cut the tension with a knife,” Mia breathed out as she dramatically fanned herself with her hand.

I laughed, “one dare down, one to go.”

Mia’s jaw dropped, “you’re actually going to do it?”

I shrugged dramatically at her with a mischievous grin on my face, “why not? I guess you’ll have to just wait and see.”

“Y/N! Hey!” Kirishima’s loud, excited voice erupted across the calm pub.

I turned in my seat to see him entering the bar with a few familiar friends in tow. “Hey!” I said back as I stood to give him a quick hug. “This is Mia, Mia this is Kirishima.”

Kirishima looked at Mia and smiled, “Yeah, I think we’ve met before. Weren’t you dating –”

“Yeah!” Mia said with a fake smile plastered on her face, “that was me. Nice to see you again.”

Kirishima sent her a concerned glance at the interruption, shaking the discomfort off, he smiled again, “I’m sure you know these dorks then too,” he motioned to Sero and Kaminari and Mia nodded in return. “Guys, this is Mia just in case you need a refresher.” Sero and Kaminari waved at both of us.

“Is it cool if we grab a table, it might be easier to talk that way,” Sero asked as he scouted out a booth large enough to accommodate our growing group. He pointed to a large corner booth in the back, “that one cool?” We all nodded and began to pick up our things to move. Mia followed after Kirishima, leaving me at the bar to collect my wallet and phone.

“Leaving so soon?” Eren walked over and began picking up the used shot glasses and plate. I could have sworn that I heard a hint of disappointment in his voice.

I shook my head as I looked off towards the booth, “just migrating if that’s okay.”

He smiled at me as he leaned against the counter with his hands, “Want me to bring you anything over there?”

You.

I’m a simp.

“Your next popular beer on tap?”

He chucked, “coming right up.”

I smiled to myself as I walked over to the booth, feeling eyes on my retreating figure as I did so. My waist-hugging jeans were certainly coming in handy now.

I took a seat next to Mia in the circular booth who had sat next to Kaminari. Kirishima sat at the other edge of the booth with Sero in the middle. The boys were in the middle of a conversation about work when Mia turned to me and whispered in my ear, “he literally watched you the entire time that you walked back here.”

“Hook, line, and sinker,” I joked as I mimicked catching a fish with an invisible fishing rod.

“You’re such a dork,” she laughed lightly.

“Welcome in, guys. Anything I can get you from the bar?” Eren asked politely from next to me as he spoke to the group. He placed my next drink down in front of me and rested his hand on the top of the booth behind me as he waited for everyone else to order drinks. A heavenly, spicy scent wafted over me as he stood beside me.

Kirishima arched an eyebrow at the bartender's close proximity to me but turned his attention to the list of tap beers in front of him. “I think I’ll just have your lager, please,” he decided, sliding the menu to Sero as he did so.

Eren listened as the others ordered and left after confirming their drinks.

“I heard you had a rough week,” Kirishima commented as he watched me sip at my next beer.

I made a face at him, “you could say that.”

“Can you just describe how heroic Bakugou was as he saved you from that burning warehouse,” Kaminari joked as he angled himself around Mia so that he could look at me clearly.

I chuckled, “I would if I had seen it for myself, I was unconscious.”

Mia’s eyes widened. I hadn’t told her the degree to which I had been injured in the last week so now was the first time that she was hearing about it.

“From what I heard, it wasn’t pretty, I’m happy you’re okay,” Kirishima’s eyes were kind as he regarded me.

I smiled at the redhead, “it certainly didn’t feel pretty while I was recovering, that’s for sure.”

“Dabi has it out for you?” Sero asked as Eren brought their drinks over.

I shrugged as Eren’s arm brushed past me to place Kaminari’s drink down in front of him, making little butterflies bloom in my stomach.

“Something like that,” I commented quietly. “People don’t normally try to burn the people they like alive, right?”

Mia winced.

“You’ve run into Dabi? The flame guy, right? From a few years ago?” Eren’s voice jumped into the conversation as he stepped back after placing all of the drinks down.

I looked up into his chiseled face, his curious green eyes were trained on me. “It would appear so from the flames, but I don’t know for sure.”

“Is that where you got the scar from?” He motioned to my forearm and I felt my eyes widen. The scar was so faint now from Recovery girls quirk that I was a little amazed that he had even noticed it.

I held my forearm out in front of me to study it briefly and jumped when Eren reached out to lightly run his cool fingers over its slightly raised edges. “Yeah, I got this the same night,” I breathed out.

“Scars are pretty badass,” He smiled before turning back to the rest of the group, “let me know if you guys need anything else. I’ll come back to check on you in a while.”

The bar began to slowly fill up as we chatted. I wasn’t surprised to find a lot of men in business suits sitting at the other booths, all enjoying a decompressing cold beer after a long work week.

“Where is Jiro at?” I asked Kaminari who had just made some corny joke about Kirishima having to dye his hair every 2 weeks.

Kaminari’s gold eyes flicked to me, “she’s on-call unfortunately so she’s stuck at the agency for tonight.”

“Speaking of people missing, where the hell is Bakugou at?” Sero joked as he checked his phone.

“I think he was meeting up with someone before coming here,” Kirishima remarked before taking a drink.

Sero arched an eyebrow at his friend, “and that takes an hour? Was it not his idea to do this anyway?”

“Yeah, it was my idea, got something to say, tape arms?” Katsuki’s deep voice commented from next to us, making each of our heads swivel to welcome the newcomer.

A woman with bright pink skin and hair stood next to him with a broad smile on her face. I recognized her immediately as one of his classmates from U.A.

“Hey, Mina! Bakugou didn’t tell us it was you that he was meeting up with,” Kaminari sent the female a big smile as they both sat in the booth by Kirishima.

“Why would I need to tell you that?” Katsuki muttered as he settled across from me. I sent him a confused look and then glanced back at the pink woman.

“Hi, I’m Y/N,” I gave her a small smile as I waved lightly, “and this is Mia.”

“Nice to meet you both!” She said excitedly as she brought the drink menu in front of her on the table. “I’m Ashido Mina, but you can call me Mina, or Pinky if you prefer.”

She had an infectious smile that made me like her right away, almost.

I was surprised to feel a surge of jealously moving in my gut as I watched her sit with her knees touching the explosion hero next to her. He didn’t seem bothered by the contact, which made me think that it was normal. I lightly shook my head, trying to rid myself of the abrupt negative emotions.

Katsuki could date and mess around with anyone that he wanted to be involved with, I just needed to get that through my head. The possessive side of me tried to raise its ugly head again as I saw her lean over and whisper something in his ear. The beautiful mouth, which had been on mine hours earlier, quirked up at whatever she said.

His crimson eyes flickered to mine as I bawled my hands into fists in my lap. I quickly found something more interesting to look at in the bar to keep his gaze from mine.

I watched as Eren went about wiping the bar counter down. He was chatting with a few younger-looking people, a large smile rested on his face as he listened to something that a young woman with red hair said to him. As if sensing my eyes on him, his gaze shifted to mine. He mumbled something to his friends before he began to walk over to our table having seen the newcomers.

“Hi, welcome in. Anything I can get you?” His emerald eyes moved over the glasses at the table as he waited for an answer, looking to see if any of us needed a refill. When he found that we were all still okay, he glanced again at Katsuki and Mina.

“Hmmm, what’s good here?” Mina said quietly to Katsuki, who looked over her shoulder and pointed to a few options, explaining what each one tasted like.

Realizing that they weren’t ready, Eren leaned closer to me and chuckled.

“What?”

“You don’t like the 2nd popular beer on tap nearly as much as the most popular,” he nodded to my drink that was still half full. I noticed him shifting between his feet, like they were sore from the constant standing, and moved over to give him space on the bench. He sent me a grateful look before sitting next to me. I was surprised by how tall the guy was, his lanky legs almost didn’t fit under the table as they bent.

“It’s not bad,” I made a face at him and he smiled. “I just want to be able to make it home tonight on my feet, I’m nursing this one. The tequila shot sort of got to me.”

“You know you shouldn’t drink liquor after beer too, right?”

“Yeah, liquor before beer and you’re in the clear. Beer after liquor, you’ll never be sicker. I’ve heard the rhyme,” I jokingly rolled my eyes. “I don’t know if it’s true though.”

I felt Kastuki’s eyes watching us as we chatted. The rest of the table was lost in their own conversations too, even Mia was focused on Kaminari as he told her a story about U.A.

“As someone who has seen many drunk people,” Eren’s eyes shifted over the customers around the bar before looking back down at me next to him, “and as someone who has easy access to a large variety of alcohol, it’s unfortunately true.”

I laughed at the disgusted look on his face, “I’m sure you have some great stories.”

“You have no idea,” he groaned out.

“Maybe you’ll have to tell me one sometime,” I shrugged casually, trying to play it cool that it was the second time tonight that I was suggesting seeing him again.

He smirked at the comment but saw right through it. He leaned over partially and dug his phone out of his back pocket, “put your number in.”

“Is that how you ask for a girl's number?”

“Only when they seem as interested in me as I am in them,” he said quietly as a slight blush grew across his cheeks.

A smile broke across my face as I typed in my contact information before handing the phone back to him, “you would be correct then.”

He called my number quick and nodded towards my phone that vibrated on the table, “now you have my number. I can help you get back to your place later if you decide to let go more.”

He stood from the bench and smiled before glancing at Katsuki and Mina again.

If looks could kill, Eren would be dead. Dead as a doornail.

Whether he noticed the intense glare from Katsuki, or if he just decided to ignore it, he appeared unfazed as he asked them for their order. He retreated back to the bar a moment later to get their drinks.

Mia nudged me, “nice,” she smiled as she nodded off towards the bartender. “I wouldn’t want to deal with Bakugou right now though –“ she winced as she glanced at the man in front of us. Noticing her discomfort, I followed her eyes and met narrowed crimson ones.

“Have something to say?” I asked as I held his gaze.

“Come with me. Now.” He growled out as he stood from the booth.

“Bakugou, leave her be man,” Kirishima groaned out as he observed the interaction. Kirishima didn’t seem to miss much. I always got the feeling that Katsuki thought his friend was an idiot, but he seemed to pick up on things that most people might miss like he was homed in on everyone's feelings at all times.

I waved him off, “no, Kirishima. I want to hear what he has to say.”

Mina looked between the two of us as we both glared at each other with a confused look on her face, having missed what had set Bakugou off.

Katsuki reached down and grabbed onto my upper arm, hoisting me up out of my seat. He began to walk towards the exit of the bar, dragging me along with him.

“Y/N!” Mia’s panicked voice followed behind us. I looked back to see that she had stood up, her arm was outstretched like she had reached out for me.

“I’ll be fine, enjoy your drink. I’ll be right back,” I smiled back at her as we left.

I stopped resisting his pull once we exited the bar. I yanked roughly, breaking the hold that he had on me. Rage welled in my gut as we side-stepped around someone smoking outside of the bar.

“Touch me like that again, and I’ll melt your hand off,” I growled at him as I let my temper take over.

If he wanted to fight with someone who could match his energy, he had found that person.

He narrowed his eyes at me as he crossed his arms across his chest, “if you had just listened in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to grab you.”

“Sounds like something a weak man would say,” I said angrily as I stood in the middle of the sidewalk, watching him as he leaned up against the outside of the building.

“Did you decide to go after the bartender before or after I showed up with Mina?” He asked bluntly.

“Right to the point then, huh?” I scoffed bitterly. He rolled his eyes as he waited for an answer.

“Before. I don’t base if I’m interested in someone off of whether you have a date or not.”

His jaw clenched and he looked away from me into the city around us, “she wasn’t my date, but I just thought…”

“You thought what? That you could make me jealous?” When he flinched, I knew that I had hit the mark. “What would that achieve? Hate sex?”

“No – “

“Well there must have been something –“

“I was hoping it would make you admit that you had feelings for me!” He yelled out, spreading his arms wide as a desperate look settled on his face, his eyes were wild.

I took a step back.

I had Shouto and Katsuki for a week, and now I was going to lose them right away. My worst fear was coming true, I was going to lose my friends.

“How would that –“

“I knew I could never get you to admit that you had positive feelings towards me, I thought you might be honest if you felt a negative one, like jealousy.”

I swallowed hard as I studied the blonde in front of me, he looked frustrated and lost. “Well, that’s just stupid.”

Katsuki let out an angry laugh, “yeah, it was, wasn’t it. Hoping that you could actually feel something back seemed like a long shot anyway.”

“There’s no need to be like that. I can admit that I was a little jealous when you two walked in, but I wasn’t going to act on that jealousy because I didn’t have the right to, you’re my friend.”

He scoffed and shook his head. He stared down at his feet as he contemplated his next few words. “You’re not my friend.”

I winced, “Kat… you don’t mean that.”

“We’re coworkers, and that’s it,” he began to walk away, and I started to follow behind him to keep the conversation going, “leave me alone.”

The defeated sound of his voice stopped me in my tracks. I watched his back until he was just a small speck in the distance, hoping that he might change his mind and turn around. My heart dropped when I realized that he wasn’t going to. He was hurt, I would be lucky if he even looked my way when we went back to work on Monday. 

I shivered as the adrenaline flowing through my body slowed, exposing me to the low temperature and cold breeze that blew past me.

“That was rough,” a deep voice muttered from behind me.

My jaw clenched as I prepared myself for the person that stood behind me.

“Geten.”

My new partner stood up against the building, puffing on a cigarette. He had been outside this entire time.

Embarrassment flooded through me as I realized what he had overheard.

“You heard all of that.”

“He’ll get over it,” he shrugged as he flicked the end of the cigarette, sending ash into the wind. “I thought you handled yourself nicely though.”

I took a few steps towards him and leaned up against the wall as I hugged my arms around myself. “Do you have a lot of experience with this kind of situation?”

Geten’s blue eyes shifted to mine as he smirked, “not really. Most women I’m interested in return the feeling.”

I scoffed, “confident much?”

“Confidence gets you wherever you need to go, darling.”

“Don’t call me that,” I cringed, and he chuckled.

I shivered again as another gust of wind whipped through the neighborhood, bouncing off the solid structures around us and sending chilly air rushing past me. Geten held his cigarette between his lips as he hoisted his jacket off of his shoulders.

He held the garment out to me. When I just looked at it, he sighed and pulled his cigarette out of his mouth, “take it, I don’t need it.”

“And who says that I do?”

“Your teeth are chattering,” he gave me a dull look as he tossed the jacket at me. I caught it out of reflex and narrowed my eyes at him. A pleasant spicy, earthy scent wafted over to me with the jacket. I could have sworn that I also smelled a hint of smoke with it too, but more like smoke from a campfire rather than the cigarette smoke that sailed on the wind towards me.  

I gave him another glare before slowly pulling the winter jacket around my shoulders. “Why do you wear this thing all the time if you don’t need it?” 

“Fashion,” he jokingly muttered.

I rolled my eyes, but I appreciated the new warmth that was settling over me. “Thanks…” I said quietly as I glanced at him.

He took another draw from the cancer stick in his mouth and met my eyes as he blew it out through his nose like a dragon. I scrunched my nose up as if I had just had smoke flowing out of it, “doesn’t that hurt? I can’t imagine that having hot smoke in your nose would feel good.”

“You have no idea,” he chuckled like I was missing some joke. Noticing my confusion, he continued, “it’s not a bad feeling. I'm kind of used to it. Want to try?” He held the cigarette out towards me.

“Ew, no thanks. I have enough bad habits already.”

“Like the one that just walked away?”

And just like that, as my mood had started getting better, it went to shit again as I was reminded of Katsuki. “Ah, I think I’m going to go inside,” I muttered as I began to shift his jacket off of me.

“Suit yourself.”

I handed him the jacket and began to walk away. I paused as my hand reached for the door, “what are you doing here anyway?”

“I’m stalking you,” he winked as he dropped the cigarette and stepped on it.

I scoffed when he didn’t say anything else, “fine, keep your secrets then” I muttered when I noticed that we had been standing there, outside of a German pub, just staring at each other in silence.

“See you on Monday!” He yelled after me as I retreated into the bar.

I let the door slam shut behind me.

“Where’s Bakugou?” Kirishima asked when I returned without the hothead.

I stood at the head of the table and picked up my beer, “he went home.”

“He went home? What the hell?” Sero asked as he played with a piece of tape on the table.

I shrugged, “you have his number, call him.” I looked down into the amber-colored contents of my drink. Mia’s eyes roamed over my face as I shrugged again, “fuck it.” The second glass didn’t go down quite as well as the first, but I sighed as I set the empty glass down on the counter of the bar a few minutes later.

“Sticking with beer?” Eren asked as he walked over and began pouring a beer for someone else. His eyes stayed on me as I looked at the options in front of me.

“Sure, why not? I have the freedom to do whatever –“ I let my eyes drift over his arms and his attractive face, “and whomever, I want. Right?”

I saw him swallow hard as he held my gaze. He jumped a second later when the beer in his hand overflowed and dripped over his fingers. He hastily wiped up the mess and handed the beer to its owner before pouring me one and giving it to me. His fingers grazed mine as he handed it to me.

“Treat me right. Distract me. Get me home. Don’t demand that I feel something for you after we have sex. Promise me you’ll do those things, and I might just end up on my back for you by the end of the night,” I kept my tone light and said the words in almost a joking manner, but I meant ever word. His eyes were curious as he watched me, almost like he could see the vulnerability on my face.  

I needed this. I needed someone who could just make me forget my problems for a night.

Eren leaned forward on the counter, bringing his face close to mine. My breath caught as I gazed into his emerald eyes, the longing, and desire that I found there was almost enough to make my knees quake. I couldn’t help how my mind drifted to other things that he might be able to do, other ways that he could make me shake.

All thoughts of Katsuki drifted away into the back of mind as Eren’s lips quirked up and I heard the obvious lust that coated his words.

“I promise.”

Chapter Text

The pounding headache that woke me the next morning was anything but remorseful.

A groan erupted deep in my chest as I turned over, pulling my comforter tighter across my body as I did so in an attempt to fall back asleep. The sound of my phone buzzing on my bedside table made one of my eyes squint open. I pushed myself up lazily and let the covers drop as I reached over to grab it. Goosebumps rose on my bare body as more of my skin became uncovered. A smile grew on my face as I noticed the two Tylenol tablets and glass of water that rested next to my cellular device. A small piece of paper sat there as well and I carefully picked it up to read it.

It was great meeting you. You know where to find me if you ever want to meet up again. -E

A slight blush grew across my cheeks as images and memories of him flashed through my mind.

His cheeky, half-drunk smile. The way his emerald eyes roamed over me and sparkled at me as he laughed. The taste of his lips. How he looked on his knees at the edge of the bed between my legs. The glorious sounds that came out of that beautiful mouth of his as he reached his own high, over and over again.

I slapped my hand across my face.

“Snap out of it. It was a one-time thing,” I chastised myself before I tossed the tablets into my mouth and washed them down with a few sips of water.

Eren had kept his promise. He was the perfect distraction.

The sound of someone banging on my front door jolted me further out of those pleasant memories.

Back to reality.

I nearly tripped over my sheets as I jumped out of bed. “Damn it!” I yelped as I reached back to toss the sheets back into a heap. I swung on my favorite robe to go greet the tyrant at my door as I checked myself out in the mirror. Dark, mascara marks rested under my eyes since I hadn’t had the chance to take off my makeup the night before and my hair hung limply and tangled across my shoulders.

Another loud knock sounded at the door.

“I’m coming!” I yelled down the hall as I quickly threw my hair up into a messy bun. It would have to do.

“Jesus, good morning Sleeping Beauty,” Hawks winced when he caught a glimpse of my face. His arm was still raised like he was about to knock again.

“I’ll kill you if you pound on my door like that again,” I growled lowly at him as I rubbed my temples. He grinned at me as he bent to grab two cups of coffee from the ground.

“Rough night?” He asked as he side-stepped around me to walk into my kitchen.

I closed the door behind him and followed him farther into the apartment, “it depends on which part of the night we’re talking about.”

“Oooooo,” he sang as he handed one of the to-go coffee cups to me. I sniffed at it and was surprised to find that he had gotten me one of my favorites.  “It was an eventful night then?”

“You could say that,” I sighed as I blew at the steaming coffee.

Villains were no big deal, except for when they decide to team up on me, but hot coffee? Tongue scalding coffee was the devil. I had burned myself enough to learn my lesson.

Hawks chuckled at my efforts before he took a large swig out of his own hot beverage.

I glanced at him as he leaned up against the island in my kitchen. “Not that I’m unhappy to see you or anything, but what are you doing here?”

He pouted at me, “I can’t just come to stop by and give my adoptive sister a coffee on a Saturday morning?”

I sent him a pointed look as I braved a sip at the coffee in my hand.

“Fine, you got me,” he sighed dramatically, “I’m here to get your ass over to U.A. so we can train a little today.”

“Training? Today?” I scowled.

“There seems to be an echo –“

“I swear to – “

Hawks laughed, “chillllllllll, loca. Don’t you want to learn more about your quirk? Aizawa is holding a little class today too, so I offered to help out.”

“And that involves me how?”

“Aizawa promised that we could have the gym to ourselves if we help,” a smile rested on his lips but his eyes grew serious, “that way you can let loose a little.”

I groaned as another wave of pain rushed through my skull.

“I’ll buy you food afterward.”

I perked up. “Food?”

Hawks grinned as his head tilted playfully, “anything you want. Pizza, sushi, burgers, you name it. The sky is the limit.”

I sighed as I placed the cup of coffee onto the counter, “let me clean up a bit first.”

“We need to leave in 15!” Hawks called after me and I waved him off.

I emerged from my room a few minutes later after donning some exercise clothes and pulling my hair back into a high ponytail. The small washcloth bath I had given myself would have to last until afterward, I figured there was no point in showering if I was just going to get dirty again anyway.

“Ready?” Hawks began walking towards my balcony door.

“What are you – no way,” I shook my head as I recognized what he meant to do.

He turned back towards me with a large smile on his face as he pulled the door open. “It’s the quickest way unless you would rather walk or take the train?”

“I have a car,” I scoffed as I crossed my arms across my chest. Every hero had a car, just in case we needed to get somewhere quickly and our quirk didn’t allow us to. Most heroes didn’t use their cars very often though. I’m sure there was a fine layer of dust on my own in the garage below my building since I hadn’t used it in a few weeks.

The thought of him carrying me through the city again made me cringe. I had always been somewhat scared of heights, and the last flight with Hawks had confirmed that fear yet again.

He arched a golden eyebrow at me as he pulled his goggles down to rest on his nose. “Do you want to try to learn how to fly or not? Just grab a coat, it’s chilly up here.” He ignored my protests and stepped out onto the balcony to wait.

Anxiety rose in my chest as I gave up and pulled out one of my winter coats and a pair of gloves. My hand hesitated over some sunglasses and picked them up after some consideration, hopefully, they could protect my eyes from some of the wind, unless they end up flying off in the process.

“There she is,” he announced as I walked onto the balcony and closed the door behind me.

It was a dreary day out. Grey clouds hung low in the sky, blocking almost all light from the sun and threatened to drop snow or rain at any moment. I usually loved days like this, it gave me an excuse to not do anything and hang out in my apartment. Dread settled over me as I accepted the fact that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy this poor weather from behind the thick glass of my apartment building and nestled underneath a soft blanket.

“Shit!” I squeaked out as Hawks hopped up on the railing suddenly and turned back towards me with his hand outstretched.

“You trust me, right?” His voice was quiet as he gazed down into my face. The wind whipped across his face, sending his blonde hair flying as I looked up at him.

I grabbed his hand after some hesitation and allowed him to pull me up so that we both stood on the thin border railing that surrounded my balcony, “it depends on the day,” I uttered as I glanced down. My stomach dropped as I observed the hard pavement far below, I snapped my gaze back up to Hawks in front of me before I could begin to panic.

“Well, you should start now then!” He laughed as he bent down and lifted me bridal style, “close your eyes if you need to, or just focus on my wings.”

“Just let me know when – “a strangled scream left my lips as we dropped and I felt Hawks chuckle against me before his wings snapped open and we began to glide. 

“I’ve carried you while I’ve flown before, why is it bothering you so bad now?”

“I think the adrenaline helped last time, and I’m kind of hungover” I whined out as I focused on his red feathers.

“Tell me if you need to throw up or something,” his voice was careful but light like he was trying not to laugh at me. “I wouldn’t want vomit all over my wings when we get to U.A.”

“Just – shut up,” I groaned as I kept my gaze skyward.

-------------------------- ------------------------------

I dropped to my knees when Hawks placed me back down onto my own two feet again after we landed. U.A’s Gym Gamma stood before us, large and menacing. A few students walked past us and sent curious glances our way before entering the gym.

Hawks rolled his eyes playfully, “come on, we’re going to be late.”

My knees shook slightly as I stood, “better get me some awesome fucking food when we’re done today,” I mumbled at his back as he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked towards the doors.

I let my eyes drift over the inner components of the gym as we entered. Normally, it was an empty space covered in concrete. However, today it had multiple concrete structures near the back and training pads set up near the front of the gym.

I felt several pairs of eyes shift towards me as we walked towards Aizawa, who was talking to a few students near one of the training pads. A red and white split head of hair moved in my peripheral vision and I met heterochromia eyes as I turned my head.

“Excellent,” I muttered to myself. I felt my jaw drop slightly in surprise as I noticed the men standing by him. Endeavor, similar to Shouto, stood there in a pair of exercise clothes. His arms were crossed over his chest as he listened to something that Cementoss was saying to him, but he seemed distracted as he glanced around the gym. He gave me a small nod when he noticed me watching him.

But what I found most startling, was the man with a winter coat strewn across his lap as he rested on a training pad. His toned arms were behind him, holding up his upper body as he leaned back. His light blue hair was pulled back into a half ponytail, which made it so that his blue eyes looked even brighter than usual against his pale face, especially when they widened as they met my own. A devious grin lit upon his face as he recognized my disheveled state.

“You failed to mention that half of my coworkers would be here,” I hissed as I sped up my pace to walk beside Hawks.

Hawks looked over towards Endeavor and the others and shrugged, “I honestly had no idea. Not that it should matter anyway. The guy with the blue hair is your new partner, right? Maybe you can get some time in with him today to train.”

“Why would I want to do that?” I asked as we reached Aizawa.

“So that in the future you can prevent what happened on Monday,” Aizawa muttered as he joined our conversation, he gave me a knowing look as he continued. “Geten has an ice quirk, I’m sure he had issues controlling it initially, maybe he’ll have some new pointers for you to try. Things that we haven’t thought of yet.”

“You guys are going to be the death of me,” I groaned as I rubbed at my temples again for what felt like the hundredth time. The headache had started to fade because of the pain killers that I had taken earlier, but there was still a slight edge to it, like a slight pinch between my eyes that wouldn’t go away.

Aizawa sent me a concerned glance, “What’s wrong?”

“She’s a bit hungover today,” Hawks said lightly as they both studied me, “it should improve as you get your blood pumping though,” he bumped my shoulder and I sent him a glare. “Or it’ll get worse, I guess we’ll see!”

“Keigo –“ I took a step towards him, prepared to lightly smack the grin off his face before Aizawa’s voice cut in.

“You two still act the same,” He sighed. “Hawks, you take the group that’s seated over there,” he pointed to a small group of students who were talking amongst themselves near some of the structures in the back of the gym.

Hawks waved back teasingly as he trotted off towards the group.

I considered flipping him off, but I didn’t think that Aizawa would really appreciate such a gesture around his students, so I just sent him a sarcastic smile back instead.

Even though I was annoyed, I was also happy to have the chance to bicker with him again.

“Todoroki!” Aizawa’s stern voice called out, causing the half and half hero, and both of his companions, to glance our way again. “Um - the younger Todoroki, sorry Endeavor,” Aizawa clarified as he rubbed at the back of his neck with one of his hands.

He wasn’t in his normal get-up either, it was amusing to see everyone in more casual clothing and not in our hero uniforms. Aizawa wore a dark sweatshirt and a pair of matching sweat pants with his hair tied back in a low ponytail. He looked younger this way.

“Yeah?” Shouto asked as he walked over.

Aizawa glanced between the two of us and I felt my heart plummet farther down into my chest. “Can you get her warmed up?”

Shouto politely nodded at Aizawa but didn’t spare me another look as he walked off towards one of the training pads in the back corner of the gym.

I winced as I followed him. I studied our surroundings as we walked and met Geten’s eyes again.

‘Help me,’ I mouthed at him, he smirked back at me before Endeavor said something that made him tear his gaze from mine. I watched as the content look on his face dropped as he listened to whatever the flame hero had to say. Anger flashed briefly across his face, so quickly in fact that I didn’t know if Endeavor had even noticed. 

I ran into a hard body.

“Damn it,” I hissed as I rubbed at my forehead.

Shouto just glanced back at me as he began to take off his shoes, his eyes were empty as he regarded me “better watch where you’re going.”

I narrowed my eyes at him as I followed suit and took my own shoes off, placing them off to the side before I lazily walked onto the training pad. It was soft and bouncy under my feet, I wondered how easily I could fall asleep on something like this.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have such a hard body,” I joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

His hands swept his hair back and pulled it into a half ponytail, similar to Geten’s, before he responded, “funny.”

I cringed, “Is this really how we’re going to talk to each other now?” The words left my mouth before I could really consider whether I actually wanted to say them or not.

He sighed, “how would you prefer that we talk? Do you want me to pretend that the conversation from Wednesday just didn’t happen?”

“I mean…” I shrugged halfheartedly, “if you could – “

“I can’t,” he admitted. “But the fact that you can makes a lot of sense.” He pointed to the outer lines that surrounded the 20-foot training pad. “Normal rules, we try to get the opponent outside of the ring or pin each other. No hits to the face, no quirks for now.” He raised his hands in a defensive stance.

So that was how it was going to be then. I lightly tapped my face in an effort to wake myself up more before I copied his stance.

He was the first to go on the offensive. His body dropped to the ground in the blink of an eye and he swept one of his legs out in an attempt to sweep my legs out from under me. I jumped and dodged his legs as he used his momentum to jump back to his feet. We both took turns going on the offensive and defensive to get our heart rates up for a few minutes before I decided to try a new move on him. I aimed a high kick at his upper arms, which he blocked with his palms, but I was happy to see him flinch and step backward from the force of it. The small smile dropped from my face as he grabbed ahold of my leg and pulled me towards him. I used the energy of his pull to shift my weight and to swing my other leg up and around him. Locking my hips, I twisted hard to throw him backward and towards the floor. A surprised gasp flew from his lips as his back hit the training pad. My knees made a slapping sound against the mat as I landed hard, ignoring the pain that jolted through my joints and across my irritated skin, I quickly went to try to pin him down. I body slammed him first with my own torso and thighs before I grabbed for his arms. It was a battle of strength and endurance now as he pushed up against me. I knew he was stronger than me, but a spark of hope fluttered in my gut as we fought for dominance, I might be able to win the long race if I dragged this out. I swung my hips up around him to hold his legs down.

We were both breathing hard as I continued to push down on his arms, which were still pushing back up towards me as if I was a weighted bar and he was just doing a bench press. 

I was satisfied to see a small bead of sweat drip down the side of his face as I continued to gain ground, “just give up, Sho. I have the high ground,” I breathed out flippantly as I stared down into his miscolored eyes.

“I won’t ever give up,” he shifted his hips slightly and a small gasp left my lips as he accidentally rubbed up against my sensitive zone.

His cheeks reddened as he noticed what he had done, “I didn’t mean to – “ he rushed out.

I smiled mockingly down at him, “I’m surprised by you, there are children here.” I pushed hard again and came closer to his face as his endurance began to run out. “Bad, Shouto,” I whispered and aimed my hot breath towards his ear. A small laugh erupted from me as I saw him shiver in response.

“Y/N…” He breathed as his face turned speculative.

Noticing the distracted look in his eyes, I took this as my opportunity to finally pin him. With the upper body energy that I had left, I shoved hard again and threw his arms down to the mat. His eyes widened as we came almost nose to nose. My ponytail fell down over my shoulder and towards his face as we watched each other.

“I win,” I spoke between gasps of breath. My heart felt like it was racing, and I didn’t know if it was from the sparing or because of the fact that Shouto’s glistening, soft lips were inches from my own.

Wednesday, don’t forget about Wednesday.

 The thought spiraled through my mind and shut down all the feelings and emotions that were rushing through my body, except for the absolute exhaustion that was trying to weigh down my muscles and bones. This sort of situation wasn’t fair to him. I lightly shook my head as I pushed myself off of him and fell back and rested on the heels of my feet to the side of him. He hoisted himself up onto his elbows, his chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes were suspicious as he watched me, but I ignored him and jumped to my feet.

“Thanks for warming me up,” I said quietly as I avoided his gaze again.

“Great job, Y/N! He could use getting knocked on his ass more often,” Endeavor commented as he leaned up against one of the outer walls. I felt my face flush as I realized that he had been watching us.

“That’s my specialty,” I smiled back at him as I pulled my shoes back on.

As I started walking back towards Aizawa, Endeavor joined me.

“This might not be any of my business, but you two can act like you’re dating around me, I won’t chastise you for it.” His tone was light as he glanced down at me.

“Look… Endeavor,” I sighed as we passed some students who were sparring similar to how Shouto and I had just done. “Shouto and I… We aren’t –“

“Oh,” his eyebrows rose in surprise as he registered what I meant. “You two broke up?”

“We weren’t ever actually dating so there was no relationship to break off – “ 

“You two never dated?” Endeavor stopped walking, making me stop as well. I hesitated to meet his eyes as I shook my head.

A confused look appeared on his face, “why didn’t he tell me? Even when I assigned you to new partners, you both didn’t say anything.” 

“Because I wanted to be dating. It felt nice to think that someone thought we were,” Shouto’s quiet, empty voice spoke from behind us. “I thought maybe there might have been a chance that it could make it more real. Even if it ended up screwing me over in the end, it was nice while it lasted.” He began walking towards the large doors at the entrance to Gym Gamma.

“Wait, Shouto,” I sighed as I took a step towards him.

His head slowly turned and I saw the wariness that rested on his face, “please don’t. Not here.”

“I’m sorry for bringing it up, Shouto,” Endeavor said quietly from behind us, his eyes were sympathetic as he watched his youngest son.

“Don’t worry about it, you didn’t know,” Shouto muttered before he continued towards the doors and left without turning around again.

------------------- ---------------------

I stared down at my sore hands as U.A students shouted excitedly in the field in front of me. It had started snowing, light, pretty snowflakes, and all of the pent-up students who had just, assumably, spent the majority of the day studying for practicals and tests, had run out with delight to blow off some steam. Groups of them were now throwing snowballs at each other, squealing and yelping as they hit each other and as they dodged their fellow students' throws, while other students lay making snow angels and giggling when they stood to get a look at the deformed shapes that they had created.

I felt myself smile as I watched them. It had been a while since I had been able to have such innocent fun. Since I was able to just laugh, gleefully and wholeheartedly without a care in the world. 

I had worked with Hawks for the last hour or so on my quirk and still hadn’t learned anything new or made any breakthroughs. It almost seemed like I could only really control it when I was forced to, like in situations with the car. When I was so focused and determined to meet an outcome that I would do anything to accomplish it. Controlling my quirk almost seemed impossible when I didn’t necessarily need to, almost like it has a mind of its own.

I tugged at my hair, frustratedly.

Everything was a mess.

“Having your own pity party out here now or what?”

I glanced back over my shoulder at the newcomer, “hey.”

Turning back to watch the students again, I heard Geten sit down beside me as I tugged my coat tighter around me. 

“I don’t think I like that look on your face.”

I met his careful gaze, “what are you talking about?”

“This, pitiful, feeble, gloomy look,” he waved his hand in front of my face.

I arched an eyebrow at him, “that’s just my face, you’ll have to get used to it.”

He scoffed as his light blue eyes traveled over the students in the field, darkening as a thought came to mind, “I saw you with that guy last night. You didn’t have that look on your face then.”

“That’s because he made me forget for a while.”

His face was curious as he turned to watch me, “what do you want to forget?”

“You’ll laugh at me.”

Geten chuckled as he noticed the uncomfortable look on my face, “I probably will, but just tell me anyway.”

“No way, my laughable, embarrassing life is just mine to worry about, forget it,” I pulled my knees up and hugged them with my arms. My hair fell around my face, effectively caging me into my own little world again.

The man next to me was quiet as he pondered what I had said.

I gasped as I felt a cool finger graze over the side of my face. I glanced over to see Geten tucking my hair behind my ear, “what the hell was that for?”

“I’ve wanted to touch your hair since I met you yesterday, call it an odd obsession of mine,” Geten gave me a sly grin as he pulled his hand back. “Now you can laugh at me and tell me what’s eating you alive.”

His blue eyes bore into mine, pulling at my insecurities until they wanted to burst out of me, “I can’t control my quirk and I can’t fall in love! My life is a mess,” I blurted out.

When I realized what I had just admitted a moment later, I slapped a hand over my mouth and shoved my face into my hands.

What an idiot.

I just met this guy, and now he was going to think that I’m just some stupid, lovesick, hysterical girl that can’t stop thinking about finding her prince charming and other cliché, bullshit like that.

“Not that the love thing is important to me or anything,” I said quickly when I glanced back up at Geten and found the somewhat stunned look on his face. “I just keep hurting the people close to me because of it, which just makes me feel like a shitty person. I should be more focused on training.”

Geten remained silent beside me as his eyes darted back to the field, they were distant and thoughtful as he watched the snowfall from the sky.

“I’m a horrible friend, a failure of a hero and an even worse partner, in more ways than one,” my face began to heat up as the confessions began to pour out of me like I was in a confessional booth at some catholic church, but instead of telling my tales of woe and evil deeds to a priest, I was talking to a villain turned hero instead. “I’m a lousy daughter too. I’m selfish and shameful and I … I don’t like myself.”

My gaze dropped back to my hands again.

He was definitely going to think that I was crazy now. 

Geten sighed a few minutes later, “that it?”

The emotionless tone of his voice made my head perk back up.

“What do you mean, is that it?”

He stood and brushed off his pants before looking back down at me. “I don’t think I’ve met anyone who hasn’t had some of those thoughts at some point in their life. Do what you can to fix it. Work harder,” he shrugged, “as for the love thing, it’s not your fault and you shouldn’t be expected to love every mediocre asshole who you happen to give attention to.”

I shook my head slightly in frustration, “that’s.. not helpful.”

He held his hand out to me to help me up and I began to reach out to grab it, “you could also just stop sleeping with your coworkers.”

My hand stopped midair before I sent him a heated glare. I huffed as I pushed off the ground and stood up on my own before slapping his hand to the side.

A wide smile broke out on his face as he studied me, “that’s what you wanted to hear though, right? What you needed to hear? That’s why you’re miserable, quit fucking around with your friends. Train more, get control of your quirk and work towards something, fuck relationships.”

“You have no tact,” I rolled my eyes, but the amused look on his face alone was, surprisingly, enough to break me out of my earlier depressive mood, even if his words were unforgiving, they were truthful and I could tell that he meant them. His honesty was refreshing.

“Come on,” he motioned to the gym, “they actually sent me out here to get you, I didn’t come out here of my own free will.” He glanced back at me and smirked, “I’ll also be sending you my fee for the counseling services that I provided.”

“Tch –“ I clicked my tongue as he turned back around.

A moment later, a perfectly formed snowball was in my hand, melting against my bare skin. I aimed carefully before I sent it spiraling towards the back of Geten’s head.

The muffled poof noise of it smacking and bursting apart against his blue hair made me double over with laughter. The annoyed look on his face when he turned around made me laugh even harder.

“You’re gonna get it –“ He gritted out through his teeth, but the sound of the large doors opening behind him cut him off.

“What the hell is going on out here?” Hawks’ golden eyes surveyed the scene in front of him. Me, laughing in the snow, and the dull, unamused look on Geten’s face as the snow on the back of his head began to melt and drip down the back of his shirt.

“I was worried that the villain had captured you and taken you to his lair, but now it looks like I should’ve been more worried about you, Geten,” Hawk’s joked.

“Don’t give me any ideas – “ Geten mumbled under his breath as he sent me another small, less heated glare.

The statement alone, without the glare, should’ve been enough to shut me up. Instead, excitement and pure elation welled in my gut.

I gave Geten a small, innocent smile when I passed him as he held the door open for me. The annoyed look on his face dropped as we held eye contact.

I reached up as if to caress his face, and his eyes widened slightly. A moment later, I pulled a small piece of ice out of his hair and held it out to him. “I thought you controlled ice; shouldn’t you have been able to see that throw coming?”

The stunned look on his face disappeared as his eyebrows lowered and he narrowed his eyes at me, “just get inside you pesky brat.” 

Chapter Text

The steam rising from my hot mug of coffee entranced me as I eavesdropped on the many groups of people around me. I blew at the liquid to cool it down as the sound of the bell above the front door dinged and dragged me out of my daydreaming.

I glanced up at the noise and found Shouto standing there, his laptop in hand, with wide eyes as he noticed me sitting in his normal booth. His miscolored eyes darted around the restaurant before they settled back on me again. I sent him a small, careful smile before I focused on my drink again.

I wasn’t trying to pressure him into having a conversation with me. My original plan was to snag a booth somewhere close by where he could come to me if he had wanted to. That plan had flown out the window the moment that the worker from last week recognized me as Shouto’s friend and immediately sat me down at Shouto’s reserved booth, all while ignoring my protests.

Oddly, Geten’s comment from the day before had helped me come to an obvious realization. If I wanted Katsuki and Shouto in my life, I would need to establish boundaries with them again. Katsuki’s wounds were a bit rawer and more recent, so Shouto was the obvious choice to begin instilling these new rules. I knew he still wasn’t very happy with me, but I needed to be honest with him. Once he heard what I had to say, he could decide what he wanted.

A pair of jeans showed up in my peripheral vision but I didn’t lookup. The owner took a seat across from me and silently set his things down before clearing his throat.

“Hey,” he mumbled as he rested his elbows on the table.

I looked up then and almost gasped when I saw his face up close. His lip was busted, and a bruise darkened the side of his face underneath his scar. His eyes were tired and dark circles rested under them, like he hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in a few days. Why hadn’t I noticed that the day before?

“What happened?” I blurted out as a protective kind of anger started to flow through me.

How dare someone hit Shouto Todoroki. Who even had the balls to do such a thing?

His eyes widened slightly at my outburst before he looked away shyly, his fingers grazed his bruise lightly as he responded, “it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Without thinking, I reached forward and touched the same spot carefully. He jumped as my fingers gently skimmed his face. The skin was hot to the touch and his slight wince told me enough about how much it hurt.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly as I pulled my hand back. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s… okay.”

We observed each other curiously for a moment before I broke the silence.

“Look – I didn’t mean to force you into talking to me, honestly, I was going to ask for a different table and … Nevermind, I’m babbling,” I fiddled with the cup in front of me. “I can leave – “

“I don’t want you to leave,” he confessed softly. His gaze shied away as I glanced back up at him. “I’ve just been really … confused and hurt the past few days. I’ve needed time to collect my thoughts.”

“Pro Hero Shouto, can I get you anything today?” The waiter asked quickly as he passed our table.

“Coffee, please,” Shouto nodded and turned back to me once he left.

I sighed as I tried to think of how to get my feelings and thoughts across without hurting him even further. “I’m sorry, for what I said that day. I said what I needed to say but it wasn’t tactful and the way that it came across was harsher than I meant it to be. You’re my friend, Shouto. The last thing I want to do is push you away.”

His dual-colored gaze studied me as I spoke. “I wanted to apologize too…” he admitted as a mug of coffee was placed in front of him. He began to pour some sugar into it as he continued, “we weren’t exclusive, and I knew that, and for some reason, I expected you to return my feelings right away and that wasn’t fair.” He sighed and his voice quieted even more, “honestly – I think a part of me was scared that if I didn’t put myself out there, Bakugou would, and then I’d lose you for who knows how long.”

My chest clenched painfully at his confession, “you weren’t going to lose me either way. I’ll always consider you to be one of my closest friends. Even if I was to start dating someone, they wouldn’t get in the way of that.”

His lips lifted slightly, “I realize that now. If you ever need me, I’ll be here for you.”

“The same to you, Sho,” I returned his smile and felt a weight lift from my shoulders. At least he wasn’t upset with me anymore.

“But –“ he continued as he twirled a spoon in his cup, “I’ll continue to wait for you, just in case,” he smirked playfully at me, his eyes had a newly rejuvenated appearance to them like this conversation had also helped relieve him of some of his own burdens.

I groaned, “Shouto –“

“I know not to expect anything, so don’t give me that. You at least know that the option is there,” his shoulders shrugged casually before he took a sip out of his cup.

“There won’t be any more funny business for a while, or ever again, just so you know. I’ve learned my lesson, with both you and Kat,” I hastily mentioned and he chuckled.

“Understood,” he smiled as he held my gaze.

“So, now that you’re talking to me again,” he rolled his eyes slightly, “are you going to tell me what happened to your face?” I motioned to his bruise.

“My mother poured boiling water on my face, I thought you knew that –“

“Ha  ha,” I sent him a small glare, “Shouto made a funny.”

He snickered at the look on my face before he grew serious again. “I ran into Bakugou after I left U.A. yesterday. We had a … discussion.”

That same, hot rage from earlier raced through me, “Katsuki did that to your face? He hit you?”

“I hit him back,” He shrugged.

I gave him an incredulous look, “how can you be so casual about this? What was your discussion about?”

He arched a perfect, pale eyebrow at me, “I think you can guess.”

I gawked at him, “me?”

Shouto grimaced as my eyes flashed with outrage again, “it’s not a big deal – “

“He left a fucking mark on your face.”

“I hit him too, neither of us left unscathed. We were just two men who needed to get some frustrations out.”

I pulled my wallet out of my jacket pocket and pulled out some cash to cover my coffee.

“Where are you going?” He sighed as he watched me.

“To deal with something,” I admitted as I tossed the money on the table and stood. “I’m happy I had the chance to talk to you, Sho. Get some sleep tonight, you look like shit.”

He scoffed from behind me as I began to walk away, “I wonder why” he called back as I moved farther away.

I winked as I smiled back at him before I opened the front door and left. The smile dropped from my face as soon as I knew that he could no longer see me. 

Bakugou fucking Katsuki.

---------- ------------

Katsuki’s stupid, fancy-looking door stood in front of me a bit later. I straightened my shoulders before I built up the nerve to knock. Some of my earlier anger had disappeared during the walk over, and now, I wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to say to him, but I knew that we did need to talk, one way or another.

My closed fist rapped against the door. The sound echoed through the hallway and I heard someone moving behind the door a moment later.

“Who the hell – “ Katsuki’s angry voice ground out as he tugged the door open. His eyes narrowed considerably when they met my own. Or at least, one of them did, since his left eye was black and blue and partially swollen shut.

I stopped the door with my foot as he tried to slam it in my face.

“Watch it, you’ll damage the goods,” I chastised him as I shoved the door back and sent him stumbling backward. The door closed behind me after I stepped inside.

“Why are you here,” he huffed out as he walked around his couch to take a seat. His large TV was on and he had been watching some sports game that I definitely wasn’t interested in. The sound was muted though as if he hadn’t actually been watching it either. He picked up a small ice pack from the coffee table in front of him and placed it on his face, wincing as he did so.

“Nice black eye,” I commented as I crossed my arms across my chest and watched him from my spot behind the couch.

He clicked his tongue, “if you’ve come to just make fun of me, then you can leave.”

“I’m not here to make fun, I’m here to clarify some things with you.”

His eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at me, “Is this about the conversation at the bar or about me and Icy-Hot?”

“Both,” I muttered out as I gave up and took a seat on the opposite side of the couch from him.

He had the decency to look somewhat nervous as I focused my full attention on him.

“I don’t think I have to really say anything about you two fighting, besides calling you both idiots,” Katsuki rolled his eyes as he placed his other arm along the back of the couch, he opened his mouth to respond but I held up my hand to silence him. “And about Friday night, you’ve helped me conclude that I’m not ready for anything further, with either of you. I won’t be involving myself anymore with you or Shouto besides as friends, or as coworkers as you so disdainfully labeled me.”

The anger on his face began to fade away as he listened to me, and was replaced with a vaguely guilty look instead.

“I’m sorry if you felt that I led you on, because I sort of did, which wasn’t fair,” I stood from the couch as I finished my statement. “That’s all I needed to say, do what you will with that information.”

His voice caused me to stop as I walked back towards the door.

“I’m sorry I cornered you like that, I didn’t mean for things to go this way. And I do see you as more than a coworker, I hope that you know that,” his eyes were uncharacteristically sorrowful as he gazed at me.

“Of course, I know that, Kat.”

He gave me a small smile before he diverted his attention back to the silent TV.

My eyes analyzed the space around me from where I stood by the door, it was messier than the last time I was here. Papers littered the floor like he had tossed them in anger, and a pile of dishes was next to the sink. I glanced back at Katsuki before I walked into his kitchen to begin heating up a pot of hot water. After the stove began to heat up, I started cleaning some of the dishes.

“What are you doing?” He groaned as he leaned up against the island in the kitchen.

I sent him a small smile, “helping you out. You’ve cleaned my dishes before, I can’t let myself be in your debt any longer.”

“Oh, shut up, it was because I used them, you weren’t in my debt –“

“Kat, go sit down and let someone take care of you for once.”

He grumbled to himself angrily as he retreated back to the couch. The TV sound turned back on a moment later and I smiled to myself.

I handed him some hot tea a few minutes later after I had finished tidying up his place. His eyes widened at the gesture, but he took it without complaining or making any snide comments, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome!” I gave him a big smile as I took a seat on his couch again. “How bad does your face hurt?”

“It has its moments,” he muttered as he took the ice pack off to take a sip of the tea.

I set my own tea down and leaned back against the armrest to make myself more comfortable. “What are we watching?”

“Baseball.”

“How is it played?”

He choked on his tea and sent me an incredulous look, “you don’t know how to play baseball?”

“I grew up with Aizawa, Kat, he’s not really a big sports kind of guy. Nor did I care for it when Keigo watched it.”

He shook his blonde head in disbelief before he delved into the ins and outs of how to play the game of baseball.

I listened until I grew bored, and then I just pretended to listen. His excitement for the game alone almost made me as equally thrilled about it, even if I didn’t understand it. I more or less just enjoyed watching him get so animated about something. The way his crimson eyes widened and sparkled as he described the different kinds of throws that the pitcher could miraculously toss made me smile back at him.

When he was done explaining the game, we sat in silence as we watched. I felt my eyes grow heavy as Katsuki’s soft couch coaxed me into lying farther down. My feet rested on his lap as I got more comfortable, and I felt myself slowly drifting away as he mindlessly laid one of his hands on my socked feet. As sleep began to encompass me in its ever-loving, tender embrace, I felt my feet shift slightly and a moment later a soft, plush blanket was laid over the top of me. I smiled to myself as I finally let sleep drag me under into the dark world of unconsciousness.

------------- --------------

A loud knock at my office door made me sit up quickly from where I had been resting my face on my desk.

Today was a slow day, which was surprising since slow days didn’t happen very often, especially not on Mondays. I could only think to attribute it to the fact that the holidays were coming up and everyone was in a good mood, even villains and criminals.

Geten popped his head into my office and saw me rubbing tiredly at my face.

“Come train with me,” he demanded as he opened the door farther.

“Normal people greet each other before they demand something.”

“Good morning, Y/N. Come hang out with me,” He sent me a short, sarcastic smile before he let his face drop back into his normal, uninterested expression that he so regularly had plastered on his face. “I have some ideas about your training after watching you on Saturday.”

My eyebrows rose with surprise at his admission. “Is that why you were there? I didn’t see you doing much.” I asked as I joined him by the door.

He nodded as we started walking towards the training area behind the building, “Endeavor thought it would be a good idea.”

“And Endeavor was there because?”

Irritation flashed across his face as he hit the button to call the elevator down, “to better his image, why else? He needs to help brainwash the youth.”

I remained quiet for a second as I considered his words. They were more bitter than I had expected, even if he was previously a villain. “You might want to be careful about where you say things like that, Geten.”

“Are you going to tell on me?” He arched a light blue eyebrow at me as he towered over me in the elevator.

I tore my gaze from his and watched the numbers tick by as the elevator descended, “the only reason why I’d ever tell on you is if you threatened the safety or the lives of the people who matter to me.”

“That seems somewhat selfish of you. Being a hero, shouldn’t you have everyone’s wellbeing in mind? Not just your friends and family?”

My eyes darted to his as we walked down another hallway after exiting the elevator, he had a knowing look on his face, like we shared some kind of secret, “I already told you I’m a lousy hero,” I shrugged as we entered the training room.

He chuckled as he shrugged his jacket off and hung it on a peg near the door.

The training room was like any normal gym kind of setting, there were bench presses, squat racks, free weights, other machines, etc. But it also had an empty area off to the side where heroes could practice with their quirks. Geten led me towards that area as we walked farther into the room.

“Are you sure about this? I can’t control it very well and I don’t want to end up hurting you,” I clenched my fists at my sides as I watched him tie his hair back.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me,” he shook his head, “and I wasn’t planning on you using your quirk on me anyway. You’ll use it on those,” he pointed to some equipment that sat near him. “So, let’s go over a few things quick,” he crossed his arms and watched me. “You can alter atoms, which in turn makes it so you can alter almost anything, correct?”

I nodded, “literally anything,” I winced as memories of the dead man flashed through my brain.

“Do you think you can view and edit quirks then? I’ve heard that you can view the inside of things, like printers and shit like that.”

I gave him an incredulous look, “I think looking inside a printer or copier is different than a live being.”

He cocked his head, causing his light blue hair to shift slightly, “why? What if it isn’t? Have you tried?”

“Of course I haven’t, I could kill someone” my voice rushed out. 

“Try it on me.”

I shook my head, “absolutely not. You just said you weren’t planning on me using my quirk on you. I just had to wait for you to get signed on as my partner, I don’t want to have to worry about them replacing you so soon.”

He smirked, “I’m glad you care but – “

“Geten, I said no,” my voice was hard and unyielding.

He held his hands up defensively in front of him, “fine, fine. We’ll work towards that then.” I watched as he squatted down next to a large, iron weight that heroes with strength quirks could train with. “I couldn’t control my quirk when it first started developing either. I had someone pushing me, as annoying and overbearing as he was, it helped me manage it quicker than if I had been working on it on my own.”

“You absorb water from other sources and make it into ice, right?”

Geten gave me a confused look before he shook it off and nodded, “yeah, so it’s kind of similar to how I think you should start working with yours. You’ve practiced editing atoms and keeping the atoms in their original shape. I think you should try absorbing or taking atoms out of their original form and reshaping them. Like this,” he stood up and walked to a nearby water fountain and turned it on. As the water left the spout, he raised his hand and it turned to a long piece of ice. He picked it up, placed it in his hand, and walked over to me, “get the atoms and focus on their shape,” the piece of ice shifted into a small knife. The ice quickly began to melt as it rested in his hands and he tossed it away before it could make any more of a mess.

I sat in silence as I watched him. “You could pull atoms out of almost anything, even the air has atoms in it, not that you could make much out of oxygen, nitrogen, or hydrogen,” he scratched the back of his head as he brainstormed.

Taking his ideas into account, I walked over to the weight that he had rested next to earlier. I placed my hands onto it, closed my eyes, and focused. As Geten mentioned, I could see the inner workings of it, but instead of looking for an error to correct, like in the printer, I focused on pulling the iron atoms out and coaxing them into my hand. When I opened my hands, a gumball-sized, black piece of cool metal was sitting there.

“Good job, it’s not very big but good job anyways,” Geten complimented me as he squatted down next to me, “now reshape it.”

I closed my eyes again and focused on making a knife as he had done.

A slight intake of breath next to my ear told me that I had been successful. My own eyes confirmed it when I looked down at my hands a moment later.

“See? Wasn’t that easy?” Geten grinned down at me, “after this, you should work it up into bigger objects.”

I marveled at the new tool in my hand, “Hawks made a comment a while ago about thinking that I might be able to form wings and fly if I tried, with this training in mind, do you think that’s something that I would be able to do?” I glanced up at my partner who was studying me in return.

“I don’t see why not, it might be more complex though,” he shrugged. “Now up and at em’ I want to see if you can apply your quirk while you’re under pressure,” he motioned for me to join him near a mat similar to the one that Shouto and I had sparred on days earlier.

Anxiety gnawed at me again, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea –“

“You’re going to need to be able to use it whenever, Y/N. Being timid and careful about it isn’t going to help. Just don’t kill me, please,” he tossed his shoes off and walked onto the mat. 

“Fine, but it’s your funeral,” I mumbled as I joined him and sent him a small glare.

“Fight me like I’m your enemy, don’t hold back.”

“Normal rules?” I asked as I held my arms up defensively.

His lips quirked up mischievously, “rules? Who needs rules? We go until someone gives up!”

His fist immediately swung towards my face and I dodged backward. My eyes slightly widened as I realized that he truly meant for neither of us to hold back. A second later, pain ignited through my thigh as he landed a hard kick against it.

“I said to not hold back,” Geten growled out as he swung towards me again.

My eyes narrowed with concentration as I side-stepped his arm and swung back towards his ribs. I heard the breath leave his lungs as my fist made contact with his side.

“Nice, I like it,” his eyes twinkled menacingly as he watched me, “but watch your feet,” he grinned as I felt ice wrap around my ankles.

As I was distracted by him icing my feet, his own foot kicked me square in the chest and sent me flying backward. Pain erupted through almost every inch of my body as my back hit the mat. “Shit,” I winced as air finally rushed back into my lungs.

Before I could stand, Geten was on top of me.

He pinned my arms above my head and pushed my legs together with his own so that I couldn’t move. “If a villain had you in this position, what do you think they would do?” He breathed into my ear. His voice sent shivers up my spine as his hot breath hit my neck. “Do you think they would be lenient with you? Do you think they would let you go?” My voice caught in my throat as he trailed his cool nose against the angle of my jaw. “Should I make you beg for me to let you go?”

“Geten…”

“I’m not Geten anymore, I’m a villain, doll face. Is it safe for me to assume that if you were pinned like this you would just sit here and take it? You would just let me do whatever I want to you?”

I shook my head slightly and he pulled his face back from the crook of my neck so that he could view my face. “I said to not hold back, fight back. Do you need some motivation?”

He gathered both of my wrists into one of his large hands and began to trail his other hand down my arm, along my chest, and further down “I can act the part better if you need me to,” he breathed out as his hand stilled on my hip.

I should be scared, or self-conscious about what was happening, but the only thing I could focus on was the fact that my core had ignited the moment that he had started touching me. My body reacted as if I was touch starved. I wanted to curve and settle into his touch, I desired to touch his face and tangle my hands into his hair, I needed to run my tongue along his sharp jawline - but the logical part of my brain screamed at me to wake the fuck up. I blinked rapidly and began to squirm in his hold.

“There you go, doll face, fight back,” his voice was rough.

What could I honestly do in a situation like this? He had me pinned and he was too strong to shove off. My brain swept through my options as his hand started to move back up my body. His long fingers grasped my neck lightly as he reached my upper body again.

“I’m not going to hurt you, but I need you to be scared, do what you need to do,” he whispered in my ear before he began to squeeze.

