The days were starting to run together from boredom. Having a radio was an improvement, but I should have asked for more. A television would be nice, maybe some video games. I wondered what kind of funding the League of Villains had. Judging from the run-down state of my room, they didn't have wealthy backers.

I was lying on my stomach across the bed, gazing towards the window. I had been surprised, at first, that they gave me a room with a window, until I looked out and saw it was on the third floor. If I got desperate enough, I could break the frame and jump out, but I wouldn't get far. Or I could call for help, though it was likely no one would respond. When it came down to it, I didn't want to break any amount of trust the League may have for me. They had probably figured as much.

There was a knock on the door. Before I could answer, the door swung open and Toga peeked in. "Hi," she chirped.

"Hello," I said, getting up. She probably needed more blood; it had been over a week.

She pulled out her giant syringe. "Guess what time it is!"

Usually once she drew my blood, we ate junk food, and today was no exception. As I slumped in the chair, feeling weak, Toga handed me a Meiji chocolate bar. It was a flavor that I had not tried before. She sat down with a package of saltwater taffy, but didn't open it.

It wasn't like her to ignore sweets. Something seemed off. "Toga, what is it?" She shrugged. "Come on. Is something wrong?"

"No, I was just wondering if we could hang out."

"Of course we can. I'd be grateful for the company."

"It does get pretty boring around here." She flopped onto the bed with a dramatic sigh. Her age was more apparent when she was off her guard like this. She reminded me of the 1-A students; she couldn't be much older than them.

I needed to get her talking. "So… what do you usually do for fun?"

"Torture people," she said, swinging her feet.

"Right. What's your quirk?"

"I can transform into other people."

"That's cool." I was struggling to carry this conversation.

She sat up and looked at me. "You've old, right?"

I laughed. "I guess so."

"No, I mean… you've met a lot of different villains from all over the place. Is there anybody else with a quirk like mine?"

I instantly thought of Mystique. "Kind of, but not exactly." Toga's eyes were bright, waiting to hear more. I moved from the chair, to sit with her on the bed. "I had this friend who could shapeshift into anyone, she got their personality, their quirk, everything; but her real form was pretty shocking."

"Shocking? How?"

"Well, she was bright blue all over; and she was always naked."

Toga shrugged. "Sometimes I get naked before I transform. Clothes are tricky."

"But you're not blue," I pointed out. That got her to smile. "I guess you already know all about me."

"Mostly, yeah."

"How did you end up with the League?"

"That was Dabi's idea." She fiddled with her skirt. "How do you go out with people? With your quirk?"

The question caught me off guard. "What?"

"You and Dabi…"

"Oh!" Apparently she'd heard. I blushed. Then another thought occurred to me, and my heart sank. "Wait, were you and him…?"

She made a disgusted face. "I just wondered, since you can't touch people, how do you… you know."

"Well, it helps to have a device that blocks my quirk. Otherwise it's not really possible."

She sighed. "I don't go out with anyone." I was grateful for the shift in topic. "Not because I can't touch people; it's because they're scared of me."

I nodded, remembering my own teenage years. "I had that problem when I was your age. Most kids didn't want me around. Grown-ups, too, actually.

"How do you get them to like you?"

"Well, I didn't. But that's okay, eventually I found people who weren't scared of me. I could be myself around them. That's the kind of friend you want."

"I used to have someone like that, but she died."

"Toga, I'm so sorry."

"She was like my big sis." She looked at me, her eyes glistening. "Does it get easier?"

"I don't know. I've lost people, and it still hurts." She looked away toward the window. I tried to think of something to help her; something wise. What would Eraser say to a kid like this? What would Nezu say?

"Can I do your hair?" Toga smiled at me, her eyes dry. I was impressed how quickly she had compartmentalized her pain.

"That sounds nice. I messed up my shoulder, so it's hard for me to hold my arm up." I dug through my bag and found a wide-tooth comb.

I sat on the floor, and Toga scooted over behind me. With my comb, she made quick work of the knots and tangles in my hair.

