NeonHorizon: Even if you fall, you can pull yourself back up! Right? Also! The Christmas omake will be the next thing posted! ^_^ I'm excited. After that, things will resume as usual. Enjoy~

He was given no choice. When he received the message from Hiyori, he felt no relief. If anything, it only exacerbated his frustration. Aizawa tried to get a response from her, wanting to know her location, but she did not reply. When he was informed that not only was she involved in the Stain incident in Hosu, but that she had attacked the man and had been horribly injured, he started to become angry.

Her capture weapon was handed over to him and he was told that she had been carried off by a Nomu, finally breaking his determination to wait it out. Hiyori needed help. She was bleeding, possibly close to death. That is, if she was still alive. The fact that a Nomu had snatched up her injured body from Todoroki's grasp could only mean that the League of Villains was not done with her.

At the very least, he could try to collect her body. Though he hoped that it would not come to that. He hoped to find her alive. Aizawa knew that he would be losing sleep, but at least then he would have his assistant teacher back. The students could be reassured of her safety, the woman would return to the path of a hero, and he would catch up on all of the sleep he would be losing while she took care of the class.

His phone brought up a new message from her as he walked to the teachers' room, her capture weapon hanging on his belt. The message read: Who is Toxicity? His eyes narrowed. Toxicity?

Shift P.O.V

The blood had dried on her tail tips. It was still caked on her stingers. Hiyori felt cold, even with her sweater. She wanted to go to wash off the blood. She wanted to have a relaxing night in her room with a book. She would even let the creepy, hairless cat sit with her if it meant having solitude.

Instead, she was outside in the cooling night air, walking behind Shigaraki. He had the hood pulled up on his sweatshirt, but she was still easily able to spot him in the crowd on the sidewalk. His posture was unmistakable and if he thought that she was trailing too far behind, he would pause and look back at her. She was puzzled as to why he had not wanted to hold her sleeve like he normally would when they walked through a crowded area.

I don't like this. It's not just that I want to go home. I just have this feeling in my gut. Her amber eyes narrowed and she pushed up her glasses. He's not talking, but at least he isn't avoiding me now, right? This weird feeling might just be that I'm following him. Either way, I have a role to play, right?

Hiyori's hand tentatively reached forward and gripped his sleeve. She moved to walk alongside him, clinging to his side for fear of getting separated. "Sorry. Um. I just…I don't want to lose you in this crowd," she murmured, leaning over so he could hear her better.

The feeling of her warm fingertips through his sleeve brought a slight upward curve to his lips. "I wouldn't let you get lost. I don't want to lose my most favorite thing again."

She felt oddly giddy at hearing him say that. It's the adrenaline, right? It's just messing with my head. Or…the venom. When I inject a dose with high potency, sometimes…it makes me a little weird afterwards. As she vaguely began to wonder if Toxicity experienced the same thing, she found her attention drawn to where they were heading. Another bar? No. Wait. Where…?

At some point while they were walking, they had made a turn and ended up in an area that she knew. This was the sort of place that Kurogiri would take her to meet with potential villains to recruit. Not a place she would ever go alone. She wanted to ask why they were there. She wanted to ask what his intentions were. Instead, she bowed her head. "Tomura…?"

He stopped and turned to her, leaning down so his face was inches from hers. His thumb and index finger closed on the bridge of her glasses and he drew them from her face. "We're friends, aren't we, Yori?"

"Y-yeah." Her heart was pounding in her chest, adrenaline feeding her giddiness as she stared back at his slightly blurry face.

"And friends are loyal. So tonight, you're going to prove your loyalty. You're going to kill someone."

Her sharp, amber eyes widened. "Kill…?"

"But I'm a good friend. I'll let you pick who it is." An excited grin spread across his face, exhilaration leaking into his voice. The glasses were tucked into his pocket and he leaned in closer. "Well? Isn't this exciting? I'm such a good friend; I'm helping you get over your fear. I'm helping you be a better villain."

Hiyori bit the inside of her cheek so deeply that she tasted blood. Be a better villain? But I don't want to be a villain. I never wanted to be a villain. Her tails twitched a little as she felt a rush of excitement run through her veins. She looked at the bar from the corner of her eye. I get to pick. I get to pick so I can at least try to pick someone that deserves to die. But who am I to decide who lives and who dies?

Shifting her eyes back to Shigaraki, she saw the terrifying grin and knew that goose bumps were rising beneath her sleeves. "But what's the point of killing someone at a place like this? They're…insignificant. They don't matter, right? So why waste your time on them?" She felt a hand on her shoulder, four fingers making contact with the fabric of her sweater.