The lack of air supply immediately made me panic. I pushed against him again and the desire to scream or yell out welled up inside of me as I allowed my fear to take over. Tiny black dots began to fly in and out of my vision as Geten’s grip on my neck tightened further.

I was going to die, and my partner was going to be my murderer.

Something snapped in my brain then, effectively cutting off the fear and panic that I had given myself over to. I felt empty as my brain cleared.

I knew what I had to do.

I closed my eyes and focused on Geten’s hands. Images of his body flowed through my mind as my quirk activated. My power centered around a portion of his DNA and I dove into it further to investigate it. My quirk copied the portion of his DNA that I assumed to be his own quirk, and I absorbed it. I settled back into my own body as I felt Geten’s quirk moving through me.

My eyes snapped open and I met his light blue eyes as he stared down at me. He had let go of my neck, but he was still pinning me down to the mat.

“What did you just do?” His eyes were cautious yet speculative as they roamed over my face as if he had also felt the shift in me as my quirk had taken over.

 I opened my palms and allowed his quirk to rush from my fingertips.

Bright blue flames shot from my palms, causing Geten to fall backward, shock etched across every corner of his face. Even his light blue eyes were blown wide as he watched the flames on my hands.

“Turn it off,” his voice was quiet yet demanding.

I obeyed and sat up as the blue flames faded into nothing. “I tested out your theory and it didn’t work, are you happy?” The bewildered look on his face made me explain further, “you have an ice quirk, not a fire quirk. I found the atoms in your DNA that I thought coded for your quirk, but I must have gotten something wrong –“

“Don’t do that again.”

I sent him a confused look, “I thought you wanted –“

“Yes, I wanted you to work on your quirk, but don’t mess with mine. I suggested that you find it, not use it as your own,” he hastily stood and looked around the gym. When he found whatever he was looking for to be to his liking, he sighed. “You did a good job, I’d still call that progress.”

 “I’m sorry –“

“Don’t be,” he silenced me as he briskly walked over to his coat and shoved his arms into it. “I’ll see you later.”

Geten left the room without another word, effectively leaving me as confused as ever as I sat propped up on the mat, attention directed to where he had gone.

I couldn’t help the uneasy feeling that rose in my chest as I considered everything that had just happened. Geten was an enigma and I decided then and there that I was going to try to learn more about him, one way or another.

----------------- ----------------

Stupid

Stupid.

Stupid. 

He was so stupid.

Why did he recommend that she use him to test her quirk?

Dabi ran a frustrated hand through his false light blue hair as he left Endeavors agency through its main doors. A rush of cool, frigid air blew past him, sending pieces of hair flying all over his face as he turned to glance around the streets. When he didn’t see anyone that he recognized, he swiftly turned into an alleyway close by and slammed his back up against one of its brick walls.

His heart beat rapidly in his chest as he tried to control his breathing. His quirk screamed at him to be released. It had been days since he had been able to use his power, and it was starting to get to him. Geten’s borrowed quirk, courtesy of Toga, didn’t satisfy his needs nearly as much as his own quirk did. It didn’t help him expel the tension that was slowly building in his wrecked body.

The image of her wide, bright eyes flew through his brain again. He felt the way that she shifted when he had grazed his hand down her to her hips, remembered the way her breath had hit his face in short bursts as if she was as needy as he was.

His dick throbbed in response to the wretched memories and he squatted to the ground.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he groaned out as he pulled at his roots.

He barely knew her, yet her name and the image of her face was what he thought of before he went to sleep and when he woke up in the morning, ever since he thought that he had killed her in that warehouse.

He was unhealthily obsessed with the young woman who worked for his dad, the woman who fucked his own brother, and he wasn’t even sure why. She irritated him and challenged him in so many ways, yet he couldn’t help himself from feeling intrigued and attracted to her.

Dabi tapped on the locator that he wore around his wrist and waited. A moment later, Kurogiri, who had recently been released from Tartarus, appeared before him as a purple mist.

“You called?” His voice wisped out.

“Get me back to the hideout,” Dabi grunted out as he shifted his pants and stood up. He had a few things that he needed to take care of before he could face her again.

“Which one?”

Dabi sent him an irritated look, “the normal one.”

“As you wish,” Kurogiri formed a small, purple portal and Dabi walked through it without hesitation.

Chapter Text

“You look … concerned,” Mia’s bright voice chirped out as she watched me twirl a pen between my fingers from my office door. “Where is your partner at?”

I shrugged, “I saw him yesterday briefly, but he called in sick today.”

She scoffed, “Heroes can’t have sick days.”

“That’s what I said,” I chuckled as I logged out of my computer. “Come get coffee or food with me?” I asked as I grabbed my wallet.

“I was just coming to ask you the same thing,” she winked at me as she showed me her own wallet and winter coat that was draped over her arm.

“I noticed that Todoroki and Bakugou are in better moods now, did you figure things out with them?” Mia’s green eyes turned to me as we walked to the elevators. Other heroes and sidekicks mingled about in the common area near the elevator, all chatting excitedly about something that I had little to no interest in finding out more about.

Shouto’s new teammate, a woman named Aiko, stood amongst them. I hadn’t learned much about his new partner besides the fact that she had a kind smile and that I envied her for her beautiful bright purple mane of hair. I had also been able to deduce, via my excellent observation skills, that her personality seemed to be the exact opposite of Shoutos. While he was more quiet and reserved, she was boisterous and outgoing, they balanced each other well.

Her dark eyes met mine as we waited for the elevators. She gave me a small smile and a wave before she turned back to the other heroes.

“Yeah,” I turned to Mia to find that she was also watching the others. “I talked to them on Sunday.”

“Well don’t hold back on me,” she smacked me lightly on the arm as we walked into the elevator and it began to descend. “Tell me the tea, woman!”

“I cut things off, with both of them.”

“Ouch,” she sighed, “it’s for the best though, I’m proud of you.”

“That wasn’t what you were saying last week,” I smirked at her as we made our way outside and walked towards our favorite little café around the corner.

She grinned at me, “well, I was just encouraging your womanly needs. I’m happy that you put your friendships with them first though.”

We walked in silence for a few comfortable minutes before she spoke up again, “have your eye on anyone else? Like Eren?” Her eyes sparkled as she said his name, “He looked like a god. I can’t believe you got to take him home and you haven’t talked to him since, I’m jealous as all hell.”

Her brown hair blew in her face as we stopped at the café and I held the door open for her, “it was a night to remember, that’s for sure.”

“Details, now.”

“There was this thing that he did with his tongue…”

After grabbing our drinks and snacks from the barista, we snagged a table near one of the large windows at the front of the café. I glanced at my friend as I finished telling her about my night with Eren. She had a happy grin on her face as she blew on her coffee. I began to grow unsettled as our conversation reminded me of how she had reacted when Kirishima had been about to mention her previous partner’s name when we were out at the bar days earlier. “Mia,” I paused tentatively as I raised my coffee to my lips. “Which hero did you date?”

The bright smile on her face dropped at the question.

“You don’t have to answer, I don’t want you to feel pressured or – “

“It’s okay,” she gave me a small smile as she picked at her food. “His name is Yo Shindo, he works for Fatgums agency with Amajiki and Kirishima.”

I knew the name, but I hardly knew anything about its owner. “Follow-up question, but you don’t need to answer it if you don’t want to. Did he do … something?”

I saw her swallow hard before answering, “he was just an asshole.”

“I’ve met a lot of assholes,” I gave her an understanding smile, “Was he aggressive? Or manipulative?”

The look on her face turned desperate as she fiddled with her coffee cup. “He made me think that he loved me. Made me think that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Then he got with one of my friends behind my back and lied to me about it for months. He’d get manipulative if I tried to leave – I don’t… I don’t really like to talk about it.”

I felt irritation spike through me on my friend’s behalf. “I’m sorry for bringing it up, Mia. But I’m happy that you told me,” I reached across the table and held her hand. “If you ever need me to kick his ass, just say the word.”

She laughed lightly as she squeezed my hand back, “no I don’t want that, I just don’t want to see his face ever again.”

“That’s no fun,” I scrunched my nose at her as I pulled my hand back, “but I’ll let it go, for now.”

“Speaking of fun, you haven’t told me much about your new partner. It’s Geten, right?”

I nodded as I took a bite out of the sandwich that I had ordered. “I’m not totally sure how I feel about him yet, he seems useful at least.”

She cocked an eyebrow at me, “useful?”

“He helped me with my quirk yesterday.”

Her jaw dropped slightly, “that’s amazing! Why don’t you know how to feel about him then?”

I shrugged as I glanced out into the city outside, “I get weird vibes from him sometimes, like secretive vibes.”

“You’re not exactly the most up-front person either,” she winked at me. “I wouldn’t give him a hard time about it. I’m sure he’ll tell you more when the time is right.”

“Or I’ll figure it out on my own,” I remarked plainly as I remembered how freaked out he had been when I had used my quirk to try to access his. 

Mia’s phone began to buzz on the table and she hastily snatched it up to read the message that had appeared on her screen.

She sighed, “I’m going to need to cut our break short, I need to get back to the office. Apparently, some reporter is giving Akimasa a hard time.”

“Oh, no worries. I have some things that I can work on too,” I quickly stuffed my face with the rest of my sandwich before I began to clean up my space. 

As I reached to pull my coat on, I felt the ground beneath our feet shake briefly.

“What the hell was that?” Mia asked as she glanced out the window next to us.

The world outside looked normal, besides the many turned faces that were directed towards Endeavors agency.

I shook my head slightly at her as I took a step towards the window to get a better look. Another large rumble shook the earth so much so that several car alarms began blaring outside.

“I have a bad feeling,” I quietly mumbled to her as I gently handed my coat to her, I most likely wouldn’t need it for where I needed to go. “Stay here,” I hurried out as I rushed towards the exit and thrust the café’s doors open.

A large plume of smoke rose into the air from the direction that the agency was in. My heart began to hammer against my chest as I eased myself into a jog. As I rounded the corner, I got a better look at the damage that had been done. A large building a block or two down the road from the agency was on fire.  Blue flames shot out of its shattered windows as small explosions erupted throughout the structure, sending glass, ash, and smoke sailing out into the streets below.

I pushed myself into a full out sprint as my mind raced through all of the scenarios that I might face once I reached my destination. The noise of my feet hitting the pavement was the only sound that I focused on as the sound of piercing sirens grew in my ears. Flashing lights flew past me and towards the destroyed building. Bystanders stood in the sidewalks, watching as responders raced past them.

“Hey, slow down,” Katsuki’s voice brought me back to the present as he held his arms out and caught me near the entrance to the agency a few minutes later.

“What’s going on?” My voice was breathless as I stopped.

He looked over at the building as he pulled his black mask down over his eyes, “it’s abandoned, Endeavor thinks it’s a distraction tactic.”

“Where is Endeavor?”

“He’s – “

“Y/N, we were just looking for you,” Endeavor’s full voice interrupted Katsuki. Shouto stood beside him in his hero uniform, ready to take on the world. “We’ve received intel that a nearby bank is under attack, the hero association wants us to deal with it. The perpetrators have hostages and they’ve locked themselves into the vaults so the heroes at the scene can’t get to them. We’re going to need your quirk to get into the vault. It’s the least destructive and it puts the hostages at the least amount of risk. You just need to open it like you do with the copiers.”

I nodded as I listened to him, “okay, count me in.”

Endeavor gave me a curt nod before he turned to the heroes around us. “Other agencies are joining this mission so we’re going to have several teams. I will oversee the mission at the bank and Hawks will lead the team that goes into the bank, the interior bank team will include Grand and Y/N.” I glanced around us and noticed a tall man with dark hair standing near Hawks. He wore a satisfied smile on his face as he listened to Endeavor. I immediately recognized him and felt disgust rise in my chest. Grand was Yo Shindou’s hero name.

The Yo Shindou that Mia had dated. What a coincidence.

“Bakugou, you’ll lead a backup team in case the first team needs assistance in the bank. Shouto, you’ll lead another team to another location where we’ve received word that another group of villains has attacked some civilians. It might be a distraction tactic, similar to the building down the road, but we need to check just in case.”

Endeavor continued listing off roles to several other individuals, but I tuned them out as I began to focus on my own job.  

“Everyone knows what’s expected of them, correct? Then let’s get to it. Radio into channel 6 for updates.” With that, fire ignited from his fists and he flew off into the distance. Katsuki followed shortly after with his team and Shouto ran off in a different direction.

“Ready?” Hawks grinned at me as he motioned in the direction that the bank was in.

I plugged in my earpiece and programmed it to channel 6. “Why are you even here?” I breathed out as I began running again. Grand followed behind us without uttering a single word.

Hawks met my speed effortlessly, “I was in a meeting with Endeavor when the building shook, it seems like they wanted to get our attention.”

“Something feels off to me.”

“I know what you mean,” he breathed out as he glanced around at the buildings around us.

The minutes passed by as we continued on our journey to the bank. There had to be other heroes in the vicinity who could deal with this quicker than we could, so why had we been assigned to it?

Static erupted in my ear as someone attempted to radio in. “It’s some of the old paranormal liberation front members,” Katsuki’s voice sounded in my ear, making me wince. He even sounded loud and angry through a radio.

“He’s already at the site? That kid is quick. But that must be why they wanted higher-tiered heroes,” Hawks muttered as he too listened to Katsuki’s report.

“We’re going to need backup,” Katsuki quickly barked out before his radio went silent.

“Damn it,” I muttered as I tried to push myself faster.

Our group reached the end of the road and began to turn left towards the bank before another voice sounded in my ear.

“We’re going to need back up here as well, we’re being overrun. We underestimated how many heroes we would need at the second location,” Shouto’s voice was quick and concise, but I heard the subtle panic that was underlying it. “We have heroes down. I repeat, heroes down.”

A brief moment of static erupted in my ear again, “Everyone, stick with the original plan. Do what you can, Shouto,” Endeavor’s voice sounded robotic and unsympathetic as the radio sputtered out, effectively leaving us in silence once again. 

 I felt dread and anxiety settle into my body as I considered my two options. I could do as Endeavor told us to do, and go directly to the bank to help open the vault, thereby ignoring Shouto’s pleas for help. Or – I could say fuck Endeavors plans and go help his son myself. I couldn’t help but consider what Shouto would do in this situation. Everyone who had been assigned to this mission, that I knew of, was heading to the bank, so Katsuki would have plenty of backup.

I didn’t know of anyone who was going to be heading towards Shoutos location.

My feet stopped moving and I slid to a sudden standstill in the road.

Hawks sent me a confused look as he too stopped next to me, “What’s wrong?”

“Hawks, go back up Bakugou.”

He sighed as he frustratedly ran his hand through his golden hair, “Y/N, you heard Endeavor, right? We have orders.”

“My partner is in trouble,” I rushed out as I pulled out my phone to check Shouto’s last broadcasted position in our hero app, I just hoped that he had his location turned on. My hands shook slightly, due to the spike of adrenaline that had now started coursing through my body, as I glanced down at the screen. It was about half a mile away, in the opposite direction from the bank.

Hawks’ gave me a pointed look, “he isn’t your partner anymore.”

“Keigo,” I snapped as I slid my phone back into one of my pockets, “you can go ahead and do what you’ve been ordered to do. I won’t abandon him when he needs help.” 

“Fine,” he held his hands up defensively in front of him as he took a step away from me. He prepared to shoot up into the sky before sending me one last fleeting glance, “but you better stay safe!”

A second later, he was gone.

“You’re going to abandon your mission?” Grand asked from behind me.

I turned to him in surprise, I had almost completely forgotten that he was with us. “If that’s how you want to see it then go for it, go to the bank,” I recommended as I took a few steps away from him in the direction of Shouto’s location, “I’ll meet up with you guys once I’ve helped Shouto.”

A strong hand gripped my upper forearm hard, keeping me from going any farther. “No, you need to complete the mission that was assigned to you,” his face was stern as he looked down at me.

I felt my face begin to heat with anger and frustration as I glared at his hand, “let go of me.”

He did as I asked, but he continued to stand close enough to me that I could see the flecks of lint that rested on his hero uniform.

I took a step back from him, “I suggest that you don’t touch me like that again.”

He rolled his eyes, “and I advise that you follow me and help complete the mission,” he acted as if he was bored, like commanding people to do things was a normal pastime for him.

Pure, undulating rage welled up in my gut as I viewed the man before me. The snarky, confident air to him, the way his eyes scanned my face with contempt and revulsion. Every part of him infuriated me for no other specific reason, besides the fact that I knew that he had hurt my best friend in some way.

“Go back them up then, I’m not stopping you. Use your useless quirk to break into the vault. What was it again?”

“I can produce vibrations –“

I clapped my hands sarcastically, “solid. You were the backup to my quirk then, right? Go be a good boy and do as your told, I have somewhere I need to be.”

Fear began to build in me as I realized that I was wasting precious seconds on this moron. Seconds that I could be using to help Shouto instead.

I moved to walk around him but he stepped in my way again, blocking my path towards my ex-partner.

“They don’t have people going to help them, he could die. You need to move,” I demanded as I pushed his chest to give myself some space.

He grabbed me around the wrist again as I maneuvered around him.

The extra icy glare that I sent towards his grip made him release me moments later.

I began to travel down the road again but was stopped as the ground beneath me began to crumble and shake. Shock raced through me as I realized that Grand had decided to use his quirk against me, against someone who was supposed to be on his team.

My knees hit the ruined pavement hard as I lost my balance. My head whipped around to confront the hero who was still positioned behind me. 

“If you’re not going to follow our orders willingly, then I’m just going to have to force you to go to the bank,” he shrugged from where he was crouched on the asphalt.

The steady control that I had been working on building over myself and my quirk shattered as my mind went into full panic mode. Valuable, priceless time was being wasted on this asshole, and it seemed that there was going to be no peaceful way around it. He had cornered me, and like any other trapped creature, I was ready to lash out.

Without thinking about the consequences, I touched the pavement and activated my quirk. Similar to the time with the car, the ground turned to quicksand under my feet, and under Grands. His startled yelp made a sinister smile edge onto my face as I stood up effortlessly.

His eyes narrowed as I easily walked towards him on top of the asphalt that had just begun to swallow him. When I reached him, his body had sunken down into the pavement to the point that only his upper body was above ground. I crouched down to get to his eye level.

“It would be so easy to end you right now,” I said softly as I smiled at him. His eyes widened slightly but he didn’t say anything. “You’re so vulnerable and helpless.” My finger traced his jaw in a teasing manner before I rested my full hand on his face. “I could take the oxygen atoms out of your lungs and make you suffocate,” I tapped on his chest to emphasize it and he winced. “I could destroy the hydrogen bonds in your blood vessels and make you bleed out. That option I have practice with.”

 The small whimper that emitted from his throat brought me back to reality for a moment and I sent him a disdainful look, full of pity and false empathy, “but for now, you’ll stay alive. Killing heroes is usually frowned upon in our line of work.” I looked into his wide, fearful eyes, “I need to make sure that you can’t follow me today though, so let’s have fun with that little quirk of yours.” I felt my quirk take over as I touched him again and images of his DNA shot through my head. When I reached the area in his DNA that coded for his quirk, I inserted a timed block, similar to a virus that the body could fight off over time. When I felt the edit settle into place, I patted his cheek gently before I pulled my hand back. The devastated look on his face made me chuckle, “it’s only temporary, don’t get your panties in a bundle.” 

I activated my quirk one last time to make it so he could force his way out of the ground if he so desired to, but from the defeated look on his face, I didn’t think he would be attempting it anytime soon. “It was nice meeting you Grand!” I shouted back to him as I began to run off in Shouto’s general direction.

I felt myself settle into a dangerous calm as I ran. I tried to ignore the negative thoughts that began spiraling through my mind.

What if I was too late? 

My breath left me as I reached the building that Shouto was apparently in minutes later.

The place was nearly in shambles. People were screaming and running out of the 15 story building as its lower floors burned. I certainly wasn’t an architect or an engineer, but even I knew that destroying the support beams in the lower floors would cause a complete structural failure and would eventually result in its collapse. With the extent of how destroyed the structure was to this building, I was sure that its collapse could occur within minutes. Several fire trucks and first responders were outside, but I didn’t see any of them inside of the building.

One firefighter stopped me as I began to walk into the main entrance, “Ma’am, you can’t go in there, it’s a hazard zone.”

“A hazard zone?” I raised my voice as a large explosion erupted out of one of the floors. “You don’t say?” Sarcasm was evident in my voice as I covered my head with my hands as debris fell around us. “I work for Endeavors agency.”

He nodded at me and waved me into the building, “good luck then.”

I shook my head in disbelief as I entered the building. The main lobby, of what I assumed to be some kind of insurance company or other mundane business, lay in shambles. Destroyed couches and tables were strewn across the space, some were on fire and others were just embers at this point.

“Shouto!” I yelled up into the building.

My lungs quivered as I inhaled a large cloud of smoke. Panicking people streamed past me. Some were carrying briefcases and some held some of their belongings as they cried and called out to their friends and coworkers.

“The exit is that way. Is there anyone still in the building?” I asked one of the people fleeing and they responded by nodding rapidly before sprinting out of the building.  

“Shouto!” I screamed again, but no response came.

There didn’t appear to be any more fighting, which I didn’t know if I should take as a positive or a negative sign. Either the villains had given up, or they had defeated all of the heroes in the area.

Aiko appeared a moment later as I searched amidst the flames and darkness.

“Y/N?” Her face was bloody and soot was rubbed across her forehead.

I caught her as she stumbled towards me, “Aiko, where is Shouto?”

Her face crumpled, “there were too many of them, his body is - even he couldn’t – he didn’t…“

My heart began to race as she passed out.

No.

No.

No.

Shouto was good at everything. He was strong and capable, there was no way that he could –

“Y/N!” A familiar voice shouted to me as I sat crouched on the floor with Aiko in my arms. I turned and found Geten panting. I felt my face fall as I studied him. He had a large gash across his cheek and blood dripped down his face.

All of my friends and coworkers had been fighting for their lives while Grand had delayed me.

I dragged Aiko towards the exit and placed her on the pavement outside.

“What's wrong?” Geten asked as he knelt beside me.

“Shouto is – “ I stopped myself from uttering the words that I couldn’t believe. “I have to get his body and we need to help evacuate the rest of this building,” I choked the words out as silent tears began to fall down my face.

“His body? Shouto is dead?” Geten’s face was a mixture of disbelief and shock as he studied me.

“I don’t know what to do…” I admitted as I glanced up at the building that was slowly burning away. Ash fell down around us, leaving a fine layer of gray over everything. 

Geten’s light blue eyes turned serious, “do what I taught you to do.”

My eyebrows furrowed as I considered his comment. A harsh laugh blew past my lips. “I was hardly even able to pull that small bit of iron out of that weight. What can I do here?”

“Hey, look at me,” his tone was harsh as he gripped my chin. “If you don’t push yourself, you’ll never be able to realize how powerful you really are. You can do this. Get to your limit, and don’t stop.” He stood from the spot where he had knelt in front of me, pulling me to my feet a moment later. He gazed down into my face, “I’ll get Shouto and I’ll help evacuate everyone. You just need to keep the building standing until back up comes.”

My eyes widened as I realized what he wanted me to do, but before I could utter any doubts or reservations regarding his plan, Geten was gone.

I walked to the side of the building and looked upwards. Its 15 stories looked even taller now with what I needed to do in mind.

The side of the building was cool as I placed my hands onto it.

“Here goes nothing,” I whispered to myself as I activated my quirk.

I felt my mind expand as I took in the enormity of the structure in front of me. I could see every beam and every piece of wood that helped keep the building standing. Beams around the entire structure had begun to weaken due to the destroyed support beams at the bottom, some had already even caved. I felt the building shake as more broke apart.

Tears continued to slip from my eyelids as I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on reforming the atoms in the beams to make them sturdier. I made every effort to make sure the building was going to stand for as long as possible, for as long as Geten needed.

Then, and only then, did it have my permission to come crashing down.

Minutes ticked by and I began to feel mental and physical fatigue and exhausting settling in. My brain hurt. My bones hurt. My blood even hurt.

My knees began to buckle as I used up every last ounce of my quirk. A loud crash sounded from inside and I felt the building quiver again.

Pain erupted in my skull as I pushed myself harder, as I pushed myself to my breaking point, and then past it.

I forced myself until all I knew was my quirk. My mind forgot everything else. Why I was pushing myself, who I was trying to save, who was still in the building, it all didn’t matter anymore as my quirk took over.

Something wet hit the top of my lips and I tasted iron.

I was bleeding. But I didn’t care, it didn’t matter.

Shouto was dead.

I sobbed as I continued to hold onto my quirk and ignore the pain and grief that was rushing through me. I would sacrifice myself over to it if it meant that all the people in this building could be saved. And if it meant retrieving my best friend's body and giving him back to his family.

“Y/N!”

The voice shook me to my core. It couldn’t be.

But then his face emerged into my peripheral vision and I recognized the red and white split hair. The immense relief that I felt made me want to cry even harder.

“You need to let go, this is killing you,” he pleaded with me as he moved underneath my arms and put himself between me and the building. His face was pale and his uniform was dark with blood on his left side. He had been through hell in the last hour or so, and I hadn’t been there for him. “You’ve done a great job, Geten told me what you’re doing. Please, just let go now. Let it collapse.”

I shook my head and kept my hands plastered to the side of the building. I had ingrained in myself during the last 15 minutes or so that I needed to keep this building standing, that was all I knew now. There was no way I was going to let it fall. 

The blood pouring from my nose began to fall faster. My head began to feel lighter as my level of consciousness wavered.

“Y/N,” Shouto’s voice sounded desperate as he took my face into his hands. “Let go, now. I know you can.”

“What’s going on?” Another voice sounded from behind me.

Shouto’s miscolored eyes widened as he recognized the individual behind me. “Aizawa!” He sighed shakily with relief, “Erase her quirk, please – I think it’s killing her and I don’t know what to do.”

A moment later, I felt my quirk disappear.

I felt empty.

I dropped to my knees as the exhaustion that I had been pushing off caught up with me. Before I could fall forward, a strong pair of hands lifted me.

I heard someone begin to protest as my hands fell limply towards the ground.

“Don’t be stupid, you were just unconscious in a burning building, there’s no way I’m trusting you to lift my partner.”

A warm, sturdy body held me as we walked, assumably away from the building that could collapse at any moment. “I guess I did tell you to go to your limit, but I didn’t really expect you to do it,” Geten chuckled and I squinted my eyes open to glance at him.

“Oh, shut up. You’re proud of me, just admit it.”

“Yes, I am. Now go to sleep, I’ll take care of you,” his voice was uncharacteristically soft as he continued to walk.

When my eyes shifted open again, I was sure I was hallucinating. Instead of Geten’s pale face above me, I glimpsed dark, purple scars held together with contrasting silver staples and bright cerulean eyes.

“Dabi?” I whispered and the man carrying me stiffened. His jaw clenched as his beautiful blue eyes shifted down and met mine. “I think I’m losing it,” I laughed out lightly as his hold on me tightened. “You have pretty eyes,” my voice was quiet as I began to lose consciousness again.

“Not as gorgeous as yours, doll face.”

Chapter Text

The beeping of a hospital monitor sounded in my ears as my senses began to return to me. I saw bright light behind my eyelids and knew that once I opened them, I’d be blasted with the bright fluorescents of whatever hospital room I had been shoved into. The rough, scraping feeling of hospital sheets rubbed at my bare arms and I smelled whatever cleaning solution they had been using to sterilize my surroundings. My throat tingled painfully as I swallowed, and a sharp pain pierced through my chest as I took a breath.

I clenched my fingers tightly to help distract myself from the overwhelming feeling of coming to as I regained consciousness.

“Y/N?” A tired voice asked from beside me and I felt a warm hand grab onto my own. The owner of that hand began to rub small, comforting circles into the back of my hand with their thumb as they continued to try to rouse me.

I grumbled back and tried to swallow again as my tongue stuck to the top of my mouth. I prepared myself for the onslaught of brief pain that I knew I would experience as I cocked one eye open partially.

Aizawa sat, tall and alert, in an uncomfortable-looking chair next to my hospital bed. His hands were still encompassing my own and his eyes widened as his gaze met mine. The bags under his dark eyes were more pronounced and apparent now than I had ever seen them. His hair was tied back loosely and messily into a small bun that rested near the nape of his neck.

“You’re awake,” He breathed out with a pained expression on his face as he stood and pulled me into a small, tight hug.

I nestled into his embrace, basking in the warmth and familial love that we so rarely showed for one another. A tickle in my chest caused me to choke out a cough, making him pull back to study me with a concerned look on his face.

“Can you get me some water?” I croaked out between breaths as another coughing fit raked through my body.

Aizawa nodded as he hit the call light next to me. A nurse poked her head into the room a few moments later and smiled as she noticed that I was awake. “Can we have some water when you have a chance?”

“Certainly,” her voice was kind as she responded to my mentor and guardian. “I’ll also let her doctor know that she’s awake.”

Aizawa sat back down after she left and continued to watch me carefully as we waited. Once she came by again and I had a few sips of water, I braved using my voice again.

“What day is it?”

“Monday, you’ve almost been out for a week.”

I winced, “I feel like total crap.”

“They had to put you into a protective coma for a few days because you kept coding and hemorrhaging internally. Your body couldn’t heal on its own.”

My eyebrows rose as my eyes darted to meet his, “well, shit.” 

Aizawa leaned forward and rested his elbows on the bed next to me. His eyes were serious as he regarded me. “How could you be so reckless?” His voice sounded defeated as he rubbed at his face warily.

“I was just trying to – “

“You were trying to save Shouto, I know. But you pushed yourself to the point that your own quirk deflected back onto you and nearly killed yourself in the process. I had to keep using my quirk on you every few hours to make sure that it was inactivated so that you could heal. It finally stopped on Friday,” He sighed as he rubbed his eyes before he glanced back up at me carefully. “I want you to know that I’m not mad at you. I’m grateful that you’re still alive and that you were able to save Shouto and that you kept that building standing. You saved countless lives because you were there. But sometimes… sometimes you need to think about yourself too.” His eyes turned desperate as he continued, “I don’t want to have to keep seeing you in a hospital bed and worrying that I might turn around and find you dead one of these days. I’ve lost enough people. I’ve seen enough death. Just... please –“ his voice grew quiet as he covered his face with his hands.

I felt my heart drop as I listened to him, but I wasn’t entirely sure how to quell his worries. The way I saw it, my life didn’t matter anymore than anyone else’s who was in that building. Surely, saving dozens of lives meant that losing my own would be worth it, it would mean something. I certainly wasn’t going to say that to him now though, maybe not ever.

A quick knock at my door was the only alert that someone new was coming in before my door flew open. “Ah, sleeping beauty awakens!” Hawks looked at me from his place at the door as he held out two coffee cups. “What gives, Aizawa? You were supposed to let me know the moment she woke up. I wanted to be here to scold her for going back on her word.”

His last words to me in the road came back to me.

“You better stay safe.”

I arched an eyebrow at him as he closed the door behind him and handed the other coffee cup to Aizawa. “You can’t scold me for something that I never agreed to,” I kept my tone light and cracked a small smile at him, but he didn’t return it. He stood stonily at the end of my bed, watching me as he sipped at his own beverage. The normal brightness and happy glow that usually rested on his face were gone. Shadows cast across his eyes, and he looked almost as tired as Aizawa. “Look, I’m sorry – “

“You’re sorry?” Hawks scoffed as he crossed his arms across his chest. “You’re going to have to do better than that, Y/N.”

I flinched at his angry tone. I was used to Aizawa being upset. Never this upset, but at least partially angry or disappointed at least. I had never seen Hawks actually lose his temper, and from the looks of it, he was almost there.

“Keigo – “

“I saw them give you CPR three separate times,” his golden eyes were hard as steel as he gazed down at me. “You died, over, and over again because you couldn’t just do what you were told to do. You had to go off and save the day, and against my better judgment, I allowed it to happen.” He glared off towards the window in my room, like he couldn’t bear to look at me. “I’m at fault as much as you are. If you had died…” He sighed, “I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

While his words tugged at my heart and made me feel guilty, the constant negative air in the room since I had woken up started to get to me. Frustration rose in my chest, it combined with the guilt and left me feeling irritated and bitter. I could understand their anger. If one of them continued to throw themselves into dangerous situations that left them injured and hospitalized, I would be upset too, but I was over it.

“I understand that you both think I’m too weak to go off on my own, “I bit out, causing both of them to glance warily at me. “But that’s why I need to keep working with my quirk, I need to keep challenging myself. And I feel like I’ve made somewhat of a breakthrough. If I could just keep training at the agency with Geten – “

“You won’t be training with Geten anymore,” Aizawa said softly, and too gently as if he was talking to a wounded animal that he was about to put out of its misery.

My eyebrows furrowed at him, “what do you mean? What happened to Geten?”

“Your hero license has been suspended. You have a hearing to go to on Thursday to see if the committee will reinstate your license, keep it suspended, or terminate it permanently. Since you don’t have an active license, you can’t work at the agency.”

I felt my heart drop and nausea rolled in my stomach as I listened to Aizawa’s words.

“Why did they suspend it in the first place?”

Aizawa glanced at Hawks as his voice jumped into the conversation again, “the mission was a failure last week, and in result, the hero association lost millions since the bank that was attacked was solely for associations funds.”

“They’re blaming the failed mission on me alone? No one else could get into that vault?” I looked at the two with wide eyes as I felt my world crashing down upon me once again.

Aizawa’s face grew sympathetic as he regarded me, “they were basing the mission off of the fact that you would be there. No other heroes, with quirks that could get into the vault, were called in since you were assigned to the mission. So yes, the committee thinks that the loss is your fault.” He signed as he pushed small pieces of hair out of his face, “no one agrees with them, of course. I know Endeavor tried to speak up on your behalf, as did Todoroki and Bakugou, but the committee is keeping their initial assessment of the situation.”

I swallowed hard as I tried to regain control of the wild emotions that were flowing through me, “what happened to the hostages?”

“They were left unharmed, they just had to hang out in the vault until someone could get them out. The villains were long gone though. It’s speculated that they must have had the capability to teleport.”

I felt a small prick of pain and glanced down to find that I had been clenching my fists so tightly that I had started to draw blood with my own fingernails. I opened my hands quickly in surprise and watched as a single drop of blood traveled down my palm and dripped onto my white sheets. I focused on my hand as Hawks spoke up again.

“I’m sure they’ll reinstate you, you’re too valuable to not keep around. I think they’re just trying to scare you.”

The small cut on my palm closed as I felt my quirk swirling around in my hands. My eyes widened as I realized what I had just done, at what my quirk had allowed me to do.

Maybe pushing myself past my breaking point had been useful after all.

Aizawa cleared his throat as he caught me staring at my hands, “they did mention something else that was concerning. Grand states that you took his quirk and that he wasn’t able to access it for about 2 days afterward. He can use it now, which made the committee drop that charge as there’s no proof that you did tamper with his quirk, but I can’t help but ask…” His voice trailed off as he glanced down at my hands.

Had he noticed what I had just done?

“Did you do anything to his quirk?” Aizawa and Hawks both studied me as I processed his question.

I returned their glances as I thought of an answer. I didn’t know what exactly I had done to his quirk. It had all been in the heat of the moment and I had been acting on sheer panic and fear alone at the time.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about,” I shrugged as a knock rang at the door, ceasing our conversation and distracting the two of them from the question. My doctor walked in and greeted my visitors as I looked down again at my hand to see the dried blood that was now stuck to my palm.

For the first time in my life, I felt excitement rise in my chest at the thought of how I could manipulate my quirk in the future.

It didn’t scare me anymore.

------------------------------ ------------------------------------

I woke up in a cold sweat hours later.

My dark hospital room greeted me as I sat up in bed panting. A dull glow emitting from underneath the door to my room was the only source of light around me, but it was enough that it illuminated my room so that I could see the furniture and equipment that surrounded me.

I was happy to find that I was alone.

Aizawa and Hawks had left after my doctor had visited me. He had reiterated Aizawa’s concerns from earlier about pushing myself, about how dangerous overusing my quirk could be for me if Aizawa wasn’t there to help ease the negative effects. He didn’t tell me anything that I didn’t already know, and I didn’t really care. I had started toning him out minutes after he had started talking.

I hugged my knees to my chest as I felt a small twinge of pain in my left arm. I glanced down to study the small wound that I had noticed hours earlier. It was halfway up my inner forearm and looked as if someone had cut me with a sharp scalpel and then sewed me back up again. When I had asked Aizawa about it, he had indicated that he didn’t know where it came from for sure, but with all of the debris at the site from last week, I could’ve easily been struck with something and not noticed it.

The monitor next to me beeped loudly as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. The doctor recommended that I stay until my hearing on Thursday, and even though I had only been conscious for about half the day, I was already over waiting around and getting chastised by Aizawa and Hawks. I peeled the adhesive tape away from the IV that was stuck into my arm and lightly pulled on the IV. I winced as it came out and I dropped it to the ground as I put some pressure on my abused vein. Fluid began to drip on the ground from the IV, but I ignored it as I stood up and walked over to the duffle bag full of clothes and other necessities that Aizawa had brought for me when I woke up. I quickly tugged on a t-shirt and sweats before I pulled my jacket across my shoulders. I caught a glimpse of myself in the large mirror that rested above the sink in my room and almost didn’t recognize the person who looked back. My face was gaunt and pale, and my eyes were dull and lifeless. A sickly-looking stranger stared back at me as I pulled my hair back into a messy bun. I hoisted the bag over my shoulder as I shoved my feet into the sneakers that Aizawa had left me. A quick glance at my phone showed that it was off, it wouldn’t tattle on me and show anyone that I had left the hospital, my location would be safe for now. I briefly looked around my room, scanning for anything that I might have missed before I opened my door slightly and peeked around to check for the nurse or anyone else who might recognize that I shouldn’t be leaving. When I didn’t see such a person, I softly closed the door behind me and casually walked out of the hospital without earning any suspicious or second glances from anyone.

Sometimes, it was useful to not be recognizable.

I enjoyed the calm ambiance of the sleeping city around me. Its streets were dark, and few cars traveled down its roads as I walked to the nearest train station. I was so enamored and calmed by the atmosphere around me, that I didn’t notice that man that started to follow me until I had made it a few blocks down the road. The sound of someone clearing their throat alerted me towards a nearby alleyway.

A man, with a top hat and a white mask over his face, stood there, twirling a cane between his hands as he watched me.

“Good evening, Madame,” his voice was light and sultry as he regarded me.

I attempted to ignore him and continued walking. Irritation shot through my spine when I noticed that he had left his spot in the alleyway to walk alongside me.

“Back off, creep. You don’t want to mess with me,” I snapped at him as I picked up my pace.

He chuckled, “I’m not planning on messing with you, darling. I just want to show you a little magic trick.” I glared at him as I came to a stop on the sidewalk.

I contemplated the many ways that I could get him to give me some space and leave, but decided to let it slide, for now, he seemed harmless enough, “show it to me then and then leave me the hell alone.”

The man clicked his tongue, and I noticed the footsteps from earlier finally stop as they grew closer. I turned and found another individual standing there with their arms crossed across their chest. They were dressed all in black with a hood pulled up around their head. They shifted slightly and a stream of light from a nearby streetlight drifted across their face, showing that they also had a mask pulled up to cover the majority of their face as well. All I could see were a pair of dark, masculine eyes staring back at me.

“I’m assuming you’re with this asshole,” I pointed to the man in the top hat as I regarded the stranger behind me. The man didn’t speak. He didn’t even react to my words, he just continued to watch, almost as if he was entirely disinterested in the situation before him and didn't care to become more involved than he already was.

“Eyes on me, darling,” the top hat man said lightly as he held his hands out.

I crossed my arms across my chest as I turned to him. He opened one of his palms and showed me a small blue ball.

“Now, just watch it,” his voice sounded as if he had a broad smile on his face. He twisted the blue ball around and around and I watched as he moved it in circles. “Tada!” He exclaimed a moment later.

I cocked an eyebrow at him, “what was the trick? You just moved the ball around.”

“Does your shoulder feel lighter by chance?”

My hand flew to my shoulder where my bag had been sitting, and I was surprised to find that it was no longer there. I gritted my teeth, “you just wanted to mug me?”

“No, absolutely not. It’s in here,” he pointed to the ball. I squinted my eyes and nearly gasped as I noticed that he was right, a small image of my bag sat in the ball as if it had in fact been sucked into it without me noticing.

“Nice trick, now give it back.”

“You want the bag back?” He twired the ball between his fingers, “how about you join it instead?”

Before I could react, he snapped his fingers and the world around me turned a bright shade of blue.

------------------------ --------------------

 When I came to, my arms were aching from being tied behind me and the wooden chair underneath me had started to hurt my ass. I glanced around to find that I was in some kind of old warehouse. The place reeked of wet mold and mildew, and I could hear water dripping somewhere behind me. A single light swung above me, casting a dull gleam over my surroundings.

Another figure sat slumped in a chair next to me. They were hunched over as if they were asleep, and when the light swung over them partially, I felt myself stiffen. I recognized the blue hair on his head and the paleness of his skin.

“Geten!” I whisper yelled at him, but he didn't stir. I sighed as I looked for anything that I could kick at him, but when I didn’t find anything, I just coughed loudly. The man next to me began to move slightly. He groaned as he straightened his neck to glance around the room. “Geten?”

His light blue eyes flickered to mine, but they didn’t hold their usual energy. He looked drained and unhealthy. His skin was even paler than normal and dark circles rested under his eyes.

His eyes narrowed as he studied me, “who are you?”

I blinked a few times in surprise, “It’s me, Y/N, your partner at Endeavors agency.”

A dark laugh erupted from the corner of the room and Geten winced as his eyes darted to where the noise had come from.

“He’s not going to know who you are, doll face.”

I felt my jaw tense as a tall, masculine figure stepped out from the darkness. Ice and fear crept through my veins as I recognized the scars and staples across the speakers' chiseled face. He wore the same dark boots and pants that I had seen him in weeks prior before he had burned me and tried to kill me. Unlike then, however, he now wore a simple white t-shirt that showed off the scars on his forearms and upper chest. He cocked his head curiously as he studied my reaction to seeing him again.

Touya Todoroki.

Or Dabi, as he preferred, stood before me.

When my eyes drifted over his face, his mouth quirked up in a small grin. I paused as I noticed his eyes and hair and felt my eyebrows pinch together with confusion.

“Oh, you’re wondering about the hair and eyes, right?” He reached his hand up and tugged on his light blue locks. “They’re his,” he motioned to the man who sat chained to his chair next to me. “I figured it would be better if you saw me like this first so you wouldn’t cause such a fuss when I gave you my spiel.”

Dabi stepped forward and crouched in front of me. I felt my breath catch as his scent wafted over to me with his movement. The smell of masculine spices and wildfire seared my nostrils, and I felt the temperature around me rise slightly.

If he wasn’t a known villain, and if he hadn’t tried to kill me weeks earlier, I might have thought that he actually smelled good. I shuddered at the thought.

“Get the fuck away from me,” I gritted out as I tried to sit as far back in my chair as I could. I needed to get away from him.

His jaw clenched with irritation as he watched me lean back.

He stood so quickly and abruptly that I flinched, and before I knew it, his hot hand was grasping my jaw, forcing me to look at him as he bent over me. His light blue hair fell towards my face as he peered down into my startled eyes.

“You weren’t saying that in the gym when I had you pinned last week,” his mouth crooked up into a sneer.

“What are you talking about?” I tried to mumble out as my earlier shock wore off and I glared at him. My words ended up sounding all muffled since his fingers were clutching my jaw so tightly that I could hardly move.

He clicked his tongue, “I thought you were one of the smart ones,” he let go of my face as he took a step back while continuing to watch me.

As I studied him, his light blue eyes darkened and became the cerulean eyes that I had expected to see when I had looked at them earlier. I watched as his hair also shifted back to the pure white that also rested on half of Shouto’s head.

Shock and nausea rolled in my stomach as I realized what he had been trying to hint towards, what he had been doing, and who had been my partner for the last few weeks. The little comments that had surprised me, how startled he had been when I had told him about the event in the warehouse, the times when he had glanced over when the name ‘Todoroki’ had been called, the fact that blue flames had shot out of my hands when I had used his quirk.

It all made sense, and I hadn’t been able to figure it out on my own.

The man who sat next to me was a total stranger.

He wasn’t my partner, the villain in front of me was.

A memory of gold eyes flashed through my brain and another realization hit me, “Toga’s quirk,” I breathed out and Dabi grinned.

“There it is, you figured it out, finally,” he crossed his arms casually and I watched as the muscles in his ruined forearms twitched.

“You’re the one who has been with me, not Geten. You worked yourself into Endeavors agency without him even knowing. You lied to everyone and acted like you were on our side, and for what? What was your end goal? And why abduct me now when you could have done it at any point?”

Dabi glared at me from where he stood, “it was all a part of the plan.”

“The plan to do what?”

“To destroy the hero association.”

I gawked at him, but at least he was giving me information instead of withholding it. I felt my body tense as I realized that that could only mean that he was either confident that I would never pass this information along, or that he didn’t plan on me getting out of here alive to tell anyone anyway.

“Dear ol’ dad has one of the most successful agencies that works for the hero association. I knew I’d be able to steal useful information if I worked for him for a few weeks. I got him to trust me and went into his office when all of you were distracted by the bank diversion,” he gave me a sarcastic smile. “Which, by the way, thanks for helping with. With you going after Shouto, we were able to acquire even more funds from the association than we had originally planned on getting.”

“Why abduct me then?” I scowled at him.

He crouched down in front of me again and I felt my heart rate accelerate. “The hero association already thinks that you might be working with us, so I figured I’d offer you a spot in our little group.”

I started to chuckle, and I laughed even harder when I noticed the deep frown on his face. The laugh echoed through the warehouse. “You’re fucking crazy,” I breathed out as I continued to choke back a laugh.

Geten looked at me as if I had lost my mind, and maybe I had.

I felt insane, laughing in Dabi’s face as he watched me. It should’ve made me feel nervous, but I didn’t care.

“You’re amused by that? They’re going to take your license, and then what? What will you do?” Dabi jeered at me, and I stopped laughing. 

He was right about that. Once I lost my license, I wasn’t sure how I was going to make a living.

“You can join all of the other brainwashed, simpletons who work for other people and slave away day after day to earn a meager wage to feed yourself,” he stood. “Or you could put your talents to better use.”

I cocked my head at him, “you think that me losing my license would push me to join the villains? Nothing would make me stoop so low.”

“Don’t consider us heroes and villains then. Think of it as just one side vs another. My side is working towards bettering this world by ridding it of corrupt politicians and groups who exploit others for their own benefit. Your side charges people for services, covers up the actions of corrupt individuals while also benefitting from it, and exploits people who just want to make the world a better place.”

“I’ve seen you use people too, you’re no better – “

Dabi scoffed and his eyes flashed dangerously, “I’ve never claimed to be perfect like the heroes and the hero association claim to be. I know what I am, who I am, and what I stand for. Can you say the same for yourself? You push boundaries, you lie – hell, you never told Endeavor or his masterpiece about me being in that warehouse. What are your goals and are you sure that you’re on the right side to accomplish them?”

I sat stunned and he smirked at my wide eyes.

Taking my silence as my response, Dabi continued, “the heroes are afraid of you and your potential. Ask yourself how much you’ve learned about yourself in these last few weeks by just working with me, if you come to join us, we could continue to work on your control over your quirk.”

“Dabi,” a voice spoke from a door behind the cremation villain, making him turn slightly from his low position in front of me.

I took a moment to study his side profile while he was distracted. His slender nose matched Shouto’s almost perfectly, as did the curve of his jaw. But while Shouto always had a relaxed, somewhat bored expression, on his face, Dabi’s jaw always seemed to be clenched and his eyebrows were downcast like he was normally tense and on edge. His white hair was wild and unruly as it swayed with his movement and the deep purple shade of his scars contrasted starkly from the rest of his healthy, pale skin.

“We need to get moving if we want to avoid fighting with whoever comes to get her,” the man with the top hat nodded towards me as I dragged my gaze from Dabi and tuned into the conversation.

Dabi nodded in agreement before he turned back to me. His eyes dropped to my arms, which were still tied behind me. “If you want proof that they like to lie and use people, you can look at your own arm.”

“What are you talking about,” I breathed out and began to pull back against my restraints again as Dabi leaned over to release my left arm from its binding. My heart fluttered as his hair tickled the side of my face and as his heat enveloped me again. The cold, damp air of the room surrounded me again as he leaned farther away from me, taking his warmth with him, and rested back on his heels with my arm still in his grasp. He traced a heated finger over the wound that I had noticed hours earlier. The movement reminded me of how I had healed myself earlier.

I had totally forgotten about my quirk and had been sitting here like a damsel in distress when I could have been trying to do something about my situation.

“Don’t even try to use your quirk,” Dabi snapped as if he had read my mind, his cerulean eyes analyzed my face before they dropped back down to my arm. “The cuff that’s placed around your wrist cancels out your quirk for a certain amount of time.” He rolled his eyes at the irritated look on my face, “it was a necessary precaution.” His fingertips lightly trailed over the wound again, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin.

“I’m assuming they didn’t tell you about the tracker that they implanted in your forearm, our technology picked up on it right away. They’re going to be watching your every move,” he dropped my arm roughly and I winced as pins and needles flooded through my arm as it regained adequate blood flow again after being tied back for so long. He stood from his crouched position, his eyes were hard as he studied me, “since you didn’t agree to join us, we’ll be allowing them to recapture you. But the offer still stands, I’ll want to know a solid answer two weeks from now. If I don’t hear from you, then I’ll assume that you chose to stick with your oppressors, and I won’t hesitate to end you the next time we run into one another.”

I opened my mouth to snap back at him, but he quickly reached out and placed a finger to my lips to silence me.

“If you change your mind, press on the charm in this necklace and we’ll come to you,” he stepped around my chair, and I tried to move away again but his rough hand landed on my shoulder and pulled me back. With his other hand, he draped a silver chain around my neck and then quickly clasped it so that it rested against my chest.

“You might as well take your jewelry with you, I won’t be contacting you,” I spat at him and felt his hands clench at the base of my neck.

His hot breath hit my ear a moment later and I gasped and felt myself stiffen, “are you sure about that, doll face?” He chuckled darkly at how my body reacted to him. “Think about all the fun we could have, how much we could learn about one another,” a quick nip at my ear lobe made me throw my head back, making him laugh again as he dodged the failed head butt. “So feisty,” he remarked as he let go and moved around to face me again. His cerulean eyes twinkled as he cocked his head at me again, “just think about it. Think about it long and hard, you know how to reach me.” He smirked again before he turned to follow his partners out of the building.

Dabi paused at the door and cast one last glance at me, “another fair warning. The association will want to punish you in more ways than one for what happened last week. Be prepared for targeted retaliation, in addition to you losing your license. Some of our members have lost far worse for lesser offenses.” He winked before he disappeared through the door, leaving me in the room alone.

I was spiraling and reeling inside of my own mind as I considered everything that the cremation villain had said to me in the last few minutes.

Geten’s chair sat empty next to me. I assumed the magic man had taken him at some point when Dabi had been filling my head with total bullshit.

Could he be right though? If I lost my license, I didn’t know what I would do. Aizawa would probably offer to help me find a job, as would Shouto and Katsuki, but I didn’t want to be a burden to them anymore. I wanted to be self-sufficient.

I wanted to be able to save myself.

And was the hero association as corrupted as he had led on? Dabi was a villain, and one with an agenda at that. With that single fact in mind, I shouldn’t believe a single thing that he had to say.

So why did I feel so conflicted? Why did a small part of me think that he could actually be onto something?

I glanced down at the cool piece of metal that now rested on my chest. A deep blue, teardrop-shaped, stone sat there, sparkling under the low light above me. I scoffed at it as I tore my gaze away from its beauty and tried pulling on my restraints again. My right arm snapped free from the loose knot that Dabi had retied when he had released my left arm. I rubbed at my wrists and pulled at the small, silver cuffs that still hung around them. I could feel my quirk moving under my skin, but due to whatever power these cuffs held, I couldn’t release it. I searched for a mechanism, or keyhole, to open them, and groaned when I didn’t find one.

Ignoring the cuffs, for now, I stood on wobbly legs and walked over to my bag, which had just been tossed on the ground near a dark puddle. After lifting it onto my shoulder, I left the warehouse without a second thought. The villains had cleaned the place out so I knew that searching it for clues wouldn’t be helpful. As I left the warehouse, the dark sky greeted me again, as did a small group of heroes. I nearly ran into them as they stood right outside, all huddled together while going over their plan one last time before entering the warehouse.

“Y/N?” Shouto’s calm voice asked from somewhere in the group. Multiple heads turned quickly to look at me.

I waved casually at them from where I stood with the doors to the warehouse still partially propped open next to me.

“What’s up?” I asked as I nonchalantly hopped off the steps to the warehouse and landed next to them.

“Are there no villains in the there?” Aiko asked from where she stood next to Shouto. I let my gaze roam over my friend. His hair was pulled back, the way that I liked it, and he was dressed in all black instead of his normal hero uniform. When I glanced around at the group, I was surprised to find that they were all dressed in black.

“If there were, you guys would have been toast if I had been one of them, what the hell are you doing?”

“We came to save your ass, again,” a growl emitted from deep within the group.

I smirked at the familiar sound, “is that Kat?” The blonde's angry face came into view a moment later. “I’m guessing this isn’t a sanctioned mission since you’re all in streetwear,” I pointed to his black turtleneck, and he scowled. “What? The hero association didn’t want to become involved in my rescue?”

“They wanted us to wait until daylight,” Shouto commented as he took a step closer to me. His pine scent washed over me as he pulled me into a tight hug. My breath rushed out of me as he squeezed me. “I’m happy you’re okay,” he whispered before he pulled away.

“Same to you, Sho,” I gave him a tight smile before a light smack on the head from Katsuki made me grimace.

“Fucking moron,” he grumbled before he too gave me a small hug, “you’re supposed to be recuperating, why are you here?”

My mind went blank.

What was I supposed to say? That Dabi had offered me a position in his group, that he thought the hero association was the enemy and that I’d be their next target? I’d lose my license for sure if that got out.

“Just going for a midnight stroll,” I shrugged and both Shouto and Katsuki gave me a look that screamed that they didn’t believe me in the slightest. “I’m exhausted, can I just talk to you later about it?” I asked quietly so that the rest of the group didn’t hear. I would need their help getting the silver cuffs off anyway.

They both frowned, but Shouto nodded. “We should get you home,” he sighed as he turned back to the rest of the group. “We can go back and debrief Endeavor, Bakugou, make sure she gets back okay.”

Katsuki scowled at him, “I was going to do that without you telling me, Icy-Hot. Don’t tell me what to do.” He reached out and grabbed my arm roughly. He tugged me behind him as we headed towards the nearest train station.

I waved back to Shouto, who gave me a small smile in return.

“It was the League of Villains again, wasn’t it?” Katsuki asked a few minutes into our walk, and I sent him a tired look.

“Kat – “

“What do they want with you?” His eyes startled me as he stopped walking and grasped my hand again, effectively stopping me in my tracks as well, to turn me to face him.

The characteristic fire that normally blazed in them was gone. Now they were wild. Wild with worry, and concern, for my well-being.

“I – “

“I won’t say anything to Icy-Hot or Endeavor, the agency doesn’t need to know, just like last time. You can trust me,” his deep voice was pleading, begging me to open up. “You keep disappearing and getting into dangerous situations, one of these times I might not be able to ask if I can help, so please, if I can – “

“It was them,” I swallowed hard as I gazed up into his worry-lined face.

His jaw clenched at my admission.

“They want me to join them,” I sighed as I looked away from him. “I can’t say anything to the agency, especially not now with my license on the line. After all of this, we’ll go after them, but for now, I’ll just need to avoid running into them again.”

“We’ll keep them away from you then,” he said in a low voice as he squeezed the hand that he still held in his warm grasp.

I smiled up at him as we started walking again.

A flash of movement at the top of a building across the street caught my attention as we settled into a brisk walking pace, making my smile falter briefly.

I could have sworn that a pair of glowing, cerulean eyes starred back at me, but when I blinked, they disappeared.

Whether it was my imagination or not, I had a feeling that staying away from them wasn’t going to be an easy task.

Chapter Text

Dabi pulled his hood up tighter around his face as he gazed down into the city around him. He watched as people mingled about, taking their dogs for walks, talking on their phones while they traveled to their next destination, and specifically focused on the people entering the apartment building across from his perch.

A familiar head of white and red hair caught his attention as he shivered against the brisk, winter air. He blew small, blue flames into his hands and rubbed them together as he watched Shouto briefly speak with the doorman of the complex before he entered the building. As if on cue, he saw movement in her apartment below him.

It hadn’t been difficult to find out where she lived. She hadn’t been very careful the night before and had basically led him here. Not that he would have needed to follow her anyway, he could’ve found the information easily enough by hacking into the hero association’s database.

She moved throughout her apartment, pacing and talking on her phone, as she rubbed at her eyes and shook her head frustratedly. Dabi smirked at her disheveled appearance and watched as she set her phone down and seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief.

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“You broke out of the hospital?!” Aizawa's voice rang out of my cellphone’s speakers, loud enough that it almost felt like he was actually in my apartment with me.

“Calm down – “

I heard a small intake of breath, “Calm down?! Are you serious right now? The doctor said – “

“I don’t care what he had to say, I decide what I do, not him,” I bit out as I paced back and forth in my kitchen.

Socks watched me from his bed near the window. His black and white head followed my every move as Aizawa tried to chew me out.

It was late afternoon, but I hadn’t had the best night's sleep, understandably so - since I didn’t get back to my place until sunrise and Katsuki had taken an eternity to get the silver cuffs off of my wrists. I had woken up several hours earlier to dozens of missed phone calls and panicked text messages from Aizawa and Keigo, but I had successfully gotten away with not answering them by feigning that I was still asleep until I accidentally accepted Aizawa’s most recent phone call while I had been scrolling through my phone.

I rubbed my eyes as I listened to his response, “you’re still not healthy enough to be at home by yourself.”

“Then I’ll ask someone to stay with me. I just couldn’t stay there any longer, Aizawa.” 

“Keigo is furious – “

“Let him be furious then. I’ll see you at the hearing on Thursday,” I breathed out before I tapped the ‘end call’ button and set my phone to ‘do not disturb’ before setting it down on the kitchen counter.

A quiet knock at my door distracted me from my moping.

“Shouto?” Surprised lined my words as I gazed out at the half and half hero who stood on my welcome mat.

“Hey, I brought you food,” he muttered as he held out a take-out bag.

I glanced at the package and then back at him, “did you bring enough for two people?”

His cheeks grew pink as he smirked, “of course I did.”

“Then get your ass in here,” I opened my door all the way and waved him into the apartment.

The door clicked shut behind us as we walked into my kitchen. 

“I feel like I’m having dejavu right now,” I commented as I pulled out some utensils and cups of water for us. Shouto watched me from his seat at the counter and smirked.

“If you want things to end like last time then we can try to work towards that.”

I gave him a sarcastic smile as I passed him his chopsticks and water, “I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole, my friend.”

He shrugged, “figured I’d try, just in case you changed your mind.”