"Ooh, can I braid it? Me and Mags used to do each other's hair. I'm not great at braiding but I think I need more practice. Her hair was shorter than yours. A braid would look really pretty on you, with that white streak down the middle."

Toga began sectioning out pieces for the braid. I closed my eyes. No one had played with my hair like this since I was a kid, when everyone, even my own family, became afraid of me. I would bet Toga had a similar experience. I hated the thought that any kid had to go through that.

She talked a mile a minute as she worked.

"I don't get why nobody puts their hair up before a fight. My hair is really long and it gets tangled so easily. If you tie your hair back then it won't get in your face and distract you." As she reached the nape of my neck, her finger touched my skin and I felt her power tingle across my scalp.

"Oh, watch it," I said, flinching.

"My bad," she laughed. "I forgot for a second!" She twisted an elastic around the end of the braid. "Hey, I did pretty good."

I ran my fingers over my head. The braid was a little lumpy, but it seemed like it would hold. "Thanks," I told her. "Want me to do yours? I'm no good at braids but I could do something else."

She hesitated. "Mags always did it like this for me."

"That's fine, we don't have to." I rifled through my bag, and came across a bottle of nail polish. It wasn't mine. Maybe one of the girls from 1-A put it there, but I couldn't remember when. I held up the bottle to show Toga. "What if I did your nails?"

She squeaked in delight. "Yes, that would be so much fun!" She flipped onto her stomach on the bed, holding her hands out for me.

"We'll have to be really careful," I thought aloud.

"It's okay if you bump me on accident, I can handle it."

"I'm sure you can, I just don't want to overdo it." I couldn't help but smile. She was as hungry for affection as I had been at her age.

We were both silent as she watched me work. The nail polish was a deep blue-black. I would need to do a second coat to make it look nice.

Toga finally spoke up. "It's nice having another girl around. Having so many guys around can get a bit…"

"Macho?" I offered.

"They're so stuck on themselves." She deepened her voice. "I'm so dark and tortured. Nobody understands my suffering."

I laughed with her. "Sounds like a lot of guys I've known. Not just villains, either!"

She looked at me fondly. "I hope you'll stay."

My smile dropped a little. "Where would I go?"

Her expression started to harden again, shutting me out. "Back to the heroes."

That was a possibility, and I couldn't lie to her. "In my experience, heroes don't usually trust me."

"Why not?"

It was an excellent question, one that I had pondered a lot over the years. "Maybe because of my quirk. Or maybe because I never wanted to be part of the whole good-versus-evil thing."

"You don't?"

I looked at her. "Do you?"

She blinked in surprise. "I want to have fun, and do what I like."

"Exactly. Being a hero is a lot of responsibility. I just wanted a normal, boring life."

She admired her nails, then gazed at me, another question forming in her eyes.

We were interrupted by a loud knock. The door swung open and Dabi strode in. He seemed surprised to see Toga, then he nodded. "Good, let's go. Shigaraki wanted you both." He gave me a purposeful look. "You're getting what you asked for."

We followed him down two flights of stairs to a bar on the ground floor. It was a modest little hole-in-the-wall, but well stocked. Kurogiri and Shigaraki were both waiting, along with some others I hadn't seen before.

Shigaraki approached me. "Well, Rogue, are you ready?"

"I get to see the kids?"

"Yes." He pulled the hand off his face to look at me directly.

I braced myself. "But?"

Shigaraki motioned to Dabi, who pulled the quirk-suppressing cuffs from his pocket. I felt my face flush. Dabi smirked as he cuffed my wrists together, being a little rougher than necessary. Then I turned to Shigaraki, holding up my arms to show that I was now powerless.

He nodded. "You won't interact with anyone."

"That's fine, I just need to see them."

"I'm glad we understand each other." He turned to Kurogiri, aka Warp Gate, who was already stretching himself into a portal. Shigaraki looked back at me. "Don't try anything. If you break your end of the deal, I will no longer have to hold up mine."

Toga stepped into the blackness, and I followed after.

We seemed to be in a forest, and there was no one else in sight. I hurried to catch up with Toga. "Where are we?"

"It's a park." She kept walking. "We can't portal too close or it sets off the alarms."

