"Endeavor!" Reina calls, waving at Endeavor and Shoto as Leinei walks behind her. Leinei feels ready to die, seeing Shoto staring passively at her and Endeavor glaring down. Even with her new tricks, she didn't feel ready to play with the big kids. And with Reina talking to Endeavor with as much familiarity as she did, Leinei felt something was up with them. His glare softened seeing her, and even the smallest bit of a smile graced his lips.

"It seems Elementia is getting along with my father," Shoto says, causing her to jump the smallest bit. Leinei looks at him, and sees the irritation on his face. It seemed to be permanently etched on him.

"Yeah. She's just that nice to people I guess," Leinei responds, rubbing the back of her head. He looks her up and down, tilting his head. Her face turns pink. "What's wrong?"

"That doesn't seem very practical in a fight," he remarks, gesturing to her suit. "It doesn't protect any of your vital points."

"Well, it is still a prototype," she admits sheepishly, adjusting the hem of her shirt to lower more over her stomach. "And it works with my quirk."

"How so?" he asks.

"Well, the more skin I have exposed, the more emotions I can pick up on. It's good for crowd control."

She fiddles with the fingers of her gloves, Shoto looking up as he processes this. After a few seconds of silence, he nods his head and looks towards their mentors. She wants to say something, anything about their shared history. But she doubted he remembered anything of her. She wouldn't blame him; the only thing memorable about her was the Shiketsu-

She shook her head, pushing those memories away. That was the past, she has to be here now. She needs to be here now, not dwelling on something that terrible. I don't even remember their names..

"Alright, you two!" Reina says, pointing at the two of them. "We're doing a team up today, and we're doing it in Hosu! Lots of petty crimes to stop, lots of chances for you to have practical experience. It would be shameful of us to send you back with barely any chances to actually showcase your skills, so let's go!"

"Elementia, you have no reason to be that loud about it," Endeavor grumbles, turning on his heel and starting to walk away. Reina pushes her tongue out at him, gesturing for the students to follow him. Leinei smiles a bit, then goes to catch up as Shoto leaves her behind. She thinks of something to say, something that wouldn't seem too pushy, or too mean, or just...anything honestly. She didn't know where to start.

"So…" Shoto starts after a few minutes into their patrol, their Pros a few feet ahead and talking amongst themselves. He tilts his head as she looks at him. "Do you still like porcupines?"

"You remembered?" she asks, surprised as he smiles a bit. "I-I didn't think-"

"It took me a while, we never really did get to spend much time together," he admits, nodding his head. "But I was talking to my sister and she pulled some old pictures out. I only really recognized you because of your sister."

"Yeah, you two were locked up in that room training a lot while I played with everyone else."

"I remember." His voice darkens, his gaze hardening as he glared at his father's back. "Not hard to forget."

She flinches at the tone of his voice, looking down at her feet as they walk further into the city. His anger and resentment cut into her like poisoned daggers, stinging and driving deeper with each moment of quiet lingering between the two of them. She's trying to figure out a way to get his mind off it, to find a way to fix the situation-

"Can you still make the porcupines?" she asks, startling him as he looks at her. She forces a bit of a smile. "I-I mean, like when we were kids. You used to-"

"Yeah, I think so," he muses, the anger dissipating and turning into curiosity. He holds his right hand out, staring at his palm as ice slowly begins to take the shape of a misshapen porcupine. Leinei can't help but to laugh, much to his embarrassment. "I know it's not good, I'm a little out of practice."

"It's fine, it's honestly funny," she assures, covering her mouth as she laughs. He grumbles under his breath, placing the sculpture into his right to melt it down. "Why did you do that?"

"Well if you're gonna laugh at it, I'm not gonna make it."

"It's your first attempt in like ten years. Of course it's gonna come out funny. Besides, it was still cute."