“So what’s with the random visit?” I asked as I pushed my food around in the plastic take-out bowl that Shouto had handed me.

“Can’t I just be worried about your well-being?” He asked as he pushed some of his longer pieces of hair out of his eyes to meet my gaze.

I scoffed, “no one bullied you into this?”

Shouto visibly flinched, “well –“

“I knew it,” I chuckled darkly as I shook my head and glanced out of the large pane windows in my living room. “Keigo?”

“And others,” he sighed. “We’re all just worried about you.”

“Should I assume that I’m being monitored then?” My thoughts shot back to Dabi’s words in the warehouse and my eyes instinctively flickered down to my left forearm where the cut in my arm had started to scab over. I hadn’t had the chance to really ask how they had found me at the warehouse, but part of me already knew, and the other part of me didn’t know how I would react if it was actually confirmed.

Shouto’s heterochromia eyes looked sullen, “you should probably expect more visitors than normal.”

“What do they think is going to happen? I’m not just going to miraculously drop dead, I feel fine.”

“I think it also has something to do with you leaving the hospital and then turning up at an abandoned warehouse that has been connected to various known villains.”

I arched an eyebrow at him, “do you think I’m going to change sides, Shouto?”

He shook his head and gave me an exasperated look, “of course not. But orders are orders, and I don’t mind hanging out with you so I won’t complain.”

I felt my mouth quirk up at the slightly panicked look on his face, “relax, Sho.”

He sat up straighter in his chair and went back to eating. I felt my gaze shift towards the windows again as I sank back into the dark thoughts that had rolled through my mind earlier. An eerie feeling fell over me as my eyes flitted over the building across from mine.

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My bare feet quietly traveled over the cold linoleum in my hallway hours later as I went to grab a drink from the kitchen.

I couldn’t sleep and I had run out of things on my phone to waste time on, so I caved into my needs and had crept out of my warm sheets to venture into the dark depths of my apartment.

Shouto’s sleeping figure was spread out on my couch, so I made an effort to be extra quiet as I filled a glass with water from my fridge. He had nearly begged me to let him stay over earlier in the night with the excuse that he didn’t want to have to waste the time coming back the next morning. I had seen through his lame excuse but had caved anyway, he was difficult to say no to.

After acquiring my beverage, I tiptoed over to the snoozing hero. The moonlight that streamed through the windows next to him highlighted his cheekbones and elegant nose, as well as the raised edges of the scar over his left eye. His chest rose slowly, and the sound of his breath was the only noise in the room, besides the random sounds from the city below. I noticed that his arms were slightly wrapped around him as he cradled the thin blanket that I had given him earlier. I rolled my eyes at myself as I went to grab him a larger, warmer blanket and held my breath as I laid it over him gently. He stirred as he adjusted to the heavier blanket, but he didn’t wake.

I smiled to myself as I watched my friend. He had been there for me through everything, just like Katsuki. I didn’t know what I did to gain such devoted friends and coworkers, and I wasn’t sure if I deserved them.

Could I leave them behind if I joined Dabi? Could I look them in the eyes and betray them?

My fingers trailed over his forehead to push some of his hair out of his face, my hand came to an abrupt stop as Shouto’s eyes opened briefly.

“Y/N? What’s wrong?” His voice was deep and groggy with sleep, and I felt my core quake in response.

I pinched my own arm to punish myself for the R-rated thoughts that had just traveled through my mind. “There was a bug, I got it. Go back to sleep, Sho.” I whispered back to him, and in his near unconscious state, he just nodded and fell back asleep.  I shook my head when I noticed that I had been staring a little too long at the beautiful man on my couch and I quickly grabbed my glass, intent on escaping as quickly as possible to convince myself that I wasn’t a total creep. As I began to turn, I saw a flicker of movement at the window.

My eyes widened as I recognized the silhouette on my balcony, I’d recognize that pale, unruly hair anywhere. He raised one scarred hand and pointed up before his hands lit up and he silently shot upwards into the sky.

My heartbeat rapidly against my chest and I nearly dropped the glass in my hand out of sheer shock.

How had he found me? What did he want now?

I hastily shoved my feet into a pair of shoes and swung a coat onto my shoulders before I quietly opened my door and slowly closed it behind me. I paused for a moment to see if Shouto had woken up, when no additional sounds emitted from the apartment I sighed and started my journey to the roof.

A cold gust of wind greeted me as I opened the door at the top of the stairs minutes later. My eyes quickly surveyed the roof and found a figure sitting on the ledge overlooking the city.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your late visit?” I attempted to make my voice as confident as possible, but it broke as I shivered against the cold and against the nerves that were lighting my body on fire.

Bright, cerulean eyes flickered to me with a hint of amusement before they rested back on the city.

“Just checking in with our most promising prospect.”

I rested my forearms on the wall that surrounded the roof and kept at least five feet between us before I responded, “Most promising? That’s pitiful for you then. You must not have many suckers joining you these days.”

“Have you been practicing with your quirk?” His voice was hard as he gave me a sidelong look.

“I’ve been a bit preoccupied. I also don’t have the clearance to do much when my license has been suspended.”

“Practice with Endeavors masterpiece then. Make him do something other than warm your couch or bed.”

Was that a hint of bitterness that I heard in his voice? I glanced at him curiously, but his face didn’t give anything away. I must have imagined it.

“He won’t help me practice. I’m supposed to be resting.”

Dabi scoffed, “how pathetic.”

I cocked my head at him, “is it really pathetic that he wants to keep me safe?”

He brought one of his legs up to his chest and hugged it against him as his other leg dangled over the city streets below. “Maybe I did make a mistake with inviting you to the team if you enjoy being coddled.”

It was my turn to scoff as I resisted shoving him off the ledge, “I don’t need to be coddled, Dabi. You of all people should know that since I talked to you about it outside of Gym Gamma. But I’m also not going to force him to go against his orders.”

He tilted his head towards me and I felt my heart quicken as those deep blue eyes settled on my own again. They were wild and fierce, and they made me want to run and hide. “What is it that you need then, Y/N?”

The sound of my name rolling over his tongue made little butterflies ignite in my stomach. I huffed as I quickly repressed those feelings. “What the hell kind of question is that? I need you and your cronies to leave me alone, that’s what I need.”

“Is that really what you want?”

“Yes!” I nearly shouted out as I pushed off the wall and stood closer to him. “My life is complicated enough, I don’t need you following me around. The heroes are already watching me because they don’t trust me. I need you to leave and never bother me again.”

He shifted his body as he swung his dangling leg back to safety and he dropped to the ground in front of me. His nose nearly brushed mine as he leaned down to get to my level.  felt my breath catch as his scent blew past me. His eyes glinted dangerously as they drifted down to glance at my lips.

His hand reached up and his own breath caught as he trailed his rough thumb across my chin, pausing at my lips.

Wild thoughts traveled through my brain. Every nerve in my body was ignited. I wanted to step back. I wanted to swat his hand away and demand that he never lay another finger on me. Panic and anger settled in my gut and I opened my mouth wider to tell him off, but I paused before any words could leave my lips.

The look in his eyes had stopped me.

Curiosity, longing, desire – all flooded across his face as he gazed down at me; and while I wanted to find some negative feeling or emotion from him to make me push him away, I didn’t find one. I was left floored by the idea that Dabi could even look at someone with anything other than disdain and annoyance.

While his thumb remained on my lip, lightly tracing its edges, his other fingers lowered and paused under my chin to tilt my face up towards him.

The negative thoughts and feelings that I had felt earlier dispersed and were instead replaced by yearning and the need to feel another human’s touch again.

Any human’s touch at that.

Every hot touch against my skin sent shivers up my spine, and he was barely grazing me.

Dabi blinked and seemed to realize what he was doing. His face quickly shifted into his normal blank, bored expression as his hand dropped.

The fire in my veins was extinguished partially, but the need to be touched still rested under my skin as he kept his eyes on me.

“Was there a certain reason that you came by tonight?” I gasped out as I tried to control my breathing again.

One of his scarred hands disappeared into his jacket for a moment, and when it reappeared again, it held a thick folder.

He held it out to me, “I wanted you to see these before you made your final decision.”

I took the folder and opened it. My eyes traveled over the many news articles and files that were piled into it, “and these are?”

“More proof as to why you can’t trust the people that you work for.”

“But I’ll ask again, are you and your group any better? You haven’t given me any reason to trust you as of yet.”

His eyebrows pinched together out of irritation, “just look at the files, make your own conclusions. Meet me at the cemetery near UA tomorrow at midnight, I’ll show you something there that will convince you.”

 Before I could argue, he hoisted himself up onto the ledge and glanced back at me.

“Yes?” I asked as I paged through some of the papers in front of me.

“Why didn’t you push me away earlier?”

My jaw dropped slightly as I looked up into his face. I shut it quickly and gave him a small smirk, “I got caught up in the moment. It has been a hot minute since someone touched me like that.”

His ruined mouth quirked up at the thought, “you and I could have so much fun together, Y/N,” he purred right before he jumped and plummeted towards the pavement below.

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I tapped my sneakers against the gate in front of me as I waited for the cremation villain the next night. I had successfully escaped my apartment again without alerting Katsuki, who had relieved Shouto of his duties a few hours earlier. If everything had gone as I planned, he would hopefully still be sleeping on my couch upon my return.

My previous stealth training was starting to come in handy.

I was nervous about the tracker in my arm though and I glanced at it nervously as I paced on the sidewalk. Whoever was monitoring me would be able to tell that I left. They would be able to find me if they wanted to.

“Put this on,” a gruff voice spoke from behind me and I nearly jumped.

When I turned, I caught a small bracelet as it sailed through the air towards my face, “nice throw,” I scoffed as I studied the new trinket in my open hand.

Dabi rolled his eyes as he neared me. His heat enveloped me as he paused beside me and my shivering stopped. “It’ll block the signal from the tracker while you’re wearing it. Try to not use it too much though otherwise, you’ll raise suspicion.”

“What will they see if they try to locate me?” I asked as I secured the device over the wound on my left arm.

He shrugged, “they don’t pay me the big bucks to know how it works. I just know that it does.”

“That’s comforting,” I grumbled as I pulled my sleeve back down to cover my exposed skin. “How do you have all of these high-tech instruments anyways?” I motioned to the necklace that still dangled around my neck.

“You would be surprised how many people are on our side now. Previous support students, heroes, you name it, we’ve got them.”

We stood in silence for a moment, and I glanced around nervously. “I’m assuming you brought me here for something, other than to raise suspicion if we’re seen.”

“No, I just brought you here because I like to hang out around dead people,” he gave me a sideways glare as his hand reached out and grasped the thick lock on the gate in front of us.

I shrugged, “I honestly wouldn’t be surprised.”

His lips quirked up as the metal in his hand began to turn red hot. A tiny hissing noise emitted from the gate as it began to melt away and the gate squeaked as its hinges moved against one another, slowly opening on its own as Dabi and I watched.

“Boo,” He muttered quietly as he pushed it farther open and entered the cemetery.

I neared the edge, but I didn't follow him.

His eyes sparkled mischievously as he glanced back at me, “you scared?”

“Absolutely not,” I stuttered out as I crossed my arms across my chest casually, “Was there a specific reason why we needed to come here so late though?”

“Did you want someone to recognize you? UA is right down the road, and your companion,” he motioned to himself, “isn’t exactly difficult to recognize.”

“Touché,” I grumbled as I walked quickly past him and into the darkness.

A moment later, his hand illuminated a soft, blue flame to light the way, and I silently thanked him for it.

I’m not usually very bothered by cemeteries, but the time of day and the unusual silence that surrounds us puts me on edge. I feet my teeth grind together as we walk further. To pass the time, I let my eyes travel over some of the names and dates that I could see as we walked. I didn't recognize any of them, unsurprisingly, but I continued to look all the same out of curiosity.

A few minutes later, my feet came to an abrupt stop as my eyes passed over yet another stone.

“What is this?” I whispered and Dabi stopped beside me.

He remained silent as I glared down at the name and dates, but I could feel his eyes on my face.

I don’t know my parents’ first names, just our shared last name, L/N. I don’t know of any relatives that I might have either, and with the size of the city, it wouldn’t be unheard of to share the same name with hundreds of people, but my breath still catches as I read the dates. The woman died almost exactly a year after I was born, which was when my parents supposedly died, that much I knew.

“What is this place? What is this?” I demanded as I turned on Dabi, my voice cracked as a new kind of raw, unyielding emotion took over me “you know something, don’t you?”      

“This cemetery is reserved for heroes who died in disgrace,” he said quietly as he continued to monitor my reaction.

“And this?” I asked as I pointed at the name in front of me, “Is that who I think it is?”

He nodded, “you would have known that though if you had read through the data that I gave you yesterday.”

My jaw clenched, but my eyes didn't move from the stone, “summarize it for me then, will you?”

“They killed your mother because she fell in love with your father and had you.”

My voice sounded strained as I fought the angry, hot tears that wanted to fall from my eyes, “who is my dad?

I knew they were dead. I’ve never known them; I can’t remember their faces or any other details about them, but just hearing about her death, both of their demises - broke my heart all over again. I didn’t want to have to mourn for the people that I never knew, but now I had to.

“Your father was a very private man; he didn’t let his information get out there. We suspect that he was against the hero commission though.”

“He was a villain?” I rubbed my finger over my mother's gravestone as I waited for his response.

“Yes.”

And who are they? Who planned all of this?” I felt my heart clench because I already knew what he was about to say.

“You know the answer to that,” his voice was quiet as he stepped closer to me. I saw him hold a hand out, but it stopped as it neared me.

He wanted to comfort me, but he didn't know how to. His hand dropped back down to his side without touching me.

“Tell me everything.”

His eyes darted to mine as I finally turned to face him. I didn't brush away the tears as they fell down my face, as they were the evidence of my anger, of my new motivator.

“Everything? There won’t be any going back.”

“Everything, Dabi. Every single atrocity that they have committed. I want to know it.”

Dabi sighed as leaned up against a stone nearby, “you better settle in then, we’re going to be here for a while.”

--------------- -------------------

Endeavor paced across the room as everyone watched.

The room that they chose for Y’N’s hearing was cold and unwelcoming. A few stoic, uninterested men sat at the front of the room with a long table separating them from the rest of the people attending the hearing.

Bakugou swore at his phone next to Shouto, jolting him out of his observation of the room around them.

“Where the hell is she? The hearing starts in 5 minutes,” he pushed a frustrated hand through his blonde hair.

Shouto could feel the anger and worry ebbing off of the explosion hero in droves. He could empathize with him. Y/N disappeared on his watch, and now, no one could locate her.

“She’ll turn up,” Shouto said calmly to the hero in hopes that it would help him relax a little, even though own nerves were on edge as well.

Bakugou scoffed and sent him an annoyed look before he went back to swiping across his phone, calling her over and over again.

Everyone was on edge.

Aizawa and Hawks sat across the room from them, talking quietly and checking their own cellular devices as they waited. Shouto watched as Hawks nervously glanced at the door behind them, like she would walk in at any moment, almost like it wasn’t like her to show up late.

Shouto knew better. He was her partner for the last year and there wasn’t a day where he didn’t spend at least a few minutes waiting for her. She was rarely on time, even when it counted, but at least she was consistent. That’s why Shouto wouldn't allow himself to freak out, like everyone else, until a few minutes after her scheduled hearing time had come and gone.

The time for her appointment arrived, but she still didn't show up.

Shouto began to monitor his watch closer as more minutes went by, but his heart didn't begin to hammer until she was at least 5 minutes late.

She should have been here by now.

He matched Bakugou as he pulled out his phone to start calling her. Right as he was about to dial, the doors to the room slammed open, causing a person near the back to emit a high-pitched shriek of surprise.

“Waiting for me? Sorry, I’m late,” she smiled at the group of men at the front of the room as she sauntered toward them. She had a dull look in her eyes, almost like her mind was elsewhere as she stopped in the space between the chairs with the observers, like Shouto, and the table that the commission members sat at. No one uttered a word as she stared at the men. “Don’t hold off on my account, let’s start this hearing.”

“Y/N!” Hawk’s whisper yelled at the young woman to chastise her, but she didn't turn, she refused to even flinch. She acted as if it was just her and the hero commission in the room, everyone else was invisible.

“Where have you been?” The man in the center asked as he turned through some paper in front of him.

“Does that matter?” Her voice was cold and unrecognizable, and it sent an uncomfortable feeling through Shouto.

“People have been looking for you –“

“Shocked that I’m able to hide so well?” Her eyes glinted dangerously as she finally shifted to glare at Endeavor. The flame hero flinched slightly as her dark gaze landed on him. She smirked like they shared some kind of secret before she turned back.

“How about you just tell me what you’ve already decided, we don’t need to waste any more of each other’s time,” she picked at her fingernails casually like this meeting was beneath her.

Almost as if their decision didn't matter to her.

Mr. Tanaka, the man leading the meeting, squinted at her over his thin glasses. When she met his gaze with hard eyes, he sighed.

“Your license will be suspended indefinitely.” 

“Perfect,” she smiled bitterly as she pulled her license out of her pocket and then slammed it down on the table in front of them. A few of them winced, and she chuckled. Before anyone could object to their ruling, she turned on her heel and walked past the stunned onlookers without meeting anyone’s gaze, even though Shouto was trying desperately to get her to look at him.

Something was wrong.

The doors slammed again as they swung closed behind her, and still, no one spoke.

Shouto felt his feet move before his mind told them to stand. His hand grazed past the door that she just exited moments ago, and he waved off Endeavor, who stood behind him ready to come out and talk to her as well. 

“I’ve got this. You need to back off for now.”

He could see her retreating figure off in the distance after he entered the crowded hallway, “Y/N!” He shouted after her, but she didn't turn. “Move, please,” he pushed past other heroes and meeting attendees who needed to enter the room next. He even shoved a few less aware ones out of his way so that he could reach her before she exited the building.

Right as he thought that he was about to lose her in the crowd, a tight grip grasped his arm and pulled him into a tight corridor adjacent to the main hallway.

“Shouto,” her voice was hard as she released him. “You’re following me.”

He stood there, stunned for a moment before he collected himself. “What the hell was that about?” He demanded as he gazed down into her tired eyes.

“I thought I was fairly clear that I didn’t want to waste any time – “

“We could have appealed their decision, Y/N!” Shouto’s own voice was on the edge of being angry. “Now we can’t because you left.”

She waved her hand and sighed, “I didn’t need to appeal it, they’ve made up their minds.”

“What about the agency?”

“What about it? You have plenty of heroes who want to get in with the Todoroki’s, ask one of them.”

Shouto loosed a tight, frustrated breath, “you know we don’t want to have to do that.”

“Well, now it doesn’t matter much anymore, now does it? My license is gone,” she motioned to the empty badge on her hip to prove her point.

“Y/N –“

“What’s done is done, Sho. You’ve been a great help during my time at the agency, it wouldn’t be the same if you hadn’t been there to help me get accustomed to everything from the start. Thanks for that,” her hand reached up and rested on his cheek as she continued, “but I’m okay with this, and I need you to understand that.”

Shouto felt his heart clench, “I can’t do that – “

“I’m not coming back to the agency,” her words had a hint of finality to them, and it made Shouto begin to panic.

“But –“

“Leave me alone for a few days,” she sighed as she let her hand drop to her side, leaving Shouto’s face cold and open to the air in the room. “That goes for you too, Katsuki.”

Shouto’s eyes snapped to the corner from where they came from. Bakugous shoulders stiffened as he walked around the corner to face the young woman between them.

“Fuck that,” he nearly growled as he walked closer and stopped before her. “Quit this moping bullshit that you’re doing and get your ass back into that hearing room to appeal this stupid ass decision.”

Shouto watched as her face dropped even further, back into the mask that she had worn in the hearing room.

“No, I don’t think I will. I enjoy your tenacity though, Mr. Bakugou,” she bowed dramatically and giggled as Bakugou’s fists clenched.

“Stop, I know you don’t want this – “

“If I didn’t want it then I wouldn’t have allowed it to happen, darling. So let it go and leave me be.”

“Aizawa and Hawks are in there appealing for you right now,” Bakugous furious eyes held hers.

She shrugged, “they won’t get very far without the offending party in attendance.”

“Which is why you need to go back,” Shouto saw Bakugou’s jaw clench.

“God damn it, Y/N –“ Bakugou started but Shouto cut him off with a glare.

“Is there anything that we can do to convince you to go back?” Shouto asked calmly as he rested his hand on her shoulder to bring her attention back to him. “Anything. I,” he glanced at Bakugou who looked like he might try to break something and changed his wording, “we will do anything.”

She cocked her head at him as she considered his question, but her gaze quickly shifted behind him and she appeared to lose herself in her thoughts for a moment. When she looked back, her eyes were sad, “no, there is nothing that either of you can do.”

“Pro hero Shouto and Dynamight?” An excited voice asked from the main hallway behind the heroes, and they both looked over to greet the new voice.

A young woman with brown hair and bright, yellow eyes stood there with a notepad and a pen, “can I get your autograph, I’m a huge fan.”

Shouto felt Y/N stiffen next to him, but she soon relaxed after holding the woman's unique gaze for a few moments.

“You can go fu-“ Bakugou began but Shouto nudged him gently.

He walked past Y/N and took the pen from the fan, “who should we write it out to?”

After handing the notepad back to the fan, they both turned to find an empty corridor behind them. The sound of Bakugous fist connecting with the wall beside them echoed against the hard floor and walls, and Shouto felt his chest tighten again as he began the journey back to the hearing room to debrief his dad.

Chapter Text

“How did they take it?” Dabi crouched down and gave Socks a few head scratches as I organized the files that he had given me on the roof a day or so earlier.

“They seemed fairly perturbed,” I blandly commented back as my eyes caught one of the articles that he had mentioned in the cemetery, the story about the man that I had accidentally killed years earlier. Forms and documents taken from deep within the hero commissions data base were stapled to it and my jaw clenched as I reviewed them.

The man had been sent to test my abilities as the commission had suspected that I had inherited a quirk similar to my moms, who could manipulate the earth and other natural features, they had been wrong. My dad’s quirk made it so that he could control blood, similar to a teacher at UA according to Dabi. Add the two of them together, and a mutation, and my atom manipulating quirk was the result.

They had traumatized a young girl; they had thrown her into the arms of a few lowly criminals to see what she would do – and she had killed one of them. I could still see his blood on my fingers when I really focused on it, his screams and begging echoed through my skull.

“Come back to the present,” Dabi muttered as he studied me from his crouched position. Socks rubbed his face up against his knees as I glanced down at him. His soft white hair was tussled and messy, like usual, but his eyebrows were pinched together slightly, as if he was actually concerned or worried about me.

We had grown somewhat closer in the last 12 hours, and I had a new level of respect and appreciation for him; spending an entire night in a cemetery with someone will do that to you. 

I gave him a weak smile, “sorry.”

“We can’t have you mentally breaking before you can become useful for us,” he quipped at me as he pushed off his knees and stood up tall again.

“Oh, shut it,” I shoved the article and documents back into the folder before I placed it under some cookbooks in my kitchen. If anyone came in trying to find anything, it would take them a bit to find them there.

“So,” Dabi walked up beside me and bumped me with his shoulder, “are you going to give me an answer anytime soon?”

“I… I’m not sure yet,” I admitted quietly and kept my gaze down, I was too nervous to look him in the eye, I didn’t want to see the disappointment there. The mask I had displayed at the hearing earlier today had eaten away at me, leaving me feeling more emotionally drained and weak than ever. It seemed like I might be disappointing everyone in my life at the moment. I had ignored the dozens of phone calls and texts from Keigo and Aizawa again, as well as the pleading texts from Shouto and the angry voicemails from Katsuki. The only messages that I really considered responding to were a worried text from Mia, and a voicemail from Endeavor asking me to meet him in his office the next day.

 I felt Dabi loose a breath, “you’re starting to drive me a little crazy, ya know? What more do I need to show you?”

“You don’t need to show me anything,” I turned quickly, and his eyes widened, surprised by my sudden movement. “Just let me figure this shit out, please.”

“What are you caught on? What’s giving you second thoughts? Leaving behind my brother or that other asshole? Are you worried about your supposed family? What is it?” His eyes narrowed as he listed things off.

“All of it,” I sighed, “my mind is racing. I keep thinking about all of my options. What will happen if I do this or that, how the future could turn out, everything Dabi!”

“Narrow your focus then.”

“That’s easier said than done,” I crossed my arms across my chest as I turned my head to tear my watering eyes from his.   

His hand snapped out and gripped my chin, effectively forcing me to meet his eyes again. The darks of his eyes swirled wildly with frustration and annoyance, but they widened slightly as a soft, surprised yelp emitted from my lips with the movement of my head.

His lips parted to say something, but he must have thought better of it, as he allowed his mouth to close. I felt his grip on my chin heat up as his eyes traveled over my face.

“Do you know what I like about you?” He whispered and I shook my head, too stunned by his touch to respond verbally.

Before I could stop him or say anything else, his hot lips landed on mine in a quick, fiery kiss that ended abruptly as my fist connected with the side of his face.

I immediately brought my hand back to apologize, but stepped back, stunned as I noticed that – instead of being enraged or upset by the hit - he was laughing. His bright white teeth flashed as he held his face in his hand, blood seeped between his fingers, but his laughter didn’t cease.

“You’re fucking nuts,” I touched my lips as I continued to watch him.

“I like that I never know how you’re going to react, I can’t predict anything that you do, you keep me on my toes,” he admitted, as if I was still asking or wondering about his previous question. I was still too stunned by the actions that followed to worry about what he liked about me.

His hand continued to apply pressure on his face as we gazed at each other. When a single drop of blood dripped over his hand and splashed onto my kitchen floor, I jumped into action.

“Holy shit, I’m sorry!” I exclaimed as I grabbed a dark towel from one of my kitchen cabinets and handed it to him. He switched hands to clean off his already reddened and dripping hand to prevent making more of a mess, and I wanted to hug him for it. My heart fluttered excitedly at the thought. Just an innocent hug, right? “Come to the bathroom,” I motioned for him to follow me, which he did soundlessly and without any complaints.

“You know, this is kind of my fault, right? I was the one who kissed you,” He chuckled darkly as I carefully pressed a sterile gauze over the silver staple that had been damaged by my startled right hook.

“Don’t talk, you’ll keep moving it,” I mumbled quietly. “Sit on the toilet so I don’t have to stand on my tip toes and keep pressure on the gauze.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” he muttered, but he did as I asked anyways and sat down.

I felt his heavy gaze on me as I bent down to grab more supplies.

“Nice ass.”

“I said no talking,” I sent him a small glare over my shoulder, causing a tiny smirk to lift at the corner of his lips.

I drenched another piece of gauze with alcohol and motioned for him to take the other gauze off. “This might hurt,” I mentioned before I started to clean the new wound.

He winced as I cleaned his healthy skin but didn’t appear to feel it when I cleaned the scarred, already damaged tissue.

“Do the scars hurt?” I asked as I continued cleaning.

“Oh, can I talk now?” His eyes widened innocently, and I swatted him gently on the shoulder, causing him to choke on a small laugh.

His blue eyes looked up at me as he responded, “it doesn’t hurt that much anymore, no. The process of it scarring did, but once the damaged skin heals over it doesn’t bother me as much.”

“Just the new scars then? They are still traveling to your healthy skin, right?”

He nodded as I grabbed a new staple to replace the ruined one. I had purchased medical staples a while back to fix one of my own injuries. It had ended up infected so I had never done the procedure on myself again, but I had learned some new techniques since then and felt mostly confident that I wouldn’t kill Dabi with a staph infection or anything.

“As long as I use my quirk and push myself past my limits, I’ll keep scarring.”

“Then why push yourself that hard? Why not choose a baseline and stick with it?”

His eyes flickered with annoyance at the question, “that’s like asking a body builder why they keep damaging their knees or joints by increasing their weight and lifting heavier. It’s all about reaching new heights, getting stronger and having more power.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize that you were a power lifter now.”

Dabi growled in response, but I saw a playful glint to his eyes as he watched me fiddle with the new staple.

“Thanks for distracting me earlier,” I said quietly as I inserted the new staple.

He winced and his cerulean eyes widened, but I didn’t know if it was caused by the pain of his new jewelry, or if he was surprised that I had seen through his motives.

“I appreciate you stepping in and not allowing me to drive myself insane.” I stepped back and took a look at my handiwork, “done.”

Dabi kept his gaze on me as I studied his face. I allowed myself to lean up against the wall behind me to take in the full situation in front of me. I started to laugh lightly, and he gave me a confused look. If anyone had told me that the famous cremation villain, who was thought to probably be dead for the longest time, would be bleeding in my bathroom and sitting on my toilet one day, I would have admitted them into a mental hospital.

“This is crazy, how downhill my life has gone in just the span of a few weeks,” I admitted after I stopped laughing.

“Ignorance is bliss,” Dabi shrugged, “but it wouldn’t change the truth, even if you didn’t know about it.”

“True,” I agreed as I met his eyes again.

He was contemplative as he held my gaze, and before I could ask him what he was thinking about, he stood and crossed the bathroom in a split second. His hot hands rested on each side of my neck, forcing me to keep looking at him again. His thumbs rubbed soothingly into my chin.

“You’re going to keep learning things about the commission. You’ll learn things about your friends, about your family, everyone, that you won’t want to hear, but you’ll need to hear it if we’re going to get anywhere. Can you prepare yourself for that? Can you accept the fact that you’ll need to keep adapting?”

My eyes darted between the blue hue of his eyes and the softness of his top lip.

“As long as I have a support system, something that will keep me from falling over the edge, I think I’ll be able to handle anything,” I whispered back.

“Just say the word, and I’ll be there.”

“Are you mentally stable enough to promise something like that?” I quipped at him with a slight smile.

“I guess we’ll have to test that out,” he breathed out before he dipped his head down farther and his lips were on mine again.

This time, I didn’t punch him or push him away.

I wove my thumbs into his belt loops and pulled him tighter to me, deepening the kiss that he started.

He towered over me as his lips melded to mine. My heart began to hammer against my chest, and I felt my cheeks flush as the kiss continued.

It felt so wrong – yet right at the same time.

Here I was, kissing Shouto’s older brother, Endeavors eldest son, and all I could think about was the smokey taste that flooded my mouth, lighting my senses on fire as his heat enveloped me.

The roughness of his bottom lip didn’t bother me, I felt myself propping my lips open farther, inviting him to deepen the kiss even further if he so desired to. He smirked against me before his tongue dipped into my mouth, causing additional butterflies to erupt in my stomach.

The coolness of the bathroom wall behind grounded me as the front of my body continued to heat up against his. I felt a small trickle of sweat travel down the base of my neck as his hands slowly began to travel into my hair and to my hips, pulling me to him as our lips stayed connected. A gasp drew from my lips as he abruptly dropped both hands to my legs and hoisted me up. I encircled my legs around his hips as his mouth traveled down to the nape of my neck, suckling at different spots until he found the sensitive area that made me groan lightly.

Dabi’s white locks felt soft between my fingers. I tugged at his roots gently as he bit my earlobe and grazed his teeth across my already abused neck, causing shivers to travel across my temperature confused body, he moaned in response to the pulling and I felt his lips smile against my neck.

He attached his lips to mine again as he held onto the backs of my legs to carry me to the counter next to us. I nearly jumped as he placed me down onto the ice-cold granite.

“You don’t like the cold, doll face?” His tone was joking, but there was a serious note to his gaze as he pulled back to survey me. I shivered again as he grazed his thumb over an exposed area of my hip.

“The cold doesn’t bother me; I just need to get used to it.”

He cocked his head slightly as his hand drifted down, down towards the region of my body that was throbbing, desperate to be touched. He trailed a blazing finger along the inside of my thigh, his eyes followed his finger before he glanced back up at me. His pupils were blown wide, and his gaze darkened as my breathing hitched with his teasing. He knew what I wanted, the sly smile on his face told me so.

“How do you feel about fire then? Hot, scalding, all encompassing, fire.”

I was on fire, my insides blazed with need as his finger continued to trail up and down across the insides of my legs.

“Dabi,” I breathed out and he chuckled.

“Yes?”

“Please – “

“You haven’t answered my question,” he pulled his hands back and rested them on the counter on each side of me, caging me into him, but keeping himself from touching me further. His nose nearly brushed mine as he leaned in towards me.

“Which one?” I was embarrassed at how breathy and needy I sounded, but I allowed it to creep into my voice. I wanted him to know how much he affected me.

I wanted him.

My realistic, “hero” brain screamed at me to stop. Every rational part of me was demanding that I wake up and kick this dangerous villain out of my apartment.

But he was exciting, like a breath of fresh, yet smokey, air.

And I didn’t want to stop. Not anymore.

I could allow myself to give into my deepest, darkest desires every once in a while, and that’s what Dabi was. He should be off limits, I should never have even let him be alone with me, but I had allowed myself to trust him, to want him, and to need him.

“That’s a good point,” he smiled darkly at me as he watched me squeeze my thighs together, hoping for any kind of friction to handle the ever-growing desire in my core. “But for now, I just want to know about the fire, you can tell me whether you’ll agree to join us or not a different time.”

“Fire is unpredictable and dangerous.”

The neutral look on his face began to drop into a scowl as I spoke and he leaned back slightly to gain some distance from me, obviously not liking my answer.

 “Don’t go running away yet,” I demanded as I reached out to grip his shirt, giving it a small tug to bring him close to me again. “Fire is also dangerously beautiful and fragile. It destroys, yet it also can give rise to new, better things. It’s temperamental as it can go out if it’s smothered but with the right nourishment and care, it can grow into something remarkable. So yes, I like fire too, it doesn’t scare me.”

His eyes drifted across my face, “it’s okay to be scared, of fire, and of … other things.”

“Are you hinting that you think I should be scared of you? Because I’m not.” I arched an eyebrow at him.

“Not just of me, just of temperamental, unpredictable things.”

“Since when did our make out session turn into a philosophical chat?” I tugged on his shirt again and the careful look on his face shifted into a wide grin. I could tell his earlier apprehension had almost disappeared with my comment as his lips connected with mine again, reigniting the fire that was blazing in my gut.

His warm fingers trailed back over my legs and up towards my core, and my chest fluttered with excitement. I wanted his fingers on me, and in me.

A quiet knock sounded at the door to my apartment and his fingers paused. “Fucking hell,” he groaned out.

A deep sigh blew from my mouth as he pulled back, “just ignore it, they’ll leave.”

His face turned contemplative for a moment. “I want to keep going, believe me. But I also don’t want to set off any of the hero assholes who you call friends. We wouldn’t want anyone catching wind of us communicating, now, would we? Who knows what the hero commission would do then.” He smirked at the disappointed look on my face, “I’ll give you what you want someday, doll face.” I scowled at the cremation villain, who just chuckled, his blue eyes danced with desire and excitement as he gazed down at me. “Just keep your legs closed, yeah? I might have to murder someone if they try to share with me.”

“Dabi – “I scoffed, but another quiet knock interrupted me.

“You might want to get that,” he recommended as he left me sitting on the countertop, with my body still reeling and with a deep ache in my core. I didn’t miss the subtle shifting of his pants as he exited the bathroom, however, and the sight made a small, satisfied smile grow on my face.

I pulled on a large, comfy pair of sweatpants before I approached my front door. A quick glance over my shoulder showed that Dabi was in a rush to leave. He hoisted his large jacket over his shoulders quickly and sent me one last, fleeting glance before he pulled the doors to my balcony open. I saw the whiteness of his hair gleaming against the moonlight for a moment before his figure disappeared into the night.  

When I finally got around to opening my door, I was startled to find myself looking up into Tamaki’s blushing face.

“Tam?”

“Uh, hey.” He waved awkwardly. “I didn’t know if I should come by or not, but I heard about the hearing and how rough that was and how Todoroki and Bakugou couldn’t really get through to you so I just thought that I would …” He paused and sighed before he held out a bag, “I brought some dinner and dessert with me. Sushi and some of your other favorites.”

I felt my heart drop slightly, “if you’ve come to talk to me about the hearing and about an appeal – “

“That’s not what I’ve come to do, I swear. I just wanted to be here for you if you needed me to be, just like old times,” his voice shook slightly as he gazed down at me.

“Like old times?” I arched a brow at him, and his cheeks pinked further.

“I didn’t mean – “he squeaked out before I cut him off.

“I’m just messing with you,” I smiled as I stepped aside to invite him into the apartment.

I felt myself finally relax as he dropped the hearing subject and started to ask me about some of my old hobbies. He was trying to keep my mind off of work and hero activities, and I loved him for it. This was why I had always had a soft spot for him, he seemed to always know what I needed when I needed it, like he could interpret my feelings before I ever voiced them or came to terms with them.

We ended up finishing our dinner and watched one of our favorite movies, and when he left hours later, I felt as if a large weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

Not all heroes were bad.

The next morning, I stood awkwardly in front of my floor to ceiling mirror as I studied the outfit that I had picked out for the day. This would be the first time that I would be going into Endeavors agency in just normal, casual clothing, without my uniform in my duffle bag, and it felt so wrong.

I tugged at the black turtleneck that I had chosen, smoothing down some wrinkles before I shrugged at myself.

“There isn’t really any good outfit to get fired in, right?” My reflection gave me a sympathetic look before I sighed and exited my bedroom. I trailed a large suitcase behind me to help me transport the items in my office back to my apartment, there was no way I was going to take several, humiliating trips back and forth to retrieve my things.

One trip would be enough.

The sound of my empty suitcase rumbling against the cracks in the sidewalk followed me as I started my final walk to Endeavors agency, at least as an employed hero.

Endeavor hadn’t said anything about terminating my position, but the feeling in my gut told me what kind of conversation we were going to be having.

I received a few sympathetic glances from my co-workers as I traveled up to my office minutes later. If my attire wasn’t obvious, I was sure that the look on my face told them enough. I tossed my luggage into my office before I began the trek up to Endeavors office. Fortunately, no one stopped me as I walked. I allowed myself to observe the little things that I might have missed during my time at the agency, I wanted to soak it all in while I could.

The sound of my fist echoing against Endeavors office door jarred through me and made me sick to my stomach.

“Come in!”

I took a deep, cleansing breath before I entered.

“Ah, Y/N. Thanks for coming by,” his blue eyes darted across a few stacks of paper on his desk before they settled back on me. “Take a seat.”

 I nodded to him as I sat in front of him. My eyes drifted across some of the decorations that I had ignored during the previous times that I had been in his office, and I felt my face blanch as I recognized a familiar head of white hair and bright, cerulean eyes starring back at me from behind Endeavor.

“So, I’m sure you know why I’ve asked you to come by today,” he let out a sigh as he folded his hands on the desk in front of him.

“Yeah, it’s kind of obvious,” I stated as I met his casual demeanor. “But I’ll save you the paperwork and time and just put in my immediate resignation.”

“Resignation?” Endeavor’s face paled slightly, making the scar over his left eye stand out more against the rest of his face, “I wasn’t planning on firing you.”

My eyebrows drew together, “then what was this meeting for?”

“So, we could go over other things that you could do at the agency until we can get your license activated again.”

I felt my eye twitch, I didn’t want to do anything other than hero work. I’d want to jump off Tokyo’s highest skyscraper if I was stuck at a desk job 24/7. “I appreciate the thought, but I’m going to have to reject that proposal.”

“Y/N – “

“They took my license away because I decided to abandon my main objective and save your son instead,” I clenched my jaw and met his gaze. “Why would I want to appeal such a fickle license? Why would I want to continue to work for an agency who supports such an organization? I haven’t learned anything from this experience other than how the hero commission really can’t be depended on to save actual people; all they care about are their own self interests and profits. If I was put into that position again, I’d choose to save Shouto every time.”

“And I thank you for that, I really do. If you hadn’t been there to save Shouto … then I don’t know what would have happened.”

“He would have died, and you would be down two sons rather than just one,” I allowed the bite in my words to come through and Endeavors eyes hardened in response. Young Touya’s gaze bore into mine as I glanced behind Endeavor briefly. 

“You talk about him like you know him.”

My stomach dropped, “like I know Touya?”

Endeavor nodded, “did you ever find more evidence that he is still out there?”

My eyebrows pinched together, “No, but you have all of the evidence that you need to prove that he is still out there anyway. You’ve seen the reports, the blue fire -”

“You never ran into him? He never tried to convince you to join him and the other villains?”

I flinched.

He knew.

He had to know, why else would he be asking me such a direct question?

But I had never told him. I hadn’t told anyone except …

Katsuki.

Anger and raw betrayal swirled in my gut as I considered the fact that Katsuki had betrayed my trust. He had gone behind my back and told Endeavor about my run ins with the villains. He had told me that I could trust him, that he wouldn’t relay any of the information that I had given him, and that was why I had entrusted him with that information. If I had known, or suspected, that he would go behind my back to tell my secrets to Endeavor then I never would have considered talking to him about it. What else had he told him?

“That seems like a fairly specific question. But no, I’ve never spoken to Touya Todoroki.” I wasn’t totally lying, I had technically always talked to Dabi – not Touya, but the look on Endeavors face told me that he didn’t buy it.

 “I’ve received intel – “

“Then your intel has misguided you, plain and simple,” the chair beneath me fell backwards as I stood abruptly. My nerves crackled with pure rage as I met his cold gaze and my quirk stirred awake beneath my skin in response to my agitation. Images of the building, it’s electrical wiring, water pipes, support beams, all flashed through my mind as I lost some of the control that I had capped onto my powers. “Why are you trying to find him anyways? It’s too late to make amends with him – “

“We’re past making amends, Shouto and I have both agreed on that fact. The next steps are more … permanent. But that will stay between me and my family. I will involve my agency as needed, but as you stated earlier, you are no longer a part of that organization, so I don’t need to further involve you in that conversation.”

My jaw clenched as I glared down at the hell flame hero before me. He meant to kill Touya once he located him, and while I should have been okay with that, I wasn’t. My heart had a soft spot for the cremation villain, which had developed after hours of talking about the hero commission and of training. I saw myself in him, or at least how I could have ended up if Aizawa hadn’t taken me in, and no one was going to touch him if I had anything to say about it.

“If that is your prerogative sir, then I will leave you to it,” I bowed sarcastically before I turned, “I wish you luck with your future endeavors, Endeavor. I’m sure hunting and killing your eldest son will be hard, rewarding work.”

Endeavor remained silent as I left his office. I cast one last look at him over my shoulder as the large door to his office closed behind me, his blue eyes looked lost as he glanced back at the photo behind him, at the young boy that he had failed years earlier, and I felt an eerie satisfaction settle over me.

“You’re really leaving?’ A quiet voice asked from my office door as I carefully placed photographs and books into the suitcase that I had brought.

I gave Mia a small, sad smile before I turned back to the task at hand, “Yeah, off to bigger and better things.”

“Those bigger and better things won’t have me 20 feet down the hall from you though,” she pouted as she took a seat at my desk. She swiped her hands across the mahogany, wiping away a fine layer of dust that had accumulated while I had been gone.

I met her green eyes, “that’s true, why don’t you come with me?” I jokingly muttered and she smirked.

“Where are you even planning on going? Maybe we can still do our little coffee and lunch dates.” She smiled down at a picture of the two of us that we had taken a few weeks after I had gotten my job at the agency. “This was a fun day.”

“I just appreciate that you were as welcoming as you were, I don’t think I would have settled in so nicely if you hadn’t been such a bitch that day,” I choked on a laugh as she sent me a playful glare.

“You were a loner, I needed to get you out of your perfect, little bubble.” She tucked a small piece of her brown hair behind her ear. The daylight that streamed through the large bank of windows behind her illuminated the golds and hints of red that streaked across her natural waves.

“What did you call me again?” I tapped my forefinger against my chin as if I was deep in thought, “oh, yeah! A well dressed and manicured hermit.”

“I liked your shoes, and that’s how I found my current nail lady, she’s the best,” she laughed lightly as we both recalled the first day that we had met.

My laugh joined hers as I placed the photo into the suitcase, “I’ll miss you; you know?”

“You better, I don’t want to be the only one sulking for the next few weeks. We’ll be miserable together.”

“I probably won’t be able to find work for a while, so I promise I’ll meet up with you for coffee and lunch a few times until I do. We’ll work things out once I do get a job.”

“If you’re making promises to take her out for coffee then I’d like you to devote at least one Sunday a month to brunch,” Shouto’s calm voice sounded from the door where he was leaning up against the doorframe, barely leaning into the room as he watched us.

“Eavesdropping, are we?”

“He’s not the only one,” Katsuki’s voice sent little spikes of irritation down my spine, and I couldn’t help the way that I immediately glared as I turned to face him. I hadn’t been able to confront him about talking to Endeavor yet and my anger was hot and new.

“You can both leave, we’re having a chat about girly things. I’m also not in the best mindset to talk to either of you yet,” I waved them off before I turned back to packing my items.

“That’s harsh,” Shouto pushed off the doorframe and walked over to my suitcase. “You’re really packing everything up?”

“Yes, Shouto, that is what I’m doing.” At least it appeared that Endeavor hadn’t relayed the information that Katsuki had told him to Shouto, he appeared to still be calm and judgement free as he glanced sideways at me.

“Oooo I almost forgot; I have something to give you!” Mia exclaimed as she stood up quickly, her eyes danced excitedly, “don’t leave until I come back!”

“I’ll be here,” I promised as her small figure retreated past Katsuki and into the hall.

“You’re going to regret leaving,” Katsuki chided roughly from his spot near the door. He tucked his hands into his pockets as he leaned up against the wall.

I shrugged, “I might.”

“Then why not stay? Just let my dad reassign you briefly until we can – “I placed my finger to his lips gently and he blushed, his multicolored eyes widened as he glanced down at me.

“I’m afraid that someone has already ruined my hero reputation with your father,” I sent a fleeting glance back at Katsuki, whose face blanched of all color as he understood the meaning to my words. “That person is me, of course, since I kept some information from him, but someone else stepped in and helped him realize that I had been doing so.”

Shouto’s perfect brows drew together in confusion, “what have you been keeping from Endeavor?”

“It was your brother at the warehouse, Sho, which you knew already because of the color of his flames, but I saw him and talked to him. He was also there when I was abducted after I left the hospital.”

I heard Shouto intake a sharp breath of air. I began to zip up my suitcase, having collected all of my things, I was ready to leave.

“You talked to Touya?”

 I nodded, my chest clenched at the distraught look on his face, “and I told Katsuki about it. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away, but I didn’t know how you would react, and that’s on me.”

“Bakugou,” he turned to look at the explosion hero who had stayed silent during our conversation. “You knew too?”

Katsuki’s jaw clenched as he looked between the two of us.

“He’s the one who told Endeavor.”

I saw Shouto swallow hard as he glanced down at his feet, “what did he say to you?” He asked after being completely silent for a few moments.

“He just wanted me to know about how corrupt the hero commission was, about how much better I would fare if I joined him instead.”

“He tried to recruit you. Into the league?” His voice rose slightly, “and you didn’t think to tell me about it, your partner?”

My breath caught, I wasn’t sure how I was going to fix this, but he needed to know. “I... I’m sorry, Sho.”

His face paled, “that’s not what you’re going to do now, is it? You’re not joining him, are you?”

Katsuki took a surprised step forward, almost as if the thought hadn’t crossed his own mind until now.

I rolled my eyes at the two of them, “no, that’s not my plan right now, don’t be ridiculous.”

We stood in silence, barely looking at one another as we all reflected on our conversation. Shouto’s eyes flitted across my office, almost as if he couldn’t even look at me, and Katsuki’s face was evidently guilty.

“Y/N – “Katsuki’s rough voice broke the silence, but just as he was about to continue, a loud, piercing noise sounded from nearby.

Shouto’s heterochromia eyes darted to the window beside us, and his arms quickly stretched out and pulled me to him on instinct, “get down!” He screamed as the sound of shattering glass surrounded us.

Everything moved in slow motion as chaos erupted around us.

A thick layer of protective ice shot up between us and the window, sending cool air through the room. A blast of hot air confused my senses as the ice wall broke apart into little shards, sending pieces of glass and ice shooting off into the room. I threw my air up instinctively, and I felt my quirk activate.

The water atoms from Shouto’s ice, and from the air around us, formed a thick shield in front of us. It’s surface was made up of strong hydrogen bonds and the surface tension properties of the water atoms. It felt strong enough to ward off most attacks, but it faltered against the power before us. My shield wavered as the destructive force behind the ice hit it milliseconds later. It’s surface bent against it and caved moments later. I caught sight of a large missile a split second before the force of it exploding threw me and Shouto back.

My body broke through the first weakened wall to my office, but stopped abruptly as I hit the wall in the hallway hard. The back of my skull ricocheted against the structure, and I tasted copper in the back of my mouth. My vision blurred as I slumped to the floor, my body was a pile of stunned bones and muscles. Small, bright explosions erupted before me, and as I squinted, I could see through the hole into my now destroyed office to the blue, open sky beyond.

Red, flashing fire alarms illuminated the hallways, casting an eerie dark red glow over everything.

Katsuki’s crimson eyes dipped down and met mine as he knelt in front of me. He shook me gently, and his mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I couldn’t hear anything that was going on around me. Multiple pairs of panicked feet ran past us, Katsuki’s head spun on a swivel as he glanced around, assumably shouting orders to anyone that would listen.

“Is Shouto okay?” I breathed out, and I was surprised to find that I could hear my own voice.

Katsuki’s eyes shot down to mine, “he’s unconscious but he seems to be okay,” his voice was muffled, but I was also able to read his lips.

I tilted my head to look for him but saw the common area before me instead.

The common area, where all of the non-heroes worked.

Where Mia worked.

Papers and desks were tossed aside, small fires burned in places, and I saw bodies.

Limp, lifeless, bodies.

Not too many, but enough to make my stomach stir with nerves.

I pushed myself up with my arms, and I felt my body quiver with the action.

“You need to stay down, you might have a brain or spinal injury,” Katsuki pulled on me to get me to lay back down and I pushed him off.

“I’m fine,” I choked out as I crawled to my feet.

The world wavered as I stood, and I held onto the wall next to me for support briefly to collect myself.

“Y/N – “

“Where is Mia?” I breathed out as Katsuki caught my wrist. His own eyes darted across the room and turned more solemn as he surveyed the damage before us.

I weakly pulled my arm back from him and limped into the large room in front of us. Mia’s desk was near the wall to my office, in the direct explosion zone. My heartbeat rapidly in my chest as I approached where her desk should have been.

The area was clear, almost as if the explosion had blown her things to little bits. I blinked back tears as I turned every which way, looking for her familiar head of brown hair and the pink sweater that she had been wearing today.

A feeling of relief washed over me when I didn’t find her near the destroyed area.

“Mia?” I croaked out as I pushed furniture out of my way roughly and looked under broken desks.

Heroes and non-heroes alike scattered about, helping the injured and checking on each other as the fire alarms continued to blare and flash around us.

A flash of pink entered my vision after a few minutes of searching and I felt my heart drop.

My knees hit the ground hard as I broke down into a fit of sobs.

Her green eyes stared up at the ceiling with a dull, lifeless look to them and her neck was twisted in such a way that I knew it wasn’t normal. A large piece of shrapnel from the explosion also stuck out from her abdomen, staining her favorite sweater red.

Chapter Text

Voices.

Some were loud, shouting commands and directing people away from the Endeavors agency. Others cried out in shock, awe and sadness.

Their shouts rang through my battered skull, further irritating my already abused brain.

I tried to ignore each one. I tired to focus on the emptiness that had settled into my bones and into my very being – the echo of Mia’s bright laugh still coursed through my head from what felt like moments earlier, when in reality it had been almost an hour since we had been in my office, packing my things, remembering better days… and making plans for the future.

A future that wouldn’t be coming.

Instead, I’d have to watch one of my dearest friends get buried before her time.

I watched their faces as they passed by the ambulance that I had been shoved into. People were taking pictures and staring up in awe at the plumes of smoke that I’m sure were still billowing out of the upper floors. Emergency responders and heroes tried to coral them across the street, but they continued to miss the dedicated stragglers who just wanted to get a closer picture of Endeavors true masterpiece in ruins.

“Who would do such a thing?” One observer said quietly to their companion as they gazed upwards.

I glanced at them as they ignored me completely.

“I heard it was that big villain group. I’m sure we’ll see more about it later in the news,” the other hushed back before they began to walk away, leaving me in moderate silence once again.

The villains.

That’s who they thought did this. But the chances of this occurring; a day after my hearing,  days after Dabi had warned me about what might happen should the hero commission find out that I was in communication with them… the fact that the aerial weapon had been directed at my office, the office that I hadn’t been in in over a week and had only walked into to get my things briefly… there were too many coincidences.

I blinked back another wave of tears as I sat on the edge of the back of the vehicle. My legs dangled down towards the black pavement below.  

I focused on a large hole that had been ripped open through my jeans on my upper thigh. My flesh laid mostly undisturbed underneath, a dark pink scar was the only reminder of the trauma that had occurred there an hour earlier, my quirk had handled the rest. I could feel my pounding headache slowly ebb into a dull throb as I continued to sit. My quirk swirled through my brain, repairing any contusions or possible brain bleeds as it traveled, and relieving the pain that came with it.

A noise shifted behind me, and I turned partially from where I sat to investigate.

Shouto groaned softly as he came to, and I felt some tension leave my body. He tried to sit up but didn’t have the physical strength to do so after colliding with the wall like I had. He gave up and settled back onto his forearms instead. His heterochromia eyes drifted over his body quickly before they landed on me. A small, relieved smile grew on lips.

His smile dropped as he analyzed the dull, defeated look in my eyes.

I could understand his reaction, as I had caught sight of my reflection when I had walked past the ambulance doors earlier. The smoke from the explosion had coated me in a fine layer of soot, which had been washed away partially by the many tears that I had shed, leaving behind streaks on my face. My eyes had been bloodshot and red, from the smoke and from crying, and my clothes were in tatters, as the glass and ice shards had both done a number on them.

Shouto didn’t look any better, however, and I didn’t fail to notice the large scratch that rested across the lower half of his face, marring the once unmarked side of his handsome face.

I sighed as I stood, and his eyes didn’t leave my face.

“Welcome back,” I spoke softly as I pulled a chair up next to the stretcher that he was lying on.

“What happened?” His voice cracked slightly, and I reached over to hand him a bottle of water that the paramedics had left us. After taking a sip, he tried speaking again, “are you alright?”

“I’m perfectly fine, physically,” I shrugged as I reached out and took his hand gently, I turned his bruised hand over in my hands as I activated my quirk.

He glanced down at our connected hands, “do you know what happened?”

“Someone attacked your dad’s agency, that’s all I know,” images of his blood vessels shot through my head as my quirk traveled through his body. Each scratch, bruise, and fracture were highlighted in my mind before I began the work, at the atom level, to repair his injuries. My eyes didn’t leave his hand as I focused.

I needed something to distract myself with, I didn’t want to sit in my own thoughts anymore, and I hoped that healing him would keep my mind off of things.

His next question came out in a whisper, “why were you crying?”

My focus faltered briefly as I saw her blank, lifeless eyes again. The bright green eyes that used to shine so brightly whenever she laughed or smiled, wouldn’t hold the same light again.

 My heart ached.

“We lost quite a few good people,” I answered back just as quietly. He waited patiently for me to elaborate; his eyes studied my face so intently that I thought the answer might have been written on it. “You would think I would be used to death and losing people by now,” I let out a bitter laugh, “but it seems as if it doesn’t get any easier.”

“Y/N… Did Bakugou – “

“No,” I shook my head quickly, “He’s fine for all I know. Only you and I were blown halfway across the agency.” I glanced up at him and finally met his gaze, “Mia is dead.” My bottom lip quivered slightly as the words left my mouth and his face fell even further.

“I’m so sorry,” he reached out and gently brushed away a stray tear that had fallen onto my cheek.

My voice shook, “it’s over and done now, I’ll find out who did this – that’s how I’ll make it up to her.”

“What do you mean? Why would you need to make it up – “his voice cut off as my quirk traveled into his chest to work at the broken ribs that I had discovered earlier. As my quirk traveled through each affected rib, his breaths became less labored, and his eyes widened slightly. “What are you – “

“Pretty cool trick, isn’t it?” I muttered out as a sheer layer of sweat began to grow across my forehead. I hadn’t realized that healing both of our bodies would take so much out of me, but I guessed that my previous injuries had something to do with my current fatigue and lack of stamina. “I wasn’t sure if it was going to work. Are you in less pain now?”

“It doesn’t hurt at all anymore,” his jaw dropped slightly as he pushed himself further up on his forearms. He held his arms out and investigated each one, the one closest to me was healed of all of its injuries, whereas the one farther away from me hadn’t been touched yet and still bore the wounds that had been inflicted upon it by the projectile shards from earlier. “You’re healing me?” He gawked at me, “how?”

“Nearly killing myself with my quirk had its benefits it appears,” I shrugged as my quirk moved past his chest, into his opposite arm and then into his legs.

We didn’t speak as it moved. We both just watched as each scratch stitched itself closed and as each new bruise healed and turned yellow before looking like his own skin again. When the injuries on his body had all been healed, I stood and released his hand. “One more spot, then we’ll be good to go” I swayed slightly on my feet as I bent down to rest my hand against his face, his hand reached out and grabbed my hip to stabilize me.

“Would it be easier if I sat up?” He asked gently after noticing my balance issues.

I nodded and waited as he pushed himself up, he swung his legs over the side of the stretcher, and I stepped in closer to him between his legs to rest my hand back onto his face.

I felt his gaze burning into my face as I focused on the scratch across his cheek. My quirk moved through the internal structures of his head first, repairing similar contusions to the ones that I had suffered, before it moved to the more superficial wounds. The scratch sluggishly healed back together as my quirk slowed, and a feeling of accomplishment and relief washed over me as both the wound, and the light scar that was left behind, disappeared without a trace, leaving Shouto’s perfect face untouched once again – besides the obvious burn scar on the other side of his face.

“You know, I could probably fix this for you at some point too - when I don’t feel like I’m about to pass out that is,” I allowed my hand to drift over the edges of his scar.

His hand reached up and lightly stopped my own, his fingers intertwined with mine as he brought our hands back down to his lap. “I appreciate the offer, and for what you’ve just done for me, but my burn is a part of me, I don’t know how I would feel if it were to just disappear.”

“Scars are meant to heal, Sho,” his eyes drifted across my face as I stood over him.

He smiled sadly at me, “not all scars, I’m afraid.”

“Well, don’t you two look cozy.”

I dropped Shouto’s hands at the familiar voice and turned. Geten stood up against the door to the ambulance, his arms were crossed across his chest as he surveyed the scene in front of him. His bright, blue eyes blazed as they flicked between Shouto and I.

“Geten,” I sighed as I took an additional step away from the ice and flame user beside me. Severe fatigue began to settle into my joints, and I made a mental note to not push my quirk any further for the day. “How nice of you to show up after all of the fun.”

Geten’s eyes drifted over me again, and did a quick double take as he too noticed the streaks across my face, “what happened?” He demanded as he stepped up into the ambulance. The vehicle shifted with the new weight, and I tilted with it. My hand reached out to brace myself against Shouto’s stretcher but missed. Geten’s hard body stopped mine from crumbling to the floor, his fingers dug into my upper arms as he righted me again. “Who did this to you?” he pressed as he held onto me with one arm around my back and used the other to rub some of the soot off of my face.

