Golden Repair

by xeveningx

"What is broken is beautiful when one cares to repair it." Nagi disagrees. Nothing that is broken is ever beautiful or whole again. Being that her belief, she holds the pieces of herself together between unsteady fingertips and hunts down those who preyed on her instead. But as new people and friendships come into her damaged world, her grasp trembles. With doubt. With hope. OC/?

15. Thallium

xv.| Thallium

— A lustrous and malleable metal that becomes bluish-grey after continued exposure to air. Derived from the Greek 'thallos' meaning 'green shoot or twig' after its green spectral line.

---

"And so the queen of fairies wept for the loss of her friend, mourning his untimely departure and his decision to leave her. But her sorrow didn't last for the truth made her rise from her grief and wipe her tears.

A being created by duty, nurtured by trust, and parted by loneliness—the two fairies, king and queen, could not depart to their waking alone. The queen, knowing this, regained hope. Her friend may be gone, but she was sure to find him again. For when their time truly came, it would certainly come and greet them together.

For they would never be one without the other."

"That's so sad."

Nagi gave Yohsei a quaint smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, then rubbed the younger girl's arm that shivered from the chilliness enveloping the room. The two of them laid facing one another on the sterile tiled floor. Around them where other children. Some were fast asleep from exhaustion. Others were unable to rest their minds despite how much their bodies yearned for it. Though no day in that place was ever anything good, there existed those that were like the calm before the storm. Quiet days like these when they would be gathered in small groups and allowed to simply spend the night in each other's company.

And days like these were the ones that Nagi came to recognize as the most peaceful and most disturbing.

Seeing their haunting expressions and sunken eyes reminded her of her own pain that she only just managed to stave off in their presence. Nine of them were currently in that solitary room. It had no beds, only pillows and blankets for them to lay on the floor and sleep. It was still that disgusting white, though having their company made it a little more bearable. At least there was something else to look at than the walls or floor.

Tenderly, she closed her hand over Yohsei's smaller one, her vacant smile never disappearing.

"It's not sad," she insisted in hushed murmurs.

"But the king fairy died." Yohsei sniveled and wiped her nose with the blanket leaving a welcoming smear across it. "And the fairy queen's all alone now."

"Well, yeah, but—"

"You listened to it all wrong."

At the sudden interruption by a completely foreign voice, both sat up to meet a skewed golden glance shot their way.

Nagi remembered the black-haired boy that stood before them, but only vaguely. She'd never seen him before this—not like she got any interaction with the others outside of these 'play dates' as the nurses called them. It was only recently that she saw him. The boy would never come close to any of them when they were awake. He kept his distance, that gaze of molten gold always shy as it peeked from beneath those long dark lashes. He had a beautiful face, Nagi remarked. Like a doll's except pale and sickly. But it wasn't like they hadn't adopted that appearance themselves during their stay. That he interacted with no one and only watched them from afar whenever they were allowed to be together didn't say much either.

A lot of them barely interacted with one another if only to fulfill some innate sense to socialize. The thought veered her gaze briefly to glance at Ikari's back as she slept on her side facing the opposite wall. Most of them, anyway.

"W-What do you mean?"

Yohsei's question brought Nagi back to the current predicament she found herself in. This boy who had been up to that point an utter and complete wallflower had suddenly perked up to contradict Yohsei. It struck her as odd but also oddly welcoming.

The boy's dark eyebrows creased, his hand grasping at his white gown tightly. "They're gonna be together again."

It took her a moment to realize that he was talking about the story she had been telling Yohsei. One of the few—the only one really—that she could remember word for word. It was the one story her mother told her repeatedly and that she'd loved fervently enough to learn and tell her little brother in his crib. Now it served to at least help them escape the bleakness of their prison. It helped them to forget for a moment that tomorrow would only be more of the same suffering and pain.

"What makes you say that?" she asked curiously in a hushed tone.

"You said...they can't leave alone. They're one person. The king won't be gone for long. He'll be back and looking for her just like she's looking for him."

"But how?" Yohsei asked.

"Were you even listening to the story?" the boy chided. "She spelled it out at the beginning."

Large cerulean eyes stared up at her in search of an answer when Yohsei heard that. Sadly, Nagi didn't have one, because the book really didn't either. So instead she said what her mother always did when Nagi bothered her with the same question.

"If you believe they will see each other again, then they will. And who knows? Maybe they're already together."

"Could you shut your trap already?"

Turquoise eyes snapped to Ikari who didn't even bother to turn and glare at her like usual when she spat at her. The older blonde simply shuffled in place before quietly resigning herself to sleep. She wasn't though. From how tired she was and by Yohsei's stifled yawn, it was already late. Though she hated the idea of meeting tomorrow, they had to sleep if they wanted to get any rest.

They would certainly need it come the morning.

Her shoulders slumping with resignation, Nagi patted down the blanketed floor to signal that to Yohsei before lying down next to her. Just as she was closing her eyes a sudden shuffling and the warmth that came to her back made her turn away from Yohsei to look behind her. There, lying close with his own blanket over himself, was the black-haired boy.

"Could you...could you tell it again?" he whispered.

Those small eyes stared at her and looked just as tired as she felt, if not more. Who are you? The question came to mind like it always did, her mind urging her to add more names to her list. More than that, she didn't want any of them to be strangers to be easily forgotten. They were just like her. And if she hated the thought of disappearing from the face of the earth and others' memory without a trace, then surely they did too.

Someone had to remember them. Even if they only remembered the them they used to be.

"Sure." Laying right on her back, she made sure to not let go of Yohsei's hand as she offered the boy her free one, her palm face up as she laid it against the floor. "I'm Nagi, by the way. What's your name?"

Those pools of gold stared at her open hand briefly before reaching up and tentatively touching her fingers. When realizing it was nothing bad, he splayed his hand over hers and grasped a few of her fingers in his.

"Yori."

The corners of her lips formed the ghost of a smile before her hand closed on his lovingly. Just like her mother would to her. Taking a deep breath, Nagi began the tale anew, her voice now a hush in the darkness as the three of them laid against each other for warmth in that cold place.

"A being found itself in a beautiful grove. Diamond tears fell from his eyes as the laughter of a nearby village wrought his heart. Loneliness held him close since his birth and had never let go. No one wanted to be near him. No one wanted to be his friend.

And so, wishing for nothing more than someone to share life with, the being took all his loneliness and sorrow and from it a blinding light burst that enveloped him whole. The man disappeared in the midst of the bright light and in his place two fairies were left holding onto each other's hand.

What he had done was unthinkable, but it had ended his loneliness. The being had split itself in two and now it would always have a friend."

---

Rain...huh?

Opening her red polka-dotted umbrella as she exited the station did much to protect her from the falling pellets of water but little to cover up for the cold. Nagi, holding the umbrella in one hand, tucked the other in her pocket, huddling her shoulders closer to keep the warmth from escaping her as she made her way into the streets that led to school. Her shoes fell heavily on the small puddles that formed on uneven asphalt as she climbed the first hill up at her own pace.

Taking a deep breath, Nagi inhaled the wonderful smell of the falling rain and dampened nature around, relishing in how great she felt that morning. Unbelievable what wonders a couple of well-rested nights did. One of which certainly was her waking up early on her own for once. Not only had she made herself some hearty breakfast, she even did her morning stretches with time to spare. Good thing too because her braces were a pain to put on by herself. Years of not using them got her out of the habit and it took a good twenty or so minutes to figure out again. But as she adjusted the sleeves around her knuckles to free her fingers a little better, Nagi had to admit that they were worth the trouble. Despite being the most uncomfortable and stiff pieces of clothing ever, they had done a damn good job the last couple of nights she'd used them to sleep.

To her surprise and annoyance, Recovery and Suzume had been right about the braces helping. Putting herself back together took almost half the time it did after two nights of using them. And now, despite how uncomfortable and a hassle it was to walk or do anything with them still, Nagi begrudgingly admitted that they were right.

The braces were an improvement.

Now if only they weren't so damn itchy all the time.

Scratching at her knee, she pulled up on the slipping brace as high as it would go under her skirt as she turned a corner.

"Yo, Chitanko."

Turquoise eyes blinked startled as her gaze lifted to meet a pair of dark eyes and a distinctive grin on a rather plain face. Sero grinned her way and saluted her as she approached him once across the intersection. Holding a brown umbrella with oranges streaks himself to keep safe from the rain, he gestured ahead. Nagi smiled and followed beside him as the two walked on.

"Strange seeing you on this side of the tracks."

"I usually come by later."

A dark brow raised at that. "Closer to when the second bell rings?"

"Exactly," she said with a chuckle.

Walking far apart enough so as to not accidentally wet him, Nagi kept pace with Sero as she tilted her umbrella slightly back to look up at the gray skies above. Sero followed her gaze curiously and sighed a bit dishearteningly.

"Weather sucks, huh?"

"You think so?" she asked, adjusting her bag over her shoulder.

He turned back down to her with a chuckle. "You don't?"

Nagi shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly while slowly twirling her umbrella with both her hands to watch the drops of water bounce off the fabric. With a half-grin pulling at her lips, she chuckled at seeing him swat away the drops that fell close to him.

"I like the rain. Especially right after it stops." Stopping briefly, she held out her hand for the water to fall on her open palm, her uniform and brace getting wet quickly in the process. "It washes all the grime and dirt away and leaves behind very beautiful sights. Perfect candid shots."

Speaking of which.

Feeling that familiar urge to photograph this early in the morning was a pleasant surprise. Though not having her camera was a big downer. Oh well, smartphone camera it was. Fishing her phone out of her pocket, Nagi stared at the screen for a moment before unlocking it. Cracks erupted from one corner with a long one traveling halfway across her screen. It still worked well enough. Though her touchscreen did falter a bit at times when she tried to make phone calls or text using that corner of the keyboard, it wasn't bad enough to replace. At least not to her.

