Heyooo folks! Another couple of weeks, another update! ta dah! Hope you enjoy!

NOTE: Just another reminder to folks that canon details from beyond season 4 are now going to be sprinkled into place here. All spliced amongst my own stuff as usual, but still. Spoilers potentially ahead. Read at yer own risk!

Sho went to the hospital with his siblings a few hours later, to see how his Dad was fairing, but also to visit his mother apparently. Initially I was going to accompany him, but with all the press and police hanging around, it seemed it would complicate things. Some time with his family would be good. I knew Fuyumi would look after him, as well as let me know if I was needed.

So when I got a message from her an hour or so after he had left, safe to say I was a little worried. But apparently, I needn't have been.

Fuyi: [I didn't expect him to be nearly this calm, whatever you did it's worked wonders! Thanks so much for looking after him before we got the all-clear to visit etc. I'm sure he'd be a mess right now without your help!]

Me: {Don't go selling him short haha, he's plenty strong without me. I'm just glad I could help at all. Speak soon. Send my best to your Mum.}

"Hey, if you got nothin' better to do, can you help me with my dumbass winter costume shit?"

I looked up from my phone to Bakugo who stood with the costume over his arm, his casual clothes otherwise very rumpled and loose. I smirked and nodded, knowing full well I had nothing to do that evening other than worry over Sho. I pocketed my phone and lifted the costume from Bakugo's arm with my quirk. It looked the same, other than the collar detailing. No more peck show–shucks, the girls will be so annoyed. Apart from that I didn't see much to be dealing with.

"What's wrong with it?"

"I wanna check the dumbass designers haven't slipped any weird shit in there."

"Ah okay, wanna train then?"

"If you got time." He shrugged and looked to the side.

I sprung up and headed for the stairs. "See you at gym gamma, I'll let my Dad know!"

By the time I got there, he was half-way through his warm up. Focus radiated from him, so I just did a couple laps of the arena until I heard him stop, then I soared over and landed just behind him. I knew I'd surprised him, but he did his best to mask it. Fail. I grinned and tilted my head, he nodded to the other end of the small sparring area and I drifted back, landing and entering my sparring stance. It was so calming to me, that no words were needed. Between me and Bakugo it was simple; if we trained, hung out, watched a film, whatever. It just happened. No need for filling the quiet with pointless chattering. No need to cook up small talk. Just quiet determination.

His new uniform looked fine, and his movements seemed easy enough, but it was Bakugo, so as much as I was glad to have a distraction from worrying over Sho, I guessed there was more to this. Unless he was just trying to help me, without saying so. Either way, for me or himself, I couldn't assume this was only for checking uniform. Maybe he wanted to check how I was doing after the Dabi footage–it had been surreal to see him on the screen, painted as such a stark villain and finding myself unable to argue. But it had been little more than a shock. That, or maybe Bakugo had his own shit to be dealing with. Whatever. I was there for him. We didn't need pointless chatter, but if he had something to say, he would get round to it.

Bakugo rolled his shoulders. "I wanted to try some concentrated shots. Would that work with your tactile stuff?"

"Can give it a go, and if not, I can test how my dodging has come on." I snorted and he frowned, I held up my hands. "Okay, not in a joking mood, I'll throw up a shield if the tactile stuff fails."

He nodded and got into position, the light building in his palm. I tried to focus on the blooming light, creating a bubble around it, trying to form a bullet of fire. But the substance kept shifting. It was like trying to scoop oil from the surface of water. I ducked and threw a shield around me, the shot bouncing off and skittering into the arena.

"You all right?" He called.

"Yup, fine! How was the shot feeling?"

"Fine, think they've modified the gauntlets, but nothing stupid. Good to try again?"

I gave a thumbs up and concentrated. Maybe I was trying too hard to form a specific shape. I had to let the oil gather before scooping, right? Like waiting for Bakugo to bring up whatever it was that was bothering him. Gentle. Careful. Patient. Okay. I could work with that. I focused, but loosely. Letting the light of his quirk bloom into my hold, like a flower opening to the sun. That's it. A little more. He fired. I sent the light in a wide arc, managing to manipulate it part the way back round before it fluctuated too much and managed to burst free. Damn. Still, an improvement.

We continued like this for a solid hour, before we took a break and sunk onto the floor together, sipping our water and wiping our brows. I'd managed to fully manipulate a few shots by that point, turning his releases into targeted missiles. On the field we could have ended up a pretty intense pairing to deal with. I lay back with a smirk. It was good to think of the future like that, so solid and possible. It was nice to know that I could.

"How's Icy Hot doing?" Bakugo was still sitting up, he didn't turn to me, didn't glance back or anything. "Or you not heard from him?"

"I uh, I heard from his sister yeah, he's doing okay. They're gonna be visiting their Mum as well I think, I'd kind of expect him to end up staying at home tonight."

Bakugo sipped his water. "He looked a real mess when you took him upstairs."

"He just needed to…"

"Process?"

I smiled and closed my eyes. "Yeah, process. He's good. Just a lot of weird feelings."

"Mm, makes sense. How about you?"

Bakugo was being overly concerned. Where had this come from? I sat up and checked his expression, but it was the usual scowl and set jaw. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then he sighed and closed his eyes, glancing at me with this wariness I didn't recognise. Like he was afraid of something. Of me? Had I done something to unnerve him?

I treaded lightly. "I'm doing okay. No proper memories came back from the footage. But I still have some to see, I guess. Nothing other than that though… What's going on? You processing something?"

He shrugged. "Just noise in my head, usual shit."

