Everything was quiet, just the soft sound of her own breath, and the slight rustling of the curtains in the room. Kamiko's mind was awake, but her eyelids were heavy. Her brows twitched, for she could feel the sunlight bouncing off her skin.

"Mmm..." She hummed softly as she exhaled deeply.

"Kamiko?" Her eyes fluttered open at the voice of her boyfriend. A blurry figure appeared before her, then as she blinked, Bakugou's image slowly became clearer. "Hey. How are you feeling?" Bakugou's lips curled upward as he took her hand in his.

"Too bright..." Kamiko croaked.

"Hey Shitty Hair, shut the blinds!"

"Alright, alright, you don't have to shout, sheesh," Kirishima replied as he walked over to the window.

That was when Kamiko noticed that there were other people in the room as well. She let out a soft groan as she grabbed the oxygen mask from her face, attempting to tug it off. Bakugou quickly grabbed her hand. "Don't move. I got it," he said as he gently pulled on the elastic band, stretching it as he removed the oxygen mask from her face.

"How long was I out?"

"Not long. You literally just got out of surgery last night," Shinsou answered.

"Hitoshi? You're here too?" Kamiko scanned the room, to see that not only was Shinsou and Kirishima here, but Kaminari, Clearvo, and Inazumari as well. "I'm so sorry. I caused trouble for you guys again."

"What are you saying Senpai? It's my fault! I couldn't protect you properly. I screwed up and got you in this situation. You should be blaming me," Clearvo said loudly. His eyes were red from crying. Seeing those dark circles under his eyes, Kamiko could easily tell he hasn't slept, nor has anyone else in the room.

"Alright, enough. She needs rest. We'll talk about this later," Bakugou interjected.

"That's right. Now that Iki-san is awake, we should give them some space. Come on guys let's go," Inazumari clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention.

Kaminari looked around. "Wait already? I haven't even said anything yet!"

Shinsou grabbed Kaminari by the back of his collar. "What the crap is there to say? Now let's go."

"W-Wait! Kamiko-chan! Bakugou cried like twice yesterday you know! He was super wo-"

"SHUT UP IF YOU STILL WANNA LIVE!"

The door closed behind them, leaving Kamiko and Bakugou alone in the hospital room.

"Katsuki..."

"Shut up."

...

Bakugou sat in front of the operation room, fingers locked together. He wasn't religious but he begged whoever was out there for Kamiko to be okay. Kirishima, Kaminari, and even Shinsou were waiting along with him.

Shinsou placed a hand on Bakugou's shoulder. "Don't worry. The paramedics said the wound isn't fatal, so she'll be alright," he assured Bakugou. However, Bakugou's heart still raced in an uneasy rhythm. Negative thoughts plagued his head. He simply couldn't relax until he knows for sure that Kamiko is okay.

After two more hours of surgery, the surgeon finally came out to deliver good news while the assistants finished up the stitches. "She's lucky that we have B positive blood in our blood bank. Only eight percent of donors have B positive blood. The wound itself will heal within three months. She had some tissue damage, but luckily none of her organs were damaged. We'll keep her here for two weeks to monitor for infection, and after that she'll be good to go. We'll inform you guys more about the wound care closer to her discharge. Now who do I need to talk to for her hospitalization paperwork?" The doctor asked.

"Me," Shinsou raised his hand. "By the way can she see visitors yet?"

"She'll be monitored in the ICU tonight, and after that we'll move her to a regular hospital room. You guys can come tomorrow during visitor hours."

"Thank you doctor." Shinsou turned his head towards Bakugou. "You heard him. She's fine. You can see her tomorrow." After giving Bakugou a pat on the shoulder, the purple haired man followed the doctor down the hall to take care of Kamiko's paperworks.

"Thank goodness man! She's alright!" Kaminari exclaimed. "Bakugou aren't you-" He froze when his eyes landed on the ashe blonde sitting on the hospital bench. Bakugou covered his face with his right hand, and his head was down, but the trembling of his shoulders made it obvious that he was crying.

Kaminari's smile slowly faded as he exchanged looks with Kirishima. From a simple look, they reached a silent agreement. The two heroes backed away, leaving Bakugou alone in the hall in front of the operation room. They knew that the last thing Bakugou wanted right now was for them to say anything to him.