Turning it sideways made it easier for her to spring up the camera and start taking shots of the scenery before her. Buildings, trees, and playgrounds were all darkened by the absence of the sun and the clouds hanging over them. The stoplights from the incoming crossing glimmered and crossed as the pellets of water refracted the light in small ways. The heads of the people bobbing in and out of the shot, their faces smiling, troubled, worried, or joyful. A pot of colors and panorama heightened by the water washing away everything unimportant.

Beautiful in its own strange mundane way.

"Hurry it up!"

"You're so slow."

"W-Wait up, you guys—oof!"

A child smacked right into her without warning.

Busy trying to save the phone that slipped out of her tenuous grasp, Nagi failed to see the end of the sidewalk as they reached the crossing and slipped on the edge. Everything blurred with the incoming rain as she fell forward. Her red polka-dotted umbrella shot skyward in the upheaval. Tape flew and wrapped around her arm just in time to pull her away from incoming traffic. Sadly, though, not close enough to catch her from falling anyway. Nagi fell on her backside as Sero pulled her away, one arm held upward by his tape and the other scraping against the wet asphalt. Water poured down on her for a few seconds before an umbrella came over her.

"Easy there." With one hand under her other arm and using the tape to pull the other, Sero slowly raised her to her feet before turning with an infuriated glare behind them. "You kids come back here and apologize!"

"Ha!?"

Turquoise eyes blinked a few times, still a bit dazed, before turning to the high-pitched cries of the children she'd missed running towards them from the bisecting sidewalk beside theirs. One of them, the leader by the looks of things, humphed indignantly, the raincoat he wore protecting him as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Forget it! You should've watched where you were going!"

"Yeah! What Tamashiro said!" responded another with a pronounced beak and blonde ash, feathery hair. "You watch where you're going!"

"Exactly!" said yet another. "Why should we say sorry to some ugly girl and 'don't mind' guy!"

Sero instantly recoiled at the name-calling. "'D-Don't mind?'"

"Don't mind! Don't mind! Don't mind!"

The three of them chanted gleefully while making faces back at Sero. A fourth one stayed behind the group huddling away with concern etched on his features as he mumbled quietly under his breath. Nagi paid them little attention—not even the name-calling caught her off guard. Instead, what had all her attention was her smartphone on the floor. Crouching down, she picked it up doing her best to wipe away the water that coated it with her shirt. But the moment she attempted to unlock it, the screen glitched. More cracks ran down the same corner as before but this time opened up so much that literal pieces of the screen fell off. And all that water...even if it wasn't much, it would damage it for sure.

And unlocking it only made it turn off without her even inputting anything.

All hell broke loose then—and by 'hell', it meant all of her.

"You damn brats!"

They screamed with smug smirks on their faces the moment Nagi exploded with rage. Fearing for their safety now, Sero held her back by her arms, dropping his own umbrella in the process. The rain helped cool her down once the kids disappeared around a corner, but now soaked and royally pissed off, Nagi shouted after them with every ounce of frustration in her. Spent after a couple of solid minutes, heavy breaths left her in puffs as she stood there in the midst of the rain. An umbrella over her head held off the droplets and as she looked up to find it to be hers, her hand came up to hold it before turning to a little less than dry Sero who chuckled pitifully back at her.

"Sucks about your phone but I don't think beating the kids will do anything about it."

"No, but it might teach them some damn manners," she humphed, her eye catching the blink of the green crossing sign. Pulling him by his umbrella, Nagi dragged Sero back onto their path to school and away from the kids and from doing anything she might regret later.

She pocketed her phone as both ran the better part of the way there with her leading the way and wanting to spend some of that pent up frustration. Both panted, utterly out of breath by the time they reached the front entrance of the school.

And from there on out, everything just wanted to piss her off apparently. The way her shoes squelched every time she took a step, how disgusting her wet clothes felt glued to her body, her hair just clumping up from drying unevenly—so much for a good start to the day.

"What happened to you two?"

Sero chuckled dismissively at Mina's pointed question the moment the two stepped into the classroom. Nagi couldn't even hide her annoyance. That much was pretty obvious by her scowl that could've rivaled Bakugou's iconic one. Stepping past them without a word left Sero to explain the situation.

Haphazardly, Nagi tossed her bag across empty desks onto hers, the wet bag hitting her desk with a resounding splat. She made her way to the wastebasket on the back end of the classroom, hating all the way to it how disgusting wet socks felt. Her jacket peeled off with some work as she walked by the aisle between the rows and splatted just as loudly over the back of her chair.

Yaoyorozu watched more than a bit bewildered by Nagi's rather silently seething entrance and the way she beelined it to the wastebasket behind her desk. Standing over it, the strawberry head took the end of her skirt in hand and began wringing it out, drops of water falling rather noisily in the tin can.

"C-Chinatko-san?"

"Mm?"

"I believe Recovery Girl has spare uniforms in the nurse's office."

Nagi shook her head vehemently as she wrung the ends of her shirt now, the drops dripping loudly into the basket. From a few desks away, Mineta rowdily commented something that she didn't quite understand. But knowing him, she wouldn't have liked it. Thankfully, Tsuyu was always on-point with her tongue lashings whenever Mineta got too over-the-top. It wasn't until she stared down to her wet shirt that she noticed why.

Damn. I just had to wear the red one, didn't I?

Heaving a sigh and ignoring it for now, she went about drying herself as much as possible for now. "No time. Eraser's gonna be here any minute and I'd rather be dead than late to his class again."

"You're soaking wet though. I could make you another real quick and you could change into it before sensei—"

"Thanks, Yao-chan, but no thanks." Wringing her long ponytail into the can was louder than wringing her skirt had been, and after doing it, Nagi took off the hair tie that held it up in its usual high ponytail. It fell down her back sticking to her wet back and easily reaching her waist. Brushing it to one side over her shoulder, Nagi wrung it out of the excess water that was still somehow in there somewhere. "I wouldn't want you to go wasting your Quirk like that."

As she straightened from bending over the basket, however, a white fluffy towel was already in her face. Looking up, turquoise eyes stared right at charcoal as Yaoyorozu smiled at her. And that sincere expression was more than she could handle.

"Trust me, it's no waste at all."

The hint of a smile pulling at her lips and her mood lifting just a tiny bit, Nagi thanked her as she took the towel and dried herself out the best she could. Another got passed to Sero from what she saw before she bent forward to let her wet hair fall over her head to hand dry it. Though Nagi really wanted to go to Recovery and get that extra uniform Yaoyorozu talked about, the fear of Aizawa's wrath planted her feet firmly in that classroom. For once in her life, she'd gotten there early and she'd be damned if all of that morning's hassle ended on a low note.

Just tough it out, Nagi. Just till lunchtime.

She'd have time to go get a spare uniform then. Mind made up, Nagi took a deep breath to calm herself down before standing up and padding herself dry a bit more and flipping her hair behind her again. But instead of feeling it fall on her somewhat dry back, a wet splat resounded as it hit something else.

Or more like someone else.

"Damn…" she muttered under her breath the moment she spotted Todoroki's bicolored nonchalant gaze over her shoulder. Turning on her heels, Nagi hurriedly padded his shoulder and arm off with the driest part of the towel before giving him a taut smile. "Sorry, Todoroki, I didn't see you coming."

Those eyes of his blinked once rather unfazed before shaking his head a couple of times. "It's alright." That was all he offered as he pulled back his chair and took a seat, leaving to one side his backpack and lifting the large paper bag he'd been holding up to her. After a silent second, Nagi took it, and only then did Todoroki take his seat. "Good morning."

The slight confusion that came over her went away rather fast and instead was replaced by a taut line that pulled a little at the edges of her lips at his greeting.

"Morning."

Things were a bit less awkward between them. Nagi supposed that was the right way to describe it, anyway. After his brief texts after that hospital visit, she didn't think she'd be hearing from him anytime soon outside of school. If at all, honestly. But it seemed that their little encounter there made things less strained between the two. Just a tiny bit. But even that was a damn mile of improvement where he was concerned.

The paper bag weighing in her arms, she brought it over to her desk as she opened it. A broad smile brightened her face and mood at the sight of her camera case.

"My sweet baby!" Nagi took it out excitedly before checking every little thing about it; the lens extended and shrunk as she rotated it before she took a glance through the little viewfinder. "Momma missed ya." Through the tiny lens, it was easy and quick to center on a good photo as both Yaoyorozu and Todoroki came into frame. Clicking away, Nagi didn't bother looking at what she took and instead going off on a frenzy snapping shots of everybody.

Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero smiled widely pulling out peace signs. Mina, Touru, and Tsuyu gave the camera cute smiles as they waved. Aoyama burst into view just as she snapped a photo of Oshiro and Shoji. Mineta's hair barely showed when she snapped one of Yohsei and Jirou talking by her desk. Dark Shadow even popped out when she took one of Tokoyami, Satou, and Kouda together.

A small, bubbly laugh left her as she viewed the photos real quick. Photographing people had never been her thing. She liked stationary sceneries much better. They were easier to work with than people. People had angles, gestures, poses, expressions—so much more to think of and figure out. Too much trouble to deal with...and far too hard for someone like her to figure out. But taking their pictures was much easier now than it was a few months ago. Her classmates were just easy to capture now in a way that she was satisfied with, and Nagi liked that.

Stepping back on the row she'd been on, she went on taking pictures until she reached the front of the last row were a certain blonde sat undisturbed but with his infamous scowl on display. Clicking away, Nagi only got a few shots in before jumping back from the anticipated explosion to the face.

"Get that shit away from me, Twinkle Toes!"

"Oh, come on, Firecracker! Don't be shy~" Nagi cajoled, skipping back while taking even more pictures despite Bakugou clearly threatening to jump after her with his explosions in hand. "You're so photogenic too!"