"Mm. You still seeing counselors?"

"Nah, not regularly. If I wanna see them I just call though." He frowned. "That day with the assholes taking shit on campus…"

"Yeah?"

"You got real freaked, didn't you?"

For whatever reason, he sought openness. All right. I could do that. At least, I was getting better at doing that and could meet him halfway.

"Yeah. I got to their door and fell to fucking pieces." I bit my lip when he looked surprised, but if me being open would encourage him to do the same, I'd take the chance. He already knew I'd been upset that day, so this poking felt like it was leading somewhere else. "They talked me down of course, but it was very nearly a full on panic attack."

"You do the counting thing?"

I smiled. "Yeah. Doesn't always work, but I try it every time. You?"

"Who said I needed to?"

I waited. His heckles calmed.

He cleared his throat. "Occasionally. Do you… Do you think you could teach it to Deku?"

Okay, there was a tangent and a half. I frowned and looked at the sand scrunched up by my shoe. I knew Bakugo had been spending some extra time with Izuku and All Might for training, with him knowing about All Might's power, it made sense to utilise him as an extra training partner. But where had this come from? Was Izuku struggling that much? It made sense, as much as I'd been through things this past year, the whole class had. And often, Izuku had been at the forefront.

I flattened the sand. "He's getting panicky?"

"Dunno." Bakugo swallowed. "But it's a lot, y'know? A lot he's dealing with, and as shitty a nerd as he is, he's crap at actually asking for help. He'll ask all sorts of shit about people's powers, and how he can help them but… yeah. The other way round and he's as shit as you."

"Or you."

Bakugo glared but I just smiled and he eventually softened, rolling his eyes and nudging me.

I didn't budge.

It might lead to a blow up, but I'd take my chances. "And you don't wanna suggest this yourself because…? You don't wanna admit to needing the technique?"

"Nah, couldn't give a shit about that. It's just…" He blushed. "Dunno. Would be better coming from you."

The pink remained, the downcast stare lingered on his shoes, and I realised it was shame lingering in the air. He didn't feel he could advise Izuku because he felt he had no right to do so. Made sense. Their history was about as muddied as it got. I figured Izuku would stammer, he would be confused about Bakugo reaching out so sincerely, but I doubted Izuku would refuse the help. He might be stubborn about it, but if it was coming from Bakugo of all people, he would listen.

"Things are never gonna improve between you two if you don't take a step in that direct–"

"Don't fortune cookie me." He snapped, and I tugged on his hair with my power. "Look, it just isn't like that with me and Deku. He'd think I was up to something, or… I dunno, it wouldn't go well."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah, I do."

"Nah, you don't." I met the glare with a grin. "You didn't know about his power, you didn't know about his strength, or his ability to fucking learn so fast he surpasses you. Seems like there's plenty about Izuku you don't know. So maybe–"

"Please, Alex?"

Ah. Shit. Now he's got me.

That was a dirty move.

Bakugo swallowed hard and sipped his water, clearing his throat again as if it had thickened, but I couldn't ask that. He would definitely blow me up. I leaned against him, and despite how he tensed, likely readying to shrug me off and slam the walls into place, he didn't. The tension left as quick as it appeared, and he sighed. His head laid against mine. I looped my arms round his and hugged, he pushed his head a little harder against mine, before letting it rest gently again. I think that was an attempt at a nuzzle. Maybe. Or he had an itch.

"Alright. I'll talk to Izuku if I can. But shoe-horning it into a conversation won't help. If he feels like he's given something away randomly, he could clam up even harder. Perhaps even harder than you."

At first, Bakugo doesn't seem pleased by the response. Perhaps he wanted me to ride in on my proverbial white horse and save Izuku right away. But that wasn't how it worked. Izuku wasn't a prideful guy – not in the way Bakugo was – but he was stubborn. And he didn't like asking for help. It rarely worked even if you offered outright. It wasn't about tricking him into it, more like easing. Yeah. We'll go with that word choice for now.

Bakugo grumbled. "Why can't you dumbasses accept help?"

"Pah! Hypocrite!" I shoved him and he let himself flop over, flipping the bird as he lay there pretending to grump. "Look, we all got our vices, right? You're working on yours, I'm working on mine. Izuku has been working on a lot so let's give him a break if he hasn't quite cracked emotional maturity yet."

"Whatever."

"Oh you sour-faced fucker." I laughed and floated up when he swung for a shove in return. I stuck my tongue out, and he blasted up towards me. I dodged. He fired again. I dodged again. This was amusing, until I forgot about the lights and whacked my head off of one. Ow.

"Moron!" He laughed.

I lowered, rubbing my head. "Fuck-face."

When I landed, he stepped out of his sparring stance and loosened his collar. "Seems like the support guys didn't fuck with this too much. You had any modifications lately?"

"Nothing substantial, but they tried to give me fucking high heels when I was prepping for going on patrol with Dad."

"High heels?" His nose wrinkled. "And you're totally not gonna break your neck like that, are you?"

"Precisely."

"How much trouble did you give them?" He grinned, cocking his head to the side, that air of confidence returned. How deep did that actually go? I liked to think it went a fair way, mainly because I didn't want to think of him having to put up a pretence for me. Was that selfish?

I shook myself free of my tangent. "Oh you know, mentioned wank-banks and told him to fix it fucking pronto."

His lips pursed. His eyes narrowed. Then he threw his head back and laughed loudly. "Wank bank!"

