It had been hard to protest being assigned to the Todoroki/Yaoyorozu pairing for the finals without raising suspicion. He had no good grounds to refuse, after all, in the eyes of the staff. In the end he'd been overruled, and had resigned himself to dealing with Momo yet again.

He was deeper into this business involving her than he'd ever intended to be. What should have been done and over with after that first night had cost him time, stress — and now money, too. A lot of fucking money. For a hundred million yen, he probably should've just agreed to marry her. And he had no idea if he'd even be able to recoup what he was out when he eventually found Goro; because that was not a matter of if, merely a question of when.

He'd had to decide how to put the BOLO out in the community for Goro. It needed to be above criticism, though, and in the end he told his kobun that Goro had pissed on another syndicate. It was as close to the truth as he was willing to get, and it was all that his syndicate was due. Now his men on the streets were keeping an eye out for Goro, persona non grata, and Aizawa was at the mercy of word of mouth.

But, for Yaoyorozu, everything was right again in her world. Her close encounter with Yakuza was behind her, and her first experience with blackmail had been thwarted — at least for now. She was going to stay at UA. The situation had, for her, cleaned up in the best possible manner. She could focus on school and normalcy now, and her only tasks were to be a future Pro Hero and keep her mouth shut about his Yakuza side job.

The first few days of her normalcy passed as they should, with standardized tests that Aizawa already knew would fail to measure her competence. Aizawa kept that at the front of his mind as the students lined up in front of him for their practicals. He felt her watching him as he gave the instructions, and already he was dreading having to evaluate her exam.

The fact was, he could no longer be unbiased toward her. He would never again be able to look at her as just another student, and forget what the last few weeks had entailed. She was shrewd and calculating, and she had aptly demonstrated her early abilities as a Hero. How was he to test her when she had already shown that if she'd wanted to turn him in, she could have.

"Additionally your partners and your opponents have already been chosen," Aizawa. "They were determined at my discretion based on various factors, including fighting style, grades, and interpersonal relationships. First, Yaoyorozu and Todoroki are a team. Against me."

The girl blanched, and he looked away so he wouldn't lose control of himself. She might be getting good at lying, but in that moment her thoughts were clear and obvious on her face: she thought he was up to something. There was no point in pulling her aside to tell her that he'd asked to be assigned to other students, but Principal Nezu would hear none of it. Besides, Todoroki wasn't exactly a slouch — he'd have to be on his A game to pull off anything of the caliber she was imagining.

Her face was too open to read. He should talk to her about that. But Aizawa watched her eyes circle around the other teachers present, and the cogs in her head were spinning and hot. She was doing the math on her own.

Good. It would save him some trouble.

Aizawa left to wait for their time, and tried to focus on deducing what her tactic would be with Todoroki. His gut said that Todoroki would take charge — the boy was self-assured, but he didn't know how to balance that out against teammates yet. She wasn't forceful enough with her voice to overrule him if she didn't agree with his tactic. So, what would Todoroki do?

When the timer started, Aizawa moved in.

He spotted Todoroki and Momo from afar; Momo' hands were moving, diligently creating matryoshka dolls — a curious choice. He kept his distance, waiting. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but the two students' postures said more than enough: their heads weren't on the exam. Aizawa clicked his tongue quietly to himself. Momo should know better.

He waited for the lapse in Momo's movements — he could tell she'd been making the dolls as a way to tell when he was close. Whoever's idea it had been, it was a good one. But it would only benefit them as much as they paid attention to what they were doing. It was the wrong day for Momo to take a day off. When the rhythm of her hands faltered, he moved in.

"He's coming!"

"If you know I'm here, then you should be acting. I would suggest that you prioritize evasions since I've taken your power from you!"

It was a generous assessment of their situation that the pair didn't really deserve as Aizawa swept in, landing before them. Todoroki was shouting orders to Momo as he tried to square off against Aizawa alone. This was their plan, to divide an conquer? What a waste of time.

"Is that what your plan is?" Aizawa taunted his students. "Then this will be simple. I was always going to catch you first."

Momo was gone, like a spectre.

He had Todoroki though.

Aizawa bound the boy up, despite his struggles. What a waste of time and effort. He was disappointed in Todoroki; the boy came from Hero stock and had gotten in on recommendation. He should know better. With Todoroki captured and on there wayside, Aizawa set his sights on Momo.

She heard him coming. Quiet as he was, he didn't know what gave him away, but she heard. She glanced back over her shoulder and looked. Too slow, his capture tape lassoed her upper arm. Her feet were going under her though, and Aizawa gave a firm yank on his tape to keep her on her feet. The only quarter he'd intended to give.

"You thought I might kill you, don't lie. The paperwork would've been more troublesome than you are," Aizawa said, smirking to himself. She looked stricken that he'd dare give a voice to her thoughts.

"Everything has a price," she gasped out. "My family can arrange for you to leave the Yakuza, whatever that cost may be."

Ah fuck.

His eyes rolled back in his head, immediately at the peak of his annoyance. He had thought they'd passed this point — but apparently, since they'd skipped over it, the conversation was overdue. It didn't matter that this wasn't the time to place. Fine. They would have it here. Now.

"I don't want my way bought out."