My gaze flitted up to his face, and in the moment that I met his icy blue eyes, I felt myself break again. Tears immediately cascaded down my cheeks, creating new paths and wetting my already cold skin.

While he had tried to act the part of my unbothered agency partner, Dabi couldn’t hide the true concern and fear that had manifested in his eyes and across his face as he studied me, looking for injuries, or for another source of my apparent suffering. I wasn’t sure how I felt about his evident concern.

“The agency was attacked,” Shouto mumbled from behind me when he noticed that I wasn’t able to answer.

Dabi’s eyes lit up briefly before sending Shouto a seething glare, as if he had already made his own conclusions about what had happened.

“I told you that this would happen,” his whisper hit the edge of my ear, quiet enough that Shouto wouldn’t be able to hear it.

I pushed myself off of him, I didn’t need this right now.

I didn’t need to be reminded of how this was most likely my fault - that Mia was most likely dead because of me. 

He held his arms out to steady me if needed, but I leaned up against the wall of the ambulance instead, using it as my crutch while he watched.

“Your commentary is as useful as ever, Geten,” I sneered at him as I wiped more tears away with the backs of my hands, smearing a mixture of soot and salty tears across my irritated cheeks. It burned, but I welcomed the momentary distraction.

“Why are you here anyways? I thought you submitted your notice,” Shouto stood from the stretcher and wobbled on his feet for a second before he righted himself. His eyes were accusatory and hard as he gazed at the imposter in front of him.

The suspicious look in his eyes put me on edge, and I braced myself for Dabi’s reaction.

He chuckled as he regarded his little brother. A dark, sinister smirk lifted at the corners of his lips, “I saw the smoke is all, I wanted to check it out.”

“Well, you’ve checked it out, now I think you can leave.”

Geten’s pale eyebrows furrowed in anger, “why the hostility, young Shouto?”

“He’s right, Geten” another familiar voice commented quietly from outside. The three of us shifted to glance at the newcomer.

“Hawks,” Geten hissed as he surveyed the feathered hero behind him.

Keigo’s eyes observed me quickly before he turned back to the ice user beside me, “the police want to start interviewing people who might have witnessed what happened. They don’t need unnecessary people around crowding their work area.” His voice was unnaturally brisk and hard as he spoke to Geten. The glint in his eyes also set my teeth on edge. He was angry, so exceptionally angry that he looked like a stranger.

My stomach dropped and I just hoped that that anger wouldn’t be directed at me.

Geten grimaced. He glanced back at me before he hopped out of the ambulance, “you’re right, Keigo. I’ll see you around,” he left without another glimpse back and disappeared into the shadows in a nearby alleyway.

“I’m surprised he listened to you,” I commented blandly as we all refocused on our immediate surroundings.

“Of course, he did, I’m the number two hero,” he winked at me as he stepped up into the ambulance, his earlier anger was gone, and I was grateful for it. “I wanted to check on you.” He looked at me with somber eyes, “I heard what happened. I’m sorry about your friend.”

I nodded sadly back at him, “I just hope they find who did this.”

His jaw clenched, “trust me, we’ll figure it out, and once we do, I’ll have a few choice words to say to whoever it was for putting you in danger.”

I waved him off, “save your protective hero bullshit for someone else, I can stand up for myself.”

“Clearly,” he scoffed, “I was at your hearing, remember?” He gave me a disapproving look.

“Where’s Aizawa? Figured he would want to be here to coddle me as well.”

Hawk’s rolled his eyes playfully as he swept a hand through his golden locks, “Aizawa already has enough children to look after at U.A. It’s a school day after all. Of course, he wanted to come but he couldn’t, that’s what being an adult means, you have responsibilities and you can’t just back out of your commitments.”

I opened my mouth to fire a retort back at him, but I silenced myself as a police officer approached us.

“Pro hero Shouto and Y/N, do you have some time to answer a few questions?” He asked gently as he nodded respectfully at Hawks.

Shouto glanced at me for approval before he answered, “yes, we have time.”

Hawks patted me on the back gently before he jumped out of the ambulance and made his way towards a few heroes, “don’t think that this conversation is over, I still need to chew your ass out for a few things!” He called back at me over his shoulder.

 I flipped him off in response.

“You pulled this out of your friend?”

Dabi turned the piece of shrapnel over between his fingers as he glanced down at it and at the city around us.

I hadn’t waited for very long for him to check in on me once I had gotten back to my apartment, after what had felt like hours of being interrogated by the police. I had showered, gotten dressed, and then had made my way up to the roof of my building to wait for the familiar cremation villain.

“She didn’t need it anymore,” I whispered out as I too glanced at the piece of metal. “I was hoping it could expediate the investigation into who attacked the agency.”

“And you didn’t turn this over to the police or other heroes because?”

I gave him a look, “If the hero commission is as corrupt as you say they are, how could I trust that this would end up in the right hands and that I would actually be notified of its true origins? I trust you with it.”

Dabi tsked at me as he pocketed the evidence, “noted, I’ll give it to our team to analyze.”

I swallowed hard as I pushed back another round of tears that threatened to fall down my face. I had been a mess for hours now. My emotions seemed to have a mind of their own. I was angry because of the attack, mournful that we had lost so many people – especially Mia, confused because I still wasn’t sure what the motivation was behind it, and most of all – I felt so extraordinarily guilty.

All of these emotions had settled into every piece of me. They ate away at my mind and soul, making me feel unstable, as if I was teetering on the edge of a very dangerous cliff.  

If I fell one way, back away from the edge, I would end up working for the heroes for the rest of my life. It would be less fulfilling, especially after learning about how corrupt the system really was, but it would be the safe option. If I fell the other way, into the darkness below, I would be entering uncharted, dangerous territory – freefalling into the unknown - but I knew that I would have the necessary support to navigate that darkness, Dabi would be sure of it.

“You were close to this Mia person, right?” Dabi asked gently as he observed the wide range of emotions that continued to flicker across my face.

I nodded as I wiped away a hot tear.

“I wish I knew what to say to help you – “

“It’s not that easy,” I chuckled darkly at him.

“I get that,” he commented blandly, “I’ve encountered my own share of grief and loss. I never lost a friend like you have, but I’ve lost other things, things that were important to me.” He pushed off of the ledge and sighed before he held his hand out to me.

“What?” I asked as I turned sideways to face him.

“Come with me, I think there’s someone that you should talk to.”

I gave him a suspicious look, “where would we be going?”

“To our secret lair,” he rolled his eyes as he reached out and grabbed my wrist, obviously irritated with having to wait for me to accept his hand. His eyes traveled over my arm briefly, “do you have that bracelet that I gave you to block that tracker?”

I nodded as I pulled the silver jewelry out of my jacket pocket. I had been keeping it on my person since he had given it to me, just in case I ever needed it. I handed it to him and watched as he effortlessly clipped it over my left wrist. “You’re taking me to your base?”

“No worries, princess, you won’t know where it is, so you won’t be able to turn us into the commission even if you wanted to, we’ll teleport in.”

I scoffed, “that’s not why I asked.”

Dabi winked at me as a cloud of purple smoke erupted from his bracelet, “hold your breath, unless you want to lose whatever’s in your stomach once you step through.”

Without waiting for me to answer, he stepped into the mist and pulled me with him - so quickly that I almost didn’t have the time to pull a large breath into my lungs before I too entered the smoke.

My stomach churned as the world spun briefly.

I gasped for breath and doubled over to grasp my gut once we exited the small portal.

“I told you it wasn’t pleasant,” Dabi shrugged, but I saw the slight paleness that had grown across his undamaged cheeks, he felt sick too, and I would’ve laughed at him if I didn’t feel like I was about to hurl. “Kurogiri was able to adapt his quirk, just like Toga did, so now he can engrain his power into objects, like the one on my wrist. The main side effect is that it can make the user sick, almost like the stomach contents don’t want to travel with the rest of the body. It also only has set destinations determined by Kurogiri himself.”

“Fuck,” I groaned as I tried to focus on breathing to ease the nausea. I glanced around at our surroundings in an attempt to distract myself.

My eyes widened as I studied the snow-covered, old, traditional Japanese Ryokan (hotel/inn) that stood in front of us. Its entrance was dimly lit with small lanterns, which also illuminated a small, mostly frozen, pond that separated us from the front doors. A small wooden bridge connected the pathway that we were on to the Ryokan. A tall forest surrounded us, many of its members stood bare due to the season, but several large pine trees lay scattered. The forest nearly touched the structure in front of us, as if it was protecting it from the world. From the lack of city noises and from the natural silence around the Ryokan, I knew that we were no where near the city.

Dabi smirked down at me before he turned to cross the bridge, “not what you expected, right?”

I shook my head as I continued to gawk at the building.

“Well come on now, I’ll give you to one of my partners and then I’ll go to drop the evidence off so that we can figure out who tried to blow you up, “he waved me forward from where had paused on the bridge.

I stood on shaky knees, but I met him in the middle of the bridge and followed him into the building, all the while watching my feet carefully to make sure I didn’t slip.

The entrance was as beautiful as the rest of the building, it was dark, yet calming. Lanterns littered the walls, barely lighting the way as we journeyed further into the Inn. We passed several rooms as we walked. Each had a large window that looked out into the wilderness that surrounded the building. As we passed through the main building, I was surprised to find that we were outside again as we walked on an outer path that connected several additional buildings to the main inn. Each had similar, beautiful, meticulous detailing to their arches and doors. Small pools, fountains and dormant gardens were scattered around the outside and I felt immediately at ease as the sound of dripping water surrounded us.

“This is where the leaders of our group stay,” Dabi’s gruff voice interrupted the quiet sounds around us, and I nearly jumped. “On the hill, that is. The rest of our group stays in the hillside below.”

“What is this place?” I asked as he walked up to an adjacent building, he didn’t hesitate to open the front door and ushered me in behind him as he closed the door.

“It’s a hot springs resort with a small city at the bottom of the hill. The nearest populated city is about 20 miles away. The locals avoid this place like the plague because of a mining accident that happened about 10 years ago. We were able to buy this place out for pretty cheap.”  

“What do you do if locals come to ask questions?”

Dabi shrugged, his light hair dipped down nearly into his eyes as he bent over to untie his boots before leaving them at the doorstep, “we let them stay at the resort if they want to, that’s what the main building is reserved for, we don’t get many visitors though.”

“People have never asked questions? Hundreds of people live here, right? How does that go unnoticed?” I furrowed my brows at him as I followed his lead and kicked my sneakers off before following him farther into the inn. It was about the size of a medium sized house and had to have a least a few bedrooms. I heard noises up ahead and saw light seeping into the dark hallway that we were currently navigating through.

“We were able to reconstruct the mines below into suitable living areas too using a members quirk, a lot of people prefer to live there, it’s safer and they’re allowed to be more open with themselves.”

“People prefer to live in dark mines?” I scoffed and he smirked.

“They don’t look like normal mines, trust me.”

“He’s right, they open up and you get a nice view of the ocean from them, I wouldn’t mind living there even,” an unfamiliar voice called from the room that we were entering.

“I’m leaving her with you for a while, figured you two could talk about your similar encounters with the hero commission.”

I followed Dabi into a surprisingly modern kitchen. A large granite island stood in the middle of the space, and dark cupboards surrounded the area to my right. I could see a large panel of glass beyond, but it had gotten progressively darker outside so I couldn’t tell what kind of view the room had normally. A small traditional table, with cushions surrounding it, also sat farther back in the space. A dimmed set of lights sat overhead, illuminating the kitchen just enough that the individual inside could prepare his dinner. My eyes finally rested on the person that Dabi was talking to, and I felt my stomach drop for what felt like the hundredth time today.

The tall, medium built man turned, and his dark green hair shifted with him. Friendly, yet guarded, eyes landed on me as he sized me up from his position at the stove. His face was pale, but a layer of freckles was scattered across his nose and cheeks, making him seem younger than he probably was. My eyes paused on the slender scar that traveled from above his right eyebrow, across his eye and down towards his right ear.

“Ah, he finally brought you here. I was wondering when I would get the chance to officially meet you, Y/N,” he nodded at me as he wiped his hands on his dark t-shirt.

He held his hand out, “my name is Izuku Midoriya.”

The coolness of the granite beneath my fingertips centered me as I continued to gawk at the young man in front of me.

He worked at the stove as he finished preparing his meal, “so, he brought you here so we could exchange stories?” His voice was light and airy, but there was a dark note to it that made me nervous. His dark green eyes flickered over to me from over his shoulder, curious as to why I hadn’t responded yet. I must have still had a stunned expression on my face, as the corner of his lip quirked up into a small smirk. “That’s okay, I’ll give you a moment. Would you like some?” He pointed to the food in front of him and I shook my head. “I’m going to grab you some anyway, can’t send you back to Kacchan with an empty stomach.”

A few minutes later, a hefty portion of cold soba was pushed in front of me, the dipping sauce that he had made followed behind soon after.

“Kacchan?” I asked as he pulled up a chair so that he could sit across from me at the counter.

He pulled half of his hair up into a bun and then picked up his chop sticks. Small, loose pieces of his nearly black hair fell into his eyes as he met my gaze, “that was my nickname for Katsuki when we were growing up. Old habits die hard I guess,” he smiled before he dug into his meal.

I picked at the noodles in front of me and continued to watch him as I did so.

He resembled the picture that I had seem of him in Katuski’s yearbook on the surface, but the man in front of me had a sort of bitterness to him that I’m sure wasn’t there when the yearbook picture had been taken. His hair was longer, and the brightness in his young, happy eyes was no longer there - it was instead replaced by a hint of mistrust and suspicion, like the world had failed him in some way and he no longer believed that he could rely on anyone.

“I was told that you were dead,” I choked out after what had felt like ages.

“Sometimes, I think I would have been better off if I was,” he winked before he took a sip of his water.

I shook my head without thinking, he caught the movement and placed his chopsticks down to wait for me to speak again. “You can’t honestly think that – “

“Let me tell you a few things about me, Y/N, so that we’re on the same page,” he interrupted me as he leaned forward in his chair with his arms crossed. His dark eyes sparkled under the dim lights. “Everyone that I have loved or depended on, has either betrayed me, died or has disappeared. So, forgive me, if I don’t try to become buddies with you.”

“And the hero commission – “

“Is the cause for all of my pain and suffering,” he clicked his tongue, “or at least, most of it.”

I leaned back in my chair to get some distance from the crazed look in his eyes, “can you tell me what happened?”

“You better buckle in for the ride,” he smirked again, the movement contorted the scar on the side of his face.

“I was planning on fighting all for one a few years back on my own. I didn’t want to involve anyone else because I didn’t want anyone else to suffer because of him and his creations. Before I was able to leave, the Hero Commission demanded that I meet with them. When I did, they claimed that they knew about One for All and that I needed to give them the power so that they could pick the next hero who would receive it.” He swirled the water in his cup, his eyes moved with the liquid, watching as it nearly spilled each time he turned the glass, “when I refused, they played it off like my decision was acceptable, but then All Might disappeared a few days later, then my mother,” his sighed as his eyes drifted away from me and turned to survey the space around us, like he was trying to hide the emotions that had flickered across his face. “I didn’t find out until later that it was the commission who abducted them. They tried to convince me that All for One had taken them, that I needed to release my power to them because they had someone who could help – “

I continued to watch him as he talked, studying each detail in his face and listening for the inflections in his voice, looking for any indication that he might be telling a lie, but there weren’t any.

“But it was all bullshit. At the time, in my desperation and rage, I sought out all for one again on my own and I nearly killed him in the process, but as I went to make the killing blow, he asked about All Might and my mother. He showed me proof that it wasn’t him, that they were actually in Tartarus under some ridiculous fake names and had been placed there by heroes, by people that I had called mentors and partners during past battles.”

He sighed as he began to pick at his food again. After taking a few bites, he looked up at me again, “I didn’t believe him at first of course. He was my enemy, he would do anything to escape death and defeat, and I knew that. But then he showed me proof that his intel was solid, that he had received this information from the hero commission database itself. He showed me a clip of an interview that they had conducted weeks earlier, when I was originally going to go after All for One.” His eyes went hard as steel and his jaw clenched, “it showed my best friend, the person that I thought I could trust with anything, revealing all of my secrets. He talked about One for All, about All Might, how I had trained and how the power had been gifted to me – “

His eyes became distant for a moment as he remembered the video clip, and several obvious emotions flew across his face. Rage, disgust, and most of all – hurt.

“It was Katsuki. He was trying to protect me. He begged them to help, and they promised that they would - but that really blew up in his face, didn’t it?” He chuckled humorlessly. 

I was beginning to think that him and I had more in common then just losing someone because of the hero commission. Katsuki, even though he had done so with good intentions, had single handedly driven both of us to become hero commission targets. I understood the betrayal and hurt that Midoriya felt. I understood the conflicting feelings of rage, that a friend had gone behind our backs, and sadness, because he had damaged our relationship beyond repair, and that we would have to now mourn the connection that was lost.

“Damn it, Kat,” I muttered to myself as I propped my elbows up on the counter and held my head in my hands.

I heard Midoriya set his cup down after taking another drink, “I’m assuming that he has done something in your case as well?”

I nodded, “yeah, he did enough,” my voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard it.

“I lost someone too, like you did today,” it was his turn to lower his voice.

The pain in his tone made me drop my hands, he wasn’t looking at me as he spoke, “my girlfriend at the time was targeted shortly after I decided to stay with All for One and the group. They advertised her death as a freak accident, but everyone here knew better.”

“I’m sorry,” I shook my head as my earlier grief raised its depressing head again.

“I wasn’t able to go to her funeral since I had technically died already. I feel like I didn’t get to mourn her properly, but I’ve tried.” His eyes turned contemplative, yet sad, “I know you’ve been faced with what appears to be an impossible decision, and you’ll make your choice soon enough, like I did – but if you get the chance to mourn your friend, take it.”

I smiled sadly at the broken man in front of me, “thank you, Midoriya.”

“Fuck, what am I walking into? A therapy session?” Dabi leaned up against the wall to the kitchen as he observed the two of us.

 “Fuck off,” Midoriya chuckled as he stood and started collecting his used bowls and utensils to bring them over to the sink. I followed him and brought over my used items, he thanked me with a slight nod of his head. “Don’t worry about clean up, I can handle it.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind – “

“Yes, he’s sure. We have places to be, Princess,” Dabi rolled his eyes slightly from the doorway.

I sent him a glare before turning back to the green-haired man beside me, “thanks for the dinner, and for talking to me.”

“No problem. I’m sure I’ll see you around soon,” he gave me a knowing smile before he turned back to his dish washing.

I followed Dabi out into the hall, “was that a constructive conversation?” He asked as we put our shoes back on.

“Yes, it was. Thank you for bringing me here, I promise I won’t tell anyone about it, no matter what happens.”

As we left the small inn, Dabi’s hot hand shot out and gripped my arm, stopping me from walking in the direction that we had originally come from. “We’re teleporting, no reason to walk back that way. I also wanted to show you something.”

He directed us in the opposite direction, down the wood plank path. We passed other small inns, some had lights on inside while others looked abandoned. He dropped his grip on my arm but continued to stay a breaths distance away from me as we walked. The heat that radiated off of him made up for the fact that I hadn’t dressed the best for walking outdoors in the higher elevations outside of the city.

“That’s the building that I stay in when I’m here,” he pointed to one of the structures near the outer edge of the resort.

From what I had been able to discern from walking around, the resort seemed to be designed in a long rectangle formation, with the main building sitting out in front.

We continued past Dabi’s assigned building and into the surrounding wilderness. We briefly walked before we were met with a large tower that had been mostly hidden by the surrounding forest. Dabi pointed upwards before he began walking up the many sets of stairs. I glared at his back, sighing, before I followed after him.  

My breaths came out in little clouds as I reached the top, Dabi stood there as if he wasn’t at all affected by the exercise.

“What are we – “My voice caught as I got a chance to finally look around at our surroundings. The tower just grazed the top of the tree line, giving us a view of the city to our south, it’s bright lights illuminated the night sky, and the ocean was spread out in the east. We were much closer to the ocean than I had originally thought, I could barely see a dark beach down below past the forest and down a cliff side. The moon hung low over the water, ricocheting off of the water’s surface and casting a white gleam over the structures below us.

“I’ve noticed that you like to go up onto your apartment buildings roof to think,” Dabi rested his elbows on the flimsy looking, wooden railing that encircled the top of the tower.

I joined him near the edge, but I didn’t dare put my own body weight onto the railing as well. “Yeah? When did you notice that?”

“I’ve been watching you for a while,” he shrugged casually, as if he hadn’t just said one of the creepiest things that someone had ever admitted to me.

I cringed, “you’ve been watching me?”

“You really should close your curtains more often,” he winked at me playfully, but the smirk on his face dropped into a pout when my fist smacked against his shoulder. He smiled to himself as he directed his attention back towards the ocean, “this is my rooftop. You can use it too if you decide to join us.” He glanced at me briefly, his eyes twinkled mischievously, “and if that doesn’t convince you, I could also add some other things to that bargain.”

“Other things?” I chuckled at him, “like?”

The moonlight shifted across his face as he turned to me. His warm hands gently pulled me to him, causing my body to become flush with his. Dabi’s blue eyes traveled over my face, tentatively, before he slowly bent down. His lips tasted like a wisp of calming smoke.  

Heat coursed through me. Over my lips, down into my neck, and then into the tips of my fingers, setting me ablaze as his lips parted mine effortlessly. His tongue dipped into my mouth slowly, almost teasingly.

“Me,” he whispered against my lips as his hands crept up into my hair. “You can have me, in any way that you want. Just join us.”

“Are you trying to seduce me into joining your villain group?”

“We’re not –“

I silenced him with a quick peck on the lips, “I know, Dabi.” I took a step from him, and his arms dropped.

He cast a defeated look in my direction before he turned back towards the sea with his jaw locked. His eyebrows arched downwards angrily as the moon light cast shadows across his sharp nose, further darkening his gaze. He ran a frustrated, scarred hand through his white hair before his fist connected with the wood in front of him, “you know what this means then right? What I’ll have to do to you if I see you in the field?” He sighed; his eyes were crazed as they landed on me again. “I don’t want to have to do that. You could learn so much about yourself, meet new people who can help you. What can I do to convince you if offering myself isn’t even enough? If I’m not enough.” He demanded; his voice cracked with some intense emotion that I couldn’t quite pinpoint, but it made my heart ache.

I arched an eyebrow at him, “you don’t have to promise yourself to me to get me to join you, you shouldn’t ever have to do that.” I took a careful step towards him, his dark eyes hovered over me, watching my every move as I stepped closer again. “I walked out of that inn earlier with my decision already,” my hand crept over to his bloodied one. A large cut spread across several of his knuckles from when he had struck the railing. Holding his hand between my own, the cut slowly closed, and Dabi’s eyes flickered up to mine in surprise. “I think I’ve always kind of known what I was going to choose, but today just helped me come to terms with it. That, and the fact that I know that you’ll be there for me if I need you to be.”

His cerulean eyes wavered between mine, searching them, as if he was trying to read my mind - like what I was saying wasn’t obvious enough.

I could have sworn that I saw a flicker of hope on his face.  

“I’ll join you.”

Chapter Text

Headline after headline scrolled across the bottom of the TV screen as I swirled my drink around the glass in my hand.

“Endeavor’s agency continues to investigate the cause to last week’s tragic events, the heroes remain confident that they will be able to identify the villain group responsible within the next few weeks. A memorial is to be held today in remembrance of those lost, and for those whose lives changed forever. Individual funerals have been scheduled as well and those events have been posted on our website, some families have requested privacy during these times, however, so please be aware of any special notes added for each event. In other news, the hero commission has also scheduled a fundraising event next month that will raise money for the families who lost their loved ones as well as raising funds for Endeavor’s agency to help with the repairs that are needed for the agency building…”

The reporters voice droned on, but I tuned it out. I had heard this spiel over and over again in the last 5 days since the attack on Endeavor’s agency between training sessions with Dabi.

Hawk’s grumbled next to me as he straightened his black tie, muttering something about the fact that he should have bought a clip on. His glorious wings were draped behind him, nearly grazing the floor of the dirty bar.

“Do you want another one?”

I glanced up to find Eren’s green eyes studying me from his position behind the bar. I smoothed the skirt of my black dress nervously as Hawk’s eyed the two of us, his hands still fiddling with the cloth around his neck.

I gave him a brisk nod before I turned my attention back towards the TV that was mounted on the wall behind him.

“Do you need help?” I snapped after Hawks let out a second annoyed complaint.

Hawks sent me a bemused grin, “if you don’t mind.”

I turned my body towards him as he did the same, “you’re helpless,” I muttered as I tied the cloth around his neck perfectly on my first try. Hawks gawked at the tie as I turned back towards the bar.

“How – “

“Aizawa always needed help with his ties,” I muttered as Eren set another glass down in front of me.

“All of this is crazy, isn’t it? An agency getting attacked in broad daylight and no one has been arrested yet. You worked there, didn’t you?” “

I sighed as my eyes flickered up to his face, he appeared to be genuinely curious, so I decided not to snap at him - yet “I did.”

When he realized that I wasn’t going to talk anymore about it, his eyes dropped, “what happened to your hands?”

Hawks arched an eyebrow at me as I glanced down at the dark purple marks that rested across my knuckles, I clenched my fingers briefly and a flicker of pain shot through my hands. I could easily heal these wounds if I wanted to, but they helped ground my thoughts. They kept me motivated.

“I punched a wall,” I muttered as I gladly took the glass of hard liquor that he had passed me moments earlier.

He gave me a surprised look, “you punched a wall? Was it because of what happened?” He casually motioned to the TV behind him, but his voice was therapeutic and light, almost like he was afraid to ask, “you were there, weren’t you? I recognized one of the people that they listed as deceased – “

“Eren,” I cut him off, “I appreciate you trying to have a chat with me, but if I wanted to talk then I’d schedule a session with my therapist. You have patrons down the bar that need you more than we do right now.”

As if on cue, an older man down the bar waved his hand at the bartender in front of me.

Eren’s jaw clenched slightly in response to my words. He gave me a curt nod before walking away, leaving me in moderate silence once again.

“Ouch,” Hawks whispered as his eyes followed the dejected bartender, “we should get going or we’re going to be late, I’ll pull the car around.”

“No flying today?”

“I’m not risking flying around with you when you have alcohol in your system, I can imagine what might happen if I did,” he cringed before he patted me on the back. “Meet you outside?”

I nodded at him, and he left the bar quickly, the doors slammed shut behind him causing several patrons to look over, including Eren. I felt his eyes linger on the side of my face briefly and couldn’t help but wonder what he saw.

Could he see how empty I felt?

My eyes returned to the headlines once more. The first time I had heard the report, I had punched my fist through the wall in my living room. After that incident, Dabi had tried to keep me busy to make sure that I didn’t focus on the total bullshit that was being spouted to the general public, he used our training sessions as a distraction tactic, and it had been working – until I realized that today was Mia’s funeral, then it all had come rushing back.

I had taken Midoriya’s advice and had delayed my entrance into their group until after all of the memorial services, I wanted to have the chance to mourn my friend, especially because he hadn’t been able to.

After downing my last drink, I placed enough money down on the bar to cover our tab and made sure to leave Eren a nice tip on top of it.   

“See you around?” Eren called after me as I neared the door, I waved back at him in response. I didn’t trust myself to lie to his face now – I would most likely not be back around, not after today and what was soon to come.

I scurried over to Hawks’ new car, bracing myself against the cold as I did so.

He had the heat blasting, and he had turned on the seat warmer in the passenger seat. I sighed with relief as I sat down and closed the door behind me. “Where is this memorial being held tonight again?”

“At U.A. They would have most likely held it at the agency if the agency wasn’t still damaged.”

“What’s taking them so long to fix it? I know there are heroes with quirks out there that could patch it up easily,” I rubbed at my hands, eliciting little stabs of pain as I grazed my wounds again accidentally.

“You should put some cream on those cuts,” he winced as I clenched my fingers again, spreading the already irritated tissue, “and endeavor mentioned hiring some business to help support the local economy, some bullshit like that. I think they’re using U.A. as a base of operations right now anyway so there’s no rush in getting the agency building fixed right away.”

“Mmm” I muttered back as I turned my attention out of the window towards the city that was flying past us.

Hawks handed his car keys to a valet driver at the door hours later after we had pulled up to prestigious school.

Night had started to settle over the city, casting an eerie, yet comforting, glow over everything.

Mia’s funeral had been a small, intimate affair as only friends and family members had been allowed there. Her mother had done a perfect job in planning it. White and pink roses had littered her coffin as it was lowered in the ground. Soft, bright music had played in the background as everyone recounted a positive memory of her prior to filling her grave in with dirt. Many tears had been shed, but I was left feeling relieved almost as Hawks and I had walked back to his car after it had ended, like I had experienced some kind of closure as. Mia’s gift that she had planned on giving me the day that she died had sat in my lap during the entire drive back to U.A., it remained unopened as I set it down on the passenger seat.  

My black trench coat grazed the ground as I hoisted myself out of his car.  I tugged at my dress again, making sure the skirt was pulled down to avoid wrinkling it.

“You look beautiful, stop fussing,” Hawks muttered quietly as he held his arm out to me.

I placed my arm through his, “thank you, Keigo.” His golden eyes settled on mine as he turned his head slightly to look at me as we walked. “Not just for the compliment,” I stammered as I noticed the slightly confused look on his face. “For coming with me today, for being a good friend and fake sibling, for everything,” I tore my eyes from his as he arched a golden brow at my statement. I couldn’t let him see the sadness and guilt in my eyes, I knew he would be able to detect it, and then he might find out that I was leaving him behind as well. He was so good at pulling information out of me, even when I didn’t want to disclose it to him. He had a way of phrasing his questions, of peering into your very soul, that just made a person more open with him. It was just how he was, but right now, I resented him for it. I resented that I needed to hide something from him, but it would be better this way in the long run. He would get over it eventually and live his life like nothing had happened – hopefully.

“You’re never this nice to me. Are you -” He voice cut off as a worker opened the front door for us. I avoided asking him to finish his question in hopes that he wouldn’t try to dig anymore as the room opened up in front of us.

The large main hall of U.A. stood before us and I took a moment to survey the area. A string quartet played light music in the background while people waited for the main event to start. Standing tables had been setup all over the area, and many of them already had guests standing at them, nursing their cocktails and mingling quietly. I saw some somber faces, many of which I recognized as individuals who worked at the agency. Many of the other guests, however, didn’t appear to be affected by the melancholy environment around them and talked excitedly like it was just another random Tuesday, like nothing had happened.

I clenched my fingers automatically and inadvertently grabbed Hawk’s arm. “Sorry,” I grumbled out when I felt him wince.

“Don’t fret, I can handle a few bruises,” he muttered back as a few of his agency members and fans approached us.

“Hawks, we were wondering what your input was on the incident at Endeavor’s agency – “

I tilted my mouth up to his ear and quietly said, “this is where I leave you, get me when you want to leave.”

He gave me a subtle nod before he turned back to them.

I found an empty table, surprisingly, as I meandered around the space and quickly stood next to it to claim it as my own. A waiter handed me a glass of wine shortly afterwards, “do you think you could bring me something stronger too?” I asked him before I took a sip of the sweet liquid.

Minutes later, a cocktail sat in front of me, and I started on it after I finished my glass of wine.

“Are you trying to drink yourself into oblivion?” A quiet voice asked me as I took a sip. I smiled at the bitter taste of alcohol; the bartender had indeed made it as strong as I had requested.

My eyes fluttered over to the red head who had taken a post at my table uninvited. “Kirishima,” I greeted him with a nod of my head before I turned my attention back to the drink in my hand.

“Are you okay?” He let out a nervous laugh as I downed the drink quickly.

“I don’t think I can make it through this thing sober,” I answered honestly. His eyes flashed with concern as I waved the waiter down.

“Just keep them coming until I say stop,” I handed him a large tip and sent him on his merry way. “Don’t look at me like that,” I grumbled as I tried to ignore the look on Kirishima’s face.

“How am I looking at you?”

“Like you give a damn. You’re Bakugou’s pet, aren’t you? Go find your master, “I waved him off and felt my body sway slightly. The alcohol was hitting me much faster than I thought it would.

He flinched at my words, “I know you’re hurting right now so I won’t take that personally – “

“You can take it as personally as you want to because I mean it. I’m not your friend, I hardly even know you, you don’t need to be buddies with everyone. Leave me the hell alone.”

“What happened between you and Bakugou?” He asked gently as he rested his arms on the table in front of him. His posture didn’t look at all comfortable with how tall he was, but I decided to mirror him anyway, placing my own arms on the table to watch him.

“What happened between Bakugou and I isn’t important, and it isn’t any of your business, that’s for sure.”

“He’s hurting. I see it on his face every time I see him nowadays. When I ask about you, it only gets worse. He’s devastated, and I want to help – “

“Good,” I commented.

“You don’t mean that. When I saw you both weeks ago you looked happy together – “

“That was before he fucked it up, and before I decided that messing around with coworkers wasn’t the smartest decision,” I cut him off as I stood up straight again. “If you want to pick someone’s brain about what happened, then you can talk to Bakugou.”

The sound of mic interference rang through the hall briefly, silencing the voices around me as well as causing Kirishima’s attention to finally drift away from me.

An older woman tapped at the mic at the stage that sat near the back of the hall. “Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of Endeavor’s agency, and the hero commission, I want to thank you for attending tonight’s memorial and ceremony service. An artist rendered a statue for tonight’s event, memorializing last week’s tragedy, and we would like to reveal it to you. We would also like to identify those who were lost, and the individuals who played a key role in the rescues that occurred after the attack.”

She motioned to an individual off to the side, and I was surprised to see Shouto’s face as he ascended the stairs to the stage. A group of people followed behind him, carrying a large object that was covered with a cloth.

After the group had placed the object on a table in the middle of the stage, Shouto’s hand produced a small flame, which he brought to the edge of the cloth, setting it on fire. I watched in awe as the cloth burned several colors before it disappeared completely, revealing a black stone that was shaped into a torch. Shouto’s quirk had ignited the stone as well, causing a small flame to burn at the center.

“This torch will be placed in the entrance hall to Endeavor’s agency once it has been repaired. It symbolizes the light, fire and life behind the agency and the individuals that work there. The agency will continue to work towards a more positive, bright future. Even when things seem hard, the flame will burn on to signify the drive and resilience of heroes.”

After the awed voices had toned down around the hall, another piece of stone was brought forward. “This slab of stone was taken from the walls that were destroyed last week and signifies those who were lost. Each individual’s name has been etched into it, forever marking the stone. They will always be a part of the agency, even in death.” The announcer began to read off the names of those who had died, but I was only focused on listening for one specific name, and when her name left her mouth, a single tear drifted down my cheek, “Suzuki Mia.”

I wiped it away when I noticed that Kirishima had been watching me.

“For recognizing those individuals who had a part in the rescue efforts made last week, we’ve designed unique awards. Once your name is called, please remain seated and come collect your award after everyone has been named.” She began to list off more names, most of which consisted of other agency heroes, but a few individuals were named from Endeavor’s agency. “Bakugou Katsuki,” the name made me grind my teeth slightly and I downed the drink in front of me to avoid alerting Kirishima of my annoyance. “And last but not least, Endeavor himself. Endeavor helped orchestrate the rescue efforts and even retrieved some of his wounded workers.”

I scoffed quietly as an intense rush of anger spiked through me after hearing the woman’s words. Or at least, I thought I had been quiet. Heads from nearby tables turned to look at me curiously. I caught a pair of heterochromia eyes before I glanced back at the empty glass in front of me.

This was his fault to begin with, but I wasn’t about to go spouting that information when all of these people had been brainwashed into thinking that a villain group was actually responsible for the attack, rather than the group who had organized this memorial service in the first place.

“I’ve heard all I needed to hear,” I muttered to myself as I picked up the end of my dress and started to make my way back towards the exit, all while the woman on stage continued to talk about Endeavor and his many achievements.

I knew people would find my actions disrespectful, but I didn’t care.

The bobby pins that held my hair up in a perfect updo had started to irritate my scalp, and I wanted to go home.

I had my closure.

“I’m heading out,” I mumbled to Hawks as I passed him on my way out.

“Here, let me take you home – “he started after me, but I held up my hand to stop him.

“I’ll take the train back, stay here with your people.”

He rolled his eyes and ignored me completely as he hoisted his jacket over his shoulders, being careful to not hit his wings, “let’s go, kid.”

We silently waited for the valet driver, who had seemed very surprised by our early departure. As he pulled Hawks’ black car up to the curb, hawks turned to me. “You would tell me if you were going to do something drastic, right?”

I glanced at him quickly as he opened my car door for me before I responded nonchalantly, “probably not, then it wouldn’t be as dramatic.”

“Y/N – “he started after he had taken his spot in the driver’s seat, his gold eyes flickered to mine. “You’re my family, I need to know that I can trust you.”

“You need a hobby, stop worrying – “

“Promise me, Y/N. Promise you’ll talk to me before you do anything. I can see it on your face, I’ve always been able to read you like an open book.”

My eyes darted between the two of his, “fine, I promise.”

He scanned my face again, looking for any sign of dishonesty. When he didn’t appear to see anything, he loosed a sigh and started to drive me back towards my apartment.

My crossed fingers behind my back began to ache, followed by a deep, unrelenting pain in the center of my chest where my heart should have been.

My apartment door slammed behind me; the sound echoed through my now mostly empty apartment.

I had been getting rid of furniture here and there since I had decided to join Dabi’s group. He had insisted that I would be provided with anything that I needed and that I needed to avoid bringing anything with me that could potentially be used to track me.

While the argument seemed a bit much, I trusted that he knew what he was talking about and took his advice. Without notifying anyone close to me, I started to give away my things. Anyone with a mental health background might think that I was planning on ending things, permanently, with how I had been behaving recently. Fortunately, I had done a great job at keeping everyone in the dark.

“You look gorgeous. Kind of dark and depressing, but gorgeous none the less,” Dabi leaned up against the island in my kitchen, his eyes drifted over me as I bent down to unclasp the uncomfortable heels that I had worn for the occasion today.

I let out a sign of relief as my bare feet settled onto the cold linoleum, “is that supposed to be a compliment?”

I didn’t wait for a response as I turned and walked back towards my bedroom and into my closet.

“Take it how you want, doll face,” he smirked at me from around the door to my closet and I quickly shut it in his face.

“No peaking you fucking creep,” I muttered as I went to unzip my dress. As I pulled at the zipper, it snagged, preventing me from pulling it down any further. I tried pulling it back up to unsnag it, but because of the awkward angle I couldn’t get enough force behind it to get it to budge. I swung my hands down out of frustration and sighed, “I take that back, can you come in for a second?”

The door slowly opened, and he peaked his head around, “aw, are you stuck?” I gave him my most menacing facial expression and he caved. “Fine, I’ll help” he sighed dramatically as he walked in and I turned my back to him, “but you owe me one.”

His warm fingertips grazed the skin on my back as he successfully pulled the zipper down with ease. He slowed as his fingers got closer to the bottom of the zipper and I felt him exhale a breath against the back of my neck before he drew his hands back to his own body.

I clutched the front of my dress to prevent it from falling down and turned to thank him, but as I met his gaze - the words died on my lips.

His cerulean eyes had darkened considerably as he gazed at the exposed portions of my body and they slowly moved over me until they rested back on my face, meeting my eyes once again. The eye contact seemed to jar him out of whatever fantasy he was living in as his cheeks pinkened, and he moved to leave the closet. The action seemed so unlike the Dabi that I had come to know that it made me giggle. He turned back at the small sound and arched a perfect, white eyebrow at me, “got something to say, princess?”

“You’re cute when you blush,” I smirked at him, and his cheeks darkened further as his eyebrows furrowed.

“I am not cute,” he growled out as he went to leave the closet again, but I stopped him by grabbing onto his forearm.

“You’re right. You’re not just cute, you’re hot – in more ways than one I might add,” I winked at him playfully and he rolled his eyes.

“You’re such a fucking dork, let me leave so I don’t have to listen to your stupid ass jokes anymore.”

Instead of letting him go, I pulled him even harder, causing his body to become flush with mine. He let out a startled gasp at the movement but stilled as I allowed my dress to fall. His eyes traced over my face first before he allowed them to drift farther down.

I had worn one of my favorite lacy matching sets. Mostly because I wasn’t sure if I would ever get the chance to wear it again, but also just in case something like this might happen.

“You might want to be careful with who you drop your dress in front of, Princess. Some men can’t control themselves,” his hot breath hit my face as he spoke and I smelled a glorious hint of mint, almost like he had been preparing for such an occasion as well.

I shrugged as I tightened my grip on his arm, “maybe I don’t want you to control yourself.”

He smirked down at me, holding my gaze as he gave into his own desires and tilted his head down towards mine. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that,” his mouth molded to mine, tasting like mint and smoke and setting off butterflies in my gut.

His fingertips trailed over my bare back, leaving goosebumps in their wake before they settled at the base of my hips, pulling me tight against his body as his tongue dipped into my mouth.

He nuzzled his nose into the side of my neck, leaving small kisses across my skin before he whispered in my ear, “how much did you have to drink tonight?”

“Enough to try to keep the negative thoughts at bay, but I’m all me right now, I promise,” I nipped at his earlobe teasingly as I brought my hands up around the back of his neck. “I need this right now, don’t flake out on me.”

He hesitated for a moment, registering my words and my apparent mood, before he brought his lips back to mine. “If you need a distraction, that’s what I’ll be,” he muttered against my lips before he quickly hoisted my legs up around his hips and held me to him. The action caused me to let out a startled yelp, which only seemed to excite him further. He chuckled as he walked us into my bedroom. He gave me an abrupt, hard kiss before he lightly tossed me onto my comforter. His body enveloped mine shortly afterwards, hardly even giving me time to catch my breath before his lips were on mine again.

“There better not be any interruptions this time. I don’t know if I can survive that again,” Dabi groaned into my ear as I palmed him through his black pants. I heard his breath catch as I continued, which only motivated me further. He attached his lips to my neck, suckling and making me gasp as he found the sensitive spot underneath my ear. My hands quickly moved across his belt, messing with the leather belt loops and pulling it free before I eased his pants down slightly so I had better access to him.

“Eager, are we?” He pulled back slightly to give me a sly grin.

I rolled my eyes without answering him and pulled him back down towards me yet again. “Can your mouth do anything other than spout absolute nonsense?”

“You want to see what my mouth can do?” He kissed my forehead before he dipped his body down towards my midsection, “allow me to oblige.”

“That’s not entirely what I meant – “I stammered out but the feeling of his hot tongue moving over my skin above the top of my underwear made me pause.

His cerulean eyes snapped up to meet mine, “you like that, don’t you?” A wide smile grew across his lips as I remained mute. “I don’t know whether I like you more when you’re silent or when you’re mouthy.”

“If you don’t shut the hell up – “

Dabi’s low chuckle reverberated off of my abdomen as he brought his mouth back down to my skin again. His fingers trailed over my panties before he slowly brought them down. “I like it when you’re loud I think.”

“Better give me a reason to make noise then,” I tried to sound bold as I said it, but it came out more like a whimper as his tongue dipped down to meet my core for the first time.

His tongue flicked back and forth with expert precision and accuracy as his eyes remained on my face. As the pressure in my gut began to build, I let out more sounds, letting him know exactly how much I was enjoying what he was currently doing.

“What was that about making noise, darling?”

I let out a pleased moan as one of his fingers entered me. A second one joined soon after and they both curved and massaged my walls perfectly, working in tandem with his tongue.

As I neared my release, I grabbed onto his white locks and pulled gently, causing Dabi to groan lightly. Beautiful cerulean eyes held mine as I reached my climax. I felt like puddy in his expertly tuned hands as he worked me through my high.

“I want to see you do that again,” he smirked as he pulled himself back up to my torso. He gave me a light kiss as he reached underneath me to unlatch my bra with one hand. The rate at which he was able to accomplish such a feat surprised me, he definitely had some experience doing this.

As he brought my bras straps down over my arms, I pulled them free and helped him out of his own shirt. He peppered my face, neck and chest with hot kisses as I worked his pants down over his hips. He sat up briefly to step out of them and I watched his face as he also pulled his boxers down. My eyes traced over the deep, purple scars that etched across his torse, and the majority of his body, and for some reason – the sight made me want to hold him and cry, whatever the hell that meant.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” He paused when he noticed my facial expression as he pulled a condom out of his wallet.

“I just don’t like that you’ve been in so much pain in your short life,” I answered honestly, and his eyes widened slightly. He glanced down at the scars on his forearms before he turned back to me.

“If it makes you feel better, I haven’t felt this amazing in a while. You make me feel… good,” he blushed slightly as he spoke, and I giggled again at his pink hue. The noise only seemed to irritate him, and he scowled. “Don’t go getting a big head now, there have been plenty of women before – “

“Shut up patches,” I joked as I pushed myself up onto my forearms to watch him. “Are you coming back down here or what?”

His eyes traced over my body again before he tore the condom open with his teeth, “you don’t have to ask me twice.”

As he stood at the edge of the bed, he reached over and grabbed my ankle, pulling me towards him. He also grabbed one of my pillows and pushed it underneath my hips to tilt my pelvis up towards him. Dabi lined himself up to my entrance and paused, “let me know if I ever hurt you, Y/N.” His eyes had a serious note to them that told me not to joke with him right now and I just nodded.

We both let out a collective groan as he filled me slowly. Once he bottomed out, he leaned over and kissed me, holding my face between his two hands as he started a slow, rocking pace.

It felt amazing.

No, he felt amazing. The way in which he arched his hips and rolled and the way that he had propped my hips up provided the perfect angle for hitting all of my sensitive areas all at once.

Once he had his fill of the slow, leisurely pace, he stood up and brought my legs up so that my feet rested up near his shoulders. While one of his arms wrapped around my legs, the other traveled down between my legs to tease my core. I gasped as he started moving, both because of the new angle, but also because of the intense eye contact that he had initiated. Bright, blue eyes held mine as he thrust into me.

“You like that, don’t you princess?” His voice was raspy and breathless, and his eyebrows pinched together as he lost himself for a moment in the ecstasy that was our combined sexual experience. “You fit me perfectly, don’t you?”

I nodded quickly and felt my own face reflect the pleasure that was currently moving throughout my body.

“Make that face again and I think I might be done for.”

I didn’t want this to be over yet, so I bit my lip to stop myself from making any more facial expressions and his gaze darkened further.

“That isn’t any better.”

“Just tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it, just keep doing what you’re doing,” I whimpered out as he ground into me.

He pulled out and I nearly cried out to demand that he come back, “get on top of me.” He laid down next to me and waited as I adjusted myself so that I was above him.

We both loosed a breath as we connected again. I moved my hips lazily, drawing out each stroke just so that I could listen to the little intakes of breath that Dabi took during each pass. His strong hands gripped my hips and held me there as he pushed himself up into me, hitting a spot deep within me that he hadn’t hit yet.

My headboard began to rattle against the wall as he quickened our pace again. I felt the familiar pressure of ecstasy building in my gut as he continued, it only built quicker as his thumb moved over me similar to how his tongue had earlier.

“Are you going to cum again for me?”

His eyes didn’t leave my face as he kept his pace fast and deep. I nodded as I bit my lip again to keep myself from yelling out.

“Fuck,” he groaned, and his hips began to move at a slower, sloppier pace, “cum for me.”

His words, and his movements, were my undoing as I felt another wave of bliss move through me. I let out an expressive moan which only seemed to cause Dabi to go faster. I watched as his eyebrows pinched together as he let out a deep groan. I felt him pulse in me a few times before his hips stopped.

I held myself up above him as we both took several deep breaths.

His eyes remained pinched closed as he panted, but they slowly opened and met mine as we both calmed down. A sort of contemplative look flashed across his features as he continued to gaze up at me. He reached up tentatively and brushed aside a stray hair that had escaped my fancy updo, and neatly tucked it behind my ear. I felt myself lean into his touch, which seemed to surprise him as he pulled his hand back and rested it back on my hip.

“How was that for a distraction?” He asked quietly as I began to hoist myself up off of him.

I looked back at him as I began to walk towards my bathroom.

He propped himself up on his elbows and watched me as I grabbed my pajamas and tossed his boxers at him.

“You were perfect,” I gave him a genuine smile before I disappeared into my bathroom.

When I exited the bathroom minutes later, having taken my hair down and dressed in a loose tee, Dabi had redressed and was putting on his coat as I padded into the bedroom.

“You’re leaving already?”

His cerulean eyes flickered to mine as he adjusted his coat collar so that it wasn’t sticking up into his face, “am I not supposed to?”

I was about to tell him that it didn’t matter to me whether he stuck around or not, but I couldn’t utter the words, because I knew I wouldn’t mean them. 

I realized that I did want him to stay. Or at least, I wanted someone to stay. I needed the company and had grown comfortable with him over the last few weeks.

I tugged at a piece of hair as I felt my own cheeks darken, his eyes lingered on my face as he waited for a response, “I think I would like it if you stayed.”

Dabi cocked an eyebrow at me, “you want me to stay.”

The way in which he said it, I knew that he wasn’t asking a question, but I nodded anyway to confirm that I did in fact want him to stay the night.

“If I didn’t know any better, doll face, I’d say that you have a small crush on me,” he gave me a sly smile and his eyes twinkled mischievously. He began to retake his clothes off and remained in just his undergarments and his t-shirt before he rested back down onto my bed with his scarred arms resting behind his head, propping himself up partially so he could still watch me.

I felt my face grow hot again and I wanted to smack myself for it.

Stop letting him get to you, Y/N!

I snapped myself out of my inner war with myself when I noticed that he was still watching me with a grin on his face.

I picked up the nearest thing to me, which happened to be a decorative pillow that I hadn’t had the chance to get rid of yet and threw it at his face.

His white teeth flashed brilliantly as he laughed at the pillow that fell a few feet short of hitting him, “that was pathetic.”

“Shut your mouth,” I groaned as I went to join him in bed. I brought my sheets up around me and felt him curve into my backside as I reached over to turn the lights off.

“But you were such a fan of my mouth a few minutes ago, darling,” his breath sent shivers down my spine, and I stopped myself from leaning farther into the warmth that his body was currently emitting.

“I did enjoy your mouth,” I confessed and immediately felt my face go red. Fortunately, he could no longer see my face.

He reached his arm around me and pulled me into him as I settled onto my pillow, “I’ll show you some other things that my mouth can do some other time. Rest now.”

As if my body had been waiting for Dabi’s permission, my eyelids began to droop, and I felt myself drift into blissful oblivion as the cremation villain rested at my back.

“You don’t need to do this yourself,” Dabi rolled his eyes as he watched me from the other side of my kitchen island the next afternoon.

My left forearm rested out in front of me, laid bare to the cold granite underneath it as I angled a scalpel down at where I believed the tracker to be.

“Do you have the metal detector or not?” I felt my patience growing thin as a slight bite entered my words.

Dabi’s eyebrows narrowed at that, but I couldn’t let myself feel guilty now.

Today was the day.

The day that I would cut ties with the people who I had come to know as close friends, coworkers, partners, etc., as I would be officially joining Dabi’s group.

Nerves began to creep into my very being as I glared down at the raised area on my arm. I needed to get this device out one way or another, and I preferred to do it myself.

“It’s right here, but you should know – “

“I’m aware of the risks, Dabi,” I gave him a pointed look as I took the small metal detector from him. I activated the tool and watched as it rang out as I hovered it over the area that I had originally suspected to house the tracker that the hero commission had planted in me.

Without giving myself a chance to reconsider my options, I began to cut, and I saw Dabi wince in my peripheral vision as small droplets of blood began to pool from the wound that I created. I watched as they fell over the curve of my arm, leaving stains of dark red behind and dripping to the counter below.

I had tried using some numbing cream on the area prior to starting my procedure, and while it worked on the surface of my skin, I could feel the stinging sensation of the blade slicing through deeper layers of tissue as I went further into my arm. The pain worsened as I continued, and I had to stop once to stop myself from biting through my own lip. Dabi passed me a clean washcloth, which I quickly brought up to my mouth to bite on.

After what felt like hours, when in reality it had only been a minute or two, I reached the layer that the tracker was it and quickly picked up a pair of tweezers that I had disinfected earlier with Dabi’s flames. I pulled gently on the tracker, and it popped free easily.

It was the size of a small button battery. A small green light flashed on it, and I quickly dropped it into a small bag that I had laid open next to me in disgust.

“You should try to decrease how much you use your quirk, just in case you need it later,” Dabi handed me the wire that I had brought out earlier and I thanked him with a slight nod of my head. “You wouldn’t have to worry about that though if you just came with me to the hideout right now instead of going off on your own – “

“I have to do this,” I uttered out as I tried focusing on stitching up the wound on my forearm. I allowed my quirk to flow through the deeper layers and watched as the wound began to heal, I deactivated my quirk and started to manually stich the top layer once I was satisfied with the degree of healing that my quirk had accomplished. Dabi was right, I might need my quirk later, and I knew how to fix superficial wounds.

I winced as I inserted the small needle into my skin.

I could feel Dabi’s eyes watching my every move as I worked. He continued handing me the tools that I needed and then finally gave me a disinfectant spray once my handiwork was complete.

“All fixed,” I dropped the gauze that I had been using to wrap my arm and taped the edge to make sure that my wound was covered. A small line of red immediately began to seep through the cloth, but it began to slow so I decided to ignore it and pulled down the sleeve of my jacket to cover it.

“Come with me,” Dabi said again as I walked over to the duffle bag that I had left near my front door.

I thrust the bag over my shoulder and pulled my black windbreaker down to readjust it before I glanced back at him, “you know I can’t do that. I need to do this.”

He scowled at me; the angle of his mouth was so severe that I saw the skin near the staples in his face strain with the movement. “If you get hurt because of this – “

“I know who to call if I run into any issues,” I walked over to where he still stood near my kitchen counter.

He pulled his gaze away from out of frustration and allowed himself to observe the now empty apartment that was laid out before him.

I looked up into his face, “Dabi, you need to trust me.”

Cerulean eyes met mine again hesitantly. I could see the conflict on his face as he considered just bringing me with him against my will, I would be safer that way, but that wasn’t what I wanted.

“This is Aizawa that we’re talking about, I need to say goodbye. I need to thank him – “I choked back a large lump in my throat as I thought about the conversation that I would soon be having with the man who had basically raised me. “He won’t hurt me, I’m confident about that.”

His jaw clenched as he seemed to glare down at me, but I saw the acceptance in his eyes as he sighed, “you know how to reach me,” I began to nod and opened my mouth to respond but he cut me off, “if anything, and I mean anything goes wrong, anything that you haven’t planned for, you tap your necklace right away, got it?” He nearly growled out the last few words, and I felt my heartbeat accelerate in my chest, not out of fear, but out of excitement, and I felt my face begin to heat up.

“I will.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise,” I rolled my eyes as I reached for the tracker on the counter. I slid it into my coat pocket before I glanced back up at him.

“I’ll see you later then,” his voice was hard as he activated the portal bracelet on his wrist. I watched as he disappeared into the dark mist and sighed as I was left in silence once again.

I took one last look around my now empty apartment before I opened my front door and walked away. 

I didn't look back. 

Chapter Text

U.A’s large doors stood before me as I contemplated exactly what I wanted to say to Aizawa, my adoptive father and friend for the past decade.

I knew I didn’t want to tell him the details.

I would tell him something along the lines of “I’m going on a trip, and I won’t be back for a long while,” or “I’m doing some soul searching so don’t wait up for me.” I needed to come up with something that told him not to look for me or wait for me to come back. I’d figure out a longer excuse later on, maybe I could fake my death similar to how Midoriya had. That would definitely make sure that no one came looking for me in the long run.

My heart ached, but I wasn’t about to turn back now. I needed to do this.

I needed to help bring the hero commission down to their knees, or at least prevent them from taking advantage of the public and of the many heroes who really only wanted to make the world a better place. In Dabi’s opinion, that goal could only be reached by destroying the commission as a whole, but I wasn’t so sure. I was certain that there were heroes, or individuals, amongst the commission who had identified and witnessed the corruption around them - and who wanted to fix it as much as I did, I just needed to find them.

I took a deep, cleansing breath as I toyed with the small friendship bracelet that Mia had gifted me. I knew she had meant for it to be a small joke between the two of us as she had chosen charms, such as a burning cigarette, a painted nail, a coffee cup – things that had defined our brief friendship, and these things would have existed between the two of us well into the future had her life not been cut short before her time.

I pocketed the bracelet as I pushed U. A’s front doors open.

The halls were empty as the students had started their winter holiday, but I knew that I would find Aizawa here either way.

Decorations from the previous night’s festivities still littered the walls and several standing tables still rested in the middle of the hall.

The sound of my footsteps clicked against the tiled floor as I journeyed farther into the building.

I allowed my eyes to travel over the awards on the wall as I walked, analyzing the little things that I hadn’t taken the time to look at in the past. A faded picture caught my eye as I turned to walk down another hallway. Aizawa’s young face glared back at me as a bright eyed Present Mic held his arm playfully around his fellow students shoulders. His other arm was hoisted around another individual, a boy with spikey light hair that looked like flames with a thin bandage across his nose. I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the names written at the bottom of the portrait, “Shirekumo Oboro, Loud Cloud,” I hushed out as I read aloud. My words echoed slightly against the hard, bare walls and floors around me, and I quickly surveyed the area around me to see if any curious head peaked out from any of the rooms that sat adjacent to the hallway. My heart rate began to slow when no one emerged.

Aizawa had never mentioned the light haired man before, but from the looks of it, they had been great friends. A kind of uneasiness settled into me as I began to walk again.

I eventually reached my first stop, the locker room, where I then retrieved the uniform that Aizawa had designed for me.

I was still shoving it into my duffle bag as I heard a soft trickle of voices traveling towards me from down the hall. My feet came to an abrupt stop as I listened. “Don’t panic now, Y/N. You have your excuse as to why you’re here. Chill out,” I reminded myself as I began walking slowly again.

I wasn’t anywhere near Aizawa’s office yet, and I was slightly annoyed that I was already running into someone.

“Bro, how come you never told me about these recent upgrades? I would have tried to match you! I think you singed my hair a bit. Jiro is going to be pissed that you ruined her handiwork.”

I recognized the young man’s voice as it rang towards me. He was loud, unabashedly so, and he had a sort of energetic quality to his voice, almost like he had an unlimited amount of energy.

“I don’t need to tell you shit, dunce face,” I heard his companion scoff back at him, and I immediately felt my stomach churn.

I turned on my heel and started in the opposite direction when I recognized the raspy voice.

No. No, I couldn’t run into him now. There couldn’t be a worse time –

My inner thoughts were interrupted as I ran headfirst into a large man’s toned chest as I turned the corner.

I let out a light “oof” as I rubbed at my forehead.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?”

I glared up at the red head between my fingers.

Shit, he was here too?

“I could ask you the same thing,” I answered back quietly in hopes that the men down the hall wouldn’t hear us.

“We’re training. We always trained at Endeavor’s agency on Wednesday afternoons. But now we’re here since the agency is operating here now,” Kirishima gave me a surprised look, like I should have somehow already known about their training schedule.

I gave myself an internal slap in the face.