Reina glances over her shoulder at the two of them talking, smiling a bit. Endeavor sees this, glancing briefly over his shoulder as well and seeing his son smiling and laughing. He was continuously trying to make porcupines in his hands, each attempt worse than the last. Leinei's face was red from trying not to laugh. Eventually, she can't hold it in anymore, covering her mouth as she laughs. Shoto stops making the porcupines, but is laughing too.

"It seems they get along well," Reina remarks, looking back ahead. "I guess this was a good idea after all."

"I suppose," he replies, letting his hand brush hers briefly. "I wonder if we should prepare for them to be married in the future."

"So we can have a certain issue like you have?" she replies, watching the man's face flush and turn red. "I'm sorry. My sister has the most freedom out of the three siblings. I want her to marry for happiness, not for her kid's possible quirks."

"It was meant as a joke," he mutters. Her eyes widen as she coughs into her hand, closing her eyes as she turns her chin up and walks a little faster. Endeavor chuckles, letting his eyes stray down to her ass before clearing his throat and yelling for the children to catch up.

"Coming!" Leinei calls, sharing a smile with Shoto before they jog to catch up. Her heart feels happy, now that she feels a little closer to Touya, seeing him in Shoto's eyes and mannerisms. Her heart felt a little fuller, and her smile felt even easier.

That night…

They had been walking by the store when the villains had jumped out, the glass scattering everywhere. One of them had a gun, on top of their quirks, and Reina had used the air currents around them to keep the glass from hitting the ground and other civilians. Endeavor had pinned the slower of the two villains, ordering Shoto to keep the crowd back as they looked on. Leinei stands to the side, unsure of what to really do as the pros handled it. She watches the other vandal get away, running down an alleyway.

"Naimles, don't let them get away!" Reina calls, sweeping her arms to the side to keep the broken glass across the sidewalk in the air to avoid civilians from getting hurt. Endeavor keeps the captured vandal underneath him as he calls the police to come arrest them while Shoto pushes the onlookers back. Leinei chases after the criminal running into an alley with a pillowcase full of money and stolen goods.

"Stop running!" Leinei yells, slipping on some of the gravel in her boots and quickly regaining her balance as the man slipped down another alleyway. "If you stop resisting and come quietly, the courts will be lenient!"

She didn't want to hurt them, just to return what they stole and hopefully get them the help they needed. She turned down the same alleyway, blue flames flashing before her eyes as the man screams and is soon nothing but a pile of ashes, the bag of stolen goods spilled over a few feet away. Her eyes widened, horror twisting her gut as the smell of burnt flesh hits her nose and waters her eyes.

A figure in dark clothes and wearing a face mask tilts his head, lowering his smoking hand. Black hair peeks out from the hood covering their head and purple scars could be seen in the faint moonlight, a glint of a staple catching her eyes. A small chuckle escapes his throat, raspy and deep. The glee the figure took from killing, the anger, the intrigue-all of it hit her, making her skin feel as if it were on fire.

"Did you just-did you kill that man?" she demands, her voice shaking. Her legs tremble under her weight, her knees nearly knocking against each other. "Why would you do that? He could have been rehabilitated!"

"Rehabilitated?" the figure laughs, shaking his head. She takes a step back as it comes forward. Blue flames envelop his scarred hand, dancing around his fingers. "Do you think I could be rehabilitated too?"

"An-anyone can be rehabilitated," she says, taking another step back as her ankle rolls and she falls to the ground, the gravel scattering from underneath her. She can't move, just trembles as he walks up to her, his laugh echoing as he crouches down and holds their flame covered hand just inches from her face. She could feel the heat, smell his skin burning and smoking. Her face flushes from the searing heat. "We-we all deserve help, and to get it-"

"I just killed that man because I was bored and he annoyed me," the figure coos, clenching his hand shut and dispersing the flames. Leinei's eyes widened more, bile rising in her throat at the thought of the man dying a senseless death because she wasn't fast enough, wasn't smart enough to outmaneuver him. Smoke curls away from the figure's fingers as he curls and uncurls them. The tears that had been building in her eyes finally fall from her eyes, terror and disgust finally getting the better of her.