Nah, I think I was worried over nothing. Bakugo had a mask for sure, but I didn't think it was kept in place for me. Not often, anyway. He was an asshole. But he was mine. Wait… ew. Poor word choice.

A few days later, as I sat on my balcony sketching a few fighting poses that Kirishima had been practising downstairs in the garden, my phone buzzed. I set my pencil between my teeth.

Sho: [My Dad is getting out today, apparently. Fuyumi wants to cook some dinner for everyone. I realise it's short notice, but would you want to come?]

I began to type my reply, when another message came through.

Sho: [Please come.]

I smiled softly and shook my head–at least he had been honest about how much he wanted me there. Not like I would have refused anyway, but it was touching to know he was able to open up to me like that.

Me: {I'll organise a car right away, okay? See you soon. Do I need to bring anything?}

Sho: [Just you, please. And thanks.]

I floated up to Dad's balcony, gave him a small heart-attack when I knocked on the glass, then swiftly got permission to attend the Todoroki dinner. Apparently Sho was meant to be back on campus tonight anyway, so a school taxi was going to be headed out to pick him up anyway. Dad was going to have to be a ride-along, but it seemed me and the taxi driver would be enough–being a UA driver, I assumed he had defensive quirks to hand.

After a quick change into something not smeared in charcoal, I met the taxi downstairs and sat in the back trying to not fidget too much. This was fine. I had already met Fuyumi and gotten along with her really well. Natsuo was already a big fan of mine apparently, and I didn't give much of a crap about what Endeavour thought of me. But it would be different to see him in his own home. I guess that's why my heart hammered like mad.

We pulled up to the house.

Showtime.

The driver looked back at me and then nodded to the door. "I got my book and my packed dinner, you kids have a fun evening okay? No rush, I'm paid for the whole night."

I smiled and fiddled with the safety belt.

Just go inside. It's fine. Why am I so nervous?

He chuckled. "I guess even after you've been all over the news kicking butt, you can still be nervous about being in your boyfriend's house?"

"Sorta." I squeaked, clearing my throat. "Dunno why. So stupid."

The belt came undone.

The driver hummed. "I completely crapped myself the first time I was at my husband's house. Well… Boyfriend then." He snorted and shook his head. "I had nothing to worry about, so I seriously doubt you do. You've got this Miss Aizawa."

"Th-Thanks." I just wished I believed him.

I clambered out of the car and rang the gate's buzzer. It unlocked instantly and Sho stood at the opened doorway. Clearly he had been waiting. I managed to not stumble up the front stoop, and even got my trainers off without landing on my face. So far, so good. Now all I had to do was stop my heart trying to crawl up my throat.

Sho took my coat. "You made good time, is the driver okay to wait out there or–"

"He's all set, said to take our time. Nice guy." I smoothed my hair and looked around the modest, huge and impeccably clean home. Considering the Number 1 Hero lived there it was pretty mundane. Not that I expected a literal castle. But still. Considering how much Endeavour overcompensated with literally everything else… Then again, I suppose he hardly wanted to be loud about his home address. Right. Logical.

"Alex?" Sho's hand landed on my shoulder. "You okay?"

"Uh, y-yeah!" I jolted and smiled. Why am I so spooked?

Fuyumi appeared from around a corner. I flinched. I flinched. What the hell was wrong with me? I looked down at my hands and they were shaking, practically vibrating. Shit. What the hell? Sho put an arm around me, and Fuyumi approached slowly, wiping her hands on her apron, motherly concern written all over her face. I tried to stop their fussing, to assure them I was fine, but the words got garbled.

Fuyumi knelt in front of me. "You need some water, honey? Or to go back to the dorms?"

"S'fine." I choked out, shaking my head and closing my eyes. "Makes… No sense… Was fine at… the cafe… a-and the concert."

Sho tightened his arm around my shoulders slightly. "Nerves are rarely predictable. Is it the weird setting? You're not often in other people's homes."

I swallowed.

Maybe that was it?

Fuyumi smiled. "How about a tour then, Shouto? Dinner isn't for a few more minutes. Get some fresh air as well, maybe."

"Sure, good idea. Or would you prefer to just sit in the living room, Alex?"

"T-Tour." I clung to him, movement seemed like the best idea, with all the swirling going on in my head.

"Take your time guys, and if you're still feeling unwell Alex, there's no shame in just heading home again." Fuyumi headed back to the kitchen. She was so kind.

We headed along a corridor and he started talking about the rooms, and the pictures on the wall. I heard it all, but didn't respond much beyond nods or acknowledging smiles. Their bedrooms were pretty minimalist, like his one at the dorms, but it still felt like a home. Other than the small gym room which was clearly Endeavour's area; it seemed shadowed somehow, despite Sho turning on the lights.

By the time we had finished, we were in the garden, and he had led me to a small stone bench by a water feature.

Breathing came easier.

He took my hand in his. "Feeling better?"

"Y-Yeah. Sorry I–"

"There's nothing to apologise for, Alex. Really." He pulled me close and kissed the end of my nose. "Did something happen at the dorms before you came? I know I kind of demanded you come over…" He blushed and looked away for a moment, but thankfully his hand remained cupped to my cheek, fingers playing with my hair.

"You didn't demand it." I sighed, smiling contentedly. He kissed my nose again. "Nothing happened. I just got stuck in my own head I think. Maybe it's just a random bout of nerves. Guess it happens. Maybe I'm tired. No idea."

"Mm, used to happen to me pretty randomly." He leaned in and kissed my lips chastely. "But you're feeling calmer?"

"Much." I breathed, pulling him closer by his collar. "I missed you."

