Kaere stared at the wall, picking at the skin around her nails. She was chewing at the inside of her cheek as she listened to the quiet snip of scissors behind her. When she heard the sound of a lighter flicking, she turned ever so slightly in the direction of the window. Her vision was blurry since her glasses were off, but she could tell that Twice was fidgeting with his lighter.

"You need to hold still, my dear. I don't want to mess this up." Compress gently rested a hand on her shoulder to remind her to keep her head straight. "Are you alright?"

"I…I'm fine." She closed her eyes and faced forward again. My double…Twice sent her out a few days ago and she hasn't come back. Iguchi-kun said that he saw Hawks walk up to her and fly away with her. Is she okay? What if he dropped her? What if she's dead?

Compress ran his fingers through her long, dark brown hair and sighed. "It's a shame that we have to cut it. You have such beautiful hair, Kae." He carefully snipped another lock of it, letting it flutter to the newspaper he'd spread out underneath her.

"Why do we have to cut it? Toga-chan said-!" Twice started to argue.

"Toga said that she could dye Kae's hair, yes, but that might not be enough to disguise her. We can't have that hero spotting her and realizing that the Kae he has is a fraud." He cut off another strand of hair and frowned to himself. "Of course, no matter how you look, you're still going to be my darling Kae."

She heard footsteps approaching and opened her eyes when Twice sat in front of her, blocking her blurry view of the wall. A warm, gentle hand cupped her cheek and she felt blood rushing to her face. The girl lowered her eyes to the floor and she felt like a lump was forming in her throat. "I'm…I'm sorry that I'm causing so much trouble. Attracting his attention and now this. I'm sorry."

"Kae-chan, look at me." Twice met her gaze when she lifted it and he leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "You don't…have to apologize for anything."

The scissors kept snipping behind her. Kaere's pulse quickened from the close contact between both of the other villains. Thoughts of what was happening with her double disappeared as she was forced to focus on what was going on around her. How Twice's other hand reached for one of hers, how his thumb stroked along her knuckles. How Compress was talking about what hair color he thought would suit her best.

When Compress finally stopped cutting, he set the scissors aside and looked to Twice over Kaere's shoulder. "Kae is going to need some clothes to disguise herself when we go out. Can she borrow one of your shirts? I didn't bring any spares outfits for her today."

"Y-yeah. I'll find one." There was a pinkish tint spreading across Twice's face when he glanced to Kaere from Compress. He reluctantly let go of the girl's hand and went to look for a suitable shirt to offer her.

It was a simple enough plan, to disguise the medic. Truthfully, this had been Shigaraki's idea. With the double being picked up by Hawks, that would mean that Kaere couldn't go outside without risking being seen and having the plan ruined. If she didn't look like herself, she could still be a contributing member of the League.

The masked man behind her ran his fingers through her hair again and leaned down to her ear. "It might take some getting used to, but I'm sure you'll like it as much as I do." His hand moved to pick up her glasses and offered them to her.

Kaere's hands shook a little when she put them on. With her vision clear, she was even more aware of how much hair Compress had cut off. Her long, dark brown hair was sitting in slightly curled strands on the newspaper around her. She lifted a hand to her hair and ruffled it.

Half-turning to face him, she started to thank him for cutting her hair, but she was cut off. Compress's hand cradled the back of her head and tipped it back so he could lean down. His lips gently pressed against hers and he smiled down at her when he pulled back. More blood rushed to her face and she was finally able to mumble her words of thanks.

Twice came back from the pile of clothes in the corner, frowning. "Sorry. They're probably gonna be too big. It's all I've got so don't complain! Ngh. S-sorry, Kae-chan." His shoulders drooped and he rubbed the back of his neck, holding out the clothes with his other hand.

"Ah. It's okay. Thank you." She took them and went into the bathroom to change. The next step was going with Compress to pick up the hair color so Toga could do her hair. Kaere was pulling her shirt up when she happened to glance at the mirror and pause.

Before Compress cut it, her hair had reached her elbows. Dark brown and usually a little unkempt. Now it reached just a little past her chin. It still looked kind of messy, but it was drastically different from how it was before.

She took a moment to look at the change, appreciating how well Compress had cut it. When she changed clothes, she looked even more different. Twice's black tank top settled loosely over her chest and stomach with one of the straps slipping a bit when she put it on. Over that, she wore one of his button-up shirts.

As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, she was met with the sight of Twice smoking near the window and Compress wearing a disguise of his own. The casual clothes and the simple medical mask really worked well to hide his identity. She didn't have much time to admire him before Compress beckoned her to him.

"My dear, let me roll up your sleeves for you." He carefully started rolling the right sleeve up, but paused when he saw the deep scars on her arms. Compress tilted his head and rubbed his thumb over a scar near her wrist. He finished rolling up her sleeves in silence.

It was obvious that Twice didn't want them to go without him, but he had to stay behind in case the double returned. Whether it was due to something going horribly wrong and the double getting confused; thinking that she was the real Kaere. Or if Hawks realized he couldn't get anything out of her so he sent her back. Someone had to stay behind just in case.

