This is a bad idea.

This is a terrible, awful - the worst he's ever come up with - idea. But he has to know. He has to know she'll get to her destination safely. What's most alarming is if someone notices that he's sketchy as all hell wearing a baseball cap and a medical mask following a young girl, they're saying nothing. What if he really was some shit-head villain looking to kidnap her? What if he was waiting for her to turn down a less densely populated street to take her? Would anyone notice? Would anyone report it if they did? Would they remember his description if detectives interviewed them?

When he'd stepped from his apartment, after quickly getting changed so he wouldn't look like a complete freak in his well worn sweatpants and exposed chest, he raced down the emergency stairs to the first floor and waited for Maimie to leave the elevator like he did yesterday. He was panting and his skin felt heavy from a new layer of thick sweat, but he quickly gathered himself and slipped on the mask. He waited for her to pass the front desk, heard her good morning to the staff, and didn't leave until he was sure she left the building.

The front desk woman greeted him, though, not as cheerfully as she did Maimie, and he grunted his response. All the staff by now know he's not a morning person… or an anytime of day person for that matter. He's lived here long enough (three years) that they probably warn the new staff of the fourth floor's "grumpy" and "easy to snap" tenant.

(Katsuki had heard a few staff talking behind the building when he was walking home from the store one day, and he let them know exactly how he felt about their comments. They were probably on their break which meant they could argue back without getting fired, but one look of his glare and they were begging for forgiveness.)

Now, he finds himself one with the masses, trying to keep Maimie in his sights at all times by side stepping out the way of anyone who doesn't care to look up from their phone. In front of him, Maimie does the same. She's obviously nervous, arms crossed over her chest with her fists clutching the straps. She's wearing the same uniform as yesterday and Katsuki wonders to himself if she has any other coats. Maimie's still wearing the same thin zip up as before and it's also very obvious she's cold.

Would it be weird if he lends her his coat? They're on the cusp of winter but it doesn't seem like her father cares to tell her to wear a heavier one.

No. It would definitely be weird. No matter how much Katsuki wants to, suddenly going up to her and dumping it over her head would absolutely give him away, and people would notice.

Where is her shitty father, anyway? He understands there's a trust between them that she'll be safe but they just moved here, damn it. He must've shown her the way once, at least. However, that thought quickly fades when she stops at a crosswalk, looks around utterly confused, and decides to branch off from her path to a drive through coffee stand. They're busy but when she approaches the window, a cheerful redhead - probably in her twenties - slides it open and smiles down at her.

Katsuki pulls out his phone, slows his pace so he doesn't pull ahead, and pretends the scroll through a random app as he eavesdrops.

"What can I get for you, sweetie?" the redhead asks.

He can hear the nervous strain in Maimie's uncertain voice. "Um, I'm on my way to school but, uh, I'm a little turned around."

She's not, Katsuki thinks, she's on the right track but he can understand her nerves. For a brief moment, he thinks about going up to her, buying her a hot chocolate and walking with her the rest of the way, but what'd be the point in all of this sneaky bullshit, then?

Just stay back, see how this goes. She made it home okay, yesterday, right? And mid afternoon traffic is always busier than the early morning's tired stroll to work,

"Oh!" the redhead perks. "That's alright. What school do you go to?"

"Um," Maimie rings her hands, then with little confidence, "Matsunoki Elementary?"

"Hey, I went there," the redhead beams and out of the corner of his eye, Katsuki sees Maimie's relieved little smile. Her hands are still fidgeting, though.

Katsuki's past the stand now, ahead of Maimie, so he pulls over to the side, still using the guise of scrolling his phone. No one pays him any mind.