"Missed you too." He hummed, kissing me again but lingering.

My fingers gripped his jumper. Every second of his skin on mine made things stop spinning out of control, and began spinning in an amazing way. He wasn't a fix-all, of course. But right now, it seemed like this was what I needed. He tilted his head. I hummed and I gladly deepened the kiss. It would be very inappropriate to be found kissing like this in his family's back garden, but I didn't care. It was grounding me. All I knew was his hand in my hair, his other pulling me closer by the small of my back, and his tongue caressing mine. His breath. His heartbeat. Him. Fuck sake, I am turning into such a fucking twit for him, aint I?

"Lovebirds!" Fuyumi called from inside the house.

Slowly Sho ended the kiss, smiling softly at me as we came back to reality. His eyes travelled all over my face, presumably finding something he liked as his smile allowed a peek of his teeth, before simmering back to his smirk.

I tapped the end of his nose. "We should go in."

"Yeah." He was still a little far away, in a daze, but he managed to get up and take my hand, leading back inside where the table was set and covered in delicious looking food. Soba took pride of place, of course.

We sat and started eating. Natsuo was a quiet guy, but he gradually warmed up. He was pretty funny actually, and even though they were siblings, I felt almost as much unfamiliarity between Natsuo and Sho as I did between Natsuo and myself.

"So you've been patrolling with Eraser, right?"

"Right." I slurped my soba gladly and sipped my water. "It's been great, I kinda missed out on the other opportunities to work in the real world, one way or another." I bit my lip and chuckled, Sho placing his hand on my knee under the table to give it a quick squeeze. "So what're you doing just now Nat–"

The front door snapped shut.

Their eyes all landed on the screen door between us and the landing. Endeavour. His large shape created a shadow against the paper as he removed his shoes. The Todoroki kids snapped out of it. All at once. They stopped watching the screen door and focused elsewhere. Fuyumi fussed with the perfectly fine table settings, and both Natsuo and Sho dunked their noodles. I stayed very still, unsure of how to act.

The door slid open.

"Great work, Dad!" Fuyumi beamed, all light and sunshine as she leaned forward on her knees, as if readying herself to dodge something. Or maybe it was just comfortable–I'd hope for that.

"Been a while, huh?" He rumbled, eyes scanning the rest of the table. A long scar ran the entire side of his face, the same side as Sho, like some distorted mirror image. He was lucky he hadn't lost his eyes, I'd bet. When his gaze passed over me, I gave a fairly neutral nod of my head and a tiny smile. But Natsuo and Sho just slowly slurped their noodles.

Slurp.

Fuyumi tried again. "Anyway, amazing job out there!"

Sho paused eating. "Nasty scar you got there."

Sluurp.

Oh my god. The sass on my man.

Sluuurp.

I think I just fell in love all over again.

Sluuuuurp.

Fuyumi tried to smooth over the cracks with the two brothers, her hurried whispers easily reaching her father who just stood in the doorway, unable to take his eyes off his youngest son. Even the thick-headed likes of Endeavour wouldn't be able to ignore their newfound similarity. Pain? Was that what I saw on his face? I couldn't be sure.

But it seemed Natsuo had stomached enough. "Sorry Sis, I just can't do it." He headed for the door. In his hunched shoulders I could see so much anger, resentment, perhaps also a little fear. Whatever Shouto had endured as a kid, both Natsuo and Fuyumi had endured their own versions. Even if it manifested mainly in neglect.

Endeavour stopped him. "Natsuo, if you got something to say, just say it."

"Say it…?" Natsuo repeated, looking at his father like he might want to kill him then and there. "That's rich coming from the guy who's never even looked me in the eye."

Shit. I should not be here for this. My eyes landed on the table and I went totally rigid, heart hammering as Natsuo's voice raised. Sho's hand landed on my knee again, but this time it seemed more like he was holding on. I took his hand in mine. I squeezed. Maybe I was meant to be here then. Maybe this was precisely why Sho had asked me to come.

Natsuo was off. He yelled, roared, threw all this newfound 'niceness' from Endeavour back in the Number 1's startled but blank face. His son wanted no part of it. Natsuo called it sickening, wrong, false. I couldn't blame him, not that I could claim to know a damn thing about Endeavour's intentions. Regardless, it was very little and very late. Years of torment, of being ignored, of listening to those you love suffer; it would wear anyone down. When Natsuo specifically mentioned his mother and Sho's cries, I felt cold all over. So much pain in his voice. Sho trembled. And then Natsuo was gone, rushing off somewhere, likely needing to breathe.

Fuyumi clamped her hands over her ears and sighed, wishing things could be different. It was a noble idea, she had, for sure. But it was also perhaps naive. Beyond that, I could admire the amount of room she had in her heart for forgiveness. Or perhaps it was determination to have a whole family again. Whatever it was, it seemed steeped in good intentions.

Amongst the noise, Endeavour was struck dumb, staring at the floor, large shoulders hunched, hands clenched. Pitiful in a way. If I didn't know the depth of his bastard ways, I'd have almost managed to feel that pity. As it was, I just knew it was a sad sight. My pity didn't break the surface. Not for him.

Sho lowers his bowl. "I've never seen Natsu so open about his feelings like that..."

I was trying to figure out Sho's words when the news report on the TV began to recap how the public continued to waver on their opinion of the new Number 1. Perhaps Sho had seen where the news was headed and saw it as a good opportunity to get some things in the open.

He continued, gripping my hand the whole time. His eyes landed on the screen. "As a hero, this Endeavour guy… Is pretty amazing."

