Akari tilted her head slightly, staring down at the surface of her desk. A large black spider, with long and spindly limbs, was crawling its way across her desk. It would stop when it reached the edge and then, rather than crossing to Yamada's desk or Kayama's desk, it would turn around to go the other way and start over.

I'm hallucinating, she thought as she gripped the cold can of coffee. Blue eyes flitted to the man across from her. Yagi seemed unfazed by the spider's presence, but that could mean anything. He's All Might. Unshakeable in the face of evil. Why would he react to a spider?

She lowered the can and moved to tap the spider with a fingertip, but found her finger colliding with the desk. "Oh."

"What's going on, babe? Spill some coffee?" Yamada leaned back in his seat to look at her desk and found her staring straight down at the surface with a blank expression on her face. "Akari? What's up? Feeling okay?"

"Yeah…I'm fine."

"You haven't been sleeping." The voice came from behind her and nearly made her jump out of her seat. Aizawa simply stared down at her and Yamada when the two looked toward him. "What?"

"Nothing! I was just wondering how much Eraser Head body pillows go for at the mall! Want to go with me to find out, Akari, baby?" Their blond friend grinned, glancing between the two other heroes.

Even with the bandages covering most of his face, it was obvious from Aizawa's eyes that he was vehemently against this. Yamada laughed and assured him that it was a joke, but the dark-haired hero was far from amused. As he turned his attention to Akari, his eyes narrowed. "You haven't been sleeping."

She winced and shifted her eyes away from his. "I mean…it's not like I'm out fighting villains or something, Shouta. I just can't sleep."

It was true. Akari's insomnia was back. She had tried taking sleeping pills, drinking sleepy time tea, meditating, and even attempted to knock herself out against the wall at one point. Nothing was working. She knew what it was though.

Since the first night of murders, in which blue-haired men were targeted, Akari had started having trouble sleeping again. She had no reason to be fearful since she knew who the killer was. The man in the black and white mask, who liked to leave her flowers. Her "secret admirer".

She ran a hand through her hair and attempted a smile in Aizawa's direction. "What are you staring at, Shouta?" she teased.

"I need your help today," he bluntly answered. The man's eyes narrowed a bit and stepped closer to her seat. "It isn't school-related. I'm going home with you tonight and I'm not accepting any excuses."

"Awww! You sound so dominant, Shouta!" Yamada received no reaction and pretended to pout as their friend went to his desk. "Can you believe "grumpy boy Shouta"?" He sighed and rested his chin in his hand. "But, babe, if you're having trouble sleeping, you should just come over. I'm always game to help you sleep~"

"I'm fine," she assured him, attempting to smile again. Akari felt absolutely exhausted. It was a struggle to keep her eyes open during the day and it had been like this for four days now. With the sports festival coming up, she knew that she needed to be alert. It was just so difficult for her to stay asleep.

Akari went about her day like always, but with the company of the increasingly large amount of spiders that she was hallucinating everywhere she went. She helped with classes and assisted Yagi with a lesson plan. She talked to everyone in a relatively normal way. She, by all appearances, seemed to be alright. Except that she was sure that she was losing her mind from fatigue.

It was as she was preparing dinner that she finally let her mind drift from safety to danger. Jin…is a nice person. He's sweet, he's respectful, and he laughs at my dumb jokes. He couldn't be the guy in the mask. I just can't imagine it.

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she put the soba in bowls, biting her lower lip. Akari had managed to find some relatively easy recipes so this was the least she could make for Aizawa while he was at her apartment. The man was currently sitting on the couch and waiting for her to join him.

Jin wouldn't hurt anyone. He apologizes every time he bumps into someone on the street. He lets other people cut in front of him in line and he barely raises his voice. Jin is a good person. Even as she thought this, she remembered the dark expression he wore when he asked about the man who had hurt her. The twitch of a muscle in his jaw, the furrowing of his brow, the narrowing of his already menacing eyes, and the way his hands into white-knuckled fists. His eyes held such rage when she told him about everything that had happened to her. Rage and pain.

Aizawa greeted her with a bowed head and quiet grumble as she approached the couch. "We could've ordered something."

"You don't want soba? I worked so hard to make it just right," she teased. Akari grinned and set the bowl down on the coffee table. She sat beside him and began to carefully lift a bunch of noodles, bringing them close enough for him to eat. As grouchy as he was, he did her the small kindness of letting her to feed him.