He can still hear them as the redhead gives her clear directions, asks if Maimie would rather have it on a piece of paper and then scrambles to find a sticky note and pen. It only takes a moment for Maimie to thank her with a slight bow, which the redhead floundered at, and come running back to the sidewalk. Katsuki lets her get a head a good few yards, then - like the total stalker he is - he pockets his phone, pushes off the wall, and continues his pursuit. Everyone is none the wiser. He doesn't know how to feel about that. A part of him wants to be roughly pulled to the side and be asked what the hell he's doing because at least then he'll know someone is looking out for the girl. The other other part is relieved. He can't get arrested again. Fatty will be there, and if he isn't, someone will tell him and the fucker will come in just to annoy the shit out of Katsuki again.

Katsuki shakes out of his thoughts and goes back to Maimie. The girl's more confident now that she has directions and pauses to look at her note then the street signs on every corner they come across.

A few turns in and Maimie is suddenly confident enough to pocket the note and continue on her way. Katsuki realizes they made it to the main road, the same one he saw Maimie on yesterday. It's much busier than the side streets they had been taking. Cars are stacked up at the lights, traffic is moving at the speed limit - instead of the usual five above - and the sidewalks are full but not crowded.

They stop at an intersection and wait for the crossing sign. Maimie is in the middle of the crowd and Katsuki stays one person back so if she turns around, she doesn't immediately see him. With everyone clumped together, he begins to sweat despite the cold. What if someone recognizes him? Calls out his name right in front of her and tries to strike up a conversation? Or worse, they'll start muttering to the person beside them until everyone is suddenly buzzing with gossip like a swarm of bees. He ducks his head, subtly tips the bill of his hat further down and tightens his backpack straps.

Glancing, Maimie is wringing her hands, nervous again. Katsuki wants to take her hand before she picks a hole through her sleeve cuff when something else catches his attention.

And he's suddenly more than simply enraged.

The man between him and Maimie is slowly reaching for her, rising to touch her shoulder or her back pack or where ever the fuck, but like hell Katsuki's going to watch and do nothing.

Katsuki's hand is on the man's waist in seconds, his fingers curling in and gouging as best they can through the puffy jacket. He man startles and his hand freezes - still reaching - and before he can make anyone around them realize his distress, Katsuki leans in close.

"Touch her and I'll blow your intestines all over the fuckin' sidewalk. It'll be messy and painful and a hell of a way to go. Then I'm gonna to beat you're ugly fuckin' face in 'cause with an explosion this low, it'll leave your fat fuckin' head attached to your fat fuckin' shoulders."

The man's hand doesn't lower. "You wouldn't," he grunts shakily.

A smirk stretches across Katsuki's face, and though his voice is low, he can hear how his own words drip with sadistic temptation. "Wanna fuckin' bet?"

He allows the nervous sweat from before accumulate in his clawed hand and heat, and burn. With his hand pressed so tightly against the thick material, it acts as a muffler when his sparks start to ignite. The skin of his palm is burning from years of misuse but the familiar pain is welcome in every aspect of the situation. Maimie's safety is more important than any amount of pain.

The man's hand jerks back to his side as he coils away from Katsuki's grip, but he doesn't let him go. The sparks stop, but Katsuki has more to say.

"I ain't some sparkler show, either. Now get outta my fuckin' cross walk before sparks turn into explosions, you fucking disease."

Katsuki lets him go and the man immediately shoves from the crowd and down the street. There are gasps and murmurs as everyone watches the man sprint around a corner and disappear. Katsuki wants to bound after him, release every single frustration on the man and cave in his fucking face for even thinking about touching Maimie - but then the crosswalk light turns white and the masses are moving like a heard of cattle. He wants to - God he really fucking wants to - but Maimie is walking quicker to get out of the road before the light turns and he can't risk something like this happening again. What if the fucker tries to come back?

Crossing the busy intersection, Katsuki trails behind Maimie closer than he did before, now he won't allow anyone to be between them.

She should be scared.

He's so angry, and full of hate, and she doesn't have to dig deep to know he's ready to kill.

She should be scared, but she's not.

She should run, but she doesn't.

She shouldn't find comfort in his anger, but she does.

It isn't anger towards her.

It's anger for her.

She should be scared, and maybe she was at first because he followed, and he stalked, and he stayed back but never far; and yet, he is the one who's scared.