Just as she was about to get another shot, Bakugou pitched his jacket at her face, obscuring her vision. "Go fucking seat down already!"

Noisy shuffling of chairs and whatnot went over her head as she pulled down the jacket from her face. Releasing her camera and letting it hang by her neck, Nagi chuckled to herself before pulling on the over-sized jacket on her small frame and grabbing her camera once done to continue her teasing. But just as she looked through the viewfinder and found the whole of her classmates sitting down in their seats, her stomach fell and she took a faltering step back ready to flee.

She didn't get far before she bumped into someone standing behind her though. Nagi instantly froze for a solid second before letting her head fall back to meet Aizawa's peeved glare.

Shit.

"I–"

"Sit down, Chitanko."

"...yessir."

Hurrying to her seat, Nagi placed the towel Yaoyoruze gave her on her chair before taking her seat. Fidgeting in Bakugou's jacket and pulling the rather long sleeves back, she went about setting her camera aside on her desk and the paper bag Todoroki had given her under her desk. At doing so, however, and noticing it was still heavy despite her already having taken out the camera, she frowned.

Is there something else in there?

The choruses of good morning burst in the air as Aizawa took his place behind the podium. Nagi's rung out a bit after theirs, her mind still reeling a bit about what could possibly be in that bag still. Out of everybody, Tsuyu said what maybe everybody had in mind now that they saw their teacher better.

"Aizawa-sensei, your bandages are gone. I'm glad."

"The old lady went overboard with her treatment." Click. "Put it away, Chitanko, or I'm taking it away." Nagi grinned, taking one last photo over Shoji's head before stashing it away in its case. Aizawa scratched under his eyelid as he took a moment to return to the topic at hand. "More importantly, we're having a special hero informatics class today."

Murmurs rose from her classmates and burst into cheers the second Aizawa announced what it would be.

"Hero names...huh?"

Nagi's morning enthusiasm died down as she settled down, chin leaning on her sleeve-covered hand as she listened to Aizawa's reasoning for the class. It had to do with the pro hero draft picks he mentioned the day after the sports festival was over. It was a bit too much to think of in the morning, but she managed to follow with his description of it. These weren't all that important it seemed—the ones as second and third years mattered most—but the fact that pros were already looking at first years like them was a good sign. And this was a good way to test the waters for all of them, too. Especially for those drafted by pros.

Aizawa clicked a button on the remote he held in his hand and easily displayed the results of their offers on the board. Several bars appeared after their names and turquoise eyes watched uninterested until a certain name suddenly popped up right after Kirishima's.

"In other years, it's been more spread out, but all eyes were on these two this year."

Wide-eyed and bewildered, Nagi's jaw fell practically to the floor at the number following her name.

42.

It wasn't much of a number to brag about—especially not with the kinds of numbers Todoroki and Bakugou boasted—but it humbled her to think that after the mess and fool she made of herself during the sports festival that anybody would pick her. Mutterings echoed in the classrooms as some rejoiced and others lamented their current state of affairs. Thankfully, none of them would be left out to dry.

"Keeping these results in mind, whether or not anyone asked for you, you will all be participating in internships with pros."

So that's why we're picking names. Made sense. Though it still left plenty to worry about. Internships so soon? Really? Nagi exhaled rather loudly. So much for getting more hours at the diner for some extra cash. It'd have to wait, she supposed.

"Well, those hero names are still temporary, but if you're not serious about it…"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the doors to the classroom slid open with gusto. Nagi watched along with everybody else as Midnight barged into their class proclaiming, "You'll have hell to pay later! Because a lot of hero names used by students become recognized by society and end up becoming professional hero names!"

"Well, that's how it is. So Midnight will be making sure your names are okay." Sauntering in, Midnight made herself at home as Aizawa left the spotlight to her, retiring to his yellow sleeping bag. "I can't do stuff like that."

Nagi understood what he meant when he said that it'd give them a more concrete idea of what they wanted to be like in the future but...

Her black marker tapped repeatedly against her whiteboard which was as pristine as could be. A large sigh escaped her as her mind overworked itself thinking about what to pick. It was kind of embarrassing to think that after making up her mind about becoming a real hero this time around that she was having this much trouble with something as simple as a name.

At first, she felt reassured that she wasn't alone. Aoyama's and Mina's suggested names were sort of outlandish and made her think that perhaps this wasn't to be taken so seriously. But the more the others came up and declared their names with such conviction, the more Nagi couldn't help but feel her gut twist.

What could I possibly choose to match that?

Todoroki's kind of brought her back down to earth. As he came back and Tokoyami took his turn to declare his name, Nagi snuck back and took her classmate's seat to turn around and speak to him. "Why 'Shouto'?"

Todoroki looked down at his board where the characters to his name stared back at him. "No reason in particular."

"Come on, be helpful for once," she hissed, furiously tapping her blank board against the top of his desk. "Why 'Shouto'?"

"It's just me, I suppose."

Pouting, Nagi went back to her seat as Tokoyami returned and slouched against the back of it as her brain fried itself thinking about what to choose.

"Choosing hero names is going more smoothly than I thought it would!" Midnight declared. Speak for yourself. "All that's left is Bakugou-kun, who needs to rethink his, Iida-kun, Midoriya-kun, Chitanko-kun, and Kisaragi-kun, right?"

"A-Actually, I think I have mine."

Nagi peered from beneath her board as Yohsei stood from his seat and walked up to the podium. "It's not much but…" His hands shook as he held his board towards himself before turning it to the rest of the class. "I think it's enough."

The board read 'Tattoo Hero: Emblem.'

"Emblem?" Midnight asked, curious. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but would that be after the hero, Power Emblem?"

Yohsei could do nothing but nervously chuckle in response at first. "Y-Yes. He wasn't that famous but dad made a name for himself in our town. I'm happy to be...his son. I entered Yuuei with the intention to take his mantle, so yes. I think this is a good name."

Midnight's blue eyes softened and she smiled at him with a clap of her hands. "I'm sure you'll make him proud, Kisaragi-kun."

The whole class clapped as he made his way back to his seat. Nagi, however, watched him attentively as his shoulders slumped the moment he sat down. Yohsei's father? She never heard about him, and not just as a hero in general. All Nagi knew about Yohsei's family was that he lived with his older brother with not a hint of anybody else living in that house. Made her wonder what exactly happened and why he was taking his father's mantle now.

"You're using your first name, too?"

Turquoise eyes rose to find Iida standing rather glumly behind the podium while holding his board with his own name written on it. Another one. Nagi was seriously thinking of just picking her own name and getting it over with. If that was to be her hero name, oh well. But Aizawa's words of the name often going along with a hero's nature halted that idea in its tracks.

Nagi wanted to be a hero. Perhaps not a famous one but a hero all the same. And if she was going to be known as one, she wanted her name to mean something. Thinking back, she reminded herself of the reasons why she was choosing to become a hero now.

Help the others. Save Yori. Be who I want to be. …Make them proud.

She wasn't sure who that all encompassed though she did have a few names in mind. Closing her eyes to think, Nagi took a deep breath and pictured their faces. Aizawa and Suzume's came up, as did that man's—they had helped her so much and she wanted to repay them for that. There was also her brother. Her father. And—

"You'll be a great hero, Nagi. I just know you will be."

Mom.

Remembering her brought back faint, distorted memories. Of games they would play. The food she would make. Of stories she would read to her. Where that last one was concerned, though, only one in particular stood out. Nagi chuckled as she tried to remember just what the hell that story was called. No such luck came but she could still recall what it was about even after all these years.

A very odd story about a couple of fairies. A king named Oberon and a queen named…

Nagi wrote down each character mindlessly on her board and the moment she read it, she immediately scribbled it out. No, that was stupid. It was childish and stupid and…it reminded her of times she didn't want to remember.

"Midoriya?"

The sudden shock that echoed in the room took her attention for a bit as she looked ahead to what Midoriya had just shown the whole class. The instant she read it, her brow furrowed. Deku? Wasn't that what Bakugou called him?

"Are you really okay with that?"

"You might be called that forever, you know."

He wasn't backing down though. Despite what it had meant, he found a new meaning to it through someone and it changed everything about it. All the bad now meant something different. Something better.

Nagi hated that she couldn't remember things right sometimes, if at all. Her childhood was blurry even now despite how much she wished she could recall it. And what little things she could remember always saddened her—those before and after the Petri.

But if I change that and make them something good then…maybe…

Her hand quickly uncapped the marker and wrote the name on the board.

"Now let's see if Chitanko—oh!" Midnight jumped a bit at having Nagi suddenly at the podium while Midoriya was barely taking his seat. Seeing this, her teacher smiled at her before gesturing to the rest of the class. "If you would then."

Taking a deep breath, Nagi turned the board and announced her name.

"Titanium Hero: Titania."

"Oh, that's a good one!" Midnight clapped with a smile pulling at her lips. "Was greek mythology your inspiration?"

"A story, I think? Or play. I can't remember," Nagi chuckled as she tried to explain. Her gaze veered off aimlessly until she met a pair of cerulean eyes that looked at her small board fondly and with a small smile painted on his lips. That alone surged some confidence into Nagi as she stood proud behind the name she had chosen. "I just remember it's the name of a fairy."

"Ooh, I know!" Mina's hand raised over her head then as she fell over her desk in her attempt to get their attention. "It's the fairy queen, right?"

"Queen?" Kirishima repeated a bit confused.

"That's why it sounds familiar," Yaoyorozu said with a graceful clap of her hands. "Midsummer's Night Dream is a lovely play."

"And it rhymes too!" Hagakure perked from her spot on the corner, her sleeves waving in the air enthused. "It's really cute, Nagi-chan!"