How had I forgotten that Endeavor’s agency would be using U. A’s grounds for the time being while the agency building was being repaired? I glanced down at the blue necklace around my neck and considered touching it.

Dabi had insisted that I contact him if anything went against the original plan. I could get hurt, or I could end up in a situation that I wasn’t prepared for, and I could end up causing more problems for them.  

My fingertips hovered over the gem briefly, but then I allowed my hand to drop.

I could handle this. I didn’t need someone running to my rescue like Shouto had done so many times in the past.

Todoroki’s and their protective bullshit.

Kirishima seemed to watch my internal war with myself for a moment before he glanced around me and waved at his companions.

My head turned on a swivel at his gesture and I met a pair of crimson eyes.

Shit.

“I’ll see you around,” I grumbled out to Kirishima as I tore my gaze away from Katsuki and started off in the opposite direction again. I would find a way to get to Aizawa’s office, one way or another.

“Y/N, wait up!” His gruff voice shouted after me and I heard his loud footsteps moments later, jogging behind me to catch up.

I sighed. There was no point in running away from him. He would know something was up if I all of a sudden sprinted off down one of these hallways, so I would play it cool. I would make it seem like nothing was awry. Or at least, I would try to.

There was no doubt that I was still angry, with him and with the situation that we were in. I was furious that he had betrayed my trust and that he had gone behind my back. I was upset that his actions had somewhat acted as a catalyst for my departure from the agency. But more than anything, I was irritated with myself, because I was sad and disappointed. I didn’t want to be angry with him, and there was a small piece of me that really wasn’t. I had chosen this path and put us both into this predicament. But at the end of the day, Katsuki had also made his own decisions, and those choices had negatively impacted me.

I readjusted the duffle bag that sat across my shoulder as I turned to wait for him. My eyes drifted across him quickly, studying the sweat that dripped off of him and the way that his muscles quivered with each step towards me. He had designed a new hero suit recently and I caught myself analyzing that as well. He had created smaller, most likely more efficient, sweat collectors around his wrists, and he had transitioned from the orange and black color scheme to an almost solid black suit with small red accents.

“Nice suit,” I complimented him casually as he stopped beside me.

He glanced down at his outfit before he looked back up at me again, his red eyes traveled over my face briefly before he responded roughly, “thanks.”

Kirishima and Kaminari stood farther down the hallway, chatting and glancing at us every so often. I arched an eyebrow at Bakugou, “would you like to have an audience for this conversation? Or if you didn’t want to talk then I do really need to get going. I have lots of places to be and all, you know, to do unemployed type activities.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes at his two friends down the hall and lightly directed me to a classroom that sat close to where we were standing.

Bakugou leaned up against the teachers table as I took a seat in one of the desks in front of him. I began to tap my fingers absentmindedly, “Soooo...”

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out and his cheeks reddened. “I fucked up. I really fucked up, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

I sat speechless for a moment. There were several ways that I wanted to respond. Part of me wanted to forgive him and tell him to not worry about it. He had done what any sane coworker would do, he was following orders and making sure that the rest of the agency stayed safe.  Another part of me, however, needed to scream at him and demand that he tell me why he had gone to Endeavor, why he hadn’t just come and talked to me instead.

I closed my mouth before I could say something stupid. I needed to be strategic with my conversations going forward. What I said now could dictate how many issues we might have in the future.  When I had made the decision to join Dabi’s group, I had also made the choice to leave both Shouto and Katsuki behind. In order to actually do so though, I would have to make sure that they also didn’t want to find me.

I willed myself to hold onto my anger, at Katsuki and with my current situation, and chose to direct it all at the man before me.

I needed to push him away.  

I leaned back and crossed my ankles out in front of the desk, “you did fuck up. But I also put you into that situation. I shouldn’t have trusted you with that information in the first place, I should have known you wouldn’t be able to handle it. So, in my own way, I’m sorry too.”

His jaw clenched as his eyes scanned my face and posture again. “I was scared,” he confessed quietly, his voice almost broke as he continued, “I was terrified that something was going to happen and that I had done nothing to prevent it.”

My eyebrows rose sarcastically in response, “something definitely happened all right, but it wasn’t due to the fault of any villains.” I leaned forward in my seat and rested my chin on my hands, “I lost my license. I lost my position at Endeavor’s agency. I lost Mia.”

“I’ve lost people … friends, before in the past. I’m sorry, I really am, but I had to do something. Who knows what might have happened if I hadn’t – “

I chuckled bitterly, I knew exactly what I needed to say to make him hurt, to make him hate me. It made my chest ache. “This is starting to sound like less of an apology and more of a discussion about you trying to justify how you ruined me,” I tilted my head as I clicked my tongue, his eyes remained on me and I could see that I had hit a nerve, “but, at least your friends didn’t get hurt this time. Right, Kacchan?”

The nickname escaped my mouth before I had a second chance to think about the consequences of using it.

He opened his mouth to respond, almost like he hadn’t heard what I had said, but then he froze as it registered.

The name nearly brought the man in front of me to his knees.

Rage flitted across his face, as well as despair and a sort of devastation. He was so torn between yelling at me and breaking down that I could see the tears edging out of the corners of his eyes as his fists balled up tightly.

“Where did you hear that name?” He growled out, but it was so quiet and weak that it came out more like a whimper instead.

I smirked, which only seemed to enrage him further. “That is what happened with Deku too, right? You were just trying to help him. You turned him in to the commission and got him killed. Correct me if I’m wrong, darling, but I’m sure that I’m spot on.”

“That wasn’t what happened – “he began to stammer out.

“Face the reality of your decisions, Katsuki. Reflect on them. You’ll realize who, and what, the common denominator is. And spoiler alert, it wasn’t your friends who caused their early demises, it was you. All you,” I spat at him. My heart hurt again as I watched his face fall, as I observed the hero before me crumbling into tiny, broken pieces.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” his voice cracked as he held himself upright against the desk behind him. I could see the muscles in his arms quivering against the weight of him, as if his knees were truly giving out and they were the only things that were keeping him upright.

I stood then, feigning calmness and confidence as I approached him. I could feel my own knees buckling with nerves as I rested my hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Kacchan. I’m sure Deku’s in a better place now. At least he’s no longer at risk of losing anything else because of you.”

Katsuki erupted.

One moment, I was standing upright with him in front of me, and the next he had me pinned to the classroom floor. His one hand pushed against my neck lightly, not causing me any pain but showing me that he was in control of the situation, while his other hand trapped both of my arms above my head. His breathing was heavy as he glared down at me. I could see the fire and hatred in his eyes as he regarded me, and I knew that I had completed my task well.

He despised me.

I swallowed hard and put on my best brave face, “I’ve always pictured being choked but normally I imagined it to be in a more sensual setting.”

“Shut up,” he growled out between his teeth.

“You hate me, good,” I grinned up at him and his grip tightened on my throat. “You want to fight it out? I’m down.”

I pushed my body against his and wedged my knees between his. With one quick thrust of my lower body, I twisted out of the position that he had put us in and kicked him in the chest.

The sound of Katsuki hitting the desks around us must have alerted his friends outside, as the door to the classroom flew open moments later.

Katsuki glared at me from where he sat partially stunned from my last kick. He kept his eyes on me, even as his friends approached him to see if he was okay.

“If we want an even match, then you can’t have back up,” I hissed as I allowed my quirk to move throughout the room around us. I beckoned the oxygen atoms in the air to flow towards me instead, leaving Kirishima and Kaminari without any air.

They began to gasp and resembled fish out of water as they both sent confused glances my way, Katsuki eyes left mine to look at his friends instead.

“What are you- “

Both of the men passed out due to their lack of oxygen and I willed the floor beneath them to act as a soft cushion to lessen their fall. I already felt horrible about taking their oxygen away from them, I didn’t want to leave them with a concussion as well.

Katsuki jumped up to help them. He knelt next to them, checking them over, panicking as any friend would. I allowed the atoms to rush back into them to prevent them from suffering any actual brain damage and the color of their skin pinkened almost immediately.

“A little oxygen deprivation never hurt anyone,” I dusted off my pants from where they had been resting against the dirty classroom floor.

“You did this?” He demanded as he continued to check for their pulses.

I shrugged dismissively, “I couldn’t let them get in the way, now, could I? They’ll be fine, they’ll just be unconscious for a bit.”

His face grew enraged as he looked between his friends and I, and then he lashed out again, and I welcomed it.

I didn’t have a lot of experience fighting with Katsuki since I had been Shouto’s partner, but I knew the kinds of moves that he typically went for.

I dodged the first right hook that he sent my way and countered with a low punch to his abdomen that landed perfectly, successfully sending him across the room for a second time and into the far wall. He was on his feet in seconds and pushed desks out of his way as he moved towards me once again.

We continued to fight without our quirks and we each landed hits on one another. My body had begun to throb by the time that I had a chance to catch my breath.

I had kicked him again and sent him across the room, but he was slower to get up this time around. I swiped my hand across the split lip that he had just given me and prepared to block his attack again, but this time, his fist began to glow.

“You’re going to use your quirk on me?” I gritted my teeth. “After everything you’ve done?”

“Everything I did was for you!” He screamed at me, and I saw sheer desperation flash across his face again as he faced me. “I wanted to protect you, but you’re so fucking stubborn that I couldn’t go about it the same way that Icy Hot did, I knew you would hate me then.” He pushed a frustrated hand through his blonde hair.

“I never needed to be protected,” I spat back at him and saw his eyes flash with irritation once again. “Don’t hold back on me now, do what you need to do,” I demanded as I held my arms back up again. I was confident that I could defend against his explosive attacks.

He seemed to consider his options briefly before he attacked. When his fist flew towards me once again, glowing red and about to explode, I dropped my arms from my protective stance and brought them down onto his arms instead.

My quirk came alive as we stood in an awkward embrace, Katsuki’s crimson eyes widened as he realized what I was doing.

“You know what fire and explosions need to survive, right Kat?” My quirk steadily removed the oxygen around his arms, stifling his fire and making it impossible for his quirk to work. “You can spark as much as you want, but without oxygen there won’t be any explosions. It’s useless.”

He fought against me, even without his quirk he could still do damage. I knew that, and that’s why I had also prepared for that as well.

“Do you know what other ions and atoms your body needs to move?” I asked him as his muscles began to give out. His knees gave out first and I slowly helped lower him to the ground. “Calcium. Without calcium, your muscles can’t contract. You can’t move.”

“Why?” He breathed out as I finally let go of his arms and allowed them to drop next to him. He still had enough energy to lift his head to look at me. I remained squatted down next to him as I watched him.

I brushed some of his longer pieces of hair out of his eyes as he seemed to glare at me, but he couldn’t fight back anymore for the time being.

“I’m leaving,” I responded gently, “and I can’t have you coming after me.”

He eyebrows drew together out of confusion. His earlier anger seemed to dissipate, almost like he was seeing through my prior motives all together.

“I’m going somewhere that you can’t follow me, and I need you to understand that -”

“What Todoroki said in your office that day, he was right, wasn’t he?” His voice was even weaker now as his energy continued to ooze out of him. “You’re joining them, joining Dabi?”

My jaw clenched, and the silence that followed seemed to be enough of an answer for him.

“Stay, we’ll figure this shit out. Just stay,” he begged as his eyelids fluttered open and closed. He fought the fatigue as his body focused it’s energy on his vital organs, but his body was winning. I could almost see him slowly losing consciousness as I watched him.

“Thanks for being a good friend, Kat,” I whispered to him, but I wasn’t sure if he actually heard me. He had closed his eyes, and they hadn’t opened again. His chest rose slowly and evenly as he slept and I loosed a sigh as I stood. I shot him once last, fleeting glance, before I left the classroom and it’s unconscious inhabitants behind.

My closed fist knocked on Aizawa’s office door minutes later. It was so quiet and weak that I wasn’t sure that he had heard me, but when I saw his silhouette though the cloudy door, my heart began to pound in my chest.

“Hey,” he greeted me gently, but his eyes showed his surprise at seeing me at his office. “Did something happen?” He ushered me into the room softly. I felt his eyes resting on me as I quickly glanced at the many photographs that he had posted in his office, I couldn’t help the way that my lips quirked up at the memories.

My eyes landed on one picture of Aizawa and I with painted faces. “Do you remember that festival? How much you refused to allow them to paint those cat whiskers on your face? How Mic reacted when he saw you?” I grinned over my shoulder at him, and he cracked a small, stunned smile at me as he nodded.

“You wouldn’t let it go, and I just wanted to go home so I could sleep,” he chuckled as he walked up beside me.

“You were such a cute cat though,” I shrugged as I reached out to rub some dust off of the picture frame.

He scoffed, “I was not a cute cat.”

“Even Mic and Midnight thought so,” I winked at him, and his eyes grew sad at the memory of his late friend.

We stood in comfortable silence for a moment while we both reflected on our memories. His gruff voice broke the quiet.

“You know I always enjoy your visits, but what’s up?”

I took a deep breath before I turned to him. “I’m leaving. I need to get out of Tokyo, maybe even out of Japan,” I shook my head and began to pick at my nails nervously, his expression hadn’t changed with my confession. “So much has happened in the last few weeks and I – “

“Will you come back?”

“I- “my eyes dropped from his and he sighed.

“Whatever is going on, we can get through this together. Let me talk to some people and figure some things out, just hang on and – “

“I’ve already made up my mind, Aizawa,” I swallowed hard as I met his dark eyes. “Socks is at your house, I left all of his food and his favorite toys with him. He’ll be happy to see you.”

His jaw clenched, “you’re serious about this?”

“I just need to do some soul searching I think,” I laughed nervously as I rubbed at the back of my neck. “I know that sounds lame, but I can’t be here anymore. You have to understand that, please.”

“I understand needing time,” he nodded as he rested a calming hand on my shoulder. “But I also know you better that you think I do, and I can see on your face that you’re not planning on coming back,” his voice broke. “Was it something I did? Or Keigo?”

I immediately began to shake my head, “no. you’re both amazing. You know I’ve always felt like I didn’t deserve you two.”

“Then what- “A quick knock at the door interrupted him and he glared at the closed door. “Yes?’ he asked as he opened it.

“Hey Aizawa, sorry to bother you. We were looking for the mats in Gym Gamma. I know you said they were in the storage closet, but we’ve checked all of them and still haven’t found them- “

“Todoroki,” Aizawa rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

I winced.

The door to the office opened further, revealing the ice and flame user. His eyes widened as they met mine.

“Oh, Y/N. I didn’t know you were here,” he gave me a small smile that didn’t reach his multicolored eyes.

“Come, I’ll show you,” Aizawa announced as he walked out into the hallway, “you’re coming too.” He pointed at me as I tried to escape in the opposite direction.

I gritted my teeth but followed behind him anyway.

Anxiety began to build in my chest, and I felt myself begin to nervously glance around. Someone was either going to find Katsuki and the others soon, or they were going to wake up and alert everyone to what I had done, and I needed to be out of this building and far away once that happened.

“What brings you here? It’s nice to see you,” Shouto slowed his pace so that he could walk alongside me.  

“I came to pick this up so that I can continue training with my new uniform,” I motioned to the bag on my shoulder, and he seemed to buy the excuse.

I could see Aizawa listening to our conversation, but he didn’t interject or correct me, almost like he knew that I wanted to avoid talking to Todoroki about leaving.

“Are you training with anyone specific?” His voice was gentle as we followed Aizawa outside to walk to Gym Gamma.

Your brother.

I kicked at a rock and sent it off into the snow covered grass, “not yet,” I lied.

“Well, if you need someone, I’d happily spar with you,” he nudged his shoulder against mine with a smirk on his face.

“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea,” I gave him a guilty smile back and saw Aizawa wince in my peripheral vision.

“Why don’t you tell the poor boy the truth instead of leading him on and lying to him?”

I bristled and nearly tripped over a crack in the sidewalk.

He was tattling on me to Shouto??

Shouto’s eyes shot to mine, “what?”

I glared at the back of my fake fathers head before I turned to face Shouto, “I’m leaving Tokyo,” I shrugged dismissively.

Shouto’s dual colored eyebrows furrowed with confusion, “where could you possibly go?”

“That’s what I was trying to ask her when you came knocking at my door.”

“Shut it, old man. You’ve done enough,” I considered tossing my bag at the back of his head but decided against it.

Aizawa chuckled, “help me out, Todoroki.”

As we approached Gym Gamma, I saw more heroes standing outside and around it, training and talking amongst themselves. The sight caused me to begin to panic slightly.

I really needed to get out of here, and soon.

“I’ll show them where the mats are if you can talk some sense into her while I’m gone,” Aizawa left us in the middle of the gym as he went over to one of the side doors.

My eyes surveyed our surroundings briefly. Endeavor had turned the gym into his own little training area. Fire proof posts stood around the center, where several heroes currently stood practicing on them with their fire or explosion quirks. Small targets stood in one corner with small burn holes on them, several archers also stood near them as they practiced.

Shouto pulled on my arm gently to reorient me to our conversation.

“Hey, talk to me,” he demanded softly. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

I chuckled darkly as I pushed my jacket sleeves up absentmindedly, this gym was too hot and stuffy for a jacket, “you don’t want to know.”

“I know that you’ve been through a lot in the past few weeks, and most people would cave under that pressure, but I also know how strong you are. You can’t let it win,” I could see the evident concern on his face as he gazed down at me with those unique eyes of his.

“I’m not letting it win, I’m just finding new ways to handle it,” I responded honestly and Shouto ran a frustrated hand through his shaggy hair.

 He reached his arm out and gripped my arm gently, almost as if he hoped that holding onto me would keep me from leaving, “is there anything I could say that would convince you to stick around?”

I held his gaze as he continued to search my face. When I shook my head slightly, I watched his face fall.

His eyes were sorrowful, “will you at least stay in contact then?”

A tight, pinching feeling erupted in my chest, “yeah, of course,” I lied again. I couldn’t stand the miserable look on his face and I would say anything to make it go away. 

“Eraserhead!” Someone shouted as they blew past us and ran further into the gym.

Shouto’s gaze followed them curiously as my heart began to hammer in my chest again.

Aizawa’s confused face emerged from one of the storage rooms along the side of the gym as several other pro heroes joined him. Present Mic, Ectoplasm, and Snipe stood amongst them, listening intently as whatever news was delivered to Aizawa.

“Are they okay?” Aizawa’s agitated voice traveled to where Shouto and I stood, and I immediately felt like my legs were about to give out.

My body swayed as my hand instinctively reached up and tapped on my necklace. Dabi had been right, I shouldn't have come. Everything that could go wrong, had gone wrong. Shouto turned his attention back to me, having seen the movement in his peripheral vision.  

“I wonder what’s going on,” his voice was quiet as he continued to try to overhear what had caused the commotion.

I already knew.

They had found them, or they had woken up.

Soon, the gig would be up, and several heroes would be after me.

I felt my face blanch of all its color as the pro heroes turned to glance at me as they spoke to one another.

I could maybe take a few of them solo, but with all of them together, I would be defeated in a heartbeat.

I tugged on the arm that was still in Shouto’s grasp.

“Shouto, let go,” I breathed out as I tried to turn to leave.

He released me without question and gave me a startled look. I cast another glance over at the group of pro heroes, who were still observing Shouto and I.

I needed to calm down. If I started to freak out, they would definitely become even more suspicious.

I willed my face to become more neutral as I turned back to Shouto, but the half and half hero was no longer looking at me.

His focus was trained on his hand instead.

“Y/N, you’re bleeding.”

My eyes dropped to his hands, where my bright, red blood now stained his pale skin.

He tenderly ran his finger along the bandage that covered my left forearm, “what happened?”

My stomach dropped as I surveyed the cloth. The bandage was now almost entirely soaked through. I must have damaged my stitches during my little brawl with Katsuki without realizing it, and when I had pushed my jacket sleeves up earlier, I had basically been showing my wound to the entire room.

Blood dripped down my arm and onto the floor below.

 I swallowed hard as I looked up again at the pro heroes across the room.

While Aizawa appeared to only be concerned with my wound, the others turned suspicious.

They knew. They had to know about the tracker.

My suspicions were confirmed as I watched Snipe raise his gun to point it at me.

Time slowed as I heard his weapon discharge followed by a surprised shout, and instead of protecting myself first, I felt myself reach out and shove Shouto away from me. Shock lined his handsome features as he landed at least a dozen feet away from me, but I was relieved that he appeared to be safe for the time being.

At least he was far away from me now.

The bullet that Snipe had sent flying towards me ricocheted off of the water shield that I created moments after I had pushed Shouto. The faces of the individuals before me blurred as the water reacted to the force. When it settled moments later, I met Aizawa’s dark eyes.

We starred at one another, each of us seemed to be too afraid to utter the words that were currently flying through both of our minds.

Present Mic stepped forward, “what have you done, Y/N?” his voice was sad as he glanced at the wound on my arm.

“You knew about it?” I could hardly get the words past my mouth as I dragged my attention away from Aizawa and towards his only living friend instead. I fished through my jacket pocket and pulled out the bag with the tracker. “Who should I return this to? Does it belong to any of you?” My gaze drifted over the pro’s in front of me, the pros who I had been training with over the last almost decade and with whom I had become comfortable with. When my eyes landed on Aizawa, that familiar pain returned to my chest. I swallowed the lump in my throat, “Aizawa, did you?”

“Shouta didn’t know about it, Y/N,” Present Mic’s normally loud voice was quiet now as he stood beside my mentor.

“You did then, Mic?” My voice broke, “you knew that they were tracking my every move? That they inserted this thing into my arm without my knowledge?”

I tossed the bag through the shield and watched as it fell at Aizawa’s feet. His dark eyes finally dropped from mine to study it.

He bent down and picked it up, turning it over several times in his hands before his gaze rose again to look at Mic. “What’s the meaning of this, Mic?”

Mic sent a nervous look between the two of us, making sure that I didn’t leave from my spot. In the corner of my eye, I saw Ectoplasm moving around me while Snipe also moved.

I gritted my teeth as they surrounded me and I fortified my shield in response.

Other heroes watched from a distance curiously, all while Shouto still sat stunned on the ground, his eyes were wide as he regarded me and the situation that was slowly unraveling in front of him.

“The commission wanted to keep tabs on her, I was only told about it a few days ago,” Mic mumbled to Aizawa, but it was quiet enough in the gym that I could easily hear him, as could everyone else.

Aizawa’s voice was low and dangerous sounding as he responded, “who gave the order?”

Mic’s face shifted into a guilty scowl as he regarded his friend.

“Endeavor,” I spoke at last and felt multiple pairs of eyes land on me again. “He’s the one who got the tip, I’m sure he recommended it.”

“Endeavor was involved, yes, but it was more the commission who wanted you to be monitored, Y/N.”

“Who gave the order to have me killed then?” I glared at the man that I once considered a friend and watched as he shifted his feet, as if he was uncomfortable with the question. “Snipe aimed a bullet that was traveling towards vital areas on my body. That wasn’t a wounding shot, it was a kill shot,” I hissed as my eyes whipped around to see that the gun hero still had his weapon trained on me.  I turned to Aizawa and Mic again, they both stayed silent. “I’ll ask once more. You get one more chance to answer my question before I fucking release myself on you. Who gave the order to have me killed?”

“Y/N – “Aizawa’s voice was gentle as he regarded me with kind eyes, “please don’t do this. Bring your shield down and let me help you -”

“Mic,” I spoke loudly over my mentor, interrupting whatever nice, un-helpful things he was about to say to me. I couldn’t listen to him now. I had my goals, and I needed answers.

Mic just watched me with sad eyes.

I thrust my quirk out, past my shield and towards Ectoplasm, who had been inching his way towards my left backside for the last few minutes. It hit him like a freight train and sent him to his knees. He grasped at his throat, much like Kirishima and Kaminari had, as he also gasped for air.

I heard several voices shout out around me in surprise.

As Ectoplasm collapsed, I quickly touched the ground and warped the gym floor so that it swallowed him up to his chest. He wouldn’t be moving or using his quirk anytime soon.

My shield wavered briefly as I used more of my quirk. Fortunately, I had been working on my stamina with Dabi and felt my quirk rebound shortly after.

“Who submitted the kill order?” I asked again as I turned back to Mic.

“It was the president!” He nearly screamed at me, finally letting loose the tension that had been building within him, and between us.

“The Hero commission president wants me dead?” I chuckled darkly. I glanced down at my hands as my mind started to spin.

Without thinking, I allowed my quirk to move through my body. I watched as the little cuts and bruises that fighting with Katsuki had given me closed quickly. I peeled away the bandage on my left arm and watched as the stitches were pushed out of my skin as it molded together on it’s own. I tossed the bandage to the ground before my eyes finally rose and met Aizawa’s.

“You learned how to control it?” His voice was curious, yet careful as he watched me.

“Partially,” I shrugged as I kicked at the bandage casually, sending it out towards Shouto accidentally.

The movement seemed to wake him up, as he quickly pushed himself up off of the floor and stood. He opened his mouth to say something to me and approached the shield.

“Don’t,” I shook my head as I studied him. The shield held fast against him as he tried to push himself through it to get to me.

“You’ve always had issues with people getting too close, now you have the perfect way to make sure that they can’t,” he whispered as his fingers trailed down the water shield. His features wavered with the movement of the atoms.

Tears began to well up in my eyes as he spoke.

The gravity of the situation began to barrel down upon me as I looked into his eyes.

“You never trusted any of us, did you? Even after all of this time, even after everything that I’ve confessed to you – “

“I can’t help that I don’t trust any of you. Every time that I try, I try to let down my guard and let someone in, I’m reminded as to why I shouldn’t,” I glanced at Mic who shivered under my cold eyes. Mic turned to Aizawa and mumbled something under his breath, so quiet that I couldn’t hear it.

“I promise that I won’t hurt you, just let me in. Let me help,” Shouto pleaded with me as everyone watched. “I’ll do anything. I’ll leave my dad’s agency, I’ll go against the commissions orders, anything.”

I regarded him carefully as I considered his words. He seemed to mean them, but I felt my head shake slightly automatically. I felt my own heart break a hundred times over as his face crumpled and he fell to his knees and hung his head.

“I’m so sorry, Shouto. I – “

I stood stunned as my shield fell apart and dispersed into a small pool of water at my feet.

I hadn’t deactivated my quirk, and when I tried to form another shield, I could no longer feel my power underneath my skin.

My gut began to ache as I felt myself begin to panic and hyperventilate. My eyes snapped up and met Aizawa’s, who confirmed my suspicions.

His eyes were wide open as his hair trailed up behind him, indicating that his own quirk was active.

Tears fell from his eyes as I felt my own face fall into a look of sheer shock.

“Just hold her until we can get her cuffed, “Mic muttered quietly to his best friend who only nodded in response.

“Aizawa – “I gasped out as I heard Snipes gun go off again.

Apparently, Snipe wasn’t about to let this opportunity pass him by. He had his orders, and he was going to follow through with them.

Time slowed as I saw his bullet flying towards me. I met Aizawa’s dark eyes once more before it could hit it’s mark.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered out to him, and closed my eyes.

I had always wanted my death to mean something. I always imagined that I would die in combat, fighting for something that I believed in or protecting someone that I loved. While this situation wasn’t ideal, in a way - I was dying for something important.

Hopefully, my death would bring about change in the hero community.

But more than likely, it would get swept under the rug.

Or, they would twist the narrative. They could talk about how my mental health had suffered and how it had driven me to join “the dark side” and how I betrayed my comrades and fought against them to the end.

I waited for the bite of the bullet and for the blackness that would soon follow.

It didn’t come.

I felt my quirk return to me almost immediately, and silently thanked my mentor.

At least he didn’t want me to die.

A loud noise erupted behind me as a rush of bright, skin melting heat traveled over me. I instinctively crouched down to get away from it, but I felt myself run into a hard body instead.

“Are you just going to lie down and die now?” A familiar, gravely voice growled into my ear as I was hoisted up to my feet. “I’m not here to save a fucking corpse.”

When my eyes opened, they met cerulean blue.

I’m sure my face reflected the shock that I felt, which only made Dabi roll his eyes.

“You called for help, so I came.”

I heard someone yell nearby and finally pulled my gaze from his to survey the situation around us.

My shield was back up in full force as Dabi’s flames raged on outside of it.

I gasped, “turn it off.”

“Why? They were just trying to kill you, doll face. I’m only returning the favor -”

“Don’t you have a single remorseful bone in your body?” I chastised him, and his face dropped into a deep, offended scowl.

Instead of waiting for him to turn off his quirk, I snuffed it out, which only seemed to infuriate him more. His eyes flashed dangerously from under his white hair as he glared down at me. I pulled my eyes from him to watch as his blue flames disappeared into a thick cloud of smoke.

The smoke provided us with the perfect escape route as it shrouded us and protected us from most of the heroes around us.

“Kurogiri, open a portal back to our destination. Y/N needs to get out of here, she seems confused and she has forgotten who wronged her in the first place and who just came to help,” he hissed the demand at the man who stood behind me and ignored my pleading eyes.

“Dabi- “I groaned out.

He silenced me with an irritated wave of his hand, and I flinched.

“You lied to me.”

Shouto’s dull voice surprised me as I tore my gaze away from his angry, older brother.

“You said you weren’t planning on joining them, that I had nothing to worry about,” he now stood a fair distance away from my shield, as if he had taken some cover when Dabi’s flames had been unleashed into the room, but he was close enough that he could see us through the smoke that was now slowly dispersing.

“Shouto, I – “

“I must be more convincing in the sack than you were, little brother,” Dabi sneered at the younger Todoroki, who looked as if he had just been slapped.

His accusatory gaze fell on me as he considered Dabi’s statement and what it meant. He choked on his words, as if the mere thought of them made him sick, “you slept with Touya?”

“It wasn’t just sleeping – “

“Stop,” I interrupted Dabi before he could go any further into describing our brief sex life. “This isn’t helping anything. We’re leaving.”

Dabi sent me a devious smile as his hands came up to cradle my face, “oh, but darling, it certainly helps me,” his hot lips landed on mine, fast and hard.

I squirmed and pulled at his steel grip on me. I tried to break away from him, but quickly relaxed into him when I realized that he wasn’t about to let me go. He had a point to make and he was going to make it, whether I approved of it or not.

“You’re mine now, and I want him to know that,” his voice was low in my ear as he pulled back.

The shattered, betrayed look on Shouto’s face almost made me regret all of my previous decisions, if only to make sure that I never saw that look on his face again.  But - at least he wouldn’t come looking for me now. Dabi had undoubtedly made sure of that.

Dabi’s hot hand reached out and grasped me around my hips as he proceeded to tug me towards the portal, “now we can leave, doll face.”

I sent one last look over my shoulder and met Aizawa’s gaze through the now thin smoke.

I hoped that he could see how absolutely ruined and conflicted I felt. I didn’t want to have to leave him behind, but I needed to.

I tried to convey my true appreciation and love for him through that last glance, but I wasn’t sure if he actually understood it. He just looked on with broken eyes, watching as I chose to leave with a bunch of villains.

My shield fell apart as I entered the portal with Dabi, and I couldn’t help but relate to it, as I too felt like breaking apart into a bunch of tiny pieces.

Chapter Text

An odd, uncomfortable pressure settled into my chest as the dark portal gave way to a bright courtyard. My stomach churned, with anxiety and nerves, but I held down the acid that meant to make its way back up my throat.

A fine layer of snow coated the wooden structures of the inn, and I watched as several snowflakes shifted and drifted to the ground before me. As my hearing adjusted to the new sounds around me, I tuned into the many bird calls that sang out and to the sounds of the wind rustling through the pine trees.

I also paid attention to the sound of several people shifting their feet near me.

“Come with me, I have someone you need to meet,” Dabi’s voice was blunt, straight to the point.

I finally focused on the hot hand that was grasping one of my wrists.

His touch was burning me. Scalding me even, but I knew that it wasn’t his quirk that was to blame.

Rage, at him, and with just happened minutes ago, tumbled through me as I dug my heels in and prevented him from pulling me along with him.

I tugged my arm free from his grasp and felt a dark sense of satisfaction rumble through me at the surprised look that flickered across his face.

“Are you proud of what just went down back there?” I glared up at him as I pointed towards the portal that blinked closed behind me. “Is that what this group is about?”

His eyebrows furrowed and I swore that I could see a hint of the villain that I had been warned so many times about.

“You tried to kill all of them –“

“I told you it was a bad idea to go say goodbye,” I opened my mouth to interject but was silenced as he raised a finger at me, “I told you – no – I begged you to stay with me, and you ignored my warnings. You put yourself in danger and I had to come save your ungrateful ass.”

I grimaced, “I had my reasons, you know that – “

He rolled his eyes, “yes, to say goodbye to your dear ol’ dad. But you know what, Princess? A lot of us have people out there, no one was selfish enough to put the entire group at risk.” he air quoted at the word dad and I felt my eye twitch with anger.

“You could have had some tact – “

“Tact?!” His eyes blazed. “They tried to kill you, and you wanted me to have tact?” Dabi’s voice grew louder as he glared down at me. Kurogiri silently slinked away after glancing between the two of us, obviously deciding that he didn’t want, or need, to be a part of this conversation.

“You didn’t need to say those things to Shouto, he didn’t deserve that.”

His jaw clenched with irritation, “that’s what you’re concerned with? What my little, perfect brother thinks about us?”

I took a hesitant step back from him.

Us?

What did he mean by us? He couldn’t possibly think…

“Us?” I asked carefully as I met his gaze.  

His own cerulean eyes narrowed, “don’t let it go to your head, princess. It’s a general term. We fucked and that’s what I told him.”

I shook my head as my mind came to a sudden realization, “you said that I was yours, that you wanted to show him that I belonged to you now.”  

“I’m protective over my things, what can I say,” he casually shrugged, as if that statement shouldn’t mean anything, like he just went around telling people that they were his on a casual, daily basis.

Irritation spiked through me, “as if I would ever allow that to happen. Like I would ever stoop that low– “

Dabi clicked his tongue, “you already did when you let me enter you, doll face, or did you forget?” He leaned down, his nose nearly brushing mine. “You did stoop that low,” he tapped my chest hard with his pointer finger, “you fucked a villain. You fucked me, and you liked it.”  

I felt my face heat up with embarrassment.

Had that been his goal all along? To use me and then humiliate me in front of everyone that I knew?

“Fine, I learned my lesson. Never again,” I nearly spat at him as he continued to tower over me.  

His nostrils flared and his voice dropped even further, “fine, next time you’re in trouble, don’t fucking call me, because I won’t be coming,” and with that, he turned on his heel and walked away.  

I watched his retreating figure until he disappeared into a cabin in the distance.

I considered following him to try to talk to him more, but I wasn’t sure what I would say. He was right, I had liked it, not that I would ever tell him that. He had distracted me from thinking about how fucked up my life had gotten, he made me forget.

And he had saved me, even though I wanted to forget that as well. Who knows what might have happened if he had decided that I wasn’t worth it, that I deserved to get captured by the heroes after what I did to Katsuki.

I was angry though. Angry about what he had said, enraged at what he had done in front of so many people. So, I wouldn’t go after him, he could come to me first when he decided that he was ready to.

He drove me crazy.

“That was brutal,” Midoriya’s chirpy voice interrupted the silence around me, and I shifted my feet to face him.

He stood up against what I recognized to be his own cabin. His dark green hair reflected nicely against the reddish hues coming from the sun setting in the west, and his scar stood out against his pale skin, which was also reinforced by his dark attire. He appeared to be more relaxed this time as he casually pushed himself off of the building and approached me.

“I wouldn’t take too much of what he says to heart, he’s kind of a jackass.”

Midoriya didn’t say whether he had overheard the most recent portion of our conversation or not. But his eyes were soft as they studied me, like he was approaching a wounded animal and I immediately assumed that he had heard. He knew what Dabi and I had done, but he didn’t seem too bothered by it.

I choked on a laugh, but my heart hurt, and I wasn’t exactly sure why. I sent a hesitant glance over my shoulder towards the cabin that Dabi had escaped into, when he didn’t emerge again, I sighed.

“Come on, I’ll show you around our evil lair and take you to the boss.” His hand rested soothingly on my shoulder blade as he ushered me forwards.

“You guys aren’t the bosses?” I asked as I followed him back towards the main building.

Midoriya dropped his hands and shoved them into his dark jean pockets, and I couldn’t help but notice that he wore a black glove over one of them. “Think of us more as a board of directors or something, we can help make decisions and we’re above the workers, but we have a CEO who we have to report to.”

I nodded my head and he continued. “Me, compress, Toga, and Spinner are some of the higher ups. You’ll see spinner quite a bit down below, he prefers hanging out with everyone else over us, and I don’t necessarily blame him. Toga and compress too, but they’re at least normally working. I tend to keep to myself.”

I couldn’t help but notice that he hasn’t mentioned Dabi in his description of the leaders. I didn’t know if he did that on purpose to avoid bringing him up again, or if Dabi really wasn’t a leader of this place, even though he had a place on top of the mountain like the other leaders of the group.   

“So, I can’t depend on you to hang out with me when I’m stuck underground, and you guys have this beautiful resort to lounge around all day?” I sarcastically bumped him with my shoulder before he pulled open the doors to the building that loomed before us.

“I have a few extra bedrooms if you ever get lonely, but I’m sure Dabi would murder me if you ever chose to stay with me over him,” Midoriya commented with a small smirk on his face before he pointed to a door down the hall. “That’s our destination.”

I gasped as he tugged the door open and revealed a tiny room with a stainless-steel elevator. The elevator had expansive windows around it’s periphery and its modern look contrasted strongly with the classic walls of the inn that surrounded it. “How many floors does this thing go down?”

Midoriya shrugged slightly as he walked into it and I followed, “I believe the structure below us goes about 50 stories down, we needed enough space for everyone, and we had an entire mountain side to work with. You’ll like it, I promise.”

The elevator began its smooth descent and within moments, the windows before us began to shift from showing clay and dirt to thick stone.

“This isn’t the normal entrance for everyone to take, so we’ll exit a little outside of where everyone is, but at least I’ll get to show you around more that way.”

A second later, I was greeted with a dim light through the windows, and I felt my eyes widen as I took in the sight before me.

A large, stone city was spread out in the cavern that the group had created underneath the mountain. A large, blue light source illuminated from the ceiling of the space, hundreds of feet up above, and individual lights littered the streets. The space was bright enough that I could see people traveling on walkways along the sides of the walls. The elevated walkways appeared to take them to what I assumed to be their own respective dwellings. Buildings jutted out from the walls and sprung up within the space as well and looked very similar to some of the skyscrapers that I had lived around for the last year. Some smaller houses and buildings lie on the outer edges of the city. I saw what appeared to be convenience stores, little coffee and tea shops, restaurants and clothing stores that rested along the brick roads. This underground city contained all of the resources necessary for any city to survive. I even saw a bus traveling along some of the larger roads, functioning as the city’s public transportation system. No personal cars traveled along the streets however, but there were plenty of bikes and pedestrians.

“This is incredible,” I whispered as we continued to drop slowly towards the ground.

“You haven’t even seen the best part yet,” he winked at me.

“What’s the size of this place?”

Midoriya tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ear before he responded, “last time we checked, the population was at about 50,000 people. The entire city is about 9 square miles. We started encountering some spatial issues in terms of living arrangements pretty early on so most of the new developments have been focused on apartment buildings, like that one.” He pointed to the tallest building in the area. “That apartment building alone houses close to 5,000 people.”  

I turned away from him to look back out the window and before I knew it, we were almost to the ground.

Midoriya cleared his throat as the elevator slowed to a stop, and I found that I was almost pressing my face up against the glass as I watched out the windows, I pushed back and felt my face heat up.

“Don’t worry about it, everyone gets excited when they see it the first time. Hell, I even still get chills now, but we’re at our stop and I didn’t want you to get hurt by the doors.” The doors parted before me and opened up to an elevated courtyard, complete with a small pond and lanterns, similar to the world up above.

The soles of our shoes clicked against the brick as we began walking down a set of stairs to make our way to the ground floor and towards the city. Large planters with bright flowers lined the sides of the walkway and I found myself marveling at them.

“How do you grow plants down here?” 

Midoriya glanced at the flowers, “we have people with gardening quirks who maintain the flowers and crops.”

“Crops?” I arched an eyebrow at him.

His green eyes twinkled with amusement as he smirked at me, “even villains have to eat, Y/N.”

I chuckled at his response, and we started to walk in silence again as I tried to observe every little detail as we entered the city. Kids laughed and yelled excitedly at what looked to be a school off the path, a few adults scrambled after them as they ran amongst some playground equipment that had somehow made its way down here. A man in a suit leaned up against another building as he talked on his cellphone. A teenager flew past us on a skateboard. I watched as people chatted with one another as they walked around us.

I couldn’t’ help but feel that not much had changed after coming here from the Tokyo area.

These people were normal.

I cleared my throat a bit later, “you’re not villains, Midoriya. You just have different goals than the heroes, but that doesn’t make you bad.”

His eyes shot to mine, and he gave me a contemplative look, “it sounds like you’ve been having some philosophical chats with Dabi.”

The mention of his name sent a spark of anger through me, “at first, I thought he was just trying to convince me to join you, but now I can see that he was telling the truth. I can see it with my own eyes.”

Midoriya gave me a small smile, “I’m glad that you feel that way.”

We walked up to what looked like a city hall about a mile later, Japan’s flag flew from a post in front of it, but since there was no wind here, it lay still. Modern, skyscraper like buildings surrounded it and made it stick out almost like a sore thumb, with its elegant architecture and older appearance it didn’t fit in with the rest of the city. Midoriya began to lead me up the steps to the government building.

“What are we doing here?”

“Bringing you to our CEO of course,” he held the door open for me and I watched as the floor beneath me quickly changed to a white granite. “We’re going to head up into that room up there,” he pointed up a set of granite stairs and I began the trek up.

My heart began to beat rapidly in my chest.

What if this “CEO” or head person didn’t approve of me joining their community? Where would I go then? I couldn’t go home, I couldn’t return to my old life, especially not with how things had just ended not even an hour ago.

“Don’t fret, he’ll like you, I promise,” Midoriya’s voice was gentle as we paused at the top of the stairs.

I sent him a grateful smile before I knocked on the large, at least 15 foot tall, door in front of us.

A muffled voice announced that we could enter, and I swallowed hard as I hoisted the door open.

The sight at the desk in front of me made me stop in my tracks.

“I was wondering when I was going to see your face walk through those doors, kid.”

Keigo’s golden eyes surveyed me from across the expansive, ornate room. He stood slowly, almost hesitantly – as if he was trying to gauge my feelings. I watched as his wings unfurled and spread out behind him. He wasn’t wearing his normal hero uniform, he was instead clothed in a black suit, similar to the one that Aizawa had ordered for me. It almost looked like a battle suit, and its darkness contrasted beautifully with his red wings and light hair.

Aizawa.

Oh no.

I felt my heart break again with the thought of him, and the fact that both of his adopted kids were now against him.

My face fell and I saw him take a quick step forward, his golden eyes stayed on me.

“How are you here? Why – “I choked back a small, bittersweet sob at the sight of him.

He crossed the room in a split second and brought me into his chest. His arms were warm as they held me to him. “It’s a long story, and I will tell it to you, just not now. Just know that I’m happy that you’re here, and that I’ll watch over Aizawa for us both. You made the right decision in coming here, there was nothing left for you in the hero world.”

I pulled back from him, “you still work for the heroes when you’re the leader of this place?”

“Leader?” he scoffed, and his mouth quirked up with amusement. “Dabi and I run this thing together.”

“Dabi? What – “

“He doesn’t like to admit it, and he prefers that everyone doesn’t think of him that way, but he runs most of it, I’m just the face for the people down here to see while he stays above ground.”

I was taken aback.

Dabi and Keigo?

“How did that happen?” I gawked at him.

Keigo smirked, “we worked together a few years ago when I was working undercover, and we realized that we had similar goals. We brought this group into existence and watched it slowly grow over the years as more people joined. I never imagined that it would get this big,” he gestured to the building that surrounded us.  “I don’t think he did either. But I’m proud of where it’s at, even though it was missing a key factor for so long,” he winked at me and his golden eyes flashed excitedly, like he was happy that he could show me his most prized possession. “Now that you’re here, it’s perfect.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about any of this?” My voice came out harsher than I intended, and I saw his smile twitch slightly.

“I would have told you about it sooner, but I couldn’t find the right time, and I didn’t want to take you away from Aizawa,” he shrugged dismissively, but I could feel his eyes surveying my every reaction.

“Even after you saw how I’ve been these past few weeks? What I’ve been going through? The agency – “

“The agency was a miscalculation. I never thought the hero association would actually go after you. They generally try to not attack individuals outright, but I was wrong,” his eyebrows pinched together, “and once I find out who gave the order…” he trailed off as he looked off angrily over my shoulder. When his eyes met mine again, he gave me a careful smile, “let’s just say, they won’t have to worry about your quirk, they’ll be dealing with me instead.”

I shook my head slightly, but I bit back the same words that I had uttered out so many times in the past. To Dabi, to Shouto, to Aizawa and to Hawks… I could take care of myself.

Or at least... I liked to think that I could.

But recent events had caused me to start doubting myself again.

“As long as you let me help,” I commented back lightly as Keigo continued to watch me. His lips quirked up at the sound of my words.

He swung a large arm over me and brought me into his side, “of course, kid. I’ll show you the ropes of this place and get you trained to reach your utmost potential in no time. Just stick by me and we’ll get through this together.”

We started walking out the way that I had come in and my feet skidded to a stop.

“Aizawa doesn’t know about all of this, right?”

Keigo shook his head, and his face grew somber yet again, “no, and I’m not planning on letting him in on it. The hero association means everything to him, if we showed him what they did on the sidelines, I honestly think that it would break him.”

“No,” I shook my head and took a step away from. “He wouldn’t break. He’s Aizawa. He might even appreciate you telling him about it, he would probably want to know – “

“Nevertheless, Y/N, Aizawa needs to stay where he is. The heroes would get suspicious if several high-profile heroes just all started to drift off of the radar. Especially with you departing so recently. They would label him as a traitor almost immediately, and I don’t want that for him. I’m sure you don’t either,” Keigo gave me a look that told me that he wouldn’t budge on this topic.

While I could understand where he was coming from, I was also a big proponent of giving people their own choices and letting them come to their own decisions instead of forcing them into ignorance by keeping things from them on purpose. Aizawa deserved to know what kind of organization he worked for.

He deserved to have a choice.

But I relented, for now, and allowed Hawks to steer me back towards the main door once again.

Midoriya’s bright green eyes greeted us as he leaned up against a white column made of the same granite that littered the floors.  

“It looks like you took that news well,” he pushed off the column and approached us, he nodded respectfully at the golden-haired man beside me before looking at me once again. “Feel more at home yet?”

I shrugged and sent Keigo a playful, sideways glance, “maybe a little bit more than before I walked in there, but now that I know I have to deal with his shit again I might just ditch.”

Keigo slapped a hand over his heart dramatically, “you wound me.”

“I just got rid of you a couple years ago, now I have to live with you again,” I feigned a gag and Keigo shoved me lightly.

“And here I was going to give you one of the best apartments in this place, now I might just let you den with the guards,” his eyes twinkled as he cracked a sly grin, “or worse, I’ll have you room with Dabi.”

I winced, but not for the reasons that I’m sure Hawks expected me to have.

I was doubtful that Keigo knew about my actual “relationship” with the cremation villain, and I wasn’t sure how happy he would be about it if he did know, and what might happen in result.

Maybe this entire place would fall apart if the two leaders clashed.

Knowing both men as well as I did, I wouldn’t want to be around when things did go down.

“You’re funny,” I gave him a sarcastic smile and he chuckled.

“Let’s get you to your room though, I’m sure you’re exhausted. Midoriya, you know the way there or should I take her?”

“I have a good idea of where it is.”

“Excellent. I’ll see both of you at dinner then. I have some things I need to take care of before then.”

Midoriya nodded before he started the descent down the granite stairwell.

“Let him show you around, get to know the place. Your training starts tomorrow, I’ll send more details about that too after dinner,” he rested a heavy hand on my shoulder as he took a step closer to me. “I know that you probably don’t think that I’m being genuine when I say that I’m really happy that you’re here, but I am. You have no idea what the past few years have been like, lying to you and Aizawa, making up excuses to you about why I couldn’t make it to things…” his voice trailed off and his eyes dropped. “I’m sorry for never telling you about any of this until now, I hope that you won’t hold that against me.” When his gold eyes met mine again, they held a kind of sadness that I hadn’t seen him emote before.

I swallowed hard before responding, “it’s going to take me a while to get used to all of this, so please be patient with me. And while I was angry at first,” his eyes dropped from mine again, but shot back up with the next words that left my mouth. “I understand why you couldn’t tell me. I could never hold that against you, nor could I ever be upset with you over something like this when I know that you’re just trying to help.” I pulled him into a hug and felt his arms hesitate briefly before they wrapped around my back. “You’re my family. You’ll always be important to me.”

When we pulled away, a grateful, relieved smile lie upon his lips.

“You’re too nice to me,” he commented, and I smacked him lightly on the arm.

“That’s for keeping it from me. I’ll see you at dinner,” I started my journey down the expensive looking stairs after sending him a sly, smirk and felt his eyes on me until I followed Midoriya out of the building.

Midoriya and I walked for what seemed like ages.

Once we left the city hall building, we had started off towards the edge of the city at a brisk pace. Midoriya had explained that it could take a while to get to our destination, so we wouldn’t be able to stop anywhere to take in the sights. He had made a comment saying something about Hawks killing him if I didn’t get enough rest before dinner. He pointed out a few stores and locations in the city as we walked, making remarks about whether they were a place that I should or shouldn’t check out and why he thought that way.

I began to relax even more while in Midoriya’s presence.

He had come off as slightly intimating the first time I had run into him up above the mountain with Dabi, but now that we were alone, I felt like I was finally seeing his true character. Midoriya was lighter and held a sort of calmness to him that made me just want to be near him so that I could possibly soak some of it in and accept it as my own. He radiated a sort of serenity that I couldn’t help but want to be around. I found myself looking forward to each little comment about his experiences in the city and found myself actually enjoying my time.

While he was calm, he did still have a side to him that oozed displeasure and angst, and while he didn’t show me that side of him very often, when he did switch from his peaceful self into a darker version of the Midoriya that I had come to somewhat know – it tended to send a cold shiver down my spine.

“Your apartment is right here on the right,” Midoriya announced after a few minutes of climbing around the walkways that lined the stone walls.

I stopped in my tracks as he did and had to catch myself lightly against the railing that lined the walkway. My heart plummeted in my chest when I saw how high up, we truly were. I hadn’t noticed how far we had ascended since I had been so lost in my own thoughts, but now that I focused on it, I started to immediately feel nauseous.

“Are you okay?” Midoriya turned to me and held a tentative hand out to me, as if he was going to pat me on the back or steady me. “You’re turning kind of green.”

“This was Keigo’s idea, wasn’t it?” A cold sweat started to line my brow line and I shivered before taking a quick step back towards the safety of the wall behind me.

“He said you would like it,” he shrugged as he turned and approached the door that sat beside us on the wall.

“I’m afraid of heights,” I commented through my teeth as I tore my gaze away from the edge and looked to see what he was up to.

The door that he had brought me to had a small patio out front. A large flowerpot with dark blue irises and yellow daffodils sat underneath a small window next to the door and a chair had been placed beside it.

“Put your palm against the reader here,” Midoriya pointed to a black sensor on the door, and I did as I was told.

The mechanism beeped and turned green after a moment of scanning my palm and I heard the door unlock.

“Welcome to your new home,” Midoriya winked at me as he propped the door open and allowed me to enter before him.

We were greeted with a skinny walkway that opened up into a larger room a few feet ahead of us. I slid my shoes off and walked farther into the room, Midoriya on my heels, as we marveled at the modern, yet classic apartment before us. A kitchen with stainless steel appliances and a large island sat to our left, a couch with a TV in front of it sat farther in the space and a large bank of floor to ceiling windows made up the back wall. The ceiling of the kitchen was normal sized, but the area opened up once we walked closer to the TV and was very loft-like. The window before us appeared to almost be 20 feet in height and sat across the entire wall. It somewhat reminded me of Katsuki’s apartment, but I tried to not dwell on that fact. A set of black stairs sat behind the couch and brought us up to a decent sized master bedroom with an attached master bath with a soaking tub and dual sinks.

“This place is nicer than my cabin,” Midoriya pouted as we surveyed the large tub before us.

I shrugged playfully, “I guess you just need to know better people.”

We ended our tour when we walked back down to the first floor and found that there was an attached guest bedroom behind the stairs. It was smaller, but it had floor to ceiling windows just like the living area. I also discovered a door to a small balcony outside of the guest room.

When I walked out on the balcony, I nearly fainted again from the height of it, but kept myself together while I briefly looked around. The beach and ocean sat far below me, and I could see other small balconies along the cliffside.

“How hasn’t this place been discovered yet?”

Midoriya arched an eyebrow at my question, “who would be looking for us here? And we have an individual with a quirk that can disguise our cliffside if needed, but we rarely have to use her, this part of the ocean doesn’t get too much traffic. There’s a pretty bad rip tide about 50 feet out that everyone tries to avoid.”

“Well, I guess this is in a perfect spot then, isn’t it?”

“That’s why they chose it,” Midoriya gave me a snarky smile before he retreated back into the guest bedroom. “Dinner is at 7, so you should clean up or do whatever you have to do. It’s held down the path from here in a small dining hall. All of the apartments along the cliffside are used by individuals who serve in our guard system or local government, and that’s who we normally have dinner with if people want to join. The civilians eat amongst their families generally, and people in the guard can do so as well, so we might not have too big of a turn out, but you’re of course invited to join since you’ll be in our little military.”

“Will you be there tonight?”

“Yeah, I can go if you want me to,” he shrugged casually, but I saw his cheeks turn slightly pink, almost like he wasn’t used to someone wanting him around.

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll see you there then?”

Midoriya nodded before he walked back into the living area and towards the exit. He abruptly stopped in his tracks, “oh, I almost forgot.” He pulled a device out his pocket and handed it to me, “everyone in the guard has one of these, it’s just to communicate with one another.”

I studied the device that he had placed in my hand, “it’s just a phone.”

Midoriya chuckled, “what were you expecting? A new villain device specific for villains? You obviously shouldn’t be using your personal cell phone anymore since the heroes can track it when you use it, so this is the alternative. Everyone else’s numbers are already programmed into it, send me a text if you change your mind so I don’t waste my time coming down here.”

He nodded at me once before he exited the apartment, the door swung quickly closed behind him and slammed. The noise echoed through the apartment, and I suddenly became aware of how alone I really was.

I half expected Socks to come running at me, similar to the many times that he had done so at my old place, but then I remembered his sad face when I had dropped him back off at Aizawa’s less than 12 hours, and I knew that I wouldn’t be seeing his little face at my feet anymore.

There were no noises here outside like my old place either. No cars honking at each other, no sirens – absolutely nothing. The entire space was eerily quiet, and it almost unsettled me. I quickly made my way upstairs and started the bathtub, if only to have some kind of sound running through my new place.

After bathing, I realized that I probably had nothing else to wear besides the clothing that now sat on the bathroom floor. When I swung my closet doors open, however, I was greeted with some of the clothing that I had sent along with Dabi during the past week. I also found new training gear, similar to the suit that Aizawa had made for me, but more lightweight and for daily use.

I changed into a pair of dark jeans and a plain T-shirt, and as I was threading my boots, a knock sounded at the door. “Come in!” I shouted down the stairs and heard the door open a moment later.

“You really shouldn’t just invite anyone in,” Keigo chastised me when he saw me sitting on the stairs while still trying to tie the shoelaces on my boots.

“Should I be wary of the people who live around me?” I arched an eyebrow at him before I walked down the stairs and approached the coat closet near the entrance to the apartment. I sighed happily when I recognized the many coats that I had given Dabi as well. I felt my anger with him subside some when I noticed that he had sorted them by season.

I pulled out a light jacket and swung it over my shoulders.

It hadn’t been freezing down in the man-made cavern under the mountain, but it hadn’t been warm either. It was safe to say that layers would be a good idea moving forward.

“You should always be wary of people, you never know their true intentions,” Keigo glanced at me warily as he joined me near the entrance.

My eyebrows furrowed at that, “what’s wrong?” The normal spark in his eyes was gone and had been replaced by a sheen layer of worry.

“Oh, it’s nothing. We had a traitor amongst us, but he has been taken care of and the threat to our security has been neutralized.”

I opened the door to the apartment and walked out, “neutralized?”

“Dabi came in clutch, per usual. It’s always nice having an actual villain around to do your dirty work,” Keigo stopped me before I got too far away from the door. “You need to lock it, just press your palm against it again until it turns red.”

My mind was still focusing on his previous comment as I watched the door’s light turn red after a few seconds.

Was Keigo just using Dabi to do his dirty work?

“Is he okay with that sort of thing?” I asked quietly as we started our descent towards the dining hall.

Keigo gave me a surprised look, “is Dabi okay with killing? He hasn’t complained about it before, but I guess I’ve never asked him.”

“I don’t think he would tell you the truth even if you did ask him,” I sighed out and felt his eyes on me again, studying me.

“Why do you care whether he’s okay with it or not?”

I shrugged, “I guess I don’t,” the lie easily slipped through my lips.

When we walked through the dining hall doors minutes later, I was greeted with dozens of new faces and loud conversation that echoed through the stone building.

When people began to recognize Hawks, they quieted and studied the new face that walked alongside him. I plastered a tight-lipped smile across my face and gave a few of them small nods of greeting before we finally made it to the table at the front of the room. Midoriya was mid bite into some kind of stew when we approached, and he sent me a smile before he continued delving into his dinner.

I took a seat at the bench and studied the room around me. It was made of pure, gray and black stone, and the only color that highlighted its walls were random flags, posters and other pieces of decoration. Much like my new apartment, it’s entire back wall was made of windows, but unlike my place, this room was on the ground floor, and I could see a few people meandering outside on an outdoor patio. The room was littered in long, cafeteria style tables made of the same stone that encased the walls and I could see the kitchen off to the side through a chest level window that displayed several cooks while they worked. They placed large serving size bowls up onto the counter, which other people grabbed and dispersed amongst the tables. A moment later, one of these bowls was placed in front of Keigo and I.

“I’ll go grab you a bowl,” Keigo smiled down at me before he stood from his seat next to me and walked towards the kitchen window where a table with utensils, plates and bowls sat.

“First impression?” Midoriya asked before he picked up a glass in front of him and took a sip.

“Could use some color,” I muttered out as my eyes continued to scan my surroundings. I met a few pairs of eyes as I scoured the room, some of them dropped out of respect, but a few held the eye contact until I was the one to look away.

Midoriya scowled at the last person who did so, and shook his head before meeting my eyes again, “don’t worry about them. There’s a lot of people who have been trying to get into Hawks’ good graces, they’re not used to seeing a stranger sitting next to him.”

“Keigo said there was a traitor that was recently dealt with, does that happen often?”

Midoriya looked off contemplatively before responding, “it doesn’t happen that often. Dabi’s usually pretty good at keeping people in line, but we do get the stragglers who just want to suck up to the hero association by turning everyone in. We have fail safe operations in place if that ever happens though.”

“Have you ever had people come looking for you specifically?” I picked at my fingernails as I waited for his response.