It's like a bolt of lightning just went through the man in question. His eyes zipped back to Sho from the floor, and his hands went slack. But he stays quiet.

Sho wasn't done. "But it's just like Natsu said. I'm not ready to forgive you… For abusing Mom."

He held my hand so tight, just like when the battle had been unfolding before our eyes. But I just held back as tightly. You're not alone Sho. He won't hurt you anymore.

Slurp.

"So, heroics aside, what sort of dad are you going to be?" Sho glared at his Father. "That's what I want to find out. Sure, the perfect turning point can actually change someone. I know it's possible."

My hand felt warmer. He was still giving me far too much credit.

Endeavour turned away,

Fuyumi jolted, reaching. "You're leaving too, Dad?"

"Fuyumi." He sighed. "I'm sorry for everything. That was the wrong thing to say to Natsuo." And he walked away, a door closing further down the corridor.

Fuyumi sunk into her seat and bit her lip, glancing to her phone, likely wondering if she should contact Natsuo. The noise in her head would be deafening. She'd be blaming herself for suggesting the dinner, for requesting they all try. But it had been a good idea, just a little misguided maybe.

I reached across the table to squeeze her hand. "You should eat some more of your dinner, it's gonna get cold."

She smiled softly at our hands. "R-Right. I… I'm sorry you had to see that Alex."

"It's fine, never seen a real family domestic up close." I winked and she blushed. "This was a fantastic meal, really. So delicious. I'm tempted to ask for the recipe so I can persuade Bakugo to make it at the dorms."

"Oh! Is your friend good at cooking?" She seemed eager for the new subject.

Sho eventually managed to let go of my hand, but it took a few more minutes, and a full explanation of how maddening Bakguo could truly be. But bit by bit the air cleared, and I think we all breathed a little easier.

In the car ride back to the dorms Sho was quiet. He held my hand the whole way, and smiled softly whenever I looked at him, but no words came. It was fine. No doubt there was a lot of noise in his head as well. Fuyumi had been calm by the time we left, thankfully. I didn't fancy leaving her in that kind of state.

As soon as we left the taxi outside the dorms, and stepped onto the porch as it pulled away, Sho pulled me close. In the shadow of the building, he kissed me, hard. I gasped, wrapping my arms around his neck, blindsided by the kiss but all too happy to comply. He walked us back to the wall by the door, pushing me to the brickwork, pressing me back, hands firmly on my hips. My fingers laced through his hair. He sighed into the kiss, licking deeper into my mouth, sucking on my tongue and working his knee between my thighs. My mind fizzed. I assumed he just needed to let off a little steam. Emotions. Weird things.

His movements slowed and eventually we came up for air, his forehead pressed to mine, panting slightly. "Sorry, should've ask–"

"I'll let you off this once." I giggled, well aware of how much it meant to him to know those lines remained uncrossed, but in all honesty I was okay with his feelings taking over occasionally. We were a couple, I had never said I didn't want that kind of attention. And as soon as I even suggested wanting to stop, I knew he would. But still, it was important to him. I traced his scar. "Noisy head?"

"Not as much as I would have expected. Thanks to you, no doubt." He closed his eyes, leaning into the touch against his marred skin. "I wasn't sure what to expect in all honesty, but I'm so glad you were there."

"I'm glad you asked so clearly." I hummed, and as his eyes opened they shone in the dim light from the nearby window. "It's good to know you know you can depend on me."

"Of course." He breathed, kissing me chastely before leaning back and raising one of my hands to his lips. "Now then, may I escort you back inside, miss Aizawa?"

"Oh, such a gentleman! Please do." I chuckled and he nipped the skin of my knuckle with his teeth before raising his head and smirking. "What's the smirk about?"

"Nothing, I just love you."

"I love you too." I knew I would be blushing. "Now c'mon we should go inside before they break the damn window pressing against it."

He frowned and then glanced at said window, which had oh-so-suddenly been shadowed moments beforehand, and now had muffled squeals running away from it. He blushed as I laughed at our audience.

He rolled his eyes. "So nosy."

"Well you do put on a good show, Handsome."

More footage.

More blankets.

No memories.

It was the day after the Todoroki dinner, and I had been trying to finish off watching the lab footage. But I paused it again and put my head against my knees, thunking it off them a few times as I grumbled about my useless head. Right before I u-turned and reminded myself that it wasn't about being useless or useful. The therapist's script echoed loudly in my mind. But still, it fucking irritated me. I pressed play with my power and peeked over my knees. Wailing. Screaming. Clawing. Struggling. More quirks forced into me, more noise running around my head. Dammit. At least let me recall a name, or something I can use against those bastards–it didn't even need to be useful for the police, just me. C'mon, give me that.

My phone buzzed.

Sho: [That's me back from the hospital again, sorry for the lack of contact. Was a weird day.]

He had been allowed extra time to see his Mother. Whether that was due to her doing well, or Endeavour trying to get some brownie points by asking the hospital to make allowances, I didn't know. No one did. But the main thing was the Todoroki kids getting to see their mother.

Me: {Don't be daft! How's Fuyumi and Natsuo? And how're you?}

Sho: [They're dealing in their own ways. Natsuo isn't exactly keen on sharing, and wants to make us think he's not bothered by any of it. Especially after his blow up at dinner. And Fuyumi is over-compensating for that. So… yeah. Dealing. I'm less confused than I was. I'm glad we finally got to see Mom. Can I come see you?]

Me: {Of course, I'm at Dad's apartment upstairs.}

Sho: [You still watching the footage? I don't want to interrupt.]

