The first thing Akiko noticed when they woke up was a weight in their lap, and a warmth on their hand. They could feel the texture of clean bedsheets, and a faint light shining on their eyelids. There was a cool breeze coming from somewhere, nothing like the heat of the Flame Zone. Slowly, carefully, they opened their eyes. A mess of indigo hair lay in their lap, and Akiko quickly recognised Hitoshi, asleep, with his hand on their own.

Akiko's first waking thought was a fond desire for that hand to stay there, maybe forever.

Second to that was that they were safe and sound, back at UA - and so was Hitoshi.

They looked around, and saw Recovery Girl sitting at a desk nearby, filling out some paperwork. Akiko hadn't yet gotten a chance to meet Recovery Girl in person. She was smaller than they expected, and had this stern, yet tired demeanour that betrayed years looking after disastrous, foolhardy teenagers who needed to learn their own limits.

Akiko carefully sat forward, not wanting to move their legs and wake Hitoshi. The bed squeaked, and Recovery Girl turned to face them. "Finally awake, are you?"

"How long was I out?" Akiko asked. There was a rasp to their voice, a telltale sign of their physical exhaustion, and, of course, having just woken up.

"Most of the day. This one wouldn't leave your side, all the way from USJ until now. Honestly, I tried to send him away to go to class but he wouldn't hear any of it. You two must be close." Recovery Girl smiled softly. "You had a pretty standard case of Quirk Exhaustion, and mostly just needed to rest. A few cuts and bruises too, which I took the liberty of treating with some first aid, since there's no way your body had the energy for me to use my quirk on you. It'll be sore for a day or so, but come see me tomorrow if it gives you any issues."

"What happened after I passed out? Was anybody else injured?" Akiko questioned, struggling to keep their volume controlled. It had taken a moment for the anxiety to kick in, but it was certainly there. Akiko had to know that everyone was okay; especially Izuku.

Recovery Girl tried to look them in the eyes, but they looked away. Akiko couldn't usually make eye contact and listen at the same time, and they were far too tired to even pretend. "Of the students, just Midoriya. He had a broken arm, but he was fully recovered a few hours ago and so I sent him home. As to what happened, I'm sure you already know most of the story. Villains invaded the USJ facility in an attempt to kill All-Might. Aside from two villains who managed to escape, they were all apprehended, and All-Might is alive and well. Aizawa sustained some severe injuries, but he's well on his way to recover and should be back at school in a couple days, and so Class 1-A has been given tomorrow off to rest and recover. Thirteen was injured as well, but they were treated fully on-site."

Akiko breathed a sigh of relief. They had been so focused on just making sure Hitoshi was okay that they'd overused their quirk and lost sight of the bigger picture. The villains were after All-Might? With such large numbers, an organised attack like that had to be motivated by the expectation that they would actually succeed. Which means that Class 1-A was extremely fortunate that everyone made it out alive. At least everything had worked out. They looked over to the window on their left, and noticed that the sun was already setting.

Damn, I've been out for a while, huh?

"You're good to go whenever you're ready. Just don't use your quirk anymore today, and get a good night's sleep. And take your friend with you, please? As comfortable as he looks, I don't do overnight stays except in the case of emergency," Recovery girl instructed, and turned back to her paperwork.

Akiko gently shook Hitoshi's shoulder with their free hand. They definitely didn't want to move their right hand out from under his. "Hitoshi?"

Hitoshi mumbled something, and lifted his head off from Akiko's legs. He looked over at them, and then quickly withdrew his hand, blushing. "Sorry, I-"

"It's fine!" Akiko laughed, hiding the small twinge of disappointment. "I'm fine now, so let's get out of here, okay?"

He nodded, and stood up. Akiko slowly eased their body out of the bed. It was a little sore like Recovery Girl had said, but nothing too bad. They thanked Recovery Girl for her healing and her help, and then followed Hitoshi out of UA's medical bay.

As the duo walked along the school hallways towards the exit, Akiko turned to Hitoshi and broke the silence. "Thanks for staying with me, it really means a lot."

Hitoshi looked away. "Of course, I- You're important to me."

