Rule #39 There is no such thing as coincidences

"Wha—? You guys threw down?!" Mina exclaimed, pushing herself into Midoriya's face as he and Bakugou resolutely vacuumed the living room. It seemed that at some point during the night Aizawa had slapped notes over both boys' doors exclaiming that they were essentially grounded, much to the glee of their classmates. "And now you're under house arrest?!"

"Hilarious!" Sero laughed.

"Trés tragique!" Aoyama sighed woefully dramatic.

"They're both morons!" Added Kaminari, much to Bakugou's chagrin as he started to vacuum the carpet much more violently.

"The pinnacle of stupidity" Tokoyami agreed making Midoriya lower his head with every new comment.

"So did you guys make up after or…?" Ochako pressed.

"Well…it wasn't that we made up exactly" Midoriya paused to bashfully scratch his cheek. "Hm…it's kinda hard to put into words"

"You're lucky you two had only got away with house arrest!" Iida lectured, "But this does mean you'll miss the opening ceremony we're going to right now!"

"Bakugou? What about our extra classes?" Todoroki added his two cents.

"SHUT UP ICY-HOT!" Bakugou snarled, practically blowing steam. "IT'S NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!"

"Kay, well thanks for cleaning up!" Kaminari smiled, clearly taking the piss as Toru tried to stomach a bite or two of toast. She wasn't usually a breakfast person to begin with, but that morning there was something that just felt…off. PMS? No, my last period wasn't that far gone. Nerves for the new semester? Maybe. Exhaustion from the exam? It was possible. Not enough sleep? Also a contender. Eh, it's probably nothing. With a defeated sigh, she tossed the rest of her toast into the bin and slipped out of the door after her classmates.

Not five minutes later, Toru found herself drifting through UA's hallways alongside her classmates as they made their way towards the beginning of semester assembly, with Iida in fine form. "LISTEN UP EVERYONE! STAY IN LINE AND MOVE PROMPTLY IN TO POSITION!" Iida ordered, waving his arms about. "I WANT TO SEE ORDER!"

"Er, you're the only one out of line" Sero pointed out.

"Ah! The dilemma of a class rep!"

"I heard a little rumour~!" Monoma sang as he leant against the wall trying to look all cool. "TWO PEOPLE! YOU HAD TWO PEOPLE FAIL THE LICENSING EXAM! YOU LOSERS!"

"It's Monoma from class B!" Sero blinked.

"He's just as unhinged as usual" Kaminari warily eyed his fellow blonde.

"Bet you were the only one in your class to fail!" Kirishima fired back, "Just like in the final, huh?"

"HAHA!" Monoma clutched at his stomach as he bellowed a fake laugh before dramatically spinning on his heel.

"That wasn't an answer!"

"Actually…everyone of us passed! We've pulled ahead of you big shots!"

"I'm sorry" Todoroki sulked. "It's my fault"

"There, there!" Kirishima tried to comfort him. "They're the ones turning it into a competition, it's no big deal!"

"Accordin' to Vlad-Sensei, we'll have classes together this semester!" Pony chirped. "Doesn't that sound like it'd be fun? I'm lookin' forward to it"

"I can't wait to test out my skills!"

"Ooh! Isn't she the exchange student?" Kaminari flushed lewdly as Monoma leant over and whispered in the girl's ear.

"Touch me and I'll pummel you 'til your mama doesn't know ya!"

"That is the most cheerful death threat ever" Toru blinked as Kendo marched over to the misbehaving blonde.

"Stop filling her mind with crazy!" Kendo scolded as she jabbed the laughing teen in the back of the neck.

"Hey!" Drawled Shinso as he pushed his way through the crowded hallways; their orderly lines having been long forgotten but not Iida's OCD. "We're trying to get through here!"

"OUR APOLOGIES!" Iida panicked as he tried to resort the classes back into their orderly lines once more. No one listened to him. "C'me on everyone! Save your chit chat for later! We're clogging up the hallways!"

"I honestly can't believe how uncool you all are" Shinso brooded making Toru deadpan at the violet's obvious attempt at aloof.

"Shinso…" Tokoyami mused.

"Oh right! He's the one who fought Midoriya at the festival!" Jiro quietly exclaimed.