"You are a great Hero — the most capable Hero I know, even if you are a villain. As an aspiring Hero, I cannot stand by and watch you continue down that path!"

Protests were on his tongue. At the front of them, he wanted to shout it in her face: "I am Danchou!" He wanted to scream his supremacy, that he owned all — but this child, this girl of good stock…Until Goro stopped breathing, she owned him.

"Then turn me in." He yanked on his tape, and she let him pull her stumbling in his direction. Cruelty cut through his demeanor, sharp with his offense. Whetted to a point with his own personal realization that she didn't understand. "What's wrong, Hero? You know it's the right thing to do, so do it."

"You're a good man, Mr. Aizawa. You saved me and the girls that night when you didn't have to. You could've turned a blind eye to us, but you didn't! I have faith in you, that you can — and will — turn your back on this. No one else needs to get involved."

Aizawa leapt down, closing the distance between them and reeling in his capture tape as he moved, stalking toward her.

"You're so invested in my salvation, Yaoyorozu. Why does it matter to you?"

"Because you matter to me. I look at you and see a man who needs to be saved, no different than any bystander caught in the mayhem."

That was bullshit if he'd ever heard bullshit. Aizawa rolled his eyes. He didn't become Danchou by being a bystander, that much was for fucking sure.

"I am the mayhem. The way I live is just two sides of the same coin. You, more than anyone else in this school, should be able to understand that."

Momo flinched.

"How do you think this is going to end? If I found out someone else can, too. You'll be caught and sent to jail for the rest of your life, or you'll be killed by someone in a power grab. There are no old, free gangsters, Danchou."

There are no old, free gangsters, Danchou.

His hands curled into fists.

Fuck you. Fuck you, Yaoyorozu.

"I'd ask how many retired gangsters you know, too, but I'm aware I'd be asking the wrong person."

It was a cheap, petty shot, but it felt good to say it aloud. Momo seemed to flinch at his words — he resisted the urge to feel badly now that he'd said what he'd said. Aizawa dug his heel into the ground to cement himself.

"I won't go into hiding, looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. I'd rather rot in prison."

"Those aren't the only options. Let me help you."

"To what end? What would I do? Marry some rich girl and follow the way of the househusband?"

He was being cruel now, referencing her father's demands that he marry her. Then came the horrific moment of her silence, where her face went red and her lip trembled, and Aizawa realized he'd touched ground she had worked hard to prevent him from treading. His entire being stilled. Every atom stopped in its hum. He was struck.

She felt for him.

"Is that what it will take? Is that the price for you to walk away a Hero?"

Fucking Hell, the conversation had taken a swan dive. He couldn't do this. Not with her. She was still his student, and a kid. He needed to kill this in her now.

"Don't be absurd and don't flatter yourself. You're a decade too young to be my type."

"Then what will it take?"

What would it take, for him to leave Yakuza behind? More than anything she could give. She needed to focus on the task at hand, and not on immature fantasies that he would not for a moment consider indulging for her.

"Pass your final and maybe I'll think of something," he lied.

He'd been foolish, though, to assume she had been so caught up in their conversation that she wasn't still calculating. He'd barely give an answer when she ripped away from his capture tape. He only caught a glimpse of the cylinder she'd wedged between her arm and his offensive weapon before it was gone in the dust, and she was running.

Aizawa went on the hunt after her, eyes narrow behind his visor, calculating where she would've gone. She wasn't as short-sighted as Todoroki; she wouldn't run for the exit. That was not her default strategy. No, she's be going back for Todoroki.

"Giving up?" Aizawa accused from above them as the pair came back in his sights.

"Not yet." He was coming in fast, too fast to change course as she shouted her heads up to Todoroki, and he couldn't afford to take his eyes off them, even as Momo threw her nesting dolls in the air.

They detonated in front of him, and the flash bangs she'd stashed inside them exploded at point blank range. The light was so bright it was painful, and Aizawa had no choice except to close his eyes and turn away. He rubbed at his throbbing eyes, feeling the full strain of his quirk now, and inhaled deep into his chest. He could hear Momo and Todoroki nearby, and Aizawa turned to look in the direction of their sounds — but his vision flashed white when he tried to open his eyes. Fuck. He kept blinking the lights away, and at last he opened his eyes to see Momo looking back over her shoulder at him. He felt himself grin.

This girl.

"Not fast enough, kids!" Aizawa called from behind as he moved to catch up.

Todoroki launched a wall of ice between them that he had to get around, but then there they were, out in the open with nothing between them. Aizawa moved in and activated his quirk — but nothing happened. It was too soon. Nothing happened, and for a split second he was the vulnerable one as he heard Momo command, "Todoroki, blast your flames now!"

Aizawa went headfirst into the flying bundle of cloth that — his own capture tape, almost — Momo had launched, flames licking the soles of his boots, and suddenly the tangle of material around him went taut. He felt them warping in the hot air around him as sweat blossomed across his forehead and under his chin.

"Have you heard of nitinol alloy? When heated it returns to its original shape in an instant. It's a metal with shape memory!"

His muscles were straining against it, but he could tell from the onset it was to no avail. Aizawa went to his knees, and Momo's gaze met his as she approached to cuff him. He was pleased with the steel he saw in her eyes.

Protege.