Scared for her.

He's always been scared for her.

So she lets him follow, lets him stalk, and stay back but never far, because with each step away from the other man's overwhelming hunger to take, and steal, and hurt, his anger shifts from fiery furious to simple hot embers.

Before the gates - a block away - she digs, and finds, and reaches for his relief. A relief that stems from pursuing his fear for her.

It grows as she holds it until it's heavy.

Crossing the school gates, she lets go, and joins her friends waiting for her at the front steps.

When Maimie crosses the school gates, Katsuki keeps walking. To stop and watch her go in would be weird. Even if he wanted to, there are too many people. Parents dropping off their kids, teachers in bright yellow vests managing the crosswalk, there's even a school officer monitoring who walks in and out the school grounds. If he were to stop, looking how he does, he's sure the officer would pull him to the side. So he keeps walking, already deciding on where to go next.

The bar isn't so far from the school, which Katsuki doesn't think too deeply about. Maimie's school is on the outskirts of the heart of the city, to have a scandalous bar a few blocks away and two streets down doesn't seem unusual. At least it's somewhat tucked away behind various office buildings and local shops. There are windows, but they're heavily tinted black with flashing three neon figures - either pink or purple - and all of them are outlines of women in various suggestive positions. The one that stands out the most is a bright pink woman outline sitting on the last letter of the bar's name, her leg seeming to swing back and forth. Lovely Lacy's is the name of the joint. (Mina once told him it's original name was Skin, Sin & Sex, but almost the entire city signed a petition for it to be renamed or shut down.)

Katsuki enters through the back kitchen door - like Hell he was going to let anyone see him walk in through the front - and quietly makes his way through the small cooking area, which is really just a back room with a stove in his opinion. He's gone through the back enough times that the single old bag of bones for a cook doesn't try to argue anymore. After four screaming matches, he'd come to the conclusion that Katsuki wasn't going to enter any other way, and now resorts to simply glaring whenever he stops by. Katsuki only glares back.

The kitchen, thankfully, is connected to the front room which isn't where the poles are - that's in the back where Katsuki swears he'll never go - and instead is a decent dining area with round tables decorated with low mood light candles. A large stage that takes up the majority of the space, outlined with thick silk sheets like an old theater is the main reason why people come to waste their money on overpriced booze'. There's live music every night, a burlesque show with singing and dancing - and a lot of suggestive skin - twice a week every week. Over all, if it weren't for the private rooms in the back and the shitty name choice, it'd be like any other bar.

The kitchen leads to behind the main bar and Katsuki doesn't hesitate to grab the most expensive whisky they have, pour himself a shot, and swing it back. It burns then settles into a heavy warmth in the back of his throat. As the warmth lingers, he thinks about pouring himself another, but the thick glass bottle is about ten shots until empty, and he isn't that much of an asshole to waste it on himself. Instead, he puts it back and quickly makes himself a gin and tonic before leaving the back of the bar and taking a seat at one of the many stools.

The front of the bar is always empty this time of day, the live music doesn't even start until three in the afternoon - the backroom's playlist is always on a loop, however - so he has a couple of peaceful moments to himself before Mina comes in the same way he did. She's in electric blue patterned leggings that leaves nothing to the imagination and a puffy white knitted sweater that looks yellowish in the warm lighting. She leans over the counter across from him with a dramatic sigh.

"Should've told me you were coming, at least, but I knew you would!" she beams.

He simply rolls his eyes and nurses his drink.

She doesn't miss a beat, not sounding like someone that has probably been at the bar since three in the morning. "What'd you make?"

"Gin and Tonic." He digs in his pocket for his wallet, pulls out a five and slides it towards her. "And a shot of whisky."

"A five?" her confusion turns to skepticism as she leans back but not off the bar. "What shelf?"

"Fourth."

She signs, dramatic again, but takes the five. "Fine, but I'm keeping the change."

It's quiet between them as he takes another sip, then, "What the hell was that about last night?"