"You sure that's the same guy?" Sero puzzled, "Looks like he's bulked up a bit since then"

The tension between the two classes felt almost suffocating as Shinso passed by with his entourage of classmates right on his heels. A mischievous grin easily spread its way across Toru's lips as a thought popped into mind—the perfect way to cut the tension and have some fun at the same time. Taking a running jump, the invisible girl launched herself at his back and wrapped her limbs around him in an impromptu piggyback much to the chagrin of the boy. "Ugh! Toru!" Shinso huffed as he stumbled forward a couple of paces with the new added weight now on his back. "G'off!"

"No!" Toru childishly refused, planting her grinning head on his shoulder as the sounds of Iida's protests were overlapped by the laughter spilling from their peers. Admittedly, the refusal was less to do with wanting to annoy her pseudo-brother and more so that her head had begun to feel a little spacey. But she—as most teenagers did—ignored it, hoping that it would go away and instead played it off as the usual sibling attitude she shared with the violet-haired boy.

"Oi!" He paused, struggling to her remove her grip.

"What?" Toru eventually let him go as she watched Iida begin to have an aneurism in the corner. Skipping around to face Shinso front on and keeping just out of each. "Did I ruin your big brooding moment? Are you pouting?"

"Wha—? No…" Shinso made a grab at the invisible girl who easily danced out of the way and down the hallway.

"You are! You totally are!"

"Get back 'ere!"

Soon enough all the first years had trickled out onto the field where the rest of the student body were beginning to gather in front of the stage and microphone set up there. The teachers lined their sides, pinning them in like a wall of flesh whilst the principal took to the stage. Toru couldn't help the smile bleeding across her lips as she watched their tiny principal hop up each step like a bunny, before waddling over to the microphone which had been lowered down as far as it could go and the step stool that sat next to it. After a moment of struggling to pull himself up accompanied by quiet mutterings & shared looks between the students as they wondered whether or not to help him, the assembly finally got under way. "Hi there!" Principal Nezu chirped. "It's the adorable small mammal you all know and love: the Principal! You may notice the fur I'm so proud of has deteriorated in quality. I haven't been taking care of it"

"Uh…" Kaminari shared a confused glance with Ojiro. "Is he for real?"

"Mmm?" Ojiro shrugged as if to say he didn't know.

"This is something that can happen to humans too" Nezu continued. "Even if you eat a balanced diet full of vitamins and minerals, you won't have a mane of luscious locks unless you're getting lots of sleep! That's the secret!"

"Oh! That's what he means" Kaminari exclaimed quietly; although not quietly enough as he received a glare from Aizawa who stood off to the side.

"Disturbances in your sleeping patterns are terrible for your hair, so if you want to improve your fur strength then make sure you have plenty hours of sleep—!"

"Nope, still don't get it"

"…Is this really important right now?" Ojiro mused.

"Please tell me he's almost done!" Kaminari complained as he played with Ojiro's tail in boredom. Behind him Kirishima seemed to have conked out, overwhelmed by the sudden talk of hair and sleep.

"—My own sleep cycle has been upset by the incidents that took place over summer vacation which I'm sure everyone already knows about. We lost a pillar of hope, the ramifications of which have appeared faster than I could've ever imagined and there will likely be more chaos throughout our world in the near future. In particular, this will be most apparent to those of you who are studying in the hero must approach extra curricular activities like the hero studies available to second and third years—"

Hero work studies? Toru woke up a little at that. Isn't that the internships we did earlier? Or is it something else? Although she had fought her instincts to turn and look at All Might when he had been mentioned (unlike some others), not much else from the principal's odd speech had really meant much until now. "—With a greater sense of caution and a hint of hesitance than before. The air always feels heavy when we talk about gloomy subjects, but rest assured, your teachers are working hard to remove this weight from your shoulders. I'd like all of you to learn from their diligence and remember that hard work will help you develop into capable heroes; whether hero course, support, business or general studies, I don't want any of you to forget that you're the ones who'll inherit our society!"

"Well spoken!" Vlad-King said as he stood over the small rodent and wrangled the microphone up to a more appropriate height, as said principal slid from the stall and shuffled over to the side. "Thank you Principal Nezu. Now we'll hear from the extra curricular guidance teacher; please give Hound Dog-Sensei your attention"

"Er, yesterday…" Hound Dog growled low in his throat as he gripped tightly to the microphone, making it squeak under his fingers. "TWO STUDENTS WOOF! WOOF!WOOF!WOOF! AWOOOOO!"

"Alright…" Vlad-King sighed as he retook the stage, likely intending to translate the guidance councillor's words to the confused students. "As you just heard there were students fighting last night. I know you're not used to life in the dorms, but let's all be a little more respectful moving forward"

"What was Hound Dog-Sensei even here for?" Kaminari and Kirishima chorused.