His jaw clenched slightly, “no, not really. I think my hand was proof enough for most of them.” He peeled the glove off of his right hand and showed me the metal hand that had replaced his own flesh.

I winced as I glanced down at the silver appendage, “did that happen on purpose?”

“It was my idea actually,” he moved his metal fingers, as if to show me that they actually worked, “it wasn’t that bad.”

I continued to watch him, Keigo’s bright laugh echoed through the room, and I turned to find that he was talking with a pretty dark-haired woman with our bowls were forgotten in his hands.

I rolled my eyes before I glanced back at Midoriya, his curious eyes were on Keigo as well, but they were sorrowful as he watched my adoptive sibling flirt with the young woman in front of him, like he was remembering better days when he could do the same with his own classmates.

“I talked to Shouto about you once,” my words came out sort of jumbled and Midoriya sent me a confused look. “Shouto… Todoroki.”

“I know who Shouto is, yeah? What of him?”

“He misses you,” I glanced at him carefully to make sure my words weren’t too much for him, his eyes were dull as he listened to me, “Um… they all do, I’m sure they would be ecstatic to find out that you’re actually alive.”

“I’m sure they would like that, but they’ve chosen to work for and with the people who ruined me. I don’t trust them to have what’s best for me in mind.”

“Shouto – “

“Drop it, Y/N. I’m not sure what your goal is, but I’m dead to them and that’s how I would like to stay,” he gave me a stern look before he focused on his food yet again.

“Got it, sorry,” I mumbled as Keigo finally walked up to us again.

“What am I walking into?” He glanced between the two of us as we tried to avoid each other’s eyes.

Midoriya rolled his eyes slightly before scooping a mouthful of stew into his mouth.

“Nothing, who was that cute brunette?” I turned the focus on him as quick as I could and knew I was successful when his cheeks immediately pinkened.

“Just a friend,” he handed me a bowl and spoon and scooped some stew into my bowl before taking his spot next to me.

I smirked at him before I began to eat my own dinner. “So, what’s with this training that I keep hearing about?”

Keigo’s eyes brightened at my question, “I’m so glad you asked – “

Suddenly, the noise level in the room dropped to almost a whisper and Keigo glanced backwards warily, looking for the cause. When he turned back, he had a perplexed look on his face. Feeling curious, I turned slightly in my seat to also look for the reason as to why everyone had decided to quiet down all at once.

A familiar individual wearing an overcoat and combat boots walked amongst the tables towards the kitchen area, and I instantly understood. All eyes were on the cremation villain as he grabbed his own food portion. His white hair swayed as he turned back around and sent a glare towards the many onlookers, who all suddenly found their own dinners more interesting.

As if sensing my gaze, his eyes lifted to mine from across the room. His posture softened some before he started the trek over to our table.

Keigo glanced curiously at his partner as he took a seat across from me and beside Midoriya, Midoriya’s green eyes also widened at the person by his side.

“You never eat with us,” Keigo commented as Dabi scooped some food into his mouth.

Dabi arched a white eyebrow at the golden-haired man, as if daring him to say anything else about his random appearance in the dining hall.

Keigo held his hands up in mock surrender, “just an observation, my friend.”

I remained silent as I began to eat again, and kept my eyes trained on the table in front of me.

I wasn’t sure if I was still mad at him or not, or if he was still angry with me, but I definitely didn’t want to test him and make him blow up in front of so many strangers. That was until he decided to speak, however.

“You’re quieter than normal, nothing snarky to say, Princess?” Dabi’s gruff voice interrupted the silence around us.

My eyes flickered up to his, and he looked genuinely curious, but there was a dangerous glint to his eyes. “Just taking in the sights and sounds… Sir,” I added as a last thought, and I sneered internally as I saw the title hit its mark.

The smirk that had been resting on his face twitched slightly, “I see you’ve been talking to my counterparts.”

I glanced between Midoriya and Keigo, “you have excellent observation skills, my liege.”

“Quit it,” he hissed, obviously irritated with the nicknames.

I grinned back at him as I shrugged and went back to eating, I thought about adding a “yes, your majesty” but decided against it.

Keigo watched me with stunned eyes, like he couldn’t believe that I was taunting the villain in front of me.

“How did things go after I left?” Keigo turned his attention back to the man before us.

Dabi’s cerulean eyes flitted over to him and then back down to his dinner, “it all went as smoothly as expected. The corruption didn’t go that far, fortunately.”

“That’s good news,” Keigo commented back. “How are Toga and Spinner doing out in the field?”

“You mean how are they enjoying their punishment after knocking your dear damsel in distress around?” He motioned to me, and I dropped my spoon. The clattering of the metal hitting the stone table made several heads turn our way.

Keigo had punished Toga and Spinner after they had attacked me in that warehouse? From the look in Keigo’s eyes, I wasn’t sure if I was still sitting next to the man that I had grown to love and admire.

I had always had several nicknames for my adoptive brother while we were growing up: doofus, asshole, loser, whatever lousy diss that you could think of, I had called him it. But the man who starred back at the cremation villain didn’t fit any of those names at the moment. He looked dangerous, like he would tear the world a part before he would let anything happen to one of his family members.

I picked up my dropped utensil hastily and continued to keep my mouth busy to prevent myself from saying anything else stupid.

“I take care of my family, they should have known what would happen after they nearly bashed her brains in,” Keigo sent Dabi a leveled glare, as if daring him to second guess him or challenge him on this topic.

Dabi smirked, “why didn’t you punish me then? I did set the warehouse on fire.”

Keigo twirled his spoon between his fingers as he thought of his response. After a few silent moments, his melodic voice spoke again, “you seem to forget, Touya, that I’ve known you for years now. I know how you operate, as an individual and as a villain. I know how your mind and quirk works, and I know what it looks like when you’ve tried to end someone.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table in front of him while keeping his eyes on the villain, “if I thought that you were actually trying to hurt her, I would have ended you right then and there.”

Dabi’s eyebrows furrowed lower as Keigo continued to talk.

“You were punished harshly for the burn that you gave her, don’t forget that.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily call working for my dad a severe punishment, but I see where you’re going with this,” Dabi clenched his jaw as he appeared to drop the conversation all together.  

I caught Midoriya’s eye as we ate in silence once again and he mouthed something to me without making a noise. I couldn’t make out his words, so I sent him a confused look in response. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket a second later and my phone buzzed across the table.

Dabi’s eyes followed the buzzing phone and glared at the message on the screen before he turned his attention towards the green-haired man beside him.

“Too much of a pussy to ask out loud, Deku?”

Midoriya looked panicked for a moment, “I…”

“He didn’t want to interrupt your conversation with Keigo,” I snatched the phone off of the table and shoved it into my jacket after reading the message. “Walk me back?” Midoriya looked relieved at the question and immediately stood.

Dabi’s hand shot out and shoved him back down into his seat, “I can be your tour guide, doll face.”

I clenched my fists at my side, “that’s not what I had in mind – “

Dabi stood and grabbed our bowls. He took a few steps toward the kitchen before glancing back to see if I was following, “you coming?”

I felt Keigo and Midoriya watching me, “sure, yeah.” I stood then and brushed a piece of lint off of my pants absentmindedly. “Sorry Midoriya, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Midoriya nodded, “I’ll be there.”

I gave Keigo a small pat on the back before I started to follow after the cremation villain - who had already made his way to the kitchen to drop off the used bowls and spoons.

“Training is at 8 am, I’ll meet you or send Midoriya to get you around 7 so that you can eat breakfast beforehand,” Keigo said towards my back as I walked away.

I smiled back at him, and nearly missed his following words when I turned back around.

His voice was wary as he called lightly after me, “be careful around him, Y/N.”

Dabi waited near the exit, twirling a small blue flame between his fingertips as he watched me.

“I see you’re already making friends,” he commented blandly as we started the walk up towards my apartment.

“Midoriya’s cool, I’m happy he’s here.”

He gave me a sideways glance, “already replacing me, doll face?”

“There was nothing to replace,” I sighed and shoved my hands into my jacket pockets.

Dabi’s body heat radiated off of him and surrounded me, but it wasn’t enough to ward off the cool, underground air.

“Ouch, and here I was thinking that we had grown so much closer in the last few weeks.”

“Why didn’t you actually try to kill me at the warehouse?” I blurted out. His conversation with Keigo had been bothering me. Dabi had every reason to end me in that warehouse. I had discovered their notes from their operations, I knew what they were up to and could have easily brought it to Endeavors attention, as well as the Hero commission. But he had only set the building on fire instead of just ending me quickly. He had to have known that I would have the ability to escape, maybe that was what he had wanted from the beginning.  

Dabi shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets, “I figured I could use you at some point. You had an in with my dad and brother and you seemed easily manipulated.”

His words were harsh, as was the stern look on his face when he spoke them, but somehow – I could tell that he didn’t really mean it.

I arched an eyebrow at him, “liar.”

“Call me what you want princess, it’s the truth,” his eyes stayed forward, avoiding my gaze as he studied the path before us like his life depended on it.

“Say it to my face then.”

I stopped walking and waited for him to do the same. He loosed a heavy sigh, “this is ridiculous.”

“Not as ridiculous as you lying about why you didn’t kill me,” I crossed my arms over my chest and kept my eyes on him as I waited.

He turned and sent me an exasperated look, “I’d really like to get some sleep, Princess. Some silly girl almost made me torch some heroes alive today and it took quite a bit out of me – “

I shrugged and stood my ground, “tell me why you didn’t kill me, and we can continue on.”

His lip twitched slightly as he watched me, out of amusement or irritation, I couldn’t tell.

When he didn’t speak, I turned on my heel and started walking back to the dining hall, “guess I’ll look for more talkative company – “

“Fine!” He groaned as he caught up to me easily and grabbed my arm to stop me from walking any further. “When I saw you, I saw myself - my younger self. I saw a tool that my dad was just using to better his own image. I saw you risking your safety to help his agency, and even though that pissed me off, I couldn’t kill you.” He sighed when he noticed that I was slightly stunned by his answer. “I set that warehouse on fire to warn my dad, to keep you away from my case and to keep you safe from it all.” He glanced down at the arm that was now covered by my jacket, “I didn’t mean to burn you.”

When I didn’t respond right away, his eyebrows furrowed and he released my arm, “not that you didn’t deserve it though, putting yourself in danger like that, stupid hero.”

“You wanted to protect me… by setting the warehouse on fire?” I choked back a chuckle and covered my mouth with my hand to hide the amused smile that tried to make its way onto my face. For some reason, his explanation made me happy.

Maybe I truly was losing it.

“If that isn’t villain logic then I don’t know what is.”

Dabi narrowed his eyes at me, “laugh all you want, princess. I had my reasons, just because you can’t comprehend them doesn’t mean that I was in the wrong.”

I gave him a genuine smile before I started walking again back to my apartment, “I think that’s the most honest thing that you’ve ever said to me.”

He looked off into the city for a moment before responding, “I’ve said more honest things to you before. I believe I called you gorgeous once.”

My eyes snapped to his face to see if he was still messing around, but I was surprised to see the sincerity that flashed behind his eyes with his confession.  I felt my cheeks heat up and looked away quickly. “Then you called me depressing in the same breath, so I don’t know if that counts.”

He grinned, “ah, but Princess, being depressing is a compliment in my book as well. Just look at my life, it’s just a bunch of fucked up, depressing shit.”

My heart clenched as his words hit home.

My life had been relatively the same, but at least I had grown up with two supportive men in my life who made it their life goals to make me happy.

“Dabi… What is it that you want from me?”

I didn’t dare look at him as I waited for his answer. I expected him to make fun of me for my genuine question or get angry with me for acting so weak. What I didn’t expect was to look over and witness sorrow in his eyes as he looked down at me.

“At first, I wasn’t sure what I saw in you. You irritated me and reminded me of myself, and I definitely didn’t want to be around that. But as I got to know you, even as Geten, I realized that you understood me so much better than all of the other people in my life. You saw the villain before you and accepted him as just another person. No one else had ever done that for me…”

His voice trailed off as we approached our destination. Our feet both slowed to a stop and faced each other as he continued.

“When you’re not around, I feel like something is missing. I realized recently that I just like having you around.” His fists tightened into fists at his side, “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I just want you around, I need you – as a friend, or as whatever else you’ll allow me to be.”

Looking at the semi-broken man in front of me, I could see that he was lonely. So very lonely.

He had lost his family years ago and been on the run ever since. He had companions while in the league of villains, but I’m sure he never really considered them to be friends, or people that he could truly rely on, and from how his own group had treated him in the dining hall, I was sure that being lonely wasn’t a new feeling for him.

The vulnerable look in his eyes as he waited for a response from me made my chest hurt.

“I like having you around too,” I spoke quietly, but honestly, and watched as a careful smile grew across his face.

“Then we’re in agreement then – “he started but I cut him off.

“And thanks… for coming to help me today. I didn’t think any of that was going to happen, I should have listened to you earlier when you warned me about it. I’ll try to be more receptive of your recommendations in the future.”

Dabi stayed quiet for a moment before resting his blue eyes on me again. “I would have torched them all before I ever let them lay a hand on you – “

I narrowed my eyes at him as he continued.

“And now my dear little brother won’t dare come near you again, that’s all that matters.”

“You’re a possessive asshole, has anyone ever told you that?” I crossed my arms across my chest, and he smirked.

He took a step closer to me and I backed up a foot, nearly falling into the door of my apartment as I did so, “darling, you weren’t the first person to call me that, and you won’t be the last.”

“You need to cool it patches, I’m not yours,” I stepped up and got closer to his face, “if I wanted to go get with Shouto again, I would, and you wouldn’t be able to stop me.”

Dabi’s eyes flashed dangerously as he gazed down at me, the corner of his lip quirked up into a menacing grin, “we’ll see about that, Princess. You’ll be begging for me to come to your bed again before long, just you wait.”

His hot breath fanned my face as he backed me up into the door. He slammed a scarred palm against the stone next to my head and dipped his nose close to my ear, his voice was so quiet that it was almost a whisper, “they always come looking for more, and you won’t be an exception to that. You’ll desire to be with me again, and when you do,” he trailed his surprisingly cool nose along my jaw before facing me again, eliciting a startled gasp from me in the process. “I’ll finally make you mine and you won’t deny that fact ever again.”

When he pushed himself off the stone, I felt myself loose a tight breath. My face burned from his words, and a strong want had settled into my core, making my body throb as his beautiful eyes continued to analyze me, inch by inch.

“Until then, I’ll wait,” he shrugged and gave me a haunting grin, “no matter how long it takes.”

I watched him, speechless, as he turned and made his way towards the apartment door next to mine. He slapped his hand over the sensor, and I blanched when it turned green. “If you ever need me, I’ll be right next door,” he winked at me, “hope you like the new digs, it was my idea to put you here. Better that you’re next to someone who can protect you should the heroes ever find out about this place. I’ll see you in the morning, Princess.”

As he began to enter his own apartment, he stepped back and glanced at me again, “oh, and try to be quiet when you’re pleasuring yourself with thoughts of me tonight. Our beds share a wall.”

The last,amused look that he flashed my way before disappearing behind his closed door sent me spiraling.

Chapter Text

Aizawa’s eyes flickered around the empty apartment before him, searching for clues, or any signs as to where she could have gone. Random, loose articles of clothing remained in her closet. Her bed also sat in the bedroom – all made up still as if she had been planning on sleeping on it again. She had cleaned all of her dishes and left them in their specific places.   

Her books and CDs were gone, as were the paintings and photographs that had littered the walls of her living space in the past.   

Dark eyes continued to roam and brush over every little detail in the rooms around him, when his eyes landed on a stray photograph in her bedroom, he bent to pick it up.   

His broken, aching heart clenched at the image that he studied. His fingertips smoothed over the glossy picture, as if he could graze the faces that looked back at him.   

It was of a brighter time - a time when she was still around and he was content, happy even. Her wide smile greeted him as she hugged Aizawa and Keigo close to her. Fireworks blasted up in the background, celebrating some holiday that Aizawa had since forgotten about. All that he could remember was when she had begged him to go with, and how Keigo had fallen victim to her request as well. They had been slightly annoyed with her at the time, since both of them had things going on with school and work that needed to be completed.   

Looking back on it now, Aizawa wished that he would have paid more attention and enjoyed each moment as it was.   

He would give anything -    

“I’ve checked the bathroom and the kitchen again, there’s nothing –“ Keigo’s voice cut off as he found Aizawa still crouching as he held the picture. He joined him a moment later and lightly took the glossy paper. A nostalgic smile crept up onto his face as he regarded it. He handed it back to Aizawa and patted him on the back before he stood, “I’m sure she would want you to have that.”   

Aizawa rubbed at his tired eyes.   

He had been searching for days, looking for anything, any hint as to where she could be now. But the League of Villains, or whatever group that had taken her, had done their job perfectly. If there had been any evidence anywhere as to where they operated, where they had taken her, they had cleaned it up and hidden it well.  

He would have to return to work soon. The students winter break was coming to an end, and he would be expected to resume his role as a teacher at U.A. within the next few days.   

Aizawa had never disliked his job at U.A., it had always given him a reason for living, for continuing on when everything else didn’t help. Similar to how raising Keigo and Y/N had done for him. But he despised returning now. He needed to be able to keep looking, to keep searching –   

“I can see you beating yourself up again, old man. She wouldn’t want that,” Keigo rested up against the door frame as he regarded Aizawa. His wings twitched slightly at his sides, like he was bothered by something, or he was uncomfortable.   

“Come, now. We need to update everyone,” he pushed off of the wall and began to turn to leave.   

“Keigo,” Aizawa voice was quiet but firm, “you don’t seem very bothered by her disappearance.”   

His wings flickered again with agitation as he glanced down at the broken hero before him, “we all handle grief and anger in different ways, Aizawa. But I like to think that I know her well, there must be a reason why she left –“   

“She didn’t leave,” Aizawa nearly spat out, and Keigo's golden eyes widened at his outburst. “They took her. And when I find out –“   

“I read the reports,” Keigo cut him off. “I understand that avoidance and denial are some of the first steps of the grieving process, but you need to accept that she left of her own free will.” He cast a pitying look at his adoptive father before he walked into the hallway and left him behind. His voice carried back to the hero, “the quicker you come to the terms with that, the sooner you start to understand why she might have left - the faster you might actually be able to help her.”   

Keigo met a piercing set of crimson and mismatching eyes when he finally made his way down to Y/N’s apartment lobby.   

“There’s nothing left, besides a few pieces of clothing and furniture, and her kitchen is still stocked,” Keigo messed with his gloves as he waited for the heroes before him to take in this new information.   

“There’s nothing? She mostly cleared it out –“ Shouto’s deep voice was shocked, and the slight widening of his peculiar eyes reflected the same sentiment.   

Keigo tried to not shy away from the cerulean eye that tracked his every move. It reminded him too much of the man that he had come to know over the years, and it made him feel uneasy.   

That uneasiness only grew as Endeavor stepped up from behind his son, laying his own set of blue eyes on Hawks as he listened.   

“It appears that she had been planning on leaving for a while –“   

“That’s bullshit. We would have noticed, Icy-hot and I guarded her just a week or so before she –“ Katsuki’s rough voice cut off as Aizawa made his way up to the group.   

“Before she left, yes,” Keigo sent Aizawa a stern look, daring him to correct him again, but he only met a pair of dark, soulless eyes that made him regret even saying anything. He turned back to the group in front of him.   

Several heroes had come forward to join the task force, whose main objective was to locate the missing hero. Dynamite, Shouto, Endeavor, Eraser Head, Suneater, Lemillion, Red Riot, Chargebolt, Cellophane, and a few stragglers, had all dedicated themselves to the cause – no matter what it would take.   

“We need to look deeper, there has to be something – something that we’re missing, “ Shouto crossed his arms and looked down at the floor, as if it held the answers. “She left with Touya of all people, I think we should start there.”   

Shouto’s face darkened at the memory of his brother and Y/N. What he had seen, and what Touya had admitted, repeated over and over again in his head. It only fueled his resolve and made him want to find her even more. “To think that he brainwashed her that well –“   

Keigo’s jaw clenched, but he remained silent. He felt Aizawa’s eyes on him, analyzing him as they listened to the others brainstorm.   

“He is a villain,” Suneater said quietly as he looked between the two Todoroki’s nervously, “no offense or anything.”   

“None taken, young Suneater,” Endeavors broad voice echoed through the lobby, making several bystanders glance over in surprise. “I’d like to find Y/N as well, if only to locate Touya so that we can repair the Todoroki name.”   

Shouto sent an irritated look over at his father before turning back to Hawks. “What should be our next objective then, Hawks?”   

The entire group turned to the winged hero among them.   

Hawk’s shrugged, “I agree that looking into how she came into contact with Dabi could be important. Where they met, how long they knew each other – it’s the only place that we can really start.”   

“Our agency will handle that,” Endeavor nodded confidently.   

Hawks arched a golden eyebrow at the flame hero, “hasn’t your agency been looking into locating your long-lost son for years now? How are you going to change your process so that you can actually find him this time?”   

Endeavor glared at him, and Hawks shrugged sheepishly, “no offense, my friend. It was only a question.”   

“Maybe several agencies should be involved, we can cover more ground that way,” Suneater offered with a hopeful hint to his voice.   

Dynamight nodded along with him, “I think chicken foot here has a point, Fatgums agency should be involved.”   

Keigo could see Endeavor’s desire to argue, to defend why his agency would be enough. He almost wished that the hell flame hero would say something, less agency involvement meant decreasing their actual chances of locating the base. Endeavors yearning to prove himself and remedy his family name meant everything to him, he didn’t want to accept any help to reach that goal.   

He cracked a sly smirk when Endeavor decided against speaking up.   

“It’s settled then. Endeavor’s agency and Fatgums agency will both look into locating Dabi. Good luck to you, and remember to keep the group updated so that you’re not both looking into the same things. Meeting adjourned.” He clapped his hands, like a gavel hitting a judge's desk, and dismissed everyone.   

He gave everyone a broad, hopeful smile before departing.   

His smile dropped from his handsome face as he soared up into the sky, all while thinking of new ways to deter the new groups of heroes that could be coming their way any day now.   

It had been weeks since I had moved to the base.   

My days had routinely consisted of training in the mornings and working guard duty in the afternoons. Some days, I was told to go help with farming instead, and honestly – I looked forward to those days if only to add a new experience to my monotonous weeks under the mountain.   

Dabi had been gone on a mission since the day after I had joined them, and Keigo hadn’t been forthcoming with telling me where he had run off to nor why, only that it would help us stay hidden.   

“Are you going to eat that?” Midoriya pointed at the rest of my dinner with his chopsticks and I shook my head before pushing it his way.   

“Have at it,” I mumbled, all while ignoring the concerned glance that Midoriya shot my way before digging into my food.   

“You know, you really should eat. Keep you fueled and ready. You might need the energy at some point, you never know.”   

“Weren’t you the one who told me that it would be near impossible for someone to discover this place?” I arched an eyebrow at him and watched him shrug indifferently.   

“Shit happens. Starving yourself won’t help though –“   

“I’m just not hungry,” I snapped lightly at him before standing up from the cold bench below me.   

Midoriya watched my movement with thoughtful eyes, “I’m sure he’s fine, stop worrying about him, you’ll start to age well before your time.”   

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I scowled at him, “and my skin is flawless, thank you very much. Not that you would know much about skincare, Scarface.”   

Midoriya’s carefree laugh followed after me, “get a good night's rest. I’m going to make sure your training is extra hard tomorrow morning just for that little comment.”   

I waved off his remark as I hoisted the doors open to the outdoor patio that was connected to the dining hall.   

A few heads turned to glance at me, and while most turned away, there were still a few that continued to watch me. All while wondering what connections I had to their leader and why I had been accepted so readily into their group when I had been working for the heroes just weeks earlier.   

I had experienced the same doubt and questioning looks when I had started doing guard duty. I had worked my ass off to get on my squad's good side. Working as hard as each of them did and rejecting any special treatment that Keigo had sent my way, such as earlier end times or easier assignments, and they had slowly started to accept me into their group.   

They even greeted me now, after weeks of working with them, instead of just looking away whenever I entered a room.   

Harry, a quirk less red-head on my squad, waved at me from across the patio before turning back to his conversation with his friends. I saw his friends send him startled glances as they noticed who he had waved at, before they turned back to him and began to question him.   

Instead of sticking around to be stared at like a shiny, new toy, I walked off into the cold sand towards the ocean.   

Icy wind whipped past me, chilling me to the bone as I approached the sea.   

I took a seat in the sand just feet away from the water. Far enough away that the water wouldn’t touch my feet, but close enough that I could feel the chilly ocean spray hit my face every once in a while.   

I watched as the moon began its ascent into the night sky and my thoughts began to slowly drift away from my work here under the mountain to the work that I had abandoned weeks ago. To the people that I had left behind.   

What were Katsuki and Shouto up to right now?   

Knowing both men, they were probably pouring themselves into their work like they always had, I couldn’t imagine that much had changed since I had left.   

Shoutos birthday had come and gone, and I couldn’t help but imagine the two-toned hero – eating his lunch alone on his birthday like he had the year prior, before I had dragged him out of his dad’s agency and forced him to spend the day doing something that he actually enjoyed. I wondered if his new partner did the same for him.    

And Aizawa? Had he moved on yet? Accepted the fact that I was gone?   

Did he throw himself even more into his work just to keep his mind busy?   

Like I had been doing – like father like daughter.   

And no matter how hard I tried, my mind still tried to stray towards the cremation villain who had invaded my life in the last few months. Was he actually okay?   

Suddenly, a heavy coat was dropped onto my shoulders, and my heart began to race in my chest at the thought that my recent wonderings had brought the scarred man to my side again, but my heart settled, almost disappointed, as a familiar scent overtook my senses.   

“Keigo,” I muttered before even looking at him. His spicy, cologne identified him without requiring any input from my eyes.  

“You must be freezing,” he smiled down at me before taking a seat next to me. His shoulder brushed mine, “you look lost in thought, care to tell me what is consuming your mind?”  

I tore my eyes from his, and studied the way that the moonlight highlighted the crests of each wave as it tumbled towards us and crashed into the sand.   

“Is this all there is?” My voice was quiet, and I felt his eyes flash towards me.   

“What are you asking exactly?”   

I turned towards him, “I joined your group. I’ve been training and doing guard duty for almost a month now. I’m more bored out of my mind now than when I was working at the agency.” I saw him wince slightly, “don’t take that in a bad way. I’m better off being bored than locked away in prison of course, I appreciate all that you’ve done for me... but -” I sighed. “Dabi said that this group was working towards making the world a better place, bringing the hero commission down to help the common people and heroes who are being abused by the system that the commission has put in place. When do we do that? Or was that just a lie to get me to join?”   

Keigo sat in thoughtful silence for a moment, “I can see that you’ve really thought about this.”   

“I’m sick of doing meaningless shit,” I shook my head as I pulled my knees up to my torso, hugging them to me as I shivered. “I want this life to mean something.”   

“The effort that you’ve been putting forth these past few weeks has helped keep the people here safe. What you’re doing now does matter. You just can’t see the impact that you have –“   

I began to lightly shake my head almost right as he started talking. “Don’t be so cliche, Keigo.”  

His eyebrows creased together slightly, “do you see how much you’ve grown your quirk since you’ve come here?”   

I stared at the sand between my feet.   

“You don’t realize it, but the training that you’ve been doing, and the guard duty, is only helping you with your skills. You couldn’t honestly expect me to use you in any way at the level that you came to us at, did you?” His words were harsh, but his eyes were kind and honest as he gazed over at me. “You’re becoming more powerful as you figure out how to use your quirk more efficiently, that’s what I need from you. That’s what the group needs from you. Once you reach the point that I don’t have to worry about you getting yourself killed because you can’t use your quirk correctly, then we’ll talk about getting you involved in the bigger picture stuff.”   

I groaned and threw myself onto my back, “that could take years -”  

Keigo’s bright chuckle sounded over the sound of the waves.   

“Then years we shall wait dear Y/N -”   

My eyes flickered across the night sky as I tried to think of some snide remark, but a bright light up over head distracted me. I pushed myself up onto my elbows as I continued to gaze upwards, “what is that?”   

Keigo tore his bright eyes away from my face and followed my gaze. The smirk on his face slowly dropped as he also saw what I had been watching. When he turned my way again, I noticed the way that his golden skin had paled.   

Keigo was on his feet before I could ask what was wrong, with his phone at his ear while barking orders.   

“Initiate shutdown procedures immediately,” he commanded into the phone as he grabbed a hold of my arm before hoisting me up quickly into his arms.   

“Keigo –“ I nearly shouted at him in surprise, but he silenced me as his wings unfurled. He shot us off towards the mountain in seconds.  

A moment later, warm air hit my face as he brought us into the dining hall. I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing as he set me down but the panicked look on his face made me lose my track of thought.   

The individuals who had been out on the patio all ran into the dining hall from behind us, sprinting off towards their specified guard areas as a shrill alarm sounded through the base.   

“No questions because I don’t have time to answer them, just please do what I ask and work with me here,” his grip was hard on my shoulders as he looked down into my eyes. “Y/N!” he squeezed me hard, and I winced.   

“Yeah, yeah I got it!”  

And with that he took off again, pulling me along with him and not allowing me out of his sight for a single moment.   

An older man, aged by time and the sun, jogged up to us as we entered the main space under the mountain. “Emergency shutdown protocol was initiated moments before you called. We’ve shut down all of the entrances. All exterior lights have been extinguished and the balconies have been cloaked. Mirage has sent out a blanket over the base too, it should look like any other northern mountain now.”   

That eerie, red light continued to flicker through the compound, warning everyone to go to their rooms and stay there until they received the notification that everything was okay.   

“Do we know who it is?” Keigo’s voice was hard as his eyes also analyzed the space around us.   

“Preliminary reports have said that it’s the heroes, some heroes from Fatgums agency apparently. They haven’t gotten too close; they’re just patrolling the area.”  

“Have they made their way up to the Inn yet?”   

The man shook his head, “Yui and Mirage have both made their ways up to the inn though just in case they do come knocking. Everything is going to plan, Hawks.”   

Keigo bit his lip nervously before he nodded, “thanks for the update. I’ll get Y/N to her apartment and I’ll come find you -”   

“There is one issue though, Hawks,” the man’s eyes lowered hesitantly before he continued. “The center flame – mirage is having issues hiding its heat. If the heroes have a thermal detector -”   

“Shit-” Keigo’s eyes shot up to the blue light that sat at the top of the cavern.   

Its heat radiated throughout the underground city, providing a steady source of warmth to the many people who lived here as they walked along the brick and cobblestone pathways and between buildings. Midoriya had explained to me a few days after I had settled into the base that it was mainly used to provide a heat source to the city, since it was so dug so far down into the mountain, ice had been an initial issue that they had had to tackle. Condensation from people breathing, and the freezing temperatures, had caused a thin layer of ice to coat everything during the winter months. The center flame had prevented that from happening in the future. It also provided a soft glow of light for the night-time hours.   

“Do you know where Dabi is?” The man cast a nervous glance at him, as if he already knew the answer.   

Keigo growled lightly, “you know I don’t. He works off of his own schedule and makes my life a living hell because of it.” Keigo glared at the flame near the ceiling.   

“It’s Dabi’s flames?” My voice broke the silence between the two men, and Keigo nodded.   

“He’s the only one that can control it.”   

“You guys never thought of a plan to put it out if he wasn’t in the base when you needed to shut it down?”   

The old man narrowed his eyes at my tone, “excuse me, but who -”   

I shook my head and I turned to Keigo, “we don’t have time for this. Bring me up there, I can put it out.”  

Keigo arched a golden eyebrow at me, “how exactly -”   

“Keigo,” I gave him a stern look.   

He smirked slightly and rolled his eyes as he stepped closer to me, “fine, fine. We’ll try this your way first. But if it doesn’t work, I’m locking you up in your apartment until this all blows over, capeesh?” His arms encircled me again as he hoisted me up into his embrace.   

Before I could answer him, or tell him to take it easy, we shot into the sky. The cool, underground air rushed past my hair, whipping it around my face. The sight of the city barreling past below me made me curve my face into Keigo’s neck out of sheer fear. His laugh rumbled in his chest, reverberating off of my own body and I wanted to smack him for it – but I figured he would pretend to drop me or something if I were to do anything else.   

A few minutes later, he set my feet down gently on hard cobblestone. The area surrounding the bright, hot flame was entirely stone – to prevent anything from catching fire I assumed. While the fire appeared to be at, or nearly on the ceiling, in actuality it was almost 100 feet below the ceiling, propelled up above the stone underneath it by some fire-resistant metal.   

The heat of the flame hit me fast as I made my way closer to it. It had already been hot just being up on the platform below it - it had to be scalding in order to warm the entire underground area beneath it, so I approached it cautiously.   

Keigo winced as he followed behind me, “don’t get too close -”   

I glanced back at him, “if it’s too hot for you then stay back, your feathers won’t be able to do anything against it,” I winked at him, hoping that my calm demeanor would help ease his nerves, but the look on his face told me that it had done nothing for him. “Don’t worry about me, I’ve got this.”   

The roar of the flames grew as I got closer to it, Keigo shouted something to me after I had put some distance between the two of us, but I could no longer make out his words.   

When I figured that I was close enough, I squinted my eyes up at the giant ball of fire that was hoisted up above me.   

“Here goes nothing,” I whispered to myself before I threw my quirk at the flames.   

I enticed all of the oxygen molecules around the fire to come to me. I felt the air around me grow denser as I felt my quirk work its magic.   

My heart began to ram in my chest when I realized that even though I still had my quirk activated and I couldn't feel any more oxygen atoms near the flames, the fire continued to blaze.   

I tried smothering it instead, throwing all the excess H2O in the air towards it.  

The flames didn’t budge.    

“It must not run off of oxygen,” I tried to talk myself through what I needed to do next, that maybe saying it out loud would help me think of an alternative.   

There were electrical, gas, metallic and grease fires that I also needed to consider – but what if... what if Dabi’s flames weren’t running off of any of those.   

Back at U.A., when I had extinguished his flames then, I had only had to take away the oxygen like I had just tried. But maybe this flame was different.  

What if he was the only one that could put this flame out?   

What if only his quirk could be used to extinguish some of his flames?   

My mind spun as I considered my next options.   

Dabi wasn’t near me, so I couldn’t touch him and copy his quirk like I had back at Endeavor’s agency. I could try to make my quirk remember his, but who knew how long that might take when this flame needed to be out now. The heroes might have already detected its heat and then this base would be done for.   

The only other option that I could think of – was touching his flames myself. If his quirk was the thing that was currently keeping this fire alive, then that meant that his quirk was still in it – tending to its flames and keeping it stable – making sure it didn’t burn out of control.   

I swallowed hard as I turned to a set of stairs that went up to the metal that held the flame’s base in place up above the cobblestone.   

A hard hand closed around my shoulder and pulled me back into a broad chest.   

“What the hell are you doing?” Keigo shouted down into my face as he tried to shield us both from the searing hot flame with his wings.   

“I know what I have to do. Keigo, it needs to be put out -” My throat burned with the force that I needed to use to make my voice heard over the roar of the fire above us.   

I felt the moisture on my skin drying up more the longer that I stayed near the fire.   

A piece of Keigo’s wings caught fire – not blue fire like Dabi’s flames, but red hot – like the heat itself had transferred to Keigo's soft wings.   

I let out a startled scream before I hoisted my jacket off my shoulder and went to cover his wings with it.  

The moment that the garment left my hands and neared the blue haze above us, it also caught fire.   

My eyes widened as the piece of clothing fell to the ground in a heap of charred cloth.   

I put myself between him and the flames, “you need to get away from the fire. For some reason it won’t touch me, but you won’t be so lucky. I’ll be down in a few minutes.” Keigo’s eyes looked doubtful, and he almost looked like he was about to toss me into his arms again and fly be back down to the ground.   

“Keigo, trust me. Please,” my voice was pleading as I looked up into his eyes. Dabi’s flames reflected in them, turning them more blue than gold, but they were beautiful all the same.   

I saw him swallow hard has he looked back between the fire and I. His shoulders slumped slightly when he finally decided.   

“Be careful,” he nodded sternly at me before he started to back away from the flames and I. A few charred feathers fluttered to the ground as he walked away, but other than that he seemed to be unhurt.   

I glanced back up at the fire above me and started my trek up the stairs again.   

I could feel the searing, flesh melting heat as I got closer to it, but it stopped hurting once I got close enough. I shed another layer of clothing as I felt my sweat begin to soak through them, and as each article of clothing left my fingertips, they burst into flames.   

The only explanation I could think of was that I had Dabi’s quirk somewhere deep within me, so it had to be protecting me in some way. I had also been keeping oxygen atoms away from my body to also prevent any fire from combusting on my skin, and I was too afraid to let it go now that I was so close to the flames.   

It started getting hard to breathe as I stepped up to the metal that could withstand Dabi’s flames.   

I reached a tentative hand out to the fire as I leaned forward, grasping for the flames, all while hoping that my hypothesis was correct. That I’d feel Dabi’s quirk moving through it the moment that I touched it, all while also hoping that the fire didn’t melt my skin off the moment that I actually came into contact with it.   

I leaned several inches more and felt my skin come into contact with the blue flames.   

They were scalding.   

But – it didn’t hurt, and I was happy to see that my skin did in fact stay on my body as my fingers twirled through the flames.   

Dabi’s quirk rushed towards me as I came into contact with his fire, and within moments, I had adopted his quirk as my own again.   

The blue flames in front of me dispersed into nothing, the heat and sound of the flames disappeared with it.   

“Holy shit -“ Keigo was at my side within seconds. He held me out in front of me, inspecting me for any injuries. “You’re actually uninjured,” his jaw slackened as he finished looking me over. “How is that possible?”   

“I can copy peoples quirks through their genes. I copied Dabi’s quirk a while back, I think it was protecting me,” I shrugged casually as I looked back at the metal that used to carry the large flame. The metal was still red-hot, but a slow, steady stream of steam rose from it as the air around it began to cool it.   

“You can copy quirks -”   

“What the actual hell?” The familiar, gravelly voice made my knees quake.   

Keigo and I turned quickly to find Dabi emerging from a purple portal with his back to us.  He glared up at the metal where his flames used to be before turning to inspect the surrounding area. When his glowing, blue eyes landed on us, they narrowed. “Did you do this?”   

My gaze traveled over him quickly.   

He looked the same as when he originally left, not that he had been gone that long or anything, but I felt relieved with seeing him in front of me again, alive and relatively safe.   

“Well?” He demanded as he approached us. He seemed to pause when he noticed how close Keigo had pulled me to him when he had suddenly appeared. The muscles in his jaw clenched, “care to explain, bird brains?”   

Dabi’s tone jump started Keigo into action, as if he had forgotten why I had put the flames out in the first place. “Shit, heroes. There are heroes here, Dabi.”   

Keigo finally let go of me and pulled his phone from one of his pockets.   

I started to shiver as my body temperature started to adjust to the loss of the flames heat. I had shrugged off my top layers, and now just stood in a tank top and jeans.   

“You good over there, Princess?” Dabi glanced sideways at me as we both observed Keigo as he made plans over the phone.   

“Peachy,” I mumbled out through trembling lips.   

A moment later, Dabi’s hot, smoky smelling, jacket was placed across my shoulders. His hands rested on my shoulders longer than they should have, and I felt Keigo’s watchful eye following Dabi’s every move as he hoisted the jacket up to cover me even more.   

“Wouldn’t want you catching cold now, would we? You’re already enough trouble as is.”   

I rolled my eyes at him, but nestled into his jacket all the same, “if you had been here, I would have been less trouble.”   

Dabi smirked, “if I had known that you were missing my presence so much, I might have come back sooner -”   

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” I smacked his arm lightly. “I meant with that,” I motioned to the chains.   

Dabi’s gaze tracked the chains from where they connected to stone high up above us. “She was a beautiful flame, wasn’t she? How did you manage to put it out?”   

I turned to him and said in a hushed tone, “I touched it.”   

Surprise etched his face briefly, before his eyes grew hard once again. “Bullshit. That flame was one of the hottest that I’ve ever produced. Even I wouldn’t be able to touch that thing and walk away unscathed.”   

I shrugged his jacket off to one shoulder to display my right arm, “this hand went through the flames, then I used your quirk to turn it off.”   

He glared at me, “how were you sure that was going to work? How were you certain that it wouldn’t burn you?”  

I pulled his jacket back over me, “I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling.” He opened his mouth to chastise me, “Keigo’s feathers started burning and I remained untouched. That’s the main reason why I was confident that it wouldn’t do anything to me.”   

Dabi’s nostrils flared, “why didn’t you just call me? Why put yourself in danger like that?”   

Keigo joined the conversation then as he pocketed his phone again. “I wasn’t sure where you were, how far out you were, or what you were up to -”   

“You gave me the order to set false trails,” Dabi’s eyes blazed. “You sent me away; you knew exactly what I was up to.”   

Keigo’s eyes narrowed at the volume of his voice, “you’re not the most reliable -”   

Dabi took a step back from his partner and I, “did you even try calling me? Did you try contacting me before you allowed her to put herself in danger like that?”   

“Don't act like me allowing her up there was an easy thing to do, Touya,” Keigo’s voice dripped with disdain. “Everything turned out fine. Don’t forget that I care for her more than you, more than anyone -”  

“ That’s easy for you to say, bird brains, when it wouldn’t have been your quirk that ended her had things gone a different way.”   

I sighed heavily, “would you two just quit it? Can we figure out what we need to do now? There are heroes right outside, ready to discover this place -”  

Keigo ran a frustrated hand through his golden locks, “did you happen to make a trail leading them here?” His accusatory gaze was still on Dabi as he spoke.   

I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things or not, but Dabi’s eyes appeared to glow even more as he continued to glare at his partner. His voice was nearly a growl when he responded, “do you think I’m that stupid -”  

“It was a question that needed to be asked,” Keigo shook his head lightly. “It sounds like things are under control for now. The heroes haven’t made their way up to the Inn yet so we’re still good in that aspect.”   

“They will make their way up here though eventually,” I muttered as I glanced between the two of them.  

Dabi glared at the ground under his feet. Smoke rose from the scars on his hands, and I saw him flex them slightly, as if they were in pain.   

Keigo nodded, agreeing with me. “They will. We’ll have to come up with an alternative place to go when they do.”   

Both men looked off into the city below, studying the place that we would soon have to abandon. My heart clenched at the thought. I had just come here, but I could see the hard work and dedication that both of them had put into developing this city and making it a place that so many people could call home.   

“Or, we create a diversion.”   

Sets of golden and cerulean eyes landed on me as I continued.   

“I know how they work, how Aizawa, Katsuki and Shouto think, Endeavor even. I’m sure they think you all took me, that I was taken against my will. They’re looking for me, and they won’t stop until they find me.”   

Keigo nodded, “the group displayed a similar way of thinking when I saw them a couple weeks ago.”  

I crossed my arms, “then let me help create fake paths. I’m sure they’re looking for you too,” I met Dabi's eyes for a moment. “But, at the end of the day, I’m the better bait. Let me help steer them away from here. Once they’re convinced that this place isn’t connected, or that I’ve left on my own accord, that they don’t need to keep looking for me – then I’ll come back.”   

Keigo had started shaking his head almost the second that I had started talking. “Absolutely not.”   

“You didn’t even give it a chance - “  

“I don’t need to,” he narrowed his eyes at me slightly. “I make the rules here. As long as you’re a member of our group, you do as I say.”   

“Separate yourself from me for a second,” I pleaded with him. “Just pretend, for one moment, that we’re not family. If any other single person was putting this city in danger like this, what would you do? What would you allow?”   

Dabi’s attention flickered between the two of us.   

“Would that one person be more important that the safety of everyone else here? Look at what you’ve created here, Keigo.” I motioned to the city below us, “you’ve created a safe space for so many people, don’t throw that away for this, for me.”   

Keigo looked off into the city, “I'd allow the entire world to burn if it meant keeping you safe.”   

I groaned, “and I love you for that, but right now you need to consider the safety and lives of everyone else here. Of everyone that looks up to you and depends on you as one of their leaders.”   

Dabi, having remained silent during our debate, rolled his eyes as he stepped forward and stood next to me. “I’m with doll face on this one.”   

“Dabi can come with me, then all of their focus will be on getting to us. He can keep me safe.”   

The idea left my lips before I realized the implication of them.   

Dabi arched an amused eyebrow at me.   

Keigo, however, absolutely did not like the idea. “No. I’m done with this conversation. We’ll figure something else out.” His wings unfurled as he prepared to fly to the city below, most likely to speak with the old man that we had seen earlier.   

“The only other option is to fight them, Keigo,” he paused at the tone of my words. “There aren’t many things that I can promise you, but if you expect me to kill my friends, then I can tell you with confidence that I won’t be sticking around this group very long. That’s something I won’t stand for.”   

His eyes remained on me for a moment as he considered my words. Without replying, his wings expanded and he flew off of the stone platform.   

“Well, it was a good idea while it lasted,” Dabi shrugged as he turned to face me. “Brothers, am I right?”  

I scoffed, “you two answer to a board of sorts, don’t you?”   

“Of sorts, sure,” he agreed as he fixed one of his sleeves absentmindedly.   

“Do you have a meeting coming up?”  

“We’re not really a meeting kind of group,” Dabi glanced at me curiously, “but I’m sure we’ll have a meeting after what happened tonight. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where Hawks just flew off to. Why do you ask?”  

“Take me to it, let me plead my case there. I don’t want this place to disappear because of me -”   

“Most of them will probably agree with Hawks, you’ll be wasting your time.”   

“I need to at least try,” I scowled at him, and he only smirked at me in return.   

“What do I get out of this if I help you?” He took a step towards me and brushed a speck of charred clothing off of the top of my head.  “I’m already on Hawks’ bad side, can’t imagine how well he would take me bringing you to a meeting to convince everyone to let you go rogue.”   

“You get to come with me, I think that’s a gift in itself.”   

His laughter echoed off of the stone around us.   

“You think very highly of yourself, don’t you princess?” He asked after he had finally settled down long enough to take a steadying breath.   

I shrugged, “here I was thinking we could have fun while leading the heroes away from here. Traveling, seeing the sights, trying new cuisine. The thought of it just turns me on -” I sent him a smirk over my shoulder as I turned to begin my long descent down to the ground from the stone platform. “But I can see that you’re just too busy to go with me-”   

My words were interrupted by my own shrill shriek as Dabi lifted me and tossed me over his shoulder.   

“You’re going to regret saying that, doll face,” his eyes danced excitedly as he glanced at me. “Let's get you to that meeting then, shall we?”   

“This is unorthodox,” the older man from earlier complained as Dabi held the door open for me to enter Keigo’s office.   

“No, Red Hood, not inviting one of the leaders to a meeting is unorthodox,” Dabi chided back as he steered me towards a seat at the long table in front of us.   

Keigo’s irritated eyes tracked us as we walked. He knew exactly why Dabi had brought me here, and he was not happy.   

I glanced around the table after I sat, and was surprised when I recognized most of them.   

Midoriya’s startled green eyes met mine, questions lingered in them but I shook my head. He would find out eventually.   

Spinner, Mr. Compress and Toga also all sat around the table, interspersed between a few people who I didn’t know.   

“As I was saying before I was interrupted, our shut down procedures worked wonders. The heroes haven’t gotten any closer to the base, but they are still in the area investigating other leads. I recommend that we lay low for a few days at least.”   

Keigo glared at the talking man who Dabi had called Red Hood, “do we have any loose ends? Anything that could bring them to us?”   

“Not that we’ve been able to identify. But they do have the technology to find us if they want to. Mirage’s quirk can only work so well -”   

“That isn’t what I want to hear,” Keigo cut off the older man.   

“I have a proposition that I’d like for you to hear,” I broke the silence around the table, causing several heads to turn my way.  

“I’ve already denied your idea, the group won’t hear it,” Keigo's eyes were hard as they met mine from down the table. I felt Dabi stiffen next to me at the authority in Keigo’s words.   

Dabi kicked his feet up on the table, startling the stoic man in a business suit next to him. “You don’t make the final decision around here, Hawks. The group does.”   

The winged hero set his elbows down on the table hard as he leaned forward, “I’m the groups final say,” Keigo nearly growled out.  

“Since when?’’  

“Since -”   

“He’s right, Keigo. The group has the final say,” Midoriya’s quiet voice silenced the two men. “I’d like to hear what she has to say if it helps the group.”   

Keigo’s jaw tightened as his eyes settled on me again. He sent me one last pleading glance that seemed to say, “please don’t.”   

Tearing my gaze from him, I saw his shoulders slacken with defeat in my peripheral vision. “I propose that you send me to lay down false trails, along with Dabi’s help. I know that’s what he was tasked with doing the last month, but we can see that it hasn’t helped much. I do think adding me would make the mission more successful. They’re evidently after the two of us after everything that has happened, why else would they be so interested in finding this group after so much time?” I glanced at the individuals around me, surprisingly, everyone seemed to be listening, like they were actually interested in what I had to say.   

“I’ll stay away as long as it takes for them to lose interest in the base, anything to keep everyone else safe from being discovered.”   

“And if they find you, what then? Do you expect us to come running to your aid?” Mr. Compress asked from down the table, and Keigo appeared to be grateful for the question. Several other faces also turned doubtful after hearing his concerns with the plan.   

“It’s not fool proof; I’ll be the first to admit that. But if we don’t do anything, they’ll surely find this place one way or another as long as I’m here and they’re looking for me. Send me away and let me help. If I’m found then I’m found and the group stays safe.”   

“It’s not the worst idea,” spinner commented as he twirled a pen around his fingers. “The group stands to only benefit from her help, I don’t see why we shouldn’t let her try since she is the reason why they’re on our doorstep now.”   

“She could get locked up in Tartarus, or get killed,” Keigo nearly growled from down the table.   

Spinner rolled his eyes, “we have many members who have been locked up in Tartarus, you didn’t seem to care much then.”   

My eyes drifted to Midoriya. His own gaze was focused down on the table in front of him. He knew what it was like to lose someone to Tartarus.   

“Let’s put it to a vote and get this conversation over with. I’m hungry, all of this emergency shut down protocol business has increased my appetite,” Toga’s bright voice chirped over the many people who had started voicing their own concerns with the plan.   

“Such a great idea, Toga,” Mr. Compress smiled at the blonde next to him. “We can go down the table, starting with Hawks, yay or nay.”  

“You already know how I feel about it,” Keigo voice was flat as he glared off at an innocent picture on the wall, like it was at fault for everything that was currently going on.   

“One nay then, I will add a second,” Mr. Compress announced, “sorry, child. But I don’t see the point in risking your safety. Toga, you’re up.”   

“I say yay, I like her spunk.”   

All eyes turned to spinner, “I say yay as well.”   

Keigo’s golden eyes flickered towards the next few men who I didn’t recognize as they answered – all nays.  

Keigo began to look triumphant   

Dabi smirked at me as he answered next, “obviously I’m fine with it.”   

Everyone turned to me, “she doesn’t get a vote, Red Hood is next,” Keigo’s eyes were dull, until the older man answered.   

“I say yay as well.”   

Two more yay’s followed, and the votes were tied as all heads turned to the last Indvidual who had a vote – Midoriya.   

My heart hammered in my chest as I waited for his response.   

He could go either way. I knew he was smart enough to recognize how important this could be for the group, but we had also formed a steady friendship over the last few weeks and I was concerned that that new relationship could also tarnish his vote, similar to how Keigo’s had.   

“I understand that this isn’t what you want, Hawks,” Midoriya’s voice was gentle as his eyes flickered over to the raging man at the end of the table, “but we need the help right now. I vote yay.”   

Keigo immediately stood, eyes blazing as he left the room with the door slamming shut behind him.   

“Um -” Red Hood glanced between everyone uneasily, “meeting adjourned – I guess.”   

The next morning, I toyed with my breakfast as Midoriya talked my ear off about a new recruit that they had accepted into the group.   

I had packed up some of my belonging and stored them in a black duffel bag that had been sitting in one of my closets in preparation for the mission that Dabi and I were going to be starting shortly. The full bag now rested underneath my seat where I had shoved it after it had nearly tripped every other person who dared to try to step over it. Midoriya and I had made a game out of it until one sorry boy had nearly biffed it and my conscious caught up to me and forced me to shove the bag even farther under my seat.  

I watched Midoriya as he spoke, his green eyes glittering with excitement as he talked about the new kid's quirk. Apparently, it was similar to one of the previous owners of One for all and Midoriya was getting the chance to learn some tips and tricks with one of his many quirks.   

I started to tune Midoriya out as his spiel continued on for several minutes. My gaze focused on the red signs that now covered every door that led to the outside. No one was allowed outside now, besides those who had to go on watch or their jobs required them to leave the premises. Those individuals were required to go through a specific door that Mirage was apparently monitoring closely.  

When Midoriya's voice quieted suddenly, I glanced at him questioningly.   

His eyes trailed someone behind me, and before I could ask what was up, Dabi’s black coat entered my peripheral vision as he walked around the table and sat beside Midoriya so that he could face me.   

“What are you losers talking about?”   

“You and how much we didn't want to run into you this morning,” I responded immediately before I took a bite of my breakfast.   

His lips quirked up as he watched me chew, “that’s not very nice. I figured you would want to get on my good side now that we’ll be together for the next few weeks, allllllll alone,” his eyes dropped to my lips which had stopped moving as he spoke. “Without anyone else with us, no one to come to your rescue or to heed your cries for help.”  

“Why would I need to cry for help, dear Dabi?” I squinted my eyes, almost playfully, as Midoriya shifted in his seat.  

Dabi leaned forward, bringing his nose within inches of mine, his voice dropped low, "because, once you’ve allowed me to have my way with you again, I won’t be able to stop -”  

“I’m sitting right here!” Midoriya’s voice cracked as he went to cover his ears, not wanting to hear what Dabi had in store for me.  

I chuckled and flicked Dabi’s nose gently, “yeah, we’ll just see about darling.”  

“Ouch,” he mumbled quietly as he sat back and rubbed at his now reddened nose. “So, you’re a sadist?”  

My jaw dropped, “absolutely not -”  

“Y/N.”  

Keigo stood behind me, arms crossed over his chest. His wings were twitching slightly, either with nerves or irritation, as he gazed down at the three of us.  

“Can I debrief you before you leave?”  

“You want to debrief both of us, right? We’re both leaving,” Dabi smirked at the winged hero.  

Ignoring Dabi, I patted the seat next to me, “take a seat, bro.”  

Sighing, Keigo sat next to me. I shivered slightly as his wing brushed my shoulder blades.  

“I’m sorry for how I acted yesterday,” he muttered, mostly to me, but his eyes flitted up to glance at Dabi as well. “I just... I feel like I was just getting the opportunity to really work with you again since your training years. I was excited to watch you get more proficient with your quirk and... I wanted to also keep you safe.” His golden eyes lingered on me as he spoke. “Not that I don’t think Dabi can keep you safe. If anyone, other than me, was to leave with you, I would want it to be him.” His last comments were nearly inaudible.  

Dabi leaned forward slightly, a snarky grin on his face as he spoke, “sorry partner, didn’t catch that. Can you repeat it?”  

Keigo’s jaw clenched, “we all know you damn well heard me, burnt asshole.”  

Dabi’s answering smile pulled at the stiches in his face, “carry on then.”  

Keigo let out a loose breath, “I wanted to go over some safety tips and whatnot for your mission.”  

He quickly listed off a bunch of information, such as avoiding certain hotel chains and not traveling on certain highly monitored roads.  

“I’d suggest trying to use your bracelet for teleporting most of the time, but I know that that has its obvious limitations. Keep Kurogiri on speed dial.” Keigo began to tap his fingers against the table, “I also want to make a request of you. I need you to check in at least once a day, just to settle my nerves -” he sent me a guilty smile. “I’ll try to get a little more involved with the task force that is looking for you so that I can give you information as to where certain heroes are, whether you want to avoid them or contact them advantageously is your prerogative. You will be one step ahead of the heroes at all times, I will make sure of that.”  

Dabi clutched his heart dramatically, “I never knew you cared so much, Hawks.”  

Keigo scoffed as he regarded the man in front of him. “If he gives you any trouble, let me know too. Midoriya could easily take his place.”  

I smiled at the hero next to me. The determined, yet guarded look on his face made me feel safe, comfortable even. Like home.  

“If you get caught,” Keigo started.  

I cut him off, “we won’t.”  

“I said IF, because there’s always a possibility that you could. I will come get you.”  

“You would be throwing away your hero status -”  

“I feel like you didn’t listen to anything that I said yesterday,” he sighed as he looked over at me sadly. “I’d give up my own life to make sure that you stay safe, my hero status doesn’t mean anything when it concerns you.”  

“I don’t like that -”  

“You would do the same for me, wouldn’t you?”  

I narrowed my eyes at him, “touché.”  

Keigo pulled me into a side hug, “I'll miss having you around.”  

“You’re acting like I’m leaving for years or something.”  

“Who knows, maybe it could take years for us to get them off of your trail,” Dabi wiggled his eyebrows at me playfully, “wouldn’t that be fun, princess? Spending the next few years with me -”  

I turned to face Keigo, “if it takes more than a few weeks or a month or two, promise me you’ll send Midoriya to swap out.”  

“You wound me.”  

I ignored Dabi’s complaints and focused on the amused smile that grew on Keigo’s face.  

“I’d say make it a month,” Midoriya commented, earning himself a brisk nudge across the shoulder from the cremation villain next to him.  

“Remember to check in with me later,” Keigo motioned to the phone in my back pocket as I walked away from him later on.  

I turned back to the winged hero, “yes, dad. I’ll let you know when we get to our next stop safely.”  

“Start that attitude young lady and you won’t be going anywhere,” he jokingly called after Dabi and I as we pushed open the monitored exterior door to leave the base.  

“I love you, Kei,” I smiled back at him as the door began to close behind us.  

“Love you too.”  

I engrained the last image of his face into my mind.  

I knew I’d see him again. But the mystery behind when, and where, made me want to hold onto each little memory – just in case.  

Dabi gave me a moment after the door closed, watching me carefully as I stared back at the slab of concrete that now separated my family and I.  

“I’ll get you back to him, I promise.”  

I glanced up at his face with a small smile on my face, “I know you will.”  

After another momentary pause, he lifted his wrist and flashed his teleportation bracelet at me.  

“Any ideas where you want to start?”  

Chapter Text

The sound of the heels of my shoes clicking against the pavement echoed off of the dirty, aged buildings that came together to form the fishing village that Dabi and I had wandered into days ago. The smell of seaweed and dead fish lingered in the air, further proving how far from Tokyo, and from advanced civilization, we really were.   

An elderly lady gave me an odd glance as she went to close the shutters on her little cottage. It was evident that the town’s people weren’t used to visitors, and the odd uniforms that Dabi and I had originally showed up in had not helped the situation. We had quickly learned to change out of our villainesqe get-ups for more appropriate casual clothing, much to Dabi’s dismay. He had been stunned when I had handed him an old, battered button down shirt with a similarly aged heavy jacket that smelled like the sea, which I had to bribe a local to sell to me the day after coming here.  I shoved the hood of my own worn jacket down, revealing my newly darkened hair, and gave the woman a casual, safe smile. She quickly turned back to her door and allowed it to slam behind her. I gritted my teeth slightly but continued on my way anyway.  

