Some people say that nothing good happens at three in the morning. The chilled air rose goose bumps on his skin as he walked down the sidewalk, listening closely for any sounds of a fight. He had trouble sleeping before, but these past two weeks he had begun to set an alarm for two in the morning so he could be out by three. Something good did happen at three in the morning. She happened.

The first time he saw her, it had been coincidence and the encounter lasted less than five minutes. Really, this should have been such a small event for him. Easily forgettable. This was not the case. That image of her coming down from the windowsill, wearing that tight crimson and black costume, stuck with him. That image as well as the true look of concern she gave him before she left.

She happens at three in the morning, he reminded himself as he yawned. For the past two weeks, he left his motel room early in the hopes of crossing paths again. He had been lucky enough to see her the next two mornings after the first and it only drove his fascination with her. She was strong; always taking on an opponent that was either bigger than her or taking on a group of criminals.

Sometimes he was lucky, but not recently. The past few days, she had not appeared. A thought had crossed his mind at one point that he could see her during the daytime. He had inadvertently seen where she lived the previous week, in the late afternoon. He had business in that area so it was completely by accident, but he would recognize her anywhere. So he could visit her, but he wanted to refrain from abusing the knowledge of where she lived. He had already left her some flowers and he still felt a little guilty about that.

Entering a twenty-four hour convenience store to get some coffee, he was hopeful that he might cross paths with her again that morning. There were a few other customers in there already. Two of them were hanging around the snack section, talking loudly enough that he unfortunately heard them.

"Still having that dry spell, huh?"

"I almost got a girl on Friday! You wouldn't believe the shit I went through. I spent a ton of money buying this girl drinks. This red-haired bombshell, right? I sent over a ton of drinks and I was going to make a move when she got up to go to the bathroom, but she had these two guys hanging around her all night! Pisses me off when a girl can't have a good time 'cause of jerks like that!"

"Dude, you were going to get her drunk and make a move in the bathroom? Real classy."

"Heh. You know girls like that spontaneous shit! Man, you should've seen her though. She had this hair that was like…what's that shade? It's crimson. Yeah. And these blue eyes. Man, you wouldn't believe it. You know, if I'd gotten my hands on her, I probably wouldn't have let her go. A beauty like that's pretty rare."

"Sounds pretty cute."

As the two were talking, he began to tense up and lifted a hand to run through his messy blond hair. His eyes widened as he fought the urge to say something. A redhead with blue eyes. They could only be talking about her. His hands started to shake as rage set in. The thought of that man hurting her. Taking advantage of her. It made him so angry that he could barely hold himself together.

He went up to purchase his can of coffee, not speaking a word. With the can in hand, he walked outside and settled against the side of the building. One hand went to his pocket, fingers brushing the material of his mask. She wouldn't let them talk that way about another person! She's a hero! I'm not a hero; this isn't my job! I should do this for her!

Gritting his teeth, he fought with himself for a moment. He lingered near the side of the building and when the man from before emerged, he pushed the can of coffee into his pocket and withdrew the mask. The stranger was walking down the sidewalk, oblivious to the glare being directed at him. When the masked figure came up behind him, he barely had time to utter a cry of surprise.

Shift P.O.V

Akari released a yawn, stretching her arms over her head as she moved down the sidewalk. As tired as she was, she knew that sleep would avoid her like the plague if she went to bed. I'll make up for the lack of sleep on Friday, she promised herself. A smile tugged at her lips as she thought of Aizawa's promise to come over and sleep all weekend. To Akari, that was the best kind of date.

Their relationship was a bit more complicated than she would have liked, but it worked for them. They had been "official" for about a week now. The two heroes kept things professional at work, but would have a little time together after classes. She wished that they could just live together, but they had only been "dating" for a week so a certain amount of distance was fair.

She yawned again and ran a hand through her hair as she approached the convenience store. Akari had gone out to catch some purse-snatchers. Nothing major; just idiots that liked to target women as they left the night shift. Minimal effort needed and she was able to make someone's day by returning their bag.

I have to be a backup teacher in a few hours, she reminded herself. Standing in front of the snack section, she tried to ignore a particular craving. Shouta said I should wean myself off of the energy drinks, but how else am I supposed to stay awake? Coffee can only get me so far.