Taking her board after Midnight's approval, Nagi walked over to her seat and took it with a relieved sigh. With a chuckle, she looked down at the board and read the name one last time in her head. Beyond those cold nights that seared themselves into her subconscious, the thought of her mother surfaced and of the nights she would spend telling that story, and with it came a warmth that enveloped her and drove away the cold.

Maybe remembering won't be so sad anymore.

---

"Hey guys, have you decided what pro agency you're going to yet?"

The talk started up instantly like it was expected to with all the enthusiasm going around.

But frankly, Nagi couldn't have been paying any less attention had she intended to. Instead, she precariously leaned her chin on her hand, the lingering sweet scent of the jacket she still wore tickling her nose as her turquoise eyes stared dreamily at the single printed sheet on her desk—or more like the single name that caught her attention almost immediately and that she'd unconsciously been circling with her pencil.

"Hello?" A pink-shaded hand waved a hair's breadth away from her face, jutting itself between Nagi and the paper. "Anybody home?"

Blinking a couple of times, Nagi finally lowered her pencil and turned up to Mina. That faraway stare remained all the same, however. Mina pouted as she leaned on Nagi's desk at being so blatantly ignored. Ochako and Tsuyu stood around her as well, waiting patiently for her response. Meanwhile, Jirou and Yaoyorozu peeked from where they were at near Jirou's desk also looked back, curious about her sudden spacing out.

"Uh…" Nagi drawled off not knowing what they'd been talking about in the least. In the end, she picked the most likely topic her mind could think of at this time of day. "Yakisoba pan sounds good."

A few of them chuckled, though Mina only looked all the more exasperated now that it was clear she hadn't been paying them any attention. Coming closer as Jirou turned her chair to join in, Yaoyorozu reiterated Mina's previous question to the lost strawberry head.

"Have you chosen the hero agency you'll be interning at, Chitanko-san?"

Unable to help it, Nagi's cheeks grew warm at the mere reminder of what she'd been staring at for the past five minutes. "Um…"

"Who recruited you?" Ochako asked as she came to stand behind Nagi's chair making her tense in her seat.

Tsuyu came by her other side completely locking her in place. "I'm curious too. You got quite the number of pros, right?" The mess of circles around the one name, in particular, seemed to catch her classmate's eye and made her place a pensive finger upon her chin. "Oh, you've picked already?"

"No!" Nagi leaned forward completely flustered and smacked her arms over the paper, grabbing the opposite edge of her desk to lock it in place underneath them. She laughed nervously, her smile quivering a bit as she tried to play off her sudden outburst. "I-I mean, there's no way. They're too many to pick from! I need to take my time, y'know?"

Mina's dark and amber eyes narrowed briefly as her lips pouted suspiciously before a grin split across her face and a mischievous glint spark to life in her eyes. Before anybody knew what she was doing, Mina snatched the sheet from under Nagi's arms and sprinted to the front of the class and away from said strawberry head who went into panic mode the instant Mina got her hands on it.

"Let's have a look!" Tripping on her feet gave Mina enough time to read over the list. Her eyes immediately shone at reading the name that had been circled a ludicrous amount of times. "You got recruited by Mirror's Edge!?"

"Mirror's Edge?" Jirou repeated while looking over her shoulder at Yaoyorozu.

"He's a well-known rescue hero from what I've heard," she replied.

Midoriya, overhearing their conversation, scourged through his brain for a minute to research the name. "I've read that too. His rescue statistics are pretty high. Somewhere around Thirteen's, I believe. But if I'm remembering correctly he's most notorious for his achievements in the medical field as a doctor."

"And he's always ranked in the top five Hottest Hero Bachelors in Japan! I can see why you'd wanna intern with him. He's strong, famous, and damn good eye-candy to boot!" Mina exclaimed as she dodged any and every attempt Nagi made to get her sheet back from her. "But boy would you have to work hard for his attention in that agency! I've heard he hires nothing but gorgeous sidekicks 'cause he likes to eye them up—"

"Satsuki-san would never do something like that!"

Everyone got quiet freakishly quickly the moment she burst out like that. And when Nagi noticed, her cheeks could not have turned any redder. Mina pounced on her almost instantly asking her question after question about why on earth she sounded so familiar with Mirror's Edge to the point that she'd be calling him by his given name. Though less flamboyantly, Ochako was quick to join out of sheer curiosity and asked away as much as Mina was. Her brain short-circuited so badly with the number of questions that her eyes spun as she stuttered in an attempt to make up some excuse.

"Shut up already!" All at once, the two stopped at Bakugou's sudden outburst. Getting out of his chair loud as ever, he dragged himself towards the door while complaining on his way out. "You're all so fucking annoying. Who the hell even cares about a shitty hero who's not even in the top ten."

The three of them flinched when he slammed the door shut after himself and held their breath for a moment for good measure. So testy, the three thought unanimously but got interrupted yet again when another chair scraped against the tiled floor as it scooted back. Much gentler than Bakugou had, she might add.

"It's actually not as unbelievable as you may think, Ashido-san." Turning towards him, Yohsei smiled at them with a hint of amusement in his oceanic eyes. Going up to them, he showed them his own sheet and pointed at 'Mirror's Edge Agency' printed neatly on it. "As a matter of fact, Nagi-san and I both are acquainted with Shishio-san. I'm unsure whether that swayed his decision, but taking that into account, I wouldn't think it that incredible, really."

Mina blew a raspberry after a second while Ochako simply chuckled playfully back at him. Nagi, on the other hand, breathed an air of relief, thanking Yohsei for diffusing the troublesome and, frankly, rather embarrassing situation she'd gotten into. Quickly changing the subject, her eyes caught the sight of Yohsei's sheet all filled out with his top three choices and pointed at it.

"Who'd you pick, Yoh-kun?"

He blinked a couple of times before smiling and showing them the top name. Lunar Agency?

"That's...Miroku, right? The Rabbit Hero?"

Yohsei nodded, his fair cheeks blushing a bit from pride. "I won't lie. I'm a big fan. That aside, I think I'll learn plenty with her."

Her lips upturned at one corner giving him a taut smile. "I think you'll do good there, too."

"Thank you." Asking back her sheet from Mina and getting it without much trouble, Yohsei returned it to Nagi who gratefully took it back. "I think you'd do well with Shishio-san too. If that's where you decide to go."

He left them with that as he made his way to the staff room. Once he was gone, Mina went back to snooping around, this time intent on getting more details on her relationship with, according to her, one of Japan's most desirable bachelors. Despite Tsuyu and Ochako's attempts to get her to calm down, Nagi found herself needing to forcefully keep Mina at a distance to not blow a gasket.

Yelling at friends is a big no-no, Nagi. Control yourself.

But it was oh so hard. She didn't like talking about him with other people. Not even to Suzume despite him being her younger brother. The topic just never came up. And whenever it threatened to, it was easy to veer it elsewhere. Talking about him and the relationship she had with him felt just a little too personal.

And she had an inkling that the pesky butterflies fluttering in her stomach had something to do with it.

To her luck, hunger and restlessness caught up to them. Deciding that they could leave their teasing for later, the lot of them, Midoriya included, decided to leave for the cafeteria in search of food before their lunch ran out. Just as they were making their way to the cafeteria, Nagi stopped at not hearing the distinctive jingling of change in her pockets.

Quickly padding her pockets and even her skirt, she groaned under her breath at finding nothing. Midoriya noticed her displeasure right off the bat as they walked beside one another while following after the girls.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot my wallet."

At the sound of that, the whole group stopped and turned back to her.

"Again?" Mina asked.

Jirou chuckled as she stuck her hands in the pockets of her vest. "Still surprised how you've lived this long with how scatterbrained you are."

Nagi flinched at the jab that was way too true to even try to deny it.

"I could pay for your meal if you'd like?" Yaoyorozu offered.

"That wouldn't sit right with me," she admitted with a crooked smile of her own. Skipping back, she waved at them dismissively. "Go ahead! I'll catch up with you guys once I get it!"

Thankfully there not being any teachers out and about to chide her for running in the halls made the trip back to their classroom much quicker. Nagi searched high and low for her wallet but when she couldn't find it anywhere, dread started settling in her stomach. Had she forgotten it at home again?

Cursing under her breath, she looked through her bag once more and only found it when she peered into the paper bag she'd left beside her desk. Must've fallen in there by accident. Relief flooded through her and she thanked her lucky stars that she wouldn't starve today. But just as she hoisted the bag onto her desk to take her wallet out, the heaviness of it took her by surprise.

Oh, that's right. She'd completely forgotten about that extra weight that caught her attention that morning. Reaching inside, Nagi took out a small rectangular white box. Nothing special. At least it wasn't until she opened the box and almost choked on her own spit from what she saw inside.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

A phone.

A brand new fucking phone. It wasn't just brand new either. It was the newest freaking model. What in the world? Peeking into the box, she found its accessories and whatnot in there as well, and on the inside of the lid, she found a note stuck there. It simply read 'Sorry about your phone' in neat handwriting. A vein popped on Nagi's temple the moment everything clicked in her mind.

"Does...does he not know what jokes are?"

It took her a hot minute but after letting go of her slight annoyance and sheer disbelief, Nagi exhaled the longest sigh of her life. It was a pretty nice phone, but she couldn't accept it. Charity wasn't her thing. She accepted the help when it was on indispensable but even then her pride would punch her in the gut over it. Food fell squarely and indiscriminately in that category, hands down. But a brand new cellphone? Her pride would definitely beat her to a pulp and leave her with indigestion just for the hell of it if she accepted this just like that. Placing it back, she closed the box and placed it back in the bag.

I need to return this to him.

The sooner she got that over with, the better her stomach would feel in the long run. Taking the bag in hand and sprinting straight for the door, Nagi stopped dead in her tracks when the door slid open and she found herself just short of slamming into Aizawa.

"E-Eraser!?"

