"It's alright, my dear. Everything is going to be alright." He set a hand on her shoulder and removed his top mask, giving her a smile. Compress saw the pain in her expression as she clutched the marble tightly, tears still flowing freely from her eyes. He lifted his hand from her shoulder to wipe at her tears, his smile faltering.

"He…he got hurt…because he was trying to protect me." Kaere's voice cracked as she spoke, her gaze fixed on the marble in her hand. The marble that was Twice's compressed body. She closed her hand around it and held her fist against her heart. "It's my fault. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have left the hideout. No, I…shouldn't have left my apartment. I should've just stayed, but I…I was afraid of…being alone with Dabi and now this happened."

"Darling, you couldn't have known what would happen. What really matters is that you're safe."

"That doesn't matter!" she argued.

Compress pushed the brim of his hat back and replaced his mask. Gently taking her free hand into his, he set a brisk pace for the hideout. "You know how I adore that compassionate heart of yours, but I have to be honest. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't burning with jealousy. Of course, you would react this same way if it was me in his place, wouldn't you?"

"Of…of course I would! Sako-san…Compress-san…I don't want anything bad to happen to any of us! But…you and Twice in particular. Because you both make me feel…like I'm really worth something." She bowed her head and started chewing at her lip.

The man beside her went silent as his gloved fingers laced with hers. He acted content by her answer, but at the same time he was clearly bothered. The rest of their walk back to the hideout was in silence.

He released their comrades once they were in the usual meeting room on the second floor and stayed at her side as she checked Toga. The blonde girl was still unconscious and had a red mark on her forehead that was sure to become a bruise later, but that was the extent of her injuries. Twice was in much worse shape.

Kaere was trembling as she checked his pulse and she could barely keep a grip on her medical tools when she dug around in her kit. "The wound is deep…and he tore it open more by moving around so much. He lost a lot of blood," she mumbled to herself. "Definitely need a blood transfusion. Stitches? But it's…a wide gash. Losing so much blood…"

Compress saw her withdraw a scalpel and gently put a hand over hers, frowning with his top mask off. "Kae, I'm sure that stitches would be fine. Perhaps stitches and a bandage?"

"It's too much. Too wide. Stitches to close it up…he'd still be losing blood for a while and he's already lost so much. I have to…I have to save him." Her tears fell onto Twice's shirt and mixed with his blood as she leaned over him. Trembling and sobbing as she put her free hand on his cheek. "He…put himself in front of me to protect me! I have to save him!"

He watched her perform the procedure and helped when her hands began to shake too much for her to work. As much as it pained him to see this happen. Compress had been unconscious when she used her own skin to patch him up so seeing it at work to connect with Twice's skin and seal up the wound was both interesting and mildly horrifying. The masked villain helped her prep for giving Twice some of her blood and settled himself beside her on the floor.

Kaere was struggling to remain conscious. Mumbling under her breath, staring at Twice with tear stains on her cheeks. Still bleeding a little as her wound began to heal, from where she got her donation for Twice's injury. Inevitably, the girl's eyelids fluttered closed and she slumped onto her side facing the blond villain.

Compress moved closer to her and gently eased Kaere's upper half onto his lap. His prosthetic arm wrapped around her waist to steady her and his right hand tenderly pushed her dark brown hair away from her face. My beloved. He sighed and shook his head. You love so intensely that you're willing to sacrifice yourself for those you care about. I admire this; truly I do. I only wish that I had your whole heart to myself.

He absently ran his gloved fingers through her hair, staring down at her and feeling a pain in his chest. I need to do something grand, he decided. Something to win you over completely. Something so amazing that you will fall for me alone. But first things first, darling.

As much as he hated to stop comforting her, he reached for his phone with his right hand and called Dabi. "I hate calling on you for help, but we had an incident," he started. He described what Kaere had told him; the altercation between the stranger, herself, Toga, and Twice.

Compress knew this would light a fire in Dabi and it would only be a matter of time before he set off to finish the scoundrel that hurt their medic. "I'll send you the location and his description. If I find him first, I'll hold onto him until you make your appearance." He smiled as he looked down at Kaere's sleeping face.

Just as he finished his call, Toga started to wake up. He turned his gaze to the blonde girl as she pushed herself to sit up and rub at her forehead. "Young Toga, can I ask a favor? I need you to stay with Kae while I run a quick errand."

"Huh? What happened?" She stared at her two unconscious fellow villains and her eyes widened. "Kae-chan? And Jin?!"

Compress gently eased Kaere off of his lap, onto her side next to Twice on the floor. "I will explain everything when I return. Please take care of Kae while I'm gone."

He stood and brushed dust off of his clothes. Walking to the doorway, he heard a quiet mumbling and a rustle. Looking over his shoulder, he felt a strong pang of jealousy when he saw that Twice had pulled Kaere closer to him in his now half-conscious state.

Shift P.O.V

Kaere's dream was more of a nightmare. Brought on by pain from the incisions and loss of blood. Crackling blue flames were all around her in a ring, shrinking inwards at a steady rate as she heard the gruff sound of her roommate's voice taunting her. As Dabi stepped through the flames and advanced on her, Kaere lifted her right arm and felt terror course through her veins as she saw that her right hand was missing.

She jolted awake with a half-scream and almost tumbled onto the floor, but a pair of arms tightened around her to hold her in place. The nightmare was still so vivid and her thoughts were still fuzzy so her first thought was that this was Dabi, but then she stopped struggling when she heard her name being spoken. Softly, in a voice that was strained.