Akiko blushed. They took a deep breath. Akiko knew exactly what they wanted to say now, and they wanted to get it right. "So… we went on a date, and we're hanging out all the time, and we've even been through a traumatic event together today, and… What I'm trying to say is, do you want to make this official? To make us official?"

Hitoshi turned back to look at Akiko. "You're asking me to be your boyfriend? I've never- I mean, yes, I want that. But I've never done this before, I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Me neither," Akiko admitted. "So I guess we'll just have to figure this out together, hey? We can take things at our own pace, and just be open about how we're feeling. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah," Hitoshi smiled, with such a pure amount of gentle joy that Akiko just wanted to melt into his arms. "Can I hold your hand?"

The two walked to the local train station together with their hands clasped together, and fingers intertwined. They shared in each others' company, in the physical connection enough that, for a while, they didn't need to talk.

While they were sitting on the train, Akiko's head resting on Hitoshi's shoulder, a thought occurred to them, and they had been so swept up in everything that they hadn't asked sooner. As much as Akiko knew it wasn't their fault, given all that had happened, they still felt guilty for not thinking of it earlier. "So, how are you holding up after everything that happened this morning?"

"I'm okay now, but it was definitely scary. It was kind of… a reality check? Outside of my quirk, I'm not exactly bad at fighting, but if Ojiro hadn't been there…" Hitoshi trailed off. In that moment, Akiko was immensely grateful that Ojiro had been there. "So I've been thinking of asking Aizawa for private combat lessons if he has the time. He's in a similar boat with his quirk, and yet he took on so many of the villains all on his own. I was thinking of learning to fight with the same weapon he uses, maybe. What do you reckon?"

"I think that's a great idea!" Akiko agreed. "And if you ever want a sparring partner, I'd always be down!"

There was an announcement on the train that reminded Akiko and Hitoshi that the train was arriving at their station, so they got up and disembarked.

"Since we have tomorrow off from school, do you wanna hang out?" Hitoshi asked. "It could be just us, or maybe we could invite Izuku and Todoroki, and maybe Uraraka too?"

"Can I volunteer Spot up as bait to lure them over?" Akiko joked. "But really, we could invite them all to come to our park and hang out, and maybe grab food from the diner as well! It'd make for some good rest and relaxation, for sure. Are you okay with them all knowing about us?"

Hitoshi nodded. "Yeah, you?"

"Yep! I'll text Izuku when I get home, maybe he'll have Todoroki and Uraraka's numbers, so he can invite them. Wanna send me a cute picture of Spot when you get home so I can send it around?"

The next afternoon, Akiko and Hitoshi arrived at the park half an hour before the others said they would come, to have some time just with each other. While Spot ran around, playing in the bushes, they sat together on the large red picnic blanket that Akiko had brought from home. Hitoshi had brought his tablet and drawing pen and was working on a drawing of Akiko. The latter was laying on Hitoshi's lap and reading a book titled 'Margin of Error: The Lost and Forgotten'. It was a political analysis of how today's society deemed the poor and disenfranchised an 'acceptable loss' that could simply be forgotten about. The book was written by an anonymous but active Pro Hero, and Akiko now knew exactly where they wanted to do their first hero internship, if they could find out who this mystery hero was.

The first of their friends to arrive was Uraraka. She was wearing a simple blue t-shirt, light khaki shorts and a pair of flip-flops. When Akiko noticed her approaching, they put a bookmark in their book and closed it, and carefully got up from Hitoshi's lap to wave at her without disrupting his drawing.

"Hey, Uraraka, you found us!" Akiko called out.

Uraraka waved back and ran over. "Yeah, I mean, I live nearby! Just a few blocks over that way." She pointed in the opposite direction to where Akiko and Hitoshi had come from.

"Oh, no way! We're both a few minutes on the other side of the park!" Akiko exclaimed. "So, how are you going?"

"Honestly? I'm a bit rattled after yesterday, but I took a long bath to help my nerves, and now I'm feeling a bit better. Thanks for inviting me to hang out, this is just what I need right now!" Uraraka seemed cheery, but Akiko could sense that it was more a of facade than anything. From what Akiko heard from Izuku, Uraraka had to watch her hero idol get defeated right in front of her. "So, lately you two seem kind of… close?"

