What is he doing? A sly grin spread across her face as she approached the blond, her heart beating faster by the second. He can't hear me, she realized as she noticed the earbud cords hanging down from the sides of his head. Akari quickened her pace and leapt up onto the man's back, nearly knocking him down.

Yamada grinned and quickly hooked his arms around the back of her knees, holding her on his back. "Akari, baby! There you are!"

"You knew it was me?" she pouted, her lips twisting into a disappointed frown. I thought I could surprise him. Did he see me?

"Any time you're around, it makes my heart race!" he teased. "And I might've seen you peeking at me from around that convenience store!"

She snickered and shook her head. The man had sent her a text message early that morning, asking her if she wanted to meet for breakfast. He sent her the location, but when she saw him walking alone, she could not resist trying to scare him. "So any news about Shouta?"

Yamada let her down from his back and tilted his head. "He's fine! He'll be back tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow? Isn't that kind of early? Both of his arms are broken, right? And his face…?"

"Awww! Akari, baby, you're worried about "grumpy boy" Shouta's face? Don't worry, babe! He'll be back smiling at everyone good as new pretty soon!" He leaned in to pat her on the shoulder, but paused. Peering down at her through his glasses, he raised an eyebrow. "Hey, babe, you look pretty good today. Did they give you some good pain medication or something? You look like you slept really well!"

Akari took a step back, aware of the rush of warmth that rose to her cheeks. Truthfully, she had slept incredibly well. At some point, Akari had dozed off during the monster movie marathon and was woken by his message. She could vividly remember waking up on the couch, curled up against her friend Jin with her injured wrist lying on top of his chest. I'll have to apologize for that. He probably thinks I'm some kind of pervert for having him stay the night, but I really didn't want to be alone.

"Am I making you blush~?" Yamada teased her. His grin spread a little and he reached out, running his fingers along a strand of her crimson hair. Leaning down more, he brought his face inches from hers and the man's emerald green eyes met her blue ones directly over the rim of his glasses. "Want me to be your nurse until your wrist heals? I can give you a bath~"

Her pulse seemed to skip and she took another step away from him, smirking. "You're always such a flirt, Hizashi."

"Not with everyone!" He pretended to pout, but followed her when she started to walk away. "But, seriously, babe. If you need help with anything, call me! I'd drop everything for my Akari!"

She looked down at her splint, her thoughts shifting back to Jin. When she left the apartment, he was still asleep on the couch. She left a note for him on the coffee table to explain where she had gone, but she found herself worrying about him. What is it? I hardly know him, but it's like…I can't help worrying. He's sweet. Sweet people get hurt.

"I had some help yesterday," she finally confessed.

"What? Oh, right! Shouta mentioned that you had another friend! So what's her name? When do we get to meet her?"

"Ah…heh. It's actually a guy. And it's kind of complicated. I met him when I was trying to hunt down some criminals one night and we just kind of keep crossing paths. It's weird. But anyway, last night I was on my way home and I was really out of it. I might have demanded that he help me get home."

All traces of amusement left Yamada's face. Regarding her with a frown, he grabbed her by the upper arms. "Akari, that's dangerous! He could be a serial killer!"

"I'm still alive."

"They don't always kill people right away! Akari, I'm serious! I don't like this one bit! Tell me you didn't let him into your apartment!"

Akari bristled and shook off his hold. The action made her shoulder wound sting and she gritted her teeth. The area that the blue-haired villain had touched was still healing. Recovery Girl had put bandages over it, but it was definitely going to leave a scar. A deep, disgusting scar.

Narrowing her eyes, she frowned at her friend. "Hizashi, do you really think that I'm that poor of a judge of character? You think I'd let him anywhere near me if I thought he was a bad person?"

"You never know-!"

"Please. I don't want to fight with you. I wanted to get breakfast and go to Recovery Girl to see if she can fix my wrist." Meeting his gaze with an unyielding determination, Akari tried to make him understand her feelings. "Hizashi, he's my friend. Just leave it."

The man released an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes. "Fine."

They walked for a while, neither of them speaking. It was normal for Akari to be quiet, but it was bizarre for Yamada to be so reserved. When she looked over at him, she saw him biting his lip. He glanced in her direction and attempted a smile, but it was a bit weak. "Hizashi?"

