Hizashi involuntarily twitched, his blank eyes staring down at the concrete below.

"You're going to behave yourself."

A yelp came from his lips as he was suddenly yanked upwards, his scalp stinging as his hair was pulled upon roughly. His eyes met with the man in front of him.

"There is no room for error. You were given a task, and you failed to retrieve the target."

Tears were beginning to form at the corner of his eyes, and it was becoming hard to stay still. He could feel a pain throbbing within his chest.

"This time, you'll have the honor of killing him yourself."

"Hizashi?"

Aizawa knew he couldn't back down; not now, at least. If he retreated into a safe zone, it'll be the second time he'd have been unable to catch the voice hero.

For some reason, unbeknownst to him, Hizashi refused to turn his way. His back was facing him, and he seemed to be leaning forward a little. His head was lifted slightly, however, as if he was listening.

At least, Aizawa hoped he was listening.

"Hizashi," he tried again, taking another step forward. He was trying his best not to resort to using his capture weapon, as for he didn't want to hurt him. If he could use words, that would be the best method to get him to come back to his senses.

Little did he know that he wasn't talking to who he thought he was.

The blonde haired man twitched again, his fists slowly clenching and unclenching.

Until finally, he decided to turn around, his green eyes landing on his friend.

Aizawa's eyes widened, taking a step back and resuming the distance they had held seconds ago. He wasn't expecting to see the gash running across the blonde's cheek, healed yet fresh.

It wasn't there the last time he saw him.

Before he could even think of something to say, a sharp pain suddenly shot itself up his head, and he winced hard enough to curl into himself, his hands clutching his ears tightly. His ears, his ears – it felt like someone was ripping them out. And at the same time, even though it was quiet, a deafening pitch filled the air, causing him to cry out in great pain. He fell down to the ground, and it wasn't until his hands hit the ground to prevent his hard fall that he noticed the trickles of blood covering his palms.

Oh God—

The sound suddenly stopped, leaving behind the throbbing pain in his eardrums. Looking upwards was to be a slow action, for a harsh force sent him tumbling to his side. He hit the ground with a grunt, and a weight dropped onto him, rendering his movements unusable.

Aizawa opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Hizashi's own eyes staring back. A sense of ultimate confusion and fear hit him all at once, and he grit his teeth in frustration.

"What the hell Hizashi?!" Aizawa growled, gritting his teeth, but the way he said it did not come directly from anger alone. It was from confusion, as well – he wanted to know exactly why he was just attacked. Why it was Hizashi who had just used his quirk on him, his friendly and caringHizashi who was putting him into this threatening situation without an explanation. Disappearing on and off for weeks was no acceptable answer.

Maybe it was his imagination, or maybe it was a ray of light that had slipped itself inside their space, but he swore he just saw the voice hero's eyes shimmer a vibrant green. And now, to his further surprise, he was receiving an amused smile.

And a laugh.

In no way did Aizawa find this funny.

Hizashi narrowed his eyes down at him, the smirk on his face widening as he lowered his head down, strands of hair loosely falling to the front of his shoulders.

"Looks like the cat finally caught the mouse…" he whispered, his face now inches apart from the other man's own.

His fingers found themselves shifting up until they gripped Aizawa's neck, firm yet not too hard.

"What are you doing," Aizawa breathed, swallowing hard at the slight tightening of the other man's fingers around his throat. He didn't want to know what his further intentions were.

"Something I should've done a long time ago…"

Hizashi licked his lips, and this time his eyes glowed again.

It hadn't been Aizawa's imagination.

And they stayed that way, glowing – but Aizawa noticed the twitch in the blonde's body right after, the way the sudden spasm entered his body as if he had gotten shocked.

Then, he closed his eyes, a pained expression washing over his face as he tipped his head back. His grasp on the erasure hero's throat loosened momentarily, but he regained the strength before it could even be noticed.

"…stop it…

Aizawa blinked, seeing something that bewildered him. Was he…talking to himself?

Hizashi shook his head, bringing a free hand up to the side of his head. Opening his eyes again, his gaze snapped back down onto Aizawa, an angered aura picking up. Now both of his hands wrapped around his neck, causing the pinned hero to gasp out for air, eyes wide.

"I'll…do it. I have to do it…" Hizashi uttered to himself, his brows furrowing. His voice suddenly shifted, however, a softer tone escaping afterwards. "No…but Aizawa—" he stopped abruptly, interrupted by a sound of pain escaping his lips, the glow in his eyes pulsing brighter than before.

This was his chance. Now that he was distracted, Aizawa could get him by surprise and—

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Aizawa jerked as Hizashi's hands suddenly slammed down on either side of his head, a cold sensation of fear surging through his body all at once from the sudden yell. But what unsettled him the most was the way the voice hero had acted, his face twisted with anger and pain whilst talking to himself, or someone else, what seemed like a conflicted battle between good and bad—

"Stay down and let me do you the favor…" Hizashi breathed, "or should I say...us…" He cocked his head to the side with a smile on his face, his eyes pulsing a bright shade of green. He twitched again, this time keeping his posture.

If his quirk was different, Aizawa would have already used it by now. But he couldn't use it on Hizashi right now, since he was using strength alone.

Before he knew it, the voice hero was reaching into his pocket.

It was no longer a quarrel in Aizawa's eyes – it was a life or death situation.

The sleek edge of a blade slowly revealed itself from the man's pocket, glinting in what little light was left around them.

In less than a second, it was pressed up against his neck, and his breath was caught in his throat.

"…Hizashi…" he said, almost a whisper, afraid that if he spoke too loud it'd be the end from there. "Think about what you're going…to do…"

"I already have," the blonde said quietly, the sound of his breathing wavering slightly.

Aizawa's nervous gaze flicked from the other man to the knife; he could feel his heart thumping in his chest – he swore it was hard enough to be felt with a light touch.

"Listen to me, you're acting irrational…" he tried, a futile attempt to work his way around this danger. "Hizashi—"

"Hizashi is gone!" the blonde hissed, his knife raising just a little higher. "Just like you…"

Aizawa's eyes widened, and he could physically feel time stopping. No, he had to try again, this wasn't going to happen! He'll have to stop Hizashi from –

"'Zashi, wait – !"

The knife was quicker than Aizawa's gurgled scream.