I have to focus on this, she told herself. Shouta needs my help. When the bowl was empty, the red-haired hero leaned over and wiped some broth away from his mouth. It had soaked into the bandages a bit, but he seemed to either not care or he simply failed to notice. "Want a bath?" she teased, half-laughing when she asked. No way in hell is he going to want me to-!

"Yeah." He saw her face turn red and smirked behind his bandages. "What?"

"Nothing. I'm just surprised. I didn't expect you to want that. I mean, I'm kind of glad though." Akari stood to take their dishes to the sink and she paused on the way to the bathroom, flashing him a half-smile. "I like being able to do stuff for you. It probably sounds weird, but I like pampering you a little."

The man bowed his head again and managed a shrug. "I appreciate it."

She ran a bath for him and helped him undress, all the while blushing a vibrant shade of pink. What's wrong with me? It's not like I haven't seen this before! I'm acting like a nervous teenager!

Once he was settled in the water, she attempted to calm herself down with deep breaths and tried to think of something to take her mind off of what she was doing. Akari grabbed a sponge and gently started lathering soap on his chest and neck, wary of his bandaged arms. "S-so when do the bandages come off?"

"Some time after the sports festival." He closed his eyes and relaxed against the back of her bathtub, letting her wash him. Every so often, Akari's fingertips would brush over his bare skin and it sent a tingle of warmth through him. "How's your shoulder?"

"Hm?" Akari glanced down, having had her eyes locked on the wall across the room. Her gaze fixed upon the male hero's toned chest and what was located a bit lower. Heat rushed to her face and she bit her lip as she tried to think back to what his question was. "Shoulder?"

"Where the villain touched you."

"Ah! Right. Sorry. You want to see it? It's pretty nasty." She moved to his side and shrugged off her jacket, revealing the woman's bandaged shoulder. With a quick tug, she pulled the soiled gauze pad off of it and displayed the nastiness beneath. The skin was still healing and shone a sickening shade of bright pink and dark red. It looked tight, corrupted in some way. Marred forever. "Doesn't hurt as much as it did," she explained.

"That looks bad."

"Hm? You don't want to kiss it better?" she teased, twitching her scarred shoulder forward a little. To her surprise, he leaned forward and his bandage-covered mouth pressed against it. Akari's pulse quickened and she hid a smile behind her thick, crimson locks. "Shouta…you didn't have to do that. I was joking."

"I'll do more when I get these taken off."

Akari began washing his hair, grinning to herself now that his back was turned. "I don't know what's cuter. "Grumpy boy" Shouta or "Badass" Shouta."

"Badass?" he muttered in confusion.

"You were a total badass! Going in there to protect the students and saving me like that!" Akari ran her fingers through his damp hair, enjoying the sensation of his hair flowing through her hands. "I mean…normal Shouta is pretty cool, but…seeing you fight like that was pretty hot," she admitted.

He frowned behind the bandages now, remembering the panic he had felt when he overheard that the villain wanted to take her hostage. As she started to massage his scalp, the man released a quiet groan of pleasure that he immediately regretted. He felt her pause and he started to grimace. "Akari-"

Akari leaned down, running her fingertips along his chest and smirking to herself when she managed to make him tense up. "You're actually really sensitive, aren't you?"

"Don't call me that," he grumbled.

"I like it though! I like hearing the sounds you make when I-" The woman yelped as Aizawa leaned forward and she lost her balance. Akari fell forward against his back, dampening the front of her shirt as her arms slid forward around him. Her fingertips brushed over his toned, warm chest, making her blush.

Now flustered, she attempted to shrug it off and helped him get dressed. "S-so? Want to just sleep here tonight?" she inquired, hoping he would forget what just happened.

Shift P.O.V

"That was my plan." Aizawa sat on the couch again as she went to make some sleepy time tea for them both. While she was busy, he looked down at the dark cushions again. When he first sat down, there was a faint smell of cigarettes. Now, as he looked at the cushions, he could see a few stray blond hairs. Short blond hairs that could not possibly belong to Yamada.

Her "friend". She hasn't said anything about him yet, but he must smoke. The dark-haired hero gazed over at Akari now. She had kept her jacket off so he could see her wound clearly from where he sat. It looked raw and painful.

"Sleepy time tea." The woman set a cup in front of him and frowned. "Right. Sorry; I'll have to hold it for you, won't I?"

He watched her blow on the tea, her cherry red lips puckering to do so. What she had said earlier popped into his head again. How she enjoyed taking care of him. It was odd, but he found that he enjoyed having her take care of him as well. "Akari, when we're both healed, I'm going to take you somewhere."

She paused and flushed pink. "Like a date?"