Without looking up from his tablet, Hitoshi blushed bright red. Akiko laughed at the sight. "I sure hope my boyfriend and I are close!" Hitoshi almost fumbled his drawing tablet and made a small choking noise.

"Oh!" Uraraka exclaimed. "Then I'm happy for you two!"

"What about you, Uraraka? Anyone special in your life?" Akiko asked playfully.

Uraraka frowned. "Please, call me Ochaco! And, well… maybe at some point, but she's way out of my league and besides, I want to focus on training for now anyway."

"Fair enough," Hitoshi responded, having recovered himself. "But just keep in mind that the whole idea of 'leagues' are fake. I mean I thought the same thing about Akiko, and look at us now. I have a girlfriend who'll poke fun at me in front of my friends."

When Hitoshi called Akiko his girlfriend, they realised that the word definitely felt right. When they'd asked him to call them that, Akiko wasn't sure if it would actually fit, but it certainly hit the spot.

Ochaco seemed thoughtful. "Maybe you're right… Well, I'm still going to focus on training for now, but I guess I'll try and get to know her better at some point?"

"Yeah, besides, you've got nothing to lose, right?" Hitoshi offered, trying to be encouraging.

Ochaco smiled, and nodded. "I guess!"

Akiko then saw Todoroki wandering around on the edge of the park, looking lost. They resisted the impulse to just shout really loudly, and instead got up and waved at him to signal him over. He nodded in recognition, and started walking over.

"Hey, Todoroki, I'm glad you found us!" Akiko said, sitting back down on the picnic blanket.

"I think we're now on good enough terms that you can call me Shoto, if you would like," Shoto stated plainly. "Also, I've never been to this part of town before, so I too am glad I found my way. Where is Midoriya?"

"Oh, Izuku should be here soon," Akiko answered. "He said he had something else to attend to since we have today off, but he just texted me like ten minutes ago to say he was on his way. Didn't mention where from though, so I'm not sure when he'll get here."

As though the universe was running on a perfect schedule, Izuku bounded out of nowhere, and literally leapt over the entire group of his friends sitting on the blanket. He was positively glowing. He sat down, and then immediately realised he had too much energy and got up again to jog on the spot. "Hey guys, guess what? Guess what?"

Ochaco, who started to match his energy, entertained his question. "What happened?"

"I GOT MY FIRST T SHOT!" Izuku exclaimed. "It finally happened, just now! Mum took me to meet the endocrinologist and he explained everything and she agreed and I had a blood test the other day anyway so he had the results and he asked if I wanted my first shot now and of course I said yes and then I! GOT! T!"

Akiko gasped. "NO WAY! OH MY GOD THAT'S AMAZING!"

A moment later, Akiko technically broke the law. They stood up and opened their arms, to which Izuku responded by leaping into a heavy hug. The only reason Akiko didn't get tackled to the ground was that they used their quirk to keep themself pushed upright.

Shoto raised his hand to ask a question. "Excuse me, but what is a 'T shot'?"

"Oh!" Izuku pulled away from Akiko, and decided that he was ready to sit down. "Testosterone! I guess I'm fine with you three knowing, and Akiko already knows, but I'm a trans guy. I'd appreciate if you don't tell anyone else though, because not everyone is going to be good about it." Izuku frowned for a moment, but then his ecstatic grin bounced back into place.

"Trans guy? What does that mean?" Shoto asked, clearly quite confused.

"I'm a guy, but…" Izuku paused as he tried to figure out how to phrase his answer. "I wasn't born with a guy's body and everyone thought I was a girl until a few years ago when I realised I wasn't. A girl, I mean."

"Ah, I see, thank you for explaining." Shoto replied. And then, a little bit more quietly, "I didn't realise you could do that."

"I'm also trans," Akiko added. "But I'm not a guy or a girl, even though I'm transitioning medically to have a body that might look like a girl's body. I'm just… a person, and I describe myself as non-binary instead of as a boy or girl. How much do you know about the rest of the queer community?"

Shoto shook his head. "I've heard the term, but I don't know what it means."

Hitoshi spoke up. "It basically describes all of us who aren't straight, or don't align with the gender society assigned us at birth. I experience romantic attraction to people, but not sexual attraction, which makes me a part of the community too."