"Kae-chan…it's okay. You're okay. I'm…I'm here," Twice tried to reassure her.

The girl's pulse was still racing, but everything was slowly coming into focus as she pushed her glasses up. She was being more or less cradled by the other villain, held against his chest, and Toga was watching them from a short distance away. Glancing between the two, Kaere knew she would be blushing if she had not donated so much of her blood to Twice.

"What were you dreaming about?" Toga asked, moving to sit near them.

"N-nothing…um…it's nothing. Compress-san…? Where did he go? He was here when I fell asleep." Kaere could feel the warmth radiating off of Twice and it was the only thing keeping her from shivering.

"He said he had to run an errand and he told me to watch you. But Jin wouldn't let go of you after he woke up." The blonde girl narrowed her eyes a little, but grinned. "You look so cute when you're asleep, Kae-chan~"

Twice's embrace tightened and he shuffled toward the corner. He kept Kaere in his lap, shaking and his eyes shining with unshed tears. "I'm not gonna let you get hurt again," he started. "Why'd you patch me up?! I didn't want you to get hurt so I took that cut for you! Why'd you patch me up? Kae-chan, I don't wanna see you get hurt, but then you got hurt because of me!"

"T-Twice…?" Kaere struggled to look up at him, but he had her pressed against his chest. She could feel his heart racing beneath her right cheek and knew he was in the depths of absolute panic. The girl's cold, delicate hands rested on his arm and she tried to soothe him, but for once, it had no effect.

He tensed when there were footsteps down the hallway and he started to hunch forward defensively. Still clutching the medic against his chest and now glaring at the doorway. Toga tilted her head and crossed the room to crouch next to him, staring down at the male villain.

"Jin, you've gotta let her go. I got hurt, too," she pouted.

Kaere felt a tug at the inner part of her arm and knew that the tube she had used to give him her blood was dangerously close to being pulled out. "Twice, the transfusion…you have to let me go so I can take out the tube," she tried to explain.

"I'm not letting you go again! You're gonna get hurt! No…I can take care of you! I can protect you from anything!"

"No one's gonna hurt Kae-chan in the hideout," Toga argued.

"My quirk…can't seal up the opening for the tube until it's out. I'm going to keep bleeding." Kaere was not exaggerating; she needed to stop the transfusion for her quirk to be able to seal up the opening in her skin. Not to mention that she wanted to check his chest wound to make sure he was healed. Her main worry was his condition, but he was making it difficult for her to take care of him.

"Gross. What'd we walk in on?" Dabi taunted from the doorway.

His words made Twice back even further into the corner, curled into a ball almost with the medic held against him. "I'm not gonna let him hurt you again," he muttered, his voice cracking with pain.

Kaere could see it when she looked up at him; he was starting to feel like he would split. She had to get his mask onto him. If she could do that, he would probably feel stable. He would probably let go of her so she could check his wound.

She looked over at Toga, who met her gaze and smiled. Seeming to understand Kaere's request without words. The blonde girl leaned in closer to Twice, who was now gritting his teeth, and shoved her hand into his pocket. "Jin, you've gotta let go of Kae-chan so she can take care of my bruise," she spoke as she pulled out his mask.

"I'm not letting her go! Every time I let go of Kae-chan, she gets hurt!" He was so adamant about holding onto Kaere that he was unable to fight Toga off and soon his mask slipped on over his head. For an instant, he tightened his hold almost painfully, but then he relaxed. Looking down at Kaere through his mask, he tilted his head. "Kae-chan, you look really pale! Awww! Am I making you blush?"

She was finally able to get off of his lap and knelt next to him so she could carefully remove the tube that was connecting them. Kaere accepted a little adhesive bandage from Toga and placed it over the entry site on the inside of Twice's elbow. "There…um…how do you feel?"

He gave her a thumbs-up and seemed to be smiling behind his mask. "I feel great! I could take on the world! Ugh. I feel like I got hit by a truck." His free hand lifted up his shirt and he seemed to examine the area where he had been cut. It was almost indistinguishable from the rest of his skin.

"Now that this is taken care of…" Compress moved around Dabi and into the room. Striding over to Kaere with confidence, he held out his right hand to help her to her feet. "My dear, I believe I told you earlier that I had a wonderful day planned for us. I'd still like to follow through, if you're feeling up to it."

"Your taste in guys is gross." The voice came from beside Kaere's left ear.

She tensed, feeling the heat radiating off of Dabi against her back. The girl started to turn around, but paused when she caught the smell of cooked flesh and burnt hair. He always had the faint, lingering scent of this on him, but this was fresher than usual. Her eyes widened behind her glasses when she saw the fresh layer of ash on his clothes.

Burning hot fingers gripped her chin and he stared down at her with narrowed turquoise eyes before his mouth drew into a wide grin. "What's the matter, Kae?"

"If I have to remind you again…" Compress wrapped an arm around Kaere from behind and pulled her out of Dabi's grasp, smiling with venom. "You shouldn't touch a lady without her consent. Not to mention, you're going to get ashes on my beloved if you manhandle her like that."

Dabi's grin shifted to a smirk and he pushed his hands into his pockets. "You don't want me to get that guy's ashes on her, huh?"

That…guy? She tilted her head to try to look at Compress, but he held her tighter to prevent her from seeing his expression. Where did he go? Why did he leave me with Toga and Twice? What happened?

"I thought we agreed that was to remain between us. There's no need for my darling Kae to be involved in such shady business. Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to take our leave. We have a date."