I hesitated, but let the words be typed.

Me: {Please do.}

Sho: [On my way, just going to change first. I smell like a hospital.]

I reached with my power to set the kettle on to boil. Dad looked up from his paperwork and then to me, the laptop, then my phone. He raised a brow.

I smiled. "Sho's coming up, hope that's all right?"

He nodded. "Of course, I'll assume Number 2's stabilized then?"

"He's Number 1 now, Dad."

He winked. "Only in one respect."

"You're so bad." I laughed and ran my fingers over my stubbled head. "Yeah he was back the night we went to dinner, they went to the hospital to see their Mum today. I just fancied the company. This footage is getting me nowhere and it's just going in circles."

"You can stop there you know."

"Yeah… maybe. There's only like thirty minutes left though." I shrugged. "I'll see how I feel later, just want to go hang out with my boyfriend like a normal teenager."

"Careful kid, asking a lot there. Normal? You?" Dad pushed his glasses back up his nose and slouched further on the couch. "He's more than welcome here, you know that. Just no audible examples of why I should have stuck to the cattle prod plan, please."

I threw a scrambled piece of paper at his head and it bounced off his nose, he just grinned and carried on grading.

By the time Sho knocked at the door and I opened it with my power, I'd made the teas and got some of the nice biscuits out. We sat at the kitchen island, and I floated a fresh tea to Dad. The last thirty minutes of footage could wait. Right now, my hand in Sho's, a sweet tea being sipped, I just wanted to be here, not back there. My eyes landed on the small scar on his neck though, only visible in that moment because of the v-neck t-shirt he wore. A tiny pink line. Barely there. And yet, it had nearly killed him. At what point of the footage had that been? Had I been strapped to the table when that happened? When he was bleeding out, the last image of me being some deranged grin thanks to Toga's mania. Damn.

"You back?" He asked gently, lips curling into a soft smile as his hand landed over the mark and a blush appeared across his cheeks. I'd been staring. My lips opened, appalled at myself for being so weird. But he just shook his head and kissed my cheek. "It's fine, but I know that look in your eye, you didn't hear a word I said about Christmas, did you?"

My own blush bloomed. "No… Sorry."

"Nothing to apologise for." He traced along the back of my hand as I held my tea. "I hate that I can't really do anything to help though. So the last thing I'm gonna do is get angry with you for your mind wandering."

"You're way too good." I snorted.

Dad started gathering his papers, stacking them in the 'done' part of the table before he slouched off towards his room, giving a vague wave as he went by. We'd have dinner together in an hour or so.

As the door clicked shut, Sho looked to me and replaced his hand over the mark. "Should I hide it more? I can wear more turtlenecks if it's better. It's not a problem for me to do that if it–"

"Do not start covering yourself up for me." I shook my head and pulled his hand away. The mark was slightly darker, but I think mainly due to his ongoing blush. I leaned in, pulled his collar aside and gave it a small kiss. "It's a sign of you fighting to survive, Sho. It's nothing to be ashamed of." And as usual, I kissed along the line of the scar on his face as well. "None of your scars are anything but part of you, part of your story, okay? Me getting in my own head about things, has nothing to do with you."

"Mm, I'm not so sure." He sighed, but pulled me into a proper kiss, his lips moving down my neck and tracing the scars I bore there, leading onto my shoulder and arms, and back. Let's face it, he stops at my collarbone, or else he'd be there all night. Not that I'd mind. But still…

"Well I am sure, is that enough?"

"Damn your logic." He grinned and kissed the end of my nose before sipping his tea again.

"Mm, though in all honesty you do look ridiculously good in a turtleneck."

"Oh, yeah?"

"You look good in everything." I chuckled, not bothering to say the obvious 'including nothing at all' that ran around my head.

He smirked and nudged me. "Thanks for letting me come over, I just needed some normality after the hospital. Some of… us."

I nudged him. "Likewise. Though I probably should finish that footage, I only have half an hour left, why don't you look at food menus while I get this done?"

"Sure. If you want me to wait in your room I can–"

"The other sofa will be fine." I pecked his cheek. "I just don't want you seeing the images, that's all. There's no reason to put you through that."

A sad smile pulled onto his lips next. "I know… I hate it, but I know."

He sat on the other chair, and I got comfy inside my blankets.

Play.

Warped tables, me, doctors, syringes, tubes, a monitor for my heart, something that looked like a breathing apparatus. Occasionally Toga or Twice came into view. Overhaul. Nothing clicked. I rubbed my eyes and just focused on the shrinking time bar. Soon it would be done with, and soon I'd not have to ask "what if". I'd know. There was nothing to fucking remember.

Then someone new stepped onto the screen.

White hair. Smart suit. Long nails and painted lips.

Oh, shit. It was her.

I leaned in.

She stood over my prone body on the table, her uncaring face hard to read due to the generally crappy quality of the footage, but as I saw a flash of teeth in a weird smile, a glint caught my eye. What was she doing? Was that a knife? I wasn't moving. My eyes were closed. Perhaps I was sedated, or asleep. Regardless I didn't seem to know she was there. She stared. Slowly she raised the blade. It flashed in the fluorescent lights. Then she pushed the blade into my skin. My body twitched. She kept pushing. Blind and spent, my body convulsed but managed little else. The straps dug into my skin. My mouth moved slightly with cries, no doubt, but I couldn't even try to fight back. Helpless. I was completely at her mercy, and she had none to give. Again and again. Poke. Prod. Slice. For the sheer sake of it, she tormented me. And she smiled. The whole damn time, those painted lips were split into a grin.