"Damn, I don't remember ever seeing Bakugou cry back in high school, and this is the second time he's cried today," Kaminari said when he and Kirishima arrived at the lobby.

Kirishima turned his head back, glancing in Bakugou's direction even though he was no longer visible. "Who can blame him? I've never seen him care about someone that much," Kirishima replied. "He must have been so scared."

Tears streamed down Bakugou's face uncontrollably, dripping down from his chin to his knees. "Thank goodness," his voice cracked as he kept repeating the two words. Even though he kept telling himself that she would be okay, during the entire time she was in the operation room he couldn't help but ask himself 'what if.' All those 'what if' questions weighed down on him like a giant boulder, torturing him from inside out.

He never knew he could be this attached to someone. Just the thought of losing her devastated him like it was the end of the world. Before he knew it he was already too in love with her.

...

Kamiko shifted around, and tried to put strength in her arms. "What are you doing? Lay back down," Bakugou hissed as he grabbed the remote from thw counter next to her bed. "If you wanna sit up just say so." Kamiko relaxed in bed as Bakugou pressed a button on the remote, then she felt the bed shift along with a loud rumbling sound. The bed slowly shifted up, pushing Kamiko into a sitting position. Bakugou adjusted the pillow so it supported her back. "This better?"

"Katsuki, you're a great boyfriend you know that?"

"Damn right I am." Bakugou puffed his chest up and scowled at Kamiko with confidence. However, less than two seconds later the confidence disappeared. His eyes trailed down as he sat down on the edge of the bed. Kamiko tilted her head at him in confusion when he let out a soft sigh.

"Katsuki?"

"That's not true. I'm not a great boyfriend. If I was you wouldn't have ended up like this."

Kamiko felt something jab at her, right in her conscience. Even though it wasn't her fault, she felt horrible for making Bakugou go through this much pain and guilt. She placed her hand over his. He needs to know. "Katsuki do you have my phone?"

"Your phone? No. Inazumari has it. Why?"

"Do you have your phone then?"

Bakugou reached in his pocket and took out the phone identical to hers. "It only has 30% left. What do you need it for?" He asked as he handed it to her.

Kamiko took a deep breath, and muttered, "Territory." A bubble formed around the two of them. Before Bakugou could ask what she wanted to do, Kamiko explained, "I'm blocking air particles from entering and keaving my realm. I'll have to release this soon, but I'm going to make a call and I want to make sure nobody hears it."

Bakugou blinked in confusion while Kamiko dialed a number. She placed the phone to her ear, and he could hear it ringing on the other end.

"Hello?" A familiar voiced picked up from the other end.

"Hey Dad it's me, your daughter. Tell your sister that her son fucking shot me in the stomach! I'm in the fucking hospital right now with a permanent scar on me and I'll never be able to compete for Miss Japan thanks to him! If Aunt Shouko doesn't give him an ass whooping of a lifetime I swear to god I will personally make sure that he never walks on his two legs ever again!" Kamiko screamed into the phone.

Bakugou's eyes widened as he tried to register what she just said. It was clear that Seigi on the other end was just as confused, because he could hear him asking from the other side, "Wait, Kamiko? What do you mean shot? Are you okay?"

"DO I FUCKING SOUND LIKE I'M OKAY?! OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY! YOUR NEPHEW TOLD A SNIPER TO SNIPE ME! I DON'T FUCKING CARE IF HE'S ON A SECRET FBI MISSION OR WHATEVER THE FUCK HE'S DOING! I SWEAR TO GOD IF HE CAN STILL WALK ON HIS OWN TWO FEET BY THE END OF THE YEAR I WILL FUCKING BURY HIM ALIVE!" Then, Kamiko hung up before Seigi could respond.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, a certain silver haired young man let out a loud sneeze that echoed throughout the entire room he was in.

In Musutafu, Seigi took the phone away from his ear hesitantly. He stared at it for minutes as he tried to process what just happened. That was Kamiko, right? It sounded like her, and she mentioned his sister Shouko, so he shouldn't be mistaken. But shot? How? When?

"Darling who was that?" His wife asked from the kitchen.