"Leinei?" she hears Reina calling her name, relief flooding her system. The figure leans towards her ear, stinking of charred flesh and sweat, of burning blood.

"I'll see you again, little mouse, don't worry," he whispers, shocking her with the familiar nickname as she blinks and he disappears. Footsteps get closer, gravel rolling and flying as Reina, Endeavor, and Shoto run into the alley. She leans over, holding her mouth before starting to dry heave. Endeavor and Reina walk over to the pile of ashes as Shoto kneels next to her.

"Are you okay?" he asks softly, letting his hand hover over her back as she dry heaves again. The moment he lets his hand touch the space between her shoulder blades, she throws up, bile dripping from her lips as she stares at the half digested remains of the two muffins she had at Starlite before they came to Hosu. Shoto rubs her back gently, unsure of what to say as she dry heaves again, coughing and spitting the bile rising in the back of her throat up.

"No," she whispers, looking up at him as she uses the heel and side of her hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. Her stomach and diaphragm hurt from the dry heaving, her nose running. She takes a shaky breath as Shoto stares at her, concerned.

"Me touching you didn't make you throw up, did it?"

"No," she repeats, laughing and crying at the same time. "No, Shochan, it didn't."

"Are you sure?" he asks. "I don't ever have to touch you again. I'm sorry if I made you throw up."

"Who did this?" Endeavor demands as she's about to speak again, glaring at her. She swallows back a bit of still lingering bile. "This looks a lot like the remains left behind by another villain."

"I-I didn't see his face, just his quirk," she says, her voice thick and breaking at the end. "He-he could use blue flames. When I got here, the man was already…"

"You did what you could, Naimles," Reina says, reverting to her hero persona as she looks at the bag of stolen goods abandoned by the side. "At least he didn't burn the evidence. Whoever this man was, they should be able to pull the prints from the bag and ID him so his family can have some solace."

"I...I couldn't save him," she whispers as Reina walks over to her and kneels on her other side, hugging her sister. "I-I wasn't fast enough."

"It's not your fault," she murmurs, squeezing her once before letting her go and standing up. Shoto gives her a piece of gauze he kept in his utility belt to wipe her mouth before helping her up. "Endeavor, the chain of custody starts with you. I'm taking Shoto and Naimles to get some water and something to snack on to settle her stomach."

"Understood," he says, nodding his head. "If anything else happens, I trust you to take care of it, Elementia."

"I'd certainly hope so," she snorts, placing her hands on the students' back to guide them back to the main street. The shop owner that was robbed is giving his statement to the police, Reina telling them to stand right there by the alleway's entrance while she goes over to report what they found.

"Are you okay?" Shoto asks her softly, watching as she tears the gauze apart over and over again in her hands. "That couldn't have been easy to see."

"I'll be fine," she murmurs. "It's part of the job. It's just..part of the job."

"Doesn't mean it's easy to see."

"He was so close to my face," she whispers to him, looking up. "He-he was about to burn me. He was about to do the same thing to me."

"But he didn't," he replies, tilting his head. "You're okay. And you're alive."

"Yeah. I guess…"

As soon as Reina is done, there's an explosion further down the streets, followed by civilian screaming and an inhuman screech. People were running towards them, their terror squeezing the breath from Leinei's lungs. Shoto stiffened, his eyes widening as if he seemingly recognized the screech. Reina curses under her breath, looking at Shoto and Leinei.

"Stay here," she orders, before lifting off the ground and taking off towards the direction of the commotion. A few seconds after, there's a whoosh of hot air, Endeavor following suit with his flames projecting him into the sky. There's a buzz in each of their back pockets, Shoto the first to take his phone out as Leinei does the same.

"A location marker from Midoriya," he says, his eyes narrowing. He leans over to see Leinei having the same thing. "He's nearby. What do you think this means?"

"I don't really know," she replies, her voice still hoarse. "Should we go to it? Elementia said to stay here."