Dabi and I hadn’t had much success at staying hidden in this first town even while adopting our casual wear, but in some ways, that was also our goal – to gain enough attention that the heroes would catch wind of it and come looking, anything to distract them from finding the actual base that we had recently abandoned.   

Our dinner swung in the bag at my side, hot and ready to eat.   

Hungry seagulls flew up above, squawking and interrupting the calm evening as I continued my walk to one of the only inns in the town that would accept outsiders such as ourselves.   

My heart began to rattle quickly in my chest when I turned the corner and found my companion leaning up against the outside of the building. The cigarette between his lips glowed as he inhaled, “did you get lost?” Smoke escaped through his nose as he grinned down at me.   

“I was enjoying my walk,” I shrugged as I rummaged through the bag and handed him his take-out dinner that I had scored from the local ramen shop before they had closed at dusk.   

Dabi’s pale face turned towards the beach down the road, his newly blackened locks of hair shifted in the breeze, “want to have a picnic?”   

We had both decided to switch up our looks for the mission, mostly to make it harder for local police to accurately identify us without hero involvement, but also to slow the heroes down a bit if they did find us when we weren’t expecting it.   

Dabi looked like the old Dabi again, and while I appreciated the look on him, I had started to miss his natural white hair within days. His experience with hair dye had made the transition a lot easier though, which I was thankful for.   

“It’s a little cold for that, don’t you think?” I grimaced as I considered his offer.   

Blue flames danced over his fingertips, “it’ll never be cold as long as I’m around, doll face. It could get the towns folk talking too, get those worthless heroes here faster. What was Keigo’s last update?”   

He turned with his dinner in hand and motioned for me to follow. We began walking down a short, narrow path to the bay that the fishermen used to store their boats and fishing gear. We stopped at a sitting area that had a fire pit in the center. Blue flames ignited the slightly damp wood in the pit and immediately warmed the space around us.   

Dabi blew out the flame that had rested on his pointer finger and winked at me as he did so.   

My core clenched in response and I looked away as heat crept up into my cheeks.   

The first night alone with him in the inn had been interesting to say the least. We had fortunately been able to rent out a suite that had several tiny rooms attached to the main sitting area and kitchen. The inn didn’t have any central heating though, so I had spent the last few nights almost literally freezing my ass off under the thin blankets that the inn owner had provided us with.   

The first night that I had bristled at the thought of trying to sleep in the cold, Dabi’s had provided an early suggestion - that I join him in his own room and the cold wouldn’t bother me. I had thrown my shoe at him at the time, but his proposition had started to look more favorable as each chilly night passed. Nevertheless, I stayed strong. I promised myself that I would stay focused on our task ahead, I wouldn’t let my slight, confusing infatuation with the villain cloud my judgement, even if it meant getting by each day with only a few hours of painful, teeth chattering, sleep.   

After we sat, I pulled out my phone and read over the last few details that Keigo had sent me just a couple hours before. “Fatgum and Suneater are the closest to our location, maybe a couple hours away by train,” I muttered before I began to dig into my own food.   

“They would need more than just a train to get to this butt fuck nowhere town,” Dabi’s eyes flitted over the town before us. A few of the structures had dim lights illuminating the insides of them. Families sat together after a long day’s work, eating and laughing together as two “villains” sat outside and observed them and their daily activities.   

“Why did you suggest this town in the first place?” I asked between bites.   

“One of the hero commissions biggest investors owns this town, one of his vacation homes is nearby. We could use the funds, and it sounds like he doesn’t have many factors in place to prevent anyone from just going in and taking it. Almost like he wants us to try, wouldn’t you say?” He sent me a sinister grin.   

“You want to steal from him?”   

Dabi gave me an incredulous look, “you’ve seen how the people in this town work, how they’re up from dawn till’ dusk working and slaving away, and for what? So that their hard work can be given to one man just because? He charges every family and individual “rent” to live here. Most people here don’t have any savings because every extra penny goes to him. The town is falling apart because no one can afford to fix it up and he certainly won’t put anything towards the actual town.” He flicked a piece of lint off of his coat as he glanced down at his lap, as if he was deep in thought, before taking a big bite of his dinner. When he had swallowed, he met my eyes again, “he doesn’t deserve that money any more than we do, and we have lots of mouths to feed.”   

I hadn’t gotten used to the new way of thinking yet. The idea of stealing anything from anyone still seemed so wrong to me, even if the man didn’t deserve the money in the first place. I twirled my chopsticks between my fingers as I considered his words. Hesitantly, I looked at him, “only as long as the town gets some of it as well.”   

His cerulean eyes rolled so hard that I was surprised when they didn’t just go back into his head and never emerge again, “obviously. Anytime we’ve acquired a lot of funds we’ve always put a large percentage of it back into the place that it should’ve gone to in the first place, that would include this village if we’re successful with infiltrating the house.”    

“It can’t be that easy, I’m sure he has at least some measures in place to prevent anyone from getting to his money.”   

A loud pop sounded from the fire in front of us, sending ashes and embers sailing into the sand at our feet.   

Dabi ignored the interruption, “true, I’m sure it won’t be easy. Rumor has it that he just keeps everything in a large locked vault in his basement. If only we had someone with a quirk that could open anything...” His amused gaze turned towards me as he shifted and crossed his leg across his lap.   

I squinted my eyes at him, “why would you even know that information?”   

"Because we have access to the hero commission's database, remember? And since the hero commission requires documentation of all hero patrols, a recent patrol of his house recommended that he take more precautions in protecting his wealth. That report was just a month ago, so unless he actually decided to take their advice, we can assume that everything is the same.”   

I placed my mostly empty diner container in the fire, having satiated my hunger for the time being, and watched the flames consume it.   

“Have you talked to Keigo about it?”   

Dabi finished his own dinner and leaned forward before tossing his own paper container into the flames. “I don’t need to pass everything by him, we’ll be fine. If things go south, we teleport the hell out of here. Sound good?”  

The blue hue of the flames in front of us flickered across his face as he glanced over at me while waiting for an answer.   

“You trust me, right?” He asked tentatively when I didn’t respond right away.   

I smirked, “most of the time, sure. Can’t say I know much about you though, and I can’t really allow myself to trust someone that could nearly be considered a stranger.”  

“We’re not strangers, doll face. How many strangers can say that they’ve seen your -”   

“Stop!” I covered my face to hide the blush that had immediately sprouted across my cheeks. “I get it, I get it.”  

Dabi chuckled as he stretched his arm across the back of his chair, cerulean eyes settled on me curiously, “Fine then. If being with you intimately doesn’t make us more than strangers, what would you like to know?”   

I tapped my finger against my chin as I thought of a question, “what’s a kind of food that you won’t eat?” I relaxed into my own seat with a slight smile on my face. I was happy that he was actually indulging my curiosity instead of shooting it down like I had expected him to.  

He arched a dark eyebrow at me, “that’s your question to get to know me? How original, the answer is easily sushi.”   

I nearly gasped, “you don’t like sushi?”   

Dabi shrugged in his used fisherman coat; the large piece of clothing nearly swallowed him as he relaxed. “It’s the texture, I think, just can’t stand it. Ask me something else.”   

I could ask anything? I could ask what his favorite color was, his favorite place to relax, a good memory from his childhood. But instead of asking an innocent question like that, I went a different direction.   

When the next words flew out of my mouth, I was nearly as stunned as he was.  “First time you had sex, and go.”   

He clicked his tongue in amusement, “straight to the dirty stuff, huh? Should have expected that from you.”   

“I didn’t want to be reprimanded for asking too ‘boring’ of a question again. You’re stalling, bacon bits.”   

His deep, sensual chuckle made me snap my legs together.   

“She was some chick I met a few years back after I nearly killed myself with my flames, met her when I tried to join a local gang.”  A haunted look passed over his face as he glanced down at the sand in thought, “she made me fuck her from behind, claimed she didn’t want to have to look at me when we did it. Fortunately for her, it was over pretty quickly. Ya know, first time and all.”   

His bitter laugh surprised, jarring me from my stunned state after hearing his confession. “Don’t concern yourself with it, princess. I got over it a long time ago, came to terms with how I look and how people might perceive me. It doesn’t bother me anymore.”   

I was silent for a moment, before I met his quizzical eyes. He seemed as interested in what I had to say about his past experiences as I had been to hear about them. “What a shallow cunt,” I breathed out as I tossed a stick into the fire in front of us.   

He tilted his head, “you don’t agree with her? Most people I’ve met since her have had similar sentiments.”   

Butterflies fluttered in my chest, “no Dabi, I wanted to watch you as you fucked me. Your appearance doesn’t bother me.”   

Dabi smirked as he non-chalantly pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket and lit one with his flames. “I don’t believe you. I’m an asshole. Even my own dad couldn’t stand me after too long.”   

“You’re driven, confident, calculated and intelligent,” my eyes met his cautiously. He had stopped mid breath when I had started talking. Smoke slowly wove out of his barley open lips. “Some people might find that intimidating and consider you to be an asshole because of it. And sure, sometimes I think you are too,” I sent him a small smile, “but it doesn’t define you. At least, I don’t think so. I think you want to work towards your goal and protect those that you care about, no matter what. You have a kind of ambition that I can respect, even if I don’t agree with all of your methods.”   

I paused for a moment, considering my next words carefully. “Your dad was naïve. I’ve read about what he put you through, how he tossed you aside when Shouto was born with his two quirks. You don’t let a lot of people in, I’ve noticed that for sure. You don’t trust anyone, and I can understand why.” His eyes glowed as he continued to watch me as I spoke. “But we’re not all Endeavor, we’re not all going to abandon you.”  

A quick sigh blew from between my lips, “so when I say that I will trust you, I hope that you’ll do the same for me.”   

A flash of something, almost like agony, flickered across his face before he schooled his expression and pulled his controlled mask back up.   

Dabi’s ruined lips quirked up at the corner, and I just knew he was about to joke about something to ease us out our current conversation, but the rustling of a pair of feet off to our side stopped him from responding.   

“What are you two doing out here? This is private property!” A middle-aged man approached the sitting area from the building closest to us, anger etched across his face as he glared down at the two of us. His eyes widened slightly when he actually focused on the blue, unnatural, flames in front of him.   

Dabi snapped his fingers dramatically, and the flames extinguished, sending smoke up into the sky and making the area around us dark again.   

“Sorry, won’t happen again,” Dabi gruffly muttered as he stood and motioned for me to follow him.   

The man didn’t respond, still too transfixed by what he had just seen to pay attention to us.   

When we were out of ear shot from the man, Dabi wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me towards him, all the stress from our most recent conversation was wiped from his face as he settled back into mission mode, “might want to make up your mind about going up to the house quickly, doll face. I’d wager the heroes will soon hear about us either way.”   

The wicked smile he sent my way told me I shouldn’t go along with his plan, but we needed to make a statement, right?  

Wind whipped past my face, flattening my hood against the side of my cheek as the fishy-smelling truck bed we sat in traveled up deeper into the countryside several hours later. The vehicle bounced beneath us, pain shot up into my tail bone and through my spine after a particularly bad pot hole and I immediately sent Dabi a glare.   

He grinned, “what did you expect, sweetheart? The peak of luxury? This is the best that I could do on such short notice -”   

The vehicle came to a rolling stop and Dabis’ words cut off as he hoisted himself over the side of the truck and smoothly landed on the hard gravel below.   

I slowly followed after him, allowing my body to adjust to not being jostled around like it had been for the last nearly 20 minutes.   

Dabi tossed a wad of cash at the man who had, reluctantly, agreed to drive us up here in the middle of the night after Dabi had tried ‘reasoning’ with him. “Thanks for the ride.”   

The man nodded back with wide eyes before he kicked his truck back into gear and began the trek back down towards the fishing village.   

“Well, if the man from earlier doesn’t report anything to the heroes, he sure will,” I grumbled as I adjusted one of the straps that sat across my hips.   

Dabi watched my movements carefully from across the road, his gaze drifted across the hips that I had just touched. When his eyes met mine again, he gave me a lazy smile, “don’t sound so disappointed. That’s why we’re here, right?” He turned towards the hill that we had been dropped off at, “the house shouldn’t be much farther up this way.”   

I could hardly see Dabi since we had both tossed aside our casual clothing before leaving the town and adopted our old uniforms again. The glow of his eyes, and the smokey scent of him, were the only telltale signs that he was still walking beside me, otherwise, I would have thought that I was alone in this mysterious wilderness walking towards the unknown.   

Dabi had spoken little of our earlier conversation, but I had noticed the thoughtful glances that he had been sending my way every once in a way, like he was still turning my words around in his head, trying to decipher and truly understand them. Like he couldn’t believe that someone was actually staying by his side for who he was, instead of what he could provide for them.    

In my distracted state, I had forgotten to continue watching where I was walking. One moment my feet were under me, and the next I was tripping and diving nearly headfirst into the ground. Dabi’s strong grip grabbed me around my upper arm and pulled me back towards him. My other hand reached up to stop myself before I fully collided with him. My fingers splayed across his chest as my heart hammered in my chest due to the near fall.   

His chest felt warm and sturdy under my fingertips. The cloth on his shirt was soft and welcoming. Heat vibrated off of him in waves and I instantly felt comforted with being near him.   

I also didn’t fail to notice the way that his breath caught slightly as he continued to hold my other arm in his grasp, almost like being near me was affecting him as much as his close proximity was influencing me.   

When I glanced up, I found him watching me with wide eyes.   

He swallowed hard before his face hardened once again.   

“Such a clumsy ex-hero, aren’t you? No wonder they wanted to get rid of you,” he chuckled darkly at me as he let me go.   

I felt my face heat up as I took a step back from him, “you know damn well that’s not why.”   

Dabi shrugged lightly, “can’t blame it all on us, doll face.”   

My jaw tightened involuntarily.   

“The house is right up ahead,” he motioned up in front of us, cutting off my retort in the process.   

I followed his gaze, and sure enough, a row of lights erupted across the hillside.   

The architecture of the building resembled that of many other Japanese establishments, with a mostly open floorplan, windows along the majority of the outer walls, and a large hanging roof that covered a walkway that traveled around the entire building. Most of the house was illuminated, much to our dismay. Doing this quietly would definitely prove to be more difficult than we thought it was going to be.    

My eyes widened when I realized how large the house was. I glanced at Dabi, hoping that he had more information about where exactly we needed to go.   

We approached the rich man's dwelling carefully. Dabi’s eyes turned on a swivel as he looked for guards, cameras, anything that might signal that we were here.   

“How do you plan on getting in?” I asked when we had finally gotten within a few feet away from what appeared to be a garage of sorts that wasn’t connected to the house.   

“I’m not exactly subtle when it comes to things like this, nor do I believe in having a plan,” he winked at me, “just step back.”   

I did as I was told without knowing exactly what he meant. Within moments of me stepping away from him, his hands glowed and his fire began to consume the building in front of us.   

“What the hell?” I nearly yelled at him as he grabbed ahold of my arm again and yanked me back towards the forest.   

Seconds after we had gotten behind a large bush, a few burly looking men ran out of the main house, yelling at one another about what needed to be done about the flames.   

“I thrive in chaos, darling,” Dabi whispered in my ear as he held me against him.   

“Yeah? What are we supposed to do now?” I demanded quietly as he continued kneeling in the dirt.   

Dabi cocked his head curiously before answering, “we take them out, make sure they can’t get in our way.”   

Before I could respond, or reach out to pull him back behind the bush, Dabi stood and revealed himself to the stunned men.   

“Who the hell -?” A large man near the front of the group stopped in his tracks after seeing Dabi, bewilderment etched across his face as he recognized the easily noticeable scars that lived on Dabi’s skin.   

“If you all just back away and surrender, I’ll let you all live. If not, well,” he paused as a sinister smile grew across his lips, “I’m sure you know what will happen,” flames burst from his fists and several faces before him grew fearful.  

“I’ve heard about this guy, Endeavors son -”   

Dabi loosed a low growl, “Don’t call me that,” the heat of his flames grew in intensity, like they were feeding off of his anger.   

“We should let them by,” another man mumbled as they all turned to the original individual who had first spoken.   

The man schooled a brave look upon his face as he turned to the group behind him, “we protect the estate, that’s what we were hired on to do.”   

“Excellent,” Dabi grinned before he held out his hand, blue flames soared forward towards the group who could only stand still and wait for it to reach them. A few of them ducked out of fear, but before they could be consumed by the fire, an iron wall erupted out of the ground and surrounded them. Blue flames scattered and blew over the stone but never touched any of the men.  

A slight headache began to ache behind my eyes, and as angry, cerulean eyes landed on me, I realized that I had been the one to instinctively protect the men.   

“We don’t need to kill anyone,” I started as I ignored the irritated look on Dabi’s face. “We also don’t need to burn anything down,” the fire before us sputtered out as I used my quirk on it. “We just need to get down to the vault, get what we came for, and leave. Cool?” I asked as I started walking towards the main house.   

Dabi rolled his eyes as he followed behind me, but he didn’t utter any disagreements as we continued our trek to the house.   

We approached one of the back doors, just in case any backup decided to show up. Dabi reached out and the door burst into flames, seconds later it lay in ashes at our feet.   

“Thought you were going to stop me there too,” Dabi admitted as he stepped through the doorway.   

I shrugged, “I thought about it.”  

“Head bothering you already? I thought you were working on your stamina and endurance?”   

“I have been, I think it was just too much all at once when I haven’t used it in days...”   

Dabi grunted, not believing my lame excuse.   

I had been getting better on releasing my quirk in smaller bursts to avoid burn out, but it seemed that in real life situations – I wasn’t so great at controlling how much I used at once.    

“Let’s just get to the vault.”   

“As my lady commands,” Dabi bowed dramatically, before turning and walking farther into the house without any concern for whether or not there was anyone else lurking around the corners that he walked around so casually.   

“Here,” he announced when we approached a large door a minute or two later.   

We glanced at each other after sizing up the heavy looking door in front of us.   

“What? Not going to burn this one down?” I sneered at him as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.   

“You’re a bit sassy today, princess,” my core clenched but he continued talking as if he hadn’t just called me sassy in that deep voice of his. “I’ll leave the metal doors to you; we all have our burn out points and I’d like to avoid mine as well.”   

“As you wish,” I muttered as I tried to keep my voice from quivering.   

I unlocked the door in front of us quickly and watched as Dabi shut the door behind us before we started the short walk down the stairs towards what we assumed to be the vault.   

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, a dark hallway greeted us. Thick, metal doors lined the hall, leading up to what appeared to be a large vault door at the end of the hallway.   

“Interesting little lair he has going on here,” Dabi muttered as he knocked on one of the first doors. The echo of his knock rang through the stone corridor, bouncing off of the metal and stone around us. “They’re solid, I won’t be burning these down either.”   

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll -”   

A quiet whimper sounded from behind one of the doors, silencing my words.   

I glanced up at Dabi, giving him a questioning look to see if he had heard it too. The arch of his eyebrow, and confused gleam to his eyes told me that he had.   

My fist knocked against the same door that Dabi had tapped on earlier, “hello?”   

Silence followed.   

“Maybe we’re just hearing things,” Dabi shrugged casually and I loosed a frustrated sigh.   

“We both heard it, someone is here.”   

I proceeded to unlock all of the doors on one side of the hallway. All of them were empty and resembled classic jail cells with even a slot in the door that was at eye height, as if someone needed to peek into the rooms.   

The door at the end of the hall opened up into a large vault. Blocks of solid gold, bags of money, jewelry, you name it. Expensive items of all varieties lay on the shelves that surrounded the at least 20 meter by 20-meter room.   

Dabi let out a scoff as we studied the room in front of us. "Told you it wouldn’t be difficult. The little group of men protecting his estate must have been his ‘new’ addition to his security system.”   

“That little group of men probably could have taken on most people -”  

“Yeah, they just weren’t enough for us, now were they darling?” Dabi winked at me as he casually opened a portal in the vault and started tossing the man’s belongings into what I assumed to be our own sort of vault at the base. “Are you going to help me or just stand there?” Dabi glanced at me as he bent to grab a duffle bag full of cash before proceeding to throw it through the portal.   

“Something still just feels off,” I clenched my fists at my side as I watched him. “I’m going to go check the other rooms.”   

“Sure, just hurry up.”   

The first few rooms close to the vault were empty again, similar to the opposite side of the hall. When I reached the last door that needed to be checked, I felt myself loose a tight, stressed breath.   

Several pairs of eyes landed on me as the door swung open and clanged against the stone wall in the room.   

The only source of light in the room, a low hanging light up above, barely illuminated the space. I could still make out that there were more than just a few kids sitting before me. Children, elementary school aged up to high school, looked at me with fear in their eyes as I stood, stunned, still in the doorway to their prison.   

“What is this, why are you here?” My voice was quiet and controlled as I gazed down at them.   

The child closest to me whimpered as he tried to back away farther from me, but couldn’t as the many bodies behind him prevented him from doing so. There were at least 20 of them, packed into such a small room that there was barely any room for them all to even lay down at once. Blankets and pillows littered the floor, as did buckets on the wall farthest from them – which is what I assumed that they used as their bathroom. Many of them looked too skinny for their age, and more run down. Several of the kids still looked clean and healthy, like they hadn’t been here long enough to really show the wear and tear signs of being locked in a stone room for who knows how long.   

I lowered myself down into a crouch when none of them spoke or answered my question. I needed to make myself look less threatening.   

“Please, why are you here?” My voice broke as my composure slowly started to crumble due to the many dull eyes that met mine.   

An older girl, probably in her high school years, stood. The rage in her brown eyes was almost palpable.  

“Are you with him? What do you want?”   

I shook my head with confusion, “who?”   

“Mr. Takahashi.”   

The name didn’t ring any bells, “is that who owns this place?”   

Several of the kids nodded.   

“No, I’m not.”   

“Are you a hero?”   

My jaw clenched; I wasn’t sure how to answer that one.   

The girl’s face grew fearful while waiting for me to answer.  

 “Not anymore.”  

Relief erupted across her face upon hearing my words.    

Tears began to stream down her face as she pushed herself through a couple of kids in front of her. She barreled towards me and I prepared myself to take a hit, or get kicked, anything besides what happened next.   

She dropped to her knees before me and threw her arms around my shoulders as she started sobbing into my neck. “You’ve come to help us then? Our families contacted you?”   

My hands flew instantly to her back, rubbing soothing circles into her thin shoulder blades as her hot tears began to dampen my uniform.   

“Why would your families need to contact me? Why are you here?” I asked again.   

“We’re from the fishing village down the road,” a young boy spoke up from the group.   

“That doesn't explain why you’re here though.”   

The girl holding onto me pushed away slightly so that I could see her face again. Her voice was quiet and hopeless, her tears had parted a pale path down her grime covered face, “our families couldn’t pay their rent. Mr. Takahashi takes us here until they can, or he sells us off to pay off the debt.”  

My stomach churned and I had to grasp the door frame behind me to prevent myself from tipping backwards.   

“You’re all here for the same reason?” I asked the rest of them quietly and only received tearful nods in return. “  

“What the hell is going on?” Dabi’s gruff voice sounded behind me, causing several of the kids in front of me to jump.   

His eyes widened when he noticed the disheveled girl who was still clinging to me.   

“Tell me what’s going on.”  

“This is fucking crazy,” Dabi crossed his arms across his chest as he watched the kids run up and hug their respective families.   

Everyone from town had all collected into the main square in the middle of the night after Dabi had driven down to the town using one of the guards' vehicles, he had shouted and spouted off his flames to gain attention to then demand that people with vehicles follow him up the road. I had stayed behind to look after the kids while we waited for him.   

Some people were laughing with happiness, others cried and thanked us repeatedly, while a select few looked on in fear with thoughts of the retribution that would soon follow from Mr. Takahashi.   

I had promised many of them that nothing would happen, that we would protect them, but as I watched the families before me, guilt began to grow in the pit of my stomach.   

Was that something that I could even promise?   

I felt my eyes start to well with tears.   

“We can bring them back to the base. We of course have a process for admitting new members but we could still do it, their fishing techniques would benefit us too,” Dabi reminded me, as if he could read my thoughts. His eyes widened when he witnessed a tear drop down my face.   

I reached out and grabbed his hand gently, as if reaching for a lifeline. He squeezed my hand in response, successfully soothing me, almost like he knew exactly what I needed.   

“Do you think we could make room for them?” I looked up at him.   

“We always have room for people who need it,” Dabi kept his gaze on the people in front of us, avoiding my eyes.   

He let go of my hand, “let me call Hawks.”   

Without saying another word, he walked off towards the outer edge of the square and pulled out his phone.   

I watched him pace for a minute before I turned back to the large group in front of me.   

There were a couple hundred villagers, at least. They all had been aware of Mr. Takahashi’s methods in the town, but no one had had the guts to do anything about it – until now.   

According to one of the moms in the group, at least a few dozen kids had gone missing over the last decade. Some of them had returned, malnourished but alive, while others had never been seen again. Learning that the “owner” of this town was delving into the black market to pay off these families debts to fill his own pockets was enraging.   

But the cherry on top, was the fact that the heroes who had come to review the security at his estate had been aware that he was keeping kids in his basement. Multiple children accounted that they had met multiple heroes during their time in the cell, and none of them had ever offered a hand to help. They had turned a blind eye and almost pretended that they hadn’t seen them, all to stay in Mr. Takahashi’s good graces so that the hero commission could continue to receive funding from him.   

“We’re all set. We can open a portal whenever; Hawks has alerted our admission team to be available the rest of the night into the morning as needed.” Dabi’s heat moved over me as he stopped at my side again.   

I took a deep breath before I stepped forward.   

“Could I have everyone’s attention?”   

Without revealing too much information, I informed the group in front of me about the safety that we could provide to them. I answered questions, as did Dabi, about the base. We successfully convinced at least half of them, mostly families, to join us. The other half decided that they had nothing to lose and that they would prefer to stay back, but wished their counterpart's luck.   

We allowed the people time to grab some of their belongings, or pets, to bring with them, as Dabi and I stayed back in the square.   

As people began to group back up in the square with bags and additional children and belongings, Dabi opened a large portal that emptied into the dining hall at the base.   

Midoriya waved at me from the other side, the lower portion of his face was obscured by his mask so that he couldn’t be identified just in case, even though he hadn’t been in the limelight in years, he still needed to take precautions when around the public. Keigo was nowhere in sight, which was disappointing but I understood why. He couldn’t risk being seen right away by the group, just in case any of them decided to not go along and decided to turn us in to the heroes instead.   

An individual I didn’t immediately recognize stood next to Midoriya, watching the group as they started making their way through the portal and into the base.   

“That’s Echo,” Dabi muttered when he noticed me studying the person.   

He stood with his arms crossed, his dark eyes flitted over to Dabi and I and I felt a chill run down my spine.   

I watched the man in return. If he didn’t look so menacing and threatening, I probably would have found him attractive with his dark, chin length hair and tattoos that lined his arms. I even saw a lip piercing glinting off of the low lights in the dining hall.   

“Echo?” I asked, hoping for additional clarification, which he provided.   

Echo smirked, as if he knew that Dabi and I were talking about him.   

Dabi glanced between the two of us speculatively, “he can read minds, so I’d watch what you’re thinking. He needs to focus on the towns people to make sure none of them have any negative intentions.”   

His tone wasn’t exactly judgmental, but there was a hint of scrutiny in his words that told me that he had known that I was sort of checking out the other villain.   

I pulled my eyes away from Echo and felt my cheeks darken.   

“It looks like he enjoyed whatever you were thinking,” Dabi muttered darkly.   

Sure enough, when I glanced back at the mind reader, his eyes were still on mine, but a sensual, flirty smile had replaced the smirk from earlier.   

Dabi glared at the man through the portal. Echo’s eyes widened before they darted between Dabi and I. He quickly pulled his gaze away from the two of us and continued watching the line of people who entered the portal, he seemed to be trying his damndest to not look at us again.   

“What did you do?” I arched a curious eyebrow at the cremation villain who stood tall next to me.   

“I showed him a memory of mine,” Dabi’s lips quirked up before he glanced down at me from the corner of his eye. I glared at him as I waited for him to continue, "I just showed him what a certain woman looks like on her back, with me between her legs.”   

“Dabi,” I gasped as I smacked him across the chest. His laugh reverberated against my hand.   

When I went to smack him again, he caught my wrist easily.   

“Watch it princess, wouldn’t want all these people to see you flirting with me.”   

“I am not -”   

A surprised gasp sounded through the small crowd that still had not made their way through the portal, and Dabi and I both glanced up at the same time to locate what had caused such a reaction from everyone.   

Dabi dropped my hand when we saw the individuals who stood at the edge of the square.   

“Heroes!” Someone yelled.   

Everyone started to panic, pushing each other to get to the portal before they could be stopped by Fatgum and Suneater.   

Amajiki’s eyes roamed over me from across the square.   

I tried to imagine what he was currently seeing, if he noticed how much I had changed since the last time I had seen him in my apartment all those weeks ago.   

My hair was darker and I was dressed all in black, as was my companion who still stood next to me.   

Dabi’s palms lit up as he stared at the two men. I flinched at the sudden heat, and saw Amajiki step forward upon seeing my immediate reaction to the fire.   

“What have you done to her?” Amajiki nearly growled out, causing my eyes to widen. I had never heard him raise his voice at anyone, or sound like anything other than the sweet man who I had known for the past year and a half.   

Dabi noticed the shift in Amajiki upon seeing me flinch and took his chances, before I knew it, he had wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. His glowing fist ignited inches from my face and I winced. “You just stay where you’re at, Suneater. Or I’ll light her pretty face on fire.”  

“What are you doing?” I whispered against him.   

“Just play along, doll face. This will keep them back long enough to let the towns people get away,” his lips brushed the tip of me ear. Goosebumps erupted across my skin at the tiny bit of contact and I instantly felt embarrassed, my traitorous body was bound to get me into trouble someday.   

I struggled against Dabi, trying to play to the part that he had given me. My hips bumped back against him in the process, and I soon found that my body wasn’t the only one that was reacting to our current predicament.   

I felt Dabi flinch back when I grazed against his length, air hissed between his teeth and he pulled me harder against him to prevent me from doing it again. “You think this is funny, princess? Just you wait until I get you alone again.”   

“You’ve had me alone for the past few nights, Dabi, and you’ve failed to do anything then. What changed now?”   

His chuckle vibrated against my back.   

“Princess -” he trailed his lips against the shell of my ear and I instantly groaned.   

Amajiki took another step forward, as if he thought I was groaning out of pain, but oh how wrong he was.   

“Why don’t you go through the portal with them, I’ll hold them off and follow you in a bit.” He pushed me away and towards the small group that was still there.   

“Are you fucking nuts?” I hissed quietly.   

“Their goal is going to get to you, and I won’t be able to focus on the fight in front of me if I’m worried about them getting to you.”  

Fatgum took a step forward then, and Dabi sent a path of flames towards them, scattering the heroes to their respective sides.   

“Go, Y/N.”   

“No,” I shook my head as I ushered the last few individuals through the portal. When the last one walked through, I waved one last time at Midoriya and turned to Dabi. “Close it.”   

I swear I saw his eye twitch, “there’s nothing I can say to make you also walk through it?”   

“I won’t leave you,” I promised as I stood at his side.   

His eyes looked thoughtful as he glanced down at me, “fine, but don’t get yourself captured, got it?”   

The portal closed and the four of us were left alone in the square.   

“Where did you send them?” Fatgum demanded as he hoisted himself up from where he had fell earlier when trying to evade Dabi’s fire.   

“Away from this town. Away from the man who was using them to make a profit. Away from the heroes that turned a blind eye and ignored their suffering. They’re safe now,” my voice came out stronger than I currently felt, and I was proud of that, but my hand started trembling at my side.   

“Suneater is the most unpredictable, I’ll take him. You take Fatgum,” Dabi muttered as I saw him prepping to jump forward.   

“I disagree. I know how Amajiki fights; I also know he won’t be able to hurt me.”  

Dabi gave me a perplexed look, “why wouldn’t he hurt you?”   

I gave him a guilty smirk and shrug.  

“Him too?” He looked irritated, “I have to worry about my brother and that explosion bastard and now I have to consider chicken legs over here too?”   

“Thats offensive,” I heard Amajiki mutter.   

Dabi’s jaw clenched, “how about I take them both on then, I could release some nice fire power right about now.”   

“I don’t want them to get hurt,” I said quietly as fatgum began to approach us.   

Dabi glared at me, “you’re not on their side anymore, people get hurt in fights, it’s inevitable.”   

“That doesn't mean that I need to be okay with it,” I hissed as I turned to deflect the punch that Fatgum was sending towards Dabi, he bounced off of the water shield that I threw up between us. “Just don’t let him touch you, keep him off of you with your flames.”  

I gasped as a thick tentacle curled around my ankle and pulled me. Losing my balance, I fell and nearly smacked my skull against the pavement had Dabi not stopped my fall with his own body. HIs flames ate away at the tentacle and I saw Amajiki wince as he pulled the appendage back.   

“What was that about not getting captured?” Dabi demanded, “pay attention!”   

Having accepted my plan, I saw him approach the fat hero but kept his distance.   

“I don’t want to fight you, Y/N,” Amajiki looked at me with sad eyes. “You can come back, tell them how they brain washed you, they’ll accept you back with open arms -”   

“They didn’t brain wash me, Tam.” The old nickname coming from my mouth made him wince. “And if you had a brain, or free will, you would recognize why I left and why you should leave too.”  

“That’s insane, why would I -”   

“Mr. Takahashi, a big investor for the heroes and the owner of this town was selling kids off for profit. The heroes knew about it and did nothing.” He began to shake his head, like he couldn’t believe such a tale. “I saw the kids myself, Tam. I saw the cells that he kept them in. I talked to their families. Didn’t you see how they reacted to seeing both of you? How they screamed when they saw heroes. You didn’t think to consider why they did that?”    

“They were brain -”  

I held a hand up to silence him, “if you mention brain washing, one more fucking time, I’ll actually lose my mind.”  

“You can’t see what he has done to you,” Amajiki looked at me with desperate eyes. I could see his lips quivering from where I stood at least 10 feet away from him. My heart hurt seeing him suffer like this, but I wasn’t about to give up. “Just come back with me. Come listen to music with me, come watch cheesy movies with me on the couch while socks cuddles with us, come make dinner with me again. Come be present with me again. We can have that easy life that we had before. I’m sorry if me pushing you away caused any of this -”   

My eyebrows furrowed, “you think that I did this because you ended things?”   

“Not just because of that, but you started having issues right around then,” he watched me with guilty eyes. “Please come back, come home,” he begged.  

“That isn’t home, not anymore,” he flinched at the hardness to my voice. “My home is with him now,” I nodded towards Dabi, who wasn’t turned towards us, but I could tell that he was listening. “And with the people that I’ve met since I left. You should join us, Tam. You would fit right in. There are a lot of kind, hardworking people there who just didn’t want to deal with the dumpster fire that is the hero commission.”   

Amajiki shook his head again, but gave me a thoughtful look, “where is this place that you keep mentioning?”   

I smirked, “you don’t honestly think that I will answer that, do you?”   

“Figured I’d try,” he shrugged slightly before he went on the offensive again.   

Large, glorious wings sprouted from his back before he propelled himself forward. I didn’t have time to react to his speed, and immediately felt the air rush out of my lungs as his arms wrapped around my center. Within seconds, he hoisted me over his shoulder and rocketed into the sky.   

“Tam! Shit, stop!” I screamed as the ground grew farther and farther below us.   

Dabi’s flames followed us into the sky, but they couldn’t reach us. Amajiki had successfully predicted how far he would have to get us to be just far enough that Dabi couldn’t do anything.   

I kicked at him and beat on his wings with my fists until my hands started to hurt.   

Tears wet my cheeks as I considered my dismal future if Amajiki was successful in getting me back to Tokyo. What might happen to me? Could they read my mind like Echo could? Would they end up finding the base anyway? What of my quirk?  

“Don’t get caught,” was what Dabi had told me, and I had failed.   

Wait.   

My quirk.   

I mentally smacked myself and produced a metal knife out of thin air.   

Tamaki yelped as I raked it across the beautiful wings that he had produced just moments earlier.   

We started to fall.  

I hadn’t really thought about the repercussions of destroying the one thing that was preventing us from plummeting to the earth below. But as we fell towards the ground, I started to consider how splattering across the rock would feel like.  

Amajiki reached for me in mid-air, “grab on, let me help you!”   

Wind whipped past my face, blowing my hair up around me as the ground grew closer.   

“As if I would accept your help!” I scoffed at him as I tried to maintain a brave look on my face as fear began to eat away at me.   

Blood from Amajiki’s ruined wings splattered down upon me as he tried his best to reach me before we hit the ground.   

“I got you two!” Fatgum yelled up at us at the last second.   

I bounced against the fat of his stomach as he laid on the ground beneath us, acting as a human trampoline. My back hit the pavement a second later and I choked on the oxygen in my lungs once again.   

“You fucking moron, what was the one thing I asked you not to do?” Dabi barked at me as he hoisted me up by my arm. Pain erupted in my shoulder from the tight tug, but the comforting feeling of having his arms wrap around me soothed the pain almost immediately. “Idiot,” he muttered against the top of my head.   

Before I could respond, I was torn from his grasp by one of Amajiki’s tentacles again. Dabi’s flames followed, eating away at the appendage until it reached its base on Amajiki’s body. His fire began to destroy Amajiki’s uniform, and I gasped from where I had been dropped onto the stone once again, stuck right between the heroes and Dabi.   

Amajiki’s terrified sobs echoed off of the stone as he tried to pat at the fire, but due to Dabi’s rage, and the flames intensity, they weren’t going anywhere.   

“Dabi!” I yelled as I rolled myself over onto my knees. “Don’t hurt him!”   

Amajiki’s red, irritated skin shone from where the flames had finally made their way to his body, and true, pain filled tears began to fall from those dark eyes that I once loved.   

Fatgum joined Amajiki on the ground and tore the cape off of Amajiki’s back to use as a smothering device. But once again, the flames persisted.   

“You want to take her back? You’ll have to drag her out of my cold, dead, ruined hands,” Dabi snarled at the heroes with such a ferocity that I hadn’t witnessed from him before.   

I flinched, and the movement caught Dabi’s eye.   

Confusion grew across his face upon seeing my reaction. When he took a step towards me, I involuntarily winced again.   

Agony flickered across face as he witnessed me cowering away from him.   

Seconds later, the flames that had started to consume Amajiki stopped and blew away into nothing.   

Dabi crouched down next to me; his eyes remained only on me. He reached his hand out, hesitantly, “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to take it that far,” his voice was quiet and reserved, like he was afraid of being rejected or chastised, or he was terrified that if he was too harsh or blunt, he might scare me off.   

I looked up into the cerulean eyes that I had grown so accustomed to, and I could evidently see that he was truly disheartened by our current predicament.   

My hand reached out to grasp his, but before I could make contact, his head whipped backwards as if he had been struck. Blood sprayed across the stone beneath us, and when I jumped to his side and rolled him over to analyze the damage, crimson seeped between his fingers as he covered his left eye.   

The sounds that he moaned out through his lips hit me so hard in the gut that I felt like throwing up.   

Dabi whimpered, actually whimpered, as his blood continued to pour out between the gaps in his fingers.   

“What happened?” I demanded as I tried to pry his hands away from his face. He held fast, making it impossible for me to see what wound had been given to him.   

I whipped my head around and found Amajiki’s stunned eyes. He shook his head, as if he knew what I was about to ask. I stood then, and as I stepped; my foot kicked something hard against the stone.   

The scratching sound of metal raking across stone rang out through the square, and when I glanced down, I found the knife that I had constructed before.   

Bright red, wet, blood covered the tip of it.   

“I should have aimed more to the left it appears, maybe then it would have met it’s mark,” Fatgum admitted from where he still sat behind Amajiki.   

The weapon must have still been embedded in Amajiki's wings after our fall, and Fatgum had found it and used it.  

Rage welled up in my body so fast that it felt like steam should have been blowing out of my ears. “Are you proud, fat man?”   

“I took down Dabi, the cremation villain, he’ll be lucky if he keeps that eye. So yes, I’m happy. That makes us one step closer to defeating your little group.”   

I flipped the knife up into my hand and lost myself a bit in the way that it ricocheted the light from the square. When it landed handle first in my grasp, I spun it around effortlessly and hit Fatgum square in the belly.   

His started yell echoed around us, but before he could run out of breath, I silenced his yell with a kick across his face. As my body came into contact with his, I ripped his quirk away from him. It wasn’t temporary like it had been with Grand. My quirk traveled into every piece of his DNA and stripped them of all his quirk DNA, extra atoms flew into me, providing me with additional energy. The fat on his body quickly evaporated into nothing, and he was left standing as his normal self, panting and wide eyed like he couldn’t believe what had just happened.   

“Try being a hero now, Fat,” I spat at him before I crouched in front of Amajiki. “Tam, give me your hand.”   

He shook his head slightly, a low groan from Dabi behind me had me reaching out and gripping onto him before he could make a fuss about it. Little sparks of pain ignited in my skull as the burn wounds on his hands healed.   

“I’m sorry he hurt you,” I muttered before I stood and walked over to Dabi’s curled up body.   

I left the two heroes stunned, where they sat sprawled on the stone in the abandoned square as I hoisted Dabi up and used my body to support his weight. His breathing was shallow in my ear as I reached around him and tapped on his wrist.   

“Think of somewhere safe to go,” I whispered to him. He grunted in response and a portal erupted in front of us.   

The portal closed behind us almost as soon as we both had stepped through and I was surprised to find us in a dark, upscale apartment.   

Tokyo’s city lights surrounded us as I helped him over to a leather couch that sat beside a large, two story, bank of windows.   

I sat on the edge of the couch after Dabi had laid down and tried to pry his hands away from his face again. “You need to let me see it, Dabi. Let me help.”   

He groaned again and kept his face covered.   

“Stop being so goddamn stubborn. If I have to knock you out to do it, then I will.”  

He sighed this time and released his hands.   

I reached up and turned on a nearby lamp, and nearly gasped when I saw the status of Dabi’s face.   

The entire left side had a large scratch running from his chin up to his forehead. The knife had ripped through his scars and staples, leaving his jaw wrecked beyond recognition. But what really made my stomach churn, was the sight of his eye. From the damage that it had taken, it would definitely need to be removed if we only relied on modern medicine.   

I winced when I saw that his right eye was trained on my face, observing my reaction to his wounds. “Can you see out of your left eye?” I squeaked out, and almost starting sobbing when he shook his head.   

“This is all my fault,” my lower lip quivered, “if I hadn’t told you not to hurt them, if I hadn’t distracted you from keeping your focus on them -”   

“Don’t do that to yourself, Princess.”  

“Are you in a lot of pain?”   

“It’s not the best feeling thing in the world, but I’ll manage once you find me some booze or something in this place.”   

I looked down into his face as I carefully reached out to touch his ruined skin. “Let me help, let me try to fix this,” I whispered as he winced when my finger brushed across the new scratch.   

“Be my guest,” his voice was quiet.   

I wasn’t sure if I could fix his eyesight, but I knew that I could at least heal the superficial wounds that were littered across his face. He closed his working eye as my quirk began to work its magic.   

The skin began to slowly stich itself back together, his blood seeped back into his skin almost like his body was reabsorbing it. I stared at his face for what felt like hours, watching as each piece of skin became new and pale again. I was happy to see the new scratch completely heal over, similar to the way that shouto’s had in the back of the ambulance weeks ago. No scar was left behind, and right before my eyes, his left eye opened and settled onto my face. I couldn’t help it as a couple hot, relieved tears fell down my face and landed on him. Dabi continued to watch me as I healed him, as if he was hypnotized by the sight above him. I was also so distracted by him, that I hadn’t noticed when my quirk had moved deeper into his skin. My eyes widened at the sight of the muscle in his jaw reforming, replacing the scar tissue that had lived on his face for so long.   

It appeared that my healing techniques were indiscriminate.   

“Shit, Dabi,” I gasped out as I tore my hand away from him face, but the healing was over and done with.  

Perfect, porcelain skin stared back at me. Gone were the scars on the left side of his face, the staples had been pushed up out of his skin and now lay on the couch beside his head.   

His eyes were wide as he rubbed his finger over the new skin on his lip.   

“You healed my scars,” he muttered before he pushed himself up from the couch and moved around me to stand. His slowly walked across the large apartment and into a hallway off to the side, where I presumed there was a bathroom.   

When the lights flickered on, I heard him gasp.   

My heart started hammering in my chest.   

Those scars had been Dabi’s identity for so long, what if he wanted them around as much as Shouto had wanted his? What if they meant something to him and I had just taken that away from him?   

I had decided that I would offer up my own body as target practice for him to shoot his flames at to reform his scars when the light to the bathroom clicked off and I saw his silhouette moving towards the couch once again.   

He didn’t say anything as he sat beside me, but he kept his gaze on his hands in his lap, as if he couldn't stand to look at me.   

“I’m sorry -”   

“What could you possibly be sorry for?” He whispered. When his face finally turned my way, I could see real tears falling down the left side of his face, while blood trickled down from his right eye. “You’ve given me back something that I’ve missed for so long.”   

I gaped at him, “I didn’t know if you needed them for your identity or if they meant something to you -”   

“They used to mean a lot to me. But recently, the only thing they did was remind me of my goals from years ago, but my goals have changed since then.”   

“Dabi, I -”   

His hand reached up to tuck a stray hair behind my ear, “can you fix the rest of them?” I shivered as his fingers trailed to the back of my head, “can you make my skin normal again?” He brought his face down towards mine.  

“Can you fix me?”   

His eyes flickered between my lips and my eyes as he waited for my answer.   

Not trusting my voice, I slowly nodded.   

His lips were slow and purposeful as they moved against mine seconds later. He held me to him as he cradled my face between his scarred hands.   

Pushing my back into the couch, Dabi lowered me so that I lay down beneath him. His lips moved across my lips, along my jaw, down to my neck where he suckled little love bites into the crevice between my neck and shoulder. Shivers traveled up my spine as he worshiped my body with his mouth. He left little nips and bites along my skin before he leaned back and watched me breathe heavy beneath him and between his knees.  

I felt my cheeks darken under his gaze.  

“Think you can do it while I make you cum?” He breathed out as he unbuttoned my pants and began to slide them over my hips.  

“Dabi,” I glanced around at our surroundings, having forgotten that we were in some random person’s home.  

“Right,” he sighed as he also observed the place around us. “I should move us first,” without pause, he hoisted me up into his arms and carted me off towards the bathroom that he had gone into earlier, but instead of turning left, he continued down the dark hall and to the right, where a large, open, half-circle shaped bedroom greeted us.  

A king-sized bed sat in the middle of the room with dark accents and white pillows covering the upper portion of the furniture and faced a large bank of two-story windows.  

Dabi tossed me onto the gray bedspread and continued where he had left off in the living area.  

“Dabi,” I laughed out as he pulled my pants over my hips and tossed them off to the side. “That still doesn’t tell me whose apartment this is.”  

Dabi arched an eyebrow at me from where he had started to lay between my bent legs. “Is this really what you want to talk about right now?”  

“Is it not important?”  

“A member of the group owns this penthouse; they allow anyone to use it as a safe house. We’re safe here.” His fingers moved over the wettened area of my panties, making me suck in a breath of air between my lips. “Now shut up,” he gently commanded as he slid my panties off and placed his mouth over my core.    

I whimpered slightly as his thumbs began to massage circles into my hips while his tongue moved against me.  

I started to lose myself in the way that his worked me, but soon remembered that he also wanted me to do something while he was getting me off.  

My quirk moved through me and entered him through our multiple points of contact and I felt as it moved throughout his body, concentrating on the dermis layer of his skin to heal the scars that covered his body.  

After a while, the roughness of his hands disappeared as new skin replaced the scars that covered them. And later, after he had nearly brought me to my climax over and over again, his eyes flickered up to meet mine and I could see that the right side of his face had now been healed as well.  

A steady headache began to hammer behind my eyes, but the feeling of the orgasm that Dabi gave me clouded all the after effects of my own quirk.  

I groaned against him as his tongue continued to move, bringing me down from my high and into my next one.  

Over and over again.  

When Dabi finally relented after what had felt like several orgasms, he turned my fatigued body over and lifted my hips up, making me present myself to him. The steady sound of a zipper being undone told me exactly where he wanted this to go, and I wanted it too. I wanted him.  

“You’re so wet, princess,” he hummed as his thumb continued making its small circles over my backside, he pushed one of them into me, slowly – successfully making he crave what I had been missing out on for so long. Our eyes met over my shoulder and I watched with aroused amazement as he brought his thumb up to his mouth and slipped it between his now perfectly normal, wet lips.  

“Fuck,” he groaned and I felt him twitch against me. “I can’t wait any longer,” he admitted as he lined himself up to my entrance and eased himself into me.  

Our collective moans moved throughout the bedroom, followed by gasps and the sound of his thighs smacking against my backside as he railed into me at an unrelenting pace.  

My fists intertwined with the bed sheets as I clung on for dear life, the muscles in my legs began to ache from keeping myself upright for him, but I loved it.  

I had missed this.  

I loved having him inside me, with me, spending time with me, having him near me, cumming with me.  

I loved …  

“Fuck yes, clench around me like that again princess,” he nearly whimpered as he slowed his pace.  

I peeked around my shoulder again to watch him, and nearly lost myself at the sight of him. His eyes were focused on me with such a look of desire and longing glowing so brightly on his new face that he made me feel as if we were the only two people in the world.  

Catching me watching him, he smirked. “You like to watch too?” I nodded as he pounded into me.  

Moments later, he flipped me over so that I was now on my back, laid bare to him. He hoisted my shirt over my shoulders before he relined himself up to me and entered me again.  

I continued to watch him as his face contorted into pure pleasure as he rode himself into me.  

As I neared my final climax, without thinking, I brought myself up onto my elbows and connected our lips again. Dabi hummed against me, enjoying the contact as well. My fingers trailed over his triceps and biceps as he held himself over me, causing goosebumps to grow across his skin. I touched his back and raked my fingers across his soft skin, scratching him deep enough that I knew he would still have marks there tomorrow.  

He moaned against my lips after a particularly nice scratch and quickened his pace.  

“You feel so good, princess,” he breathed into my ear before nibbling at my ear lobe. Noticing that my breath had quickened, he brought his face back and met my eyes, “ready to cum with me?”  

“Yes please,” I begged as I tossed my head back against the pillows beneath me.  

“That’s my girl.”  

Pleasure raked through my body, sending shivers down to my toes as I met my high again. Dabi began to pant slightly in my ear and a deep groan left his lips as I felt him twitch inside of me, spilling his seed into me as he came.  

“Fuck,” he sighed as he pulled himself out of me and plopped down next to me on the bed.  

My body felt alive as I stared up at the expansive ceiling above us.  

As our collective breathing slowed, I glanced over and found him watching me with his arm behind his head.  

I smiled at him in my post-coital bliss, “what?”  

He smirked as he pulled his gaze from mine.  

The sun began to rise in the east, sending an orange glow across his face, and I felt my breath catch.  

I had always found him attractive, with or without the scars. But with the sunlight on him, and with that post-sex, satisfied smile on his face, he almost looked godly.  

He was beautiful.  

Hours later, I woke up sweltering.  

Heat poured over my entire body and sweat lingered on areas of my body that I wasn’t even sure could sweat.  

When I went to remove the blanket that was suffocating me, I found a pale arm tossed across me instead, followed by a leg and half of a man's body.  

Butterflies erupted in my stomach when I remembered what had happened just a few hours before. Dabi’s black hair was strewn across his pillow and his face looked so peaceful that I felt bad for having to wake him up, but I knew I’d probably pass out from heat exhaustion if I didn’t.  

“Dabi,” I squeaked out, “I’m too hot.”  

Dabi groaned as he woke up, “yes, you are,” he mumbled into his pillow.  

“What?” My cheeks grew hot.  

He had just fucked me; he didn’t need to keep flirting -  

“I said, yes you are. Why are you so goddamn hot,” he complained as he pulled his body away from mine.  

I scowled as I stared up at the ceiling, and the bed began rocking seconds later. Irritation spiked through me at the movement that was just annoying enough until I glanced over and found Dabi silently laughing at me. The bed rocking had been him trying to laugh quietly.  

“Shut the fuck up,” I groaned as I hopped out of bed and started to grab my clothing.  

“You know I meant you, right? Chill out,” Dabi grinned as he sat up in bed and reached out to grab my hips. I tried to maneuver around him but failed as he wrapped his forearm around me and thrust me back down into the bed. He leaned slightly over me, “you’re hot. Like attractive hot. There, does that make you feel better?”  

His cerulean eyes danced playfully as a tiny smirk grew at the corner of his lips.  

“Yeah, sure. Now let go you menace,” I complained and tried to push him off of me.  

He pouted, “I was hoping we could go for round two. I’ve had a lot of lonely weeks to build up stamina -”  

The sound of a large door being opened and then shut echoed through the apartment and I saw as Dabi’s eyes widened slightly at the noise.  

“Clothes on, now,” He demanded as he shoved himself off of me and grabbed his own clothes.  

I lay stunned for a second, “why, who is it?” He bent to pick up my shirt and threw it at me. “Whose apartment is this, Dabi?”  

“I think you’ll soon find that out, princess,” He whispered quietly just as a familiar voice shouted down the hall.  

“Dabi? You here?”  

The voice jump started my movements as I quickly pulled my clothing on and tried to fix my hair before the bedroom door opened to reveal the one and only red-winged hero.  

Keigo Takami.  

Chapter Text

Golden eyes roamed over me suspiciously, hovering over the love bites that had erupted across my neck, the current disheveled state of my hair, and the rumpled, obviously used bed behind us. Anger erupted behind his gaze. With his fists clenched tightly at his side, I saw his jaw twitch. His pretty lips, which had been set into a stern scowl, opened partially. But before he could lay into us, or voice the racing, presumptive thoughts that I was sure were traveling through his head, his eyes flickered toward the bare face that stood next to me. 

His hands relaxed, as did the irritated look on his face, as he observed the scarless man who stood before him. 

The sound of him clearing his throat nearly made me jump before he spoke. “Dabi?” 

“The one and only, my liege.” Dabi bowed dramatically before facing my adoptive brother again with a smirk on his face. 

“What the hell happened? And don’t leave out a single thing.” His voice was stern as he glanced between the two of us. 

“Let’s finish the tour first, right, Y/N?” 

Tour? My mind blanked for a moment, and Hawks narrowed his eyes at me. I nodded briskly and pushed a stray hair behind my ear. “Yeah, you were just going to show me where the towels are. I’m beat from yesterday, Keigo.” I gave him my most innocent, pleasant smile as I passed him and patted him on the shoulder. 

Keigo stopped me with a quick grasp around my wrist. I could see the gears moving behind his eyes. “You healed him, didn’t you?” 

My lips opened to respond, but Dabi beat me to it. 

“If she hadn’t, I would be blind in my left eye, and you would be stitching up what was left.” 

“We ran into Amajiki and Fat Gum,” I muttered as I pried his grip off me and held his hand between us. “It was my fault that Dabi got hit. I needed to fix it.” 

“At what cost though? Are you okay?” He studied me again as I stood just before him. 

“Nothing a little break can’t fix.” I gave him a tired smile and felt my heart clench as an easy lie slipped from my lips. “I was able to get some rest last night. I’ll wash your sheets when I get a moment today.” 

Keigo’s mouth opened to respond, but I cut him off. “If you don’t mind though, I could really use a shower. I’m sure Dabi can debrief you on everything else that happened.” 

“Yeah, of course,” he nodded. But before letting me slip away from him, he pulled me into his chest and hugged me tight. “I heard the radio calls from Suneater and Fat Gum when they said they’d found you. When you didn’t respond to me all night, I didn’t know what to think.” He allowed me some space and gave me a small smile before patting me on the head. “I’m just happy that you’re alright.” Letting go, he walked over to a closet between the bedroom and bathroom and a moment later handed me a dark gray towel. “Go get cleaned up. We can talk again when you’re done.” 

Hot, nearly scalding water cascaded down my bare back minutes later. Droplets landed on my face as I tilted my head back, and images of Amajiki, sailing toward the ground as he yelled for me to grab onto him, his blood splattering across my face, flickered behind my closed eyelids. I snapped my eyes open, hoping that his pain-filled face wouldn’t haunt me much longer. 

I knew the heartbroken look that had settled over his features as I walked Dabi through the portal would stay with me for a while, but I wasn’t unhappy with how things had turned out. I had healed him, and Dabi. I had used my quirk to help people, one way or another, and I was proud of it. 

I grimaced at the manly-smelling shampoo and body wash Keigo had in the shower, but used them all the same. 

After finishing my shower, I toweled off and changed into the clothes Keigo had given me before brushing out my hair. Tired, bloodshot eyes with dark shadows under them stared back at me from the mirror. I had used my quirk to heal the marks Dabi had given me, anything to make it so Keigo couldn’t be reminded of what might have happened in his bedroom. I knew he suspected, but until he asked me outright, I wouldn’t reveal anything. My healing abilities could only go so far though, as the dark circles under my eyes survived as a reminder that I was exhausted. 

My quirk was tired, and its effects echoed through my entire body. My joints ached, a headache pulsed behind my eyes, and a steady nausea had settled in the pit of my stomach. 

Healing Dabi had done a number on me. If I had been smarter about it, I would have suggested small healings every few days, but I had obviously been distracted enough to not think critically about it at the time. Not that I would change anything. Even though I was suffering now, it was worth it. 

He was worth it. 

I sighed as I rubbed my eyes again before grabbing my dirty clothes and opening the bathroom door. Keigo’s baggy sweatpants nearly fell off my hips as the door silently opened. 

Quiet, masculine voices traveled toward me from the kitchen, and I paused for a moment. 

“She looks like she’s been to hell and back, Dabi. I asked you to keep her safe, not drain her within a few days,” Keigo hissed quietly, and I heard something slam onto a counter. 

Dabi’s voice was almost tired as he responded, “She just needs to rest for a couple of days and she’ll be fine—” 

“Why did you let her heal all of you at once in the first place? You know how much using her quirk takes out of her. You should have known better!” 

“It didn’t cross my mind at the time, and I’m sure she didn’t consider it either since my eyeball was nearly falling out of my head.” 

I heard Keigo let out a sigh of understanding. “This will set us back weeks while she recuperates. Maybe we should recommend that she go back—” 

“Absolutely not!” I snapped as I tossed my used towel over my shoulder and turned the corner to glare at both of them. 

Dabi’s arms were resting on the kitchen island, propping up his head as he turned to glance at me. His gaze was nearly as tired as my reflection had been minutes ago, but there was a kind of warmth in his eyes that hadn’t been there the day before. Against all odds, having his eyes on me set my nerves on fire straight to my core, and I felt my face heat up. My body was tired, but apparently not tired enough for him. 

Keigo tapped his fingers against the granite counter, distracting me from the blue-eyed devil that sat across from him. 

“You’ll be in more danger now that you’re in Tokyo, and the bounty on your head will be bigger after what you did to Fat—” 

“I’ll handle it. It’s good to push myself every once in a while, right?” 