"I-It was Kamiko."

"What did she say?"

Seigi looked down at the phone, then at his wife, before uttering hesitantly, "She said Souichirou shot her."

"Souichirou? Isn't he in the States right now? And what do you mean shot? Like with a gun? Is she okay?"

"She sounded okay..." The couple stared at each other with extreme confusion, neither knowing what to make of the situation.

Whereas in Tsukuba, Kamiko finally let out a long breath after putting the phone down. She patted her chest as she tried to catch her breath from all that shouting.

Bakugou grabbed her hands. "What was that all about?" He demanded, brows knitted tightly.

Kamiko's lips twitched upward as her eyes darted all around the room. "Ah, you see. The boss of that gang who kidnapped me is actually my cousin. He apparently works for the FBI and is on a mission to infiltrate the LOV. I'm still really confused as to why he shot me because he told me it would be a tranquilizer, not a real bullet. Moral of the story is I don't trust him anymore."

She waited for Bakugou to say something. Yell at her, make a big deal out of the situation, or even threaten to kill Souichirou, but he just stared at her.

"Are you serious?" he asked after a long silence. "This isn't a joke Kamiko."

Kamiko took a deep breath. As much as the clown inside her wanted to mess with Bakugou, she knew this was a serious matter, so she looked him in the eye, and wiped away the usual grin on her face. "I wish I was joking, but I'm dead serious. The guy who kidnapped me was actually my cousin, and that was part of his plan to get close to LOV."

Bakugou released his grip on the silver haired woman, and flopped back down on the bed, eyes darting to his lower left, deep in thought. "What else did he say?"

...

"Before we go, I need to tell you one more thing Kamiko."

Kamiko looked toward her cousin, who placed the barrels that she fixed back to where they originally sat.

"What you're doing right now is a very dumb move. By staying here and moving on with your normal life, acting as a live bait for the LOV hoping to lure them out and capture them is stupid. From the past year that I've been working with the underground criminals, I can tell you for a fact that there's way more of them than you think. Just like today, how I was able to take you away from the heroes keeping you under surveillance, there are other villains who can do the same." Souichirou and Kamiko turned their bodies, facing each other. Silver eyes met silver eyes, and it was almost like looking into a mirror. "You may be a civilian, and you have the right to stay out of the feud between heroes and villains, but Kamiko, you are already involved in this. Since you chose to show your strength in the UA sports festival back then, you already advertised yourself as a target for Shigaraki Tomura. If you don't want the world to be thrown into chaos again, you have to stop being a bystander and play your part."

Kamiko's fist clenched. All her life, people have told her to use her powers for the public, but Souichirou, despite his own dream to be a hero and save the day, was respectful of her dream. He always supported her goal of becoming a manga artist, and told her it was fine to be a civilian. However, now he was telling her she can no longer keep herself out of the picture.

He was right, and she knew it. It wasn't even since she showed off in UA. Ever since she was born into the same world as AFO, she was destined to carry this burden. Perhaps it was useless to run away, because even after all these years of avoiding it, it still came back to bite her, a nasty bite at that. However, her body trembled.

There was no blaming her for being scared, and Souichirou's eyes softened with a hint of pain when he saw the expression she made. Many heroes with powerful quirks died fighting AFO and Shigaraki. What makes Kamiko stand a chance?

"I know you're scared, Miko," Souichirou walked over to the young woman, placing his hands on her shoulders. "But if you don't fight back you'll only end up burdening the people trying to protect you."

Kamiko's eyes widened. A man's face flashed in her head. She thought about his ruby like eyes, those sexy lips that rarely popped a smile, and the warm, comfortable sanctuary of being in his arms. Souichirou is right. Right now, she's nothing but a burden to Bakugou. With her around he can't even go about his hero activities normally.

Souichirou opened his mouth once more, this time delivering the final blow...

...

"'The battle of two years ago isn't over,' is what he said."

A/N: I'm so so sorry for late updates. I'm hitting that spot of the story where I know what's gonna happen next but I'm having issues connecting the story to that point and everything I write just doesn't seem like it fits so I keep writing and erasing and this is what I end up with! Please bear with me T_T. Thank you so much for being patient.