The smack to her head with his clipboard was instantaneous.

"What have I told you?"

"It slipped." Gingerly rubbing at her head, Nagi looked up at him peeved at first, then hopeful as her previous predicament came back to mind quick as could be. "Say, have you seen Todoroki?"

"Todoroki?" His eyes wandered for a moment as he thought her question over. Unfortunately, he shook his head before long. "Can't say I have after we left you guys for your lunch break. Why?"

Her eyes went askance for the briefest of moments deliberating whether to say something or not before returning to him and tossing the idea out altogether. "Just 'cause."

Though he raised a skeptical eyebrow, Aizawa dismissed her peculiar yet not unusual quirkiness with a warning. "Don't go causing trouble."

"When do I—ah." Nagi's yelp escaped her the moment Aizawa placed a paper over her face. It didn't take long for her to take it but before even reading it asked, "What's this?"

"Suzume said you're needed in the Support Department's studio?"

"Support Department? What for?"

He rolled his neck with a hand on it clearly not in the mood for her game of twenty questions. "Some input is needed on your new costume."

"New?" she repeated with distaste. Skimming the printout, it read about said department receiving her 'request' to which she audibly clicked her tongue. "I never asked for a new one."

"Suzume put in the request under your name."

"What's wrong with my old one?"

"Doesn't allow for braces." Turquoise eyes blinked for a solid second before her brow scrunched up. He did the same in return. "Don't give me that. You said you'd work with her and the old lady. So it's either you work with them or I deal with you."

Nagi swallowed the lump that formed at him mentioning that. Chun-chan told him. That somehow made the promise she'd made Suzume a bit more tangible. If Aizawa knew, that meant he could enforce it. And if she had to choose between dealing with Suzume and Recovery or dealing with him, well...her answer was plain to see.

"No need for threats," she mumbled. "So it's just this?"

"Yes. And go now, as well."

Her head shot up the instant she heard him, her brain and stomach working in tandem to order her lips to burst out, "But lunch!"

"You'll have time to eat. Now stop complaining and go."

Nagi wanted to complain. Throw a tiny tantrum for the hel of it. But there wouldn't be time for that and get back to the cafeteria to at least get some pan before lunch ended. Weighing her options and knowing what would ultimately win, Nagi obliged.

"Fine. But if don't have time to eat, don't complain when you see me stuffing my face during class."

His eyes gleamed crimson as he glared down at her and his hair stood threateningly. "Go, Chitanko."

"Yes, sir!"

---

Guess this is it.

It took her less time than she thought to find the place. Though she supposed that there being a huge ass sign reading 'Development Studio' over the door helped a lot. Knocking a couple of times, Nagi stepped back and waited for the door to open. When it didn't, her brow furrowed and she knocked again. Then again.

Nothing.

"Hello?" she called out as she knocked for the fourth time. "Anybody here?"

When all that answered her was silence, what little patience Nagi had disappeared instantaneously.

I don't have time for this. I'm hungry, damn it!

Her hand clasped the door handle tightly to open it, but just as she was about to, a rather loud and noticeable explosion came from inside. Nagi yelped and jumped back when the door shook and could only pale at the sight of smoke as it seeped from the cracks of the threshold. Suddenly, the handle jiggled and turned. Nagi released it when it did and stepped back as a wall of black smoke wafted over her. Her eyes and lungs stung when it hit her and wrenched a bout of coughing when it seeped into her lungs.

From the cloud of black smoke, a busty figure walked out with hair and clothes singed and more than a few marks of soot on her face and body. A hearty laugh left her, almost as if she hadn't gone through a fire hazard just seconds ago. The girl wiped away at her brow with the back of her arm, that smile of hers never disappearing.

"Well, that didn't go as planned!"

"No kidding!" The shout that came from inside was more familiar thank goodness, and her hunch was confirmed when Power Loader strutted out of the same room hacking up a storm. Just as he came out, the girl took one deep breath of fresh air and turned about as if hellbent on returning into the smoke-filled room. "Where'd you think you're going?"

"Back to work."

"Yeah, right. Not without clearing out the mess you made first." Grabbing her by the neck of her gym jacket, Power Loader chucked her towards the hallway unceremoniously. The pink dreadlocked girl barely grabbed a sense of her surroundings when the Excavation Hero pointed her down the hall. "Go tell them to turn on the duct system so the workshop airs out."

Pouting about that, the girl left without another word. As if just noticing her now, he waved the smoke away and appraoched her. "Sorry about that. Did you need something?"

"Y-Yeah…" Nagi gave herself a second to come to terms with the utter mess she just witnessed. And Eraser complains about me. "I'm from the Hero Department. From Class 1-A?"

"Aizawa's student?"

She nodded. The loud sound of machinery roared to life behind him as the smoke began to recede back into the room as if sucked in before disappearing. "My name's Chitanko Nagi. I was told that you needed some input about my new costume."

"Oh, yeah. Blue Bird's request."

Once the room seemed clear, he waved her inside as he walked in himself. As he led her in, Nagi couldn't help but stare at the number of trinkets, power tools, and computers. Hot damn. The ones from the computer lab held no candle against the beauty that was set up in their so-called workshop. Only Yuuei would let its students play around with such high-tech and expensive setups. God, it was gorgeous. What she would give to have that for herself.

Though her urge to sidetrack and play around with it was strong, she reined it back long enough to reach one of the worktables set up in the room. On the cleared-up section of it laid thin strips of what looked to be silver fabric which Power Loader gestured at.

They looked like silly strings. Nagi chuckled a bit at the thought.

"I wanted you to try these before I sent them off to the designer."

"Uh, these?" she asked, skeptical. Power Loader nodded but even with that, she couldn't quite understand why she'd be needed for. Or even what they were. "What are they exactly?"

"It's handcrafted fabric." Nagi's heart practically lodged in her throat when the girl from before suddenly popped in beside her without a sound and delightedly explained away. "It's made of metallic fiber that is majorly composed of titanium with traces of copper, stainless steel, and interwoven into nylon. All things considered, it's pretty sturdy even with the amount of metal fiber in it. Not to mention it's washing machine friendly and won't shrink in the dryer!"

All the while the girl went on explaning, something about it and her made her turquoise eyes narrow. It wasn't until she took a rag to wipe away traces of soot from her face and hair that Nagi finally recognized her.

"You're that support girl from the Sports Festival!"

A yellow, uninterested gaze fell on her and after a moment, she smiled before nonchalantly saying, "Who're you again?"

"Hastume, go clean up the mess you made already." Power Loader barked out his order without missing a beat. And though she looked displeased to be leaving, she went to do as she was told. "That girl, I swear."

"Is...what Hastume-san said true?"

"Yeah," he replied. "She would know, too. She helped me create the alloy we used for the fabric." Taking one in his hand, he easily passed it to Nagi. Funny how despite looking odd on the table, it felt rather nice and soft in her hand. Velvety even. How's this thing nylon? "Your Quirk lets you control titanium right?"

"Yes."

"Even with other metals in it?"

"As long as they're not the biggest component."

"Good," he finalized. "You should be able to do it then. In theory anyway."

No less confused than before, Nagi forced herself to close her gaping mouth once before asking, "Do what exactly?"

"Roll up your sleeve, take off your brace, and activate your Quirk."

Skeptical but still the tiniest bit curious, Nagi did as she was told. The tingling around her wrists where her titanium bracelets touched her skin was a welcoming sensation. Nodding at him to let him know she'd done so made him nod in return.

Without warning, he took another in his hand before slapping the fabric onto her forearm. Like some kind of magnet, the fabric stretched into lengths she couldn't have imagined along her arm and attached itself onto it like a second skin. Turquoise eyes widened at what she was seeing and feeling. Lifting her arm to inspect, the metallic fabric he'd slapped on her arm now looked more akin to a sleeve that fit just right on her.

"Try moving it."

Nagi flexed her arm and gasped in disbelief. The damn thing was as light and thin as rice paper on her skin. Not even the creases of her elbow or wrist deterred it from sticking to her like glue, all the while never feeling cumbersome in the least. What was the most unbelievable though was that it didn't hurt. Her joints, her bones—they were all in place still. And with every move she made, she could feel the way the fabric molded to her arm with just the right amount of force. Could sense the way it popped her elbow and wrist joints into place without her even having to touch it.

This thing's...it's adjusting me every time I move.

"Holy crap."

"Impressive, right?" Nagi couldn't even be mad or annoyed at his goading. It was well-deserved. "A quick study of those braces of yours and what they do made it easier to manufacture the fibers. If new braces are made out of it, it'll not only be more comfortable for you in your everyday life but it'll also boost your efficiency and health while wearing your hero costume."

Two birds with one stone.

"It's amazing." Even deactivating her Quirk didn't mess it up. Though it was still wrapped around her arm and sturdy as she'd left it, the fabric fell off like wet sand the moment she slipped it off her arm like a normal sleeve, returning to the flimsy silly string it appeared to be. "You said you're making braces out of these for me?"

"For personal use and to integrate into your costume. If you have no issues or complaints, I'll let them know to go ahead with the manufacturing."

"Yeah, they're awesome," she admitted with an unsarcastic chuckle. "Hell, with how they felt, I'd take a buy-one-get-one discount if you have it."

"If they're ever damaged or start slacking on the tension, you can bring 'em in and we'll get you new ones, no worries." Scoffing a bit, Power Loader took the four pieces of fabric and placed them back into her hand. "And if you like them that much, take these for a start. Use them for now. Let me know if you find any kink that needs to be fixed and I'll do the job myself here once your costume arrives so you can take them to that internship of yours next week."

Giddy about a new toy, Nagi thanked him and took off her itchy braces to replace them with the titanium ones. Not only did they fit like a glove and lessened the pain, they were also stylish as hell. Though some might think it tacky, Nagi actually liked how the fabric shimmered in the light, reflecting back a spectrum with it.