Keigo glared at me. “I won’t be able to step in and help you while you’re here—” 

“I have an incognito Dabi at my side now. We’ll be fine.” 

We held each other’s eyes for a bit, waiting for the other to cave first. Dabi’s voice broke the silence. 

“You mentioned that the hot-headed kid is somewhere south scouting, chicken wing and fat man are in the hospital for the time being. All we have to do is avoid my little brother while we’re here and try not to get caught by any extras who happen to know who we are. We’re safer here than anywhere else. Disguises don’t get noticed as easily here when there are millions of people to blend into.” Dabi stood and ruffled my damp hair with a soft look in his eyes. “We’ll be fine.” 

I gawked at him for a second, transfixed by the new smoothness of his bottom lip, until Keigo cleared his throat. 

“What do you plan on doing then?” 

“We need to get the heroes off our backs, right?” I asked as I went around Keigo to grab a cup of coffee one of them had brewed. 

Dabi sat back down and watched me move about the kitchen as he answered, “That would be ideal. They’re able to track our movements so well because of the patterns they’ve formed from our previous actions.” 

Sipping the hot liquid, I grimaced at the bitter taste, and Keigo handed me a canister filled with sugar with a smirk plastered on his face. 

“With that in mind, we can assume they’ll eventually find the base, even with you trying to create false trails,” Keigo muttered as he took the sugar back from me and placed it in its correct place. 

“I’m sure they’ve kept a close eye on heroes and civilians who’ve disappeared since your group formed?” 

Keigo shrugged. “Yes, but it’s not nearly as organized as you think. They have some ideas as to who else is in the group besides the original League of Villains members. Some of their assumptions are correct, but some aren’t.” 

“Let’s get rid of the files then.” I blew at my coffee as I looked at Dabi over my cup. 

Keigo scoffed. “That’s nearly impossible. You’d have to destroy the electronic forms of the files as well as the physical ones, which could be anywhere.” 

“Where would the physical forms be?” 

“Probably in one of the Hero Commission buildings or in an agency building.” 

“Are there any records as to where certain files might be?” 

“Yes...” Keigo trailed off as he glanced at me contemplatively. “But it would be nearly impossible to get into any of them and back out again without being caught.” 

I winked at him. “That’s why we don’t go in as ourselves.” 

Keigo left us to our own devices shortly after our conversation, stating that he needed time, and to find someone who could help, in order to figure out the information that I had requested. 

I watched from the hallway as Dabi threw on one of Keigo's black t-shirts after he had finished his own shower, covering his now scar-free back as he did so. His eyes met mine briefly over his shoulder, and I could have sworn his cheeks turned a slight pink before he turned back around to grab one of the surgical masks that Keigo had left us earlier. 

We needed to be somewhat careful as we traveled around Tokyo. Even though it was so populated, anyone could potentially recognize us, and that would defeat the purpose of trying to lay low. 

Dabi handed me my own mask as he passed me in the hallway. “Ready to get out of here, doll face?” 

The vulnerable look that we had shared earlier had been replaced by his typical mask of indifference. 

“Where is this other hideout that we'll be using while we're in the city?” The mask smelled like bleach and paper as it rested over the lower half of my face. I squeezed the top over my nose before allowing myself to glance at the dark-haired man who knelt down on the floor next to me. 

He glanced up at me from under his eyelashes before responding. “It's a good distance away. I'd teleport us there, but it's been a while since I've been there. I wouldn't want us just appearing into a trap in the off chance that the heroes already know where it is.” 

“I doubt it—” 

“Even so, I want to be careful.” He stood then, looking down on me before adjusting the collar of the jacket that I had borrowed from Keigo. His finger grazed across my jaw lightly as he pulled away. “You gave us an advantage. I'll be less recognizable now, but I'm sure my dad would still recognize me without the scars. I don't want to mess this up.” 

I sighed. “Dabi—” 

“Call me Touya now, princess.” 

I balked at him and felt my jaw pop open in preparation for the words that I was trying to come up with—but nothing would come out. 

He continued with a contemplative look on his face. “At least when we're alone. Don't let that pesky brother of yours hear you call me that.” 

“Okay, T—” 

Touya cut off my words as he pulled his phone up to his ear. “Yeah?” 

He nodded a few times, not like the person on the other line could see him, but a low acknowledgment from him then had him hanging up. “Bird-for-brains says the coast is clear downstairs. Now’s our time to head out.” 

I stared down at the pale hand that he held out to me. 

“It'll be easier if we blend in, princess,” he winked as he wiggled his fingers. 

His warm hand enveloped mine as I followed him out of Keigo's apartment and into the apartment’s hallway. 

Whether or not the handholding really helped us blend in, we were able to leave the building without earning a second glance from anyone, and the other pedestrians who traveled on the sidewalks didn't bother looking our way either as we journeyed toward our next destination. 

I almost felt normal as we walked, but I did catch Touya's cautious gaze every once in a while, as we approached the next hideout. 

When we walked around the same block twice, I began to catch on to what he was doing. His eyes barely traveled over the building next to us, but I saw the twitch of his blue irises as he investigated the area for anything suspicious. 

When he was apparently happy with what he saw, he turned to me with his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Sorry, darling, why didn’t you tell me I passed it earlier?” He motioned to the skyscraper next to us as we approached the bellboy at the door. 

The bellboy sent us a small, amused smile before turning the opposite way—apparently convinced by Touya's explanation for why we had passed him already. 

The new building was like any other apartment building that you might see in the city. It was bland and normal—the last place you would expect to find an “evil” villain. It was perfect for blending in with the normal, unknowing neighbors. 

Touya hit the number six as we entered the elevator but directed me to follow him as we landed on the floor and immediately turned toward a hallway that indicated there was a stairwell. 

A camera sat right in front of the elevator, but as I investigated, I didn't see any others on the floor. He thrust the stairwell door open and was silent as he went up a single flight of stairs. My footsteps echoed on the stone floor as I followed after him. 

“We're going to apartment number 715. It's to the right,” he mumbled in a hushed whisper as I passed him. 

I stood to the side of the locked door as he jostled around a set of keys before opening the door. 

A dim room greeted us, and as the door closed behind me, it grew darker still. 

Touya walked across the wood floor almost silently as he investigated the inside of the apartment. He swept his hand under tables, pulled back books from a large bookshelf in the corner of the room, and even ran his hand over the top of every surface. 

I watched quietly from the foyer and didn't dare let out my breath of anticipation until he turned to me and nodded. 

“All clear,” he announced before he kicked his shoes off and went farther into the apartment. 

Dust particles sailed through the air, ricocheting off the beams of light that had begun to travel through the room as the blinds covering the windows to my left moved upward, propelled by some mechanism after Touya flipped a switch near them. 

The newfound light revealed a sitting area to my immediate left. A table big enough to fit six people took up the majority of the space. The red hints in the brick that surrounded the space reflected nicely off the late morning sun. A modern kitchen sat to my right, with stainless steel appliances and light cabinets. In the center of the apartment sat a living area, with a cream-colored couch shaped like a “U,” facing a TV that sat against a semi-transparent wall that separated the living area from the bedroom. 

I could see Dabi from where I had stayed near the entrance to the apartment as he walked quietly into the bedroom. 

I watched as he began putting sheets onto the bare mattress, followed by covering the pillows with clean pillowcases. 

The actions seemed so domestic that I almost felt as if I had been teleported into a different reality—one where we didn’t need to be concerned about our safety at all times—one where, maybe, life was normal. 

What would Dabi—no—Touya, be like if his father had raised him rather than provided him with unrealistic goals and then abandoned him? Would he be a hero? Would he have hobbies? Would he have a family of his own? 

Images of Touya fixing up a bike in a garage, or Touya reading a book with his glasses resting on the tip of his nose, sailed through my mind, and I felt a pit of sadness settle in my gut momentarily. 

“What are you thinking about, princess?” 

His gruff voice jolted me out of the sad, unrealistic images of the man standing before me. 

I smiled briefly up at him as I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, thinking of how to phrase my question. “Do you have anything that you like to do when you’re not working?” 

His eyebrows furrowed. 

“You mean like a hobby? Hobbies are a waste of time,” he scoffed roughly. 

I nodded as I patiently waited for his answer. “Just enlighten me, please.” 

His lips twitched a little at the corner, almost forming a smirk as he considered my question. “Not really, I guess, now that you ask. I’ve been a little preoccupied.” 

He held a pale hand out to me, and I quickly shifted out of my shoes and took it before following him farther into the apartment. 

“Not even like stargazing, or listening to music, anything?” 

Touya led me to the bed that he had just made up and motioned for me to sit. 

The bed bounced beneath me as I sat. 

“I guess I used to watch the ocean a lot at night, on that tower that I showed you.” His eyes were still for a moment, fixed on a piece of debris that lay near the bed. “I used to like listening to the stillness, the calm of the night sky. It was a nice change of pace from my daily life.” 

Cerulean met mine a moment later and they hardened, almost as if he realized that he had been showing me the human side of him, the side he didn’t want to reveal to anyone. “You should get some rest.” His gaze flickered to the bed. “I’m going to call bird man and see what he has found out so far, see what our next steps will be.” 

I wanted to fight back, say that I wasn’t weak and that I could stay up and plan with him, but the tug on my eyelids betrayed me. With a sigh, I laid back on the bed and pulled the comforter up to my chin. “You don’t want to join me?” My voice was quiet, already weighed down with fatigue. 

Touya gave me a small, rare smile. “You healed me, princess, and it took a lot out of you—I can tell. Just get some rest. I’ll make sure to put you to use once you wake up.” 

“Promise?” I yawned. 

My eyes closed. Touya’s chuckle was light, airy even. 

“I promise.” 

As sleep tugged me under, I could have sworn that I felt the smooth pad of someone’s fingers trailing over my face, followed by a brief scent of smoke and a light caress on my forehead. 

“Where are we going again?” 

I asked for probably the tenth time as Dabi led me down another busy road in Tokyo with me hot on his heels. 

He narrowed his eyes at me as he turned to look at me and pulled his mask down to reveal his perfect, scowling mouth. “Ask me that one more time, I dare you.” 

As quickly as he had pulled his mask down, he brought it back up over his nose. Without his scars, he was nearly unrecognizable to the public—and probably to most heroes—but we had decided that some disguise would be better than none, just in case. 

I smirked behind my own medical mask. “If you had just answered me the first time, then I wouldn’t have to keep asking.” 

His pretty eyes rolled before he turned his attention back to the road before us. “Bird-for-brains says that the physical files are in Endeavor’s Agency. Lucky for us,” his voice was hushed, so I walked closer to him so that he didn’t have to speak too loud in public, “we need a way in to get rid of them. Then we’ll put a bug into one of the Association computers at the agency to delete all the files associated with them electronically. Does that answer your question?” 

I paused for a moment. “That tells me what the long-term plan is, but what are we doing right now?” 

He ignored me but perked up when he read a particular sign, and a moment later, I was being tugged into a flower shop. 

Dabi immediately let go of my arm and went to browse a corner in the back of the shop. 

My eyes traveled over the colorful assortments that surrounded me, and I found myself marveling at a few purple and blue irises when Dabi came back to my side again, holding a white package with a bouquet of dark blue flowers sticking out of the end. 

“Who would have thought that Dabi would be a softie for flowers,” I chuckled. 

“It’s Touya, princess. Try to keep up now, otherwise we’ll be late.” 

Stunned by his strong grip on my hand, I nearly dug my heels into the ground to prevent him from tugging me along like he had been since we’d left the hideout after my nap. It was early evening now, and the sun had started to cast a red gleam over the buildings around us. Commuters surrounded us, walking to their train stations, speaking on their phones. Everyone ignored the couple clad in regular clothes and surgical masks. 

The hesitant, almost careful, look in his eyes as he walked stopped me from making a small scene. 

His grip on my hand didn’t loosen until we approached a tiny mom-and-pop café tucked into the corner of a popular shopping area. No one was entering the establishment, since there were several more updated cafés and restaurants surrounding it, but Touya motioned for me to enter before he did anyway. He scanned the crowds around us quickly before following closely behind me. 

The double doors swung open and a bell rang overhead, announcing our arrival to the few people inside. 

An elderly woman gave me a warm smile as she approached us, probably with the intention to seat us. I felt Touya stiffen slightly at my side as his eyes traveled over the other occupants of the café. Following his gaze, I was shocked to see a familiar shade of white hair over a booth near the back. 

“We’re meeting up with the group in the back,” he muttered politely to the woman before his hand lightly landed on my back. He ushered me forward, but all I could focus on was how warm his hand was against my spine and how it had felt the last time his hand had been that low on my body. 

“He’s late, as usual,” a masculine voice muttered, and I heard another, more feminine voice shush them as we walked up to the booth. 

My eyes met Rei Todoroki’s gray gaze. “Oh, I’m sorry, we’re taking so long to order. We’re just waiting for my son—” 

As Touya finally came into view, her voice cut off as she did a double take. 

“Touya—” She gasped as she stood, the occupants who sat across from her at the table wearing stunned looks as well. 

Rei approached the stoic man beside me, and I watched as her shaky, nervous hands reached up to cup her eldest son’s face. They moved over the smooth areas under his eyes, moving toward his ears. She hesitated as she approached the mask he wore, but a small nod from him gave her permission to continue. Once the mask was off, I could see tears welling in her eyes as she saw her son’s real, matured face for the first time. 

“How?” she stuttered as she rolled up his sleeves to check his now bare arms. He casually handed her the bundle of flowers after she finished her inspection. 

His eyes moved toward me, and the others followed. I felt my face blanch as three unfamiliar sets of eyes stared at me, waiting for an explanation. 

I had never officially met any of them while working for Endeavor’s agency. I had seen pictures and heard Shouto talk about them, so I knew which name belonged to who, but they were still strangers. 

“My quirk allows me to control atoms, so I’m able to heal at the molecular level. He was injured while trying to protect me, so…” My voice quieted as I waited for them to ask more questions—to demand why I had put him in danger, how my quirk worked, anything. 

What I didn’t expect was to be smothered with a mom hug seconds later, the bundle of blue flowers almost hitting me in the face in the process. 

“Thank you,” she whispered into my ear. Her cool breath wisped across my skin, sending a chill down my spine. 

Touya tsked. “Okay, okay, let’s sit.” He moved his arms impatiently and motioned for me to slip in next to Rei, who had decided to sit down after our hug. Following his direction, I sat, shooting him a questioning glance as I did so. 

Why were we here? What was his goal? 

“So—” the white-haired man who sat across from us toyed with the menu in front of him. “Anything new since the last time we talked?” 

Last time we talked? Did Touya do this often with his family? 

My eyes traveled over the siblings in front of us—their matching white hair so similar to Shouto’s right side, though Fuyumi’s held red specks throughout. The way Natsuo cautiously tapped his fingers against the table reminded me of how Shouto used to tap his pen when he was deep in thought. Natsuo’s eyes trailed over to mine briefly, catching me analyzing him, but he broke the connection and turned his attention back to his brother. 

Fuyumi pushed her glasses up on her nose as she watched the eldest sibling in front of her. Touya had brought the mask down and set it between us. His smooth lips quirked up as he noticed his siblings’ glances. 

“What? Irritated that the least attractive sibling spot is no longer occupied?” 

“It really is incredible, Touya. Is it permanent?” Fuyumi asked gently. 

He patted my leg, and I sighed. “No. As long as his quirk rebounds against him, his skin will continue to burn.” 

The waiter came by then to drop off some drinks. After telling him our orders, the group was left alone again in the back corner of the restaurant. 

“Is there any way to make it so his body can cool effectively against his fire quirk?” Rei’s voice was so gentle, almost hopeful, that I almost didn’t hear her. 

I turned slightly to her. “Technically, with my quirk, I don’t think that would be impossible. But it would probably take some experimenting before I trusted myself to edit his DNA permanently…” 

Rei nodded slightly, like she understood, but the questioning glance she shot our way seconds later confirmed that she was still confused. 

“He’ll still scar, Mom. This is temporary,” Natsuo summed up. 

“Only if he keeps abusing his quirk, though. If he learns to reel it back, then it probably won’t damage him as much.” I tapped my finger against the table and avoided Touya’s irritated gaze. 

Fuyumi’s surprised eyes settled onto her older brother. “You could restart your life, move to a different country, and turn things around—” 

Touya chuckled darkly. “What makes you think I want that?” 

Natsuo and Fuyumi exchanged exasperated looks. “Maybe because this could be your one chance to do so? Because you could be happy somewhere else—” 

“I’m happy with where I am, I promise.” Touya’s eyes were dull, but not listless, as he spoke to his siblings. “What I’m doing now means something. If only you guys would all—” 

“We’re not going to go live in your little city, Touya,” Natsuo grimaced as he picked up his cup to take a drink. 

“Suit yourself. Let the Hero Association use you all. I don’t give a shit.” The eldest Todoroki ran an irritated hand through his dark locks. 

Rei cleared her throat seconds later, calm eyes surveying the young adults in front of her. “I’m happy we could all get together. How has your class been, Fuyumi? And how is your new job, Natsuo?” 

The siblings entered into a very domestic conversation regarding their current job roles, and I found myself losing interest partway through. 

The waiter came by again minutes later and dropped off plates of food. Without waiting, I pulled off my mask and dug into the delectable meal I had ordered. 

Touya chuckled a few minutes into my meal, and my eyes darted to his. My eyebrows furrowed at the amused look on his face. 

“Slow down, doll face. The food isn’t going to run off your plate.” 

“Care to remember that it’s been almost a day since I ate last—and I healed you, thank you very much.” I shoved my shoulder against his and felt him laugh lightly against me. 

Fuyumi caught my eye briefly from across the table once Touya left me alone. The quirk at the corner of her mouth and the soft look in her eyes were very telling. 

“So, what do you do for work? Are you in Touya’s group?” Rei spoke to me quietly, but loud enough that everyone else could hear. 

I stiffened slightly but turned more toward her to answer her question. “I guess you could say that. He recruited me not long ago—” My words cut off as I noticed the peculiar look that had settled onto her face. 

Rei’s eyes had widened slightly, but it didn’t seem to be in response to my words—rather, the sight of my face without the mask. 

She leaned forward in her seat a little and watched me. “Are you a hero?” 

I swallowed hard, feeling as if my mouth were full of cotton all of a sudden. “I used to be. I don’t identify as one anymore, though.” 

“I apologize if this is a weird question, but did—” her voice cut off for a moment, and I saw her eyes flicker past me to study her son briefly. “Did you happen to go out to eat with Shouto a few months back?” 

I felt Touya stiffen slightly beside me, and saw that his siblings noticed his reaction. 

“I did, yeah. At the diner with the plants.” 

“Do you still talk to Sh— to him? Do you still talk to him?” Her voice was quieter now, as if she were scared about what my answer would be. 

I shook my head as I went to take a sip of water. “No. We were partners at Endeavor’s agency for a year, but I recently left—” 

“Ah, shit.” Natsuo grimaced, his nervous hands stilling on the table in front of him as he pushed his empty plate away. He had apparently come to some conclusion. “You’re Y/N, aren’t you?” It wasn’t a question. He said it as if it were an unfortunate statement. “I guess introductions should have been done earlier.” 

Fuyumi gasped, and I felt Rei’s gasp as well. The icy air hit my right side, causing goosebumps to rise on my exposed wrists. 

Fuyumi’s hand was over her mouth, her eyes wide as she studied me. “Oh no.” 

Touya watched his family members, his dark eyebrows furrowing further at their reaction. “Does someone want to explain the theatrics, or do you intend to just piss me off?” 

“Shouto—” Rei started, but Natsuo finished her sentence for her. 

“Shouto has been... off recently. Like, beyond depressed. He’s not himself, he’s a total recluse now. Doesn’t leave the house unless it’s for work. Dad said it was probably due to some staffing changes at the agency—said that Shouto was betrayed by his partner—” 

It was my turn to grimace. “I—” 

“You don’t know the specifics, and until you do, keep your judgments to yourselves,” Touya’s eyes blazed as he glared at his siblings. “She’s working for my group now—” 

Natsuo held up his hands in surrender. “Yeah, I heard her. I’m just parroting what Dad said. He was worried about Shouto, wants us to check in on him more when he’s off duty, that’s all.” 

“Who cares about fucking Masterpiece—” 

“We do, Touya,” Rei cut him off, her voice strong and unwavering. The look she sent her eldest son would’ve had me cowering if it had been directed at me. 

The space between me and Touya began to heat up exponentially. “We don’t need this. I thought we could get through one dinner without some bullshit coming up.” Touya stood while tossing a wad of money onto the table, then turned and stalked out of the restaurant, pulling his mask up as he went. 

Fuyumi sighed as they watched him slam the front doors open and leave a moment later, making the restaurant a little quieter than before. “Sorry, Y/N. Usually the dinners don’t go this way. It’s usually easy to not say Shouto or Dad’s name, they’re kind of trigger points for him.” 

I waved her off. “No, I’m sorry. It was my presence that altered the conversation, so—” I scooted back and went to leave as well but stopped as Natsuo spoke. 

“Do you still care about Shouto? Or did you break his heart on purpose to be with Touya?” 

“Natsuo!” Fuyumi and Rei both chastised him, but I met his eyes, waving off their exasperation. 

“It’s okay. I didn’t mean to hurt him, that’s my biggest regret with how things went down,” I answered honestly, but not completely. They didn’t need to know the specifics. “I do still care.” 

Natsuo’s gray eyes softened, though his jaw stayed tight. “Would you visit him? Try to fix things?” 

I stood then and grimaced slightly at the thought. “I’m not sure how much Touya would like that, or if it’s even possible.” I looked between the siblings and their mom and almost broke immediately under their hopeful gazes. “Even if I could, I don’t know where he lives—” 

“I can get you that information. He’s free this weekend,” Natsuo grinned, his eyes twinkling mischievously for a moment as he held out his hand. “Have a phone I can write his address down in?” 

I left the restaurant with slightly heavier shoulders. 

How was I going to break away from Touya to see Shouto? 

I rubbed the spot between my eyebrows; a headache had started brewing again, pounding lightly behind my eyes. 

“There you are, took you long enough. Were they talking shit?” Touya’s eyes were flat as he regarded me from the wall he leaned against outside the establishment. 

“You couldn’t just shove down your pride for once and finish a dinner with your family?” I said blandly as I started walking back the way we had come. I didn’t know exactly where the safe house was, but I had a rough general area to check. 

Touya’s footsteps joined mine seconds later. “I told them before we started doing these meetups that I wouldn’t talk about them. They went against that.” 

“Because you’re not mature enough to handle a conversation about them, or you’re just too bitter to try?” 

“I don’t have to explain shit to you, doll face,” Touya almost spat as he pulled on my arm to stop me from advancing. “And I don’t have to explain shit to my family about why Shouto’s ex is in my bed. How do you think that conversation would have gone over?” 

I shrugged. “It’s obviously a conversation that needs to be had, right? Or do you think this situationship won’t survive long enough to require such discussions?” My tone stayed light, but my gaze was hard as I met his eyes. 

“Situationship, huh?” Touya’s eyes darkened slightly and his shoulders dropped. “Is that what this is?” 

I ignored his probing and continued down the sidewalk. 

I didn’t know where my frustration was coming from — why I was so angry with how Touya had handled the interaction with his family, why the thought of Shouto sitting at home alone bothered me so much. “I’m sure Shouto would have loved to have dinner with his family, but they took time out of their days to come see you instead.” 

Touya coughed out a harsh laugh as he caught up to my brisk pace; his voice was hushed but urgent. “Do you understand what you’re saying right now? Do you want me to start talking to Endeavor and Masterpiece again? The heroes that will lock us up and throw away the key? Shouto isn’t any different, princess. The moment he sees you, he’s going to fight you. He’ll try to bring you in to get arrested. They don’t care about nuances. They just care about the label, hero or villain.” 

My feet skidded to a halt as I turned to face him. “I don’t think they’re all like that, and you shouldn’t either,” I hissed. “Or what do you consider me then? Did I judge you immediately for your past, or did I hear you out? Did I shut you out just because you made horrible choices at one point? If no heroes are like that, then why am I here?” 

Touya’s eyes blazed above his mask as he watched me. “You’re different.” 

I laughed, bitter. “Then you’re naïve.” 

I started walking again; the sound of my footsteps hit the concrete and echoed around us. 

“Where are you going now?” Touya demanded as his gait matched mine. 

“We have some blood to steal to enter Endeavor’s agency, and I think I have an idea of how to get it.” 

Chapter Text

Aiko handled the perspiring glass of water like it was her last drink on earth. 

She sighed and tossed her hair off her shoulder, reveling in the way the humid air clung to her skin. The lights above her shone across her body, painting her in shifting colors over and over again. 

Saturday nights were for clubbing, when she wasn’t on duty, that was. 

And tonight, she was blissfully free from Endeavor’s agency and her job as Shouto’s partner. 

She didn’t mind working with Shouto, he was easy enough to deal with, but he didn’t fulfill the social needs Aiko had. He hardly engaged in conversation, rarely laughed at her jokes; he almost seemed like a ghost. 

The bartender across from her mouthed something her way and slid a glass toward her across the bar. 

“What?” she asked over the pounding music, cupping her ears slightly to focus on his words. 

The bartender grimaced, looking as if he didn’t want to repeat himself. He pointed at the glass, then down the bar toward a man. 

Aiko nodded, she understood and flashed the bartender a thumbs up. 

She lifted the drink to her nose and sniffed at it. It was the same drink she’d been ordering all night. But how did that man know? Alarm bells rang in her head for a brief moment, until she met the gaze of the man who’d apparently bought it for her. 

His lips quirked up, but the smile didn’t reach his deep blue eyes. 

The club lights danced across his dark hair, flickering over the sharp angles of his face. 

Aiko’s face warmed. 

He was unmistakably gorgeous. 

She waved at him and motioned for him to come closer. 

The man nodded and started his approach. His eyes darted over the crowd as he walked, scanning the faces he passed until he reached her. 

“Hi!” Aiko shouted toward his ear, rising onto her tiptoes so he could hear her over the music. 

He smirked, but again, the smile stayed confined to his mouth. 

“Hi,” he mouthed back, his white teeth flashing under the strobe lights. 

She grinned and pointed at the drink. “What’s this for?” she tried to ask. 

He shrugged. “I saw you basically shooting them back and thought you’d like another one.” 

The dark edges of his hair brushed against her face as he leaned closer to hear her reply. 

“Well, thank you!” She took a sip, then another, nearly downing it in a few gulps. Her throat burned as the alcohol slid down, spreading a heat through her chest and stomach. She knew it would hit her hard in half an hour. “Dance?” she shouted toward his ear, hopeful. 

For a moment, she thought he would decline. His lips turned down, eyes flicking toward the dance floor, then his face went still. He nodded and held his hand out to her. 

Aiko set the now empty glass on the counter and reached for him. 

The mysterious man led her through the crowd of sweaty bodies. The space was too small for how many people were shoved into it, but that was one of her favorite parts. The air was thick with sweat, alcohol, and desire. 

Aiko’s hands settled on the man’s shoulders, and she felt him tense. “What’s your name?” she asked as she started to move with the rhythm. 

He mouthed something she couldn’t quite catch, but she nodded anyway, it didn’t really matter. He was beautiful. 

Sweat glistened down his neck, catching on the collar of his black t-shirt as he began to move in sync with her. 

It felt good, his hands on her hips, even though they stayed respectful, never straying. A small part of her wished they would. 

After what felt like a dozen songs, Aiko caught him glancing at his phone. “Everything okay?” she asked when the beat dropped away between songs. 

“I have to go.” He gestured toward his phone, and she nodded. 

When he turned to leave, she caught his back pocket between her fingers. 

He stopped and turned his head toward her. Without a word, he took her hand and led her through the crowd, weaving toward the dim hallway at the back that led to the bathrooms. 

The noise faded behind them. The hallway was nearly empty, a world apart from the chaos that they had just escaped, and suddenly, it felt intimate. 

“You are hot as hell,” Aiko muttered. Slightly amused blue eyes met hers before they dropped back to his phone. 

“Sorry, that was the alcohol speaking,” she laughed lightly. Her back hit the wall behind her; it was cool against her flushed skin, grounding. 

The man across from her sighed down at his phone, obviously frustrated with whatever he saw there, before meeting her gaze again. “Hot as hell, huh?” He took a step forward, and she felt her core tighten. 

“The hottest,” she managed to squeak out. 

Without a second thought, he tilted her head back and kissed her lips, sweetened by alcohol. He tasted faintly of smoke, and she immediately craved a cigarette. His soft lips pried hers open, and she felt herself moan against him. 

His hand slid down to her hip, guiding her leg up to wrap around him while her fingers tangled in his hair. 

His kiss was sweltering. She felt like she was burning up by the time he finally pulled back, his forehead resting against hers as their breath mingled in the dim light. 

“Have anywhere we can go?” he asked casually, a hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. 

She nodded, her face hot, freshly kissed and flushed. “Call a ride?” 

He nodded and pulled out his phone. 

Aiko’s head buzzed as she followed him out of the club minutes later. She sent a quick text to her friends, telling them not to wait up. 

They slid into a dark vehicle, the driver silent as the city lights flickered past. 

Aiko’s fingers brushed along the seat between them. He glanced down at her with mild amusement. “What are you up to?” 

“Touch me,” she sighed, unbuckling her seatbelt before sliding into his lap. He stiffened beneath her, but his hands found her back seconds later. She pressed her lips against his neck, leaving soft bites across his skin. That was until the car jolted sharply, and she tumbled off him. 

“What the hell?” Aiko demanded, sitting back up. 

“Sorry, big pothole,” the driver muttered stoically. 

The man beside her coughed back a laugh. He looked lighter now than he had in the club. 

They arrived at her apartment soon after, and she tugged him up the stairs. He was quiet as he followed. Her door came into view moments later. 

“This is it!” she exclaimed as the door clicked shut behind them. “Home sweet home,” she sang, setting her purse on the counter. 

She turned to welcome her guest, but froze at the sound of metal tightening around her wrist. She felt the heaviness of manufactured exhaustion settle over her, taking her quirk with it.  

“Sorry, little hero,” he murmured. “But our date ends here.” 

Dark blue eyes were the last thing Aiko saw before the blackness of unconsciousness swallowed her whole. 

A gust of wind blew across my face, sending my false purple hair flying. 

Nerves swelled in my gut. I wasn’t totally sure this was something I could actually pull off. 

“Aiko.” Shouto’s voice was quiet as he opened his front door. His mismatched eyes met mine, he didn’t seem surprised or confused in any way. The text I’d sent earlier from Aiko’s phone to set up the meeting had done its job. 

“You got my text then,” I said as I walked past him into the foyer. 

My eyes traveled over the traditional Japanese home Shouto lived in, the traditionality of it ended with just its style though. The size of it was almost ridiculous. When I pulled up in Aiko’s beaten up car minutes ago, I’d almost thought I had the wrong address. The house had classic Japanese architecture, with triangular roofing and muted natural tones, but it stretched upward at least three stories, framed by soft exterior lighting and perfectly placed foliage. A dozen people could live here without ever crossing paths. It didn’t seem like something Shouto would choose. 

“You never replied, so I wasn’t sure if I’d find you here or not.” 

“I’m always here. So, what’s up? Since this couldn’t wait until tomorrow, apparently.” Shouto’s voice was cold. 

Did he and Aiko have a bad relationship? He had never spoken to me this way before, even when he was angry. His tone was flat, his eyes lifeless. 

“Are you okay?” I asked, genuinely concerned as I studied the man in front of me. 

He waved off my worry. “Peachy.” 

“What have you been up to all by yourself here?” I tried to sound casual, but my voice wavered slightly. 

I hadn’t talked to Aiko much when I worked for the agency, so her personality was a mystery. Touya’s brief rundown of their heated exchange in the club hadn’t told me much either. 

A hot pit of anger twisted in my gut at the memory of what had happened the preivous night. It had been somewhat necessary, effective even, but I couldn’t help the irritation, the flash of rage, at the thought of Aiko’s lips on his. 

He wasn’t mine, and I wasn’t his. So why did it matter? 

“This is just a situationship though, right? You told me to get the job done, and I did.” 

Touya’s words had been blunt, unfeeling. He barely spoke to me after that, not until we began prepping for my trip to Shouto’s. Aiko had eventually regained consciousness after we’d taken vial after vial of her blood, and it was Touya’s job to keep her subdued since she didn’t know him. I couldn’t risk her seeing my face, not yet at least. 

Toga had arrived the next afternoon to make her little concoction, the one I’d had to drink. 

Remembering the taste made my stomach twist. 

“Aiko.” 

Shouto’s voice pulled me from the memory. His expression was unreadable as he waited for me to respond. 

“Oh, sorry. What did you say?” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, trying to seem casual. 

Shouto sighed. “Why are you really here?” 

“Did you read my text—” 

“Yeah.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I read it. It didn’t really make sense, though. Why would the agency contact you about blood samples for testing and not reach out to me, if it’s my blood they need?” 

His voice wasn’t suspicious yet, but he was getting there. 

“I told you, I contacted the weapons division. They’ve got this new program that combines quirk genetics to develop weapons that could help both of us as partners. Your blood carries your quirk’s DNA, so that’s what they base the prototypes on.” 

The lie was easy to craft, I’d thought about doing something similar before leaving the agency, but delivering the lie was much more difficult.  

“I’m sure they’d still need me to sign a release. And the weapons division doesn’t work weekends except in emergencies. Why the urgency?” 

There it was. The crack in the plan. 

I laughed lightly. “Oof, you caught me.” I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to play it off. Shouto’s eyes narrowed. 

“I really just wanted to check in—” 

“Did my dad put you up to this?” His voice was sharp now. “What does he want you to find out? We can make something up and then you can be on your way.” 

He turned toward a hallway that I assumed led to the common area. I quickly kicked off my shoes, slipped on a pair of house slippers by the door, and followed. 

The faint clink of glass on granite greeted me as I entered a large kitchen. The warmth of the wood-toned space felt unexpectedly inviting as I took a seat at the expansive island in the center of the room. Windows lined the upper halves of two walls, letting in the last traces of daylight. The outside light had faded to a dull violet glow that pooled across the countertops. 

“This is cozy,” I said, as Shouto handed me a glass of something. “What is it?” 

Our fingers brushed as I took it from him, and a sharp jolt raced up my arm. 

Whether he felt it too, I couldn’t tell. His face stayed impassive as he leaned back against the counter. 

“A white sake, kind of sweet. I hope you like it. I haven’t gone shopping yet this weekend—” 

“I’m sure it’s wonderful, Sho. No worries.” 

I took a sip. The cool liquid smoothed over my tongue, a soft blend of alcohol and peaches. 

Shouto stared down at me, glass forgotten in his hand, surprise flickering across his brows. 

“What? Did I say something wrong?” I laughed lightly, setting the glass down. “The sake’s amazing.” 

His gaze dropped to his drink. He tipped it back, took a slow swallow, then met my eyes again. 

He looked like he was waiting for something. 

“Oh, right,” I said quietly. “You’ve got a lot of people worried about you right now. If you need to talk—” 

“I don’t.” 

I wrapped my knuckles against the counter and sighed. “Well, you need to give me something so I can report back, right? Especially if you won’t give me the blood sample I’m getting hounded about too—” 

He exhaled sharply. “The blood can wait until tomorrow. I’ll give it to them then.” 

“Awesome,” I sighed, though I winced too. This wasn’t turning out how I’d planned. Plan B was starting to sound like the new plan after all. 

“So, you’re all sulky because your ex-partner left you to fight for your brother?” 

The words came out short, blunt, and rough. 

They were fighting words—but in some ways, that was my new goal. 

I needed his blood. One way or another. 

Fighting could be as therapeutic as talking, right? 

Shouto’s eyes were nearly black when I met them again, his shoulders stiff. “What is this? What the actual hell is going on?” 

“Some people don’t want help, so you just kind of have to force them into it.” I shrugged. “That’s what’s bothering you, right? Why you’re acting like a kicked puppy?” 

His nostrils flared. 

“That’s none of your business.” 

“I think it is, though. I am your partner now, after all.” I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. “Why shouldn’t I know why my partner’s so distracted that it could negatively impact our work someday?” 

“I don’t let it affect my work—” 

“That you know of. Obviously people are noticing.” 

“I’m not talking about her with you, Aiko.” Shouto’s voice was hard as he pushed himself off the counter. “I think you should leave. This isn’t helping anything.” 

“Have you talked to anyone about it, or are you just internalizing everything?” I arched a purple eyebrow at him. He shook his head slightly, like he was trying to clear it. 

“That isn’t necessary,” he muttered, his gaze fixed on the glass of sake in his hand. 

I wanted to scream. 

Talking to him was like trying to talk to a brick wall sometimes. 

“You know, she saved me from that burning building way back when. Do you remember that?” 

His eyes met mine, his jaw tightening as if he was trying to figure out where I was going with this. The joke was on him, even I didn’t know. 

“I read the report, yeah.” 

“Do you think that mission was the one that pushed her over the edge?” I twirled a strand of hair around my finger, trying to pretend that I was actually curious. 

Shouto took a step forward and leaned on the counter in front of him. The muscles in his shoulders flexed under his white t-shirt, and for a second, I forgot how to breathe. 

I kicked myself. 

“I don’t know if I could really pinpoint a certain mission.” He shoved a lock of red hair out of his face, but it just fell back into place. “That mission helped her understand herself more. Maybe she started to realize she didn’t need me around then. I definitely started to feel more useless after that.” He huffed out a bitter laugh. “I guess I was kidding myself, thinking I meant more to her than I really did.” 

I tilted my head. “Why do you think that?” 

Shouto stood straight again. “Based on reports, it was around then she made first contact with the PLF, when my brother started to brainwash her. Maybe he told her how strong she was, how independent she could be. Things I never said when I should have. Maybe he said what she needed to hear.” 

I bit my lip. He wasn’t completely off base. “Don’t you think Mia’s death had something to do with why she left?” 

“Mia?” Shouto’s eyes flickered with brief surprise. 

“Yeah, the receptionist—” 

He waved me off. “I remember who she was. Her death was an accident. The villains attacked—” 

“The villains?” I asked bluntly, forgetting my place for a moment. 

Suspicion started to flicker in his eyes as they studied me again. 

“Sorry, I just like to know there’s merit behind an accusation before I completely believe it.” 

“Aiko,” Shouto said blandly, “you were on the team with me that investigated the explosive. The lab showed it came from PLF built weapons.” 

Shit. 

That was a slight foresight issue on my end. 

“Right, right,” I muttered. “Sorry, long day.” 

Shouto nodded lightly, though his mind still seemed to be spinning. 

“Why did you say you came by again?” 

“The blood—” 

“Ah, yeah. My blood.” His eyes were hard, unforgiving, suspicious. 

I tapped my fingers on the countertop, avoiding his gaze. “Well, I think I’ll be on my way then,” I mumbled, swirling the glass before taking one last sip. Then I stood. 

Shouto stiffened as I walked around the island to stand near him. His gaze never left me as I held the glass out, and he took it seconds later. 

Our fingers brushed again, but this time, my quirk activated. 

I’d fought so hard for Plan A to work. Touya would be happy to throw this in my face later. 

“Thanks for the sake, Sho,” I breathed as I turned. 

“Why are you calling me that?” Shouto’s voice was strained. I stopped a few feet away and turned back toward him. 

“Calling you what?” I feigned innocence. The first time I’d said the old nickname, it had been a slip-up. This time, it was on purpose. 

“No one calls me that, except Y—” 

“Y/N?” I said my name aloud and watched him wince. “Poor little Shouto.” I tsked. “You need to be careful who you give your heart to.” 

Shouto’s eyebrows furrowed, his eyes widening as he watched me. 

I could feel Toga’s quirk starting to wear off now. 

I’d used my own quirk, effectively canceling hers. It was only a matter of time before I was standing in front of him, not Aiko. 

Shouto set the glass on the counter beside him and turned back to me. His blue and gray eyes flicked from my head to my toes in a split second. 

“Y/N,” he breathed, my name leaving his lips like it physically hurt. 

I held my hands up, unoffensively. 

“In the flesh. Sorry for trying to trick you, but if it had gone off without an issue, you never would’ve found out. Leave it to pro hero Shouto to be stubborn enough to make things difficult.” 

As the words left my mouth, he moved. The next moment, I was pinned against the wall in the hallway that led to the front door. 

His hands wrapped around mine, forcing them behind my lower back as my chest hit the wall with a soft thud. 

My cheek burned from the impact. I turned my head, trying to catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye. 

I laughed breathlessly as the pressure on my back forced me to take shallow breaths. 

“As quick as always.” 

“So, you need my blood. Why?” His voice was low, emotionless, against my ear. 

I swallowed hard. “I think that’s pretty obvious when you consider who I work with.” 

“How did you get Aiko’s blood?” His breath tickled the back of my neck. 

I chuckled darkly. “Your little partner is predictably easy to find on her weekends off, and she’s a sucker for tall, dark-haired men, apparently.” 

“Is she safe?” 

I snorted. “Of course.” 

His questioning continued without hesitation. “Where were you going to impersonate me?” 

I took longer to respond this time. His grip on my wrists tightened, and his other hand pressed harder against my back. 

“Answer me,” he demanded, voice cold as ice. 

I let out a quiet laugh. “Or what?” 

“Don’t make me use my quirk on you—” 

I tried turning again and was promptly shoved hard against the wall. The breath rushed out of my lungs. My voice came out strained. “Are you going to burn me, Sho? Going to torture the information out of me? How would the public, or other heroes, see that once they found out?” 

“Of course I’m not going to burn you,” he muttered, “but cold can be convincing too.” 

“Hm,” I hummed. “Try it then. Let’s see what happens.” 

I waited. 

And waited. 

And waited even longer. 

After a few moments, Shouto exhaled sharply through his nose. 

“You used your quirk on me,” he said, matter-of-fact. 

“Of course I did.” I smiled, which only seemed to make him angrier. 

His hand tightened even further, and I gasped as pain shot through my wrists and hands. 

A shameful part of me stirred, excitement mixing with adrenaline. 

“Sorry,” he bit out, loosening his grip just enough that I knew I could break free if I tried. 

I swung my hands downward, and his hold broke. A quick backward kick sent him sprawling into the kitchen, his back hitting the floor with a dull thud that knocked the air from his lungs. 

In the brief window while he was dazed, I straddled and pinned him. 

“Sho, that wasn’t very hero-like of you.” 

I leaned over him, my hair slipping over my shoulder, nearly brushing his face. “We’ve been in this predicament before, haven’t we?” 

Shouto’s jaw clenched as he looked up at me. 

“Get off,” he breathed, and I shook my head. 

“That would be counterproductive, darling.” 

“Then do what you’re planning and be done with it.” He winced as my hips shifted slightly. 

I smirked down at him. If only it were that simple. 

I had a sedative I needed to give him, one that would leave him unconscious until at least the next afternoon. It was more reliable than my quirk, but I knew he’d fight it if I tried now. I wasn’t a man; I couldn’t pin both wrists with one hand. All my strength was focused on keeping him beneath me. There was no way I could maneuver to administer it yet. I could use my quirk to knock him unconscious and then use the sedative, but that risked harming Shouto if things went wrong. 

“If you were a good boy, I could. But I don’t think you will be.” 

Shouto gave a crooked smirk that didn’t reach his eyes. “You’d be correct in that assumption.” 

“I just need a couple vials, then I’ll leave you to your pity party.” I glanced around the kitchen. “It’s a bit lonely here, though, isn’t it?” 

He grimaced. “It’s hard to trust people right now. I’m sure you understand why.” 

My eyes flickered over his face, the dark circles under his eyes, the faint sag of his features, like he hadn’t smiled in a long time. 

It broke my heart a little. 

My voice was soft as I spoke, all traces of humor gone. “I am sorry, Sho. I hope you know that -” 

Shouto barked out a short laugh, cutting off my words. “You? Sorry? Like I’d ever believe a single thing that leaves your mouth at this point. You’re just trying to manipulate me.” 

I tilted my head. “There are easier ways for me to manipulate and use you, Shouto. A lot easier than apologizing and trying to make things right.” 

“Yeah?” His eyebrows pulled together. “Then you might as well do that, because I won’t listen to a single fucking thing you say. You want my blood for your villain friends? You want to impersonate me? Then work for it. I won’t just hand it over.” 

I clenched my jaw as I met his fiery gaze. 

There was an unbridled rage there, one he hadn’t been able to unleash, coated in sadness and betrayal. 

A memory flashed through my mind: Shouto’s joyous, carefree smile as we celebrated his birthday over a year ago. The way he’d grin at me over our shared workstation. The careful, sidelong glances he’d send my way while driving us to our next destination. The way his mouth would quirk when I poked fun at him— 

The memories disappeared as quickly as they’d come, replaced by the image of him when I’d left him behind. 

The surprise. The horror. The betrayal. 

The same face stared up at me now. 

The happiness that used to live behind his eyes wasn’t there anymore. 

Now his gaze was dark. Tortured. 

Changed. 

I’d done a number on him. 

My chest ached. 

I let go and pushed off of him, putting some distance between us as I backed up against the kitchen island. 

Shouto sat up, stunned. His eyes never left me as he stood, but he didn’t move closer. 

“What is this game you’re playing at?” His voice was low, assessing. 

“You’re not going to listen to me, and I don’t want to manipulate you, so I guess we’re at an impasse.” I exhaled a shaky breath and pushed a hand through my hair. “I hurt you. I know I did. And I am sorry, Shouto.” The words slipped out in a hush as I met his mismatched gaze. “You don’t have to believe me, but you need to stop this.” I motioned around the house. “You’re worrying the people around you, your friends, your family. I know I don’t have the right to ask you to get better. It’s my fault you don’t trust people anymore, but please—” My voice broke slightly, and I glared down at my hands. “There are reasons why I left. Things you don’t know about. I can’t explain myself, but leaving you behind, and Katsuki, was not an easy choice.” 

My chest tightened again as his feet entered my line of sight. 

He took another tentative step toward me until he stood right in front of me. His hand lifted, and I braced for whatever impact was coming. Instead, a small gasp left my lips as his fingers brushed the corner of my jaw, gentle, careful. He tilted my chin up. 

His gaze searched mine. The warm kitchen lights cast golden hues through his eyes, and for a moment, my thoughts scattered. 

“You’re still the same woman who was by my side for the last year, aren’t you?” 

“The absolute same? No.” I shook my head lightly. “I have different goals now, and I’ve been shaped by my experiences. But I’m still me in all the ways that matter.” 

“All the ways that matter?” Shouto breathed, his face strained, torn between anger and something softer. 

“I care about people. I still have my compassion, my empathy, my drive.” My eyes dropped from his. “I just don’t trust the same people anymore. I was shown too many things that planted just enough doubt in the people I was supposed to trust. They put a tracker in my arm, Shouto, without my knowledge. And while your reports say the missile that hit your dad’s agency was PLF made, mine say otherwise.” 

Shouto’s hand fell away, and he sighed. “Y/N—” 

“Have you seen the science behind the report you put so much faith in, Shouto?” I stepped closer, closing the short distance he’d created. 

The smell of his cologne hit me, clean and sharp, and my mind faltered. 

I shook my head to clear it. 

A headache pulsed behind my eye, messing with his quirk earlier was starting to drain me. I had used up too much of my reserves healing Touya, now my quirk was tired and hardly wanted to cooperate.  

My patience began to fray in all the wrong places. 

“I don’t need to see how the test was done to trust it,” he said. “The number of people involved—” 

“Exactly.” I jabbed a finger into his chest, and he flinched. “That just shows how many people are lying for the heroes.” 

His eyes flickered over my face. “So if the PLF didn’t make it, then who did?” His voice was quiet, steady. 

“You know the answer without me saying it.” 

“The heroes?” Shouto demanded, voice rising. “You think the heroes sent a missile toward one of their own agencies to what? Kill you? Kill any of us?” 

“It brought sympathy from the public. You’ve had how many fundraising events since then, with record attendance?” I shot him a glare. “There’s always a monetary reason. I fucked up and saved you instead of the association’s funds in that bank robbery. I saved you, Shouto—” 

He flinched. 

“And they lost millions. Then I lost my license.” My voice was short but steady. “My death would’ve been inconsequential. They’d have a dead hero who didn’t follow the plan and a reason to fundraise to earn back their money.” 

I took another step toward him, keeping his gaze locked on mine. 

He stepped back. 

“But you were in their way, weren’t you? In my office. You helped protect me from the main blast, so in some ways, we’re even, aren’t we?” He opened his mouth to respond but I cut him off, “They knew I’d come to the agency to collect my things, they would’ve been told in advance by the one who set up the appointment.” 

Shouto scoffed. “You’re saying my dad—” 

“Yeah, your dad. Endeavor. The man who coerced his own wife into having more kids until he created one with the perfect quirk combination. The man who drove his firstborn son to madness—” 

“Don’t bring Touya into this,” Shouto said stonily, his eyes dark again. “What he said to me—” 

I sighed and turned my face away. “I’m sorry he said that. He said it to get under your skin.” 

“I know that.” I could almost hear him rolling his eyes. His voice softened when he spoke again. “Was it true? What he said?” 

I arched a brow. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about this.” 

He dragged a restless hand through his hair and met my eyes. “I just need to know.” 

“We did have—” 

“Fuck, Y/N.” Shouto groaned and threw his head back in exasperation. He turned away and walked back to where he’d left his sake. 

He poured himself another glass, much larger than the last, and I watched him in silence. 

“Want one?” His eyes were dull when they met mine again. 

I nodded. “If you’re honestly offering.” 

He poured more into the cup I’d given him earlier and set it on the island beside him. 

I walked over quietly to retrieve it, stopping at the end of the counter. 

As I reached for it, his cold hand landed on mine. 

“He didn’t force you, did he?” 

I looked up, meeting his furrowed gaze. 

“No.” His hand dropped, and he stepped aside, putting distance between us again. “It was after Mia’s funeral. I was at a really low point. I found out some things about the hero association, about the tracker in my arm... I was confused, and he—” 

“I don’t need to hear it,” Shouto said lowly. 

“I think you do.” I straightened a little. “He told me things that made me feel seen. That made me feel like I wasn’t alone in my confusion and hurt. I needed someone, and he was there.” 

Shouto refused to meet my eyes. 

“You hate your brother, I know you do, and I don’t think you’re wrong for that, Shouto.” Our gazes met again. “But you also don’t know him. Let’s be honest. You know the mask he puts on, the one he wears so he doesn’t get hurt anymore—” 

“Cry me a river, Y/N.” Shouto sounded bored. “He’s not a victim. He’s done terrible things.” 

I nodded. “He has. I agree. But do you not think people can be rehabilitated? Is there no hope for any villain?” 

His face flickered, haunted for just a moment. 

“If Midoriya hadn’t pulled you back to yourself that first year after you two met, where would you be now? Do you think your ambition for power would’ve ended without him? Or would you have kept chasing it to prove your dad wrong, no matter what it took?” 

“Midoriya?” Shouto asked, his tone curious now. 

“I have a lot of sources at my new place. I like to think I’ve actually learned things.” I smirked at him. 

His gaze lightened for a moment, a small curve at his lips, somewhere between amusement and deflection. “Yeah? What else have you learned?” 

“I heard someone didn’t get their hero license initially—” 

He scowled. “I can explain why.” 

I laughed. “No need, Shouto. I get it. Teamwork isn’t really your thing.” I took a drink of my sake. 

Shouto’s mismatched eyes followed the motion as I tipped my head back. His gaze lingered on my throat, then dipped lower. 

When I set the glass down, his cheeks had gone faintly pink. 

“See something you like, darling?” I teased, a small smirk tugging at my mouth. 

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple shifting. “I think we’ve already established the attraction—” 

“Yes,” I cooed softly, stepping around the counter, slow and deliberate. “But I’m not the same as I was back then, am I?” 

His eyes stayed on me until I stopped beside him. 

“You seem the same,” he admitted. “You’re still as mouthy and brazen as ever. If anything, maybe slightly more impulsive—” 

A quiet laugh escaped me. “Impulsive? Me?” 

His lips curved. His eyes traced my face, stopping on my mouth. He reached out, his hand pausing a breath away from my skin. When I didn’t move, his finger brushed across my sake-coated lips. 

“Since you’re not going to get blood from me willingly, what’s your plan? Going to give up and find another way? Leave again, and I won’t see you for months?” His voice had gone husky, rough around the edges. 

My mind blanked for a moment. 

I really didn’t have an alternative plan. We needed to get into Endeavor’s agency, and I needed someone’s blood who worked there. I guess we could find someone else, but now that Aiko had already been taken, was our plan already shot? 

We should’ve gone for Shouto first, apparently. We should’ve known he’d be the harder one to capture. 

“That’s a great question,” I mumbled, his finger still on my lips. 

My heart rattled in my chest as his finger slid down my neck. 

Goosebumps trailed in its wake. 

It stopped at the top of my chest, where my cleavage was threatening to break free from a T-shirt I’d stolen from Aiko’s closet. We were similar sizes, but my chest was slightly larger, my girls hardly had any room to breathe now that my body had shifted back. 

My throat went dry. 

Touya would kill him. 

Touya would kill me. 

He didn’t like anyone touching his things. 

Wait, wait, wait. 

His thing? 

His? 

Absolutely not. 

And after he’d so shamelessly shown me the day before that nothing was off-limits when it came to getting what we needed. 

Absolutely nothing. 

But… I did care what Touya thought, didn’t I? 

Why did I care about Touya’s feelings? 

“I’ll make you a deal,” Shouto sighed, interrupting the argument in my head. His eyes roamed across my face again, his finger still tracing lightly, teasingly, over my upper chest. 

My voice came out strained. “I’m listening.” 

“You once told me that you loved me—” 

I opened my mouth to correct him, but he beat me to it. “Yeah, yeah. Not in love, but you loved me. Or at least liked me enough to fuck me.” 

His words sent my pulse into a sprint, and I caught the cheeky look spreading across his face as he noticed the red creeping up mine. He dipped his head as his hand finally left my chest and moved to my neck. His thumb brushed my bottom lip. 

“If you’re still the same person, the same Y/N, kiss me. Prove that it’s really you.” 

My heart hammered and my palms went clammy. 

“You want a villain to kiss you?” My voice caught. “Isn’t that below you? What would your dad think?” 

Shouto leaned down further, his nose grazing mine. I flinched back slightly. 

“You’re not a villain in my eyes.” His alcohol-tinged breath ghosted across my lips. 

“I’m working with your brother, Shouto. If I’m not a villain, then he isn’t either—” 

Shouto reached for my hand, bringing it to his chest tentatively. 

“I know you. I know your heart. You’re kind. Even if you’re working with them now, I know you’d never hurt someone—” 

“I have hurt people, Shouto.” I leaned back, pushing lightly at his chest. “I took away Fatgum’s quirk. 

“Fatgum?” Shouto’s voice sounded surprised.  

I waved him off, that was the last thing I wanted to explain right now, “And remember the men from the van? I told you about that. I killed one of them, dissolved him into nothing.” 

“We both know you didn’t mean to do that.” The kitchen light caught in his hair as he tilted his head. “You’re not the same as them.” 

“There are good people there, Shouto. Normal people. People who are there by choice.” I squeezed his hand. “And my being there puts them at risk because your little team is trying to locate us.” 

“We were trying to rescue you.” 

“Is it really a rescue if it isn’t wanted?” I hissed, pushing his chest harder this time. “I haven’t been brainwashed. I left of my own volition. It was my choice.” 

Shouto looked unconvinced but sighed after a moment. He lifted a finger to my lips. “I’ll try to get them to back off you.” The words seemed to cost him something. “Is there anything else I can do?” 

I arched a brow. “Your blood.” 

Shouto tilted his head down further, and I nearly shivered when his lips brushed near my ear. 

“I’ve already told you how to get that.” 

When he pulled back, I could see the blush threatening to take over his face. 

Tentatively, my hands went to either side of his neck. His eyes widened slightly as I pulled him down to me. 

Our lips met—fire and ice. 

Shouto sighed, almost relieved, like a weight had lifted off his shoulders. 

I tried to pull back, but he hushed against my cheek, pressing wet kisses along my jaw and down my neck. 

I fought the urge to melt into him. 

This was wrong, wasn’t it? Touya was expecting me not to let any other man touch me, especially not his younger brother. 

“This is just a situationship though, right? You told me to get the job done, and I did.” 

Oh, fuck it. 

Roughly pulling Shouto back up to eye level, our lips crashed together again. 

He gasped against me at the sudden connection, sending shivers of heat through my body. 

My fingers tangled in his hair seconds later while his hands settled on my hips, holding my waist against him. 

His lips tasted like peach sake. 

My tongue prodded for entry, and he let me in. I swallowed one of his groans as I tugged at his hair, and seconds later, my ass hit the counter. Shouto stood between my legs, breath mingling with mine. 

“Déjà vu,” Shouto whispered against my lips before kissing me again. 

I sighed my approval as his mouth left mine, trailing down my neck and stopping just below my ear. My face went hot as I realized the sound I’d made. 

Shouto’s low chuckle against my chest confirmed he’d heard it too. 

After pressing a wet kiss above my cleavage, he pulled back. 

“You’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain. I’m absolutely sure it’s you now,” he said, voice rough, needy. His face was flushed, his eyes dark. When they flicked up to meet mine, something in them sharpened. 

I wasn’t sure what he’d expected to see, but the hunger there deepened. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” he sighed, stepping back. 

I closed my legs, breath catching. “Like what?” 

“Like you don’t want to stop,” he said quietly. “I know you’re just using me—” 

“I’m—” I hesitated, searching for the words. “I’m not using you, Sho. It’s true I came here with a plan, but I didn’t expect this to happen. I thought you hated me—” 

“Hated you?” Shouto’s voice was tinged with disbelief. “No, Y/N. I could never hate you.” He exhaled like it wasn’t something he meant to admit. 

“Would it help if I did things that made you hate me?” I jumped off the counter. “I could drug you, get your blood, and leave.” I stepped closer. “Would you hate me then?” 

He smirked down at me, amused by my serious expression. “If you really wanted to do all that, you wouldn’t tell me first. And—” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You don’t have to force me. I’ll do it.” 

My jaw dropped. “Just like that?” 

He tilted his head, eyes glinting. “You just spent how long talking up this group you’re with, and how all you need is for us to back off and for me to give you my blood. Are you really hesitating now?” 

I blinked, stunned. “You can’t still have that much faith in me.” 

Shouto shrugged and reached for his drink. “I don’t. But at least I know it’s actually you and not a clone. They could copy your face, maybe even your personality—but not your mouth.” 

My cheeks burned. 

“That was all you needed to convince you it was really me asking and not someone else?” 

His lips curved into a faint grin. “If you keep stalling, I might need to be convinced in other ways. So I’d get on with it if I were you.” 

I dug through one of the oversized pockets on my borrowed pants and pulled out a few vials. 

Minutes later, he sat on a stool at the island, arm bared, a tourniquet tightening until his veins stood out. 

“Since I muted your quirk, it won’t be available for us to use,” I said as I slid the needle into his arm. The tube began to fill with red. 

Shouto’s eyes flicked up to meet mine. “You don’t need my quirk to complete whatever task this is?” 

“Can I tell you a secret?” I winked. “I just need access to the agency again. There are some physical files I need to find. I just need your face to get in.” 

His brows furrowed. “Just files?”