Akari grabbed a few snacks to enjoy while she did a final patrol. If nothing else came up, she would return home and attempt to get a little rest before school. The purchase itself was uneventful. She handed over exact change and turned to leave. It was as she approached the door that she sensed someone approaching her and turned around.

"Ah…you're...?" She bit her lip, head tilting as she looked this man over. A scar on his forehead, casual clothes, blond hair cut kind of short, narrowed eyes. He looked familiar, however he had something a bit "off" about him. The man had a bruise on his right temple and a cut across his left cheek. "From the sidewalk, right? You almost got hit by a truck. Ah…you've got some blood on your cheek. Are you okay?"

The man turned his head to the side, frowning. "Yeah…I'm fine. It was just a disagreement. I…uh…I wanted to say thank you." His right hand lifted, bringing with it a plastic shopping bag.

"Oh! You didn't have to do that; it's my job!" she assured him. Her lips curled into a smile as he approached her with the bag in hand.

"I didn't…feel right about doing something that stupid…" he argued. "You were in a hurry and you still stopped to help me." His free hand lifted to run over his hair, sweeping it back for a moment. "Just…take this."

Akari raised an eyebrow and took the bag from him, fingers brushing over his in the process. Looking inside, her eyes widened. Inside was a chocolate bar and a can of cherry-flavored energy drink. Her smile grew when she lifted her gaze to him. "This is going to sound kind of weird, but…you're a life-saver, you know? I was actually pretty close to an energy crash."

"Is that the kind you like?"

"I usually prefer cotton candy, but cherry is my second favorite." She checked the time and then looked to him again. The man was now rubbing the back of his neck. The woman was about to ask if he wanted to walk with her, but then her phone rang. She answered it and grimaced. "Thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate these."

He met her gaze and a half-smile tugged at his lips. "Really?"

"They're great. Um…I have to go though. Hero stuff. I'm really sorry. Be safe and try to hurry home, okay? It's dangerous to be out at three in the morning!" Akari rushed outside, catching him waving at her from the corner of her eye. That guy. He's pretty nice. A little bit awkward, but who isn't at this time of morning, right?

She was getting close to the area where the criminal was when she felt that familiar fatigue settling into her muscles. It was going to be a tough fight, regardless of who her opponent was. Akari reached for the knife on her belt, gritting her teeth as she prepared to take action.

The call from her agency indicated that this criminal was a male. About a foot and a half taller than her. His quirk seemed to involve launching needle-like hairs from his body at high speeds. This was someone that she would need to quickly incapacitate. As much as Akari hated to do it, she would need to use her quirk to get the job done as swiftly as possible.

The edge of the knife sliced over her fingertips as she spotted the man and she knew she would have to close in on him before he saw her. Quietly, quietly. The redhead stayed close to the shadows as she moved, keeping her eyes trained on the man. He had smashed open a window and was helping himself to what the shop had inside. There were a few police officers scattered on the ground in front of the shop, showing some nasty injuries.

Creeping closer, she neared the broken window and tried to judge the distance between herself and this man. For her quirk to work, she had to be within a certain radius of him. Thankfully, he was rather close to the door. She activated her quirk and winced as her blood flowed out of her fingertips with force, forming thin red strings that wove through the air.

Just as the man turned toward her, the strings sank deep into his arms and legs. Akari's quirk allowed her to manipulate blood circulation using her own blood almost like guiding strings. It was actually rather disgusting and creepy to look at. Using her quirk made her a little nauseas and the longer she used it, the more of her own blood she lost so she had to be quick about using it.

The blood rushed from his limbs and he stumbled toward her onto the ground, facedown. He struggled, but she reached to her capture weapon with her free hand, still concentrating on keeping his blood from his limbs. Gross. Gross, gross, gross. I hate it! I hate putting my blood into someone else.

She detained him until he was arrested and hauled off, but now she was a little shaky. Most of the blood that she had used was lost. It was not a lot of blood, but enough that she felt weak. Settling in an alley for some peace, Akari tore open the chocolate bar that she had been given.

A small smile took form on her lips as she chewed. Did he have a future sight quirk or something? It's like he knew I'd need this stuff. She cracked open the can of cherry energy drink and took a sip. This is actually pretty good, too.

Once she was feeling more stable, the redhead stepped out of the alley and sighed to herself. She walked past the convenience store and was glad to see that he was no longer there. Despite barely knowing the man, she felt a little worried about him walking around at such a dangerous time.