They were colorful and bright, and she freaking loved that.

"Thank you," she finally said.

"No problem. Better take care of 'em, kid. They're going to help you out in the long run, just you watch."

Yeah, Nagi thought so too.

---

Aizawa had the patience of a saint, though many who knew him personally would certainly disagree. If dealing with his students and the rest of the Yuuei staff and their illogical approaches to teaching didn't already set that in stone, this predicament before him certainly did.

"Think it over."

Nagi, who stood before him in the staff room, groaned out loud, her eyes visibly rolling somewhat. Ticked off, he returned her internship form back to her without preamble as his temple began to throb with the hints of the headache that tended to accompany Nagi.

"What's there to think over?" she asked, placing a distinct emphasis on the words he used. "I want to intern with him. Is that so hard to believe?"

"The fact it isn't is what bothers me."

Mirror's Edge wasn't a bad hero. Boisterous, rather obnoxious, and a pain to be around certainly, but not a bad hero by any terms. Though he didn't have much of a record of taking in interns, the few he did have were beyond stellar. But then again, those were interns that he had no personal history with. Nagi wouldn't be like those kids. Aizawa didn't know what he was more concerned about either. That because of their history the hero would go easy on Nagi or that he would push her further than he would others because of it. It was a coin toss, frankly.

And Aizawa preferred not to leave such things to chance.

"You have 41 other applications. Did you research them all?"

That made the strawberry head suddenly stop as her gaze went askance. Experience told him what that was, the clear telltale sign of her lying.

"I-I did." If her veering gaze hadn't given it away, her stammering certainly did. It didn't take much more than his prying stare for her to admit it. "I...skimmed through the names."

"Then until you do, I'm not accepting it. You have all of today and tomorrow to make a choice. Be sure it's well-made and not one in the spur of the moment."

"I—"

"Oh, Nagi. So glad I found you."

It was hard to dismiss that lilting voice of Suzume's as she walked into the staff room with a sweet smile on her lips. He was at least grateful that she took Nagi's attention away from arguing with him. Aizawa really didn't have the energy to do that today. When he overheard them suddenly speaking about what he and Nagi had just been discussing however a prickle of doubt went down his spine. Surely, their counselor wouldn't agree with her, right? Surely she would see the issue with letting the kid intern with her brother. But as that thought crossed his mind, another did just as vividly.

Then again…

"He's not letting me intern with Satsuki-san."

"What? Why not?"

Giving her the same argument he gave Nagi, Suzume's head tilted to the side a bit. Her brow furrowed the slightest of ways and those deep jade eyes looked at him in that certain way he hated to see. But he wouldn't concede to her. That look hadn't worked on him during their schooldays and it certainly wouldn't now. Before he could put his foot down, the door to the staff room opened and in came another one of his students. Both allowed Todoroki leeway to pass as he walked up to his desk. With aloofness only he was capable of, the boy gave him his internship form all filled out. Aizawa took the sheet in his hand and a mere glance to the top name made him pause.

"Did you think this through?" Todoroki nodded. Another one Aizawa wasn't sure about. But in Todoroki's case, this wasn't something he could so freely intervene in. If this was his choice, he would not stop him. "Very well."

Todoroki gave him a curt bow and headed out. Now left with one of his problem kids, Aizawa knew there would be a sure feud after he just accepted Todoroki's form so readily unlike hers. He took a head start on that argument, already shooting any excuse she would give him.

"Consider the others at least, Chitanko. Otherwise, I won't accept—"

"Alright, got it! I'll look them up and give it some thought and come back tomorrow. Okay, bye!"

The girl darted out of the staff room faster than he could've imagined. Strange. Very much so. But so long as she did as he told her and took matters seriously, there wasn't much room for complaints. As he was returning to check the rest of the forms some of the others had already turned in, a fairly scarred hand reached down and took the pile instead. His eyes followed that hand up to Suzume as her eyes skimmed through the forms rather enthusiastically.

"How are they looking?"

Nosy as always. That was her job, he supposed. Always be in the know of every student in the hero course. Nezu had done a good job realizing the hero course would need more counseling than they already had. Hound Dog was good at his job but not many students always felt comfortable going to him. Hiring Suzume for another set of hands had been a good choice.

"Alright."

Finishing the read up of the forms he had, Suzume smiled. "They're all looking quite promising."

"It'll be a good experience for them."

"I hope it's a safe one, too. ...safer than ours, anyway."

Aizawa let those words settle. She had muttered them under her breath but he heard her loud and clear, even more so because of what those words meant. It was painfully obvious. Considering the topic and that only a handful of things turned those jade eyes so dark and melancholic, Aizawa practically knew that she was referring to that day.

The day she and Kayama could not reach them. The day Hizashi couldn't fight alongside them. The day Aizawa wasn't strong enough to help.

And the day they all lost someone dear to them.

"It will be, Suzume," he said quietly. No one needed to overhear them. Not when he knew how much it still pained her to remember. "We're not letting it happen again. None of it."

"I pray every night that it won't. Not for any student anywhere wanting to be a hero."

With that said, she left the papers on his desk. Her fingers brushed against his wrist for a moment as she made her exit, her hands deftly reaching up behind her ear and turning the dial on the device several times over.

---

"Half-and-half!"

Frankly, she hadn't expected him to stop. Much less when called by that name. Shockingly though, Todoroki did exactly that and even turned to face her when Nagi called out to him. The moment he did his eyes widened the tiniest of bits. Enough to let her know that suddenly tossing the paper bag the short distance left between them had caught him off guard.

Peeved, Nagi frowned his way as those mismatched gray and sea-glass eyes glanced blankly back at her. Before he even got the chance to speak a word, she took the initiative.

"I'm not taking that."

Todoroki being baffled about what she'd done gave her enough leeway to walk right past him after saying what she needed to. Hearing only the sound of her own footsteps against the asphalt fooled her into thinking that he wouldn't argue with her. She couldn't have been more wrong had she tried, though. Not by a long shot.

"Is something wrong with it?"

Nagi's brow furrowed in response. Sometimes it was hard to decipher just what astonished her most about Todoroki, his nonchalance or his utter cluelessness. This time was certainly the latter.

"Yeah, it's a damn phone, Todoroki."

"I know what it is," he simply replied.

Oh how she wanted to slam her head against a concrete wall. Maybe that way she might understand what made him so oblivious now compared to other times.

"Well, good for you. You'll get why I can't accept it then." Shoving her hands angrily into her jacket, Nagi tried speeding up to make some distance between them and failing miserably at it. Damn him and his long legs making it so damn easy for him to catch up to her. Annoyance boiling over, she snapped a bit. "Why in god's name did you even give it to me?"

"You said I broke your phone."

It was hard not to lose her footing from that blatantly honest answer.

"Todoroki, I was joking. Tell me you understand that."

"I do," he responded. From how his brow seemed to furrow the slightest bit and disturb his usual aloof expression, he appeared to be getting just as irritated about this little argument of theirs as she was. "But I did have to do with breaking your old one. That's why I gave you this. It's a replacement."

"Whatever it's for, it's not—it's just not something you give someone else on a whim!"

"I don't understand why you're being so difficult about this."

What?!

Everything including him came to a screeching halt the instant Nagi stopped in her tracks and spun on her heels to meet his gaze with that glare of hers.

"I'm being difficult!?"

It took a few seconds too long for her to realize that her little outburst had brought a lot of attention from other people in the street. And since they had somehow made it to the station without her noticing, there was quite the audience to boot. Nagi's cheeks grew warm when the fact hit her. In her embarrassment, she snatched Todoroki's wrist and brought him to the side of a konbini where their little argument would be less conspicuous. Just by a tiny bit, anyway. But even that was something, so long as she could rein in her mounting frustration where this clueless airhead was concerned.

"I'm not the one being difficult here!" she hissed back at him, reiterating her point and putting as little attention to the prying eyes that peeked at them as they went in and out of the store. "That thing is brand new. And I checked too, it's freaking expensive. That's just not something you give someone you barely know."

"I know that. And I already explained that it's a replacement for the one I broke." He said this and yet Nagi had the hardest time believing him. It must've shown on her face too because Todoroki let out a long exhale as his eyes went askance for a moment. "You said as much yourself, didn't you?"

Nagi groaned at how adamant he was being about this. Was this it? Would this be the hill their quiet and aloof recommended prodigy would die on? God, she hoped not. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her hands together and exhaled while praying to that same god for some damn patience with this one.

"I was joking, Todoroki. Do you know what that means? I didn't mean it. I was just teasing you to get a reaction out of you. But this ain't the one I wanted. At all."

"Joke or not, I feel responsible for what happened."

She threw her hands in the air wanting nothing more than to end this already.

"Fine! You feel responsible, buy me yakisoba pan for a week. Don't freaking buy me a phone!"

"I frankly don't see what the problem is."

Her shoulders slumped quite visibly as she began to realize that this might very well be the first battle of stubbornness that she lost in her life.

"...Of course you don't."

It was exasperating to argue with him. Far more than she ever expected it to be. Here she thought that this would be easier because of how straightforward he was. What a damn way to prove her wrong. Not wanting to blow up on him again, Nagi took another deep breath to ready herself for carefully and thoroughly convincing him how much of a bad idea this was. And if that didn't work after ten minutes, then brute force would do the job nicely.

"My mother said it'd be a good idea."

Turquoise eyes blinked, utterly floored by the topic he suddenly pulled out of his sleeve.

"Rei-san?"

Todoroki nodded, adjusting the bag in his hold as his gaze lowered to the floor.

"After you left, my mother and I talked for a long while. When she noticed you'd left your camera there, she talked about you for a bit. It was then that I mentioned that I'd broken something of yours and felt at odds about what to do. And she said...that maybe a gift would be nice. Something to help replace what had broken."