I remembered nothing. None of it. But this woman was potentially related to me, be it sibling, cousin, aunt or something further. But she had to know me, right? Somehow. Why else would she take such obvious delight in those actions? Why?

"Alex?"

Why go to the trouble of doing all that? Of playing with me, cutting me, making me bleed and suffer if there wasn't a personal connection? And if there was… What could I have possibly done? Killed my parents? All right, but I was a fucking baby practically. How dare this woman treat me like a damn punching bag. She was worse than Shigaraki, All for One and Chisaki. At least those bastards had a purpose. She was mad. Insane. How–

"Alex!"

I blinked.

The living room was silent and still. A picture had come off the wall, a crack ran along the centre of the balcony door and Sho was sitting with his hands over his ears. He pulled them away shakily, staring at me with a look of amazement. What the hell had happened?

Dad appeared in the next moment, pulling his headphones off and peering from round his bedroom door. "Was there just a goddamned earthquake?"

"N-No." Sho said, swallowing hard and coming over to me. I'd already pressed pause, but he didn't look at the screen anyway. Eyes fixed on me, Sho knelt and put his hand on my knee. "Alex, are you okay?"

Dad frowned and came closer, his door creaking closed behind him, eyes raking over me. As if looking for a wound. Shit. What had I even done? Sho was holding his ears, like I'd been yelling, but I don't think I made a noise. No, my mouth had been closed.

I swallowed and looked down at my hands. "What did I do, Sho?"

"Not what I asked." He laughed breathlessly, shaking his head. "But all right. It was like the whole building was shaking, but this pressure built up in the room. It cracked the door and shook some things loose. I wondered if it was the Vision guy or something…"

My voice cracked when I tried to respond. Shit. My power had been going bananas, and I hadn't even noticed? Crap. I could have seriously hurt Sho if that had gone on any longer. I leaned forward and peered at his ears, but there wasn't any blood. His eyes looked all right as well, no blood vessels burst, nothing. He smiled softly, but it could have been really bad.

He squeezed my knee. "Are you all right?"

"I… I…" The air was like sand.

"All right, less tricky question." He nodded. "What happened? Did a memory come back?"

"I just…" I put my hand over my mouth. "I didn't know I was doing anything. It just got away from me. Crap. I could've killed you."

"I'm fi–"

"Sho you should go to the docs or something, I could have seriously–"

"Kid." Dad put a hand on my shoulder. "Breathe. Todoroki is all right, we'll get him checked in a minute. Right now, we're focused on what caused this."

My eyes warmed and I nodded, looking at my knees before glancing at the screen. I pointed and they both looked. The image itself wasn't all that terrible, not until they spotted the knife and the dark spots along my arm, leg and side. Like some strange 'connect the dots' game she had played. As much as I could, I explained to them the train of thought, about how cruel it was and without reason. I even voiced how I considered her worse than the others. It started pouring out of me until eventually I was just gasping and rubbing my eyes hard with the heels of my hands.

"Well done for telling us." Dad said, hugging me from the side, speaking softly into my ear. Sho hadn't moved, his hand still gently clasping my knee, squeezing occasionally. Keeping me grounded.

"But how didn't I know my power was doing that?"

Dad moved away to phone for someone to come and check on us both, while Sho took my hand. "Panic can take a lot of different forms. For anyone else it would have simply been you sitting there really still, in all likeliness. But you–"

"But I could have demolished half this building and turned you into a fucking smoothie." I sniffed and pulled him up to sit next to me on the sofa. "You don't blame me, but please let me apologise."

He sighed. "All right."

"I'm so sorry. I'll keep myself in check, I swear."

He leaned forward, forehead to mine. "It's a new challenge, of course you'll get it sorted. It's you."

It's you.

I shivered and clung to Sho's hand, my eyes feeling itchy as I closed them.

It's you, you damned rat.

"Alex?"

"I… I think I'm remembering something."

"All right, just breathe. You're safe." His warmth, his comforting hand moving along my back, it was present, but faded.

I breathed deep through my nose, and when I opened my eyes, I winced at the heat of fluorescent lights but saw nothing. Darkness ruled. My belly ached, and my entire left side burned with small cuts and lesions. Someone had been cutting into me. Tormenting me. I tasted iron on the back of my tongue and my body writhed as another slice ran along my arm.

It's you, why does it always have to be you? Endurance. Who would have fucking thought it, that lowlife's power turned out to be oh-so-fucking useful. Stupid bastard. Stupid brat. You couldn't have just fucking died, could you? In her belly. When you were born. None of this would have happened if you'd just woken up to the fact you shouldn't fucking exist.

A long cut ran along my stomach and I whimpered, trying to move, trying to speak, but I was sluggish, like I'd been drugged. Shit. Just leave me alone. Who the hell is this? Belly? Who? She's talking like she knew my mother. A friend? What friend would do this to their friend's kid though?

Noise appeared near the doorway to the lab. I knew those strange echoes well by then.

A sigh rushed out of impatient lips. Never enough time. Fine. If I don't get you this time, runt, I'll get you through the Shigaraki bastard. Him and his stupid personal doctor have their own plans, so whatever happens now, I'll still get my fucking chance. Don't think I won't. I will never stop. You're gonna pay. Bit by bit, okay? Because this is your damned fault. We were going to change the world, and then you fucked it all up. Forget this, you mongrel. I don't want my face in your mangy head…

I gasped and opened my eyes to the living room, cradled against Sho's chest in the fetal position, breathing thin and irregular. My fingers were tangled in his t-shirt, and as I came back to myself, I realised I'd sealed us in a bubble. I released it. Dad sighed in relief and smoothed back his hair, having been pacing on the outside of the bubble, presumably losing his mind.