Shift P.O.V

High school sweethearts. A perfect romance. He had been with her through the roughest parts of her teenage years. They had started as friends and progressed to a couple in their first year of high school. They became lovers in their second year. In their third year, he started to want more. He wanted a future together.

When she took a night job, it started to strain their relationship. He rarely got to see her and when he did, she was exhausted. He had his own things to do, though. His own hero work and his radio work. They broke up after dating for seven years.

This was why he was so excited when she mentioned how tiring the nighttime work was becoming. He was ecstatic when she agreed to work at UA and he had such high hopes that they could rekindle their high school romance. When Aizawa claimed her, he felt a little dismayed, but at least he knew Aizawa. The man was difficult for most other people to get along with. It might not last a long time.

Now he was listening to her defend a complete stranger and call them her friend. Yamada felt a tightening in his chest as he attempted to smile at the woman that he had loved for so long, still loved, and nodded his head. "He sounds like a nice guy, Akari, baby. We should meet some time. So! What do you want for breakfast? I think I want something sweet!"

The red-haired woman was talking now, smiling back at him now that he seemed to have conceded to her wishes. She wanted some coffee before she made a food decision. This was unsurprising to him; she had always been that way. Coffee before food. Even in high school.

Yamada slid his hands into his pockets so she would not notice how they shook. He wanted to hold her hand, as he had in high school, but she would raise an eyebrow if he did it now. Flirting was harmless; just words. Touching was more serious to her. It had always been that way.

He remembered the condition she had been in when he and the others got to the USJ. She was unconscious, bruised, and her wrist was broken. Yamada had carried her to Recovery Girl's room and had to leave to check on Aizawa.

He remembered what some of the students had said about the leader of the villains almost using his quirk to destroy her face. How the man had mentioned taking her hostage. It made Yamada's stomach twist in fear and anger. Resolving to talk to Aizawa about Akari's new friend, he continued to fake a smile.

Shift P.O.V

Still asleep? Akari quietly locked her apartment door behind herself and kept her eyes on the sleeping figure of her friend. His eyes were closed, head turned to the side, with a hand resting on his chest. She made her way to the kitchen as silently as possible and opened the fridge.

Recovery Girl had taken a look at her wrist and was able to repair it, but she was told to not push herself. The bruise remained on her temple, the wound on her shoulder still only half-healed. Her stamina was bad so there was really only so much that the healing hero could do to help.

As Akari grabbed a can of energy drink, she heard a stirring on the couch in the next room. It was shortly followed by a startled half-shout and she looked over her shoulder in time to see Jin rush to try to get up. "Jin?"

He froze when he heard his name and looked to the kitchen. The man still seemed a bit groggy from just waking up, blinking in surprise. "Akari…"

"Are you okay?" She saw him nod and grabbed a second can, lifting it and raising an eyebrow. "Want one?" He nodded again.

When the woman sat beside him on the couch, he bowed his head and mumbled an apology for sleeping in. She could tell that he had needed the sleep though. Between him sleeping for so long and the utterly exhausted look in his eyes the night before, he had really needed the rest.

Akari handed him one of the cans and watched him open it. Her gaze skimmed over the deep scar on his forehead, moving gradually to the man's narrowed eyes, and then to the bit of scruff that was his facial hair. At a casual glance, his face might be perceived as scary, but when he looked at her, she saw only warmth. He's a good person. He's good to me, at least.

"So…what happened yesterday?" Jin set down his half-empty can, frowning and leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

"Oh, that? Nn. A big group of villains showed up when we were training the students in rescue operations. One of them had these weird hands all over their arms, neck, and over their face. I'm pretty sure he was in charge. And there was this one that didn't even look human. That was the one that grabbed me and broke my wrist, but the other guy did this." Akari slipped off her jacket, revealing her tank top and the bandages plastered over her shoulder.

Jin stared at the oozing bandages in horror. Apparently he had missed seeing it when he took off her jacket the previous night. "He…hurt you?"

"I was told that he disintegrated a big chunk of my skin. It's a mess under the gauze." She fixed her jacket and frowned. "That guy…wanted to take me hostage. He was planning to disintegrate my face at first, but something made him change his mind." Akari was surprised when she saw his mouth twist into a scowl.

He ran a hand over his hair, a muscle in his jaw twitching faintly. "He…did that to you? He hurt you…and he wanted to take you? What did he look like?"