Mina perks up, like she's surprised she forgot why she called him so early in the fucking morning. The surprise is replaced with genuine concern as she says, "Is your gazelle okay?"

His glass slams on the counter. "This shit again?!"

He can feel the glass creak in his hand as his drink goes everywhere but none of that matters as the rage from before comes back full force. The mention of Maimie reminds him of the bastard at the intersection, and suddenly he's seething to find him and beat him to a bloody pulp like he should've done as soon as he saw Maimie enter the school. Where that fuck has all this rage been until now? If anything, it just makes him more mad because now the guy's probably far too gone to be found by now.

Mina isn't affected by his outburst. "I know, I know. You don't believe in all of this is 'just a fucking coincidence' " she quotes with her hands and mocks his voice "But this is the entire reason why I called you, so do you wanna know why or not?"

Katsuki lulls his hand towards her, "Get the fuck on with it then," and takes a deep pull from what's left of his spilled drink. He can already feel a headache coming on. Should've went back, beat the shit head then went home. That's what he should've done instead of sitting here to listen to Mina's string of bullshit.

But if it has something to do with Maimie…

"Alright," - Mina claps her hands together, and her eyes go up and somewhere distant, remembering, and talking fast - "This time it wasn't a dream. I was on patrol last night during the storm when I saw a baby deer get struck by lightning!"

Katsuki opens his mouth.

Mina goes on, "And before you interrupt me - I know a deer and a gazelle are two different things but both are from the same family-"

"No, they're not, idiot."

"-and this baby, all alone and without protection was struck! By lightning! I saw it die! Do you know what lightning symbolizes?!"

It's a rhetorical question but he answers anyway behind the rim of his glass, "No."

"It symbolizes a sort of enlightenment and the destruction of ignorance-"

"You sound like a Wiki page."

"-what if this means your gazelle was struck - Eh? Yeah? - with an important understanding of something, and since the baby died, that something must be life threatening!"

"Jesus, you fucking alien! She's only a fucking kid! She doesn't know the secrets to the universe!" Katsuki shouts, slamming his fist on the bar, and he freezes when he sees Mina's face slowly process his words with wide eyes and a creeping smile.

Fuck.

" 'She'? When did you meet her?!"

He uses the excuse of angrily grinding ice between his teeth to not answer. However, that only leaves room for Mina to ask more questions.

"What's her name?! How old is she?! What's she like?! When can I meet her?!"

"SHUT UP!" Katsuki barks, his headache pounding behind his glare. "I'm not gonna tell you, so stop asking useless questions! And like fucking hell I'm gonna introduce you, just stay the fuck out of it!"

Mina leans back, crosses her arms and it's fucking head poundingly annoying how smug her face turns. "Already a bit protective over our little gazelle, are we?"

The hand not clutching the glass is sparking with glittering pops. Katsuki wants nothing more than to prove Mina wrong with his fist in her face, but he can't deny that his entire morning was spent doing exactly that: Making sure Maimie was safe. Also, he did protect her from that shit head perv. So instead he says, "And what fucking of it?! If I hadn't been there today, who knows what the fuck that bastard would've done to her!"

Mina's caught off guard and as his rage cools, he feels like he's won. He's not sure what he might've won, but it was something that made Mina speechless. Sometimes - almost all the time - that's the only thing he asks for.

"Today?" Mina asked. "Something happened today? It's barley nine and she's already needed your help?"

Katsuki grits his teeth, glares straight into her eyes and wishes - not for the first time - that she was intimidated by him and stayed out of his business. But Mina's not. She never has been - not when they first met and he was at the peak of his teenage rage, or when he was dropped from the Hero Course - and she never will be. Katsuki blinks first, takes a few calming deep breaths and doesn't meet her eyes. He knows they're patient and ready to melt with understanding, and seeing that might make him throw up. Sometimes that look of hers makes him unsettled.

"I walked her to school this morning-"

"Awe!"