"What if it's a message for help?" he asks, looking towards the commotion and back at his phone. "Midoriya really needs to work on his texting skills."

"Well..maybe we should go check on him. Just to make sure. If he's okay, then we'll just come back here," Leinei compromises. "If he needs help, then we can give him the backup he needs."

"I can agree to that," he says, nodding as they start towards the little dot marking Izuku's location on the map of Hosu. Leinei has a pit in the bottom of her stomach as she and Shoto run towards it. She wants to make sure her friend was okay, she has to know he's okay. Izu please be okay!

As they got closer to the pulsing dot on their phones, they could hear the sounds of fighting, the schwing of a blade cutting through the air. They got to the alleyway just as a blade was about to pierce through Iida's armor, Shoto's eyes widening and sending a blast of flames between him and the man ready to stab him. Leinei rushes over, getting on one knee to help Iida stand up.

"Midoriya, you really need to add more context to your texts," Shoto tells him, his chest heaving as Leinei and him see the man with serrated blades standing between them and Izuku. Her eyes widen as she sees an injured Pro to the side, holding his ribs and bleeding.

"Shochan, be careful with your flames," she calls, looking back at him nodding and sending ice forward with his right as Izuku charges the villain again again. She hooks Iida's arm around her neck, trying to get him to his feet.

"You all need to get out of here," Iida says, his voice shaking as he watches Shoto and Izuku engage with the villain. "He-he's the hero killer, he's the one that paralyzed my brother."

"Sorry, Class Rep, not happening," she grunts out, trying to get him away from the fight. She glances back, trying to gauge a way to get to the injured Native and avoiding the fight she had no chance of helping in. She sits Iida down near the entrance, panting from the weight of him and his armor. "Are you hurt?"

"He stabbed my arm, and a few cuts here and there, but I should be fine," he tells her, looking back at the flashes of emerald lightning and the alternating blazing flames and sparkling ice. Leinei keeps looking for openings, for any way to get to Native and to avoid the fight. "You need to get out of there, this is my fight-"

"You're injured, you're not fighting," she scolds him, standing up and watching Izuku jump off the wall to aim a kick at the hero killer's head. He misses, the killer throwing a knife towards Shoto and lunging forwards with his longer blade. Her body moves on it's own, visualizing one of Keigo's brilliant red feathers coming at her as she brings her leg up and slams the heel of her boot down on the base of the blade. Shoto jumps away, placing more ice between them and the monster.

"Are you okay, Shoto?" she asks, panting and feeling a twinge of pain in her ankle, looking down and seeing a cut in her pants. Blood trickled down from the corner. He nods, looking at her.

"You need to be more careful," he scolds her, before sending a blast of fire at him. "Get that Pro and the Class Rep out of here."

"I'm not leaving you and Izu behind," she tells him, a sharp pain going to her cheek as a knife flies past her, grazing the soft skin. Her eyes widen as Stain charges again, this time aiming for her. Shoto goes to use his left, realizing he's too close her and could hurt her-

"Don't hurt my classmates!" Iida yells, having charged forward, bringing his leg down and breaking the same blade that Leinei had just kicked away from Shoto. It snaps, flying overhead and twirling before landing in the dirt, shaking. Stain jumps back, laughing as Iida stands next to Leinei and Shoto, Izuku on top of a dumpster with lightning still sparking around him.

"We can't beat him," Shoto pants. "He's too fast."

"We should have let Endeavor and Elementia know where we were going," Leinei agrees, wiping the blood trickling down her cheek. "He's easily an S rank villain."

"I'm no more a villain than those false idols you hail as heroes," Stain growls, his eyes flickering between each of the four students cornering him. "You're just kids, leave so I can kill the boy and the false hero."

"No one is dying today, villain," Izuku proclaims, placing his hand on the dumpster before launching himself at Stain, aiming a smash to his head. Stain spins on his heel as quickly as Izuku had moved, landing a cut on his arm and bringing his knee up to kick the green haired boy away and into the dirt.