"You back with us, Alex?" Dad asked, leaning on the back of the sofa, his eyes searching mine.

I nodded.

Sho held me tighter. "A memory?"

I clung to him, shivering. "Yeah. S-Seems like she and my parents… They had plans of th-their own."

"What?"

"She kept saying something about it being my fault, that they had plans to change the world, that I ruined it by not being dead in her belly." My voice crumbled and I sobbed into his chest. I didn't care about this woman, I didn't care about the people that were technically my parents because they shared DNA with me, but hearing those words, when so vulnerable, when already in so much pain. Fuck I couldn't shake them off.

I shouldn't be here.

I wasn't meant to exist.

My fault.

Everything was–

"Shh." Sho pressed his lips to my hair.

I was just sobbing, the words hadn't escaped. And I was glad. I didn't believe them, no. They weren't my words, they were her venom, her disgusting hatred aimed at a victim. And that was a word I had always loathed. But that was all I was in that situation. A damned victim. And she was trying to paint me as the villain.

"That's it, Alex, breathe." Dad encouraged, staying close by.

"You're shivering harder, do you want another blanket?" Sho shifted his weight on the sofa, keeping me close at all times.

I shook my head. "N-No this is good. This is… This is good."

It took a couple more minutes, but eventually I had stopped shivering, and could take a steady breath. I sat up and sat next to Sho instead of in his lap. It had been comfortable, but talking to my Dad in that position was a touch awkward. Even so, I stayed glued to Sho's side, and I was sure he was gently warming me with his quirk.

Dad perched on the table. "You want me to take notes?"

I nodded, and the notepad appeared. He knew I wanted to get it done, get it on paper and then work past it.

I explained what she had said. Not much of it made sense to me, but at least it was something tangible. And then it was gone. Onto the paper, out of my mouth, off my tongue, gone. I slumped back and looked up at the warm lights of Dad's apartment.

I clicked my tongue. "So I guess we can assume Shigaraki intends to get ahold of me again at some point."

"Mm." Dad tapped his pen against the paper. "I thought last time you spoke he made it seem like he wanted to just kill you next time he got the chance?"

I shrugged. "He's a brat, remember? He'll spout shit when it suits him. If he has some kinda personal doctor involved, there's presumably more to it. But… But why the heck would Shigaraki care about my Endurance quirk? He never has before."

"That you know of." Dad sighed. "At least we can have a few scraps of information though. I'll hand these over to the police, see what they can make of it. That was all she said?"

"That's all I remembered." I leaned my head against Sho's shoulder.

Sho took a long breath. "So maybe she's just a friend of your parents… Not even related at all."

"Nah…" I shrugged. "I know exactly what she is."

Dad snorted. "Don't."

"What's that?" Sho asked, and I simpered at his naivety.

"A cun–"

"Alex!"

"Oh fine."

And there we have it! Some scraps of info, and the footage is finally watched! Hope you enjoyed these more domestic moments as much as I did ^-^ thanks for reading, faving, following, and reviewing, loooove to hear from you folks! SHOUTOUTS below!

And just a reminder, in case you fancy throwing me a wee tip etc. I do have a Kofi page up and running. Same name and pic as on here ^-^ but don't worry haha, this is not me holding anything hostage, regardless of donations and whatnot, I'll be uploading on my bi-weekly schedule! (Well, unless something crops up and I have to delay for reasons lol, but not connected to anything Kofi pfft!)

SHOUTOUTS:

zikashigaku: Glad to be baaaack haha! I love writing Papa Aizawa, I have to admit haha, he's such fun to work with. Aw I love the idea of it being a comic, that would be awesome haha. The festival was a ton of fun to write actually, I had been kind of dreading it as I felt I'd bigged it up too much, but in the end it was smooth sailing. When I read the Endeavour fight in the manga I was like 'oh boooy' haha, I knew it was going to be an interesting moment for both Sho and Alex, due to Dabi being there as well. But the fallout was super theraputic to write in all honesty! Giving Alex a chance to really pay Sho back a little for all his support. Hope you enjoyed this one! Thanks for continuing to review, it's wonderful of you every time ^-^ cya soon!

Daphne Ackerman: Love the name btw! Thanks for chiming in as you went! I hope you see this! Glad to have you, and thanks for the reviews. I love seeing how people are feeling as they progress through a work ^-^ and I don't think it's bad at all to want the Bakugo x Sho x Alex thing to happen. I want folks to at least be intrigued by that, if not full on wanting it haha. So I'm glad it sounds interesting to you! I won't confirm or deny if it'll actually happen but... muhahah you'll have to wait and see!

Calinan: I have noooo idea if you'll see this, or how far through you got as you commented on Chpt 1, but i hope you've made it this far haha. Dunno! Anyway, thanks for chiming in ^-^ I like to think that as the story progresses she does have a few wins, and some of them entirely in her own merit. But I don't know how far through you got of course. And indeed, some folks may well read her wins as not being all her own either, and that's fine too! I like to think there is a need for a team in such a world, and a lot of the time Alex's biggest weakness is her stubborness about asking for help. So her relying on folks is a big part of the point ^-^ I hope that makes sense! And for sure, maybe she isn't as smart as she could be, but that's just her character haha, she's a school kid, she's still learning! Kinda the point of school really! Anyway thanks again!