Shoto hummed thoughtfully. "I like boys, so does that mean I'm a part of the queer community too?"

Shoto had enjoyed himself immensely, first hanging out at the park with his new friends… was it okay to call them friends? And then they went to the diner, and the food was quite enjoyable - part of him wanted to ask the diner's chefs for some recipes to practice at home, but professional chefs didn't always like to share. And… as he surveyed the area three of his four friends lived in, he was exposed to a whole new world that he'd never really thought of before. He knew that not everyone was as well off as him, but he'd never been exposed to it. Father probably thought that developing sympathy for those less fortunate was a waste of time, when he was supposed to be getting stronger.

And then, after all that, Shoto was left confused by another thing. By Midoriya, no, Izuku, who had become a bright, shining light in his life. He had boundless energy, and all this joy to share, and Shoto couldn't help but be fascinated. And then he had revealed himself to be transgender, something Shoto had never even heard of until today. And… well, that evoked certain feelings in Shoto. Feelings he wanted to run away from. Father would never approve, no, father might even hurt him if he so much as mentioned those feelings. That wasn't for people like Shoto, who existed to be powerful heroes.

But… what if Shoto wanted to be something else? To defy father? Was that something he could do? On the one hand, Shoto worried that father would become upset, and take it out on Natsuo, on Fuyumi, perhaps even on his own mother, who he hadn't worked up the courage to visit in years. But on the other hand, Izuku, Akiko, Hitoshi and Ochaco made him feel like… like perhaps he could lead his own life. Maybe one day. One day he would be ready. One day he would break free, one day he would be who he truly wanted.

Thoughts of having pretty long hair crept into Shoto's mind, and he shoved them away. He shoved them deep down where they couldn't affect him. At least not now. Not yet.

As he stepped through the threshold of his family residence, Shoto steeled himself. Father was out on patrol this morning when Shoto left, but there was every chance he would be back now. Shoto considered sneaking in through his bedroom window, but adding more to what father perceived as rebellion wouldn't bring anything good. When father called out to him, Shoto almost winced. Almost.

"Boy! Where have you been? Off shirking your studies, no doubt, since you should have been using the 'day off' to train," father called out from another room.

Shoto wished he could flip the finger at the man, but knowing father, he would probably find out. And that would be no good. Training would be even more brutal than usual. He also wished he could walk through the hallway and ignore father, but he knew better. Instead, he stopped outside the room father was in, and delivered his prepared excuse.

"I was with some of my classmates, including Fukuhara Akiko, who you may be aware scored the highest on the entrance exam. Is that… acceptable?"

Apparently the answer was good enough. After all, father had allowed Shoto an hour's rest before they began their evening training, instead of insisting on starting now. He headed straight to the kitchen - a bit of cooking would take his mind off things before he inevitably accrued some new bruises.

In a hospital not too far from UA, one Aizawa Shota lay in bed getting some much-needed rest. He'd been unconscious for almost a full day before he woke up, decided being awake was too much effort and drifted back to sleep… for approximately five minutes before a certain loud blonde man barged into his room.

And then burst out laughing.

"My love, you look absolutely ridiculous!" Hizashi said once his laughter had settled down.

Shota grumbled in response, but he did appreciate it. Injuries like this were a fact of life as a Pro Hero, and sometimes humour was the best way to cope with it. Besides, he could feel all the bandages covering his entire body and couldn't deny he would snicker at Hizashi if the man was in a similar position.

"If I weren't stuck like this, I'd wrap you up and hang you right where you stand," Shota threatened hoarsely, but there was a softness to his tone.

"Now now, I don't think this is the place for that kind of talk," Hizashi teased in response.

"…Bastard."

"So, aside from the obvious injuries, you okay?" Hizashi pulled up a chair and sat beside Shota's bed.

Shota wanted nothing more than to be able to sit up and look at his husband's face. Even with the painkillers, he hurt all over. And his eyes were bandaged over from the fractures to his cheekbones. He'd have to wait. But he didn't regret anything about what he'd done, even though it all resulted in horrendous injury.

"I have a feeling I'm in for one hell of a year."