"Shut it!" He let room settle before he continued, ignoring the stupid smile on her face. "Well… I guess you could say I followed her to school this morning. Not like I'm some type of fucking perv, or anything! But these last few days, I've caught her trying to knock on my door only to chicken out and walk away. I'm not sure if she actually meant to knock, but I heard something tap on the door and when I checked, I saw her."

"Did you open the door?"

Katsuki hesitates, then, "No."

"What? Why not? If you've been catching her doing this often, that means she has something on her mind that she wants to tell you."

"I didn't want to swing the damn door in her face if she didn't mean to!" Katsuki takes a breath. "Besides, if it was a knock, it was so goddamn quiet, I… I didn't want it to seem like I was waiting for her or whatever."

"Were you?"

"No!"

"Okay, okay." Mina hums, "I'd say, if you catch her again, and it seems like she might back out, just confront her about it. Sometimes, when a person has something hard they need to say, they need that extra boost to get them there. You know?"

Katsuki stays silent.

"Are you thinking about following her back from school?"

It's embarrassing to say that he's been definitely considering it, especially after the fucker at the intersection, so he settles for a tisk.

"Then, why don't you actually walk with her. Pretend you're walking back home from something so you don't seem like such a stalker, and maybe in that time she'll find the confidence to tell you."

"And what if what she wants to tell me is 'Fuck off.' ?"

Mina gives him a bored expression, like he's the stupidest piece of shit she knows. "Come on, don't be dumb."

"Yeah? How the hell do you know she won't?"

Mina smiles and taps her temple with a polished blue acrylic nail. "It's all in my dreams."

"Oh, fuck off." Katsuki rolls his eyes and crunches on another ice cube.

"Love you too!"

He stands as Mina chuckles, slams another five on the bar top and leaves the way he came.

To top off his headache, the bag of bones chief flips him off and Katsuki returns the gesture on the way out.

Second grade isn't hard for Maimie Hana. Today is Wednesday, it's only been two days since she was introduced to her class and already she's surrounded by other kids who want to be her friend. Almost all of the girls, in fact, swarm her desk at lunch while the majority of the boys hang back and pretend they're not watching her out of the corner of their eye.

They're not fooling Hana.

Today, she's not bombarded with the constant questions and interrogations like the last few days. The class is still buzzing with her arrival but the buzzing has somewhat settled - thank God (sorry God) - and she's been able to relax a little more. Only a little.

Hana can't help the flinch when the group that swarms her asks sudden questions or tries to integrate her into the conversation out of nowhere. She doesn't mean to. She's genuinely delighted to be a part of their group but questions are so goddamn (sorry again, God) harder now than before. Hana's always been quiet, and she never minded being called mouse-ish, but something's been different ever since she moved.

She doesn't feel like herself, and when she asks Dad, he says it's probably just her nerves about moving to a different city and leaves it at that.

Ever since Mommy left, Dad's been acting funny, too.

Dad doesn't feel the same way he did before. His smiles aren't as warm, and though he's relieved whenever she comes home from school, there's something else there, too. No matter how much Hana digs, and tries to find, it's like Dad locked it away so tight, even she can't reach it.

Hana never feels good after Dad asks her to help him be happy.

Dad doesn't like it when Hana says no.

Dad gets scary when Hana says no.

Ever since Mom left, and they moved, Hana's been scared, but…

But the man across the hall with spiky hair and red eyes and baggy clothes doesn't make her scared. He looks scary and gets impatient and acts like he'll bite anyone's head off that looks at him weird - and she gets the feeling that at some point he tried and came really close - but he's only playing pretend.

The man across the hall wears his feelings like a second skin. Hana didn't have to dig when she watched cat videos with him. She doesn't feel bad when he's around. He feels like Mom.

In the early hours before sunrise, after the same nightmare that plagues her every night, Hana misses Mom's warmth the most. She misses her comforting hugs and her scent and the way she'd hold her whenever she was scared or nervous. She misses her home cooked meals and bright smile and the constant wave of love that never faltered even if she got in trouble.

The man across the hall isn't the same, but he's close enough.