"Does he forget human speech when he gets angry?" Mineta worried. "There's still so much weird stuff at UA I don't know about"

"Midoriya and Bakugou were doing so well" Yaoyorozu despaired, "Now they're being treated as problem children!"

"That's it, back to the classrooms!" Vlad-King dismissed, "Starting with the third years"


Once seated back in their classroom, Aizawa got toward drilling the semester's plan into their heads. "Okay, starting today we'll resume our regular classes and training schedule" Aizawa explained. "I know a lot has happened recently, however you need to switch gears and focus on your school duties. We're lecturing today, but this semester you'll have even harsher training than before"

"He can't mean that…right?" Mina whispered to Asui.

"Care to share, Ashido?" Aizawa glared at the pinkette.

"Eee! His icy stare is back!" She squeaked, jumping in her seat.

"Excuse me sir, may I ask a question?" Asui raised her hand. "What were those things the principal was talking about during the opening ceremonies? I've never heard the term 'Hero Work Studies' before"

"I know, right?" Sero agreed, "That had me pretty confused too"

"I also have concerns" Tokoyami added.

"He said that it was something the upperclassmen participate in, correct?" Yaoyorozu was the next to raise her hand.

"Hm" Aizawa scratched at the back of his neck in thought. "I was planning on telling you about those at a later date, but I guess telling you now is more logical. To put it simply, it's work outside of class like the internships you did at Pro hero agencies before, only closer to the real thing"

So what? Toru thought sourly, Stain was just a training dummy? Then why the hell am I still being punished for it?

"WAIT!" Ochako suddenly blurted out, startling Iida who sat in front of her. "THEN WHY DID WE WORK SO HARD AT THE SPORTS FEST?!"

"She has a point" Iida agreed, "If we have work studies, those who weren't scouted at the Sports Festival, still have career paths"

"You gotta calm down" Sato tried, "You're acting kinda nuts"

"This doesn't make any sense!" Ochako cried.

"You'll be using your connections from the festival to secure a work study; it's basic networking" Aizawa explained. "This isn't a part of your normal class work, it's discretionary for each student. That means those who weren't scouted at the Sports Festival will have a hard time lining one up, I'm afraid. Originally individual agencies recruited on their own, but there was lots of competition as people tried to recruit UA students, so this is how things ended up"

"So, they were like a trial run?" Toru mused quietly.

"Exactly" Aizawa nodded. "Good enough, Uraraka?"

"I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions, sir" Ochako bowed her head in apology.

"Now that you have your Provisional Licenses you can assist in real ways for longer periods of time. Until now there haven't been many first years you have received their licenses, but with the increased villain activity we're currently investigating the idea that you can participate in work studies as well. We'll explain more about the work study positions and what that programme entails at a later date, but for now, we've got other things to worry about"

Oh God! What else? Toru bit her lip in worry as she tried to wade through the well of information thrust at her.

"That's all" Aizawa ended before calling out the door to Present Mic. "Sorry for keeping you waiting, Mic"

"FIRST PERIOD IS ENGLISH! IN OTHER WORDS IT'S JAM TIME!" Present Mic decreed as he strode inside. "BEEN AGES SINCE I STOOD ON THIS STAGE! YA MISS ME?! LET'S GET ROLLIN' WITH IT, YA DIG?"


Unlike most of their summer, the day passed by in a monotonous blur of schoolwork and cramped hands, and before they knew it they were collapsing back in the dorms after the first day of the semester. "Excuse me?" Mineta taunted smugly as he ran his finger along one of the windowsils, "But what is with this dust, Bakugou?"

"Deku is s'posed to do that! Shut up!" Bakugou snapped before turning to the greenette behind him. "HEY! CAN'T YOU EVEN CLEAN SOMETHING RIGHT, YOU IDIOT?!"

"Right!" Midoriya jumped, clasping tighter to the garbage bags he was tying. "Sorry!"

"Man!" Sato sighed as he and Mina joined Kirishima and Kaminari by the couches. "I'm so beat!

"Hey guys, if you put your rubbish in the halls, I'll take everything down in a second"

"So Present Mic's class today?" Sato continued, absently waving at the greenette in recognition.

"You as lost as I was?" Kirishima sulked.

"Are s'posed to know all the grammar he was going over?"

