"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy!" Matt yelled, pounding on her door.

"Yeah?" The girl groaned through her pillow.

"Ichigo says we need food!"

"Tell Ichigo I'll go out later."

It had been a week since her birthday. The nightmares wouldn't stop. Raven Wing, Crimson Blade, and everyone at the bar had all gotten her a present, reminding her of the fact that she was now twenty-two. Being at a hospital hadn't helped her. She hated hospitals.

"Go out now!" Ichigo yelled and slammed her door open.

"I don't want too," the woman mumbled. "'M sleepy." Not really, she was just frustrated.

"Nope. You're going out." He grabbed her arm and pulled her up. She hung limply in his grasp. "You look terrible by the way. Do you want some makeup?"

"No," she moaned again and struggled out of his grip. She wanted to mope in bed and feel terrible. Since that wasn't going to happen, she'd just leave.

"Then get out of here. I'll watch Matt, you go do whatever, sweetie, but is it okay if my boyfriend comes over?" She nodded, picking out her outfit.

"Can I pick an outfit for you?" He eagerly asked.

"No, get out so I can change." She slapped him away from her closet.

"Fine, fine," he raised his hands in surrender, marching out the door. "And don't go down the fire escape!" The door slammed behind him.

"Ugh…" the bluenette groaned as she got ready to go out. She tossed on a shirt, jeans, and socks, then brushed her hair.

Too late to escape to the roof, she exited her room and slipped into the empty bathroom.

Her eyes landed on her ragged reflection. "Wow… I really do look like shit," she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "At least my hair's gotten longer." She ran her fingers through her bright locks and pinned them back just above her ears.

"There," she hummed and started washing her face.

"Lucy! Ichigo says to get out. He says you look fine now," Matt hugged her.

"Ok, buddy. You have fun, ok?" He nodded violently in response. "Then let me go so I can leave."

He jumped back. Ducking under his arms, she slipped back into the hall.

"Ichigo, I'll text you later," she waved at the kitchen as she slipped her shoes on.

"You stay out as long as you need, ok, sweets?"

"I will." A small smile graced her lips for a moment.

The grocery store was empty. Happily, Luciana hadn't encountered any other customers. Unhappily, she hadn't found any workers. She was just barely too short to reach the top shelf.

"Ugh…" she groaned, glancing furtively around. Grinning, she activated her quirk to create a step. She stepped onto the floating platform, grabbed what she needed, and stepped down before making the platform disappear. She continued down the aisle, towards another section.

Not paying attention to her surroundings, Luciana slammed into someone. The other person's momentum sent the woman falling backward.

"Ow!" She rubbed her back. The floor was hard!

"Are you ok?" The man she had hit reached a hand out to her.

She looked up at him as she took his hand. It was the hero, Endeavor. "Yeah, it's just the floor is a little hard, Todoroki-san," she shrugged. Todoroki Enji pulled her to her feet with a strong tug.

"Sorry about that," he looked indifferent. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Whatever," she knelt and started picking up the items that had scattered from her basket. "It's fine." She stood beside him. The top of her head only reached the bottom of his chin. "But could you help me with something?"

"Excuse me?" He looked at her, confused. His manner was much less brusque when he wasn't being a hero.

"Nevermind." She changed her mind.

"All right." He moved around her and started walking away.

Luciana turned and said, "By the way, I'm Duina Luciana."

He grunted and continued walking away.

She shrugged. "See you around!" She turned and walked away.

"How were the stores?" Ichigo asked her as they put away the groceries.

"Dead inside, like me," she snarked.

"Anything interesting happen?" He sang at her.

"Nope," she told him.

"Really? That's too bad," he sounded extremely disappointed. "Oh, well. I'll make dinner, you go get some sleep. After all, you work tonight, right?"

"Yeah, and being out and about is tiring enough," she yawned, she was working as a bouncer at Queen Bee tonight. "Wake me for dinner, then." She dragged her butt out of the kitchen.

"I know you're lying," came the singsong. "When Matt's asleep, give me all the details!" Luciana shook her head.

A deep, rich chuckle echoed from the couch. Ichigo's boyfriend, Ren, was sitting on the couch with Matt. "Babe, you might want to watch out!" his voice rumbled. He was a big guy with brown eyes, green hair, and lightly tanned skin.

"What kinda details?" Matt asked innocently, leaning towards Ren. Ren leaned towards Matt.

"Dir-Ack!" Luciana had smacked him upside the head.

"Back away from my brother," she growled. "You know the rules."

"Geez!" he scooched away, holding his hands up in surrender. "You're like a momma bear, not letting anyone even touch your brother."