Hana likes school, and when she has to leave there's always an immediate fear of going home. As soon as Hana waves goodbye to her friends and leaves the safety of the school gates, she feels a person's familiar hunger to take and steal and hurt. Immediately, she turns the other way, the wrong way home, but the person is back and chasing and trying to get her.

His hunger is getting closer, closing in as she tries to walk faster and lose him in the crowd. A scream bubbles in her throat. Surely someone will help her. She's surrounded by adults. However, she's muted by her fear, a sudden lump in her throat stopping her from alarming anyone. Even though she's running now, Hana doesn't get far when that person catches her by the backpack, yanking her back into his arms.

Hana goes to scream again, only to be strangled by the lump. The world's moving fast as she's taken, but she can feel the adults reacting to her alarm, producing their own fear and surprised shock but no one moves to save her.

Except for one.

"Get the fuck off her!"

Another hand snatches the front of her jacket, pulls her in and the sudden blast makes her ears ring, the flash blinding her, but she feels that person let go and fall and now he's the one speechless with fear

"What'd I say this morning, huh?! Do you want to die?!"

Hana should be scared of the man across the hall's explosive rage.

"Hey! What's going on here?"

"You shitty cop didn't see this fucker chasing after her?!"

But she's in his arms. He's holding her to his chest, and he's trembling with hot iron murderous intent again, and yet all she can sense is his burning desire to hold and comfort and protect.

Just like Mom.

For the first time since Mom left, Hana finally lets go. She lets her eyes burn and doesn't try to stop herself from crying and clings to the man across the hall's jacket and buries herself into his shoulder. He adjusts to hold her tighter, still arguing with the officer but their shouts fall on deaf ears.

"I-I want to go home," she cries into his shoulder and the shouting stops. "I want my Mommy. I want to go home."

There's a ping of guilt before he says, "See! We're at the Foxden Apartments if you wanna check in, but I'm taking her home right now! So get the fuck out of our way!"

There's nothing else said as he starts walking, and she's quiet as well as she tries to gather herself. He rounds a corner, stops and leans down until her feet are flat on the sidewalk. She's sniffling as she briefly looks around. They're on the corner of a side street, less people around but they're still in clear view of the main street pedestrians walking by. She ignores them and takes in how he's crouched on his heels, arms wrapped around his knees as he stares at her. He's frowning as he watches her hiccup and sniffle, but he's not upset. Not towards her at least.

"If you're old man isn't gonna walk you to and from school, don't you dare even think about going without me. Got it?" His words sound threatening and his frown is hard, but she's not scared.

Hana only nods through a sniffle.

He stares at her again in silence, up and down. His ever present glare is softer as he looks her in the eye again. "You good?"

She nods. "Y-Yeah."

"Good. Wipe your face. You're an ugly crier."

She quickly scrubs her eyes and under her nose, not at all offended by his words. How could she when all she feels from him is concern.

When she's done, he grunts as he stands and shoves his hands in his pockets. She's surprised when one returns with Yogo-sha and is shoved into her grasp. "Dropped this."

Warmth bloomed in her chest and flowed through every vein as her shock subsides and she reels Yogo-sha into her chest. Despite her puffy eyes and how stiff her cheeks feel from the now dry tear tracks, she smiles and holds the stuffed bunny close.

"Thank you!"

The man looks down at her, cracking his own smile before he looks away and purposely frowns. She can feel his immense warmth and fondness and more relief no matter how deep his lips pull.

"Come on," he grunts, turning away but glancing behind to make sure she's following.

They walk side by side in silence for a block, and then, at an intersection, Hana looks up at him and he returns her gaze.

"What?"

"What's your name, again?"

He gapes, "What?!"

"I forgot your name," Hana giggles.

She watches his shock turn into a wide grin as he barks a laugh loud enough to startle everyone around them. Hana laughs with him, sharing his amused happiness as they cross the road.

Bakugo - as she's reminded - blossoms into a happiness she didn't have to give, and it feels amazing.