"Oh yeah that!" Mina agreed, leaning over the back of the couch. "I was like: is this even English?"

"I think I studied the wrong chapters" Kirishima added.

"I got stuck at the beginning and then I couldn't figure out anything after that" Sato agreed.

"About those work studies?" Jiro started, playing with her earjacks.

"Yeah?" Toru hummed.

"I wasn't scouted, so I wonder if I'll get to participate in one?"

"Maybe we can go to the places we did our internships? I'd be totally down with doing that!"

"I hope I get to do one" Ojiro nodded.

"In just one day, I've been completely left behind!" Iida imitated Midoriya as the greenette's panic was shown clearly on his face. Toru bit her lip as she tried to hide the sniggers inside—it wasn't working so well. "That's what you're thinking right, house arrest?"

"Hey! Don't call me that! It's mean!" Midoriya whined. "Um, Iida? What's a work study?"

"Something I can't tell you about! The teachers have forbidden us from giving you any details about our classes! Sorry, but you'll just have to experience the same shock and surprise we went through. DID YOU CATCH THAT, BAKUGOU?"

"SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, FOUR-EYES! I HEARD YOU!"


Almost two days later, Midoriya was finally released from his house arrest, one day before Bakugou. Something for which the class was ever grateful for as the two students in question had spent most of that period running around like Energiser bunnies on crack; exuding the usual energy that only Iida could when it came to cleaning, in the hopes that kissing up to Aizawa would shorten their sentence. Honestly, the two of them had been acting like the world was ending or that they had been shackled with a chain and ball for those three-four days.

So early that morning just as the sun was starting to peek over the horizon, Toru crept downstairs with school bag and uniform in hand as she went to fill up her water bottle and grab lunch before making her way out the door on her way to the early morning dance class she had in store. As the first official class after the semester had started, Toru could only imagine what kinda of things Midnight would be putting them through—she'd mentioned something about spins and lifts at the end of the last semester and it had pricked the teen's interest. What other kind of spins could we be doing? Toru thought as the sound of water hitting plastic reverberated around the living room, making her wince at such a loud noise—a noise for which she knew would mean nothing to her snoring peers, but set her on edge anyway.

Absently brushing off the spare water droplets decorating her hand, Toru reread the note she'd written there for the umpteenth time, reminding her that today was the last day she could grab her things from her grandparent's apartment in Yoshiwara before the new tenants moved in. She'd planned to go during lunch in the small period they had free—there was just enough time to get there and back before their double hero classes afterwards.

"Mn!" She grunted lightly, trying to ignore the flush of heat dancing across her cheeks as she turned off the tap and began to make her way over to where she'd dropped her bag on a nearby couch, shoving the now full bottle inside. Whatever had been bothering her for the last couple of days hadn't gone away much to her chagrin, in fact, if anything it seemed to be ramping up to something; whatever that something was she didn't know, but she hoped that sleeping it off would finally kick it out of her system. After slinging her loudly-patterned green and gold fleece hoodie (seriously, it looked like it was made from the curtains in her childhood bedroom!) over top of her sports bra and patchwork leggings, she grabbed her bag and tiptoed out the door.

CREAK!

Wincing at the loud sound of the door as it opened just a sliver, she pondered just climbing out of the window when she was stopped by a tired Aizawa standing there with his arms crossed and dressed in a yellow calico onesie—hood, tail and all. "And where do you think you're going?" Tired eyes roved over her frozen form, stuck in the doorway.

"Uh—I—I've got dance class" Toru stammered, pointing out the door as if that would help explain things further.

"Mmn…" That seemed to assuage any further concerns that the teacher had as he turned with a grunt and shuffled back towards his room, with his own cats on his tail—Ha!—as he went. Clearly a little on edge since Midoriya and Bakugou's earlier escapades a couple of nights ago, Toru took the dismissal for what it was and slipped out the door without any further complications.

In the end, Toru had barely made it to the edge of the dorm building property line before she was met with an equally tired Oishii who looked like he gone two rounds with an angry badger. The grey sweatpants he wore hung low on his hips to reveal a tongue lolling out from the mouth on his stomach as he stretched with a yawn, popping his back with a sigh. "Mornin'" Toru yawned.

"Ey" Oishii grunted in return, shoulder his bag a little higher as her joined her on the walk to school. "Wha' that?" He nodded to the writing on her hand as means of conversation.