"Not everyone, just some people," she plopped down between them.

"What happened to going to sleep?" Ichigo called over the running water.

"Lucy has nightmares!" Matt piped up.

"That's not it Matt," she hugged her brother. "I want to spend time with you."

"That's so da-" Ren was cut off by the girl slapping his mouth.

"No cursing." She glared over her shoulder. He nodded and she removed her hand. "Now back off, little pervert." He shuffled back.

"I'm not little!" he rebutted playfully. What he said was completely correct, the bisexual man was built like a tank.

"Yes, you are," Matt pointed at the other man's crotch. "Down there!" As soon as Matt finished speaking, Luciana turned a dark look on the man.

"How would he know that?" she asked, causing the man to begin sweating profusely.

"I-I don't k-know!" he tugged the collar of his shirt nervously.

"Ichigo says so!" Matt, completely ignorant of the dark aura directed at Ren, continued to interject.

"Is that so?" Luciana turned to him, sparkling innocently. Ren visibly drooped in relief, sighing.

"Yeah, but they were joking I think?" The boy tapped his chin in thought. He was horrible at reading social moods and tones, but he could cheer anyone up.

"Oh, I see. Maybe they should make nicer jokes than attacking other people's bodies, right?"

"Yeah. It's mean to insult people," he nodded sagely. "Tell jokes like this: Knock, knock, Ren."

"Who's there?" He gulped nervously at the dark look the teenage girl shot him.

"Pink!"

"Pink who?"

"I pink you're very nice!"

"Thanks!" he chuckled nervously.

"That's a good joke, at least I pink so," Luciana smiled happily at him.

"I agree!" Ichigo chimed in, still in the kitchen. "Ana, tell one of your jokes!"

"No, not right now," she frowned.

"Please, Lucy?" Matt begged. Giving her the puppy eyes on top of kneeling broke her resolve. She spent the rest of the evening telling jokes.

Tonights shift had been boring so far. No troublemakers showed up. "I think the troublemakers are avoiding you." Her large coworker, Hanni, voiced her thoughts.

"Well, I am the one who does most of the work." She retorted. Hanni had been hired because he was intimidating, but in reality, he was a gentle giant for the most part. She was the real muscle.

"You are very scary," Hanni patted her head. She was hired after the owner witnessed her beat several gang men on her own.

"I'm pretty certain they're not avoiding me, just trying to catch me off guard," she paused while she wiped imaginary lint off her shirt, "and rape me." She knew she was attractive, but didn't care. She had long legs, a perfect hourglass figure, big breasts, and a nice butt, and she was muscled beautifully. Or so said the many drunks around her. It was definitely one thing she didn't care to hear from them.

The big man next to her winced. "I wouldn't have been so…" he trailed off.

"Harsh, honest, blunt, frank," she ticked off the different adjectives as she checked a kid's ID. She handed it back to him and said, "Scram kid." He left.

"Yeah. You're really cynical." He let a girl inside.

They continued to check ID's, occasionally chatting. "You miss me, Sweetheart?" A man sidled up beside her and asked.

"Fuck off, rat shit," Luciana told him, continuing her work. He was on their blacklist and came to grope Luciana and beg to get inside all too often.

"Aw, don't be like that, Baby! You said you'd let me in," he leaned closer. The woman wrinkled her nose at the heavy scent of alcohol on his breath.

"If you want in, go through the line," she pushed him out of her face. "Now shoo." She pushed him back a little more before allowing a bunch of girls around her age inside. The drunk man tried to push past her and get inside. Viciously, she shoved him backward.

The man stared at her from the ground. "Now, Sweetie! That's no way to treat me!" He yelled.

"Hanni, you take care of this bitch. I'll keep the line going." The woman was resolutely looking forward at the line. Her fists were clenched.

The blond man nodded, his jaw set. One of the few things that got to Hanni was the objectification of women. He hated it. Without a word, he dragged the man around the corner. When that happened, it meant business.

Not skipping a beat when she heard a scream from the alley, Luciana kept the line moving as efficiently as she could.

The screams of pain continued for a couple more minutes before Hanni came back out. "He's agreed with me that women are special." The man was beaming. Another thing the bouncers here were famous for was their willingness to rough someone up.

"Great! Maybe he'll get the other message too." They had done this same dance repeatedly with that guy. "And next time it's my turn… there might not be anything left." Her voice was deadly. She hated men who did whatever they wanted.

A/N: Hewwo! I am still alive! Just busy. Things have calmed down, I should be able to post again. Anyway, I hope you guys like the series and leave a review.