"Too close to what?"

She stopped short, and I bumped into her. Before us, the towering structure of Hero Academy rose above the trees. We were just outside the school grounds. "Come on," Toga said, and hurried on. I chased after her as she hopped over rocks and ducked around trees. The ground sloped uphill, and I found myself struggling to keep up. Finally she stopped again, gesturing for me to stay back. That was not a problem, since I was hunched over, panting. Finally she motioned me forward.

We were across from the main gate to the school. There was a bus idling by the sidewalk. I could see the tops of the buildings over the wall. I watched for a moment, but no one came or went. "I don't get it. What is this supposed to prove? I can't see anything!"

She rolled her eyes at me. "Impatient much? Give it a second."

The gate opened, and students started to file out. My heart jumped into my throat. It was class 1-A. They chatted and bickered as they lined up for the bus. I held my breath as I studied the group, counting, tallying in my head. They were all there, every one of them. Eraser brought up the end of the line, looking exhausted as usual. Tears of relief filled my eyes, blurring my vision. They were safe; this was just another ordinary day.

"All good?" Toga asked.

I wiped at my eyes. "Yeah. Can I have a minute, please?" I might not get another chance to see them, and I wanted to savor it.

Eraser told the kids something I couldn't quite hear, and they began to board the bus. Near the end of the line, one of the students was gazing in my direction. It was the quiet boy with split-toned hair. Toga grabbed my shirt, yanking me behind a large tree.

"Hey, quit," I whispered. "It's fine!" Pulling away, I peeked around the tree. The boy was speaking to Eraser, and pointing our direction. I ducked my head behind the trunk.

"Son of a bitch," Toga hissed. "We gotta go, now." She started leading me back the way we had come.

I glanced back just in time to see Eraser break into a run. "Oh, shit."

"Warp Gate!" Toga shouted. A portal formed a few feet away. Eraser was close, one hand on his scarf. As Toga pushed me through ahead of her, she raised her middle finger towards him, then jumped in after me. I landed on my back on the floor of the bar, then tried to shield myself as Toga crashed down on top of me.

I waited, half expecting Eraser to come through next. The others stared down at us.

Toga started to laugh. "That was a close one!" She rolled to her feet.

Dabi offered me a hand, pulling me up. I brushed myself off, then turned to Shigaraki. "Thank you," I told him. "For keeping our bargain, and for letting me see them."

"Fair is fair."

Dabi escorted me back to my room. When he pulled out the key to the handcuffs, I bit back a smile. "You're going to let this opportunity go to waste?" I teased.

He attempted to scowl, but his eyes crinkled up at the edges. "Some of us have work to do."

"We could be quick." I ran my fingers along the waistband of his pants. He made no attempt to stop me. Looking into his eyes, I unbuckled his belt.

He grabbed me by my hair and kissed me, forcing his tongue into my mouth. His other hand squeezed my ass. I was already breathing hard. Then he pulled back, taking hold of my chin, a wild look in his eyes. He raised two fingers to my lips. I hadn't expected this. I tried to relax as he pushed his fingers into my mouth. He wanted something I had never done, thanks to my quirk. Closing my eyes, I focused on the sensations as he slid his fingers in and out. I tried to imagine how the real thing would taste and feel. He brought his mouth to my ear. "Get on your knees."

I knelt down, holding onto his leg for balance. I peered up at him, my stomach in knots. He ran his thumb over my wet lips, his other hand unbuttoning his fly.

There was a loud knock on the door. "Dabi, the boss needs you."

Dabi swore. I closed my eyes, trying to reel myself back in. He grabbed the chain of the cuffs and yanked me to my feet, clearly furious at the interruption.

All too soon I found myself alone again, locked in my room. I curled up on the bed with the chocolate bar from Toga. I was bruised from falling through the portal, and my wrists hurt from the way Dabi had pulled on the cuffs. My mind kept wandering back to the school. I wondered if Eraser told the students that he saw me, or if he lied. Maybe he claimed it was a false alarm so as not to upset them.

Suddenly I found myself crying. I buried my face in the mattress to muffle my sobs.