"Oh" She waved said hand for the pinkette to see. "Just a reminder to get the rest of my stuff before the next tenants move in"

"Yoshiwara?" Oishii puzzled, pulling them to a stop mere meters from UA's front gate as he grabbed a hold of her hand to read over her note. Toru fought the blush colouring her cheeks as his thumb ran gently over her harried handwriting. "You some kind of secret geisha?" He laughed.

"What? Course not!" She denied.

"Then why're you heading there? Picking up a hot date?" His eyes seemed to darken on the latter half of his sentence, making Toru frown at the change in attitude. Maybe she was just seeing things?

"I told you, I've just gotta pick up some stuff" She shrugged, trying to tug her hand free now that he'd stopped studying it. "No biggie"

"You're not going" His voice suddenly became serious, his grip tight on her wrist.

"What? Yes, I am!" She tried again to tug herself free, but to no avail. "Oishii? Can you let go?"

"I told you, you're not going!" He growled lowly, pulling her close. Oishii was starting to scare her and Toru suddenly hated that they were all alone on the dark empty stretch of land. "And that's final!"

"Wha—? Oishii! G'off!"

"Are you listening to me? You're not going!" Oishii hounded her with such an intensity he had never expressed before outside of DFD classes or his usual ribbings. "It was initiation last night for God's sake!"

"Yeah, I know—wait" Toru cut herself off as something clicked. "How do you know that?"

"Uh—I—I—You mentioned it—!" He stumbled over his words as he tried to think of how he knew about it.

"No, I didn't" She refused as her body tensed, ready to fight. "I've never brought it up before"

All traces of the boy she knew fled from his posture, instead replaced by something dark as he suddenly pulled her in close enough that she was practically smothered against his chest. She was tempted to squeeze her eyes shut at the feeling of the various tongues licking at her, but was far too scared to do so. What would he do if she did? "You're mine" Oishii growled low in his throat, the sound animalistic and terrifying. "And I say you're not going, got it?"

The scream caught in the back of her throat as her thoughts raced and she stared up at the boy towering over her, suddenly far too close for comfort. In the back of her mind Toru knew that she could take him, but all the training in the world couldn't prepare her for the terror that coursed through her veins in that moment. Her heart raced, blood pulsing in her ears as his grip tightened on her wrists. She watched as his muscles bunched beneath his t-shirt, tightening in his ire and the mouth across his chest curled upwards into a smirk. His face—God! His face!—it darkened into something she couldn't recognise, something that she thought didn't belong on the pinkette's features—something sinister.

In the end, it was only the well-timed arrival of Hinata trotting up the path with tails swinging and hand running over his tired eyes, that pushed the older boy off of the invisible girl. Not wanting to be caught, he instead shoved her towards the school and waved off Hinata's concerns before turning back to the girl with a ferocious glare that promised pain if she didn't play along. Stumbling over herself, Toru tried to keep her distance as she slipped on to Hinata's other side, making sure to keep him between the two as they hurried towards the school, now far more awake than she had ever hoped to be so early in the morning.

"Geez Toru! You look like shit!" Hinata greeted tiredly. Toru shoved her shaking hands into the depths of her pockets as she shifted in place, well-aware of the piercing eyes on her.

"Th-thanks Hinata" She stuttered, internally wincing at the stumble, although the second year didn't seem to notice. "Just what every girl wants to hear"

"Why you're welcome, little firefly!" He smiled charmingly, steering them towards the school much to the relief of the first year. "No, but seriously, what's with you?"

"Uh…" She spared a quick glance at Oishii whose hands had tightened into white-knuckled fists at his sides. "Just tired—it's too early!"

"Yeah, tell me about it!" Hinata laughed, scratching his head as the two walked.

Toru wasn't sure if she was glad or not that they were the first ones there. Slipping into the girls' locker room by herself, the invisible girl cowered in the back corer where she sat clinging to her legs with tears prickling at her eyes as she tried to calm down enough to figure out what had happened to make Oishii flip like that. Did I say something? Did I trigger him somehow? I still don't know why he's in the DFD classes—did I touch on something there? What has it got to do with Yoshiwara? And how did he know about the Yakuza's initiation nights? I know I didn't say anything, so what gives?

Toru remained there, hiding in the corner long after she knew that Oishii was gone & the first of the other girls had begun to arrive. It was then—and only then—that she shakily rose to her feet and began to—as normal as possible—shove her things into one of the spare lockers even as her hands quaked and her legs felt like they were made of jelly with only one thought in mind. What the fuck was that?!