It caught Nagi off guard just how mesmerizing and strange his voice sounded as he said all this. It wasn't that aloof tone she'd learned to expect from him after the short time of knowing him. Instead, it was rather peaceful...and calm. There was still this tinge of indecisiveness in it. Like he knew what he was talking about but wasn't all that comfortable speaking about it yet. That much was obvious just by looking at him, no matter how much his nonchalance tried covering it up. All of which made it all the more surprising that he was even talking about such things with her.

"That's why I thought it'd be a good idea to give it to you. It's the first thing that came to mind, honestly." Hearing himself say that made him lift his head briefly as his gaze returned to her once more. "But I think I can see how it's somewhat excessive."

Hearing the way he reasoned things through pulled her lips into a thin smile. He meant well. That much had been pretty obvious to her from the beginning. To think that he of all people would be so troubled by her teasing was kind of unbelievable, though. That he took such qualm so seriously spoke volumes about how what she said affected him.

So in a way, neither of them was really guilt-free here.

Guess I need to be more careful with what I say.

But still.

"I appreciate the sentiment. I really do. But I can't see myself accepting something so expensive. Thank you though."

"What would it take for you to accept it?"

To her utter dismay, he was not backing out of this argument yet. Luckily, though, it was much easier to try and convince him now that her frustration had died down.

"Short of paying back for it, don't think anything will," she honestly said with a dismissive shrug. With that said, Nagi eyed the clock at the station. Her train would be here soon. Knowing this would end the argument for good, she waved him goodbye, saying she'd see him tomorrow, and turned to leave.

But just as she walked past the entrance of the station, she heard him once more.

"Half."

Confused by the single word, Nagi faced him with her brow knitted together and voice thick with the same puzzlement. "What?"

"You said nothing short of paying, but I don't think it'd be right for me to give you something that you have to pay me back for." Todoroki stretched out his hand and held the paper bag inches away from her, urging her to take it as he said, "That being the case, how about paying for half of it?"

"You're crazy," she exhaled with a scoff. But the more she thought about it, the more her guilt and pride came to terms with something. Todoroki wouldn't back down from this. He was determined to find a happy medium to their predicament. And after all she heard, Nagi found herself doing the unthinkable.

She took the bag.

"I'll pay for 80%."

"Half."

"65."

"Half."

Her lips pursed as she seriously considered duking it out with him some more if only to go into the single-digit difference and have the satisfaction that she'd gotten this on her own terms. But she could tell by the subtly determined expression and glint in his eye that he would have none of it. Coming to terms with this, Nagi took one last deep breath before exhaling, the hint of a smile touching her lips.

"Alright, you win."

Just then, a notification chimed from Todoroki's phone. Nagi watched for a moment as he checked it and noticed something strange about his phone. Something that sprung an idea in her head. Her head spun every which way searching the nearby streets for a store in particular. I've seen it around here. Where is it? Spotting the store right next to the bakery where she would sometimes stop at had her smirking that lopsided grin of hers.

Bingo.

"Sorry about—ah." He didn't even sound confused or astounded when he reacted to her suddenly taking his wrist and dragging him after her to the nearby store.

The bell rang above them as Nagi brought him inside. She had stopped a few times here if only to browse most times. Sometimes she even bought cute stuff for her desk. All in all, it was a neat place that had a little bit of everything. Home decor, stationery, tech accessories, straps, and the one thing that she came in here for.

Finally at the spot, Nagi released him and swung her arm out in a grand gesture towards the shelves that housed a rather large selection of phone cases.

"Pick one!"

"What?"

"I know we decided on half but I still don't feel all that comfortable with our deal, to be honest. And though this won't really put a dent in it, it'll let me sleep a little better at night." Eyeing one in particular, Nagi took a simple white case with a couple of strawberries drawn on the back. "This one'd be cute for ya."

"But I don't need—"

"And I didn't need a phone either but here we are," she said without skipping a beat and not losing her smile either. "Besides, I'm biting the bigger bullet here. How about letting me have this one?"

For a moment, she thought he would flat out refuse her. To her surprise, though, he lifted his head after a moment and started browsing. Nagi happily went around with him, pointing out flashy and colorful ones that she thought fit with his personality or Quirk. The one that had her laughing the most was a candy cane one. That he couldn't see what she meant by it 'matching him' just got her good. In the end, he went with a plain black one to her chagrin, and before he could go sneakily pay for it, Nagi took it from his hands and skipped to the cashier. Unlike Todoroki, she took the first one she'd gotten, the white with strawberries. Not only was it cute, it'd match her fuzzy charm, too.

Both went into the station afterwards and to her surprise boarded the same train. Of course, Nagi knew he would only be there for a few stops. Shizuoka wasn't that far by train, after all. And seeing as he had the same model as the one he'd gotten her, Nagi took full advantage of that fact, asking for his help to get her new phone running and her a bit familiar with it as well.

By the time his stop came, Nagi had almost everything ready to go.

Almost.

Her phone being soaked beyond repair had her wondering if she had lost all her contacts for good. There weren't many she remembered. Work was the only one that came to mind without much thought, honestly. Everything else, not quite as much. Asking for his number was painless enough and Todoroki complied easily. But when she mindlessly wrote 'Todoroki' to save it, a thought came to her. A rather rude yet oddly funny thought if she said so herself. She just hoped this wouldn't go over his head like her last joke had.

"Remind me what your hero name was again?"

"My name," he simply replied.

Her head bobbed a bit with her nod as she recalled that as well. "Shouto, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Oh, no reason." Without warning, she pointed the phone his way, the camera snapping noisily before she went back to typing. "None. What. So. Ever."

One corner of her lips pulled mischievously as she furiously typed something into her phone, saving it just in time to overhear the train's next stop. His stop. Perfect. The train stopped without much preamble. Nagi rose from the seat with him and followed up to the door that parted open to let him exit as they reached it. Waving goodbye, she only waited long enough for him to exit the train before dropping her last tease of the day.

"Thanks again, Shou-chan!"

It was priceless the way he just froze in place for a solid second. Nagi swore the tips of his fingers even frosted over a tiny bit the instant he heard her. And when those mismatched eyes turned to her the most baffled she'd ever seen him, her grin widened from ear to ear just in time to raise her phone and show him the screen.

There as plain as day was his contact info and the picture she'd snapped just seconds ago, all under the nickname she blurted out plastered in bold letters with a fire and snowflake emoticons after it.

The doors closed then and the train departed thereafter, leaving a rather speechless Todoroki standing amidst the crowded station and failing to fully process what had happened.

---

'Please change it.'

Nagi snickered at his tenacity, fingers moving quickly over the touchscreen.

'Over my dead body.'

Who knew changing phones was so easy nowadays? Here she thought she'd end up losing all the stuff from her old phone. What she had lost wasn't much that she would miss—apps she could reinstall, login into accounts was a hassle but not hard, and she always backed-up all the pictures from her phone every other week anyway. Thankfully most of her contacts were intact. And that the one voicemail wasn't lost either was a load off her mind as well.

Finishing her fiddling with her brand new toy, Nagi laid back on her bed after having just been sitting on her desk for the better part of an hour. From the ground, Mii-chan meowled quietly as she jumped onto the bed with her and strutted up to lay by her side. The moment, Mii-chan did, however, the crunching of paper spooked the feline away to huddle on her pillow instead. Taken aback by the sound as well, Nagi took it only to find her internship form crumpled up a bit. It was while straightening it and reading the single name she'd written for her top pick, that Aizawa's words from that afternoon finally came back to the surface.

"You have all of today and tomorrow to make a choice. Be sure it's well-made and not one in the spur of the moment."

Mirror's Edge being her top pick was a no brainer to her. Not only did she know him, but his Quirk was also a dead ringer for hers where their technique was involved. Just from that fact alone, she knew that by studying under him she would learn much more than she possibly could with anybody else. But despite how obvious her choice should have been, Nagi had to begrudgingly admit that Eraser's argument was sound. Forty-two others had opted to choose her too.

Maybe looking into them wasn't that bad of an idea.

With that in mind, she took the rest of her night to do just that. By the time midnight hit and her alarm chimed to let her know it was time for bed, she was beyond mentally spent. Stretching back on her chair, it creaked as she raised her arms over her head and went about popping them for some sweet relief. Heaving a long sigh, Nagi bounced back to her desk where she now had a few pages full of notes on the forty-two agencies scattered on her desk.

After looking through them, there were some that were quite unexpected. The two most outstanding being rather high-ranking hero agencies. Nagi scoffed at the thought of Bakugou losing his shit if he found out about these particular heroes choosing her. Though she had to admit that even she was in disbelief still that they had even considered her at all. Endeavor's was the first one that caught her by surprise. What in the world the number-two hero wanted with her was beyond her in all honesty. Something she didn't believe she'd have to think twice until she saw the current number three hit her up for recruitment as well. Interning with someone like Hawks sounded...fun? Maybe that wasn't the right word. Interesting would be a better fit. But it sounded just as draining as interning with Endeavor did. And the sentiment wasn't any different with any of the other pros. At most, they were all interesting and that was the bare minimum for her. But none of them really caught her attention like Mirror' Edge had.

And they're not Satsuki-san.

A long exhale slipped through her nose as the thought crossed her mind. That the little fact kept rushing back when any agency remotely appealing came up hadn't gone unnoticed by her. Her bias was clear even to her and it was just not letting her think right.

"It's not like I'm wrong." Her voice traveled in the empty room. On her lap, Mii-chan purred back as if to mindlessly answer her while Nagi contemplated her thoughts aloud for a moment. "There's really no better place for me to intern at than at his agency."

And well…

I really want to see him again.