"Izu!"

"Midoriya!"

"Get away from him!" Leinei yells, running forward as Shoto sends ice underneath her, watching as she slides up and knees Stain in the chin. The man staggers back as she lands in a crouch, Iida following her up with two swift kicks to the man's face. She goes to Izuku's side, helping him up as she pants. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fi-" His eyes widen as she suddenly drops to the ground, immobilized. It takes all she has to move her fingers, her eyes wide in horror. "Salinsa!"

"I-I can't move," she gets out, breathing even being difficult in this position. Izuku gets up, gritting his teeth. Stain cackles, the blade that had nicked Leinei against his tongue. Shoto sees this, white hot rage fueling his flames as he sends them towards Stain.

"Careful now, you'll burn your friends!" he warns, getting out of the way and barely turning in time to see Iida charging at him with another kick. He dodges just as Izuku follows up Iida's attack with a kick of his own, this one landing against Stain's temple and sending him flying into the wall. Leinei still struggles to get up, managing to inch her arms closer to her body with maximum effort.

I'm trapped. I'm trapped here, I can't move. His quirk has to be immobilizing me. What can I do? I can't do anything; I'm useless, I shouldn't have gotten involved! I'm not Reina or Keigo, I'm a failure. I'm just a girl with a broken quirk.

And yet her friends were fighting for their lives, trading blows with the villain. Tears burn her eyes, the image of the blue flame villain flashing before them as she grits her teeth. She's too slow, she's too weak. What can she do? What should she do? My quirk, I can use what Toda helped me with!

Her eyes turn purple as Stain lunges towards Iida, blade ready to pierce the boy's heart when his pupils dilate and he stops in his tracks. As soon as he stops, Iida charges a Recipro Burst, sending the villain upwards into the air as Izuku brings a smash down onto the man. He coughs up blood, dropping to the ground as his quirk releases its hold on Leinei and Native. She manages to push herself up on shaky arms. Shoto comes over to her side, covered in cuts and scrapes as he kneels next to her.

"Leinei, are you okay?" he asks, holding her arm. She nods, getting to her feet as Izuku drops to the ground, panting with his head back. Stain was unconscious on the ground, his eyes whited out. Iida himself leans against the wall before sliding down. A hysterical laugh bubbles from his lips, tears running down his cheeks as the others start to follow, the alleyway filled with the kids' laughing. It was a laugh of terror, of relief, of the fact they almost died. They could have died. But they didn't.

It wasn't long before the pros found them, having secured the Nomu running wild. Gran Torino opened with a hard kick to Izuku's head, the boy's eyes spinning as the old man chewed him out. Manual lectures the injured Iida, as Endeavor scolds Shoto. Leinei waits for her own, only to have a sharp slap come across her face. Tears prickle her eyes as she looks down at her feet, everyone's eyes suddenly glued on them.

"You could have died!" she yells at her sister, her voice breaking as she grabs the younger girl's shoulders. "What were you thinking, racing in to fight a villain known to kill heroes!? Why wouldn't you wait for someone else-"

"Because my friends were in danger," she replies, pushing her sister off. "Izu and Iida needed our help, and it's a hero's job to help those who need it! If we hadn't been here, they really could have died!"

"And look at your friends, Leinei Marie!" Reina snaps, pointing at Izuku's broken arm and crushed hand, Iida's bleeding biceps, the cuts littering Shoto. "Look at you! You could have died! All of you could have died!"

"This is my fault," Iida tries to say, only to shut up with the sharp glare Reina gives him. The blue haired boy shrinks down, looking away. The red haired woman pushes the stray strands of hair from her face, soot and ash streaking it grey in some places. Leinei looks away, not wanting to be scolded for doing what she was groomed to do. She had her quirk work on command, and it helped. It saved Iida. She wasn't about to be bitched at for that happening. She did well. They all made it out alive. That's what matters.

She's balancing the ledgers.