"You okay Toru? You've been real quiet this morning" Lani asked as she finished struggling with the tiny buckle on her heels. "I mean, more so than usual"

"I guess…" Toru shrugged as she fiddled with the long sleeves of her hoodie in thought. "Hey Lani, you're a third year, right?" She started cautiously as the other girls filtered out to the dance hall ready for the start of the lesson.

"Yeah…?"

"Is—has—do—" Toru tried to swallow around the words stuck in her throat. "Do you know why Oishii has been acting so weird lately?" She subconsciously rubbed at her bruised wrists, trying to ease the ache that was there.

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno, it's probably nothing"

"No, seriously, what is it?"

"I dunno, I just—he's been acting real weird lately, like all possessive and stuff…I was just wandering if you knew why?"

"No, I haven't, sorry" Lani shook her head "Are you sure? Maybe it's just stress? We did just start going over the whole hero work studies thing"

"Yeah, okay, maybe I'm just overthinking it" Toru readily agreed, wanting to believe that that was just what the older girl said it was. Neither girl noticed their lavender-haired senpai ducking out of the doorway with a look of concern painted on her face.

"C'me on, we should go before Sensei makes us do pushups"

"Eurgh, I hate those!"


By the time the school day had rolled around, Toru had replaced her concerns about Oishii with the lightheadedness she seemed to be swimming in even as she nibbled on an apple, hoping that if she ate something she would be okay. Of course by the time she was sat in English listening to Present Mic shout grammar rules at them, that thought had gone completely out the window—in fact most thoughts were out the window as her head lay bowed on her desk with eyes squeezed shut. Something of which may have been concerning if she was the only one in that position, but as it was several of her classmates also bore similar hunches; only they were agonising over their school work instead of the sudden spinning of the room. She was out before she hit the floor.

Waking up in the infirmary a few minutes later, Toru found herself face-to-face with a wet wash cloth placed over her forehead and Recovery Girl pottering about the room as she tended to the various chores and duties required of the school nurse. Blinking dumbly at the yellow-encased Aizawa to her right, Toru wondered if she was still out of it or if he'd always looked like a caterpillar when he wore the old sleeping bag. "Oh good, you're awake dearie" Recovery Girl shuffled over to the bedside, using the step ladder placed there to check if her fever had gone down some. Leaning into the cooler hand with a contented sigh, Toru absently noted that both the nurse and her teacher wore special goggles to protect themselves from the ultraviolet light shining down on her head—likely a measure to let the nurse see what she was working on. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine" Toru replied before amending herself at the nurse's unwavering stare as she plucked a small notepad from her pocket. "Hot & kinda tired"

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Er…I was in English and…did I pass out?"

"Mic practically shat himself" Aizawa snorted quietly into the juice box he had been suckling on.

"Um…"

"Anyway" Recovery Girl sent Aizawa a glare that had him cowering beneath her stern gaze."Do you have any ideas as to what brought this on? Has something happen over the last few days?"

"…Um—er, I absorbed Aoyama's navel laser during the exam?" Toru replied, although it sounded more like a question than an answer.

"Bloody problem children—!" Aizawa muttered under his breath at the admission, although it wasn't as quiet as he might've hoped it was.

"And how close were you when you absorbed the hit?" Recovery Girl continued, ignoring his comment with ease.

"Uh…couple of meters, I think…" Toru murmured.

"Right…" Recovery Girl continued to jot down notes on the little pad. "And have you absorbed anything that concentrated before?"

"Um…just a spotlight"

"I see"

"What? What is it?"

"It would appear that the residual effects of your absorption of young Aoyama's powers has taken you much longer to digest, for want of a better word"

"So what does that mean?" Aizawa sat up as he shucked the sleeping back and slung it over his arm.

"It means that young Hagakure here, just needs to rest—have a gummy, dearie—" She offered the teen a bowl of individually wrapped multicoloured gummy bears. Toru took an orange one and plopped it into her mouth as the nurse continued on. "—Once her body's digested the rest of the power, the fever'll break and she'll be right as rain"

Toru, who was beginning to nod off again, barely registered it as Bakugou (who had been waiting outside) slipped into the infirmary looking for the world like he was trying not to sulk about the fact that he was in school, but not in school. Tiredly the invisible girl dismounted from the bed and slung her arms around his neck as he hauled her up onto his back and slung her bag over his chest, making him look like a bit of a pack mule. It was to his grumblings and stomping steps that Toru dozed off, her head tucked into his neck.