Shift P.O.V

She's worried about him. He frowned behind his medical mask, watching her from the corner of his eye. Sako both loved and hated how much she cared about other people. "My dear, I was curious about your name," he said, wanting to distract her. "Kaere. Is it written like "to return"?"

"Ah…y-yeah, that's right. Naoru Kaere. Um…Naoru is written like "heal". But the nickname that Twice and Toga-chan gave me…I think "Kae" would be written like "change"." The girl lowered her head and moved a little closer to him on the sidewalk. "I picked the name "Kaere" because of my quirk, but…I really like "Kae", too. It's the first nickname anyone gave me."

Sako opened the shop door for her and gently took her hand to lead her to the boxes of hair color. So her real name isn't Kaere? All this time, everyone's only called her Kaere or Kae. I didn't realize that she had a different name.

He was wary of the other customers, even though he was feigning an air of confidence. Without either of his usual masks, relying on just the thin cotton mask, Sako knew that he was vulnerable. He guided her to the hair color section and started looking for a color that would suit her.

At his side, she was looking as well. Kaere lifted a delicate hand to push up her glasses and her scars caught his eye again. The deep surgical incisions and patches of scars that decorated her pale skin. They looked like they would've been horribly painful when they were made.

His attention drifted as Sako became aware of someone else in the aisle. From the edge of his vision, he could see a young man trying to subtly look at Kaere in a way that made Sako frown. Turning his head a little, he saw how the boy's eyes drifted over Kaere's form and that was when he took action.

Sako rested a hand on the girl's lower back and she immediately flushed pink. He glanced toward the stranger and saw his eyes widen. With a slight smirk, Sako tugged his mask down and leaned in as Kaere turned toward him. His lips met Kaere's and he heard the retreating footsteps of the young man leaving the aisle.

Shift P.O.V

The kiss caught her completely off-guard. Kaere's eyes widened behind her glasses, but soon slid half-closed as the kiss became deeper. She felt his tongue trace along her lower lip and hesitantly opened to let him in. When he stroked along her tongue with his, she felt a tightening in her lower abdomen and she subconsciously pressed her thighs together.

Her heart was beating so hard, so fast, that she was afraid it might pop. The moment his mouth left hers, she was sure that her face was a glowing shade of red. The tension in her core was still there, but now with the added bonus of a fluttery feeling like butterflies. Kaere opened her mouth to speak, but it was like her words got stuck in her throat.

"Hm?" Compress turned his head and reached for a particular box of hair color. "Ah! This one looks like it would suit you, my dear. We might need something to lighten your hair first, but I think this would look beautiful on you. What do you think?"

She glanced at the box, still feeling a little lightheaded. "It…it looks like a good color," she agreed. Kaere was rewarded by his warm right hand caressing her cheek, his thumb lovingly rubbing along her cheekbone.

"This one, then." He cast a quick glance down the aisle before compressing the box down to a marble that he tucked into his hoodie pocket. "You know, this didn't take long at all," he commented, leading her to the lightening section. "How would you feel about a date? Nothing fancy, unfortunately. We could get food together at the convenience store and just have a moment to talk. It feels like I never get you alone anymore."

Kaere followed him and felt her pulse skip when he reached for her hand. He laced his fingers with hers and smiled at her over his shoulder. "Um…we won't be gone for long, though…right?"

Compress clicked his tongue as he compressed a hair lightening kit, shaking his head. "My dear, sweet Kae. You're worried about Jin again, aren't you? Honestly, don't you think that it's a little…unhealthy…how attached he is to you? Jin needs to be able to cope with being apart from you, Kae. What if Shigaraki needs you to work separately? We can't have him becoming unhinged just because you're not with him."

He…has a point. Twice worries about me so much and every time I get hurt, it just makes it worse. If we had to work separately, would he be okay? If I had to work with Iguchi-kun and he had to do something somewhere else, would he be able to hold himself together? I'm…worried about him.

Kaere moved closer to his side as more people entered the aisle. She subconsciously squeezed his hand and glanced toward the strangers. Just a few high school girls that were looking at the selection of hair color, but they still put her on edge.

"Hm? Oh, darling. Don't look at them. I want your eyes on me." He slipped his prosthetic hand beneath her chin and lifted her face. His dark brown eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled behind his mask. "You know, your long hair was beautiful, but this short hair makes you look so cute."

Her face went bright pink and she could feel the girls looking at her now. Sweat beaded at her hairline and Kaere lowered her head. "I…I'm not cute."

"Maybe you don't think so, but I think that you're magnificent." His words dripped with warmth and sweetness in a way that made her feel like she was melting into his touch. "You know that I only have eyes for you. I adore you."

"Sako-san…" Her voice was just above a whisper and she shifted her gaze.

"My other name," he corrected her, still smiling behind his mask as he leaned closer to the girl.

"A-Atsuhiro. I…I really like you, too."

Pleased, he drew his hand from her chin and began leading her toward the exit. "Well, now that we've finished our supply run, why don't we have our date?"