Minor excuse but it didn't matter when everything else made sense. It'd be a plus if anything. Her pen tapped a few more times against her desk before the chime of her phone caught her attention. Probably Todoroki coming back to beg, she thought with a chuckle as she easily unlocked her phone to read the text.

'I hope you're doing well and taking care of yourself, love.'

All the humor ran away from her the moment she read it. Only one person referred to her as 'love'. That paired with the unknown number were dead giveaways that Yori had gotten tired of her silent treatment. Reading the message over a couple of times, Nagi mulled over whether to reply. A tiny part of her was still angry at them for what they'd done but the much larger one couldn't lie about how much she missed them already. So when the latter part won her over and had her texting him back, it didn't come as much of a surprise.

'Fit as a fiddle. What about you?'

'Happy now that you're talking to me again. Had the message saved the past couple of days thinking whether or not to send it.'

Nagi chuckled at their sincerity. Yori could be facetious about a lot of things but never about how he felt and acted towards her—mostly never. It was honestly the same with her where he was concerned which sold her on the fact that perhaps this no-contact time had been a good choice after all.

The fact certainly solidified itself in her mind the more she and Yori chatted. Before long, they grew tired of the back and forth and called her instead before she could stop them. Hearing a stranger's voice anytime they spoke always tightened her chest with guilt, panic, and fear. The thought of not even remembering what his voice sounded like after all those years always struck her deeply but she never let it show in front of them. In front of Yori, it was always smiles or sarcastic and acerbic quips. Never concern when she could help it. And though she hated how her lip quivered a little at hearing them talk so naturally with her despite their recent fight, Nagi knew better than to let it pile up like before.

Thank god this is just a call.

"Any news on your end?"

"Not much," she replied after taking a deep breath to hide the slight shakiness in her voice. "We're doing internships the whole of next week. Got some recruits from pros myself. Something quite amazing after the shit show of a performance I gave at the sports festival. But who am I to complain if they have the shit taste to pick someone like me, right?"

Yori chuckled from the other end. "Good to hear...though that wasn't quite what I meant."

"What do you mean that's not what you meant?"

"Last time we spoke you said you'd break through that firewall, remember? So we could get into Yuuei's information base."

Oh.

It was astounding how easily she'd forgotten about that. Though it took her off guard, she played it off, saying that she hadn't forgotten but had instead reached a rather annoying slump.

"What kind?"

"Suzume's access code didn't get me as far as I hoped. I got—" As the sentence slipped from her lips, Nagi stopped herself as a thought came to her. The students' information wasn't necessary...right? Yeah, they never were the targets. The real fish they were after was Yuuei's staff. So not telling them about what she did get from those files was fine.

Yeah, it's just useless information. It's fine if I don't tell him.

"I got nothing pretty much. My guess is they don't allow her access because she's such a new addition to their staff. I'm thinking I need a way to get deeper access into their system."

"What would that take?"

Nagi shrugged her shoulders as if they could see her. "Maybe an older user? Credentials from a staff member that has way more access than Suzume did. Or maybe a more inlaid drive that's connected to all their other….systems."

"You sound like you've already found what you're looking for to me," Yori said with a scoff.

Yeah, Nagi thought so too. Especially when she recalled a rather fancy looking computer in a small cramped development studio.

"It might be riskier than what I did last time. I can't access it anytime I want like what I did the other couple of times...but maybe rerouting through a different set-up could get me into it."

"And your technobabble is my cue to leave you be." Yori's playful tone subsided for a moment as his voice turned more serious. It was only by the drop of his tone that Nagi somewhat recognized the voice as a vessel she'd met before. Inryoku...something was it? She must've forgotten to save their number on her phone. "You do you, love. I've hit a slump on my end as well, so it might be a while before we can move past this."

"What kind of slump do you have?"

"Nothing much. Just some hoops I need to jump through before I can get anything substantial."

None of that sounded reassuring to her. Especially when she recalled the crowd Yori was hanging out with. Pushing herself away from her desk, Nagi stood up to pace the small space of her room.

"Are you doing alright? Like over there with them?"

It was nerve-racking beyond belief that Yori didn't answer her right away. But when they did, they laughed a bit as if her worried tone had been something hilarious.

"I'm not in any danger, Nagi. I've been keeping my distance and not implicating myself in anything. I'm only here for information, and it just so happens that my lead has connections to them. Nothing more, nothing less."

Strange how their words relieved and worried her in equal measure. "Alright, just...be careful, please."

"I should be saying that to you. You mentioned you're doing internships for the week, right? Where at?" It took a moment for Nagi to lay the basics of what her dilemma was. Yori simply hummed pensively afterward on the other end. "I suppose that agency's alright. At least you've got nothing in Hosu and the further away you're from there, the happier I'll be."

"How come?"

"I'm sure you've read the news. About the so-called Hero Killer."

Oh… That.

It had been a passing thought that hit her hard when she first saw it online. The Hero Killer had struck plenty of cities and their respective heroes already, many of which were injured past the point where they could feasibly retake their mantle as heroes even after they heal. And that was counting the lucky ones that were still alive. This last time she heard about the villain had been about the attack he'd committed against the hero Ingenium in Hosu. Against Iida's older brother. Nagi wondered if the family emergency from the sports festival had been that.

The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that it had been.

It had to be.

And it pained her to think that Iida had been struck with such a tragedy as that. The silver lining was that he was still alive at least. A rather piss-poor silver lining but still…he's alive.

Her fingers toyed with the titanium bracelets that dangled from her wrists restlessly at the thought.

"Yeah, I've heard. You make a good point too. I'll be on the look to avoid any agencies near Hosu."

"Mirror's would be a good one, to be honest. Any that keep you out of there, really. The farther you can get from that city, the better."

"Agreed." Just as she was about to change the subject, however, Nagi stopped her pacing as what Yori said settled in her mind. "You really think Mirror's Edge is a good agency for me?"

"For your internship? I think so. Don't know the man enough to judge but if he's the other half of that sister-brother duo, how bad could he be, right?"

"Right?" Nagi chuckled nervously as if thinking they'd be one to butt heads with her about this like Aizawa had. "It'd be good."

"Just be careful," he added. "He knows you better than most do. Much like the older Shishio, you need to keep your wits about you. We can't risk your slipping about us and what we're doing."

"You know I wouldn't."

"I know you wouldn't."

It was odd that they agreed with her in such a way, but if Yori thought as she did then this really was as easy of a decision as she thought at first. Choosing to end their conversation there, Nagi was about to bid them goodnight when Yori spoke up once more.

"I'm sure you'll do well wherever you go, Nagi. You kick ass better than anybody I know. And that's saying something."

"I kick ass better than you and that's enough for me," she cajoled. It was then that her voice turned softer as she smiled through her next words. "I miss you, Yori. Thank you for the advice and for worrying."

"Anytime, love. And you know I'll always worry." There was a brief pause before they spoke again. "And thank you...for forgiving me."

"I'll never be mad at you for long, Yori. You know that."

"Yeah, I know… Goodnight, Nagi. Rest well."

"You, too, Yori. Take care."

The moment the call ended, Nagi turned to the form she had so neatly and properly filled out. She'd done her research. On all forty-two. Even if her choice didn't change, she had done as Aizawa asked.

And that would be enough.

"Did you do what I asked?"

"I did."

"And your choice didn't change?"

Nagi shook her head at Aizawa as she stood in front of his desk in the staff room the next day. Dementedly early she might add. All out of a nasty habit that had formed after weeks of before-school detention. At this hour, the staff room was rather quiet despite most of the teachers being there. Leaning back on his chair, Aizawa's gaze fixated on the form in his hand after having asked his question before returning to her.

"I want to intern with him. I'm sure I'll learn plenty now more than ever through him."

A moment passed, then a solid minute. Just as she thought he would decline her yet again, Aizawa let out a long sigh before placing the paper with the pile alongside the rest of her classmates.

"Fine."

Turquoise eyes widened the moment he gave his verdict. "Really!?"

"Yeah."

"Hell yeah!"

Papers went flying when Nagi excitedly sprung forward and slammed her palms against his desk. Receiving a peeved glare from him got a nervous chuckle out of her before she instantly sunk to go about picking the mess she'd made. As she did so, her eyes caught glimpses of where the rest of her classmates had chosen to go, but as she picked the last one, Nagi paused with slight apprehension twisting her gut.

Iida's interning with Manual...in Hosu?

That had to be a coincidence.

...Right?

The way her stomach turned even further told her otherwise.

The moment Aizawa cleared his throat and brought her back to the present, Nagi scrambled to return the pile back where it had been before. Laughing at her own clumsiness was enough to distract him and excuse herself from the staff room. Speeding out of there got her back to class faster than ever and with a few minutes to spare before their next class started. But as she took her seat and looked over her shoulder to their class president, a knot upturned her stomach yet again.

No, she thought, shaking the needless glum that threatened to take over her. It's fine. Nothing's going to happen.

That's right. It would all turn out just fine. They would have great internships and come back as better heroes-in-training because of them.

All of them would.

---

A/N:

*dies from exhaustion*

Took my time, huh? I was so into doing other stories that I left this till the end. Then didn't have any inspiration to write, so I left it out longer. But now I'm back and stronger than ever! I think i'll start up wrtiting the next chapter soon too, 'cause BOI AM I EXCITED ABOUT THIS!

I'd like to thank you all who have just recently joined with all your favorites and follows. Even more to the lovely people who take the time to review. I love all of you and I'm soo not deserving of all the praise you give me. I really, really appreciate all of you. My usual spiel of calling ya'll out personally will have to wait till the next chapter because I am tiiirreeeddd. I have school in five hours and i need to sleep 'cause boi do i feel woozy xD

Anyway, thanks to every last one of you! I hope you enjoyed this mellowed out chapter before we hit the ground running with the next ones and fully go into the meat of the Hero Killer arc! Stay tuned for the next update and see you soon!

*Evie*