"You don't want to do this for me? So you don't want to be a villain? You're supposed to be my support so you have to be a villain. You can't be my support if you're weak. Come on. Just do this. I want to see you kill someone. I want you to want to be a stronger villain. I want you to want me to be happy."

"I do want you to be happy!" she blurted out. Hiyori sighed and bowed her head. She felt an anxious twisting in her gut. She never wanted to be a villain, but as time passed she knew that she was becoming worse. Even before having a taste of the hero side. She had injected strangers with a level two or a level one dose of venom, just for her own amusement. As much as Hiyori wanted to deny it, she knew it was there. A devious side. A side that knew she was never meant to be a hero.

This villainous quirk. This venom. I never had a chance. Even if I did go back to UA…I can't be a hero. I'm not strong enough. At least this way…I'm helping someone, right? She could feel his stare. He was growing impatient. Who was I trying to fool? Why would anyone ever want someone with stingers to be a hero? I look like a villain! I have a villain quirk!

Her tails whipped out to the side as a man walked past and her eyes clenched shut. Stingers drove deep into his back and he stumbled when they pulled out, a bit of dark venom leaking from the punctures in his shirt and flesh. When he fell to the ground, her tails flicked the blood from her stingers and she coiled the tails around her waist again, beneath her sweater. "…happy now…Tomura?"

Shift P.O.V

A body had been found in an alley, bearing a large number of punctures in their abdomen. There was another corpse as well, but the cause of death was different. The second body had died from blood loss. This one had been killed by a potent venom injected directly into their bloodstream.

Aizawa did not want to believe that it was Hiyori's venom, but he knew that her particular venom was not a common quirk. However, before he could come to the conclusion that it was her, he remembered her question from earlier. Toxicity. She had asked who Toxicity was so it was obviously a person. Though he had trouble recalling if he had ever heard that name before.

It did not sound like the name of any hero. It could possibly be a vigilante, but the name sounded very much like something a villain would choose. He made a mental note to try to learn more and continued his search. It was difficult with little to no clues. All he had to go on was this area where the body had been discovered. The police told him that it had been found earlier that afternoon. A few hours had passed. Still, this was his best chance to spot her on the crowded sidewalk below.

Of course, he was fully aware of what he would need to do if she had killed the man. She would need to be brought to justice. She would go to prison. No matter what he might feel for her, he had a duty as a hero. Aizawa saw a shock of white hair down below and narrowed his eyes. Not her. Where is she? His hand absently went to the capture weapon hanging on his belt, fingertips skimming over the butterfly-printed cuffs.

Shift P.O.V

Hiyori held her phone up, staring at the screen. She typed out a message: Sorry about earlier. I'm sorry. Her lips twisted into a frown and she deleted the words. The girl's eyes closed, a sigh escaping her. She reached to the cat beside her and ran her fingers through its fur, trying to calm down. I killed two people today. I'm…a villain. I don't deserve Aizawa. I'm bad. I shouldn't talk to him. I should just…disappear from his life altogether. It's better that way, right?

The cat purred and stretched a little before hopping down from the bed. It began to paw at the door, wanting out, but she ignored it. Hiyori rubbed her face with both hands, trying to push away the remaining giddiness from her venom. The door opened and the cat slipped out of the room. Can't I at least get some privacy while I fall into this despair?

A weight made the bed dip at her side and then the mattress bounced a little as a body fell beside hers. She heard a quiet clicking to her left and knew that the last person she wanted to see was now on her bed with her. Hiyori lowered her hands and fidgeted with her sleeve. Her vision was blurry, glasses still in Shigaraki's possession. "I can't see."

He reached to his pocket with one hand and let her glasses slid out onto the bed between them. From the corner of his eye, he could see her putting them on. Shigaraki said nothing as he heard her sigh and shifted his eyes back to the game in his hands.

Finally, he paused the game and spoke. "You were so cool today. You're really just my type. I don't even know what to do. I don't like sharing you with everyone else and you spent all afternoon with those two newbies. You're supposed to be my girl, Yori. So why were you-?" His eyes widened and he looked down, seeing her forehead press against his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"I…need something. Please." Hiyori's eyes closed as she felt him shift. Three fingers traced the side of her face, pushing hair away from her eyes. She slid her arm across his chest, trying not to cry. I'm a villain. I'm a villain. I can't go back.

"You want affection?" Shigaraki felt her nod. "I wanted to punish you for spending so much time with them today, but you proved your loyalty to me. Maybe I should reward you instead?"